Essays & Assessments Collection

ESSAYs
&
WRITTEN ASSESSMENTs
Compiled
by
Amiya Kumar
www.facebook.com/kumar.amiya
www.facebook.com/MathsByAmiya
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Contents
1. INDIA, A SOFTWARE SUPER POWER .................................................................... 5
2. BRAND POSITIONING & PUNCHLINES... .............................................................. 7
3. BRAND IMAGE AND PUNCHLINES ...................................................................... 10
4. ROLE OF BANKS AND FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS IN ECONOMY ............... 12
5. IS GANDHI RELEVANT TODAY? .......................................................................... 15
6. STATE OF INDIA’S ECONOMY .............................................................................. 16
7. INFLATION IN INDIA : FUELLED BY DEMAND? ............................................... 27
8. RIGHT TO EDUCATION (RTE) ACT, 2009: FREE AND COMPULSORY
EDUCATION FOR ALL............................................................................................. 31
9. IS NUCLEAR ENERGY WORTH THE RISK?......................................................... 33
10. CAPITAL PUNISHMENT IN INDIA: SHOULD BE ALLOWED OR BANNED ... 34
11. CHILD LABOUR: THE DAWN OF AN EPIDEMIC ................................................ 36
12. PUBLIC FINANCE AND FISCAL DEVELOPMENTS ............................................ 38
13. TOBACCO AND HEALTH CARE COSTS- QUIT SMOKING FOR A HEALTHY
LIFE ............................................................................................................................. 42
14. ADULT EDUCATION ................................................................................................ 44
15. TOURISM IN TIGER RESERVES: RIGHT OR WRONG ....................................... 46
16. THERE IS YOU, ME AND THE RESERVED CLASS ............................................. 48
17. EDUCATION THROUGH TELEVISION ................................................................. 50
18. TIME IS MONEY........................................................................................................ 52
19. SUGGESTIONS FOR MAKING ENTREPRENEURSHIP DEVELOPMENT
PROGRAMMES MORE SUCCESSFUL IN INDIA.................................................. 54
20. GROWTH OF WOMEN ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN INDIA ................................... 56
21. SECULARISM IN INDIA........................................................................................... 58
22. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND ENVIRONMENT .......................................... 62
23. ROLE OF TECHNOLOGY IN PROMOTION OF DEMOCRACY .......................... 70
24. CORRUPTION AND QUALITY OF GOVERNANCE ............................................. 71
25. CORRUPTION IS A BLOT ON INDIA GROWTH STORY .................................... 74
26. DRUGS ADDICTION ................................................................................................. 75
27. EDUCATION FOR ALL ............................................................................................. 77
28. GO RURAL: THE NEW MANTRA ........................................................................... 83
29. DEFLATION: IS THE THREAT FOR REAL? .......................................................... 86
30. INFRASTRUCTURE: THE KEY TO RAPID GROWTH ......................................... 89
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31. RICH-POOR DIVIDE: CAN IT BE BRIDGED? ....................................................... 92
32. THE GENESIS OF CAPITAL MARKETS CRASH .................................................. 95
33. FINANCIAL SECTOR REFORMS IN INDIA .......................................................... 98
34. GROWTH OF MONEY MARKET IN INDIA ......................................................... 101
35. MACROECONOMIC MANAGEMENT AND MONETARY POLICY IN INDIA104
36. INDIA’S CORRUPT LEADERSHIP ........................................................................ 107
37. REFORMS IN GOVERNANCE AND POVERTY ALLEVIATION ...................... 109
38. THE ROLE OF MAN IN CONSERVING NATURAL RESOURCES. ................... 112
39. MACROECONOMIC MANAGEMENT AND MONETARY POLICY IN INDIA115
40. RELIGION VERSUS ASTRONOMY ...................................................................... 118
41. GLOBAL TOBACCO EPIDEMIC ........................................................................... 119
42. AN ESSAY ON INTERNET CHATTING ............................................................... 126
43. URBANISATION: A DAUNTING CHALLENGE ................................................. 128
44. EVALUATION AND EDUCATION........................................................................ 131
45. ARRANGED MARRIAGE VERSUS LOVE MARRIAGE ..................................... 133
46. JUVENILE CRIME ................................................................................................... 135
47. TEENAGERS AND DRUGS .................................................................................... 137
48. INDIA’S URBAN SCENARIO................................................................................. 139
49. HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT 2010: A SYNOPSIS .................................... 145
50. SHOULD CLONING BE LEGALIZED? ................................................................. 155
51. E-EDUCATION IN INDIA ....................................................................................... 157
52. PANCHAYATI RAJ SYSTEM IN INDIA ............................................................... 160
53. WHY PRAYER IS NECESSARY?........................................................................... 163
54. “GLASNOST” AND “PERESTROIKA” .................................................................. 165
55. VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN ............................................................................ 168
56. THE REFORM OF EXAMINATION SYSTEM ...................................................... 171
57. CASTE SYSTEM SOLUTION ................................................................................. 173
58. THE ROLE OF WRITER IN THE MODERN AGE ................................................ 175
59. FEDERAL SYSTEM VS. UNITARY SYSTEM ...................................................... 178
60. INDIAN PUBLIC LIFE – ESSAY ............................................................................ 181
61. WOMAN’S WELFARE: HER ROLE IN SOCIAL LIFE ........................................ 183
62. VIOLENCE AND DEMOCRACY ........................................................................... 185
63. SHOULD ONE MAKE AN IMPORTANT DECISION ALONE? .......................... 187
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64. SHOULD ONE JUDGE A PERSON BY EXTERNAL APPEARANCE? .............. 189
65. IS MONEY THE MOST IMPORTANT ASPECT OF A JOB? ............................... 191
66. IS SCIENCE A BLESSING OR CURSE? ................................................................ 193
67. MISUSE OF SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE .............................................................. 195
68. AGRICULTURE AND FOOD MANAGEMENT IN INDIA .................................. 197
69. SHOULD THE PROSTITUTION BE LEGALIZED? .............................................. 205
70. TIME IS MONEY...................................................................................................... 209
71. SHOULD RAPIST BE SENTENCED TO DEATH? ............................................... 212
72. DOWRY SYSTEM IN INDIA .................................................................................. 214
73. DO YOU SPEND MONEY OR SAVE THEM? ....................................................... 216
74. A PIECE OF JEWELLERY OR CONCERT? .......................................................... 218
75. THE FOOLS OF YESTERDAY ARE THE WISE MEN OF TODAY .................... 220
76. SPORTS OR LIBRARY? .......................................................................................... 221
77. PANCHAYATI RAJ INSTITUTION ....................................................................... 222
78. THE SPECIAL FEATURES OF CASTE SYSTEM IN INDIA ............................... 224
79. CASTE SYSTEM IN INDIA..................................................................................... 225
80. CO-EDUCATION ..................................................................................................... 228
81. COMPULSORY MILITARY TRAINING FOR CIVILIANS.................................. 230
82. VALUE OF GAMES ................................................................................................. 232
83. FEMALE EDUCATION ........................................................................................... 234
84. WOMEN AND CRIME ............................................................................................. 236
85. TRAVEL WITH A COMPANION VS. TRAVEL ALONE ..................................... 238
86. GETTING UP EARLY VS. STAYING UP LATE ................................................... 240
87. GIRL CHILD FOETICIDE: UNDOING OF HUMANITY ...................................... 242
88. DOES GOD EXIST? ................................................................................................. 244
89. DEFLATION: IS THE THREAT FOR REAL? ........................................................ 246
90. RESERVATION- SOLUTION TO THE PROBLEM .............................................. 249
91. REFERENCE :........................................................................................................... 255
92. DISCLAIMER: .......................................................................................................... 255
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India, A Software Super Power
Two mighty streams flow through India—the spiritual and the technological. They converge
at Bangalore. When Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao visited India last year, his first stop was not
the political capital New Delhi but the IT super-hub Bangalore. In this he was following in
the footsteps of his predecessor Zhu Rongji who, in his 2002 trip to India, made a point to
visit the Bangalore headquarters of Infosys, one of the world's most successful software
companies. Addressing a crowd of 4,000 IT professionals, Zhu delighted those present by
promoting a new era in Sino-Indian co-operation. "You are No 1 in software. We are No 3 in
hardware," he said. "If we put these together, we are the world's No 1." Zhu was given a
standing ovation. This statement encapsulates the emergence of India as a software power in
the 21st century. Today, the Americans feel, threatened with the Indian Brains taking up
leading positions in their country. India is last becoming the boiling pot of all the IT and
Software professionals.
India has emerged as a great reckoning; force and a dynamic nation at the dawn of this
century. The year 1985 is said to be the year which is the generator of the software and IT
revolution in India. In this year, India declared its IT policy under the leadership of late Rajiv
Gandhi. He probably saw computer as a powerful instrument of modernising the country.
Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai, manufactured die first computer in India in
1966. Later on ARC (Bhabha Atomic Research Centre) took up the task set forth in motion
by Tata institute. Later on, with the establishment of Electronic Corporation of India for
commercial manufacture of computers in India was brought about a technological
renaissance in India. The IT policy of 1985 stressed on the fact that Electronics and software
would be the answer to die problem of unemployment in die near future with a vast variety of
jobs in die two fields. Today though die problem of unemployment still stares us hi die face
due to population explosion, no one can deny die role of computers and computer
professionals in die development of India in die present world.
Today, software revolution is at its peak in India. Computers are spreading in the country at a
break neck speed. No one can deny that computers have replaced even die television. Today
computers are a common commodity in every home with small children playing games on
computers or surfing die Internet. Computers have convened die world into a small cyber-
village. A kind of computer consciousness is fast developing amongst the youdi of today.
Bangalore is popularly known as India’s Silicon Vally. Cyber cafes have sprung up all over
the city as well as over the nation-wide. The IT Park, comprising three huge tower blocks
named Innovator, Creator and Discoverer, and a second Electronics City complex represent
the leading edge of India’s information technology revolution. They have helped turn the
nation into a ‘software superpower’, in the words of Bill Gates of Microsoft.
Leading software companies, such as Infosys and Wipro Technologies, are among India’s
wealthiest private sector concerns, overtaking traditional heavy industries. Infosys made a
profit last year of $67 million. When Wipro’s shares rocketed on the Nasadq last February,
the company was valued at $62 billion. Wipro’s founder, Azim Premji, suddenly found
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himself feted as the world’s third richest man. But Premji still lives in a modest apartment
and drives a small Ford Escort.
Some 250 hi-tech companies are located at Bangalore. The IT Park, built and owned by a
consortium of Singapore businesses as well as Tatas and the state government of Karnataka,
was officially opened by Singapore’s visiting Prime Minister. It has already been running for
two years and houses some 60 of the world’s leading Indian and international software
companies.
“This is India’s Chance to lead the world,” says Dr. Udo Urbanek, Co-Director of the
German-owned SAP Labs, which occupies three floors of Discoverer. SAP is the world’s
leading developer of business software for enterprise resource planning with half of the
Fortune 500 companies among its clients. It claims 54 per cent of India’s market share and
employs 280 Indian engineers in Bangalore. The company chose India as a software
development centre, says Urbanek, because Indian IT engineers ‘are the best people on Earth.
People here are very focused on heir careers and self-development’. This is the reason for
India’s world-beating success, he believes.
Another is the nation’s reputation for excellence in science and mathematics. The Indian
Institute of Technology are world renowned, with all the engineering institutes churning out
120000 engineering graduates a year, and the nation has over 3000 computer training
institutes.
India’s software whiz kids have won world-wide acclaim in rectifying the millennium
computer bug. They are less prone to mistakes than their western counterparts, especially in
writing long and complicated software programmes. And they take advantage of the 24 hour
clock: while European and American multinationals sleep, Indian experts fix their software
glitches overnight. A third of Bill Gates’ employees are of Indian origin and upto 50,000
Indian technicians make their way to Silicon Vally each year. The former Chancellor of
Germany, Gerhard Schroder had appealed for upto 30000 IT engineers to come from India to
bridge Germany’s skill shortage.
Indian politicians are also eager to back the IT revolution. The central government gives IT
companies’ tax incentives and has slashed import duties on computer hardware and software,
from motherboards to CD-ROMs. Software exports in the past were nearly $3 billion last
year, and are predicted to reach $5.7 billion in the near future. Studies suggest they could
eventually reach $50 billion, or a third of India’s entire exports. In the domestic market,
computer sales are forecast to increase by 65 percent this year, while India’s net surfers are
expected to grow from two million to some 70 million over the next three years. A number of
other IT centres are fast developing such as Hyderabad, Gurgaon, Noida, Chandigarh, Pune,
Delhi, Indore, Kolkata, Chennai and Trivendram.
India has successfully developed an indigenous super computer Param-1000 and with it, we
have become a software superpower today. The increasing demand of Indian software
engineers is a sure signal that even the world accepts India as a software super-power to
reckon with in the present era.
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Brand positioning & punchlines...
Little did our Beloved "NETAJI" Subhash chandra Bose knew that when he requested his
followers 'Tum Mujhe Khoon Do, Main Tumhe Azaadi Doonga", he was actually marketing
a product that is'FREEDOM' with this Punchline. In the process an old women donated all
the jewellery she had for the cause of freedom even when she had lost her only child in the
battle of freedom, to 'Netaji' only due to the powerful oratory of the great leader. Such is the
impact of words.
Marketers also know the importance of powerful words and use them as 'Punchlines'for their
product/brand endorsements. Although the Punchline as a marketing tool comes under
Advertising which itself comes under the 'Promotion' of Marketing Mix. But there is a strong
need of paying special attention to these One-liners or Punchlines or Ad slogans.
POSITIONING
Subroto Sengupta in his book 'Brand Positioning' has defined the concept of positioning as:
The Position of a brand is the perception it brings about in the mind of a target customer.
This perception reflects the essence of brand in terms of its functional and non-functional
benefits in the judgment of that customer.
It is relative to the perception, held by that consumer, of competing brands, all of which can
be represented as points or positions in his or her perceptual space and together, make up a
product class.
In short 'position' represents the whole or overall perception of that brand in that consumer's
mind and it is always a relative concept.
Perhaps Charles Mittelstadt has defined 'Positioning' more accurately as "Positioning refers to
how you want your brand 'thought about' in connections with competitors in its product
category. It needs to be specific to your brand aimed at a specific target audience."
This definition clearly states the importance of 'Positioning' for the success of any brand. It is
like that indispensable vitamin to the body without whose the body will collapse. So
'Positioning' can make or break a brand. Therefore, a confused 'Positioning' can simply kill
the brand. A clear 'Positioning' will always be one of the success factor. This is the place
where Punchline comes into act. If you have to Position your brand perfectly in the mind
space of the customer, your Punchline must be so accurate and appealing that it neither erases
from the mind nor can be replaced by any other competing brands Punchline.
EXAMPLES SHOWING RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN POSITIONING AND

PUNCHLINE
Let us have a look into some of the famous Punchlines both in International and Indian
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markets and how does they respond to their 'Positioning'.
IBM ThinkPad----- " I think, therefore IBM"---- Here IBM tries to say that if you have the
capacity to think then you should go for IBM ThinkPad, the Punchline exactly conveys the
message.
Nike ----- "Just do it" ---- There is no other better way to boost the self-confidence the way
Nike has put through their famous Punchline. Thus the ad line simply communicates that
using Nike can improve your performance by enhancing the self-confidence.
Adidas ------ " Forever Sport"----- They wanted to say that whenever you think of sports
think Adidas. The Punchline perfectly associates Adidas and Sports.
7-up ----- "The Uncola"---- Perhaps the most talked about Punchline, it gave the brand a
distinctive image in the mindspace of soft drink customers.
American Express ---- "Don't leave home without it" ------The Punchline has made the card
an essentiality of lifestyle. Thus the card directly made a safe place in the wallet of the
customer for always.
Heinz Baked beans ----- "Beanz Meanz Heinz"-------The catchy, peppy punchline is easy to
settle into the brain. People can easily relate beans to Heinz.
Philips ----- "Lets make things better" ----- Philips wanted its customer to appreciate the
quality of the product, which the Punchline defines accurately.
Polaroid ----- " We don't have negatives" ---- The Punchline itself was boasting about the
uniqueness of the product, which the company was trying to position.
Crest -------- " Look, Ma, no cavities" ----- The Punchline reflects the emotional relationship
between mother and children along with the basic benefit. That's what every mother wants to
hear from her child. Perfectly positioned and perfectly communicated.
Esso ----- " Put a tiger in your tank" ---- The tiger represents 'power' and 'strength'. Esso
wants to deliver these benefits to its consumer and accordingly positioned its products which
were evident from the Punchline.
Lets have a look at the national front
Pepsi--- "Yeh dil maange more"-----Such was the effect of this punchline that an Indian
army captain after winning a battle proudly yelled "Ye dil maange more".What drives us to
buy pepsi or Coke? these punchlines.
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Raymond ---- "The Complete man"--- The Punchline gives the notion that man is not
complete unless he wears Raymond. The possession of Raymond is kind of status symbol, the
status of acquiring manhood.
Coca Cola ---- " Thanda Matlab Coca Cola" ----- People in India generally refers cold drinks
as 'thanda'. So Coke wanted to give an impression that whenever a customer think of 'Thanda'
he should think of Coca Cola. So the Punchline makes 'Thanda' equal to Coca Cola.
Birla Mutual Fund ----- "The name inspires Trust" ----- Trust is the basic platform on which
mutual fund business works. An investor will invest only in that company in which he has
confidence and trust. So the Punchline was directed towards Trust building.
Last but not the least
Wills Navy Cut ----- " Made For Each Other" --- The Punchline brings about the brand
loyalty by making the customer and the brand too close to each other. It suggests that both the
entities complement one another.
Most of the above mentioned ad lines are award winners just for the simple fact that they
conveyed their brand's positioning dead accurately.
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BRAND IMAGE AND PUNCHLINES
Brand image can be defined as the characteristics and attributes perceived of a brand by a
customer. Different consumers may have different brand images for a same brand. Brand
image includes all the properties of the brand. Brand personality and brand image are more or
less similar but the only difference is that brand personality is much more oriented towards
the emotional aspect of the brand. Brand image helps the customer to personify a brand.
Consumers always perceives brand as a human being, which has certain values, beliefs,
attitudes and characteristics apart from its functional and non-functional benefits.
Taking leverage of this point Marketers appoint Brand Ambassadors for their strategic or
Mega brand. For example Rajdoot Motorcycles tried to position itself as a macho man and
accordingly appointed film star Dharmendra to endorse the motorcycle. Again ICICI
appointed Amitabh bachchan as their Brand Ambassador for the credibility image. The
Punchline must also support the image of the Brand Ambassador; point is, the Punchline
must synchronize with it. A famous example is Sachin Tendulkar's association with Visa
card. The Punchline was 'Go get it". As Sachin is a 'go getter', never afraid of any
circumstances and gives 100% performance, so the Brand image of Visa card was totally in
tandem with the image of Sachin and the Punchline depicts the same thing. Thus we can
safely conclude that Punchline is the Bridge between Positioning and Brand image.
IMPORTANCE OF PUNCHLINES AND WHEN THEY ARE USED
It is very difficult to find out the right Punchline. Marketers have to select right words to form
that sentences which can correctly express the positioning strategy of the brand. A bad
Punchline can kill a good 'ad'. For example the recent global ad of McDonalds, the ad line is "
I'm lovin it" sung by N-sync guy Justin Timberlake. Critics are simply asking the relationship
between Positioning and Communication.
When a Marketer launches any new brand, the general idea is that initially he has to increase
the awareness among the consumers by differentiating it from the offerings of the existing
competitors or differentiating it from the same need fulfilling products. For that he has to
convey his USP in its Positioning. The most basic job of a Punchline is to carry this USP
along with it. Consumers must be able to figure out the USP from the Punchlines.
Also whenever Marketers reposition a brand, Punchlines play a major role in it. It acts
through the concept of Kurt Lewin's change model theory.
At first the customer possess certain beliefs about the values, attributes and benefits about the
brand, which may not be satisfactory. A perfect repositioning Punchline instigates the
consumer to 'unfreeze' that behavior and makes him ready to change. If the Punchline strikes
him as attractive due to repeated exposure it 'changes' the mindset of the customer creating
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new set of beliefs. Then due to consistency or when the benefits of the product match with
the new expectations, which has been imbibed by the new Punchline, this new behavior
'freezes'.
It really needs lots of strategies to build up an accurate and catchy Punchline to set the
Positioning of the brand in the mind space of the customer. The Punchline represents the
values of the company, benefits, attributes, features, quality, cost, special technology and last
but not the least the ' USP'. If we really want to appreciate the value of Punchlines, then
imagine an advertisement without any Punchline. It looks like a dumb. So basically the
Punchline is the voice of the brand, which primarily gives out the minimum momentum,
thrust or impetus to push the brand in the mind of the customer. Is Punchline the 5th 'P' of the
Marketing mix?"
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ROLE OF BANKS AND FINANCIAL
INSTITUTIONS IN ECONOMY
Money lending in one form or the other has evolved along with the history of the mankind.
Even in the ancient times there are references to the moneylenders. Shakespeare also referred
to ‘Shylocks’ who made unreasonable demands in case the loans were not repaid in time
along with interest. Indian history is also replete with the instances referring to indigenous
money lenders, Sahukars and Zamindars involved in the business of money lending by
mortgaging the landed property of the borrowers.
Towards the beginning of the twentieth century, with the onset of modern industry in the
country, the need for government regulated banking system was felt. The British government
began to pay attention towards the need for an organised banking sector in the country and
Reserve Bank of India was set up to regulate the formal banking sector in the country. But the
growth of modern banking remained slow mainly due to lack of surplus capital in the Indian
economic system at that point of time. Modern banking institutions came up only in big cities
and industrial centres. The rural areas, representing vast majority of Indian society, remained
dependent on the indigenous money lenders for their credit needs.
Independence of the country heralded a new era in the growth of modern banking. Many
new commercial banks came up in various parts of the country. As the modern banking
network grew, the government began to realise that the banking sector was catering only to
the needs of the well-to-do and the capitalists. The interests of the poorer sections as well as
those of the common man were being ignored.
In 1969, Indian government took a historic decision to nationalise 14 biggest private

commercial banks. A few more were nationalised after a couple of years. This resulted in
transferring the ownership of these banks to the State and the Reserve Bank of India could
then issue directions to these banks to fund the national programmes, the rural sector, the plan
priorities and the priority sector at differential rate of interest. This resulted in providing
fillip the banking facilities to the rural areas, to the under-privileged and the downtrodden. It
also resulted in financial inclusion of all categories of people in almost all the regions of the
country.
However, after almost two decades of bank nationalisation some new issues became
contextual. The service standards of the public sector banks began to decline. Their
profitability came down and the efficiency of the staff became suspect. Non-performing
assets of these banks began to rise. The wheel of time had turned a full circle by early
nineties and the government after the introduction of structural and economic reforms in the
financial sector, allowed the setting up of new banks in the private sector.
The new generation private banks have now established themselves in the system and have
set new standards of service and efficiency. These banks have also given tough but healthy
competition to the public sector banks.
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Modern Day Role
Banking system and the Financial Institutions play very significant role in the economy. First
and foremost is in the form of catering to the need of credit for all the sections of society. The
modern economies in the world have developed primarily by making best use of the credit
availability in their systems. An efficient banking system must cater to the needs of high end
investors by making available high amounts of capital for big projects in the industrial,
infrastructure and service sectors. At the same time, the medium and small ventures must also
have credit available to them for new investment and expansion of the existing units. Rural
sector in a country like India can grow only if cheaper credit is available to the farmers for
their short and medium term needs.
Credit availability for infrastructure sector is also extremely important. The success of any
financial system can be fathomed by finding out the availability of reliable and adequate
credit for infrastructure projects. Fortunately, during the past about one decade there has been
increased participation of the private sector in infrastructure projects.
The banks and the financial institutions also cater to another important need of the society
i.e. mopping up small savings at reasonable rates with several options. The common man has
the option to park his savings under a few alternatives, including the small savings schemes
introduced by the government from time to time and in bank deposits in the form of savings
accounts, recurring deposits and time deposits. Another option is to invest in the stocks or
mutual funds.
In addition to the above traditional role, the banks and the financial institutions also perform
certain new-age functions which could not be thought of a couple of decades ago. The facility
of internet banking enables a consumer to access and operate his bank account without
actually visiting the bank premises. The facility of ATMs and the credit/debit cards has
revolutionised the choices available with the customers. The banks also serve as alternative
gateways for making payments on account of income tax and online payment of various bills
like the telephone, electricity and tax. The bank customers can also invest their funds in
various stocks or mutual funds straight from their bank accounts. In the modern day
economy, where people have no time to make these payments by standing in queue, the
service provided by the banks is commendable.
While the commercial banks cater to the banking needs of the people in the cities and towns,
there is another category of banks that looks after the credit and banking needs of the people
living in the rural areas, particularly the farmers. Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) have been
sponsored by many commercial banks in several States. These banks, along with the
cooperative banks, take care of the farmer-specific needs of credit and other banking
facilities.
Future
Till a few years ago, the government largely patro-nized the small savings schemes in which
not only the interest rates were higher, but the income tax rebates and incentives were also in
plenty. The bank deposits, on the other hand, did not entail such benefits. As a result, the
small savings were the first choice of the investors. But for the last few years the trend has
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been reversed. The small savings, the bank deposits and the mutual funds have been brought
at par for the purpose of incentives under the income tax. Moreover, the interest rates in the
small savings schemes are no longer higher than those offered by the banks.
Banks today are free to determine their interest rates within the given limits prescribed by the
RBI. It is now easier for the banks to open new branches. But the banking sector reforms are
still not complete. A lot more is required to be done to revamp the public sector banks.
Mergers and amalgamation is the next measure on the agenda of the government. The
government is also preparing to disinvest some of its equity from the PSU banks. The option
of allowing foreign direct investment beyond 50 per cent in the Indian banking sector has
also been under consideration.
Banks and financial intuitions have played major role in the economic development of the
country and most of the credit- related schemes of the government to uplift the poorer and the
under-privileged sections have been implemented through the banking sector. The role of the
banks has been important, but it is going to be even more important in the future.
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Is Gandhi relevant today?
Gandhism is a way of life. The Father of the Nation will continue to inspire generations to
come
Pulitzer Prize winning author and journalist Joseph Lelyveld’s book Great Soul: Mahatma
Gandhi and His Struggle With India has brought back into focus the magnanimous figure that
has never stopped fascinating even the critics, more than 60 years after he was shot dead,
Mahatma Gandhi. The Gujarat government has banned the book. Would Gandhi, the
advocate of free speech, be happy with such a move of the State if he were alive today?
India attained Independence not before the country was scarred by foreign rule for centuries.
Freedom fighters like Mahatma Gandhi fought with courage and sowed the seeds of a free,
independent and vibrant India that could re-claim its rightful place in the world.
Mahatma Gandhi was a self-created man who held high moral grounds throughout his life.
His philosophy of Ahimsa has takers all around the world and it is not easy to understand him
by just reading a few books. Gandhism is a way of life.
Gandhi’s social concern and love for the poor is visible in his note in which he gives us a
Talisman. The Father of the Nation exhorts anyone in doubt to think of the poor and bring
Swaraj (freedom) for the hungry through his actions.
And as India struggles to battle dishonest behaviour of those in authority, Gandhians like
Anna Hazare still manage to pressurize the government through Gandhian tools like ‘fast
unto death’. It must be remembered that Anna Hazare started a ‘fast unto death’ at Jantar
Mantar in New Delhi on April 5, 2011 to press for his demand for a Lokpal who would check
corruption in public life.
Even the recent agitations in Egypt and Tunisia against the autocratic rules of Hosni Mubarak
and Zine El Abidine Ben Ali were peaceful and yet successful. So it can be rightly
ascertained that Gandhism will continue to guide the conscience of those who seek to
establish parity and seek justice for all.
The likes of Akeel Bilgrami and others are doing some good work on Gandhi. He will
continue to inspire generations to come.
15
STATE OF INDIA’S ECONOMY
In the second half of 2008-09 there was a significant slowdown in the growth rate, following
the financial crisis that hit the world in 2007. The fiscal year 2009-10, thus, began on a
difficult note. There was apprehension that the slow-down will continue to affect the
economy thus making 2009-10 a difficult year.
However, 2009-10 turned out to be a year of reckoning for the policy makers, who took a
calculated risk by providing substantial fiscal expansion to counter the negative fallout of the
global slowdown.
The downside of the fiscal stimulus was that India’s fiscal deficit increased, reaching 6.8 per
cent of GDP in 2009-10. A sub-normal monsoon added to the overall uncertainty.
Despite all odds the economy, at the end of the financial year, posted a remarkable recovery,
not only in terms of overall growth figures but, more importantly, in terms of certain
fundamentals, which justify optimism for the Indian economy in the medium to long term.
The real turnaround came in the second quarter of 2009-10 when the economy grew by 7.9
per cent. As per the advance estimates of GDP for 2009-10, released by the Central
Statistical Organisation (CSO), the economy is expected to grow at 7.2 per cent in 2009-10,
with the industrial and the service sectors growing at 8.2 and 8.7 per cent respectively.
This recovery is impressive for at least three reasons. First, it has come about despite a
decline of 0.2 per cent in agricultural output, which was the consequence of sub-normal
monsoons. Second, it fore-shadows renewed momentum in the manufacturing sector, which
had seen continuous decline in the growth rate for almost eight quarters since 2007-08.
Indeed, manufacturing growth has more than doubled from 3.2 per cent in 2008-09 to 8.9 per
cent in 2009-10. Third, there has been a recovery in the growth rate of gross fixed capital
formation, which had declined significantly in 2008-09 as per the revised National Accounts
Statistics (NAS). While the growth rates of private and government final consumption
expenditure have dipped in private consumption demand, there has been a pick-up in the
growth of private investment demand.
There has also been a turnaround in merchandise export growth in November 2009, which
has been sustained in December 2009, after a decline nearly twelve continuous months.
The broad- based nature of the recovery created scope for a gradual rollback, in due course,
of some of the measures undertaken to overcome global slowdown effects on Indian
economy, so as to put the economy back on to the growth path of 9 per cent per annum.
The emergence of high double-digit food inflation during the second half of the financial
year 2009-10 was a major cause of concern. On a year-on-year basis, wholesale price index
16
(WPI) headline inflation in December 2009 was 7.3 per cent, but for food items (primary and
manufactured), with a combined weight of 25.4 per cent in the WPI basket, it was 19.8 per
cent. A significant part of this inflation was due to supply-side bottle-necks in some of the
essential commodities, precipitated by the delayed and sub-normal southwest monsoons.
Overall GDP growth

The CSO has effected a revision in the base year from 1999-2000 to 2004-05. It includes
changes on account of certain refinements in definitions of some aggregates, widening of
coverage, inclusion of long-term survey results and the normal revision in certain data in
respect of 2008-09. While there are no major changes in the overall growth rate of GDP at
constant 2004-05 prices, except for 2007-08 where it has been revised upward from 9.0 to 9.2
per cent, there are some changes in growth rates at sectoral level and in the level estimates of
GDP.
The contribution of the agriculture sector to the GDP at factor cost in 2004-05 has
declined from 17.4 per cent in the old series to 15.9 per cent in the new series. Similarly,
while the contribution of registered manufacturing has declined from 10.9 per cent in the old
series to 9.9 per cent in the new series, that of unregistered manufacturing has increased from
4.9 to 5.4 per cent.
There is also an increase in the contribution of real estate, ownership of dwellings and
business services from 8.2 per cent to 8.9 per cent.
In the case of level estimates of GDP at current prices, the difference ranges from 3.1 per
cent in 2004-05 to 6 per cent in 2008-09. As a result, there are also changes in the
expenditure estimates of the GDP.
The advance estimate of GDP growth at 7.2 per cent for 2009-10, falls within the range of 7
+/- 0.75 projected nearly a year ago in the Economic Survey 2008-09. With the downside risk
to growth due to the delayed and sub-normal monsoons having been contained to a large
extent, through the likelihood of a better-than-average rabi agricultural season, the economy
responded well to the policy measures undertaken in the wake of the global financial crisis.
While the GDP at factor costs at constant 2004-05 prices, is placed at Rs 44,53,064 crore, the
GDP at market prices, at constant prices, is estimated at Rs 47, 67,142 crore. The
corresponding figures at current prices are Rs 57,91,268 crore and Rs 61, 64,178 crore,
respectively.
The recovery in GDP growth for 2009-10 is broad based. Seven out of eight sectors/sub-
sectors show a growth rate of 6.5 per cent or higher. The exception is agriculture and allied
sectors where the growth rate is estimated to be minus 0.2 per cent over 2008-09. Sectors,
including mining and quarrying, manufacturing; and electricity, gas and water supply have
significantly improved their growth rates at over 8 per cent in comparison with 2008-09.
The construction sector and trade, hotels, transport and communication have also improved
17
their growth rates over the preceding year, though to a lesser extent. However, the growth
rate of community, social and personal services has declined significantly, though it
continues to be around its pre-global crisis medium-term trend growth rate.
Financing, insurance, real estate and business services have retained their growth momentum
at around 10 per cent in 2009-10.
In terms of sectoral shares, the share of agriculture and allied sectors in GDP at factor cost
has declined gradually from 18.9 per cent in 2004-05 to 14.6 per cent in 2009-10. During the
same period, the share of industry has remained the same at about 28 per cent, while that of
services has gone up from 53.2 per cent in 2004-05 to 57.2 per cent in 2009-10.
Per capita growth

The growth rates in per capita income and consumption, which are gross measures of welfare
in general, have declined since 2008. This is a reflection of the slowdown in the overall GDP
growth. While the growth in per capita income, measured in terms of GDP at constant
market prices, has declined from a high of 8.1 per cent in 2007-08 to 3.7 per cent in 2008-09
and then recovered to 5.3 per cent in 2009-10, per capita consumption growth as captured
in the private final consumption expenditure (PFCE) shows a declining trend since 2007-08
with its growth rate in 2009-10 falling to one-third of that in 2007-08. The average growth in
per capita consumption over the period 2005-06 to 2009-10 was slower at 6.08 per cent than
that in per capita income at 6.52 per cent. These year to year differences in growth rates can
be explained by the rising savings rate and also the rise in tax collections that have been
observed in some of these years.
Aggregate demand and its composition

The change in the base year, from 1999-2000 to the new base of 2004-05, has brought about
significant revision in the expenditure estimates of the GDP for 2008-09. Whilegrowth of the
PFCE in 2008-09 was revised upward from 2.9 per cent to 6.8 per cent, growth in
government final consumption expenditure was revised downwards from over 20 per cent in
2008-09 on the old base to 16.7 per cent on the new base. In 2009-10 a growth of 4.1 per cent
is expected in private final expenditure and 8.2 per cent in government final expenditure.
There is a significant decline in the growth of consumption expenditure in 2009-10.

However, the overall share of consumption expenditure, both private as well as government
in GDP at market prices, at constant 2004-05 prices, has declined only marginally from 70.9
per cent in 2008-09 to 69.6 per cent in 2009-10.
At the same time, the growth rate of gross fixed capital formation in 2008-09 has also
undergone a revision. It was revised downward from 8.2 per cent in the earlier base to 4 per
cent in the revised base for 2008-09. It is, however, estimated to grow by 5.2 per cent in
2009-10.
With growth in private expenditure on food, beverages and tobacco falling behind the
18
overall growth in private consumption expenditure, the share of expenditure on food items
has gradually been declining over the years. As per the CSO data, it was 35.3 per cent in
2008-09 as against 39.6 per cent in 2004-05. At the same time, the growth in expenditure on
transport and communication and miscellaneous goods and services has been increasing,
though with occasional aberrations, with the result that together they account for nearly the
same share in total private consumption as the expenditure on food items.
Agriculture
Total foodgrains production in 2008-09 was estimated at 233.88 million tonnes as against
230.78 million tonnes in 2007-08 and 217.28 million tonnes in 2006-07. In the agricultural
season 2009-10, the impact of the delayed and sub-normal monsoon is reflected in the
production and acreage data for kharif crops. As per the first advance estimates, covering
only the kharif crop, production of foodgrains is estimated at 98.83 million tonnes in 2009-
10, as against the fourth advance estimates of 117.70 million tonnes for the kharif crop in
2008-09 and a target of 125.15 million tonnes for 2009-10.
Overall production of kharif cereals in 2009-10 has shown a decline of 18.51 million tonnes
over 2008-09.
In terms of acreage, the kharif 2009-10 season saw a decline of nearly 6.5 per cent or 46.18
lakh ha in the area covered under foodgrains. Almost the entire decline in this acreage was
confined to the kharif rice crop. Some of this decline in acreage may have been made up by
the increased acreage in the rabi season.
Industry and Infrastructure

The cyclical slowdown in the industrial sector, which began in 2007-08 and got compounded
by the global commodity price shock and the impact of the global slowdown during the
course of 2008, was arrested at the beginning of 2009-10. After the first two months of 2009-
10, there were clear signs of recovery. While the CSO’s advance estimates place industrial-
sector growth at 8.2 per cent, as against 3.9 per cent in 2008-09, the IIP industrial growth is
estimated at 7.7 per cent for the period April-November 2009-10, significantly up from 0.6
per cent during the second half of 2008-09. The manufacturing sector, in particular, has
grown at the rate of 8.9 per cent in 2009-10.
Core industries and infrastructure services, led by the robust growth momentum of
telecom services and spread across power, coal and other infrastructure like ports, civil
aviation and roads, have also shown signs of recovery in 2009-10. In the current fiscal,
electricity generation emerged from the lacklustre growth witnessed in the previous year and
equalled its performance in 2007-08. That this was achieved despite constraints imposed by
the inadequate availability of coal and the dismal hydel generation scenario due to the sub-
normal monsoon, attests well to its potential.
The domestic supply of crude oil remained around 34 million metric tonnes (mmt) and
natural gas at about 32 billion cubic metric tonnes during the past five years. With 15 new oil
19
and gas discoveries during 2009-10, the domestic availability is expected to improve. During
2009-10, the projected production for crude oil is 36.7 mmt, which is about 11 per cent
higher than the actual crude oil production of 33.5 mmt in 2008-09.
In 2009-10, as against the stipulated target of developing about a 3,165 km ofnational

highways under various phases of the National Highway Development Project (NHDP), the
achievement up to end November 2009 has been about 1,490 km. Similarly, as against the
2009-10 target of about 9,800 km for awarding projects under various phases of the NHDP,
projects totalling a length of about 1,285 km have been awarded up to end November 2009.
The service sector which has been India’s workhorse for well over a decade has continued to
grow rapidly. Following the NAS classification, it comprises the sub-sectors trade, hotels,
transport and communications; financing, insurance, real estate and business services; and
community, social and personal services. As against a growth of 9.8 per cent in 2008-09 it
grew at 8.7 per cent in 2009-10.
Savings and investments

Gross domestic savings (GDS) at current prices in 2008-09 were estimated at Rs 18,11,585
crore, amounting to 32.5 per cent of GDP at market prices as against 36.4 per cent in the
previous year. The fall in the rate of GDS has mainly been due to the fall in the rates of
savings of the public sector (from 5.0 per cent in 2007-08 to 1.4 per cent in 2008-09) and
private corporate sector (from 8.7 per cent in 2007-08 to 8.4 per cent in 2008-09).
In respect of the household sector, the rate of saving has remained at the same level of 22.6
per cent in 2007-08 and 2008-09. The rate of GDS on the new series increased from 32.2 per
cent in 2004-05 to 36.4 per cent in 2007-08 before declining to 32.5 per cent in 2009-10, as
against the old series where it rose from 31.7 per cent in 2004-05 to 37.7 per cent in 2007-08.
Gross domestic capital formation (GDCF) at current prices (adjusted for errors and
omissions) increased from Rs18,65,899 crore in 2007-08 to Rs19,44,328 crore in 2008-09
and at constant (2004-05) prices, it decreased from Rs16,22,226 crore in 2007- 08 to
Rs15,57,757 crore in 2008-09. The rate of gross capital formation at current prices rose from
32.7 per cent in 2004-05 to 37.7 per cent in 2007-08 before declining to 34.9 per cent in
2008-09.
The sectoral investment rate is a useful indicator of the direction of new investments. While
the overall growth of investment in India was in the range of 15 to 16 per cent per annum
during the last few years, it plunged to -2.4 per cent in 2008-09 as a result of the external
shock-led slowdown. At sectoral level, there has been a welcome rebound in the growth rate
of investment in the agricultural sector, which grew at 16.5 per cent and 26.0 per cent in
2007-08 and 2008-09 respectively. This is in contrast to the growth rate of 1.4 per cent
recorded in
2006-07.
20
Prices and Inflation
The year-on-year WPI inflation rate was fairly volatile in 2009-10. It was 1.2 per cent in
March 2009 and then declined continuously to become negative during June-August 2009,
assisted in part by the large statistical base effect from the previous year. It turned positive in
September 2009 and accelerated to 4.8 per cent in November 2009 and further to 7.3 per cent
in December 2009. For March to December 2009 period WPI inflation was estimated at 8 per
cent.
Year-on-year inflation in the composite food index (with a weight of 25.4 per cent) at 19.8
per cent in December 2009 was significantly higher than 8.6 per cent in previous year. In
respect of food articles, inflation on year-on-year basis in December was 19.2 per cent and on
fiscal-year basis (i.e. over March 2009) it was 18.3 per cent. At the same time, the composite
non-food inflation within the manufactured group of the WPI (with a weight of 53.7 per cent)
at 2.4 per cent in December 2009, was lower than the 6.7 per cent recorded in previous year.
A significant part of this inflation can be explained by supply-side bottlenecks in some of the
essential commodities, precipitated by the delayed and sub-normal south-west monsoons as
well as drought-like conditions in some parts of the country. The delayed and erratic
monsoons may also have prevented the seasonal decline in prices, normally seen during the
period from October to March for most food articles other than wheat, from setting in. At the
same time, it could be argued that excessive hype about kharif crop failure, not taking into
account the comfortable situation in respect of food stocks and the possibility of an improved
rabi crop, may have exacerbated inflationary expectations encouraging hoarding and resulting
in a higher inflation in food items. This is supported by the estimates on shortfall in
production/availability of major food items in 2009-10 for rice and wheat, as also for some
other items, except pulses. In the case of sugar, delay in the market release of imported raw
sugar may have contributed to the overall uncertainty, thereby allowing prices to rise to
unacceptably high levels in recent months.
The implicit deflator for GDP at market prices defined as the ratio of GDP at current prices
to GDP at constant prices is the most comprehensive measure of inflation on annual basis,
Unlike the WPI, the GDP deflator also covers prices in the services sector which now
accounts for well over 55 per cent of the GDP. Overall inflation, as measured by the
aggregate deflator for GDPMP, increased from 4.7 per cent in 2005-06 to 5.6 per cent in
2006-07 and then declined to 5.3 per cent in 2007-08, before rising again to 7.2 per cent in
2008-09. It has been estimated at 3.6 per cent in 2009-10 as per the advance estimates.
External-sector Developments
The global economy, led by the Asian economies especially China and India, has shown
signs of recovery in fiscal 2009-10. While global trade is gradually picking up, the other
indicators of economic activity such as capital flows, assets and commodity prices are more
buoyant.
As per the latest data for fiscal 2009-10, exports and imports showed substantial decline
21
during April-September (H1) of 2009-10 vis-à-vis the corresponding period in 2008-09.
However, there has been improvement in the balance of payments (BoP) situation during H1
of 2009-10 over H1 of 2008-09, reflected in higher net capital inflows and lower trade deficit.
The trade deficit was lower at US$ 58.2 billion during H1 (April-September) of 2009 as
compared to US$ 64.4 billion in April-September 2008 mainly on account of decline in oil
import.
The net invisibles surplus (invisibles receipts minus invisibles payments) stood lower at
US$ 39.6 billion during April-September of 2009 as compared to US$ 48.5 billion during
April-September 2008. The current account deficit increased to US $ 18.6 billion in April-
September 2009, despite a lower trade deficit, as compared to US $ 15.8 billion in April-
September 2008, mainly due to the lower net invisibles surplus.
Net capital flows to India at US $ 29.6 billion in April-September 2009 remained higher as
compared to US $ 12.0 billion in April-September 2008. All the components, except loans
and banking capital that comprise net capital flows, showed improvement during April-
September 2009 from the level in the corresponding period of the previous year.
Net inward FDI into India remained buoyant at US$ 21.0 billion during April-September
2009 (US $ 20.7 billion in April-September 2008) reflecting better growth performance of the
Indian economy. Due to large inward FDI, the net FDI (inward FDI minus outward FDI) was
marginally higher at US$ 14.1 billion in April-September 2009, reflecting better growth
performance of the Indian economy.
Portfolio investment mainly comprising foreign institutional investors’ (FIIs) investments

and American depository receipts (ADRs)/global depository receipts (GDRs) witnessed large
net inflows (US $ 17.9 billion) in April-September 2009 (net outflows of US $ 5.5 billion in
April-September 2008) due to large purchases by FIIs in the Indian capital market reflecting
revival in growth prospects of the economy and improvement in global investors’ sentiment.
Given the uncertain global context, the government did not fix an export target for 2009-10.
Instead, the Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) 2009-14 set the objective of anannual export
growth of 15 per cent with an export target of US$ 200 billion by March 2011. With the
deepening of the global recession, the beginning of 2009-10 saw acceleration in the fall of
export growth rate. The upwardly revised export figures for the first half of 2008-09 also
contributed to the faster decline in the growth rate. While the export growth rate was a
negative 22.3 per cent in April-November 2008-09, in November 2009, it became a positive
18.2 per cent after a 13-month period of negative growth. This significant turnaround is due
to the low base figures in November 2008 (at $11.2 billion compared to $14.1 billion in
October 2008 and $13.4 billion in December 2008). The export growth rate in November
2009 over October 2009 was marginally positive at 0.04 per cent. In December 2009 the
recovery in export growth has continued with a positive year-on-year growth of 9.3 per cent
and a growth of 10.7 per cent over the previous month.
22
During 2009-10 (April-December) import growth was a negative 23.6 per cent accompanied
by a decline in both POL and non-POL imports of 29.8 per cent and 20.7 per cent
respectively. Gold and silver imports registered negative growth of 7.3 per cent primarily on
account of the volatility in gold prices. The continuous rise in prices of gold also dampened
the demand. Non-POL non-bullion imports declined by 22.4 per cent reflecting slowdown in
industrial activity and lower demand for exports. Import growth was at a positive 27.2 per
cent in December 2009 due partly to the base effect and partly the 42.8 per cent increase in
the growth of POL products with the pick-up in oil prices and industrial demand. Non-POL
items also registered a significant growth in imports at 22.4 per cent, despite a high negative
growth of gold and silver imports.
Trade deficit fell by 28.2 per cent to US$ 76.2 billion (as per customs data) in 2009-10
(April– December) from US$ 106 billion in the corresponding period of the previous year.
There have been significant changes in the composition and direction of both exports and
imports in this period.
During fiscal 2009-10, foreign exchange reserves increased by US$ 31.5 billion from US$
252.0 billion in end March 2009 to US$ 283.5 billion in end December 2009. Out of the total
accretion of US$ 31.5 billion, US$ 11.2 billion (35.6 per cent) was on BoP basis (i.e
excluding valuation effect), because of higher inflows under FDI and portfolio investments,
while accretion of US$ 20.3 billion (64.4 per cent) was on account of valuation gain due to
weakness of the US dollar against major currencies.
Besides, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) concluded the purchase of 200 metric tonnes of
gold from the IMF, under the IMF’s limited gold sales programme at the cost of US$ 6.7
billion in the month of November 2009. Further, a general allocation of SDR 3,082 million
(equivalent to US$ 4,821 million) and a special allocation of SDR 214.6 million (equivalent
to US$ 340 million) were made to India by the IMF on August 28, 2009 and September 9,
2009, respectively.
Monetary Policy
Since the outbreak of the global financial crisis in September 2008, the RBI followed an
accommodative monetary policy. In the course of 2009-10, this stance was principally geared
towards supporting early recovery of the growth momentum, while facilitating the
unprecedented borrowing requirement of the government to fund its fiscal deficit. The fact
that the latter was managed well with nearly two-thirds of the borrowing being completed in
the first half of the fiscal year not only helped in checking undue pressure on interest rates,
but also created the space for the revival of private investment demand in the second half of
the year.
The transmission of monetary policy measures continues to be sluggish and differential in its
impact across various segments of the financial markets. The downward revisions in policy
rates announced by the RBI post-September 2008 got transmitted into the money and G-Sec
markets; however, the transmission was slow and lagged the in the case of the credit market.
23
Though lending rates of all categories of banks (public, private and foreign) declined
marginally from March 2009 (with benchmark prime lending rates [BPLR] of scheduled
commercial banks [SCBs] having declined by 25 to 100 basis points), the decline was not
sufficient to accelerate the demand for bank credit. Consequently, while borrowers turned to
alternate sources of possibly cheaper finance to meet their funding needs, banks flush with
liquidity parked their surplus funds under the reverse repo window.
Demand for bank credit/non-food credit remained muted during 2009-10. It was only from
November 2009 that some signs of pick-up became evident. On financial-year basis (over end
March), growth in non-food credit remained negative till June 2009. It picked up thereafter,
only to hover between 0.0 to 1.8 per cent till mid-September 2009. Consistent growth in non-
food credit was recorded only after November 2009.
Growth in sectoral deployment of gross bank credit on a year-on-year basis (as on

November 20, 2010) shows that retail credit has not picked up during 2009-10. While growth
in credit to agriculture remained more or less the same as on the corresponding date of the
preceding year, for the other broad sectors–industry, personal loans and services—growth in
credit decelerated as compared to the corresponding period of the preceding year.
Fiscal Policy Developments

The fiscal expansion undertaken by the Central government as a part of the policy response to
counter the impact of the global economic slowdown in 2008-09 was continued in fiscal
2009-10. The expansion took the form of tax relief to boost demand and increased
expenditure on public projects to create employment and public assets. The net result was an
increase in fiscal deficit from 2.6 per cent in 2007-08 to 5.9 per cent of the revised GDP (new
series) in 2008-09 (provisional) and 6.5 per cent in the budget estimates for 2009-10 (as
against 6.8 per cent of the GDP on the old series, reported earlier). Thus the fiscal stimulus
amounted to 3.3 per cent of the GDP in 2008-09 and 3.9 per cent in 2009-10 from the level of
the fiscal deficit in 2007-08.
As part of the fiscal stimulus, the government also enhanced the borrowing limits of the State
governments by relaxing the targets by 100 basis points. As a result, the gross fiscal deficit of
the States combined rose from 1.4 per cent of the GDP in 2007-08 to 2.6 per cent in 2008-09
(revised estimates [RE]) and was estimated at 3.2 per cent of the GDP in 2009-10 (BE).
The relative success of the fiscal stimulus in supporting effective demand, particularly the
consumption demand, in 2008-09 and 2009-10 could be traced to its composition. The
approach of the government was to increase the disposable income in the hands of the people,
for instance by effecting reductions in indirect taxes (excise and service tax) and by
expanding public expenditure on programmes like the National Rural Employment Guarantee
Act (NREGA) and on rural infrastructure.
The implementation of the Sixth Pay Commission recommendations and the debt relief to
farmers also contributed to this end. The fact that the approach worked is attested to by the
24
GDP growth rate and more specifically by the growth in private consumption demand in
2008-09 and also in 2009-10 as reflected in the relevant data on the NAS new series.
Consumption expenditure, by its very nature, has short lags, and affects demand quickly, with
little or no effect on productivity, while productive infrastructure expenditure takes much
longer to translate into effective demand. The recovery having taken root now necessitates a
review of public spending. It has to be geared towards building medium-term productivity of
the economy and making up for the decline in investment growth in certain sectors of the
economy.
Social-sector Development
Fiscal 2009-10 saw the strengthening of several public initiatives and programmes with a
view to cushioning the impact of the global slowdown on the more vulnerable segments of
the population in the country. While some of these programmes were a part of the ongoing
interventions to give effect to a more inclusive development strategy, there were some
measures that were undertaken as a direct response to the slowdown of growth, especially in
the tradable sectors of the economy. Thus emphasis in favour of higher allocation to social-
sector development given in recent years continued to be reflected in the allocations under the
Union Budget 2009-10. Theshare of Central government expenditure on social
services, including rural development in total expenditure (Plan and non-Plan), increased to
19.46 per cent in 2009-10 (BE) from about 10.46 per cent in 2003-04. Similarly, expenditure
on social services by general government (Centre and States combined) as a proportion of
total expenditure increased from 19.9 per cent in 2004-05 to 23.8 per cent in 2009-10 (BE).
A major concern was regarding the possibility of a rise in unemployment due to the
slowdown of the economy. While comprehensive employment data for the current financial
year are not available, some sample surveys conducted by the Labour Bureau, Ministry of
Labour and Employment, government of India, indicated job losses in the wake of the global
financial crisis, which seemed to reverse in later part of 2009-10. Employment is estimated to
have declined by 4.91 lakh during the third quarter (October-December) of 2008; it increased
by 2.76 lakh during January-March 2009, followed by a decline of 1.31 lakh during April-
June 2009, and then an increase of 4.97 lakh during the second quarter (July-September)
2009.
Under the NREGA, which is a major rural employment initiative, during the year 2009-10,
4.34 crore households were provided employment till December 2009.
Road Ahead
There are some deep changes that have taken place in India, which suggest that the
economy’s fundamentals are strong. First, the rates of savings and investment have reached
levels that even ten years ago would have been dismissed as a pipedream for India. On this
important dimension, India is now completely a part of the world’s fast growing economies.
In 2008-09 gross domestic savings as a percentage of GDP were 32.5 per cent and gross
domestic capital formation 34.9 per cent. These figures, which are a little lower than what
25
had been achieved before the fiscal stimulus was put into place, fall comfortably within the
range of figures one traditionally associated with the East Asian economies. Since these
indicators are some of the strongest correlates of growth and do not fluctuate wildly, they
speak very well for India’s medium-term growth prospects. It also has to be kept in mind that
as the demographic dividend begins to pay off in India, with the working age-group
population rising disproportionately over the next two decades, the savings rate is likely to
rise further.
Second, the arrival of India’s corporations in the global market place, and informal indicators
of the sophisticated corporate culture that many of these companies exhibit, lends to the
optimistic prognosis for the economy in the medium to long run.
In the medium term it is reasonable to expect that the economy will go back to the robust
growth path of around 9 per cent that it was on before the global crisis slowed it down in
2008. To begin with, there has been a revival in investment and private consumption demand,
though the recovery is yet to attain the pre-2008 momentum. Second, Indian exports have
recorded impressive growth in November and December 2009 and early indications of the
January 2010 data on exports are also encouraging. Further, infrastructure services, including
railway transport, power, telecommunications and, more recently but to a lesser extent, civil
aviation, have shown a remarkable turnaround since the second quarter of 2009-10. The
favourable capital market conditions with improvement in capital flows and business
sentiments, as per the RBI’s business expectations survey, are also encouraging. Finally, the
manufacturing sector has been showing a buoyancy in recent months that was rarely seen
before. The growth rate of the index of industrial production for December 2009 was a
remarkable 16.8 per cent. There is also a substantial pick-up in corporate earnings and profit
margins.
Hence, going by simple calculations based on the above-mentioned variables, coupled with
the fact that agriculture did have a set-back in 2009 and is only gradually getting back to the
projected path, a reasonable forecast for the year 2010-11 is that the economy will improve
its GDP growth by around 1 percentage point from that witnessed in 2009-10. Thus, allowing
for factors beyond the reach of domestic policy-makers, such as the performance of the
monsoon and rate of recovery of the global economy, the Indian GDP can be expected to
grow around 8.5, with a full recovery breaching the 9 per cent mark in 2011-12.
26
INFLATION IN INDIA : FUELLED BY DEMAND?
Recent spurt in prices came as a rude shock to the government which was preparing to take
on the serious economic challenges like tumbling of the stock exchanges in the country and
global slowdown. In a democratic system like ours, nothing can be more worrying to the
party in power than the soaring prices in an election year. Surprisingly, the inflationary
pressure is coupled with the reduction in economic growth of the country, and defying the
principles of monetary theory, the Indian economy is behaving like a typical developing
economy. By the end of March, the inflation rate had reached an alarming 7.41 per cent level
and has been hovering above 7 per cent thereafter.
No one need to scratch one’s head to find out the reasons for the price rise in the recent
weeks, despite several desperate measures taken by the government to control it. First and
foremost is the global environment. Globally, the prices of food articles have risen by about
75 per cent during the last about six months. The situation is so precarious in the African
continent that groups of people suffering from hunger in several African countries have tried
to loot the foodgrain stores of the government and the other organisations.
The world community became even more concerned after the recent report that the world has
been left with food stocks only for three to four weeks. Sharad Pawar, the Agriculture
Minister of India was quick to respond to the above report and announced that the situation
was under control in the country, as the buffer stocks of food were more than the prescribed
limit. But notwithstanding the said assertion by the Agriculture Minister, the prices of
foodgrains, edible oils, pulses, fruits, vegetables etc. continue to head northwards.
In India, agriculture sector is growing at the rate of around two per cent while the growth rate
of population is also around two per cent. In other words, more people in the world are
chasing lesser food articles, resulting in pressure on the prices. In addition, the world
economy is also trying to pay attention to the sectors having high growth potential and the
primary sector is getting ignored. India has not been an exception in this regard.
Global prices of crude oil have been on the rise during the past about two years now.
Towards the
end of April, the crude oil prices in the international market had crossed $ 120 per gallon,
putting pressure on the government to increase the retail prices of petrol and diesel in the
country. Increase in the prices of these products has cascading effect on the prices of other
commodities due to increase in the transportation cost. This has been one major factors
responsible for higher inflation rate in the country.
27
Another factor responsible for the constant increase in prices has been the rising prices of
cement and steel. This is perhaps due to increased demand for steel and cement due to
increased construction activity, infrastructure development through various flagship
programmes of the government and increased demand for these commodities for such
programmes and the activities of the National Highway Authority of India. Increased steel
prices put pressure on the prices of many products that use steel as raw material, including
the automobiles, construction industry and other such industries.
Defying Monetary Policy?

As per the monetary theory, inflation is largely a monetary phenomenon and it is the
monetary policy measures that come to the rescue of the government to control inflation. In
developed countries, it is the increased money supply that generally causes inflation and the
government takes monetary measures like increasing the bank rate, Credit Reserve Ratio
(CRR), increasing the deposit rates to mop up the surplus flow of money in the economy.
Traditionally, inflation in India has generally defied the monetary theory and has refused to
be curbed by the monetary measures.
The economy has been growing at around 8 per cent per annum during the past five years and
the forecast for the current financial year is also around eight per cent. But, on the other hand,
the prices of food articles, cement, steel and oil are on the rise. Though the agricultural sector
has been growing at slower rate of around 2 per cent per annum, other sectors like the
manufacturing and the services sector are booming with a growth rate in double digits. All
these factors contradict the teachings of the monetary policy.
Another principle of the monetary policy is that the price rise due to increased money supply
of one commodity is offset by the price fall of another. In a poor and agrarian country like
ours, where majority of the people spend major chunk of their earnings on food articles, this
cannon seems ridiculous. With food scarcities galore and the food prices soaring, it is
immoral to say that the increase in the prices of food articles is offset by reduction in the
prices of other goods, say cosmetics. People need food at every cost and not the cheaper
cosmetics!
The above phenomenon has forced the policy makers to control inflation by moving away
from the monetary policy measures to other measures. One of the most frequently used
measures has been the changes in the import-export policy. To tackle inflation, India has
often resorted to the policy of reducing the import duties on the food articles, on the one
hand, and banning the exports of the select food items, on the other.
Recently, Raghuram Rajan Committee had suggested that the Reserve Bank of India should
not resort to routine multi-tasking covering the exchange rate, growth and inflation, but
28
should focus primarily on control of inflation. It is believed by many that in the Indian
conditions, non-core inflation is often the dominant part of inflation, and under such a
scenario, the monetary policy measures are week tools for curbing inflation. The policies
which are successful in the European countries may not work in the country like ours and
there is no point in blindly following the monetary policy measures as prescribed in the
economic (monetary) theory book.
Corrective Actions
The Wholesale Price Index (WPI) is an index of a few commodities and if one looks at the
composition of such goods, the prices of several articles have not undergone any change,
indicating the inflation rate at 7.41 per cent as on 29th March 2008.
For example, fertilizers and pesticides have about 10 per cent weight in the index, but the
prices of these commodities have not undergone any major change in the last one year. But
even if these two commodities are excluded, a significant percentage of index representing a
host of commodities has remained unchanged over the last several months. Electrical goods,
for example represent about 2 per cent weight in the WPI and their prices have remained
static during the last about eight months.
The above facts indicate that the WPI takes into account the weighted average of the
commodities included by the government in it and ignores the prices of the commodities that
are excluded from the index. Hence, in the modern day of consumerism, where there are
several segments in a particular commodity, the WPI needs to be made broad based to
include more commodities. As on today, it does not represent the true picture about the price
rise in the country.
For rural and agricultural workers the impact of the inflation has been even higher. Ironically,
these categories have very low income levels when compared to the national average.
Consumer Price Index (CPI) for the agricultural labourers and rural labourers during the
month of March has been close to 8 per cent. Since the calendar year 2007, the CPI for the
agricultural labourers (CPI-AL) has been increasing at a much faster rate than the
WPI. During April-March 2007-08, CPI-AL has remained higher than the WPI, with the gap
between the two being around 3.5 per cent at an average. The reason is that the CPI has
higher weightage for the food and consumer items than the WPI. This also explains why the
impact of price rise for the consumer is higher than the announced inflation rate by the
government. CPI is more relevant to the consumers and not the WPI.
House rents and miscellaneous services have also become dearer than before, adding to the
worries of the consumers. As per the latest data released by the NSSO, the most consumed
items in the Indian households are rice, wheat, onion, potato, milk, arhar and edible oils.
29
During April-March 2007-08, the WPI of rice increased by 6.35 per cent, arhar by 14.52 per
cent, milk by 8.68 per cent, wheat by 5.57 per cent, mustard oil by 28.91 per cent and coconut
oil by 10.8 per cent.
Increased prices of the food articles are attributed to the supply side constraints and the
developments in the international markets. Exports have become expensive due to the global
price rise. Hence, the government was left with no alternative but to take measures to control
inflation directly. The zero import duty facility has been extended to the import of several
food commodities and export of pulses has been completely banned. Further, several State
governments like Delhi and Maharashtra initiated several de-hoarding drives by raiding the
foodgrain godowns.
Being in the election year, the UPA government at the Centre can ill-afford to let the situation
of price rise prevail and perpetuate. The measures have begun to show some results when the
inflation rate eased to 7.14 per cent during the week ending April 5, 2008. It is felt that a spell
of good monsoons would further improve the position, while the failure of the monsoons may
spell doom not only for the farmers, but also for the consumers.
30
Right to Education (RTE) Act, 2009: Free and
Compulsory education for all
The Right to Education (RTE) Act, 2009 empowers children belonging to the backward
section of the economy to free and compulsory education. The Right to Education Act was
earlier termed as The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act came into
function after Gopal Krishna Gokhale’s famous impassionate plea to the Imperial Legislative
Council for introducing free and compulsory primary education throughout India. The Right
to Education Act made compulsory all government and private sector schools across India to
provide 25 percent reservation to children between the age group of 6 and 14 belonging to the
weaker section of the country access to free and compulsory education. India became one of
the 135 countries to make education a fundamental right of every child, when the act finally
came into practice in April 2010.
History
A rough version of the draft was first prepared in the year 2005. It was met with a lot of
criticism because of the large percentage of reservation made mandatory across all schools
for the unprivileged children. However, the Central Advisory Board of Education, who were
founders of the draft stood ground and justified the 25percent reservation as a definite
requisite to become a democratic and egalitarian society.
Time frame:
Bill approved by the cabinet on 2 July, 2009

Bill passed by the Rajya Sabha on 20 July, 2009
Bill passed by the Lok Sabha on 4 August, 2009
Received Presidential approval and made into a law on 26 August, 2009
The law came to effect on 1 April, 2010, (except for the state of J&K), by Prime Minister,
Dr. Manmohan Singh
Milestone
The Right to education Act is a fundamental right which allows every child between the age
group of 6 to 14 to have access to free and fare education. It requires all private and
government schools to reserve 25 percent of the seats for children belonging to weaker
sections of the society. The act also separates the fraudulent schools and donations and
concessions have been rolled back. The act also states that no child shall be expelled, held
back or required to pass a board examination until the completion of elementary education.
There is also a special training of school drop-outs to bring them up at par with students of
the same age.
The Right to Education act stretches to 18 years of coverage for children with disabilities, and
31
other provisions covered in the act range from infrastructure development, teacher-student
ratio and faculty are mentioned in the act. The National Commission for Protection of Child
Rights is an autonomous body set up to monitor the implementation of the act along with
commissions set up by the States. The body in question was formed in the year 2007
Implementation & Funding
The Right to Education act has clearly laid down distinct responsibilities for the centre, state
and local bodies for its implementation. However, a lot of states have been complaining about
the lack of funds being received which is making it impossible to meet with the appropriate
standard of education in the schools needed for universal education. Hence, the centre that is
at the receiving end of the revenue will have to subsidize for the states.
A committee set up to study the fund requirement for the implementation of the act estimated
an initial capital requirement of approximately Rs. 171000 crores or 1.71 trillion over 5 years,
and in April 2010 the Indian government agreed to share the funding of the price at a ratio of
65 to 35 between the centre and the state and a ratio of 90 to 10 for the Northeastern states.
Later the principal amount was then increased to Rs. 231000 crores and the centre agreed to
raise its share to 68%. However there is much debate on this. Another important development
in 2011 was to further stretch the act and implement it till the preschool age range, hence the
age ceiling would rise from 14 years now to 16 years and would cover till class 10. . However
this is under talks.
Anniversary
On completion of one year a report was released by the Human Resource Development
ministry, which did not reflect happy numbers. The report admits that 8.1 million children in
the age group of 4 to 16 remained out of school; there is a shortage of over 508000 teachers’
country wide. And there were several key legal commitments that were falling out of
schedule. The Supreme Court of India also intervened to see the just implementation of the
Right to Education Act in the Northeast States.
Criticism
The Right to education act has met with a lot of criticism such as being called a draft that was
hastily prepared, there was not much consultation made on the quality of education, on
excluding children under the 6 year age range. Many of the schemes have been compared to
that of the Sarva Sikhsha Abhivan and DPEP of the 90’s which was criticized for being
ineffective and corrupted. The Right to Education Act also seems to have left out the
orphans, since during the time of admission a lot of documents are required, like that of birth
certificate, BPL certificates and the orphans deprived of such documents are not eligible to
apply.
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Is nuclear energy worth the risk?
Rapid development cannot come at the cost of safety. India needs to review the safety of its
nuclear plants
The safety of nuclear plants across the world and the viability of nuclear energy have come
into question in the wake of the nuclear disaster at the Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan after
the island nation was hit by a massive earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011. The
radiation that emanated from the damaged reactors affected lives of several thousand
individuals and safety of the civilians was compromised as all initial efforts to curtail the
destruction failed. The mighty Japanese were left grappling with the fire at the nuclear plant.
Add to this, the radiation cloud also moved across continents with the winds. Even food and
water in Japan got contaminated. The government of India was forced to ban import of food
items from Japan.
A question that stares us in the face is ‘Can we afford to risk the safety of citizens for the sake
of energy?’
India is fast growing and with development the need for energy increases exponentially.
Coal, petroleum and other natural resources are not renewable and there is a sense of urgency
to develop means which can sustain our future energy needs. Nuclear energy seems an
enviable option as even small amount of uranium has the potential to give us massive doses
of energy. So the opinion seems to tilt in favour of nuclear energy.
But rapid development cannot come at the cost of safety. So wisdom says that a
comprehensive review of the nuclear apparatus is needed.
India relies on indigenous Fast Breeder Reactors (FBRs) which can use the vast thorium
reserves of the country. We all know India does not have quality uranium needed for the
nuclear plants. However, the cause of concern is that FBRs are cooled by liquid sodium
which is highly inflammable. So, is India ready to handle any crisis of the scale that the
unfortunate Japan witnessed? Are nuclear power plants in our country tsunami and
earthquake proof? The government and scientists must answer these questions and take
suitable steps to ensure that energy needs of the country are met without any compromise
with the safety of Indians.
33
Capital Punishment in India: should be Allowed or
Banned
“Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I will depart. The lord gave and the lord
has taken away; may the name of the lord be praised”
Job 1:21
Capital punishment is when a person guilty of heinous crimes particularly that of rape or
murder is sentenced to death. In India capital punishment is carried out by hanging the
accused by the neck till the person is alive no more. In developed countries this could be
substituted by the electrical chair or shooting.
Dating back to the 1772 BC, we see how even The Code of Hammurabi had established
many stern laws to punish the guilty. The laws put down were harsh on all practicing illegal
activities. This not only decreased crime rates but also provided a clear message to all, that
anyone interfering with the rights of the people would be dealt with seriously.
Another alternative to capital punishment is that of life imprisonment which is 14 years is in

India. And for India, who is staggering with rising inflation and poverty, to feed and clothe
the convicts is an extra expense they can be cut down upon. India is not a rich country and we
are struggling with population issues already and to waste our limited natural resources on
convicts is not sensible.
Serving out capital punishment also helps in spreading fear in the minds of the people. They
will hesitate and restrain from committing crime and infiltrating on the rights of the people.
Having a country that serves out capital punishment definitely brings about faith in the
judicial system of a nation.
When India was formed and Law was introduced to the land, punishments were dealt out to
kill the criminal in the person not the person. We seem to have forgotten what the motto of
the judiciary system of India says:Whence Dharma, Thence Victory, which roughly translates
to restoring order to the society and not eradicating the very person.
We seem to have somewhere switched of the humanity in us while dealing with the convicts
and we turn a blind side to the human within the convict and only highlight his crime. Yes he
has committed a crime but we cannot punish him by taking away his life that would never
address the situation it would simply suppress it. One must deal with the crime and eradicate
it from the criminal.
Today technology is leaping in bounds and chains hence why should our judicial system be
still plagued with age old practices. Just like the dawning of democracy over monarchy
similarly other methods need to be adopted to instill a sense of restriction in the minds of the
people to not meddle with the rights of individuals.
34
Every individual alive has the right to live and only the giver has the right to take it away,
hence no mere immortal shall possess such godly power. We should evolve with time and our
practices should change with time.
We should strive to love ourselves, to better our selves so that humanity can prosper.
35
Child Labour: The Dawn of an Epidemic
“Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of
God”
Luke 18:16-17
Child labour was always an international issue with all countries and today it has simply gone
up the priority scale. Child labour could simply be defined as work done by children that
could harm and exploit them physically or mentally or block their access to education.
However, we know it is much more than that.
Today child labour is being practiced on a rampant basis. Not only does child labour exist in
developing countries but also developed countries too are facing child labour issues. If one
abides with the statistics, it is not a very happy picture. With Asia having the largest child
labour involvement at 61percent followed by Africa at 32 percent, 7 percent in Latin America
and 1percent in US, Canada and Europe.
India is sadly home to the largest number of child labourers in the world and the numbers
keep rising. Poverty, lack of social security and illiteracy are major agents that are fuelling
child labour in India. The growing disparity between the rich and the poor, privatization of
basic necessities and neo liberal economic policies have pushed people out of employment
and children are being made the bread earners. They work in harsh conditions and are often
paid nothing.
Child labour is a global issue and we all need to stand together to fight the evil that come of
it. Children are the future of the world. They will replace the present generation and they
should be able to do well. However, if they are subjected to working from a tender age and
not given the child hood they deserve, it simply messes things up.
One reason why child labour is largely practiced in countries facing population explosion is
because here the value of human life is very cheap. There is excessive exploitation of cheap
labour. It is no hidden fact that large manufacturers have most of their warehouses set up in
South Asian countries where labour is afforded at dirt cheap prices. This is a cost cutting
process which is today costing the world dearly.
Child labour does not only reveal how impotent a nation is but also expose the helplessness
of the government. Laws and amendments are being made on a regular basis to put a stop to
child labour but ineffective implementation has simply not addressed the issue yet.
Abraham Lincoln-the 16th president of the United States of America, was successfully able to
fight slavery and bring justice to the black people of America, and five scores years later, the
very famous speech by Martin Luther King Jr.-I have a dream, simply showed how the
people were not yet free. Today two centuries down and we simply see how we are faced
with slavery yet again. And this time it is the slavery of children.
36
The learned will know the importance of education. To have a dream, to achieve a goal to be
ambitious and to have options to choose from is something that only an educated person can
enjoy. For a child exposed to the hardships of labour all he has to look forward to is his daily
wage to support his family and hopelessly wait for death to arrive at his doorstep.
There is no future of a child subjected to labour. He has a totally different opinion of his
surrounding due to the harshness he has been exposed to at the early stages of his life. He
does not have the same perspectives of an educated person, and the world is equally harsh to
him.
If one analyses Charles Dickens, David Copperfield we see how there is strong undercurrents
of child labour and child abuse. This is the case today, children through child labour are being
exposed to child abuse exploitation and nations need to make a more collective effort to
eradicate this social evil. Cause if this social evil is allowed to persist it is not far that
mankind will be ashamed of his activities.
Today, the world is again met with a challenge and if we don’t stand against it united there is
no breakthrough of it.
37
PUBLIC FINANCE AND FISCAL
DEVELOPMENTS
The fiscal space generated in the 2004-05 to 2007-08 period, following the Fiscal
Responsibility Budget Management Act (FRBMA) mandate, mitigated on effects of global
financial and economic crisis in 2008-09 through an expansionary fiscal stance to boost
aggregate demand. Traditionally, assessment of public finances was confined to analysis of
fiscal indicators, but the macro-economy-wide impact of the crisis underscored the
importance of accounts data in tandem in such assessments.
In advanced economies, the operation of automatic stabilizers and discretionary fiscal

policies pursued to obviate the adverse impact of the global financial and economic crisis was
made possible by the space available and the largely cyclical nature of the fiscal deficit. In
India, the rapid and significant fiscal consolidation achieved in the post-FRBMA period up to
2007-08 was indeed an important achievement that enabled greater fiscal space for a macro-
economic policy stance to counteract the impact of the global economic crisis. As a
proportion of the GDP, the reductions in fiscal deficit in the period 2003-04 to 2007-08 were
made possible in equal measure by higher tax revenues and expenditure compression. This
facilitated use of both tax and expenditure measures in the expansionary fiscal policies to
boost demand. As such, the progress in fiscal consolidation in India is different from the
typical models elsewhere, which are driven purely by expenditure compression.
As the impact of the crisis continued through 2009-10, the expansionary fiscal stance was
continued in the Budget for 2009-10. Given the relative levels of shares of private final
consumption expenditure and government consumption expenditure, such expansion could
only be a short-term measure and the Medium Term Fiscal Policy Statement presented along
with the Budget for 2009-10 favoured a resumption of the fiscal consolidation process, albeit
a gradual one, with fiscal deficit declining to 5.5 per cent of the gross domestic product
(GDP) and 4.0 per cent of the GDP in 2010-11 and 2011-12, respectively. In its report, the
thirteenth Finance Commission has traced the path of fiscal consolidation for the Centre and
States. The resumption of the path of fiscal prudence would complement the recovery process
in the near term and lay the foundation for reviving the growth momentum in the long term.
A low and stagnant tax-GDP ratio characterized Central government revenues for a
considerable period since 1990-91. This reflected in part the reform of the tax structure
through lower rates in indirect taxes and the levels of the tax base. The rapid growth
momentum in the post-FRBMA period helped change the composition of taxes, deepen the
process of rationalization of taxes and widen the base. As a proportion of gross tax revenue,
direct taxes rose from a level of 19.1 per cent in 1990-91 to reach 49.9 per cent in 2007-08; in
2008-09, they were at 55.5 per cent.
As a proportion of GDP, total expenditure fell from a level of 17.1 per cent in 2003-04 to
38
14.4 per cent in 2007-08, largely driven by the steep fall in capital expenditure. Total
expenditure was placed at Rs 8,81,469 crore in 2008-09, which implied a growth of 23.7 per
cent over 2007-08 levels and 17.4 per cent over that assumed in 2008-09. The front loading
of Plan expenditure was evident in the rise in its proportion to the GDP from a level of 4.1
per cent in 2007-08 to 4.9 per cent in 2008-09. Thus, the reversal in major fiscal deficit
indicators in 2008-09 and 2009-10 was a policy-driven stimulus to counter the demand
slowdown.
In the post-FRBMA period (2004-05 to 2007-08), average annual/compound growth in total

expenditure was 11.2 per cent, which compared favourably with the 12.2 per cent in the
previous four years. Within total expenditure, growth in capital expenditure was again lower
than that in revenue expenditure. Adjusting for one-off distortions in capital expenditure, like
redemption of securities of the National Small Savings Fund in 2004-05 and the expenditure
on acquisition of State Bank of India (SBI) shares from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI),
growth in capital expenditure was more stable. While traditionally assessment of the trends in
expenditure, particularly in the context of the fiscal consolidation process, had focused on the
compression in terms of proportions of GDP, in view of the policy-driven expansion process
it would be useful to understand the magnitude and direction of the expansion. In 2008-09
and 2009-10, the increase in total expenditure was of the order of 23.7 per cent and 43.2 per
cent, respectively, over the levels in 2007-08. In 2008-09, the main components of
expenditure significantly higher than their 2007-08 levels were major subsidies, social
services, Plan expenditure and economic services. In 2009-10, the major components of the
expansion were interest payments, defence, social services and economic services.
To an extent, rising interest payments reflect past consumption and do not contribute to
current productive uses and are primarily tax financed. They are a drag on the present
generation. Inter-generational equity concerns were one of the key objectives of
institutionalizing the fiscal consolidation process in the form of the FRBMA. Interest
payments appropriated substantial proportions of revenue receipts and the efforts in the
FRBMA period were to reduce the level of deficits and incremental assumption of debt to
contain the interest burden. Interest payments as a proportion of revenue receipts declined
from a level of 52.1 per cent in 1998-99 to a level of 31.6 per cent in 2007-08. They were at
the 35 per cent level in 2008-09 and were budgeted at 36.7 per cent in 2009-10. The rise in
the levels of gross market borrowings in 2008-09 and 2009-10 has resulted in a reversal of
the trend towards fall in average cost of borrowings.
The global commodity price shock (particularly in crude petroleum) that preceded the global
financial crisis in 2008-09 led to a burgeoning of the subsidy bill and a sharp rise in the
below-the line issuance of bonds to oil and fertilizer companies. As a proportion of GDP,
major budgetary subsidies rose from 1.6 per cent in 2003-04 to 2.2 per cent in 2008-09 and
were budgeted at 1.7 per cent in 2009-10. Besides, the above below-the-line issuance of oil
and fertilizer bonds was of the order of 1.7 per cent of GDP in 2008-09. The Budget for
2009-10, recognizing the importance of institutional reforms, announced the intention to
move towards a nutrient-based subsidy regime in respect of fertilizers and ultimately towards
39
direct cash transfers and the setting up of an expert to advise on a viable and sustainable
system of pricing for petroleum products.
Finances of State governments

Following the adoption of Fiscal Responsibility Legislations (FRLs), the combined finances
of the States exhibited a faster than anticipated turnaround in 2005-06, with the level of fiscal
deficit at 2.4 per cent of the GDP. There were, however, large variations amongst States, with
Assam having a fiscal surplus of 0.6 per cent of the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP)
and Mizoram having a high fiscal deficit of 14.7 per cent of the GSDP in 2005-06. States
combined posted a revenue surplus in 2006-07. The record of fiscal consolidation of the
States combined was indeed remarkable and was facilitated by the growth in their own
revenues following the successful adoption of State-level Value-Added Tax (VAT), the
buoyancy in Central taxes, the higher levels of transfers and the scheme of Debt
Consolidation and Waiver linked to fiscal consolidation.
In 2008-09, there was a growth of 15.3 per cent in States’ own tax revenues and 26.6 per cent
in non-tax receipts. However, with higher levels of disbursements, which grew by 26 per
cent, fiscal deficit went up to a level of 2.6 per cent of the GDP but was still well below the
3.0 per cent level mandated by the FRLs. With the relaxation in State-level fiscal targets to
obviate the adverse impact of the global crisis, revenue deficit of 0.6 per cent of the GDP and
fiscal deficit of 3.2 per cent of the GDP was budgeted in 2009-10.
The Debt Consolidation and Relief Facility (DCRF) has two components: (i) consolidation of
Central loans (from the Ministry of Finance) contracted till March 31, 2004 and outstanding
as on March 31, 2005 and (ii) provision of interest relief and grant of debt waiver to States
based on their fiscal performance. Consolidation of Central loans has given interest relief to
States. Debt waiver is granted to States based on their fiscal performance, for which an
assessment is made annually. Benefits under the DCRF helped States by easing debt and
interest pressures and also incentivized States to follow the path of fiscal correction.
So far, Central loans to 26 out of 28 States have been consolidated to the extent of Rs
1,13,601.1 crore. From 2005 to 2009, States have been granted debt waivers for an aggregate
amount of Rs 22,039.4 crore and interest relief of Rs 18,688.5 crore.
Conclusion
Typically, the fiscal responsibility rules world over are anchored in balanced budget and debt
targets with clear differences in framework across advanced economies and developing
countries. In India, under the FRBMA, the rule focused on incremental assumption of
liabilities. By and large this rule was adhered to in the post-FRBMA period; since 2008-09,
there has been a rise in the assumption of net incremental liabilities as a result of the
expansionary fiscal policy stance. As a result, with the revised GDP series (2004-05) released
by the CSO, the ratio of outstanding liabilities to the GDP after falling from a level of 61.6
per cent in 2004-05 to 56.3 per cent in 2008-09, has risen marginally to 56.7 per cent in 2009-
10. Internal debt, mainly market borrowings, continues to be the main component of
40
outstanding liabilities.
The full picture of public finances and their impact on the macro-economy is best analysed
through the levels of deficits in the consolidated General Government. As a proportion of the
GDP, revenue receipts of the consolidated General Government rose from a level of 19.0 per
cent in 2004-05 to reach a level of 21.2 per cent in 2007-08. They were budgeted at 20.5 per
cent in 2009-10. With total disbursements remaining at more or less the same levels in four
years ending 2007-08, the combined revenue and fiscal deficit came down. In fact, the
combined levels of deficit were much lower than the levels (sum of Centre and States)
mandated by the FRBMA and State-level FRLs. Reflecting the overall expansion to stimulate
demand, fiscal and revenue deficit for 2009-10 is placed at 9.7 and 5.2 per cent of the GDP.
41
Tobacco and health care costs- Quit smoking for a
healthy life
Just 15 days before the ‘World No Tobacco Day’ –to be observed on May 31– a new report
by World Health Organization (WHO) claims that tobacco will kill a billion people in 21st
century. In comparison to the death of 100 million people in the 20th century, the new report
claims death of even ten times more people. In addition, this silent killer is supposed to raise
death due to tobacco in India from 1.4 percent in 1990 to 13.3 in 2020.
Cigarettes contain cancer-causing tumor initiators and toxic agents such as arsenic, tar,
ammonia, carbon monoxide, hydrogen cyanide, lead, DDT, and acetaldehydes. Ninety per
cent of lung cancers are tobacco-related.
Since no one can force a person to quit smoking against his/ her wish, voluntarily abstaining
from an addiction leading to cancers of the mouth (gum, tongue, cheek, and nasopharynx),
larynx (voice box) oesophagus, and lungs is the need of the hour. Besides educating the mass
on the harmful effects of tobacco, using psychological models can help to quit use of tobacco
in any form available.
An addict can take the help of a psychotherapist and use techniques that would help him/ her
in herbal quit smoking techniques, allopathy, music and relaxation therapy, quit smoking
aids, and quit smoking laser therapy. Nobody thought of applying the method to quit smoking
help until a few months ago. Psychologist can help the addict by using cognitive therapy as it
helps to change the behavirol patterns of an individual. This therapy can help an individual to
stay away from smoking cigarettes for two to three years. An addict can also quit tobacco by
using the ways like nicotine patches, nicotine gums, artificial cigarette, and quitting cold
turkey.
As per the WHO’s report, there are more than 60,000 cancer patients admitted in the
Dharamshila Hospital and Research Centre (DHRC), Delhi out of which 40 per cent are beedi
smokers, 40 per cent tobacco chewers, 16 per cent cigarette smokers and 4 per cent passive
smokers. Eighty per cent of the cancer patients reporting to DHRC are inoperable.
India is the third largest producer of tobacco in the world giving employment to 27 million
people engaged in its production and revenue of over INR 20 billion to the government. Here
the government is earning huge taxes by selling poison and at the same time, it spends a tenth
of it on “educating’ people not to use it. Isn’t the interest of the government reveals the covert
agenda of maintaining the revenues? Shouldn’t the equally culprit tobacco manufacturers be
banned from playing with the lives of people? In addition, the debatable influence of on
screen endorsement of smoking by influential people in advertisement and films is under the
scan too; especially after the ban on films has been raised. It is timely for WHO to set
standards and organise talks with the Health Minister and Indian Government at length over
the production of tobacco in India.
42
Simultaneously, people had better take care of themselves before it is too late, by voluntarily
abstaining from an evil which is highly addictive and dangerous. Lastly, the help and support
of family members is crucial for the tobacco addict.
43
Adult Education
Essay Introduction:
An Adult is a person who is aged twenty one or more than twenty one years old. Thus adult
education is the name of teaching imparted to adults.
Difference between Education of Child and Adult:
There is a great difference between the education of children and the education of adults.
Children are principally students. Their chief purpose is to go to school and learn. But the
adults are principally bread winners; in their case education is secondary in importance.
The Illiterate and Partially Literate:
For the purpose of education, adults may be divided into two classes- the illiterate and
partially literate. It is the aim of adult education to see that every person in the country knows
at least the three R’s, reading, writing and arithmetic. Such knowledge is absolutely necessary
for every person living in a democratic country.
It’s Aim:
It is the aim of adult education that such adults as are partially literate should be taken for on
the road of knowledge. They would be taught their rights and responsibilities as citizens. It
will be their duty to pass the knowledge on to those who know less than they do. Adult
education is based on the idea that no one can be completely happy unless he or she is
educated. After all, culture opens the eye of mind. He that is mentally blind cannot hope to be
perfectly happy.
Minimum Expectation:
The minimum that is expected by adult education is the ability to read the daily news paper
and to follow the current events of the world.
England and Adult Education:
The first adult educations were started in England. They were only Sunday schools. But later
on they began to work daily.
India and First Start of Adult Education:
In India too adult education was first started in Bombay (now Mumbai) in a sprit of local
service. The work was done in nigh schools. With the increase in the number of pupils the
number of institution has also increased.
44
Free Education:
Generally almost all the work of adult education is done free. It is done out of a sprit of social
service. The importance of the work has now fully recognized all over the country. The
government of the States has extended their patronage and encouragement to adult education
institutions.
A Nobel Work:
Adult Education is a noble work in which even students can take active part. It is a plan of
work by which everyone who knows a little can pass it on to those that know less.
Conclusion:
It is a manner of pride that more and more Adult Education Societies are coming into
existence in the different part of the country.
45
Tourism in Tiger Reserves: Right or Wrong
“The rights of wildlife should come first. If we want to enter the animals’ domain, we must
earn the privilege by following the right practices and behavior”
This is yet another case of privileges being abused by the common man. Today wild life has
been taken for granted and poaching of tigers has become an activity practiced at large. It is a
shame that the government by law has to drive tourists out of the habitat of the big cat. The
recent law passed by the Supreme Court has now made strict fresh guidelines as to the extent
the tourists are allowed to come in contact with wild life and anything closer to that, the state
along with the accused will be faced with strict penalties.
We see how excessive poaching over the years has lead to such stringent laws and
regulations. There are over 40 tiger reserves in India. The poaching has significantly
increased and one must identify the problem areas before setting up any change. Today one
needs more than words to see the big cats free.
Tigers are important for our very survival. They are placed at the top of the eco system, and
help to maintain the much under rated balance of the eco system. Earth’s natural resources
are to be respected and saved from being extinct.
However one must know that traditional practices of collecting of tiger skin, tiger ornaments
should be are to be banned if we want to see the tiger safe. Tiger bones have been used for
making of medicines. Such practices not only put a danger on the tiger population but also
render them to extinction.
The art of tiger poaching is an expensive affair that involves life risking practices. And it is
mostly the natives in the mind for making a living that dare such activities because they need
the money and there is a rich person funding them for their activities. Hence this get-rich-
overnight practice is mostly common in villages where there is poor education, low level of
income and poor job prospects.
One should also see that the groups of people funding such activities do it out of satisfying
their luxurious appetite. Carving out ornaments from tiger parts is a well practiced art. Tiger
skin rugs and antic pieces are other famous tiger abuses. Hence when a person in need of
tiger material and a person in need of money meet, the art of poaching happens.
The attitude of the people needs to be checked at great levels. Today tiger parks are treated as
amusement parks. There is no respect for the wild life and serenity of the place. People at
large tend to gain entertainment from their visit by cheap means like feeding the animals,
distracting them through sounds and actions and above all photographs with the beast.
Moreover reserve officials and safari drivers are mostly interested in the tip they will generate
and hence do not hesitate to take their tourists to cordon of places for a better view and an
extra baksheesh.
46
Hence we see how at every ordinary level the system has a loop hole, which has been
discovered and exploited to the fullest, and who pays the price here-the big cats.
We should understand that the tigers are not obliged to the money we pay and we don’t buy
them for the entry fee. The rich class who are funding such operations for their luxurious
intentions need to be checked at large, the uneducated and the poor who have no other means
of earning need to be educated and other job opportunities need to be offered.
Tigers are paying the price of the heinous crimes being practiced by mankind. Hence, tourism
in tiger reserves should be allowed but under severe check. Every level of the system must be
honest to their duty or else the entire system is soon going to crumble like a pack of cards and
tigers would be etched in our history as extinct animals, whose roar scared the hens away.
The time for words have eluded us, it’s time for action.
47
There is You, Me and the Reserved Class
“Rob Peter to Pay Paul”--This can be defined as the current situation of today’s
government, where they rob Peter to pay Paul and in return ensure the confidence of Paul.
For a government that comes into power out of democracy it is very easy for them to identify
the strategy of the game, where Pauls’ should outnumber Peters’. Hence, it should come as no
surprise that yet another scheme is being hatched by the government to gain power through
the support of the larger underclass by promising them benefits that in the bigger picture will
not prove beneficial to them in anyway. In fact it is simply a mirage.
Allocation of quotas on government job promotions for the economically backward class of
schedule tribes and schedule castes is morally wrong, economically inefficient, filled with
flaws and practically ineffective. The policy merely promises helping the underclass but in
truth they don’t really help the underclass and in return jeopardize both the underclass and the
privileged class, (though it’s hard to call them privileged any longer).
India is a developing country with over 1 billion people living in it. The condition of India
after 60 years of independence has moved at a sluggish pace that is considering a move.
Corruption, population explosion, inefficiency, unemployment are at its highest and now to
pass a bill allowing provision for job promotion quota to the under privileged is as good as
opening another gold mine for loot.
All economic policies give rise to gainers and losers. And ‘Pareto Improvement” tells us that
if the gainers gain more than the losers, then it is theoretically possible for the gainers to
compensate for the losses incurred by the losers. Thus both the gainers and losers are at a
better position than before and this is an economically efficient policy but on the other hand if
the losers lose more than the gainers have gained then the economy policy has failed and
there is an overall loss. And this is what we are heading at today.
Implementing of quotas in government job promotions is now going to replace deserving

candidates up for promotions with undeserving candidates who will be promoted because
they belong to a particular under privileged class. Here an undeserving person is defined as
that person who is unable to benefit as much as a deserving candidate would. The schedule
caste and schedule tribe category people within an organization will climb the quick ladder of
promotion and will definitely be looked down upon by their colleagues as there will be
people who would have earned their position at the top because of their own merit and not
with some quota.
Discrimination on the basis of language, caste and place of origin has always been a national
issue and always fought against. Today there are various organizations set up to see the
eradications of such social evils still prevalent in India. However we see how the invention of
job quotas on the basis of scheduled caste and tribe will now only make the process futile as
this as this is aimed at creating a rift. People will lay more importance to their background
and this will lead to a gap between the different sections of society in the country.
48
Any policy which is based on differentiation will give rise to two distinct groups, one who
will benefit from the policy which in this case are the people belonging to the scheduled tribe
and scheduled class and the others who feel they are losing out on their natural birth rights
and their opinions are going to clash against each other. And to judge the effectiveness of this
policy one just cannot see the benefits incurred by one group and the losses by another but
also from a neutral point of view and how the change is going to affect the economy of the
country,.
We can also see how the recently passed women’s bill, providing a certain fixed number of
women representatives in the parliament has proved to be ineffective There are now
constituencies that are only reserved for women. Hence if there is a well deserving male
candidate for the same post he will not be selected because it has been reserved for women.
Here we again see, the big picture is lost amidst much cry and hype. Yes women
representation is required within the parliament, but not at the cost of quality functioning of
the parliament.
We can see how reservation policies have gone all wrong. Today there are reservations for
schedules castes, scheduled tribes, Muslims, Christians and the percentage seems to be
increasing. One can see this as a deliberate attempt of the government to keep the people of
India from uniting and maintaining of communal differences. It is through standing on our
shoulders they seem to be noticed among the crowd.
49
Education through Television
Essay Introduction:
Television is a new gift of science. It has bright future. It is becoming popular in school.
Almost all the local schools of the capital have got television sets by now.
A Lesson through Television:
A lesson in the class room often boring. It does not appeal to most of the students. So they do
not attend to it whole heartedly. The result is the lesson goes unattended. To create interest in
the lesson television is a good advice. It has a charm, all its own. No one can deny the good
impression of the lesson in the minds of the students.
It’s Importance:
The students look forward to the television period most eagerly. It gives them education as
well as entertainment. The teacher cannot put them any question during the course of the
lesson. So, the students have neither any fear nor any worry. The teaching aids draw their
attention. Even the dullest boy puts on a smiling look. His smiling face shows that he is not
wasting the time.
The Atmosphere:
The atmosphere is calm and quite. The doors are closed. The teacher has no longer a
forwarding look. There is no discipline. Most of the boys are busy taking notes. They do not
stand any chance of being rebuked or punished. In other words their mind is at rest. So their
brain works better. What else does the student need? The aim of the teacher is served. He
wants to keep him busy throughout the lesson.
After the Television Lesson:
As soon as the lesson ends the doors are opened for a while. The boys are at rest for some
time. Soon after, a discussion on the lesson starts between the teacher and the boys. There are
many surprises for the teacher during this discussion. Often a back bencher puts a very same
objection. The teacher has to recognize the value of a lesson through television when the boys
react to it so finely.
The Teleclubs:
Every school has a teleclub. Some selected teachers and a few gentle man of the locality are
its active members. They meet at least once a fortnight. They send their suggestions to All
India Radio. In the light of their likes and dislikes the authorities judge and adjust the ways of
presenting the lesson and teaching aids.
Conclusion:
50
Education through television will spread soon. At present the Government cannot afford to
buy many TV sets. To this practice will take time to reach all the parts of the country. Some
TV sets at present use in the schools of Delhi, have been presented to the Indian government
free of charge by the Ford Foundation. Money makes the mare go. Some schools do not have
enough of funds. So they cannot buy as many sets as they require. Some lessons on very
important subjects are still under preparation for want of teaching aids. Any how, in the near
future we hope to have many televisions sets all over the country not for education but for
other programmes. At present only a few rich persons can afford to go in for purchase their
own television sets. Let us hope that the funds of the Government will improve and soon like
the radio sets we shall have a network of television sets through out the country.
51
Time is Money
The tiny infant cuddled in the warmth of the cradle soon becomes a cute toddler who runs
after butterflies and rainbows. No sooner do the fairly tales and pranks of school days get
over than the carefree lad blossoms into an exquisite youth when the heart leaps up to pluck
the stars. The woods are lovely, dark and deep and the dreamy youth plans for the lovely
miles he has to tread until the hard facts of life stare him in the face. The stress, storm and
strife and manhood transforms him from within and without until one sad day the mirror
acquaints him with his ‘Other self’, i.e. ‘grey hair, sunken eyes and trembling hands’ and he
shockingly realizes that ‘shadows of the evening steal across the sky’. But Oh: What about
the rosy dreams waiting to find expression, the plans left halfway, the promises to be kept,
the words of lover never spoken and the aspiration to reach the starts? Seeing the shattered
dreams, lost hopes and barren regrets, his heart wails, “Oh: If only I get a second chancel:”
But no:: Life is insensitive and does not give us a second chance. We happen to pass through
this way but once:
A hurdle race from the womb to the tomb-if we may choose to describe life-compels us to
question ourselves, “Have we extracted all the joys, the Maker intended us to, out of life?
Time slips out of our hands even before we realize it. How tremulous is the water on the lotus
leaf: Such is the life of man-frail and transient. Life is a gift of God-given to us because He
loves us and wants us to realize the grandeur of life. But the in this journey of life one has to
be always alert to seize opportunities, learn from mistakes and make hay while the sun
shines.
The period of youth is the spring time of our life when the mind and body is at its very best.
The age from 15 to 25 years is of paramount importance because it lays down the foundation
and determines the path of our life. Studies, career choices and job opportunities are hotly-
debated issues during this period. It is high time students realise that spending time in noble
pursuits will enrich them from within and without while wasting time in ignoble pursuits will
impoverish them from within and without.
Money is man’s dearest possession. He will think a thousand times before parting with it.
Money can buy almost every material comfort and security which is again an integral part of
life. In the same way careful use of time can make our future. It can lead us to the Golden
Gate of achievement, satisfaction and progress while misusing time can drag us down to a
sad, where life is meaningless. As you saw so shall you reap. How many precious lives and
promising careers have been wasted and ruined only because they cared more for the false
pleasures of the world and in the process they missed the track that would have led them
forward. Perhaps the negative thoughts weakened them mentally and they lost the war even
before it began. Bad thoughts cultivate bad habits that lead us to bad places. Acquaint us with
bad people constitutes the losers who may win some of the battles in life out of sheer chance
but they are bound to lose the war unless they realise the value of time and use it wisely. The
other category constitutes the winners who will win the ultimate war even if they lose some
of the battles in it.
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Their wise investment in good thoughts, good books and good friends pays them rich
dividends. Using time wisely will ring out the old and false and ring in new and nobler modes
of life. It can lead us to the paradise of excellence and satisfaction as is evident from the lives
of great men and women who left their “footprints on the sands of Time’. Be they artists,
scientists, sportsmen, businessmen or administrators-they excelled in their chosen fields
because they realized the value of time. Procrastination, laziness, sluggishness are terms alien
to their hearts. They believe in 100% contentment. Thorns of failure, betrayal and losses
pricked them at every turning but they did not lose heart and persevered till they got the
coveted crown. They are all geniuses of our times-who have an infinite capacity of taking
pains at their task to the exclusion of everything else. They did not court success in a ‘sudden
flight’ but were toiling upwards in the night’ hammering on the edges of their abilities, on to
the bounds of perfection, breaking and bettering their own records until the world
acknowledged them as Masters of their trade: They realized very early in their lives that, “If
you waste time, time will waste you; if you honour time, time will honour you.
Some people always complain that they have no time to do the things they always wanted to
do. The weariness, the fever and the fret, consume all their time money and energy. You will
never get time for doing something, you will have to find time; change your priorities and
adjust your schedule. All the dreams and plans can be actualized with proper time
management because as Gandhiji said: “The days of miracle are not gone. They will abide so
long as God abides”. Trials and tribulations form an integral part of life. It is not help but
obstacles, not facilities but difficulties that make men. Men have risen to dizzy heights
despite the trials and crosses of life. Even the great Sarojini Naidu said, “Behold: I rise to
meet the destined spring and scale the stars upon my broken wings” Jawaharlal Nehru
advised his brilliant daughter Indira Priyadarshini in a letter, “The individual has it in him to
rise above the caprices of fate …. He can, if he so wills, stands four-square to all the winds of
heaven and hell. By doing so, he influences and turns the very fate.
Hence we ordinary mortals must not get disheartened by the problems of everyday life. We
must shed the burden of the unfortunate past and work sincerely today if we want to more
towards a brighter tomorrow. What matters most is the present moment ‘Now’. The day is
always his who works in it with serenity and great aims. Yesterday is only a dream and
tomorrow is only a vision but today well lived makes every yesterday a dream of happiness
and every tomorrow a vision of hope and glory. Let us therefore realize the value of today.
It is not only during exams that we must use our time wisely but throughout life because life
is our greatest Test-the Mother of all exams. If only we are a little more cautious and careful
in all that we think, see and do, we will have fewer regrets and repentances. Life unfolds
itself like a procession in front of us. The innocent child had sublime pleasures and he
rejoices in the kind and princesses of the fairy tales while the excited youth seeks for the
princess in his real life and lovers the challenge. The adult has more mature commitments
while old age looks across the memory lane with tears either of satisfaction or regrets. Each
phase of life demands duty and has a charm of its own. The basket is in your hands. Whether
to pluck flowers or gather thorns depends on you.
53
Suggestions for making Entrepreneurship
Development Programmes more successful in India
Suggestions to make EDPs Successful:
1. Emphasis on stimulating, supporting and sustaining activities:
The success of EDPs depends upon the stimulating, supporting and sustaining activities.
Stimulating activities includes entrepreneurial education, publicity of entrepreneurial
facilities, motivational training and assistance in the identification of viable projects, creating
a common platform for entrepreneurs, where they can share their problems, experiences and
success.
Supporting activities involves the various forms of support provided to the potential
entrepreneurs for setting up and running of their units such as registration, funds
mobilization, license, tax relief and incentives and management consultancy services.
Sustaining activities refer to expansion, diversification, Modernization and quality control.
2. Focus on achievement motivation:
It is important to develop achievement motivation amongst prospective entrepreneur through

proper training and conducive environment to create right type of impact of training.
Entrepreneurs should be helped ideas into reality.
3. Designing of viable projects:
A viable project is feasible to implement in terms of availability of resources and market

potentials. The EDP organizers should prepare the projects keeping in mind local resources,
funding, training requirements.
The entrepreneurial development agencies should select right people, impart right training
and entrust viable projects to make EDPs successful.
4. Selection of trainees:
Trainees should be selected after proper examinations and tests. Educated unemployed youth
should be selected on priority. Persons having traditional background in the chosen economic
activity should be preferred.
5. Training of trainers:
Success of EDPs depends on abilities skills and experience of trainers. They must be
committed, competent and qualified.
6. Organizing part time programmes:
54
Part time EDPs can organize for particular group of persons. These EDPs can be conducted
during week ends or in the evening.
7. Duration of EDPs:
The time period of EDPs should be increased to six months.
55
Growth of Women Entrepreneurship in India
Last five decades have seen phenomenal changes in the status and work place diversity of
women in India. Women entrepreneurs doming 50s fall into two categories. One set took to
creating and managing an entrepreneurial activity where there was no income generating
male.
The second set took enormous courage to break through the social maps and coding to take.
Charges of the business the husband had left or else her family would be the losers. In sixties
women took small steps to start small one woman enterprises at home and from home for self
occupation and engagement.
The women in seventies opened up new frontiers and developed not only aspirations but
ambitions for self employment and employment generation. These women wanted home,
marriage, children as well as occupation. They accepted the share of the work and
responsibilities for success and growth of their enterprise.
They wanted their voices to be heard as leaders to employees and as managers of the
enterprises to the outside business environment. However, all of them accepted both their
social and occupation roles balancing between the two.
In eighties, the number of women pursuing highly sophisticated technological and

professional education increased. They entered into family business as equally contributing
partners.
They made personal choices, stood up for their convictions and had the courage to make new
beginnings. For them the society was hostile and sometimes they developed a sense of guilt
for not playing appropriate traditional and social roles.
The women of the nineties were capable, competent, confident and as service. They were
clear of their goals, processes and the dynamics of goal accomplishment.
These women were fearless, and have learnt to live alone, travel alone and rear children alone
when failure in marriage and life partnerships occurs. In most of the cases they move out
shone and out performed their male counterparts.
21st century is the century of telecom, IT and financial institutions. Women’s expertise in all
these industries has made them emerge as a force to reckon with.
Many of these industries are headed and guided by women as pioneers and mavericks. They
have ventured to build enterprises, to discover their relevance and meaning of life in
themselves. But still in relation to the women population. The trend has not been spectacular.
As per 1991 census, only 185900 women accounting for only 4.5% of the total self employed
persons in the country were recorded. Majority of them are engaged in the unorganized sector
like agriculture, agro based industries, handicrafts, handlooms, and cottage based industries.
56
There were more than 295680 women entrepreneurs claiming 11.2% of the total 2.64 million
entrepreneurs in India during 1995-96. This is almost double the % of women (5.2%) among
the total population of self employed during 1981.
The present rate of 30% success of EDP training was likely to go up to 45% with growing
experience and improved techniques of training and follow up. The women were to be given
training in self employment/entrepreneurship of shorter duration as well as some training in
trade and skill areas.
In order to mobilize such of women entrepreneurs, a number of activities such as

motivational drive; preparation of information material; conducting training; creation of
women industrial estates/areas/sheds; creation of common marketing exposition centers,
training of trainers/ promoters; use of mass media, etc are required. Combined effect of all
these is bound to accelerate the process of women entrepreneurship development.
57
SECULARISM IN INDIA
“I do not expect India of my dreams to develop one religion, i.e., to be wholly Hindu or
wholly Christian or wholly Mussalman, but I want it to be wholly tolerant, with its religions
working side by side with one another.’’
—Mahatma Gandhi
On paper, India is unquestionably a secular State with secure constitutional guarantees for all
citizens. Yet, at a social and political level secularism seems an abstraction. There is a serious
contradiction between the secular goal of the Indian Constitution and the growing
communalisation of its polity.
Secularism cannot be defined without relating it to the socio-political context. What is true in
the western context, may not be necessarily valid in Indian context and vice versa.
Secularism, in philosophy and politics, is rejection of religious and sacred forms and
practices in favour of rational assessment and decision-making. In Europe and North
America, secularism can be traced to the 18th-century Age of Enlightenment or Age of
Reason. Enlightenment thinkers attacked classical traditions and religious authority. In
particular, they argued that the separation of Church and State would enable the free exercise
of human intellectual capacities and imagination, and would bring about government by
reason, rather than by tradition and dogma. The State, which was subservient to Church, till
then, was able to free itself from domination of papal authority, after a long struggle.
Western dictionaries define “secularism” as the absence of religion, but Indian secularism
means a profusion of religions, none of which is privileged by the State. Secularism in India
does not mean irreligiousness, rather it means multi-religiousness.
However, the Indian society was very different from the European society in its socio-
religious structure and could not, therefore, imitate the western model of secularism. It had to
evolve its own model of secularism from its own experimental context. Since there was not
any struggle against any established religious authority, there was no question of any
resentment against religion. Also, India was rich in pluralistic traditions, and mainly relied on
them for developing its concept of secularism.
Indian pluralism is best summed up in two maxims: ekam sad vipra bahula vadanti (i.e. That
which exists is one; sages call it by various names) and sarva dharma sambhava (All religions
should be equally respected).
Thus, right from the beginning, Indian secularism drew its strength from pluralism. It was the
religious community, rather than the religious authority, which mattered in the Indian context
of secularism. The saner leaders of both the communities emphasized justice in power-
sharing, without questioning the religious authority of either community.
58
In fact, the leaders of minority communities feared domination by the majority community
and interference in their religious affairs. The leaders of the majority community, on the other
hand, sought to assuage the feelings of minority communities by assuring them they would be
free to follow their own religions. Such leaders were called secular, while those of the
majority community who resented unrestricted religious freedom for minorities were called
communal. (a loose definition) Thus, in Indian secularism an anti-religious attitude did not
play a part.
When the concept of secularism came to be accepted in Indian politics, beginning with later
part of 19th century, Indian society was deeply religious and people jealously guarded their
religious rites as well as religious identities. Even the modern reform movements launched by
Raja Rammohan Roy and Sir Syed, both in the Hindu and Muslim societies, were launched
within the framework of respective religions. The leaders of freedom movement, like Tilak,
Mahatma Gandhi, Maulana Azad and others were all believers themselves and adopted the
religious idiom to mobilize the Indian masses for the freedom struggle.
For Gandhiji, the basis of Hindu-Muslim unity was also religion. The political unity, in his
view, should also be based on one’s religious duty to unite with other human beings. He
wrote in the Harijan of July 6, 1947 that “....by trying to befriend Muslims I have only proved
myself a true Hindu and have rightly served the Hindus and Hinduism. The essence of true
religious teachings is that one should serve and befriend all”. To strengthen his point then he
goes on to quote a couplet—from Iqbal’s famous poem Naya Shivala: "Mazhab nahin sikhata
aapas mein bayr rakhna", meaning, religion does not teach us to bear ill-will towards one
another.
Constitutional concept
Differing views of national leaders meant that the form of secularism that found expression in
the Constitution after independence was ambiguous. The result was that the Constitution
sought to do several things. It made some allowance for the role played by religion,
especially Hinduism, in Indian life. It also gave statutory recognition to minorities, thereby
implicitly accepting the existence of a majority. It aimed to foster a common civic identity,
but then compromised this by the provision of reserved seats in legislatures to Scheduled
Castes and Scheduled Tribes (initially meant to last 10 years, no Parliament has contempla-
ted doing away with this and its regular extension has become a formality).
Though our Constitution is secular, originally the word ‘secular’ found only a single casual
mention in the document of 1950. The reference was to “economic, financial, political or
other secular activity” in Article 25(2a) and the usage followed the standard dictionary
meaning. It was only during the emergency in mid-seventies, during Congress party rule, that
the words “secular and socialist” were added. The secular objective of the State was
specifically expressed by inserting the word ‘secular’ in the Preamble of the Constitution
(42nd Amendment) Act, 1976. But the word ‘secular’ was not defined, although it was given
official (not Constitutional but operational) expression in the State practice of maintaining
equidistance from all religions, or paying equal respect to all religions, not favouring one at
the cost of another. Thus, the unity and fraternity of the people of India, professing numerous
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faiths, was sought to be achieved by enshrining the ideal of a ‘secular State’, which means
that the State protects all religions equally and does not itself uphold any religion as the State
religion.
Thus, the spirit of Indian secularism is not denial of any religion or religious practice, but
religio-cultural pluralism. It is certainly better than atheistic secularism as the latter does not
admit the right of citizens to believe.
Critique
Uneven benefits of modernization and industrialization, on one hand, and marginalization of

religious traditions, on the other, have led to strong reaction, lending legitimation to the
reassertion of religious and ethnic identities, and putting more and more pressure on the
secular State.
During eighties, right-wing politicians mooted the concept of positive secularism, putting a
question mark on the Nehruvian concept of secularism. The advocates of ‘positive
secularism’ argue that all those who follow Nehruvian secularism are following a ‘pseudo
secularism’ or ‘false secularism’, as they are indulging in ‘minorityism’ by unduly favouring
the minorities.
Religion in India, whether pre- or post-Independence, has never been dissociated or delinked
from State institutions at any level: legal, institutional or cognitive. Rather, the modern Indian
State has been involved in regulating the religious affairs of society, more to secure political
goals than to “modernize” the social structure of Indian society. As a matter of fact, its
various policies have promoted and strengthened the religious identity of people and provided
State patronage to religious institutions and leaders.
Secularism became not a creed of radical separation between religion and politics, but of
spiritualising politics itself, which often took the form of mutual accommodation of
orthodoxies. The crucial question would be what should be the relationship between the State
and religion? Should the State play a part in religious affairs?
Many argue that it is not possible to do away with religion from politics in India. It must be
noted that though the Constitution provides for citizenship on individual basis, irrespective of
one’s religion or caste, one can hardly forget that our existential reality is communitarian,
rather than individual-oriented.
The Constitution had to take note of this existential reality. Thus, our Constitution tries to
imbibe elements of both as an honourable compromise. Strictly speaking, the ruling elites do
not rule in the name of religion, or for a particular religion. However, politics of the ruling
elites has always found it convenient to negotiate with various communities, rather than
individuals. Religion has firm presence within the communities, and it is a reference point for
the communities to define themselves. The Indian State, therefore, continues to interact and
deal with communities, and in the process, constantly legitimizes and reinforces the
communities through its acts.
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The meaning of religion varies from one person to another. All religious people are not
dogmatic, narrow-minded, ignorant, superstitious and intolerant. Dogmatism and narrow-
mindedness or fanaticism are psychological rather than religious categories. In that way, even
an atheist or agnostic can be dogmatic or intolerant and even fanatic.
The role of religion has often varied, from being an instrument in the hands for enforcing
abject subjugation of the toiling masses, to that of inspiring the revolt against tyranny or
racial oppression. Religion for toilers generally steps in to cement the strong bonds desired. It
provides values and meaning to their lives. It is their hope. Religion acts not only as a
substitute to science in explaining the universe and its laws, it also acts as a popular
philosophy for even the most ordinary person to be able to appreciate.
The ordinary or powerless need stronger, collective existence to give meaning and purpose to
their existence. The collective social existence through which the individual seeks to
compensate his or her powerlessness is to have common social values, culture, and a world-
view.
Some social scientists in India have argued that the serious threats to social tolerance and
diversity in India today come either from an anti-democratic, majoritarian, ethnic nationalism
or from a homogenising and modernising nation State, and the imposition of alien values on
Indian society. Such theorists prefer a State which does not claim procedural neutrality and
separation of State from religion but is, instead, guided by an encompassing indigenous
culture, although they oppose the interpretations of Indian culture which are being marketed
by right-wing forces today. Minorities could be protected, they argue, by the tolerance and
modes of coexistence which have evolved in the society over time, rather than by a
modernising nation State with alien values. The State should be prepared to devolve some of
its powers and functions on to communities.
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ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND
ENVIRONMENT
Economic development without environmental considerations can cause serious

environmental damage, in turn impairing the quality of life of present and future generations.
Such environmental degradation imposes a cost on the society and needs to be explicitly
factored into economic planning, with necessary remedial measures incorporated. The
challenge of sustainable development thus requires integration of the country's quest for
economic development with its environmental concerns.
Environment management in India has, over the years, recognized these sustainable
development concerns. The National Environment Policy 2006 has attempted to mainstream
environmental concerns in all our developmental activities. It underlines that “while
conservation of environmental resources is necessary to secure livelihoods and well being of
all, the most secure basis for conservation is to ensure that people dependent on particular
resources obtain better livelihoods from the fact of conservation, than from degradation of the
resource”.
A few recent initiatives

The Ministry of Environment and Forests has notified the Wetlands (Conservation and
Management) Rules 2010 in order to ensure that there is no further degradation of wetlands.
The rules specify activities that are harmful to wetlands, such as industrialization,
construction, dumping of untreated waste and reclamation and prohibit these activities in the
wetlands. Other activities, such as harvesting and dredging may be carried out in the wetlands
but only with prior permission from the concerned authorities.
The National Green Tribunal (NGT) Act, 2010 came into force on October 18, 2010. As per
the provisions of the NGT Act 2010, the National Environment Appellate Authority (NEAA),
established under the NEAA Act, 1997, stands dissolved and the cases pending before NEAA
stand transferred to the NGT. The Act provides for the establishment of a NGT for the
effective and expeditious disposal of cases relating to environmental protection and
conservation of forests and other natural resources, including enforcement of any legal right
relating to environment and giving relief and compensation for damages to persons and
property and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.
Coastal ecosystems are a critical reservoir of our biodiversity and provide protection from
natural disasters such as floods and tsunamis and are a source of livelihood to hundreds of
millions of families. Hence, as a major national initiative in this direction, the Coastal
Regulation Zone Notification has been published in the gazette of India on January 6, 2011.
The Government of India and World Bank have signed a loan agreement for the
implementation of an Integrated Coastal Zone Management Project, which will be
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implemented at a total cost of Rs 1156 crore. The World Bank will contribute an amount of
Rs 897 crore (77.7 per cent), the Government of India Rs 177 Crore (15.4 per cent), and the
States Rs 80 Crore (6.9 per cent). This project is for a period of five years and it is estimated
that it will benefit 3.56 crore people directly 6.30 crore indirectly.
Climate Change
Climate Change, as a global environmental problem has been receiving intense political
attention at domestic and international levels. ‘Climate change’ means a change of climate
which is attributed directly or indirectly to human activity, that alters the composition of the
global atmosphere and is in addition to natural climate variability observed over comparable
time periods. Increasing levels of fossil fuel burning and land use changes have emitted, and
are continuing to emit, greenhouse gases (mainly carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide)
into the earth’s atmosphere. This increasing level of emissions of greenhouse gases has
caused a rise in the amount of heat from the sun trapped in the earth’s atmosphere, heat that
would normally be radiated back into space. This has led to the greenhouse effect, resulting
in climate change.
Besides, Global Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions have risen sharply since 1945. As per a
working paper published by the World Resources Institute, total GHGs were estimated at
44,153 MtCo2 equivalents (million metric tons) in 2005. This is the most recent year for
which comprehensive emissions data are available for every major gas and sector. Total
global emissions grew by 12.7 per cent between 2000 and 2005, an annual average of 2.4 per
cent. CO2 is the predominant gas accounting for 77 per cent of world GHG emissions in
2005, followed by methane (15 per cent) and nitrous oxide (7 per cent). North America
accounted for 18 per cent of world GHG emissions, China for 16 per cent, and the EU for 12
per cent in 2005. India's share stood at 4 per cent in 2005.
The issue of climate change is now placed firmly on national and international agendas,
subject to scrutiny by public and media, and is even shaping the strategies of a number of
businesses.
Internationally, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (the

Convention) was set up in 1992 and entered into force in 1994. This was a crucial step in
putting in place the institutions and processes for the world’s Governments to take
coordinated and effective action.
The Convention laid the groundwork for concerted international action, which in 1997 led to
the adoption of the Kyoto Protocol containing a legally binding quantitative time-bound
target for developed countries. The Kyoto Protocol set a target for developed countries
(individually or jointly) to reduce overall emissions by at least 5 per cent below 1990 levels
in the first commitment period, 2008 to 2012. Recognizing that relying on domestic measures
alone to meet the target could be onerous, the Kyoto Protocol offers considerable flexibility
through three mechanisms: Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), Joint Implementation
(JI), and Emissions Trading (ET). Through the CDM, industrial countries can finance
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mitigation projects in developing countries contributing to their sustainable development.
Credits received from such projects can be used to meet commitments under the Kyoto
Protocol. Through JI, industrialized countries acquire emissions credit by financially
supporting projects in other industrialized countries.
Currently, international actions for addressing climate change are being pursued under the
Bali Action Plan and the mandate of the Kyoto Protocol. The 15th CoP held at Copenhagen
in December 2009 made some advance in the form of the ‘Copenhagen Accord’, which
reflects the political understanding reached by a select group of countries. However, this was
only ‘noted’ and not adopted by the Parties to the Convention. The recent negotiations held at
Cancun during November 29 - December 11, 2010, have resulted in a set of decisions that
cover various areas of action, for example mitigation, adaptation, technology and finance as
outlined in the Bali Action Plan, while agreeing to work towards an ambitious target of
emissions reduction under the Kyoto Protocol.
India's Greenhouse Emissions

Although India ranks in the top five in terms of GHG emissions, the per capita emissions are
much lower compared to those of the developed countries, even if the historical emissions are
excluded. Its high level of emissions is due to large populace, geographical size and large
economy. The most recent data available for India are the assessment carried out by the
Indian Network for Climate Change Assessment (INCCA) in May 2010.
The key results of the assessment are that the total net GHG emissions from India in 2007
were 1727.71 million tons of CO2 equivalent (eq.), of which carbon dioxide emissions were
1221.76 million tons; methane 20.56 million tons; and nitrous oxide 0.24 million tons. In
1994, the total net GHG emissions for India were 1228.54 million tons of CO2 eq. This
represents a compounded annual growth rate of 2.9 per cent during the period 1994 to 2007.
GHG emissions from the energy, industry, agriculture, and waste sectors in 2007 constituted
58 per cent, 22 per cent, 17 per cent, and 3 per cent of the net CO2 eq. emissions respectively.
India's per capita CO2 eq. emissions including land use, land use change, and forestry
(LULUCF) were 1.5 tons per capita in 2007.
Impacts of Climate Change in India

Climate change has enormous implications for the natural resources and livelihoods of the
people. It will have wide-ranging effects on the environmental and socio-economic and
related sectors. Various studies indicate that the key sectors in India such as the agriculture,
water, natural ecosystem, biodiversity, and health are vulnerable to climate change. This is
happening precisely at a time when it is confronted with huge development imperatives. The
Indian Network for Climate Change Assessment (INCCA) released a report in November
2010 on assessment of the impact of climate change on key sectors and regions of India in the
2030s. The assessment covers four key sectors of the Indian economy, namely agriculture,
water, natural ecosystems and biodiversity, and health in four climate sensitive regions,
namely the Himalayan region, the Western Ghats, the Coastal Area, and the North-east
region.
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The report warns of impacts such as sea-level rise, increase in cyclonic intensity, reduced
crop yield in rain-fed crops, stress on livestock, reduction in milk productivity, increased
flooding, and spread of malaria. This calls for urgency of action in reducing vulnerability to
adverse impacts of climate change and enhancing adaptive capacity through sector-specific
interventions and efforts.
India's Strategies
India’s total CO2 emissions are about 4 per cent of total global CO2 emissions and the energy
intensity of India’s output has been falling with improvements in energy efficiency,
autonomous technological changes, and economical use of energy. India’s climate modeling
studies show that even with 8-9 per cent gross domestic product (GDP) growth every year for
the next decade or two, its per capita emissions will be around 3-3.5 tonnes of CO2eq. by
2030, as compared to the present 1-1.2 tonnes. These are well below developed country
averages by any estimation.
India’s determination in addressing climate change is evident from the fact that an indicative
target of increasing energy efficiency by 20 per cent by 2016-17 is already included in the
Eleventh Five Year Plan. This has now been supplemented with the domestic mitigation goal
of reducing emissions intensity of the GDP by 20-25 per cent of the 2005 level by 2020
through proactive policies. The resources for the measures required to achieve this objective
will need to be mobilized from various sources, including the national planning process.
Studies in respect of a low carbon strategy for development aimed at ensuring inclusive
growth are being conducted with the aim of including this as one of the key pillars in the
Twelfth Five Year Plan.
Second, India is taking conscious steps to diversify the energy fuel mix such as setting up of
20,000 MW of solar power-generating capacity by 2022, doubling the present share of 3 per
cent of nuclear power in the energy mix over the next decade, putting in place a major
market-based programme to stimulate energy efficiency, imposing clean energy cess on coal
for funding research and development (R&D) of clean energy technologies, even though coal
will continue to play a key role in our future energy strategy, and aggressively expanding the
use of natural gas in power production.
Third, India has been pursuing aggressive strategies for forestry and coastal management to
increase the quality and quantity of forest cover and has launched a major new programme on
coastal zone management to address the adaptation challenges facing over 300 million people
in our country who live in vulnerable areas near our coast.
As part of its international obligations under the United Nations Framework Convention on
Climate Change (UNFCCC) India periodically prepares the National Communication
(NATCOM) that gives an inventory of the GHG emissions in India, assesses the vulnerability
and impacts, and makes appropriate recommendations regarding social, economic and
technological measures for addressing climate change.
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India's strategy for enhancing its adaptive capacity to climate variability is reflected in many
of its social and economic development programmes. For developing countries like India,
adaptation ultimately boils down to assisting the vulnerable population during exigencies and
empowering them to build their lives and cope with uncertainties in the long run. Several of
India's social-sector schemes, with their emphases on livelihood security and welfare of the
weaker sections, aim to do just that. India implements a series of Central sector and centrally
sponsored schemes under different Ministries/Departments aimed at achieving social and
economic development. Many of these schemes contain elements (objectives and targets) that
are decidedly geared to adaptation. In other words, there is substantial adaptation orientation
in many of the sectoral schemes currently under operation. An exercise has been carried out
to measure the expenditure on adaptation-related programmes with critical adaptation
components: (a) crop improvement and research, (b) poverty alleviation and livelihood
preservation, (c) drought proofing and flood control, (d) risk financing, (e)forest
conservation, (f) health, and (g) rural education and infrastructure. It has been found that
India's expenditure on these adaptation-oriented schemes has increased from 1.45 per cent of
GDP in the year 2000-01 to 2.84 per cent during 2009-10. This is a fairly impressive level of
spending and is an obvious reflection of the multiplicity of economic and social welfare
programmes under implementation in India.
India has announced a National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) in June, 2008
which incorporates its vision of sustainable development and the steps it must take to realize
it.
Climate Change Financing

Climate change is a complex policy issue with major implications in terms of finances for
addressing mitigation of GHG emissions, on the one hand, and coping with the adverse
impacts of climate change on the community and population, ecosystem, economy and
livelihood, on the other.
All actions to address climate change ultimately involve costs. Funding is vital in order for
countries like India to design and implement adaptation and mitigation plans and projects.
Lack of funding is a large impediment to implementing adaptation plans. Article 4 of the

Convention states that developed countries shall provide financial resources to assist
developing country Parties in addressing climate change. The funds that are currently
available under the Convention and the Kyoto Protocol are small compared to the magnitude
of the need assessed by many studies. The UNFCCC has estimated a requirement of US$
200-210 billion in additional investment in 2030 to return GHG emissions to current level.
Further, additional investment needed worldwide for adaptation is estimated to be US$ 60-
182 billion in 2030 by UNFCCC, inclusive of an expenditure of US$ 28-67 billion in
developing countries. As various estimates point to the enormity of funds to address climate
change, developing countries including India have been arguing that a global mechanism for
generating and accounting for additional resources, mainly from public sources, is essential
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for meeting the long-term finance requirements for adaptation and mitigation. There should
be a multilateral financial mechanism under the Convention that should be set up with
resources provided by developed countries on the basis of assessed contributions.
One of the important outcomes of the Cancun Agreements from the finance point of view is
the decisions on ‘fast start finance, long-term finance, and Green Climate Fund’. At Cancun,
it was decided to set up a ‘Green Climate Fund’, to be designated as an operating entity of the
Financial Mechanism of the Convention under Article 11. The Green Climate Fund is
accountable to and functions under the guidance of the CoP. The Fund will support
environment-related projects, programmes, policies, and other activities in developing
countries.
While the outcomes in Cancun on Climate Fund, Technology Mechanism, and Adaptation
Framework and Forestry (REDD+) are welcome, further work is needed on strengthening of
weak mitigation pledges by developed countries, preventing unilateral trade actions in the
name of climate change, and continuing a dialogue on intellectual property rights as part of
technology development and transfer efforts. Moreover, a successful global effort for
addressing climate change must be built on sound principles of equity and common but
differentiated responsibilities. Equity in terms of equitable access to global atmospheric
resources should define the pathway to attainment of a long-term goal in line with the broad
findings of science.
Besides, the increasing importance of climate-related issues should not shake the foundations
of our inclusive growth strategy. Careful planning and customized policies are needed to
ensure that the green growth strategies do not result in a slow growth strategy.
Eight National Missions

Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM): The government has launched the
JNNSM in January 2010 with a target of 20,000 MW grid solar power (based on solar
thermal power- generating systems and solar photovoltaic [SPV] technologies), 2000 MW of
off-grid capacity by 2022. The Mission will be implemented in three phases. The first phase
will last three years (up to March 2013), the second till March 2017, and the third till March
2022. The Government has also approved the implementation of the first phase of the
Mission (up to March 2013) and the target to set up 1100 MW grid-connected solar plants
including 100 MW of rooftop and small solar plants and 200 MW capacity-equivalent off-
grid solar applications and a 7 million sq.m solar thermal collector area in the first phase of
the Mission, till 2012-13.
Energy Conservation and Efficiency: The objective of the National Mission for Enhanced
Energy Efficiency (NMEEE) is to achieve growth with ecological sustainability by devising
cost-effective strategies for end- use demand-side management. The Ministry of Power and
Bureau of Energy Efficiency have been entrusted with the task of preparing the
implementation plan for the NMEEE and up-scaling the efforts to create and sustain market
for energy efficiency to unlock investment of around Rs 74,000 crore. The Mission is likely
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to achieve about 23 million tons oil-equivalent of fuel savings—in coal, gas, and petroleum
product—by 2014-15, along with an expected avoided capacity addition of over 19,000 MW.
The carbon dioxide emission reduction is estimated to be 98.55 million tons annually.
National Mission on Strategic Knowledge for Climate Change (NMSKCC): The

NMSKCC has been launched with the broad objectives of mapping of the knowledge and
data resources relevant to climate change and positioning of a data-sharing policy framework
for building strategic knowledge among the various arms of the Government, identification of
knowledge gaps, networking of knowledge institutions after investing critical mass of
physical, intellectual, and policy infrastructure resources, creation of new dedicated centres
within the existing institutional framework, building of international cooperation on science
and technology for climate change agenda through strategic alliances and assistance for the
formulation of policies for a sustained developmental agenda.
National Mission for Sustaining Himalayan Ecosystem (NMSHE): The broad objectives
of the NMSHE include: understanding the complex processes affecting the Himalayan
ecosystem and evolving suitable management and policy measures for sustaining and
safeguarding it, creating and building capacities in different domains, networking of
knowledge institutions engaged in research and development of a coherent data base on the
Himalayan ecosystem, detecting and decoupling natural and anthropogenic-induced signals
of global environmental changes in mountain ecosystems, studying traditional knowledge
systems for community participation in adaptation, mitigation, and coping mechanisms
inclusive of farming and traditional health care systems, and developing regional cooperation
with neighbouring countries, to generate a strong data base through monitoring and analysis
so as to eventually create a knowledge base for policy interventions.
National Water Mission: The objectives of the National Water Mission are 'conservation of
water, minimizing wastage and ensuring its more equitable distribution both across and
within States through integrated water resources management'. The goals of the Mission are a
comprehensive water data base in the public domain, assessment of the impact of climate
change on water resources, promotion of citizen and State actions for water conservation,
augmentation and preservation, focused attention to overexploited areas, increasing water use
efficiency by 20 per cent, and promotion of basin-level integrated water resources
management.
Green India Mission: The Mission aims at responding to climate change through a
combination of adaptation and mitigation measures. These measures include enhancing
carbon sinks in sustainably managed forests and other ecosystems, adaption of vulnerable
species/ecosystems to the changing climate, and adaptation of forest-dependent communities.
The objectives of the Mission are increased forest/tree cover on 5 million ha of forest/non-
forest lands and improved quality of forest cover on another 5 million ha (a total of 10
million ha), improved ecosystem services including biodiversity, hydrological services,
carbon sequestration as a result of treatment of 10 million ha), increased forest-based
livelihood income for about 3 million households living in and around the forest, and
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enhanced annual CO2 sequestration by 55 million tonnes in the year 2020.
National Mission on Sustainable Habitat (NMSH): The NMSH seeks to promote

sustainability of habitats through improvements in energy efficiency in building and urban
planning, improved management of solid and liquid waste including recycling and power
generation, modal shift towards public transport, and conservation. It also seeks to improve
ability of habitats to adapt to climate change by improving resilience of infrastructure,
community- based disaster management, and measures for improving advance warning
systems for extreme weather events.
National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture: The National Mission for Sustainable
Agriculture (NMSA) seeks to address issues regarding 'sustainable agriculture' in the context
of risks associated with climate change by devising appropriate adaptation and mitigation
strategies for ensuring food security, enhancing livelihood opportunities, and contributing to
economic stability at national level. Under this Mission, the adaptation and mitigation
measures would be mainstreamed in research and development activities, absorption of
improved technology and best practices, creation of physical and financial infrastructure and
institutional framework, facilitating access to information and promoting capacity building.
While promotion of dry-land agriculture would receive prime importance by way of
developing suitable drought- and pest-resistant crop varieties and ensuring adequacy of
institutional support, the Mission would also expand its coverage to rain-fed areas for
integrating farming systems with livestock and fisheries so that agriculture continues to grow
in a sustainable manner.
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Role of Technology in Promotion of Democracy
Technology can play a vital role in advancement of democratic rights in developing

countries. Comment.
Technology has developed at a lightning pace in the past few years. Moreover, it has struck a
chord with the masses across nations, irrespective of the political, economic and social fabric
of the country. Furthermore, as the people in developing countries struggle to achieve high
standards of living and at the same time demand more political rights, the fight for democracy
is certainly aided by technology.
The information revolution has given teeth to the people’s fight against any kind of
oppression. For instance, the recent revolution in Egypt was furthered through internet and
telecommunication. Technology plays a significant role in disseminating information, which
was until a few years back the prerogative of the governments.
The highlight of the 21st century is the new media. Internet has revolutionised the way
information is channelised and analysed. Anyone can share his/her story through internet.
Blogs and social networking websites give people a chance to share their views and in the
process form pressure groups.
Countries like China have attempted to obstruct the flow of communication but usually meet
disappointment as there is little that could be done to curb the people’s voice which is finding
an ally in technological advancement. It must be remembered that China had asked Google to
comply with the country’s policies.
India could arguably be called an apostle of democracy but people at times feel the need for a
greater role in governance. The recent Anna Hazare led movement demanding setting up of a
Jan Lokpal is a striking example of how technology can help mobilise people and in the
process lead to decentralisation of power and advancement of democratic rights. The Hazare
movement got a tremendous boost from social networking websites, the television channels
and the cellphones.
So it can be concluded that technology has given a new dimension to democracy.
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CORRUPTION AND QUALITY OF GOVERNANCE
That India is one of the most corrupt in the world is not the news, the news is that there is no
hope for any respite from this evil which is essentially an anti-poor phenomenon. According
to the Transparency International, India ranks very high on the Corruption Perception Index.
There are a lot of things because of which one is proud of being an Indian. However, there
are a lot more for which one is ashamed of being an Indian, and corruption is one of them.
Courage, integrity and moral values of life have been major casualties in recent times. We
have seen how these qualities have nose-dived to absurdly low depths. Our leaders have lost
total sense of responsibilities and propriety and have misused and abused the power and
authority vested in them with impunity, and with utter disregard to public interests. They
have literally converted the governmental infrastructure as their personal fiefdom, resulting in
series of scams and scandals. As a natural aftermath of this degradation on moral values and
quality of leadership, everyday life of common citizens has become a living hell. Municipal
services are heaped in corruption and inefficiency, with erratic electricity and water supply,
choked and overflowing sewers, smelly drains, neglected roads and streets with potholes, and
dotted with rotting garbage dumps and stinking public toilets. Standards of education in
government schools and colleges have gone down and several money spinning private
schools and coaching centres have mushroomed, whose sole aim is to fleece the public.
In the present economic scenario, the basic prerequisites of an efficient administrative

system, conducive and growth-oriented environment and good and reliable infrastructure are
not available in our governing apparatus, which are essential for a sound economy. Inefficient
and inapt administration, which has no work-culture worth the name, and which is forever on
holiday or holiday-mood, has caused serious overruns on development projects, resulting in
losses and chronic shortages of power, roads, ports and means of communication. Family-
planning programmes have failed miserably, which has led to further inadequacies of our
basic facilities—education, health, housing and transport projects. Perennial shortage in our
infrastructure network has stunted our industrial and commercial growth. Absence of right
environments has failed the system and driven out our intellectuals to greener pastures in
foreign lands, thereby causing brain-drain. Even our space programmes have been
jeopardized due to flight of scientific talent. Our industrialists have also failed the nation.
Inspite of prolonged protection from foreign competition, they have not developed the
indigenous technology and have remained heavily dependent on outdated imported
technologies to produce substandard products, most of which cannot compete in international
markets either in price or in quality.
The root cause of all this is our poor work-culture and corrupt practices, which have now
become endemic in our national character. The main aim of the bulk of our citizens is to
make hay while the sun shines and not to worry about the nation and its plebeian designs.
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Our political system has proved to be the fountain-head of corruption. During elections, help
of industrial and business houses and criminal elements are invited to fund the extravagant
election expenses of candidates and use muscle power to muster votes, which results in nexus
between politicians, business houses and underground mafia. This nexus associates are later
reimbursed through scams and scandals by siphoning off public funds.
Huge amounts received from international agencies for welfare projects are pilfered and
shared among the nexus associates of the politicians in power. The bureaucracy has been
made servile through carrot and stick policy. In fact, most of them have now become conduit
for slush money for their political bosses, and in process have become drain into the vortex
and are partners in promoting corruption. They have forgotten the legacy of courage, integrity
and uprightness of their predecessors—the Indian Civil Services cadre of yore. They have
forgotten that their first duty is to serve the people and not their self-interests or their political
bosses.
Corruption is an anti-poor phenomenon which can only be tackled by better governance and
less government. Apart from its moral and ethical dimension, corruption is the major cause of
poor becoming poorer and, of course, rich getting converted into super rich or filthy and
vulgar rich. In democratic set up, and in a plural economy like ours, everyone is guaranteed
the right to grow to one’s potential and create wealth by all legitimate means. However,
corruption of any kind deprives the common man from ‘climbing’ the next ladder and he
either continues at the same or slides further down to a more pathetic condition.
Corruption is really anti-poor. 31.5% of the food grains and 36% of sugar in the Public
Distribution System (PDS) gets diverted to black market. The fact is that Rs 20,000 crores is
the subsidy involved in the PDS and 30% leaks to the black market, in other words, more
than Rs 6,000 crores are made available for the politicians, corrupt officials of the PDS, the
corrupt shopkeepers and their protectors. We can, therefore, see how, while in the name of
the poor, an argument can be made for food security and subsidy. Different scams have
shown the linkage between anti-national elements. 300 people died in Bombay blast in 1993
and this was made possible because RDX could be smuggled by bribing Rs 20 lakh to certain
Custom officials. We can, therefore, see that corruption is anti-economic development, anti-
poor and anti-national.
What is corruption and why should any government and its people fight corruption? The
World Bank definition of corruption is “Use of public office for private profit”. Some or all
government offices are public, and the use of these offices for ‘private profit’ by politicians,
bureaucrats and the others is common in India. So much so, we have created such systems in
our country that corruption has become endemic. Like Mark Twain’s statement that every
one talks about the weather but nobody seems to be able to do anything about it, the entire
nation talks about corruption but nobody is able to do anything about it. Former Central
Vigilance Commissioner, N. Vittal, used to compare corruption with a disease like AIDS. He
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felt as AIDS is the result of uncontrolled sexual behaviour, corruption is the outcome of
uncontrolled financial behaviour.
The next aspect to be understood is why the government and responsible citizens must fight
corruption? The straight forward answer is, because corruption is anti-poor and anti-
development. The Human Development Report for South-Asia, pointed out that if India’s
level of corruption could be brought down to the Scandinavian countries, its GDP will
improve by 1.5 % and foreign bank investment by 12%. Anything that is anti-poor and hence
anti-social must be on top of the government agenda to rectify the situation, but in a country
where populism takes priority over good governance, it doesn’t find even a mention. It is
often said that leaders of India have deliberately kept the people ignorant so that they won’t
know how badly they are governed. The present state of anarchy has made everyday life of
the citizens a living hell. They not only live in the fear of life and property, they also have to
make do with inefficiency in every government department.
Perhaps, the present state of affairs can be described in the words of Mahatma Gandhi whose
understanding of India and patriotism cannot be challenged. “India is a country of self-
suppression and timidity”, he said. This contributes to a common man’s low expectations
from anything Indian, including the administration. Many intellectuals who are painted by
others ‘as full of self-loathing’, perhaps also contribute to this phenomenon—that nothing can
be done to eradicate corruption and we have to resign to our destiny and fate. It is not true. Of
course, a lot can be done, provided there is a will to change the present state of affairs.
Mahatma Gandhi’s dream was to see India with every face without a tear. Alas, in more than
60 years, we have not been able to meet the aspirations and objective potential of our people.
Official figures indicate that at least 36% live
below the austerely defined by the Planning Commission. Today, millions of our citizens do
not have the elementary freedom from economic poverty, social deprivation or political
tyranny. As famous Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen will like us to understand, we are only
technically free but not truly free.
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Corruption is a blot on India growth story
In the hope that the government will be forced to draft a potent anti corruption law, veteran
Gandhian and social activist Anna Hazare has begun an indefinite fast on April 5, 2011. He is
being supported by prominent citizens like Kiran Bedi in his struggle against corruption.
Corruption is an epidemic that has dogged the Indian thinkers since Independence. Rajiv
Gandhi’s candid admission of the rot in the Indian governance and administration exemplifies
the challenge that lies ahead of the nation. Accountability in public life is something that has
evaded the imagination of the Indians. However, recent scandals in the Commonwealth
Games, 2G spectrum allocation and even the Cash for Vote scam in the Parliament have
forced the country to stand up against this menace that not only blemishes the face of the
nation but also mars the development of the poor and the underprivileged.
Several attempts by citizens and NGOs have led to enactment of laws like the Right to
Information Act but it is also a fact that the scale of corruption and the scams has touched
new heights. The alleged scam in the allocation of the 2G spectrum which led to the
resignation and arrest of former Union Telecom Minister A Raja is estimated to the tune of
1.76 lakh crore rupees as per a report by the CAG.
As India continues to rise to prominence in international affairs, it is of paramount

significance that the civil society wakes up to the need of the hour and raise voice against
corruption. Mere rise in the GDP will not give any direction to the country as dissatisfaction
will brew if the divide between the rich and the poor continues to grow, thanks to corruption.
Also, India has to improve governance and its polity if the country hopes to play the role of a
leader in the 21st century.
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Drugs Addiction
In recent times, drug-addiction in India has assumed menacing proportions and the evil is
increasing by leaps and bounds. It is Wide-spreading the hostels and campuses of the
universities and technical and professional institutions of the country. Charas, Ganja, Heroin,
smack or brown sugar 'bhanga' and even 'LSD' are in great demand and are purchased at
exorbitant prices.
Taking of drugs is a great evil. A number of causes are responsible for the evil. In many
homes, growing boys and girls do not get the love, care and attention which they should
receive at this tender age. Often both the father and the mother are in service and
consequently have no time to look after their children. In other cases, the husband and the
wife are not on good terms with each other. They often quarrel, the quarrels increase in
intensity and violence, and life in the home becomes most unhappy and unpleasant. Such
quarrels may lead even to divorce and the breaking up of the family. In still other cases, the
father remains too busy in his own social life, to look after the children. The result is that
young people in such homes feel lonely and neglected. They feel frustrated. Deprived totally
of parental love and affection, they seek consolation elsewhere. They go astray. Their so
called friends, who are themselves drug-addicts, mislead them and induce them, at least, to
have a taste of it. The drug-sellers fully exploit them. Drugs are in the beginning provided to
them quite cheap, but the price goes on increasing as this evil habit takes hold of them and
they can no longer do without drugs.
Drug-addiction is an acute problem which has defied all efforts at its solution so far. The drug
- addict cannot do without the drug even for a short while, and the habit goes on increasing
and soon the addict finds himself a helpless victim of this degrading habit. He must get his
dose of it at the fixed time and if he does not get it, he weeps and cries and becomes
incapable of the least movement. The result is that he borrows money, or he steals it from his
own home or from any other place which may be within his reach. He or she exploited in
various ways by their so called friends or the sellers of these vicious drugs. The drug-addicts
steal, and with their parents and other members of the family, so that their life in the home
becomes a hell. Often the evil results in suicide and the ruin of the whole family. The only
beneficiaries are the vendors of these drugs. They thrive while their victims perish.
Total eradication of the evil is the urgent need of the hour, and fight against it must be
undertaken on a war-footing and on a number of fronts. public opinion must be created
against it and the different media of mass communication-the press, the radio, the television,
the cinema, the public platform and the class room-must be pressed into service to combat the
evil. In this way the people more particularly the youth, must be made aware of the evil
consequences of this habit. They must be made to realize that 'the friends' who initiate them
into this evil practice are not their friends but their enemies. They exploit them for their own
nefarious ends.
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Secondly, there must be a concentrated drive against smugglers who smuggle these drugs into
the country and make huge profits by selling it to their unlucky, helpless victims. Thirdly, de-
addiction centers must be established, at least in all major cities, where the victims of this
vicious practice may be treated and gradually weaned away from it. The drug-addicts need
sympathy and an understanding of their problems. They should be treated as essential for
successfully tackling the problem.
We are glad to note that the government is fully alive to the urgency of this problem. Mass
media have already begun to stress this problem and from public opinion against it.
Programmers aimed at the eradication of this evil are televised frequently. The drive against
smugglers and vendors of these drugs has been intensified, and huge quantities are being
seized practically everyday. De-addiction centers for the treatment of these helpless people
have already been established in cities like Delhi, and it is hoped that more and more areas
would soon have such centers. The fight against this social evil has begun, and its eradication
is a matter of time only.
76
EDUCATION FOR ALL
The gains achieved since the Education for All and Millennium Development Goals were
adopted in 2000 are undeniable: great strides have been made towards universal primary
education, increased participation in secondary and tertiary education and, in many countries,
gender equality. More widely, there have been improvements in overcoming hunger, poverty,
and child and maternal mortality.
The global financial crisis could radically change all this. Reaching the marginalized
demonstrates that declining government revenue and rising unemployment now pose a
serious threat to progress in all areas of human development. Government budgets are under
even greater pressure and funding for education is especially vulnerable. So are poor
households. Rising poverty levels mean that the challenge of meeting basic human needs is a
daily struggle. Lessons from the past teach us that children are often the first to suffer—as is
their chance to go to school.
Global Monitoring Report, 2010, underscores that there is a long way to travel. There are still
at least 72 million children worldwide who are missing out on their right to education
because of the simple fact of where they are born or who their family is. Millions of youths
leave school without the skills they need to succeed in the workforce and one in six adults is
denied the right to literacy.
The 2010 Report is a call to action. We must reach the marginalized. Only inclusive
education systems have the potential to harness the skills needed to build the knowledge
societies of the twenty-first century.
The international community needs to identify the threat to education posed by the economic
crisis and the rise in global food prices. Human development indicators are deteriorating. An
estimated 125 million additional people could be pushed into malnutrition and 90 million into
poverty in 2010.
With poverty rising, unemployment growing and remittances diminishing, many poor and
vulnerable households are being forced to cut back on education spending or withdraw their
children from school. National budgets in poor countries are under pressure. Sub-Saharan
Africa faces a potential loss of around US$4.6 billion annually in financing for education in
2009 and 2010, equivalent to a 10% reduction in spending per primary-school pupil.
As part of an effective response, it is need of the hour to provide sustained and predictable aid
to counteract revenue losses, protect priority social spending and support progress in
education.
The situation is not hopeless everywhere, though. Some countries have achieved
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extraordinary advances. Benin started out in 1999 with one of the world’s lowest net
enrolment ratios but may now be on track for universal primary education by 2015. The share
of girls out of school has declined from 58% to 54%, and the gender gap in primary education
is narrowing in many countries. Between 1985–1994 and 2000–2007, the adult literacy rate
increased by 10%, to its current level of 84%. The number of adult female literates has
increased at a faster pace than that of males.
However, much need to be done. Malnutrition affects around 175 million young children
each year and is a health and an education emergency. There were 72 million children out of
school in 2007. Business as usual would leave 56 million children out of school in 2015.
Around 54% of children out of school are girls. In sub-Saharan Africa, almost 12 million
girls may never enrol. In Yemen, nearly 80% of girls out of school are unlikely ever to enrol,
compared with 36% of boys. Literacy remains among the most neglected of all education
goals, with about 759 million adults lacking literacy skills today. Two-thirds are women.
Millions of children are leaving school without having acquired basic skills. In some
countries in sub-Saharan Africa, young adults with five years of education had a 40%
probability of being illiterate. In the Dominican Republic, Ecuador and Guatemala, fewer
than half of grade 3 students had more than very basic reading skills. Some 1.9 million new
teacher posts will be required to meet universal primary education by 2015.
The urgent international measures required include: increased concessional financial support
through bilateral aid and the World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA),
with a commitment to increase IDA replenishment from US$42 billion to US$60 billion; a
review of the implications of the global economic downturn for the financing of development
targets in advance of the 2010 Millennium Development Goals summit; an emergency
pledging conference during 2010 to mobilize additional aid for education; budget monitoring
to pick up early warning signs of fiscal adjustments that threaten education financing, with
UNESCO coordinating an international programme to these ends; revision of the IMF’s loan
conditions to ensure consistency with national poverty reduction and Education for All
priorities.
Education Quality
The ultimate measure of any education system is not how many children are in school, but
what – and how well – they learn. There is growing evidence that the world is moving more
quickly to get children into school than to improve the quality of the education offered.
Learning achievement deficits are evident at many levels. International assessment exercises
point consistently towards severe global disparities. The 2007 Trends in International
Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) found that average students in several developing
countries, including Ghana, Indonesia and Morocco, performed below the poorest-performing
students in countries such as Japan and the Republic of Korea. Inequalities within countries,
linked to household disadvantage and the learning environment, are also marked. The
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problem is not just one of relative achievement. Absolute levels of learning are desperately
low in many countries.
Evidence from South and West Asia and from sub-Saharan Africa suggests that many
children are failing to master basic literacy and numeracy skills, even when they complete a
full cycle of primary education. Low learning achievement stems from many factors. Schools
in many developing countries are in a poor state and teachers are in short supply. By 2015,
the poorest countries will need to recruit some 1.9 million additional primary school teachers,
including 1.2 million in sub-Saharan Africa, to create a good learning environment for all
children. More equitable teacher deployment is also vital: all too often, the poorest regions
and most disadvantaged schools have the fewest and least-qualified teachers. Several
countries, including Brazil and Mexico, have introduced programmes targeting schools
serving disadvantaged communities. Governments can also raise standards by spotting
problems early, using constant monitoring and early-grade reading assessments.
Education for all Development Index (EDI)

While each of the six Education for All goals adopted in 2000 matters in its own right, the
commitment undertaken by governments at the World Education Forum in Dakar was to
sustain advances on all fronts. The Education for All Development Index (EDI) provides a
composite measure of progress, encompassing access, equity and quality. Because of data
availability constraints, it includes only the four most easily quantifiable goals, attaching an
equal weight to each: (1) universal primary education, measured by the primary adjusted net
enrolment ratio (ANER); (2) adult literacy, measured by the literacy rate for those aged 15
and above; (3) gender parity and equality, measured by the gender-specific EFA index (GEI),
an average of the gender parity indexes of the primary and secondary gross enrolment ratios
and of the adult literacy rate; (4) quality of education, measured by the survival rate to grade
5.
The EDI value for a given country is the arithmetic mean of the four proxy indicators. It falls
between 0 and 1, with 1 representing full EFA achievement.
India is ranked 105 on the EDI index. On top of the list is Norway, followed by Japan and
Germany.
Education Scenario of India

Literacy in India has made remarkable strides since Independence. This has been further
confirmed by the results of the Census 2001. The literacy rate has increased from 18.33% in
1951 to 64.84% in 2001. This is despite the fact that during the major part of the last five
decades there has been exponential growth of the population at nearly 2% per annum.
The Indian Constitution resolves to provide quality education to all and, in an effort to fulfil
the educational needs of the country, specifically for the diverse societies and cultures of the
country, the government has chalked out different educational categories: elementary
education, secondary education, higher education, adult education, technical and vocational
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education. Free and compulsory education to all children up to the age of fourteen years is
now a constitutional commitment in India. Despite serious handicaps of means and resources,
the country has built up during the last 50 years a very large system of education, and has
created a vast body of men and women equipped with a high order of scientific and
technological capabilities, robust humanist and philosophical thought and creativity.
The government of India has initiated a number of programmes to achieve the goal of
Universalisation of Elementary Education (UEE), from among which the Sarva Shiksha
Abhiyan (SSA), launched in 2001, is the most recent one. It aimed at achieving universal
elementary education of satisfactory quality by 2010. The SSA is expected to generate
demand for secondary education in view of which the government of India has recently
launched the Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) to improve universal access
and quality at the Secondary and Higher Secondary stages of education.
For successful implementation of any educational programme, effective monitoring and an

efficient information system are essential. While the monitoring framework for the SSA is
developed separately, concerted efforts have been made towards strengthening the
Educational Management Information System (EMIS) for the elementary level of education.
The District Elementary Education Plans (DEEP) across the country are being developed
primarily based on the data generated though the information system developed for the SSA,
i.e. the District Information System for Education (DISE).
The elementary education system of India has expanded into one of the largest in the world.
Number of primary schools increased from 2.15 lakhs in 1950-51 to 6.1 lakhs in 1997-98; the
corresponding increase in upper primary schools was from 0.14 lakhs to 1.85 lakhs. These
8.17 lakh schools together enrolled 1,110 lakh children as compared to 192 lakh in 1951.
Universal provision of education has been substantially achieved at the primary stage (classes
I-V). An estimated 95 percent of the rural population living in 8,26,000 habitations has a
primary school within a walking distance of one km and about 85 percent of the rural
population has an upper primary school within a walking distance of three km. More than 150
million children are currently enrolled covering around 90 percent of the children in the age
group of 6-14 years. Recent surveys on literacy rates indicate a phenomenal progress in the
nineties and indicate a significant rise in the literacy level.
Despite such significant achievements in the recent years, it is realized that there are serious
problems of gender, regional, sectional and caste disparities in UEE. A significant proportion
of children continue to drop out due to socioeconomic and cultural factors as also due to lack
of adequate infrastructure, shortage of teachers and unsatisfactory quality of education
provided.
The country has the dubious distinction of having the largest number of illiterates and out of
school children in the world—30% of the world’s adult illiterates (300 million) and 21.87
percent of out-of-school children. At least 24 million children in the age group 6-14 are out of
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school of whom about 60% are girls; about 121.3 million are adult illiterates in the age group
15.35 of whom about 62 percent are women. Given the demographic pressures the numbers
are likely to increase further. Universalisation of elementary education thus, poses a
formidable challenge to India: the numbers of children dropping out, not attending school
regularly and never enrolled are immense. Quality of education is poor; teachers are
inadequately trained and have lack of motivation.
A major concern is to improve the skills and motivation of teachers, promoting the
participation of communities in the running of schools and enrolling/retaining girls/working
children of urban poor and children with special needs in schools. Also, in India, a large
universe of working children exists such as the street children, neglected and destitute
children, children of sex workers and children practising as sex workers. Many of these have
been targeted through non-formal initiatives but never main-streamed. Besides, along with
access and retention, the quality of education provided to them is questionable.
India has significant requirements and goals set for it, which will enable it to possess self-
equipped citizens holding a key to the progress and development in all spheres. This implies
that all the provisions stated in the NPE must be realized by 2025. To begin with, it is
important to understand the quantitative requirements of the sector concerning issues of
enrolment, school infrastructure, and teacher availability etc. Thereafter, it will be logical to
analyse the scenario that will exist in the year 2025, with respect to the attainment of the
requirements.
Given the requirements in purely quantitative terms it is important to understand the non-
negotiables for their achievement by 2025. It will be critical to have at least a growth rate of
9-10 per cent per year in the economic sphere, necessitating the requirement for human skills,
especially the research skills. There will have to be no compromise with respect to enrolment
and retention of children in schools. For this there has to be 100 per cent literacy and 100 per
cent enrolment at primary, secondary and technical levels. The problem of drop-outs will
need to be main-streamed together with the quality of education at the primary, secondary
and technical levels and for this the rural sector will have to be mobilized and encouraged in
the cause of education.
Economic development of our country is built around educational development. There is

considerable data which shows that education is based on economic development and vice
versa. This aspect has also been realised by the community at large and education is now
being considered important. This is even highlighted by the analysis of household income
versus expenditure, which shows that investment in education in even the poorest households
is high. People have understood the economic value of education and are now ready to invest.
This is also seen in the fact that many youths are opting out of labour force and are spending
larger period on education.
However, the government’s capacity to pay for education is limited. Thus, there is a need to
explore private and other investments. It has been established beyond doubt that besides its
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social and cultural dimensions, education is also an economic and political investment
yielding long-term benefits. It is not only justifiable but also desirable to focus on this
investment in order to gain maximum benefit.
In terms of allocation for education, it needs to be underlined that the present 3.6 percent of
GNP is less than: (a) the requirement of the education system to provide reasonable levels of
quality education to all the students enrolled presently; (b) the requirements of the system to
provide universal elementary education of eight years for every child of the age-group 6-14,
and consequent growth in secondary and higher education, as universalisation of elementary
education in a comprehensive sense, includes universal provision of resources. This implies
that it will be important to raise money from private sources in order to ease pressure on
public spending. This, of course, is not meant to release the State from its financial
commitments, which have been substantial in India.
Along with the issue of investment, the quality issue also demands attention at all levels of
education. In this context, the Research and Development area, which is extremely weak, has
to be focused. This area is critical as it provides base to the planning process, links it up to the
implementation and subsequently highlights areas for reform. A weak system endangers the
life of the intervention, its sustainability and impact.
Linked to the overall issue of education is the sub-issue of value education. It is feared that
the more we industrialize, greater will be the need for value education at all levels. Although,
we have been led to believe that India’s values are the best, the western values are associated
with progress, development, quick achievement, and hence are being readily imbibed by the
students. It has to be understood that there is no particular set of values which guarantees
success and that the societal values must match with the organizational values and hence,
values such as wisdom, humility, rationality, intellectualism etc. will have to be inculcated in
education at all levels. In this context, India’s cultural values will need to be integrated with
education.
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GO RURAL: THE NEW MANTRA
As per the latest estimates of the Central Statistical Organisation (CSO), the growth rate of
the
Indian economy during 2008-09 is expected to be around 7.1 per cent, as against the earlier
expectations of 8 per cent. Not only this, it has now been estimated that India’s growth rate
during the financial year ending March 2010 would moderate further to 5.5 per cent, which
would be lowest during the past several years.
As direct fallout of the ongoing global recession, rapidly increasing unemployment rate has
been a major cause of concern. In USA, the unemployment rate has gone up to 8.7 per cent
and the same in Japan has also been the highest in the recent times. China has reported 20
million job losses. In India this figure is officially estimated to be about 5 lakh during the
quarter ending December 2008. Loss of jobs in the unorganized sector due to reduced
economic activity is going to be much higher and beyond estimation.
International Labour Organisation (ILO) maintains that the employment rate in India and
other South Asian nations may by lower than the world average, due to their lesser exposure
to the Ameri-can economy and the financial markets. Further, relatively larger rural base in
India is a positive and strong factor in combating the ill effects of global recession. It is
perhaps for the first time after the onset of the process of reforms that the Indian government
has realized the importance of the rural
economy to tide over the difficult econo-mic situation.
Rural Orientation
Indian economy is peculiar to the extent that it has a lot more rural orientation than most
economies of the world. Majority of the countries in the world are dependent on their
industrial centres and rapidly growing cities for maintaining their growth rate. In India,
though industries and the services sectors are centred around the industrial and urban areas,
yet over 60 per cent of the work force is directly or indirectly dependent on the primary
sector. This sector contributes about one fourth of the total GDP and offers tremendous
potential for growth in the near future. Being a low income segment, this also does not get
influenced easily by extraordinary econo-mic situations.
As per the views of the Rural Marketing Association of India, there has been no impact of
economic slowdown on the rural economy of India. A nation-wide study carried out in the
rural markets of the country found out that the rural markets in the country actually offer an
opportunity to the marketers to come out of current economic crisis.
Main reasons for such immunity are stated to be higher percentage of total expenditure on
food items and the fact that majority of the population is involved in self-employment
occupations, having no fear of loss of jobs. The telecom sector has witnessed a rapid growth
83
in the villages and small towns. The total telecom subscriber base for India grew from 70.83
million in the first quarter of 2008 to 90.98 million in the second quarter. Out of this growth
71 per cent rise in this sector came from the rural India, while the urban areas accounted for
the remaining 29 per cent growth.
The study also brings out that more than 72 million Kisan Credit Cards are in use in the rural
areas of the country, which number almost matches the number of Credit Cards under use in
the urban areas. During 2008, larger part of growth of Fast Moving Consumer Goods
(FMCG) came from rural and sub-urban markets.
Majority of the people in the rural areas do not invest in stock markets and park their savings
in low risk portfolios like post office/bank savings or fixed deposits. The government of India
was quick to realize this and immediately after the recession began to show its impact began
to direct its economic policies towards the rural sector. Fortunately for the country, at the
critical juncture when the great recession knocked at the doors of Indian economy, several
government sponsored programmes involving huge public expenditure in the rural areas were
already being implemented.
The Interim Budget for the year 2009-10, presented by Mr Pranab Mukherjee on February 16,
2009, also had its focus on the rural eco-nomy. Under the NREGS during the year 2008-09,
about 3.51 crore rural households were benefited, generating 138.76 crore mandays. For the
year 2009-10, a massive allocation of Rs 30,100 crore has been made for the said scheme. In
other words, this huge sum would be distributed as wages to the rural households during the
said year.
Another gigantic rural development programme is Bharat Nirman, which aims at huge public
expenditure in the rural infrastructure. It has six components, including rural roads, rural
telecommunication, irrigation, drinking water supply, rural housing and rural electrification.
As per the Finance Minister, the allocation to this programme was increased by 261 per cent
during the period between 2005-09. A provision of Rs 40,900 crore has been kept in the
interim budget, 2009 for this programme.
In addition to stiff doses of funds proposed through the above two flagship programmes, the
Finance Minister also made significant allocations to various other programmes and schemes
having rural focus. A sum of Rs 13,100 crore has been allocated for Sarv Siksha Abhiyan,
most of which is to be spent in the rural areas. Mid-day meal programme, which is also
termed as the largest school feeding programme of the world, has been allocated a sum of Rs
8,000 crore. To further supplement the efforts of nutrition to the rural students, another
provision of Rs 6,705 crore has been made under the Integrated Child Development Scheme
(ICDS), under which the pre-school children and the lactating mothers are provided nutrition
and healthcare under Anganwaris.
Another important scheme with rural focus is Rajiv Gandhi Rural Drinking Water Mission,
which aims at providing drinking water supply to the villages not covered by tap water
supply. A sum of Rs 7,400 crore has been provided for this scheme for the financial year
2009-10. Rural sanitation is also an ongoing programme for which Rs 1,200 crore provision
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has been kept. NRHM, which is a healthcare programme for the rural areas, has been
provided with a hefty provision of Rs 12,070 crore.
It is apparent from the above that the direction of the Interim Budget 2009-10 has been
towards the rural areas.
Whether it is the growth of FMCG or consumer durables, or the telecommunication growth,

rural areas of the country hold the key for future development. Enormous amounts of funds
being pumped into the rural economy by the government would greatly supplement the
natural growth of these areas. The trickle down effect, though delayed, has begun to actually
show. If the trend continues, the so-called ‘digital divide’ may start experiencing imminent
and rapid bridging.
Rural markets in the country have arrived in a big way. The hereto ignored rural areas have
now revealed their true potential. The policy makers have realized that as soon as the cities
and the industrial centres start becoming saturated with growth potential, it is the rural market
of the country which holds the key for future. Even at the pre-sent times of crisis, it is the
rural economy and its hidden capabilities that may ultimately bail the eco-nomy out. It is for
sure that the rural emphasis in the India’s economic policy is going to stay for quite some
time in future.
The rural areas had remained, by and large, neglected after independence. But now, with
improved focus on rural wage employment, rural infrastructure, rural healthcare,
telecommunications, irrigation, rural housing, drinking water supply, nutrition and rural
electrification in a big way by the government, the purchasing power of the people in these
areas is on the rise and, if the current trends continue, the day is not far when the history of
rapid growth of the economy for the next two decades would be scripted by the smart growth
of rural economy in the country.
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DEFLATION: IS THE THREAT FOR REAL?
While the situation of inflation is quite common for the developing economies and most of
the people are well versed with problem of inflation and know its implications in general, the
situation of deflation is rare. In developing countries, deflation has entirely different
connotations than those of the inflation. In the common parlance deflation is an economic
situation of falling prices, but in economic theory there is much more to it than just the
reducing price level.
In economic terms, deflation can be termed as a situation of declining prices, often caused by
a reduction in the supply of money or credit. It can also be caused by the direct contraction in
expenditure, including the public expenditure, personal spending or the investment
expenditure. This is opposite of inflation and often leads to lower effective demand and
increasing unemployment rate in the economy.
According to economic theory, price level is the result of functional relationship between
demand and supply. To put it simply, the supply being constant, if the demand of the goods
and services increases in an economy, the prices are likely to go up and the economy is likely
to encounter a situation of inflation. On the other hand, if the supply increases with demand
being constant, or the supply increases more than the demand, the prices may fall and such a
situation may be referred to as ‘deflation’.
In addition to the above demand supply dynamics, the inflation or deflation can also be
caused by the reasons of the adequacy or lack of money supply in the country. If the money
supply is less, it is a situation of more money chasing lesser goods and services, leading to
general rise in prices. On the other hand, if the money supply is more than the supply of
goods and services, the situation of fall in prices is generally experienced and is referred to as
deflation.
Deflation caused by rapid growth of production and manufacturing in the country, causing
the supply to go up is good for the economy, as with abundant availability of all goods and
services in the economy, the prices go down, resulting in increase in the real income and
wealth of all the consumers. Such a situation does not harm the producers also, as they gain
by increasing sales volumes.
The Great Depression of 1930s was associated with deflation and it is said that the recession
coupled with deflation leads the economies to suffer. It is this very concern which is causing
anxiety among the economists and the policy makers. But it must be clearly understood that
deflation and depression are two different words and situations and should not be taken as
synonymous.
Effects on the Economy

Temporary fall in prices is not deflation and it is the sustained fall for a considerably long
period of time which is a matter of serious concern. It causes the aggregate demand to fall, as
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due to the falling prices the consumers try to delay the purchases, which in turn reduces
economic activity in the economy, thereby accentuating the spiral effect of deflation. The
result is that the existing manufacturing capacity of the economy becomes idle, leading to
further reduction in aggregate demand and even more reduction in economic activity. If the
process continues without any interventions from the government, the economies may move
in to a situation of recession.
Theoretically speaking, the situation of deflation may also lead to a peculiar economic
condition known as the ‘liquidity trap’. Generally, the rate of interest in an economy is linked
to the rate of inflation. But the situation of deflation may necessitate the interest rates to go
down as low as zero. Deflationary times and zero interest rates reduce the economic viability
of most of the projects due to tremendously reduced demand and the investors also tend to
postpone their new projects. This worsens the situation further.
Generally, the deflationary situation encourages people to hold on to their money, mainly
because of the reasons like lower aggregate demand for newly produced goods and very low
interest rates that discourage the people from keeping money in bank deposits. This causes
substantial reduction in the velocity of money i.e. reduction in the number of transactions,
dramatically reducing the money supply in the economy, as one man’s expenditure is the
income of another. Reduced velocity of money results in reduction of incomes.
Deflation results in fall of availability of hard currency per person. This further results in
increasing the purchasing power of each unit of currency, as the average price level goes
down. Increase in purchasing power may sound beneficial to a layman but actually it may
cause hardship to those people whose majority of wealth is kept in non-liquid assets such as
real estate, land and buildings.
It is thus evident that sustained deflation is a serious cause of worry to the policy makers, as
it may lead the economies to recession and, more seriously, to a situation of depression.
Indian Fears
In India, the rate of inflation or deflation is measured on the basis of Wholesale Price Index
(WPI) on weekly basis and then computed for the fiscal years for the purpose of policy
monitoring, appraisal and decisions. WPI is an indicative and representative index of the
wholesale prices of various commodities produced in the economy. Consumer Price Index
(CPI), on the other hand, is an index of the consumer prices that give 46 per cent weightage
to the food items, 15 per cent weightage to the domestic facilities, 6.4 per cent to lighting and
fuel and 6.6 per cent to apparel and shoes.
The inflation rate in India has suddenly fallen to a level of less than half a per cent and closer
to zero in March 2009 onwards and the fears of the Indian economy slipping into a precarious
situation of deflation have been expressed by many. But despite extremely lower inflation
rate, the prices of food items are still experiencing reasonably higher increase in prices. This,
while putting the economically vulnerable sections of society in a disadvantageous position,
has also given a glimmer of hope to the policy makers because this phenomenon may
gradually stabilize the economy and help it come out of the deflationary pressures early.
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The economists are in a fix and do not know whether to call this economic situation in the
country as deflation or disinflation. While the deflation is persistent fall in price level,
disinflation is a situation where the inflation rate goes down. The economic theory provides
separate sets of solutions for both the situations and unless the situation is clearly identified
and diagnosed, it would be difficult to resolve it.
Government agencies in India vehemently deny that there is any fear of deflation in the near
future. The International Monetary Fund has projected the annual inflation rate of 1.7 per cent
for the Indian economy for 2009-10. This implies that for some part of the year, the economy
may experience a
brief spell of deflation. Whether or not to call such a situation a deflationary situation, is a
matter of argument.
As per Mr P.K. Padhy, Economic Advisor in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, the
current economic situation is that of disinflation in India. The basis for such a belief is that
the economy has grown at the rate of 5.3 per cent in the third quarter of the previous fiscal.
Economists like Suresh Tendulkar and Pranab Sen also argue on the same lines. In one of its
reports on the Indian economy, the Citigroup has said that the deflationary patch in India is
due to high base effect and supply side issues and is likely to be temporary and short-lived in
nature. But persistence of such a situation may increase the problems of the economy in the
months to follow.
Many economists believe that the current situation can be termed as ‘demand deflation’. Both
production and the prices are falling down. This would require more targeted fiscal measures,
along with stepped up direct government purchases and increased scope of public distribution
system.
The situation in India may not be as grave as that of sustained deflation. The CPI is still
positive and at around 10 per cent; the rural demand for FMCGs is robust and food items are
in great demand. The resilience of our economy may not allow the typical deflationary
situation to emerge and the current phase may turn out to transient and temporary. Despite the
above, the situation needs to be tackled by the Government very carefully.
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INFRASTRUCTURE: THE KEY TO RAPID
GROWTH
Like most of the developing countries, Indian economy is also a diversified and resilient in
nature. Similarly, like most of the developing countries, huge sums of funds are being spent
on the development of infrastructure, both in the private as well as in the public sectors. But,
it is felt that the infrastructure spending is shorter than what is ideally required for achieving
the required higher growth rate. As per the estimation of the Planning Commission of India,
the total requirement of funds for financing the infrastructure requirements during the
Eleventh Five Year Plan (2007-12) is to the tune of USD 500 billion, which is about 2.5
times of the funds provided for this purpose during the Tenth Five Year Plan.
Realizing that the government may not be able to fund the huge requirement for infrastructure
projects required to be taken up for rapid growth of the economy, the Union government and
various State governments have come up with the required Public-Private Partnership (PPP)
framework to facilitate the private participation in the infrastructure sector in a big way. The
government has also asked the Infrastructure Investment Finance Company to earmark a
corpus of over 8.15 billion US dollars for this purpose. This is in addition to $320 billion to
be spent by the government for up-gradation of sea ports, railroads, highways and airports
over the next about 15 years.
A massive 494 billion dollar investment is proposed in the Eleventh Five-Year Plan (2007-
12), which would increase the share of infrastructure investment in this sector from 5 per cent
of the GDP at the beginning of Eleventh Plan to 9 per cent during the Plan. This massive
investment in the infrastructure sector is envisaged through huge doses of public spending
through several flagship national programmes, as well as through active participation of the
private sector in this gigantic effort. To facilitate PPP in infrastructure sectors, the
government has not only introduced the model concession agreements but also permitted
increased percentages of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in various sectors. Major
expansion of infrastructure in the sub-sectors like
railways, ports, civil aviation, road, power, telecommunications and housing is planned to be
achieved during the plan period. Urban infrastructure is targeted to be strengthened through
the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewable Mission, while the general rural
infrastructure is proposed to be up-graded through implementation of national programmes
like Bharat Nirman, Rajiv Gandhi Gramin Vidyutikaran Yojana, and National Rural Health
Mission etc.
Private Participation
Policy makers realise that the basic goal of inclusive development laid down for the Eleventh
Five Year Plan may not be achieved if the basic infrastructure facilities are not available in
the urban as well as rural areas of the country. In this regard, the participation of the private
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sector is considered to be very important. Partnership with the private sector had been
continuing in the country during the past several years but there was no defined uniform
policy and legal framework till recently.
With a view to facilitate the private and foreign investors to pump funds into Indian
infrastructure projects, and to standardize the concessions to be extended to the private
investors under the PPP, the government of India carried out special workshops in various
parts of the country. Main objectives of these workshops were to bring out the
developmental relevance of the PPP in the current context, assist interested in the PPP to go
ahead, understand and address the concerns of the potential PPP investors, and international
experience sharing from successful PPP models across the world.
The government of India has set up a PPP cell in the Ministry of Finance, Department of
Economic Affairs. It is also felt that many PPP projects may not be economically viable but
are essentially required to be executed. For such projects, Viability Gap Funding (VGF)
Scheme has been introduced. This is a special facility aimed at supporting such infrastructure
projects which are economically and socially justifiable but are not commercially viable.
Under the VGF Scheme, upfront assistance upto 20 per cent of the project cost can be
sanctioned as grant for such PPP projects.
No facilitation is complete without making institutional arrangements for financing. The

government of India has set up India Infrastructure Finance Company Ltd (IIFCL) as a
wholly government-owned company to facilitate long-term funding of infrastructure projects.
IIFCL provides direct financing, as well as refinancing of such projects in public, private or
PPP sector.
The government has also paid special attention towards the capacity building at the Central
and State levels. Capacity building needs include training of the key personnel, development
of standard toolkits, Model Concession Agreements, development of Project Manuals,
preparation of standard bidding documents, consultancy support and project preparation
manuals. This effort is also being supported by the Asian Development Bank.
Over the past three to four years, the government of India has worked towards creating
institutional framework to facilitate it. But at the same time, the overall environment is very
important before the private investors commit funds into such projects. Simplicity of
government procedures, reduction in corruption level and reduction in time taken for decision
making in government are some of the areas of concern that may have to be addressed before
the PPP picks up in the country. Efficiency in government as well as enforcement of market-
driven tariffs are two other important determinants of the enabling environment.
Precursor to Rapid Growth

Infrastructure development has been identified as an effective tool for taking the economy out
of the effects of global recession. There has been stiff increase in the proposed expenditure
for infrastructure projects particularly in the rural areas. Hefty 31 per cent increase has been
proposed in the interim Budget 2009-10 for Bharat Nirman programme, aimed at
strengthening the rural infrastructure in the country. This would not only increase the
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economic activity in the countryside but would also provide the rural people with the required
infrastructure and increased employment opportunities.
One of the ambitious ongoing infrastructure projects is the Golden Quadrilateral Project,
which is aimed at improving the road infrastructure on the highways/expressways connecting
major cities of the country. The Project, on completion, would connect the metropolitan cities
of Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai and Kolkata with expressways. It is the largest
expressway project of the country, aimed at constructing 5,846 kilometres of six/four lane
express highways at a cost of Rs 60,000 crores. Its North South and East West sections are
nearing completion while the work on other sections is going on.
Road infrastructure, world class telecommunications, availability of efficient sea ports and
airports, capacity creation in electricity generation and strong rural and urban infrastructure
were some of the areas identified for improvement by the policy makers. After the planning
stage, it is now the implementation stage and it is expected that within next five to ten years,
India would have all the world class infrastructure facilities available.
In addition to creation of sustainable infrastructure in the country, the government effort

would also result in ensuring huge doses of investment into the economy, including the rural
economy, at a time when most of the western and developed markets are reeling under the
influence of worldwide recession. Investment in this sector has ensured that the economy
grew at 7 per cent during the previous financial year, when the world growth rate was around
one per cent. During the current fiscal also, when the world economy is likely to record zero
growth rate, Indian economy may still record reasonable growth rate.
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RICH-POOR DIVIDE: CAN IT BE BRIDGED?
Despite the high growth rate of the economy, in absolute terms India still is a low income
economy, with its per capita income at a level less than $500 per annum. Low per capita
income is a pointer towards the existing sharp divide between India’s wealthiest and poorest
sections of society. Out of the total population, about 26 million people live below poverty
line and 35 per cent out of this group, also classified as the poorest of the poor, have income
level of less than $1 per day. As per 2001 Census, about 78 million people in the country
were living without a home and more than that number were holed up in urban slums. The
number of the poor living in the country is more than the poor living in any other country of
the world.
Despite the above socio-economic problems plaguing the Indian society, post-reforms period
has been marked by high growth rate, placing the country among the front runners in the race
for highest growth in the world. During the past five years, India has been second only to
China in terms of the growth rate achieved. India’s Information Technology (IT) industry,
services, manufacturing and automobile sectors have been booming. The urban areas,
particularly the metropolitan cities, have been the centres of growth. Industrial centres have
also been the hubs of economic activity and the income levels in the country are on the rise.
During the past about a decade, the foreign sector in the country has also been performing
extremely well and the policy of globalization has paid rich dividends, with the foreign
sector, registering over 20 per cent growth in the past several years. Without taking away the
credit from the liberalization policy, the resilience of the Indian economy must also be given
its due credit for outstanding achievements.
Unfortunately, the spurt in economic activity in the country and increase in the growth rate
over the past few years has not been able to make a discernible dent on the problem of
poverty, deprivation and exploitation of the downtrodden. The divide between the rich and
the poor has now become a tangible reality. There are more Indian billionaires in the Forbes
list than ever before. But the number of the poor and hungry is also not decreasing. The
growth centres are encircled by the group of underprivileged people whose basic needs are
still to be met. During this era of rapid growth, the problems of unequal and skewed
distribution of economic resources and the fruits of growth have surfaced.
In addition to the economic divide between the rich and the poor, the digital divide between
various regions of the country has also become an important issue. It has been admitted by
the government policy makers that the growth rate in the rural areas has been quite sluggish
despite high growth rate in the urban centres. Economic activity in the rural areas has not
been able to pick up to match the rapid growth of the cities. The result is that in the hope of
getting better employment and growth opportunities a large number of people are migrating
to the cities every year.
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Rural economy is largely comprised of the agriculture and allied activities. The growth rate
of the agricultural sector has been between 2 to 4 per cent over the past couple of decades,
while the rest of the economy is growing at the rate of around 8 per cent. It implies that
increase in incomes in the rural sector has been almost one-third of the average growth of
incomes in the country. Resultantly, the rural economy has emerged as a poor cousin of the
urban and industrial sectors and the existing yawning gap has actually increased further.
The above does not imply that all is well in the urban sector as a whole. Urban areas have
their own set of problems and inequalities resulting in what is known as urban-urban divide.
The urban problems in India are no different. With about 300 million people living in 5,000
cities and towns, the urban population cries for more care, investment in urban infrastructure
and basic civic amenities.
About 40% of the urban population in India lives in 60 metropolitan urban agglomerations.
As per one estimate of the government, about 65 million urban people live in slums and
squatter settlements in these agglomerations. It is estimated that the urban population of the
country would increase to 468 million by the year 2020. This poses a Herculean task to the
cities
in terms of improvements in civic infrastructure, housing, basic amenities and employment
opportunities.
The current situation in most of the cities and towns is pathetic. Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkota
are the main business and growth centres in the country. In addition cities like Bangalore and
Hyderabad are the hub centres of the IT revolution in the country. But these very cities have
their darker side as well. There is a huge population of urban poor and slum dwellers living
there. Water supply and sanitation is a serious problem and solid waste collection and its safe
disposal is something that requires a major national initiative.
While a person from the middle class and upper middle class in the cities would invariably
have access to better health, educational and other facilities, the poorer sections would
generally be denied these facilities, which come at a higher cost than they can afford. The
variation in the income levels in the cities has also created a kind of dichotomy in the society
and the vertical split in the society is a matter of serious concern for the sociologists as well
as the economists.
Bridging the Gap

Equitable growth of the economy is the ultimate goal and every government must strive hard
to achieve this goal. Indian Constitution, through the Directive Principles of State Policy
entrusts this responsibility of equitable distribution of economic resources to the government
policies.
Globalization cannot snatch away the basic right of decent living from the poor and the
downtrodden. It is the duty and responsibility of the government to take immediate measures
for bridging the widening gap, which requires pragmatic policies aimed at redistributive
justice on sustainable basis.
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Government of India has already launched an ambitious programme aimed at stimulating the
economic activity in the rural areas. Known as Bharat Nirman, this new initiative is expected
to pump in huge sums of public expenditure in the development of rural infrastructure of the
country. Two more flagship programmes, called Sarv Siksha Abhiyan and “National Rural
Health Mission”, are being implemented which aim at bringing in qualitative as well as
numerical improvement in the education and healthcare sectors, particularly in the rural areas.
To take care of the urban-urban divide, another ambitious programme called Jawaharlal
Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission is being implemented in 66 major cities of the
country under which a lot of funds are being spent to upgrade the urban infrastructure,
housing and service delivery mechanism.
In addition to the above initiatives, the government has to ensure distributive justice through
its taxation and other economic policies. Due attention is required to be paid to the education
sector in the rural areas so that the people living there are able to get the best possible
education to compete with their urban counterparts. Healthcare and sanitation facilities need a
total upgrade in the entire country. Special attention of the government is required to be
focused on stepping up the economic activity in the rural areas so that the rural incomes
experience the required upsurge and the existing gap is bridged to some extent. Divide in the
early stages of development is a global phenomenon but it must not be allowed to perpetuate
beyond reasonable limit.
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THE GENESIS OF CAPITAL MARKETS CRASH
Last one year has pulled down the hopes of most of the investors in the stock markets, who
had hoped that the slowdown in the world economy would not impact the Indian economy
beyond a limit. The initial contention of the Finance Minister, as well that of the Reserve
Bank of India was also based on this belief only. The Prime Minister’s Office, which till July
2008 was maintaining that the growth rate of the economy could be around eight per cent
during the current fiscal, has now changed its projections to around seven per cent.
It was after the fall of Lehman Brothers and liquidity crisis in some of the biggest investment
banks in USA that the policy makers began to take the crisis seriously. It was the time when
the Indian government had failed to control the inflation rate which continued to be in double
digit for almost one year, several Indian companies had began to hand over ‘pink slips’ to
their employees, lending rates had skyrocketed and the real estate prices had registered a fall
upto 40 per cent. All these developments resulted in reverse flight of the Foreign Institutional
Investment (FII) and the bloodbath in the Indian stock exchanges continued unabated.
The phenomenon of capital market crash was not peculiar to India only. The markets all over
the world witnessed similar trends. The crumbling of the stock markets all over the world re-
affirmed the fears of deepening recession in the world. While the US economy had already
been in the recession mode, the Europe also began to fear the worst. Global data with the
International Monetary Fund (IMF) revealed that the US economy would be in recession
between the periods of second half of the year 2008 to the first half of the year 2009. This
suggests that the worst has just begun. Such a forecast would certainly continue to spook the
stock markets all over the globe.
Why Crash?
Rise and fall of the markets is part of normal economic activity in any market. But ‘crash’ of
the markets is quite different from routine ‘fall’. Recession and capital markets have some
cause and effect relationship and it may be extremely difficult to establish as to which one of
the two is responsible for the other. In fact, both the economic phenomena supplement each
other. But more than that is the factor of human psychology that is responsible for the crash.
As per economic theory, the economic systems grow with cyclical fluctuations when every
recession is followed by recovery and up-swing of the economy, to be again engulfed by the
recessionary tendencies. The only thing not known is the time of the switch. All investors
love the ideal situation and pray for the bullish trends in the markets. But the collective
attitude of the society undergoes change during the bullish times and people wishfully hope
that the markets would continue growing for all times to come. The investments are made
with this attitude and hope.
But the bearish trends are inevitable at such a stage, as the economic cycle has to take full
turn. Several economic factors play a major role in determining the timing of the downward
trend to begin. Liquidity position in the economy, the effective demand, the interest rates,
95
money supply, inflation rate and overall global economic situation are some of the factors
that determine this timeline. With the advent of downswing, comes the downward trend in the
capital market and the euphoria of the investors turns into downright pessimism.
It is said that in the financial markets, the majority is always wrong. Since the stock market
operations are a zero-sum game and for every gain there is a loser, it is not possible for
everyone to win in the markets. But the euphoric investors during the boom times fail to
appreciate this fact. When the inevitable begins to become a reality, the average investor
starts losing the money and the panic strikes the markets.
As the US markets began to display the continuing downward trend, the Indian stock markets
also pressed the panic buttons. While the global deceleration was the prime cause, the
projections about the slowdown in India also acted as fuel to the fire. The sectors and sub-
sectors having extreme global dependence and exposure began to get jittery. Reduction in
recruitment by the software companies and the staff reduction initiatives by the aviation and
financial sector set the ball rolling for the crash of the stocks. The artificially inflated markets
began to lick the dust and the prices of the stocks began to locate their true economic price.
The reverse flight of the FII did the rest.
Actions Taken and Required

The role played by the RBI to take timely actions to inject more liquidity in the market and to
reduce the lending rates to push up the investment activity, has been laudable. The monetary
policy measures taken by the RBI were part of extremely difficult options, particularly in the
face of mounting inflationary pressures. Reductions in the CRR and repo rate released the
desired liquidity in the markets. The parleys of the Governor of the RBI with various bank
chiefs to reduce the lending rates not only resulted in building up the confidence but also
reduction in the lending rates.
While the monetary policy measures of the RBI have been appreciated by the banks as well
as the investors, the role of the SEBI in sustaining the faith of the common man in the Indian
stock exchanges is a big suspect. At the time when the stocks were crumbling, the SEBI
failed to convince the investors that this was the time to invest in the stocks. If the investors
were properly guided at that stage, the resultant buying activity in the market would have
helped in expediting the upswing of the markets and the economy.
Indian markets as well as the economic system are facing a dilemma. While the liquidity is
low, there appears to be a need to release more money supply into the economy. But at the
same time, with inflation close to the double digit, increase in liquidity may fuel the inflation
rate, which is already at a level higher than the desirable. The government agencies have so
far treaded the corrective path very carefully.
Compared to the great depression of 1929, the situation is much better this time. During
1920s, there were no strong and robust Asian economies on the global economic scene.
Today, the vibrant and resilient economies of the ASEAN countries, including those of Japan,
China, South Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia, and even India, would ensure that the recession is
not allowed to hit the world as hard as it did eight decades ago.
96
Asian economies would certainly help in quicker turnaround of the world economy. After all,
it cannot go on for ever, and if the recession comes, can the upswing be far behind? The
current period of recession is marked by virtually no credit and lack of equity, as there is no
aggressive lending or stock buying activity. This also implies that the corporate sector would
undergo a phase of consolidation and in a short time would be ready to bounce back, duly
consolidated.
The government would need to support the corporate world by sacrificing some of its
revenues and reduce the tax and duty rates for a while. It would also be the duty of the
government to create favourable conditions for investment, reduce the interest rate, control
the inflation, create more employment opportunities and balance the liquidity in the economic
system.
Positive reforms in the financial sector, higher public investment in the social and
infrastructure sectors and streamlining the procedures could be some of the items on the
action plan of the government to revive the economy and resultantly the capital markets.
Changes in the FII policy by providing for some lock-in period may also prevent the reverse
flight of the foreign investment and may go a long way in checking the crash of the markets
in future. It is felt that the price of stocks in India had been artificially high in the past which
also triggered the sudden crash. To prevent such occurrence, there has to be some checks on
speculative trading of stocks by the SEBI.
97
FINANCIAL SECTOR REFORMS IN INDIA
The period immediately after independence posed a major challenge to the country. Due to
centuries of exploitation at the hands of foreign powers, there were very high levels of
deprivation in the economy—both social as well as economic. To take up the Herculean task
of rapid growth with socio-economic justice, the country adopted the system of planned
economic development after independence. Due to paucity of economic resources and
limitations of availability of capital for investment, the government also came up with the
policy of setting up public enterprises in almost every field.
The fiscal activism adopted by the government resulted in large doses of public expenditures
for which not only the revenues of the government were utilized but the government also
resorted to borrowing at concessional rates, which kept the financial markets underdeveloped.
The growth of fiscal deficit also continued unabated year after year. Complex structure of
interest rates was a resultant outcome of this system.
Nationalisation of major commercial banks in the late sixties and early seventies provided
the government with virtually the complete control over the direction of the bank credit. The
emphasis was mainly on control and regulation and the market forces had very limited role to
play.
The economic system was working to the satisfaction of the government. The social
indicators were gradually improving and the number of people below poverty line also
declined steadily. The only problem area had been that the growth rate of the economy had
been very low, and till late seventies, the growth rate of the GDP was hovering around 3.5 per
cent per annum. It was only during mid-eighties that the growth rate touched 5 percentage
points.
The situation became difficult by the eighties. Financial system was considerably stretched
and artificially directed and concessional availability of credit with respect to certain sectors
resulted in distorting the interest rate mechanism. Lack of professionalism and transparency
in the functioning of the public sector banks led to increasing burden of non-performance of
their assets.
Late eighties and early nineties were characterised by fluid economic situation in the
country. War in the Middle East had put tremendous pressure on the dwindling foreign
exchange reserves of the country. The country witnessed the worst shortages of the petroleum
products. High rate of inflation was another area of serious concern. Most of the economic
ailments had resulted due to over regulation of the economy. The international lending and
assisting agencies were ready to extend assistance but with the condition that the country
went in for structural reforms, decontrols and deregulation, allowing increased role for the
market forces of demand and supply.
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The precarious economic conditions left the country with no alternative other than acceptance
of the conditions for introducing the reforms.
Post Reforms
Rationalisation of the taxes has already taken place on the basis of the recommendations of
Raja Challiah Committee Report during mid-nineties. The government has been able to
tighten its fiscal management through the FRBMA and the continuing increase in the fiscal
deficit has been contained significantly. Reforms in the external sector management have
yielded results in the form of increased foreign capital inflows in terms of Foreign Direct
Investment (FDI), Foreign Institutional Investment (FII) and the exchange rate has also
represent true international value of Indian rupee vis-à-vis hard global currencies.
The primitive foreign exchange regulation regime controlled by FERA has been replaced by
a liberalized foreign exchange rate management system introduced by FEMA. Introduction of
such a modern management law was perhaps a pre-condition for allowing FDI and FII.
In 1993, the RBI issued guidelines to allow the private sector banks to enter the banking
sector in the country, a virtual reversal of the policy of bank nationalisation. Foreign banks
were also given more liberal entry.
The thrust of the monetary policy after the introduction of the process of reforms has been
able to develop several instruments of efficient financial management. A Liquidity
Adjustment Facility (LAF) was introduced in June 2000 to precisely modulate short-term
liquidity and signal short-term interest rates. A lot of reliance is being placed on indirect
instruments of monetary policy. Strengthening and upgradation of the institutional,
technological and physical infrastructure in the financial markets has also improved the
financial framework in the country.
Economy and Reforms

The introduction of financial sector reforms has provided the economy with a lot of resilience
and stability. The average annual growth rate of the economy during the post-reform period
has been more than 6 per cent, which was unimaginable a decade before that. The economy
withstood boldly the Asian economic crisis of 1997-98. Even the economic sanctions by the
US and other developed countries after the nuclear testing did not affect the economy to the
extent apprehended. The current global slowdown and sub-prime crisis affecting the banking
system all over the world has not impacted the Indian economy to that extent.
Banking and insurance sectors are booming. While the private and foreign banks are giving
stiff but healthy competition to the public sector banks, resulting in overall improvements in
the banking services in the country, the insurance sector has also witnessed transformation.
The consumer is a gainer with the availability of much better and diversified insurance
products.
The stock exchanges in the country are in the process of adopting the best practices all over
the world. The RBI has also been able to control and regulate effectively the operations and
growth of the Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) in the country.
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A few changes which are on the anvil pertain to the legal provisions relating to fiscal and
budget management, public debt, deposits, insurance etc. As per the Finance Minister, future
reforms by making legal changes also pertain to banking regulations, Companies Act, Income
Tax, Bankruptcy, negotiable instruments etc.
But there are certain issues that call for more cautious approach towards the financial sector
reforms in the future. The social sector indicators—like availability of doctor per 1000
population, availability of health institutions, quality of elementary education, literacy rate,
particularly among the females—are some of the areas of serious concern. Countries like
China, Indonesia and even Sri Lanka are much better than India in most of the social sector
indicators.
Despite being among the most rapidly developing economies of the world, the literacy rate
and poverty percentage are two biggest embarrassments and the country still languishes at
128th position in the Human Development Index of the UNDP, where it is virtually
stagnating for the last about five years. Further, the systems should also be able to check any
unusual rise in prices to protect the common man from inflation.
One of the major criticisms of the government policy has been that the reforms have lacked
the human face, as the government has been over-obsessed with the idea of achieving higher
growth rate and fiscal and monetary management, rather than addressing the needs for
equitable and inclusive growth. The reforms process has ignored the common man and the
trickle down theory has actually failed to deliver.
The Planning Commission, while finalising the Eleventh Five-Year Plan has now sought to
achieve the overall objective of achieving the ‘inclusive growth’, i.e., to include all those in
the process of economic growth, who has remained excluded from the process of economic
growth experienced by the country during the past decades.
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GROWTH OF MONEY MARKET IN INDIA
While the need for long term financing is met by the capital or financial markets, money
market is a mechanism which deals with lending and borrowing of short term funds. Post
reforms period in India has witnessed tremendous growth of the Indian money markets.
Banks and other financial institutions have been able to meet the high expectations of short
term funding of important sectors like the industry, services and agriculture. Functioning
under the regulation and control of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the Indian money
markets have also exhibited the required maturity and resilience over the past about two
decades. Decision of the government to allow the private sector banks to operate has
provided much needed healthy competition in the money markets, resulting in fair amount of
improvement in their functioning.
Money market denotes inter-bank market where the banks borrow and lend among
themselves to meet the short term credit and deposit needs of the economy. Short term
generally covers the time period upto one year. The money market operations help the banks
tide over the temporary mismatch of funds with them. In case a particular bank needs funds
for a few days, it can borrow from another bank by paying the determined interest rate. The
lending bank also gains, as it is able to earn interest on the funds lying idle with it. In other
words, money market provides avenues to the players in the market to strike equilibrium
between the surplus funds with the lenders and the requirement of funds for the borrowers.
An important function of the money market is to provide a focal point for interventions of the
RBI to influence the liquidity in the financial system and implement other monetary policy
measures.
Quantum of liquidity in the banking system is of paramount importance, as it is an important

determinant of the inflation rate as well as the creation of credit by the banks in the economy.
Market forces generally indicate the need for borrowing or liquidity and the money market
adjusts itself to such calls. RBI facilitates such adjustments with monetary policy tools
available with it. Heavy call for funds overnight indicates that the banks are in need of short
term funds and in case of liquidity crunch, the interest rates would go up.
Depending on the economic situation and available market trends, the RBI intervenes in the
money market through a host of interventions. In case of liquidity crunch, the RBI has the
option of either reducing the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) or pumping in more money supply
into the system. Recently, to overcome the liquidity crunch in the Indian money market, the
RBI has released more than Rs 75,000 crore with two back-to-back reductions in the CRR.
In addition to the lending by the banks and the financial institutions, various companies in the
corporate sector also issue fixed deposits to the public for shorter duration and to that extent
become part of the money market mechanism selectively. The maturities of the instruments
issued by the money market as a whole, range from one day to one year. The money market
is also closely linked with the Foreign Exchange Market, through the process of covered
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interest arbitrage in which the forward premium acts as a bridge between the domestic and
foreign interest rates.
Determination of appropriate interest for deposits or loans by the banks or the other financial
institutions is a complex mechanism in itself. There are several issues that need to be resolved
before the optimum rates are determined. While the term structure of the interest rate is a
very important determinant, the difference between the existing domestic and international
interest rates also emerges as an important factor. Further, there are several credit instruments
which involve similar maturity but diversely different risk factors. Such distortions are
available only in developing and diverse economies like the Indian economy and need extra
care while handling the issues at the policy levels.
Diverse Functions
Money markets are one of the most important mechanisms of any deve-loping economy.
Instead of just ensuring that the money market in India regulates the flow of credit and credit
rates, this mechanism has emerged as one of the important policy tools with the government
and the RBI to control the monetary policy, money supply, credit creation and control,
inflation rate and overall economic policy of the State.
Hence, the first and the foremost function of the money market mechanism is regulatory in
nature. While determining the total volume of credit plan for the six monthly period, the
credit policy also aims at directing the flow of credit as per the priorities fixed by the
government according to the needs of the economy. Credit policy as an instrument is
important to ensure the availability of the credit in adequate volumes; it also caters to the
credit needs of various sectors of the economy. The RBI assists the government to implement
its policies related to the credit plans through its statutory control over the banking
system of the country.
Monetary policy, on the other hand, has longer term perspective and aims at correcting the
imbalances in the economy. Credit policy and the monetary policy, both complement each
other to achieve the long term goals determined by the government. It not only maintains
complete control over the credit creation by the banks, but also keeps a close watch over it.
The instruments of monetary policy, including the repo rate, cash reserve ratio and bank rate
are used by the Central Bank of the country to give the required direction to the monetary
policy.
Inflation is one of the serious economic problems that all the developing economies have to
face every now and then. Cyclical fluctuations do affect the price level differently, depending
upon the demand and supply scenario at the given point of time. Money market rates play a
major role in controlling the price line. Higher rates in the money markets reduce the liquidity
in the economy and have the effect of reducing the economic activity in the system. Reduced
rates, on the other hand, increase the liquidity in the market and bring down the cost of
capital substantially, thereby increasing the investment. This function also assists the RBI to
control the overall money supply in the economy. Such operations supplement the efforts of
direct infusion of newly printed notes by the RBI.
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Future of Open Markets
Financial openness is said to be a situation under which the residents of one country are in a
position to trade their assets with residents of another country. A slightly mild definition of
openness may be referred to as financial integration of two or more economies. In recent
years, the process of globalization has made the money market operations and the monetary
policy tools quite important. The idea is not only to regulate the economy and its money
markets for the overall economic development, but also to attract more and more foreign
capital into the country. Foreign investment results in increased economic activity, income
and employment generation in the economy. Free and unrestricted flow of foreign capital and
growing integration of the global markets is the hallmark of openness of economies.
Indian experience with open markets has been a mixed one. On the positive side, the growth
rate of the country has soared to new levels and the foreign trade had been growing at around
20 per cent during the past few years. Foreign exchange reserves have burgeoned to
significantly higher levels and the country has achieved new heights in the overall socio-
economic development. The money market mechanism has played a significant role in rapid
development of the country during the post-reforms era.
On the flip side, the post-reforms period has witnessed relatively lesser growth of the social
sector. Money market mechanism has kept the markets upbeat, yet the social sector needs
more focused attention. With the base of the economy now strengthened, the money market
mechanism must also focus on ensuring that proper direction is provided to the credit flows
so that the poorest sections of the society also gain.
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MACROECONOMIC MANAGEMENT AND
MONETARY POLICY IN INDIA
Every economy makes arrangements for its macroeconomic management through its Central
Bank, mostly by manipulating the monetary policy measures. The nature of the policy and its
thrust would depend upon the desired outcomes. Macroeconomic management may aim at
rapid growth of the economy, facilitating or restricting the flow of credit into the economy,
controlling the interest rates in the economy and controlling the money supply in the system
on the basis of the requirements from time to time. The aim could also be to ensure more self-
employment, increasing investment and increased wage employment opportunities.
Regulation of money supply is also used as an instrument to control the prices in the
economy.
Handled by the Central Bank, Monetary Policy of a country is the primary tool for efficient
macroeconomic management. As per the advanced estimates of the Central Statistical
Organisation (CSO), the performance of the Indian economy during 2007-08 has shown a
robust growth of 8.7 per cent. Despite slight moderation in its achievements over the previous
year, the economy has continued to grow in tune with the trends obtained during the five-year
period of 2003-04 to 2007-08.
As per the advanced estimates, total foodgrain production during the year 2007-08 is
expected to reach all time high of 227.3 million tonnes, recording an increase of 4.6 per cent
over the previous year’s production, thus exceeding the targets. During the same year, the
index of industrial production rose by 8.7 per cent and the manufacturing sector recorded
even higher growth rate of around 9 per cent. Infrastructure sector, however, disappointed
and grew at the rate of 5.6 per cent. But the services sector surged ahead with its double digit
growth at 10.6 per cent, despite some moderation in its pace and continued to be the major
contributor to the GDP growth.
Despite the slight slowdown in most of the sectors, the process of fiscal correction and
consolidation under the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Act
continued. The Revised Estimates (RE) for the year 2007-08 placed the revenue deficit and
Gross Fiscal Deficit (GFD) at 1.4 per cent and 3.1 per cent of GDP, respectively, which were
lower than the budget estimates, both in absolute as well as relative terms. The Union Budget
for 2008-09 also proposes to continue the fiscal consolidation process with the key deficit
indicators like revenue deficit and GFD, budgeted to be lower by 0.4-0.6 percentage points
and primary surplus higher by 0.5 percentage points of GDP in 2008-09 than in the previous
year. While the FRBM targets relating to GFD are set to be achieved in accordance with the
mandate, the Budget proposes to reschedule the stipulated target of zero revenue deficit by
2008-09.
Worrisome Future
On April 28, 2008 the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) released a document, “Macroeconomic
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and Monetary Developments in 2007-08”, to serve as background to the Annual Policy
Statement for 2008-09. It noted with concern that during the second half of the year 2007-08,
the combined effect of the higher food and fuel prices, coupled with strong demand
conditions, especially in the emerging economies like India, would result in pressure on the
price level. The report also pointed out that the monetary policy responses during the year
were mixed in view of growing concerns about the implications of credit crunch arising out
of the US sub-prime crisis. The government reacted with caution to ensure that the price
control measures may not result in depressed economic growth of the economy. But the
situation worsened with the global crude oil prices burgeoning beyond expectations, crossing
$135 per barrel by the last week of May 2008.
Global financial markets also remained volatile during the latter part of the previous financial
year, as the US sub-prime crisis spilled over from mortgage and credit markets to other
assets. Resultantly, the Indian financial markets, after remaining stable and buoyant upto
December 2007, suffered bouts of volatility towards the second week of January 2008. In the
foreign exchange market the Indian rupee generally exhibited two-way movements against
major foreign currencies.
The external sector, by and large, remained within the comfort zone and offered some spark.
India’s balance of payments position also remained comfortable during 2007-08 (April-
December). The merchandise trade deficit widened to US $66.5 billion in April-December
2007, from US $50.3 billion in April-December 2006. Net surplus under invisibles (services,
transfers and income taken together) was higher at US $50.5 billion in April-December 2007
as compared to US $36.3 billion. Despite sharp rise in merchandise trade deficit, the net
invisible surplus, mainly resulting from the rise in remittances from the overseas Indians and
software services exports, contained the current account deficit in trade at US $16.0 billion
during April-December 2007, as against US $14.0 billion in April-December 2006.
The Third Quarter Review of January 29, 2008 had noted with concern the unfolding of
unfavourable global developments and the responses of monetary authorities which seemed
to provide an indication of threat to growth and financial stability worldwide. Consequently,
developments in global financial markets in the context of the US sub-prime crisis required
more intensified monitoring and quick responses with all available instruments, to preserve
and maintain macroeconomic and financial stability of the economy. In addition, risks
associated with high and volatile international prices of fuel, food and metal
prices intensified, complicating the task of the policy in maintaining the right quantum of
liquidity and solvency in the financial markets and institutions.
Against this background, it was realised by the Reserve Bank of India that Monetary Policy
had to be vigilant and proactive in protecting the real economy from excess volatility in
financial markets, while at the same time understanding well that the country cannot be
totally immune to global developments.
In view of the unprecedented economic complexities there were certain key factors that
determined the direction of the Monetary Policy for 2008-09. Firstly, there was an immediate
challenge of northward movement of food and energy prices which possibly contains some
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structural components. Secondly, while demand pressures continue, there has been some
improvement in the domestic supply response, alongside a build-up of additional capacities
enabled by a conducive policy environment. Accordingly, even as investment demand
continues to be high, elasticity of supplies can be expected to improve further and new
capacities should surface in near future. Thirdly, the monetary policy in the recent years has
been aiming at the outcomes relating to growth and stability, barring the recent episodes of
external shocks. Thus, the monetary policy measures undertaken since September 2004
continue to have stabilising effect on the economy.
Measures relating to the cash reserve ratio, and recent initiatives with regard to supply-
management are giving favourable results, while a more reliable assessment of crop
prospects by the government is also underway. Critical to the monetary policy is the
importance of expectations relating to both global and domestic developments. While
monetary policy has to respond urgently to immediate concerns with respect to the
requirements of overall macroeconomic management, it cannot afford to ignore the
considerations for the immediate future prospects and expected developments. At the same
time, it was important to demonstrate on a sustainable basis, a determination to act decisively,
effectively and swiftly to allay the fears with regard to increasing pressures of price rise.
In view of the above pressing uncertainties and confusing dilemmas, it was considered
necessary to take well considered decisions with regard to the timing and magnitude of policy
actions on sustained basis. As a result, the RBI decided to continue with its well tested policy
of active demand and liquidity management through proper use of the CRR stipulations and
open market operations, and by utilising judicially all the policy instruments at its disposal.
Excluding the possibility of any adverse and unexpected developments in various sectors of
the economy, assuming that capital flows are effectively managed and keeping in view the
outlook for growth and inflation in the Indian economy, the overall focus of the Monetary
Policy in 2008-09 aimed at ensuring a macroeconomic environment that accorded high
priority to price stability, firm projections of inflation, favourable conditions in financial
markets and other conditions conducive to continuation of high and sustainable growth rate
in the economy. The Monetary Policy also aims at quickly responding to the ongoing adverse
global developments on sustainable basis, as also to the domestic situation resulted by the
apprehensions about the inflation, financial stability and growth momentum, with both
conventional and non-conventional measures. The Policy also emphasizes the need for a
good credit quality, as well as credit delivery, particularly for employment-intensive sectors
while ensuring financial inclusion of the masses.
The broader aim is to achieve high growth rate, controlled prices and burgeoning foreign
trade. Instead of being rigid with its measures, the RBI has been using flexibility as the
centre-stone of its macroeconomic management framework. All the policy measures may not
be able to yield the expected results, but these measures do impact the economy positively.
As the Monetary Policy measures alone may prove inadequate to achieve the perfect
macroeconomic management, such measures are also expected to be supplemented by
appropriate fiscal policy measures.
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India’s Corrupt Leadership
Corruption is viewed as a synonym for politicians by our youth. First, corruption is India's
one of the major problems (after a burgeoning population). The only way to tackle corruption
is to bring down the ruling government and change the political system in the country. Only
true leaders should be elected.'
And somewhere along, there was an overriding sense of disillusion too. Perhaps the only
problem where cynicism was the underlying emotion even for the young and habitually
optimistic. Tucked away in the inside pages of a national daily was a report this week that the
Anti-Corruption Bureau had nabbed "red-handed" a lowly official accepting a princely bribe
of Rs.100. The official, we were informed, has been immediately suspended. He was caught
accepting the money "across the table", not even under the table, much like the infamous Mr
Bangaru Laxman, former President of the Bharatiya Janata Party.
The crime may be small in monetary terms but the punishment was exemplary. All
punishment is meant to be exemplary because no system can ever catch all offenders. When a
thief is caught, he is subject to exemplary punishment as a warning to potential thieves. The
inequity in the system however lies in the fact that while this gent got caught and was
suspended for petty corruption; those who transact in crores almost always go scot-free.
When caught, corrupt politicians often use the so-called "verdict of the electorate" as a
smokescreen to escape punishment by manipulating the system. To do this they often subvert
the law and order machinery and co-opt the law enforcers. Little wonder then that in public
perception the "most corrupt" section of society is the police.
This is not the corruption that is talked about in editorial pages and on television chat shows.
This is the Rs.100 across-the-table kind of .corruption. This is about the bribe the local police
station seeks to lodge a first information report when a crime is reported. This is about the
bribe the doctor demands to treat a patient quickly. This is about the "Chai Pan!" the
electricity meter reader takes to read your meter wrongly. The study's ten sectors are: police,
health, power, education, ration, land administration, judiciary, taxation, railways and
telecom.
It is a measure of the impact of economic reform and liberalisation in the telecom sector that
it figures as one of the "less" corrupt sectors. A decade ago this would not have been the case
given that the monopoly status of the government telephone company gave its minions
enormous power to seek a bribe every time a telephone user interacted with the operator. The
railways used to be a den of corruption till computerisation and improved working conditions
for staff made them also an area of low corruption, according to this study. While the police
have been declared the "most corrupt" sector, in terms of public perception, the largest
amount of money is, however, tucked away in the public health care system by doctors and
nurses, with active involvement of chemists and pharmaceutical companies.
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By charging patients extra for medicines that are supposed to be supplied free, by pushing
them to purchase medicines from specific chemists and companies, by recommending
unrequired diagnostic tests at preferred pathology laboratories, by simply seeking
gratification for proper care, doctors and nurses in public sector hospitals were garnering a
cool 28 per cent of all the bribe money transacted in India in a year. Next to health care
comes the power sector where power utility staff cream off 22 per cent of the proceeds of
corruption.
However, the power sector can learn from railways. Computerisation and transparency in
operations can help reduce corruption in the power sector.
The education sector comes third in ranking. Here, the main source of corruption is teachers
forcing private tuition on students as a way of seeking extra income and helping students
pass.
Finally, it is the tax administration. It secures a surprisingly low score in this survey with
bribes taken by taxmen accounting for a mere 5 per cent of all bribes. But this counter-
intuitive result could be the product of a respondent bias.
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REFORMS IN GOVERNANCE AND POVERTY
ALLEVIATION
Governance is the exercise of economic, political and administrative authority to manage a

country’s affairs at all levels. It consists of the whole set of processes, mechanisms and
institutions through which the citizens express their interests, exercise their rights, meet their
obligations and sink their differences. No amount of developmental effort can bring in
improvements in the quality of life of the citizens without improving the governance
standards. Conversely, if the power of the State is misused the poorer sections of the society
are most likely to suffer. Poor governance, thus, perpetuates poverty and severely hinders the
efforts to reduce it. It is understood all over the world that strengthening of governance is an
essential precondition to improve the lives of the poor.
Initial years after independence were marked by the euphoria of emancipation from the
foreign rulers. The entire politico-economic system was in the process of witnessing a host of
changes, based on the experience gained. Various new statutes were brought in and the
Constitution was also amended several times as per the changing and felt needs of the
society, notwithstanding the political angles and desired populism by the ruling political
parties.
Successive governments also strived to ensure upliftment of the poor and the downtrodden.
While several schemes and programmes were framed for the betterment of the socially and
educationally weaker sections, the women and the children, the government also introduced
several schemes aimed at alleviation of poverty, as it was clearly understood that the country
may not be able to achieve the goal of rapid development unless the poorer sections of the
society also experienced increase in their incomes and became part of the mainstream
bandwagon of economic development.
It has been experienced by the country over the past six decades that despite billions of
rupees pumped in the rural sector since independence, through various schemes and
programmes, the desired outcomes have not been achieved. The number of people below
poverty line has declined but at a very slow pace and the results have not been commensurate
with the quantum of funds invested by the government. Even from social point of view, it has
been proved through many studies that there have been significant leakages in the
expenditure made for the welfare of the weaker sections of society.
All this is strong pointer to the fact that the governance in the country needs improvement to
achieve an improved delivery system. Over the last few decades, successive Five-Year Plans
have tried to introduce certain reforms through their broad-based objectives. Democratic
decentralisation achieved through the strengthened Panchayati Raj System and the resultant
social empowerment has been one major initiative in this direction.
The focus of other initiatives has been on transparency, people’s participation, civil service
reforms, rationalisation of government schemes, improving access to formal justice,
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improvements in land administration and introduction of information technology as a key to
good governance. Enactment of the Right to Information Act has been a major breakthrough
in bringing transparency in the government functioning and empowerment of the citizens of
the country. Several economic reforms have also been taken up in the recent years.
Though the policy makers may be taking a lot of credit for all these actions, yet the above
governance initiatives are not sufficient and a lot more remains to be done. Maintenance of
law and order of the desired level remains a pipe dream in many States. The general
perception is that the law and order machinery is generally inefficient, tardy and
unresponsive. Corruption is rampant, undermining economic growth, distorting competition,
and disproportionately hurting the poor and marginalised citizens. Crimina-lisation of politics
continues unchecked, with money and muscle power playing a major role in elections. In
general, there is high degree of volatility in the society on account of unfulfilled expectations
and poor service delivery.
Future Goals
Any attempt towards reforms in governance in the future must focus on two things—the
fulfilment of human potential and rapid economic growth. The broad objective of realising
human potential includes the prevention of human sufferings, ensuring human dignity,
providing access to justice and making available equal opportunity to all so that every citizen
becomes a fulfilled and productive human being. Rapid economic growth, on the other hand,
would result in realising the country’s real potential and provide India with an opportunity to
play rightful role in the world to protect the interests of the people of the country, while
ensuring that the people living below poverty line also get their due share in the growing
prosperity of the country.
The role of the State in basic services needs to be clearly defined and emphasized. Ensuring
access to speedy and efficient justice, protecting rights of the citizens, enforcing rule of law
and maintaining public order are all inseparable and form the basic foundation of a civilised
society, as well as that of the democracy. The deficiencies in this vital area need to be
plugged through judicial and police reforms, better participation of citizens in governance.
Based on the past experience and best practices, we need to redesign our delivery
mechanisms in the education sector in an innovative manner and deploy the nation’s finest
talent to man these sectors. Inadequate and poor quality of school education is the bane of
Indian society today. Except in case of some better institutions of higher and
technical/professional education, higher education too is not very successful in promoting
excellence and producing quality service providers, dynamic leaders, result-oriented
managers and long-term wealth creators.
Urban management involves much more than resource allocation for infrastructure and poses
formidable challenges of governance, considering high rate of urbanisation and future
projections for the same in the country. Management of power distribution through active
involvement of people in a consumer-friendly way is more of a governance issue than a tariff
problem.
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Social security is a relatively new and emerging area of State activity to which the
administrative system must respond with sensitivity. This would directly improve the lives of
the poor. The recent enforcement of the employment guarantee law in the entire country and
the efforts in the pipeline to provide a measure of social security to the unorganised sector
workers can address the special challenges posed in social security, particularly for the
economically weaker sections. But a lot more is required to be done.
In any system, the quality of public servants is critical in determining the outcomes of
governance inputs. We have well-established procedures for initial recruitment of civil
servants in India. But there is a growing concern that our administration in general has
become unresponsive, rigid
and inward-looking. While the bureaucracy responds to crisis situations with efficacy,
complacency results in failure to deal with ‘normal’ situations, which is evident in most
cases. The complex challenges of modern administration in critical sectors like police
administration, justice delivery, education, healthcare, transportation, land management,
infrastructure, skill promotion, employment generation and urban management need special
attention. These areas impact the lives of all sections of the society, particularly the lives of
the poorer sections.
There are no two views that the governance has been a weak link in our quest for rapid
development with equity. The country has an impressive governance structure and several
important successes to credit. But we need to consolidate the gains already made and venture
into the virgin but vital areas of reforms in governance.
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The Role of Man in Conserving Natural Resources.
Every individual has responsibility to use natural resources judiciously. This will give equal
opportunity to all to use the resources for the benefit of mankind. One should not be selfish to
spend the available resources without thinking of other fellow beings. There is no limit to
spend natural resources if available plenty but at the same time one should realize that natural
resources are non-renewable sources. The future also depends on such resources. Every
individual should think himself or herself as a world think himself or himself as a world
citizen. The whole world is a family and all are inter-dependant for a better life. The mother
earth has given enough for all to satisfy minimum wants but not enough to utilize. Every
individual has a role in the conservation of natural resource like in using water electricity
woods, foods etc. water is life and every drop is precious similarly every chemical power
saved is like it is produced. Woods should be used so has not to destroy the forest
procurement of more food than needed is like putting other starving. Equitable use of
resources for sustainable life styles.
Everyone has the right to live in this world. All living creatures belong to mother earth and
they all have their shine of resources available. All these resources like land, energy, food,
mineral, water, forest etc. have to be distributed in an equitable way for sustainable lifestyles
of all creatures. The responsibility lies more on the human population because they have got
the thinking power and the wisdom to judge good and had man should realize that he is not
alone in this world. There are others to use the available resources. Hence responsibility
should be for all human being for an equitable use of natural resources for sustainable use of
natural resources for sustainable life styles of all in this mother earth.
Effects Development of Environment:
• The spread of disease via environment
• Man’s activity has impaired protective ozone cover.
• Over the natural resources such as land, water, minerals coal, oil etc. development has
undermined the stock of natural resources.
• It has resulted into global warning.
• There has been addition of toxin pollutants to the environment.
• It has caused loss of bio-diversity or genetic erosion.
Need for Conservation:
• Use of natural resources is increasing but the amount of these resources by

decreasing.
• Deforestation caused the loss of energy resources.
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• Relational and international capacities conserving the resources are not properly
organized, must have some common conservation strategy.
Objectives of conservation of natural resources:
• To maintain the essential ecological processes i.e. food chain recycling of mineral
resources etc and the life support system – soil, air, water, pond, plants, animals etc.
• To ensure the availability and sustainability of resources which assumes the survival
of all species is a healthy and easy manner.
• To preserve the diversity at the specific habitat levels.
Methods of conservation:
• For conservation of water.
• Keeping the water taps closed, when not in use.
• Using less water-consuming toilets.
• Watering the plants to be done in the evening tours.
• Using drip irrigation and sprinkling irrigation systems water lawns etc.
• Treating water to be provided for irrigation purpose.
• Water to be used carefully and economically for domestically for domestic and
industrial.
Conservation of energy:
• Using alternative source of energy and develops the renewable sources of energy such
as solar energy, sea water energy, wind energy, tidal energy, nuclear energy, etc. for
our energy requirements.
• Taking care in using fuels: we should exercise great care is using fuels for getting
energy. The fossil fuels should be used only when no other alternative source is
available to us. The fossil fuel should be conserved as far as possible.
• Avoiding wastage of energy.
• Some methods to avoid wastage:
• We should use the most efficient fuels available.
• Most heating devices like stoves, cloths, etc. should be used conserving soil:
• By addition of fertilizing.
• By green managing.
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• By biological nitrogen fixation.
• Together supply of minerals by decomposition and animal excreta.
• Prevention of soil erosion:
• By crop rotation.
• By growing erosion checking crops like grasses, pulses, ground nuts etc.
• By making suitable outlet channels to carry out flood water.
• By dancing afforestation and reforestation to check soil erosion.
• By making tenancies on the slopes to reduce the speed of water for checking soil
erosion.
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MACROECONOMIC MANAGEMENT AND
MONETARY POLICY IN INDIA
Every economy makes arrangements for its macroeconomic management through its Central
Bank, mostly by manipulating the monetary policy measures. The nature of the policy and its
thrust would depend upon the desired outcomes. Macroeconomic management may aim at
rapid growth of the economy, facilitating or restricting the flow of credit into the economy,
controlling the interest rates in the economy and controlling the money supply in the system
on the basis of the requirements from time to time. The aim could also be to ensure more self-
employment, increasing investment and increased wage employment opportunities.
Regulation of money supply is also used as an instrument to control the prices in the
economy.
Handled by the Central Bank, Monetary Policy of a country is the primary tool for efficient
macroeconomic management. As per the advanced estimates of the Central Statistical
Organisation (CSO), the performance of the Indian economy during 2007-08 has shown a
robust growth of 8.7 per cent. Despite slight moderation in its achievements over the previous
year, the economy has continued to grow in tune with the trends obtained during the five-year
period of 2003-04 to 2007-08.
As per the advanced estimates, total foodgrain production during the year 2007-08 is
expected to reach all time high of 227.3 million tonnes, recording an increase of 4.6 per cent
over the previous year’s production, thus exceeding the targets. During the same year, the
index of industrial production rose by 8.7 per cent and the manufacturing sector recorded
even higher growth rate of around 9 per cent. Infrastructure sector, however, disappointed
and grew at the rate of 5.6 per cent. But the services sector surged ahead with its double digit
growth at 10.6 per cent, despite some moderation in its pace and continued to be the major
contributor to the GDP growth.
Despite the slight slowdown in most of the sectors, the process of fiscal correction and
consolidation under the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Act
continued. The Revised Estimates (RE) for the year 2007-08 placed the revenue deficit and
Gross Fiscal Deficit (GFD) at 1.4 per cent and 3.1 per cent of GDP, respectively, which were
lower than the budget estimates, both in absolute as well as relative terms. The Union Budget
for 2008-09 also proposes to continue the fiscal consolidation process with the key deficit
indicators like revenue deficit and GFD, budgeted to be lower by 0.4-0.6 percentage points
and primary surplus higher by 0.5 percentage points of GDP in 2008-09 than in the previous
year. While the FRBM targets relating to GFD are set to be achieved in accordance with the
mandate, the Budget proposes to reschedule the stipulated target of zero revenue deficit by
2008-09.
Worrisome Future
On April 28, 2008 the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) released a document, “Macroeconomic
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and Monetary Developments in 2007-08”, to serve as background to the Annual Policy
Statement for 2008-09. It noted with concern that during the second half of the year 2007-08,
the combined effect of the higher food and fuel prices, coupled with strong demand
conditions, especially in the emerging economies like India, would result in pressure on the
price level. The report also pointed out that the monetary policy responses during the year
were mixed in view of growing concerns about the implications of credit crunch arising out
of the US sub-prime crisis. The government reacted with caution to ensure that the price
control measures may not result in depressed economic growth of the economy. But the
situation worsened with the global crude oil prices burgeoning beyond expectations, crossing
$135 per barrel by the last week of May 2008.
Global financial markets also remained volatile during the latter part of the previous
financial year, as the US sub-prime crisis spilled over from mortgage and credit markets to
other assets. Resultantly, the Indian financial markets, after remaining stable and buoyant
upto December 2007, suffered bouts of volatility towards the second week of January 2008.
In the foreign exchange market the Indian rupee generally exhibited two-way movements
against major foreign currencies.
The external sector, by and large, remained within the comfort zone and offered some spark.
India’s balance of payments position also remained comfortable during 2007-08 (April-
December). The merchandise trade deficit widened to US $66.5 billion in April-December
2007, from US $50.3 billion in April-December 2006. Net surplus under invisibles (services,
transfers and income taken together) was higher at US $50.5 billion in April-December 2007
as compared to US $36.3 billion. Despite sharp rise in merchandise trade deficit, the net
invisible surplus, mainly resulting from the rise in remittances from the overseas Indians and
software services exports, contained the current account deficit in trade at US $16.0 billion
during April-December 2007, as against US $14.0 billion in April-December 2006.
The Third Quarter Review of January 29, 2008 had noted with concern the unfolding of
unfavourable global developments and the responses of monetary authorities which seemed
to provide an indication of threat to growth and financial stability worldwide. Consequently,
developments in global financial markets in the context of the US sub-prime crisis required
more intensified monitoring and quick responses with all available instruments, to preserve
and maintain macroeconomic and financial stability of the economy. In addition, risks
associated with high and volatile international prices of fuel, food and metal
prices intensified, complicating the task of the policy in maintaining the right quantum of
liquidity and solvency in the financial markets and institutions.
Against this background, it was realised by the Reserve Bank of India that Monetary Policy
had to be vigilant and proactive in protecting the real economy from excess volatility in
financial markets, while at the same time understanding well that the country cannot be
totally immune to global developments.
In view of the unprecedented economic complexities there were certain key factors that
determined the direction of the Monetary Policy for 2008-09. Firstly, there was an immediate
challenge of northward movement of food and energy prices which possibly contains some
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structural components. Secondly, while demand pressures continue, there has been some
improvement in the domestic supply response, alongside a build-up of additional capacities
enabled by a conducive policy environment. Accordingly, even as investment demand
continues to be high, elasticity of supplies can be expected to improve further and new
capacities should surface in near future. Thirdly, the monetary policy in the recent years has
been aiming at the outcomes relating to growth and stability, barring the recent episodes of
external shocks. Thus, the monetary policy measures undertaken since September 2004
continue to have stabilising effect on the economy.
Measures relating to the cash reserve ratio, and recent initiatives with regard to supply-
management are giving favourable results, while a more reliable assessment of crop
prospects by the government is also underway. Critical to the monetary policy is the
importance of expectations relating to both global and domestic developments. While
monetary policy has to respond urgently to immediate concerns with respect to the
requirements of overall macroeconomic management, it cannot afford to ignore the
considerations for the immediate future prospects and expected developments. At the same
time, it was important to demonstrate on a sustainable basis, a determination to act decisively,
effectively and swiftly to allay the fears with regard to increasing pressures of price rise.
In view of the above pressing uncertainties and confusing dilemmas, it was considered
necessary to take well considered decisions with regard to the timing and magnitude of policy
actions on sustained basis. As a result, the RBI decided to continue with its well tested policy
of active demand and liquidity management through proper use of the CRR stipulations and
open market operations, and by utilising judicially all the policy instruments at its disposal.
Excluding the possibility of any adverse and unexpected developments in various sectors of
the economy, assuming that capital flows are effectively managed and keeping in view the
outlook for growth and inflation in the Indian economy, the overall focus of the Monetary
Policy in 2008-09 aimed at ensuring a macroeconomic environment that accorded high
priority to price stability, firm projections of inflation, favourable conditions in financial
markets and other conditions conducive to continuation of high and sustainable growth rate
in the economy. The Monetary Policy also aims at quickly responding to the ongoing adverse
global developments on sustainable basis, as also to the domestic situation resulted by the
apprehensions about the inflation, financial stability and growth momentum, with both
conventional and non-conventional measures. The Policy also emphasizes the need for a
good credit quality, as well as credit delivery, particularly for employment-intensive sectors
while ensuring financial inclusion of the masses.
The broader aim is to achieve high growth rate, controlled prices and burgeoning foreign
trade. Instead of being rigid with its measures, the RBI has been using flexibility as the
centre-stone of its macroeconomic management framework. All the policy measures may not
be able to yield the expected results, but these measures do impact the economy positively.
As the Monetary Policy measures alone may prove inadequate to achieve the perfect
macroeconomic management, such measures are also expected to be supplemented by
appropriate fiscal policy measures.
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Religion versus Astronomy
Religion and science have always been in direct competition with one another. Religion,
broadly, way of life or belief based on a person's ultimate relation to the universe or a god or
gods. In this sense such diverse systems as Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Judaism, and
Shinto may be considered religions. In a more commonly accepted sense, however, the term
religion refers to faith in a divinely created order of the world, agreement with which 'is the
means of salvation for a community and thus for each individual who has a role in that
community. Astronomy is a science dealing with all the celestial bodies in the universe,
including the planets and their satellites, comets and meteors, the stars and interstellar matter,
the star systems known as galaxies, clusters of galaxies, and quasars. Modern astronomy is
divided into several branches: astrometry, the observational study of the positions and
motions of these bodies; celestial mechanics, the mathematical study of their motions as
explained by the theory of gravitation; astrophysics, the study of their chemical composition
and physical condition from spectrum analysis and the laws of physics; and cosmology, the
study of the universe as a whole.
The ultimate goal of science is to prove the inexistence of God with facts, while the existence
in God is simply based on belief and faith. While 95% of the people living on Earth believe
in a superior being of some sort, some might say that religion clouds the minds of otherwise
logical individuals and makes it impossible for them to pursue the truth of the Universe.
Thus, the debate on which view is the right one continues on, while somewhere in the middle
stand religious followers who are also scientists. Many people claim that the belief in religion
comes simply from the "need of something to believe in". However, it is difficult to argue
against the fact that religion does not include its followers in something greater, then just a
"need". It allows for identification with a greater body of religious believers and for the
inclusion in the love of a God. The only thing religion asks for in return is faith in its
teachings which is made up of their morals and the existence of the God which they cherish
and worship.
In the movie "Contact", Ellie Arroway represents many scientists in the world. She is torn
between religion and science; however she is unable to rely on the assumed truths of the
teachings of religions.
Science is the search for truth; it allows her to discover the truth for herself. As Palmer Joss
later mentions in the movie, the purity of science is not involved in the furthering of
technology. Technology is not the God that science seeks, for it seeks to create no God,
science does not believe in any sort of God.
As religion accepts the truths written in its texts and taught in its teachings, science continues,
through research, to search for "the truth of the Universe". Both seek to fulfill the same thirst;
desires that mass numbers of individuals have to understand and be part of something so vast
that it includes everything, everywhere. Religion and science may be in competition with one
another but the truth is they have the same goal; to find the truth, whether it be based on faith
or facts.
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GLOBAL TOBACCO EPIDEMIC
100 million dead in the 20th century. Currently 5.4 million deaths every year. Unless urgent
action is taken: By 2030, there will be more than 8 million deaths every year. By 2030, more
than 80% of tobacco deaths will be in developing countries. One billion estimated deaths
predicted during the 21st century.
The above statistics are scary, indeed. "Reversing this entirely preventable epidemic must
now rank as a top priority for public health and for political leaders in every country of the
world," according to Dr Margaret Chan, WHO Director-General.
Tobacco is the only legal consumer product that can harm everyone exposed to it–and it kills
up to half of those who use it as intended. Yet, tobacco use is common throughout the world
due to low prices, aggressive and widespread marketing, lack of awareness about its dangers,
and inconsistent public policies against its use. Most of tobacco’s damage to health does not
become evident until years or even decades after the onset of use. So, while tobacco use is
rising globally, the epidemic of tobacco-related disease and death has just begun.
The global consensus that we must fight the tobacco epidemic has already been established
by more than 150 Parties to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. Now, the
WHO Report on the Global Tobacco Epidemic gives countries a roadmap that builds on the
WHO Framework Convention to turn this global consensus into a global reality through
MPOWER, a package of six effective tobacco control policies.
To support MPOWER, WHO and its global partners are providing new resources to help
countries stop the disease, death and economic damage caused by tobacco use. When
implemented and enforced as a package, the six policies will prevent young people from
beginning to smoke, help current smokers quit, protect non-smokers from exposure to
second-hand smoke and free countries and their people from tobacco’s harm.
The MPOWER package entails:
Monitor tobacco use and prevention policies. Assessment of tobacco use and its impact
must be strengthened. Currently, half of countries – and two in three in the developing world
– do not have even minimal information about youth and adult tobacco use. Data on other
aspects of the epidemic, such as tobacco-related disease and death, are also inadequate. Good
monitoring provides information about the extent of the epidemic in a country, as well as how
to tailor policies to specific country needs. Both global and country-by-country monitoring
are critical to understanding and reversing the tobacco epidemic.
Protect people from tobacco smoke. All people have a fundamental right to breathe clean
air. Smoke-free places are essential to protect non-smokers and also to encourage smokers to
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quit. Any country, regardless of income level, can implement smoke-free laws effectively.
However, only 5% of the global population is protected by comprehensive smoke-free
legislation. In most countries, smoke-free laws cover only some indoor spaces, are weakly
written or are poorly enforced. Once enacted and enforced, smoke-free laws are widely
popular, even among smokers, and do not harm businesses. Only a total ban on smoking in
public places and workplaces protects people from second-hand smoke and helps smokers
quit.
Offer help to quit tobacco use. Most of the world’s more than one billion smokers – about a
quarter of all adults – are addicted. Many want to quit, but few get the help they need.
Services to treat tobacco dependence are fully available in only nine countries, with 5% of the
world’s population. Countries must establish programmes providing low-cost, effective
interventions for tobacco users who want to escape their addiction.
Warn about the dangers of tobacco. Despite conclusive evidence, relatively few tobacco
users understand the full extent of their health risk. Comprehensive warnings about the
dangers of tobacco can change tobacco’s image, especially among adolescents and young
adults. Graphic warnings on tobacco packaging deter tobacco use, yet only 15 countries,
representing 6% of the world’s population, mandate pictorial warnings (covering at least 30%
of the principal surface area) and just five countries, with a little over 4% of the world’s
people, meet the highest standards for pack warnings. More than 40% of the world’s
population lives in countries that do not prevent use of misleading and deceptive terms such
as “light” and “low-tar”, even though conclusive scientific evidence – which has been known
to the tobacco industry for several decades – shows that such products do not reduce health
risks. This first report has not assessed public education campaigns, which, if hard-hitting,
sophisticated and sustained, are highly effective.
Enforce bans on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship. The tobacco industry
spends tens of billions of dollars world-wide each year on advertising, promotion and
sponsorship. Partial bans on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship do not work
because the industry merely re-directs its resources to other non-regulated marketing
channels. Only a total ban can reduce tobacco consumption and protect people, particularly
youth, from industry marketing tactics. Only 5% of the world’s population currently lives in
countries with comprehensive bans on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship.
About half the children of the world live in countries that do not ban free distribution of
tobacco products.
Raise taxes on tobacco. Raising taxes, and therefore prices, is the most effective way to
reduce tobacco use, and especially to discourage young people from using tobacco. It also
helps convince tobacco users to quit. Only four countries, representing 2% of the world’s
population, have tax rates greater than 75% of retail price. And although more than four out
of five high-income countries tax tobacco at 51–75% of retail price, less than a quarter of
low- and middle-income countries tax tobacco at this rate. A 70% increase in the price of
tobacco could prevent up to a quarter of all tobacco-related deaths world-wide. A 10% price
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increase may cause a 4% drop in tobacco consumption in high-income countries and an 8%
drop in low- and middle-income countries, with tobacco tax revenue increasing despite
reduced consumption. Higher taxes can provide countries with funding to implement and
enforce tobacco control policies and can pay for other public health and social programmes.
For 3.8 billion people living in the low- and middle-income countries for which information
is available, total national tobacco control expenditure was only US$ 14 million per year. In
contrast, tobacco tax revenue for these same countries was US$ 66.5 billion. In other words,
for every US$ 5,000 in tobacco tax revenue, these countries spent about US$ 1 for tobacco
control. Per capita expenditure on tobacco control in low- and middle-income countries with
available information was less than one tenth of one cent and about a half a cent, respectively.
The MPOWER package provides tools to take action. What is needed now is the resolve by
political leadership, governments and civil society in every country to adopt and enact these
six policies that have been proven to reduce tobacco use and its resulting burden of disease
and death. Citizens strongly support tobacco control measures, even in countries with high
levels of tobacco use. In China, for example, the world’s largest producer and consumer of
tobacco, a recent survey found that most urban residents support establishing smoke-free
public places, banning tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship, and raising tobacco
taxes.
Tobacco control is not expensive. Tobacco taxes increase government revenues.

Enforcement of smoke-free laws and advertising, promotion and sponsorship bans do not
require large expenditure. Cessation services can be integrated into the general health-care
system.
To counteract the tobacco epidemic, countries must have the political will to adopt and
enforce MPOWER. Despite strong evidence of effectiveness of and public support for
tobacco control measures, only about one in five countries has fully implemented any of the
key five policies – smoke-free environments, treatment of tobacco dependence, health
warnings on packages, bans on advertising, promotion and sponsorship, and tobacco taxation
– at a level that provides full protection for their populations, and not a single country has
implemented all six at the highest level. If countries implement and enforce MPOWER, they
can prevent millions of people from being disabled or killed by tobacco.
Economics of Tobacco
Although the tobacco industry claims it creates jobs and generates revenues that enhance
local and national economies, the industry’s overriding contribution to any country is
suffering, disease, death – and economic losses. Tobacco use currently costs the world
hundreds of billions of dollars each year.
Tobacco-related deaths result in lost economic opportunities. In the United States, these
losses are estimated at US$ 92 billion a year. Lost economic opportunities in highly
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populated, developing countries – many of which are manufacturing centres of the global
economy – will be severe as the tobacco epidemic worsens, because half of all tobacco-
related deaths occur during the prime productive years. The economic cost of tobacco-related
deaths imposes a particular burden on the developing world, where four out of five tobacco
deaths will occur by 2030.1 Data on tobacco’s impact on global health-care costs are
incomplete, but it is known to be high. In the United States, annual tobacco-related health-
care costs are US$ 81 billion, in Germany nearly US$ 7 billion and in Australia US$ 1
billion.
The net economic effect of tobacco is to deepen poverty. The industry’s business objective –
to get more customers addicted – disproportionately hurts the poor. Tobacco use is higher
among the poor than the rich in most countries, and the difference in tobacco use between
poor and rich is greatest in regions where average income is among the lowest.
For the poor, money spent on tobacco means money not spent on basic necessities such as
food, shelter, education and health care. The poorest households in Bangladesh spend almost
10 times as much on tobacco as on education. In Indonesia, where smoking is most common
among the poor, the lowest income group spends 15% of its total expenditure on tobacco. In
Egypt, more than 10% of household expenditure in low-income homes is on tobacco. The
poorest 20% of households in Mexico spend nearly 11% of their household income on
tobacco. Medical costs from smoking impoverish more than 50 million people in China.
The poor are much more likely than the rich to become ill and die prematurely from tobacco-
related illnesses. This creates greater economic hardship and perpetuates the circle of poverty
and illness. Early deaths of primary wage earners are especially catastrophic for poor families
and communities. When, for example, a 45-year-old Bangladeshi man who heads a low-
income household dies of cancer from a 35-yearbidi habit, the survival of his entire family is
at stake. His lost economic capacity is magnified as his spouse, children and other dependants
sink deeper into poverty and government or extended family members must take on their
support.
Helping the addicts
People who are addicted to nicotine are victims of the tobacco epidemic. Among smokers
who are aware of the dangers of tobacco, three out of four want to quit. Like people
dependent on any addictive drug, it is difficult for most tobacco users to quit on their own and
they benefit from help and support to overcome their dependence.
Countries’ health-care systems hold the primary responsibility for treating tobacco
dependence. Treatment includes various methods, from simple medical advice to pharmaco-
therapy, along with telephone help lines known as quit lines, and counselling. These
treatment methods have differing cost efficiencies, and do not have a uniform impact on
individual tobacco users. Treatment should be adapted to local conditions and cultures, and
tailored to individual preferences and needs.
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In most cases, a few basic treatment interventions can help tobacco users who want to quit.
Three types of treatment should be included in any tobacco prevention effort: (i)tobacco
cessation advice incorporated into primary health-care services; (ii) easily accessible and free
quit lines; and (iii) access to low-cost pharmacological therapy.
Integrating tobacco cessation into primary health care and other routine medical visits
provides the health-care system with opportunities to remind users that tobacco harms their
health and that of others around them. Repeated advice at every medical visit reinforces the
need to stop using tobacco.
Well-staffed quit lines should be accessible to a country’s entire population through toll-free
phone numbers and waivers of access charges for mobile phone users. Quit lines are
inexpensive to operate, easily accessible, confidential and can be staffed for long hours; many
tobacco users may be unable or unwilling to call during business hours. Quit lines also can
help introduce users to other tobacco dependence treatment, such as counselling and nicotine
replacement therapy. Additionally, quit lines can reach individuals in remote places and can
be tailored to specific population groups. For example, the United Kingdom’s Asian Quit
Line receives 20 000 calls a year and reaches 10% of all South Asian tobacco users in that
country.
In addition to medical advice and quit lines, effective treatment can also include
pharmacological treatment such as nicotine replacement therapy in the form of patches,
lozenges, gum and nasal sprays, and prescription medications such as bupropion and
varenicline. Nicotine replacement therapy is usually available over-the-counter, whereas
other drugs require a doctor’s prescription for them to be dispensed.
Nicotine replacement therapy reduces withdrawal symptoms by substituting for some of the
nicotine absorbed from tobacco. Bupropion, an anti-depressant, can reduce craving and other
negative sensations when tobacco users cut back or stop their nicotine intake. Varenicline
attaches to nicotine receptors in the brain to prevent the release of dopamine, thus blocking
the sensations of pleasure that people can experience when they smoke.
Pharmacological therapy is generally more expensive and considered to be less cost effective
than physician advice and quit lines, but it has been shown to double or triple quit rates.
Cessation programmes provide a significant political advantage by enabling governments to

help those most directly affected by the epidemic at the same time that they are enacting new
restrictions on tobacco. They generally encounter few political obstacles and help foster a
national policy of opposition to tobacco use, an important step in creating a tobacco-free
society. Governments can use some tobacco tax revenues to help users free themselves from
addiction.
New Zealand provides a good example for government action. Following a lobbying
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campaign by the tobacco control community, the country went from offering virtually no
tobacco cessation treatment to one of the world’s most advanced initiatives in only five years,
with government spending on smoking cessation rising from almost zero to US$ 10 million
per year. The initiatives include a national quit line that is now one of the busiest in the
world, subsidized nicotine replacement therapy and quit services focusing on the minority
Maori population.
Implementation status
Only 86 of 193 Member States have recent, nationally representative data for both adults and
youths. More than half of the world’s population lives in areas that lack even minimally
adequate recent information on tobacco use. Monitoring systems are particularly weak in
low- and middle-income countries; high-income countries are more likely to collect at least
minimally adequate monitoring information (73% of countries) than are middle- (43%) or
low-income (24%) countries. However, basic monitoring need not be expensive, and is
within reach of virtually all countries.
In 44 of the 127 countries with recent and representative adult surveys, data were collected
through international survey tools such as the World Health Survey or WHO’s STEPwise
approach to Surveillance (STEPS). Out of these 127 countries, 25 have sub-national Global
Youth Tobacco Survey data and 68 have national Global Youth Tobacco Survey data.
Smoke-free environments are crucial for protecting the health of smokers and non-smokers
alike, as well as for sending a clear message that smoking in public places is not socially
accepted. Smoke-free laws protect workers from chemicals that cause cancer and change the
way blood clots and flows to the heart, and they provide a strong incentive for smokers to
quit. Only completely smoke-free places, without any indoor smoking areas and with
effective enforcement, can protect workers and the public and also encourage smokers to
quit. Exceptions make enforcement difficult and negate the effectiveness of smoke-free laws.
Although an increasing number of countries have passed legislation mandating smoke-free

environments, the overwhelming majority of countries have no smoke-free laws, very limited
laws or ineffective enforcement.
More than half of countries, accounting for nearly two thirds of the population of the world,
allow smoking in government offices, workplaces and other indoor places. Consequently,
most office workers worldwide are forced to breathe other people’s tobacco smoke. Only 24
(13%) of the 179 countries and 1 territory protect restaurant workers from tobacco smoke;
although any country can implement smoke-free laws, the proportion of high-income
countries with smoke-free restaurants (12 of 41, 29%) is more than three times higher than
the proportion of low- and middle-income countries (and one territory) with similar measures
(12 of 139, 9%).
Of the countries reporting smoke-free laws that are moderate or complete, only one third
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have even moderate levels of enforcement documented (scores of 3 or higher out of 10). Only
four countries achieved a score of 8 or higher (out of 10 possible points) and only two
countries – Uruguay and New Zealand – had both comprehensive smoke-free laws and an
enforcement score of 8 or higher. Many countries with completely smoke-free environments
are in Europe.
Some countries have made great strides protecting citizens from second-hand smoke. In
March 2004, Ireland became the first country in the world to create and enjoy smoke-free
indoor work-places and public places, including restaurants, bars and pubs. Within three
months, Norway’s smoke-free legislation entered into force. Since then, these examples have
been followed by many countries including Italy and Uruguay, along with many cities across
the globe. Most people in Canada, Australia and the United States are protected by State or
local smoke-free legislation.
Conclusion
In summary, only around 5% of the world’s population is covered by any one of the key
interventions of effective advertising, promotion and sponsorship bans, smoke-free spaces,
prominent pack warnings, protection from deceptive and misleading advertising, promotion
and sponsorship, and cessation support. Governments collect more than US$ 200 billion in
tobacco tax revenues and have the financial resources to expand and strengthen tobacco
control programmes. Further tobacco tax increases can provide additional funding for these
initiatives.
The number of people killed each year by tobacco will double over the next few decades
unless urgent action is taken. But just as the epidemic of tobacco-caused disease is man-
made, people – acting through their governments and civil society – can reverse the epidemic.
Tobacco is unique among today’s leading public health problems in that the means to curb
the epidemic are clear and within our reach. If countries have the political commitment and
technical and logistic support to implement the MPOWER policy package, they can save
millions of lives.
Because the tobacco industry is far better funded and more politically powerful than those
who advocate to protect children and non-smokers from tobacco and to help tobacco users
quit, much more needs to be done by every country to reverse the tobacco epidemic. Unless
urgent action is taken, more than one billion people could be killed by tobacco during this
century.
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An Essay on Internet Chatting
There are lots of ways people communicate through the Internet, ranging from E-Mail to live
audio and videoconferencing. Chatting through Internet is one of the way to be able to
communicate others. To join in the fun, all you need is an Internet Service Provider to get
you connected to the Internet. A great advantage of the Internet chatting that it brings people
from all over the globe closer together. There is, e.g., Global Chat, a programme that allows
people to communicate instantly through the Net. A person communicates with a girl in
Manila and simultaneously to his friend in California on the same server; the geographical
distance seems to have been faded away. It was like having the girl next door. What a
wonderful world. If you keep chatting with people all over the globe daily like this, there
couldn't be any wars could it?
In chatting, any number of people can come in, and have a live text-based chat. You can enter
chats using chat software that] supports IRC (Internet Relay Chat is a protocol that is the
original means of chatting through the actual Internet), or from a variety off web a sites that
have communities built in.
Chatting is one of the most popular activities on the Internet and involves people from all
walks of life and just about all ages come together in areas where they can join in on a variety
of topics that they are interested in with people all around the world. Traditionally, chat is
text based but can also involve audio and video. In public chat areas, people use "us or
sometimes represent themselves as graphical as they are known in the chat world.
Generally there are two categories of Internet chats. One is the Internet-based chat room
where people can choose images to represent themselves and propose various virtual
environments. They are not real time, messages will come popup your screen if you press the
refresh or reload button. Some of the latest Internet based chats use server push technology or
Java, which eliminates the need to press the refresh button but it still isn't as quick as the
second type of chat called Internet relay chat or IRC which is the most popular. It is a text-
based chat (no images) and real time where all messages immediately, popup on screen when
entered. IRC (Internet Relay Chat) is a multi-user, multi-channel chatting system. Imagine
sitting in front of your computer and "talking" through typed messages with either one person
or many other people from all over the Internet. IRC is based on a client-server model. You
run a client programme on your own computer that connects you to a server computer on the
Internet.
The Internet connects people and makes them understand each other. Chatting on Internet is a
terrific way for people to meet electronically and discuss various topics in a smooth way and
speediest way. But on the other hand it also keeps people stuck in front of their computer
screens. The Net tends to keep people from spontaneously getting outside their houses;
People are alienating themselves from certain other enjoyable habits like playing, spending
teatime with families and friends and so on.
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The Internet chatting is as cool as ice, cyber and most of the time very useful. But everything
is not so good! Information flow, trauma, alienation, techno-trauma, harsh economies are a
few of the negative implications of using the Internet chatting. Numerous students and others
who encounters the possibilities of the Internet chatting, gets into it so hard that they spend
almost all their time at the screen. This kind of behaviour may develop a severe addiction,
causing the addicts to forget studies and social life. A warning must be issued.
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URBANISATION: A DAUNTING CHALLENGE
Urbanisation has been a problem in India for quite sometime and the city governments in the
country have always struggled to solve the problems like growth of slums, management of
solid waste, water supply, street lighting, locating the street vendors etc. With the cities
contributing more than 65 per cent of the GDP in the recent years, the government has now
begun to look at the urban areas as engines of growth. With rapidly increasing population in
the urban areas and insurmountable problems, urbanisation has emerged as one of the most
serious challenges before the planners.
Migration to cities is considered to be a serious problem and most of the political parties as
well as the municipal bodies are generally interested in reversing this trend of rapid
urbanization. But migration is not the only reason for growth of the cities. Internal growth of
cities and inclusion of the periphery areas are two other reasons for growth of the urban areas.
It is expected that in the coming two decades, the urban population share in the total
population of the country would increase to 50 per cent.
Rural poor come to the cities and towns to look for productive work with a view to get two
square meals for their families and secure better education for their children. They also
migrate to the cities to ensure that they are able to lead a better life than their forefathers and
the cities act as the dream destinations for the poor for a better tomorrow. But more often
than not, their dreams get shattered as they arrive in the cities. They are hassled by the
problems like lack of affordable housing, lack of availability of clean drinking water, lack of
cleanliness, sanitation and other civic amenities.
The question is—can we envisage the transformation of the modern day cities in the country
without appreciating the contribution of the poorer sections in the overall growth of cities?
They render required and important services like household assistance, street sweeping, solid
waste disposal, delivery of newspapers, delivery of milk and other food articles and
vegetables etc. But this important segment of urban population cannot get land security for
their dwellings and are generally bereft of even bare minimum urban services in the vicinity
of localities where they live.
There is thus a dire need for having the provision of housing for the urban poor. While the
cities and towns keep coming out with various housing projects for the upper and middle
classes, housing schemes for the urban poor and the low income groups generally do not
exist. More often than not, the poor are required to be uprooted from their slums whenever a
new scheme of infrastructure or housing is planned in any city. This trend needs to be
reversed.
Lack of civic amenities is yet another problem. As per a slum census only 65.4 per cent of the
households in the cities and towns had access to drinking water within their premises.
Remaining households either had the water supply source outside their premises or away
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from their houses.
Source of lighting is another important area which was surveyed during the census. Though
the percentage of households having an electric source of energy was much higher than in the
rural areas, yet more than 12 per cent of the households in the urban areas did not have an
electric source of lighting and have to depend on other sources like kerosene. About 0.4 per
cent of the households in cities and towns have no source of lighting at all.
Availability of education facilities in the urban areas is also a key area, particularly for the
poor. While the affluent and upper middle classes normally have best of educational facilities
available to them in the cities, the poorer sections find it hard to have access even to basic
educational facilities. The level of male and female literacy rates in the slum areas is
distinctly lower than non-slum population of cities, with Patna recording highest difference of
almost 30 per cent between the level of literacy rates in slum and non-slum areas of the city.
Lack of good healthcare facilities is also an area of serious concern. The Task Force
appointed by the government of India to advise on health scenario in the urban slums has
pointed out that 6 out of 10 children in slum areas are delivered at home in Indian slums.
Further, more than half of India’s urban poor children are underweight and the state of under-
nutrition in urban areas is worse than in the rural areas. Reach and utilisation of essential
preventive health services by the urban poor is generally found to be very low and about 60
per cent of the children below one year of age are not fully immunized. Only 4 per cent
couples use birth spacing methods.
In addition to the above mentioned problems pertaining to urban and social services, there are
serious gaps in the availability of infrastructure facilities in urban areas. Roads are getting
congested with more and more new vehicles getting registered every day and parking has
become a serious problem in most urban areas. Solid waste management is also a serious
problem in the country, particularly in the cities. Safe disposal of the solid waste in a
scientific manner is a major issue in Indian cities and towns. With over 400 million people
living in urban areas and generating millions of tonnes of garbage every day, without proper
arrangements for safe disposal of the garbage serious problem of water contamination and
environment pollution is on the anvil. The problem is worst in the areas inhabited by the poor
and in the slums.
The Road Ahead

For the last about six decades, the government has focused on rural development and rural
poverty alleviation. Billions of rupees have been spent but even after 60 years of
concentration on this sector, the absolute number of rural poor in the country has actually
increased. The government is now viewing the urbanisation process as an alternative strategy
to eradicate rural poverty. Growth rate of population in the cities in the country is much
higher than the general growth rate of population in the country and there is a need to
strengthen the cities and towns to be able to brace up to the challenges ahead.
The government of India, in December, 2005, launched an ambitious programme called

Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), for renewal of Indian cities
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on sustainable basis. 63 cities have been chosen under the Mission. There are also two sub-
missions. First sub-mission aims at strengthening the urban infrastructure like water supply,
sewerage, traffic flow, de-congestion, scientific solid waste management, proper storm water
drainage, preservation of heritage etc. Second sub-mission is aimed at providing basic
services to the urban poor, including proper housing at affordable rates and up-gradation of
slums to ensure that all the slum areas in the mission cities are provided with the same level
of facilities as are available to the better areas in the Mission cities.
Funding pattern under the JNNURM is that for the States of the north east 90 per cent of the
cost of projects approved under the mission is to be provided by the Union government as
grant in aid and the remaining amount has to be pooled in by the Urban Local Body (ULB)
concerned and the State government. For other hill States and the cities with less than one
million population, the percentage of ACA is 80 per cent. For cities with population between
one million and four million, the ACA is 50 per cent of the project cost, while the same for
the cities with over four million population is 35 per cent. It is expected that after including
the State and ULB share, during the mission period (upto 2012-13), more than Rs 1,50,000
crore would be spent for up-gradation of urban infrastructure and for providing basic services
for urban poor in the Mission cities. In addition to the JNNURM funding and projects, the
city administration has to make special efforts to make sure that the challenges of
urbanization are met and the cities and towns are able to cope up with the urban problems in
the years to come.
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Evaluation and Education
Education and evaluation are inter-related processes. Evaluation is as old as the process of
education itself. Education in its wider sense implies not only acquisition of knowledge, but
also development of abilities, skills, personality qualities which are important in individual's
personal and social life. The function of evaluation in education is to provide a systematic
assessment of the development of these qualities as an outcome of educational endeavour.
Since population education is also an educational process aiming at inculcating rational
attitude and responsible behaviour among the learners towards population and development
issues and helping them to take informed decisions, role of evaluation is of utmost
importance. Without the benefit of evaluation, one is unable to determine how well the
programme has achieved its goal. Evaluation also serves as the basis for the improvement of
the way activities are carried out. Evaluation is also an effort at discovering whether certain
activities have led to desired effects or outcomes.
Evaluation in education means describing something, in terms of selected attributes and

judging the degree of acceptability or suitability of that which has been described. The
something which is described can be any aspect of the educational scene. In broadest sense,
the term evaluation is defined as a systematic assessment of the value or worth of 'something'.
This 'something' could be a programme or a segment of a programme, a technique or strategy
used, educational materials or a situation prevalent in a particular community. It is also
defined as the collection and use of information to make decisions about an educational
programme like population education programme. Principles of evaluation in population
education are essentially principles of evaluation in education. It is true that evaluation in
population education is difficult because population education aims at effecting behavioural
changes in the affective domain to a greater degree. It has cognitive component only to the
extent that is needed to bring attitudinal changes.
Effort, effect, adequacy, efficiency and process are the five major aspects that must be
assessed in order to ascertain success or failure f population education programme. When
programme implementers evaluate effort, they try to measure the quantity as well as the
quality of available resources. This type of evaluation is called input evaluation. It involves
taking of all available resources, both human and material (personnel, money, educational
tools, methods or techniques), and of the activities generated by these resources. The number
of qualified personnel, logistics required for programme operation, the number of educational
materials distributed to the target audience the kind of and number of activities conducted,
etc. are some of the features considered in input evaluation. In evaluating effect, the main
concern is to measure the results or the outcomes of the efforts made in terms of intended
objectives. In other words, programme evaluators want to know the extent of which their
objectives have been achieved. This type of evaluation is referred to as impact or outcome
evaluation.
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In evaluating adequacy, the effectiveness of the programme in relation to the population, it is
intended to serve, is determined. This type of evaluation is otherwise known as potency
effectiveness. An index of adequacy can be computed by multiplying the rate of effectiveness
of the number of people exposed to the programme. The rate of effectiveness is defined as the
proportion of the target population that has been reached by the programme. For example, if a
population education programme operating in a particular school reaches 100 out of a total of
1000 school children, the rate of effectiveness of the programme is 10 per cent. In as much as
only 100 students were covered, the programme effect or impact will actually be felt by only
10 per cent. To make the index meaningful, it should be compared with a pre-determined
level of satisfaction.
In evaluating efficiency, programme administrators make a cost benefit or cost effectiveness

analysis whenever possible. They study the benefits derived from the educational activity in
relation to the costing of all programme activities. It is called realized effectiveness. In
process evaluation, the evaluator is interested to know how and why a programme works or
does not work, or how the different programme inputs can be used to arrive at desired results.
The problem focused and future oriented nature of population education programme makes it
necessary to focus its evaluation on higher level cognitive in additional to the simple recall an
interpretation of population concepts and statistics.
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Arranged Marriage Versus Love Marriage
Marriage is a social institution (usually legally ratified) uniting a man and a woman in special
forms of mutual dependence, often for the purpose of founding and maintaining a family.
Arranged marriages, which had been accepted almost everywhere throughout history,
eventually ceased to predominate in Western societies, although they persisted as the norm in
aristocratic society up to the mid-20th century.
The usual opinion is that arranged marriages happen only in the east but this was not always
so arranged marriages were happening even in Victorian Europe. In England for example
most of the kings and queens had arranged marriages up until King George V the present
Queen Elizabeth's father broke tradition by marrying a commoner. Besides popular love lore
like Soni Mahiwal, India always had a long tradition of arranged marriages. Education and
exposure to the media, started to make people to think and realise they need not be bound by
tradition and they can choose their own marital partners without having to rely on parents,
matchmakers, relatives or having to consult astrologers. This gave rise to love marriages.
Currently in our country we have arranged as well as love marriages taking place.
It is argued that love marriages offer more independence and freedom as compared to
arranged marriages where the girl/boy is chosen by the parents so there is pressure to
conform to parental expectations like producing a male heir, taking part in family rituals and
traditions, putting up with sisters-in-laws, contributing to family expenses etc. One of the
usual questions against an arranged marriage is that how can you marry somebody you don't
know. Knowing somebody before marriage allows partners to have better respect and
understanding for each other's needs and desires. This way they are better adjusted in the
marriage when they finally take their wedding vows.
Not all love marriages have happy endings. Sometimes discord arises even in love marriages.
In the west girls who are fat find it difficult to find suitable dates. There is pressure on the
women to conform to conventional male ideas of beauty where women have to be tall and
slim with hourglass figures. These kinds of attitudes and perspectives have not only created
the kinds of conditions but are also responsible for women suffering a lot of pain and
rejection. Beauty contests and the popular Barbie doll with its model of a doll with
supermodel's figure have been accused of reinforcing this mindset. These kinds of pressures
would just increase as society gets more modern and technology advances. Then, would
women who refuse to conform get left behind? This made us wonder for a moment that
maybe society should switch back to arranged marriages from love marriages since this
pursuit for perfection in beauty would increase as society changes. On the positive side all
this has also led to the feminist movements in the west. Women have come out of the closet
refusing to be mere sexual objects pandering to male ideas of beauty.
Coming to arranged marriages, they offer more protection, security to the women. There is
not much pressure on the women to look like models. Parents employ maturity and wise
judgment when choosing suitable spouses for their children. Sometimes it helps to rely on
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another person's opinion and experience when selecting one's partner, especially when the
people marrying are young and need guidance and advice in marrying a suitable person.
This does not mean arranged marriages are the ideal sort of marriages. Having an arranged
does not mean that the married couple remains happily ever after or that there is harmony in
the relationship. Women have been known to stay on in abusive relationships for the sake of
family pride, respect in society etc. Even in an arranged marriage there is a different sort of
pressure to be fair-skinned and beautiful. In India the evil of dowry, caste and community
issues and the concept of matching horoscopes, sometimes taken to its extreme levels have
contributed much to the argument against arranged marriages.
It becomes difficult therefore to predict the ideal sort of marriage. So ultimately it is up to the
individual to decide whether he wants to have a love or an arranged marriage after all it is a
question of being happy in love.
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Juvenile Crime
Juvenile crime rates have nearly doubled in many countries. In the news we keep hearing
about youngsters got mixed up in shady affairs and committing petty crimes. What actually is
a juvenile crime? It is a term denoting various offences committed by children or youths
under the age of 18. Such acts are sometimes referred to as juvenile delinquency. Children's
offences typically include delinquent acts, which would be considered crimes if committed
by adults, and status offences, which are less serious misbehaviour problems such as truancy
and parental disobedience. Both are within the jurisdiction of the youth court; more serious
offences committed by minors may be tried in criminal court and be subject to prison
sentences.
We hear a child stealing an apple from the market stands, and then rob a small shop, next day
we learn about a 17-year-old kid who killed his classmates. People are concerned and rightly
so. That's all what we do or maybe give them a harsh punishment. It seems that the problem
has only focused on punishment and very little on prevention or intervention. There is no
single cause of violence but we can certainly list a lot of risk factors, which increase the
development of criminal behaviour. These include child abuse and family disintegration,
violating behaviour, academic failure, school dropout, and lack of contact with the society,
fighting with peers and antisocial behaviour early in life.
In order to reveal the real background of juvenile crime it's obviously not enough to stop at
this point. Probably none of the young delinquents were born with hostility, rage and hatred.
Their environment and our society have turned them into who they are today. Juveniles have
to face the cruel sides of the world too early and they are not well prepared for it yet. Some of
them are able to deal with it, some of them are not. The latter shocked by the realisation will
escape to the world of crimes so trying to hide themselves from all the dissatisfaction.
Crime rates are the highest in the more urbanised societies where traditional life styles don't
prevail and local communities and social control have become loose. Young people are
allowed to live a totally free and undisciplined life in the dark streets of neglected city
districts. Getting a false image from these places they are assured that the proper way of
living is the one they experience there. Just following the bad example, without being aware
of what they are really doing.
The situation is the same with the violation, outrage, aggression fuelled by the media and
computer games. Thousands of children sit down in front of the television in the late evening
to switch off a little bit. What do they get? Blood, fight, hatred, war and a superman who
never dies. After that, what should we expect from our children? To kiss the little doll with
love or play with the toy cars... that type of childhood is out of fashion by now. They will
rather continue the bloody scenes in their video games using the newest weapons to murder
the "bad guys". The game is never-ending because they have more lives. Most of the parents
consider it as just like a game. But it's much more than that. Subconsciously everything
remains in their brains and reflex. On the other hand sitting all day long at the computer kids
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get isolated from their peers, friends and social life, too. They don't communicate and thus
fall out of the flow of real life. Losing their connections to the world they won't be able to
make realistic judgements leading them into crimes.
Young people should not be expected to have the same values and judgement as adults,
therefore not the same treatment either. This is especially true if they have been the victims of
poverty, neglect, and abuse. The good approach of the problem can help a lot. Young lives
can be salvaged but not with incarceration. It has never been a good solution. Nevertheless
developing more programs’ to prevent these children entering the juvenile justice system
would be far more effective and less costly.
Let us not forget that they are not just those children. These are our children and they need
our attention and concern before they get into serious trouble, as well as after. We should
teach our kids and show them how to live life fully and properly. If we can't make it how do
we expect that from them? The youths are the building blocks of the future. We are
responsible for making an effort to maximise the chances of the juveniles to become a well-
adjusted and contributing member of our society.
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Teenagers and Drugs
The start of college is a new and different experience for all teenagers. They must learn to
adapt to their new surroundings and make new friends, as well as to try to fit in. However,
many teens feel that they need to drink, smoke and take drugs to be considered cool. In a
recently conducted survey on the abuse of alcohol, nicotine, and other harmful drugs, the
response of the fourteen teenagers towards the drugs was studied.. Their ages ranged from
eighteen to twenty. Using that information it was found how they truly feel on the issues
stated above. In today's society, the peer pressure to drink, smoke or use drugs to fit in is all
around our youth.
When polled, these teenagers said that they drink one to two times per week because they
enjoy it. They feel that it is also a chance to have fun and hang out with their friends.
However, teens say they also do it out of boredom. Often, teens are anxious to find an
alternative way to have fun and to escape from the 'boringness' of movies and television. For
this reason they jump at the chance to gather in a large group to socialise. This event is
otherwise known as a party. They are willing to pay for a cup of beer, even if they know that
drinking under the age of twenty-one is illegal. When there is nothing else to do or nowhere
else to go, teenagers will find something to take away their boredom, even though their
actions could jeopardise their future and even their lives.
Drinking alcohol comes with many responsibilities. Twelve out of fourteen teens believe that
there is a thing such as being responsible while drinking. These teens define 'responsible
drinking' as 'having control of your actions'. In other words, teens drink as long as they know
what they are doing. However, are they truly aware of everything that is happening around
them? While drinking teenagers are often put into situations where they act irresponsible.
Three out of the fourteen teenagers admitted to having driven while under the influence of
alcohol. When teens get into the car, they often do not think about the consequences if
something did happen. There is always that one thought in the back of everyone's mind in this
type of situation. They say, "Nothing bad is going to happen. That could never happen to
me". Sadly, when something does happen, most of the time the drunk driver is never the one
to be injured. It is always the innocent passengers and even more tragically, the victims can
be in an entirely different car.
Smoking is another large issue within the college community. Many teenagers who smoke
have been smoking for a few years and started smoking at an early age. One teen said he
began smoking at the age of thirteen. When asked if he thought the age he began smoking
was an appropriate age to start smoking, his response was, "No, I wish I never started, but I
do not think any age is an appropriate age to begin smoking." However, smoking is the teen’s
decision. Even though most people do not agree with teens smoking, a good percentage of
adults smoke cigarettes. Therefore, the influence in smoke is constantly around teens and
young children. They pick up this bad habit and it is all downhill from there. Cigarettes are
extremely addictive.
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On the other hand, some teens also like to smoke socially. This usually occurs at parties or
just when they feel like hanging around outside of their 'dorms'. However, eight out of
fourteen teenagers state that they do not smoke and do not plan on starting now. They all
agreed that they would rather smoke socially than be addicted to smoking cigarettes on a
daily basis.
Drug usage is the third huge area of abuse among students in college. The majority of these
teens have tried the most common gateway drug, marijuana. Many of these teenagers said
they have also tried mushrooms, ecstasy, and speed. They all agreed that heroin is the most
dangerous drug and they would never think about trying it. On the other hand, three out of the
fourteen teenagers claimed that they have never tried a drug and have no desire to.
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INDIA’S URBAN SCENARIO
Contrary to popular concepts of a predominantly rural India, an increasingly larger

percentage of Indian population today lives in the urban areas. India's urban population is
now second largest in the world after China, and is higher than the total urban population of
all countries put together barring China, USA and Russia. Over the last fifty years, while the
country's population has grown by 2.5 times, in the urban areas it has grown by five times.
In 1947, only 60 million people (15 per cent of the total population at that time) lived in
urban areas. India’s urban population grew from the 290 million reported in the 2001 Census
to an estimated 340 million in 2008 (30 percent of the total population) and it could soar to
590 million plus (40 percent of the population) by 2030. This urban expansion will happen at
a speed quite unlike anything India has seen before. The steep growth in number of people
living is partly due to the skewed development that has led to proliferation of commercial
activities, and greater job opportunities in towns and cities. Facilities like health and
education, and infrastructure like roadways, telecommunication, airports, railways and ports
are also many times better in urban areas.
In spite of its prominent role in Indian economy, urban India faces serious problems due to
population pressure, deterioration in the physical environment and quality of life. According
to estimates, nearly one third of the urban India lives below poverty line. About 15 percent of
the urbanites do not have access to safe drinking water and about 50 percent are not covered
by sanitary facilities.
Traffic congestion has assumed critical dimensions in many metropolitan cities due to
massive increase in the number of personal vehicles, inadequate road space and lack of public
transport. There is a huge and widening gap between demand and supply of essential services
and infrastructure. Urban poor in India are forced to live under unhygienic conditions in
slums, lacking in basic amenities. Slums have grown in almost all major cities due to inability
of major chunks of population to afford accommodation in planned areas of the cities.
The five fold explosive growth in urban India has resulted in serious infrastructure
constraints. Water, transport, housing, electricity, health and sanitation are some of the areas
of concern. Infrastructure to meet these requirements calls for huge investments.
The Central Public Health Engineering (CPHEEO) has estimated the requirement of funds for
100 percent coverage of the urban population under safe water supply and sanitation services
by the year 2021 at Rs 172,905 crores. Estimates by Rail India Technical and Economic
Services (RITES) indicate that the amount required for urban transport infrastructure
investment in cities with population 100,000 or more during the next 20 years would be of
the order of Rs. 207,000 crore.
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The speed of urbanization poses an unprecedented managerial and policy challenge, says the
McKinsey Global Institute (MGI) report. Unfortunately, India has not even started to engage
in a national discussion on how to effectively handle the seismic shift in the demographic
make-up of the country.
Unlike many countries that are grappling with aging population, India has a young and
rapidly growing population—a potential demographic dividend. But, India needs thriving
cities if that dividend is to pay out. New research by the MGI estimates that cities could
generate 70 percent of new jobs created in 2030, produce more than 70 percent of Indian
GDP, and drive a near four-fold increase in per capita incomes across the nation.
It is estimated that in terms of both population and GDP many Indian cities will become
larger than many countries today. The GDP of Mumbai Metropolitan Region is projected to
reach $265 billion by 2030, larger that the GDP of countries like Portugal, Colombia and
Malaysia.
Besides, as India’s cities will expand, the economic make-up will also change. In 1995,
India’s GDP split almost evenly between its urban and rural economies. In 2008, urban GDP
accounted for 58 percent of overall GDP. By 2030, as per the MGI report, urban India will
generate nearly 70 percent of country’s GDP.
Cities offer the promise of a higher quality of life for a large number of Indians. They are also
vital for funding the development because they generate 80-85 percent of tax revenue. As per
the MGI report, cities benefit beyond their own boundaries. Rural populations adjoining
urban centres have been found to have an estimated 10 to 20 percent higher monthly incomes
than the rural average.
Lack of vision among the political class and administrators is leading the Indian cities
towards decay and gridlock. The MGI report believes that the “lack of serious policies to
manage urbanization could jeopardize even the GDP growth rate (as projected by economic
planners).”
Urban India is today failing many of its citizens. Across all major quality-of-life indicators,
cities of India fall much short of delivering even a basic standard of living to the residents. As
per the MGI report, if India continues to invest in urban infrastructure at its current rate—
very low by international standards—in 20 years’ time the urban infrastructure will fall
woefully short of what is necessary to sustain prosperous cities.
Life of the city dweller would become a lot tougher. Water shortage will result in a large
section of the population having no access to potable water. More than 70 percent of the
sewage will remain untreated, causing serious health problems. Increasing number of private
vehicles and shortcomings in the public transportation infrastructure would create urban
gridlock—similar to the acute congestion that cripples some Latin American cities.
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In per capita terms, India’s annual capital spending on urban infrastructure and services of
$17 is only 14 percent of China’s $116 and 4 percent of UK’s $391. The MGI report
estimates that India needs to invest $1.2 trillion (Rs 53.1 trillion) just on capital expenditure
in its cities over the next 20 years, equivalent to $134 per capita per year. That is almost eight
times the current level of spending.
International experience has shown that cities can be turned around in about ten years or even
less. UK, China and South Africa have done it. As per the MGI report, the planners have to
work on five dimensions for effective result: funding, governance, planning, sectoral policies
and shape.
Funding: The MGI report suggests four sources of funding that India should tap into—
monetizing land assets, collecting higher property taxes and user charges that reflect costs,
debt and public-private partnerships, and formula-based government funding.
Governance: India’s large cities are still governed by bureaucrats who can be transferred out
of office at a short notice. This is in sharp contrast to large cities world-wide where the
mayors have been empowered with long tenures and clear accountability. According to the
MGI report, fully formed metropolitan authorities with clearly defined roles are absolutely
essential for the successful management of large cities.
Planning: India’s urban planning is in very poor state. There are urban plans but they are not
practical, are rarely followed and are riddled with exemptions. As per the MGI report, central
to planning in any city is the optimal allocation of space, especially land use and Floor Area
Ratio (FAR) planning. These plans need to be detailed, comprehensive and enforceable, and
exemptions should be rare.
Sectoral policies: All good cities have policies in critical areas like job creation, affordable
housing for low-income groups, public transportation and climate-change mitigation. As per
the MGI report, India has largely failed to embrace the need for dedicated policy attention
within cities. In the absence of policy to meet the housing needs of low-income group, Indian
cities will continue to be effected by the slum menace.
Shape: India has to aim for a distributed model of urbanization to ensure its federal structure
as also to ensure that migration flows are not unbalanced towards a particular city or cities.
MGI report concludes that India should build at least 25 new satellite cities near today’s Tier
1 and 2 cities to accommodate populations in each of up to one million people. Such an
effort, despite being more expensive than renewing existing cities, will act as a benchmark
and a model for well-planned, environmentally sustainable world-class cities, while helping
ease of the strains of rapid urbanization.
Integrated townships
Typically, an integrated township has the following key characteristics and elements:
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Social infrastructure:
School: A quality school with education up to at least 10thstandard is set up within the
township, reducing the travelling time between home and school and in turn providing the
children with more time for play and studies.
Medicare: A good healthcare facility with at least 50-plus beds and an emergency care is set
up within the township, thereby facilitating residents.
Recreation: Adequate space for basic sports such as football, cricket, tennis and badminton,
fitness facilities including a gymnasium and swimming pools are set up within the township
to enhance social lifestyle.
Community centre: A spacious, well-decorated community centre with a club house and a
function hall is set up within the township.
Infrastructure and services:

Road network: A well-planned road network both within the township and connecting to the
nearest highway or main road is built, thereby easing communication.
Water supply and management: A well-planned and sustainable water management system
is built within the township, providing round the clock water supply to residents as well as
treating the waste water generated within the township and recycling it. This also reduces
dependence on municipal water supply.
Electricity supply and management: Although an integrated township depends on a public or
private utility supplier for basic power supply, it has adequate, if not abundant, back-up
power for both homes and common areas during temporary or scheduled power cuts or
disruptions by the utility supplier.
Communication infrastructure: Good quality telecom services are also made available
within the township and nearby.
Estate management:
Garbage and waste management: Good garbage collection, aggregation, treatment and
disposal system is a must for a healthier and eco-friendly township.
Infrastructure maintenance: Proper and regular maintenance of roads, pathways, parks,
electrical and plumbing infrastructure, children play areas and common areas including
community centre is essential for a well-developed integrated township.
Security: Superior estate security and safety for all residents is a critical element of an
integrated township.
Shopping and entertainment:

Entertainment: Quality cinema or multiplex, popular games and kid entertainment facilities
should be established within the township.
Shopping: Well-stocked grocery stores as well as shopping centres including branded
garment stores, electronic goods should be established within the township.
Food courts: Good quality and hygienic food courts with ample menu options should be
established within the townships to cater to the taste buds of all types of residents.
Proximity to workplace:
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While the intent of an integrated township is always to have the workplace and the residential
dwelling in close proximity, in the current context of double-income families, it is practically
impossible to achieve this objective fully. However, it can establish adequate, well-equipped
office space infrastructure and offer lower rentals to attract companies, banks and corporate
houses and create ample opportunities for residents. Apart from this, to smoothen
communication between the township and the workplace for rest of the residents, the location
of the township should be such that it is easily accessible from various parts of the city.
Constitution (Seventy-Fourth Amendment) Act 1992

This is a revolutionary piece of legislation by which Constitution of India was amended to
incorporate a separate Chapter on urban local bodies, which seeks to redefine their role,
power, function and finances. The salient features of this Act are:
Urban local bodies, to be known as Municipal Corporations, Municipal Councils and Nagar
Panchayat depending on the population shall be constituted through universal adult franchise
in each notified urban area of the country.
These shall be constituted for a period of five years and if dissolved earlier, an election to
reconstitute it shall be completed before the expiration of a period of six months from the
date of its dissolution.
Not less than one-third of total number of seats in each urban local body shall be reserved for
women.
The Legislature of a State may by law entrust on these bodies such power and authority as
may be necessary to enable them to function as institution of local self government, including
those listed in the Twelfth Schedule.
The Twelfth Schedule of the Constitution— has listed the following functions of the urban
local bodies:
—Urban Planning including town planning.
—Regulation of land-use and construction of buildings.
—Planning for economic and social development.
—Roads and bridges.
—Water supply for domestic, industrial and commercial purposes.
—Public health, sanitation, conservancy and solid waste management.
—Fire services.
—Urban forestry, protection of the environment and promotion of ecological aspects.
—Safeguarding the interests of weaker sections of society, including the handicapped and
mentally retarded.
—Slum improvement and up-gradation.
—Urban poverty alleviation.
—Provision of Urban amenities and facilities such as parks, gardens, playgrounds.
—Promotion of cultural, educational and aesthetic aspects.
—Burials and burial grounds; cremations, cremation grounds and electric crematoriums.
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—Cattle pounds; prevention of cruelty to animals.
—Vital statistics including registration of births and deaths.
—Public amenities including street lighting, parking lots, bus stops and public conveniences.
—Regulation of slaughter houses and tanneries.
In order that the urban local bodies can perform the functions assigned to them, the
Legislature of a State shall assign them specific taxes, duties, tolls and levies and authorise
them to impose, collect and appropriate the same.
Each State shall also constitute a Finance Commission which shall review the financial
position of the urban local bodies and recommend the principles which should govern the
devolution of resources, including grant-in-aid from the Consolidated Fund of the State of
these bodies.
The superintendence, direction and control of the preparation of electoral rolls for, and the
conduct of, all elections to the urban local bodies shall vest in the State Election
Commission.
In each district a District Planning Committee shall be constituted to consolidate the plan
prepared by the urban and rural local bodies.
Similarly for each metropolitan area a Metropolitan Planning Committee shall be constituted
to prepare a development plan for the metropolitan area a whole.
Constitution (74th Amendment) Act 1992 has made the urban local bodies into vibrant self
governing institutions. This has ushered in a new era of urban governance and urban
management in India.
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HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT 2010: A
SYNOPSIS
The 2010 HDR Report by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), titled “The
Real Wealth of Nations: Pathways to Human Development” celebrates the contributions of
the human development approach, which is as relevant as ever to making sense of our
changing world and finding ways to improve people’s well-being. The Report is also about
how the human development approach can adjust to meet the challenges of the new
millennium.
India is ranked 119 out of 169 countries on the Human Development Index (HDI) of the
UNDP’s 2010 Human Development Report. This marks an improvement of just one rank
between 2005 and 2010 though the report, a special 20th anniversary edition, places India
among top 10 performers globally in terms of HDI measured on income growth. The
category is led by China. India comes 10th after Botswana, South Korea, Hong Kong,
Malaysia and Mauritius.
China has improved eight notches (from 2005 to 2010) to secure the 89th position. In South
Asia, Nepal has gained five places to reach the 138th rank. Maldives has risen four places to
107; Sri Lanka at 91 too has pipped India in the rankings though Pakistan has lost two ranks
to fall to 125, while Bangladesh is up one at 129.
Though high on GDP growth, India reports severe inequalities (the report for the first time
measures inequalities, gender gaps and multidimensional poverty as markers of human
development) while several low-income nations have posted huge profits by investing in
education and health. Nepal is the only South Asian country, which despite low income,
stands as the third best performer in the top 10 movers the report highlights.
While the Congress-led UPA Government can take heart from the fact that India’s HDI value
has increased from 0.320 in 1980 to 0.519 in 2010, higher than South Asia’s average of
0.516, India still lags behind among medium HD nations. South Asia, particularly India, post
shocking percentage losses in HDI values if inequalities are counted.
South Asia loses 33 per cent of its HDI value if health, education and income disparities are
factored in. This is the second largest loss after sub-Saharan Africa’s. India fares particularly
poorly here, losing 30 per cent overall on the inequality-adjusted HDI. This loss includes 31.3
per cent loss on inequality-adjusted life expectancy index; 40.6 per cent loss on education but
only 14.6 per cent loss in income-adjusted HDI index.
The best HDI ranker in the world, Norway, loses just 6.6 per cent to inequality while China
loses 23 per cent and Bangladesh 29.4 per cent.
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On all major markers of human development, India’s neighbours Bangladesh and Pakistan
beat it. India’s life expectancy at birth is among the lowest, 64.4 years as against China’s
73.5; Bangladesh’s 66.9, Pakistan’s 67.2 and Nepal’s 67.5. In mean years of schooling too,
India lags behind recording 4.4 years while China has 7.5; Pakistan 4.9 and Bangladesh 4.8.
On female labour force participation too, Bangladesh with 61 per cent is much ahead of
India, which has just 31 per cent.
The 2010 report uses several new methodologies; hence its indicators are not comparable to
those in the earlier reports.
Human development is about sustaining positive outcomes steadily over time and combating
processes that impoverish people or underpin oppression and structural injustice. Plural
principles such as equity, sustainability and respect for human rights are the key.
Human development is also the expansion of people’s freedoms to live long, healthy and
creative lives; to advance other goals they have reason to value; and to engage actively in
shaping development equitably and sustainably on a shared planet. People are both the
beneficiaries and the drivers of human development, as individuals and in groups. This
reaffirmation underlines the core of human development—its themes of sustainability, equity
and empowerment and its inherent flexibility. Because gains might be fragile and vulnerable
to reversal and because future generations must be treated justly, special efforts are needed to
ensure that human development endures—that it is sustainable.
A major contribution of 2010 HDR is the systematic assessment of trends in key components
of human development over the past 40 years. This retrospective assessment, an important
objective for the 20th anniversary, is the most comprehensive analysis of the HDR to date
and yields important new insights.
In some basic respects the world is a much better place today than it was in 1990—or in
1970. Over the past 20 years many people around the world have experienced dramatic
improvements in key aspects of their lives. Overall, they are healthier, more educated and
wealthier and have more power to appoint and hold their leaders accountable than ever
before.
The world’s average HDI has increased 18 percent since 1990 (and 41 percent since 1970),
reflecting large aggregate improvements in life expectancy, school enrolment, literacy and
income. But there has also been considerable variability in experience and much volatility,
themes to which we return below.
Almost all countries have benefited from this progress. Of 135 countries in our sample for
1970–2010, with 92 percent of the world’s people, only 3—the Democratic Republic of the
Congo, Zambia and Zimbabwe—have a lower HDI today than in 1970.
Overall, poor countries are catching up with rich countries in the HDI. This convergence
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paints a far more optimistic picture than a perspective limited to trends in income, where
divergence has continued. But not all countries have seen rapid progress, and the variations
are striking. Those experiencing the slowest progress are countries in Sub-Saharan Africa,
struck by the HIV epidemic, and countries in the former Soviet Union, suffering increased
adult mortality.
The top HDI movers (countries that have made the greatest progress in improving the HDI)
include well known income “growth miracles” such as China, Indonesia and South Korea.
But they include others—such as Nepal, Oman and Tunisia—where progress in the non-
income dimensions of human development has been equally remarkable. It is striking that the
top 10 list contains several countries not typically described as top performers. And Ethiopia
comes in 11th, with three other Sub-Saharan African countries (Botswana, Beninand Burkina
Faso) in the top 25.
Not all countries have progressed rapidly, and the variation is striking. Over the past 40 years
a quarter of developing countries saw their HDI increase less than 20 percent, another
quarter, more than 65 percent. These differences partly reflect different starting points—less
developed countries have on average faster progress in health and education than more
developed ones do. But half the variation in HDI performance is unexplained by initial HDI,
and countries with similar starting points experience remarkably different evolutions,
suggesting that country factors such as policies, institutions and geography are important.
Health advances have been large but are slowing. The slowdown in aggregate progress is due
largely to dramatic reversals in 19 countries. In nine of them—six in Sub-Saharan Africa and
three in the former Soviet Union—life expectancy has fallen below 1970 levels. The causes
of these declines are the HIV epidemic and increased adult mortality in transition countries.
Progress in education has been substantial and widespread, reflecting not only improvements
in the quantity of schooling but also in the equity of access to education for girls and boys. To
a large extent this progress reflects greater State involvement, which is often characterized
more by getting children into school than by imparting a high-quality education.
Progress in income varies much more. However, despite aggregate progress, there is no
convergence in income—in contrast to health and education—because on average rich
countries have grown faster than poor ones over the past 40 years. The divide between
developed and developing countries persists: a small subset of countries has remained at the
top of the world income distribution, and only a handful of countries that started out poor
have joined that high-income group.
Understanding the Patterns and Drivers of Human Development

One of the most surprising results of human development research in recent years is the lack
of a significant correlation between economic growth and improvements in health and
education. Research shows that this relationship is particularly weak at low and medium
levels of the HDI. This is traceable to changes in how people become healthier and more
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educated. The correlation in levels today, which contrasts with the absence of correlation in
changes over time, is a snapshot that reflects historical patterns, as countries that became rich
were the only ones able to pay for costly advances in health and education. But technological
improvements and changes in societal structures allow even poorer countries today to realize
significant gains.
The unprecedented flows of ideas across countries in recent times—ranging from health-
saving technologies to political ideals and to productive practices—have been transformative.
Many innovations have allowed countries to improve health and education at very low cost—
which explains why the association between the income and non-income dimensions of
human development has weakened over time.
Income and growth remain vital. Income growth can indicate that opportunities for decent
work are expanding—though this is not always so—and economic contractions and
associated job losses are bad news for people around the world. Income is also the source of
the taxes and other revenues that governments need in order to provide services and
undertake redistributive programs. Thus, increasing income on a broad basis remains an
important policy priority.
One important aspect is how relationships between markets and States are organized.
Governments have addressed, in a range of ways, the tension between the need for markets to
generate income and dynamism and the need to deal with market failures. Markets may be
necessary for sustained economic dynamism, but they do not automatically bring progress in
other dimensions of human development. Development that overly favours rapid economic
growth is rarely sustainable. In other words, a market economy is necessary, but not enough.
Regulation, however, requires a capable State as well as political commitment, and State
capability is often in short supply. Some developing country governments have tried to mimic
the actions of a modern developed State without having the resources or the capacity to do so.
For example, import substitution regimes in many Latin American countries floundered when
countries tried to develop a targeted industrial policy. In contrast, an important lesson of the
East Asian successes was that a capable, focused State can help drive development and the
growth of markets. What is possible and appropriate is context specific.
Beyond the State, civil society actors have demonstrated the potential to curb the excesses of
both the market and the State, though governments seeking to control dissent can restrict civil
society activity.
The dynamics can be virtuous when countries transition to both inclusive market institutions
and inclusive political institutions. But this is difficult and rare. Oligarchic capitalism tends to
spell its own demise, either because it stifles the productive engines of innovation—as in the
failed import substitution regimes of Latin America and the Caribbean—or because material
progress increases people’s aspirations and challenges the narrow elite’s grip on power, as in
Brazil, Indonesia and South Korea since the 1990s.
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Human development is not only about health, education and income. Even when countries
progress in the HDI, they do not necessarily excel in the broader dimensions. It is possible to
have a high HDI and be unsustainable, undemocratic and unequal just as it is possible to have
a low HDI and be relatively sustainable, democratic and equal. These patterns pose important
challenges for how we think about human development, its measurement and the policies to
improve outcomes and processes over time.
Trends conducive to empowerment include the vast increases in literacy and educational
attainment in many parts of the world that have strengthened people’s ability to make
informed choices and hold governments accountable. The scope for empowerment and its
expression have broadened, through both technology and institutions. In particular, the
proliferation of mobile telephony and satellite television and increased access to the Internet
has vastly increased the availability of information and the ability to voice opinions.
The share of formal democracies has increased from less than a third of countries in 1970 to
half in the mid-1990s and to three-fifths in 2008. Many hybrid forms of political organization
have emerged. While real change and healthy political functioning have varied, and many
formal democracies are flawed and fragile, policy-making is much better informed by the
views and concerns of citizens. Local democratic processes are deepening. Political struggles
have led to substantial change in many countries, greatly expanding the representation of
traditionally marginalized people, including women, the poor, indigenous groups, refugees
and sexual minorities.
Recent years have also exposed the fragility of some of the achievement—perhaps best
illustrated by the biggest financial crisis in several decades, which caused 34 million people
to lose their jobs and 64 million more people to fall below the $1.25 a day income poverty
threshold. The risk of a “double-dip” recession remains, and a full recovery could take years.
But perhaps the greatest challenge to maintaining progress in human development comes
from the un-sustainability of production and consumption patterns. For human development
to become truly sustainable, the close link between economic growth and greenhouse gas
emissions needs to be severed. Some developed countries have begun to alleviate the worst
effects through recycling and investment in public transport and infrastructure. But most
developing countries are hampered by the high costs and low availability of clean energy.
New measures for an evolving reality

Over the years the HDR has introduced new measures to evaluate progress in reducing
poverty and empowering women. But lack of reliable data has been a major constraint. This
year HDR has introduced three new indices to capture important aspects of the distribution of
well-being for inequality, gender equity and poverty. They reflect advances in methods and
better data availability.
Adjusting the Human Development Index for inequality. Reflecting inequality in each
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dimension of the HDI addresses an objective first stated in the 1990 HDR. 2010 report
introduces the Inequality-adjusted HDI (IHDI), a measure of the level of human development
of people in a society that accounts for inequality. Under perfect equality the HDI and the
IHDI are equal. When there is inequality in the distribution of health, education and income,
the HDI of an average person in a society is less than the aggregate HDI; the lower the IHDI
(and the greater the difference between it and the HDI), the greater the inequality.
A new measure of gender inequality. The disadvantages facing women and girls are a major
source of inequality. All too often, women and girls are discriminated against in health,
education and the labour market—with negative repercussions for their freedoms. A new
measure of these inequalities, built on the same framework as the HDI and the IHDI—to
better expose differences in the distribution of achievements between women and men—has
been introduced. The Gender Inequality Index shows that gender inequality varies
tremendously across countries—the losses in achievement due to gender inequality (not
directly comparable to total inequality losses because different variables are used) range from
17 percent to 85 percent. The Netherlands tops the list of the most gender-equal countries,
followed by Denmark, Sweden and Switzerland.
Countries with unequal distribution of human development also experience high inequality
between women and men, and countries with high gender inequality also experience unequal
distribution of human development. Among the countries doing very badly on both fronts are
Central African Republic, Haiti and Mozambique.
A multidimensional measure of poverty. Like development, poverty is multidimensional—

but this is traditionally ignored by headline figures. 2010 report introduces the Multi-
dimensional Poverty Index (MPI), which complements money-based measures by
considering multiple deprivations and their overlap. The index identifies deprivations across
the same three dimensions as the HDI and shows the number of people who are poor
(suffering a given number of deprivations) and the number of deprivations with which poor
households typically contend. It can be de-constructed by region, ethnicity and other
groupings as well as by dimension, making it an apt tool for policy-makers.
About 1.75 billion people in the 104 countries covered by the MPI—a third of their
population—live in multidimensional poverty—that is, with at least 30 percent of the
indicators reflecting acute deprivation in health, education and standard of living. This
exceeds the estimated 1.44 billion people in those countries who live on $1.25 a day or less
(though it is below the share who live on $2 or less). The patterns of deprivation also differ
from those of income poverty in important ways: in many countries—including Ethiopia and
Guatemala— the number of people who are multi-dimensionally poor is higher. However, in
about a fourth of the countries for which both estimates are available—including China,
Tanzania and Uzbekistan—rates of income poverty are higher.
Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest incidence of multi-dimensional poverty. The level ranges
from a low of 3 percent in South Africa to a massive 93 percent in Niger; the average share of
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deprivations ranges from about 45 percent (in Gabon, Lesotho and Swaziland) to 69 percent
(in Niger). Yet half the world’s multi-dimensionally poor live in South Asia (844 million
people), and more than a quarter live in Africa (458 million).
The impacts of the HDR have illustrated that policy thinking can be informed and stimulated
by deeper exploration into key dimensions of human development. An important element of
this tradition is a rich agenda of research and analysis. This Report suggests ways to move
this agenda forward through better data and trend analysis. But much is left to do.
Three priorities are: improving data and analysis to inform debates, providing an alternative
to conventional approaches to studying development, and increasing our understanding of
inequality, empowerment, vulnerability and sustainability.
The economics of growth and its relationship with development, in particular, require radical
rethinking. A vast theoretical and empirical literature almost uniformly equates economic
growth with development. Its models typically assume that people care only about
consumption; its empirical applications concentrate almost exclusively on the effect of
policies and institutions on economic growth.
The central contention of the human development approach, by contrast, is that well-being is
about much more than money: it is about the possibilities that people have to fulfil the life
plans they have reason to choose and pursue. Thus, our call for a new economics—an
economics of human development—in which the objective is to further human well-being
and in which growth and other policies are evaluated and pursued vigorously insofar as they
advance human development in the short and long term.
Indigenous Peoples and Inequality in Human Development

An estimated 300 million indigenous peoples from more than 5,000 groups live in more than
70 countries. Some two-thirds reside in China.1 Indigenous peoples often face structural
disadvantages and have worse human development outcomes in key respects. For example,
recent Mexican government analyses show that while extreme multidimensional poverty is
10.5 percent nationally, it exceeds 39 percent among indigenous Mexicans.
When the Human Development Index (HDI) is calculated for aboriginal and non-aboriginal
people in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States, there is a consistent gap of
6–18 percent. Indigenous peoples in these countries have lower life expectancy, poorer
education outcomes and smaller incomes. In India 92 percent of people of Scheduled Tribes
live in rural areas, 47 percent of them in poverty. In Chhattisgarh, with a sizeable share of
Scheduled Tribes, the State-wide literacy rate is 64 percent—but that of tribal peoples is only
22 percent.
Some evidence suggests that a schooling gap between indigenous and non-indigenous
peoples remains. In China, India and Lao PDR geography, climate and discrimination based
on ethnicity make it difficult to deliver basic infrastructure to remote areas, where many
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indigenous peoples and ethnic minorities live.
Work in Latin America and the Caribbean exploring access to land and this aspect of
discrimination shows that a focus on broad-based economic growth can benefit indigenous
peoples but is unlikely to be enough to close the gap. More targeted strategies are needed, as
proposed by indigenous peoples and as informed by their views and priorities.
Three Success Stories in Advancing the Human Development Index

Some countries have succeeded in achieving high human development following different
pathways.
Nepal—major public policy push. That Nepal is one of the fastest movers in the Human
Development Index (HDI) since 1970 is perhaps surprising in light of the country’s difficult
circumstances and record of conflict. Nepal’s impressive progress in health and education can
be traced to major public policy efforts. Free primary education for all children was legislated
in 1971 and extended to secondary education in 2007. Gross enrolment rates soared, as did
literacy later on. Remarkable reductions in infant mortality reflect more general successes in
health following the extension of primary healthcare through community participation, local
mobilization of resources and decentralization. The gap between Nepal’s life expectancy and
the world average has narrowed by 87 percent over the past 40 years. By contrast, economic
growth was modest, and the lack of jobs led many Nepalese to seek opportunities abroad.
Nepal is still a poor country, with enormous scope to improve human development. It ranks
138th of 169 countries in the HDI. Large disparities in school attendance and the quality of
education persist, particularly between urban and rural areas and across ethnic groups. Major
health challenges remain, related to communicable diseases and malnutrition.
Oman—converting oil to health and education. Oman has had the fastest progress in the
HDI. Abundant oil and gas were discovered in the late 1960s, so our data capture the
evolution from a very poor to a very rich country, showing a quadrupling of gross enrolment
and literacy rates and a 27-year increase in life expectancy.
But even in Oman economic growth is not the whole story. Although first in HDI progress, it
ranks 26th in economic growth since 1970, when it had three primary schools and one
vocational institute. Its initiatives to convert oil wealth into education included expanding
access and adopting policies to match skills to labour market needs. Health services also
improved: from 1970 to 2000 government spending on health rose almost six-fold—much
faster than GDP.
Tunisia—education a policy focus. Tunisia’s success extends to all three dimensions of the
HDI, with education a major policy focus. School enrolment has risen substantially,
particularly after the country legislated 10 years of compulsory education in 1991. There has
also been some progress in gender equity: about 6 of 10 university students are women. But
large inequalities persist, as Tunisia’s modest (56th of 138 countries) ranking on our new
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Gender Inequality Index demonstrates.
Rapid decline in fertility and high vaccination rates for measles and tuberculosis have yielded
successes in health, as has eradication of polio, cholera, diphtheria and malaria. Annual per
capita income growth has been around 3 percent over the past 40 years, linked to fiscal and
monetary prudence and investment in transport and communication infrastructure.
India’s National Rural Employment Guarantee Act

India’s National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) of 2005, the world’s largest
public works programme ever, provides basic social security for rural workers: a universal
and legally enforceable right to 100 days of employment per rural household on local public
works at minimum wage. Labourers who are not given work within 15 days of asking for it
are entitled to unemployment benefits.
The act has other noteworthy features:
• Encouraging women’s participation. A third of employment generated is to be set

aside for women and provided within 5 kilometres of their village; child care facilities
(if required) must be provided at the work-site.
• Decentralizing planning and implementation. At least half of allocated funds are to be

spent by elected local councils; village assemblies are to select and prioritize projects.
• Creating rural assets. People are to be employed to create public assets (such as roads
and check-dams) as well as assets on private lands (such as land improvement and
wells).
• Imposing strict norms for transparency and accountability. All documents are to be
publicly available, with proactive disclosure of essential documents (such as
attendance records), and periodic audits are to be carried out by village
representatives. In fiscal year 2009/2010 India spent almost $10 billion
(approximately 1 percent of GDP) on the programme, and 53 million households
participated.
On average, each participating household worked for 54 days. Disadvantaged groups joined
in large numbers; a majority of workers were members of Scheduled Castes or Scheduled
Tribes, and more than half were women.
Payments of minimum wages and improved work conditions at NREGA work-sites have
created pressure for similar improvements in the private labour market, benefiting all rural
workers. Distress migration to urban areas has slowed. And for many rural women
programme earnings are an important source of economic independence. As Haski, a tribal
woman from Rajasthan, said when asked who decided how programme wages should be
spent: “Main ghar ki mukhiya hoon” (I am the head of the household).
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Refining the Human Development Index
The Human Development Index (HDI) remains an aggregate measure of progress in three
dimensions—health, education and income. But in 2010 report the indicators used to measure
progress in education and income have been modified, and the way they are aggregated has
been changed.
In the knowledge dimension mean years of schooling replaces literacy, and gross enrolment
is recast as expected years of schooling—the years of schooling that a child can expect to
receive given current enrolment rates. Mean years of schooling is estimated more frequently
for more countries and can discriminate better among countries, while expected years of
schooling is consistent with the reframing of this dimension in terms of years. Ideally,
measures of the knowledge dimension would go beyond estimating quantity to assessing
quality, as several National and Regional Human Development Reports (HDRs) have done.
To measure the standard of living, gross national income (GNI) per capita replaces gross
domestic product (GDP) per capita. In a globalized world differences are often large between
the income of a country’s residents and its domestic production. Some of the income
residents earn is sent abroad, some residents receive international remittances and some
countries receive sizeable aid flows. For example, because of large remittances from abroad,
GNI in the Philippines greatly exceeds GDP, and because of international aid, Timor-Leste’s
GNI is many times domestic output.
A key change was to shift to a geometric mean (which measures the typical value of a set of
numbers): thus in 2010 the HDI is the geometric mean of the three dimension indices. Poor
performance in any dimension is now directly reflected in the HDI, and there is no longer
perfect substitutability across dimensions. This method captures how well rounded a
country’s performance is across the three dimensions. As a basis for comparisons of
achievement, this method is also more respectful of the intrinsic differences in the dimensions
than a simple average is. It recognizes that health, education and income are all important, but
also that it is hard to compare these different dimensions of well-being and that we should not
let changes in any of them go unnoticed.
Income is instrumental to human development but higher incomes have a declining

contribution to human development. And the maximum values in each dimension have been
shifted to the observed maximum, rather than a predefined cut-off beyond which
achievements are ignored.
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Should Cloning be legalized?
Cloning humans has recently become a possibility that seems much more feasible today than
it was twenty years ago. Cloning is a method that involves the production of a group of cells
or organisms that all derive from a single individual. It is not known when or how cloning
humans really became a possibility, but it is known that there are two possible ways that we
can clone humans. The first way involves splitting an embryo into several halves and creating
many new individuals from the embryo. The second method of cloning, a human involves
taking cells from an already existing human being and cloning them, in turn, creating other
individuals that are identical to that particular person. Keeping these two methods in mind,
two very important questions arise on the technological and ethical sides of this issue.
First a sheep was cloned, now it could to be a human being! Sheep embryos have some
characteristics that make cloning them much easier than cloning human embryos. Even with
these better odds, over 270 attempts were needed before Dolly (the only survival of the
cloned sheep) was born in Scotland in 1996. Many foetal lambs that were carried to the term
were born with health problems, including malformed kidneys, and all but Dolly
subsequently died prematurely.
There have been many controversies related to cloning, but the overall possibility of cloning
humans is one that we should accept as a possible reality for the future. Arguments have risen
both for and against the cloning of humans.
The creation of Dolly opened up remarkable prospects for repairing tissues and organs,
because cloning proved that an adult cell that has been specialised to do a particular job-say,
to be liver or blood unit-can "unlearn" its role and be reprogrammed to do something
different. For example, in the future cloning might allow a cancer patient whose bone marrow
has been wiped out by radiation to be treated with bone marrow grown from another cell of
his own body, this process is not possible right now.
In contrast to some of the religious leaders, Muslim philosophers and leaders testified before
the National Bio-ethics Advisory Commission (commission that sets rules and standards for
the subjects relating ethics and religion) they feel that embryo and cloning research might
provide discoveries that would lead to an appropriate way to counter infertility.
The first controversy is whether or not the humans should be cloned?
Cloning might deeply affect the issue of human identity. Would newly-created person
possess his or her own personality? According to theologian Nigel Cameron, "It would be
perhaps the worst thing we have ever thought of in the maltreatment of our species".
Cameron says, it would be a kind of new slave class... you would have human beings who
were made by human beings for their purposes".
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We may not object to a sheep clone that has been genetically modified to produce more wool,
but would a person be comfortable with a human whose genetic material has been changed
according to someone's idea?
Another argument against cloning is that even if it will be accepted by the society in large,
the cost of cloning would be so high that the option will not be available to all. Only the
wealthy people would be able to take advantage of it. This achievement will remain as the
pleasure of the high societies giving them the opportunity of creating clones of their own!
Most common ethical and moral arguments against human cloning seem to originate from
religious prospective. These arguments have just not been made only by the religious
philosophers but also politicians and scientists who sympathise with religion.
Religious philosophies teach us that human life is unique and special. It is and should be
controlled by the almighty—God. Many religions believe in the existence of human soul.
Will it be possible to clone the soul? What, if possible, will this mean? If only a person is
cloned and not its soul, what will this mean? According to an article "What Christians and
Jews believe is that humans are made in the image of God. The greater the degree to which
we take control of the process, the more we seek to thwart the power of God. It's hard to see
cloning as something other than the most dramatic attempt to play God".
Until today, cloning humans has always been art idea thought of as something that could be
found in fiction novel and movies, but never as a reality that society could actually
experience.
This fascinating discovery can and should be ultimately used in humans, maybe only to
understand our system better but not to clone people.
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E-Education in India
The information and communications technology witnessed a remarkable growth in the

second half of the past century and in recent years the delivery of education has seen a rapid
transformation on impact of this technology. Higher learning used to be a field reserved for a
few who got access to the high towers. These have been gradually thrown open with
unlimited possibilities and immense potential for imparting uniform and high quality
education for everyone. The teachers as well as the taught have gained access to a wide range
of media-print, radio, television, audio, video, audio/video conferencing and the tools like-
computers, CD-ROMs, e-mail and internet. It expanded the reach of teaching/learning
process to such an extent that education at a distance became not only possible but enriching
too. The University of South Pacific, through its Satellite Tutorials, manages to reach its
learners even on an isolated atoll in the vast expanse of the Pacific Ocean. The Indira Gandhi
National Open University has reached the people in remote districts in India with a great
success. If fact, it has facilitated the transfer of focus from the teacher to the learner and the
institution of instruction to the study room of the learner. Education, being an accepted
resource for social and economic development, has become an easier and simple prospect, is
really a significant development. The revolutionary developments in information technology
has now enabled the practitioners of learning to take the classroom and campus initiatives on
the cyberspace. The teacher-learner interaction, which is essential for effective learning
process, has become possible at a distance through distance education. The capacity to adopt
flexible teaching-learning strategies, providing high quality education and ensuring equity in
educational opportunities, particularly for the benefit of physically challenged, remotely
placed and SC/ST students has become a reality. Enough has happened during a brief history
of Open University system. It seems to be the “wave of the future”. Everyone is expected to
side this wave and benefit from this omnipresent educational system. With the cyber network
expanding throughout the length and breath of country, this dream can be a reality in near
future, to create informed and educated citizens.
With the advent of information technology and the internet the concept of distance has been
significantly modified. A learner anywhere, at any far off place in a distant island in a vast
ocean or a next-door neighbour, can be taught in equal terms through the internet, provided
he has, of course, an access to it. Then there is a range of telecommunications media, like
computer conferencing, audio-graphics, video conferencing which are provided to the
distance educators. Besides, the communication media like computer-based text, interactive
video and CD-ROM can be used in which the learner interacts with textual information.
Media can be synchronous and asynchronous. In an asynchronous medium like computer

conferencing, both learners and tutors get time to think over their respective responses and
prepare messages to be put into their machine at their convenience for the conference. One
can read and re-read messages at one’s convenience, rather than set at a time. Further,
messages go on filing up everyday from various corners and one gets time to read, reflect
upon and respond. The conferencing remains alive through this process, though anyone
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individual member may not have contributed to this for days together. However,
asynchronous communication, especially for distance learning, has at times been boring since
issues take much longer period of discussion to be finally resolved. In synchronous
communication, on the other hand, there is use of voice and vision, and both learners and
teachers need to respond there and then. Those who like to think it over or lack command
over language or do not feel comfortable with spontaneous communication, and would like to
read more references before formulating an opinion, find it hard to cope up with this form of
communication.
As such, the use of telecommunications media in the Distance Education has created a new
world in teaching/learning process. The learner is free to connect himself to the system
anytime through his telephone and computer or from a shared machine and a telephone line at
any workplace. Through distance education, a wide variety of higher level courses,
professional courses and the course on IT are being offered through telecommunications.
Since a great variety of resource materials are available on the net and the discourses and
learning experiences have greatly enriched by the contributions of the learners throughout the
world, the learning has, as such, become much more universal and according to the needs of
latest standards. The handicapped and physically challenged learners have been greatly
benefited by the system as they challenged learners have been greatly benefited by the system
as they can easily respond and interact with their tutors and other students making use of their
own language through their own PCs.
There is, unfortunately, some rigidity, in times of admission and contact due to the usage of
the media within the traditional campuses and it has limited the practice of open learning.
However, there is no doubt, that the use of these technologies has opened enormous vistas of
learning and the delivering quality education. The quality of campus education has also
improved by the use of there technologies. The students on campus use computer
conferencing for greater interaction with tutors and students and for global experiences
through the use of Internet. The concept of isolated studentship, depending on printed texts
and postal communications, in distance education has been removed and these technologies
have increased the level and extent of communication far ahead of those possible in face to
face situation.
In India, we have a 24-hour education channel-Gyan Darshan-as part of the national

repertoire, Gyan Vani-the radio co-operative to remove the remoteness through the use of
communication technologies. The responsibility of running them has been essentially
entrusted to the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), but what is needed, is
more collaboration and networking. The task is to be tackled collectively. There is no reason
to compete but collaborate. There is a consortium of 600 colleges and universities of the
Western Governors Association, in the United States along with move than 100 corporations
offering education and training programmes through collaboration. In the developing
countries like India, there is limited access to internet, compared to the developed countries,
but it is poised for a rapid expansion like the television and radio, in these countries including
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India. Also, those getting education through resources over the internet would soon the more
acceptable to the employers.
We are made to believe that internet-based courses can be efficient and ultimately an
inexpensive way to deliver quality education, and cater to the vast numbers of learners,
anytime, anywhere, without any incongruence.
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Panchayati Raj System in India
The concept of Panchayati Raj is nothing new. It was the dream of Gandhi, the father of the
nation, its need was stressed by Pandit Nehru, and it was repeatedly and forcefully advocated
by Late Shri Jai Prakash Narayan. But, unfortunately, for various reasons, not much headway
could be made for the realization of this ideal. Ever since Late Shri Rajiv Gandhi came to the
helm of affairs in the country he repeatedly stressed the importance of Panchayati Raj. He
formed his views on the subject by under-taking whirlwind tours of rural India to familiarize
himself with the realities of rural life, by holding frequent workshops of District magistrates
all over the country, and thus assessing their views and understanding their difficulties.
As a result of this interaction with the people and the administrators, his views on Panchayati
Raj gradually evolved, his thoughts ware clarified and he could from his own plan of
Panchayati Raj and place it before the parliament with perfect self-confidence and case. He
also sought to give it constitutional sanction by proposing to add a fresh chapter to the Indian
constitution in the form of the 64th amendment, through the Bill which he moved in the
parliament on the 15th of May, 1989. As a result of his clarity of thought and powerful
advocacy, the bill was passed with near unanimity, with only five M.P.’s voting against it.
Late Shri Gandhi forcefully and clearly unfolded the concept of Panchayati Raj, the urgent
need of constitutional sanction for it, and the salient features of his scheme for making it a
reality. He pointed out that Panchayati Raj means taking democracy to the gross roots, it
means transfer of power, in the real sense of the word, to the people living even in remote
villages and bringing even the weakest sections of society into the national mainstream. He
told the honorable members of parliament that, “Democracy was the greatest gift of our
freedom struggle to the people of India. Independence made the nation free. Democracy
made our people free. A free people are a people who are governed by their will and ruled
with their consent. A free people are a people who participate in decisions affecting their
lives and their destinies”. Gandhiji believed that democratic freedoms have to be founded in
institutions of self-government in every village of India. He drew his inspiration and his
vision from the Panchayats, the traditional ‘village republics’ of India. Panditji established
the institution of Panchayati Raj as the primary instrument for bringing development to the
doorstep of rural India. Indiraji stressed the need for the people’s participation in the
processes of economic and social transformation.”
Yet, there can be no denying the fact that in most parts of the country, elections to the
Panchayats have been irregular. The Bill seeks to put an end to such delays and difficulties.
The essence of democracy is elections. But elections to Panchayati Raj institutions have been
most irregular and uncertain.
A mandatory provision in the constitution is therefore necessary. A statutory provision in the

state law does not quite have the same sanctity. The Bill provides for regular periodic
elections of Panchayati Raj institutions. In the absence of any compelling provision to
reconstitute Panchayats within a reasonable period of time, by democratic elections,
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suspended Panchayats have remained suspended for years and dissolved Panchayats have
remained dissolved for up to a decade or even more. Their existence has depended less on the
mandate of the people then on the whim of state Governments.
The bill leaves it to the state to determine the grounds and conditions on which Panchayats
may be suspended or dissolved. The state Legislatures are to specify the grounds on which
the Governor may suspend or dissolve a Panchayat. That is a matter for the Governor, acting
in accordance with the constitution on the advice of the state Government. But dissolved
Panchayats must be reconstituted within a reasonable period of time. It is the people who will
determine, within a matter of months, the shape of the reconstituted Panchayat. The Bill will
ensure that Panchayati Raj has a democratic character similar to the Lok Sabha and the state
Assemblies and Constitutional protection for their functioning as representative institutions of
the people.
“The single greatest event in the evolution of democracy in India was the enactment of the
Constitution which established democracy in Parliament and in the state Legislature. The
historic, revolutionary Panchayati Raj Bill takes the place alongside that great event as the
enshrinement in the constitution of democracy at the grassroots”. Once democracy is
accorded to the Panchayats the same sanctity as is enjoyed by parliament and the state
Legislature, the doors will be opened for the participation in democratic institution to about
seven lakh elected representatives.
In this way the power-broker, the middlemen, the vested interests will be eliminated. For the
minutest municipal function the people have to run around finding persons with the right
connections who would intercede for them with the distant source of power. The system has
been captured by the power-brokers who have established their vice-like grip on it, only
because democracy has not functioned at the grass-roots. Once the people have their own
elected representatives from electorates as small as a hundred persons, the source of power
will lie only as far away as the Panchayat Ghar, not in some distant state capital or even the
more distant capital of the country. There will be direct elections to Panchayats at all levels.
Every voter will have his own representative in the Gram Panchayat, the mid-level
Panchayat. The representative will be responsible to small and recognized electorate. It they
fulfill the mandate of the people the re-elected; otherwise the people will throw them out of
office, power of the vote.
In establishing the institutions of democracy in Parliament and in the state Legislature, our
founding fathers gave particular recognition to the disabilities suffered by the Scheduled
Castes and tribes. Provision was made for the reservation of seats for the total electorate. This
is a principle which has not been incorporated in most of the Panchayati Raj legislations
enacted by the state Legislatures. The democratic rights of the Scheduled Castes and
Scheduled Tribes cannot be secured by good intentions alone. It has to be secured in the first
instance, by reservation in Panchayati Raj Institutions on the same basis as reservations are
given in the Lok Sabha and the state Assemblies. The Bill makes it mandatory for the state
legislatures to ensure reservation for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes in
proportion to their population in the relevant Panchayat area. Also, there will be reservations
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in Panchayats at all levels of 30% of the seats for women. The presence of women in large
numbers in the Panchayats will not only make the Panchayats more representative but will
also make them more efficient, honest, disciplined and responsible. It is the strength of moral
character which women will bring to the Panchayats.
The Panchayats will have the power and authority to draw of plans within the framework of
guidelines and conditions to be laid draw by the state Government. These plans will
constitute the basic inputs for the planning process of higher levels. This will ensure that the
voice of the people, their needs, their aspirations, their priorities become the building blocks
of the edifice of planning. The second major responsibility of the Panchayats will be the
implementation of development schemes assigned to them by the state Governments. These
schemes should cover the major economic concerns of rural India, commencing with
agriculture and land improvement and going on to irrigation. They must comprise the
diversification of the rural economy into animal husbandry, dairying, poultry and fisheries.
They must incorporate industrial activity in rural India. They must look to the day-to-day
concerns of rural India, housing, drinking water, fuel and fodder.
The panchayats will also have the major responsibility for the administration of poverty-
alleviation programmes. They would have to look to the education and culture, to health and
family welfare, and to women and child development. Social welfare programmes for the
weaker and handicapped sections would be the responsibility of the Panchayats. It is also
proposed to give to the Panchayats the responsibility for the public distribution system which
is so crucial to the survival of the weakest and the poorest, as also to the general health of the
rural economy.
In this way development will be taken to the grassroots in rural India. The same concern must
be extended to the growing urban and semi-urban population of the country. To this end, a
new chapter has been added to the constitution. Urban Municipalities and corporations have
been brought within the two major questions have been raised repeatedly. Most reservations
become a parliament feature of the Indian economic, educational and political scene? Must
social disability, with the attached stigma of being a Harijan and hence being disallowed to
enter the places of worship etc. continue for all times, privileges as their counterpart in the
rural areas? Efforts have also been made to recast revamp and rejuvenate the cooperative
movement, which Pundit Nehru always regarded as the essential compliment to Panchayati
Raj.
Our democracy has reached the stage where the full participation of the people brooks no
further delay. Those who decry Panchayati Raj as an election stunt are only those whose
feudal interest will be overthrown by the power reaching the people. The late Prime Minister
Rajiv Gandhi said, “We trust the people. We have faith in the people. It is the people who
must determine their own destinies and the destiny of the nation. To the people of India let us
ensure maximum democracy and maximum devolution of power. Let there be an end to the
power-brokers. Let us give power to the people.
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Why Prayer is necessary?
There are many castes, creeds, sects and religions in India. We profess different religions.
There are Hindus, Sikhs, Christians, Buddhists, Jains and Parsis. All religions teach us to
pray to God. Irrespective of our religions, we pray to God, but we pray to God in different
ways, at different places and at different times. All regions tell us that we must pray to God,
but what is the necessity of praying to God?
God is very kind. He showers His blessing equally on all, whether we pray or do not pray to
Him. He has gifted us many things free of cost. He is a great forgiver. He does not punish us
for our sins. He forgives our sins committed unknowingly. We must remember Him and Pray
to Him to express our thanks.
We must pray to God because God has bestowed us with all the gifts, we possess. We must
pray and thank Him for all those favors. He has given us innumerable gifts- Our life, our
beautiful earth, the sun, the moon and the starts. All are the wonderful gifts given by God.
Prayer is a must to thank and to show our gratitude to God for all the gifts He has bestowed
upon us.
Prayer also helps us to face problems in life. Life is full of problems and troubles. It is not
smooth sailing. There is a lot of pain, sorrows and sufferings in life. We seek God’s help to
overcome these problems and troubles. Prayer gives us this help and moral support to face
our problems.
Man is a weak and helpless being. He cannot do anything of his own. He loses courage and
gives up everything. He loses peace of mind at every step. An accident, sickness or deaths of
some beloved are the examples of helplessness of men. On all such occasions he has to take
the help of prayer, because it boosts up his confidence.
Prayer is like talking to God as a close Friend or loving Father. When we pray to God, we fell
as if God is present with us. We can talk to Him and place our problems before Him. We beg
Him for His blessings. When God is with us, who can cause any harm to us? Prayer means
trust in God. It gives us courage and confidence. Prayer binds us with God and brings us
nearer to Him.
Prayer is a must because; it gives us strength and courage to face our life problems. It gives
us peace of mind, comfort and consolation. Prayer to God is also necessary because, it has
magic power. Problems which cannot be solved otherwise, find easy solution in prayer. Such
problems get solved automatically by themselves with the magi power of prayer. Disease
which are inculpable and cannot be cured with the help of medicines, vanish completely with
the magic power of prayer. If we pray earnestly and honestly, God is king enough to shower
His blessings. Prayer is the most powerful weapon we can depend upon.
God is present everywhere. There is no place where He is not present. He can come to our aid
anywhere we are. Prayer helps us to remember this truth. It removes all unnecessary fears fro
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our minds. It is the prayer that tells us that God is omnipresent. He must come to our rescue,
whenever we are caught in some trouble. We seek His help from the core of our Hearts by
prayer.
Prayer is necessary to keep us on the right path, away from the evil ways. If we follow evil
ways, we shall go away from God. We shall not be able to communicate with God. We
cannot pray to God in the right earnest. God knows everything. We cannot hide anything
from Him. He knows even our inner-most thoughts. We cannot bluff Him. God listens to the
prayer of only those who are good and noble. We need God’s blessings and help at every
moment. So we must not be wicked or evil, we must remain good and holy.
Prayer is a must for everyone. We cannot do anything without prayer. It is the most useful
means, because more wonderful things can be wrought by prayer than a man can dream of.
Prayer is a powerful weapon.
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“Glasnost” and “Perestroika”
"Glasnost" and "Perestroika" are two words popularized by the Ex-president Gorbachev of
Soviet Russia. They are known in all over world over. President Gorbachev's book
perestroika has clearly defined these words and has established the close inter-connected that
exists between them. They reflect the ex-soviet president's thinking over the problems faced
not only by soviet Russia, but by the communist world in general, and the way in which the
communist society should be restructured in the context of changed world conditions.
'Glasnost' means openness; it means taking democracy to the grass roots, the allowing of free
and open discussion of the problems that face communist society. It also implies that soviet
society shall no longer be a closed society but will be thrown open to the soviet people to new
ideas, new modes of thought, and new patterns of culture. It has made the people think, and
thinking leads to re-construction and change of attitudes. Cultural influences have already
flown in resulting in greater freedom in matters of sex and the demand for greater
participation in the management of the affairs of the nation.
It means that the people are demanding democracy, that power should be shared at the
grassroots, and more active participation of the people in the government of their country.
Thus it implies a total shift from the policies followed by Marshall Stalin and his successors.
As a result, to-day there is practically no iron-curtain, and there is greater interaction of the
Soviet people with the rest of the world. Soviet society is no longer a closed society and the
flow of new ideas has created turmoil in the communist world and there is an ever-increasing
democratic freedom.
'Perestroika' means re-thinking and re-structuring of the social, cultural and political systems
of the communist world. The term is thus closely allied to "Glasnost" for it includes taking
into account the inflow of influences from the west which result in re-awakening and re-
thinking. It also implies re-structuring of the soviet society in keeping with the turmoil caused
by such new influences and new ideas. It implies economic liberalization, economic freedom,
and economic co-operation with other nations of the world. It also implies greater freedom to
the people, the taking of democracy to the grassroots, for a society cannot be rebuilt without
the active participation of the people.
The two terms 'Glasnost' and 'Perestroika' are closely related and the one cannot possibly be
acted upon, without taking into account the other. In the absence of glasnost, there can be no
democracy and hence no real participation of the people in the people in government or
policy-making. Glasnost is a vehicle for interaction between the leaders and the people
and vice versa, making it possible to give the people the right orientation, to rouse them to
intelligent action to achieve the accepted as national programmed. Thus glasnost ensures the
participation of the masses in political activity, for it enables them to exercise control, gives
them access to adequate information and helps them in freely choosing the right
solutions. ‘Glasnost’ and ‘perestroika’ have together furthered the foreign policy of the
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U.S.S.R., integrated the efforts of world communists and directed them towards solving the
most acute and painful problems of humanity.
These two concepts were reflected both in the domestic and foreign policies of the young and
dynamic president Gorbachev of Soviet Russia. As far as foreign policy is concerned, he
made an impressive and unprecedented peace offensive. He unilaterally cut short the defense
budget of his country and declared a massive reduction in the deployment of its armed forced
and the production of conventional weapons. He succeeded in arriving at an agreement with
the U.S.A. on a drastic reduction of missiles with nuclear war heads stationed in Europe. The
new spirit of friendship and co-operation thus generated made President Reagan’s star-war
programming obsolete and out-dated. Similarly he visited china, and there was a thaw in
Sino-Soviet relations. As a result, drastic reduction in the number of soviet troops massed on
its long border with china became possible. This re-thinking augured well for the future of
mankind.
The two concepts of "re-structuring" and "openness" were also reflected in the domestic
policies of President Gorbachev. For the first time elections were held in Soviet Union on
multi-party basis. Greater freedoms, including freedom to criticize the government, thus
become possible for the soviet people after a lapse of centuries. The gentle breeze of freedom
blew over that country. In the cultural sphere, fashion shows were permitted and recently
Miss Russia was elected for the first time. Travel to the west or from the west became much
easier. Western movies were staged and books from the west were also allowed. Thus the
traditional 'iron-curtain' became a thing of the past.
In short, 'Glasnost' and 'Perestroika' embody the most revolutionary concepts of modern time.
They have brought the east and the west closer together, caused a restructuring of the
communist society, and resulted in re-thinking the entire world over. But this policy of
liberalization has also resulted in the disintegration of the Soviet Union. The U.S.A. is now
the only super-power left in the world .It has meant the emergence of a unipolar world, and
the end of cold war.
It must be realized that there is urgent need of infrastructural reforms to clear all the hurdles
in the way of the development of infrastructure.
6. Improvement in health and literacy among the masses must be emphasized upon. One out
of every three Indian is poor, undernourished, illiterate and of poor health. In this connection
reduction in growth rate of population is vital. Fall in population growth is linked with health
and literacy which are required to be improved on priority basis.
7. In the opinion of economists political consensus is the biggest challenge in carrying out the
second generation reforms. Populist policies dominate political thinking and political will for
basic reforms is absolutely wanting. The reformers have to directly address issues like
poverty rather than expect people to wait for a trickle down which may never come. The
over-all focus of reforms has to involve all sections of the economy only then will the
consensus emerge which shall not be dislodged.
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According to the evaluation of economic reforms during the first decade in 1991-2000 by
reserve bank of India economic reforms have helped accelerate the healthy economic growth
of 1980's in a more sustainable manner. The most critical issue having a bearing upon the
reform process has to cope with the deceleration of agriculture and industry. Agric
ultureuituralultural performance declined sharply due to diminished public investment and
inadequate diversification. Industry has given a favorable response as a result of liberalization
measures such as de-licensing, de-reservation opening of foreign direct investment and the
lowering of tariffs and non-tariff barriers. Industry in India has become much more
competitive domestically as well as globally. But industrial development has to be enhanced
by stepping up the pace of intuitional reforms.
The central message of RBI's currency and finance report is that economic reforms are a must
for the economy to shift to higher growth pattern and that reforms need to be strengthened
further to enable India to catch up with those middle income emerging economies which were
similarly placed at the time of independence.
Economic reforms have brought about a widening disparity among the states despite a
national policy of liberalization. If globalization has widened the gulf between developing
and developed countries liberalization has resulted in greater degree of scenes in the pattern
of development leading to marginalization of some states in the overall dispensation. Reasons
for the economic disparity may be enumerated as gap in education, health care and
infrastructure. States which had a fairly well developed industrial base have been able to
attract new investments both domestic and foreign. Reasons for poor growth in some states is
a combination of factors like bloated public administration, a large appropriation of public
resources for salaries and non-development expenditure including subsidies and loss making
state enterprises. For success of the economic reforms government expenditure must be
brought down. Further opening the economy to foreign direct investment is crucial for India
to sustain the high rate of economic growth. And finally government's resolve on economic
reforms is the most important factor. India’s Ex-Prime Minister Shri Atal Bihari
Vajpayee had asserted that there would be no going back on economic reforms as India
should effectively responded to changes in the global economic environment to defend its
interests.
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Violence against Women
It is a universally recognized truism today that "an affluent society tends to grow into a
violent". Gandhiji highlighted this truth long ago, when he pointed out that you cannot get
American dollars without American vice. The truth of this statement is brought out by the
conditions that prevail in India today. With the success of its five-year plans and the
constructive efforts of the government, there is a marked increase of production and rise in
per capital income. There is an all-round increase in affluence and prosperity and with this
affluence there is also an increase in crime and violence. On the slightest pretext there are
strikes and an upsurge of violence. Public property is recklessly destroyed and there is
frequent arson and looting on a large-scale: terrorists have become more active, and murders
have become the order of the day.
This escalation in crime and violence is seen in its worst from in the case of crime against
women. Chain-snatching, Rape, Molestation of women is on the increase. Wearing of
ornaments has now become out of the question, and women are teased and harassed as they
go of their houses, or take a bus to go the place where they work. The international woman's
year was intended to highlight the plight of women in this male dominated society, but it has
in no way succeeded in improving their lot. They are weaker, and so they continue to be
exploited in various ways. Laws have, no doubt, been framed to secure a better deal for
Indian womanhood, but not too much avail. They have been granted the right of success in to
the ancestral property, widow re-marriage has been legalized, child-marriage has been
declared illegal, but all such measures of social reform have failed to ameliorate their lot.
Crimes against women are on the increase.
Dowry-system and the sati-system are the worst forms that such crimes assume. The parents
of a girl have to pay heavy amounts to the parents of the bride groom, if they want to see their
daughters comfortably married and settled in life. Exorbitant amounts in the form of cash and
various items of luxury demanded, and they have to be paid even if the bride's parents have to
borrow the amount, and sell their houses and other assets. The marriage of a daughter often
means the financial ruin of her parents. Their plight is worse still, if more than one daughter
have to married.
Even if the huge dowry has been paid, and the demands of the other party have been satisfied
in their entirety, there is no guarantee that the daughter will enjoy a happy and comfortable
life in the home of her-in-laws. Additional demands are constantly made and if the parents of
the girl fail to meet them, brides are subjected to untold torture and suffering. That is why in
recent times there has been an increase in the number of cases of wife-beating and wife-
burning. Their life becomes insecure and unbearable in the house of their in-laws, and often
they flee in fear of their lives to the house of their parents. Thus greed and violence wreck the
home and cause untold of suffering to the young, innocent bride and her parents. All remain
helpless spectators to these wicked going on, and to the horrible sacrifice of girls on the altar
of dowry. There seems to be no limit to human greed and animalism. Dowry is sought to be
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justified on grounds that it enables the young couple to get comfortably settled in life, that it
is a kind of security, a kind of insurance paid for the future health, welfare and well-being of
the girl concerned. However, all such justifications are hollow and are intended to cover up
the evil and brutality of the dowry-system.
Equally pernicious is the age-old sati-system. Raja Ram Mohan Rai has raised his powerful
voice against it over a century ago, and Gandhi, too, did much to focus attention on the evil.
Anti-sati laws were passed public opinion was created against the evil. But despite such
efforts and measures of social reform, the evil still continues. This fact has been highlighted
recently by the Sati-scandal in village Deorala, near Jaipur, in Rajasthan. Roop kanwar, an
innocent bride who had hardly live with her husband for six months, and did not have much
love for him, was brutally and violently forced to Commit Sati. She was burned on the
funeral pyre of her husband without her wish and consent. It is reported that she tried to run
away, but was prevented by the use of brute force. It is also said that some injection was
ultimately given to her to break her resistance. This is horrible in the extreme.
The Deorala Sati-Scandal is not an isolated scandal. Satis are performed frequently; though
the incidents do not come into limelight. To cover up the brutality of the whole system it is
sought to be justified in the name of religion. However, it has now been established that sati
has no religious sanction, it is merely a form of crime and violence against woman, too weak
and helpless to defend herself.
Following the Deorala-Incident, laws against sati have been made more stringent. Much for
severe punishment is to be awarded to those who are responsible for the crime, and the onus
of proving that they are not guilty will henceforth lie on the accused. Abetting of sati and
glorification of it has also been declared to be heinous crimes. Sati Melas and festivals have
been declared illegal, and construction of temples to honor a sati has also been forbidden.
Public opinion has also been shocked by the happenings, at Deorala, and many a religious a
body has come out openly against this evil. Let us hope in time to come, Sati would become a
matter of history.
Urgent steps must be taken to put down crime and violence against woman. Healthy public
opinion must be created against such undesirable, criminal activities. Films depicting sex and
violence must be strictly censored. Advertisements and hoardings depicting women as
desirable objects of sex must be severely discouraged. Both social organizations and religions
bodies must come out openly against the dowry-system and the sati-system. The government
should see that none guilty of such crimes escapes scot-free. Special courts should be set up
for the trail of crimes against womanhood. Women's organizations, which are now quite large
in number, should carry on an intensive propaganda against such offences. Young men and
women should also themselves resist such malpractices. We are happy to note that the
government is quite alive to the need of such reforms. Separate family courts have been set
up for the purpose with lady judges as presiding officers. if there is a case of bride-burning
during the first seven years of marriage the onus of proving that no dowry was demanded lies
on the other party. Stringent punishment has been laid down for such offences.
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In short, the war should be waged on several fronts. It is bound to be a prolonged and
intensive fight, if the desired results are to be obtained.
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The Reform of Examination System
Examination is a necessary evil. They cannot be completely done away with. In any
education system, they must occupy an important place. Yet the way and the form in which
they are held need reform. There are so many serious defects in the present system of
examination that their purpose is completely defeated. They fail in measuring the progress of
students. Many ways of reforming the examination system have been suggested. One is the
setting of objective-type questions, instead of the present system in which the questions
require long, essay-type answers. In this way, it becomes possible to cover the whole course
and personal factor is eliminated. This method has been used so far with success in pre-
medical and other competitive examinations. But its great drawback is that it does not
develop the expressive power of the students. Careful thinking is necessary before objective
tests are introduced in schools and colleges.
At present, examinations have become meaningless, for there is copying on a mass scale.
Copying is rampant even in the cities, and in the best of institutions. Students take with them
into the examination hall cheap bazaar notes and copy out the answers from them. If the
invigilators try to prevent the use of such unfair means, they are threatened with dire
consequences. In the rural areas, conditions are much worse. There copying is organized by
teachers and other interested parties, with the active connivance of the school authorities,
examination superintendents, principals etc. Answers are dictated in the examination halls or
written out on the black-boards.
Therefore, there is urgent need for the over-hauling of the present system of examinations.
Various measures of reforms have been suggested from time to time. One of the suggestions
is that students should be allowed to take books of their choice into the examination hall, and
make free use of them. Questions should be so framed that those students alone who are well
up in the subject and have studied their books would be able to find out the right answers.
Moreover, as the number of questions would be pretty large, the examinees would not get
much time to search out the answers in their books. This again would make previous
preparation essential. In this way, the whole course would be covered up and examinees
would be obliged to make due preparations. As books would be freely allowed, the problem
of mass copying or the use of unfair means would cease to exist. It would be automatically
solved.
Thus there is much to be said in favor of 'open book examination. However, this system
should be introduced with great caution. Initially, it should be introduced on a very limited
scale, and its scope may then be widened in the light of the experience thus acquired.
Intelligent framing of questions is crucial for the success of this system. A number of
government department such as the C.D.A., P.W.D. etc., have been holding such
examinations for many years. The experience gained by them can be of great value and many
pitfalls can be avoided if they are consulted before this innovation is introduced in schools
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and colleges of the country. Much depends on the integrity and efficiency of teachers who
will have to implement and work out the scheme.
Introduction of continuous internal evolution has also found favor with most expert
committees. Delhi University has taken the initiative in this regard. The first and second year
examinations would now be conducted by the respective college themselves while the first
year and second year examinations would consist of 10 percent and 15 percent mark, the rest
of the 75 percent marks would be given on the basis of the third year examinations which
would be conducted by the university. For the under graduate honors and post graduate
courses, 25 percent marks would be given on the basis of internal assessment.
However, in the most of the universities in the country, teaching, learning and examinations
have been so mechanized that no one wants to change or accept new challenges. Besides,
uniform standard of evaluation are adopted throughout the country, isolated cases will not
create faith in the reforms. The existing examination system has functioned largely as a
process of filtration rather than as an instrument for raising the quality of education. It is not
that the internal evaluation system is not without any demerits. Many still consider the
present examination system as an inescapable necessity. On the whole, examination reformer
would be meaningful only when it reaches the core of the education process.
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Caste System Solution
Indian society is cast ridden. The people are divided into a number of religions like Hindus,
Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, etc. The Hindus themselves are divided into a number of casts
and sub-castes. The Brahmins, the Khastriyas, the Vaishyas and the untouchable (The
Shudras) are the four main castes. Each of these castes is further divided into a number of
sub-castes.
The people of one caste don’t like to mix with others. This division of society into so many
religions, castes and sub-castes comes in the way of the unity and integrity of the Indian
nation. People vote on the basis of caste and religion and do not take the merits of the
candidate into consideration. Democracy itself has become a mockery owing to this evil.
The caste system is a great social evil. From time to time social reformers and thinkers have
tried to eradicate this evil, but to no avail. Even Gandhiji could not do much for the
eradication of Untouchability. It is a deep-rooted problem which has defied all solutions so
far. The problem has persisted largely because of the illiteracy and ignorance of the people.
Their ignorance makes the people conservative and superstitious. Hence they do not accept
any social change. They want things to continue as they are. Every measure of social reform
is strongly opposed and is considered to be an attack on their religion by the religious
fanatics.
Therefore, if the evil of caste system is to be eradicated every possible effort should be made
to educate the people and thus create a strong public opinion against the evil. School text
books should be carefully revised. Lessons should be included to teach the students that the
caste system is manmade. It was a system for the division of labor devised by our wise
forefathers. Originally, man was not born into any cast: his caste was determined by his
learning or by the nature of work he did in life. Basically, all human beings are equal; they
have the same kind of blood in their veins. The differences of upper and lower are wrong, and
entirely the creation of vested interests. The similarities between the different castes should
be stressed rather than the differences. In this way would be created awareness against the
caste system and its hold upon society would be gradually loosened.
The various organs of mass communication should be pressed into service against this evil.
The Radio, the TV., the cinema, and the press can play a very useful role in this connection.
Talks by eminent scholars, thinkers and social reformers may be arranged from time to time
and broadcast over the radio and TV. if the right type of films are shown, the cinema can also
serve as a powerful force for the eradication of this social evil. People of all ages and ages
and from every section of society go to the cinema frequently, and films depicting the evils of
the caste system and stressing the equality of the people of different castes can but influence
the mind of the spectators. Articles on the subject from the pen of eminent writers published
in the newspapers can also be of great help in our fight against the monster of Casteism. A
responsible press can do a lot in this direction.
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In short, the key to this problem lies in the creation of a strong public opinion against it.
Teachers, scholars, thinkers, and writers should all unite in the nations fight against this
chronic and widespread social evil. The caste system persists even after 50 years of
independence. This is clearly seen in the massacre of a numbers of harridans at Jainabad,
Bihar, and the hue and cry that was raised against the entry of Harijans in Nathdwara temple
in Rajasthan. Every effort should be made to change the psychology of the people, and strict
action taken against offenders.
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The Role of Writer in the Modern Age
Matthew Arnold, the well-known English poet-critic of the Victorian age, once criticized his
countrymen for their materialism, vulgarity and coarseness and pointed out that it is poetry
alone which can keep up high and noble ideals and views, and thus check the increasing
brutality of the age. His words are equally applicable to the modern age. The writer to-day
can play a crucial role in stemming the increasing tide of sexuality, violence and materialism,
and the degradation of artistic and cultural values.
Owing to the fast means of communication, the globe has shrunk. Nations of the world have
come closer together. An event, disturbance, taking place in any one country is known all
over the world the very next minute, and can even be seen on TV in many different countries.
But this closeness has not resulted in greater understanding and goodwill. The same event,
the same situation, is judged and evaluated differently in different parts of the world. Scales
of the values and judgments’ still differ from country to country and this leads to
misunderstanding and conflict. The urgent need of the day is creation of common standards
of judgments, so that the nations of the world may come closer together mentally, as they
have already done physically.
It is the writer alone who can perform this service to humanity. In the absence of such
reconciliation of values and consequent lack of understanding, mankind is likely to be torn to
pieces by strife and conflict. It is the writer alone who can reconcile these different values
and create a single system of evaluation, for good deeds, and bad deeds, for what is tolerable
and what is intolerable. It is the writer alone who can explain to mankind what is really evil,
intolerable and terrible.
It is the writer alone who can create the understanding that human nature is basically alike;
that people in distant lands suffer from similar grief’s and joys, loves and hatreds, sorrows
and sufferings. In this way, by stressing the similarity rather than the difference between the
people and people, he can create a better understanding of each other's problems and thus
lessen strife and conflicts. All conflicts and war result from misunderstanding but writers by
creating understanding can serve as powerful instruments of world peace. It is the writer
alone who can make the concept of, 'one world' real and effective.
Brute force is triumphant today. Not only that violence it justified and glorified. Greed, envy,
jealousy and hatred are euphuistically called "class struggle" racial struggle, the struggle of
the masses, or the struggle of organized labor, etc. refusal to compromise and come to terms
is glorified as sticking to one's principles, or standing for one's ideology. This refusal to
compromise claims millions of victims in eternal internecine wars. Such wars wrongly stress
that there is no stable, universal, conception of goodness and justice, that all such conceptions
are fluid and changeable, so that one should always act as is advantageous to his own party or
country. Planes are hijacked, hostages are seized, explosions are caused, and property is burnt
or destroyed, all in the name of patriotism and nationalism. Violence today threatens to shake
and destroy civilization.
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It is forgotten that "pen is mightier than the sword" that, "ideas move the world". Writer can
play an important role in preserving human civilization from this onslaught of barbarism. It is
they who can make the world see things in their true light. It is they who can open the eyes of
the world to the full horror of wars, class wars, racial wars, ideological wars of all sorts. Lets
us not forget that violence does not exist by itself and cannot do so. It is necessarily
accompanied with falsehood and false propaganda. Violence finds its only refuge in
falsehood. Falsehood is its only support and stay. It is the writer alone who can conquer the
lie. It is they who can propagate the truth in a world of lies. They can expose untruth and
focus the searchlight of truth on human affairs. "In the struggle with falsehood, truth has
always won and always will win. One word of truth shall outweigh the whole world". The
role of the writer is crucial in the present day world.
Twentieth century is characterized by an increasing degradation of human nature. There is

increased regimentation in all spheres of life. Despite all our boast of democracy and freedom
of expression, there is an increasing tendency today to treat man as a more automation or
machine, to subordinate him to the state. Even in democratic countries, the concept of the
welfare state has resulted in the widening of the powers of the state, and the consequent
interference with the day today life of the individual. In a planned economy, the individual
enjoys little freedom to life of the individual. In a planned economy, the individual enjoys
little freedom to live his own life according to his own right. Things are not seen in the
correct perspective, and machines tend to become the masters of men, instead of remaining
their slaves. It is the writer who can present things in the correct perspective, and thus restore
sanity and balance. Writer can move the soul and touch the heart. They can serve as a
powerful force waging a relentless struggle for the dignity and glory of the human soul.
Writers can serve as custodians of spiritual and cultural values in a world disfigured by
increasing industrialization and urbanization. Industrialization despoils the beauty of nature,
pollutes the atmosphere and darkens the sky. City slums, over-crowding, immorality, disease
and a thousand other socio-economic evils are all the creations of industrialization. As D.H.
Lawrence, the noted English novelist, said long go," the human soul hungers for hungers for
beauty, and it are beauty which is denied to him by the ugliness of an urban civilization".
Life in an industrial town deadens artistic sensibility. Production on a mass scale militates
against art and artistic values. Writers alone can satisfy the hunger of the human soul for
beauty; they alone can bring to it aesthetic satisfaction. Writers by creating beautiful works of
literature can make the human soul enjoy that beauty which is denied to them by their ugly
environment. Writers can mitigate, to a great extent, that industrial unrest which so frequently
threatens to disturb peace and disrupt production. They can provide so much needed relief
from urban tensions, and apply that shooting balm to the lacerated and spirit of humanity.
In the brutalized, materialized and vulgarized world of today, the writers are our surest stay
and support. Scientists and technologists cater only to the material needs of man; the writers,
poets, dramatists, novelists, etc. supply his spiritual wants." man does not live by bread only",
he wants intellectual and spiritual food as well, he needs noble ideas and ideals also, and all
this is provided by the writer.
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It has been said the ideas move the world, and it is the writer who creates those ideas.
Therefore, the writer should be allowed to create in perfect freedom. The suppression and
silencing of writers by government interference, the denial of freedom to them, is not only a
source of danger to some particular nation or country, but to the world as a whole. The role of
the writer is beneficial for humanity and he must be allowed to express himself unhampered.
Their lies the salvation of mankind.
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Federal System vs. Unitary System
There is constant demand for greater autonomy for the states with increased powers in respect
of planning, finance, taxation and judiciary. The matter has been hotly debated and kinds of
different and opposite views have been expressed. On the one hand, there are people who are
opposed to the very concept of federation and who advocate a unitary from of government.
They are all out for a strong centre. On the other hand, there are those who would prefer a
weak center and autonomous states, independent in every matter except defense and foreign
policy. Let us examine the facts of the case and then arrive at a dispassionate conclusion.
India is a vast country, a sub-continent, nearly equal in area to the whole of Europe,
excluding Russia and the common wealth of independent states. It has a bewildering
multiplicity of religions, languages and cultures. People living in one part of country differ
radically from those in other parts. Thus, a Bengali is entirely different from a Punjabi or a
Kashmiri in his way ways of living, traditions and customs. India's unity is a unity in
diversity, and this unity can be preserved only under a system which allows the people of
every region to live in their own way, according to their own culture and traditions, and yet
makes them conscious of their common mother-land and enlists their service and cooperation
for the task of the new India of our dreams.
It was for this reason that the framers of our constitution preferred federalism to
Unitarianism, for it is in a federal set up alone that every reason, every state, can enjoy
sufficient autonomy to live in its own way, and at the same time, the unity and integrity of the
country can be preserved. The federal structure reflects India's "unity in diversity". It ensures
a strong centre, as well as provides for the full growth and development of the culture of each
region.
The framers of the constitution were quite conscious of possibility of center-state conflicts,
and so the powers and jurisdiction of each have been carefully defined and demarcated in the
constitution. There is a detailed list of subjects for the center, and another one for the states.
Besides this, there is a concurrent list, including subjects which fall within the jurisdiction of
both the center and the states. The centre has been given wide powers to ensure uniformity
and co-ordination of administrative standards, to provide positive leadership in the social and
economic spheres, and to protect the country from external aggression and internal
subversion.
It has been provided for that the state Governments have to comply with the laws enacted by
parliament and that the central government is entitled to give such directions to the state
governments as it may consider necessary for the purpose. The state governments have been
directed not to do anything which may prejudice or impede the exercise by the center of its
power in the state. The constitution fully takes into account the needs both of the centre and
the states.
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The constitution also provides for times of emergency. In times of war or when there is a
threat to law and order, a nation must use every possible means to the danger. If the federal
character of the constitution is temporarily discarded and the country is ruled as under a
unitary system, and if the fundamental rights of citizenship are suspended for the duration of
the emergency, no serious objection can be taken to such extra-ordinary measures. For one
thing, there is the parliament to see that the emergency powers are not misused and secondly,
because," extraordinary situations can only be met with extraordinary means". Similarly,
when in a state, the government finds that the government cannot be carried on in accordance
with the provisions of the constitution, central intervention becomes inevitable and
president's rule is imposed over the state.
The constitution also provides that, when a situation has arisen whereby the financial stability
or credibility of the country is threatened, the president may declare a state of financial
emergency and may give directions to any state or states in order to ensure that there is no
misuse of funds, and financial stability is achieved. The center has also the power to
intervene in the internal affairs of a state if; such intervention is justified by the law and order
situation, prevailing in that state. The centre can post its armed forced or its Para-Military
forces to safeguard its installations in any state, if the situation they makes such a step
necessary. Further, in case of inter-state disputes the center can intervene and if considered
desirable, can even alter state boundaries. It can send its armed forces to prevent secessation
or threat of secessation on the part of any state.
The powers enjoyed by the centre are, no doubt, very wide, and such wide powers have come
in for a good deal of criticism. In this connection, first, it should be remembered that the
states have been given sufficient autonomy and enjoy sufficient powers, and are not
subservient to the centre in everything. Education, health, local self-government, public
order, administration of justice, water supply and trade and transport, are matters of great
importance and they have been entrusted to the states. The state legislatures have exclusive
jurisdiction over 66 items and concurrent jurisdiction over another 47 items. The division of
power between the centre and the states is quite fare.
Some critics have, indeed, criticized the scheme of the scheme of the division of power on the
ground that by leaving vital issue, like land reform, food production, and higher education,
with the state governments, the farmers of the constitution have added to the difficulties of
the administration. In respect of finance, the finance commission may not have satisfied all
the states, but there has been a large measure of autonomy in this respect also. Hence
complaint of lack of autonomy and freedom is baseless.
Greater freedom would have led to the disintegration of the country. The states should have
autonomy but not at the cost of unity and integrity of the country. It should be remembered
that India faces danger to its freedom, not only from abroad but also from within.
Regionalism, Linguism, communalism, and several other fissiparous trends threaten the unity
and integrity of the country. A strong centre with wide powers is needed to combat and put
down such disruptive forces.
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A weak centre would not only encourage such forces. It will also encourage foreign
aggression. China and Pakistan are the two hostile neighbors of India, and only a strong
centre and a united country can face the menace posed by them. To weaken the centre would
be to weaken the country and endanger its hard won freedom. A strong centre is the urgent
need of the hour. Indeed, we need both a strong central government and strong autonomous
state government, and both these have been provided for by the flexible frame-work of the
Indian constitution.
Moreover, it should be remembered that the modern trend everywhere is towards a strong
centralized government. The U.S.A. has a federal set up, and there, too, the centre has grown
increasingly more and more powerful. A strong centre has become necessary because the
modern concept of the welfare state places unusual administrative burdens and
responsibilities upon the government. Besides this, fact means of communication tend to
obliterate regional diversities and bring even far flung parts of a nation closer together. This
move towards increased homogeny should be fostered and encouraged, and this can be done
only by a strong centre.
Therefore, we must conclude that the flexible federal structure, which provides for a strong
centre, along with a fair measure of state autonomy, is best suited to the needs of modern
India.
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Indian Public Life – Essay
Ever since her independence sixty years ago, India has been marching on road to planned
economic development. Eleven of her five-year plans have been completed. Still India suffers
from an economic crisis of the first magnitude. There are shortages of nearly all the essential
consumer goods. The price tends to rise, and constant vigilance is necessary. No doubt there
has been an unprecedented expansion of education but it has led only to more unemployment,
even among the highly educated.
This economic crisis is attributed to several causes. Generally, the government is blamed for
it. It is pointed out that the planning is defective in various ways, and the machinery for
implementing the plans is slow and inefficient. There are others who blame the population
explosion for the crisis in Indian economy. People breed more rapidly that they produce, with
the result that the gap between demand and supply keep on widening. It is this ever
increasing gap, it is said, which results in shortages and rocketing prices. According to such
people, everything would be alright only if the people take to family planning. Smaller
families are the only answer to the economic crisis that faces the country.
While it cannot be denied that there is some truth in such views, we will also have to admit
that they do not explain the thing. As a matter of fact, the real crisis which faces the country
is moral and not economic. Indeed, the economic crisis is merely a symptom of the moral
one. Indian public life suffers from want of morals; this is not confined to any one particular
class of people or section of society. It is as much a characteristic of people at the highest
level, as it is of those at the lowest. People of every rank and profession are dishonest, corrupt
and insincere. This is the real reason why the fruits of planning have not reached the common
man that is why there are shortages of so many of the essential commodities. Moral failure
has brought about the economic crisis which faces the country.
Corruption is rampant everywhere today in India public life. Corruption has become a way of
life and official earns by corrupt means matters much more than the salary he gets. Despite
the government’s drive against smugglers and hoarders, there are people who are rolling in
black money and running virtually parallel economy. The ideal we have set before ourselves
appears to be "Each one for himself and the devil take the hindmost". Nobody cares for the
good of the nation; personal aggrandizement is the order of the day.
Personal and party interests are kept above national interest, the good of the nation sacrificed
to achieve personal and political ends. Ministers and government officers dispense favors and
accept bribes, engineers feather their own nests and allow inferior substandard material to be
used for national projects and construction works. Big businessmen corner stocks in order to
sell them at fancy prices and turn a deaf ear to the groans and cries of the masses. Young men
seek jobs, but are insincere and dishonest in the discharge of their duties when they are
employed. Workers go on strikes for frivolous reasons and indulge in sabotage, thus showing
an utter disregard for public good and social morality and discipline.
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Selfishness, greed, dishonesty, insincerity, favoritism, nepotism, all disfigures public life. We
say one thing, but mean its exact opposite. We make confessions and promises which we
have no intention of carrying out. We may talk of socialism, social quality, and simple living
and thinking but all the time we pine for luxuries and comfortable living, and try to amass
wealth. We profess faith in the eradication of untouchability, but practice it in our day-to-day
life. We may know the right thing to do, but do not do it for personal and selfish reasons. The
influential and the rich go scot-free even when they are found guilty. All these are instances
of moral failure.
The constant battle between good intentions and ignoble deeds is talking its toll, and India
which, with its glorious spiritual heritage, should have been a beacon light to the world, is
fast becoming a carbon-copy of the degenerate affluent societies of the west. There is little
hope of the situation being remedied unless we realized that more than anything else, what
we are suffering from is a moral crisis. The battle for economic freedom can be won only if
we first wage a battle against our moral weaknesses and over-come them. India's real crisis is
moral, and not economic.
This "moral crisis" was highlighted by the "Bofors Scandal". More recently there has been
the share market scandal. Charges of corruption where made even against the former prime
minister P.V.Narisimha Rao and Laloo Prasad Yadav of Bihar and some senior B.J.P.
leaders. Corruption is rampant in the society. Such character assassination is an instance of
moral degeneration and the nation must be alert and not be taken in by it. It is also an instance
of the moral crisis that faces India today.
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Woman’s Welfare: Her Role in Social Life
There is no doubt that since the dawn of history woman has been denied her due. She has
always been treated as inferior to man. In India her status has been particularly low. In the
Post-Vedic era, she was denied the right of participation in religious ceremonies, with the
advent of the Muslims, she was denied freedom of movement and curse of the 'Purdah'
further increased her slavery and degradation. As a natural consequence, she was deprived of
the right to education. She became, more or less, a domestic servant whose duty it was to do
household work and rear the children of her husband.
Child marriage, polygamy, 'Sati', 'dowry-system', etc. are the various social evils which have
degraded woman during the course of the centuries. The laws were unjust to her as in the fact
that she had no right of inheritance and no right of remarriage. It was only with the freedom
struggle that things began to change. Gandhiji stressed that woman should be the equal
partner of man in the struggle for independence. He attached great importance to woman's
emancipation and worked all her life to secure this end.
With the rise of democracy, the movement for the emancipation of woman has gained ground
all the over. In some western countries woman have more rights than in India. But still every
where even in the most advanced countries of the world, they suffer from a number of
disabilities and are regarded a social inferiors of man. It is a man-made society and man
continues to dominate and exploit woman. There should be a better and fuller understanding
of the problems peculiar to woman, to make a solution of those problems possible.
As these problems centre round the basic problem of inequality, steps should be taken to
promote equality of treatment and the full integration of woman in the total development
efforts of the country. Woman should get equal pay for the same work, and she be treated as
an equal partner in the task of strengthening world peace. Suitable steps should be taken to
secure these ends. These are near unanimity on the urgency and significance of woman's
emancipation.
The main stress should be on equal work, and elimination of discrimination in employment.
One of the basic policy objectives should be universal education of woman. The lack of
which tends to perpetuate the unequal status quo. To this era, the popular UNESCO slogan
should come in handy: "Educate a man and you educate an individual: educate a woman and
you educate a family."
The Late President, Mr. Fakhruddin Ali Ahmad, emphasized the need of improving the
condition of woman in the weakest section-the rural, slum and tribal population-which
comprises about 80 percent of the total. "The women of India played a silent, self-effacing
role to sustain Indian civilization down the ages. For their greater participation in national
life, it is necessary that they should occupy positions at the decision-making and planning
level."
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In recent years a number of serials have been televised, and the "woman's cause" has been
given much publicity. Laws have been made more stringent to prevent crimes against
women. Now government is introducing a bill in parliament for 33% reservation for women
in legislature, which has a support of all political parties. This is a welcome step. Thus a
general awakening to the hardship and problems of women has been created.
However, all this is not enough. Dowry system still continues, and cases of bride-burning are
frequent. 'Sati' is still glorified as is shown by the events in Deorala in Rajasthan.
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Violence and Democracy
Indian political life has been plagued with agitations. The opposition parties agitate and take
to the streets at the slightest excuse. Under the leadership of Mr. Prakash Narayan, agitation
in Bihar was started in 1973 against increasing corruption in government offices, it’s wrong
policies, rising prices, mass unemployment, bribery, hoarding etc. earlier there had been a
similar agitation in Gujarat. The agitations continued over a long period of time. It resulted in
much loss of life and property. Let us here examine if such violent agitations can serve any
useful purpose, or they cause more harm than good. Public support to these agitations was
mainly due to rising prices, shortages, hardship, starvation and the inability of the
government to tackle the situation. People wanted a leader, who could change the conditions
of the life and assure for them the essential commodities. At such a time Mr. Jai Prakash
Narayan, a popular leader, got wide public support. There can be no drought about the
sincerity and honesty of Mr. Narayan. His aims were quite appealing and sensible. But the
forces which were working behind his movement were not so selfless. Opposition parties
tried to use the movement again their own purpose. They were equally corrupt and selfish.
Students were called upon to leave the colleges for one year and devote all their time to the
fight against corruption. But this call was not very far-sighted, for one year of a student is
very important for his career. The indiscipline and disorder which resulted from such
agitations were not taken into consideration. Normal peaceful life becomes impossible. There
was looting and arson on a large scale. Economic condition of the people worsened.
Increasingly it was realized that such agitations cannot remain non-violent for long. Anti-
social elements take advantages of such agitations to serve their own ends. It was forgotten
that such cult of the gun has no place in a democracy. Democracy implies the use of peaceful
negotiations for settling disputes. The will of the people as expressed through elections has to
be respected. Violence therefore is the very negation of democracy.
No doubt, in the beginning, J.P.'s movement started with the principle of non-violence, but
soon it became, clear that the movement had gone out of his control. Agitators turned violent,
tried to destroy public property, uproot railway lines, and burn post offices, banks, police
posts etc. the government was thus compelled to open fire to maintain law and order. In this
way, there was much loss of life and public property.
A movement which becomes violent can easily be suppressed because government has its
own police and military. No government can tolerate violence or yield to threats. Only a
leader of the stature of ‘Mahatma Gandhi' can keep a public movement non-violent.
As a result of the movement, strikes, bands’, gheraos, etc. became the order of the day all
over the country. Near chaotic conditions prevailed. The situation became so intolerable that
the late Prime Minister Mrs. Indira Gandhi and her government were force to make a
declaration of internal emergency on 26th June, 1975. For nearly two years there were no
rights or liberties for the people. Those were dark days in the history of the country. But it
was national emergency which brought the short-lived Janata Party to power, and uproot the
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congress. This was the only change that came out of the agitation. Otherwise, corruption
remained as rampant as ever before.
This clearly shows that violent agitations can serve no useful purpose. There is no place for
gun-cult in democracy. But the Indian politicians have not learn this lesson. Violent
agitations still continue to mar Indian political and social life.
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Should one make an important decision alone?
Essay/Article – 1
Decision- making is a common phenomenon each one of us undergoes in our daily life. Its
magnitude varies from trivial issues like choice of a daily wardrobe to making a crucial
corporate decision involving millions of dollars. A decision may have its implications
ranging from a single person to the entire universe. Hence it is very important to make a
correct decision. But I have a missed feeling when it comes to the choice of making a
decision collectively or as a single person. I feel that the decision making process cannot have
its hard and fast rules but has to be tailor made to suit a situation. Hence a decision may have
to be personally made or in consultation with others as demanded by the situation.
I would like to analyze the decision-making methodology in its two ramifications, one
involving personal interests and the other for a common issues involving business, political or
environmental significance.
Every person is different and has the rights to make his own destiny. It is this quality of
uniqueness which makes the mankind so special. We are the best judges when it comes to
making personal decisions, for on one can understand a person better than himself. There are
many things in life such as selection of a life partner, or choosing ca career that are specific to
the taste and likings of an individual. It is always useful to hear the options of our well-
wishers reading the deciding issues. However the individual should take final decision after
carefully weighing all options. It not only gives us the self-confidence, but also institutes the
responsibility in us to live by our decision.
Things are quite different when it comes to decision making involving business, political or
environmental issues. The decision made in these cases has serious consequences than that of
the personal issues. It puts at stake the wealth, safety and future of many others directly or
indirectly involved in these issues. It is here the concept of teamwork, special knowledge etc
come into picture.
When taking decision on a business activity, it is always better to have a brainstorming

session of all the involved persons to discuss about the issue. It gives the best possible
decision after carefully analyzing all the possibilities, with the concurrence of the team. Also
all the members involved in the decision-making are clear about their individual roles in
contributing to the success of the decision.
There are some cases, where expert knowledge and experiences required in taking the
decisions. In such cases one can resort to the help of the experts or the consulting agencies for
the correct solutions. The decision suggested by the consultants can be expected to be more
suitable, since most decisions suggested by the experts/consultants are either by scientific
methods or based on a reliable statistical data of the past. Consultants are available in almost
all fields such as engineering, finance, law, insurance etc to name a few.
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Also when it comes to taking decisions that are of intentional importance, the governing body
such as the United Nations Organization insists for a Veto for decision- making. This method
of decision-making ensures that the decisions are in the interest of the member countries.
Hence going by the above decisions, one can take the liberty to choose by self when it comes
to personal issues. However when it involves decisions beyond the individual, one should
always be a part of the decision making team constructively facilitating the decision, which
lies in the best interest of everyone involved.
Essay/Article – 2
Napoleon once said that an ordinary military commander would perform better than two
excellent ones. By this he meant he meant that a military commander should exercise his
power independently and make his decisions without the interference from others, which
could ensure high efficiency in military operations. Napoleon is a genius and his works might
be true in military struggles. However, for most people, it is essential for them to consult
other people before they make any important decision.
Young people need to seek advice from elder ones in the matters of their life and careers.
Sometimes the options of the old people are so valuable that it plays a very important role in
helping young people make decisions. Each year, millions of young students attend a national
entrance examination for higher education. When deciding on the subjects and schools, the
students often receive options from their parents, teachers, fiends or those who took part in
the examination in the previous years. When running the government, officials need to
consult experts and the masses before they make any important decisions. “A wise ruler
should gather opinion from all sides”, this is an epigram held by generations of Chinese rulers
in the past. In the seventies and eighties of the last century, some local governments in east
China constructed many chemical plants to facilitate the development of the economy,
without hearing the opinions of environmental experts.
As a result, the wastes and gases discharged from these plants have brought about serious
pollutions to the local environment. As an old Chinese saying is, “three cobblers with their
wits combined equals Zhuge Liang , the master mind.” A person may benefit a lot from the
opinions of experienced people: he can avoid the similar mistakes and learn valuable lessons.
The successful people are often those who are able to utilize the opinions of others.
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Should one judge a person by external appearance?
Essay/Article – 1
What do you feel when a handsome gentleman or a beautiful lady passes by? Then how about
a fat short person wearing a dirty shirt? You feel differently? Yes, most people do. It’s very
common for people to judge a person by external appearance, because it’s easy and direct,
and it’s instinctive. Appearance is a very important aspect of a person and reflects one’s
personalities. Sometime you call tell the person’s characterizes from his appearance.
However, in most cases, you cannot tell exactly what the person is life just from the external
appearance, and ethically, we should not judge a person just be one glance at his external
appearance.
“Beauty and beast” and “Snow white and seven dwarves” are two stories that are almost
known by everyone. Although there are fables, there is deep meaning inside them. What you
can learn from them is that people that are not so good-looking can be very good people
internally. And actually there are tons of examples in reality. Napoleon is a very short guy,
but he was one of the most famous in the history. Theodore Roosevelt, former US president
during World War II, is handicapped; but he is one of the most successful presidents in
American history. So how can you tell about the people from their external appearance?
Moreover, there are other inedible facts that show that a beautiful person may be rotten
inside. There are any many prostitutes on the busy streets. It’s obviously that they are very
beautiful, but are they really righteous people? A beautiful appearance is a good thing, but
righteous heart is more valuable. Finally, as we can see, its’ out of question that we should
not judge people just from their external appearance. The most important standard is their
internal personality.
Essay/Article – 2
Lincoln, one of the greatest American presidents, was said to be very bad looking. Once
when his rival accused him to be a “two sided” person, Lincoln replied by saying to the
audience, “If I had another face, would I wear this one?” Now what we remember about
Lincoln is his character, his deeds, his contribution to the country, no one would care about
what he looked like.
I agree with the title statement because a person’s inner quality is much more important than
his external appearances. Whether a person looks good or bad looks good or bad cannot be
decided by himself. A man’s external appearances are born and generally cannot be changed.
But everyone can improve his inner quality by his own efforts. By reading books, learning
from others and working hard, we can make progress and achieve success. It was said that
Napoleon was very short, but he was respected and admired by people as an outstanding
military and political leader. It is the dream of every man to have a pretty wife, yet it is also
widely acknowledged that a beautiful woman does not necessarily equal a good wife.
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Many men would rather choose a woman with a common face than a good-looking one.
Because they know the virtue of a woman is more important than her outer appearance. A
great deal of couples who go hand in hand for their life attribute their happy marriage to
loving the other’s inner quality instead of loving a pretty face. In business, a boss would
never judge his employee by their external appearances; instead what he concerns would be
their capability, their assiduity, and their performance. A person with bad appearances but
good performance will more likely be promoted than another one with good appearances but
bad performance.
Above all, if a person has good appearances, he should not rely on them because he will
unlikely achieve success if he does not work hard. However, on the other hand, if he looks
bad, he should not feel depressed because he can make others respect him through his own
efforts.
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Is money the most important aspect of a job?
Essay/Article – 1
These days, someone may hold the opinion that the most important aspect of a job a job is the
money a person earns. It sounds like true, because with a lot of money, one can live a better
life materially. Admittedly, no one can deny the important role money plays in his daily life.
But, when you take aspects of a job into consideration, such as the precious skills and
experiences one gain from that job, the prospect of the job and the social status, you may
doubt: Is money the most important? Isn’t this attitude to narrow? As far as I am concerned, I
don’t agree with the statement, I doubt whether it can bear much analysis.
We live in a big society that is composed of people from all walks of life. Different jobs have
different functions in this society. For example, the function of cleaners is to keep the city
clean and tidy; the function of soldiers is to maintain the safety and peace of the society.
Maybe they earn less money than those businessmen, but they still work heart and soul on
their duties. I believe it is the contributions they make to society that makes them work that
hard!
Now, let’s take a close look at the scientists. Some of them spend their whole lives inventing
new things, exploring the mysterious things and innovating new technology. The scientist,
such as Edison, Einstein and Madam Curie, will be shinning like the stars in everyone’s
heart! We can say, it is the spirits they have, contributions they have made to all human
beings, great findings and inventions they have left to us that makes them giants! Thanks to
them, the society is developing faster and faster. Can we say what they do is for the sake of
money?
Furthermore, if everyone in this society worked only for money, what can it turn out to be?
Severe competitions my make people become cold-blooded, force them to use illegal means
in order to make profit, or even commit some crimes. And the relationships among people
might become estranged. To conclude, I think money cannot be the most important aspect of
a job. Money is not everything! As a saying goes: Money can buy a house but cannot buy a
family, money can buy blood but cannot buy one’s life, money can buy a wife but cannot buy
true love,” So, don’t stress too much on the money one earns. In fact there are other
highlights of a job waiting for you to feel, to find.
Essay/Article – 2
Most people have some sort of bias against money, thinking that everything linked to money,
no matter what the thing is, is evil. If money is really evil in itself, it must follow that money
should never be a consideration in choosing a job. The validity of this argument, however, is
seldom questioned. Only when we notice that money is merely a means of exchange and does
not lead to any moral judgment in itself, we can then study the issue impartially.
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The crux of the issue here is why we should take any job at all. Surely there are many reasons
for taking a job, such as for professional respect, for the passion to serve the society, for some
kind of social status—and, for money. In very rare cases do people ever choose their jobs for
merely one of these reasons. Most of the times people work because they want to achieve a
number of their personal goals. The most important aspect of their jobs will hence vary from
person to person. Of course it is perfectly possible that a person may choose a job largely
because of the generous pay that the employer offers. Everyone has to get enough money to
survive. Hence if a person is currently living in a miserable condition and, out of his
desperate desire for money, he accepts a job offer, the most important aspect of his job is
most probably the money. And there is nothing morally wrong with that. The demand for
money should surely prevail in this case.
However the need for certain minimum level of salary is only one of the considerations that
people make when choosing jobs. It is hence also possible that the person is already rather
rich even without a job, but he chooses to work to make himself happier. The pleasures of his
career life may emerge from his passion for the profession or the social recognition he may
get thereby, but no matter why he feels happy after taking the job, in this case money may
only play an insignificant role, if any, in his job.
What have now been presented can actually be seen as the two extreme ends of the issue.
Most likely is still that a person works both for his basic needs and for the pleasure
specifically derived from the career life. Whether money will come out as the single most
important determinant is hence depended on the various possible cases, more particularly, on
the importance of the wages to his living standard. It is therefore rather ridiculous to give a
general yes-or-no response to this question and it takes person judicious considerations before
he decides to take a job.
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Is Science A Blessing Or Curse?
Science had been define as a systematize body of knowledge. It is neither good nor bad in
itself. It the use, to which it is put, which makes it good or bad. Man may use it for his
welfare as well as for warfare. It is a blessing in peace and a curse in war. The various uses of
science given below will make the point clear.
Science is a blessing. It has given man control over nature. Now he is no longer the slave of
his surroundings. He has conquered time and space. Fast moving trains, buses, aero planes
and steamships enable him to travel long distance without any difficulty. Today, he flies like
birds in aeroplanes. Aeroplanes are the speediest means of traveling. Even on the widest
oceans he undertakes voyages without any worry with the help of steamships.
Besides this telephone, telegraph, fax and electronic mail enable him to keep contact with his
friends and relatives living at distance places. So it appears that the world has contracted,
moreover, formerly man had to bear the severity of the weather silently. He had no control
over scorching summer and shivering winter, but now he has electric fans, coolers and air-
conditioning plants with make him forget completely about summer and its hardships. In
winter, he uses the heaters to keep his rooms and offices warm. Thus, through the blessing of
science, he has become the master of his environment.
The enemies of man are numerous; formerly, man had no knowledge of bacteria and virus
which take a heavy toll of life every year. But the microscope and electronic microscope have
shown him these mighty enemies clearly. With the help of science, man has prepared
wonderful medicines which reliever him of his pain and suffering within no times. Diseases
like cancer and leprosy have been conquered. There are no longer epidemics like plague,
cholera and malaria. Besides this, science has given him very useful machines, like x-ray
machine, ultrasound and cat scanning machine, which helps him to detect the trouble spots in
the body. In short, today man can live a longer and healthier life. It is all due to science.
Man, today, enjoys more comforts and luxuries than ever before. He has a much higher
standard of living than his forefathers. It is all due to the increased production of goods made
possible by science. Deserts have been converted into greeneries.
We can today grow two blades of grass where formerly only one used to grow. It is all due to
the scientific methods of cultivation.
Better irrigation facilities, improved seeds, chemical fertilizers, have increased agricultural
production manifold. Similarly, in the field of industry, large scale production has become
possible by the use of machines invented by science.
After hard work, man needs healthy recreation to relax himself, science has provided us with
the radio, the cinema, the television, computer etc. these modern means not only entertain but
also educate the people. Besides this, the great enemy of man, ignorance, has been
completely defeated. Books magazines and newspapers are being published on a mass scale.
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Every man is now in a position to receive education, owing to the invention of the electric
printing press.
Computer is a scientific device which has proved its importance in every branch of
knowledge. It is greatly becoming a substitute of man on all fronts, office or industry, study
or research, home or field, entertainment or war, every where the machine and systems are
being computerized. One cannot say to what extent the computers will go.
So the blessings of science are numerous. But this is only one side of the picture. Man has
misused the scientific knowledge in various ways. He has used it for inventing large
machines. These machines are now used to increase productions. Countries after countries are
being industrialized. But industrialization has given rise to completion, unemployment
pollution and capitalism. Machines, being labor saving devices, have thrown thousands out of
employment. Capitalism has created class struggle. Big capitalists exploit the laborers. This is
a curse for the whole society. Misuse of science is responsible for this.
Man, today, has the most destructive weapons ever produced so far. In his mad race to
conquer the world, he has used science for producing fatal weapons, like atom and hydrogen
bombs. If there is any war any future, it is certain that the whole civilization will come to an
end. Science cannot but be the greatest curse for mankind in the event of a third world war.
Science has made man forgetful of god and religion. He believes only in those things which
he can explain and understand by his reason. Thus, he has become a moral pigmy.
If we look at the problem impartially, we shall find that it is not easy to label science as a
blessing or curse. In itself, science is neither a curse nor a blessing. If it is used for peaceful
purposes and for promoting the welfare of mankind, it is a great blessing. If it is used
otherwise, then it is a curse. So, it is its use which makes it a blessing or a curse.
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Misuse of Scientific Knowledge
Man uses science in various ways. He has applied it to his day-to-day work with great
advantage. But he has not been satisfied with its useful applications alone. He has misused it.
How scientific knowledge has been misused by man will be clear from the following account.
Scientific knowledge is neither good nor bad in itself. It is man who puts it to a good or bad
use. We know that now-a-days everything is being done with the help of big and small
machines.
We get our water supply through the municipal water-work. Similarly, there are flour mills
which grind our grains. We do not want to walk on foot even to small distance. Cycles,
scooter and auto rickshaws are used for going to the schools, colleges and offices. Thus, the
place of manual work has been taken by machines; this has made the people weak and
unhealthy.
We are happy to say that the production has been increased greatly by science. Gigantic
machines are now-a-day’s employed to produce goods on a mass scale. No doubt, the goods
so produced are very cheap. But along with them man also becomes cheaper. Machines are
known as labor saving devices. If, say about one hundred men are required to complete a
certain work, only ten men will be sufficient when machine is used for it. Thus, with
increasing use of machines, thousands and thousands of people are thrown out of
employment. Machines also discourage cottage industries. That is why Gandhiji was against
them. He used to say that they produce goods on a mass scale and thereby throw the masses
out of employment.
Capitalism is another is another product of the misuse of science. Large scale industries,
which are gifts of science, have created two big classes in society. On the one hand, there are
the poor labors that work from morning till night but do not get even two full meals a day.
The capitalist exploit the labors. Thus a class-conflict is created in society.
Science increase human unhappiness and dissatisfaction with life. It increases his wants.
Science has invented many goods of comforts and luxury. It has invented the radio, the
cinema, and the television. It manufactures beautiful suits and saris. But all are not rich
enough to possess these costly things. All cannot lead the life of the hero and heroine of a
cinema film. The result is that they feel unhappy and dissatisfied. Thus science increases
human misery.
These are but the minor evils of scientific inventions. One of the greatest misuses of science
is its use for purpose of war. It has produced fatal weapons like atoms and hydrogen bombs.
Rockets and inter-continental ballistic missiles enable their possessors to drop bombs on any
corner of the world. The use of these weapons in any future will cause mass-scale massacre.
Indeed, the entire civilization will be destroyed. This misuse has made all right thinking men
indignant with science itself.
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So far, scientific knowledge has been used only for material progress of man. It has made
man completely forgetful of the spiritual side of his life. Science has taught him to believe
only in things which can be explained through reason. He has lost faith in god. This is the
greatest evil of science.
Of every problem there are two sides-the dark and the bright. We have given above only the
dark side. Science will prove a great blessing to mankind if it is used only for beneficial
purposes. It should be used only as a good servant. It should not be allowed to become the
master of man.
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AGRICULTURE AND FOOD MANAGEMENT IN
INDIA
The performance of the agricultural sector influences the growth of the Indian economy.
Agriculture (including allied activities) accounted for 17.8 per cent of the Gross Domestic
Product (GDP-at constant prices) in 2007-08, as compared to 21.7 per cent in 2003-04.
Notwithstanding the fact that the share of this sector in GDP has been declining over the
years, its role remains critical as it accounts for about 52 per cent of the employment in the
country. Apart from being the provider of food and fodder, its importance also stems from the
raw materials that it provides to industry. The prosperity of the rural economy is also closely
linked to agriculture and allied activities. The rural sector (including agriculture) is being
increasingly seen as a potential source of domestic demand; a recognition, that is shaping the
marketing strategies of entrepreneurs wishing to widen the demand for goods and services.
In terms of composition, out of the total share of 17.8 per cent in GDP in 2007-08 for the
agriculture and allied activities sector, agriculture alone accounted for 16.3 per cent of
GDP, followed by fishing at 0.8 per cent and forestry and logging at 0.7 per cent of
GDP.
Area, Production and Yield

Growth in the production of agricultural crops depends on acreage and yield. Limitations in
the expansion of agricultural land suggest that increase in gross cropped area can come from
multiple cropping. In view of this, the main source of long-term output growth is
improvement in yield.
Compound growth rates of index of area under rice showed a negative growth of (-) 0.1 per
cent per annum during 2001-08, compared to the 1990s. Area under rice cultivation has
remained more or less stagnant in the recent years while growth in yield has shown an
increase.
Area under wheat, that was around 25 million hectares in 2002-03, increased to 26.4 million
hectares in 2005-06 and further to 28 million hectares in 2007-08. The coverage under
irrigation has been about 87 to 89 per cent of area for wheat. The compound growth rates of
indices of area, production and yield of wheat during 1991-2000 and 2001-08 show a
perceptible decline.
Cotton occupies an important place among the cash crops in India. Cotton is grown in nine
major States namely, Punjab, Haryana, North Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya
Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. Area under cotton increased from 7.60
million hectares in 2003-04 to 9.43 million hectares in 2007-08. The yield of cotton went up
from 307 kgs per hectare in 2003-04 to 466 kgs per hectare in 2007-08. The compound
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growth in index of yield has shown an increase from (-) 0.4 per cent during the 1990s to 15.8
per cent during 2001-08. However, the growth in index of area moderated, but remained
positive. The combined effect on index of production was an increase in growth from 2.3 per
cent during the 1990s to 17.5 per cent during 2001-08.
During 2008-09 the area sown at all-India level under kharif was 2.3 per cent less than the
area sown in 2007-08 of 1,039.23 lakh hectares. As on March 27, 2009, area sown under all
rabi crops taken together has been reported to be higher at 638.33 lakh hectares, as compared
to 619.68 lakh hectares in the corresponding period of 2007-08.
Agricultural Inputs
Improvement in yield, which is a key to long-term growth, depends on a host of factors that
include technology, use of quality seeds, fertilizers and pesticides and micro-nutrients, and,
not the least, irrigation. Each of these plays a role in determining the yield level and in turn
the augmentation in the level of production.
The first decisive step that a farmer takes relates to sowing. The availability of quality seeds
(among other factors) makes a critical difference to output growth. In India, more than four-
fifths of the farmers rely on farm-saved seeds, leading to a low seed replacement rate.
The Indian Seed Programme includes the participation of Central and State governments,
the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), State agricultural universities and the
cooperatives and private players. There are 15 State seed corporations besides two national
level corporations, viz. the National Seeds Corporation and the State Farms Corporation of
India. Indian seeds programme recognizes three kinds of seed generation, viz. breeder,
foundation and certified seeds. Production of breeder and foundation seeds during 2008-09 is
anticipated at 1.00 lakh quintals and 9.69 lakh quintals, respectively, and the distribution of
certified/quality seeds at about 190.0 lakh quintals.
The Ministry of Agriculture is implementing a Central sector scheme, “Development and

Strengthening of Infrastructure Facilities for Production and Distribution of Quality
Seeds”, on all-India basis since 2005-06. The scheme is aimed at making available quality
seeds of various crops to the farmers at affordable price, and in time, so as to enhance seed
replacement rate, boost seed production in private sector and help the public sector seed
companies to contribute in enhancing seed production.
A major thrust under the scheme is on improving quality of farm-saved seeds through“Seed
Village Programme,” under which more than 25,000 seed villages have been organized
during 2008-09 across the country. Certified/quality seed production has increased from
194.31 lakh quintals during 200607 to 250.35 lakh quintals during 2008-09.
The seed component of the Prime Minister’s Relief Package for distressed farmers is being
implemented in 31 suicide-affected districts in four States of Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh,
Karnataka and Kerala. Under the scheme, certified seeds are supplied at 50 per cent of the
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seed cost to the farmers in such affected districts. During the year 2008-09, an amount of Rs.
445.81 crore was released under the PM’s Relief Package.
The Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights (PPV&FR) Authority was
established in November 2005. The Authority has the mandate to implement provisions of the
PPV&FR Act, 2001. Fourteen crops, namely, rice, bread wheat, maize, sorghum, pearl millet,
chickpea, pigeon pea, green gram, black gram, lentil, field pea, kidney bean, cotton and jute
were notified for the purpose of registration under the Act. The Authority has plans to extend
its coverage to forestry, aromatic agriculture and food management and medicinal plants.
In response to the changes that have taken place in the seed sector, the existing Seeds Act,
1966 is proposed to be replaced by a suitable legislation to, inter alia, (i) create a facilitative
climate for growth of the seed industry so as to enhance seed replacement rates, boost the
export of seeds and encourage import of useful germplasm, create a conducive atmosphere
for application of frontier sciences in varietal development and for enhanced investment in
related R&D.
Irrigation
The government of India has taken up irrigation potential creation through public funding and
assisting farmers to create potential on their own farms. Substantial irrigation potential has
been created through major and medium irrigation schemes.The total irrigation potential in
the country has increased from 81.1 million hectares in 1991-92 to 102.08 million
hectares up to the end of the Tenth Five Year Plan (2006-07). Of the total potential
created, however, only 87.2 million hectares is actually utilized. The Working Group on
Water Resources for the Eleventh Five Year Plan (2007-12) has proposed creation of
irrigation potential of 16 million hectares (9 million hectares from MMI sector and 7 million
hectares from MI sector) during the Eleventh Five Year Plan period.
The Central government has also initiated the Accelerated Irrigation Benefit
Programme (AIBP) from 1996-97 for extending assistance for the completion of irrigation
schemes remaining incomplete. Under the programme the project approved by the Planning
Commission are eligible for assistance. In 2008-09, Rs. 2,791 crore was released to AIBP for
major and medium irrigation schemes up to December 2008.
Fertilizers
Chemical fertilizers have played a significant role in the development of the agricultural
sector. The per hectare consumption of fertilizers in nutrient terms stood at 117.07 kg in
2007-08. However, recent trends in agricultural productivity show a decline in marginal
productivity of soil in relation to the application of fertilizers and in some cases has also
become negative. Some of the evident factors contributing to the decline in marginal
productivity are: skewed NPK application ratio in the country, comparatively higher
application of straight fertilizers like urea, DAP and MOP as against the complex fertilizers
(NPKs) which are considered to be ergonomically better and more balanced fertilizer
products. Lack of application of proper nutrients based on soil analysis has also contributed
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to slowdown in growth of productivity.
The domestic production of urea in the year 2008-09 was 199.22 lakh tonnes, as
compared to 187.27 lakh tonnes in 2002-03, whereas that of DAP declined in 2008-09 to
29.33 lakh tonnes, after reaching a peak of 52.36 lakh tonnes in 2002-03, mainly because of
shift from DAP production to complex fertilizer production.
Availability of raw material/intermediates has also been a major bottleneck towards increase
in production. There is no domestic production of MOP and its requirement is met fully by
import.
The government has taken various policy initiatives for the fertilizer sector. These cover
pricing policy for indigenous urea, new investments in urea sector, nutrient-based pricing,
production and availability of fortified and coated fertilizers, uniform freight subsidy on all
fertilizers under the fertilizer subsidy regime, concession scheme for decontrolled phosphatic
and potassic fertilizers, inclusion of Mono Ammonium Phosphate (MAP), Tri Super
Phosphate (TSP) and Ammonium Sulphate (AS) in the concession scheme, revised scheme
for concession for Single Super Phosphate (SSP) based on inputs cost and a uniform all-India
maximum retail price of Rs. 3,400 per tonne for SSP, policy for conversion of FO/LSHS urea
units to natural gas.
National Food Security Mission

The National Food Security Mission (NFSM) is being implemented in 312 identified
districts of 17 States of the country. The NFSM-Rice is being implemented in 136 districts
of 14 States i.e. Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Karnataka,
Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.
The interventions covered under NFSM-Rice include demonstrations on improved practices;
system of rice intensification; promotion of hybrid rice-production and distribution;
distribution of HYV seeds; seed mini-kits; micro-nutrients; liming; conoweeders; zero till
seed drills; multi-crop planters; seed drills; rotavators, diesel pump sets, power weeders, knap
sack sprayers; plant protection chemicals and bio-pesticides; farmers’ field schools; local
initiatives; award for best performing districts; mass media campaign; international exposures
for technical knowledge enrichment and project management team. NFSM-Wheat is being
implemented in 141 districts of 9 State—Bihar, Gujarat, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh,
Maharashtra, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.
The Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana

Under the Scheme of RKVY, the following indicative broad activities have been identified
for focused attention–Integrated Development of Food Crops, including coarse cereals, minor
millets and pulses; agriculture mechanization; soil health and productivity; development of
rain-fed farming systems; integrated pest management; market infrastructure; horticulture;
animal husbandry, dairying and fisheries; Concept to completion projects that have definite
timelines; support to institutions that promote agriculture and horticulture, etc.; organic and
bio-fertilizers; and innovative schemes. During 2007-08, an outlay of Rs. 1,500 crore was
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approved of which an amount of Rs. 1,246.89 crore, including Rs. 48 crore at Rs. 10 lakh per
district for preparation of District Agriculture Plan (DAP), was released to the States. For the
year 2008-09, an outlay of Rs. 2,891.70 crore has been provided at revised estimate (RE)
stage and an amount of Rs. 2,886.80 crore has been released to the eligible States as on
March 31, 2009.
Information Availability
Timely availability of reliable information on agricultural output is of great significance for
planning and policy making. The existing system of agricultural statistics, in spite of
established procedures and wide coverage, has inherent limitations in the matter of providing
an objective assessment of crops at the pre-harvesting stages, with the desired spatial details
which are essential to identify problem areas and the nature of required interventions in terms
of spatial, temporal and qualitative inferences. Capabilities of the existing system of crop
forecasts and crop estimation can be enhanced with the introduction of technological
advancements and the adoption of emerging methodologies. In turn, an efficient and sound
information mechanism can assist considerably in the management of concerns in areas such
as food security, price stability, international trade, etc. Remote Sensing (RS), Information
and Communication Technology (ICT) and Geographic Information System (GIS)can
be used towards this end. Schemes/projects like Forecasting Agricultural Output using
Space, Agro-meteorology and Land-based Observations (FASAL) and Extended Range
Forecasting System (ERFS) have been initiated to establish a more scientific and reliable
basis for forecasting.
In 1987, the Department of Agriculture and Cooperation (DAC) sponsored a project

called “Crop Acreage and Production Estimates (CAPE)” with the objective of developing
methodologies using the RS techniques for crop area and production forecasting. The project
was implemented through the Space Applications Centre (SAC), Ahmedabad and provided a
platform for development and standardization of basic procedures, models and software
packages for crop area and production forecasting, using remote sensing and weather data.
The concept of FASAL seeks to strengthen the current capabilities of early and in-season
crop estimation capabilities from econometric and weather-based techniques with remote
sensing applications.
Keeping in view the expertise needed, some of the functions under the scheme have been
outsourced. For example, forecasting of area and production of major crops using Remote
Sensing technology is being handled by SAC, and forecast of production based on
econometric modelling is being done by the Institute of Economic Growth (IEG), New Delhi.
The activities relating to forecast of production based on crop growth and yield modelling by
making use of the agro-met data has been assigned to the India Meteorological Department
(IMD). All other functions, including coordination with various groups are being performed
by the National Crop Forecasting Centre (NCFC) in the Ministry of Agriculture.
Experimental forecasts based on econometric models and forecast based on RS technology
for specific crops have commenced.
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Agriculture Insurance
The frequency and severity of droughts, floods and cyclones and rising temperatures, agro-
climatic variations and erratic rainfall accentuates uncertainty and risk in the agricultural
sector leading to huge losses in agricultural production and the livestock population in India.
The National Insurance Scheme (NAIS) for crops has been implemented from rabi 1999-
2000 season. Under the scheme and until rabi 2007-08, an area of 184 million hectares of
about 1,155 lakh farmers have been covered and a sum of Rs. 1,21,606 crore insured. Claims
to the tune of about Rs. 11,607 crore have been reported against premium income of about
Rs. 3,626 crore, benefitting 302 lakh families.
Under the Weather Based Crop Insurance Scheme (WBCIS) being implemented by the
Agriculture Insurance Company of India Ltd. (AIC), 10 States have been covered on pilot
basis during the kharif 2008 season. About 1.4 lakh farmers with 1.87 lakh hectares of
cropped area were insured for a sum of Rs. 309 crore generating a premium of Rs. 31.5 crore
(including subsidy, farmers’ share of premium is Rs. 11.82 crore). This pilot is being
continued in rabi 2008-09. In addition to AIC, private insurers like ICICI-LOMBARD
General Insurance Company and IFFCO-TOKIO General Insurance Company have
also been included for implementation of the scheme in selected areas.
National Policy for Farmers, 2007

Major policy provisions of the National Policy for Farmers, 2007, include provisions for asset
reforms, water use efficiency, use of technology, inputs and services like soil health: good
quality seeds, disease free planting material, support services for women, credit, insurance
etc. Provisions have also been made for National Agricultural Bio-security System, setting up
of farm schools in the fields of outstanding farmers to promote farmer to farmer learning and
to strengthen extension services and expanding food security basket to include nutritious
crops like bajra, jowar, ragi and millets, which are mostly grown in dry land areas. A
comprehensive National Social Security Scheme for the farmers for ensuring livelihood
security, by taking care of insurance needs on account of illness, old age, is included.
Food Management
Food management in India has three basic objectives viz. procurement of food-grains from
farmers at remunerative prices, distribution of food-grains to the consumers particularly the
vulnerable sections of the society at affordable prices and maintenance of food buffers for
food security and price stability. The instruments for food management are the Minimum
Support Price (MSP) and Central Issue Price (CIP). The focus is on incentivizing farmers by
ensuring fair value for their produce through the Minimum Support Price mechanism,
distribution of food-grains at subsidized rates to 6.52 crore BPL families, covering all
households at the risk of hunger under Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY), establishing grain
banks in chronically food-scarce areas and strengthening the Public Distribution System
(PDS). The nodal agency which undertakes procurement, distribution and storage of food-
grains is the Food Corporation of India (FCI). Procurement at MSP is open-ended, while
distribution is governed by the scale of allocation and its off-take by the beneficiaries.
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Challenges and Outlook
The agriculture sector faces challenges on various fronts. On the supply side, the yield of
most crops has not improved significantly and in some cases fluctuated downwards. The
scope for increase in the net sown area is limited and farm size has been shrinking. In the
case of certain crops like sugarcane, extreme variability in the acreage and production over
the years has been a matter of concern. On the other hand, in the case of pulses, production
has just not kept pace with the requirement leading to a rise in prices given that its
availability in the international markets is limited.
Therefore, there is clearly a need for a renewed focus on improving productivity, and at the
same time, to step up the growth of allied activities and non-farm activities that can help
improve value addition. The current focus on developing rural infrastructure, particularly
rural roads, needs to be maintained as it would go a long way in providing connectivity that is
essential for movement of agricultural produce. The irrigation sector requires a renewed
thrust, both in terms of investment as also modern management. There is considerable scope
for development of micro-irrigation systems and watersheds and in the use of a participatory
approach for achieving the same.
There is also a need to narrow the gap between producer prices and consumer prices through
proper marketing support. The development of marketing infrastructure and storage and
warehousing and cold chains and spot markets that are driven by modern technology will go
a long way in addressing this need.
As per the Report of the Committee on Financial Inclusion (January 2008), more than 73 per
cent of farmer households have no access to formal sources of credit. Innovative institutional
mechanisms that provide credit and financial products (including insurance products)
specifically designed to meet the needs of the farm sector, keeping their risk-bearing ability
in view, is the need of the hour.
The rural economy needs to be viewed as comprising of a continuum of interrelated

economic activities. Farming needs to be dovetailed with viable off-farm and non-farm
activities. Farmers need to be facilitated to take up value addition such as processing of
agricultural produce, horticulture, pisciculture, poultry, and development of non-farm rural
enterprises.
On the distribution side, there is need to ensure that benefits accrue to the targeted
population. A mission approach for promotion of smart cards and its cross reference with
ration cards and voter ID cards would help better targeting, lesser leakages and easier
administration.
An area that requires focused attention is the issue of sustainability of agriculture with due
emphasis on environmental concerns. Soil erosion, water logging, reduction in ground-water
table and the decline in the surface irrigation are the problems faced by agriculture. The
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consequences of climate change on Indian agriculture also need to be factored in the strategy
for the development of this sector.
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Should the Prostitution be legalized?
Prostitution is often called “the oldest profession in the world”. One of the first forms is
sacred prostitution supposedly practiced among Sumerians. In ancient sources (Herodotus,
Thucydides) there are many traces of sacred prostitution, starting perhaps with Babylon
where each woman had to reach once a year the sanctuary of Militta (Aphridites or
Nana/Anahita) and have sex with a foreigner as a sign of hospitality for a symbolic price.
Prostitution is the sale of sexual services (typically oral sex or sexual intercourse, less often
anal sex) for money or other kind of return, generally indiscriminate with many persons. A
person selling sexual favors in a prostitute and is called a sex worker. Most prostitutes are
woman offering their services to men (known as Johns,) but male prostitutes are women
offering their services to make customers also exist and are called hustlers or rent boys. Male
prostitutes offering services to female customers are comparatively rare and are known as
gigolos. Prostitutes are stigmatized in most societies and religions; their customers are
typically stigmatized to a lesser degree.
The term prostitution is sometimes used in the more general meaning of having sex in order
to achieve a certain goal different from procreation or pleasure. This includes forms of
religious prostitution in which sex is practiced in compliance with religious precepts.
Prostitution in this broader sense is also commonly used in espionage. Another generalization
is using the term or an equivalent for earning well in an unscrupulous degrading manner.
Prostitution today occurs in various forms. In street prostitution, the prostitute solicits
customers while waiting at street corners or walking alongside a street usually dressed in
skimpy, suggestive clothing. The act is performed in the customer’s care or in a nearby rented
room. This is the lowest paid and most dangerous form of prostitution; street prostitutes are
often drug addicts and are commonly subjected to violence by both their pimps and
customers.
Prostitution occurs in some massage parlous and in Asian countries, in some barber shops,
where sexual services may be offered for an additional tip. Brothels are establishments
specifically dedicated to prostitution often confined to special red-light areas in big cities.
In escort prostitution, the customer calls and agency and the act takes place at the customer’s
place of residence or more commonly at his hotel room. Prostitution also takes place in the
prostitute’s apartment and in many counties as a legal form of prostitution. A hybrid between
brothel and apartment prostitution exists in Germany, Belgium, Switzerland and the
Netherlands: female prostitutes rent tiny one room apartments in red-light areas and solicit
customers from behind windows.
In Japan it is not uncommon for middle-class school girls to prostitute themselves, often via
‘phone clubs’ that allow them to anonymously establish contact first by phone. In many
countries illegal immigrants work in prostitution often against their will. The term used for
forcing people into prostitution is “sexual slavery”. In addition to the first world, this also
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takes place in countries of South Asia such as India and Thailand where young girls are
sometimes sold to brothel owners. In modern day in Thailand this is becoming much rarer.
While in both of these societies visiting prostitutes is a common and almost normal behavior,
Thailand is also a destination of sex tourist, travelers from rich counties in search of cheap
sexual services. Other popular sex tourism destinations are Brazil, the Caribbean and former
eastern bloc countries.
Female prostitution, especially street prostitutes, are commonly associated with a pimp, a
man who lives off the proceeds of several prostitutes and may offer some protection in return.
The relationship between pimp and prostitutes is often abusive.
Legal Situation
The unadorned act of exchanging money for sex among adults is legal in many countries; the
United States (except for most Nevada countries), Muslim and various Communist countries
being notable exception. At one end of the spectrum, prostitution carries the death penalty in
several Muslim countries; at the other end, prostitutes are taxpaying and unionized
professionals in the Netherlands and brothels are legal and advertising business there
(however, the age of consent for prostitution is 18, while in general it is 16). In most
countries, it is however almost impossible to engage in most forms of prostitution legally
because several surrounding activities, such as advertising, solicitation, pimping, owning,
operating or working in a brothel are not permitted legally.
Sweden outlaws the buying but not selling of sex. Law enforcement is typically concentrated
against establishments engaged in sexual slavery or owned by organized crime and against
forms of prostitution that generate citizen complaints. In most countries where prostitution is
illegal at least some forms of it are tolerated. It has often been alleged that this situation
allows the police to extort money or services from prostitutes in exchange for “looking the
other way”.
In some jurisdictions, such as Nevada, Switzerland and several Australian states, prostitution
is legal but heavily regulates. Such approaches are taken with the recognition that prostitution
is impossible to eliminate in an open society and thus these societies have chosen to regulate
it in ways that reduce the more undesirable aspects of the practice. Goals of such regulations
include controlling sexually transmitted diseases, reducing sexual slavery, controlling where
brothels may operate as well as other reasons that vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction.
Daily Planet is a brothel in Melbourne, Australia of which since 2003 shares are listed on the
Australian Stock Exchange. Several western countries have recently enacted laws punishing
citizens who, as sex-tourists, engaged in sex with minors in other countries. These are rarely
enforced.
Medical Situation
Since prostitutes tend to have large numbers of sexual partners, prostitution has often been
associated with the spread of sexually transmitted diseases, like AIDS.
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There are a number of typical responses to this problem: to try to ban prostitution completely,
to introduce a system of registration for prostitutes that mandates health checks and other
public health measures to try reach out informally to prostitutes and their clients to encourage
the use of barrier contraception and greater productive. Banning prostitution tends to drive it
underground, making treatment and monitoring more difficult. Registering prostitutes makes
the state complicit in prostitution, effectively making the state into a pimp and still does not
address the behavior of unregistered prostitutes. Both of the last two measures can be viewed
as harm reduction policies.
Many countries have sex worker advocacy groups which lobby against criminalization and
discrimination of prostitutes. These groups generally oppose Nevada-style regulation and
over sight, stating that prostitution should be treated like other professions. Other groups,
often with religious backgrounds, focus on offering women a way out of the world of
prostitution while not taking position on the legal question.
The feminist position towards prostitution is divided: while some feminists believe
prostitution as an act of sexual self-determination, decry discrimination and demand des-
stigmatization and decriminalization, others, exemplified by the American radical feminist
and ex-prostitute Andrea Dworkin, consider it to be a sexual abuse or even rape. The former
group pushed a law reform in Germany resulting in January 2002 in the recognition of
prostitution as a regular profession making it possible for prostitutes to join the social security
and health care system and to form trade unions. The latter faction of feminists was able to
implement the remarkable law mentioned above in Sweden in 1999 when being sexual favors
was outlawed there but selling them was not.
In 1984, the United Nations adopted a convection stating that prostitution incompatible with
human dignity requiring all signing parties to punish pimps and brothel owners and operators
and to abolish all special treatment or registration of prostitutes. The convention was ratified
by 89 countries with the notable exception of Germany, the Netherlands and the United
States.
Prostitution has long been an issue in controversy and both side offer compelling arguments
to defend their position.
To being those opposed to the legalization of prostitution reveal several valid arguments. It is
argued that prostitution is an immoral practice and thus should be against the law in the
United States. Opponents of the morality position would claim that the job of the government
is not to legislate morality. Another solid argument against legalizing or decriminalizing
prostitution is that it encourages adultery. But, opponents would answer back that adultery
occurs even with illegal prostitution. Legalizing prostitution, opponents argue, would
victimize the desperate; for instance, young children and runaway children who needed
money to survive. According to an expert on prostitution, current prostitution ratios in Europe
are “incompatible with universal standards of human rights.” The expert and others activities
against legal prostitution are worried that physical and sexual violence will increase as the
demands increase. The same author concludes that prostitution should now be classified as
violence against women and all future rulings regarding prostitution has been legalized;
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prostitutes have not achieved greater autonomy or protection from exploitation by their
pimps. And in Netherlands, legalization has led to the increase of organized crime, making
the trafficking of women a very lucrative business.
There is a wide speared view that prostitution should be legalized. Proponents of the idea
have fascinating answers and solutions to the problems raised by the anti-prostitution crowd.
For instance, legalization proponents point to Nevada as a success story. Since prostitution
was legalized in Nevada in 1986, HIV testing shows no positive tests amongst the state’s
prostitutes, according to Randall Todd, Chief of the Nevada State health Division’s Bureau of
Disease Control and Intervention Services. Additionally, costs are in favor of the legalization
crowed, as “According to studies complied during the 1980s, the average prostitution arrest
costs tax payers $2000,” which was a considerable amount of money during that period.
Current estimates for prostitution enforcement in cities across the United States around $ 7.5
million per year. New York City spends over $ 23 million each year on outlawing
prostitution. Not only would legalization help save city costs, but it would also generate
revenue through special taxes commonly called “sin taxes”. Opponents argue that legalization
is a risky scheme. Realistically, proponents argue, people sell religion, politics, and education
all the time. Others buy the products sold without problem. Only when the product happens
to be your body- what is rightfully, your own property, does the government step in.
The debate over the legality of prostitution will continue despite valid arguments on both
sides of the spectrum. The criminalization of prostitution is likely to continue unless a drastic
change in policy occurs in the near future. Until that change does occur, the push for
legalization of prostitution will continue, along with the growing movements to overturn drug
and sodomy laws. In any case, the prostitution profession will continue as it has been
continuing since time immemorial.
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Time is Money
The tiny infant cuddled in the warmth of the cradle soon becomes a cute toddler who runs
after butterflies and rainbows. No sooner do the fairly tales and pranks of school days get
over than the carefree lad blossoms into an exquisite youth when the heart leaps up to pluck
the stars. The woods are lovely, dark and deep and the dreamy youth plans for the lovely
miles he has to tread until the hard facts of life stare him in the face. The stress, storm and
strife and manhood transforms him from within and without until one sad day the mirror
acquaints him with his ‘Other self’, i.e. ‘grey hair, sunken eyes and trembling hands’ and he
shockingly realizes that ‘shadows of the evening steal across the sky’. But Oh: What about
the rosy dreams waiting to find expression, the plans left halfway, the promises to be kept,
the words of lover never spoken and the aspiration to reach the starts? Seeing the shattered
dreams, lost hopes and barren regrets, his heart wails, “Oh: If only I get a second chancel:”
But no:: Life is insensitive and does not give us a second chance. We happen to pass through
this way but once:
A hurdle race from the womb to the tomb-if we may choose to describe life-compels us to
question ourselves, “Have we extracted all the joys, the Maker intended us to, out of life?
Time slips out of our hands even before we realize it. How tremulous is the water on the lotus
leaf: Such is the life of man-frail and transient. Life is a gift of God-given to us because He
loves us and wants us to realize the grandeur of life. But the in this journey of life one has to
be always alert to seize opportunities, learn from mistakes and make hay while the sun
shines.
The period of youth is the spring time of our life when the mind and body is at its very best.
The age from 15 to 25 years is of paramount importance because it lays down the foundation
and determines the path of our life. Studies, career choices and job opportunities are hotly-
debated issues during this period. It is high time students realise that spending time in noble
pursuits will enrich them from within and without while wasting time in ignoble pursuits will
impoverish them from within and without.
Money is man’s dearest possession. He will think a thousand times before parting with it.
Money can buy almost every material comfort and security which is again an integral part of
life. In the same way careful use of time can make our future. It can lead us to the Golden
Gate of achievement, satisfaction and progress while misusing time can drag us down to a
sad, where life is meaningless. As you saw so shall you reap. How many precious lives and
promising careers have been wasted and ruined only because they cared more for the false
pleasures of the world and in the process they missed the track that would have led them
forward. Perhaps the negative thoughts weakened them mentally and they lost the war even
before it began. Bad thoughts cultivate bad habits that lead us to bad places. Acquaint us with
bad people constitutes the losers who may win some of the battles in life out of sheer chance
but they are bound to lose the war unless they realise the value of time and use it wisely. The
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other category constitutes the winners who will win the ultimate war even if they lose some
of the battles in it.
Their wise investment in good thoughts, good books and good friends pays them rich
dividends. Using time wisely will ring out the old and false and ring in new and nobler modes
of life. It can lead us to the paradise of excellence and satisfaction as is evident from the lives
of great men and women who left their “footprints on the sands of Time’. Be they artists,
scientists, sportsmen, businessmen or administrators-they excelled in their chosen fields
because they realized the value of time. Procrastination, laziness, sluggishness are terms alien
to their hearts. They believe in 100% contentment. Thorns of failure, betrayal and losses
pricked them at every turning but they did not lose heart and persevered till they got the
coveted crown. They are all geniuses of our times-who have an infinite capacity of taking
pains at their task to the exclusion of everything else. They did not court success in a ‘sudden
flight’ but were toiling upwards in the night’ hammering on the edges of their abilities, on to
the bounds of perfection, breaking and bettering their own records until the world
acknowledged them as Masters of their trade: They realized very early in their lives that, “If
you waste time, time will waste you; if you honour time, time will honour you.
Some people always complain that they have no time to do the things they always wanted to
do. The weariness, the fever and the fret, consume all their time money and energy. You will
never get time for doing something, you will have to find time; change your priorities and
adjust your schedule. All the dreams and plans can be actualized with proper time
management because as Gandhiji said: “The days of miracle are not gone. They will abide so
long as God abides”. Trials and tribulations form an integral part of life. It is not help but
obstacles, not facilities but difficulties that make men. Men have risen to dizzy heights
despite the trials and crosses of life. Even the great Sarojini Naidu said, “Behold: I rise to
meet the destined spring and scale the stars upon my broken wings” Jawaharlal Nehru
advised his brilliant daughter Indira Priyadarshini in a letter, “The individual has it in him to
rise above the caprices of fate …. He can, if he so wills, stands four-square to all the winds of
heaven and hell. By doing so, he influences and turns the very fate.
Hence we ordinary mortals must not get disheartened by the problems of everyday life. We
must shed the burden of the unfortunate past and work sincerely today if we want to more
towards a brighter tomorrow. What matters most is the present moment ‘Now’. The day is
always his who works in it with serenity and great aims. Yesterday is only a dream and
tomorrow is only a vision but today well lived makes every yesterday a dream of happiness
and every tomorrow a vision of hope and glory. Let us therefore realize the value of today.
It is not only during exams that we must use our time wisely but throughout life because life
is our greatest Test-the Mother of all exams. If only we are a little more cautious and careful
in all that we think, see and do, we will have fewer regrets and repentances. Life unfolds
itself like a procession in front of us. The innocent child had sublime pleasures and he
rejoices in the kind and princesses of the fairy tales while the excited youth seeks for the
princess in his real life and lovers the challenge. The adult has more mature commitments
while old age looks across the memory lane with tears either of satisfaction or regrets. Each
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phase of life demands duty and has a charm of its own. The basket is in your hands. Whether
to pluck flowers or gather thorns depends on you.
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Should Rapist be sentenced to death?
“Rape is such an offence which causes the victim and his family to suffer for all the life
where the victim is totally an innocent party.”
Rape is one of the most heinous crimes committed by a person to control, dominate and force
the other to their own will. It is a world-wide phenomenon. Whatever reasons might be
behind it- social, religious or in wars, it carries the same crushing the same crushing shame,
anger and emotional trauma. Rape is such a barbaric and inhuman act which makes the whole
life of the victim a hell, several instances come to the light where the victim prefer to commit
suicide than to live in this world of rapist.
Still worse, she is forcibly threshed out to Kothas for flesh trading where she dies many times
a day. Those lucky enough to escape from the hell live an unknown low profile life at some
distant unknown place. And in many cases, her family and society refuse to accept her as a
normal member. No real sympathy for the victim except shouting slogans by some NGO’s or
Human Right activities or other such organizations. The victim further suffers physically,
psychologically and socially as well.
The 1994 Home Ministers’ National Crime Records Bureau shows that in every 52st minutes
a woman is sexually harassed. Every 54 minutes she is raped, and every 102 minutes there is
a dowry death. These are conservative estimates as they don’t reflect the crimes that are never
reported and if they are often no registered by the police.
Case of Maya Tyagi, a 6 month pregnant lady who was beaten up and dragged to the police
station, there she was assaulted and raped by three policemen. These policemen were
acquitted due to lack of evidence by the court. In much famous Mathura Bia rape case, the
Supreme Court could not convict the accused as the victim was admittedly proved to be a
consenting party, what was in reality a gang rape. Recent case outside the Siri Fort
Auditorium New Delhi a foreigner, a Swiss diplomat was raped in her car is yet another
chapter in this shameful sage.
In our country the woman’s sexuality is still a very taboo thing. Most Indian women are still
much oppressed and don’t have equal right leaving aside the 10 % belonging to the upper
elite. While most men already have a sexual experience before their brides to be virgins with
a clean character (?). Now in such a scenario, a girl who is raped, on top of the grief caused
by the actual incident has to face the ruthless treatment meted out to her by the society and on
the other side the rapist is declared innocent by the court even. Usually the girl is treated as
some sort of an alien and is subjected to lecherous and curious looks.
And if she is unmarried, she can conveniently forget an out marrying. It’s very hard to get a
marriage proposal. Not that marriage is the ultimate goal for any woman, but a single girl is
treated worse. The saddest part is Indian men give more importance to the hymen than a
girl’s personality. Though the mindset of people in the bigger cities is changing, it is still the
same in the towns and villages which constitute a major chuck of India.
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A movie released recently in Andhra Pradesh which dealt about rape. In that there is a
dialogue referring to marrying a rape victim – “How can a man eat in a plate in which
someone has already eaten?” (sick!). This clearly reflects the typical Indian male’s mindset.
The rape victim is looked upon as if she is at fault and somehow asked for it. No wonder 60
n- 70 % of rape cases go unreported. If it’s an already married woman, the fate of the woman
depends upon the husband. If he is a bit broad- minded he keeps her, if not – he dumps her.
It’s not only the men; even the women have the same attitude. The women have an ‘holier-
than-thou’ attitude and wouldn’t hesitate to shred another girls’ character to shred just to
portray themselves as ‘good’ girls. First of all, we as a society must stop ostracizing rape
victims and give all the emotional support they need.
The conviction rate of rape in India is abysmally low: 20 percent. Unless the conviction rate
goes up, there is little to deter the criminals.
Section 376 of the Indian Penal Code 1960 says “Whosoever commits rape shall be punished
with imprisonment of either description for a term which shall be not less than 7 years but
which may be for life or for a term which may extend to 10 years and shall also be liable to
fine.” It cannot be right approach or to say, the punishment provided under section 376 of
IPC 1980 is not proper for such a barbaric act. One who is an innocent party, the victim, has
to suffer for the whole of her life which the culprit is acquainted after 7 to 10 years ! It is nor
justice! Even after 50 + years of our independence, we are unable to provide the basic Human
Rights to the women of our country.
It is said, we have laws, but what do our laws do? It is also a known fact that general
inefficiency and corruption in the police force are responsible for the low rate of conviction
in most of the cases relating women. If as a society we change our narrow mindset, thought
we cannot cut down the trauma caused by the actual rape, we can give all the emotional
support that the victim needs and see the rapist is behind the bars. This would at least result in
the reduction of rape crimes in the country.
There are many other factors which result into such perversities. Obnoxious and deplorable
portrayal of women on screen and in advertisement, coupled with almost uncensored
displaying of female anatomy are some factors responsible for encouraging the ordinary men
to commit crimes against women. Increasing number of Beauty Contest, excite ordinary men
to explore the otherwise unreachable women body.
Certainly the battle will have to be fought in other fields also. But still the law must be the
strictest to deal with such cases. Quick and effective administration of Justice is also required
in such cases. We must remember that IPC was framed in 1860. Today age old IPC has been
proved to be an ineffective deterrent to this growing menace. Nothing less than a death
penalty would work to check such kind of barbaric acts. It is very difficult or seems
impossible to transform such devils who are extreme psychic cases or professionals. Only
fear of death may deter them from indulging in such heinous crimes. One death penalty will
make thousand other fearful of even thinking or dreaming about committing rape. There must
not be anything less than death penalty for the culprit who destroys the whole life of the
victim and her family.
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Dowry system in India
Dowry custom has been a case curse for India. Now it poses a challenge which seems
difficult to meet. It has proved to be a greatest curse for the poor classes of India. The birth of
girl is said to be degree of Rs 20,000 or above for the parents.
Origin of Dowry
Originally parents of the bride would give their daughters present, ornaments and other
necessary articles of daily use. These things were meant to contribute, according to their
status, to a happy family life. By and by the rich of our society whom we call pillars of
society, gave this custom a design to fill pockets of the parents of the bridegroom. In due
course of time demand for the dowry became most essential condition of the marriage
settlement. The demand in cash which depends upon the merits of the boy and the status of
the family become a terror for the society. Middle class people became main target of the
attack. The devil of dowry has put an end to the happiness of several couples even after
marriage.
Dowry is the Biggest problem of Society at Present
Though India has host of problems to tackle today, yet the biggest which the country is facing
is dowry. Dowry, in fact, has destroyed our economy. Today we fix dowry rates of boys of
deferent categories – doctors, engineers, lecturers, business men, executives, administrative
services, etc. Merit of the girl has nothing to do in the settlement of the marriage proposal.
We generally see that ordinary parents find it difficult to select a boy, well settled in life, for
their girl who is well qualified and well versed with household activities.
Measures to Eradicate Dowry System
The social evil of dowry system (custom) attracted the attention of the government. It started
its campaign against dowry custom. It enacted the Anti-dowry Act in 1961. But it received no
support of the society and the administration also neglected the act. Hence this gave no relief
to the poor people.
The proclamation of national emergency had given this social evil a death blow. The
government seemed to be determined to root out this growing evil. Out late Prime Minister.
Indira Gandhi had asked the young boys of the country to come forward to fight this social
evil. She herself had set the example by marrying her son Sanjay to Meneka in a very simple
ceremony without any dowry. Her call received a warm welcome. Millions of young boys
had taken oath not to accept any dowry. Similar thousands of girls had decided once for all to
marry those boys who demand no dowry.
Many state governments took bold step at the call of the Prime Minister. They amended the
old Anti dowry Act. They also made new act. Dowry was restricted to Rs 3000 to Rs 5000/-.
Punjab and Bihar came first in the fight followed by other states. People have been asked to
celebrate marriages in the day time with ordinary decoration. This will reduce the expenses of
the marriage. Road blocking and fixing Shamiyanas on the public places has been banned.
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Number of Baratis(members of the marriage party) has been restricted to 25. Government
servants, officials and ministers have been asked not to take part in any marriage in which
dowry is taken or given.
Conclusion
This is the right time when we should help the government to eradicate dowry from our
country. The youth should spare no effort to break the bonds which have slacked our mind
and soul.
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Do you spend money or save them?
Essay/ Article - 1
Some people say that it is better to enjoy your money as soon as you earn it while other
prefers to save the money for later. It’s difficult choice faced by lots of people because of the
different attitudes they hold towards money. As far as I am concerned, I vote for the former
choice, which is that better for one to enjoy his or her money as soon as it is earned. Spending
money as soon as possible in my preference because of three reasons as follows.
First, we can observe easily in the modern society that the dominant philosophy nowadays is
‘enjoy your life when you are still young’. Most young adults like to work for a period of
time and they go on for a trip to visit some places they have never been to. Those trips not
only help them to keep in shape but also provide them different kinds of knowledge and new
perspective in looking at their environment. Other people spend the money for their leisure,
which helps them to relax and go back to work with enough energy.
In the old days, it is said that people who save money in a bank understand the philosophy of
thrift. Actually, economists say that in the modern world saving money in bank is the
quickest way to lose it. Moreover none of the rich people became rich by getting interest
from the bank. Living in a constantly changing world, we should adjust ourselves to accept
the new ways of investing our money to different areas in order to get the most of it. That is
probably the reason why most of the people nowadays put their money into business to get a
better payback.
The third obvious reason why I prefer spending money rather than saving them is that it is a
part of the contribution for the economic growth in our country. If nobody has the needs to
buy stuff from other and the market, nobody will think about how to produce useful products
and sell them to make the most profits. Some countries continue to lower the interest in order
to force people to spend their money and therefore benefit the society as well as the people
themselves. In this broad view, I prefer spending money rather than saving them.
In conclusion, I prefer spending money because it benefits ourselves as well as people around
us. It’s also important for kinds to know how to save money as a sense of thrift. Nevertheless,
spending money is still the best way to make our lives enjoyable and worthwhile.
Essay/ Article - 2
When I am economically independent, I will choose to enjoy the money I earn instead of
saving it for some time in the future. Life is a process of consuming; and we are growing old
day after day. So why not taking advantage of being young to enjoy yourself fully, deeply
and truly with money- which really can give you many things although we say that money
cannot buy all?
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No one would deny that we all in pursuit of happiness. And this happiness should belong to
today but not tomorrow. Imagine a person, who saves all he can save in the hope of living
better in his later life or making use of the money when necessary, suddenly dies from a
traffic accident one morning, leaving all his savings without enjoying a pit of them. Since no
one will know what will happen in the next second, we had better enjoy what we own now,
thus at least nothing can be done without money- seeing movie, watching a game, eating at a
fancy restaurant, and so on. Money itself indeed cannot give us happiness, but at least it can
offer us such opportunities to seek happiness in certain aspect.
For the young, is such a valuable period that none of us should leave something regrettable in
this golden age. Ascetic-like life is not I want to lead. I am a person who thinks material
things the most important because I like commodities of famous brand, I like eating in
expensive restaurants instead of snack bars, I want to travelling all over the world, things for
which money is indispensable. I earn money to fulfill what I look forward to but not put aside
to prepare for something that may happen.
Furth more, in view of the nowadays economy situation, governments in all countries
encourage people to consume but not save. Economy in many countries is down and down,
the most distinctive indication of which is the poor consumption. If every person saves
instead consuming, how could the situation be better? Enjoying what you earn cannot only
bring you your own happiness but also contribute to the economy of your country, why not?
In one word, I myself choose to spend what I learn and enjoy in time but nit save my money
for some time in the future. And I believe that is better both for you and for the society. So,
never hesitate, buy what you want to buy if you have enough money, and enjoy yourself as
much as you like.
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A piece of jewellery or concert?
Essay / Article - 1
Depending on personal experience, personality type and emotional, we find that some people
hold the idea of enjoying a concert if a gift of money has been received, but others choose to
buy a piece of jewelry and that is also my point. My arguments for this point are listed as
follows.
The main reason for a piece of jewelry I like is that has a great value of collection. With the
resistance of fading, erosion and alteration, jewelry is probably the first durable ornaments
humans possessed. In addition, owning to rareness, costly jewelry is regarded as particular
merchandise and left behind to the offspring. Furthermore, its value will not depreciate like
paper currency because of turbulent society and economy. According to the three points
above, we can reach the investment value of choosing a piece of jewelry.
Another reason can be seen by everyone is that jewelry can make people pretty, and always
symbolizes something. For example, though the centuries, rings have perpetuated the
talismanic role of the diamond. In the Middle Ages and Renaissance period, every ring that
was set with a precious stone was not so much a piece of jewelry, but an amulet that
conveyed the magic powers of the stone upon the wearer. On the other hand, “A diamond is
forever” is internationally known to men and women of all ages and may very well mean
something different for everyone. Aside from its status as the ultimate symbol of love,
diamonds have been around for millions of years, thus in their own right symbolizing,
“forever.” So, it is a good present that you buy a piece of jewelry for your love.
Admittedly, listening to a concert also has advantages, but the influence is short-lived. So,
taking into account of all the factors that I have discussed in the above analysis, I believe that
it is more advisable to buy a piece of jewelry rather than a ticket to a concert.
Essay / Article – 2
People make money for living first and then use the money for other things that lead them to
a happy and healthy life, such as buying something they like, watching a movie, or eating a
big meal. In my opinion, if I have received a gift of money I would like to buy a ticket to a
concert.
For me, music is always attractive. When I have completed a whole day’s study or finished
the discussion on some academic problems, my spirit will be eager to relax for a while. When
people want to relax, it is wonderful thing to go to a concert: the music playing on the concert
is the best thing to set your mind free. If you spend the money to listen to a concert, you will
feel that the cost is valuable.
In addition, you can attend the concert with your friends. It is good chance to build up the
relationship between your friends and you. People are always busy with their works and
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study, losing many occasions of communicating with each other, a splendid concert and link
us together. The music; the conduct and all the musicians on the concert can offer us a
common topic; we can discuss those things together.
Furthermore, listening to a concert let me learn more about music and all kinds of
instruments, it also culture the appreciatory ability. To think that I spend the money to buy a
piece of jewelry, I can acquire nothing but being a little bit beautiful at one of my friend’s
birthday parties. In that case, I just fell that the money has gone.
Money, even a little money, can make your life more valuable, for reason; I prefer to buy a
ticket to concert than to a piece of jewelry.
Essay / Article – 3
Some people believe that attending a concert may enrich their cultural experience, whereas
others may agree that jewelry can be permanent and perpetual, therefore a good item to
invest. As far as I am concerned, I prefer the latter point of view to the former. I would like to
substantiate my conclusion from the following perspectives.
First of all, buying a piece of jewelry is an excellent investment. Once you buy the jewelry,
its price tends to be higher and higher due to the limited number of precious gems. Beside,
you can sell it for liquidity, when you are financially in trouble. Conversely, you cannot keep
a ticket to preserve its value or resell it for money. If you believe “save it for rainy days”, you
must invest in jewelry other than a concert ticket.
What’s more, jewelry symbolizes perpetuity. You must have heard of the famous commercial
slogan from De Beers: “Diamond is forever”. A piece of jewelry is good item to memorize
some important days, such as a wedding anniversary. In addition, you can win the heart of the
girl you appreciate at the critical moment by buying her a diamond ring! That is exactly the
way I used to conquer my current wife.
Finally, a piece of jewelry, like a bracelet or an ear ring, cannot only deliver you fashionable
aroma but also provide you with a luster of elegance. You may were luxurious jewelry when
you attend your friends’ wedding party. Likewise, you can put it on for more formal social
activities. Wearing suitable and decent jewellery may distinguish you from the others,
thereby making you feel more self-confident. In general, you will look totally different with
the jewelry.
Admittedly, it might be true that attending a concert may satisfy your taste or edify your
cultural sense. However, purchasing a piece of jewelry turns out to be more practical and
helpful for most of people according to the above reasons. Consequently, I agree that if I have
money I will but the jewelry rather than a concert ticket.
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The fools of yesterday are the wise men of today
Most of the people like to make progress through evolution and not through revolution. They
stick to their customs, traditions and age-long beliefs. But there are some persons born with
vision. But that vision is not appreciated by the then generation. People have no capacity to
raise the height of the seer. There is a vast intellectual gulf between these seers and the
common masses. The seer is a great giant standing on the paramount height, while the people
of his generation are like dwarfs at the feet. They cannot understand the original great
thinkers. So they laugh at him, condemn him or even put him to death. What was the fate of
Jesus Christ? Nails were driven into his body. He was crucified. But today nearly half of the
world kneels down in Christmas to honor him, his words from the gospel of Heaven.
Socrates, the great philosopher was poisoned to death, but today he is hailed as the first
philosopher of the Western World. Galileo declared that the earth moves round the sun, but
he was tortured for asserting this great truth. How every boy and girl even in primary school
in the distant part of the globe echoes the same truth? Was not Columbus mocked at a ‘Loco’
Loco’? He is honored now as the discoverer of the new world. Thus, these though
condemned in their days, have been the light house along the march of civilization. The
greater man, indeed, is he who contradicts his society most. So the fools of yesterday are the
wise men of today.
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Sports or library?
This article debates on the issues of the “Importance of Library over Sports.”
When it comes to the issue of the arrangement of the university budget, some people suggest
that universities should spend more money on their libraries rather than on student’s sports
activities, while others maintain the opposite view. As far as I am concerned, the former point
carries more weight. I take this view on account of the following reasons.
First of all, libraries are the places that maintain records of traditional theories, which are
priceless treasure of human being. To keep these important materials, a lot of special devices
have to be purchased. For example, a vacuum chamber that is used to keep a book printed
hundreds of years ago may cost a fortune and constant budget has to be applied for its
maintenance.
Second point to take into account is that libraries need more money to meet the need of the
increasing development of technology. With exponential leaps of the information technology
in the recent years, massive amount of information can be easily and instantaneously obtained
through computers and the Internet. Libraries also have to purchase such equipment, which
may be very expensive, to meet the student’s acquirements.
Last not least, the quality and quantity of the library indicate the level of a university.
Therefore, if one university wants to achieve a better recognition, it must spent more money
to improve the overall situation of its libraries.
Just as the English proverb goes, “a coin has two sides” those who take the opposite view are
partly reasonable that more sports activities and better physical conditions will greatly
promote student’s healthy. But with the factors I outlined, I still believe that applying more
budgets on university libraries is much more important than sports equipment.
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Panchayati Raj Institution
As a land mark in the constitutional history of India, the constitution 73rd Amendment Act,
1992 has concerted the vision enshrined in the Article 40 in the Directive principles of state
policy and has provided the Panchayati Raj Institutions a constitutional status. The Act has
laid down board frame work and basic structural guidelines for the organization of the
Panchayati Raj Institution. As local self-government and village administration is a State
subject, the responsibility for organizing empowering the Panchayats suitably and adequately
was left to the state legislatures.
Important guideline as provided in the Act is as under:
There shall be constituted in every state, panchayats at the village, intermediate and district
level in accordance with the prevision of the Act. Panchayats at the intermediate level may
not be constituted in a State having population not exceeding 20 lakhs. All seats in the
Panchayats shall be filled by person chosen by direct election from territorial constituencies.
Seat shall be reserved for (i) not less than one-third of the total number of seats reserved for
Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes shall be reserved for women belonging to the
Scheduled Castes or Scheduled Tribes, as the case may be, (ii) not less than one-third
(including the number of seats reserved for women belonging to the SC and ST) of the total
number seats to be filled by direct election in every Panchayat shall be reserved for women
and such seats may be allotted by rotation to different constituencies in Panchayat (iii) the
office of the chairpersons in the Panchayat at the village or any other level shall be reserved
for SC,ST and women (iv) not less than one third of the total number of offices of
chairpersons in the Panchayats at each level shall be reserved for women, (v) reservation of
seats in Panchayat or offices of chairpersons at any level may be made in favour of backward
classes.
Unless earlier dissolved every Panchayat shall continue for 5 years. Election to Panchayats
must take place regularly every five years. Panchayats shall prepare and implement plans for
economic development and social justice. They shall have power to impose taxes, duties and
fees. First during one year and then every 5th year the State Governor shall constitute a
Finance Commission to review the financial position of the Panchayats and to recommend
measures to improve it. Elections to Panchayats will be conducted by the State Election
Commission.
A new Schedule, namely the Eleventh Schedule has been added to the constitution by virtue
of this Act. It contains the list of subjects earmarked for the Pancyayati Raj Institutions.
Provisions for setting up grass root democratic institutions in urban area are contained in
Constitution (74th Amendment) Act. The act says that there shall be constituted in every State
(a) a Nagar Panchayat, (b) a Municipal Council and (c) Municipal Corporation. All seats in
these institutions shall be filled by persons chosen by direct elections from the territorial
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constituencies in that area. However, State Government may be law provide for
representations of persons with knowledge and experience in Municipal Administration.
Provisions for the reservation of seats for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, for
women, for SC/ST women exit in the same pattern as in the panchayati Raj institutions.
Every Municipality unless earlier dissolved shall continue for 5 years from the date of its first
meeting. Elections to new Municipality shall be held and completed before the expiry of the
duration of the existing one. Unless disqualified under any law all persons of 21 years of age
and above are entitled to membership of these institutions. State Government will legislate
measures to endow the municipalities with all necessary powers to enable then to function as
effective institutions of self-government. These institutions may also be saddled with
responsibilities and power to levy, collect taxes, duties tolls and fees. Within one year from
the commencement of this Act and thereafter every fifth year, the Governor of the State shall
constitute a Finance Commission to examine and review3 the financial position of these
institutions and to make recommendations to improve the same. Elections to Municipal
institutions will be held under the direction and control of the State Election Commission.
In every district there shall be constituted a Direct Planning Committee to consolidate the
plans prepared by Panchayats and Municipalities in the district, and the prepare draft
development plan for the district as a whole. The law passed by Sate Legislatures will make
provisions with respect to composition of Metropolitan Planning Committee, its functions
and election of its members and chairperson.
Every Metropolitan Planning Committee shall, in preparing the draft development plan, have
regard to plans prepared by Municipalities and Panchayats in the Metropolitan area and
matters of common interest of these bodies. It shall forward the development plan to the State
Government.
The twelfth schedule added to the Constitution enumerates the subjects earmarked for these
urban institutions.
These institutions of Panchayatas and municipal bodies constitute the base of our democratic
structure. They serve as the elementary training centers of democratic functioning. They are
planned to provide every person an opportunity to participate in the self-government as well
as local developmental activities.
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The special features of Caste System in India
The special features of Caste System in India can be described on the following heads:
• Firstly, the membership of each is determined by the birth of an individual.
• Secondly, the members of a particular caste cannot marry outside their caste.
• Thirdly, in every caste there are a number of restrictions so far as the food, drink and
social intercourse are concerned.
• Fourthly, for every caste there is a hereditary occupation.
• Fifthly, in the caste system there is a hierarchical gradation. In this gradation system
to top-most position is occupied by Brahmins, and then comes Kshatriyas, and then
Vaishyas and Sudras come in the last.
• Sixthly, change of caste is not possible. An individual can not change his caste.
• Lastly, for each caste there is a specific name and by this name the members of the
caste are identified in the society
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Caste System in India
Social stratification is a universal social phenomena. Hence some form of stratification is

found in every society. The form and proportions of stratifications may vary but it’s essence
is permanent. Accordingly in India we find a unique system of social stratification based on
birth the like of which is not found elsewhere in the world. Thus the caste system is one of
the most important pillars of the Indian social system. The caste system in India is in vogue
from time immemorial. The term caste has been derived from the Portuguese world ‘casta’
which means breed, race or kind. The Hindi equivalent of the term caste is ‘Jati’ or Jat which
connotes birth or descent. Caste is a distinctive category in the Indian social system. Thus
basically caste refers to people belonging to the same breed. Castes are inscriptive groups. In
India we found numerous castes. In caste system there is prominence of ideas of party and
pollution and notions of hierarch.
Definition of Caste System
According to Sir Herbert Risley caste is “a collection of families to groups of families

bearing a common name claiming a common descent from a mythical ancestor, human or
divine professing to follow the same hereditary calling and is regarded by those who are
competent to give an opinion as forming a single homogeneous community.”
According to Prof. G.S. Ghurye, - “Caste are small and complete social words in
themselves marked off definitely from one another though subsisting within the large society.
According to Kethkar caste is a social group having two characteristics (1) membership is
confined to those who are born of members and includes all persons so born (2) the members
are forbidden by an inexorable social how to marry outside the caste.”
10 Characteristics of Caste System
Prof. Ghurye opines that the main characteristics of the caste system are the following:
1. Segmental division of Society
In a caste system the society is divided into different segments called castes. Each of these
small segments or groups or castes is a well developed social group, the membership of
which is based on birth. As membership is based on birth, mobility from one caste to another
is impossible. Each caste group has its own traditional, social status, occupation, customs,
rules and regulations. Every caste has its own administrative body called Caste Council or
Jati Panchayat which enforces the caste rules. It cares more for their own caste than for the
community as a whole. Members of a caste group are bound together by mutual obligations
and cooperation in their everyday activities. Hence, each caste is a mini social world by itself.
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2. Hierarchy
Hierarchy is another important characteristic of a caste society. Hierarchy refers to a system

of arrangements from top to bottom. Prof. Ghurye opined that in every area there are about
200 castes which can be graded and arranged into a hierarchy on the basis of social
superiority and inferiority. While the Brahmin caste remains at the top of hierarchy the
untouchables remain at the bottom. In between these two there are large number of
intermediate castes the relative position of which are not always clear. Thus, membership in
the caste hierarchy is based on birth and is more or less fixed.
3. Restriction on Commensality
Commensality refers to restrictions on eating and drinking. Every caste imposes restrictions
on its members with regard to food and drink. Each caste group has its own laws which
govern the food habit of the members. There are ‘pacca’ and ‘Kachcha’ food. This division is
based on the use of ghee with or without water. If food is prepared with ghee we call it
‘Pacca’ food. If the food is prepared with water we call it Kachcha food. A Brahmin can
accept only ‘Pacca’ food from the Sudras. But the Kachcha food can be accepted only from a
person of one’s own caste or of a higher caste.
4. Restriction on social intercourse
Under the caste system every caste imposes restriction on its members with regard to social
intercourse. There are social restrictions on one caste to mix with the members of the other
castes. Restrictions are more rigid while it is the question of mixing of a superior caste with
an inferior caste. Hence, under a caste system every caste abides by well established customs
and well defined norms of interactions.
5. Differential civil religious privileges and disabilities
In a caste based society there is an unequal distribution of privileges and disabilities among
its members. Here the higher caste people enjoy all the privileges while the lower caste
people suffer from all kinds of disabilities. In Hindu society the Brahmins are the most
privileged caste while the Sudras are the least privileged. A Sudra can’t draw water from the
public well, can’t enter into temples, can’t touch a Brahmin, can’t walk on the street in
morning and evening and punishment varies according to caste.
6. Lack of unrestricted choice of occupation
Under the caste system the choice of occupations is not free; every caste is associated with a
particular kind of occupation to which its members are bound to follow. Particular caste
members have to follow their traditional caste occupation without fail. Accordingly, a
Brahmin must be a priest and a Chamar must make chappals.
7. Restrictions on Marriage
Endogamy is the main principle of caste system or in other words caste is an endogamous
group. Every caste or sub-caste compels its members to marry within its own group. By this it
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wants to maintain purity of blood. Any violation on this rate is followed by excommunication
from the caste.
8. The idea of purity and pollution
The idea of purity and pollution is attached with the caste system since its inception. The
graduation of a caste on the caste hierarchy is based on the notion ritual purity. The higher
castes are believed to be more pure and less polluted. While the lower castes are regarded as
less pure and more polluted.
9. Hereditary status
Caste system is based one the inscriptive pattern which implies that the birth of a person in a
particular caste divides his caste. It is impossible to change one’s own caste within his life
time. Once enjoys his caste status hereditarily.
10. Caste Council or Jati Parishad
Every Caste has a caste Council or Jati Parishad which is the administrative body of a caste.
It decides the controversy in the caste. These are the characteristics of caste system.
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Co-Education
Essay Introduction:
Co-Education means the education of boys and girls together in the same institution and at
the same time. In India, it has recently become common. In the recent past religious leaders
and the people of conservative views did not favor the idea. They were even against the
education of women, because they were not in favor of liberty and equality to be granted to
women. But now times have changed.
Co-education in India:
Co-education is not a new thing for us. In the good old days when Sanskrit used to be the
mother tongue in India and the Ashram were the seats of learning, co-education was widely
practiced. In the Hindu scriptures, old records and legends, we find a number of examples
which show that co-education was prevalent then. The practice continued till the advent of
Muslim rule in India. With the Muslim rule came the degradation of women. The ‘Purdha’
system led to the discouragement of female education.
Co-education in the West:
In Europe Co-education is only of recent origin. Oxford and Cambridge universities kept
their door tightly shut against woman till recently. But after the First World War, Co-
education had tremendous rise in Europe and America. In America women have now begun
to outnumber man in the school and colleges.
Criticism in Favor and Against Co-education:
For the very beginning powerful voices have been raised against this speedy march of co-
education. Stephen Leacock, an eminent American educationist declares with emphasis,
“Men cannot study when women are around”.
Charges against Co-education:
There are many charges against co-education. Some of these charges are:
• It lowers the tone of discipline and brings about seriousness among the students.
• It brings about a shift in the mental make-up of the students. Learning goes to the
background and “Sex attraction regains supreme”.
• It promotes love of fashion and extravagance.
• It makes even the teachers tax. And of Leacock is to be believed “girls sometimes run
away with the dusty old professors”. This is a serious charge because complete and
free mixing between the sexes has had very bad results in England and America.
Arguments in Favor of Co-education:
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The chief arguments in favor of co-education is ‘economy’. It would be foolish indeed to
have two institutions at a place where only one will do. A poor country like India which
needs education of women more than another other country at this time, cannot afford the
luxury of having two parallel institutions at one and same place.
The Second argument is that co-education promotes better understanding between young men
and women. After all they have to co-exit in life. Then why this unnatural separation of sexes
in our schools and colleges. The reasoning is sound but even then it is not wise to rush in
“where angels fear to tread”.
Conclusion:
The wise course in India would be to have free unfettered co-education upto the middle
standard and then for the degree and post graduate classes, in vocational and technical
institution it would be better to have separate institutions for boys and girls.
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Compulsory Military Training for Civilians
Essay Introduction:
Some of the recent events have given rise to thinking that military training should be given
compulsorily to the citizen of India. The three attacks of China and Pakistan in 1962, 1965
and 1971 have compelled Indian leaders to give second though to this problem.
Need of Compulsory Military Training:
To get training in military service is important, significant and useful in many ways: First it
makes the people disciplined. It inculcates the noble qualities of serve, sacrifice, devoting and
dedication. Secondly, military training serves as an insurance against foreign attack and
national extinction. Thirdly, military training keeps the people physically fit, broadens the
minds and devotes the spirit.
Fourthly, it increases our power to work. As a mater of fact, by importing military training
compulsorily to the youth of the India, we shall not only be raising an army of millions to
fight the enemies of India, but also to fight many diseases and other wars at economic, social
and health fronts.
Sixthly, by militarizing we will be accomplishing all such qualities and characteristics which
we lack today. We lack in many other virtues like team spirit, loyalty, sense of duty, value of
time, dignity of labor selflessness, simplicity and nobility of character, strength of courage
and spirit of good fellowship. All these qualities of head and heart can only be acquired (got)
and attained through military training.
Seventhly, military training helps us at the time of emergency and foreign attack. The
military trained persons can be given duties during day and night. They can handle fire,
revolvers and rifles and thus can safeguard the interests of the citizens.
Significance of Military Training:
In order to know the significance of military training we may quote the following example:
It was this spirit of military which enabled Sir Winston Churchill, the worthy solider
statesman politician of England, to come out victories in World War II. Napoleon’s daring
feats can also be attributed to his military discipline. It was the idealism which moved Rana
Pratap and Shivaji to fight the inhuman acts of their enemies. Indeed, military training is
useful in so many ways.
Conclusion:
There is no doubt that this mass training will take time to complete and it will cost a huge
amount of money. But look at the rich profits the nation will get from the cadre of disciplined
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people. It will make people realize the interests of the nation first and their personal gains
afterward.
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Value of Games
Essay Introduction:
Games and Sports are a part and parcel of education. The aim of education is physical, mental
and moral development of a student. A sound body contains a sound mind. If the boy is weak,
the mind cannot be strong. A healthy mind cannot be found in a sick body. Games are as
necessary for education as books for studies. Books develop the mind and the soul while
games develop body.
Importance of Games and Nation:
“The battle of Waterloo was won on the play fields of Eton” is a famous statement. Napoleon
was a world conqueror but England defeated Napoleon at the battle of Waterloo. The leaders
and the soldiers for the battle of Waterloo came from among the boys who had played games
in their school days at Eton. Their early training in the play field stood them instead at the
battle field as well. The games teach the students leadership, team spirit and sportsmanship.
These qualities among the young students will make them the best citizens of tomorrow. Free
India needs still young men to defend her freedom. India cannot afford to maintain a large
standing army sufficient to meet all her defence needs. Our students must build strong
physiques so that they can serve as soldiers in reserve in time of wars
Health is Wealth:
“Health is Wealth” is an old saying which is very true even today. The students can build
their health and body by playing game which provides a healthy exercise in the open and
fresh air. All work and no play make jack a dull boy. India does not need bookworms with
sunken cheeks and sunken eyes. A good student must take due care of all things. He must
devote time to his studies but he should not neglect game and other activities. He should
follow the maxim “work while work, play while play, that is the way to be happy and gay”
What games teach us?
Games teach us discipline and sportsmanship. A sportsman is unmoved in victory and defeat.
He plays the game. Games provide a good training for playing the game of life unmindful of
joys and sorrows. We learn to laugh in the face of failures and do not feel elated at success.
Games are the best education in the art of living and the battle of life is won by study heroes
and sportsmen. The spirit of sportsmanship helps in the formation of character. Games also
teach us the art of leadership also. The captain wins the heart of his team mates through love,
sympathy and fair play. The players have also to form the habit of obeying the leader. In this
way, games produce the best citizens of tomorrow. Games provide a welcome excitement in
the life of a student. We cam make the best leisure by playing games. They also let off the
surplus energy of the young men. If this extra energy is not given a healthy outlet the result
would be mischief and indiscipline. An idle brain is the devil’s workshop. Students must be
kept busy when they are not studying.
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Conclusion:
Most of the schools in big cities have no proper arrangement of games. The authorities should
devote more funds to games. Games should be made compulsory for every student in every
school. Education without games is incomplete. In order to make a full man of a student,
schools should give due importance to games and sports.
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Female Education
Essay Introduction:
The history of progress of the human race is the history of education. Hence it is necessary
for every person, man or woman, to be educated. The hand that rocks the cradle rules the
world. Women should be educated like men; otherwise there can be no peace or no progress.
If you yoke an unbroken (untrained) horse with highly trained one, the carriage will be
dashed to pieces sand the occupants’ lives will be destroyed. The family peace cannot be
preserved with such ill-matched life-long companions.
Need for Female Education:
Napoleon was once asked what the greatest need of France was. He answered “Motherland’s
National progress is impossible without trained and educated mothers.” If the women in any
country are not educated about half the people in that country will be ignorant. The result is
that such a country will not be able to go along with other nations in development and
progress.
A Controversy:
There is a great controversy going on in India whether women should receive higher
education or not. Orthodox people are in favor of female education, but they are opposed to
given them high education. But this view does not sound well. If women are mentally fit to
receive higher education there seems to be no reason why they should not be allowed to
develop their mental faculties. There is other group of liberal people which in favor of the
female education. To give them only the rudiments of knowledge while they are eager for
advanced studies is to condemn them to a place of inferiority.
Duties of Woman:
A woman has to play three distinct parts in the course of her life in each of which certain
duties are expected of her. If she is able to do these well she is worthy of being called perfect
woman. It is only by the help of education that she can hope to be able to do them
satisfactorily.
The first duty of a woman is to be a good daughter. The second is to be a good wife. And the
third is to be a good mother. Education teaches a mother what she should be. It also teaches
her how she would do it to be a good daughter, a good wife and a good mother.
Advantages of an Educated Wife:
Many men spend their evening time at clubs and societies. But a gentleman with an educated
wife will not feel the need of clubs and societies. He can share his thoughts with her and seek
her advice in the trouble. He can spend his leisure time in her company. An educated lady
will be a good friend, a clever nurse and useful adviser to her husband. She will be a true
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help-mate. She can retain husband’s affection and regard. An uneducated lady is always
unable to share in his interests.
Influence of an Educated Mother:
There is a saying in English that “The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world”. The
meaning is this that the mother exercises a very great influence over the lives of her children
and is able to mould thoughts and characters. If she is educated she will make such and
impression the mind of her child, that it will enable him in later life to grow into a good and
great man.
Conclusion:
Thus education will enable women to make their parents, husbands and children truly happy.
Consequently it is very important that women should be educated.
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Women and Crime
Criminology has treated women’s role in crime with a large measure of indifference. The
intellectual tradition from which criminology derives its conception of these sexes maintains
esteem or men’s autonomy, intelligence and force of character while disdaining women for
their weaknesses of compliance and passivity. Women who conform as pure, obedient
daughters, wives and mothers benefit men and society Those women who don’t, that is are
non-conforming, may simply be one who questions established beliefs or practices, or one
who engages in activities associated with men, or one who commits a crime. These women
are doubly damned and doubly deviant. They are seen as ‘mad’ not ‘bad’. These behaviours
frequently lead to interpretations of being mentally abnormal and unstable. Those doing the
defining, by the very act, are never defined as ‘other’, but are the norm. As ‘men’ are the
norm, women are deviant. Women are defined in reference to men.
Earlier women were primarily perceived as sexual objects and expected to remain within
male dominated ideologies such as homemaker and nurturer taking second place after men.
Women who strayed from the norm were severely punished, void of any opportunities to
explain their actions. Later in the late nineteenth century, Lombroso and Ferrero (1895) wrote
a book called, The Female Offender. Their theories were based on ‘atavism’. Atavism refers
to the belief that all individuals displaying antisocial behaviour were biological throwbacks.
Criminality in men was a common feature of their natural characteristics, whereby women,
their biologically-determined nature was antithetical to crime. Female social deviants or
criminals who did not act according to pre-defined standards were diagnosed as pathological
and requiring treatment, they were to be ‘cured’ or ‘removed’.
Other predominant theorists such as Thomas (1907) and later, Pollack (1961), believed that
criminality was a pathology and socially induced rather than biologically inherited. As
Thomas (1967) says, ‘the girl as a child does not know she has any particular value until she
learns it from others’. Pollack (1961) believed, ‘it is the learned behaviour from a very young
age that leads girls into a ‘masked’ character of female criminality’, that is, how it was and
still is concealed through under-reporting and low detection rates of female offenders. A
grater leniency towards women by police and the justice system needs to be addressed
especially if a ‘true’ equality of genders is to be achieved in such a complicated world.
Women have so many choices of which they didn’t before. It would appear naïve to assume
that women and crime may be explained by any one theory. Any crime for that matter,
whether male or female, may not be explained by any one theory. It is an established an no-
arguable fact that males and females differ biologically and sociological influences, such as
gender-specific role-playing appears to continue within most families. It’s matter of
proportion not difference.
Some theorists believe that in many men ‘testosterone’ is responsible for the aggression.
Women mostly commit crimes of a lesser aggressive nature such as shoplifting, leniency is
given to them from law enforcement officers and judges. It is true that many women use their
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‘femininity’ to their advantage, which makes it very difficult to argue equal rights for both
sexes. This unequal position of women in society due to social oppression and economic
dependency on men and the state, needs to be addressed. Offences by women remain
sexualized and pathologised. In most ways, crimes women commit are considered to be final
outward manifestations of an inner medical imbalance or social instability. Their punishment
appears to be aimed principally at treatment and resocialisation.
Intermixing of cultural and biological factors makes people as individuals. Behaviour may be
changed. All have the potential for aggression and compliance and women are no different.
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Travel with a companion vs. travel alone
Essay/Article – 1
Travelling is a very pleasant thing. Some people like to travel with several friends. Other
people, however, would prefer to travel alone. As far as I am concerned, traveling with my
friends is better.
Why do some people like to travel alone? For one thing, they can experience more freedom.
They don’t need to discuss the itinerary of travel with others. He/she can just go whenever
he/she wants. For another, they don’t need to keep an eye on how to get along with friends.
Although there may be one or more advantages to travel alone, I insist that traveling with
friends is better. In the first place, the trip will become easy. Traveling is not a very easy
activity. For example, you need to find transportation, hotels and restaurants in new places.
Several friends can share these tasks so that everyone has a chance to enjoy the journey.
In the second place, you can get help when you need. There will be many unexpected things
that could happen during the journey. Such as, someone gets lost, gets sick, or cannot wake
up early for the morning flight. It is very tough for people to handle these situations by
themselves especially when they travel to a new place. Friends can give you a hand to
overcome all these difficulties. Everyone needs the help from others.
In addition, you can have more fun by travelling with friends. Enjoying the scenic spots is
wonderful, while traveling on the road is boring. How to spend this boring time? Talking
with friends, playing cards will help.
In conclusion, I prefer to travel with friends rather than travel alone not only because the trip
will be easier with friends, but also because I can have more fun by with friends’ company.
Essay/Article – 2
Traveling is a favorite recreation for many people, especially for young students. It can
enable us not only to accumulate our knowledge about history, culture, geography and local
tradition, but also to edify our minds and spirits greatly. However, upon the question, which
is better, travelling alone or together with several friends, people seem to have different
opinions. As far as I am concerned, I like to travel with friends.
When travelling to other places, the most important thing for us to consider is safety. In
china, many famous scenery spots with Buddhist temples or shrines are situated in deep
mountains or remote areas. Travelers sometimes have to go on a tiring and even dangerous
road before they can arrive at these places: crossing rivers with rapid currents, climbing high
mountains, walking alone a narrow path on deep cliffs etc. If a person travels with other, he
may receive aids or lend a hand to his companion in time of needs. Several years ago, I
traveled with some other people to Wuyi Mountain, a famous scenery spot in Fujian
Province. When climbing a high cliff, one of the people slipped, but he was grasped by hand
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almost instantaneously by a man at his side. If he had traveled there alone, he would have
fallen down the high cliff and injured himself.
Another reason why I prefer to travel with others is that we can ease the felling of loneliness
and nostalgia by talking with each other. When traveling to far away and unfamiliar places,
we may easily fall into a low spirit and have strong nostalgic feeling. There are numerous
ancient Chinese literary works, poems, or essays etc, which describe such feeling on road. A
man sat in an empty hub, facing a small lamp, seeing the dumping rain outside the window,
etc. all constitute a typical picture of a lonely traveler. But if at this time, the traveler had a
companion to chat with him, his sad feeling would be much lessened.
In a higher sense, life is like a traveling, most of us need someone to accompany us to go

through the road. I think those who have to live alone are unfortunate ones in human society.
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Getting up early vs. staying up late
Essay/Article – 1
Some people prefer to get up early in the morning to start the day’s work; while other people
like to get up later in the day to work until late at night. Which option do you prefer? I would
choose to get up early in the morning. This view is based on the following reasons.
By getting up early in the morning you can enjoy a lot of good things that the nature offers.
You can breathe fresh air, small aroma of flowers, listen the birds singing in the morning.
What a beautiful world! In the meantime, these can refresh our brains and quickly get ready
for the day’s work. We can immediately concentrate on the work, and solve the problems
with great efficiency. For example, when I was in senior middle school, I got up early in the
morning everyday to go over my lessons and prepare for the courses that I would have that
day. I found it was so efficient and I memorized my study material so deeply. On the
contrary, people who get up late and go to bed late tend to leave all the day’s work to the
night, and tend to go to bed until they finish the day’s work. This is not a good living habit
and also not an efficiently way of working.
Another reason why I would like to get up early to start a day’s work is because I believe that
it good for our heath. The body’s cycle follows the nature: when the sun rises, it is time to get
up; when the moon rises, it is time to go to bed. Besides, by getting up early we can have
time to do some exercises such as jogging, hiking and swimming, which will benefit out
heath. Many statistics show that most people who live a long life get up early and go to bed
early. While getting up late and go to bed late violates human biology and therefore will do
harm to the health. And people who get up late never got a chance to do morning exercises.
In a word, getting up early in the morning to start a day’s work is a smart choice for people; it
can benefit both people’s work and health.
Essay/Article – 2
Some people prefer to get up early in the morning and start the day’s work. Others, however,
prefer to get up later in the day and work until late at night. As far as I am concerned, getting
up early is a good habit because it is good for heath, and it is easy for people to take care of
everyday work.
In the first place, everyone knows that getting up early is a very good habit for our heath. You
can enjoy the fresh air in the early morning, and also you can get a good night’s sleep during
the midnight. Moreover, if you get up early, before going to work, you still have enough time
to do some exercise, such as walking, running and riding the bike. Without doubt, all of the
exercise can help you to stay healthy.
In the second place, it is easy to take care of everyday work if people get up early. For
example, if everyone in the family gets up early, the wife will have enough time to prepare
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the breakfast for the whole family, the children will have enough time to catch the school bus,
the husband will never forget to change his dirty shirt. Everything is in order.
Admittedly, some people who work until midnight and get up later in the day claim that
working in the midnight is more efficient for them as they can concentrate on their work
without distraction. However, the advantages of getting up early more weight than those of
getting up late.
Essay/Article – 3
Meng Haoran, an ancient Chinese poet, wrote in one of his poems his happy feeling when
wakened by the chirping of birds in a spring morning. It seems that he didn’t get up early and
waked “naturally” after a sound sleep. What kind of time table a person should follow
depends on the character and habit of him and even on the job he does. I think it is important
to arrange our life in such a way as to ensure high efficiency of our work and good to our
health. Some people prefers to work until late at night because they feel that they can
concentrate their mind in a quite environment when others are in sleep.
For instance, many writers like to write at night. It is said that a famous French writer who
lived in a small house on a hill at seaside was accustomed to work so late at night that the
lamplight from the window was perceived by the sea crewmen as a signal leading their ships
into the harbor. In China, people are encouraged to follow a regular living habit, which
requires early sleep and early rise. For a long time in the past, China has been a traditional
agricultural society, in which people lived a life that progressed slowly with the change of
time.
As an old Chinese saying goes, “a man should get up early so as to clean the house to prepare
for the day’s work.” Even today, we can see many old people do exercise early in the
morning in parks or open areas of cities. However, with the rapid social and economical
development, people are now forced to some extend to abandon such a living style based on
the progress of the time.
Nowadays, we are living in a fast changing society, sometimes we have to follow a rhythm or
timetable according to the need of our work instead of our own will. But however we arrange
our life, we should try to take into account of our conditions in order to do our work well.
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Girl Child Foeticide: Undoing of Humanity
Gynecologists have finally begun making noises against sex selective abortions. The
fraternity openly help out guarantees of delivering only males by ensuring that female fetuses
were eliminated and made easy money while performing this greatly need social service‘ is
beginning to feel the heat.
According to the 2001 census, only 927 female children are born for every thousands male
children. It can be assumed that if gynecologists banded together and decided not to ask an
ultrasonographer to determine the sex of the foetus and also refused to remove the foetus only
because of its gender, sex selective abortions would simply out for want to trained hands.
Instead of this, many gynecologists chose to adopt an oath against sex selective abortion
without working out a mechanism to ensure that the oath is fulfilled and violators are brought
to book. Moreover, any expectations of soul-searching, criticism of peers for lending a hand
to this downslide in the female sex ratio or even a generalized discussion on professional
ethics were belied at the workshop.
To make matters worse, gynecologists speaking at the session harped on the need to ‘change
mindsets’ and condemned sex selective abortions as ‘the earliest form of discrimination’,
without examining their own role in making it possible. To add insult to injury, the
participating doctors also chose to make partners of religions leaders in their belated
recognition of the issue.
Yet, whether religion can be transformative force in highly debatable. The participating
religious leaders stick to a prepared script: asserting that their faiths hold women in high
esteem ad condemning sex selective abortions. But none had any concrete suggestion on how
to go about correcting the imbalance.
Moreover, many of the utterances of the religious leaders were in contradiction of women’s
right. For instance in the time-honored tradition of blaming the victim, Sadhvi Ritambara
said, “It is the woman who practices discrimination against her own kind.’ She is the one who
doles out food and gives less to the daughter. You can’t blame religious leaders (for this) and
get away from the fact that women accept their secondary status. “Burying the issue under a
long harangue against the modern ‘westernized women, she added that a woman’s identity
depends on the ‘fulfillment of maternal instincts.’’ Unborn girls must first get the right to
birth and then must live with compassion and maternal feelings informing their minds,” she
said. “Abortion is murder,’ declared the reverend Anil cuoto, Archbishop of Delhi.
“According to the Bible, God is the author of life and nobody has the right to take it,” he
continued, negating women’s hard-won right of control over their bodies and abortions.
Some religious reformers, however, were willing to question the role of institutionalized
religion. “Had scriptures been so good, the world would have been a different place today.”
Scriptures are not an unmixed blessing. They do contain discrimination against women. A
truly enlightened priest is one who will reject these discriminatorily passages and admonish
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followers to not follow them, “Swami Adnivesh asserted. Agnivesh, a rebel Arya Samaji,
also made the much-needed distinction between abortion and sex selective abortion. “Sex
selective abortion must stop but women should have the right to abortion. Women in Gujarat
who are victims of mass rape must have the right to abort if they wish to and nor carry their
forced pregnancies to full term. Even in cases of matrimonial rape, women should have the
right to abort, he asserted.”
Many women’s activists and doctors also felt that the shifting of the entire onus of sex
determination and sex pre-selection on the public was an attempt to absolve the medical
profession of itys ethical and legal obligations.
Indeed, by focusing only on the demand side of the business of sex determination and roping
in religions leaders to ‘change the mindset’ of the public, the medical profession has once
more refused to look inwards at the supply of medical technology that is misused to eliminate
female fetuses.
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Does God Exist?
In this world everybody is puzzled about the creation of humanity. Some people believe in
the existence of the God and some don’t. Some people search for external peace through the
beliefs in God; but this is an impossible belief because of the chances, the plausibility, and
because science is yet to prove it.
God generally refers to one supreme, holy, personal being. The divine unity of ultimate
goodness and of ultimate reality. It was not possible to visualize the concept of this perfectly
being because one can only imagine an image when one has an idea of what that image is
suppose to resemble. There is no idea behind the image therefore the image itself can’t exist.
This is known as the ontological argument. The ontological argument is impressive to the
average mind but to others its deception is clear. With words like perfect, necessary and
existent that are built into its definition, it seems impossible to be argued with. Even if the
theist could prove in some miraculous way this perfect being’s existence, he still wouldn’t be
able to link that “being” to being God.
The argument for God’s existence from design has also generated controversy among
philosophers and society. It is said that the complex order and design of the universe is
obviously the work of an intelligent architect. In Psalm 19 it’s written “The heavens declare
the glory of God;” and the firmament showeth his work”. Theists have used this well known
argument (teleological) for thousands of years as strong evidence for the existence of God.
The complex design of the world also points to a grand designer (God). Five ways of proving
which proves God’s existence are; argument for motion, efficient cause, possibility and
necessity, the gradation to be found in things and the governance of the world. First argument
states that nothing can be set into motion without being pushed by another or an original
mover. In conclusion, since the relationship between motion and mover can’t go on to
infinity, there must have been a first mover, thus enhancing the possibility of the existence of
the God. Scientist like Darwin claimed that random mutation and natural selection was
responsible for the complexities we observe in the animal kingdom. Some say that there is no
way to logically link something unknown in the world with known in the world. This is just
common sense to me. At best, the teleological argument can only suggest the possibility of a
grand architect and cannot provide evidence that the universe was created.
Assuming that if the universe is randomly formed and there appears to be no design, the
theist still believes there is hope within the cosmological arguments of Plato. His argument is
based on the obvious. Every day we observe things moving. Whatsoever moves is either
moved by another or is self-moved. If a thing is self moved it must be eternal. In this
argument for there being a first cause, this self-mover is God. Some people question that
when the wind blows a hat off a person’s head; does that means God was responsible for it?
No! Many things move and with modern technology and science there is almost an answer
for every movement. Ignorance to what caused the first movement should not be reason to
praise the unknown and label this first cause as God. To go further, for example, in nature,
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scientists, time after time have tried to predict tornadoes, their next movement and how they
will affect the area they hit. Years and years have passed and still there exists
unpredictability.
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DEFLATION: IS THE THREAT FOR REAL?
While the situation of inflation is quite common for the developing economies and most of
the people are well versed with problem of inflation and know its implications in general, the
situation of deflation is rare. In developing countries, deflation has entirely different
connotations than those of the inflation. In the common parlance deflation is an economic
situation of falling prices, but in economic theory there is much more to it than just the
reducing price level.
In economic terms, deflation can be termed as a situation of declining prices, often caused by
a reduction in the supply of money or credit. It can also be caused by the direct contraction in
expenditure, including the public expenditure, personal spending or the investment
expenditure. This is opposite of inflation and often leads to lower effective demand and
increasing unemployment rate in the economy.
According to economic theory, price level is the result of functional relationship between
demand and supply. To put it simply, the supply being constant, if the demand of the goods
and services increases in an economy, the prices are likely to go up and the economy is likely
to encounter a situation of inflation. On the other hand, if the supply increases with demand
being constant, or the supply increases more than the demand, the prices may fall and such a
situation may be referred to as ‘deflation’.
In addition to the above demand supply dynamics, the inflation or deflation can also be
caused by the reasons of the adequacy or lack of money supply in the country. If the money
supply is less, it is a situation of more money chasing lesser goods and services, leading to
general rise in prices. On the other hand, if the money supply is more than the supply of
goods and services, the situation of fall in prices is generally experienced and is referred to as
deflation.
Deflation caused by rapid growth of production and manufacturing in the country, causing
the supply to go up is good for the economy, as with abundant availability of all goods and
services in the economy, the prices go down, resulting in increase in the real income and
wealth of all the consumers. Such a situation does not harm the producers also, as they gain
by increasing sales volumes.
The Great Depression of 1930s was associated with deflation and it is said that the recession
coupled with deflation leads the economies to suffer. It is this very concern which is causing
anxiety among the economists and the policy makers. But it must be clearly understood that
deflation and depression are two different words and situations and should not be taken as
synonymous.
Effects on the Economy

Temporary fall in prices is not deflation and it is the sustained fall for a considerably long
period of time which is a matter of serious concern. It causes the aggregate demand to fall, as
246
due to the falling prices the consumers try to delay the purchases, which in turn reduces
economic activity in the economy, thereby accentuating the spiral effect of deflation. The
result is that the existing manufacturing capacity of the economy becomes idle, leading to
further reduction in aggregate demand and even more reduction in economic activity. If the
process continues without any interventions from the government, the economies may move
in to a situation of recession.
Theoretically speaking, the situation of deflation may also lead to a peculiar economic
condition known as the ‘liquidity trap’. Generally, the rate of interest in an economy is linked
to the rate of inflation. But the situation of deflation may necessitate the interest rates to go
down as low as zero. Deflationary times and zero interest rates reduce the economic viability
of most of the projects due to tremendously reduced demand and the investors also tend to
postpone their new projects. This worsens the situation further.
Generally, the deflationary situation encourages people to hold on to their money, mainly
because of the reasons like lower aggregate demand for newly produced goods and very low
interest rates that discourage the people from keeping money in bank deposits. This causes
substantial reduction in the velocity of money i.e. reduction in the number of transactions,
dramatically reducing the money supply in the economy, as one man’s expenditure is the
income of another. Reduced velocity of money results in reduction of incomes.
Deflation results in fall of availability of hard currency per person. This further results in
increasing the purchasing power of each unit of currency, as the average price level goes
down. Increase in purchasing power may sound beneficial to a layman but actually it may
cause hardship to those people whose majority of wealth is kept in non-liquid assets such as
real estate, land and buildings.
It is thus evident that sustained deflation is a serious cause of worry to the policy makers, as
it may lead the economies to recession and, more seriously, to a situation of depression.
Indian Fears
In India, the rate of inflation or deflation is measured on the basis of Wholesale Price Index
(WPI) on weekly basis and then computed for the fiscal years for the purpose of policy
monitoring, appraisal and decisions. WPI is an indicative and representative index of the
wholesale prices of various commodities produced in the economy. Consumer Price Index
(CPI), on the other hand, is an index of the consumer prices that give 46 per cent weightage
to the food items, 15 per cent weightage to the domestic facilities, 6.4 per cent to lighting and
fuel and 6.6 per cent to apparel and shoes.
The inflation rate in India has suddenly fallen to a level of less than half a per cent and closer
to zero in March 2009 onwards and the fears of the Indian economy slipping into a precarious
situation of deflation have been expressed by many. But despite extremely lower inflation
rate, the prices of food items are still experiencing reasonably higher increase in prices. This,
while putting the economically vulnerable sections of society in a disadvantageous position,
247
has also given a glimmer of hope to the policy makers because this phenomenon may
gradually stabilize the economy and help it come out of the deflationary pressures early.
The economists are in a fix and do not know whether to call this economic situation in the
country as deflation or disinflation. While the deflation is persistent fall in price level,
disinflation is a situation where the inflation rate goes down. The economic theory provides
separate sets of solutions for both the situations and unless the situation is clearly identified
and diagnosed, it would be difficult to resolve it.
Government agencies in India vehemently deny that there is any fear of deflation in the near
future. The International Monetary Fund has projected the annual inflation rate of 1.7 per cent
for the Indian economy for 2009-10. This implies that for some part of the year, the economy
may experience a
brief spell of deflation. Whether or not to call such a situation a deflationary situation, is a
matter of argument.
As per Mr P.K. Padhy, Economic Advisor in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, the
current economic situation is that of disinflation in India. The basis for such a belief is that
the economy has grown at the rate of 5.3 per cent in the third quarter of the previous fiscal.
Economists like Suresh Tendulkar and Pranab Sen also argue on the same lines. In one of its
reports on the Indian economy, the Citigroup has said that the deflationary patch in India is
due to high base effect and supply side issues and is likely to be temporary and short-lived in
nature. But persistence of such a situation may increase the problems of the economy in the
months to follow.
Many economists believe that the current situation can be termed as ‘demand deflation’. Both
production and the prices are falling down. This would require more targeted fiscal measures,
along with stepped up direct government purchases and increased scope of public distribution
system.
The situation in India may not be as grave as that of sustained deflation. The CPI is still
positive and at around 10 per cent; the rural demand for FMCGs is robust and food items are
in great demand. The resilience of our economy may not allow the typical deflationary
situation to emerge and the current phase may turn out to transient and temporary. Despite the
above, the situation needs to be tackled by the Government very carefully.
248
Reservation- Solution To The Problem
"I try to look upon the problem not in the sense of religious minority, but rather in the sense
of helping backward groups in the country. I do not look at it from a religious point of view
or a caste point of view, but from a caste point of view that a backward class ought to be
helped, and I am glad that this reservation will be limited to ten years.." Jawaharlal Nehru
addressing the Constituent Assembly, May, 1949.
Reservation has always been a fiercely debated topic as the future of millions of students
hangs in the balance. It is an issue, which will make an even seemingly unbiased individual
question his own prejudices. The question of merit, caste and class keeps recurring time and
again inspite of the forward-looking vision of the constitution makers who attempted to
visualize an undivided and equal society.
Opposing reservations at the higher educational level is a justifiable issue. The student
community is not biased on grounds of caste or class; neither does it question the
fundamental rights encircling this issue.
In 1979, the Mandal Commission was established to assess the situation of the socially and
educationally backward. The commission didn't have exact figures for a sub-caste, known as
the Other Backward Class (OBC), and used the 1931 census data to estimate the OBC
population at 52%, and further classified 1257 communities as backward. Determining that
52% of our people are Other Backward classes, of course, is not enough.
To make its recommendations operational, the Mandal Commission had to specify which
castes in each state were backward. And to do so it had to assess several things about them:
from nebulous things like the extent to which they were discriminated against socially to
easy-to-get things like the extent to which they were represented in services, elected bodies,
etc.[1] In 1980, the commission submitted a report, and recommended changes to the
existing quotas, increasing them from 27% to 49.5% [2]. The report was implemented in
1990 amid a great deal of controversy, and led to the resignation of the then acting Prime
Minister, V.P Singh .According to 2001 census, out of India's population of 1,028,737,436
the Scheduled castes comprises 166,635,700 and Scheduled Tribe 84,326,240, that is 16.2%
and 8.2% respectively. There is no data on OBCs in the census [3]. However,
according to National Sample Survey's 1999-2000 round around 36 per cent of the country's
population is defined as belonging to the Other Backward Classes (OBC). The proportion
falls to 32 per cent on excluding Muslim OBCs. A survey conducted in 1998 by National
Family Health Statistics (NFHS) puts the proportion of non-Muslim OBCs as 29.8 per cent.
[4] In other words, we do not have a reliable Census headcount for the OBCs, except that
made by State-level Backward Class Commissions, which are not really Census-like in
nature. It may be useful to have a detailed caste-wise census to look at the actual numbers.
This could be attempted at least in the coming Census.
249
An economic Census of the Central Statistical Organisation in 1998 reveals that of 31 million
enterprises nearly 12 percent were owned by SC/STs and 33 percent by OBCs. Hence, the
assumption that weaker sections are only employees or seekers may not be correct.
Under Article 340 of the Indian Constitution, it is obligatory for the government to promote
the welfare of the Other Backward Classes (OBC).
Article 340(2) states, "A commission so appointed shall investigate the matters referred to
them and present to the president a report setting out the facts as found by them and making
such recommendations as they think proper."
Consequent to the notification of the Constitution (Ninety-Third Amendment) Act, 2005,

effecting the 104th Amendment to the Constitution in January this year, the Government of
India indicated its intention to provide reservation for students coming from the socially and
educationally backward classes of citizens, popularly known as ?Other Backward Classes
(OBCs) in higher educational institutions.
Therefore, Article 15 of the Constitution, after clause (4), the following clause is inserted; (5)
Nothing in this article or in
sub-clause (g) of clause (1) of article 19 shall prevent the State from making any special
provision, by law for the advancement of any socially and educationally backward classes of
citizens or for the Scheduled Castes or the Scheduled Tribes in so far as such special
provisions relate to their admission to educational institutions including private educational
institutions, whether aided or unaided by the State, other than the minority educational
referred to in clause (1) of article30.
The 93rd Amendment Act, 2005 inserting Article 15(5) is without doubt introduced to
overcome the law laid down by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in an unanimous judgment by 7
judges in P.A. Inamdar & Ors. v. State of Maharashtra & Ors
[5] declaring that the State can't impose its reservation policy on minority and non-
minority unaided private colleges, including professional colleges. This judgment was an
attempt to bring clarity to two previous judgments by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in T.M.A.
Pai Foundation & Ors. v. State of Karnataka & Ors [6] and Islamic Academy of Edn. & Anr.
v. State of Karnataka & Ors [7] by a constitution bench that interpreted the Pai Foundation
judgment. The Hon'ble Supreme Court ruled on the following issues in relation to minority
and non-minority unaided higher education institutions.
i. reservation policy,
ii. admission policy,
iii. fee structure,
iv. regulation and control by the state, and
v. the role of committees dealing with admission and fees,
The amendment is aimed at providing greater access to higher education, including

professional education, to a large number of students belonging to socially and educationally
backward classes of citizens and SCs/STs and the OBCs by the government has not been able
250
to so far been able to provide quality primary education through state funded schools. Infact,
the official data of central university reveals high drop out rates amongst SC/ST school
children.
Also, reservation at University and super specialty level will not serve its so-called purpose
unless these students continue education till Class X. The Government instead of
strengthening the education system at the primary and secondary level is concentrating in
giving more and more reservation at the tertiary level.
The Prime Minister's Office, on the 27th of May 2006, constituted an Oversight Committee
to monitor the implementation of this decision and directed that the Committee would, inter
alia, look into the following aspects and submit its report by 31st August, 2006:§
Implementation of 27% reservation for the OBCs in institutes of higher learning and §
Assessment of additional infrastructure and other requirements for increasing the overall
availability of seats to a level so that the present level of seats available to the general
category students does not decline.
No doubt the constitution guarantees by way of the above-mentioned Articles a fundamental

right for the realization of one?s own potential, and it is the duty of the state to make
available all plausible resources for achieving the same. But then bigger problems looming
large in our faces are the questions of quality, the basis for identification of backward classes
and inclusion of the creamy layer in the proposed Reservation Bill.
At a time when India enters its 60th year of independence one is compelled to question the
social progress of this country. However, India's economic growth rate is estimated at a
whopping 6-8% per year, with economists still foreseeing the potential to exceed 9-10%. The
country has superseded other developing nations with poverty depleting at a massive pace
from more than half to less than a quarter since 1991. On the other hand, it was reported in
The Hindustan Times that students
securing 90% and above failed to get into colleges of their choice whereas two students who
scored 6/100 in the AIEEE have been selected for admission in the engineering course of
BIT, Mesra. The VC said that same 50 reserved seats are vacant and chances are that students
who scored 1-2% maybe considered for admission. The implementation of 27% reservation
no doubt would instill a level of confidence in the backward class candidate; however much
is dependent upon his successfully completing his course. Another aspect that has been
overlooked is the state of literacy in this country. The comparisons with other countries are
stated as follows:
Illiteracy in India and some neighboring countries. Percentage of adult illiterate population
2000
China 15.0
India 44.2
Indonesia 13.0
Myanmar 15.3
Sri Lanka 8.4
Thailand 4.4
251
Source: Statistical Yearbook, 1999 UNESCO and Census of India 2001- Provisional
Population totals.
The state of literacy is also reflected in the dropout and enrolment percentage in the primary
and upper primary level of education.
According to Vinod Raina, a member of the Central Advisory Board on Education, 80

Million of India's 200 million children between six and 14 years of age are not in school at
all. Of the remaining 120 million, only 20 million are expected to reach the tenth year of
school, with the rest dropping out along the way. [8]
DROP OUT RATE (2003-04)

Category
Class (I-VIII)
52.32
Classes (I-X)
62.69
(as high as 90% in Bihar) Source : Annual Report 2004-05, Ministry of Human Resource
Development.
Thus only about 10% of children in the eligible age group complete their high school. The
percentage is much lower among girls and rural children.
The inability of backward classes not being able to compete in gaining admission to higher
education is a consequence, not a cause of their backwardness. The cause of their
backwardness lies elsewhere and so by forcing them into higher education will not magically
remove their backwardness.
Quotas, are economically inefficient. Assume that the full cost of, say, a 4-year IIT education
is $50,000 (or about Rs 22 lakhs). Further assume that a quota student ends up benefiting less
than the full cost, say, $10,000, while a non-quota student gets at least $50,000 of benefits.
The net loss is then at least $40,000. Instead of wasting $40,000 on one backward class
student at the IIT, if the money were spent school education, 20 students could have been
educated (with an average spend of $2,000) and out of which perhaps one would have been
sufficiently bright enough to gain admission in the IIT on merit & subsequently compete
within the system as well. This is the tactical flaw with the quota system: they have the
sequencing wrong, and instead of creating more opportunities at the school level, it tries to
equate outcomes at the college level. [9]
Reserving a few slots at the top without allowing and enabling the deprived groups to climb
up even the lower rungs of the education ladder is political chicanery. If data available are
any indication, as of now India's demand for higher education is by 35 percent of the relevant
age group. Contrast this with the present enrolment of 9 to 11 percent compared to 45 to 85
percent in Developed countries. Contrast this also with the fact that India's present outturn of
degree holders is just about 7.5 percent. [10]
252
In India, constant pressure is on filling a certain quota regardless whether or not the caliber of
those hired in jobs or admitted in
educational institutions is consistent with the "maintenance of efficiency" and well being of
the institutions. What is of paramount importance in India is that target numbers must be met
even if that involves going down the merit hierarchy. Affirmative action advocates no such
generosity for it acknowledges the importance of competition and merit. As it benefits those
who are almost as good as the ones from the general category, a person from a disadvantaged
background must still
score very well in terms of qualification required for the position. [11]
Therefore a plausible repercussion of reservation, besides reverse discrimination would be

that of retarded and paralytic development of the backward classes. Meaning that if a
backward class student scores, say 90%, that student would be denied admission in a general
category seat, even though that student has the requisite criteria suitable for that seat, that
candidate would only be allowed admission under the quota system and therefore branded as
a backward class member for life.
The concept of backward class promotes a sense of inferiority and ostracism for those who
belong to that category even when merit permits them to compete at an equal footing.
Another inevitable repercussion would be that the mandatory percentage required for
admission would never be a pre-requisite for a backward class candidate. This would kill the
academic inclinations of the student, with a constant delusion in his mind that the quota even
at the service sector would cradle him.
Plausible Solutions proposed by the Authors

I) Primary Education:
Every individual is like a building, if the foundation of the building is weak it is inevitable
that the entire structure will fall. The same is true for an individual. The basic foundation of
an individual for a successful career is deeply rooted in the primary education he receives. It
is this education that will help him achieve higher levels of learning. Therefore to become a
sky scraper one has to start from the bottom.
The focus should therefore be on maximizing the educational infrastructure, more fund
allocation and that of reforming the entire teaching and learning process and revamping the
obsolete administrative apparatus that hinders more than it serves.
II) A person must be given the basic necessities of life-nutrition, clothing, shelter, medical
facilities. These must be provided at nominal rates through fair price shops catering
specifically to the economically backward of this country .
III) Benefits if provided should be restricted per family to a maximum of two children
irrespective of the number of children in a family. This will help in regulating the population
of OBCs which will eventually result in decrease in their representation, giving way to the
principle of equality. This could also be achieved where reservation can be extended to one
253
generation only. A family that has availed it once should not be allowed to avail it in the next
generation too. This would make it possible to do way with reservations in a phased manner.
IV) Give effect to the Hon'ble Supreme Court's observation in Indra Sawhney v. Union of
India [12] on the exclusion of creamy layer from the benefits of reservation.
V) Once an OBC is self sufficient then relegate him from that category and include him in the
general category. Thereon, his coming generations will be termed as general category. This
will result in reduction of the OBCs.
VI) Setup a review committee under a governmental authority which submits an annual
report at the end of the year reviewing the implementation of allocation of funds at the
primary and secondary education level.
VII) The root of the problem lies not in the demarcation of the categories but in the ever
increasing rural and urban divide. In a rural village of India a general category individual is
suffering same as the OBC. So the solution lies in bridging the gap between rural and urban
India which can be done in concentrating on the rural setup and providing them all the basic
facilities. This way we can reduce the concentration of power in few hands and provide
sustenance to the weaker section i.e. the rural society.
VIII) Set a deadline for eliminating all kinds of reservations benefits provided to SC/ST &
OBCs. Government must ascertain a final date (maybe within 10 to 15 years) when the whole
setup is brought down. This will not only encourage reserved category people to stand on
their own but also go a long way in increasing its acceptability by all sections of the society.
IX) However if it is deemed necessary that 27% reservation is to be implemented then it

should be done on the basis of satisfying the minimum criteria of marks which every student,
irrespective of caste or class has to secure. It should only be after careful consideration of the
caliber of the backward class candidates combined with his qualifying marks and reasonable
intelligence that he should be given admission. In other words if qualifying marks for a
general category is, say 90 %, then the qualifying marks for the OBC candidate should be
approx. 80 %. This will prevent dilution of academic standards. Also, in case the quota seats
are not filled then after a lapse of particular period of time, the remaining seats should be
made open to the general category. This will prevent wastage of seats.
254
Reference :
• Wikipedia
• publishyourarticles.net
• competitionmaster.com
• Jagranjosh
• Different Test Prep Materials
• Arun Shourie, Falling over Backwards, an essay against reservations and against
judicial populism, ASA Publications, 2006, P.86.
• Ramaiah, Identifying Other Backward Classes (PDF), Economic and Political
Weekly, (6 June, 1992), pp. 1203-1207.
• Population. Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India. Retrieved on 2006-05-
27.
• Surjit Bhalla and Sunil Jain, 36% population is OBC, not 52%. South Asian Free
Media Association (8 May, 2006).
• http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/chaudhuri
• http://www.deeshaa.org/2006/05/07/indian-reservations/
• http://newindpress.com
• NJ Demerath III and Dipankar Gupta, Maintaining Excellence, Times of India,
Editorial Opinion, 12th June, 2006.
• SSC-Portal
• UPSC-Portal
Disclaimer: Materials are taken from various sources for education purposes only
not for revenue generations.
Amiya Kumar
kumar.amiya@gmail.com
www.facebook.com/kumar.amiya
255

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