Thursday, October 16, 2014
| Meeting of the Empowered Committee on Mid Day Meal Scheme |
Report by India Education bureau, New Delhi: The meeting of the Empowered Committee under the Chairpersonship of the Minister of Human Resource Development Smt. Smriti Irani, for the Mid Day Meal Scheme was held today.
Representatives of State Governments, Food and Nutrition experts and senior officers of the Central Government participated in the meeting. The Committee reviewed the implementation of the Mid Day Meal Scheme and decided to strengthen the monitoring system of the Mid Day Meal Scheme as well as to ensure community participation in the execution of the Scheme.
Two major decisions were taken by the committee today.
(i) To introduce the practice of Tithi Bhojan across the country, based on its success in Gujarat where community members contribute to improve quality of the school mid day meals on a happy occasion / event in the family be it a birthday, festival etc.
(ii) In order to ensure quality of the meals and appropriate nutrition standards under the Mid Day Meal Scheme, it was decided to introduce a protocol for standards in food safety and testing - to be rolled out in the coming New Year.
UGC seeks academic data from universities
The University Grants Commission (UGC) has asked universities from across the country to send academic data to make various policy decisions in higher education. According to a university circular dated October 8, the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) has asked for information on the teaching and non-teaching staff to be submitted at the earliest.
The information will provide details regarding academic status in universities across the country, which will be used to make policy decisions, regarding fund allocations and other such matters.
The UGC also wants information regarding the number of teaching and non-teaching positions in a university, number of class I-IV positions, total number of sanctioned positions, total number of existing vacant positions and number of employees with disabilities.
- See more at: http://digitallearning.eletsonline.com/2014/10/ugc-seeks-academic-data-from-universities/#sthash.oVtdbaMr.dpuf
Central universities to be ranked using India-centric ranking system
Ranking of Central universities will now be carried out using a national ranking system framework. A primary draft for this has already been prepared. “Delhi University hosted a conclave of vice-chancellors yesterday for developing a framework for a National Ranking System and a draft containing the ranking parameters has been prepared,” Media coordinator and Joint Dean of Students’ Welfare, Delhi University, Malay Neerav, said.
The conclave saw exchange of ideas and a broad consensus was reached on six parameters for the National Ranking System. According to a DU official, “These include academic reputation, research development and innovation, training and placement, internationalisation, per capita academic performance and outreach or geographical reach of universities.”
The work on the framework has been started following a directive by the Ministry of HRD.
- See more at: http://digitallearning.eletsonline.com/2014/10/central-universities-to-be-ranked-using-india-centric-ranking-system/#sthash.6N8ShaGc.dpuf
India has the potential to end all preventable child deaths’
Dr Mickey Chopra, global head of UNICEF’s health programmes explained to R. Prasad why he was very encouraged by the efforts taken by the government to reduce child mortality, and how these efforts are paying off, especially in States like Bihar.
How is India doing as far as meeting the MDG 4 target is concerned?
India is changing very quickly. We are seeing very encouraging signs… we are starting to see the fruits of some investments the National Health Mission has been making. For example, [the Mission is] investing much more in rural and poor areas and core public health like vaccines, EPI [extended program on immunisation] and more increasingly on nutrition.
How appreciable is the reduction in child mortality?
The numbers are changing very quickly. As you know, India is a very large country with a relatively weak information system. So getting an accurate measure of mortality is always challenging. But surveys show an increasing acceleration of reduction in child mortality. There is also encouraging leadership, not only at the national level but also at the State level.
State leaders are now prioritising women’s and children’s health. Progress is being made in States such as Bihar. For example, Bihar had been one of the places with the highest rates of child mortality. But we are now seeing an increase in coverage of EPI from less than 10 per cent to almost 50-70 per cent in some parts of the State.
But there is a huge disparity between South and North India…
That’s true. There has been a disparity between North and South India for many reasons, historical and present. But we are seeing success stories even in North India where mortality rates are coming down. The lessons to be learnt from theTamil Nadus, Keralas and Maharashtras of the world are that even when per capita income is very low, those States can make huge progress in reducing mortality rates in women and children by doing the right things like investing in public health, girl’s education and more equitable income distribution. All these factors can make a huge impact on a child’s survival.
India that has central and State governments, and health is a State subject. Do you think this system has been a barrier in achieving results?
It’s a tough one. In theory, having a federal and central system should be strength as you can adapt. It’s also easy to hold leaders accountable at the State level than at the national level. But the problem, not just in India but other large countries like Indonesia and Nigeria, has been that the capacity of public health management and operational management to implement at the sub-national level has been a bottleneck.
The capacity to advocacy in these big countries is quite uneven. In some places, we have strong advocacy as we have strong civil society, as in Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Whereas in other States, the management is weak and technical skills are inadequate. These two factors can increase the inequity. So the potential benefits of having a decentralised system are not always realised.
Despite these shortcomings, do you think India is still making progress and will meet the MDG 4 target in the near future?
Yes, absolutely. Resources are there. What we are learning in all countries is we don’t need to make massive investments to make a big impact. You do need to increase the investments but relative to the size of the country and relative to the amount of money the government spends on other things, the investments in public health services, and women and children services are relatively small and these can make a huge difference and impact.
The key message that we can make to our leaders is that investment in this area has and will lead to immediate results.
So if you look at Bihar, for example, the child mortality rates are dropping, and the EPI coverage rate has gone up —all in a period of five to seven years. So if the government puts its money and focuses, we can get almost immediate results.
Can you cite some targeted efforts taken to reduce child mortality?
The Indian government has stepped up its efforts in bringing down child mortality rate. The government is focussing on the poorest districts or those that have the worst outcomes…170 or 180 deaths [per 1,000 live births]. They have asked the UN and USAID to adopt those districts and help identify the bottlenecks and suggest ways of improving the quality. It has really shown a good leadership role.
I am very encouraged by what I am seeing in India and Indian government, in particular.
When did the government’s focus on reducing child mortality start?
The focus started in 2005-2006. There has been a gradual but significant increase in financing for health, and primary health, in particular. Greater focus on women and children really came in after the Call for Action in 2013. The government really started looking at where the deaths were occurring and prioritising those districts and States.
Do you think the success in polio eradication was a morale booster?
Obviously, the success in polio gave a lot of people the confidence to do more. Don’t forget that polio was surviving in the poorest communities, the communities that were living by the canals and rivers and were the most difficult to reach…yet we were immunising those children seven, eight, nine times a year and finally got rid of polio.
So it gave a sense of confidence that if we can do that in the poorest, most marginalised, most difficult-to-reach villages and communities with polio, maybe we do it with other things as well. So it was an important psychological breakthrough and a feeling that we can achieve much more because we have the technology, management and infrastructure capacity to do it.
Do you think the eleventh hour push is helping?
That’s been one of the advantages of targets — holding everybody accountable. It does add urgency to governments to move faster, put more resources and more attention. So even if India does not achieve it [MDG 4], if it continues to invest in the same way and continues its focus, then the momentum would carry it through, if not by 2015, soon thereafter.
The worst thing that could happen is on the December 31 night of 2015, they say the date has come and gone so we will focus on something different. So wemust make sure we don’t just stop at the end of next year but continue after that.
What kind of pressure would be there for India to continue the focus beyond 2015?
This is where we are saying India has the potential to end all preventable maternal and child deaths. So India can reach a level of 25 per 1,000 live births by 2030. Below a level of 20 per 1,000 live births, most deaths are quite unavoidable. If you can reach a level of 25 to 20, then we can say the child’s chances of survival is no different from that in other parts of Europe and parts of Americas, which is amazing considering where we have come from.
But 15 years is a long time…
We need to set goals in between [too]. So we have to look at 2020 and probably should be at a State level as much as at the national level. We need to set State-level goals, and one of the things we would encourage is looking at an annual rate of change. Say, every State should decrease by 5 per cent or 6 per cent. So we can set short goals and make them visible, particularly at the State level.
Though child mortality rates are coming down the numbers are still very high, especially in the case of India. Why was a reduction in numbers not targeted at?
This where numbers and statistics can mislead. The MDGs aimed at proportionate reduction. The downside is that, it can still lead to high levels of deaths. So we are now advocating for an absolute number by 2035 — 20 child deaths per 1,000 live births.
Why was it not done at the outset?
At that time it was difficult to come to one number. Some countries had 300 child deaths [per 1,000 live births] and some had 60. So if we said everybody should reduce it to 20, it would have been impossible for [countries with] 300 deaths to come down to that level. So that’s why we said proportionate reduction.
But now, the ranges are much narrow. We have done the modelling and we think we can set an absolute number.
At the moment there are 6.3 million children dying every year. One of the things we are looking at is can we say by 2025 or 2030 only three million should be dying. But the trouble with numbers is that it is difficult to know, for instance, if the fertility changes, the numbers can change in different ways. You could get to the [target] number by still having higher rate of deaths but fewer children per mother. So even reducing the fertility rate would lead to lower number, even if the mortality rate is still high in a community. So the trouble with numbers is that it’s very dependenton fertility rate rather than mortality rate.
But reducing fertility rate takes time compared with reducing mortality rate…
So we are looking at having a number as opposed to rate. But within a rate, we should have an absolute rate not a proportionate reduction. That is, every country should achieve 20 per 1,000 and not more than that.
(The Correspondent participated in the events surrounding the United Nations General Assembly, New York as a Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health Scholarship Journalist at the invitation of PMNCH, Geneva)
Oct 16 2014 : The Economic Times (Delhi)
Focus on Content in Labour Reform
Do not waste political capital on mere form
It is welcome that the government intends to act on labour reform. It has been reported that the process will begin with the labour inspectors losing the freedom to arbitrarily select which units to inspect and by reducing the number of labour-related reports that companies have to file from 16 to 1. At the same time, employees will have portable accounts for their compulsory provident fund.These are significant procedural reforms. However, it is not just the form that needs to change. Essentially , the content of industrial relations need to undergo a radical change. And that is essentially a political, rather than a procedural, change.India operates in a globalised economic context. All its laws and policies must internalise and articulate the inner dynamics of such globalised production, while making sure that the gains from growth are shared equitably . Of all India's major central trade unions, only the Hind Mazdoor Sabha supports globalisation explicitly -the rest oppose globalised growth as some kind of anti-people conspiracy. Unless this is squarely addressed and changed, how can industrial relations ever focus on increasing production and productivity?
Simultaneously , workers need reassurance that their welfare has its pla ce in policymaking priority . One enterprise's workforce is a cost for it but the market for the rest of the economy. If and when all enterprises try to squeeze their costs to the minimum, the aggregate market for industry's produce as a whole will remain squeezed. It is in industry's collective interest for individual enterprises to pay their workers decent wages. Unions are the means to make individual managements see the logic of collective self-interest.In return for unions accepting the logic of globalised growth, complete with flexibility and constant upgradation of skills, employers must offer workers what the International Labour Organization calls decent work.Discriminatory wages and work terms for a section of employees must go. It is this grand bargain that must be the basis for viable labour reform.
Simultaneously , workers need reassurance that their welfare has its pla ce in policymaking priority . One enterprise's workforce is a cost for it but the market for the rest of the economy. If and when all enterprises try to squeeze their costs to the minimum, the aggregate market for industry's produce as a whole will remain squeezed. It is in industry's collective interest for individual enterprises to pay their workers decent wages. Unions are the means to make individual managements see the logic of collective self-interest.In return for unions accepting the logic of globalised growth, complete with flexibility and constant upgradation of skills, employers must offer workers what the International Labour Organization calls decent work.Discriminatory wages and work terms for a section of employees must go. It is this grand bargain that must be the basis for viable labour reform.
Oct 16 2014 : The Times of India (Delhi)
WAITING FOR SUCCOUR - Stories of abuse abound at UNHCR doorstep
Jayashree Nandi
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New Delhi:
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The road in front of UNHCR office in Vasant Vihar almost always has people in anticipation of an assurance of shelter or safety . They are so desperate that they often spend nights in front of the office on pavements or wait all day seeking a chance to share their plight with officials at the commission.On Wednesday , even when the Burmese refugees had already spent a night on the pavements demanding a meeting with the chief of mission, there were others seen sitting with placards and letters accounting their struggles in the city .
An Afghan woman (26) from Herat who requested TOI not to name her claimed that she waits near the UNHCR office almost every other day . She claimed her husband is with the Taliban. She escaped from Herat along with her brothers, mother and grandparents. They live in Bhogal now but she doesn't feel safe as her husband and members of the Taliban are allegedly tracking her.
“My letters to UNHCR are in Persian. I can't write in English. I was home-schooled in Herat till Class IX. In Herat, girls are not allowed to study. In Kabul, things are a little better for women. Delhi, too, gives women freedom to do what they want to live,“ the woman tearfully said. Her son (10) goes to school in Delhi and has picked up some Hindi. “My fa ther used to beat my mother and that's why we escaped. He had a gun,“ he said.
The woman claimed the population of Afghans is high in Delhi which makes it unsafe for people like her. “What if someone informs my husband we are here? They need to move us somewhere safe,“ she said. The woman has done a beautician's course in Delhi.But though she follows English, she is unable to speak the language.
Another young person from Eritrea in Africa who has been in India since 2005 had a placard which read, “Why which read, “Why am I forgotten?
Stop the discrimi nation. I am a refking a long term vi ugee, too.“ He is seeking a long term visa to be able to work in Delhi. “Back home there is a lot of disturbance.There are human rights violations and extrajudicial killings. Most young people have no option but to become refugees. But in India, I can't work and racial discrimination is a major problem in Delhi,“ he said.
An Afghan woman (26) from Herat who requested TOI not to name her claimed that she waits near the UNHCR office almost every other day . She claimed her husband is with the Taliban. She escaped from Herat along with her brothers, mother and grandparents. They live in Bhogal now but she doesn't feel safe as her husband and members of the Taliban are allegedly tracking her.
“My letters to UNHCR are in Persian. I can't write in English. I was home-schooled in Herat till Class IX. In Herat, girls are not allowed to study. In Kabul, things are a little better for women. Delhi, too, gives women freedom to do what they want to live,“ the woman tearfully said. Her son (10) goes to school in Delhi and has picked up some Hindi. “My fa ther used to beat my mother and that's why we escaped. He had a gun,“ he said.
The woman claimed the population of Afghans is high in Delhi which makes it unsafe for people like her. “What if someone informs my husband we are here? They need to move us somewhere safe,“ she said. The woman has done a beautician's course in Delhi.But though she follows English, she is unable to speak the language.
Another young person from Eritrea in Africa who has been in India since 2005 had a placard which read, “Why which read, “Why am I forgotten?
Stop the discrimi nation. I am a refking a long term vi ugee, too.“ He is seeking a long term visa to be able to work in Delhi. “Back home there is a lot of disturbance.There are human rights violations and extrajudicial killings. Most young people have no option but to become refugees. But in India, I can't work and racial discrimination is a major problem in Delhi,“ he said.
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