Monday, February 15, 2016

I was inspired by Maneka Gandhi’s struggle to get back her passport (impounded by the Janata Party government) as an IIT student in 1977. Her Supreme Court case led to a landmark judgment on personal liberty. Subsequently Gandhi filed petitions in courts to protect animal rights. Given this early commitment to the law, her recent statement against the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT) Act was bizarre.

Over the past 25 years, more than 15 million girls have been eliminated because of determination of foetal sex before birth. This was the outcome of at least 45 million medical crimes of determination and elimination. Sex selection was introduced in India as a method to control population growth. The department of reproductive physiology was set up in 1970 in AIIMS by a doctor from the Population Council, New York and funded by the Rockefeller Foundation. The research published in the medical journal, Indian Pediatrics, in 1975 argued that the excess girls born, for a son, was unnecessary fecundity and that elimination of girls would lead to population control.

Following concerns of discrimination against women, sex determination was banned in Delhi government hospitals in 1978. But this practice spread into the private sector. Leading newspapers in Delhi carried advertisements for ultrasound sex determination in the late 1980s. Punjab clinics opened sister clinics in Delhi, asserting that they had 10 years of expertise in determining sex. The medical geneticist who taught genetics students in Guru Nanak University, Amritsar in the 1980s would announce at global genetics conferences that foetal sex determination would prevent women from dowry deaths and other forms of violence.

In the late 1980s, in Hisar, glass jars with preserved female foetuses were exhibited by doctors to encourage female foeticide. Thus, it was a steady growth from the early genetic clinics in Amritsar in 1979 to over 50,000 ultrasound clinics all over India today. The initial phase of denial about the demographic consequences of this medical malpractice by scholars in the early 1990s assisted in the popularisation of this extreme form of violence against women.

The women’s movement recognised sex selection as violence as early as in the 1980s. By 1985, public campaigns against sex selection started in Bombay and elsewhere. Protests were made against advertisements of sex selection (“Save Rs 50,000 in dowry by doing sex determination for Rs 500”). Finally, in 1988, Maharashtra enacted the first law against foetal sex determination and Parliament did so in 1994.

However, this was not implemented. Therefore, I filed a PIL in the Supreme Court along with two organisations against the non-implementation of the law and for including pre-foetal sex selection in the ambit of the PCPNDT Act in 2000. And with the disastrous outcomes in the 2001 Census (child sex ratios in Punjab dropped to 798 girls per 1,000 boys; about one in five girls eliminated before birth), this created a national discourse. The Supreme Court orders ensured that registrations of pre-natal diagnostic clinics increased from 600 in the year 2000 to 55,000-plus today. Advertisements for sex selection had practically disappeared from print media, television and from walls around the country by 2003. Last year, Google Shopping had to remove product advertisements from the internet.

Barely 3,000 cases have been filed against violators of the act over the past 21 years though half a billion medical crimes have been committed. However, the real impact of the law is felt only in Maharashtra, thanks to the efforts of advocate Varsha Deshpande. Fifty doctors have been convicted and sex ratios at birth have improved in favour of girls over the past few years. Regrettably, in other states, registration has not been followed by actions to prevent sex determination.

Medical associations and their supporters have made continuous efforts to undermine the law. It is in this context that Gandhi’s statement needs to be examined. The impact of the PCPNDT Act in Maharashtra being publicly denied is a setback to the implementation of the law. In several districts of Punjab and Haryana, improvements in Census 2011 were only after child sex ratios fell to the low 800s or less. If the rest of the country has to follow this pattern, then India will lose hundreds of millions of girls in the coming decades. The most worrisome trend is the spread of sex selection in UP and Bihar over the past two decades. Unlike Haryana and Punjab, which are small states, more than one in three Indian girls is born in UP or Bihar. Thus Gandhi’s endorsement of anti-law efforts will result in serious setbacks to the “Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao” scheme.

The country will welcome incentives for girls. But the only immediate deterrence against continuous promotion of sex selection by unethical medical professionals and agents is the implementation of the law. The law was enacted because professionals did not follow medical ethics. And Gandhi’s endeavour to put the burden on women to stop sex selection is unforgivable — they are being punished for crimes that are being perpetrated by doctors. If the government does not have the will to regulate 55,000 clinics, how will it track 29 million pregnancies annually? In addition to the impossibility of this, it would undermine the abortion needs of women.

The writer is a member of the National Inspection and Monitoring Committee of the PCPNDT Act

-Source: Indian Express, 15-02-2015

A judgment for women’s rights

Economic agency is one of the most enabling elements to release women from oppression, violence and powerlessness.

A Supreme Court Bench has once again proved that our judiciary can be the torchbearer of progressive attitudes towards women.

In 2013, the Justice J.S. Verma Committee, while responding to the horrific December 16, 2012 gang rape in Delhi, prepared a report that drew from the observations of members of the women’s movement among other sources. The report was heralded as one of the most comprehensive reports not only in India but in the world.

The judgment

The latest evidence of such progressive and informed thinking is a directive given to the Chhattisgarh government by a Bench of the Supreme Court comprising Justices A.K. Sikri and A.M. Sapre. The Bench directed the State government to appoint a woman Excise Sub Inspector as Deputy Superintendent of Police after granting her relief in the upper age limit.

Richa Mishra’s name was not included in the list of successful candidates for the post as she had crossed the age limit stipulated for the same. As per the Chhattisgarh Police Executive (Gazetted) Service Recruitment and Promotion Rules, 2000, the upper age limit for appointment to the post of Deputy Superintendent of Police is 25 years and Ms. Mishra had already crossed that age.

But the judges overruled this proposition by referring to another rule which was quoted by Ms. Mishra in the court: age relaxation as per Rule 8 of the Rules, 2000 which states, “there shall be age relaxation of ten years for women candidates for direct appointment in all posts in the services under the State in addition to the upper age limit prescribed in any service rules or executive instructions”.

The judges said: “It is to encourage women, hitherto known as weaker section, to become working women, by taking up different vocations, including public employment. It would naturally lead to empowerment of women, which is the need of the hour… Empowerment of women… is perceived as equipping them to be economically independent, self-reliant, with positive esteem to enable them to face any situation and they should be able to participate in the development activities.”

Message of the women's movement

For decades, the women’s movement has been underlining many important aspects of women’s role in the economy, as was outstandingly articulated in ‘Towards Equality: report of the Committee on the Status of Women in India’ in 1975. The movement has been highlighting the need to recognise the vital, if invisible and uncounted, role which women play in the economy and argues for their recognition in policy, data collection and programme design. It has been emphasising that economic agency or a livelihood is a critical requirement for self-affirmation. It also emphasises that economic power within and outside the household makes a difference to gender relations.

We see these thoughts resonating in this judgment which says that the agency, freedom and intra-household power of women are strengthened when women are given an economic value; when they are enabled to hold a position in the economy through employment. And by relating women’s economic empowerment to their ability to access, contribute to and direct economic development, the judges further expand on the value of their order. They state: “There is a bidirectional relationship between economic development and women’s empowerment, defined as improving the ability of women to access the constituents of development — in particular health, education, earning opportunities, rights, and political participation”.

Scholars who have explored and studied women’s work, especially among the poorest in the most marginalised locales and communities, have been highlighting the importance of recognising women’s work, the importance of women as economic agents. These include those who try and understand self-employed working women and those whose work focuses on revealing the value that women bring to agriculture, food production, and the handicaps they suffer from lack of recognition. Further, activists have been detailing how women organise themselves to escape from various types of bondage, exclusion and exploitation.

During the preparation of the 11th Five Year Plan, women scholars highlighted the kinds of changes that were required to be initiated in the development, design and allocation of funding in the Plan if women’s roles in the economy were to be taken into account.

All this affirms what the judges said: economic agency is one of the most enabling elements to shift gender relations of power, to release women from the kind of oppression, violence and powerlessness that they experience. Women’s inclusion in the development design would enhance the outcomes of development it the self.

The message in this 38-page verdict does more than simply allow Richa Mishra to get her posting. It is an advisory to all the Departments of States at all levels, to Ministries, to Niti Aayog and its State-level counterparts, as well as to research and policy forums about the importance of women in the economy.

(Devaki Jain is an economist and founder of the Institute of Social Studies Trust, New Delhi.)

Keywords: women empowerment, women’s rights, equality, gender relations

Source: The Hindu, 15-02-2016

In Tune With The Harmony Of The Universe

Talk: Swami Viditatmananda Saraswati

The universe is a marvellous creation. There is a certain order and harmony about it. It reminds us of an orchestra playing a harmonious melody . This orchestra of the universe has sentient and insentient objects as performers playing their unique instruments. God is the master conductor of this orchestra directing all performers to remain in tune and rhythm with the harmony of the universe.Besides the elements of nature such as sun, moon, stars, air, fire, water, earth, trees, and sentient beings such as animals, birds and insects, humans are also one of the performers in the orchestra of the universe.
Freedom can be a great blessing if employed with discretion but it can also prove to be a curse if abused. Therefore there is the need to instruct or guide the individual to remain in concord with the prevailing harmony . Krishna says in the Bhagwad Gita that the universe is sustained by yajna.Any selfless action or action imbued with the spirit of reaching out is what is meant by the word yajna. Krishna says it is this spirit of offering or yajna which harmoniously moves the cosmic wheel. The sun offers itself to form clouds, clouds offer themselves to form rain, rains offer themselves to grow food. In this manner, all members of the universe offer themselves at the altar of the macrocosm and thereby help move the cosmic wheel.
The human being is also a cog in the wheel and therefore, he is expected to do his part. He is indebted to each and every member of the universe such as elements, trees, animals, sages, parents, teachers, ancestors and scientists for what he is today. Krishna says that one who enjoys favours from the universe but does not return those favours, is a thief. By adopting selfish and violent attitude he may profit externally but by rubbing against the order of the universe he winds up with conflicts and turmoil within.
It is therefore becoming for us to return the favour with a sense of gratitude. Everybody is assigned a certain role in life.
May that role be performed to the best of one's ability, not only for a personal gain but for the well-being of the macrocosm.
All duties and actions that one has to perform may be looked upon as an opportunity to serve the universe. Thus, when the spirit of offering, of contributing, permeates the life of the individual, he has struck chord of harmony playing in the fine chord of harmony playing in the universe.
The result is that he is at peace with himself. The spirit of offering, the attitude of serving or reaching out is such a catalyst that it purifies his heart of selfishness, greed, aggression, violence, usurpation and other such self-centred tendencies and makes it pure and divine. Purged of these discordant tendencies, he is free from anxieties and conflicts. It is this free mind that experiences happiness. He is no more dependent on external paraphernalia to make him happy .
In a nutshell, selfishness is equal to unhappiness and selflessness and reaching out is equal to happiness and peace. Besides gaining composure, living in harmony with the universe is being one with God for, the vedas reveal that the spirit of offering itself is Vishnu, the immanent. By offering ourselves at the service of the universe let's merge ourselves in God and fulfil the goal of our life.

State’s apathy towards natural heritage fuelling the man-animal conflict

Imagine this: You are caught in an enclosed space and unknown people are on your tail. Would you stand still and give up, or try to exit the scene as quickly as possible? Most of us would opt for the latter. The same survival instinct pushes wild animals to behave in the same way when they are cornered. But humans don’t seem to realise or appreciate that and more often than not end up terrifying wild animals that stray into human habitats like what happened when a leopard entered a school in Bengaluru last week. Instead of allowing specialists to tranquilise it safely, several hundred people gathered around the school to watch the tamasha; their irresponsible action not only frightened the animal but also made it difficult for the forest officials to trap it quickly. In fact, three forest officials were injured during the day-long operation.

On their part, forest department officials should have asked the local police to clear the area because wildlife protocols state that “wild carnivores may attack in self-defence and, therefore, it is advisable to avoid provoking them” and that the area should be “cordoned off with barricades and all attempts should be made to keep the crowd and local people from approaching the animal”. There has been an alarming rise in such man-animal conflicts in the last few years and fatalities often involve elephants, leopards, bears, boars and tigers. Only a day after the Bengaluru incident, an elephant went on the rampage in a town in West Bengal. The main reason for such conflicts is the politics that thrives on the build-build-build development motto. So we build rail tracks, roads, housing colonies and industries cutting through natural habitats or wildlife corridors, with little thought about the animals that live or use these forested areas.

A little attention can make life easier for animals and also for people who live in areas that are hotbeds of man-animal conflicts. Forest officials in Upper Assam’s Holongapar Reserve Forest have built a bridge across a railway track passing through the forest for hillock gibbons to pass from one side of the forest to the other. No matter how many laws we pass to save wild animals, it will finally be our resolve which can make a difference. As of now, the will to save the country’s natural heritage seems to be woefully weak.

Source: Hindustan Times, 1502-2016

INDIA IN MOTION - Sex ratio worsens in families with 1-2 kids, improves with more than 3

Subodh Varma

When minister of women and child de velopment Maneka Gandhi suggested registering the sex of every child in the womb to ensure the girl child is not killed, she probably did not understand the complex calculus that Indian would-be parents go through -when to have a child, how many , and boy or girl. A glimpse into this intriguing decision-making process undertaken by about 2.5 crore parents every year is provided by Census 2011data.Among women who had only one child, the sex ratio was just 782 girls to every 1,000 boys born.
This is much lower than the overall sex ratio of the population, (943 females for every 1,000 males), and even lower than the sex ratio for children aged up to six years (919). But it is not yet the rock bottom.Among families with two children, the ratio plummets to 720 girls. This is where the sharpest drop has taken place, from 742 in 2001. However, with three children, it improves to 814.
In families with four children, it improves further to 944 and by five, it reaches 1,005 girls for 1,000 boys. Census data indicates that the sex ratio is poor when women have one or two children, but gets better as they have more children. Two factors are at play here, explains population expert Purushottam M Kulkarni, till recently professor at JNU. One is sex-selective abortions and the other is sex-selective “stopping practices“, which is stopping having children based on sex of those born.
“Those women who stop childbearing if the first one or two births are sons remain in the category of 1-2 children and those who go on for another child because the first two or three births are daughters get into the category of 3 or more children (that is, there is selectivity). As a result, the sex ratio of children of women with one or two children becomes highly masculine and, for the children of women with 3 or more children, less masculine,“ he told TOI.
For women with only one or two children, the sex ratios have fallen since 2001, substantially so in the case of mothers of two. This, says Kulkarni, indicates a strengthening of the mentality of son preference that is driving the whole calculus.
Sex-selective abortions, with all the legal fencing, are still prevalent and may be used to determine the first and especially second births.The overall sex ratio is primarily affected by such illegal practices and not by sex selective stopping. The Census data also gives the number of surviving children for each type of family . This throws up an unexpected finding the gap between survival rates of boys and girls is closing.
For the full report, log on to http:www.timesofindia.com

Source: Times of India, 15-02-2016

Friday, February 12, 2016

India should prepare its cadre for the blue economy

It is time to start training a diplomatic cadre to operationalise 'blue diplomacy'

The blue economy, as distinct from the blue-water economy, encompasses in it the “green economy”, with focus on the environment, and the “ocean economy” or “coastal economy”, with its emphasis on complementarities among coastal and island states for sustenance and sustainable development. (Source: AP)

Diplomats transform themselves into rock stars when the areas they specialise in assume exceptional prominence. Once upon a time, decolonisation was on top of the UN agenda, but today, the stars of that era are hardly remembered. Then came disarmament. Human rights come alive whenever there’s a spectacular violation. The environment has taken the pride of place since the Rio conference of 1992 and those who have played a role in climate change were the stars in Paris. Their future success lies in identifying the next sunrise issue and developing expertise on it.

Addressing a group of mid-level diplomats, on the verge of becoming ambassadors, at the Foreign Service Institute in New Delhi, this writer advised them to start specialising in the “Blue Economy”, the newest candidate for stardom in coming years. The oceans, which have always been a source of livelihood, trade, colonialism, storms and piracy, present opportunities and challenges. Professionals connected with the oceans, including the negotiators of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), have been prominent since the 1980s. The traditional blue-water economy has been in operation and diplomats have been playing a role in it.

The new blue economy, introduced by Gunter Pauli in his 2010 book, The Blue Economy: 10 Years — 10 Innovations —100 Million Jobs, has opened new avenues for bilateral and multilateral work, involving the environment, energy, defence and food production. The blue economy, as distinct from the blue-water economy, encompasses in it the “green economy”, with focus on the environment, and the “ocean economy” or “coastal economy”, with its emphasis on complementarities among coastal and island states for sustenance and sustainable development. The newly set up Blue Economy Strategic Thought Forum India, under the auspices of the National Maritime Foundation, has already envisaged the multiple ways in which the blue economy will influence human activities. It defines the blue economy as “marine-based economic development that leads to improved human wellbeing and social equity, while significantly reducing environmental risks and ecological scarcities”.

The central principle of the blue economy is the idea of cascading nutrients and energy the way ecosystems do. Cascading energy and nutrients leads to sustainability by reducing or eliminating inputs, such as energy, and eliminating waste and its cost, not just as pollution, but also as an efficient use of materials. The book contains fascinating innovations to open a new world of production and lifestyle. These game-changing ideas will entice entrepreneurs. Surprisingly, these innovations have the potential to increase rather than shed jobs, as emulating natural systems will mean the deployment of humans rather than machines. Ideas like eliminating air in freezing water, use of food-grade ingredients as fire retardants, growing mushrooms with coffeeshop waste, silk as a replacement of titanium, electricity generated by walking and talking, etc, are mind-boggling.

Maritime diplomacy had its heyday back in the 1980s, with the sensational discovery of manganese nodules and cobalt crusts on the ocean floor. The euphoria over marine mining led to the establishment of the International Seabed Authority. The UNCLOS, the “constitution of the seas”, which came into force in 1994, became the basis for the legal rights for mining in the open sea. The interest in seabed mining flagged because of escalating costs, but it’s being revived on account of the demand for minerals and metals in industrial development, particularly in China, Japan and India.

The Indian Ocean has been a fulcrum of Indian diplomacy since Independence. During the Cold War, India was extremely active in the UN Adhoc Committee on the Indian Ocean in its bid to keep the Indian Ocean a Zone of Peace, which, in essence, meant keeping the Indian Ocean free of great-power rivalry. But the littoral and hinterland states differed on the meaning of the zone. Many sought the presence of external powers to counter India’s growing strength. But even at that time, cooperation for ocean resources was a priority.

Today, India is working with the states in the Indian Ocean region and others to strengthen security and economic cooperation. The re-emergence of piracy has added a new dimension. The new focus on the Asia-Pacific highlights the security and economic dimensions. The US rebalancing of forces and counter-measures by China have created a new cold war. New partnerships are in the making in the Asia-Pacific, seeking Indian participation by competing powers. The blue waters of the Indian Ocean have become a new theatre of tension.

The Chinese initiative — one belt, one road (Obor) — is a $150 billion grandiose development strategy and framework for China to push for a bigger role in global affairs and to increase its exports. Some see it as an opportunity for India, others as a challenge. The choice has to be made cautiously, balancing our security concerns about an expanding China with economic engagement. Given the history of Sino-Indian relations, it’s difficult to look at Obor as a benign initiative. But it will be difficult to stay out of a new global highway linking Asia with Europe. The blue-water economy will become central to the development of the entire region. Our competition with China is likely to be exacerbated by the competition for a piece of the blue economy, as evidenced in Bangladesh.

Both the traditional blue-water economy and the new blue economy are important for India’s sustainable development. The imperatives of cooperation and the need for adept diplomacy are evident. Prime Minister Narendra Modi endorsed the blue economy during his visit to Seychelles, Mauritius and Sri Lanka. The joint statement with Mauritius envisages close cooperation in vital areas.

The importance of regional organisations has increased in the context of the blue economy. PM Modi spoke of the blue economy to Saarc leaders. In September 2015, the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) hosted the first Ministerial Blue Economy Conference and identified priorities. Goal 14 of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) — “Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development” — makes detailed references to the reduction of marine pollution, conservation of coastal and marine areas and regulated fish harvest. The convergences in the IORA and SDG agendas have to be developed into action.

India’s neighbourhood policy assumes primary importance in light of the blue economy. India can profitably integrate its ongoing programmes like Make in India, smart cities, skill development and self-reliance in defence. Delhi’s forthcoming chairmanship of the BRICS will offer a splendid opportunity to highlight the cooperation needed for the blue economy.

Diplomats aspiring to a “blue diplomacy” should begin to grasp the immense possibilities of the blue economy. Although the nodal ministry will be the prime mover, it will be diplomats in coastal and island countries and with the UN, IORA and Saarc, who will have to operationalise it. The time to start training a diplomatic cadre is now.

The writer is a former permanent representative of India to the UN, Vienna and director general of the Kerala International Centre, Thiruvananthapuram

Source: Indian Express, 11-02-2016

Followers

Monday, February 15, 2016

Economic and Political Weekly: Table of Contents

Vol. 51, Issue No. 7, 13 Feb, 2016

Sex determination: Answer this

If the government does not have the will to regulate 55,000 pre-natal diagnostic clinics, how will it track 29 million pregnancies annually?