Multiple ways to equality

The debate on polygamy and gender justice is more complicated than it is made out to be

Where polygamy lacked legal sanction, it frequently existed in the more or less illegal form of concubinage,” said eminent American sociologists J.H. Locke and J.A. Peterson. This author believes in monogamy and is not in agreement with the affidavit filed by the Personal Law Board which is atrocious and appalling on several counts. The central issue is if criminalisation of bigamous marriages is the most effective way to gender justice . There is no magic about monogamy, nor is everything evil about restricted polygamy if it is allowed to all communities. Polygamy is a problem of male-dominated culture and has little to do with the religion of bigamous men. What are the dangers of outlawing polygamy particularly when the law recognises live-in relationships? What is the Indian and western experience in this respect? Is restricted polygamy for all communities with adequate safeguards for women a better option? These are some questions the Law Commission should include in its questionnaire.

Hindu bigamous husbands go scot-free as the judiciary can do little unless an aggrieved wife lodges a complaint. It is an offence against her, not against society. The Law Commission’s 227th report of 2009 lamented the existing bigamy law under the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 when it concluded that “it is indeed full of serious shortcoming and loopholes”.

In spite of polygamy being illegal for Hindus except in Goa, official reports brought out in 1974, after almost two decades of prohibition of bigamy, revealed that polygamy is higher among Hindus than Muslims (Adivasis 15 per cent, Hindus 5.8 per cent, Jains 6.7 per cent, Buddhists 7.9 per cent and Muslims 5.6 per cent). No authentic figures are available for the subsequent decades. According to the 1971 census, there were 45.3 crore Hindus and six crore Muslims; as many as one crore Hindu men had more than one wife as opposed to just 12 lakh Muslim men. According to the Third National Family Health Survey of 2006 as many as two per cent women reported that their husbands have more than one wife. Banning polygamy thus has not worked.

At present when a Hindu man deserts his lawfully wedded wife to live with another woman, the only remedy available to the deserted first wife is divorce on grounds of adultery or desertion. However, most abandoned wives may not view divorce as a viable option because of the sacramental nature of Hindu marriage. In any case, prosecution of the husband does not help the first wife. Hindu men who contract bigamous marriages are allowed to go scot-free without legal obligations towards their partners due to the insistence on the “solemnisation” of marriage. Even their registration of marriage is not accepted as proof. Clandestine bigamy among Hindus is worse than open polygamy among Muslims.

Muslim men who take more than one wife are legally bound to provide each wife not only residence but also proper maintenance and equal care and love as the Quran permits polygamy only in exceptional situations with very stringent conditions. Thus, she is better off in comparison to the “second Hindu wife” who has no legal status or rights.The second Hindu wife cannot even claim maintenance from her husband. The Supreme Court in the D.Velusamy case did deny maintenance to a second Hindu wife by holding her as “mistress” and “keep”. Thus banning polygamy amongst Muslims would simply have an equalising effect of making a second Muslim wife as destitute and vulnerable as a second Hindu wife.

The Modi government has quoted examples of a number of Muslim countries (even though most of these countries do not believe in individual liberty) where polygamy is permitted with the consent of the first wife or prior permission of the court. The government has overlooked the fact that in spite of abolition of polygamy, Turkey and Tunisia have not succeeded in controlling or eradicating polygamy. Normative changes are indeed not enough to bring social reform. Leading experts of Indian family law such as Derrett, Anderson and Menski oppose an outright ban on polygamy and favour restricted polygamy.

Even in the US, there is a call to legally recognise polygamy in some situations as the bigamy law has not led to the eradication of polygamy. The percentage of Americans who find polygamy to be morally acceptable has more than doubled since 2001 and polygamy could be legalised in the US as soon as 2040. Unlike in the western world, we have an adverse sex ratio and therefore monogamy would remain the only choice. The missing daughters is the real crisis.

The Modi government erroneously believes that monogamy is the only way to strive for equality between the sexes. Scholars like Adrienne D. Davis argue that polygamous relationships also have the ability to strive for this ideal. They favour recognition of polygamous relationships based on corporate law, such as limited liability companies or partnerships giving all members or partners of marriages equal bargaining power as opposed to status-based rules. Based on these business models, “regulated polygamy” could be more in tune with the “freedom of contract” and “individual autonomy” doctrines than sacramental monogamy. Equal say is to be given to all members, including wives, in entry or exit of any member with rights and liabilities clearly laid down. Let us think of treating marriage as a private limited company.

The writer is vice chancellor, NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad

Source: Indian Express, 28-10-2016

Child abuse is rampant in India. A helpline alone will not keep them safe

In two weeks’ time, India will celebrate Children’s Day. As it happens every year, there will be loads of programmes to increase awareness among people towards child rights, care and education. But maybe this year we should not celebrate but stop and take stock of the state of children in India. Children under 18 account for 43% of India’s population (447 million) but the sad part is that nearly 40% (178 million) are marginalised thanks to poverty, abuse, exploitation, disease, illiteracy, malnourishment, disability, impairment, conflicts, calamities and neglect. Despite being a trillion-dollar economy (and myriad challenges), we are stingy when it comes to spending on children: The government spends under 5% of its Union budget for children, which includes education, health, and development. Child protection --- a critical need --- receives just under 1% of the Budget.

The lack of child protection is not the only challenge that children face. In an interview to a national daily, National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) chairperson Stuti Kacker said there seems to be a conspiracy of silence around child sexual abuse in the country. This is borne by the fact that in two months, the commission’s online complaint system, known as the Posco e-box, has received 68 complaints, of which 11 cases are being investigated. The 2015 National Crime Record Bureau data shows that 19,767 cases of child sexual assault were registered, a jump of 5.3% from the 18,763 cases registered in 2014. Of these, in nearly 95% of the cases the person responsible for such acts was known to the victim.

The online complaint system that NCPCR has instituted is a step forward but the crux of the matter is in making sure that these complaints are acted on. In most cases, the families themselves are not supportive to the child on account of misplaced notions of family honour or that they have not taught the child to understand and then express any violations. While this is the duty of parents, it is also imperative that schools also keep counsellors to address such issues. This fight to protect our children has to be on several fronts from home to school to public places.

Source: Hindustan Times, 31-10-2016

University of Hyderabad to recruit 114 faculty positions

The University of Hyderabad (UoH) is filling up 114 teaching posts for which it has received 1,053 applications.

The recruitment process will start from November 1 for the faculty positions of professor, associate professor and assistant professor, the varsity also known as Hyderabad Central University said in a statement on Saturday.

The UoH said it had advertised these posts nationally and received 1,053 applications for the 114 positions.

“There are 30 (vacant) positions for professor, 43 for associate professor and 41 for assistant professor in various schools and departments of the university. Of these positions, 64 are under the reserved categories and the rest 50 in the general category,” it said.

A large number of candidates with postdoctoral experience in reputed institutions in India and abroad have applied for these posts, the statement said.

The interviews will commence from November 1 and the entire exercise is expected to be completed by December-end, the statement said, adding, filling up of these positions would strengthen the academic and research programmes of the Central university.

Source: Hindustan Times, 1-11-2016

The Crisis in India's Higher Education





The government is keen to create world-class universities. It must understand that world-class institutes are not created; they evolve over decades and centuries, nurtured by respect for knowledge, policy and adequate funds. Contrary to the global trend, pioneering educational institutions of India languish and decay , instead of evolving to greatness.Take the Gujarat College, one of India's earliest, established in 1860. It is a shadow of its original self. When it celebrated its first centenary , it had 1,139 students and a 103-strong teaching staff. A College of Arts and Commerce branched off in 1992.The data it supplied to the National Assessment and Accreditation Council for 2014-15 show a student intake of 2,500, and a faculty strength of 26. Of the faculty members, only 19 are permanent and no ne is a professor. The student strength has more than doubled while the number of those on hand to teach them has dwindled to a quarter. Quantity affects quality in such matters. The felicity of expression in the principal's message to students is a good guide to the standards of quality now maintained at one of the country's oldest institutions of higher learning in a state that is economically one of India's most advanced. This is a shame in itself. More, it mocks India's ambition to become a modern, knowledge economy .
Knowledge creation and dissemination are crucial for the economic growth and development of a country . Colleges and universities are central to this enterprise. However, the institutions that should have paved the way , given their pioneering role in the country's higher education system, have been allowed to wither and the country's youth, badly let down. It points to policy and regulatory failure on a massive scale. India's higher education system needs a reboot.
Source: Economic Times, 1-11-2016

Gender is Irrelevant

CHAITANYA CHARAN DAS





At core, we are spiritual souls, whereas our gender refers only to our shell, the physical body . Our spiritual identity is eternal, our gender is transient. According to the Bhagwad Gita, we attain in our next life a body as per the thought that predominates our consciousness at the last moment of this life. Only when we distance ourselves from our temporary physical gender will we be freed from ideological preconceptions that are inevitably dragged into discussion on the gender of God. So, in the conventional sense, gender refers to bodily gender, so God is neither.Yet, God is both male and female as seen in the worship of divine couples in Vedic tradition. The Vedic definition of God as the source of everything leads to an egalitarian understanding of God -as both male and female. In Radha-Krishna, Radha personifies the primordial cosmological female principle, and Krishna, the primordial cosmological male principle.
Sometimes, personification is mistaken to be a mere literary device, but the misconception overlooks the omni-dimensional all-encompassing nature of divinity . As divine embodiments, Radha and Krishna are particular individuals, yet they are universal individuals, being identical with the ontological principles they personify .
Krishna is compared to the sun, and Radha, to sunshine.The sun and sunshine coexist, each equally important for the existence of the other. Likewise, the singular Absolute Truth manifests as the plural Radha-Krishna for the sake of loving reciprocation.

New Ranking Shows States Competing for Investors'

New Delhi: Our Bureau





ASSESSMENT OF STATE IMPLEMENTATION OF BUSINESS REFORMS 2015-16This year, 15 states have implemented more than 75% of the reforms: Sitharaman

India will broaden its reform drive for next year's state rankings on the ease of doing business, commerce and industry minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Monday.With Andhra Pradesh and Telangana sharing the top spot in the `Assessment of State Implementation of Business Reforms 2015-16', the minister said low-income states have shown the biggest improvements, implementing 70%-90% of the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion's (DIPP) business reforms agenda.
“Not a single state had implemented more than 75% of all the reforms last year. This year, 15 states have implemented more than 75% of the reforms,“ Sitharaman said.
The assessment studies how 32 states and Union Territories implemented DIPP's 340-point Business Reform Action Plan between July 1, 2015 and June 30, 2016.
Business reforms undertaken by the states include single window systems for regulatory and fiscal incentive approvals, VAT e-registration, professional tax and online payment.
States have also made provisions for e-summons, created capacity in district and commercial courts and implemented automated solutions for environmental and pollution-related applications.
The high-performing states in the second edition of the ranking include Telangana (13th to first spot), Haryana (14th to sixth spot) and Uttarakhand (23rd to ninth spot).
The national implementation average of reforms stood at 48.93% compared to 32% last year. Last year, only seven states had implemented more than 50% of the reforms.
“States have been competing and healthily to make sure each of them is a performer and a haven for investors,“ the minister said.
Sitharaman however highlighted the need to provide more sup port to the north-eastern states and Jammu and Kashmir in taking forward the reform agenda.
The states and Union Territories that implemented less than 2% of the reforms agenda this year included Chandigarh, Sikkim, Puducherry, Nagaland, Mizoram, Meghalaya and Dadra and Nagar Haveli.
The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) has put 12 states in the category of `Leaders' for implementing 90-100% of the reforms.
DIPP received evidence of implementation of 7,124 reforms by 32 states and Union Territories that was also reviewed by a World Bank team.
While Gujarat slipped from first spot to third this year, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh maintained their fourth and fifth ranks this year. DIPP will release a detailed report of the reforms in November.
DIPP maintained real-time rankings of states through an online dashboard to ensure transparency. The government now plans to introduce a feedback mechanism on the ranking in line with the global report.

Source: Economic Times, 1-11-2016

Air pollution behind 1 in 10 under-5 deaths'

New Delhi: TIMES NEWS NETWORK





A report by the United Nations Children's agency , Unicef, released on Monday has confirmed the worst fears of people living in polluted areas -that bad air is contributing to death of many children even before they celebrate their fifth birthday.Outdoor and indoor pollution, the agency noted, are directly linked to respiratory diseases that account for almost one in 10 under-five deaths, making air pollution one of the leading dangers to children's health. “Children are more susceptible than adults to air pollution as their lungs, brains and immune systems are still developing and their respiratory tracks are more permeable. Young children also breathe faster than adults, and take in more air relative to their body weight,“ Unicef stated.
According to the UN agency, which used satellite imagery to assess the impact of toxic air on children, around two billion children live in areas where outdoor air pollution, caused by factors such as vehicle emissions, heavy use of fossil fuels, dust and burning of waste, exceeds minimum air quality guidelines set by the World Health Organisation.
South Asia has the largest number of children living in these areas, at 620 million, with Africa following at 520 million children. The East Asia and Pacific region has 450 million children living in areas that exceed guideline limits. The findings come a week ahead of the COP 22 in Morocco, where Unicef is calling on world leaders to take urgent action to cut air pollution.
“Air pollution is a major contributing factor in the de aths of around 600,000 children under five every year ­ and it threatens the lives and futures of millions more every day ,“ said Unicef executive director Anthony Lake. In Delhi, experts fear, the health impact of air pollution could be higher due to heavy density of particulate matter. The Capital has been held as one of the world's most polluted cities by global bodies, including WHO.

Source: Times of India, 1-11-2016