After the quake

Bhuj shows that disaster management practice remains technical, instrumental

As the nation celebrated its 68th Republic Day, Gujarat mourned the 16th anniversary of the worst disaster that struck the state on January 26, 2001. Gujarat’s historic earthquake killed over 20,000 people, injuring 1,66,000, destroying nearly 4,00,000 homes. The shock waves spread over 700 km; 21 districts were affected and 6,00,000 people left homeless. While many believed that Gujarat would take years to get back to normal, the massive rehabilitation and reconstruction undertaken brought a resilient Gujarat back from the rubble. Bhuj, epicentre of the earthquake, managed to emerge strong after the disaster.
In fact, the pace of development in Bhuj following the disaster has been unprecedented. The town is now spread over 56 sq km — almost four times its size in 2001. It boasts high-rise apartments, sprawling supermarkets, beauty salons, recreation centres, wide four-lane highways, a modern earthquake-resistant hospital and an operational airport. Aid workers, global experts, journalists, corporates and religious groups of every denomination live in Bhuj today. Development banks and state governments have invested vast sums in infrastructure. Land has become an attractive investment. It is now common to hear Hindi spoken in Bhuj and hotels and cyber cafes complete to win the business of immigrants. If an earlier earthquake in the 19th century is thought to have encouraged many people to leave Kutch and settle overseas, then there is some irony in the fact that the 2001 earthquake brought thousands of people to the In Bhuj’s rebuilding, the Gujarat approach is widely looked at as a model for reconstruction. From the recent post-earthquake reconstruction in Nepal in 2015 to the 2005 Kashmir earthquake, the Gujarat model is widely replicated. Yet, although the model is celebrated, it is vital to highlight certain concerns flattened in the Bhuj plan. Any relief programme needs to be based on proper assessments of needy and vulnerable groups. But the rehabilitation packages announced soon after the Bhuj disaster offered unequal treatment to various categories of earthquake-affected people. Those who’d suffered equally in terms of damages were given unequal amounts of aid. The size of agricultural lands was also adopted as one of the criterias for assistance given. Places nearer the epicentre received higher assistance. Relief provisions also accorded more assistance for completely collapsed houses in urban areas than rural locations. Pre-earthquake house sizes were taken into consideration; that meant richer people were likely to derive larger benefits.
Post-earthquake development was envisaged to attract investment and create a corporate sector. In the process, the informal sector was pushed to less valuable, less visible spaces. Post-disaster development planning also completely ignored the entitlements and rights of the landless. The pro-rich, anti-poor bias of development plans in terms of land use became clear in the imagination of a new Bhuj. The entitlement of land for the urban poor, who perform important functions, is critical by changing such settlements, development snatched away entitlements. Expensive public land in Bhuj has been given to better-off residents; land inhabited by the poor in Rabari was acquired for government offices. To improve public transport, Bhuj roads were widened; this adversely affected hawkers and other occupiers of public space, who were evicted. The 60 per cent population of Bhuj town, who lived in 32 unauthorised pockets outside Kotvistar for over 25 years, did not receive any compensation from the government as they didn’t possess requisite land entitlement (legal claim on the land). Earlier, these residents wanted regularisation of these pockets — but no action was taken. Bheer Bazar, earlier the centre of all commercial activities where artisans and hawkers worked, was dismantled. Similarly, the Waghri community (mainly comprising of Muslim labourers) residing near Dadupeer Road for generations was also driven out, on the pretext of encroachment.
In Bhuj’s relocated villages, the situation isn’t different. Most relocation has been done on agricultural land acquired from other villages. Some villagers either lost land or were relocated far away. The new villages are also larger; this meant expensive infrastructure, again “provided” by the government. But what wasn’t thought of was the lack of village committees’ financial resources to maintain this infrastructure; local village committees had to increase taxes, which many villagers can’t afford. House allocation on the size of land holdings also created new disparities. While NGOs emerged as a significant stakeholder in rehabilitation, local self-governing bodies like panchayats and municipalities were not sufficiently empowered. As Bhuj shows, disaster management practice in the country remains highly technical and instrumental — the current model does not have any effective policy framework to address social exclusion and the marginalisation of the poor. But any discussion on disaster management must address the proper assessment and identification of vulnerable groups. Reconstruction doesn’t mean only rebuilding houses but rebuilding lives, particularly of the weak. That alone leads to real development.

The writer is assistant professor at the department of political science, Zakir Husain Delhi College, University of Delhi

 

Source: Indian Express, 26-01-2017

 

Amway India ties-up with IIM Calcutta for a special course focused on entrepreneurship and leadership for its high potential direct sellers

Kolkata: Amway India, the country's leading direct selling FMCG Company, has tied-up with IIM Calcutta for a special course focused on entrepreneurship and leadership for its identified high potential direct sellers. This is the first time that Amway India has tied-up with a premier management institute for a special course for its direct sellers.  The company has shortlisted 100 direct sellers who have demonstrated strong performance and business excellence over the past few years for this program.

Amway India strategically invests in skilling and nurturing entrepreneurship amongst its direct sellers. The company offers free training to them by conducting more than 18,000 training sessions during an average 12-month period besides the presence of a comprehensive digital learning portal (E-learning).

Speaking on the occasion, Anshu Budhraja, General Manager, Amway India, said, "The tie-up with IIM Calcutta is focused on building skills and competencies of our high potential direct sellers to help them compete in an evolving entrepreneurship landscape. Micro-Entrepreneurship, generating self-employment through skilling is a key priority for government of India. We too are aligning our training strategy by focusing on enhancing skills and competencies of our direct sellers."

 "Amway India approached IIM Calcutta to arrange a series of workshops for their high potential direct sellers on subjects related to Entrepreneurship, sales, marketing and motivational leadership. The key takeaways from this short residential course at IIM Calcutta would include (1) building their direct selling businesses through innovative thinking, (2) training team members in latest sales skills, and (3) becoming a motivational leader and team builder through effective communications," said Prof Ramendra Singh, programme coordinator and faculty at IIM Calcutta.

 
Source: Indiaeducationdiary, 25-01-2017  

Demonetisation effect? Corruption index ranking improves but a long way to go

Global perceptions regarding India’s corruption levels remain high, going by Transparency International’s Corruption Index ratings for 2016. India has improved its standing, rising two points to 40 from last year. The trend line is positive if extremely gradual. India has improved perceptions regarding its degree of corruption by 10% since 2012. But the base figure is extremely low -- 40 points still places India, if not among the blackest of economies, then among the strong grays. The Transparency International survey tends to be taken seriously because its figures are drawn from a compilation of a dozen other surveys and indices of corruption.
As the figures are for 2016, the impact on black money of the so-called demonetisation effort will be unclear for some months to come. What the figure does indicate is that the Narendra Modi government’s earlier efforts against corruption including setting up a Special Investigation Team and the like have only had a marginally impact. That is not a surprise as corruption is deeply embedded in Indian society -- many poor Indians assume that paying a government official to provide the service that should be part of his job is the norm. Such petty corruption has barely been touched by events. The evidence is that reforms have gradually helped in reducing the macro-economic potential for corruption. The scope of discretionary power among bureaucrats, for example, has been reduced. Digital payments have received a boost and they also reduce the scope for illegal hoards of wealth. India seems to have done well here. The Economist’s Crony Capitalism Index, a measure of billionaire wealth derived from politically controlled sectors of the economy, showed such cronyism dropping from nearly 12% of GDP to less than 4% between 2014 and 2016. There is a case for saying that India should be compared to similar emerging economies rather than developed countries. But this does not cut any ice: There is an inherent moral laxity in claiming that a people should suffer from greater corruption because they happen to be poorer. Using that criterion, however, India is doing well. South Africa and Brazil have been dropping points on Transparency International’s index over the past several years. Turkey has fallen a remarkable nine points since 2012. India can still do more. For all its progress on crony capitalism, it is still worse off than comparable economies like Brazil and China.


Source: Hindustan Times, 26-01-2017
The Modi government’s ambitious plans on digitalising economies, including using the planned Goods and Service Tax to push all business transactions online, should reduce the scope of corporate corruption drastically. However, the government’s dilution of the Whistleblower’s Act and dilly-dallying on the Lokpal and Lokayutkas Bill seem to indicate that government corruption remains as much a low-level priority in New Delhi as it has in the past.

 

Music of the Holy Spheres





Divine music, when you experience it, brings with it intense and lasting bliss. How can one who has heard this divine melody describe it to one who has not? Anyone who attempts to describe it would have to use pale analogies. If we think of the most beautiful music we have heard in this world, it still does not compare with the music known as the Voice of God. The divine music is playing within us all the time. We don't hear it because no one has shown us the way to listen to this inner music. There is reference to this inner music in the scriptures. This sound has been called the Word in the Bible, naad, jyoti and sruti in the Hindu scriptures, sraosha in the Zoroastrian scriptures, kalma in the Muslim scriptures, sonorous light in the Buddhist scriptures, naam or shabd by the Sikhs, and the Theosophists call it the voice of silence. It is the power of God manifesting in creation.
God created two principles: light and sound. The current of divine light and music was the cause of all creation. This current flows out from God and also returns to God. We can access this current within us through Shabd meditation.
Once we awaken to the Music of the Lord, our life will be the same -but only on the surface. We will still have the same job, the same family , the same house and the same body , but a whole new inner life will open up for us. To everyone else, we will look the same, but inwardly, we will be lost in the ecstasy of God's love.

Patriarchy doesn’t harm women alone

If men are engaged in the process of empowering women and towards a gender-equitable, violence-free world, it will benefit both

Gender-based crimes against girls and women will increase in this neo-liberal society of ours

At least five or six cases of various forms of violence against girls and women from different cities are being reported every day since reports of the New Year’s eve incident in Bengaluru led to an outcry. Drawing attention to the seriousness of gender-based violence, there is a demand for stronger punishment for male offenders. But very little attention has been focused on what is being done to address the root cause of the issue.

If men and their attitudes are “part of the problem”, can we address the problem effectively without involving men as “part of the solution”? In our vision of a gender-just society where there is peaceful coexistence of men and women, does a person belonging to the “oppressor” gender have a role?

If yes, what would be that role? Are the empowerment and assertion of the oppressed and the sensitization and transformation of the powerful, mutually exclusive agendas?

Gender issues, including gender-based violence, are seen largely as “women’s issues” by all concerned—a majority of policymakers, women’s groups, funding agencies and media. This approach insulates men from the process of transformation, reinforces masculine stereotypes and deepens the gender divide.

Patriarchy disadvantages women but it also brings a set of behavioural norms and responsibilities that hinders men from expressing their pressures to perform in adherence with traditional notions of masculinity. Masculinity, in its current form, harms not only women but also men in the long run. Men cannot cry or express emotions freely, they have to be always winners/achievers, bread-earners, caretakers, etc. They have to perform at various stages from bedroom to boardroom. They cannot do household chores without the fear of being labelled “sissies”.

If gender is a social construct, then men are not born violent and aggressive. It is faulty socialization and upbringing that promotes a macho image. Do we find alternatives to this model of masculinity?

There may be umpteen examples of women as role models for girls who are growing up, but there is a woeful dearth of positive role models among men; role models who can embody a gender-sensitive society and engage adolescent boys and young men in the discourse. We have examples of sportsmen like Roger Federer who have expressed what “healthy relationships” mean to them personally, but when did we last hear sportsmen in India talking about gender?

We need to address how men analyse perceptions of masculinity and create appropriate alternatives. But to do this, men must first feel the need to do so. Men can introspect on the existing dominant model of masculinity when they are able to relate to the issue; when they know the “costs” of increasing violence on women to them individually and socially.

If men are involved in any intervention that seeks to stop or prevent violence against women, it may help in making the lives of women safer and healthier, but what’s in it for them? What are they going to get out of it? Unless this is answered seriously, we will not come up with any meaningful strategy of engaging men in the long term.

A paradigm shift in looking at women’s issues as gender issues, which are equally men’s issues, is not going to be easy. With all our social subsystems—family, religion, governance and media—reinforcing patriarchal, male-dominated attitudes, it will definitely be a process that will face periodic threats, hiccups and setbacks.

Apart from addressing men as a group, it calls for simultaneous interventions with different groups of men. For instance, we need to address men in the police not just as law-enforcing agents but also as men. Similarly, we need to reach out to men in the corporate and healthcare sectors, in Parliament, male bureaucrats, male journalists, religious leaders, school and college teachers and administrators.

A couple of token gender-sensitization programmes for these men is not going to change the male mindset. What is required is focused, long-term intervention with a clear vision and purpose of “process-oriented” work by all stakeholders. There has to be a pool of male facilitators in all sectors who can engage men in a gradual process of transformation and humanization. It calls for investment, financial and otherwise.

The moot question is: Do we have a sizeable number of people who would like to invest their time and effort in engaging men towards addressing gender issues? Even if a handful of them do (like this writer, who has been working on the issue for 24 years), there is a dearth of people who would strengthen their efforts.

If men are engaged in the process of empowering women and towards a gender-equitable, violence-free world, it will benefit both. Men also would be liberated from the shackles of patriarchy. If they are liberated, their own lives would become humane, enriching and harmonious.

Gender-based crimes against girls and women will increase in this neo-liberal society of ours in the coming years. What will change is only the nature and forms of violence. There will certainly be more crimes by minor boys.

It would then be, perhaps, too late for all concerned to seriously examine the root 

Source: mintepaper, 25-01-2017

cause of the problem.

Cabinet approves Indian Institute of Management Bill, 2017 

New Delhi: The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the Indian Institute of Management(IIM) Bill, 2017, under which the IIMswould be declared as Institutions of National Importance which will enable them togrant degrees to their students.

Following are the salient features of the Bill:

         i.            IIMs can grant degrees to their students

       ii.            The Bill provides for complete autonomy to the Institutions, combined with adequate accountability.

      iii.            Management of these Institutions would be Board driven, with the Chairperson and Director of an Institution which will be selected by the Board.

     iv.            A greater participation of experts and alumni in the Board is amongst otherimportant features of the Bill.

       v.            Provision has also been made for inclusion of women and members from Scheduled Castes/Tribes in the Board. 

     vi.            The Bill also provides for periodic review of the performance of Institutions by independent agencies, and placing the results of the same on public domain.

    vii.            The Annual Report of the Institutions will be placed in the Parliament and CAG will be auditing their accounts.

  viii.            There is also a provision of  Coordination Forum of IIMs as an advisory body.

Background:

Indian Institutes of Management are the country's premier institutions imparting best quality education in management on globally benchmarked processes of education and training in management. IIMs are recognized as world-class management Institutions and Centers of Excellence and have brought laurels to the country. All IIMs are separate autonomous bodies registered under the Societies Act.

Being societies, IIMs are not authorized to award degrees and, hence, they have been awarding Post Graduate Diploma and Fellow Programme in Management. While these awards are treated as equivalent to MBAs and Ph.D, respectively, 

Source: indiaeducationdiary, 24-01-2017

the equivalence is not universally acceptable, especially for the Fellow Programme.

Lift the veil of secrecy

The primary aim of the demonetisation exercise was to tap black money. To mark the last day for depositing the demonetised notes, on December 31, 2016, the Prime Minister, in his address to the nation, fully acknowledged the great hardship suffered by common people due to the serious delay in making the new currency notes available in the banks, ATMs and rural areas, and thanked them for the faith they reposed in him in spite of such hardships. He announced a slew of financial sops to the marginalised and farmers. While he made a passing reference to black money hoarders being on the run, and about collusion on the part of a few bank and government officials, he made no mention of specifics like the government’s estimates of black money and counterfeit money unearthed by the demonetisation. Perhaps it was too early to arrive at such estimates with some precision.

Subverting the system

Newspapers were full of reports of some sensational cases of hoarding of new currency notes, within a few days after the demonetisation, even as common people could not get more than one, and then two new ₹2,000 notes even after standing in queues for hours. As of December 10, it was reported that a stash of ₹242 crore in new currency notes had been uncovered. Cases have to be investigated with the greatest speed as top priority and persons involved should be given exemplary jail terms. The investigation should reveal how the new notes, which were in such short supply, reached these hoarders in record time. The Prime Minister or his representatives should have given some details about the likely time frame for strong action against those caught, including hoarders and corrupt officials, to reassure the common man about the government’s seriousness in dealing with black money.

There are two other aspects of demonetisation on which clarity is required. One is the status of political funds, and the other the status of donations/offerings made to temples and religious institutions, through the so-called temple hundis.

Political donations as conduit?

Political party funds are exempted from income tax, though parties are required to maintain books of accounts, and file income returns. Moreover, they are not required to keep any details of the source of funds if the individual contributions are ₹20,000 or less. It is well known that almost 90% of the funds of major political parties are of this nature.

The Union Revenue Secretary reportedly said on December 16 that political parties can accept cash donations even after November 8. The Finance Minister, however, said a couple of days later that political parties cannot accept donations in old ₹500 and ₹1,000 notes. The question, thus, is whether parties did accept cash donations in demonetised bills after November 8. If so, it could have been a great device for converting black money into white in the hands of unethical political parties by breaking down huge contributions into a number of small ones of ₹20,000 or less; an unethical political party could even receive cash contributions after November 8, but show in its books that the money was received before that date.

Disclosure of figures about cash donations received by political parties before and after November 8, and the amount deposited in the banks by December 30, and whether any part of it will be taxed, would help in an informed debate. It may be noted that all political parties have taken a stand that they are not subject to the jurisdiction of the Right to Information Act.

It would also be useful to find out the amount of cash deposited by temples after November 8 purportedly received as donations to know how funds so received will be dealt with (so as not to enable conversion of black money into white), and whether any part of such collections would be taxed.

Keeping the public informed

Even if the entire ₹15.4 lakh crore of demonetised currency is received back in the banks, obviously a part of it would be black money (i.e. money that hadn’t been taxed). The government should ask the Income Tax Department to finalise suspicious cases within six months, if necessary by putting aside all routine work relating to regular assessments, etc. for the time being.

Before the demonetisation exercise, it was reported that the Income Declaration Scheme, which ended on September 30, 2016, has fetched ₹67,382 crore of undisclosed income and should result in tax and penalty of ₹30,322 crore, to be paid in two equal instalments on November 30, 2016 and September 2017. The government should reveal how much tax was actually received by November 30 out of the estimated ₹15,161 crore.

The Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana provides a window from December 17, 2016 to March 31, 2017 for holders of black money to declare their assets. Fortnightly data of remittances to this fund should be released for information of the public.

Most people think that the fountainhead of black money is the provision that political parties need not disclose source of contributions of ₹20,000 or less. Support for the Prime Minister would have soared sky-high had he declared that from the midnight of December 31, all cash donations to parties were to be banned. But he missed the opportunity, and now it cannot be done even if one wants to until the upcoming Assembly elections to five States are over.

K. Padmanabhaiah, an IAS officer of the 1961 batch, served as Union Home Secretary and is the Chairman of the Court of Governors of Administrative Staff College of India (ASCI), Hyderabad.

Source: The Hindu, 25-01-2017