PDS and Reservations

The constitution of India authorizes the state to provide various opportunities to the backward classes in terms of their education, employment, social status and so on. Various govts. over the period of 60 years have sought to implement these provisions. Numerous commissions were set up to look into the operational aspects of these provisions. The basic underlying factor which guided the reports of these commissions was to provide Reservations.


The prime reason for reservations is to provide a level playing field to the different sections of the society. These sections can be classified based on any of the viable criteria like caste, religion, economic status, gender, regions and so on. The census data presents statistics for caste, religion, gender and regions but never has there been a census with an accurate data on the economic status of the citizens.

There are obvious difficulties in collecting the data on economic status compared to the caste, religion or regional data. 92% of the workforce in India is in the unorganised sector which makes it almost impossible to track their economic development. But rich or poor, literate or illiterate, north indian or south indian, all are bound by caste and religion in this country. This makes it a very easy criteria to provide reservations.

In reality, under the veil of reservations the political parties have played vote bank politics. In the name of upliftment they encouraged regionalism and casteism. Yes, there were many beneficiaries of these provisions who have improved their economic status, but even after 60 years of independence, this system has not provided a level playing field for all.

The present state of poverty in India can be attributed to the weak public distribution system (PDS), apart from other important factors like low agricultural productivity, erratic monsoons, lack of access to agricultural credit and lack of proper storage facilities leading to wastage. The way out to strengthen the PDS is have a clear statistics about the BPL and APL beneficiaries so that PDS can be targeted directly to them. Even today, we do not have a clear line drawn for the below poverty line (BPL). There are differences in the findings of Arjun sen gupta committee (72%) and Tendulkar committee (42%) approx.

This seems to be a clear cut strategy of the govt. not to provide the basic rights to the people i.e food security. When the govt. can afford to provide reservations to the poor on the basis of caste and religion, why not then provide food again on the same basis? Why look out for an economic criteria like monthly salary, expenditure on education, food and health which seems to be an impossible basis taking into account the lack of proper statistics?

If economic criteria seems to be the correct way of providing services to the people then why not extend it even to other areas like education, employment, political reservations and so on?

Reservation for the Untouchables !!!

We are a country of paradoxes. As I was studying polity I came across Article 17 of our constitution which speaks of abolishing Untouchability. I realised that practicing untouchability is a punishable offence but the greatest paradox is that practicing caste system is not.While we have abolished untouchability, we have promoted backwardness through reservations for various groups. I fail to understand the difference between the two social stigmas.


Looks like the only difference they make is with their potential vote banks to the power greedy politicians. Unlike untouchability, being in a backward caste has turned out to be of a great advantage. Why can't we abolish even the caste system and have a caste free society?


The irony is that the constitution has become least significant for an ‘Indian’ than for anyone else, after 60 years of India being a republic, because of misinterpretation. 
I am lost pondering over my identity while filling up application forms for various educational institutions and Govt. jobs. Columns like ‘community’ and ‘Gender’ find their places before ‘Nationality’. Is this what the term Equality in Art 14 of the constitution means? 


Today political parties quote, “Our party is a secular party…we give
equal representation to all religious sections of the society.”

Whereas a secular party must quote, “we do not represent any religion,
we have only Indians and we treat all the citizens as Indians and
their problems as ours.” 

Democracy is a utopian idea to an average Indian who does not see himself as a part of policy making in nation building. Sovereignty is lost to the capitalists and mean politicians. 


Today I am seen either as a Marathi or Telugu, as a supporter of Andhra or Telangana. 
I am waiting for the day when I’ll be recognized as an Indian in India.  


Comments are welcome. 

Basics of the basics-part 1

Over the years India has produced many stalwarts in the field of education, medicine and every other field which finds mention in the list of top rated jobs. Unfortunately the basics have been forgotten regarding the basic requirements of a human being. For us to survive on this earth we need drinking water, food, clothes, shelter. In short roti, kapada aur makan. The order of priority is also same.

Approx. 37% of our population (stats by Tendulkar committee 2009) is below poverty line (BPL). 41.2% people are just above poverty line (APL). i.e these APL people live on approx. between Rs 11 to Rs 25/day/person. i.e BPL families live on less than Rs 11/day/person. Arjun sen gupta committee in 2007 reported that 77% of the population spends less than Rs 20/day.

I have not mastered economics but i have a basic idea regarding the needs of a person living in this country amidst the towering prices of the commodities. Having done my own little amateur calculations, I found that     Rs 25/day/person is the approx. value to draw the poverty line for with this amount, an avg. person in India can fulfill all his basic needs (not wants). Thus I find Arjun sen gupta committee's figures more realistic.

Hunger and Illness are body bound rather than status bound. Rich and poor both feel the same hunger and pain.
Govt. has framed various schemes like National rural health mission 2005, Janani suraksha yojana and many more in the health sector and National food security Act 2007, Rashtriya krishi vikas yojana and many in the food sector. But the benefits have reached only a few. The Health insurance scheme seems to be more beneficial to the doctors than the patients.

80% of the ailments in India are due to 5 major factors. Malnutrition, lack of proper sanitation, pollution, stress and lack of clean drinking water. The pvt. sector hospitals concentrate only on profit earning ailments which are not common among the Aam Admi. By privatising the health care, our govt. is shrugging off its responsibility of providing the basic needs to the poor. All it has to do is to provide clean drinking water and proper sanitation.

Countries like Costa Rica, U.K stand as an example for us as to how a govt. can provide basic facilities to its citizens. In Costa Rica working population pays 15% of their salary to the health care. Thus it provides free health care to all its citizens irrespective of their status. Private hospitals in India will not go for prevention activities as they are not profit earning like curative ones.

Food is a very important issue. More on it in the next article.

Path versus Goal

The whole conflict between Gandhi and Bhagat can be reduced to a generic debate between path and goal. For Gandhi it was Non violence (path) which was more important and for Bhagat it was Freedom (goal).

But then the question to ask is What was more important among the two for India? 


I ask another question. Were we truly ready for freedom? At the dawn of freedom, I am sure there would have been women and children who would have died of Hunger and Malnutrition. There would have been thousands of people who were left unprotected and poor. There would have been thousands of farmers under huge debts of their land lords.


All we got was just a political freedom without social and economic freedom. We were still caught in the web of social stigmas like caste system, sati system, child marriage and so on. Our farmers were grilled day and night by our own people from the rich community i.e land lords. Poor farmers were still paying high taxes to these neo rulers.


Britishers left us high and dry to cope with our own poverty and helplessness. What Gandhi and Bhagat were fighting was for political freedom but with a difference. Bhagat was inspired by Russian revolution and turned a revolutionary. But Gandhi was experienced in these movements as he succeeded in South Africa.


I personally feel that since Gandhi was an experienced player, he should have helped Bhagat come out of his ideology. Instead, by outrightly condemning the acts of violence in chauri chaura and by putting an abrupt end to the almost won battle of Non cooperation movement, he sent a wrong signal to all the youth of India.

I completely support Gandhi for his social and economic movements all over India like Khadi weaving, Self reliant village programs, fighting untouchability and other social stigmas. It was first of its kind. This struggle of Gandhi was for our social and economic freedom which took a back seat, the moment we gained political freedom.


Therefore I personally feel that it is more important to gain Social and Economic freedom first before we can fight for our political sovereignty.

So finally who is correct?  I feel Gandhi should not have concentrated on political freedom at all. He should have put all his energy onto social and economic building of the nation. He gave undue importance for nonviolence and distracted the whole movement. He should have left the political struggle to others like Bhagat and Subhash who would have hastened the movement towards success.


The present situation in India has its roots in the incomplete social and economic struggles. If only we would have waited for these movements to succeed, the situation would have been completely different. 


Organisations are born out of Civilizations. Politics is born out of Organizations. Therefore, if the society is civilised, the politics born out of it would automatically be honest and ethical. Therfore, first change the society to change the politics.

Revisiting History

Before we can make history, we must revisit it to find out the mistakes committed by them and the success stories written by them, so that we learn from those mistakes and follow their success path.
It is with this intention that i try to bring out some comparisons between India's freedom struggle and present political scenario.

The first sign of freedom struggle was observed in the sepoy mutiny in 1857 revolt. Though the revolt was suppressed, it had a great impact on British East India Co. (EIC). The control was shifted from EIC to the Crown through the Govt.of India Act of 1858. The Governor General was designated as Viceroy under the Secretary of State who sat in Britain.


The main reasons for the failure of the revolt was 'Disunity'. every group fought, but separately and with a separate motives. Sepoy fought for their rights in the army. Princely states fought for their sovereignty. Peasants revolted because of the heavy taxes that were being levied on them. Thus the British could easily suppress us.

The first sign of unified struggle was seen in the formation of Indian National Congress (INC) in 1885. But again their were different opinions among the leaders regarding the way of struggle. Based on this, they grouped themselves into moderates and extremists and split in 1906 surat session after the Partition of Bengal in 1905.
It was again in 1916 lucknow session that they joined again.But the damage was already done. Their was wide spread Hindu- Muslim disunity because of the formation Muslim League in 1906. It was further aggravated by the Minto-Morley reforms which introduced for the first time separate electorate for the Muslims (Foundation stone for reservations).

It was only after the entry of M.K.Gandhi (The hero enters) in 1920 that the Hindus and Muslims were united again for a common cause. It took a great deal of effort on part of Gandhiji  to unite both the groups. The problem starts here!!!

There were revolutionaries who were becoming impatient because of Gandhiji's Non violent protests. The chauri chaura act brought the whole Non Cooperation Movement to an end.

I personally condemn Gandhi for this. I understand that violence is not the way to get freedom, but what if the silent marches go unheard??? I recently read one book written by Gandhi for students, in which he terms the acts of Bhagat Singh as Terrorism. I ask him, has he ever seen a terrorist?

A terrrorist is one who kills innocent people who have done no harm to him to put forth his point.
Bhagat never ever killed people. He assassinated a British Officer. They were very cautious while attacking also. There is no comparison between a terrorist and a patriot like Bhagat. Jallianwala bagh massacre was an act of terrorism.

Now coming back to present day situation, we have telangana movement being compared to the National struggle. Students are being asked to leave their studies to join the movement similar to the student movements in 1947. I fail to understand which act is correct? I see no difference between 1947 and 2010...but still i feel that 1947 was justified but 2010 is politcised... someone plz elaborate on this...

Telangana Movement

The demand for separate Telangana is based on two arguments presented
by pro-telangana activists. 

1) The struggle for a separate state has being going on for past 50
years, from the time the first SRC was constituted in 1956 under the
chairmanship of Fazl Ali. Andhra pradesh was united forcefully with
Telangana on a condition that it can get separated whenever there is a
requirement. Therefore the struggle is genuine.

2) There has being a complete neglect of the Telangana region by the
various Govts. leading to the present situation of backwardness in the
region. Therefore the solution lies in the separation of the region
from the Andhra region.

Now though the first SRC speaks of conditional unification, over the
period of time, Andhra pradesh as a state has developed into one of
the most advanced states of India. The struggle for separation may be
50 years old, but it has being promoted by the fuedal lords of the
region who have exploited the people of telangana all these years. The
Govt. is also to be blamed for it has on its part neglected the
region's development by not implementing GO610 which addresses the
issue of employment for people in that region.

Therefore if the politicians, who are demanding separate Telangana,
would have done the same struggle for the development  of the region
by fighting for more funds or asking for democratic decentralisation,
then the motive would be considered as genuine. But the present
struggle for separation of state only exposes the narrow self
interests of a few politicians and feudal lords.

Why decentralisation is more effective than separation? (look into my
previous post)

After the WW2, the world leaders realised the extent of destruction a
war can inflict upon the nations and decided not fight again amongst
themselves. They rather preferred peaceful arbitration of
international disputes. It was in the year 1945, when United Nations
came into existence on Oct 24. Today almost all the nations are
members of the UN. The main objective of UN was promoting peace and
harmony among the nations.

In the year era of cold war, it was Jawaharlal Nehru who proposed Non
Alignment Movement (NAM) which came into existence in the year 1961.
Its main objective was to stay away from the power blocs and support
development of various NAM members.

From then onwards India has being steering various regional
cooperation groups like SAARC, ASEAN which aim at regional cooperation
among various members in the areas like Economic, Strategic,
Educational, Cultural,  Technological development. Thus the world has
realised the importance of 'Unity' in promoting regional development.
The classic example of European Union says it all. Same is being
planned now in the Asia.

Thus I would like to conclude by asking only
one question,
How can a country like India have two conflicting and contradicting
Domestic and Foreign policies?
Domestic policy - Favouring separation of Andhra pradesh and Telangana
for development.
Foreign Policy - Favouring regional cooperation for development.

Divided we stand, United we fall...

Historically India was never united territorially. The struggle for
annexation and conquering of lands has existed from medieval times.
The various kingdoms which ruled in the present Indian territory range
from Mughals, Marathas, Kanishkas, Satavahanas, Guptas, Mauryas,
Magadhas, Cholas, Cheras, Pandyas, Pallavas and the list goes on. The
very extent of the number of kingdoms speaks volumes about the
disunity among the Indian rulers. 

In the modern Indian history we had Portuguese, Dutch, French and the
British who ruled us separately for over 400 years. They ruled us not
because they were strong, but because we were weak to rule ourselves.
There was widespread communal disparity among the Hindus and Muslims.
British took advantage of this and played Hindus against Muslims and
vice versa. Thus they could exploit us for over 100 years.

After the Independence, under the able guidance of The Iron Man of
India, Sardar Vallabhai Patel, 565 princely states were united to form
The Republic of India. Thus India is basically a 'Union' of States.
USA on the other hand is 'United States' of America.The difference
lies in the formation of USA and India. USA was formed by a mutual
treaty signed by the various states to stay together as a nation
(similar to present day European Union) as compared to India which was
carved out of a forceful union of various states. Thus the conflict
regarding separate states does not arise in USA as in India.

USA was the first the federal nation. It gives complete autonomy to
its states with regards to governance and other activities. each state
in USA has a separate Supreme court and overall they have a Federal
court. Taxes are also levied and collected by both states and the
union equally unlike in India where different taxes fall under State,
Central or concurrent list. Thus India is a Quasi Federal State.

There is a difference between Federalism and Decentralisation. Decentralisation of powers means Panchayati
Raj Institutions and Federal character means various states
unified to form a nation but retain autonomy to some extent.
In decentralisation, decision making powers are transferred to the
third tier of the state i.e PRIs.  Separation of states will lead to
increase in administrative costs and the powers will still remain at
the top. Therefore it is not separation of states but decentralisation
of powers, within the same state, which is required to develop a
backward region.

The present political crisis in AP is just struggle for power rather
than upliftment of the downtrodden. It is very sad that even the
educated youth of our country are being easily dragged into this
situation and are being used as potential human weapons of mass
destruction for the selfish vested interests of a few politicians.
The solution for the present turmoil lies in understanding the facts
and truth rather than being carried away by emotional slogans based on
regionalism. The law and order needs to be restored as early as
possible and there is a need for all politicians to come on a same
table and discuss the issue in a room rather than taking it to the
streets, to find an amicable solution.

The main hindrance in implementing the 73rd and 74th amendments is the political interests
of a few people. The onus lies with the citizens and the beneficiaries
to make sure that these are implemented thus empowering the lower
rungs of democracy.

Leader

" We, the people of India......give to ourselves this constitution". 

The 'Preamble' is the soul of the constitution. It shows the spirit
with which the makers have framed the constitution. 60 years have
passed and yet we are still struggling to imbibe this noble spirit in
our society. How many of us do really know our constitution? Can we
play cricket, soccer or any other game without knowing the rules which
govern them? Then how are we staying in this country without knowing
the rules of this land i.e constitution ? If in the former case, some
one cheats, we know it and we protest but the same doesn't happen in
the latter case. Why? simple. we ourselves don't know the rules!!!

Mumbai...
Maharashtra Govt. decided not to issue driving licenses to taxi
drivers who cannot speak marathi. Though they repealed it later.
Every other day we find the 'scion' of marathi manoos Raj Thackray
threatening to destroy the livelihoods of people from north India.
The grand old Tiger Bala saheb threatens to tear down the posters of
King Khan's movie because he expressed his desire to include a
Pakistani in his IPL team.
Article 19 provides the fundamental right of Freedom of speech and
expression. Is this what freedom is all about? The Article also
provides for the freedom to settle in any part of the country. Who
gave right to Raj Thackray to violate this Fundamental Right of the
citizen?

Hyderabad...
Every other day the Telangana JAC declares a Bandh. Osmania
Universitty has become a political theatre. Destruction of public
property has become the norm of the day. No one speaks of the
alternative solution. All are stuck their own demands. The appointment
of Sri Krishna commission has brought more unrest, for its terms of
reference (ToR) were not acceptable.
Unfortunately in our constitution, Fundamental rights (Art 12 - 35)
are enforceable in high courts or supreme court but Fundamental duties
(Art 51 A) are not. i.e if someone's right is violated he/she can
approach a HC or SC for justice but the same cant be done w.r.t
duties. No one can be punished for violating Fundamental Duties.
Rights always must be coequal to the duties. thats why people today
fight for their rights but no one speaks when duties are not
performed. Duties include not destroying public property, respecting
constitution and so on.

West Midnapur dist. (W.B)
Maoists killed 24 policemen and looted arms. Maoists and naxals are
having it their way in pressurising the system. From Bihar to A.P, the
whole of eastern India is infested with maoists and naxals.
Naxalism and Maoism are not Law and order problem but Socio-Economic
problem. But unfortunately they have being dealt as a L&O problem by
the govt. till now with a zero success. Restoring L&O is essential but
Socio - economic development alone can be the sustainable solution.

Jammu & Kashmir
The mistrust between the Jawans and the civilians is ever widening
with every other day a youth being killed followed by protests.
Muslims are in a very peculiar situation with the Indian Army looking
down at them as potential anti social elements. This growing mistrust
and cross border terrorism and insurgency seems to rack all the
brightest brains in the north block (Min. of Home Affairs) and south
block (Min. of External Affairs) but again with little success.

India:
As a whole we are facing problems like price rise, inflation, farmer
suicides, irresponsive governance, illiteracy, malnutrition, poverty,
climate change, corruption and the list goes on...

I do not know when we would be able to clean up all the mess we have
created, but the onus lies for sure on us and us alone. Do not be
under an impression that some day some one from some where will come
and do it. All these Acts, Articles, Laws, Ordinances, Schemes are of
no use if there is no will to implement them.

Therefore to be a part of this cleaning program we must be equipped
with necessary skills and will power. We cannot stay in our cocoons
safe and happy. "Thinnama, Padukunnama, Tellarinda" (Khaana, Peena, Sona) cannot be
our motto of life. Knowledge or awareness about the problems and their intricacies backed
by our knowledge about the constitution is extremely essential to weed
out the rotten elements from our society. We need Leaders and not
politicians.

Recently I was travelling in a city bus when i sensed the smell of a
cigarette. Ignoring it to be coming from outside I stayed on. As the
smell became stronger I stood up to check if some one inside the bus
was smoking. As expected i found one person doing it. I  was little
scared to tell him as he was huge. But bucking up courage, I told him
firmly to throw it off as its not allowed inside the bus. He shouted
at me saying "I know it...u need not tell me." I again insisted by
saying "If u know it then better do it". He got scared. He spoke
softly saying he was getting vomiting sensation. When i insisted again
he threw it off.

All the while, none in the bus came to support me.
They all knew about this guy's smoking but none of them spoke.
FEAR is all around the place. People are afraid to stand up against
injustice not knowing that the culprit is more scared than us. He may
be a politician, businessman or popper. They all have fear. Its when
we don't stand up against them that they appear to us to be strong. Be
Brave to stand up against injustice and you will be surprised that you
have won the battle.

The Great Indian Thaali

Hungry kya? 

Try the new Great Indian Thaali...its full of spicy and delicious recipes...recommended for foreign tourists...Indians can also relish it.

There are no starters, main courses or desserts. All are main courses...very heavy Thaali.

Cricket:

Can anybody stay in India without playing this game? This is the biggest Indian entertainer...not to forget IPL 3... doesnt matter even if the players and sponsors are minting money at our cost, skewing the already imbalanced economic growth. All we want is enjoyment.The day & night ODIs consume so much power that the poor bear the brunt of it through unending power cuts. Sports in India means only cricket...kudos to Saina, Rajpal, Leander and few others who are trying to bring some change in the attitudes.

                                           Movies:

Another big entertainer. We seem to be lost in that Utopian world of SRK and other big khans that we forget to recognize the real talent of Indian cinema...Heard of ANTAHEEN, FIRAAQ ??? how could u? These movies won the recent National Awards. But these r movies which r based on our social fabric.

Religion:

India is known for its religions. We are ready to die for our religion today. It has made its way into politics also. We are secular just for namesake, but are completely governed by our stupid religious practices. Anti Sikh riots, Mumbai Hindu Muslim riots, Godhra riots, Demolition of Babri Masjid...the list goes on...and the best part of it is that the culprits are our rulers today.

Casteism:

Reservations are the only criteria to live in India. If u r not reserved please get urself listed otherwise u stand no chance of survival in this country. In the name of caste we are again minting money leaving behind those unprivileged and poor sections of the society in the same position as they were before independence. Mayawati sees no harm in flaunting her wealth in the public when U.P ranks almost last in all Human Development Indices.

Food:

This is one aspect of our country which we are very fond of. Go anywhere and u will get the best of the food of that region. No complaints at all. But then why the inflation is soaring high at 18.7% for the primary food articles? The rich and middle class have managed to overcome the inflationary trends but the BPL have lost the race.The PDS system has failed to deliver the goods.

Corruption:

Welcome to India...How can we forget something which is so dear to all of us...from a small child to an old man everyone knows about it. Again no one does anything about it. Its in our blood to bribe and get bribed. No more comments.

Abroad craze:

From the moment we are born, our parents will be itching to make us study in some IITs and IIMs...send us to U.S or AUS or some godforsaken country for further studies. There we are ready to even wash plates and fill petrol tanks to sustain ourselves. Ask us to do the same here in India… What an insult!!! If by chance we want to return to India, we would be given a heroic welcome and would be christened as ‘Foreign Returned’.

Politics:

A muddy and dirty field… that’s what it is called. It is the best pass time for all Indians. We watch news whole day along with the Breaking News, which no longer remains as one after multiple scrolling, but its all just a tea time break. We forget about it till the next break.

Who would want to join politics to change the whole game?

Poverty:

Eradicating it would mean no jobs for NGOs, no Ministry for rural development, no World Bank funds, no Oscar winning movies and no vote banks. So stop eradicating poverty.

Well the Thaali is full…and so is my stomach. Nice food for thought. Meet u all later. Thank you.