Here's more positive news on the NE region. Yesterday I had posted that Arun Shourie was taking over as the Minister for DONER. Today there is more positive news from the standpoint that the Chief Minister's of the seven sisters are selling the idea of investing in the NE region to businessmen at a special forum in Bombay. They consider themselves the 'future powerhouse' of India given their vast natural resources, coupled with the proximity and access to the international markets of Mayanmar, Bangladesh, Thailand etc. This augurs well for India, as it is their first step from isolation from the rest of the Union. Personally I think this should help in resolving the festering problem of insurgency in the North East. Furthermore if better railroads and highways linking the NE region to the rest of India were to be built, it would accentuate the economic and industrial development.
Although the pace of development is far slower than the pace of our northern neighbour , it is still hearty to note that people are realizing that economic development is the need of the hour and they are taking steps to achieve that. Given this recent development in the NE region one can see that there is economic growth in all corners of India , in the north Punjab and Harayana have taken the lead, the West is still the leader in this race with both Gujarat and Maharashtra dominating , Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh are leading the economic and industrial development in the south and now with the seven sisters from the NE joining the fray there is a lot of reason to be positive. This growth would naturally rub off on the other states and force them to give up on petty politics and instead focus on their energies towards developmental activities. Then we can well and truly say the future is ours !
Now what in the world is that. Well DONER stands for Development of Northeastern region. The northeastern region includes the seven states comprising of Assam, Sikkim, Tripura, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh. Also known as the seven sisters these states have fallen behind the other states with respect to economic and industrial development. Now with Arun Shourie being appointed as the Minister for DONER maybe things will change for the better. Arun Shourie currently the Minister for Divestment has done a remarkable job in his current portfolio. Hopefully he would provide the necessary impetus to kickstart development in the NE region. More
Like many things I don't get this as well. The Republican party opposes abortion under the principle that it gives an individual the right to take a life away. Fair enough. Now when it comes to gun control laws ( from what I understand of it ) they want laws to be freer and not restrictive on individuals who want to own guns. Call me dumb or whatever for I just don't get it, on one hand they are opposed to making abortion legal since it gives one the right to take away a life and on the other they want to put a gun in your hands so you can ( if you choose to ) take away a life. Du-h! Is a yet to be born child's life more valuable than someone that is already living ?. Is it just me or are you also wondering. If you already got it figured out use the comment feature to explain. I am all ears !
So Kishan Kant ( for the uninitiated he was the Vice President of India ) is dead. May his soul rest in peace. Well like is the case with most issues in India guess who gets blamed for his death ( he died of a 'massive heart attack. You can read more over here ). The BJP ( if you got it wrong you probably guessed VHP or RSS which I will grant you is not a bad guess).
The purported theory goes something like this, he was disappointed at not being made the President and that he was double crossed by the 'hardline BJP' members ( read L.K. Advani). Also the reportgoes on to quote a close friend of the former VP who had this to say "What surprised me most [was] that he said he was hurt when he was not chosen for the President's post. He felt bad because many politicians from different parties had already congratulated him for being the unanimous choice! And this was long before the competition narrowed down to A P J Abdul Kalam and P C Alexander". His 'close friend' also goes on to say that the former VP had plans for his retirement that involved finding use for the vast unused land in India. Here is my issue with the above. Firstly if a person cannot face the disappointments that life throws in your way then I personally do not think such an individual should occupy the highest office in the country. Secondly this friend talks about the 'noble and lofty' ideas the VP had for his retirement, I ask why did he not do anything during the 40 plus years when he held various positions in the central governement !! Thirdly if he really wished to pursue his goals then he was better off not being the President as we all know that the post of the President is merely that of a titular head. Given this he would NOT have been able to pursue his goals ( that he sooo believed in ). Fourthly I am off the opinion that anything of value needs to be earned and not demanded. Frankly between the two I think A.P.J. Kalaam deserves to be the President more than the former VP.
Before I close let me sign off with one parting thought. Kishan Kant probably died because of old age, ill-heath , lack of healthy habits or any combination of the above. I personally don't think its wise to use his death to pursue a political agenda. Mourn it, don't make a mockery of it !
When an individual chooses to abort her child for whatever reason it is touted as freedom of choice, pro-choice blah blah..
Now if the very same individual upon realizing that the child to be born is a girl undergoes abortion then it is touted as 'female infanticide' and we have all the women's lib'ers up in arms. If all the blue blooded liberals are so in favour of freedom of choice then the latter scenario is as much case of choice as is the former.
Boy I can't wait to hear from those flag waving liberals..
Article 370 has been in the news for several years now and for good or bad it will remain a part of our (Indians ) life for some time to come. Through a series of web logs it is my endeavour to gain an understanding and also to provide the readers of what Article 370 is about, its temporary permanent stature in the Indian constitution, why it generates the news it does, the controversies it attracts and what it means to the future of India.
For this purpose I will depend on books published in this regard, articles in major newspapers (their websites), news portals and other sources that I can authenticate and verify. Readers that wish to contribute (constructively) and modify any questionable facts are requested to use the comment forum. Your response will be noted and your contribution duly noted.
As a start I will begin by publishing Article 370 as it appears in the Constitution.
Article 370: TEMPORARY PROVISIONS WITH RESPECT TO THE STATE OF JAMMU AND KASHMIR
1. Not withstanding anything in this Constitution-
(a) the provisions of article 238 shall not apply in relation to the state of
Jammu and Kashmir;
(b) the power of the Parliament to make laws for the said state shall be
limited to:
(i) those matters in the Union List and the Concurrent List which, in
consultation with the Government of the State, are declared by the
President to correspond to matters specified in the Instrument of
Accession governing the accession of the State to the Dominion of
India as the matters with respect to which the Dominion Legislature
may make laws for the that State; and
(ii) such other matters in the said Lists as, with the concurrence of the
Government of the State the President may by order specify.
Explanation- For the purposes of the article, the Government of the State means the person for the time being recognized by the President as the Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir acting on advice of the Council of Ministers of the time being in office under the Maharaja's Proclamation dated the fifth day of March, 1948.
(c) the provisions of Article 1 and of this article shall apply in relation to that
State;
(d) such of the other provisions of this Constitution shall apply in relation to
the State subject to such exceptions and modifications as the President
may by order 14 specify;
Provided that no such order which relates to the matters specified in the Instrument of Accession of the State referred to in paragraph (i) of sub-clause (b) shall be issued except in consultation with the Government of the State;
Provided further that no such order which relates to matters other than those referred to in the last preceding provision shall be issued except with the concurrence of that Government.
2. If the concurrence of the Government of the State referred to in paragraph
(ii) of sub-clause (b0 of clause (1) or in second provision to the sub-clause
(d) of that clause be given before the Constituent Assembly for the purpose
of framing the Constitution of the State is convened, it shall be placed before
such Assembly for such decision as it may take thereon.
3. Notwithstanding anything in the foregoing provisions of this article, the
President may, by public notification, declare that this article shall cease to
be operative or shall be operative only with such exceptions and
modifications and from such date as he may specify:
Provided that the recommendation of the Constituent Assembly of the State referred to in clause (2) shall be necessary before the President issues such a notification.
Links:
If you thought this was piece was about China and Mao, then you haven't seen the recommendations (atleast one of them) of the Constitution review panel. The panel was to review the constitution and provide recommendation that would provide for a stronger and better India (well atleast that was my understanding of the exercise).So heres
the recommendation on the issue of reservations. Merely reading the headline would tell us that we don't learn from history.We have followed the policy of reservations in the last 50 years and seemingly it has not helped. If it did then why would we need it to be made statutory? Pray tell me how would making it statutory help.
After 50 years of reservations we should atleast realize that it merely weakens a man and does not make him stronger. It makes him dependent on the state, on welfare and does not warrant itself to building a stronger and independent individual which is what eventually determines the strength of nation. People are a nations' greatest resource and the stronger the people the stronger a nation.Merit and merit alone should be the guage for anything and everything.Unless we do that we will never be able to realize the potential that we (India) promised at the time of Independence
Let us for a moment assume that having reservations would help. Now it begs the question what type of reservations would help. Its blatantly obvious one based on caste is not going to help. If reservations are to be employed for the betterment of the masses then I am of the opinion that it should "need (economic needs) based" as opposed to being "caste based", since one would imagine that the goal of reservations is to provide a helping hand to anyone wanting to improve their quality life. Even this in my opinion can only be a short term measure and does not warrant a statute in the Constitution. So based on one's economic condition one may qualify to avail reservations in government schools and colleges to pursue education that may otherwise be deprived because of the lack of money. Once provided with education the individual must seek his own living and should not depend on the state to find him a means of employment. What purpose does his education serve then ?. That ( reservation in jobs in government and public sector) is another thing that I am hard pressed to accept even if I were to accept caste based reservation. So what else is the governement going to do make this individual weaker; help him get married because he is incapable of finding himself a wife ? Maybe reservations in the area of marriages too. How about a policy that stipulates 69% of the marriages in the country should involve only backward castes. Sounds ludicrous! thats how the concept of reservations in jobs sounds to me when the person has already availed education on the basis of reservation. This in my opinion does not help build character ,strength of character and moral toughness helps build stronger individuals and hence stronger nations.
Here is another reason why I dont think the currently practised form of reservation is fair (but then who ever said the lawmakers were trying to be fair). For eg. let us consider that an individual is from the community designated BC (or any community with reservation) and he or she is admitted in lets say a governement engineering college under the current reservation policy. Upon graduation the above mentioned individual also gets a job due to policy of reservation. Now it has helped the individual better his quality of life and that of his immediate family. Well I suppose its time to pat ourselves on the back for a job well done I suppose. And maybe even rightly so. Now lets fast forward a little bit, lets say this individual has children that are ready to go to college. Now based on the current policy they can avail the reservation for admission to colleges simply because they belong to a particular community that qualifies. Now in what way were they deprived. Why should they be provided with reservations. What happened to Darwin's survival of the fittest ? They should have had an opportunity to attend decent schools and obtain good education (If they did not then the father is to blame and entire exercise of having provided him with reservation to get ahead has failed). Do you sincerely believe this policy is fair. Now what about a student with better grades than the above mentioned student who is denied admission merely because he was born in a family deemed Forward caste, and what if family cannot support his education in a private institution. There is no system of federal loans like in the US that he can tap into for the purpose of his education. This folks is a surefire way to destroy a nation. As I mentioned before this is against the laws of nature ( survival of the fittest ) and it will NOT work in the long run. Weakening the strong is not going to help in strengthening the weak. Does that offer another reason for 'needs based reservation' (if at all)as opposed to caste based.
Secondly implementation is very important. Because merely having a great policy helps none. Its like the Indian cricket team , tigers on paper, mice on the field. There could be several pitfalls in implementing a policy such as this in India and the governement should be open to feedback and fine tuning the policy to ensure better results. Thats exactly why policy makers and enforcers are paid for by the tax payers. Just out of curiosity why do refer to government employees as 'government servants'. Now that i would definitely be interested in knowing!
Education should be provided and be made mandatory with sufficient fund allocation in the budgets. Maybe thats what should be included in the constitution ( for all I know it may be enshrined in the constitution like the uniform civil code , just not enforced )so as to make sure its followed. Providing the education to the masses and enabling them to be self sufficient should be the the goal.
Someone once said "Feed a man with a fish and you have fed him for a day, teach man how to fish and you have fed him for a lifetime". At this point I am reminded of a story that I think I ought to share. This person belonged to the so called "Forward caste" because he was born into a particular family. He lost his father around the time he graduated from high school and being the eldest he was left to fend for his family that comprised of his mother,grandmother and two younger school going brothers. His father having been a school teacher did not leave behind a fortune. Hence the family was posed with severe financial and other challenges. To add to his woes when he graduated from high school he found that admission to an engineering program at a government college was nearly impossible even though he had topped his high school. Why? because he was born in a family that was deemed 'forward caste'. Private colleges were not an option since tuition was way too expensive and loans for such amounts were not available. He finally managed to obtain admission (on merit) into a reputed engineering college in Madras. The program for which he received admission was one that even touch with a barge pole. He accepted and based on his performance in the first semester he was moved into better program. He financed his tuition by means of a loan ( the tuition in this case not being very high). For four years he struggled and made his way thro college. He worked odd jobs during summer to augment his income. Although he was faced with several challenges during the course of his study he never once let it affect his attitude. Upon graduation he was offered job in a reputed software company in India. He grabbed the opportunity with both hands and in the course of the next four years he helped put his brothers thru college by paying for their tuition, paid off his tuition loans, moved his family into a flat (apartment ) that he bought for them and also moved to the US, where he now works. This is one of the reasons for the much spoken about 'brain-drain'. More on that later. That folks is character, it epitomises the triumph of the human spirit when faced with adversity. This is just a story of an ordinary individual overcoming odds and a system that was loaded against him to succeed so he and his family could have better life. To strive, to overcome and to achieve. That is basic human nature.
Everyone knows of many such individuals who have overcome several challenges to succeed. Why then do we still believe that we need reservations or aid from the government. Let us draw inspiration from people like these and overcome the challenges instead of depending on the aid, welfare and reservation from the government. Triumph in the face of adversity will develop strength,courage and moral toughness in people and that in turn will build a stronger India.