What paves the way for reaching the MDG? Lets turn a few pages and behold. One of the parameters that were regarded obligatory was the supply of improved drinking water sources and sanitized facilities. By achieving the MDG 7, which aims to supply safe drinking water to all, 2015 was set the target. But how much of that has been achieved? Take a present look. As per the State of the World 2007, a household of five needs at least 120 litres per day to meet the daily activities, but to our utter distress, we find that these people are compelled to walk a long distance to fetch water. But lets have a look at the picture of India. India’s rural picture cuts a sorry figure. The UN cynicism about India’s success in reaching the goals by 2015 now seems to have some true base. With only seven years left to reach the golden goal, its time to scrutinize India’s achievement in regard of sanitation and providing clean water. By the MDGs, the UN set the target that by 2015 they should reduce to half the number of people living without access to pure water and sanitation. According to the UN, the number of people living without access to water is 1.2 billion and that the number of the people living without access to sanitation is 2.4 billion. But the way, India has progressed, it seems that this goal has a long way ahead. For example 30% of the total population in Kolkata lives in slums.
If you open the television, at one time or the other you will see that the Indian government is showing that they have built toilets in villages, then take a second look. They will show if only one toilet has been built- no matter whether it functions or not. WaterAid India , Delhi based NGO found out that the toilets that were built in the villages were sometimes put to other uses- “ …often as the best-built, only tiled structure in the village homes. In many Indian villages , they have been used to tether cattle.”
So what lies at the core is the problem with the fund. Sanitation schemes have been dependent on subsidies, which are not reaching the people. The World Bank has criticized the Indian government because the sanitation programme doe not take into its purview the good of the general people however the problem is not only with the fund, but also with the spirit. Today we allege the Government of not doing anything, what we have done ourselves? Today we ridicule Bangaladesh, call Pakistan as our worst foe. But how many of us has ever taken a look at the sanitation figure of Indian and compared it with Bangaladesh and Pakistan ? If done, we will see that less than five percentage of the total Indian rural populace has access to sanitation, while Bangladesh has 40% and Pakistan has 45%. The status of India at present is just a margin above Cambodia. Out of 28 Indian states , only seven has launched ‘Swajaldhara’ and only Tamil Nadu has completed a project.
So at this juncture what we need to do is to and what we lack is integrity. Availability of water has every time been a hindrance to a road to development. The strategy should be multi branched for assembling resources. We need to empower the NGOs and need to support the local active groups. We need to build toilets more in numbers especially. The frenzy of privatizing should be shed and more effort to promote the rural groups should taken for the advancement of rural folk.
Thursday, February 28, 2008
My sanitized country
What paves the way for reaching the MDG? Lets turn a few pages and behold. One of the parameters that were regarded obligatory was the supply of improved drinking water sources and sanitized facilities. By achieving the MDG 7, which aims to supply safe drinking water to all, 2015 was set the target. But how much of that has been achieved? Take a present look. As per the State of the World 2007, a household of five needs at least 120 litres per day to meet the daily activities, but to our utter distress, we find that these people are compelled to walk a long distance to fetch water. But lets have a look at the picture of India. India’s rural picture cuts a sorry figure. The UN cynicism about India’s success in reaching the goals by 2015 now seems to have some true base. With only seven years left to reach the golden goal, its time to scrutinize India’s achievement in regard of sanitation and providing clean water. By the MDGs, the UN set the target that by 2015 they should reduce to half the number of people living without access to pure water and sanitation. According to the UN, the number of people living without access to water is 1.2 billion and that the number of the people living without access to sanitation is 2.4 billion. But the way, India has progressed, it seems that this goal has a long way ahead. For example 30% of the total population in Kolkata lives in slums.
If you open the television, at one time or the other you will see that the Indian government is showing that they have built toilets in villages, then take a second look. They will show if only one toilet has been built- no matter whether it functions or not. WaterAid India , Delhi based NGO found out that the toilets that were built in the villages were sometimes put to other uses- “ …often as the best-built, only tiled structure in the village homes. In many Indian villages , they have been used to tether cattle.”
So what lies at the core is the problem with the fund. Sanitation schemes have been dependent on subsidies, which are not reaching the people. The World Bank has criticized the Indian government because the sanitation programme doe not take into its purview the good of the general people however the problem is not only with the fund, but also with the spirit. Today we allege the Government of not doing anything, what we have done ourselves? Today we ridicule Bangaladesh, call Pakistan as our worst foe. But how many of us has ever taken a look at the sanitation figure of Indian and compared it with Bangaladesh and Pakistan ? If done, we will see that less than five percentage of the total Indian rural populace has access to sanitation, while Bangladesh has 40% and Pakistan has 45%. The status of India at present is just a margin above Cambodia. Out of 28 Indian states , only seven has launched ‘Swajaldhara’ and only Tamil Nadu has completed a project.
So at this juncture what we need to do is to and what we lack is integrity. Availability of water has every time been a hindrance to a road to development. The strategy should be multi branched for assembling resources. We need to empower the NGOs and need to support the local active groups. We need to build toilets more in numbers especially. The frenzy of privatizing should be shed and more effort to promote the rural groups should taken for the advancement of rural folk.
If you open the television, at one time or the other you will see that the Indian government is showing that they have built toilets in villages, then take a second look. They will show if only one toilet has been built- no matter whether it functions or not. WaterAid India , Delhi based NGO found out that the toilets that were built in the villages were sometimes put to other uses- “ …often as the best-built, only tiled structure in the village homes. In many Indian villages , they have been used to tether cattle.”
So what lies at the core is the problem with the fund. Sanitation schemes have been dependent on subsidies, which are not reaching the people. The World Bank has criticized the Indian government because the sanitation programme doe not take into its purview the good of the general people however the problem is not only with the fund, but also with the spirit. Today we allege the Government of not doing anything, what we have done ourselves? Today we ridicule Bangaladesh, call Pakistan as our worst foe. But how many of us has ever taken a look at the sanitation figure of Indian and compared it with Bangaladesh and Pakistan ? If done, we will see that less than five percentage of the total Indian rural populace has access to sanitation, while Bangladesh has 40% and Pakistan has 45%. The status of India at present is just a margin above Cambodia. Out of 28 Indian states , only seven has launched ‘Swajaldhara’ and only Tamil Nadu has completed a project.
So at this juncture what we need to do is to and what we lack is integrity. Availability of water has every time been a hindrance to a road to development. The strategy should be multi branched for assembling resources. We need to empower the NGOs and need to support the local active groups. We need to build toilets more in numbers especially. The frenzy of privatizing should be shed and more effort to promote the rural groups should taken for the advancement of rural folk.
Et tu Orissa!!
Having provided a job security to the rural people, at least for a few stipulated days, the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) has made a strong presence in rural India. According to the information available from the NREGA factsheet, this scheme has assured 43 days of employment to the households employed in the NREGA. The share of the marginalized groups in total NREGA employment gives a happy picture. It says that 40% of woman folk, 36% of Scheduled Tribes, 26% of the Scheduled Tribes have been facilitated by the NREGA. But don’t be allured by what has been said so far, in fact what we have seen is the bright side of the moon. Lets take our rocket on the other side and land on a dark ground. One such dark ground is Orissa. Here a survey was conducted Social Science Institute of Allahabad in October 2007. this study brought to light the spoil play going on in the name of NREGA. The results of the study shows that only 60% of the days of employment recorded in the Muster Role (MR) were confirmed, with the rest 40% unaccounted. The flawed Job Card (JC) adds to the woes of the poor people. No where in the cards are written what amount of wage is to be paid to the labour. In some cases it has also been seen that the worker himself does not fill the JC, in most of the cases it is filled by the Village Level Leader (VLL) in the presence of the worker. Also, the name of the worker is entered in the code format, and in English. So, mostly it is impossible for the workers to read the document. Further, the VLLs become the master of the manipulation game. There are two kinds of MRs maintained by the state- ‘kaccha’ (unofficial) and ‘pucca’ (official). The ‘kaccha’ MR is the official and valid and the ‘pucca’ is the unofficial and influenced. The VLLs consider the ‘kaccha’ as the official and conduct the official work in them. They later enter the names in the official documents. Not only that, most of the people involved in the whole process demands a share. The study reveals that the BDO claims two to three percent, the block chairman has three percent, junior engineer has five percent, auditor has one percent, cashier has one perecent, and above all the Panchayat Officer has and the executive officer has 20-22 percent. Imagine how much the poor man gets after a hard days work. More than that the Zilla Parishad wants their people to get into some job because they can get more shares from that. Lack of enforcement fans the flames of problem. The Social Audit and Muster Roll Verification by the Gram Sabha are not carried out in the proper way, they are only done to follow the direction of the Government and that only in the name. The Civil Society Organization has been kept out of the Social Audit, in spite of earlier decision to include them.
However, the National Institute of Rural Development has come forward to help them in conducting the social audit which in turn may keep the transparency of NREGA and pave the way for a fair play.
However, the National Institute of Rural Development has come forward to help them in conducting the social audit which in turn may keep the transparency of NREGA and pave the way for a fair play.
Friday, February 22, 2008
Dams of Distress
Dams of Distress
The road to overall development is not so easy; in fact the word ‘overall development’ is a blurred concept. To materialize a larger goal one should keep in mind that ‘ Rome was not built in a day’. But perhaps the Government of India perhaps wants to build Rome in day- not one brick after the other. By laying the foundation stone for the hydroelectric project in Arunachal Pradesh, the Government of India has laid a firm foundation for an ecological grieve in this area. First of all the project is to come up not at Itanagar but at Roing, some 600 kilometers in the north-eastern region of Arunachal Pradesh. If we put the project under microscope, then various traits will come out- all ready to upset the ecological balance of the area.
Let us have a look at the dams in Arunachal Pradesh and the power generated by the state. The 50,000 MW Hydroelectric Initiative, which was installed in India in 2003, aimed to generate 50,000 MW of electricity in India by 2017. It was supposed to be done through 162 projects. Of this 162 projects 72 are in north east and out of this 72 , 42 are in Arunachal Pradesh with a capacity of 27,293 MW. But while the government is trying to be a powerhouse, the local people feel the brunt. The Subansiri project in west Siang district of Arunachal Pradesh will generate 2000 MW of electricity, but the effect is more than 2000MW of electricity. This project has already displaced 38 families and is all ready to give a fatal blow to the livelihood of the people. About 4000 hectares of forest is likely to be taken by this project, lion’s share of it to be submerged. More than that, the damming has adversely affected the marine life and hence fishing is affected. But perhaps the worst affected are the people living there.
Rehabilitation is a difficult task there. We must keep in mind that in these areas people have ownership even for land and forests and the clans and the tribal have a major claim on the lands there. An attempt to resettle the tribal people will further fan the flames of disgruntlement, as it will result in a mixture of two communities. Idu-Mismi is one of the tribal that are going to be slaughtered where the Dibang project will come up. This tribal has a population of 11,021 and already the Government of India has already declared the race as endangered. If the expected project comes up then there is possibility of the influx of some 6000 people who will come to work there. There remains a good possibility of a brawl between them, which will put the Idu-Mismi tribal in a danger. Discrimination to the tribal has been routine feature. A grim picture emerges out of Gerukamukh. NHPC runs a school here, but the local peopledoesn’t get a chance in this school, because they cannot meet the criteria for entrance. Even in hospitals discrimination is also to be seen. These tribal people when need to go to hospital, have to first go to the police station and convince the police that they are really ill. Then only they get the permission to visit the hospital. At this juncture, one important question is that how cost effective will be the electricity generated? The answer is distressing. The electricity that is generated will mostly be used by the other parts of the country, which means long range transmission lines and hence enhanced cost. At the end of the day those private hosts will harvest all the crop of this slaughter of environment and people. Lets have an empowered future not overpowered.
The road to overall development is not so easy; in fact the word ‘overall development’ is a blurred concept. To materialize a larger goal one should keep in mind that ‘ Rome was not built in a day’. But perhaps the Government of India perhaps wants to build Rome in day- not one brick after the other. By laying the foundation stone for the hydroelectric project in Arunachal Pradesh, the Government of India has laid a firm foundation for an ecological grieve in this area. First of all the project is to come up not at Itanagar but at Roing, some 600 kilometers in the north-eastern region of Arunachal Pradesh. If we put the project under microscope, then various traits will come out- all ready to upset the ecological balance of the area.
Let us have a look at the dams in Arunachal Pradesh and the power generated by the state. The 50,000 MW Hydroelectric Initiative, which was installed in India in 2003, aimed to generate 50,000 MW of electricity in India by 2017. It was supposed to be done through 162 projects. Of this 162 projects 72 are in north east and out of this 72 , 42 are in Arunachal Pradesh with a capacity of 27,293 MW. But while the government is trying to be a powerhouse, the local people feel the brunt. The Subansiri project in west Siang district of Arunachal Pradesh will generate 2000 MW of electricity, but the effect is more than 2000MW of electricity. This project has already displaced 38 families and is all ready to give a fatal blow to the livelihood of the people. About 4000 hectares of forest is likely to be taken by this project, lion’s share of it to be submerged. More than that, the damming has adversely affected the marine life and hence fishing is affected. But perhaps the worst affected are the people living there.
Rehabilitation is a difficult task there. We must keep in mind that in these areas people have ownership even for land and forests and the clans and the tribal have a major claim on the lands there. An attempt to resettle the tribal people will further fan the flames of disgruntlement, as it will result in a mixture of two communities. Idu-Mismi is one of the tribal that are going to be slaughtered where the Dibang project will come up. This tribal has a population of 11,021 and already the Government of India has already declared the race as endangered. If the expected project comes up then there is possibility of the influx of some 6000 people who will come to work there. There remains a good possibility of a brawl between them, which will put the Idu-Mismi tribal in a danger. Discrimination to the tribal has been routine feature. A grim picture emerges out of Gerukamukh. NHPC runs a school here, but the local peopledoesn’t get a chance in this school, because they cannot meet the criteria for entrance. Even in hospitals discrimination is also to be seen. These tribal people when need to go to hospital, have to first go to the police station and convince the police that they are really ill. Then only they get the permission to visit the hospital. At this juncture, one important question is that how cost effective will be the electricity generated? The answer is distressing. The electricity that is generated will mostly be used by the other parts of the country, which means long range transmission lines and hence enhanced cost. At the end of the day those private hosts will harvest all the crop of this slaughter of environment and people. Lets have an empowered future not overpowered.
The border disorder
China have major claims on two major Indian territories—one is on the Aksai Chin in north-eastern Ladakh, the other one being India’s ‘land of rising sun’ Arunachal Pradesh. The problem started in 1914 when the British Government named the borderline – Mcmahon line, after British general Mcmahon.
The Simla convention was rejected by China as it regarded the Tibetan government incapable of concluding treaties being non-sovereign in nature. Also china pointed out that Lhasa’s declaration of independence in 1913 was not recognized by any Chinese Government. As a result Mcmahon line was not accepted by China. The Imperial Government of China did never agreed to it neither did the Chiang Kai –Shek Government. The first Chinese attack on India was on 20th October 1962, China unable to reach political accommodation along 3225-kilometer long Himalayan border. In the fight the Indian forces were swept away by the Chinese forces. In Karakoram Pass and from some places near Panong Lake the Indian forces were bulldozed as the Indian troop had no proper ammunition at that time and were not trained to fight at such high altitude. In eastern region problem germinated in Assam, where on the first day the Indian army fell completely to the mordant Chinese assail, on western side of north east region Tsang Dar fell on Oct 22, Bum La on Oct 23, and the Headquarter of the Seventh Infantry Brigade on Oct 24th . The official figure that New Delhi gives today is that China is illegally occupying 38000 square kilometers of Indian territory in Kashmir and claims that 90000 square kilometers of land in India-ruled Arunachal Pradesh belongs to China. After this capture the Chinese govt gave a negotiation offer which was discarded by the Indian Govt. Failing in this attempt the Chinese people’s republic made many efforts to achieve a settlement on the dispute.
The Chinese govt. made innumerable approaches to settle the dispute on some satisfactory ground but the Nehru Government turned it down, though the diplomatic notes that were sent to the Indian government were implied in a conciliatory language and were regarded as a catalyst to safeguard the territorial integrity of India and China. In this juncture it can also be mentioned that in neither of the proposal that the Chinese Govt. gave to made to India did contain any pre condition for the negotiations. The Chinese govt. also did not opt to the type of language that could be interpretative to be a threat to India. It was also reported by the World Press that Nehru was in favour of “fight a limited offensive operation.” But what lies under the crust is that the imperialist world particularly the U.S. would be relieved to see that the two leading powers of Asia are engaged in blood-shed, loosing life and resources and hence becoming economically dependent on U.S. monopoly. In 1988 Rajiv Gandhi tried to open a new chapter of India China boundary settlement. The 1993 and 1996 peace building measures were results of this phase. However confidence did not grow because China refused to move an inch from its occupied territories with Beijing showing a little interest. However with the problems simmering the Prime ministers of both the countries have decided to start ‘a strategic partnership for peace and prosperity’. This agreement for border dispute is expected to enhance the economic cooperation and settle the dispute over 3500 kilometers of common Indo-China border. In the meeting between the prime ministers of the two countries, Beijing has expressed its wish to develop a free trade zone and the PMs of both the countries have agreed to appoint a panel of experts to study the viability of the free trade zone.
The Simla convention was rejected by China as it regarded the Tibetan government incapable of concluding treaties being non-sovereign in nature. Also china pointed out that Lhasa’s declaration of independence in 1913 was not recognized by any Chinese Government. As a result Mcmahon line was not accepted by China. The Imperial Government of China did never agreed to it neither did the Chiang Kai –Shek Government. The first Chinese attack on India was on 20th October 1962, China unable to reach political accommodation along 3225-kilometer long Himalayan border. In the fight the Indian forces were swept away by the Chinese forces. In Karakoram Pass and from some places near Panong Lake the Indian forces were bulldozed as the Indian troop had no proper ammunition at that time and were not trained to fight at such high altitude. In eastern region problem germinated in Assam, where on the first day the Indian army fell completely to the mordant Chinese assail, on western side of north east region Tsang Dar fell on Oct 22, Bum La on Oct 23, and the Headquarter of the Seventh Infantry Brigade on Oct 24th . The official figure that New Delhi gives today is that China is illegally occupying 38000 square kilometers of Indian territory in Kashmir and claims that 90000 square kilometers of land in India-ruled Arunachal Pradesh belongs to China. After this capture the Chinese govt gave a negotiation offer which was discarded by the Indian Govt. Failing in this attempt the Chinese people’s republic made many efforts to achieve a settlement on the dispute.
The Chinese govt. made innumerable approaches to settle the dispute on some satisfactory ground but the Nehru Government turned it down, though the diplomatic notes that were sent to the Indian government were implied in a conciliatory language and were regarded as a catalyst to safeguard the territorial integrity of India and China. In this juncture it can also be mentioned that in neither of the proposal that the Chinese Govt. gave to made to India did contain any pre condition for the negotiations. The Chinese govt. also did not opt to the type of language that could be interpretative to be a threat to India. It was also reported by the World Press that Nehru was in favour of “fight a limited offensive operation.” But what lies under the crust is that the imperialist world particularly the U.S. would be relieved to see that the two leading powers of Asia are engaged in blood-shed, loosing life and resources and hence becoming economically dependent on U.S. monopoly. In 1988 Rajiv Gandhi tried to open a new chapter of India China boundary settlement. The 1993 and 1996 peace building measures were results of this phase. However confidence did not grow because China refused to move an inch from its occupied territories with Beijing showing a little interest. However with the problems simmering the Prime ministers of both the countries have decided to start ‘a strategic partnership for peace and prosperity’. This agreement for border dispute is expected to enhance the economic cooperation and settle the dispute over 3500 kilometers of common Indo-China border. In the meeting between the prime ministers of the two countries, Beijing has expressed its wish to develop a free trade zone and the PMs of both the countries have agreed to appoint a panel of experts to study the viability of the free trade zone.
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