Whale slaughter- the mankind slayer

There is always more than one story, and if we review the matter over time, we realize we are actually witnessing human history—the spread and growth of civilizations as the utilization of natural resources was discovered; emergence of knowledge systems and ideas of morality; evolving human ethics; changing paradigms of economic development; and finally the shifting of power structures in international affairs and politics. There are various human players here: international treaties and national interests; nations and communities; scientists and politicians; hunters and conservationists; sustenance and industrialization. They are all playing eventually for gaining control over finite natural resources. In this case, this resource is the humble whale.

Whaling is the hunting of whales for their usable products such as meat and blubber, which can be turned into a type of oil which became increasingly important in the Industrial Revolution. It was practiced as an organized industry as early as 875 AD. In 1986, the International Whaling Commission (IWC) banned commercial whaling because of the extreme depletion of most of the whale stocks.

Contemporary whaling is subject to intense debate. Countries that support commercial whaling, notably Iceland, Japan, and Norway, wish to lift the ban on certain whale stocks for hunting.

India’s name is sadly missing from the list of countries — members of the European Union and 12 others — that have condemned Japan’s whaling expedition in the Antarctic waters launched recently. The plan is to kill 333 Minke whales in four months. Ever since the International Whaling Commission’s (IWC) imposition of a moratorium on hunting in 1985, Japan has been exploiting a loophole that allows the killing of whales for scientific research. Even the International Court of Justice’s (ICJ) order of 2014, enjoining it to halt its regular hunt in the Antarctic waters because its project did not meet conventional research norms, has not deterred it. Though it cancelled its 2014-15 hunt, it renewed it the following year in the garb of a new programme.

Recently, On 29 May, 145 pilot whales and seven white-sided whales were killed in Torshavn bay and images of the slaughter triggered outrage on social media. But, according to a Metro UK report, this was not a one-off incident as every summer around 800 pilot whales are massacred in bays across the remote islands “as inhabitants prepare for the harsh winter months ahead.

It comes after horrific images emerged showing a pod of whales and dolphins being rounded up and butchered by villagers.

Ironically, while the massacre may be a dramatic sight for outsiders, whale meat and blubber are valued part of the national diet in the Faroe Islands. In fact, inhuman whaling is a natural part of Faroese life. Each whale provides the communities with several hundred kilos of meat and blubber – meat that otherwise had to be imported from abroad. It has long since been internationally recognized that pilot whale catches in the Faroe Islands are fully sustainable. When whales are sighted close to land, boats enclose behind and begin to herd them to the most suitable bay to be beached and killed. When the animals are close enough, a hook is inserted into the blowhole to haul them further up onto the shore. A fisherman will then use a spinal lance to stab the neck and sever its spinal cord, cutting off the blood supply to the whale’s brain. This method ensures that the whales lose consciousness and die within a few seconds.

However, more than 276,200 people have signed Blue Planet Society’s online petition calling for a ban on hunting dolphins and whales in Japan and the Faroe Islands, as most hunts are unregulated, illegal and unsustainable and kill off 100,000 dolphins and small whales every year. Explosives, knives, machetes and harpoons are reportedly being used to inflict untold suffering in illegal hunts – often for the intelligent sea creatures to end up as nothing more than fish bait.

The concern, however, is not only limited to the small whales and dolphins themselves but also to an emerging human health issue as a result of the consumption of whale and dolphin meat. Evidence points to the accumulation of environmental pollutants (mercury, PCB’s, organochlorines etc.) in the muscle, blubber and organs of small whales and dolphins and not only can this impact upon their ability to reproduce but can carry risks for people who consume them. PCBs can cause nerve damage, reproductive and developmental disorders, immune system suppression, liver damage, skin irritation, and endocrine disruption. DDT exposure is associated with certain cancer risks and neurological and reproductive disorders. Dioxins can cause cancer, metabolic dysfunction, and immune system disorders. Methyl mercury consumption can cause neurological and developmental problems. The contaminants are often highly concentrated in blubber because they are lipophilic, meaning they bond easily and even preferentially to fat Health warnings surrounding the consumption of whale and dolphin meat have been expressed by scientists in both Japan and the Faroe Islands where the majority of studies have been undertaken however there are multitude of areas around the world where next to nothing is known about contaminant levels of small whales. One study of Faroe Islanders detected developmental disorders in children whose mothers consumed pilot whale meat and blubber regularly during pregnancy. In addition, some Inuit communities in the Canadian and Alaskan Arctic—where mothers regularly consume beluga whale meat and blubber (as well as meat from bow head whales, seals, and polar bears)—have detected health problems in children who were exposed to contaminants in utero and through breast milk.

It’s time humans at least think about themselves if they can’t pity these innocent mammals. Whales no longer live in a pristine environment; we have polluted their habitat with poisons that concentrate in their tissues. Regardless of the amount, the consumption of whale meat can expose humans to dangerous contaminants.

Disclaimer

Any views or opinions represented in this blog are personal and belong solely to the blog owner and do not represent those of people, institutions or organizations that the owner may or may not be associated with in professional or personal capacity, unless explicitly stated. The views or opinions are not intended to malign any religion, ethnic group, club, organization, company, or individual. All content provided on this blog is for informational purposes only. The owner will not be liable for any errors or omissions in this information nor for the availability of this information. The owner will not be liable for any losses, injuries, or damages from the display or use of this information. The blog owner is not responsible for the content in comments. This blog disclaimer is subject to change at anytime.

Doctor protest and revisit to India’s healthcare crisis

In India, generally, the people and the doctors are not aware of their rights and liabilities. This lack of awareness leads to the grief and anger of patients being targeted at the first person who can be held responsible for any injustices they face. The issue gets made into a battle between two factions, while in reality both sides are victims. The World Bank stated that up to 38% of health workers suffer from some form of violence during their career, while a recent study by the Indian Medical Association stated that nearly 80% of doctors face violence at their workplace. Amidst these circumstances it is important that the purpose behind these acts are brought to light. There is no doubt that an assault on a doctor or, for that matter, any individual is something unacceptable in any civilized society, but at the same time it is important to ensure that the accused had a guilty intent as well as performing an illegal act . Due to a lack of education, people have the assumption that any and every doctor has complete control over the biology of the patient, and therefore attack them out of grief and anger when something goes wrong. Doctors are blamed for a variety of things, ranging from an incorrect diagnosis to faulty equipment. It is hard for them to come to terms with the fact that, even when problems occur, the doctor carried out their work with the utmost sincerity. However, it certainly doesn’t alone revolves around education but intolerance more specifically. It is actually more difficult to argue that the aggressors had a guilty intent, but rather the lack of tolerance, which is a state responsibility, is the reason for the attacks. Under such circumstances, it should be the state’s responsibility to provide a proper remedy to all the aggrieved parties, both doctors and patients, and not to criminalize anyone unless, and until, a guilty intent can be proved beyond reasonable doubt.

Coming to the case of West Bengal, Kolkata’s NRS Medical College has been the epicenter of the recent stand-off as well as its origin, where the murderous assault on two young interns — Paribaha Mukhopadhyay and Yash Tekwani — on 10th June 2019 has set in motion the sequence of events leading to the paralyzed state of Bengal’s public-sector healthcare system. A 85 year old man died because his body couldn’t bear the treatment due to physical weakness at old age. Some people accompanying Mohammad Sayeed assaulted two female and a male interns in the medicine ward of NRS Medical College and Hospital. “He had suffered acute cardiac arrest and in the evening the patient developed arrhythmia or irregular heart beats. Several injections were administered but he died,” a junior doctor said. “Soon after the relatives were told about the death, they started abusing our colleagues and alleged negligence in treatment. Three of them entered the ward and pushed the female interns.” The interns alerted the police outpost at the hospital and Entally police station but the cops did not act. “Around 10.45 pm, nearly 200 men came. They assaulted four students,” a doctor said. The four raised the alarm and were joined by their friends. “They hurled stones and coconut shells at us. Many of our colleagues were injured,” the doctor said. The cops posted at the hospital tried to pacify the situation and escort some relatives into the hospital compound where they could meet the doctors and apologize to them. “It was decided that the meeting would take place in an open space inside the hospital. But when the police and the relatives were about to reach the spot, a section of doctors rushed out of the building and chased away the police and the relatives,” an officer said. During the melee, someone threw a stone that hit one of the doctors on his head, an officer said. Another officer said the “missile” that hit the doctor could be a coconut. “A lot of coconuts are available on the other side of the road,” the officer said. The police said the lock they had put on the main gate to avert a confrontation between the relatives and doctors was broken by those who had gathered to collect Mohammad Sayeed’s body. After that when West Bengal chief minister was requested to provide protection and a safe workplace, she said “The BJP, with help from the CPI(M), is indulging in Hindu-Muslim politics. I am shocked to see their love affair,”. Ms Banerjee, while visiting the SSKM Hospital yesterday, had claimed “outsiders” entered medical colleges to create disturbance and called the strike by the junior doctors a conspiracy by the BJP and the CPM. Three hundred and counting; the mass resignation of doctors in West Bengal has thrown the state healthcare system into a tailspin. With more doctors threatening to resign unless security is beefed up for them — despite Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s warning of action if they fail to get back to work — it seems the situation is headed for a point of no return. From AIIMS to Gandhi Medical College in Secunderabad to KEM in Mumbai, doctors across the country have joined the protests. The issue now seems to have blown up beyond a simple matter of security and safety, into one of lack of faith in the administrative process and in the West Bengal government’s unwillingness to address their fears. Doctors in Delhi made the general public to view it as a spontaneous, non-political movement against the forces that threaten to destroy the doctor-patient trust, which affects the general fabric of the society A man said ailing wife, due for operation on Thursday, yet to receive treatment A man, whose wife has been admitted to IPGMER SSKM Hospital in Kolkata, said that his wife who has stones in her digestive tract was due for operation on Thursday. However, due to the agitation, she is yet to be operated upon. This is the only hospital in the state which can treat her, he claimed. He appealed to the chief minister to resolve the doctors’ issues. A 3-day-old baby dies due to lack of medical attention A 3-day-old baby boy died in Sagar Dutt Medical College due to lack of medical attention and unavailability of ventilation system. The father of the infant, Abhijit Mullick broke into tears while leaving the hospital premises with the dead body of the baby. “He needed medical assistance. I have taken him to so many hospitals. No one helped. What was his fault? This strike has taken away life of my child,” he said.

Mamata Banerji’s rancor must now break. The needless politicization of a highly sensitive case like this not only broke the communal harmony cardeur of Bengal but added fuel to the fire of #Doctor’s Protest and made innocent patients suffer as a result. Even though amidst the protest, Mamata Banerjee recently issued a statement that she would accept all the demands, but Mamata Banerji’s silence till now rather arrogance to this delicate issue pellucids heights of incompetence. The chief minister threatening to doctor shows the level of fascism Bengal is injected too. It’s time she breaks her Central aspirations and focus to save her state perhaps party.

However, what is perhaps more ominous for the West Bengal government is the willingness of the doctors to continue their agitation despite Mamata’s threat on Thursday of invoking ESMA (Essential Services Maintenance Act). Besides, outburst of accumulating grievances and anger precipitated due to long-time negligence of safety and security that the doctors have been demanding. Some say it’s a pre scripted drama. However, I feel it’s not a fairly tale to make it a pre scripted mass protest all over India and make tons of doctors resign.
How is it always a conspiracy when TMC has the ball in court? Allegations without evidences are worthless. Also even if it is a pre scripted drama, violence is no solution. It is not a catalyst. What is much more important is for Mamta Banerjee who makes her abodes in vitreous edifices would be advised to refrain from catapulting perilous projectiles, perhaps, to be mute and work even if it is a pre scripted drama. Moreover, this people’s revolution (which was must needed one) also revolves around the current health crisis all over India today. It is not only, brutal devastation of doctors based on false allegations but is like adding chili to the already spicy food. Although It is fruitless to become lachrymose of precipitately departed lactile fluid.

Let’s go through some reasons why and get a brief idea about healthcare in India.

1) Over 92% people don’t trust healthcare system in India:

As per the survey by fitness device GOQii, 74 per cent people said that they do not trust hospitals, followed by pharma and insurance firms (62.8 per cent), medical clinics (52.6 per cent), 50.6 per cent doctors and diagnostic labs (46.1 per cent). The key reason for the erosion of trust is largely due to a series of failure in the healthcare system, particularly the negligence by hospitals in the recent past. In addition, lack of transparency also came out as the single biggest impediment to the healthcare system in India.

2) Presence of epidemic of violence against doctors as a global threat magnitude.

Between 8% to 38% workers face physical violence in some point of their careers. Most violence is perpetrated by relatives and patients. Kicks, scratches, bites and spitting is the most common form of violence. While 40,000 doctors across private and public hospitals in Mumbai “bunked“ work last week to protest manhandling by patient relatives, there is recognition of global intimidation.

3) Too many patients, not enough doctors

In India, there is one government allopathic doctor for every 10,189 people, one government hospital bed for every 2,046 people and one state-run hospital for every 90,343 people. You don’t need an epidemic, however predictable, for the public health system to collapse. It is a matter of routine that patients share beds and doctors are overworked.

4) Insufficient Allocation of GDP

The Narendra Modi Government intends to invest only 2.5% of the country’s GDP into nation’s health care by 2025, while the global average is about 6%. What is even worse is that high debt forces almost one in every four households in the country borrow money or sell assets to pay Medical payment bills. According to National Health Profile 2018, India is one of those nation’s with the least public health spending. Tragically, the Indian government plans to live up to his health assurance spending of just 3 rupees per day that counts for 1.02% of the GDP.

5) WHO report sounds alarm on ‘doctors’ in India

More than half of them don’t have any medical qualification, and in rural areas, just 18.8 per cent of allopathic doctors are qualified. Almost one-third (31 per cent) of those who claimed to be allopathic doctors in 2001 were educated only up to the secondary school level and 57 per cent did not have any medical qualification, a recent WHO report found, ringing the alarm bells on India’s healthcare workforce. The study revealed that the density of all doctors — allopathic, Ayurveda, homeopathic and unani — at the national level was 80 doctors per lakh population compared to 130 in China. Ignoring those who don’t have a medical qualification, the number for India fell to 36 doctors per lakh population.

6) Physical Attacks On Doctors Commonplace In India

A patient in the casualty/emergency room or Intensive Care Unit (ICU), in a critical state succumbs to their illness. The doctor delivering the bad news is assaulted by the patient’s family members. This was India, fifteen years ago. One would hope that things have improved over the last decade or more: but what if I told you that the situation has gone from bad to worse. An ongoing study of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) revealed that over 75% of doctors have faced violence at the work place. In September 2013, a lady doctor on call at the Lok Nayak Hospital in Delhi was physically assaulted and apparently threatened with rape by a patient’s kin. Her crime: two patients had come in at the same time and she had attended to the sicker patient first, which allegedly upset the other patient’s relatives. In 2016, a doctor was assaulted in Allahabad and the infrastructure in the ICU damaged by relatives of an eighty-year-old patient who apparently came in with multi organ failure and died in the hospital. The tragedy is that the brunt of this senseless violence is often borne by junior doctors who are on call at night, when these attacks are more prone to happen. This is very disheartening and can demoralize the future doctors of our country. However, there has been repeated violence.

7) The cost of medical education

On average as of 2018, private medical colleges have set records of sorts by fixing the fees for a five-year MBBS course at a whopping Rs 1.2 crore. While it is generally known that private medical education in India is expensive, with fees ranging from Rs 30-35 lakh to over Rs 50 lakh, the colleges surpassed this average by more than two times. As news of this exorbitant fee structure spread, many took to social media to express their outrage. But the colleges is unlikely to be fazed by these voices of anger and concern. While there are several reasons why private medical education is so expensive, one of the main reasons is the lack of government medical colleges. Every year, a mere 15,000 seats are available in various government institutes as against more than five lakh aspirant doctors. Many students are forced to look for cheaper destinations abroad. They flock to these nations though they know they have to go through a tough screening test with a very low qualification percentage, before earning the right to practice in India.

8) More Indians die of treatable diseases than lack of access to healthcare

Some 2.4 million Indians die of treatable conditions every year, the worst situation among 136 nations studied for a report published in The Lancet. Poor care quality leads to more deaths than insufficient access to healthcare–1.6 million Indians died due to poor quality of care in 2016, nearly twice as many as due to non-utilization of healthcare services (838,000 persons). The impact of poor quality care goes well beyond mortality, but can lead to unnecessary suffering, persistent symptoms, loss of function, and a lack of trust in the health system. More than one million of 8.6 million preventable deaths were from neonatal conditions and tuberculosis in people who accessed the health system but received poor quality of care in 2016. An estimated 81% of cardiovascular deaths, 81% of vaccine-preventable diseases, 61% of neonatal conditions and half of maternal, road injury, tuberculosis, HIV and other infectious deaths were due to poor quality of care, the report says.

9) Cost of poor healthcare

Almost 122 Indians per 100,000 die due to poor quality of care each year, the study said, showing up India’s death rate due to poor care quality as worse than that of Brazil (74), Russia (91), China (46) and South Africa (93) and even its neighbors Pakistan (119), Nepal (93), Bangladesh (57) and Sri Lanka (51). These deaths led to economic welfare losses of $6 trillion (Rs 429 lakh crore) in 2015, the commission estimated.

10) Only 920 MBBS seats added in govt medical colleges in 5 years against 10,000 approved.

Out of the 10,000 approved seats in government medical colleges, only 920 seats were added in five years, revealed an RTI filed by an activist who wanted to know if the government schemes that were announced were actually implemented. The RTI also revealed that the government has given the approval to 36 medical colleges for adding 2,615 MBBS seats in Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Jharkhand, MP, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand, West Bengal, Manipur and Karnataka. RTI showed that Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan got only 50 new MBBS eats instead of the approved 150 and 350 seats respectively. In Karnataka, 550 MBBS seats were approved but only 350 have been created. Madhya Pradesh was supposed to get 450 seats in its four government medical colleges, but even after a sanction of Rs 108 crores in three years, not a single seat has been added, revealed the RTI. The Centre released over Rs 82 crore for Tamil Nadu to add 345 seats, but none have been added. Punjab (100 seats), Odisha (200 seats), and Gujarat (170 seats) have upgraded their medical colleges and increased the number of MBBS seats.

11) India’s rural public health facilities need urgent fixing

At the bottom of the pyramid are sub-centers, catering to a population of 3,000-5,000 each, roughly five villages. Primary health centers (PHCs) are the first base for doctors, acting as referral units typically for six sub-centers. PHCs function as the core, and flow into community health centers (CHCs), followed by sub-district and district hospitals. At the apex are medical colleges and advanced research institutes such as the All India Institute of Medical Sciences. Impressive though it looks, the system is broken for large segments of India’s population. National surveys indicate that less than half the households approach government medical institutions. Poor healthcare quality, absence of facilities nearby and long waiting times are common. Only 11% sub-centers, 13% PHCs and 16% CHCs meet the Indian Public Health Standards.Undeniably, facilities require urgent attention. There are two elements. One is fundamental—strengthen infrastructure, improve physical access and ensure adequate human resources. This itself need not take time. It’s a question of spending. What is worrying is that we don’t see adequate government health spending, and nor has that changed in recent times. Infact, Rural India accounted for 25 million of the 36 million households, which faced catastrophic health shocks, while urban India accounted for the remaining 11 million. While the poorest are the most exposed financially to health shocks, even among those who are better-off, a significant proportion face health-related financial shock.

12) Lack of Infrastructure:

Currently the availability of doctors and nurses in India is low due to the limited number of medical professionals in the country. According to the Medical Council of India (MCI), the Doctor–Patient ratio in India is 1:1,674 against the WHO norm of 1:1,000. Hospital Bed-Patient ratio is 1:1000 against 3.5:1000 recommended by WHO. There is a complete neglect of rural population. According to KPMG report, 32% hospitals and 16% beds are available in the rural areas where nearly 75% of the population resides.

13) Underdeveloped Medical Devices Sector:

The medical devices sector is the smallest piece of India’s healthcare pie. However, it is one of the fastest-growing sectors in the country like the health insurance marketplace. Till date, the industry has faced a number of regulatory challenges which has prevented its growth and development.

Besides the over politicization of a already polarised issue , here were some grass root causes unaddressed. Darr ke agey jeet hai (beyond fear, lies victory) is the popular tagline of a soft drink brand. It’s also a truism. Overcoming our fears leads to success, and it is as true in the personal sphere as it is in the political. Authoritarian regimes, for instance, operate on fear. They create a climate of dread to suppress voices of dissent, trigger self-censorship, draw obedience and demand allegiance. But dictatorial governments — such as the one that rules West Bengal right now — have an interesting relationship with fear. However, It is fruitless to attempt to indoctrinate a superannuated canine with innovative maneuvers.

Disclaimer

Any views or opinions represented in this blog are personal and belong solely to the blog owner and do not represent those of people, institutions or organizations that the owner may or may not be associated with in professional or personal capacity, unless explicitly stated. The views or opinions are not intended to malign any religion, ethnic group, club, organization, company, or individual. All content provided on this blog is for informational purposes only. The owner will not be liable for any errors or omissions in this information nor for the availability of this information. The owner will not be liable for any losses, injuries, or damages from the display or use of this information. The blog owner is not responsible for the content in comments. This blog disclaimer is subject to change at anytime.

Feminism the new nationalism?

At first i would like to clear that i am not a feminist but not a misogynist too. This article is not for or against feminism, but an introspection of various angles of viewing it and its impact in government and society in form of nationalism which has been used as a metaphor of that gravity.

So what is feminism?

Feminist theory is the extension of feminism into theoretical or philosophical fields. It encompasses work in a variety of disciplines, including anthropology, sociology, economics, women’s studies, literary criticism,art history,psychoanalysis and philosophy.

The feminist movement has effected change in Western society, including women’s suffrage; greater access to education; more nearly equitable[weasel words]pay with men; the right to initiate divorce proceedings; the right of women to make individual decisions regarding pregnancy (including access to contraceptives and abortion); and the right to own property.

Feminist theology is a movement that reconsiders the traditions, practices, scriptures, and theologies of religions from a feminist perspective. Some of the goals of feminist theology include increasing the role of women among the clergy and religious authorities, reinterpreting male-dominated imagery and language about God, determining women’s place in relation to career and motherhood, and studying images of women in the religion’s sacred texts.

Male participation in feminism is generally encouraged by feminists and is seen as an important strategy for achieving full societal commitment to gender equality. Many male feminists and pro-feminists are active in both women’s rights activism, feminist theory, and masculinity studies. However, some argue that while male engagement with feminism is necessary, it is problematic because of the ingrained social influences of patriarchy in gender relations. The consensus today in feminist and masculinity theories is that men and women should cooperate to achieve the larger goals of feminism. It has been proposed that, in large part, this can be achieved through considerations of women’s agency. Some feminists are engaged with men’s issues activism, such as bringing attention to male rape and spousal battery and addressing negative social expectations for men.

In the late twentieth century various feminists began to argue that gender roles are socially constructed and that it is impossible to generalize women’s experiences across cultures and histories. Post-structural feminism draws on the philosophies of post-structuralism and deconstructionin order to argue that the concept of gender is created socially and culturally through discourse. Postmodern feminists also emphasize the social construction of gender and the discursive nature of reality.

Theory and ideology of this late 19th century intellection is very much needed in a country like India where where a womb’s chastity is put to question mark by members of the so called innocent society, such as Sati and Draupadi but have been made entertainment elements of silent patriachics by flagitious acts of agnipariksha as purity attorney and chauser postulates as masculinity recreation. The India which worships mother Durga dressed in bright sarees and gorgeous ornaments but chooses to be blind and not recognize the necessity to understand the actual symbolism of a women showpiece has made the ladies of our home rehabilitation centers for men because here a women’s body is not a temple. Neither sacred nor holy. It’s a graveyard of years of societal convections tombstones inscribed with centuries of shame as history is repeating in terms of a women dishonouring. It’s a false persuasion that modern feminism is not fighting for an egalitarian society, rather it is fighting for an anacrchist fractured society and feminists are an obstacle to equality and support for an egalitarian society as majority of women are not feminists. Feminism developed by presence of masculinity. Wonder why a women says all men are same? If feminism is unacceptable then society must change. Btw, majority view in a democratic nation is not always right or suitable- that’s what the burden of democracy is. You might argue that gender Equality is essential, equality implies equal respect regardless of gender not inspite of gender. Social equality as an ideal has been slow to impress itself upon modern Indian politics. Sometimes like a banal truism of irrelevant persuasions. Equalism is necessary but also a necessary evil like reservation.


Feminist theory has explored the social construction of masculinity and its implications for the goal of gender equality. The social construct of masculinity is seen by feminism as problematic because it associates males with aggression and competition, and reinforces patriarchal and unequal gender relations. Patriarchal cultures are criticized for “limiting forms of masculinity” available to men and thus narrowing their life choices. However, the direction feminism is currently heading to is conceptually wrong. However, might argue that it’s perceptions have evolved as the situation of 21st century is different than 19th century but what we call feminism in India today is actually not feminism it’s actually complete decimation of man’s authority towards gender by the perception that it’s a normal attitude of man to be sexist and a women to be first even in despicable situations. The direction the 21st century is currently heading to is not of reconstruction of ideology but an infliction like modern nationalism in it’s outlook. Moreover, due to hyper masculinity the remainder of it’s is getting ravaged which is due to the fact that indifferences are not being respected but again intolerance is not synonym of weakness. Different thoughts and complicated ideologies like feminism which has both loopholes and pro’s. Those who have any faith in feminism cannot but fervently hope that the tyranny of the nation will not be restored to all it’s former teeth and claws, to it’s far reaching iron arms and it’s immense inner cavity, all stomach and no heart. That aspect of feminism has to have a new birth in the freedom of his individuality, from the enveloping vagueness of abstraction. The viel has been raised and this frightful war of different contradictions of feminism has stood face to face with it’s own creation. It’s time she must know what it truly is.

What I see in India today is artificial feminism consisting of painted illusions just like nationalism which is the asservation of one’s foolish persuasions without any credence of one’s panaroma towards their motherland performing the role of disintegrity in democracy ; feminism also seems to be heading to that direction in 2019. It’s moral nature is getting slowing decayed and decomposed resulting in frequent breaks in doctrines of scepticism. However, in still more dangerous subtle manner it’s showing itself in her unconsciousness of the mutilation and disgrace it has currently. Women must exert all their powers of love and clarity of vision to make a great moral adjustment which shall merely comprehend the womenhood and not merely the fractional groups of general indifferences but a women is another women’s greatest enemy.

Today in India unfortunately feminism has become equivalent to nationalism like the naked passion of self love for the nation in it’s drunken delirium of greed is dancing to the clash of steel and the howling verses of vengeance. I don’t require to give a loyalty certificate towards my orientation or gender but I as a women cannot and will never accept this kind of feminism as it also decimates what a true women stands for. Women too have the liability of holding a mark of respect for manhood , womenhood and the human race in general.

Now in the polity part here’s what it’s role is;
•Ever since 1947 we have seen when the election season starts, leaders start giving long comprehensive speeches by using fancy words such as empowerment, leadership, equality and etc; while in other hand there parliament sessions of women reservation bill are conceptually wrong as the argue the importance of women in politics reservation in parliament irrespective of gender, as it plays the role of nationalism gimmick in form of unnecessary feminism. Intentions are pellucid.

•Recently Ranjan Gogoi has been accused of sexual harrassment of a junior court member. Tweets of Chief Justice Of India with #MeToo is decimating the movement itself. In India you seem to be a staunch nationalist when you put false charges on Ranjan Gogoi as proxy for national security of Rafale. Indeed Rafale is mr.modi’s bofors,but it seems to be more than that. That moment when a nation fails to stop harassments of civilians but is ready to play politics with the nature of its substance by proxy to hide Rafale and Electoral verdict.Next some politicians will become artificial feminists in 9pm debates. As far as high profile harrasment cases are concerned the irony is that a women is innocent until proven guilty but a man is guilty until proven innocent. Btw, nature of a specific case must not be mistaken as a general misogynist perception. I welcome feminism but not facitious feminism used for attention by the pseudo intellectuals busy tweeting about how badly the women must have been harassed by Chief Justice Of India or how serious this matter is when we all know victim card is a part of politics in India. Wonder what next republic tv’s new hashtag will be for #RanjanGogoi. Who will they blame Nehru or Gandhi? While in other news, pseudo tv panelists will represent the virtue of lipstick feminism in form of journalism. Time to realize difference between feminism and neofeminism.

•Even Priyanka Chaturvedi’s resignation was a feminism drama.
12:30-resignation letter to Rahul Gandhi
12:44-Decision of joining Shivsena
Priyanka Chaturvedi who leaves ‘at the cost of her dignity’ turns out to be decimating her ‘preserved’ dignity now.
P.S: A gimmick of ‘women’ attrocity particularly like how feminism is nationalism of politics.

The ugly truth is we have all, at some point, been complicit in the oppression of another person. We have all innocently, accidentally oppressed. If we are not advocating for the women whose realities do not look or feel like our own, then we are unequivocally a part of the problem. Systems of oppression kill opportunity, spirit and resilience. When we, as a society, allow repressive systems to exist unchallenged we are each partially responsible for killing those affected. It is up to us, how we bring each other back to life. Modern Indian feminism has tended to represent the interests and concerns of upper-caste women rather than reflect the experiences of Indian women masses. By recognising this fact, Indian feminism can more effectively challenge historically entrenched and varied systems of oppression. Intentional or not, complicity in the face of oppressive systems is choosing the side of the oppressor. That is wholly un-feminist. A feminist’s fight isn’t just against the patriarchy; it’s against all systems of oppression and even my own privilege. Let us think critically about the systems we rely on as a society, and realise the full spectrum of womanhood in its various hues. We must understand that understand that different kinds of oppression are interlinked, and that one can’t liberate only one group without the others. It means acknowledging kyriarchy and intersectionality—the fact that along different axes, we’re all both oppressed and oppressors, privileged and disprivileged.

The key to our liberation is ensuring everyone has an equal chance at success and happiness. It’s consciously choosing to be open-minded and inclusive. It’s about starting conversations that make us uncomfortable. It’s about minimising our role as oppressors, about recusing apathy, as that inevitably hurts us too.

Feminism is not about annihilating ideas that are different than yours on womanhood but embracing prideness of your gender individually. But in modern feminism in India this conceptually wrong noesis is breeding blindness like an artificial stimulant with its first effect being heightening of conciousness and then with increasing dose it gets muddles and brings a jubliant persuasion that is misleading. However, the dosage unlike nationalism is relatively less but the way we are going its leading to a paradise of assumed reverberant impressions about empowerment but thats not what empowerment is.

Just like nationalism feminism is not holding the banner of civilization of the future how its a false thought that a country is greater than ideals of humanity. Its time we must also realize that there is a line between supporting and believing in Nari Shakti and endorsing it in form of feminism. Just like nationalism feminism seems to be a last resort as you don’t require to sound feminine to prove the ethoes of womenhood and demand the respect which you absolutely deserve. Its the men and the women who must collectively change their view about the female gender.

Now, you might say since India is the most dangerous nation for women and I am a women how can I not support modern feminism. There is validity in the both the arguments but a womenhood as a whole cannot be made a postulate of victim card if we really want to change the society. We are women neither a burden nor your cigratte and being respected is a primary human right a women deserves because it’s actually the privilege of a man to protect a women’s dignity. Privileges shouldn’t have a exclusive tagline it should come by understanding the the bane of a womb because women are being saved only by the sane of a few , it’s not a all men thing I know but the men a women can trust are only a few, that’s where the origin lies. The principles of equality and non-discrimination form the basis of all human rights instruments. Women are not a homogenous group of rights holders and discrimination against them can be expressed in many different forms and contexts.

I believe there is a man and woman in every human and we must endorse the ideals of mankind if we are deciding not to make feminism like what nationalism now and reconstruct the social fabric of initial feminism for the way ahead of a bright future otherwise the choice is yours. Someday, in a greater way it may exploit the society and politics how nationalism is being used as a proxy now although its much more wider effect will be on society due to different concentration of census and situation in politics.

Disclaimer

Any views or opinions represented in this blog are personal and belong solely to the blog owner and do not represent those of people, institutions or organizations that the owner may or may not be associated with in professional or personal capacity, unless explicitly stated. The views or opinions are not intended to malign any religion, ethnic group, club, organization, company, or individual. All content provided on this blog is for informational purposes only. The owner will not be liable for any errors or omissions in this information nor for the availability of this information. The owner will not be liable for any losses, injuries, or damages from the display or use of this information. The blog owner is not responsible for the content in comments. This blog disclaimer is subject to change at anytime.

The Caged Voice- Nirbhaya and more left forgotten…

For centuries woman have come in different forms in a world consisting of artificial feminism where a womb’s chastity is put to question mark by members of the so called innocent society, such as Sati and Draupadi but have been made entertainment elements of silent patriachics by flagitious acts of agnipariksha as purity attorney and chauser postulates as masculinity recreation.
The India which worships mother Durga dressed in bright sarees and gorgeous ornaments but chooses to be blind and not recognize the necessity to understand the actual symbolism of a women showpiece has made the ladies of our home rehabilitation centers for men because here a women’s body is not a temple. Neither sacred nor holy. It’s a graveyard of years of societal convections tombstones inscribed with centuries of shame as history is repeating in terms of a women dishonouring.

Ever since 1947 we have seen when the election season starts, leaders start giving long comprehensive speeches by using fancy words such as empowerment, leadership, equality and etc; while in other hand there parliament sessions of women reservation bill are conceptually wrong as the argue the importance of women in politics reservation in parliament irrespective of gender, as it plays the role of nationalism gimmick in form of unnecessary feminism. Intentions are pellucid.

When we talk about heinous crimes like rape or assault the first thing which comes to our mind is to hang them. But, hanging is neither the solution nor a trademark for justice in India because India despite being the largest democracy in the world with the privilege of having a parliamentary form it’s history of actual executions divorces India’s strength. 4 executions have happened till now out of which Dhananjoy Chatterjee (2004) was hanged for the murder and rape of a 14-year old girl in Kolkata. It’s saddening that only 1 rapist has being hanged in India till now and then so called Beti Bachao and women empowerment slogans are chanted. However, despite that even after the hanging of a child rapist cum murderer in 2004 about 17,728 rapes were reported in 2004 itself. Whereas, most of the cases of rape are unreported. The first execution in Independent India was on 1995 and first and only rapist was hanged on 2004. Why no criminal was hanged between the period of 1947-1995 and why was no rapist hanged between 1947-2004? Nobody has any answers to this question. No difference death penalty created because the history of India’s interaction with death penalty governance has lost the common man’s faith perhaps has embarrassed the ideology of 1.3 billions. Infact, the procedure itself is quite lengthy that deters most of victims from fighting the battle and thus the accused are set free ultimately in most of the cases. The procedure is traumatic for the victim who has to face a society that considers rape as a social stigma only for the victim and not the accused, due to which most victims choose to keep mum about what they go through rather than to report it.

Kathua, Unnao, Surat, Manipur, Delhi- the stretching list of gangrape cases across the nation has enraged people. Last time, something like this shook people’s conscience was in 2012, when Nirbhaya was brutally gang raped in a moving bus in Delhi and was thrown with her friend in midnight nakedly in the streets where the passer-by stopped and gazed tamasha. The sad part is nothing has changed, even after so many promises were made at that time. It has been seven years and still, a father, an ex-lover, a husband, a boyfriend, a neighbour, a stalker, a stranger, a landlord, an employer, a gym instructor in the form of criminals are spared.
The Kathua rape victim was just 8-year-old, Surat victim was just 11, Manipur girl who was raped and then set on fire was also 11-year-old. What is more shocking is the fact that, in most of the cases, it has turned out that these minor girls are molested by someone they already know or someone, who is known to their families. According to a report by child rights NGO CRY, sexual offence is committed against a child in India every 15 minutes and there has been an increase of more than 500 per cent over the past 10 years in crime against minors. Hundreds like them plead to be saved and have their cases pending or are either dead. They were a voice, a voice to this blind and dumb nation that overlooked what it meant to be a girl.

All governments are to be blamed for these barbaric activities. The Supreme Court heard a review petition in July 2018 filed by three of the four convicts of the Delhi Gangrape case who sought that their death sentence be reduced to life term in jail. It’s been 7 year’s why aren’t they hanged yet? What was the reason for such a delay? Infact there are cases where a women’s case comes to court years after death. Is this speedy justice for them. But statistics show that since 2012, reported rape cases climbed 60% to around 40,000 in 2016, with child rape accounting for about 40%. The conviction rate of people arrested for rape remains stuck at around 25%. The backlog of rape cases pending trial stood at more than 133,000 by the end of 2016, up from about 100,000 in 2012, National Crime Records Bureau data showed. In each year during that period, about 85% of the total rape cases being heard remained pending. The government can make a hundred laws and yet it will fail because there is no enforcement It needs to take this as an epidemic and treat it accordingly, by completely overhauling the police machinery, prosecutors and the judicial system.

Crime statistics showed that police files remain open for about a third of all rapes that were investigated for each year between 2012 and 2016.
Some of the worst accusations against the police stem from cases, like the ones in Unnao and Kathua, where they are alleged to have bowed to pressure from people of influence to bury cases.
There is a pressing need to introduce proper, systematic training for the police personnel at all levels. In most cases, they seem to respect the institutions of family and marriage more than the rights of the woman.The police reports for 2017 and 2018, from January 1 to May 15 in both years, show a drop in the total number of heinous crimes in Delhi by roughly 5.6%. However, the reported cases of rape alone, have increased from 757 to 780.In Delhi alone, 20% cases reported in the first two months of 2018 are still pending trial. Explaining this complexity, Bindu, a litigator at Alternative Law Forum, told Newsclick that after the FIR is filed, most reports are dismissed due to lack of evidence. The victim turning “hostile” – that is, to withdraw the case – due to intimidation, is another reason for the low rates, she pointed out. The long-drawn cases lead to this hostility too; the victim tires out. Only when we understand the nuances of the complexities of the legal system; when we mandate gender-sensitivity and capacity building workshops for all female and male police personnel; when we realise that the increasing numbers of reported rapes don’t hold any significance if the rates of conviction fall steadily, can we make Delhi the rape capital of India safe for it’s women.

At this critical situation, questions need to be raised about women’s right to autonomy and safety as never before and understand that a rape is a rape. After a women in India is raped the society insults her , family tells her to forget and she ends up thinking it’s her fault.

Slut is arguably the most ubiquitous slur used against women, and yet it’s nearly impossible to define. This nebulous, unquantifiable quality of the slur is what makes it so distressing – there’s no way to disprove something that has no conclusive boundaries to begin with. And because it’s meant to be more of an identity than a label, it’s a term not easily shaken off. The one thing we do know about “slut” is that it’s the last thing a woman should want to be and is literally taught that a slut is that victim who deviates from norms of femininity. Society is so concerned over women and girls’ potential for promiscuity that we create dress codes, school curricula, even legislation around protecting women’s supposed purity and magazine stories wonder if we’re raising a generation of “prostitute”. But that same society forces us to believe that women are sluts and men are, well, men. Multiple girls have taken their own lives of late after being “slut-shamed” – an indication that the slur shows little sign of waning in the damage it does personally.

While Anti-rape protests are popular in terms of attendance and media coverage, but the fact that women feel word “slut” was irredeemable – especially women of color, for whom racist stereotypes about their supposed innate promiscuity always presented a unique danger never gets highlighted in mainstream media.

After Asifa was raped, half of the nation was busy finding out whether it really happened or not and behind the national flag perverts were doing protests in support of the rapists with present government members. The lawyer was threatened, politics was played but she didn’t get justice yet. It has been one year since she left us with a void, an inner question, and a scream; a question that we ask amongst ourselves about that dreaded incident inside a temple; a scream of angst against the baseless societal norms that still haven’t changed till date. Her untimely death was not a message but a fire that still ignites when we here the word RAPE. Unfortunately, it could have happened to any girl in this nation. Stalking, voyeurism, harassing became recognized as crimes against all of us. It is not a ‘fun’ idea to pick up a woman and rape her. It is not what a MAN does to prove his gender. But she educated all of us without books – no matter how horrendous the abuse, we cannot afford to stay quiet. No matter if they call the abuse a stigma on us, we have to speak up.

If you think that women in power are safe from sexism and misogyny, then think again. Women in politics, apart from bearing the responsibilities of the country, are subjected to the pressure of wearing the ‘appropriate attire.’ If not found in the right attire, they become the content for distasteful jokes, memes and trolling. Even after all this, there is no guarantee of escaping the unsolicited comments. Guarantee for the same is given by our leaders.

Girls try to quicken their pace post almost night while their mothers instruct them to wear skirts out less often with long jeans and high tops because they don’t want to be mistaken for wanting it. We’ve gotten very desensitized to these topics and also that that we have forgotten that these things aren’t normal. Men who are reading this article I hope you realize the bane of a womb because women are being saved only by the sane of a few , it’s not a all men thing I know but the men a women can trust are only a few.

The principles of equality and non-discrimination form the basis of all human rights instruments. It is therefore clear that as a matter of human rights law, all women must be entitled to the full enjoyment of their human rights. Women are not a homogenous group of rights holders and discrimination against them can be expressed in many different forms and contexts. In order to protect, promote and advance women’s human rights, advocates and policy makers must take into account differences among women with respect to age, socio-economic status, racial/ethnic background, religion or status. Among the most disadvantaged and vulnerable are women from minority communities, whose problems are compounded by their uniquely disadvantaged positions in society. Women who are victims of trafficking frequently also suffer from racial discrimination, doubly subjugated and vulnerable, and women from certain racial or ethnic groups may be particularly vulnerable to trafficking or targeted by traffickers.

So the only thing I want to say at the end of this article is that we are women neither a burden nor your cigratte and being respected is a primary human right a women deserves because it’s the privilege of a man to protect a women’s dignity.

Disclaimer:

Any views or opinions represented in this blog are personal and belong solely to the blog owner and do not represent those of people, institutions or organizations that the owner may or may not be associated with in professional or personal capacity, unless explicitly stated. The views or opinions are not intended to malign any religion, ethnic group, club, organization, company, or individual. All content provided on this blog is for informational purposes only. The owner will not be liable for any errors or omissions in this information nor for the availability of this information. The owner will not be liable for any losses, injuries, or damages from the display or use of this information. The blog owner is not responsible for the content in comments. This blog disclaimer is subject to change at anytime.

Mind your language mr.modi

Language is a major form of communication to convey through words, a person’s ideas, perceptions, vision, etc. When it comes to being a regular user of insensitive language, mr.modi tops the list. His frequently made remarks chagrins India’s ethoes and the citizens of feku kingdom. Here are top 10 times he is crossed the limits to a huge extent.

Dyslexia joke

Taking a jibe at the Gandhis — Rahul and Sonia — by making a reference to dyslexia and children who have been labelled as dyslexic. Modi’s passing remark was insensitive, but it’s made worse by the occasion on which he made it. The BTech student from Uttarakhand said her project will help “dyslexic children”. In an unintended irony, she mentioned the film Taare Zameen Par — a movie that raised awareness among audiences and drove home the message that children should not be defined by their disabilities, and that any disability should not be viewed as being integral to a child’s identity. However, by laughing at Modi’s remark along with the audience, the student failed to practice what she was preaching, and reduced a child to a mere label. How can one build a product to help a group when one does not display a basic level of empathy for that group in the first place? We are aware of the ridicule students with special needs are often subjected to by their peers, teachers, parents and society at large. Modi deserves no accolades for the statement he made, but the audience’s reaction was equally loathsome. Indeed, Narendra Modi’s insensitive remark on dyslexia reaffirms India’s narrow understanding of learning disorders.

Vidwa Remark

Addressing a rally in Rajasthan on 4 December, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched an indirect attack against UPA chairperson and former Congress President Sonia Gandhi referring to her as a “widow”. “You can imagine, the kind of government the Congress ran. Widow pension was started for a girl child who was not even born. But, who was the Congress widow who used to take away this money? Who was that Congress’s widow in whose account this money went to,” the prime minister said. No PM Has Stooped to This Level of personal attack. Its baffling to see how the man at the Zenith of Indian Politics is dragging his counterpart with such barbaric language. Being widow is a not privilege Mr Modi. Its really saddening and shocking that on one hand a hypocritical party keeps on giving the rhetorics and empty slogans on women empowerment and on the other hand gives objectionable statements on women and insults Vidhwa by Modiji. Only a dishonorable man insults a woman. Having such a man occupy the PMs office is an insult to the Indian citizens.

Despite being a women remark

In June 2015, during a speech at Dhaka University that was otherwise full of praise for Bangladesh’s prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, Modi made a patently sexist observation: “Mujhe khushi ki baat hai ki Bangladesh ke pradhan mantri, ek mahila hone ke bavajud bhi, danke ki chot par keh rahi hai ki terrorism ke khilaf mera zero tolerance hai” (I am very pleased that Bangladesh’s prime minister, despite being a woman, is openly saying that she has zero tolerance of terrorism). It is part of a pervasive sexist and misogynist culture that continues to be on full display by our politicians regardless of party affiliations. As harmless as a one-sentence remark about the Bangladeshi Prime Minister framed as praise may seem, the fact is, it is not. It is reflective of the conceit that male politicians simply do a better job.

50 crore girlfriend

When he was chief minister of Gujarat campaigning in Himachal Pradesh and described Sunanda Pushkara Tharoor as Shashi Tharoor’s “50 Crore girlfriend”. Modi said, “Wah kya girlfriend hai. Apne kabhi dekha hai 50?” The then would-be PM candidate should keep up his dignity in words. There would have been no need to flaunt 56″ size. Any great leader in history is not known by their vital stats but their words, that actually become a part of history. His statements are absurd unless he himself wants to go down in history with these heinous remarks. The problem is we, as humans, appreciate physical and verbal violence so much that people who want to make greater impact on public use it in their extempore/speeches to cause an uproar.

Hybrid calf and jersey cow

In a rally in uttarakhand in 2009 mr.modi called sonia gandhi a jersey cow and during an election rally in Patan with then prime ministerial candidate LK Advani, in 2004, Modi said: “The Congress symbol used to be cow and calf and people used to say gai (Indira Gandhi) and vacchharado (Sanjay Gandhi) are contesting. Now, farmers tell me a hybrid calf has come to contest the elections.” The BJP has long dismissed Rahul as a callow calf but now even this mild-mannered son of Sonia Gandhi is getting the saffronists’ goat. Obviously, the barb about being a government of the rich, for the rich and by the rich has got under Modi’s skin. For all that Modi has screamed in the past about Sonia’s foreign origins and Rahul’s mixed lineage, he does not have answers for why he wears phoren while Rahul’s entire attire is completely Indian-made; why his sunglasses are Cartier (French) and why even his clothes are not home-spun khadi or Indian cotton like Rahul’s but fine silk or finer cotton from China and Hong Kong. And this is a leader of a party which stands for everything Indian?

The clerk and driver remark

In that same rally of 2004 he added that he did a random survey of 20 shopkeepers who wanted to appoint rahul gandhi as a driver and sonia gandhi as a clerk. Sometimes he makes you doubt his sanity; at other times he makes you laugh and cry at the same time. But there are times when these statements make global news for stupidity and hurt a lot of sentiments in the process.

The italian remark

The war of words between Modi and Sonia escalated in 2007, when Sonia Gandhi called Modi “maut ka saudagar” (merchant of death), blaming him for the 2002 riots. Modi retaliated by raising her citizenship issue and challenged her presence in the Indian political arena. He said, an Italian would know nothing about Ram Sethu. Haters call hder foreigner. After her husband’s assasination she could have gone to Italy with Rahul Gandhi to live a peaceful life but she chose to stay in India and fulfill Rajiv Gandhi’s dream in midst of trolling and abuses. Thats how a true Indian women lives her life with full dignity and this is the real nationalism.

The kalakar remark

In July, 2010, he had attacked her for being silent on the Bhopal gas tragedy verdict, asking her to explain who was the (real) ‘Maut ka saudagar’. He even referred to Rahul Gandhi as “kalakar” during one of his public gatherings in Nov 2011. Congressmen in the state believe that Modi’s move is to appeal to the elite who have distanced themselves from his hard line. Those familiar with Indian politics will not be surprised on hearing such comments. It is not the first time an Indian politician has said something absurdly insensitive, and it most definitely will not be the last.

Bazzaru media comment

There is a vast difference between discouraging unscrupulous influence-peddling journalists and media proprietors from misusing their access to corridors of power and a concerted policy to marginalise the media. A relatively free and combative media have remained one of the few tangible highlights of Indian democracy. Any hasty step to diminish this role would certainly not be in the interest of the country. “Hindustan mein logon ko gumraah karne ke liye kaise kaise conspiracy ki jaati hai (look at the conspiracies that are hatched to mislead people of the country)… in the last assembly elections, seena taan kar kucch bazaaru log survey ghoshit karte thay, aur 50 seat de di thi (in the last assembly election, some people who can be bought came out with surveys giving one party 50 seats)… newspaper nikaalo, you will get the proof. When the results came in, the one which had been projected as the winner was not even the largest party,” Modi said Just trying to visualise the reaction if Manmohan singh had called media “bazaaru.” PM assured that only those journalists under Sanghi patronage are bazaaru and he cannot possibly know or comment about others. Long after we are gone, historians will address Modi as Bazaaru PM. He has ensured that today also.

It seems that the M in MODI primarily stands for sexism. These 10 remarks once again reminds us of the continued illiteracy displayed by our politicians across the political divide on the issue of sexism and sexist speak. The representatives of the people and hence their voices need to be subject to greater critical scrutiny. It is time to crowd source justice by shaming politicians into their appalling and at times deeply offensive behavior, and render them accountable for what they say and how they say it. And as the Prime Minister, it is even more incumbent on Modi to be held accountable for his displays of sexism who resorts to the classic BJP-ishtyle retort: abuse as the best form of defence. But doesn’t India begin to somewhat cease shining in the process?

Disclaimer

Any views or opinions represented in this blog are personal and belong solely to the blog owner and do not represent those of people, institutions or organizations that the owner may or may not be associated with in professional or personal capacity, unless explicitly stated. The views or opinions are not intended to malign any religion, ethnic group, club, organization, company, or individual. All content provided on this blog is for informational purposes only. The owner will not be liable for any errors or omissions in this information nor for the availability of this information. The owner will not be liable for any losses, injuries, or damages from the display or use of this information. The blog owner is not responsible for the content in comments. This blog disclaimer is subject to change at anytime.

Mental pain is less dramatic than physical pain, but it is more common and also harder to bear- Mental Health crisis facts and figures

In the patriarchal society of India most of the mental problems are either hidden between the four walls of the room or pretended to not have as in India it’s a social stigma. It’s time they need to be recognized and accepted by individuals themselves. It is not their differences that divide us. It is our inability to recognize, accept, and celebrate those differences. Having a mental disorder isn’t easy, and it’s even harder when people assume you can just get over it.

When put together these mental health disorders account for 15% of the total global burden of diseases. It won’t be an exaggeration to state that India indeed is staring at a mental health epidemic. When it comes to countries, India is the most depressed country in the world, according to the World Health Organisation, followed by China and the USA. India, China and the US are the most affected countries by anxiety, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, according to WHO. A recent study reported in WHO, conducted for the NCMH (National Care Of Medical Health), states that at least 6.5 per cent of the Indian population suffers from some form of the serious mental disorder, with no discernible rural-urban differences as of 2018. Though there are effective measures and treatments, there is an extreme shortage of mental health workers like psychologists, psychiatrists, and doctors. As reported latest in 2014, it was as low as ”one in 100,000 people”. The average suicide rate in India is 10.9 for every lakh people and the majority of people who commit suicide are below 44 years of age. The numbers are very sad for India, where help does not come easy. Suicide is one of the biggest causes of deaths in the age group of 15-24. The report also threw light on another disturbing fact. Almost 80% people diagnosed with mental sickness do not seek any kind of treatment and there are 150 million more who need access to therapy and this is projected to increase by 20% by 2020. Interventions in the form of medicine, psychological and social help, can make a huge difference.

In April 2018, a study titled How India Perceives Mental Health across eight cities with 3,556 respondents provides an insight. It revealed that although 87% of the respondents were aware of mental illnesses, 71% used terms associated with stigma – “stupid”, “mad”, “crazy” and even “retard” – to describe mental illnesses.

One of the biggest reasons for depression today is the pressure to live up to the expectations of society, peers and social media followers. Success and acceptance have become paramount, often at the cost of one’s mental well-being. Earlier people could unwind in a communal social setting such as the joint family, the local barber, the coffee house adda, or common interest groups. With work pressure and long working hours, parents often find it difficult to engage adequately with children. The National Mental Health Survey 2015-16 published by the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, Bengaluru, estimated that nearly one in seven teenagers growing up in India’s metros could be suffering from mental health disorders. Currently 300 million cases have been reported in the world about depression particularly. However, it’s a known fact that a lot of it is not reported which is even more than 300 million probably. Worryingly, the age profile of mental health patients is getting younger. With work pressure and long working hours, parents often find it difficult to engage adequately with children. The National Mental Health Survey 2015-16 published by the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, Bengaluru, estimated that nearly one in seven teenagers growing up in India’s metros could be suffering from mental health disorders.

Another reason for depression, in a country with one of the highest smartphone and Internet penetrations in the world, is social isolation. Unlike interpersonal bonding that makes it more difficult to mask emotions, online interactions are often transient, leading to withdrawal. Even as technology is seen as a trigger for mental health problems, it can also prove to be a cost-effective solution for crisis intervention. Most present-day psychiatrists have some form of telephone counselling or virtual chat apps to reach out to those who need help.

Depression forces the body and the brain into a death trap.These stages have also been compared to severe forms of trauma and can be difficult to recover from. When the brain, pushed into extreme negativity declines its functioning power. Usually, the brain is equipped of handling stressful situations by releasing a high level of dopamine which pushes a person back to normal. When extreme depression hits the part of the brain which controls emotions and motivation, dopamine production goes for a toss making it hard for the body to process negativity. If left un diagnosed and untreated, depression can cause many problems, especially in adolescent cases. The consequences of not addressing adolescent mental health conditions extend to adulthood, impairing both physical and mental health and limiting opportunities to lead fulfilling lives as adults. There’s no easy cure for depression but support and therapy is one of the most effective cures for depression. Often confused with sadness and pessimism, it is easy to mistake this mental disorder for just a “low point” in life. People experiencing depression can undergo intense emotions of anxiety, hopelessness, negativity and helplessness. Loved ones, caring for someone with depression, should get alert if they notice signs of severe depression, such as alcohol or drug abuse, sleep disturbance, thoughts of death or suicide or suicide attempts.

People with anxiety disorders respond to certain objects or situations with fear and dread, as well as with physical signs of anxiety or panic, such as a rapid heartbeat and sweating. An anxiety disorder is diagnosed if the person’s response is not appropriate for the situation, if the person cannot control the response, or if the anxiety interferes with normal functioning. Anxiety disorders include generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, social anxiety disorder, and specific phobias.

Mood disorders involve persistent feelings of sadness or periods of feeling overly happy, or fluctuations from extreme happiness to extreme sadness. The most common mood disorders are depression, bipolar disorder, and cyclothymic disorder.

Psychotic disorders involve distorted awareness and thinking. Two of the most common symptoms of psychotic disorders are hallucinations — the experience of images or sounds that are not real, such as hearing voices — and delusions, which are false fixed beliefs that the ill person accepts as true, despite evidence to the contrary. Schizophrenia is an example of a psychotic disorder.

Eating disorders involve extreme emotions, attitudes, and behaviors involving weight and food. Anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge eating disorder are the most common eating disorders.

People with impulse control disorders are unable to resist urges, or impulses, to perform acts that could be harmful to themselves or others. Pyromania (starting fires), kleptomania (stealing), and compulsive gambling are examples of impulse control disorders. Alcohol and drug are common objects of addictions. Often, people with these disorders become so involved with the objects of their addiction that they begin to ignore responsibilities and relationships.

People with personality disorders have extreme and inflexible personality traits that are distressing to the person and/or cause problems in work, school, or social relationships. In addition, the person’s patterns of thinking and behavior significantly differ from the expectations of society and are so rigid that they interfere with the person’s normal functioning. Examples include antisocial personality disorder, obsessive-compulsive personality disorder, and paranoid personality disorder.

People with Obsessive Compulsion Disorders are plagued by constant thoughts or fears that cause them to perform certain rituals or routines. The disturbing thoughts are called obsessions, and the rituals are called compulsions. An example is a person with an unreasonable fear of germs who constantly washes his or her hands.

Post-traumatic stress disorder is a condition that can develop following a traumatic and/or terrifying event, such as a sexual or physical assault, the unexpected death of a loved one, or a natural disaster. People with PTSD often have lasting and frightening thoughts and memories of the event, and tend to be emotionally numb.

Stress response syndromes occur when a person develops emotional or behavioral symptoms in response to a stressful event or situation. The stress-or may include natural disasters, such as an earthquake or tornado; events or crises, such as a car accident or the diagnosis of a major illness; or interpersonal problems, such as a divorce, death of a loved one, loss of a job, or a problem with substance abuse. Stress response syndromes usually begin within three months of the event or situation and ends within six months after the stress-or stops or is eliminated.

People with these disorders suffer severe disturbances or changes in memory, consciousness, identity, and general awareness of themselves and their surroundings. These disorders usually are associated with overwhelming stress, which may be the result of traumatic events, accidents, or disasters that may be experienced or witnessed by the individual. Dissociative identity disorder, formerly called multiple personality disorder, or “split personality,” and de-personalization disorder are examples of dissociative disorders.

Factitious disorders are conditions in which a person knowingly and intentionally creates or complains of physical and/or emotional symptoms in order to place the individual in the role of a patient or a person in need of help.

A person with a somatic symptom disorder, formerly known as a psychosomatic disorder or somatoform disorder, experiences physical symptoms of an illness or of pain with an excessive and disproportionate level of distress, regardless of whether or not a doctor can find a medical cause for the symptoms.

People with tic disorders make sounds or display non purposeful body movements that are repeated, quick, sudden, and/or uncontrollable. (Sounds that are made involuntarily are called vocal tics.) Tourette’s syndrome is an example of a tic disorder.

When mental illness is present, the potential for crisis is never far from mind. Crisis episodes related to mental illness can feel incredibly overwhelming. There’s the initial shock, followed by a flood of questions—the most prominent of which is: “What can we do?” Like any other health crisis, it’s important to address a mental health emergency quickly and effectively. With mental health conditions, crises can be difficult to predict because, often, there are no warning signs. Crises can occur even when treatment plans have been followed and mental health professionals are involved. Unfortunately, unpredictability is the nature of mental illness. It’s time for India to utilize and empower it’s Emergency departments, Law enforcement officials, primary care physicians, court clerks where involuntary commitment processes are initiated.

Lack of awareness about the issue, the stigma associated with it, lack of trained professionals, inadequate funding and the low priority given in the healthcare budget are the reasons why people coping with mental health issues fail to receive the adequate amount of timely treatment. If merely making policies would have helped people, the issue of mental health would have been solved long ago.

More than 80% of people do not seek any professional help in India. Talk to anyone you know who has been through this and you’ll hear stories about shame, suffering, discrimination, and stigma.

There is a shortage of mental healthcare workers in India. According to the World Health Organisation, in 2011, there were 0·301 psychiatrists and 0·047 psychologists for every 100,000 patients suffering from a mental health disorder in India. A community-based solution inspired by Asha workers model can be adapted to serve the mentally ill population efficiently. Also, more and more professionals should be trained in this field to decrease the ever increasing gap.

According to the Human Right Watch, only 0.06 per cent of India’s health budget is devoted to mental health and available data suggests that state spending in this regard is abysmal.

People suffering from any kind of mental health issue are considered ‘lunatics’ by the people due to the lack of awareness, ignorance and blatant apathy. This leads to a vicious cycle of shame, suffering and not to mention, isolation of the patient. To end the stigma, there is a need to empower the people suffering from various mental health issue.

Steps should be taken to train and sensitize the community/society to deliver immediate mental healthcare intervention to the patients. Although the mechanics of the funding are yet to be spelled out, a public-private partnership between mental health professionals in the government and private hospitals to train physicians at the village and block level through video conferencing — to identify and provide basic treatment and drugs for depression and anxiety — could be the way out.

But not much has been done in the mental health sector by the government. A mental health act was first introduced by the British government in the year 1912 called lunary act. In India, the Mental Health Act was passed on 22 May 1987. The law was described in its opening paragraph as an act to consolidate and amend the law relating to the treatment and care of mentally ill persons, to make better provision with respect to their property and affairs and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto. The Act superseded the previously existing national law governing the mental health issues, the Indian Lunacy Act of 1912. The Mental Health Care Act was passed on 7 April 2017, superseding this 1987 Act and was described in its opening paragraph as an act to provide for mental healthcare and services for persons with mental illness and to protect, promote and fulfill the rights of such persons during delivery of mental healthcare and services and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto. It was passed by Rajya Sabha on 27th March 2017 and Loksabha on 30th March 2017. It was then commenced on 7th July 2018. It was first introduced by Ghulam Nabi Azad on 19th August 2013.

As per the information furnished by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare the Mental Health Care Bill, 2013 seeked to consolidate the legislation s related to mental illness and improve the conditions in mental health facilities existing in the country while ensuring the process of appeal by a person admitted to a psychiatry institution, rehabilitation, reintegration with families and community in non-medical settings.The Bill addressed the issues of mental illness and capacity to make mental health care and treatment decisions; advance directive; nominated representative; rights of persons with mental illness; duties of appropriate government; central and state mental health authorities; mental health establishments; mental health review commission; admission, treatment and discharge. The Bill also consolidates the law regarding the responsibilities of other agencies, restriction to discharge functions by professionals not covered by professional offences and penalties. illness and promote their access to mental health care in the country. In the light of
above it was proposed to repeal the Mental Health Act (MHA), 1987 and bring in a new legislation.

The Statement of Objects and Reasons (SOR) of the Bill further stated that the Bill proposes to repeal the Mental Health Act, 1987.

Its objectives were to:

(i)protect and promote rights of the persons with mental illness during the delivery of health care in institutions and in the community;

(ii) ensure that health care, treatment and rehabilitation of the persons with mental illness, is provided in the least restrictive environment possible, and in a manner that does not intrude on their rights and dignity;

(iii) fulfill the obligations under the Constitution and the obligations under various International Conventions ratified by India;

(iv) regulate public and private mental health sectors within a rights framework to achieve the greatest public health good;

(v) improve accessibility to mental health care by mandating sufficient provision of quality public mental health services and non-discrimination in health insurance;

(vi) establish a mental health system integrated into all levels of general health care; and

(vii) promote principles of equity, efficiency and active participation of all stakeholders in decision making. It stated that mental illness be determined “in accordance with nationally and internationally accepted medical standards (including the latest edition of the International Classification of Disease of the World Health Organisation) as may be notified by the Central Government.”

Additionally, the Act asserted that no person or authority shall classify an individual as a person with mental illness unless in directly in relation with treatment of the illness. The act effectively decriminalized attempted suicide which was punishable under Section 309 of the Indian Penal Code. The Act seeked to fulfill India’s international obligation pursuant to the Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities and its Optional Protocol. It looked to empower persons suffering from mental illness, thus marking a departure from the Mental Health Act 1987. The 2017 Act recognizes the agency of people with mental illness, allowing them to make decisions regarding their health, given that they have the appropriate knowledge to do so. The Act aimed to safeguard the rights of the people with mental illness, along with access to healthcare and treatment without discrimination from the government. Additionally, insurers are now bound to make provisions for medical insurance for the treatment of mental illness on the same basis as is available for the treatment of physical ailments. The Mental Health Care Act 2017 included provisions for the registration of mental health related institutions and for the regulation of the sector. These measures include the necessity of setting up mental health establishments across the country to ensure that no person with mental illness will have to travel far for treatment, as well as the creation of a mental health review board which will act as a regulatory body. The Act restricted the usage of Electro convulsive therapy (ECT) to be used only in cases of emergency, and along with muscle relaxants and anesthesia. Further, ECT has additionally been prohibited to be used as viable therapy for minors.The responsibilities of other agencies such as the police with respect to people with mental illness was outlined in the 2017 Act. The Mental Health Care Act 2017 had additionally vouched to tackle stigma of mental illness, and has outlined some measures on how to achieve the same. However there is a lot left to be done.

So what difference is this act creating? None because the history of India’s interaction with victims of mental health disorders and governance has lost the common man’s faith perhaps has embarrassed the ideology of 1.3 billions.

There is a desperate need for mental health literacy. An ecosystem of care, empathy and inclusion requires involvement of politicians, celebrities, activists, scholars and citizens. Only then can we change the way we address mental illnesses. The conversation must start.

As a society we must now collectively stand by the survivors of mental health illnesses and empower them instead of neglecting them by culture proxy as a substance of arrogance. What’s culture? Culture is to respect the ethos of different community,to respect indifference, to be united in diversity & have love for all. At least that’s what Indian culture must be if it wishes to be notable example of a development in the 21st century. We cannot continue to eradicate our mental health illness citizens any longer. We have them respect which we give to other normal people of this nation.

Disclaimer:

Any views or opinions represented in this blog are personal and belong solely to the blog owner and do not represent those of people, institutions or organizations that the owner may or may not be associated with in professional or personal capacity, unless explicitly stated. The views or opinions are not intended to malign any religion, ethnic group, club, organization, company, or individual. All content provided on this blog is for informational purposes only. The owner will not be liable for any errors or omissions in this information nor for the availability of this information. The owner will not be liable for any losses, injuries, or damages from the display or use of this information. The blog owner is not responsible for the content in comments. This blog disclaimer is subject to change at anytime.

Demonitisation Yaad Rakhna

This time when you go out to vote, don’t forget what the govt put you through in the last 5years. Do you remember that catastrophic event?
Yups! Demonitisation
Remember how you had to stand in queues to get access to your OWN money?

Let’s recall our memories regarding Demonitisation
☞Over 99% of banned notes back.
☞Cash at home with a 7 year high rate.
☞Bank deposits have fallen sharply.
☞Corruption still going.
☞Swiss bank matters not solved.
☞ Patients suffered because hospitals refused cash.
☞People died in queues. (150+)

No economist in the world will say demonitization was a success.

Then let us see some more facts;
➡November 2016: “I have only asked for 50 days. Give me time till December 30. After that, if any fault is found in my intentions or my actions, I am willing to suffer any punishment given by the country.”~Narendra Modi
➡August 2018: “99.3% demonitised notes back with RBI.”~Central bank

…..wait there is a lot more to hear! Let’s hear what the ‘Chowkidaar’ wants to say after 2 years of regarding the lethal(Demonitisation)
“Even an old man who loses his son, recovers in a year but not congress.”-Narendra Modi.

The PM of India is going to the extent of mocking the Dead children of others!
Mr.Modi aren’t the Young Indians your children too?
Are you able to recover?
How will that family forget?
What was the fault of the citizens?
What benefit did his life sacrifice give to India?
Speak Up Mr.Modi.

The bitter truth⬇
Demonetization wasn’t a failure. It achieved what Modi wanted – agriculture, jobs & small businesses destroyed for the benefit of his friends like Ambani-Adani. In the year after demo, while economy collapsed, Ambani & Adani’s turnover increased by 77% & 125%

There are still some more premeditated unanswered questions⬇
Why were we innocent citizens standing on the line?
Why crony capitalists not in the line?
When is mr.modi going to take action?
Why can’t he give the details of the holders of black money in swiss banks?
Does he condemn the demonitisation ?

Its been 5 years he has wasted successfully. Mr.Modi its high time you must seek forgiveness from the people of India. Although we citizens of India will never ever forgive you and refresh your memory on the day of election as we voters are the ultimate rulers.

Disclaimer
Any views or opinions represented in this blog are personal and belong solely to the blog owner and do not represent those of people, institutions or organizations that the owner may or may not be associated with in professional or personal capacity, unless explicitly stated. The views or opinions are not intended to malign any religion, ethnic group, club, organization, company, or individual. All content provided on this blog is for informational purposes only. The owner will not be liable for any errors or omissions in this information nor for the availability of this information. The owner will not be liable for any losses, injuries, or damages from the display or use of this information. The blog owner is not responsible for the content in comments. This blog disclaimer is subject to change at anytime.

The strategy behind Wayanad selection- Self opinion

Rahul Gandhi, the Congress president, is contesting a second seat in addition to his traditional Amethi constituency in Uttar Pradesh for the first time since he started contesting elections in 2004. Rahul Gandhi’s contesting from Wayanad has become the centre of all political debates in news now by turning all journalists into political analysts, exclusively after Priyanka Gandhi Vadra who accompanied her brother Rahul Gandhi as he filed his nomination from Kerala’s Wayanad this morning(4.4.18), posted an emotional tweet asking voters of the constituency to “take care” of her “truest friend“.
“My brother, my truest friend, and by far the most courageous man I know. Take care of him Wayanad, he won’t let you down,” Priyanka Gandhi tweeted.

Here’s why I think Rahul Gandhi is chose to contest from Wayanad.

In Indian political equivalent of spread betting, campaigning from two constituencies is a legitimate game plan in India where politicians often contest elections from two seats. The rule of limiting the candidate to contesting from a maximum of two seats was introduced in 1996 through an amendment to the Representation of the People Act (RP Act) of 1951. Before this law, leaders were allowed to contest from as many seats as they could.

Many political observers speculated that Rahul Gandhi’s entry to Parliament has been made easy, with the road now passing through Wayanad in Kerala, the Gandhi family scion and the Congress party may find themselves staring at an uphill task of battling the Left forces in the state. However, a look at the demographics , the past performances of parties in Wayanad and its neighboring constituencies, shows that the Congress’ decision was a calculated one. Wayanad was carved out after the 2008 Delimitation (redrawing of boundaries of constituencies) exercise. In the two Lok Sabha elections that the seat has seen so far, MI Shanavas, who passed away last year, won both times for the Congress even though his margin of victory came down drastically in 2014. While Shanavas won the seat with a comfortable margin of 1,53,439 votes (18.63 per cent) in 2009, he saw a close escape in 2014 when his margin came down to mere 20,870 votes (2.28 per cent). Among the seven Assembly segments – Mananthavady, Sulthanbathery, Kalpetta, Thiruvambady, Eranad, Nilambur, Wandoor – that fall in this constituency, the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) had won all seven in 2009. The alliance had again secured five assembly segments during the 2014 general election, with the Left Democratic Front (LDF) winning the remaining two. Even in the Assembly elections of 2011, the UDF had won six seats in this parliamentary constituency. However, after the 2016 elections, UDF holds just three seats and the LDF rules four seats in the region at present. However, it should be noted that while the LDF just edged past the Congress alliance on two seats with a vote margin of 0.9 per cent in Mananthavady and 2.2 per cent in Thiruvambady, the UDF on the other hand, had a comfortable lead on its share of seats. Upon analyzing voting patterns in Wayanad in both the parliamentary and the assembly elections, it becomes clear why one could interpret Congress’ decision to contest in Wayanad as an opposing force to the Left.

Congress leader M I Shanavas won the seat in both the 2009 and 2014 Lok Sabha elections by getting 49.8% and 41.2% of the votes, respectively. Currently, the seat lies vacant, following Shanavas’ death in November 2018. Gandhi’s main opponent for the upcoming elections is CPI’s P P Suneer—the LDF’s candidate for Wayanad. In the 2009 and 2014 elections, the CPI came second with a vote share of 31.2% and 38.9%.In 2016 assembly elections held in the state, three out of the seven assembly constituencies that make-up the Wayanad constituency voted for a CPM candidate and two voted for the Congress. In the 2011 assembly elections, four of the constituencies voted for the Congress while the most that CPM candidates could achieve was coming in a close second in five of the seven constituencies. Rahul contesting from a seat in the south makes good political sense. For one, the Congress shares power in Karnataka with the Janata Dal (Secular). And with the two parties finalising a seat-sharing deal, the chances of a safe victory for Rahul are bright.

Indira Gandhi contested from two constituencies, Medak and Rae Bareli, in 1980. Rahul’s mother Sonia Gandhi too won from another seat in Karnataka in 1999, when she scored over BJP’s Sushma Swaraj in Bellary. It is another matter that Sonia chose to give up Bellary in favour of her traditional Rae Bareli. Rahul may do the same if he wins from Wayanad. The congress thinks the entire India as a family and it must try South India now because it has presence in the Hindi belt. Keeping politics aside it has an emotional connection also with Rahul Gandhi. Wayanad is not just another constituency for Rahul Gandhi. The seat has an emotional connect with the Congress chief and the Gandhi family. The ashes of Rajiv Gandhi, father of Rahul Gandhi and former prime minister of the country, were immersed at Papanasini in Thirunelli which is about 30 km from Mananthavadi. In 1991, after the assassination of then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, former Chief Minister of Kerala K Karunakaran immersed his ashes in Wayanad’s Papanasini River. Rahul Gandhi himself went to Wayanad with A K Antony to immerse his father’s ashes. He performed a puja at Thirunelly temple before immersing the ashes in the river.

For a leader hailing from the north to contest from the south makes for a good outreach strategy symbolising unity throughout India. It will help the Congress drive home the point that their leader has a pan-India outlook, as opposed to Narendra Modi, who in 2014 opted to contest from two seats, neither of which was in the south.

Amethi has been under Gandhi family for years now it’s time the Gandhians must try other constituency’s rather than same old traditional stuff which is already very much developed also a prime ministerial candidate contesting from the state, Congress leaders believe, will rub off positively on the chances of other candidates from the party. South India is known for shrewd but clean politics with literate minds, it’s time Congress must experience South Indian Politics, giving a conventional depiction of their party cardeur with a tough & new challenge because Amethi has been a default parliament entry seat for the Gandhians till now. Also, Rahul Gandhi’s contesting from Wayanad along with Amethi will help the Wayanad people to select there MP easily as they can analyze his vision by his past records in Amethi.

There is also great demand from South Indians. Siddaramaiah had suggested that Rahul contest from Mysuru, the former chief minister’s home district. There was also pressure on Rahul to contest from Tamil Nadu too.

Contesting from Wayanad is as clever as killing three birds with one stone, since the place lies conveniently at the junction of Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, and Rahul’s very presence in flesh and blood there will invigorate Congress workers at double-speed in three states.

Congress’ claim that the decision to choose Wayanad for Gandhi is aimed to “unite the southern states of the country,” in a sense, can be better understood by the fact that the constituency, which is located in the northern part of the state, sits at a trijunction of Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. This makes Wayanad directly share its border with Mysore and Chamarajnagar constituency in Karnataka and Nilgiris in Tamil Nadu. Wayanad will go to polls in the third phase (April 23) of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, while elections in South Karnataka—where Congress-JD(S) alliance is expected to have an advantage in caste dynamics—and Tamil Nadu will be held in the second phase (April 18). With Gandhi set to campaign in Wayanad, whether his presence will affect voters in the neighbouring constituencies or beyond will be something to watch out for once results are announced on May 23. In 2014, Nilgiris was won by the All India Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK). Before that, the constituency was bagged by the now M K Stalin-led Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) in 2009 and the Congress in 2004. Whereas, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had won the seat in 1999 and 1998. In the case of Chamarajnagar in Karnataka, Congress had secured the seat in both 2014 and 2009, while JD(S) had won the seat in 2004. Mysore, however, has dwindled between the BJP and Congress in every election since 1998, with BJP winning the seat in 2014. The common factor among all three constituencies is the high presence of Scheduled Caste (SC) population in the region. Additionally, Wayanad is surrounded by five constituencies in Kerala itself. These are: Kannur, Vadakara, Kozhikhode, Malappuram, and Palakkad. Out of these, Congress-led UDF had won five in 2009. Again in 2014, the alliance had won three of the five constituencies. However, two of these seats were won by a margin of less than one per cent of votes (one each by the UDF and the LDF). Even a minor swing either way could benefit any alliance in the upcoming elections. If Congress is able to convert the ‘unity’ among the Southern states that it has been claiming to bring with its decision, in votes in its favour, the votes swing could go towards the UDF. And, if it is resonated in the neighbouring constituencies or beyond, Congress could be looking for substantial—if not significant—gains in the South.

It seems that the bjp government is afraid of the calculated move by congress because when Mr.Narendra Modi fought for two seats in 2014, one from Varanasi & another from Vadodara, no questions where raised wasn’t that insecurity. The hogwash that the bjp let out to defend its selection of a safe seat for modi was irrational. To keep the fight in two seats business-like and honest. Such kerfuffle didn’t happen regarding his fight for two seats. Maybe the citizens got fooled by the Socratesian philosophy or Aristotlean logic that the party is dished out in 2014.

Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in a veiled attack Gandhi’s candidature from Wayanad, said that some leaders have fled to a “minority-dominated” seat to escape “Hindu anger”. The possibility of politically motivated attempts made my leaders to polarise masses on the basis of religion notwithstanding, Wayanad does have a significant Muslim population. According to Census 2011, the constituency has a 40-45 per cent of concentration of Muslim, as well as Hindus. However, some estimates peg Muslim population at over 50 per cent. Christians at the same time, make 15-20 per cent of the population.

The level at which anchors are debating on this mere issue seems like modi is very afraid. Infact this petty debates won’t force Rahul Gandhi to withdraw his seat and even if the congress party did this for Amethi insecurity they will try to present it genuinely. It gives me immense surprise to see so much focus on opposition events rather than the ruling party. Isn’t this pseudo journalism by pelluciding the savage media condition under the modi government’s severe dictatorship tactics, but secretly this also finds fiscal space through TRP as not only congress supporters but also modi supporters are interested in the debate screening giving a substance of rival target.

However, it will be interesting to see the centre-left vs left ideology termination and how it works in South India. 2019 General Election is indeed special not only for discovering the termination of the authoritarian governance of the incumbent modi government, but also because the result of this electoral battle is unpredictable. Instead of concerning on the possibilities of his seating from Wayanad the focus should be on the smug of Amethians in the past 15 years under Rahul Gandhi and his vision for development in Amethi and as well as his thesis for party revival.

Disclaimer
Any views or opinions represented in this blog are personal and belong solely to the blog owner and do not represent those of people, institutions or organizations that the owner may or may not be associated with in professional or personal capacity, unless explicitly stated. The views or opinions are not intended to malign any religion, ethnic group, club, organization, company, or individual. All content provided on this blog is for informational purposes only. The owner will not be liable for any errors or omissions in this information nor for the availability of this information. The owner will not be liable for any losses, injuries, or damages from the display or use of this information. The blog owner is not responsible for the content in comments. This blog disclaimer is subject to change at anytime.

Decoding The Gujarat Model Perfidy- facts and figures

Everyone in the country knows the one thing Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the team around him excel in – the art of public relations and media management. This is the reason that the ‘Gujarat model’ of handling a state’s economy became such a major talking point in the run-up to the 2014 general elections. The Gujarat Model was definitely not the main but one of the main postulate used by Mr.Modi in 2014 to gain brute majority by grabbing votes. So was the Gujarat Model which has been the centre of news debates throughout the past 5years in terms of Modi’s charisma of attention grabbing really successful? This election season is the suitable time to know about it.

The Gujarat Model refers to a period from 2002-2003 to 2011-12 during which Gujarat experienced a quantum jump in its growth rate. The driving force was the then chief minister Narendra Modi’s innovative interpretation of neoliberal policies.

The initial growth strategy had three major components: quantum jump in infrastructure to facilitate inflow of corporate investment; quantum jump in governance to address the requirements of corporate units; and unprecedented rise in incentives and subsidies on investments to the corporate sector to attract investments. Infrastructure development focused on roads, airports and power – and through reforms, 24-hour availability of power.

Impact of Subsidies:
The government introduced subsidies on capital, interest, infrastructure as well as heavy subsidies on land, water supply and natural resources. The rates of subsidies were larger for larger investments. For mega industries, there was no fixed rate and each case was assessed separately. For example, Tata-Nano got totally Rs 30,000 crores subsidies (like Suzuki, Hyundai etc). Land was acquired from common grazing land, denotified protected areas, national parks and from irrigated fertile lands. The price started from Re 1 per acre, and increased during the last years of the model but still was less than the market price. The huge expenditure on incentives and subsidies left less public funds for social sectors, so that Gujarat had much lower per capita expenditure on social sectors compared to other states as similar levels of per capita income, and indeed performed quite poorly in this regard among the major states.

Per Capita Income:
Gujarat’s per capita income is one of the highest among Indian states, and its growth rate has also been quite high, its social indicators are poor. There is broad unanimity on this, from early contributions by Indira Hirway to the well-known Raghuram Rajan Committee report in 2013 and a number of other authors as well. They showed that much of the high growth so effectively advertised by the Modi state government was really a continuation of past trends which in turn were largely due to Gujarat’s advantages in agriculture and manufacturing, aided by the easy availability of land and infrastructure facilities such as electricity – all of which predated chief minister Modi. But in addition, further economic growth under Modi’s tenure as chief minister was heavily reliant on attracting large corporate investment through large subsidies and incentives of various kinds. This meant that the income growth was very unequal, so that the benefits of the growth did not percolate to the people as propagated by the ‘trickle-down’ hypothesis. When Gujarat is compared to other large states with broadly similar levels of per capita income, it fares very poorly. Wages (here the averages of male and female wages in rural and urban areas separately) were significantly lower than the other states, even compared to Karnataka that had a lower per capita state NSDP.

The industrialization procuter of corruption:
Narendra Modi an corruption goes hand to hand be it as chief minister or prime minister it seems like his tryst with destiny. The multiple favours given to large industry as part of the strategy of encouraging industrialisation also meant that Gujarat was one of the states where ‘crony capitalism’ flourished. Certain industrial groups were particular beneficiaries of the economic policies of the Modi government in Gujarat, such that the rise of the groups like the Adanis was almost coterminous with that of the Modi-controlled government in the state.

The you don’t belong to my standard attitude:
It is not a secret that in Gujarat, relatively high growth has been accompanied by increasing inequality. Economy has now emerged as a major – even critical – aspect of political discussion in the state, so that economic malaises that have been festering for some time now are becoming more exposed within and outside the state. From the Patidar agitation for reservations to the counter protests, from the demands of Dalit communities, to the small traders and others claiming that their livelihood has been damaged – the story is about how economic processes are failing significant parts of the population. Increased inequality and actual worsening of material conditions of a significant segment of the population, which was then finding expression in different sectional demands even though it reflects a wider dissatisfaction. This was also associated with stagnant or even declining material standards for a significant proportion of the people. Unfortunately, relevant data in this regard are only available until 2011-12, or roughly the first decade of Modi’s tenure in the state government, but they are still telling. According to the National Sample Survey, between 1999-2000 and 2011-12, real per capita consumption in the rural areas of the state hardly improved, and for the bottom half of the population did not improve at all. Employment growth was also low, especially in rural areas, relative to output growth, and in general the state was a classic example of the ‘jobless growth’ that is now part of the overall Indian economic trajectory.

The wage illusions:
It could be argued that wages may have been low but then so was the relative cost of living, so that people could survive better even with lower wages because of lower prices. One way of examining that question is to compare wages with the state-level official poverty line that is based in some indicator of the prices of essential consumption items. So let us consider the wages of a male casual worker in the rural areas, and assume that this worker is willing to work 25 days in the month and is able to find such for 25 days. (Incidentally, the latter is actually a heroic assumption, since it is almost never met!) If such a worker were the sole earner of the family, how much would that wage income have generated? Specifically, how many people could he support to ensure consumption above the poverty line? Number of people a rural male casual worker could support above the poverty line with 25 days of work in a month at prevailing casual daily wage rate was the lowest of all states.

Unemployment:
Gujarat had severe unemployment. Infact, youths were being forced to hold menial jobs because of lack of opportunities in the employment market. With gold medals in MA & BEd degree several residents were earning ₹6000/month. Meanwhile, the small and medium enterprises that provide the vast bulk of employment have suffered hugely because of the disastrous demonetisation and the completely ham-handed implementation of the GST. Not only has the growth rate in jobs not increased in proportion to the growth rate of the state GDP, but the quality of the jobs has not improved, evident from the informalization process at work in the job market. In the Nano plant, out of 2,200 employees, 430 are “permanent workers”. They earned ₹ 12,500 in 2016, whereas the informal workers earned about ₹ 3,300 a month. No longer a vibrant & throbbing economy!

Agricultural Economy:
The sharp increase in agricultural incomes that was a major element in the previous growth has tapered off. The Reserve Bank of India’s latest data on economic performance of the states suggests that total real incomes in agriculture (according to the new GDP series with base year 2011-12) have stagnated since 2011-12, and even fell by 7% between 2013-14 and 2015-16. (By contrast, they increased by 24% in the ‘laggard’ state of Uttar Pradesh.)

Land crisis:
Land has been a source of tension between the agriculturalists and industry, in part, because the later has sometimes polluted both the surface and the subsurface water tables. Whether the voters are in a position to change the center of gravity of the political economy remains to be seen.

Health:
Gujarat’s malnutrition numbers are inversely proportional to its massively advertised growth figures. State did not have the right equipment and suffered from a lack of staff. According to the latest data available in the Sample Registration System Statistical Report 2015 and National Family Health Survey 2015-16, as many as 39 percent children in Gujarat are underweight as against the national average of 35. The state ranks 25th among 29 states in terms of underweight children below five years of age. It ranks 17th in terms of infant mortality rate, with 33 deaths per 1,000 live births.

Farmer crisis:
The farmers in Gujarat were, seething with anger due to the government announcing a very low minimum support price as against the increasing input costs of seeds, fertilisers and agricultural labour. And there was inordinate delay in releasing even the low payments. The groundnut farm sector is a case in point. Cotton and groundnut are two major cash crops in Gujarat, but many cotton farmers took to groundnut during the kharif season owing to increasing bollworm insect attacks. But for them, it is like landing in the fire from the frying pan. Less than a fourth of the groundnut farmers have got the MSP while hundreds of others are waiting in queue because of procedural delays.

Education:
Education will definitely not be a primary vexation of a man holding fake degrees but definitely if he wants to boost economy by liberal financial decisions then he cannot deflect it. State Education Minister Bhupendrasinh Chudasama said, “This is a matter of concern for us. Only 136 students scoring A1 grade in HSC science warrants attention,” he said. Asked why only 10 students in Ahmedabad district scored A1 grade despite schools offering required facilities and infrastructure, he said, “It is difficult to ascertain this change. But we will look into it and take action to ensure the schools perform better. Poor results and fewer A1 students are not only the school’s concern but also of parents and students.” GPCC Chief Amit Chavda attributes the result to “distraction” of BJP government from the core issues like education. “The government is interested only in privatisation and commercialisation of education, not its quality. We have just 10 students with A1 grade in Ahmedabad and only 136 in the state. If the government was worried about education, it would not deploy teachers for digging work and other party programmes,” he said. A survey conducted by education department found that of 32,772 government schools, 12,000 schools are run by just one or two teachers, and there are 15,171 schools which have less than 100 students. Government’s education policies and performance cannot become a driver of social mobilisation and electoral strategies. However, they do reveal a regime’s ideological orientation, as well as its commitment to provide for public goods sufficiently. Due to high expenditure spend in corporate sector, Gujarat was left with limited funds for education.

Women Condition:
When it comes to female participation in the workforce, according to the Organisation for Economic Coordination and Development, (OECD) Economic Survey of India 2015, Gujarat ranked a woeful 17th out of 35 States and Union Territories in the country. According to this survey, in the BJP’s ‘Model’ state, only 30% of Gujarat’s women are currently a part of the labour force. In 2014, another survey, ‘Low Female Employment in a period of High Growth: Insights from a Primary Survey in Uttar Pradesh & Gujarat’, commissioned by the International Labour Organisation and conducted by the Institute of Applied Manpower Research (IAMR), had discovered that the number of female workers in Gujarat has steadily declined from 2004. According to the report, in rural Gujarat, the female work participation rate has rapidly declined from 43% (2005) to 32% in 2010 and further still to 28% in the following year. This, at a time when the GDP of the state grew by nearly 10% in the same decade- an illustration of the fact that growth in the state has clearly not been gender inclusive.

Hunger and Poverty:
India, which scored 66th place in the 2008 Global Hunger list of 88 countries, does not have a single state in the ‘low hunger´ or ’moderate hunger’ categories. Gujarat stood 9th in the seriously alarming category.
Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) believe’s that poverty manifests itself in different kinds of deprivation — lack of food, shelter, sanitation, schooling, health care, and so on. Starting with a list of basic deprivations, a household is considered “poor” if it has more than a given proportion (say one third) of these deprivations.There is some inevitable arbitrariness in the specification of basic deprivations, but nevertheless, the MPI is a very useful supplement to other poverty indicators. In the MPI ranking of Indian States(2014) at Oxford University, Gujarat comes 9th among 20 major Indian States.

Sex ratio:
Gujarat Rank in terms of sex ratio is 25th out of the all the Indian states with a ratio of 1.09 or 920 and 1.09 or 919 in 2001 & 2011 census respectively. Before dreaming to protect women of the country Mr.modi should have focused on his state.

Human Development Index:
A 2014 report said Gujarat performance in improving human development in 12 years below national average. The report went a long way to suggest that the percolation theory – which presupposes improvement in social sector even as economic growth rate improves — does not really work.

It could be possible, with effective media management, for these facts to be concealed from voters in the rest of the country, as they mostly were in 2014. So the electorate outside Gujarat could therefore fall for the tall claims made on behalf of ‘Modinomics’ and vote for someone who they thought would generate positive economic transformation and productive employment generation across the entire country, using the magic he had supposedly already produced in the state of Gujarat. But the hard reality of lack of developments would presumably be hard to conceal from the people of Gujarat themselves.

Disclaimer

Any views or opinions represented in this blog are personal and belong solely to the blog owner and do not represent those of people, institutions or organizations that the owner may or may not be associated with in professional or personal capacity, unless explicitly stated. The views or opinions are not intended to malign any religion, ethnic group, club, organization, company, or individual. All content provided on this blog is for informational purposes only. The owner will not be liable for any errors or omissions in this information nor for the availability of this information. The owner will not be liable for any losses, injuries, or damages from the display or use of this information. The blog owner is not responsible for the content in comments. This blog disclaimer is subject to change at anytime.

Women Reservation Bill- History,Controversy and status it holds India

This article is not for or against Women Reservation Bill. Its an amalgamation of different angles of viewing the bill and on the historical performance of this bill in the Indian parliament from way back 1993.

In a country like India where women are considered as the weaker section of the society the importance of this bill is perspicuous. Ironically, whenever in parliament the bill was raised the debate was conceptually wrong. Instead of arguing the importance of women in politics the argument should be on reservation in parliament irrespective of gender, as it plays the role of nationalism gimmick in form of unnecessary feminism. Rather than screening the dubiety of a women’s need of reservation in parliament as a substance of misogyny it should be gravely discussed in terms of the obstacles faced by a women candidate in her journey of reaching the parliament of India.

Reservation essence was historical inequality and under representation. It is a question of representation of people who have been denied that in institutions for millennia and the discrimination and impediment attitude towards women in politics is nothing new and thus their vast representation in parliament will obviously give an open challenge to that mindset.

History of the Bill:

In 1993, a constitutional amendment was passed in India that called for a random one third of village council leader, or pradhan, positions in gram panchayat to be reserved for women leading to 33.3 percent seats reservation in panchayat elections. The experience of women’s reservation at the panchayat level has been very encouraging. A million women are being elected to the panchayats in the country every five years.This is the largest mobilization of women in public life in the world.

There was a long-term plan to extend this reservation to parliament and legislative assemblies. However, it’s opponents considered this preferential treatment of women in India as discrimination against them in admissions to schools, colleges, and universities and then the decision was tossed out.

The H D Deve Gowda-led United Front government drafted a proposed legislation to reserve 33.3 percent seats in Parliament and state legislatures for women . The Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha on September 12, 1996. Though it had been introduced in Parliament several times since then, the Bill did not be pass because of lack of political consensus.

Initially, the bill provided Reservation for women at each level of legislative decision-making, starting with the Lok Sabha, down to state and local legislatures. If the Bill is passed, one-third of the total available seats would be reserved for women in national, state, or local governments. In continuation of the existing provisions already mandating reservations for scheduled caste and scheduled tribes, one-third of such SC and ST candidates must be women.

Its proponents said it would lead to gender equality in Parliament, resulting in the empowerment of women as a whole. Historically, the Bill’s supporters say, women are deprived in India. Increased political participation of women will help them fight the abuse, discrimination, and inequality they suffer from but then various political parties staunchly opposed it because they feared many of their male leaders would not get a chance to fight elections if 33.3 percent seats are reserved for women. The Bill had also been opposed by politicians from the socially and economically backward classes. They argued that reservation would only help women of the elitist groups to gain seats, therefore causing further discrimination and under-representation to the poor and backward classes. From day one, Lalu Prasad Yadav of the Rashtriya Janata Dal and Mulayam Singh Yadav of the Samajwadi Party have been the main political forces opposed to the Bill. Lalu Prasad Yadav said the Bill ‘would deny adequate representation to other sections of society.’ He favored 10 to 15 percent reservation for women. ‘My party is not opposed to women’s reservation, but the case of Dalits, backward classes, Muslims and other religious minorities should not be overlooked,’ was his argument. Mulayam Singh Yadav favored making it mandatory for political parties to give 10 percent of election tickets to women. His argument was that ” if inadequacy of representation is the issue, why not reservation for Muslim women, there are only two in the present Lok Sabha? If 33.3 per cent reservation for women is added to the already existing 22.5 percent for scheduled castes and tribes, more than 55 percent of seats in Parliament would be reserved. This would not be fair to other sections of the population” he said when he was the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh.

In the May 2004 general election, 539 candidates were elected to the 14th Lok Sabha. Only 44 of them are women. The low number of elected women prompted the Election Commission to write to the government about the need for providing adequate representation to women leading to fuss being created in 2005 about raising a bill which would give reserved seats to women in parliament. Then the the law ministry had prepared two drafts of the Women’s Reservation Bill. The first envisaged reservation of 33.3 percent seats for women within the existing strength of the two Houses of Parliament. The second called for increasing the strength of the two Houses by 33.3 percent. The existing 545 seats in the Lok Sabha will increase to 900 if this draft of the Bill was enacted. But consensus had been elusive on either of the two. The then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh convened an all-party meeting on 23rd August 2005 to arrive a political consensus on the issue. All the parties agreed reservation for women is a must, but they continued to differ on the quantum of reservation.
Then the UPA govt in 2004 introduced the bill in parliament making two more additions to the initial points drafted, Reserved seats may be allotted by rotation to different constituencies in the state or union territory. Reservation of seats for women shall cease to exist 15 years after the commencement of this Amendment Act.

Before it was raised in 2008 the Women’s Reservation Bill was a political raw nerve for nearly a decade. It was always triggering heated debates in Parliament and outside. Its advocates had said the Bill is essential for active political participation of women and the opponents argued that reservation would only help women of elitist groups gain political power, aggravating the plight of the poor and deprived sections making irrational controversies. Then the opponents argued that it would perpetuate the unequal status of women since they would not be perceived to be competing on merit and contended that this policy diverts attention from the larger issues of electoral reform such as decriminalization of politics and inner party democracy. They also said that rotation of reserved constituencies in every election may reduce the incentive for an MP to work for his constituency as he may be ineligible to seek re-election from that constituency. Reservation of seats in Parliament restricts choice of voters to women candidates. Therefore, some experts had suggested alternate methods such as reservation in political parties and dual member constituencies.

2008, women accounted for 18 percent of parliament members worldwide, and only 13 countries had a female head of government. This under representation had prompted governments to adopt reservation policies, which ensured that women will have a role in political leadership by reserving a certain proportion of seats for female candidates. Reservation policies clearly had a strong impact on women’s representation, and some evidence suggests that women and men have different policy preferences. However, very little is known about the actual impact of women’s political representation on policy decisions.

The controversial yet historic women reservation bill was then finally passed by Rajya Sabha on 9th March 2010 after two days of high drama which saw the suspension of seven members who violently disrupted the proceedings. 186 votes were in favour while 1 was against. RJD, JD(U) and SP threatened the withdrawal of the bill. Members of the BSP walked out from parliament because the bill was passed. However, the then prime minister Manmohan Singh and leader of the opposition Arun Jaitley praised the Rajya Sabha for passing the bill.

However, the Lok Sabha never voted on the bill. The bill lapsed after the dissolution of the 15th Lok Sabha in 2014. Despite the brute majority BJP could not pass Women’s reservation bill in Loksabha! But they can pass 10% reservation bill in 3 days. That clearly showed the mindset of Regressive Specimen of Sangh, “Let’s appease the upper caste first…Women can wait”. Plus there is acceptance in their party of women hatred. The recent example of clamorous assaulter MJ Akbar tweeting barefacedly despite being accused of several molestation cases with a despicable verified tick shows bjp’s view on women!😠

Lastly, I would like to say that women are truly empowered when women in power are respected- giving a trust in democracy in the hearts of women civilians in this nation. What after representation? Why isn’t their much women in parliament? Ever wondered? The answer to both the questions is one word – misogyny.

Even the women in the Indian parliament are victims of blatant sexism by male politicians. The root of this lies in hidden harassment of women inside the parties in ground level. On 2013, sexual harassment of women in workplace act was introduced to stop this barbarity. However, it continued and probably will never end because their isn’t one particular solution to women atrocities in India ; no matter how many times politicians convert themselves into feminists before elections and promise. If votes wouldn’t had been the real motto then it wouldn’t have taken about 11-14 years for Rajya Sabha to pass a bill despite knowing there is much more to do for women. The job doesn’t ends after giving representation. It’s needs to be maintained and protected by not only politicians but also by the citizens by giving positive approach as there are times when citizens give a sexist outlook to a women MP of their area by body shaming pictures made viral around social media. The women MP should be made feel secured and that her voice won’t be eradicated because of her gender orientation by other members of the politicians.

Until and unless this social patriarchal approach of citizens on women changes and misogynism reduces the women’s reservation bill is like an icing on a half baked cake.

Disclaimer
Any views or opinions represented in this blog are personal and belong solely to the blog owner and do not represent those of people, institutions or organizations that the owner may or may not be associated with in professional or personal capacity, unless explicitly stated. The views or opinions are not intended to malign any religion, ethnic group, club, organization, company, or individual. All content provided on this blog is for informational purposes only. The owner will not be liable for any errors or omissions in this information nor for the availability of this information. The owner will not be liable for any losses, injuries, or damages from the display or use of this information. The blog owner is not responsible for the content in comments. This blog disclaimer is subject to change at anytime.

World Happiness Report- Importance, Methadology & Status of India as of today

We live in an age of stark contradictions. The world enjoys technologies of unimaginable sophistication; yet has at least one billion people without enough to eat each day. The world economy is propelled to soaring new heights of productivity through ongoing technological and organizational advance; yet is relentlessly destroying the natural environment in the process. Countries achieve great progress in economic development as conventionally measured; yet along the way succumb to new crises of obesity, smoking, diabetes, depression, and other ills of modern life. In such a state world happiness report plays an exemplary role.

The World Happiness Report is an annual publication of the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network. It contains articles, and rankings of national happiness based on respondent ratings of their own lives, which the report also correlates with various life factors. Data is collected from people in over 150 countries. Each variable measured reveals a populated-weighted average score on a scale running from 0 to 10 that is tracked over time and compared against other countries. These variables currently include: real GDP per capita, social support, healthy life expectancy, freedom to make life choices, generosity, and perceptions of corruption. Each country is also compared against a hypothetical nation called Dystopia. Dystopia represents the lowest national averages for each key variable and is, along with residual error, used as a regression benchmark.

History:

In July 2011, the UN General Assembly adopted resolution 65/309 Happiness: Towards a Holistic Definition of Development inviting member countries to measure the happiness of their people and to use the data to help guide public policy. On April 2, 2012, this was followed by the first UN High Level Meeting called Well being and Happiness: Defining a New Economic Paradigm, which was chaired by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and Prime Minister Jigme Thinley of Bhutan, a nation that adopted gross national happiness instead of gross domestic product as their main development indicator. The first World Happiness Report was released on April 1, 2012 as a foundational text for the UN High Level Meeting: Well-being and Happiness: Defining a New Economic Paradigm, drawing international attention. The report outlined the state of world happiness, causes of happiness and misery, and policy implications highlighted by case studies. In 2013, the second World Happiness Report was issued, and since then has been issued on an annual basis with the exception of 2014. The report primarily uses data from the Gallup World Poll. Each annual report is available to the public to download on the World Happiness Report website.

Factors:

In the reports, experts in fields including economics, psychology, survey analysis, and national statistics, describe how measurements of well-being can be used effectively to assess the progress of nations, and other topics. Each report is organized by chapters that delve deeper into issues relating to happiness, including mental illness, the objective benefits of happiness, the importance of ethics, policy implications, and links with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) approach to measuring subjective well-being and other international and national efforts.
In addition to ranking countries happiness and well-being levels, each report has contributing authors and most focus on a subject. The data used to rank countries in each report is drawn from the Gallup World Poll, as well as other sources such as the World Values Survey, in some of the reports. The Gallup World Poll questionnaire measures 14 areas within its core questions:

(1) business & economic,
(2) citizen engagement,
(3) communications & technology,
(4) diversity (social issues),
(5) education & families,
(6) emotions (well-being),
(7) environment & energy,
(8) food & shelter,
(9) government and politics,
(10) law & order (safety),
(11) health,
(12) religion and ethics,
(13) transportation and
(14) work.

However, the paramount importance is given to the following variables;
– GDP per Capita
– Healthy Life Expectancy
– Freedom to make life choices
– Social support
– Generosity
– Perception of Corruption

2019 Ranking:
As of March 2019, Finland was ranked the happiest country in the world twice in row with Denmark, Norway, Iceland, and the Netherlands holding the next top positions.

India’s performance:
2013 – Rank 111
2015 – Rank 117
2016 – Rank 118
2017 – Rank 127
2018 – Rank 133
2019 – Rank 140

Therefore, for the common man in India, things have been becoming worse in all these points. Mr. Modi’s favorite proverbial straw PAKISTAN is already ranked much much higher than us at 67. If the current rate continues, we will probably become World’s worst country in this regard before 2022. That’s when Mr. Modi says New India will be achieved.

The Indian government has gone in a blitz with its own people because it wants to impose one imagination on 1.3 billion of us. It wants to impose one singular, suffocating memory on our 1.3 billion memories.

This is the price of hatred. Aspiration is turning into anger. Indians are victimized and harassed by the government. They face institutionalized extortion and arbitrary cases. Today in India the fear is palpable.

And while India burns, all they do is talk but their slogans. But their slogans have a shelf life. What exactly have they translated into? Nothing
Because the people in charge are convinced that they have a monopoly on knowledge. They are convinced that only they understand. That no one in this country understands anything about India or the dreams of its people except them. But what is a country if it isn’t a multitude of voices? What is a country if it isn’t a conversation ? India is a tremendous institution but this institution believes in a liberal ideology, it believes in discussions, it believes in listening to people, it believes in conversations.

Tragically the conversation in our country today is not about jobs, healthcare or education. Today the only thing India talks about is what you are allowed to eat, who is allowed to protest, and what we can say or rather what we cannot say. Activists and journalists are threatened; they are shot dead for expressing their views. People are killed because of their religious beliefs. Dalits are beaten into submission. Judges investigating sensitive cases die under mysterious circumstances. And through all this, the government has nothing to say. Our strength so far has been that we have done all this peacefully. What can destroy our momentum is the opposite energy. Hatred, anger and violence and the politics of polarization which has raised its ugly head in India today. Violence and hatred distract people from the task at hand. The politics of hate divides and polarizes India making millions of people feel that the have no future in their own country. In today’s connected world, this is extremely dangerous. It isolates people and make them vulnerable to radical ideas.

Together, we must steer India back to its original strengths. We need to make India the centre piece of ahimsa, of non violence, of compassion. We need to bring our conversation back from violence and hatred to one of progress, jobs and love between our people. The idea of non-violence or ‘ahimsa’ as we call it in India is what allows this huge mass of people to rise up together. Uniting India’s religion, castes and languages would simply be impossible without it. It is this idea that Mahatma Gandhi fashioned into a powerful but beautiful political weapon. The common conception in the West is that people have ideas. You all say, I have an idea. But there is an alternative way of looking at the world. The counter intuitive notion that instead of people having ideas that ideas have people. So instead if I have an idea, an idea has me. This notion is the basis of ahimsa or non-violence as taught by Gandhi. If one accepts the notion that ideas capture people then the only possible response to a person infected by a bad idea, any person, is love and compassion. The only action you can take against him is to try and rid him of the bad idea and replace it with a good one. Using violence against a person who is infected by a bad idea actually results in the idea spreading more aggressively, multiplying among the people who care for him and love him. This non-violent philosophy in action has traveled far beyond India. It is this very idea, this beautiful struggle, that is viciously under attack in India today. But it is also the only idea on which humanity can survive the connectivity of the 21st century and come out unscathed stronger.

The courageous men and women who fought non-violently and justly for our liberty imagined a nation where all its children would be free, where none would be discriminated on the basis of their caste, gender, religion or creed. They imagined a tolerant and fair India, who would force no agenda on any of its friends or neighbors but guide them along the path that we had traveled: one of unity and brotherhood. What we see today is defaming, a maligning of the Indian social fabric.

There was a time when every voice was a part of the harmony that makes India by not subscribing to black or white ideologies and believing in binaries as a partnerships between all its people. The incredible heritage that has brought more than a billion imaginations to light needs to be protected. In India today the mind is with fear, the head is not held high , knowledge is not free and it has broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls.

In a democracy like ours, if people are unhappy about something they have the right to protest against it. So if the number of bandhs, hartals and protests were considered to be an indication of the citizens’ dissatisfaction, ours would be off the charts. Our protests, like our culture, show great diversity. Think of anything and I bet you there has been a protest on it. Be it a film, a law, a ban, a proposed policy, loan waiver, inflation, a crime like rape, or a so-called god man or movie stars going to jail. The list is endless. Moreover, for every protest there is a counter-protest, showing that the applicability of Newton’s 3rd law goes beyond the discipline of Physics. What ultimately matters is how people feel and freedom of choice makes people happier. Even generosity factor plays an important role.
“Nation’s greatness should be measured in the generosity of our spirit and willingness to help others.” – Barack Obama
The opportunities are many and the need is great. The key is to get involved. You can make a difference!

When we talk about change we talk about infrastructure, healthcare, education but these things are only efficacious when people are happy. Imagine a nation which supposedly has best schools, best technology best roads, best jobs but people are sad. Would you love to spend your life there?
When you see politicians of the ruling on party giving speeches you will notice a lot hatred and anger in it. They try to divide us, they create hatred amongst the common Indians leading to widespread anger towards each other breaking the barriers of unity in diversity. What we learn in the World Happiness Report is that happiness differs systematically across societies and over time, for reasons that are identifiable, and even alterable through the ways in which public policies are designed and delivered. It makes sense, in other words, to pursue policies to raise the public’s happiness as much as it does to raise the public’s national income. According to most western academics and intelligence agencies, in the middle of the last century, India was supposed to fail. We are 29 states covering every religion in the world. We have 17 official languages and hundreds of different dialects and a terrain that runs from the Himalayas all the way to the deserts. Most of these experts didn’t expect india to survive and predicted it would fall apart torn to pieces by its own diversity and contradictions. And yet somehow, as Indira Gandhi said, when asked whether india leans left or right, India came out standing straight and tall. And it’s high time we must work to maintain the straight and tall India otherwise undeclared emergency will continue and be considered legitimate.

Disclaimer:

Any views or opinions represented in this blog are personal and belong solely to the blog owner and do not represent those of people, institutions or organizations that the owner may or may not be associated with in professional or personal capacity, unless explicitly stated. The views or opinions are not intended to malign any religion, ethnic group, club, organization, company, or individual. All content provided on this blog is for informational purposes only. The owner will not be liable for any errors or omissions in this information nor for the availability of this information. The owner will not be liable for any losses, injuries, or damages from the display or use of this information. The blog owner is not responsible for the content in comments. This blog disclaimer is subject to change at anytime.

The failure of beti bacchao; beti padhao and the compelling change requisite as times up.

Elections are knocking at the doors, this time choose candidates wisely. Check their background and crime history.
Its been 5 years the bjp government is in power. How much have the women in India progressed? Ironically, instead of progressing the condition of women in India have massively gone back to the ages 18th century and crimes have increased at a high rate.

•The BJP government has the highest number of members accused of rape.
A study released by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) shows that the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has the most number of MPs/MLAs with cases of crimes against women.
ADR analysed 4,845 out of 4,896 election affidavits of current MPs and MLAs to arrive at these startling figures. These include 768 of 776 affidavits of MPs and 4,077 out of 4,120 MLAs from all states.
The study says that of 1,580 (33 per cent) MPs/MLAs analysed with declared criminal cases, 48 have declared cases related to crimes against women.
Among various recognized parties, BJP has the highest number of such MPs/ MLAs, 12, followed by Shiv Sena with 7 and AITC with 6.
Of these 48 MPs/MLAs with declared cases related to Crimes against women, 45 are MLAs and 3 are MPs.
Maharashtra has the highest number with 12 MPs/ MLAs that have declared cases of crimes against women, followed by West Bengal with 11 and Odisha and Andhra Pradesh each with 5.
These people should resign, however, Resignation of a rape accused man in bjp sounds like the wildest dreams of epic people. But seriously, it’s high time for not only the government but also we citizens to understand the fact that a women is not a toy.
Among the major parties in the last 5 years, 47 candidates with declared cases of crimes against women were given tickets by the BJP.
How can we expect safety from such a party?

Recently, in a stage a bjp minister publicly harrassed a women. And guess with whom was he sharing stage? Mr.Modi. This government has failed miserably in the area of Women-safety, as the criminals are being served with assembly seats and cabinet berths to keep them safe from being caught.
BJP is keeping north east in news for all the wrong reasons. As if the religious policies were not enough, now witness the shameless acts of these perverts too.
The BJP Minister knows they are going to get kicked out of North East anyway considering the violence and instability they have created there.
Hence, looking to make the most of the remaining time in power.
Outraging women’s modesty is favourite past time of BJP leaders.
The act of Tripura Minister, who is groping the lady Minister is outrageous.
When PM & CM of Tripura are on stage this man has the guts to do such a shameful act. This shows PM has lost control over his BJP ministers.
Goons of RSS have already made their name in raping, lynching, molesting.
बहुत हुआ नारी पर वार ।
अबकी बार मोदी सरकार ।।
Probably the word ‘होगा’ got auto-corrected to ‘हुआ’.
A women has her own rights and deserves to be utmost respected .

•50% of the beti baachao ; beti padhao fund was used in publicity
Publicity and Bjp government go parallel with each other.
Narendra Modi launched the Beti Bachao; Beti Padhao scheme on January 22, 2015 with two related aims. The quantitative aim was to address the declining Child Sex Ratio in India and the qualitative aim was to “change mindsets regarding the girl child”. The approach, conceptualised by the government, involved “multi-sectoral action” through three ministries: Women and Child Development, Health and Family Welfare and Human Resource Development.

Four years later, data released by the government shows that its main aim has been publicity. Over 56 percent of the funds allocated under the ‘Beti Bachao Beti Padhao’ scheme from 2014-15 to 2018-19, were spent on “media related activities”. In contrast to this, less than 25 percent of the funds were disbursed to districts and states. Over 19 percent of the funds weren’t released by the government in the first place.
Myth= Beti Baachao and Beti Padhao
Reality= BJP Se Betiyan Baachao

•Rape Statistics in India
Indians are too overwhelmed by ‘the glory’ of their country to admit that something is not right. So you can forget about going to experts to seek advice (the equivalent of going to a doctor in the case of cancer).

India is not an individual person but a nation among many others who share this common place called Earth. But ‘the doctor’, a.k.a the Thomson Reuters Foundation, went ahead and did the examination anyway and provided their diagnosis:

“India ranked world’s most dangerous country for women.”
This thing called denial is weirdly interesting. Especially the kind you can see in Indians and politicians in particular. The Central Government of India has called this report an “effort to malign the country“. Yeah, like the Thomson Reuters Foundation belongs to ‘enemies’ Congress or Pakistan or China, right?

What’s most pathetic about the denial is the comparison based on data. It is like saying “The cancer in my brain is not 91%, but 19% and the doctor is crazy.”

There is no way this country is going to ever develop if the women and girl children are unsafe.
This is not the supposed idealogy of a so called developed nation or the so called ‘acche din’ agenda.
On an average eight women are raped and 30 abducted everyday in UP, where more than 100 FIRs of crime against
women’ are lodged. What is the PM and CM of state doing for the women?
The atrocities against Dalits are increasing in UP. The brutal rape of dalit girls in UP is direful. It’s HIGH TIME Gau”Rakshaks“are need to be replaced by Mahila”Rakshaks”!!
The city name changing drama seemed like a”permissive waste“!
Six Dalit women are raped every day. Dalit rights are human rights!

I am sure by now many women of our nation has given curses to this land, how will this country develop with curses of women!?

•Domestic Violence against women in India
Domestic violence has serious economic, social and health consequences – not only for women and children, but also for the wider family. It is an acute problem in India. National Family Health Survey (NFHS) data indicate that over 30% of Indian women have been physically, sexually or emotionally abused by their husbands at some point in their lives.
The recent global and Indian #MeToo movement has revealed that many Indian women have experienced harassment or assault at the workplace and yet kept silent about it for years. It observed similar patterns among women who have been abused by their husbands. Using NFHS data and ethnographic data from a Mumbai slum, it was found that the majority of Indian women who experience domestic violence do not share it with anybody or seek help. Among those who do, a “pyramid of reporting” of domestic violence exists: Informal sources (natal family followed by friends) are favoured sources of support and very few women report violence via institutional routes (nongovernmental organisations and police).
Unfortunately, the barbaric law and order system in today’s India has divorced the faith of victimized civilian. Government must refrain it’s system.

•Meet the Narcissistic Maun Modi
2013 (before the elections) :
“Remember nirbhaya when you go to vote”
2018:
“Don’t politise rape!”

What a drastic change of human character!
Our PM is in deep slumber! He’s not concerned about anyone. He’ll never act on these criminals and will not reply to questions asked to him about his pre 2014 points raised by him.
The PM speaks on almost every incident which he is not responsible for, but he never speaks on law and order issues under his nose, and BJP leaders involved in shameful atrocoties against women. Molesters immediately or he will too develop a 56 inch chest. Mr.Modi keeps quiet when his supporters lynch. Mr.Modi keeps quiet when his colleagues rape. Mr.Modi stays mute when a woman is groped in front of him. Narendra Modi is the real mute Prime Minister who loses his voice in critical matters. The cracks in the heart are actually their part. You don’t have to cover it, you don’t have to hide it. If its because of the cruel party, let the society see it and decide it.
Mr.Modi’s silence in such issues is unacceptable.
Recently, Mr.Modi said,
“There used to be rapes in this country earlier too, it is a shame that we still hear about such cases. Now, culprits are hanged within 3 days, 7days, 11 days & a month. Steps are being taken continuously to get daughters justice & results are evident.”
However, Mr.Modi must answer,
Are Asifa rapists hanged?
Are mandsaur rapists punished!
Did 40 children of shelter home get justice?
Did Kuldeep Sengar of Unnao Gangrape resign?
Why was he silent since the past 5 years?
Does he condemn the fact that women are still afraid to walk on the streets?
He is basically a pathological liar. Only 4 executions have happened till now in India!
Women suffer decades to get justice! Amongst the 4 executions only 1 man was accused of rape. So only one rapist got hanged in India till now.

•Misogynism
Hybrid calf, jersey cow, 50 crore girlfriend, despite being a women, vidwa, Ramayana comment to Renuka Chowdhury by mr.modi were odious.
And misogynistic remarks by his colleagues are definitely endless.

•Women Reservation Bill
After all these barbaric activities, the least thing bjp could have done is to pass the women reservation bill. On one hand bjp says they want to empower women and on other hand it doesn’t passes women reservation bill. This pellucids their real intentions.
Women are the change this society needs. They are the point from where all other powers radiate out. They are the most strongest minds this world runs on.

•TimesUp! ; An urgent hour of change
Women in India suffer in silence and are a victim of harassment-cum-exploitation at every stage of their lives. Indeed, it is actually a heartrending reality and a matter of grave concern to note that everyday, innumerable women are raped, molested, eve-teased and assaulted across the globe.
It is immoral to compare statistics of women atrocities in India in terms of respective governments. The rising atrocities against women be it rape, abuse, discrimination, domestic violence is caused by our social patriarchal mindsets which need to be changed and male chauvinism needs decline, thats the least thing we citizens as the integral part of the society can do and empower the women of this nation who are capable to face any uprising challenge.
The tragic truth is that every women has undergone the pain of molestation and faced some sort of abuse during their lifetime, either directly or indirectly.
The question which really begs for an answer is that whenever any kind of crime happens with women, why are we all silent as the members of society ? Don’t we all have any moral and social responsibility to stand upright and defend our women’s honor, prestige and integrity ?
Why do we refuse to raise our voice ? Are we also waiting for that one day when our own mothers, sisters, wives and daughters will come home after becoming victims of harassment?


Do not suffer in silence. Raise your voice before it is too late. The world suffers a lot, not because of the violence of bad people but because of the silence of good people.


The time has come to realize that we must gather the required courage to support, respect and protect our women as well as ensure their safety, security and survival at any cost. Be the change you wish to see in the world. 😊

Disclaimer
Any views or opinions represented in this blog are personal and belong solely to the blog owner and do not represent those of people, institutions or organizations that the owner may or may not be associated with in professional or personal capacity, unless explicitly stated. The views or opinions are not intended to malign any religion, ethnic group, club, organization, company, or individual. All content provided on this blog is for informational purposes only. The owner will not be liable for any errors or omissions in this information nor for the availability of this information. The owner will not be liable for any losses, injuries, or damages from the display or use of this information. The blog owner is not responsible for the content in comments. This blog disclaimer is subject to change at anytime.

India’s Leading Environmental Crisis and the role of urban sprawl in it.

In politics you cannot win votes by environmental reforms. You will never see politicians speaking on environment. However, that’s the subject they should speak on instead of religion, cow and basic issues like unemployment, never-ending corruption, farmers and women.
India is facing the worst environmental crisis since Independence. While India has one of the fastest growing populations in the world today, it’s far behind most others when it comes to preserving the environment and the ecology. Today, our country is riddled with a number of environmental concerns which have only aggravated in the last few decades.

According to the WHO, India is home to 14 of the world’s most polluted cities. All are in the north, stretching from Jodhpur in Rajasthan eastwards to Gaya in Bihar. Recently-released data published in The Lancet indicates that one in every eight deaths in India is related to air pollution. Authorities are taking steps to curb the menace, including the formation of the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) which is looking at long-term measures. The health effects of air pollution imperil human lives. Approximately 80% of our air pollution stems from hydrocarbons released by vegetation, so let’s not go overboard in setting & enforcing tough emission standards from man-made sources. Out of the all the cities in India, Delhi is the most polluted. Air pollution is a really sensitive issue. Its high time the Aam Aadmi Party govt looks into it. Its more important than dharna’s! Seems like the LG again is the excuse for incompetency.

Groups have warned of a looming water crisis in India, whether it be falling groundwater levels or contaminated riverways and water bodies, or Himalayan springs drying up. Niti Aayog released its Composite Water Management Index last year, which is a useful summary of water management issues and processes across the country, and there are numerous cases in the NGT involving water.

India produces far less waste than developed countries, yet struggles with how to deal with it, with cities often seemingly drowning in waste. Landfills sometimes catch on fire, causing major health concerns. India is among the top five e-waste producers in the world, yet doesn’t have mechanisms for monitoring or managing it.

Urban Sprawl is one of the main factors leading to environmental crisis. In India Urban Sprawl is an issue that can only be reduced not stopped. Urban Sprawl is pretty much linked with other environmental issues. It is the root cause of the majority of problems in India, so in order to solve other environmental issues Urban Sprawl needs to be controlled. Urban Sprawl is an emerging issue. By the advancement of technology it has a strategy of rise of mass produced by automotives houses and highway systems . Antagonists of Urban Sprawl have become analyst and are citing the government as a catalyst. It’s high time the government should think about this issue, however it is rare weapon to grab votes. Instead of thinking about elections, by thinking about the nation’s prosperity Urban Sprawl should be made a matter of concern.

Urban Developers are grabbing with the challenge of the ways people are coming in to living in cities which are already crumbling under the weight of growth. Cities are the nerve centres of a growing economy however low density residential parks is the description abbreviation of India in a signatural manifestation form.

Seeing the current scenario it can be predicted that if immediate action is not taken against Urban Sprawl then a huge impact will fall on air pollution, increased traffic rate, agricultural capacity, increased car dependency, high tax, increased run off into rivers and lakes, harmful effects on health, increased flood, loss of natural habitats, wildlife and open space.
Urban Sprawl is ensuring environmental degradation.

The worst effect on Urban Sprawl is on air pollution. The current air pollution rate is 110 µg/m³. Urban Sprawl is also creating water distribution issues and leading to water over consumption as more water is being consumed for lawn watering and other landscape activities, which can strain local water system.

Urban Sprawl is a socio-technical phenomenon affecting all of us in some way than the other. Further evolution of Urban Sprawl can be more ferocious for our nation. It is high time we should now find prevention methods. As citizens , the least thing we can do is to significantly invest in public transportation to reduce Urban Sprawl by reducing the clutter of traffic going on from cities to Sprawl areas.

India should aim at revitalizing cities and older towns including older suburbs instead of creating new townships and communities of less population, thus, providing a better sense of place to live in a good community.

We citizens must try to reduce Urban Sprawl in India and make it a nation with least environmental issues hence providing less amount of urbanisation in the upcoming years .


Disclaimer

Any views or opinions represented in this blog are personal and belong solely to the blog owner and do not represent those of people, institutions or organizations that the owner may or may not be associated with in professional or personal capacity, unless explicitly stated. The views or opinions are not intended to malign any religion, ethnic group, club, organization, company, or individual. All content provided on this blog is for informational purposes only. The owner will not be liable for any errors or omissions in this information nor for the availability of this information. The owner will not be liable for any losses, injuries, or damages from the display or use of this information. The blog owner is not responsible for the content in comments. This blog disclaimer is subject to change at anytime.

Health is no longer India’s Wealth:-(

Since independence, we have come a long way in terms of various advancements in healthcare. Recently, medical researchers during conferences and summits in luxury hotels of metropolitans have some fancy terms to talk about such as IOT in healthcare, e-health, m-health, virtual clinic, remote surgeries, robotic operations, EMRs, EHRs, Aadhar integration, big data analytics on the EMRs, advance prediction of an outbreak, promoting generic drugs, auto sutures and what not. Over the past few decades, rapid economic growth has allowed millions of Indians to lift themselves out of poverty. But the lack of quality and affordable medical care has meant that millions continue to be deeply vulnerable to health shocks.

Financial Burden:
A Mint analysis of data from the last National Sample Survey Office health survey conducted in 2013-14 shows that 36 million households incurred health expenses that exceeded the annual per capita consumption of those households. To put the number in perspective, India’s most populous state, Uttar Pradesh, consisted of 33 million households when the last census was conducted in 2011. Rural India accounted for 25 million of the 36 million households, which faced catastrophic health shocks, while urban India accounted for the remaining 11 million. While the poorest are the most exposed financially to health shocks, even among those who are better-off, a significant proportion face health-related financial shocks.
Among the bottom quintile (poorest 20% based on household consumption expenditure), nearly one in five households witness a health shock that wipes out the annual consumption expenses of at least one member of that household. Among the top quintile, it is about 11%. Nationally, 14.4% households face catastrophic health expenditure, the analysis shows. It is, however, worth noting that these figures are likely to underestimate the true burden of health shocks in the country, given that many families opt not to go for any treatment even when a member faces a life-threatening disease. Many families are simply too poor to contemplate a long-haul hospital stay. While the exact extent of this phenomenon is not known, there are some clues that one can obtain from the NSSO data. The data show that among India’s elites (or top 5%), most people (98%) receive some kind of medical attention before death. However, when it comes to the bottom quartile (or the bottom 25%), a staggering 39% do not receive any medical attention before death.

Lack of Funding in Health Sector:
Notwithstanding a significant rise in allocation to the health sector in the 2017-18 budget over the previous year, the Union government’s spending on health and family welfare amounted to merely 0.3% of GDP (gross domestic product), budget data shows. Even after including states, the overall government expenditure on health remains extraordinarily low. Against the recommendations of the WHO that the total health expenditure should be 6.5% of the gross national product (GDP), India spends only 4.8% of GDP on health. Further, public health expenditure is just 1.2% of GDP, or barely 25% of the total health expenditure; the rest of the money is paid by patients directly to private doctors and hospitals (10) for whom profits may take precedence over their patients’ interests. Even in government hospitals, medical facilities favour the well-to-do and are often beyond the reach of the poor who need them the most. The allocation of funds is often determined by the influence and manipulations of hospital authorities, and the maintenance of government hospitals is poor (11). Public funding for research and development is inadequate and whatever meagre resources are available may actually be used by people at the top to serve their own interests.

Lack of Advanced Technology:
Technology convergence in healthcare is therefore expected to play a key role in improving accessibility, and meeting the challenges of infrastructure and manpower shortage. It’s not only about creating hospitals and utilising funds in the health sector, it’s also about empowering the technology. In case of diseases such as cancer India has failed to provide competent technology to deal with it.
Smartphone-led mobile technology and digitization of healthcare practices together are trying to bridge the supply–demand gap of healthcare professionals.

Lack of Infrastructure:
Currently the availability of doctors and nurses in India is low due to the limited number of medical professionals in the country. According to the Medical Council of India (MCI), the Doctor–Patient ratio in India is 1:1,674 against the WHO norm of 1:1,000. Hospital Bed-Patient ratio is 1:1000 against 3.5:1000 recommended by WHO. There is a complete neglect of rural population. According to KPMG report, 32% hospitals and 16% beds are available in the rural areas where nearly 75% of the population resides.

Lack of Transparency:
Healthcare players traditionally do not prefer to keep their prices transparent, unlike other industries which has since matured and the information asymmetry has reduced. Due to this there is widespread dissatisfaction, unhappiness and frustration amongst public about the high cost they pay and services they get in return.

Need for Effective Payment Mechanisms:
Besides the rural-urban divide, another key driver of India’s healthcare landscape is the high out-of-pocket expenditure (roughly 70%). This means that most Indian patients pay for their hospital visits and doctors’ appointments with straight up cash after care with no payment arrangements. According to the World Bank and National Commission’s report on Macroeconomics, only 5% of Indians are covered by health insurance policies [3]. Such a low figure has resulted in a nascent health insurance market which is only available for the urban, middle and high income population

Underdeveloped Medical Devices Sector:
The medical devices sector is the smallest piece of India’s healthcare pie. However, it is one of the fastest-growing sectors in the country like the health insurance marketplace. Till date, the industry has faced a number of regulatory challenges which has prevented its growth and development.

Overall seeing the burden is also reflected in the extraordinarily high share of out-of-pocket health expenses in the country. Out-of-pocket expenses are high not just in comparison to other large emerging markets, most of which are richer than India, but also in comparison to countries with a per-capita income level similar to that of India.Systemic reforms could help. Medical graduates spend vast sums acquiring degrees and opt to recoup costs in the private sector through specialisation, even if it is the public system and general practice areas that need them more. India desperately needs a holistic care system so that Healthcare services could be made easily accessible and affordable for the general masses. For affordability, insurance alone can’t address the challenges associated with expenses, such as consultation with doctors, diagnostic tests and medicines.
It’s high time politicians stop sucking our blood by rampant corruption and focus on the heathcare sector!

Disclaimer:

Any views or opinions represented in this blog are personal and belong solely to the blog owner and do not represent those of people, institutions or organizations that the owner may or may not be associated with in professional or personal capacity, unless explicitly stated. The views or opinions are not intended to malign any religion, ethnic group, club, organization, company, or individual. All content provided on this blog is for informational purposes only. The owner will not be liable for any errors or omissions in this information nor for the availability of this information. The owner will not be liable for any losses, injuries, or damages from the display or use of this information. The blog owner is not responsible for the content in comments. This blog disclaimer is subject to change at anytime

Mr.Vainglorious Technophile’s announcement and the history of ISRO and it’s achievements

15 days are left for election 2019 to start but Mr. Modi yet again proved that day (27/03/2019) that nothing more than being ludicrous decision maker. Mr. Modi had tweeted once that we need more humor in public life. Indeed the whole of India witnessed an immense kerfuffle that morning.

Tech Savy and Camera obsessed mr. 56 used Twitter that morning (11:23 am) that he is going to announce something of significant to the nation. Now since 15 days were left for the critical Indian General Elections and since Mr Modi was announcing instead of any other minister or by press release, this tweet created a havoc in India. The dark days of demonetization was remembered as on 8th Nov 2016 he had announced just like this, about banning 500 and 1000 rupee notes. This sudden decision of important announcement made all of us feel that maybe he is going to postpone election, or declare emergency or ban notes again. Every Indian was waiting for the announcement in front of the television screen even media eagerly waiting to hear the announcement. Mr. Modi in his tweet had clearly stated that the announcement will be between 11:45 am – 12:00 pm. However, his speech started around 12:20 pm. This delay was also creating a critical climax in the mind of normal civilians.

Mr. Modi started his speech praising ISRO(Indian Space Research Organization) and stated that India has successfully tested Anti-Satellite (ASAT) Missile making India the 4th country to acquire such a specialized and modern capacity after America, Russia and China.

While a successful A-SAT launch is a bold strategic move, PM making such a big deal of it personally shows a poll-eve desperation we hadn’t yet detected/suspected. It’s just a frantic new national security headline as Balakot has faded in a month. Now, the point is what was the need for him to announce? That also giving advanced notification. Didn’t he knew civilians will be tensed as it is 15 days before election. An ISRO achievement won’t change a mazdoor’s life. Our 45 minutes got wasted just like your 60 months. It’s clear- he’s on a reactive mode after Rahul Gandhi changed the election narrative to Economic with NYAY Indian Scientists worked for 9 years on Mission Shakti. Mr. Modi in just 5 minutes took away all the credit.

Some may now say that why am I claiming announcement of ISRO as time wastage. But, honestly answer these questions;

1)Will you vote for a leader for an ISRO achievement to have takej place during his party tenure despite Knowing the fact that this program started in 2010 and just got over in 2019?

2)Will you consider this outstanding for India or for developments taken during a certain party tenure?

3)Will an ISRO achievement erase unemployment, poverty and etc;?

4)Will an ISRO achievement really provide national security (mr.modi used this frequently in his speech today) to you individually?

Ask these questions to yourself, you will get the answer if you are honest enough to yourself. Now let’s talk about ISRO performance since Independence and why I think it is nothing new. Mr. Modi today indeed unanimously congratulated Manmohan Singh and Jawaharlal Nehru. Here’s how.

Modern space research in India is most visibly traced to the 1920s, when the scientist S. K. Mitra conducted a series of experiments leading to the sounding of the ionosphere by application of ground-based radio methods in Calcutta. Later, Indian scientists like C.V. Raman and Meghnad Saha contributed to scientific principles applicable in space sciences.

However, it was the period after 1945 that saw important developments being made in coordinated space research in India. Organised space research in India was spearheaded by two scientists: Vikram Sarabhai—founder of the Physical Research Laboratory at Ahmedabad—and Homi Bhabha, who established the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research in 1945.

The Indian National Committee for Space Research (INCOSPAR) was set up in 1962 by Jawaharlal Nehru, first Prime Minister of India. The prime objective of ISRO is to use space technology and its application to various national tasks. The Indian space programme was driven by the vision of Vikram Sarabhai, considered the father of the Indian Space Programme.

Formed in 1969, ISRO superseded the erstwhile Indian National Committee for Space Research (INCOSPAR) established in 1962 by the efforts of independent India’s first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, and his close aide and scientist Vikram Sarabhai. The establishment of ISRO thus institutionalized space activities in India.It is managed by the Department of Space, which reports to the Prime Minister of India. ISRO has put into operation two major satellite systems: Indian National Satellites (INSAT) for communication services and Indian Remote Sensing (IRS) satellites for management of natural resources. In July 2012, Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam said that research was being done by ISRO and DRDO for developing cost reduction technologies for access to space.

The Indian Space Research Organisation has carried out 97 spacecraft missions, 69 launch missions and planned many missions including Chandrayaan-2, and Aditya (spacecraft). ISRO also launches satellites for foreign countries. As of November 2018, ISRO has launched 239 satellites for 28 foreign countries. In January 2017, India launched 104 satellites in a single mission, out of which 96 were from the United States and the rest from the Netherlands, Kazakhstan, Israel, UAE and India, by using a single launch vehicle. This eclipsed the previous record of 37 held by Russia.

Here are some of the achievements of ISRO

Thumba: India’s space era dawned when the first two-stage sounding rocket was launched from Thumba in 1963.

Earth Satellite: India’s first satellite Aryabhatta was launched by the Soviet Union on 19 April 1975 from Kapustin Yar using a Kosmos-3M launch vehicle. (It was built by the ISRO) to gain experience in building and operating a satellite in space. India has launched 100 Indian satellites of many types as on 31 January 2018. Satellites have been launched from various vehicles, including those launched by Russian, European and American rockets, as well as those launched indigenously by India.

Bacteria discovery: One of most important achievements of ISRO in this field was the discovery of three species of bacteria in the upper stratosphere at an altitude of between 20–40 km. The bacteria, highly resistant to ultra-violet radiation, are not found elsewhere on Earth, leading to speculation on whether they are extraterrestrial in origin. These three bacteria can be considered to be extremophiles. Until then, the upper stratosphere was believed to be inhospitable because of the high doses of ultra-violet radiation. The bacteria were named as Bacillus isronensis in recognition of ISRO’s contribution in the balloon experiments, which led to its discovery, Bacillus aryabhatta after India’s celebrated ancient astronomer Aryabhata and Janibacter hoylei after the distinguished astrophysicist Fred Hoyle. This discovery took place in the year 1969 and the mystery of it was solved in the year 2011.

Rohini: In 1980, Rohini became the first satellite to be placed in orbit by an Indian-made launch vehicle, SLV-3. ISRO subsequently developed two other rockets: the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) for launching satellites into polar orbits and the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) for placing satellites into geostationary orbits. These rockets have launched numerous communications satellites and earth observation satellites. Satellite navigation systems like GAGAN and IRNSS have been deployed.

DLR Rubsat and Kitsat 3: ISRO’s 1st commercial launch with foreign satellites as payload. India’s Oceansat-1 was also launched. This was PSLV’s 3rd launch overall. Rubsat was a German satellite and Kitsat a South Korean launched on 26th may 1999.

Bird and Proba: ISRO’s 2nd commercial launch with foreign satellites as payload. Bird(Germany) and Proba (Belgium) was launched on 22 October 2001. [There were total 35 foreign satellites launched from 1960-2014 & and 234 foreign satellites launched during Mr. Modi’s govt] This just shows India’s space skills vulnerability under mr 56’s leadership.

Aditya: Aditya-L1 is a spacecraft whose mission is to study the Sun. It was conceptualized by the Advisory Committee for Space Research in January 2008. It has been designed and will be built in collaboration between Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and various Indian research organizations and will be launched by ISRO around 2021 (initially planned in 2019 or 2020).

SCRE: The Space Capsule Recovery Experiment (SCRE or more commonly SRE or SRE-1) is an experimental Indian spacecraft that was launched on January 10, 2007 using the PSLV C7 rocket, along with three other satellites. It remained in orbit for 12 days before re-entering the Earth’s atmosphere and splashing down into the Bay of Bengal.

Chandrayaan: Chandrayaan-1 was India’s first lunar probe. It was launched by the Indian Space Research Organisations in October 2008, and operated until August 2009. The mission included a lunar orbiter and an impactor. The mission was a major boost to India’s space program, as India researched and developed its own technology in order to explore the Moon. The vehicle was successfully inserted into lunar orbit on 8 November 2008. The spacecraft carried 11 instruments: 5 Indian and 6 from foreign institutes and space agencies (including NASA, ESA, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Brown University and other European and North American institutes/companies), which were carried free of cost. Chandrayaan-1 became the first lunar mission to discover existence of water on the Moon.

Human Space Flight Program: In 2009, the Indian Space Research Organisation proposed a budget of ₹12,400 crore (US$1.7 billion) for its human spaceflight programme. According to the Space Commission, which recommended the budget, an un crewed flight will be launched after seven years from the final approval and a crewed mission will be launched after 7 years of funding. If realized in the stated time-frame, India will become the fourth nation, after the USSR, USA and China, to successfully carry out crewed missions indigenously.

Risat: It was launched on April 2012. RISAT-1A is Radar imaging satellite, Its configuration is similar to RISAT-1. It is a land-based mission with primary application in terrain mapping and analysis of land, ocean and water surface for soil moisture.

GSAT: In January 2014, ISRO used an indigenous cryogenic engine in a GSLV-D5 launch of the GSAT-14. Mars Orbiter Mission: Mars Mission (MOM), also called Mangalyaan is a spacecraft orbiting Mars since 24 September 2014. It was launched on 5 November 2013 by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). It is India’s first interplanetary mission and ISRO has become the fourth space agency to reach Mars, after the Soviet space program, NASA, and the European Space Agency. It is the first Asian nation to reach Mars orbit, and the first nation in the world to do so in its first attempt. The National Space Society awarded the Mars Orbiter Mission team the 2015 Space Pioneer Award in the science and engineering category .

Astrosat: ASTROSAT is the first dedicated Indian Astronomy satellite mission launched by ISRO on 28 September 2015, which will be helpful in enable multi-wavelength observations of the celestial bodies and cosmic sources in X-ray and UV spectral bands simultaneously. The scientific payloads cover the Visible (3500–6000 Å…), UV (1300–op Å…), soft and hard X-ray regimes (0.5–8 keV; 3–80 keV). The uniqueness of ASTROSAT lie in its wide spectral coverage extending over visible, UV, soft and hard X-ray regions.

Avatar: AVATAR from “Aerobic Vehicle for Trans-atmospheric Hyper-sonic Aerospace Transportation” is a concept for a manned single-stage reusable space plane capable of horizontal takeoff and landing, by India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation along with Indian Space Research Organisation and other research institutions. The mission concept is for low-cost military and commercial satellite space launches, as well as for space tourism. The first scaled-down tests were conducted in 2016, and the first manned AVATAR flight is proposed for 2025.

PSLV: On 15 February 2017, ISRO launched one hundred and four satellites in a single rocket (PSLV-C37) and created a world record.

South Asia Satellite: South Asia Satellite was launched on 5 May 2017.This is a satellite which has been developed by ISRO for South Asian Nations. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced this in November 2014 during the 18th SAARC session.

Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle-Mark III: ISRO launched its heaviest rocket, Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle-Mark III (GSLV-Mk III), on 5 June 2017 and placed a communications satellite GSAT-19 in orbit. With this launch, ISRO became capable of launching 4-ton heavy satellites into GTO.

LAS: On 5 July 2018, ISRO conducted a pad abort test of their launch abort system (LAS) at Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota. This is the first in a series of tests to qualify the critical crew escape system technology for future crewed missions.The LAS is designed to quickly pull out the crew to safety in case of emergency.

Future Projects: ISRO plans to launch a number of Earth observation satellites in the near future. It will also undertake the development of new launch vehicle, crewed spacecraft, and probes to Mars and near-Earth objects. Nisar- NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (Nisar) is a joint project between NASA and ISRO to co-develop and launch a dual frequency synthetic aperture radar satellite to be used for remote sensing. It is notable for being the first dual-band radar imaging Satellite. Mars Orbiter Mission 2- Mars Orbiter Mission 2 (MOM 2) also called Mangalyaan 2 is India’s second interplanetary mission planned for launch to Mars by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in the 2021-2022 time frame. It will consist of an orbiter, and may include a lander and a rover. Indian Venusian Orbiter Mission: The Indian Venusian orbiter mission is a planned orbiter to Venus by the Indian Space Research Organisation(ISRO) to study the atmosphere of Venus. It will be launched some time after 2020.

Crewed Space Craft: ISRO is working towards an orbital crewed spacecraft that can operate for seven days in a low Earth orbit. The spacecraft, called Gaganyaan, will be the basis of the Indian Human Spaceflight Programme. The capsule is being developed to carry up to three people, and a planned upgraded version will be equipped with a rendezvous and docking capability. In its maiden crewed mission, ISRO’s largely autonomous 3-ton capsule will orbit the Earth at 400 km in altitude for up to seven days with a two-person crew on board. The crewed vehicle is planned to be launched on ISRO’s GSLV Mk III in 2022. India’s economic progress has made its space program more visible and active as the country aims for greater self-reliance in space technology.

Disclaimer

Any views or opinions represented in this blog are personal and belong solely to the blog owner and do not represent those of people, institutions or organizations that the owner may or may not be associated with in professional or personal capacity, unless explicitly stated. The views or opinions are not intended to malign any religion, ethnic group, club, organization, company, or individual. All content provided on this blog is for informational purposes only. The owner will not be liable for any errors or omissions in this information nor for the availability of this information. The owner will not be liable for any losses, injuries, or damages from the display or use of this information. The blog owner is not responsible for the content in comments. This blog disclaimer is subject to change at anytime.