January 2009 Edition
YOUNG, SECULAR, DIVERSE
Rita and Umesh Anand
CANDLELIGHT protests. Human chains for peace. Black armbands at Id prayers. Being Indian is a preference being exercised across the country. From Mumbai to the northeast, from the south to the north, there is support for the idea of a peaceful and democratic India where people from different religions and ethnic identities can coexist and prosper. Our cities have long been melting pots of innumerable identities. Inter-community marriages have worked to create one fabric. The central services and the armed forces have provided their own glue. But after the recent attack on Mumbai, the urge to stand together has become demonstrably greater.
Is this the outpouring of a fickle middle class shocked by the devastation caused at the Taj and the Oberoi? Or is it something deeper and more serious – a genuine belief in the future of India ? Our take is that it is the latter.
It is worth noting that secessionist movements are all but out of fashion. Throughout the northeast the demand is for greater integration, more inclusive development and better governance. Reporting for Civil Society, we lose count of the community groups that come to Delhi seeking justice either over unwanted dams or excesses of the armed forces. The call for azadi in Kashmir remains, but it is confused and at best partial.
Significant chunks of territory are under the control of so called Naxalites. But the problem is really one of poor governance. If the State did its job and the justice system worked the situation would be vastly different. The cry in these areas is for inclusive development and the absence of it has spawned a militancy that is hardly different from banditry.
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Amit Dasgupta
PERHAPS this is as good a time as any to ask the question: What is India ? Who is an Indian? The British philosopher, Bertrand Russell, in his seminal speech titled Why I am not a Christian, had argued that his identity could not possibly be that of a Christian because he simply did not subscribe to several of the tenets that were so integral to being a Christian. Identity, in Russell's case of not being a christian was an identity by negation; in other words, identifying what Iam not and then, if what remains is what I can identify with, that is who I am. Identity by assertion and affirmation, on the other hand, is when there is no doubt as to who I am or what one's identity is.
In some cases, this is fairly easy. For instance, you and I would have no difficulty in acknowledging our identity as a son, a brother, a husband or as a father; professional and occupational identity is, similarly, non-problematic, for instance, the identity as a doctor or a chartered accountant, a village teacher or a professional diplomat.
But in other cases, this can get quite complicated. On a purely ideational level, the philosophical quest of 'Who am I?' has been the essence of most treatises; Hindu philosophy, for instance, would argue that I and all that is around me is maya or illusion; Buddhists, on the other hand, would argue that we are surrounded by suffering and that the essence of a true striver is to break out of this cycle of continuous and constant human suffering. On a more ideological level, on the other hand, is the identity of a person that of being anti-American if he is against the policies of President Bush? Are we, similarly, anti-Chinese if we are swayed by the philosophical writings of His Holiness the Dalai Lama?
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Civil Society News
New Delhi
OF the people now getting HIV in India an estimated 40 per cent are women. Of them an increasing number are women in monogamous relationships. With such figures to go by you would imagine that the health authorities in Delhi would have all the time in the world for a national meeting of the Positive Women's Network (PWN). After all, what better way could there be to finding solutions to their problems than listening to the women firsthand.
But that is not what happened on World AIDS Day when members of the PWN came to a convention in Delhi from all over the country. The director- general of the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO), K Sujatha Rao, was specially invited to the meeting, but finally did not turn up because she was busy and had too many meetings to attend. She sent a deputy, who also did not have more than a few minutes to spare as he too had to rush off for a meeting, apparently with the Lieutenant-Governor of Delhi .
Incensed by this the women climbed on to the stage at the Nehru Yuvak Kendra auditorium in Chanakyapuri. They demanded to know why the DG of NACO had not turned up. After all, if she did not have time for HIV positive women, then what did she have time for? Clutching his welcome bouquet, the deputy kept repeating that the DG was an extremely busy person. The proceedings of the women's convention would be examined in detail, he promised, andhastily beat a retreat.
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Umesh Anand
THE four young people you see on the cover of our magazine represent the melting pot of aspirations and identities that is the future India . They are the people who buy into the idea of an India that goes way beyond the worn out divisions of religion, region and caste. They silently protest by lighting candles when terrorists strike and vote for a better future when elections are held. Our cover story, coinciding as it does with Republic Day, is dedicated to such people who hold the country together by simply being Indians by choice.
Five years of running this magazine and travelling across the country have given us a hugely optimistic view of India . It has nothing to do with growth figures and the number of millionaires and billionaires that economic reforms are supposed to have created. On the contrary it is based on what we see ordinary folk do when they perceive that the interests of the nation are being challenged or their own rights are being trampled upon. The sincerity and commitment of the average Indian citizen is inadequately understood and certainly under reported in the media.
People's movements have highlighted issues pertaining to land, water, compensation and livelihoods. These movements have been long and slow and at times not very successful because of the odds they face. But they have existed and by being persistently assertive have finally begun to influence governance. The sum total of these trends finds expression in our cities. It is here – among the blue jeans, the women out at work, the new service sector jobs, the growing divorces – that the search for equality and a better life has been creating a generation of Indians who are younger and wiser.
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Civil Society News
New Delhi
IT seems India just can't save its little babies.Globally 9.7 million babies under five die and 2.1 million are in India alone. Around 27 million births occur in India every year, but 1.7 million infants die before one year and 1.08 million within one month.
An India Report on the State of Infant Feeding was released on 9 December by Mani Shankar Aiyar, Union Minister for Panchayati Raj, in Delhi . The report, initiated by the World Breastfeeding Trends Initiative (WBTi), was researched by the Breastfeeding Promotion Network of India (BPNI) and the Public Health Resource Network.
In 2005 too all eight South Asian countries took part in a similar exercise. India then ranked sixth and scored 68 out of 150 points. This time the report covers 51 countries and India scores only 69 out of 150.
The India Report reveals that just 24 percent of new born babies are breastfed within one hour of birth. Only 46 per cent are exclusively breastfed for six months.This figure goes down from 70 per cent in the first month to 27 percent in the sixth month. Around 56 per cent of infants between six to nine months are given complementary foods
Major killers of babies are diarrhoea and pneumonia. It is well known that breastfeeding within one hour can reduce newborn infections by six times. "Exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months can reduce diarrhoea and pneumonia by 3 and 2.5 times," said Dr Arun Gupta, regional coordinator of BPNI.
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Rina Mukherji
Katpadi (Tamil Nadu)
THE factories look humdrum. There is the din of machines, the clink of tools and the clash of metal. Assembly lines have diligent workers poring over electronic meters for state electricity boards. Some are manufacturing nice garbage carts for municipalities. Others concentrate on high precision hydraulic equipment for the auto sector.
Look around. These are not ordinary factories. Every worker here is differently abled. Some are speech impaired or hearing impaired. Others have missing limbs or are quadriplegics bound to a wheelchair. Disability is not a handicap for them. Note Raju Gopal, an experienced foreman. His artificial limb doesn't hamper him from guiding operations at the boiler unit, or commuting in his two-wheeler.
The factories belong to the Worth Trust in Katpadi, Vellore . It employs people with disability. Most organizations which help the differently abled have a rather charitable air. The Worth Trust is different. It trains the differently abled for employment and strives to be a commercially competitive outfit. The Trust produces components for the automobile, plastics, sanitary-ware, furniture and packing industries. Jobs being done include making boiler equipment for Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited, plastic components for microwave ovens and sanitary ware for Parryware. Worth Trust also manufactures mobility aids and prosthetic equipment for the disabled.
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Subir Roy
Bangalore
INFOSYS Technologies, the software leader which has very high standards of governance, interacts with a lot of non-government organisations. Over time it has found that most NGOs which are headed in the right direction are woefully short of competent people as they cannot afford to pay market salaries. Some NGOs do pay good salaries, even better than corporates, but they end up spending alot on themselves. This defeats the purpose.
Simultaneously, a lot of people within Infosys have felt the desire to render some community service for a period. Out of this has been born a scheme whereby Infosys will do its bit to match the two felt needs. Applications to participate in the scheme are open to Infoscions who have put in at least two years, closed on 30 November. Of them 50 will be chosen and allowed to spend up to one year in community service, with Infosys paying
half the individuals' compensation. After that they will come back to Infosys and the period will be counted as experience in the industry and Infosys.
An employee can do two such stints in his career.
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