Newspaper Watch for month of April 2010, for recent newspaper watch, view Homepage.
30 April 2010
Corruption Watch
…Bureaucratic corruption has become so rampant in India that it is difficult to separate the honest officers from the dishonest. It is sad irony that in a government headed by one of the most honest Prime Minister India has ever had…corruption has prospered like never before….Our honest prime minister needs to ask himself whether he has done all he could to check the growing cancer of official corruption….Point to ponder- SARCAJC has been repeatedly raising the issue of strengthening the public grievance redressal system and protecting the honest whistle blower. A friend of SARCAJC informs that even the directions of Directorate of Public Grievance (DPG), under the Cabinet Secretariat, are not fully implemented by the erring institution in Delhi! And approaching the already burdened judiciary is not a easy remedy for the honest common man. To begin with, sharp teeth to DPG, is anyone listening?
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29 April 2010
Report of Day
In his Bhutan diary, Ashok Tuteja informs of gross national happiness in Bhutan. Can this be possible in largest democracy of the world. He ends-“…the guiding philosophy of people and also that of the government is not to worry about mere economic development. The success of government plans is measured by how much happiness they produce” (Tribune). P. Sainath is one of very few journalists who ever bother to look at the other side of incredible growth story. Today he reports in that two years of drought has started to take its toll on the people of Vidharba, with a failed crop leaving them with no income to tide over the crisis. A must to read in Hindu. Accompanying the report is a photograph- “Parched Land“, whose photographer is no one other than good old Sainth,
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28 April 2010
Advertisement Watch
With newspapers taking no responsibility of correctness of the advertisements, dubious ads continue to make appearance, unabated. Take a look at the following classified ads that have appeared. Are they genuine?
Sitting at home by Government of India in 24 hours mark sheets, property, personal, project vehicle loan phone…
India’s no 1 loan company loan only in 24 hours. 1% interest 40% concession return 5-20 years.
Do not take money do not get duped No file charge guarantee 0% interest 50% concession return 5-20 years
Concern of Day
Most leading newspapers report that bank employees of 26 public and 12 private sector institutions will get a hike of 17.5% in their salaries. This is the result of an agreement between Indian Bank’s Association and Bank unions on pay revision.
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27 April 2010
Sporty IPL
…IPL contained all that what a dhaso suspense TV programme has. Love, rift, who was she type serial, who was she who took all files from Mumbai office of IPL. On this experts of investigative journalism & ghost journalist have started who she was, ghost of haveli or ghost of government? …..It is request that some local, some foreign ghost be added to IPL format. And to create media hype prize programme be held Prizes can be of …..Sad soul award…Shashi Tharoor …Lalit Modi….(Alok Puranik. Nai Duniya).
There are continuous discussions in country on IPL, but no one is worrying for BPL (below poverty line). The number of BPL is also increasing but government wants that number should decrease in files. It is obvious that increase in cash for IPL is sing of progress, while increase of BLP reflects backwardness. …shares worth Rs. 70 crores are given free in IPL. Cheerleaders are dancing, liquor post match parties. Satta (betting) of thousands of crores is being played. But BLP has shaken the government with only Rs. 30. Should BLP be given 25 kg food grain Rs. 3 per Kg or 35 Kg?…IPL has many names- Indian Paisa League, Indian Parivar League, Indian Panga League, Indian Political League etc. While BPL is only BLP. At the most can be said Bechari Public League….(Vijay Vidhrohi. Amar Ujala).
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26 April 2010
View of Day
Sarita Kumari tries to find a solution to save the tiger in Aaj Samaj. A must to read. Take a clue- “Since head that campaign to save tigers has intensified. At that moment, I understood that now the day is not far that we will save the tiger. Not just save but will increase their member from 1400 to 40 thousand -14 lakhs….”. She approached poacher to conduct peace talk. His solution is -”..what awareness of common man…unless those for whom tigers are killed do something, think, only then result, go get out from here”. The she goes to meet tiger number 1411- “…you are showing worry as if from tomorrow will build guest room in your house & keep us as paying guest…tell me one thing, do we look at your building, your colonies, your apartment…No, then why you are coming to our jungles….save jungle…tigers will be saved”.
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25 April 2010
Advertisement of Day
It is not often that one comes across one full page ad by Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) in a leading newspaper. Today, a full one page black & white ad has appeared in few leading newspapers with a punch line- “An Act to preserve our priceless heritage”. The ad informs in detail the new Act. However, take a look at the small fonts after the details of the Act- “Please note: This advertisement is only for general information of the public and does not purport to be a legal document”. What does it mean to readers of the newspapers, keep guessing?
Views of Day
...Journalism often involves coaxing people into saying things they might prefer to be silent about. That’s what makes news. Second, an offer to interview someone doesn’t preclude questioning a third party about them. Third, if you’re upset about what they say, don’t blame the interviewer”. (Karan Thapar. Hindustan Times).
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24 April 2010
The cartoon in Hindustan Times focuses on “IPLGate”. Yes, here the pigs are indeed flying! The pertinent question remains- will they be caught, ever? The hanky panky stuff of IPL has been reported in most newspapers. The advertisement on page three of Times of India carries a large image of cricket ball along with punch line- “for the first time, IPL in 3D”. It informs of 3D live feed IPL coverage in 4 venues in Delhi. Hang on; look at the right hand – 2 familiar images and on the top- “Whyte & Mackay Glasgow”. The smaller font informs the obvious- “Music CDs”. Surrogate Liquor ad also milking IPL!
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23 April 2010
Cartoon of Day
The cartoon on the front page of Financial Chronicle features a man holding place card –“Price Rise” asking the other- “Is nation’s growth inversely proportional to our bank balance”.
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22 April 2010
View of Day
After large advertisements by Vedanta in favour of its controversial mining project, a former chairman of NMDC & Rio Tinto in India has jumped in with a write-up - “All miners do not harm tribal”. It is indeed a must to read. The base line seems to be industrial development of tribal areas by big mining companies. Take a look- “People have poor perception of the mining industry. ..These small scale unorganised miners have brought a bad name for the mining industry...The new age mining companies...involve local population & look after their social welfare....In most cases these companies leave a better & more productive land after mining is done. ...Let us not keep the people of Kalahandi or Bastar in rags all their lives. Let them improve their lot by the industrial development of the area”. Point to ponder- take of tribals opposing Vedanta project?
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21 April 2010
Dubious Advertisements
A news item in Amar Ujala informs that a 22 year old man has been caught in Delhi for placing fake Jobs advertisements for Delhi Metro. Is this the end? With newspapers taking no responsibility of the ad they carry, many innocent readers will be taken for a ride. Take a look at few classified advertisements that have appeared today:
“Direct recruitment for Palam Airport Delhi Metro (illiterate-graduates) Age (18-45) trained/untrained supervison, computer operator, helper, guides including ESI+PF contact...”
“Government job/ government bank recruitment of 1000 clerk qualification. 12th 60% age 18-28 salary 12000 contact....”
“Limited company direct recruitment (pakki naukri) for storekeepers, airport, office staff (illiterate/graduates) salary (8870-22540) stay+food+fund+bonus+medical full India Delhi...”
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20 April 2010
The fallout of shady IPL has got the editorial of Economic Times arguing in favour of legalising betting in the county of Mahatma Gandhi. Take a look:
“...In India, in keeping with our hypocrisy on many moral issues, gambling is illegal. But as reports on unholy nexus between gambling & underworld money show, the ban is only on paper and serves, as with all bans that are impossible to enforce...” . Yesterday, the same newspaper had reported in detail the betting rates on ongoing IPL. “...while each IPL matches being in bets worth Rs. 500-600 cr, 2 semi finals & the finals alone rake in Rs. 6000 crore”. Point to ponder- taking the same argument forward, if enforcement of law is a problem, should all kinds of corruption be legalised? Ask the honest common man, for the answer.
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19 April 2010
Cheap food for all
The front page cartoon in Financial Chronicle features two politicians, one is holding a newspaper with news-" New Poverty estimate: 372 m". The accompanying caption reads- "Let not the Maoists know it!". Rashtriya Sahara carries a black & white photograph of tribal women near Rachi (Bihar) carrying colourful earthern pots on their heads to throw. Reaon- belief that this ritual will protect their village from disease. But what about the disease of leakage? The same page of Rashtriya Sahara has carried shocking news that Panchayati Raj Ministry doesn't know the exact number of Panchayats in the country! If this is state of statistics, no wonder why the leakages are high. Arjun Sengupta has suggested a solution to get around the problem of leakages - Food Security for all- regardless of your income, everybody will be entitled to get 25 Kg of foodgrain per family at subsidized rates. Why subsidizing the rich? Sengupta feels that non BPL (below poverty line) families are not likely to avail of this facilitiy as they are expected to go for higher quality of food with much lower transactional cost of securing them from market (Asian Age). But is this solution so simple? First, can Food Corporation of India(FCI) handle such a large procurement & distributional network, that too efficiently? Our rough calculations reveal if this Sengupta's suggestion is implemented, it will impose a massive fiscal burden of over Rs. 6500 billion a year. Is this burden sustainable in the long run? Sengupta forgets that thanks to ever rising inflation, the main street is heavily burdened with high prices of foodgrain, and the rich have a army of well-fed assistants for whom cheap foodgrain will always be welcome? Instead, is curbing increasing food prices and getting the public greivance redressal system working efficiently, not a desirable solution? Even today, newly harvested wheat is being sold in retail at Rs. 27-30 per Kg!
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18 April 2010
Report of Day
Gurdeep Singh Mann reports of a government run primary school in the state of Punjab where there are no students, though one teacher comes every day. " Everyday, while on her way to school, she has to convince the villagers and sometimes plead with them to send their wards to the government facility. But till now her efforts have been in vain...The villagers, who scoff at lack of basic facilities at the school, are happy sending their children to nearby private institutes...." (Tribune). There are some other factors that might be at play, take a clue from the new video about government school in state of Bihar.
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17 April 2010
Party is on
P.Sainth has not minced words in the article that has appeared today in Hindu, which apparently asks- " How to feed your billionaires". Sainath has taken on the hanky panky stuff seemingly associated with the currently going on with Indian Premier League (IPL). A must to read. Take a clue- " There were obvious conflicts of interest from day one...Now there's a forced discussion of opaque dealings, bribes, and " we know-how-to-deal-with-you" threats. Of shady investors, murky dealings and possibly, large-scale tax evasion...Only a tiny band of journalists have at all shown the skepticism demanded of their profession. These few have stuck at it gamely only to find themselves isolated, mocked as party poopers and the recipients of threats and abusive mail....We don't even know what the total bill to the public is: just that it is probably in tens of crores. We do know that these supports to IPL comes at a time when subsidies to the poor are being savaged....Who stand gain from public wetnursing of the IPL? Among others, four gentlemen who made it to Forbes billionaires list of 2010...Street argot has already begun to brand IPL as Indian Paisa league or, more directly, Indian Paisa Loot...". Point to ponder- why did it so long (3 yrs) to bring some of the alleged murky dealings of IPL in public? We knew all along that India is high on corruption? Nevertheless, what is unique is celebrating so bashfully everyday- everything I do, I do it for you! But who all are 'you'!!
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16 April 2010
Opps: Double Vision
Steve lohr reports from New York that Library of Congress will archive the collected works of Twitter. Now that is indeed an unique collection, but should this report appear twice in a newspaper? The newspaper in question is Asian Age. Take a look at page 11 (technology page), which carries Steve's report (courtesy NYT)- 13 paras. Then turn over, the same report reappears on page 12 (Newsmakers page, courtesy New York Times Service)- 6 paras. Check it out- word to word the same, except the one on page 11 is more detailed and comes with a different heading. However, none of the two reports acknowledge existence of the other!
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15 April 2010
Growth Update
Look around and also ask the common man if high economic growth has improved his welfare? And you'll know the obvious. Yes, tickle down doesn't work. Rukhmani Shrinivasan informs of the findings of UNDP report- " Economic growth seems to have little to do with human development..." (Times of India. Pg 11). Point to ponder- why many still remain obsessed with high economic growth?
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14 April 2010
Advertisement Watch
The various large sized governmental advertisements inform that today is 119th birth anniversary of Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar today. The full page ad by Ministry of Information & broadcasting carries his quote- " My ideal would a society based on liberty, equality and fraternity". The ad by Delhi government quotes Dr. Ambedkar- " A great man is different from an eminent one in that he is ready to be the servant of the society". The full page advertisement by government of Uttar Pradesh lists activites undertaken in during last four years. The half a page ad by government of Haryana also carries in details the steps in line with Dr. Ambedkar's principles. This ad seems to have expanded to full page in Aaj Samaj as upper half a page appears as feature. The ad by Delhi government informs -" celebrating the legacy of the father if our constitution ... unveiling of statue of Bharat Ratna Baba Sahab Dr. Bhim Rao Ambedkar' , distribution of cheques, scholarships & certificates by the chief minister of Delhi at 6 pm". The government of Andhra Pradesh has placed half a page ad in Amar Ujala, its punch line reads- " Our target: welfare of every person. Out aim: all round development of State". Just below the large font shouts-" Andhra Pradesh towards highest growth". The ad lists initiatives of the state government . Here, the chief minister of the State has been given prominence. The Punjab government has placed an advertisement in leading newspapers with punch line- " Heartiest greetings on Baisakhi". However, the same ad in Hindi wishes only " ..all Punjabis.." (Amar Ujala). Wonder why?
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13 April 2010
Water Woes
Most newspapers inform of the high temperature in the country. Rising heat has make water precious, right? But in cities many still waste water without bothering how precious it is. A friend of SARCAJC informs that many people have illegally replaced the normal water pipes with wider ones at homes, so they get more water at the cost of their neighbours. While many have illegally installed booster motors in main water pipe line. They wash their cars with free water, enjoy cool air via huge water coolers in every room, overflow of water tank..... Who cares for honest common man for whom water scarcity is major problem? Rao Jaswant SIngh & Loon Karan Chhajer report that water scarcity has reached alarming proportions in the state of Rajasthan and people are hiring security guards to secure water sources. " If you are passing by villages like Sru kolayat, Khajuwala, Pugal or Bajju near Bikaner, security guards protecting tanks or ponds are a common sight. These are places where water is scarce and theft rampant....". (Times of India).
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12 April 2010
The staff reporter of Hindu informs that the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has cautioned against agencies that promise jobs in the Delhi metro. This comes in the wake of 'fake' advertisements that appeared in newspaper. The DMRC spokesman explains- " Taking a strong action against a recent advertisement in 'Uttarakhand Rozgar Darshan', where a fake agency with the name of DMRC placement services' had advertised for 2,050 posts in Delhi metro...there are some agencies that are even issuing fake appointment letters in exchange in huge amounts....". Newspapers owes no responsibility of the advertisements it carries, so how would the common man in remote areas know if an ad is genuine or not?
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11 April 2010
Women Insecure
Hats off to Shah Alam Khan, associate professor at AIIMS, who has put forward the insecurities faced by Indian women in a style, that not many men will be comfortable with. A must to read. He starts off - " I am a man because I have the right & power to molest a teenager and abet her to commit suicide. I am a man because I have the courage to throw acid on any girl who refuses to marry me...I am a man because I was born in India, the land that gives unconditional supremacy to its masculine gender, right from the inception of life. In fact I was allowed to be born because I was a man!....Rape,molestation, dowry,deaths- can you imagine any single day when you had to picked up a newspaper and hadn't come across this ugly jargon? What do we mean Goa has become dangerous for women? The truth is it was never safe...Things can change if only we change...Horrible crimes against women can be prevented only if we start loving our daughters and treating them at par with our sons" (Hindu).
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Sports Watch
Jaswinder Sidhu reports in Amar Ujala that the going IPL is flaunting the rule of the country. Jaswinder terms IPL as 'Indian party league'. Why- " ..from surrogate advertisements of liquor to permission for late night parties, in defiance with rules. There is much happening for players including company of foreign models that is challenging the nation's rules and system....Cloths of all IPL players carry logo that resemble that of beer and liquor...Big big stars on TV are singing songs of liquor and beer company in the name of water...This time for IPL matches, models from Russia & South Africa have been brought on 'tourist visa'. The work of these models is to give company to players. The no-one has an answer whether these models have 'work permit' for professional assignment.....".
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10 April 2010
Public Sector Day: For the first time ever, public sector day is being celebrated today. A full one page in DNA carries all praise of PSU as 'DNA Promotional feature'. Another word for advertisement? The large fonts shouts- 'India commemorates PSU contribution to economic growth'. But no critical appraisal of the performance of public sector on various setting objectives ! Can PSUs be depicted as India & the national flag? Take a clue from the accompanying picture. In climate of ongoing disinvestment programe of Public sector units, now is the rupee going in or out? Keep guessing.
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9 April 2010
Off with research
Chitleen Sethi & Smriti Sharma Vasudeva while investigating a tip off, traveled across Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh and found out that thesis submitted for PhD degrees in lesser known universities in India were available for sale in 'authorised' information centres of these universities. Is this true only for some obscure kind of private university? Nope, even in state run Punjab University has been exposed. The price of thesis- Rs. 8000-10,000. There is another way of getting PhD Degree. To know more, a must to read-" 'original research' for PhD on Sale" on front page of Tribune. Point to ponder- why not also investigate the quality of research in leading public funded universities in India. SARCAJC had pointed out to the unprofessional maze faced by a friend of SARCAJC when conducted interdisciplinary research in college of Delhi University. Unless, higher education does not see any transformational change, the thought viewing Indian institutes in the list of along top 100 Universites of the world- will remain an illusive dream.
Paid News
Special correspondent of Hindu informs that the Press Council of India has found two newspapers- Amar Ujala and Dainik Jagran guilty of publishing advertisements masquerading as news before the assembly elections in the state of Uttar Pradesh. The case has been sent to the election commission for further action. The press council pointed that format of item was such that the word 'ADVT' was printed at the lowest end. Hang on, was this practice not true for the leading English newspapers too? What is the meaning of " A consumer Connect initiative" that has appeared in small font on page 9 in Economic Times, a leading financial daily- " Managing India Awards". And no prizes for getting this one right!
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8 April 2010
Corruption Watch
The Supreme Court of India has expressed displeasure over money not reaching NREGA target- " ...There is no uniform policy. The money is not reaching actual beneficiaries.,,There has been distribution of money. but in many cases, it is going to wrong persons and the real beneficiaries do not receive cash ...". Dinesh C. Sharma informs on the front page of Mail Today that power of Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) have been cut and now all complaints of corruption and financial bungling against head of all central public undertakings will be dealt by a committee of bureaucrats, instead of CVC. Sharma points - " This is in direct violation of the law governing CVC...The change has been sneaked in though an office memorandum ...in one go, about 1000 top officials of 240 central public sector undertaking and 40 banks have been taken out of the purview of the CVC...order also undermines whistleblower regime...". Akshaya Mukul reports in Times of India that CVC has asked the ministry of Human Resource Development to fix the responsibility for the wrong doing in Indian Council for Historical Research in appointment of consultants and lawyers. Point to ponder- why should there be any amount of laxity in fixing responsibility? Friend of SARCAJC informs that even the decision of the Directorate of Public Grievance (DPG), does not get fully implemented by a College in Delhi (nodal ministry is Human resource Development), what to talk about public grievance redressal in remote areas for NREGA leakages?
Live Soap Saga
...whole media has gone after Shoiab that now it is not difficult to explain students of journalism, the meaning of paparazzi. ...Not only TV camera and full media (aim of increasing earning by increased channel rating), full betting market is betting on their marriage)...Till yesterday, Sania- Shoaib were favourites of Bazaar, now they have become item...(Arvind Mohan. Amar Ujala).
Now-a-days things are looking up for frauders. All news is suppressed by Sania-Shoiab uproar. Earlier fraud of the magnitude of Rs. 100 crore got a place on the front page . Now things stand that all local thieves, fraudsters, cheaters, swindlers have disappeared from newspapers. All space has been occupied by Shoaib Malik....(Alok Puranik. Nai Duniya).
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7 April 2010
Turn-around of Day
A survey by KMPG has revealed the obvious- bribery and corruption are now considered to be an inevitable aspect of doing business in India by many companies and point to rising frudent activities in the corporate sector, both in public as well as private institutions. Are you surprised to know this? The common man is encountering the hurdle of corruption everyday. The honest is resisting but with no law to protect the whistle-blower in the horizon, where is the hope of support? The front page of Times of India reports that the loss making national carrier Air India has announced the appointment of an Austrian national as first chief operating officer of the airline. He along with Indian Managing Director will present turnaround plan for the airline within 30 days. Point to ponder- Who is responsible for leading Air India to the bleeding merger? Why no accountability has been fixed for wasting exchequrer's money?
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6 April 2010
History Re-told
On two newspapers (Mid-Day & Hindu) of the 20 newspapers scanned today, informed that a play on 'Raja Nahar Singh' by Pierrot's troupe is been staged today in Delhi. The play lacked adequate publicity in the press. Nevertheless, a friend of SARCAJC did watch it. The invitation card informed -"..intends to re-live the life and sacrifice of Raja Nahar Singh... It coincides with the 187th birth anniversary of Raja Nahar Singh.. ". Yes, indeed Raja Nahar Singh played a crucial role in the great revolt of 1857 and the play did manage to re-live those times. The play was centred around the trial of Raja Nahar Singh (played by Ekant Kaul) and depicted the irony of so called justice of those times. The play takes clue from oral history prevalent in State of Haryana about Raja Nahar Singh. Tom Alter, played the role of brig. Chamberlain- who gave the decision to hang Raja Nahar Singh. Tom's polished performance (as always) needs no comments here. Yes, performance of Harish Chhabra, who played Major Herriot, was indeed noteworthy. And last, not the least, Dr. M Sayeed Alam, the director and the script-writer of this play has indeed a bright future.
Live Soap Opera
Sania-Shoaib-Ayesha is the hot topic every where in the mega cities. This saga has been getting prominence on the front page of leading newspapers. The cartoon in Aaj Samaj depicts how Sania & Ayesha view Shoaib Now, it’s no longer a pre-marriage hurdle for the high profile sports stars, as Pakisan has reportedly jumped in to defend Shoaib. The obsessioned live updated of this real life soap has been depicted by cartoon in Nai Duniya. The exclusive ' breaking news ' on a channel features a reporter on camera -" Our claim is that Shoaib is inside..We are behind Sania'a house and can smell that Shoaib's favourite biryanai is being cooked in the kitchen". The cartoon in Asian Age shows obsession with trio on television. Point to ponder- can Sania-Shoaib-Ayesha be left alone to handle this live match?
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5 April 2010
Hunger Watch
Arjun Sengupta has defended estimates of his report on National Commission for Enterprise in the Unorganised sector which stated that whopping 77% of India's population living on Rs. 20 per day (2004-05) in a write-up in Asian Age. Hang on does this figure underestimate the poor figures? In Hindustan Times, Kenneth John and Samar Halarnkar rightly ask- " Will food bill help these children?". They traveled to Ganne, a village in the State of Uttar Pradesh to find that frail, malnourished kids eating moist lumps of mud laced with silica- a raw material for glass sheets and soap- because they are not officially classified as poor and therefore are ineligible for official help that comes in for officially classified poor. In Ganne, every second child has swollen eyes and protruding belly, stomach aches, frequent spells of dizziness and an overall weakness. The doctor at the primary health centre first confirmed the dismal condition but later changed his track (after district magistrate promised to take action) - " Aap log til ka tar bana rahen hain ( you people are creating palm tree from seeds). There is no malnutrition here". A must to read.
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4 April 2010
Cartoon of Day
The cartoon in Times of India shows a poor family living in pipe near the newly build commonwealth village. The poor man is reading newspaper & telling his wife (who is cooking in pipe)- " Of course our netas should be given luxury flats in the Games Village. After all, they've given us this luxury pipe to live in, haven't they?" . Take a look at the new video on children of these labourers, eating wood, mud etc.
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3 April 2010
Justice Delayed
Nirmal Yadav reports in Hindustan that Delhi High Court has taken a serious view of the fact that the central government has not given a couple their deposit amount for over 40 years. And these were no well off people- they were labourers, who had deposited their hard earned savings worth Rs. 23,000 in Fixed deposit in MTML , which was later nationalized. The government refused to return their despoit amount and instead spend much more trying to defend their decision. The court has directed the government to return their deposit amount with interest rate of 12% along with Rs. 15000 as penalty. But his wife already dead waiting for justice, can Ganga Dutt Gupta really be compensated for the harassment caused to him & his family? Not every common man has resources & stamina to fight such a long battle against injustice. Does this not reflect on the state of public grievance redressal in the country?
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2 April 2010
Right to Education
A large advertisement has appeared in Economic Times with punch line- "Be nice to your maid’s little girl. Don’t let her come home". The ad is the initiative of Teach India campaign of Times of India. Read on- " ..For starters, they should not be seen around your home at all. They should be in school...Because it’s no longer a privilege or stroke of luck. It’s now a birthright....So let’s stop pointing figures at the authorities for once. And let’s ask our self what we can do for our children...". But we know that child labour is not permitted under law, right? And forget the urban areas, what about malnourished kids in Balangir district in the state of Orissa? How would they react to such an Act? Do take a look at the cartoon in Aaj Samaj. The editorial of Economic Times feels- " ...law should be seen as a means of mobilising and empowering the people, rather than as an act of emancipation itself". Take a clue from latest movie from Shyam Benegal- ‘Well done, Abba’. The review by Anuj Kumar points –" ....Every year at the time of the budget, newspapers are full of government schemes for the poor but hardly anyone tries to follow up the percolation of resources....Benegal has painted a realistic picture of the rotten old system where corruption has become a way of life so much so that bribery has taken almost "holy" proportions. Here paperwork is done to perfection but ground work is left untouched. People are goaded to go down the poverty line to suck in the resources meant for the poorest of the poor..." (Hindu. 28/3/10). Point to ponder- why not right to happiness- for all, via strict accountability of leaks in the delivery system?
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1 April 2010
Boozing Around
Perneet Singh informs on last page of Tribune – "Booze in FCI godown, wheat can rot". What, has Food Corporation of India (FCI) has taken on liquor business? Nope, take a clue - "Even as food prices are souring all across the country and poor are not getting two square meals a day, FCI godown is storing liquor leaving out thousands of sacks of wheat to rot in the open for the past three months....45,000 tonnes of wheat meant for public distribution system (PDS) supplies is lying at various places.." The blame game has begun among the political parties in the state of Rajasthan but the question is whether this booze storage arrangement is limited only to Jaipur? Hopefully, accountability will be fixed, somehow.