It is debatable whether we can rewrite the history or not but we can always revisit the history. Critics are ready to criticize even Lord Ram for asking Sita to prove her chastity by entering into "Agni Pravesham". Such critics also point out one more fallacy of Lord Ram when he had to kill Vali from behind. Other than these two incidences Lord Ram cannot be faulted anywhere else. However, these two aspects of Ram figure in all the pattimanrams (debates in Tamil) that debate about Ramayan. The idea behind this article is if Ram can be subjected to such a microscopic examination of his deeds why not our eulogized leaders also brought into a closer scrutiny.
To begin with we will consider Mahatma Gandhi. He had a mass following that no other leader had during or after independence. However he has misused his following by asking them to join the British forces during first and second world wars in return for independence. Britishers have thoroughly cheated him by not leaving the country. The question here is how did he believe the British rulers? Further, what happened to his path of Ahimsa (Non-violence)? If he preached Ahimsa then how could he ask Indians to join in the World war? After learning the lessons during the First World War Gandhi should not have asked the Indians to join in the Second World War in support of Britishers. Then that would have been a real Ahimsa (Non-violence). In both the World Wars the British rulers have used Indians as human shield. For whom did they die? If Indians have volunteered to participate in the two World Wars then that would have been a different thing. But they were asked by Gandhi to participate in return for Independence. What kind of Ahimsa is followed here? Is not Gandhi a Hypocrite? We do not know what prompted Gandhi to believe the Britishers and ask the Indians to participate during both World Wars. Britishers used Gandhi as a pawn. He would be jailed and not killed because he was very useful to Britishers. Whenever some unrest is there the British rulers would approach Gandhi and he would immediately oblige them by asking Indians to control their passions.
After the first World War was over the British rulers did not leave our country. There were several round table conferences in between. In all these round table conferences Gandhi recommended the participation of Ambedkar. Ambedkar is another eulogized leader who always had a personal agenda. In all the round table conferences he had opposed freedom for India. If British rule had continued 60 years of reservation policy in post-independent India would not have been present. Britishers definitely would have gone according to merit (one positive aspect of British rule). If Ambedkar had so much love for British rule can he prove any qualitative change in social status of backward communities during the 100 years of British rule (1840's to 1940's). The only social development that was found during the British rule was that one could wear coat, suit and boots. Ambedkar who was always against freedom for India was ready to instantly occupy the post of chairman of the committee for framing the constitution of India. Of course, Gandhi recommended him. While there were several other experts in the committee and a host of members from the constituent assembly who have contributed to the framing of constitution of India all of them were forgotten and only Ambedkar was called as the architect of Indian constitution. His only contribution would have been inclusion of reservation policy in jobs for backward communities. If his contribution is more than this the country needs a clarification what exactly his contribution was. It is a different matter that we have copied most of the laws and systems in our constitution from Britishers. While theirs is unwritten we have immediately written our constitution. The present constitution has been sanctified to the extent that we are scared to touch it and to debate whether we can switch over to Presidential system of governance (of course, here again, we have to copy U.S.A. model!).
In the post independent India Gandhi received respect only from Hindus and not from Muslims. They never heeded his advice. During partition and during riots in the subsequent years he would threaten to go on hunger strike. Hindus would immediately respond while no Muslim would listen to him. The genocide of Hindus not only in the Muslim dominated East Pakistan and West Pakistan but also within India was not noticed but Gandhi was ready to advise only Hindus to maintain restraint. This type of situation was thoroughly exploited by the Muslims to kill more Hindus.
Though Mahatma Gandhi apparently was against the British rule he was not against their lifestyle, culture as could be seen from his argument that a westernized Jawaharlal Nehru would be better for India than Sardar Vallabhai Patel. This is one more Hippocratic attitude of Gandhi. As otherwise why would he select Nehru when more competent Sardar Vallabhai Patel was there? If Patel had been selected the family politics that we see today would not have been there. Patel cannot be forgotten for his timely action during the unification of princely states including avoidance of a small Pakistan in Hyderabad in Andhra Pradesh.
Coming to Jawaharlal Nehru it is during his period that we lost major portion of Kashmir. The present Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK) and Aksai Chin are not under our control. The former we lost during the first Indo-Pak war in 1948 and the latter we lost during the Indo-China war in 1962. In both these wars Nehru was the Prime Minister. Whatever may be the reasons in defense of Nehru it has to be accepted that he should squarely be held responsible for the dissection of Kashmir. The Kashmir problem that is still unresolved was inherited from Nehru. Neither taking the Kashmir issue to U.N.O. nor the introduction of Article 370 has solved the problem. At the most such actions have only aggravated the problem, alienated Indian Muslims in Kashmir, made Kashmir Pandits to become refugees in their own country, and made India vulnerable to Pakistan's proxy war. The contribution of modern architect of India was dissection of Kashmir beyond repair and handing over to neighboring countries. Mahatma Gandhi has given some positive suggestions to Nehru. These include (i) not to use Indian National Congress for Post-Independent Indian politics - Neither Nehru nor any congressman till today have heeded his advice; (ii) Gandhi has advised the Presidential palace (Raj Bhavan) to be converted into a Hospital - once again we have not seen this happening until now. Anyhow the post of President of India is more known as a rubber stamp and hence to keep the person occupied ever satisfied the building would be with the successive Presidents.
The next Prime Minsiter who was at the helm of affairs for a short period and did some miracles for India was Lal Bahadur Shastri. He had resigned as a Railway Minister and went by walk to his residence when a rail accident took place. During his tenure the second Indo-Pak war took place and he has shown how India should react. Not only we won the war but also several areas of Pakistan were under our control. The question here is why did we return all those areas without getting anything in return. We should have demanded return of POK to India in return for vacating the occupied areas during the second Indo-Pak war. What went wrong in the negotiating table? Who were the negotiators? Now same thing has happened during the third Indo-Pak war also in 1971. A similar situation with more than 90,000 Pakistani prisoners of war in our hand and several thousand tanks in our hand why did not we take advantage of the situation in the negotiations. It was good that Bangladesh was liberated but why did not we demand return of POK during this time. What is the use of inclusion of a sentence saying, "All disputes between India and Pakistan will be resolved through bilateral talks". With U.S.A. pressure on India has Pakistan outsmarted India during negotiations? When Lahore and Karachi were in our control during 1965 and 1971 wars why did we leave these places without extracting POK. Did U.S.A. ask Israelis to leave Gaza strip and West Bank occupied during 1967 Arab-Israel war. In fact Israel has succeeded in Jewish settlements also. The Kashmiri Pandits are languishing as refugees in New Delhi streets. If India had taken such a proactive posture this problem would not have been there on us. If we had done such a thing the double standards and dubious role of U.S.A. would have exposed. If Israel has not returned Gaza Strip and West Bank even today why did we return Karachi and Lahore to Pakistan?
Indira Gandhi can be praised for her role in 1971 war (liberation of Bangladesh) but certainly not for the subsequent negotiations. Our armed forces have shown what they can do for us (winning a war) but our bureaucrats have shown that they are useless fellows (could not extract any thing more than the inclusion of a sentence). Though she may be praised for liberating Bangladesh, she cannot be praised for not extracting anything from Pakistan in return (POK should have been in our control during this war). She was neither a benevolent dictator to bring any drastic changes for good in our polity nor did she capitalize to do any good projects by imposing such an emergency. The emergency was just to arrest the opposition leaders and decimate them. Though we had the capability by 1966 we had to wait until 1974 to test a nuclear device. Indira Gandhi did not consolidate the gains of this test but left at it. The problem of our rulers was that our military doctrine and foreign policy are disgustingly Pakistan-centered. If we had tried to match with China from the beginning Pakistan would have become a Lilliput.
Finally, can we re-examine our eulogized leaders and produce theses on them. Or, probably they are eulogized to the extent that any mention of their wrong deeds would create artificial passions and give alibi to hooligans to create trouble. Only time has to give answers for these questions. Has our democracy reached a level where our freedom of expressions allows us to revisit the history? Sycophants may not agree but what about critics. I would greatly appreciate any rejoinders.
These are just some perceptions. Readers may send their views that would change my thinking so that I can withdraw any critical points.
Friday, July 27, 2007
Sunday, July 22, 2007
Plea to Activate a National Defence Fund in India
It is a known fact that India's funding on defence is dismal in terms of its GDP when compared to its neighbours. A major portion of the annual Indian budget on defence goes to salaries and establishment. Only less than half or one thirds of amount is left for the purchase of arms. The budgetary allocation in terms of GDP in India has been around 2.5% whereas Pakistan spends 5% of its GDP. Though China claims that its expenditure on defence in terms of GDP is around 2.5% many critics feel that this is underestimated and actuals would be 5%. Moreover China has been experiencing a double digit GDP growth for the past several years and hence its GDP percentage on defence would appear low. In fact China's 5% GDP would be India's 10% GDP.
While India's threat perception remained high, the budgetary allocation for the defence sector remained low. Many argue that India has to address more compelling issues such as poverty alleviation, unemployment, water scarcity, lack of infrastructural facilities, etc., than spending on defence. But then it leads to a situation wherein the national security and the defence preparedness would be compromised to a greater extent both in the short time and in the long run. Is there a way out that would balance the two issues i.e. defence spending on one hand and expenditure on developmental activities on the other? One of the solutions that could be offered is to activate the National Defence Fund (NDF) wherein the interested citizens of the country may volunteer to donate an amount that they wish for the purpose of acquisition of arms and ammunition for the Indian armed forces. All such donors should receive tax benefits i.e. 100% tax exemption. One of the advantages of this scheme is that even those who evade tax would come forward to turn their black money into white money. But it only needs wide publicity.
The money accumulated under this fund should be exclusively used for the purpose for which it has been instituted (procurement of arms). Attempts will be made to reduce the regular defence budget showing the money available under NDF and people like Mr. Chidambaram will leave no single opportunity to do this. That should not be the case. Once again critics may argue that when India has millions of people below poverty line why not route such a fund for the benefit of downtrodden. However history has shown that whatever freebies, subsidies and other popular measures be taken they never reach the target people but siphoned to ruling party men and middlemen. So far we have not found any mechanism to check this. As a result poor remain poor even after such freebies. Even if some of the popular measures reach the target people (may be 20%) the fact remains that these are temporary phenomena but what we need is a permanent solution. It can be in the form of creating more employment opportunities. More over there are already several government-sponsored programs available in addition to various NGOs, philanthropic organizations participating to address the problems of downtrodden.
Even if each person donates Rs.2,000/- per annum and 5% of the population, out of 110 crores, donate such an amount to NDF the annual amount that would be deposited in the NDF would be10,000 crores which is more than sufficient for buying electronic gadgets including radars and other jamming equipment. In fact, with this much amount available, from NDF, we can even procure more Aircrafts that have AWACS (Airborne Early Warning and Control System). Though AWACS has been discussed for the 2 decades only recently parleys have started with Israel. The present day reality is that future wars belong to those who have an upper hand in electronic warfare. Further, the fact that both our neighbors have nuclear weapons forces us to prepare ourselves for theatre warfare and naturally this includes a missile shield. Though we have tested Prithvi as an anti-ballistic missile we are still at infancy with regard to anti-ballistic missile systems. It is very unfortunate that we have very unpredictable neighbors and we had bitter experience with them already. In the past arms procurement always started only when the neighboring countries invaded India. Should we continue the same trend? Would it not be prudent to anticipate the threats and purchase the equipment accordingly? In the west all the people are wary of defence related matters, foreign policy, international relations, etc. Unfortunately majority of the population in India is still illiterate and hence it is beyond their reach to think about national security. That leaves middle and upper class to think about these issues. Here again, these two classes are completely immersed with domestic problems at home or in the office or in business and they do not have time or orientation to think about the national security. Hence we have to find ways to integrate our populace into the problems of national security and create awareness among the general public through electronic and print media and debates at various fora.
Before independence, if there was a single issue, which has united the Indian population, it can be said to be the desire to get freedom from British raj. We have not witnessed such coming together after independence. National security should be one of the issues, which should bring people from all sections of the society, and NDF can become a unifying factor to unite all Indians. If we think that only those people live in the border states should worry about national security is equal to having a myopic view. We should overcome this kind of mentality and everyone should participate in the national security. We should remember that any lapse in security of the nation would have Pan-Indian affect.
NDF is an option for all Indians to rise above regional, religious, linguistic chauvinisms, for those who go astray into naxalism, militantism or people who have ideological dogmatism and partisan politics. While the men in uniform defend our country on the borders those who contribute to NDF can become the unsung heroes and a unifying factor to sink our differences.
Once we make the NDF more successful we can constitute a National Science and Technology Fund (NSTF), National Infrastructure Fund (NIF), National Agricultural Fund (NAF) and National Sports Fund (NSF) or funds under these heads may be constituted simultaneously. Though it is out of the purview of the present article to go into details of these Funds it is suffice to briefly mention that the amount accumulated in the National Science Technology Fund can be used to install several Regional Sophisticated Instrumentation Centers that would have the state-of-the-art research equipment for advanced scientific research. In fact under this fund sophisticated medical equipment can be purchased and supplied to remotest government hospitals where poor cannot afford the expenses that are billed by private hospitals. Similarly the amount collected under National Infrastructure Fund (NIF) may be (i) utilized for laying cement roads wherever possible in addition to tar roads, (ii) gauge conversion and new rail links that connect remotest places in India and (iii) telecommunication facilities to remotest areas. The money in the National Agricultural Fund may be utilized exclusively for water catchments, irrigation, and providing infrastructure in the form of agricultural gadgets including soil analyses kits and forecast of monsoons. In the case of National Sports Fund the money may be utilized to encourage all other sports but not cricket. This is for 2 reasons. Number one our cricketers are already flooded with excess money from various sponsoring agencies and the other reason is that while cricket has received lot of attention the same is not the case with other sports. This is notwithstanding the fact that, in recent times, we are witnessing dismal performance by our cricketers who have shown successful failures. In Olympics for more than 3 or 4 decades India’s name is missing in the medals tally. This is an aspect for introspection for every citizen of this country. We should find a solution for this and not just remain as mute spectators.
The money received in all above proposed schemes and the expenditure incurred should be well audited and should be accessible to public to avoid any misgivings in the minds of donors and the general public. The modalities of tax benefits to the donors may be worked out by the concerned departments.
While India's threat perception remained high, the budgetary allocation for the defence sector remained low. Many argue that India has to address more compelling issues such as poverty alleviation, unemployment, water scarcity, lack of infrastructural facilities, etc., than spending on defence. But then it leads to a situation wherein the national security and the defence preparedness would be compromised to a greater extent both in the short time and in the long run. Is there a way out that would balance the two issues i.e. defence spending on one hand and expenditure on developmental activities on the other? One of the solutions that could be offered is to activate the National Defence Fund (NDF) wherein the interested citizens of the country may volunteer to donate an amount that they wish for the purpose of acquisition of arms and ammunition for the Indian armed forces. All such donors should receive tax benefits i.e. 100% tax exemption. One of the advantages of this scheme is that even those who evade tax would come forward to turn their black money into white money. But it only needs wide publicity.
The money accumulated under this fund should be exclusively used for the purpose for which it has been instituted (procurement of arms). Attempts will be made to reduce the regular defence budget showing the money available under NDF and people like Mr. Chidambaram will leave no single opportunity to do this. That should not be the case. Once again critics may argue that when India has millions of people below poverty line why not route such a fund for the benefit of downtrodden. However history has shown that whatever freebies, subsidies and other popular measures be taken they never reach the target people but siphoned to ruling party men and middlemen. So far we have not found any mechanism to check this. As a result poor remain poor even after such freebies. Even if some of the popular measures reach the target people (may be 20%) the fact remains that these are temporary phenomena but what we need is a permanent solution. It can be in the form of creating more employment opportunities. More over there are already several government-sponsored programs available in addition to various NGOs, philanthropic organizations participating to address the problems of downtrodden.
Even if each person donates Rs.2,000/- per annum and 5% of the population, out of 110 crores, donate such an amount to NDF the annual amount that would be deposited in the NDF would be10,000 crores which is more than sufficient for buying electronic gadgets including radars and other jamming equipment. In fact, with this much amount available, from NDF, we can even procure more Aircrafts that have AWACS (Airborne Early Warning and Control System). Though AWACS has been discussed for the 2 decades only recently parleys have started with Israel. The present day reality is that future wars belong to those who have an upper hand in electronic warfare. Further, the fact that both our neighbors have nuclear weapons forces us to prepare ourselves for theatre warfare and naturally this includes a missile shield. Though we have tested Prithvi as an anti-ballistic missile we are still at infancy with regard to anti-ballistic missile systems. It is very unfortunate that we have very unpredictable neighbors and we had bitter experience with them already. In the past arms procurement always started only when the neighboring countries invaded India. Should we continue the same trend? Would it not be prudent to anticipate the threats and purchase the equipment accordingly? In the west all the people are wary of defence related matters, foreign policy, international relations, etc. Unfortunately majority of the population in India is still illiterate and hence it is beyond their reach to think about national security. That leaves middle and upper class to think about these issues. Here again, these two classes are completely immersed with domestic problems at home or in the office or in business and they do not have time or orientation to think about the national security. Hence we have to find ways to integrate our populace into the problems of national security and create awareness among the general public through electronic and print media and debates at various fora.
Before independence, if there was a single issue, which has united the Indian population, it can be said to be the desire to get freedom from British raj. We have not witnessed such coming together after independence. National security should be one of the issues, which should bring people from all sections of the society, and NDF can become a unifying factor to unite all Indians. If we think that only those people live in the border states should worry about national security is equal to having a myopic view. We should overcome this kind of mentality and everyone should participate in the national security. We should remember that any lapse in security of the nation would have Pan-Indian affect.
NDF is an option for all Indians to rise above regional, religious, linguistic chauvinisms, for those who go astray into naxalism, militantism or people who have ideological dogmatism and partisan politics. While the men in uniform defend our country on the borders those who contribute to NDF can become the unsung heroes and a unifying factor to sink our differences.
Once we make the NDF more successful we can constitute a National Science and Technology Fund (NSTF), National Infrastructure Fund (NIF), National Agricultural Fund (NAF) and National Sports Fund (NSF) or funds under these heads may be constituted simultaneously. Though it is out of the purview of the present article to go into details of these Funds it is suffice to briefly mention that the amount accumulated in the National Science Technology Fund can be used to install several Regional Sophisticated Instrumentation Centers that would have the state-of-the-art research equipment for advanced scientific research. In fact under this fund sophisticated medical equipment can be purchased and supplied to remotest government hospitals where poor cannot afford the expenses that are billed by private hospitals. Similarly the amount collected under National Infrastructure Fund (NIF) may be (i) utilized for laying cement roads wherever possible in addition to tar roads, (ii) gauge conversion and new rail links that connect remotest places in India and (iii) telecommunication facilities to remotest areas. The money in the National Agricultural Fund may be utilized exclusively for water catchments, irrigation, and providing infrastructure in the form of agricultural gadgets including soil analyses kits and forecast of monsoons. In the case of National Sports Fund the money may be utilized to encourage all other sports but not cricket. This is for 2 reasons. Number one our cricketers are already flooded with excess money from various sponsoring agencies and the other reason is that while cricket has received lot of attention the same is not the case with other sports. This is notwithstanding the fact that, in recent times, we are witnessing dismal performance by our cricketers who have shown successful failures. In Olympics for more than 3 or 4 decades India’s name is missing in the medals tally. This is an aspect for introspection for every citizen of this country. We should find a solution for this and not just remain as mute spectators.
The money received in all above proposed schemes and the expenditure incurred should be well audited and should be accessible to public to avoid any misgivings in the minds of donors and the general public. The modalities of tax benefits to the donors may be worked out by the concerned departments.
HIGHER RESEARCH IN INDIA
The quality of scientific research in India needs self-introspection now than ever before. The contribution from Indian Scientists to general science is meager when compared to U.S.A. and Europe. We have to compare ourselves with Pakistan or other such smaller states and get satisfied that we are better. However we have a very great potential that has not been tapped properly. Several reasons can be traced for this state of impasse.
Primarily the selection of the members into the scientific community or academia is not free and fair. Many a times merit is not given due consideration but all other means are adopted to appoint incompetent persons (political influence, bribes or otherwise). The casualty is good science. The proof for this can come from a nation-wide performance analysis on all the teaching and scientific staff and bringing out a status-report on them. How many of us have guts to do this or to volunteer to the appraisal. The only proof would be their research output.
Secondarily proper evaluation is not done at frequent intervals. By the result there is no accountability. The individuals enjoy all the benefits and retire without any scrutiny. Every five years there should be an evaluation as this is a minimum gestation period for a person to show results. The number of scientific papers published and the quality of such publications (Impact Factor) should form the basis for such evaluations. This can be relaxed to some extent to those subjects in Arts and Humanities or Mathematics where publications in journals are sometimes difficult. Every funding agency should expect publications for the projects they fund. If the research/teaching staff don't perform well they should be served one or two warnings and finally terminated. Only such punishments will make the scientists/academicians accountable as otherwise we will witness a majority, who are sundry, filling their pockets at the end of each month. Several institutes are running due to the fame left by the earlier workers who would have been stalwarts. In the university departments teaching load is less, as they have to teach only post-graduates. Even here the normal practice is the faculty members don't teach but give all their workload as assignments to the students. Whatever be the reason the faculties in the universities can devote most of their time for research. Unfortunately, once again, mostly we have non-performers. On the contrary a handful of faculty members in the colleges outperform those in the universities in spite of lacking several facilities that are available in the universities. There is another problem from non-performers. They have jealousy on performers and some of them try to sabotage or curtail others work.
It seems the establishments cannot do anything with those who do not perform. But to those who perform well one of the blockades is the administrative wrangle. The administrative staff is basically supporting staff to the research staff but they don't realize that and cooperate properly. The purchase department does not procure the equipments or chemicals in time. They show their one up-man ship when things come to their hands. Due to this reason some performing scientists become demoralized. Sometimes there will be indefinite delays in the correspondence between the funding agencies whose offices are in Delhi and research institutes which are spread all over India.
Third reason is there is no proper leadership or motivation at various levels. It is unfortunate that some members have to be driven while others have to be motivated at the age of 35-60. But there is no other go. Many consider one or two scientific publications are enough and they feel that they have lifetime achievements. We do not know where from such feelings come while there is no limit for scientific accomplishments. We should learn from westerners who work at all ages with full vigor. We need people who can inspire others and be the role models. Most probably such people don't get a chance to come up in the ladder. We should inculcate and imbibe the scientific temperament that our counterparts in the west have.
Spending on higher research has to be increased manifold. Compared to U.S.A. and Europe our per capita expenditure on higher research is dismal. Allocations should be generous for awarding projects, appointing scientific personnel, sophisticated instrumentation and their maintenance.
Though we claim that English speaking are more in India and the claim that we have an edge over China seems to be incorrect as far as scientific writing is concerned. Whether one likes it or not 90% of the scientific publications are in English and it will continue to be so. Those who are not at ease with English give all sorts of excuses for their non-performance. Such people neither fare better in vernacular languages. If they really have any great inventions there will be any number of people to help them to translate or correct the grammar. Unfortunately this is not the case. Japanese, Russians, Germans also face such language problems but they are great scientists and they publish in their own languages that are highly graded. To bring the science within the reach of common people some of the important inventions and discoveries of the last decade may be translated into vernacular languages of India to facilitate a better understanding for all sections of the society. Many in the age group of 30-50 or above would have missed these developments in their curricula.
Finally it should be remembered that the only way of evaluation of research output is journal publications and nothing else. There should be some soul-searching and debates as to why our contribution to science is very meager.
Primarily the selection of the members into the scientific community or academia is not free and fair. Many a times merit is not given due consideration but all other means are adopted to appoint incompetent persons (political influence, bribes or otherwise). The casualty is good science. The proof for this can come from a nation-wide performance analysis on all the teaching and scientific staff and bringing out a status-report on them. How many of us have guts to do this or to volunteer to the appraisal. The only proof would be their research output.
Secondarily proper evaluation is not done at frequent intervals. By the result there is no accountability. The individuals enjoy all the benefits and retire without any scrutiny. Every five years there should be an evaluation as this is a minimum gestation period for a person to show results. The number of scientific papers published and the quality of such publications (Impact Factor) should form the basis for such evaluations. This can be relaxed to some extent to those subjects in Arts and Humanities or Mathematics where publications in journals are sometimes difficult. Every funding agency should expect publications for the projects they fund. If the research/teaching staff don't perform well they should be served one or two warnings and finally terminated. Only such punishments will make the scientists/academicians accountable as otherwise we will witness a majority, who are sundry, filling their pockets at the end of each month. Several institutes are running due to the fame left by the earlier workers who would have been stalwarts. In the university departments teaching load is less, as they have to teach only post-graduates. Even here the normal practice is the faculty members don't teach but give all their workload as assignments to the students. Whatever be the reason the faculties in the universities can devote most of their time for research. Unfortunately, once again, mostly we have non-performers. On the contrary a handful of faculty members in the colleges outperform those in the universities in spite of lacking several facilities that are available in the universities. There is another problem from non-performers. They have jealousy on performers and some of them try to sabotage or curtail others work.
It seems the establishments cannot do anything with those who do not perform. But to those who perform well one of the blockades is the administrative wrangle. The administrative staff is basically supporting staff to the research staff but they don't realize that and cooperate properly. The purchase department does not procure the equipments or chemicals in time. They show their one up-man ship when things come to their hands. Due to this reason some performing scientists become demoralized. Sometimes there will be indefinite delays in the correspondence between the funding agencies whose offices are in Delhi and research institutes which are spread all over India.
Third reason is there is no proper leadership or motivation at various levels. It is unfortunate that some members have to be driven while others have to be motivated at the age of 35-60. But there is no other go. Many consider one or two scientific publications are enough and they feel that they have lifetime achievements. We do not know where from such feelings come while there is no limit for scientific accomplishments. We should learn from westerners who work at all ages with full vigor. We need people who can inspire others and be the role models. Most probably such people don't get a chance to come up in the ladder. We should inculcate and imbibe the scientific temperament that our counterparts in the west have.
Spending on higher research has to be increased manifold. Compared to U.S.A. and Europe our per capita expenditure on higher research is dismal. Allocations should be generous for awarding projects, appointing scientific personnel, sophisticated instrumentation and their maintenance.
Though we claim that English speaking are more in India and the claim that we have an edge over China seems to be incorrect as far as scientific writing is concerned. Whether one likes it or not 90% of the scientific publications are in English and it will continue to be so. Those who are not at ease with English give all sorts of excuses for their non-performance. Such people neither fare better in vernacular languages. If they really have any great inventions there will be any number of people to help them to translate or correct the grammar. Unfortunately this is not the case. Japanese, Russians, Germans also face such language problems but they are great scientists and they publish in their own languages that are highly graded. To bring the science within the reach of common people some of the important inventions and discoveries of the last decade may be translated into vernacular languages of India to facilitate a better understanding for all sections of the society. Many in the age group of 30-50 or above would have missed these developments in their curricula.
Finally it should be remembered that the only way of evaluation of research output is journal publications and nothing else. There should be some soul-searching and debates as to why our contribution to science is very meager.
National security for Gujarat
Security of the country and maintaining the sovereignty of the country are equally important when we discuss about the society. The dangers of Kargil like incidents where the Subramanian committee has not only condemned for the lapses in our intelligence but also lamented for the lack of any wisdom or focus in the intelligence network. If Kargil is one of the blunders of failures of our Indian intelligence safeguarding the country is still a daunting task. We don't know whether Subramanian committee's recommendations are enough or not. An earthquake on January 26th 2001 at 8.15 a.m. may be a coincident, but why not we suspect the same for any other sabotage (either underground device or some other means). China was the first country to announce 9.4 on the Richter scale and this magnitude occurred only once in the 100 year period. There could be many traitors within the country who would be helping enemies. Hence this has to be tackled by targeting elements both within and outside the country.
Some of the maps show as if there is no inhabitance in the Rann of Kutch region. A place where dense mangrove vegetation (northwest part of Kutch) can be found has been neglected. The population per square kilometer is far less than other parts of Gujarat. Would it be that shelling of bombs from across the border threatens the people to migrate from the Kutch area. Alternatively is the desert area is not conducive for any inhabitation? We should seriously think of constructing a naval base near Lakhpath, bordering Rann of Kutch along with an airbase and army camps. That would become a real deterrent. As otherwise we are neglecting an area that has high economic potential. Whatever may be the case the Rann of Kutch area seems to be porous for militants to intrude. Prawn culture, which has been successful along both coasts of India in generating foreign exchange reserves for India as an export-oriented business should be explored in the Rann of Kutch area also. Studies on mangrove ecosystem functioning, primary productivity and biodiversity are sparse in this area. Seaweeds that have been a staple food for the entire South East Asia have not been tried in India. Studies show that macroalgal diversity is rich in Gujarat coast. Further, for improvement, the arid region of Rann-of-Kutch should be covered with drought resistant plants. In countries like Brazil trials have been done on dumping sewage waste into desert and barren lands. Such trials can be done here also by sprinkling sewage water and spreading bio-waste. Over a period of time the nutrients would allow the growth of xerophytes initially followed by mesophytes subsequently. The salt tolerant plants such as Casuarinas should be tried.
Future wars belong to electronic warfare. Whoever has advantage in the electronic warfare will win the wars. Hence we have to equip ourselves with the latest state-of-the-art technology. Our main motto should always be maintaining peace and extend friendship. We should always talk about peace from a point of strength (both militarily and economically) and not from a point of weakness. While almost entire India is within the reach of missile range of Pakistan, we don't have a similar strategy vis-à-vis China. Whether our minimum deterrence is enough to deter enemies is suspicious.
Those who stay in the Border States only suffer the cross-border terrorism and other states or citizenry are not bothered about what is happening in our borders. Many of these states have to cope-up with terrorism day in and day out. If states that don't have this problem think that it is not their problem one day they will also have to face a similar situation. We have people of separatist tendency and not bothered about pan Indian security aspects.
A multipurpose identity card is proposed which will contain the following details and will be used in the following departments. A 10 digit number should be given to each citizen. It should contain the following: (i) family details viz., name, father's name and other family members, full address, criminal records if any; blood group, annual income; with a photograph and finger print, etc.; (ii) the number should be included in the ration card or family card; (iii) to be interlinked to IT departments; Passport office; Driving license; Telephone department; Home; Social Welfare; Health for birth certificates and the last but least the Census department (will be useful for statistics on population, gender ratios; different age groups; employed vs. unemployed; literacy rate, etc.). Everything should be computerized and all the links to individual departments should also be linked. This exercise will be a mammoth one but information technology will come to our rescue. While the above information can be maintained as confidential in the Home department and the privacy has to be safeguarded except for a few details upon request by each department i.e. the particular number can be shown everywhere. This will save the time for the identity and credentials of a person. This way unauthorized persons roaming in India can be easily caught.
Some of the maps show as if there is no inhabitance in the Rann of Kutch region. A place where dense mangrove vegetation (northwest part of Kutch) can be found has been neglected. The population per square kilometer is far less than other parts of Gujarat. Would it be that shelling of bombs from across the border threatens the people to migrate from the Kutch area. Alternatively is the desert area is not conducive for any inhabitation? We should seriously think of constructing a naval base near Lakhpath, bordering Rann of Kutch along with an airbase and army camps. That would become a real deterrent. As otherwise we are neglecting an area that has high economic potential. Whatever may be the case the Rann of Kutch area seems to be porous for militants to intrude. Prawn culture, which has been successful along both coasts of India in generating foreign exchange reserves for India as an export-oriented business should be explored in the Rann of Kutch area also. Studies on mangrove ecosystem functioning, primary productivity and biodiversity are sparse in this area. Seaweeds that have been a staple food for the entire South East Asia have not been tried in India. Studies show that macroalgal diversity is rich in Gujarat coast. Further, for improvement, the arid region of Rann-of-Kutch should be covered with drought resistant plants. In countries like Brazil trials have been done on dumping sewage waste into desert and barren lands. Such trials can be done here also by sprinkling sewage water and spreading bio-waste. Over a period of time the nutrients would allow the growth of xerophytes initially followed by mesophytes subsequently. The salt tolerant plants such as Casuarinas should be tried.
Future wars belong to electronic warfare. Whoever has advantage in the electronic warfare will win the wars. Hence we have to equip ourselves with the latest state-of-the-art technology. Our main motto should always be maintaining peace and extend friendship. We should always talk about peace from a point of strength (both militarily and economically) and not from a point of weakness. While almost entire India is within the reach of missile range of Pakistan, we don't have a similar strategy vis-à-vis China. Whether our minimum deterrence is enough to deter enemies is suspicious.
Those who stay in the Border States only suffer the cross-border terrorism and other states or citizenry are not bothered about what is happening in our borders. Many of these states have to cope-up with terrorism day in and day out. If states that don't have this problem think that it is not their problem one day they will also have to face a similar situation. We have people of separatist tendency and not bothered about pan Indian security aspects.
A multipurpose identity card is proposed which will contain the following details and will be used in the following departments. A 10 digit number should be given to each citizen. It should contain the following: (i) family details viz., name, father's name and other family members, full address, criminal records if any; blood group, annual income; with a photograph and finger print, etc.; (ii) the number should be included in the ration card or family card; (iii) to be interlinked to IT departments; Passport office; Driving license; Telephone department; Home; Social Welfare; Health for birth certificates and the last but least the Census department (will be useful for statistics on population, gender ratios; different age groups; employed vs. unemployed; literacy rate, etc.). Everything should be computerized and all the links to individual departments should also be linked. This exercise will be a mammoth one but information technology will come to our rescue. While the above information can be maintained as confidential in the Home department and the privacy has to be safeguarded except for a few details upon request by each department i.e. the particular number can be shown everywhere. This will save the time for the identity and credentials of a person. This way unauthorized persons roaming in India can be easily caught.
Vegetarianism and vegetation
This article is about the relevance of vegetarianism in the present day world. As highly evolved among the animals the human beings have certain responsibilities to maintain and respect the ecosystem balance and functioning. Consequently it is not at all advisable to continue to kill the animals and eat them. If we have to follow the path of live and let live we should not kill the animals. We are not given any special rights to kill the organisms. The alternative is to follow vegetarianism and cultivate plants. Some people argue that the plants are also living organisms and how we can kill them. The answer here is that the plants have totipotency. Totipotency means total potency i.e. if any branch of a tree is cut the plant can regenerate a new branch in that area. However if a man's hand is cut the hand is lost once and for all. Except, however, for the recent stem cell research that shows some possibilities of regeneration. As otherwise one can reap the benefits of growing the plants still allowing them to live. Plants supply all the essential nutrients and the prerequisite is that different plants have to be considered at various points of time in a day or in a week for our routine dietary needs. Uprooting and felling of the trees for short-term benefits is undertaken not only by locals but also by educated lot who have close association with powers that be. This should not be the case.
Consuming animals can be traced to barbaric age when animals are directly consumed or after barbecuing. A time was there when cannibalism was also present. It is another thing that cannibalism exists even now as reports come here and there. The other reasons for not following strict vegetarianism can also be traced to shortage of supply of plant sources. But this cannot be an excuse, as every effort should be made to increase the arable land. Special efforts should be taken to convert the wastelands and barren lands into cultivable land.
It is not only aesthetic to have long green pastures but also to have enough production to ever increasing demand of food grains. There is a report that shows that we are importing pulses to the tune of more than 3,000 crore rupees. It is a pathetic situation that we have to import pulses. The best solution to increase the pulses output, which is also eco-friendly, practiced for ages, is alternate cropping of cereals with pulses. The advantage of using a legume crop (pulses) as an alternate crop is that these plants have the capacity to fix the atmospheric nitrogen symbiotically with nitrogen fixing bacteria. Though this is nature's best antidote for recycling of nutrients it has not been fully explored by farmers. Year after year we spend several thousands of crores of rupees on chemical fertilizers. This leaves us not only dependent on chemical fertilizers every year but also medicates our body with all sorts of chemicals. This also includes pesticides, fungicides that we use to prevent pests and pathogens. To avoid application of these chemicals biopesticides have been suggested. Application of suspension of cow dung is good for crops as the cow dung provides not only nutrients but also protection from pathogenic organisms, as many saprophytes in dung will prevent the pathogens.
The cyanobacteria (blue green algae) also fix atmospheric nitrogen but mostly live independently. These organisms are also used as biofertilizers. Without spending any additional money the cyanobacteria can be grown wherever ponds or other such stagnant water bodies exist. They should not be mistaken for the green algae (e.g. Chlorella, Scenedesmus, Chlamydomonas) that also grow in such stagnant waters. By experience one can distinguish between a green alga and a cyanobacterial colony. The cyanobacterial bloom has to be collected from the ponds and filtered through 10 µm filters. This way most of the bacteria, fungal spores, unialgal cells and protozoans can be filtered. The remaining cyanobacterial filaments can be washed in fresh sterilized water. They can then be dried and kept ready for spreading in the agricultural lands. These cyanobacteria are particularly helpful during a rice-crop. Otherwise they can be used during any cereal crop. This is a very cheap method. Advice of the agricultural scientist for the identity of the organism should be taken. These cyanobacteria fix atmospheric nitrogen and minimize the cost to be incurred for nitrogenous chemical fertilizers. Our Government, which spends crores of rupees for fertilizer subsidies, can escape from this unnecessary expenditure. The industrial lobby and some vested interests may not want the subsidies to go but to ever continue. While western countries (developed countries) are shifting to organic farming we are still continuing the practice of chemo- farming. It is high time that we shift back to organic farming and eco-friendly approaches. Careful planning and proper management of the crops are prerequisites for higher production.
Several innovations can be introduced within the framework of sustainable agriculture (organic farming). Invariably the organic farming uses cow dung for composting along with plant remains from previous crop, or if earthworms mediate the process then the process becomes vermi-composting. Irrespective of the nature of the manure or compost prepared cow dung seems to be the central point. It can be seen from the above that cow dung is indispensable in all the preparations. If that were the case we should introspect ourselves as to how important it is to take care of cows. This could be the reason why cows are considered holy in our tradition. Instead of killing them we should follow the principle of live and let live. The cow dung is also used in the production of methane a component of biogas.
Consuming animals can be traced to barbaric age when animals are directly consumed or after barbecuing. A time was there when cannibalism was also present. It is another thing that cannibalism exists even now as reports come here and there. The other reasons for not following strict vegetarianism can also be traced to shortage of supply of plant sources. But this cannot be an excuse, as every effort should be made to increase the arable land. Special efforts should be taken to convert the wastelands and barren lands into cultivable land.
It is not only aesthetic to have long green pastures but also to have enough production to ever increasing demand of food grains. There is a report that shows that we are importing pulses to the tune of more than 3,000 crore rupees. It is a pathetic situation that we have to import pulses. The best solution to increase the pulses output, which is also eco-friendly, practiced for ages, is alternate cropping of cereals with pulses. The advantage of using a legume crop (pulses) as an alternate crop is that these plants have the capacity to fix the atmospheric nitrogen symbiotically with nitrogen fixing bacteria. Though this is nature's best antidote for recycling of nutrients it has not been fully explored by farmers. Year after year we spend several thousands of crores of rupees on chemical fertilizers. This leaves us not only dependent on chemical fertilizers every year but also medicates our body with all sorts of chemicals. This also includes pesticides, fungicides that we use to prevent pests and pathogens. To avoid application of these chemicals biopesticides have been suggested. Application of suspension of cow dung is good for crops as the cow dung provides not only nutrients but also protection from pathogenic organisms, as many saprophytes in dung will prevent the pathogens.
The cyanobacteria (blue green algae) also fix atmospheric nitrogen but mostly live independently. These organisms are also used as biofertilizers. Without spending any additional money the cyanobacteria can be grown wherever ponds or other such stagnant water bodies exist. They should not be mistaken for the green algae (e.g. Chlorella, Scenedesmus, Chlamydomonas) that also grow in such stagnant waters. By experience one can distinguish between a green alga and a cyanobacterial colony. The cyanobacterial bloom has to be collected from the ponds and filtered through 10 µm filters. This way most of the bacteria, fungal spores, unialgal cells and protozoans can be filtered. The remaining cyanobacterial filaments can be washed in fresh sterilized water. They can then be dried and kept ready for spreading in the agricultural lands. These cyanobacteria are particularly helpful during a rice-crop. Otherwise they can be used during any cereal crop. This is a very cheap method. Advice of the agricultural scientist for the identity of the organism should be taken. These cyanobacteria fix atmospheric nitrogen and minimize the cost to be incurred for nitrogenous chemical fertilizers. Our Government, which spends crores of rupees for fertilizer subsidies, can escape from this unnecessary expenditure. The industrial lobby and some vested interests may not want the subsidies to go but to ever continue. While western countries (developed countries) are shifting to organic farming we are still continuing the practice of chemo- farming. It is high time that we shift back to organic farming and eco-friendly approaches. Careful planning and proper management of the crops are prerequisites for higher production.
Several innovations can be introduced within the framework of sustainable agriculture (organic farming). Invariably the organic farming uses cow dung for composting along with plant remains from previous crop, or if earthworms mediate the process then the process becomes vermi-composting. Irrespective of the nature of the manure or compost prepared cow dung seems to be the central point. It can be seen from the above that cow dung is indispensable in all the preparations. If that were the case we should introspect ourselves as to how important it is to take care of cows. This could be the reason why cows are considered holy in our tradition. Instead of killing them we should follow the principle of live and let live. The cow dung is also used in the production of methane a component of biogas.
Call for Brahmins to renounce priesthood and take a new paradigm
From times immemorial Brahmins have been leading a simple life style and their main profession was priesthood in Hindu temples for meager salaries. A handful of few others might have been well-off, who would have found their way into the Kingdom and involved in praising the kings as poets to earn a little more money. It was only in the 18th century and during British raj that some of the Brahmins were recruited as civil service personnel, which continued for some time after independence with numbers coming down in recent times. However, invariably almost all the priests of different generations of our history have been poor and lived under the conditions of penury. The same trend is continuing even now. Such priests are/were at the mercy of devotees to get paltry sum of 50 paise or one rupee (present rate) as additional income. Their income has been Rs.600/- per month, which makes them to come under ‘below poverty line’ though some increments in some states have been affected i.e. up to Rs.1,500/- p.m., recently, which does not make much difference. If other communities think that holding a priest post is a plum post and a pinnacle to achieve in the social set-up in India and earning Rs.600/- p.m. is a lucrative job then the reservation policy should be first extended to temples.
Whether it be atheists or personnel who belong to other religions, they synonimise Brahmins to Hinduism and target them for everything that is happening in India. Brahmins have been victims of different types of attacks on them by the atheists in India. Under these circumstances the Brahmins are advised to undertake a silent revolution and a non-violent protest by refraining to go to temples and practice priesthood in temples. They can confine themselves to their homes for whatever devotion they have. Brahmins should think several times before continuing the job of priest hood hereafter. They are further advised to provide regular education to their children and look for other jobs, at least, for future generations and don’t depend on priesthood. While those who can afford to forego priesthood may do so immediately. Others can also refrain practicing priesthood in temples and instead attend marriage functions or other ceremonies on a call basis. The latter also can undergo the de-phasing of coming out of priesthood slowly. If these steps can ensure social up-liftment i.e. appointing priests from all communities why not Brahmins initiate this by silently coming out. Alas, at least after this, the Brahmins should be left alone and others should not make them soft targets whenever they feel convenient. If they are still victimized for no fault of theirs then the psyche of our people has to be suspected. If some body is calm, simple and leads a decent life style in spite of being poor the same should be considered as a good trait and others should not have jealousy or become envious of such persons and start attacking them, which would be considered as an act coming out of inferiority complex.
The advantages that Brahmins considered to be having over others are that they are (i) well versed with Sanskrit, (ii) teetotalers, (iii) vegetarians, and (iv) known to lead a simple and pious life. Present day reality is that whoever can excel in these traits can become a priest. Times have changed now. Most of the temples now belong to and are managed by various state and central governments. Some state governments have already announced that temple priests would belong to all castes. In fact reservation policy can be implemented in the appointment of temple staff including that of priests. If the Brahmins still want to continue priesthood then they can compete for the 31% under open category (after deducting 69% reservation) for a salary of Rs.600/-. We should also consider appointing women as priests providing them a week’s holiday every month.
If Sanskrit is a limitation then the hymns may be translated and chanted in the vernacular languages, which is already practiced in several temples in states like Tamil Nadu. Brahmins need not worry as to what will happen to Hinduism if they are not involved in the priesthood. Hinduism has withstood test of times and it can survive very well without them, as no one is indispensable in this world. In spite of reservation policy prevalent in India and the Brahmins foregoing the priesthood also, the Brahmins should be having plenty of opportunities elsewhere and they can bank upon this premise since this world is so vast and we are in the age of globalization. In the present day, priesthood is the last thing that the Brahmins are holding and once they come out of it we don’t have any thing else to point at them or criticize them. If they undertake other jobs they should not be teased or cornered. Once Brahmins do this Hinduism will be in the hands of other castes and it is up to them as to how they take it for future. If these things happen, every thing will be open for every one, in the public places where government has a hand in distribution, and the Hindus need not go for conversion to other religions taking excuse that they are socially castigated. What remains to be seen, however, is even if Brahmins are ready to come out of the temples; others may not allow them to do so due to some ulterior motives. How do we tackle that?
The intricacies of Hindu philosophy are difficult to understand. Our so called hindus are everady to criticize Hinduism because they don’t understand the religion propertly. Hence attempts should be made to simplify and publish books or booklets on Hinduism that are easy to understand. In Tirupati temple lakhs of devotees throng every day. Tirupati Tirumala Devasthanam receives crores of rupees donated by devotees. Utilizing this money they can publish and distribute freely a portable Bhagvadgita in all vernacular languages in addition to international languages. Distribution of Bible is considered as secular whereas distribution of Bhagvadgita amounts to communalism as per the misinterpreters of our constitution and some disgruntled politicians. We have to overcome this.
Even now the dalits are not allowed to pass through certain streets/roads in Indian villages of several states. Unless they are private roads this issue has to be addressed first before ensuring any thing else to dalits. We have to find out as to who are these people still having such uncivilized practices. In western countries no human beings are employed to clear the blockage in the sewage systems. In India, however, we are still employing people belonging a particular community to work on the sewage blocks. Either we should abolish this and use machinery to remove such blockages or we should increase the salaries up to Rs.10,000/- for those who are involved in such work. If we do this people belonging to all other communities will come and join to this type work and if others don’t join, then, at least, we will have the satisfaction that the personnel employed for the above work are paid a better salary for the type of work for which no one is coming forward to take up.
Whether it be atheists or personnel who belong to other religions, they synonimise Brahmins to Hinduism and target them for everything that is happening in India. Brahmins have been victims of different types of attacks on them by the atheists in India. Under these circumstances the Brahmins are advised to undertake a silent revolution and a non-violent protest by refraining to go to temples and practice priesthood in temples. They can confine themselves to their homes for whatever devotion they have. Brahmins should think several times before continuing the job of priest hood hereafter. They are further advised to provide regular education to their children and look for other jobs, at least, for future generations and don’t depend on priesthood. While those who can afford to forego priesthood may do so immediately. Others can also refrain practicing priesthood in temples and instead attend marriage functions or other ceremonies on a call basis. The latter also can undergo the de-phasing of coming out of priesthood slowly. If these steps can ensure social up-liftment i.e. appointing priests from all communities why not Brahmins initiate this by silently coming out. Alas, at least after this, the Brahmins should be left alone and others should not make them soft targets whenever they feel convenient. If they are still victimized for no fault of theirs then the psyche of our people has to be suspected. If some body is calm, simple and leads a decent life style in spite of being poor the same should be considered as a good trait and others should not have jealousy or become envious of such persons and start attacking them, which would be considered as an act coming out of inferiority complex.
The advantages that Brahmins considered to be having over others are that they are (i) well versed with Sanskrit, (ii) teetotalers, (iii) vegetarians, and (iv) known to lead a simple and pious life. Present day reality is that whoever can excel in these traits can become a priest. Times have changed now. Most of the temples now belong to and are managed by various state and central governments. Some state governments have already announced that temple priests would belong to all castes. In fact reservation policy can be implemented in the appointment of temple staff including that of priests. If the Brahmins still want to continue priesthood then they can compete for the 31% under open category (after deducting 69% reservation) for a salary of Rs.600/-. We should also consider appointing women as priests providing them a week’s holiday every month.
If Sanskrit is a limitation then the hymns may be translated and chanted in the vernacular languages, which is already practiced in several temples in states like Tamil Nadu. Brahmins need not worry as to what will happen to Hinduism if they are not involved in the priesthood. Hinduism has withstood test of times and it can survive very well without them, as no one is indispensable in this world. In spite of reservation policy prevalent in India and the Brahmins foregoing the priesthood also, the Brahmins should be having plenty of opportunities elsewhere and they can bank upon this premise since this world is so vast and we are in the age of globalization. In the present day, priesthood is the last thing that the Brahmins are holding and once they come out of it we don’t have any thing else to point at them or criticize them. If they undertake other jobs they should not be teased or cornered. Once Brahmins do this Hinduism will be in the hands of other castes and it is up to them as to how they take it for future. If these things happen, every thing will be open for every one, in the public places where government has a hand in distribution, and the Hindus need not go for conversion to other religions taking excuse that they are socially castigated. What remains to be seen, however, is even if Brahmins are ready to come out of the temples; others may not allow them to do so due to some ulterior motives. How do we tackle that?
The intricacies of Hindu philosophy are difficult to understand. Our so called hindus are everady to criticize Hinduism because they don’t understand the religion propertly. Hence attempts should be made to simplify and publish books or booklets on Hinduism that are easy to understand. In Tirupati temple lakhs of devotees throng every day. Tirupati Tirumala Devasthanam receives crores of rupees donated by devotees. Utilizing this money they can publish and distribute freely a portable Bhagvadgita in all vernacular languages in addition to international languages. Distribution of Bible is considered as secular whereas distribution of Bhagvadgita amounts to communalism as per the misinterpreters of our constitution and some disgruntled politicians. We have to overcome this.
Even now the dalits are not allowed to pass through certain streets/roads in Indian villages of several states. Unless they are private roads this issue has to be addressed first before ensuring any thing else to dalits. We have to find out as to who are these people still having such uncivilized practices. In western countries no human beings are employed to clear the blockage in the sewage systems. In India, however, we are still employing people belonging a particular community to work on the sewage blocks. Either we should abolish this and use machinery to remove such blockages or we should increase the salaries up to Rs.10,000/- for those who are involved in such work. If we do this people belonging to all other communities will come and join to this type work and if others don’t join, then, at least, we will have the satisfaction that the personnel employed for the above work are paid a better salary for the type of work for which no one is coming forward to take up.
television channels
We have any number of television channels but none of them substantially show good programs. The channels are always full with movies, song and dance sequences, discussions about movies. Can these channels be more responsible and show what are good for general public other than entertainment?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)