Naresh Kumar Vaid, Director , Vaids ICS

HOW just some vocal members can compel the government to change its policies became evident once again on May 7, when OBC members of Lok Sabha compelled the government to include caste as a column in the ongoing Census survey - something that was abandoned after 1931 Census because " Every Census gives rise to a pestiferous deluge of representations, accompanied by highly problematic histories, asking for recognition of some alleged fact or hypothesis of which the Census as a department is not legally competent to judge and of which its recognition, if accorded, would be valueless.....For these reasons an abandonment of the return of caste would be viewed with relief by Census officers" (Census of India Report, 1931) BY doing so the Government has lost an opportunity to redefine OBCs (The present category of OBCs is unconstitutional as it equates caste with class. It could be true in 1931 but is definitely not in 2010). The inclusion of parameters like house ( kuchcha...

Mr. Kapil Sibal seems to be a man in hurry to pass the bill on foreign universities and other institutions of higher education. His logic is that it will generate competition resulting in improvement in the quality of education in our own institutions. Besides, it will prevent our students to go abroad as they will get the same quality in India itself, saving millions of rupees being spent on the fee, boarding and lodging etc. He. the arrogant as he is, is not ready to listen to any logic against. Mr. Riyaz Punjabi, the vice-challanclor of Kashmir University laments that the two central universities proposed for the state of J&K are bound to have a negative effect on the quality of education of State universities (The Tribune dtd. april 27). He has cited two reasons. Many quality teachers shall migrate because of higher perks in central universities. Besides, the age of retirement in central universities is 65 compared to 60 in State universities. Mr Sibal, Do You Agree? If central...

Since 2003, as per FAO estimates Malnutrition reduced by 73%, Infant mortality by 45 %, and poverty by 33% . These are the figures for Brazil 2003-2008. Mired with red- tapism , corruption, pilferages , wastages etc., with lack of inter- ministerial and/or interdepartmental coordination, we, in India are yet to confirm even the number of our poor. All our programmes, particularly women-centric, are either yet to take off or have gone awry. The government e ven is not aware that a child, whose mother is not healthy, can not be healthy himself/herself. Even when the food stocks are full to the brim the proportion of malnourished children is high. Why? President Luiz Inacio da Silva popularly known as Lula, on his day one as President, started the Zero Hunger programme integrated with structural changes like family agriculture programme, agrarian reforms and initiative to educate people about nutrition. He, through his Bolsa Familia (family purse) programme, gave 55 dollars a ...

On April 22, the government in Rajya Sabha, came forward to enhancing the compensation to the affected because of any nuclear mishap but without any success. The major objections to the bill are : (1). There is no liability on the part of the supplier of equipment or technology to the operator (2). Hence, the bill favours suppliers, mostly American companies. (3) The limit of Rs. 500 crores as compensation by the operator is too low and (4). The limit of 10 years for seeking compensation is too low. Similar terms have been agreed upon by most other countries using nuclear technology except the US where the compensation amount is about 10 billion dollars contributed by the common corpus of operators. Canada and China have much lower limits compared to the bill in question. Regarding the first objection, according to the government, agreement by the operator with the supplier can include any such clause but as the government agencies are themselves operators, the government itself may ig...

On Civil Services Day, Prime Minister Sardar Manmohan Singh asked the civil servants to pursue development activities in Maoist-hit areas seriously. In another context, on the same day, he commented that 10% growth will help in poverty alleviation. The PM should be aware that the administration in some districts, affected by Maoist violence, has reported that Census survey is not possible in those districts, the situation being so bad. How can any development work, without the permission of Maoists can be carried out there? Maoists claim that they are fighting for the cause of common man (just like the claim of UPA ). But a common man for them is the one who supports them. They remove anything that is a hindrance in their objective, even the dogs. They will never allow communication channels in the areas controlled by them. How can development be possible? On PM's second comment, a simple question is : What is the relationship between country's growth rate and poverty. ...

According to a study Maternal Mortality for 181 Countries, 1980-2008 , funded by Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and conducted by Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, University of Washington , 5,26,300 world maternity deaths in 1980 dropped to 3,42,900 in 2008. According to the Report, only 23 countries are on target to reduce the MMR by 75% between 1990 and 2015. India has reported an annual decline of 4% in MMR since 1990, double the world average. India reported 677 maternal deaths in 1980 but in 2008 it was down to 254. Yet 21 countries, including India, account for 80% of all maternal deaths (death of women during pregnancy, child birth or within 42 days of child birth per 1,00,000 live births). In India, celebrating the five years of NRHM (National Rural Health Mission) on April 11, Rajasthan was adjudged the best performing state among the high focus areas and Tamil Nadu among non-focus areas. However, doubts persist about India's achievement as the statisti...

Another feather in UPA's cap . This is how the Right to Education Act is being seen. But like other decisions Kapil Sibal is myopic in his vision on several counts. Does Sibal , himself an advocate, realise that social change can not be brought just by law. If that were not the case then why dowry is given and received in most of the marriages solemnised in the country despite the law being in force for the several decades? While child marriages are still common place? If Kerala has attained 99% literacy and if Uttrakhand has achieved 99.5% enrolment this year, is it because of any law? Most of the children on their way to school on the first day create tantrums showing their unwillingness. Will these children complain to the authorities against their parents? Otherwise too, does a six-year old know about his/her rights? In many families, children are the bread-winners of the family. Have you thought about the future of these families? States, in general, refuse to implemen...