Ever since the AAP's win in Delhi, there have been a spate of articles on right wing websites, questioning the rationale of issues that form the core of the AAP's political ideologies.
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query Tamilnadu. Sort by date Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query Tamilnadu. Sort by date Show all posts
Thursday, February 26, 2015
Focus: Will 'Aam Aadmi Party' Deliver The True 'Swaraj'?
Ever since the AAP's win in Delhi, there have been a spate of articles on right wing websites, questioning the rationale of issues that form the core of the AAP's political ideologies.
Friday, November 01, 2013
'Happy Birthday Andhra Pradesh': A Sad Day Of Formation And Likely Bifurcation Makes People To 'Think Twice'!
By M H Ahssan / INN Live
'Happy Birthday Andhra Pradesh' has a sad tinge to it today. For this November 1 could well be the last Andhra Pradesh Formation Day that the state is celebrating in its present form. If the Congress has its way, by December, the state would be cut into two to create a new state of Telangana with ten districts while the remaining 13 districts would continue to call themselves Andhra Pradesh.
Friday, December 05, 2008
Telangana People's struggle
Under the British, India was ruled basically by two types of rulers: (a) the British administered provinces of India The Provinces of India were those portions of India ruled directly by officials of the British East India Company and, from 1858 to Indian independence in 1947, by Great Britain. known as British IndiaBritish India
The part of the Indian subcontinent under direct British administration until India's independence in 1947.
.......and (b) 'princely India' or those state governed by princes, maharajas, rajas, and nababs. Among them, Hydarabad was the largest one, which was under the Nizam prince, and Telangana is one out of three linguistic regions--Telagu, Marathwada and Kannada--of Hydarabad. The Telangana revolt began in the middle of 1946 and lasted for five years. It was an armed resistance of women and men to the feudal oppression or against the princely state A princely state is any state under the reign of a prince and is thus a principality taken in the broad sense. The term refers not only to sovereign nations ruled by monarchs but also to lower polities ruled by various high nobles (often vassals in a feudal system). in Telangana. It was a struggle against the autocratic rule of Nizam and the Zamindari system. (1) There were three types of land holding systems--sarf-e-khas (the land controlled by Nizam and his family from where revenues collected were used for their personal expenses) and Jagirs (the land which has given to Jagirdars) and diwani or government land. Jagirdars were those who were loyal to the Nizam enjoying their own police, revenue, civil and criminal systems. They had received Jagirs and become revenue officers or generals in the army. They also had right over forest and fisheries fisheries. From earliest times and in practically all countries, fisheries have been of industrial and commercial importance. In the large N Atlantic fishing grounds off Newfoundland and Labrador, for example, European and North American fishing fleets have long , and exercised police and judicial functions. Having all the power they compelled people to various illegal exactions and forced labours. The peoples' conditions of Jagir areas were far more oppressed a people who were oppressed by tyranny.
2. than in the sarf-e-khas lands; the jagirdars and their agents were free to collect a variety of illegal taxes from the actual cultivators. Jagir lands were even above the jurisdiction of civil courts. There was also the Vetti (free services (O.Eng. Law) such feudal services as were not unbecoming the character of a soldier or a freemen to perform; as, to serve under his lord in war, to pay a sum of money, etc.
See also: Free to the proprietors) system. Every peasant was compelled to contribute Vetti to the Zamindar zam·in·dar also zem·in·dar
n.
1. An official in precolonial India assigned to collect the land taxes of his district.
2. . Only after completing operations on the landlord's fields, peasants and labourers could work for themselves. A tenant and his family had a compulsion COMPULSION. The forcible inducement to au act.
2. Compulsion may be lawful or unlawful. 1. When a man is compelled by lawful authority to do that which be ought to do, that compulsion does not affect the validity of the act; as for example, when a court of to leave food in their plate and go to the landlord whenever called.
Women were more suppressed under this rule. Women were not allowed to feed their babies while working in the landlord's field. Women were repressed re·pressed
adj.
Being subjected to or characterized by repression. , not only in the field of free work or Vetti, but also sexually harassed and exploited. There were many examples of such suppression; if the landlord fancied a woman, she was taken as a consort. Sleeping with the landlord on the first night was a compulsion to newly married women. It was the landlords' prerogative An exclusive privilege. The special power or peculiar right possessed by an official by virtue of his or her office. In English Law, a discretionary power that exceeds and is unaffected by any other power; the special preeminence that the monarch has over and above all others, . So, peasant women, along with men, came into the Andra Maha Sabha (AMS AMS - Andrew Message System ) and started an armed struggle against the 'oppressive feudal system and the fundamentalist fundamentalist
An investor who selects securities to buy and sell on the basis of fundamental analysis. Compare technician. militia of the Nizam--the Razkars".
In 1928, people established Andhra Maha Sabha converting it from the Andhra Jana Sangam For other uses of Sangam see Sangam (disambiguation).
Sangams were Tamil academies, which according to Tamil legends, enabled poets and authors to gather periodically to publish their work.[1]. , which was established in 1921 with the objectives of social and cultural uplift of the Telugu people Telugu people are an ethnic group primarily located in the state of Andhra Pradesh in India and neighbouring areas such as Pondicherry, Tamilnadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Chattisgarh and Orissa (the areas bordering Andhra Pradesh). . It changed not only the name but also the objectives from socio-cultural to political activity. Earlier, it was common organization to all--The RSS (Really Simple Syndication) A syndication format that was developed by Netscape in 1999 and became very popular for aggregating updates to blogs and the news sites. RSS has also stood for "Rich Site Summary" and "RDF Site Summary. , Congress and even to the nonpolitical--who wanted change in society. In 1930, the Andra Mahila Sabha and, in 1937, the Mahila Nay Jivan Mandal had formed in co-ordination with AMS. These organizations are credited to bring women into the movement. During 1940-42, some important leaders of the AMS went under the communist leadership and assumed AMS into the character of a mass organization. AMS went into an armed struggle with decision made in November 1946. The struggle was extended form of grass root level resistance, using local weapons to resist against the regime. The movement was also considered in which "the Mao's thought was first put into practice out of China" (Louis 2002:49). The first struggle took place to support Ailimma, a women who was threatened by landlord's Goondas, taking up of local arms e.g. lathis, slings and stones for volunteers and pounding sticks and chilly powder for the women as well. Later, volunteer squads were not only formed but also trained in using these kinds of weapons. They started to make local weapons professionally. They even used modern weapons. Several struggles took place between squads and Nizam's supporters. The rebels seized arms 'raiding police stations and landlord's houses'. But women did not leave their strategy to use local means to defend themselves against the police. Women used to attack the police with pots full of chilly powder.
Ruler's oppression was not a single cause of women's participation in the revolt. Women-oriented programmes of Sanghams were other reasons; when such women's issues like wife-beating, early marriage of child age come up, the Shangam immediately called the people concerned, held debates and resolved the matters. Misbehaviour MISBEHAVIOUR. Improper or unlawful conduct. See 2 Mart. N. S. 683.
2. A party guilty of misbehaviour; as, for example, to threaten to do injury to another, may be bound to his good behaviour and thus restrained. See Good Behaviour.
3. to the women was started to be severely punished. These rules were practiced even in their organization which attracted women to join the Shangam. For instance, Shankar, a member of organization was accused of raping and mismanaging the party funds, and faced the firing squad. According to according to
prep.
1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians.
2. In keeping with: according to instructions.
3. them, these punishments were declared by the people themselves as the correct line of action.
"Large number of peasants spontaneously participated in the struggle directed against the government, landlords and their agents. The insurgents Insurgents, in U.S. history, the Republican Senators and Representatives who in 1909–10 rose against the Republican standpatters controlling Congress, to oppose the Payne-Aldrich tariff and the dictatorial power of House speaker Joseph G. Cannon. had neither firearms This is an extensive list of small arms — pistol, machine gun, grenade launcher, anti-tank rifle — that includes variants.
: Top - 0–9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
A
A-91 (Russia - Compact Assault Rifle - 5.
nor training but were required to use them. A few volunteers' corps had come into existence, which were not so much well organized guerrilla squads, but ad hoc For this purpose. Meaning "to this" in Latin, it refers to dealing with special situations as they occur rather than functions that are repeated on a regular basis. See ad hoc query and ad hoc mode. formation in response to the situation. Initially the revolt was spasmodic spasmodic /spas·mod·ic/ (spaz-mod´ik) of the nature of a spasm; occurring in spasms.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
spas·mod·ic
adj.
1. Relating to, affected by, or having the character of a spasm; convulsive. " (Dhanaghare 1983: 195) and later it became regular and usual between the people and state security forces when the rebellion received support from all, especially the women. By such enthusiastic participation both men and women, they were able to carry some social transformations in the society. They ousted several police stations from the village, Vetti was abolished and thousands of acres of land distributed, debts to be paid were dismissed. The struggle could not reached in the aim of the organizer; when the Indian union armies were deployed against the Nizam, the movement also started to face lots of troubles. After the Nizam surrender in September 1948 to the Indian Army, the communists and the movement became the target of the Indian Union Army. Then, the party and its cadre (company) CADRE - The US software engineering vendor which merged with Bachman Information Systems to form Cayenne Software in July 1996. were compelled to leave the villages. Party tried to organize the tribal people for fighting against the local governmental institutions e.g. forest officials and moneylenders "who subjected them to exploitation". However, it was not an alternative to continue emergency. The politburo politburo, the former central policy-making and governing body of the Communist party of the Soviet Union and, with minor variations, of other Communist parties. of the party, finally, took the decision on 21 October 1951 to call off the struggle citing "the increased repression by the Indian union army."
The Maoists Movement in Nepal
The Maoist insurgency in·sur·gen·cy
n. pl. in·sur·gen·cies
1. The quality or circumstance of being rebellious.
2. An instance of rebellion; an insurgence.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
insurgency, insurgence
1. , for the last ten years, spread all over the country. Some 15,000 people have already lost their lives since 13 February 1996. The cost of reconstruction of development infrastructure, until 2003, that was destroyed by the Maoists, is estimated to be NRs. 200 billion (2). Developmentalists argue that the Maoist insurgency 'is basically a social and economic issue and is produced and sustained by failed development' (Pandey 1999:12). It is true that the epicenter and heartland of the Maoist insurgency is Mid-west hill districts--Rolpa, Rukum, Salyan, Dailekh, Jajarkot etc.--which the Human Development index categorizes as the lowest rank districts of the country (NESAC NESAC National Electronic Switching Assistance Center (AT&T) 1998: 264-65). Not only this but also some political exclusions and brutal human rights violations are also fostering factors for the insurgency.
The involvement of women in the People's War People's War (Chinese language: 人民战争), also called protracted people's war, is a military-political strategy invented by Mao Zedong. The basic concept behind People's War is to maintain the support of the population and draw the enemy deep into (PW) lacks reliable data to determine the actual%age of women in different roles within the organization. Even statistics given by the Maoists are different from leader to leader. Hisila Yami Hisila Yami, alias Parvati (born June 25 1959 in Gorkha District), is a Nepalese politician and architect. She is a politburo member of Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) and a former president of the All Nepal Womens Association (Revolutionary). , the central committee member of the Maoists, has given tentative data by writing, "the participation of the women in people's liberation army People's Liberation Army
Unified organization of China's land, sea, and air forces. It is one of the largest military forces in the world. The People's Liberation Army traces its roots to the 1927 Nanchang Uprising of the communists against the Nationalists. are from 30 to 40 per cent" (Yami 2006: 66). For Sapana, company commander, more than 40 per cent are women in the People's Liberation Army (Mulyankan, Bhadra 2061: 14), and for Uma Bhujel, a central member who broke Gorkha jail and came back under open sky, the ratio is approximately 40 per cent in army and more than 50 per cent in other field (Ibid: 16). This is more closer to the number of figures in party and militia comprising approximately 40 per cent and in autonomous government and in industries, the number is above 50 per cent (Janadesh 2006: 8).
Here, a question must be raised about the causes, which inspired or compelled Nepali women to join the movement. It is said that some women are forced to join the Maoist movement by the Maoist and some are compelled to join by misbehaviour of the security forces. For example, Ganga and Sobha Thapa, who were 16 years old each and studying in grade nine in Satakhana School of Surkhet district Surkhet district, a part of Bheri zone, is one of the seventy-five districts of Nepal, a landlocked country of South Asia. The district, with Birendranagar as its district headquarters, covers an area of 2,451 km² and has a population (2001) of 288,527. , were abducted abducted Distal angulation of an extremity away from the midline of the body in a transverse plane and away from a sagittal plane passing through the proximal aspect of the foot or part, or away from some other specified reference point by the Maoist on 29 September, 2005 (3). Shanti
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Shanti (from Sanskrit शािन्त śāntiḥ) can mean:
Inner peace
Ksanti, is one of the paramitas of Buddhism
16, Resmi 16 and Binita 15 are the examples of how the security personnel irritated ir·ri·tate
v. ir·ri·tat·ed, ir·ri·tat·ing, ir·ri·tates
v.tr.
1. To rouse to impatience or anger; annoy: a loud bossy voice that irritates listeners. the students and general people. (4) Brutal suppressions of security forces have also encouraged young girls to join the militia either for their own security or for taking revenge. Being revengeful after the murder of their relatives by the security forces, women have participated in the Maoist organization. Sarita is a perfect example to support the argument. She took gun after her innocent brother was killed by the army (Paudel,2004:14). For the sake of revenge, she joined the movement. Low success in school leaving certificate The School Leaving Certificate is the final exam in Nepal secondary school system and is commonly called the School Leaving Certificate (SLC) Examination. Every student must appear in this exam after they complete grade 10th of their study before they join the higher examination and lack of training options for engaging students failing their school level examination is another main factor for their joining the Maoist movement in order to escape idleness and frustration (Karki and Bhattarai 2003:5)
Apart from that, propaganda of women's liberation Women's Liberation
Noun
a movement promoting the removal of inequalities based upon the assumption that men are superior to women Also called: (women's lib) , equality in the Maoists organization in opportunity, in award and promotion, the hope of all kinds of emancipation, and on-going women related social reform programmes like anti-alcohol, anti-gambling campaigns, anti-sexual violence programmes, anti-women exploitation programmes are the main attractions for women participate and support the movement. Some are there only for "romance, pleasure, and luxury". But, there is a consensus that the credit has to be given to the Maoists for "widespread women's awareness in the Nepalese history" (Mulyankan, August-September 2004: 13).
Slogans about 'progressive education' rather than 'bourgeois education' and love/ courtship courtship
paying attention to a member of the opposite sex with a view to mating; occurs in farm animals but is not highly developed other than estral display by the female and seeking by the male, activities that are rather more pragmatic than implied in the definition. is also a vital factor for women's attraction. Orthodox social system towards the widow is another cause for compelling women to join. In Nepal, generally, girls are not allowed to choose their own partners and to decide her marriage; still the society does not tolerate love marriage easily. If the love affair is inter-caste, acceptance is difficult by both, the parents and the society. Increment To add a number to another number. Incrementing a counter means adding 1 to its current value. of Widow population and the unchanged social perception on widow marriage seems another factor, which led women to join the movement. After Maoist movement, 15,000 people are killed; most of them are male leaving behind young widows in the society. However, the society does not accept a widow-marriage easily. In a patriarchal society in Nepal, if people are involved in these activities, a female have to face social degradation in comparison to their male counterparts. In such a situation, the Maoist movement became accommodative to socially mistreated women. It is said that a majority of women in the movement are "influenced by superficial factors (Bhool Bhulaiya) than deep knowledge and understanding of state affairs, political process, gender exploitation, women rights etc" (Adhikari 2006, an unpublished paper). Denying these factors, Hisila Yami, a senior woman Maoists leader said that the women are not recruited for party's "contemporary advantages" but hired because of "their double resistance capacity than man" (Mulyankan, August-September, 2004: 12-18).
To sum up the social reality, which promoted women to join the Maoists movement, we can agree with the argument made by a political scientist Kapil shrestha. He argues, "after democracy in 1990 some positive changes towards women participation in politics has appeared, but sociologically speaking most of the Nepalese women politicians belong to 'the small upper strata of urban, middle class, upper caste caste [Port., casta=basket], ranked groups based on heredity within rigid systems of social stratification, especially those that constitute Hindu India. Some scholars, in fact, deny that true caste systems are found outside India. and educated elite background not from the rural, grassroots or low caste background" (Shrestha 2001).
Comparison
We can compare both struggles on the basis of its objectives, goals and achievements. Apart from that, the paper tried to examine validities and reliabilities by observing available narratives, and data of both the movement. First, the Telengana movement was declared against the Nizam's oppression. The Telengana struggle supported to abolish the Nizam feudalism feudalism (fy`dəlĭzəm), form of political and social organization typical of Western Europe from the dissolution of Charlemagne's empire to the rise of the absolute monarchies. from Telengana. It seemed that the Telengana struggle was more focused on democracy and freedom. However, the Maoist Movement in Nepal has been launched after the restoration of democracy in 1990, which provisioned, at least, freedom to the people. Abolishing the monarchy and establishing the "Democratic Republic" were the said specific objectives of the Maoists of Nepal.
Second, the Telengana movement had supported the independent struggle of India from British colony. If such a disturbance had not occurred in several parts of India, Britain could have taken the independent struggle at face value and they could have tried to use more force against the struggle. People were able to raise slogan against the feudal and brutal regime and able to abolish not only local principality but also it's backbone--the colonial power. Ultimately, the Nizam principality was abolished after the departure of the British from India.
Although the Maoists have shown their eagerness to join the "competitive democracy" and signed different agreements (12-point agreements in November 2005 and Eight points agreements in June 2005) with seven party alliance (SPA), their earlier targets were SPA cadres in the villages undermining democracy. The Maoists killed, injured in·jure
tr.v. in·jured, in·jur·ing, in·jures
1. To cause physical harm to; hurt.
2. To cause damage to; impair.
3. and compelled people to leave the village, who were believed to be at least progressive than any feudal regimes. The SPA cadres were not only tortured but also banned from launching political activities in the Maoists-influenced-areas. Apart from such 'undemocratic' behaviours against the democratic forces, the Maoists claimed that they had a "tacit understanding" with King Birendra. These activities of the Maoists compelled the people to be skeptical. The doubt of the people was 'the objectives of the Maoists movement was not to strengthen the freedom and democracy but to support the undemocratic and feudal regime'. The suspicion of the people over the Maoists was obvious because the monarchy itself has been considered as "the main obstacle for strengthening the democracy in Nepal".
The doubt of the people over the Maoists increased, when both Maoists and the king trapped democratic forces or parliamentary parties, in Nepal. On the one hand, as mentioned earlier, the Maoists banned the movements of the parliamentary parties in the countryside, which made the government unable for holding of the parliamentary and local elections. On the other, the king started ruling the country blaming the democratic government for its' 'incompetence' to holding the election and for maintaining the peace and security in the country. It is said that the democratic process was initially disturbed by rampant violent activities of the Maoists; even the democratically elected government was triggered to impose the state of emergency and termed the Maoists as 'terrorists'. The Maoist activities became major 'trump card' for the king to be used in asking support for his autocratic regime.
As a consequence more than forty thousand women's representation in different democratic agencies was directly hit antagonizing them. However, the Maoists defended such antagonism antagonism /an·tag·o·nism/ (an-tag´o-nizm) opposition or contrariety between similar things, as between muscles, medicines, or organisms; cf. antibiosis.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
an·tag·o·nism
n. as the initial compulsion when they were weak. Prachanda, in an interview defended it and said such strategy was there only for "extended political disclose to establish the ideology and to preserve the power when the party was overall weak in ideology, politics, organization and physical power". Now, according to him, they are trying to bring all possible force together because they are now "strong and reached near the strategic aim" (Prachanda in Janadesh 2006: 15-16).
Third, both the struggles, the Maoist movement and Telengana movement have definitely empowered women, sometimes knowingly and sometimes unknowingly. Although the Telangana struggle was called off without success, it has has brought some qualitative changes in women and in their life. After 40 years of the unsuccessful struggle, women still have no guilty feeling for the struggle but they took pride on it. Somaka of Vimpati who participated in Telangana struggle says, "in those days, could we sit and talk to you like this? Today we can do that. If we dressed up well, if we put kumkum The introduction to this article provides insufficient context for those unfamiliar with the subject matter.
Please help [ improve the introduction] to meet Wikipedia's layout standards. You can discuss the issue on the talk page. they used to say, what does she think herself?" (Sangathana 1989: 16). For her, that sort of empowerment was gained by the struggle, although the entire problems were not solved. Another woman participant Kausila was also satisfied by the achieved things. She says, "we didn't know what was behind this wall. We could never go out. Now we go out and look to our agricultural works (Ibid: 16)."
One question may be raised about how the women are empowered by the Maoist's movement. Some direct and indirect factors created by the movement, however, have led the women to be empowered. The Maoists' conflict compelled majority of the male members to leave their home into urban area or escape to the jungle to join the Maoist guerrilla force Noun 1. guerrilla force - an irregular armed force that fights by sabotage and harassment; often rural and organized in large groups
guerilla force . Women have thus been 'compelled to take the responsibility of running households. They have compulsion to go and take part to express their opinion in front of mass and so on. Women were compelled even to plough the field to feed their family members, which was restricted earlier. Engaging more in the public life than ever before, they have become more vocal in community activities.
On the other hand, the active involvement of women in both political and military organizations of the Maoist party has boosted the confidence of the Nepali women as a whole. This has indeed produced a wide-ranging impact on the Nepali state. Now, the government itself has started to recruit women into the Royal Nepal Army. The parliamentary forces also have realized the need to launch more progressive and reformist programmes to increase the role of women in the political participation.
Taking all these factors into consideration, we can conclude that women were sensitized sensitized /sen·si·tized/ (sen´si-tizd) rendered sensitive.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
sensitized
rendered sensitive.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
sensitized cells
see sensitization (2). and made aware about their role in the society. On the other hand, they are affected badly by the ongoing conflict. Women have become double victim due to the People's War. First, they are the direct victims of the security force as they are participants, relatives, wives, daughters and mothers of the rebels. They are continuously threatened, tortured and harassed in the name of inquiry as well as raped, killed, and disappeared as suspects, rebellion and also relatives of rebels. Second, the Maoists also demand lodging, food, money and sex from women any time and any day. Rapes by the Maoists have been frequently reported in the press and field work reports, conducted by individual visitors and human rights groups. The Maoists are also following the security forces' footstep to torture people suspecting them as informers, opponents and class enemies. Third, women are compelled to bear the double burden because of absence of their male members who are either killed or are compelled to flee from their domicile domicile (dŏm`əsīl'), one's legal residence. This may or may not be the place where one actually resides at any one time. The domicile is the permanent home to which one is presumed to have the intention of returning whenever the purpose .
Although, the Maoist claims itself as a radical party but it is also not far from being feudal towards the issue of women. Only two women members--Hisila Yami and Pampha Bhusal--are among the 27 Politburo members. The same women members of the Politburo are also in the 39--member Central Committee. In the case of female leaders, only two women--Pampha Bhusal and Hisila Yami--among the 40% women representation in the Maoist movement--have represented in politburo and central level. In the military wing, there is no single woman in the division commander where most decisions are made. But We have to say that the issue of gender is highlighted and sensitized in the Nepali society.
After having a look on Latchampas elaboration, we can conclude that the women in Telangana struggle faced same problem whatever Nepali women are facing now; the fear of rape and sexual harassment sexual harassment, in law, verbal or physical behavior of a sexual nature, aimed at a particular person or group of people, especially in the workplace or in academic or other institutional settings, that is actionable, as in tort or under equal-opportunity statutes. , torture etc. They kept secrets and protected other party workers especially the male by facing all the troubles of the state security (5). But they blamed the party for not being able to evolve any policy regarding the women. The charges over the party by women is not only about its policy towards women in the organization, their main grievances are that the party initially appreciated and welcomed women's support in the movement by wooing, and later it distressed them in the way without any alternatives. Some of them left their husbands, kids and home in the name of 'emancipation', but they got nothing but more trouble. Reminding Party's promise to women thwarted thwart
tr.v. thwart·ed, thwart·ing, thwarts
1. To prevent the occurrence, realization, or attainment of: They thwarted her plans.
2. their involvement in the struggle, Mallu Swaraj, who commanded a guerrilla squad and was a legend in the Telangana, says:
In the party, they will see only what the movement needs ... So
when struggle was withdrawn they told us to go and marry ... we
fought with them. We said that even if the forms of struggle had
changed we should be given some work (Sangathana 1989: 271-272).
But when the movement was called off, the party had not fulfilled its promise by giving work to women. They themselves, who spent their whole active life in the movement, often felt suppressed when the party withdrew the struggle and asked the women to go back and marry. Women are mentally tortured by such an immature decision of party. Priyamvada who spent years in the struggle said that "she often felt like committing suicide" (Sangathana 1989:272)." Sugunamma's observation is an example how they got frustrated frus·trate
tr.v. frus·trat·ed, frus·trat·ing, frus·trates
1.
a. To prevent from accomplishing a purpose or fulfilling a desire; thwart: after party's order to women "go back and marry". She says:
They have used us so long and now they say go stay at home. How
could they even understand what the situation was at home? What
mental torture--I was really upset. That was my first taste of
suffering (ibid).
Kamalama and Salama are the examples of exploitation by the party where Kamalama, now, is begging in her village to feed her children and is carrying "liquor and worked as a wage labor to bring up her sons" (Ibid). They themselves are in doubt whether they got some achievements or not because, according to Pesara Sattemma (Sangathana 1989: 221-227), the struggle's initial aim was for land ownership and against the Vetti. Vetti was abolished but women were not successful in getting land on their own name. Women considered that situation as big blow and insult to them. Priyambada, another women participant in the struggle, explained struggle as failed action to address the agenda of women. She says, "after the parliamentary election and police action, these dreams This article or section needs copy editing for grammar, style, cohesion, tone and/or spelling.
You can assist by [ editing it] now. were--smashed-crushed like an egg. What a blow it was, after the elections, do we know where we were? Like a proverbial pro·ver·bi·al
adj.
1. Of the nature of a proverb.
2. Expressed in a proverb.
3. Widely referred to, as if the subject of a proverb; famous. rug ... lying exactly where it was through" (Sangathana 1989) Ultimately, when the movement was ended, women neither got land, nor enjoyed other sort of settlement. The slogan 'all sorts of emancipation' remained a fantasy.
Everyone who knows the situation of women after calling off the Telengana struggle has always raised the question, fearing whether the Maoist movement will also go the same way as that of Telengana struggle? The fear is real because there were no women participation at the decision-making level in Telengana movement. The condition remains the same in the Maoists movement because only two women members--Hisila Yami and Pampha Bhusal--were among the 27 Politburo members. No women are there in standing committee, which is the supreme body of the party. And, only three (two representing in politburo also, and another was Uma Bhujel) members are in the 39--Member Central Committee. Now, the Maoist party has dissolved the standing committee and the politburo; all the power has been centralized cen·tral·ize
v. cen·tral·ized, cen·tral·iz·ing, cen·tral·iz·es
v.tr.
1. To draw into or toward a center; consolidate.
2. , which according to them, is because of their forth-coming general convention. In the military wing, there is only a single woman, Sapana is the company commander where they claim 40-50 per cent women's are working under them. The party and its women are still eager to raise the agenda of women participation in all the sectors.
After the Janaandolan II (Peoples' movement), the reinstated parliament has unanimously provisioned 33 per cent reservation to women in Nepal. The concern of the people is how this decision of the parliament would be implemented. The decision of 33 per cent reservation to the women seems unique and progressive in South Asia This article is about the geopolitical region in Asia. For geophysical treatments, see Indian subcontinent.
South Asia, also known as Southern Asia . People are having a doubt over its' implementation because of the traditional thinking of all the political forces over women in Nepal; till date, every party has offered the opportunities to the women for fulfilling the quotas. Recently after the Janaandolan II also, the position of the parties on the issues of women remained unchanged. Only a state ministerial portfolio has been given to the women; neither the Maoists nor the SPA sent any women in their dialogue teams, and in the interim constitution drafting committee.
After reading the narratives of the participants of the Telengana struggle, the research has concluded that radical agendas would be harmful for society, if the agendas were raised just to woo the people. It will not only be harmful to the organizer, but also to the individual or participants making them frustrated. Such frustration may possibly direct another revolt. The Telangana movement should be taken as a guide in which the CPI (1) (Characters Per Inch) The measurement of the density of characters per inch on tape or paper. A printer's CPI button switches character pitch.
(2) (Counts Per I called off the movement in 1951 but the party was not able to control its' activists to join another revolt. Those who were not satisfied by both, the achievement and the party's decision to end the struggle, tried to reorganize re·or·gan·ize
v. re·or·gan·ized, re·or·gan·iz·ing, re·or·gan·iz·es
v.tr.
To organize again or anew.
v.intr.
To undergo or effect changes in organization. such a struggle. After being unable to resume revolt by the same party, they tried to form an alternate party Alternate party diversion is an optional feature of telephone services, where a call may be routed to a different number based on time-out and precedence schemes set up by the customer. . Ultimately, in 1964, the split took place in the CPI and CPI (M) was created in the initiation of those dissatisfied members, which again continued armed struggle against the Andhra rulers in 1969 demanding "separate Telangana state" (Mohanty 2005:11-15). So, one can conclude that if some one takes weapon, s(he) rarely will quit the weapons before reaching to his target. Experiences show that all revolutionary parties and their accountable leaders can analyze the entire situation and decide to compromise by suspending and even giving up the armed struggle but applying such theory in cadres and followers followers
see dairy herd. , who took weapons after suppressed and marginalized feeling, has not succeed properly. For them, 'do continue the revolt and die in the battle field' is better than being back before getting something. The leader of the Maoists must think to prevent such possibility, and hopefully that may be the signal of thinking over it by the Maoists supreme commander when he realized that "whatever has supported for successful development of the people's war, it is the both, main possibility and main threat."
It is the desperate need of time to Nepali Maoists leaders to think and rethink about the hindrances those hindrances felt long before by Priyamvada, Sugunamma, Kamalama and Sattemma, and that group which split and re-organized the revolt after the wind up of the Telengana people's struggle. Every top-level leaders of the groups including the Maoists, which raised the radical agendas, must learn lesson from Telengana before they take any step forward.
The part of the Indian subcontinent under direct British administration until India's independence in 1947.
.......and (b) 'princely India' or those state governed by princes, maharajas, rajas, and nababs. Among them, Hydarabad was the largest one, which was under the Nizam prince, and Telangana is one out of three linguistic regions--Telagu, Marathwada and Kannada--of Hydarabad. The Telangana revolt began in the middle of 1946 and lasted for five years. It was an armed resistance of women and men to the feudal oppression or against the princely state A princely state is any state under the reign of a prince and is thus a principality taken in the broad sense. The term refers not only to sovereign nations ruled by monarchs but also to lower polities ruled by various high nobles (often vassals in a feudal system). in Telangana. It was a struggle against the autocratic rule of Nizam and the Zamindari system. (1) There were three types of land holding systems--sarf-e-khas (the land controlled by Nizam and his family from where revenues collected were used for their personal expenses) and Jagirs (the land which has given to Jagirdars) and diwani or government land. Jagirdars were those who were loyal to the Nizam enjoying their own police, revenue, civil and criminal systems. They had received Jagirs and become revenue officers or generals in the army. They also had right over forest and fisheries fisheries. From earliest times and in practically all countries, fisheries have been of industrial and commercial importance. In the large N Atlantic fishing grounds off Newfoundland and Labrador, for example, European and North American fishing fleets have long , and exercised police and judicial functions. Having all the power they compelled people to various illegal exactions and forced labours. The peoples' conditions of Jagir areas were far more oppressed a people who were oppressed by tyranny.
2. than in the sarf-e-khas lands; the jagirdars and their agents were free to collect a variety of illegal taxes from the actual cultivators. Jagir lands were even above the jurisdiction of civil courts. There was also the Vetti (free services (O.Eng. Law) such feudal services as were not unbecoming the character of a soldier or a freemen to perform; as, to serve under his lord in war, to pay a sum of money, etc.
See also: Free to the proprietors) system. Every peasant was compelled to contribute Vetti to the Zamindar zam·in·dar also zem·in·dar
n.
1. An official in precolonial India assigned to collect the land taxes of his district.
2. . Only after completing operations on the landlord's fields, peasants and labourers could work for themselves. A tenant and his family had a compulsion COMPULSION. The forcible inducement to au act.
2. Compulsion may be lawful or unlawful. 1. When a man is compelled by lawful authority to do that which be ought to do, that compulsion does not affect the validity of the act; as for example, when a court of to leave food in their plate and go to the landlord whenever called.
Women were more suppressed under this rule. Women were not allowed to feed their babies while working in the landlord's field. Women were repressed re·pressed
adj.
Being subjected to or characterized by repression. , not only in the field of free work or Vetti, but also sexually harassed and exploited. There were many examples of such suppression; if the landlord fancied a woman, she was taken as a consort. Sleeping with the landlord on the first night was a compulsion to newly married women. It was the landlords' prerogative An exclusive privilege. The special power or peculiar right possessed by an official by virtue of his or her office. In English Law, a discretionary power that exceeds and is unaffected by any other power; the special preeminence that the monarch has over and above all others, . So, peasant women, along with men, came into the Andra Maha Sabha (AMS AMS - Andrew Message System ) and started an armed struggle against the 'oppressive feudal system and the fundamentalist fundamentalist
An investor who selects securities to buy and sell on the basis of fundamental analysis. Compare technician. militia of the Nizam--the Razkars".
In 1928, people established Andhra Maha Sabha converting it from the Andhra Jana Sangam For other uses of Sangam see Sangam (disambiguation).
Sangams were Tamil academies, which according to Tamil legends, enabled poets and authors to gather periodically to publish their work.[1]. , which was established in 1921 with the objectives of social and cultural uplift of the Telugu people Telugu people are an ethnic group primarily located in the state of Andhra Pradesh in India and neighbouring areas such as Pondicherry, Tamilnadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Chattisgarh and Orissa (the areas bordering Andhra Pradesh). . It changed not only the name but also the objectives from socio-cultural to political activity. Earlier, it was common organization to all--The RSS (Really Simple Syndication) A syndication format that was developed by Netscape in 1999 and became very popular for aggregating updates to blogs and the news sites. RSS has also stood for "Rich Site Summary" and "RDF Site Summary. , Congress and even to the nonpolitical--who wanted change in society. In 1930, the Andra Mahila Sabha and, in 1937, the Mahila Nay Jivan Mandal had formed in co-ordination with AMS. These organizations are credited to bring women into the movement. During 1940-42, some important leaders of the AMS went under the communist leadership and assumed AMS into the character of a mass organization. AMS went into an armed struggle with decision made in November 1946. The struggle was extended form of grass root level resistance, using local weapons to resist against the regime. The movement was also considered in which "the Mao's thought was first put into practice out of China" (Louis 2002:49). The first struggle took place to support Ailimma, a women who was threatened by landlord's Goondas, taking up of local arms e.g. lathis, slings and stones for volunteers and pounding sticks and chilly powder for the women as well. Later, volunteer squads were not only formed but also trained in using these kinds of weapons. They started to make local weapons professionally. They even used modern weapons. Several struggles took place between squads and Nizam's supporters. The rebels seized arms 'raiding police stations and landlord's houses'. But women did not leave their strategy to use local means to defend themselves against the police. Women used to attack the police with pots full of chilly powder.
Ruler's oppression was not a single cause of women's participation in the revolt. Women-oriented programmes of Sanghams were other reasons; when such women's issues like wife-beating, early marriage of child age come up, the Shangam immediately called the people concerned, held debates and resolved the matters. Misbehaviour MISBEHAVIOUR. Improper or unlawful conduct. See 2 Mart. N. S. 683.
2. A party guilty of misbehaviour; as, for example, to threaten to do injury to another, may be bound to his good behaviour and thus restrained. See Good Behaviour.
3. to the women was started to be severely punished. These rules were practiced even in their organization which attracted women to join the Shangam. For instance, Shankar, a member of organization was accused of raping and mismanaging the party funds, and faced the firing squad. According to according to
prep.
1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians.
2. In keeping with: according to instructions.
3. them, these punishments were declared by the people themselves as the correct line of action.
"Large number of peasants spontaneously participated in the struggle directed against the government, landlords and their agents. The insurgents Insurgents, in U.S. history, the Republican Senators and Representatives who in 1909–10 rose against the Republican standpatters controlling Congress, to oppose the Payne-Aldrich tariff and the dictatorial power of House speaker Joseph G. Cannon. had neither firearms This is an extensive list of small arms — pistol, machine gun, grenade launcher, anti-tank rifle — that includes variants.
: Top - 0–9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
A
A-91 (Russia - Compact Assault Rifle - 5.
nor training but were required to use them. A few volunteers' corps had come into existence, which were not so much well organized guerrilla squads, but ad hoc For this purpose. Meaning "to this" in Latin, it refers to dealing with special situations as they occur rather than functions that are repeated on a regular basis. See ad hoc query and ad hoc mode. formation in response to the situation. Initially the revolt was spasmodic spasmodic /spas·mod·ic/ (spaz-mod´ik) of the nature of a spasm; occurring in spasms.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
spas·mod·ic
adj.
1. Relating to, affected by, or having the character of a spasm; convulsive. " (Dhanaghare 1983: 195) and later it became regular and usual between the people and state security forces when the rebellion received support from all, especially the women. By such enthusiastic participation both men and women, they were able to carry some social transformations in the society. They ousted several police stations from the village, Vetti was abolished and thousands of acres of land distributed, debts to be paid were dismissed. The struggle could not reached in the aim of the organizer; when the Indian union armies were deployed against the Nizam, the movement also started to face lots of troubles. After the Nizam surrender in September 1948 to the Indian Army, the communists and the movement became the target of the Indian Union Army. Then, the party and its cadre (company) CADRE - The US software engineering vendor which merged with Bachman Information Systems to form Cayenne Software in July 1996. were compelled to leave the villages. Party tried to organize the tribal people for fighting against the local governmental institutions e.g. forest officials and moneylenders "who subjected them to exploitation". However, it was not an alternative to continue emergency. The politburo politburo, the former central policy-making and governing body of the Communist party of the Soviet Union and, with minor variations, of other Communist parties. of the party, finally, took the decision on 21 October 1951 to call off the struggle citing "the increased repression by the Indian union army."
The Maoists Movement in Nepal
The Maoist insurgency in·sur·gen·cy
n. pl. in·sur·gen·cies
1. The quality or circumstance of being rebellious.
2. An instance of rebellion; an insurgence.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
insurgency, insurgence
1. , for the last ten years, spread all over the country. Some 15,000 people have already lost their lives since 13 February 1996. The cost of reconstruction of development infrastructure, until 2003, that was destroyed by the Maoists, is estimated to be NRs. 200 billion (2). Developmentalists argue that the Maoist insurgency 'is basically a social and economic issue and is produced and sustained by failed development' (Pandey 1999:12). It is true that the epicenter and heartland of the Maoist insurgency is Mid-west hill districts--Rolpa, Rukum, Salyan, Dailekh, Jajarkot etc.--which the Human Development index categorizes as the lowest rank districts of the country (NESAC NESAC National Electronic Switching Assistance Center (AT&T) 1998: 264-65). Not only this but also some political exclusions and brutal human rights violations are also fostering factors for the insurgency.
The involvement of women in the People's War People's War (Chinese language: 人民战争), also called protracted people's war, is a military-political strategy invented by Mao Zedong. The basic concept behind People's War is to maintain the support of the population and draw the enemy deep into (PW) lacks reliable data to determine the actual%age of women in different roles within the organization. Even statistics given by the Maoists are different from leader to leader. Hisila Yami Hisila Yami, alias Parvati (born June 25 1959 in Gorkha District), is a Nepalese politician and architect. She is a politburo member of Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) and a former president of the All Nepal Womens Association (Revolutionary). , the central committee member of the Maoists, has given tentative data by writing, "the participation of the women in people's liberation army People's Liberation Army
Unified organization of China's land, sea, and air forces. It is one of the largest military forces in the world. The People's Liberation Army traces its roots to the 1927 Nanchang Uprising of the communists against the Nationalists. are from 30 to 40 per cent" (Yami 2006: 66). For Sapana, company commander, more than 40 per cent are women in the People's Liberation Army (Mulyankan, Bhadra 2061: 14), and for Uma Bhujel, a central member who broke Gorkha jail and came back under open sky, the ratio is approximately 40 per cent in army and more than 50 per cent in other field (Ibid: 16). This is more closer to the number of figures in party and militia comprising approximately 40 per cent and in autonomous government and in industries, the number is above 50 per cent (Janadesh 2006: 8).
Here, a question must be raised about the causes, which inspired or compelled Nepali women to join the movement. It is said that some women are forced to join the Maoist movement by the Maoist and some are compelled to join by misbehaviour of the security forces. For example, Ganga and Sobha Thapa, who were 16 years old each and studying in grade nine in Satakhana School of Surkhet district Surkhet district, a part of Bheri zone, is one of the seventy-five districts of Nepal, a landlocked country of South Asia. The district, with Birendranagar as its district headquarters, covers an area of 2,451 km² and has a population (2001) of 288,527. , were abducted abducted Distal angulation of an extremity away from the midline of the body in a transverse plane and away from a sagittal plane passing through the proximal aspect of the foot or part, or away from some other specified reference point by the Maoist on 29 September, 2005 (3). Shanti
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Shanti (from Sanskrit शािन्त śāntiḥ) can mean:
Inner peace
Ksanti, is one of the paramitas of Buddhism
16, Resmi 16 and Binita 15 are the examples of how the security personnel irritated ir·ri·tate
v. ir·ri·tat·ed, ir·ri·tat·ing, ir·ri·tates
v.tr.
1. To rouse to impatience or anger; annoy: a loud bossy voice that irritates listeners. the students and general people. (4) Brutal suppressions of security forces have also encouraged young girls to join the militia either for their own security or for taking revenge. Being revengeful after the murder of their relatives by the security forces, women have participated in the Maoist organization. Sarita is a perfect example to support the argument. She took gun after her innocent brother was killed by the army (Paudel,2004:14). For the sake of revenge, she joined the movement. Low success in school leaving certificate The School Leaving Certificate is the final exam in Nepal secondary school system and is commonly called the School Leaving Certificate (SLC) Examination. Every student must appear in this exam after they complete grade 10th of their study before they join the higher examination and lack of training options for engaging students failing their school level examination is another main factor for their joining the Maoist movement in order to escape idleness and frustration (Karki and Bhattarai 2003:5)
Apart from that, propaganda of women's liberation Women's Liberation
Noun
a movement promoting the removal of inequalities based upon the assumption that men are superior to women Also called: (women's lib) , equality in the Maoists organization in opportunity, in award and promotion, the hope of all kinds of emancipation, and on-going women related social reform programmes like anti-alcohol, anti-gambling campaigns, anti-sexual violence programmes, anti-women exploitation programmes are the main attractions for women participate and support the movement. Some are there only for "romance, pleasure, and luxury". But, there is a consensus that the credit has to be given to the Maoists for "widespread women's awareness in the Nepalese history" (Mulyankan, August-September 2004: 13).
Slogans about 'progressive education' rather than 'bourgeois education' and love/ courtship courtship
paying attention to a member of the opposite sex with a view to mating; occurs in farm animals but is not highly developed other than estral display by the female and seeking by the male, activities that are rather more pragmatic than implied in the definition. is also a vital factor for women's attraction. Orthodox social system towards the widow is another cause for compelling women to join. In Nepal, generally, girls are not allowed to choose their own partners and to decide her marriage; still the society does not tolerate love marriage easily. If the love affair is inter-caste, acceptance is difficult by both, the parents and the society. Increment To add a number to another number. Incrementing a counter means adding 1 to its current value. of Widow population and the unchanged social perception on widow marriage seems another factor, which led women to join the movement. After Maoist movement, 15,000 people are killed; most of them are male leaving behind young widows in the society. However, the society does not accept a widow-marriage easily. In a patriarchal society in Nepal, if people are involved in these activities, a female have to face social degradation in comparison to their male counterparts. In such a situation, the Maoist movement became accommodative to socially mistreated women. It is said that a majority of women in the movement are "influenced by superficial factors (Bhool Bhulaiya) than deep knowledge and understanding of state affairs, political process, gender exploitation, women rights etc" (Adhikari 2006, an unpublished paper). Denying these factors, Hisila Yami, a senior woman Maoists leader said that the women are not recruited for party's "contemporary advantages" but hired because of "their double resistance capacity than man" (Mulyankan, August-September, 2004: 12-18).
To sum up the social reality, which promoted women to join the Maoists movement, we can agree with the argument made by a political scientist Kapil shrestha. He argues, "after democracy in 1990 some positive changes towards women participation in politics has appeared, but sociologically speaking most of the Nepalese women politicians belong to 'the small upper strata of urban, middle class, upper caste caste [Port., casta=basket], ranked groups based on heredity within rigid systems of social stratification, especially those that constitute Hindu India. Some scholars, in fact, deny that true caste systems are found outside India. and educated elite background not from the rural, grassroots or low caste background" (Shrestha 2001).
Comparison
We can compare both struggles on the basis of its objectives, goals and achievements. Apart from that, the paper tried to examine validities and reliabilities by observing available narratives, and data of both the movement. First, the Telengana movement was declared against the Nizam's oppression. The Telengana struggle supported to abolish the Nizam feudalism feudalism (fy`dəlĭzəm), form of political and social organization typical of Western Europe from the dissolution of Charlemagne's empire to the rise of the absolute monarchies. from Telengana. It seemed that the Telengana struggle was more focused on democracy and freedom. However, the Maoist Movement in Nepal has been launched after the restoration of democracy in 1990, which provisioned, at least, freedom to the people. Abolishing the monarchy and establishing the "Democratic Republic" were the said specific objectives of the Maoists of Nepal.
Second, the Telengana movement had supported the independent struggle of India from British colony. If such a disturbance had not occurred in several parts of India, Britain could have taken the independent struggle at face value and they could have tried to use more force against the struggle. People were able to raise slogan against the feudal and brutal regime and able to abolish not only local principality but also it's backbone--the colonial power. Ultimately, the Nizam principality was abolished after the departure of the British from India.
Although the Maoists have shown their eagerness to join the "competitive democracy" and signed different agreements (12-point agreements in November 2005 and Eight points agreements in June 2005) with seven party alliance (SPA), their earlier targets were SPA cadres in the villages undermining democracy. The Maoists killed, injured in·jure
tr.v. in·jured, in·jur·ing, in·jures
1. To cause physical harm to; hurt.
2. To cause damage to; impair.
3. and compelled people to leave the village, who were believed to be at least progressive than any feudal regimes. The SPA cadres were not only tortured but also banned from launching political activities in the Maoists-influenced-areas. Apart from such 'undemocratic' behaviours against the democratic forces, the Maoists claimed that they had a "tacit understanding" with King Birendra. These activities of the Maoists compelled the people to be skeptical. The doubt of the people was 'the objectives of the Maoists movement was not to strengthen the freedom and democracy but to support the undemocratic and feudal regime'. The suspicion of the people over the Maoists was obvious because the monarchy itself has been considered as "the main obstacle for strengthening the democracy in Nepal".
The doubt of the people over the Maoists increased, when both Maoists and the king trapped democratic forces or parliamentary parties, in Nepal. On the one hand, as mentioned earlier, the Maoists banned the movements of the parliamentary parties in the countryside, which made the government unable for holding of the parliamentary and local elections. On the other, the king started ruling the country blaming the democratic government for its' 'incompetence' to holding the election and for maintaining the peace and security in the country. It is said that the democratic process was initially disturbed by rampant violent activities of the Maoists; even the democratically elected government was triggered to impose the state of emergency and termed the Maoists as 'terrorists'. The Maoist activities became major 'trump card' for the king to be used in asking support for his autocratic regime.
As a consequence more than forty thousand women's representation in different democratic agencies was directly hit antagonizing them. However, the Maoists defended such antagonism antagonism /an·tag·o·nism/ (an-tag´o-nizm) opposition or contrariety between similar things, as between muscles, medicines, or organisms; cf. antibiosis.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
an·tag·o·nism
n. as the initial compulsion when they were weak. Prachanda, in an interview defended it and said such strategy was there only for "extended political disclose to establish the ideology and to preserve the power when the party was overall weak in ideology, politics, organization and physical power". Now, according to him, they are trying to bring all possible force together because they are now "strong and reached near the strategic aim" (Prachanda in Janadesh 2006: 15-16).
Third, both the struggles, the Maoist movement and Telengana movement have definitely empowered women, sometimes knowingly and sometimes unknowingly. Although the Telangana struggle was called off without success, it has has brought some qualitative changes in women and in their life. After 40 years of the unsuccessful struggle, women still have no guilty feeling for the struggle but they took pride on it. Somaka of Vimpati who participated in Telangana struggle says, "in those days, could we sit and talk to you like this? Today we can do that. If we dressed up well, if we put kumkum The introduction to this article provides insufficient context for those unfamiliar with the subject matter.
Please help [ improve the introduction] to meet Wikipedia's layout standards. You can discuss the issue on the talk page. they used to say, what does she think herself?" (Sangathana 1989: 16). For her, that sort of empowerment was gained by the struggle, although the entire problems were not solved. Another woman participant Kausila was also satisfied by the achieved things. She says, "we didn't know what was behind this wall. We could never go out. Now we go out and look to our agricultural works (Ibid: 16)."
One question may be raised about how the women are empowered by the Maoist's movement. Some direct and indirect factors created by the movement, however, have led the women to be empowered. The Maoists' conflict compelled majority of the male members to leave their home into urban area or escape to the jungle to join the Maoist guerrilla force Noun 1. guerrilla force - an irregular armed force that fights by sabotage and harassment; often rural and organized in large groups
guerilla force . Women have thus been 'compelled to take the responsibility of running households. They have compulsion to go and take part to express their opinion in front of mass and so on. Women were compelled even to plough the field to feed their family members, which was restricted earlier. Engaging more in the public life than ever before, they have become more vocal in community activities.
On the other hand, the active involvement of women in both political and military organizations of the Maoist party has boosted the confidence of the Nepali women as a whole. This has indeed produced a wide-ranging impact on the Nepali state. Now, the government itself has started to recruit women into the Royal Nepal Army. The parliamentary forces also have realized the need to launch more progressive and reformist programmes to increase the role of women in the political participation.
Taking all these factors into consideration, we can conclude that women were sensitized sensitized /sen·si·tized/ (sen´si-tizd) rendered sensitive.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
sensitized
rendered sensitive.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
sensitized cells
see sensitization (2). and made aware about their role in the society. On the other hand, they are affected badly by the ongoing conflict. Women have become double victim due to the People's War. First, they are the direct victims of the security force as they are participants, relatives, wives, daughters and mothers of the rebels. They are continuously threatened, tortured and harassed in the name of inquiry as well as raped, killed, and disappeared as suspects, rebellion and also relatives of rebels. Second, the Maoists also demand lodging, food, money and sex from women any time and any day. Rapes by the Maoists have been frequently reported in the press and field work reports, conducted by individual visitors and human rights groups. The Maoists are also following the security forces' footstep to torture people suspecting them as informers, opponents and class enemies. Third, women are compelled to bear the double burden because of absence of their male members who are either killed or are compelled to flee from their domicile domicile (dŏm`əsīl'), one's legal residence. This may or may not be the place where one actually resides at any one time. The domicile is the permanent home to which one is presumed to have the intention of returning whenever the purpose .
Although, the Maoist claims itself as a radical party but it is also not far from being feudal towards the issue of women. Only two women members--Hisila Yami and Pampha Bhusal--are among the 27 Politburo members. The same women members of the Politburo are also in the 39--member Central Committee. In the case of female leaders, only two women--Pampha Bhusal and Hisila Yami--among the 40% women representation in the Maoist movement--have represented in politburo and central level. In the military wing, there is no single woman in the division commander where most decisions are made. But We have to say that the issue of gender is highlighted and sensitized in the Nepali society.
After having a look on Latchampas elaboration, we can conclude that the women in Telangana struggle faced same problem whatever Nepali women are facing now; the fear of rape and sexual harassment sexual harassment, in law, verbal or physical behavior of a sexual nature, aimed at a particular person or group of people, especially in the workplace or in academic or other institutional settings, that is actionable, as in tort or under equal-opportunity statutes. , torture etc. They kept secrets and protected other party workers especially the male by facing all the troubles of the state security (5). But they blamed the party for not being able to evolve any policy regarding the women. The charges over the party by women is not only about its policy towards women in the organization, their main grievances are that the party initially appreciated and welcomed women's support in the movement by wooing, and later it distressed them in the way without any alternatives. Some of them left their husbands, kids and home in the name of 'emancipation', but they got nothing but more trouble. Reminding Party's promise to women thwarted thwart
tr.v. thwart·ed, thwart·ing, thwarts
1. To prevent the occurrence, realization, or attainment of: They thwarted her plans.
2. their involvement in the struggle, Mallu Swaraj, who commanded a guerrilla squad and was a legend in the Telangana, says:
In the party, they will see only what the movement needs ... So
when struggle was withdrawn they told us to go and marry ... we
fought with them. We said that even if the forms of struggle had
changed we should be given some work (Sangathana 1989: 271-272).
But when the movement was called off, the party had not fulfilled its promise by giving work to women. They themselves, who spent their whole active life in the movement, often felt suppressed when the party withdrew the struggle and asked the women to go back and marry. Women are mentally tortured by such an immature decision of party. Priyamvada who spent years in the struggle said that "she often felt like committing suicide" (Sangathana 1989:272)." Sugunamma's observation is an example how they got frustrated frus·trate
tr.v. frus·trat·ed, frus·trat·ing, frus·trates
1.
a. To prevent from accomplishing a purpose or fulfilling a desire; thwart: after party's order to women "go back and marry". She says:
They have used us so long and now they say go stay at home. How
could they even understand what the situation was at home? What
mental torture--I was really upset. That was my first taste of
suffering (ibid).
Kamalama and Salama are the examples of exploitation by the party where Kamalama, now, is begging in her village to feed her children and is carrying "liquor and worked as a wage labor to bring up her sons" (Ibid). They themselves are in doubt whether they got some achievements or not because, according to Pesara Sattemma (Sangathana 1989: 221-227), the struggle's initial aim was for land ownership and against the Vetti. Vetti was abolished but women were not successful in getting land on their own name. Women considered that situation as big blow and insult to them. Priyambada, another women participant in the struggle, explained struggle as failed action to address the agenda of women. She says, "after the parliamentary election and police action, these dreams This article or section needs copy editing for grammar, style, cohesion, tone and/or spelling.
You can assist by [ editing it] now. were--smashed-crushed like an egg. What a blow it was, after the elections, do we know where we were? Like a proverbial pro·ver·bi·al
adj.
1. Of the nature of a proverb.
2. Expressed in a proverb.
3. Widely referred to, as if the subject of a proverb; famous. rug ... lying exactly where it was through" (Sangathana 1989) Ultimately, when the movement was ended, women neither got land, nor enjoyed other sort of settlement. The slogan 'all sorts of emancipation' remained a fantasy.
Everyone who knows the situation of women after calling off the Telengana struggle has always raised the question, fearing whether the Maoist movement will also go the same way as that of Telengana struggle? The fear is real because there were no women participation at the decision-making level in Telengana movement. The condition remains the same in the Maoists movement because only two women members--Hisila Yami and Pampha Bhusal--were among the 27 Politburo members. No women are there in standing committee, which is the supreme body of the party. And, only three (two representing in politburo also, and another was Uma Bhujel) members are in the 39--Member Central Committee. Now, the Maoist party has dissolved the standing committee and the politburo; all the power has been centralized cen·tral·ize
v. cen·tral·ized, cen·tral·iz·ing, cen·tral·iz·es
v.tr.
1. To draw into or toward a center; consolidate.
2. , which according to them, is because of their forth-coming general convention. In the military wing, there is only a single woman, Sapana is the company commander where they claim 40-50 per cent women's are working under them. The party and its women are still eager to raise the agenda of women participation in all the sectors.
After the Janaandolan II (Peoples' movement), the reinstated parliament has unanimously provisioned 33 per cent reservation to women in Nepal. The concern of the people is how this decision of the parliament would be implemented. The decision of 33 per cent reservation to the women seems unique and progressive in South Asia This article is about the geopolitical region in Asia. For geophysical treatments, see Indian subcontinent.
South Asia, also known as Southern Asia . People are having a doubt over its' implementation because of the traditional thinking of all the political forces over women in Nepal; till date, every party has offered the opportunities to the women for fulfilling the quotas. Recently after the Janaandolan II also, the position of the parties on the issues of women remained unchanged. Only a state ministerial portfolio has been given to the women; neither the Maoists nor the SPA sent any women in their dialogue teams, and in the interim constitution drafting committee.
After reading the narratives of the participants of the Telengana struggle, the research has concluded that radical agendas would be harmful for society, if the agendas were raised just to woo the people. It will not only be harmful to the organizer, but also to the individual or participants making them frustrated. Such frustration may possibly direct another revolt. The Telangana movement should be taken as a guide in which the CPI (1) (Characters Per Inch) The measurement of the density of characters per inch on tape or paper. A printer's CPI button switches character pitch.
(2) (Counts Per I called off the movement in 1951 but the party was not able to control its' activists to join another revolt. Those who were not satisfied by both, the achievement and the party's decision to end the struggle, tried to reorganize re·or·gan·ize
v. re·or·gan·ized, re·or·gan·iz·ing, re·or·gan·iz·es
v.tr.
To organize again or anew.
v.intr.
To undergo or effect changes in organization. such a struggle. After being unable to resume revolt by the same party, they tried to form an alternate party Alternate party diversion is an optional feature of telephone services, where a call may be routed to a different number based on time-out and precedence schemes set up by the customer. . Ultimately, in 1964, the split took place in the CPI and CPI (M) was created in the initiation of those dissatisfied members, which again continued armed struggle against the Andhra rulers in 1969 demanding "separate Telangana state" (Mohanty 2005:11-15). So, one can conclude that if some one takes weapon, s(he) rarely will quit the weapons before reaching to his target. Experiences show that all revolutionary parties and their accountable leaders can analyze the entire situation and decide to compromise by suspending and even giving up the armed struggle but applying such theory in cadres and followers followers
see dairy herd. , who took weapons after suppressed and marginalized feeling, has not succeed properly. For them, 'do continue the revolt and die in the battle field' is better than being back before getting something. The leader of the Maoists must think to prevent such possibility, and hopefully that may be the signal of thinking over it by the Maoists supreme commander when he realized that "whatever has supported for successful development of the people's war, it is the both, main possibility and main threat."
It is the desperate need of time to Nepali Maoists leaders to think and rethink about the hindrances those hindrances felt long before by Priyamvada, Sugunamma, Kamalama and Sattemma, and that group which split and re-organized the revolt after the wind up of the Telengana people's struggle. Every top-level leaders of the groups including the Maoists, which raised the radical agendas, must learn lesson from Telengana before they take any step forward.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
The silent revolution
By M H Ahssan
Despite the severe social and political constraints in our country - caste system, feudal setting, patriarchy, illiteracy, uneven development - the last 10 years have witnessed notable progress in women holding office in panchayats and municipalities.
More than 10 years ago, on December 23, 1992, when Parliament amended the Constitution (the 73rd and 74th Amendments) making the panchayats and municipalities "institutions of self-government" - reserving not less than one-third seats for women in these bodies - it was hailed as the beginning of a silent revolution.
The two constitutional amendments became laws on April 24 and June 1, 1993 respectively. In 1994, all Indian states passed the Conformity Act reshaping their Panchayati Raj system according to the new amendments. Today, thanks to these amendments, out of 3,200,000 members elected every five years to the panchayats and municipalities, more than 1,000,000 are women. Women head one-third of all the local bodies. Quite naturally, April 24 is celebrated as women's political empowerment day in India.
Stories of empowerment can be found in many states. Geeta Rathore (44) belongs to Jamonia Talab gram panchayat, Sehore district, Madhya Pradesh. She was elected sarpanch in 1995 from a reserved seat; but in 2000, the village people rewarded her for her admirable work by electing her again - this time to a non-reserved seat. From a humble housewife, Geeta has grown into a leader displaying political farsightedness - she has harnessed the collective energy of her panchayat to renovate water tanks, build a school building, construct village roads, fight against domestic violence and atrocities against women, create environmental awareness, encourage afforestation and water management in her village.
But in the same state, there was Sukhiya Bai - the tribal sarpanch of Gubrail panchayat in Betul district. A year ago, she died in a hospital in Bhopal with 80 per cent burns. Sukhiya tried to struggle against the corrupt officials who demanded a cut for releasing money for development work. Simultaneously, she was under pressure from the villagers who demanded the money due to them for their labour. She had even borrowed Rs 4,000 from a relative to pay the panchayat secretary who had been demanding a bribe for releasing the money for a well that had been constructed by the villagers. Unable to bear the constant tension, she set fire to herself.
In Tamilnadu, Leelavathi contested the Madurai municipal elections in 1996, promising to bring water to the ward. She was elected as councillor and within six months water came to the area. This threatened the mafia of the water tanker owners, who had a flourishing business in the area. Within days of her victory to get water in the area, Leelavathi was murdered by those who lost their water business.
After the decadal journey, although leaders like Geeta Rathore have emerged, the big concern is the way this silent revolution is being threatened by the same forces it set out to defeat - patriarchal violence, inequality and discrimination. Why did the journeys of Sukhiya and Leelavathi have to have a violent end? They contested the elections according to the Constitution of India, occupied the constitutional positions and attempted to discharge their duties as per the law of the land.
But despite the severe social and political constraints in our country - caste system, feudal setting, patriarchy, illiteracy, uneven development - there are several aspects we can be proud of. The last 10 years have witnessed a steady progress as far as the inclusion of excluded sections of Indian population in the decision-making process from the village to the district level is concerned. About 3 million women are contesting the elections to panchayats and municipalities. This is no mean achievement in a hierarchical and male-dominated society.
With this, we have shown to the world that Indian women are not politically passive or uninterested in public life. Today, many women who fight the elections are from poor economic and backward social backgrounds; breaking social, cultural and economic barriers.
The notion that women's political connections matter and only the kith and kin of known leaders or those connected to them will enter the local bodies has been proved wrong in the recent past. The common refrain that it is the menfolk in the families who control the women elected members may be partly true; but studies show that the situation is rapidly changing. Some state governments have already taken measures to ensure that sarpanch patis (husbands of women office bearers) don't interfere with their wives' duties.
The number of women getting elected from general constituencies (defeating men) is also increasing. For instance, in Karnataka, 43 per cent women are now getting elected to local governments. Taking advantage of the new ethos, innovative and creative experiments in local governance involving women, like gender budgeting and self-help groups, are taking place in several states.
However, there are structural and systemic problems that women face. For instance, if women panchayat presidents do not yield to pressures from powerful landowners or contractor lobbies, no-confidence motions are moved and they are removed from office.
In some cases, the women panchayat members have had to face violence, intimidation and harassment for questioning male dominance and asserting their rights as elected representatives. Although society has by and large accepted the concept of women in the panchayats, women sarpanches in socially conservative areas face obstacles every day in their work.
Further, several states have passed legislations whereby those having more than two children cannot hold office and if a child is born when they hold office, their membership in the panchayats or municipalities ceases to exist. This is a discriminatory law, only applicable to panchayats, and women in the villages are at the receiving end.
In certain areas, male officials do not hold elected women members/presidents in high esteem because of their low social status. Women are thus doubly disadvantaged: carrying the burden of household chores and demands from the community as well as the office they hold.
Ten years is a short journey. Even if the representatives have not worked wonders, they have made small but significant beginnings. And even for these small beginnings, they have had to pay a huge price. We cannot and must not allow the sacrifices and dreams of the Sukhiyas and Leelavathis to fade away, although the insensitive would like to have it that way.
This is the biggest challenge facing India today: can she turn the present phase of women becoming victims of oppressive structures into one of gender equity and create a public life with dignity for all? It is encouraging that enlightened citizens, NGOs and media are taking the initiative to meet this challenge with some measure of success. If the trend continues, India will soon have Geeta Rathores occupying 50 per cent of public offices and positions of power.
Despite the severe social and political constraints in our country - caste system, feudal setting, patriarchy, illiteracy, uneven development - the last 10 years have witnessed notable progress in women holding office in panchayats and municipalities.
More than 10 years ago, on December 23, 1992, when Parliament amended the Constitution (the 73rd and 74th Amendments) making the panchayats and municipalities "institutions of self-government" - reserving not less than one-third seats for women in these bodies - it was hailed as the beginning of a silent revolution.
The two constitutional amendments became laws on April 24 and June 1, 1993 respectively. In 1994, all Indian states passed the Conformity Act reshaping their Panchayati Raj system according to the new amendments. Today, thanks to these amendments, out of 3,200,000 members elected every five years to the panchayats and municipalities, more than 1,000,000 are women. Women head one-third of all the local bodies. Quite naturally, April 24 is celebrated as women's political empowerment day in India.
Stories of empowerment can be found in many states. Geeta Rathore (44) belongs to Jamonia Talab gram panchayat, Sehore district, Madhya Pradesh. She was elected sarpanch in 1995 from a reserved seat; but in 2000, the village people rewarded her for her admirable work by electing her again - this time to a non-reserved seat. From a humble housewife, Geeta has grown into a leader displaying political farsightedness - she has harnessed the collective energy of her panchayat to renovate water tanks, build a school building, construct village roads, fight against domestic violence and atrocities against women, create environmental awareness, encourage afforestation and water management in her village.
But in the same state, there was Sukhiya Bai - the tribal sarpanch of Gubrail panchayat in Betul district. A year ago, she died in a hospital in Bhopal with 80 per cent burns. Sukhiya tried to struggle against the corrupt officials who demanded a cut for releasing money for development work. Simultaneously, she was under pressure from the villagers who demanded the money due to them for their labour. She had even borrowed Rs 4,000 from a relative to pay the panchayat secretary who had been demanding a bribe for releasing the money for a well that had been constructed by the villagers. Unable to bear the constant tension, she set fire to herself.
In Tamilnadu, Leelavathi contested the Madurai municipal elections in 1996, promising to bring water to the ward. She was elected as councillor and within six months water came to the area. This threatened the mafia of the water tanker owners, who had a flourishing business in the area. Within days of her victory to get water in the area, Leelavathi was murdered by those who lost their water business.
After the decadal journey, although leaders like Geeta Rathore have emerged, the big concern is the way this silent revolution is being threatened by the same forces it set out to defeat - patriarchal violence, inequality and discrimination. Why did the journeys of Sukhiya and Leelavathi have to have a violent end? They contested the elections according to the Constitution of India, occupied the constitutional positions and attempted to discharge their duties as per the law of the land.
But despite the severe social and political constraints in our country - caste system, feudal setting, patriarchy, illiteracy, uneven development - there are several aspects we can be proud of. The last 10 years have witnessed a steady progress as far as the inclusion of excluded sections of Indian population in the decision-making process from the village to the district level is concerned. About 3 million women are contesting the elections to panchayats and municipalities. This is no mean achievement in a hierarchical and male-dominated society.
With this, we have shown to the world that Indian women are not politically passive or uninterested in public life. Today, many women who fight the elections are from poor economic and backward social backgrounds; breaking social, cultural and economic barriers.
The notion that women's political connections matter and only the kith and kin of known leaders or those connected to them will enter the local bodies has been proved wrong in the recent past. The common refrain that it is the menfolk in the families who control the women elected members may be partly true; but studies show that the situation is rapidly changing. Some state governments have already taken measures to ensure that sarpanch patis (husbands of women office bearers) don't interfere with their wives' duties.
The number of women getting elected from general constituencies (defeating men) is also increasing. For instance, in Karnataka, 43 per cent women are now getting elected to local governments. Taking advantage of the new ethos, innovative and creative experiments in local governance involving women, like gender budgeting and self-help groups, are taking place in several states.
However, there are structural and systemic problems that women face. For instance, if women panchayat presidents do not yield to pressures from powerful landowners or contractor lobbies, no-confidence motions are moved and they are removed from office.
In some cases, the women panchayat members have had to face violence, intimidation and harassment for questioning male dominance and asserting their rights as elected representatives. Although society has by and large accepted the concept of women in the panchayats, women sarpanches in socially conservative areas face obstacles every day in their work.
Further, several states have passed legislations whereby those having more than two children cannot hold office and if a child is born when they hold office, their membership in the panchayats or municipalities ceases to exist. This is a discriminatory law, only applicable to panchayats, and women in the villages are at the receiving end.
In certain areas, male officials do not hold elected women members/presidents in high esteem because of their low social status. Women are thus doubly disadvantaged: carrying the burden of household chores and demands from the community as well as the office they hold.
Ten years is a short journey. Even if the representatives have not worked wonders, they have made small but significant beginnings. And even for these small beginnings, they have had to pay a huge price. We cannot and must not allow the sacrifices and dreams of the Sukhiyas and Leelavathis to fade away, although the insensitive would like to have it that way.
This is the biggest challenge facing India today: can she turn the present phase of women becoming victims of oppressive structures into one of gender equity and create a public life with dignity for all? It is encouraging that enlightened citizens, NGOs and media are taking the initiative to meet this challenge with some measure of success. If the trend continues, India will soon have Geeta Rathores occupying 50 per cent of public offices and positions of power.
Monday, March 03, 2014
Audacious Rural Girls Talk Power And Politics In Tamilnadu
The small village of Thazhaiyattam in Gudiyattam panchayat in Tamil Nadu’s parched district of Vellore is likely to be overlooked as yet another nondescript rural hamlet that dot the state. But an intriguing political initiative is taking shape here, giving a new spin to the term ‘grassroots politics’.
A group of young women have come together to spread the message of democracy and rights in Thazhaiyattam and its neighboring villages like Ananganallur, Melallattur and Gudanagaram, among others. They get young people to speak about the promises they want their political leaders to fulfill, initiate lively discussions on the various social and governance problems they are up against, and even motivate them to come forward and join local panchayat bodies.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
TAMILNADU'S PARADOX - Alarming malnutrition pushing children out of school - II
By M H Ahssan
NGOs have fared better than the government in tackling iron deficiency in poor children. Activists, policy analysts and funders want a convergence of various departments as opposed to boxing nutrition into the health-sector alone.
Community-based outreach
Where the juggernaut of the government faltered, voluntary organisations have prevailed. The few of them that have focussed on public health communication campaigns have had better success in reducing iron deficiency anaemia. Nalamdana Trust's five year project in the fishing hamlet of Urur-Olcott Kuppam, in south Chennai has shown that with mere information and without the free supplements it is possible to improve nutritional status.
Nithya Balaji, Executive Trustee of Nalamdana, says her project used the popular medium of theatre to introduce behavioural changes and ownership for health and nutrition projects. “At Urur kuppam, initially we got a private donors to add an additional Rupee per child per day to the ICDS expenditure to add a few locally available vegetables, dhal and oil. The children's growth charts showed an impressive increase in the first two months of nearly 1.5 kg. This scheme is currently being supported by local sponsorship, but can easily be transferred to the parents if the state permits it," she says.
The other target group of the project was adolescent girls. “As a pre intervention indicator, we measured the anemia levels of 95 girls and held regular meetings for 8 months. The sessions covered issues of understanding one's body, pre-puberty issues, reproductive health and importance of nutrition. Only accurate information had been given- no doles, no tablets. Their Hb levels had increased from 8 and 9 to 11 and 12, respectively. They had adopted better hygienic practices, started eating breakfast and also included greens, vegetables and one affordable fruit in their daily diet," says Nithya.
When the project was evaluated in 2004, after a year of information and education campaigns, Nalamdana found that haemoglobin count increased by an average of 1.5 and in girls with severe anaemia up to 5.6 counts. In a second project area in Subbu Pillai Thottam (in Central Chennai), both adolescent boys and girls were targeted with information and education campaigns done mainly through one on one interaction and street theatre. There again, the Hb levels increased by an avearage of around 2 counts. The scheme implemented in partnership with other NGOs is being continued despite the original donor agency withdrawing from the project.
Nalamdana's findings are anecdotally affirmed by the Anganwadi staff. Tamizhagi says mere supplementation showed only marginal improvement in the moderately anaemic adolescent girls. “The eating habits have changed drastically in the last two decades, moving towards a rice-based diet. Traditional iron-rich food like drumstick greens thovaiyal or curry leaf thovaiyal have become devalued and pushing those through the nutrition eduation programme often backfires with adolescents," she adds.
Nalamdana circumvented this issues by involving the community in their own nutritional improvement. Recipe clubs were formed in the study area with the women being given basic information about nutrition dense food. With help from nutritionists and students, the women innovated their own healthy recipes, thus making their integration into daily diets an easy affair, says Nithya.
Juxtapose this with a study by the National Nutrition Monitoring Board that came to the conclusion that national nutrition programmes have failed in achieving their goals largely due to lack of nutrition education with poor outreach. A study of Vitamin A deficiency among rural preschoolers done in 2007, established high prevalence of subclinical deficiency largely due to poor nutrition and that nutrition education component covered a mere 14 per cent of the target population.
No night-blindness, but Vitamin A deficiency still high
In the rural survey, NNMB, an arm of the Indian Council of Medical Research, found that nearly half the children in the under-five age group were found to have sub-clinical VAD or vitamin A level of less than 17 micrograms per decilitre. This is despite that clinical Vitamin A deficiency (night blindness, Bitot's spot and conjunctival xerosis) is prevalent in less than 0.5 percent of the children in this age group, in part due to the massive dose Vitamin A supplementation in the neonatal period (at birth) and near total institutional delivery.
In their book, Gillespie and Goddad say Vitamin A deficiency causes increased morbidity and mortality among infants, children and pregnant women, poor growth of children. It also contributes to anaemia, they say. The NNMP survey results linked poor nutritional habits and weaning food choices to the sub-clinical deficiency.
Interestingly, this study linked the higher prevalence of clinical manifestations of Vitamin A like Bitot's spot in the eye to the mother being illiterate and to populations without access to sanitary toilets. Ascaris and hookworm infestation are often leading causes for Vitamin A deficiency and iron deficiency anaemia in the state.
Poor sanitation undermining nutrition thrust
All nutrition interventions have to go hand in hand with improvements to sanitation and access to protected drinking water, believes Dr Devashish Dutta of UNICEF. “As much as 83 percent of rural homes in Tamilnadu, according to NFHS-3 surveys, do not have access to sanitary toilets and defecate in the open. ‘Sanitary toilet’ refers to one where is not just clean inside, but also where refuse is cleanly disposed off, as in through a septic tank, sewerage.
A large percentage of students do not use footwear while going to school. Hookworm enters the body through the feet of the person walking on an area contaminated with faecal matter. The worms anchor onto the small intestine and the blood loss over a period of time also leads to anaemia," he says. Though the state has its deworming programme, it could be scaled down and resources used elsewhere if people were to wear footwear before the stepped out of their homes, he adds.
Even in urban areas, only 33 per cent have access to flush toilets that are connected to sewerage, septic tank or pits, according to NFHS-3. A whopping 40 per cent have seen no improvement since the last survey of 1998 and continue to use toilets which are either shared between households or have no flushes/poured flushes. Twenty-six per cent continued to use open spaces for toilets.
This was no different even in targeted nutrition interventions like the ICDS. According to 2000-2001 study by TN-FORCES of the Anganwadis in 150 areas in Chennai showed that 87 percent of them had no access to toilet, an overwhelming 90 per cent did not have potable water, 90 per cent had no electricity and only 50 per cent were well ventilated with windows. “Often, the centres are right next to public toilets or sometimes right next to garbage collection points, making hygienic Anganwadis a rarity," says Shanmughavelayutham of TN-FORCES.
In their 2007 study of 45 best practice Anganwadis, the State ICDS Project Office reiterated their older study: 26.7 per cent had no toilets, 20 per rcent had no access to drinking water, 22 per cent had furniture for early development activities, 20 per cent had no separate kitchen and 4 percent used classrooms for cooking, 62.2 per cent had asbestos sheets for roof and 33 per cent had no indoor and outdoor space marked for grossmotor activities for the 0 to 3 age group. “This is the state in the best 45 of the 10,000-odd Anganwadis in the state. There are no norms or standardisations, no child-friendly toilets or safe areas or even adequate ventillation, says Shanmughavelayutham.
And that is why activists, policy analysts and funders alike say nutrition cannot be just a health-sector issue and have been working with the government in bringing about a convergence of various service delivery departments. All sectors like health, social welfare, nutrition, school education, women's development, civil society, water and sanitation, rights groups, universities and colleges, elected peoples representatives and the media at all levels need to make anaemia a priority as its effects are widespread, contributes significantly to a huge number of preventable deaths and illnesses and is expensive to deal with during pregnancy alone.
UNICEF is also working with the government in scaling up projects that link poverty alleviation to better nutrition. “The simple fact is a person who is born with low birth weight, goes through childhood being undernourished will do poorly in school and perhaps drop out. When he is not educated, he will make poor choices for his family about nutrition and will perpetuate the cycle," adds Shanmughavelayutham.
Others agree. Iron tablets and nutritious mix are welfare-based schemes, and at best they can be a temporary solution to a problem that needs an inter-sectoral solution.
(Click here to read - PART-1)
NGOs have fared better than the government in tackling iron deficiency in poor children. Activists, policy analysts and funders want a convergence of various departments as opposed to boxing nutrition into the health-sector alone.Community-based outreach
Where the juggernaut of the government faltered, voluntary organisations have prevailed. The few of them that have focussed on public health communication campaigns have had better success in reducing iron deficiency anaemia. Nalamdana Trust's five year project in the fishing hamlet of Urur-Olcott Kuppam, in south Chennai has shown that with mere information and without the free supplements it is possible to improve nutritional status.
Nithya Balaji, Executive Trustee of Nalamdana, says her project used the popular medium of theatre to introduce behavioural changes and ownership for health and nutrition projects. “At Urur kuppam, initially we got a private donors to add an additional Rupee per child per day to the ICDS expenditure to add a few locally available vegetables, dhal and oil. The children's growth charts showed an impressive increase in the first two months of nearly 1.5 kg. This scheme is currently being supported by local sponsorship, but can easily be transferred to the parents if the state permits it," she says.
The other target group of the project was adolescent girls. “As a pre intervention indicator, we measured the anemia levels of 95 girls and held regular meetings for 8 months. The sessions covered issues of understanding one's body, pre-puberty issues, reproductive health and importance of nutrition. Only accurate information had been given- no doles, no tablets. Their Hb levels had increased from 8 and 9 to 11 and 12, respectively. They had adopted better hygienic practices, started eating breakfast and also included greens, vegetables and one affordable fruit in their daily diet," says Nithya. When the project was evaluated in 2004, after a year of information and education campaigns, Nalamdana found that haemoglobin count increased by an average of 1.5 and in girls with severe anaemia up to 5.6 counts. In a second project area in Subbu Pillai Thottam (in Central Chennai), both adolescent boys and girls were targeted with information and education campaigns done mainly through one on one interaction and street theatre. There again, the Hb levels increased by an avearage of around 2 counts. The scheme implemented in partnership with other NGOs is being continued despite the original donor agency withdrawing from the project.
Nalamdana's findings are anecdotally affirmed by the Anganwadi staff. Tamizhagi says mere supplementation showed only marginal improvement in the moderately anaemic adolescent girls. “The eating habits have changed drastically in the last two decades, moving towards a rice-based diet. Traditional iron-rich food like drumstick greens thovaiyal or curry leaf thovaiyal have become devalued and pushing those through the nutrition eduation programme often backfires with adolescents," she adds.
Nalamdana circumvented this issues by involving the community in their own nutritional improvement. Recipe clubs were formed in the study area with the women being given basic information about nutrition dense food. With help from nutritionists and students, the women innovated their own healthy recipes, thus making their integration into daily diets an easy affair, says Nithya.
Juxtapose this with a study by the National Nutrition Monitoring Board that came to the conclusion that national nutrition programmes have failed in achieving their goals largely due to lack of nutrition education with poor outreach. A study of Vitamin A deficiency among rural preschoolers done in 2007, established high prevalence of subclinical deficiency largely due to poor nutrition and that nutrition education component covered a mere 14 per cent of the target population.
No night-blindness, but Vitamin A deficiency still high
In the rural survey, NNMB, an arm of the Indian Council of Medical Research, found that nearly half the children in the under-five age group were found to have sub-clinical VAD or vitamin A level of less than 17 micrograms per decilitre. This is despite that clinical Vitamin A deficiency (night blindness, Bitot's spot and conjunctival xerosis) is prevalent in less than 0.5 percent of the children in this age group, in part due to the massive dose Vitamin A supplementation in the neonatal period (at birth) and near total institutional delivery.
In their book, Gillespie and Goddad say Vitamin A deficiency causes increased morbidity and mortality among infants, children and pregnant women, poor growth of children. It also contributes to anaemia, they say. The NNMP survey results linked poor nutritional habits and weaning food choices to the sub-clinical deficiency.
Interestingly, this study linked the higher prevalence of clinical manifestations of Vitamin A like Bitot's spot in the eye to the mother being illiterate and to populations without access to sanitary toilets. Ascaris and hookworm infestation are often leading causes for Vitamin A deficiency and iron deficiency anaemia in the state.
Poor sanitation undermining nutrition thrust
All nutrition interventions have to go hand in hand with improvements to sanitation and access to protected drinking water, believes Dr Devashish Dutta of UNICEF. “As much as 83 percent of rural homes in Tamilnadu, according to NFHS-3 surveys, do not have access to sanitary toilets and defecate in the open. ‘Sanitary toilet’ refers to one where is not just clean inside, but also where refuse is cleanly disposed off, as in through a septic tank, sewerage.
A large percentage of students do not use footwear while going to school. Hookworm enters the body through the feet of the person walking on an area contaminated with faecal matter. The worms anchor onto the small intestine and the blood loss over a period of time also leads to anaemia," he says. Though the state has its deworming programme, it could be scaled down and resources used elsewhere if people were to wear footwear before the stepped out of their homes, he adds.
Even in urban areas, only 33 per cent have access to flush toilets that are connected to sewerage, septic tank or pits, according to NFHS-3. A whopping 40 per cent have seen no improvement since the last survey of 1998 and continue to use toilets which are either shared between households or have no flushes/poured flushes. Twenty-six per cent continued to use open spaces for toilets.
This was no different even in targeted nutrition interventions like the ICDS. According to 2000-2001 study by TN-FORCES of the Anganwadis in 150 areas in Chennai showed that 87 percent of them had no access to toilet, an overwhelming 90 per cent did not have potable water, 90 per cent had no electricity and only 50 per cent were well ventilated with windows. “Often, the centres are right next to public toilets or sometimes right next to garbage collection points, making hygienic Anganwadis a rarity," says Shanmughavelayutham of TN-FORCES.
In their 2007 study of 45 best practice Anganwadis, the State ICDS Project Office reiterated their older study: 26.7 per cent had no toilets, 20 per rcent had no access to drinking water, 22 per cent had furniture for early development activities, 20 per cent had no separate kitchen and 4 percent used classrooms for cooking, 62.2 per cent had asbestos sheets for roof and 33 per cent had no indoor and outdoor space marked for grossmotor activities for the 0 to 3 age group. “This is the state in the best 45 of the 10,000-odd Anganwadis in the state. There are no norms or standardisations, no child-friendly toilets or safe areas or even adequate ventillation, says Shanmughavelayutham.
And that is why activists, policy analysts and funders alike say nutrition cannot be just a health-sector issue and have been working with the government in bringing about a convergence of various service delivery departments. All sectors like health, social welfare, nutrition, school education, women's development, civil society, water and sanitation, rights groups, universities and colleges, elected peoples representatives and the media at all levels need to make anaemia a priority as its effects are widespread, contributes significantly to a huge number of preventable deaths and illnesses and is expensive to deal with during pregnancy alone.
UNICEF is also working with the government in scaling up projects that link poverty alleviation to better nutrition. “The simple fact is a person who is born with low birth weight, goes through childhood being undernourished will do poorly in school and perhaps drop out. When he is not educated, he will make poor choices for his family about nutrition and will perpetuate the cycle," adds Shanmughavelayutham.
Others agree. Iron tablets and nutritious mix are welfare-based schemes, and at best they can be a temporary solution to a problem that needs an inter-sectoral solution.
(Click here to read - PART-1)
Thursday, February 26, 2015
Special Report: 'Who Cries When A Mothers Die?'
Lhamu, a mother of twelve, lives in a remote village in Western Tibet. Three of her children died within a month of birth and the four year old strapped to her back looked as small as a one year old. She gave birth all alone, at home, all twelve times.
Thursday, July 25, 2013
New Initiative: Humble Jackfruit Eyes Haute Cuisine Status
Of the abundant quantities of jackfruit grown in India annually, an estimated 70 per cent rots away, due to lack of awareness and difficulties of usage. Now, a joint initiative by an academic institute and a farmers' group seeks to change that. Sixty seven-year-old Prema Bhat Thottethodi, a farmer woman, was restless. Leaning on a walking stick, she was busy running around in the massive kitchen. Age and her knee-ache couldn’t deter her spirit. Later in the day, she stole the show by demonstrating many ‘unknown’ preparations.
Friday, May 03, 2013
AGAINST ALL ODDS: OF SPORTS, PASSION AND REALITY
Meet M B Santosh, one of India's only three FIFA-accredited referees, who drives an auto-rickshaw and works as caretaker of an apartment in Kottayam, Kerala to support a family of five. Here, he shares the incredible story of his life and passion with INN.
A day in the life of Santosh, FIFA referee, at his hometown Kottayam, in Kerala Santosh is up and about early in the morning. He goes to the stadium ground for an hour of rigorous work-out; drops his daughter at school; takes out his auto-rickshaw and operates in the town for a few hours before reaching the Skyline apartments, of which he is the caretaker. He is back once again with the auto rickshaw in the afternoon; returns to the apartment in the evening and attends to the routine work there. Also takes up assignments as a personal driver on hire.
Monday, August 12, 2013
The Changing Face Of Tamil Nadu’s Muslim Politics
Over the last year, agitations by radical Tamil Muslim groups have effectively influenced the Tamil Nadu government’s policies. In September 2012, the Tamilnadu Muslim Munnetra Kazhagam (TMMK) and Tamil Nadu Thowheed Jamath (TNTJ) protested against the film, The Innocence of Muslims, and laid siege to the U.S. Consulate in Chennai. In early 2013, in the face of similar protests, Kamal Haasan’s Vishwaroopam was first taken off the screens and exhibited only after cuts were made.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
A Bond with Bones
By M H Ahssan
The traditional system of mending bones practised by some of the hakims in the Old City of Hyderabad has a loyal clientele which seems to increase by the day.
Accidents can happen to anyone. They could take place at home or even when one is out on the roads. Minor or major, injuries on the body can leave one writhing in pain and rushing to the nearest doctor. For most people, allopathic cures are the easiest option, because of advances in medical technology. However,
when bones break, the hefty bills slapped upon hapless patients by the orthopaedic hospitals, is perhaps much more painful than the fractured limb itself. Some may not have the wherewithal for such expensive treatment and there are the ones who go in for traditional systems of healing. The Puttur (near Tirupati) bone setters being a case in point. In the city, there are people who have set up clinics in the old city area and have a devoted clientele. The hakim's hypnotic gaze and a touch of ice anaesthetises the affected part. His dexterous fingers spot the fracture and set it right in a jiffy while the assistant applies a paste, bamboo stick patti bandage. It is all over in a few minutes. They come with tears but go back with smiles. This system might prima facie appear crude but all this ultimately boils down to aiding nature's own healing mechanism.
Though bone setters have mushroomed all over Hyderabad, the families of hakim Ghulam Rasool Khan and Quadri of Shahalibanda only have gained international recognition. Ghulam Rasool Khan, the ninth generation orthopaedician, traces his lineage to Hakim Ghulam Ahmed, the Royal Jerrah (orthopaedic) to Emperor Aurangzeb. His father Hakim Mohammed Moin was the Royal jerrah of the Raja of Khairpur. Khan, who believes in transparency of the whole system, recollects with pride a BBC documentary on his art by Dr. Michael Yorke.
The Quadri family, on the other hand, has a mass appeal having treated over 40 lakh cases in 67 years for which they have written to the Guinness Book of Records, with evidence, for an entry.
The late G.A. Quadri learnt the unique art of treating orthopaedic problems with mere manipulation of fingers over the affected part along with massage of herbal oil and specially prepared pastes. Perfecting his skills in Secunderabad and Mumbai in the early 1940s, senior Quadri set up the present clinic in Shahalibanda which is now being managed by his almost dozen strong siblings including a lady Mrs. Rafath Aziz.
In order to gain recognition from the modern medical fraternity, the Quadris are maintaining systematic records of the patients. These contain the initial prescription of the allopathic doctor, medicines prescribed, X-rays and other reports before the commencement of the traditional treatment. An X-ray record or even a video if the case is very complicated, is kept after the cure. Their dream is to set up the world's best Ortho-neuro Techniques Research Institution which will be a fusion of the traditional and modern orthopaedic systems. Patients come from faraway places like Delhi, Maharashtra, TamilNadu, Karnataka and Rajasthan with several orthopaedic problems like sciatica, prolapse disc, backache, cervical spondylitis.
Ironically, the efficacy of the Quadris orthopaedic wizardry has been proved by the same fraternity of modern doctors who ridicule them the most. Suffering from an advanced stage of `cervical spondylitis', Dr. Ghansyam of Yawatmal got relief in just three sessions. When pain-killers failed to stop the shooting sciatica pain, Dr. Shook Kumar, a noted surgeon, reluctantly approached the Quadric where he got "relief by a gentle touch of Quadric.'' while the sceptics might find umpteen flaws in Quadric `crude' cure, the rush for grabbing a token for day's treatment seems to be unabated.
The traditional system of mending bones practised by some of the hakims in the Old City of Hyderabad has a loyal clientele which seems to increase by the day.Accidents can happen to anyone. They could take place at home or even when one is out on the roads. Minor or major, injuries on the body can leave one writhing in pain and rushing to the nearest doctor. For most people, allopathic cures are the easiest option, because of advances in medical technology. However,
when bones break, the hefty bills slapped upon hapless patients by the orthopaedic hospitals, is perhaps much more painful than the fractured limb itself. Some may not have the wherewithal for such expensive treatment and there are the ones who go in for traditional systems of healing. The Puttur (near Tirupati) bone setters being a case in point. In the city, there are people who have set up clinics in the old city area and have a devoted clientele. The hakim's hypnotic gaze and a touch of ice anaesthetises the affected part. His dexterous fingers spot the fracture and set it right in a jiffy while the assistant applies a paste, bamboo stick patti bandage. It is all over in a few minutes. They come with tears but go back with smiles. This system might prima facie appear crude but all this ultimately boils down to aiding nature's own healing mechanism.
Though bone setters have mushroomed all over Hyderabad, the families of hakim Ghulam Rasool Khan and Quadri of Shahalibanda only have gained international recognition. Ghulam Rasool Khan, the ninth generation orthopaedician, traces his lineage to Hakim Ghulam Ahmed, the Royal Jerrah (orthopaedic) to Emperor Aurangzeb. His father Hakim Mohammed Moin was the Royal jerrah of the Raja of Khairpur. Khan, who believes in transparency of the whole system, recollects with pride a BBC documentary on his art by Dr. Michael Yorke.
The Quadri family, on the other hand, has a mass appeal having treated over 40 lakh cases in 67 years for which they have written to the Guinness Book of Records, with evidence, for an entry.
The late G.A. Quadri learnt the unique art of treating orthopaedic problems with mere manipulation of fingers over the affected part along with massage of herbal oil and specially prepared pastes. Perfecting his skills in Secunderabad and Mumbai in the early 1940s, senior Quadri set up the present clinic in Shahalibanda which is now being managed by his almost dozen strong siblings including a lady Mrs. Rafath Aziz.
In order to gain recognition from the modern medical fraternity, the Quadris are maintaining systematic records of the patients. These contain the initial prescription of the allopathic doctor, medicines prescribed, X-rays and other reports before the commencement of the traditional treatment. An X-ray record or even a video if the case is very complicated, is kept after the cure. Their dream is to set up the world's best Ortho-neuro Techniques Research Institution which will be a fusion of the traditional and modern orthopaedic systems. Patients come from faraway places like Delhi, Maharashtra, TamilNadu, Karnataka and Rajasthan with several orthopaedic problems like sciatica, prolapse disc, backache, cervical spondylitis.
Ironically, the efficacy of the Quadris orthopaedic wizardry has been proved by the same fraternity of modern doctors who ridicule them the most. Suffering from an advanced stage of `cervical spondylitis', Dr. Ghansyam of Yawatmal got relief in just three sessions. When pain-killers failed to stop the shooting sciatica pain, Dr. Shook Kumar, a noted surgeon, reluctantly approached the Quadric where he got "relief by a gentle touch of Quadric.'' while the sceptics might find umpteen flaws in Quadric `crude' cure, the rush for grabbing a token for day's treatment seems to be unabated.
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
CJ REPORT: Voters’ Rolls Found In Waste Paper Mart
The staff of Tambaram taluk office in Chennai, Tamilnadu, were busy at a local waste paper mart — in a bid to recover 10 bundles of electoral rolls that went missing from the taluk office.
Revenue staff had checked the bags of temporary workers, who cleaned the taluk office, and were shocked to find voter rolls. Ten of total 20 such bags, in which were stocked draft voters rolls, were found missing. The search led to a waste paper mart and eight bundles of voter rolls were recovered.
Local RDO P. Ettiappan admitted the incident but allayed fears as they were only draft rolls dating back to 2008. The draft roll bundles were intact and the attempted sale thwarted. The stationery had been discarded but the issue was being probed, he added.
Saturday, April 06, 2013
Financial Irregularities: Annamalai University VC Suspended
A special audit team had found that university funds were diverted, appointments were made in excess and provident fund money was not deposited.
The lapses occurred due to maladministration and lack of proper control over the functioning of the university, read the government order signed by the governor. "As principal executive officer of the university, vested with various powers including the power to appoint clerical and other staff, the vice- chancellor is responsible for proper functioning of the university.
It has become necessary to investigate into the matter in detail, from all angles and in particular with respect to the working of the institution, persons responsible for the maladministration and the role played by you as the vice-chancellor," read the order.
The suspension will come into effect immediately and will stay till further orders.
The sate government had constituted a special audit team under Section 28 of the Annamalai Universtiy Act, 1928 to assess the financial and other irregularities in the university. After inspection, the team submitted its report to the government, in which it mentioned about diversion of funds running to several crores of rupees and misappropriation of funds.
Thursday, April 04, 2013
Loksatta Is Flexing musles Over Electoral Reforms
The Lok Satta party headed by Jayaprakash Narayan is flexing its muscles in Bangalore as the state gets ready for elections in May. The party has so far named 15 candidates for MLA elections in the state; more are expected. Nine are contesting in Bangalore city itself, and the rest from other parts of Karnataka. Lok Satta has a reformist positioning in the Indian political sphere. It supports clean governance, setting up of a strong Lokpal, liberalising agriculture, closing of populist subsidies, FDI in retail, and so forth.
Jayaprakash Narayan, 57, the charismatic leader who is more widely known in Andhra Pradesh than Karnataka, is the sole MLA of the party anywhere in the country. He ran and won his seat in AP assembly elections from Kukatpally in Hyderabad. In AP, Tamilnadu and Maharashtra, there are a handful of local representatives (in municipal councils and panchayats) of the party.
Given the cynicism around the state of politics in India, many consider the chances of candidates with strong credentials and track records to enter legislatures to be very low. However, in the past few years, India, and urban India in particular has seen a surge of demand in the streets from a largely frustrated young citizenry. There has been an outpouring of protests around the country on several counts. From the huge wave of public support for a Lokpal bill for fighting rampant corruption to the most recent protests over the Delhi gang-rape incident, the yearning for change among large sections of the Indian populace has been evident.
Lok Satta has been at the forefront of many such change campaigns from a time when public angst had not even made itself so visible. In Bangalore for example, Lok Satta party volunteers were originally involved in sparking off Saaku, an anti-corruption movement in the city that peaked during the support campaign for Justice Santosh Hegde. During his tenure as Lokayukta, he had exposed the BJP government's ministers including former chief minister B S Yeddyurappa. Many volunteers who were part of the India Against Corruption (IAC) group that campaigned for the Lokpal bill in the city during Anna Hazare’s fast in New Delhi were also Lok Satta party cadres.
Better known as JP, Jayaprakash Narayan is no mean achiever in public life. He is a doctor by training, and a former IAS officer with a long track record of accomplishments. He is well known for his campaign and role in bringing electoral reforms to India in 2002 that made disclosures by candidates running for office mandatory.
Prior to founding Lok Satta as a political party, he founded it as a movement for better governance in Andhra Pradesh. Lok Satta's work on electricity reforms became visible as it took over and operated four power distribution stations in the state to demonstrate the efficacy of several reform measures they had advocated.
In Bengaluru today, Lok Satta party candidates, most of them reasonably well known in their neighbourhoods and the city, are running for MLAs. Jayaprakash Narayan or JP as he is called has been moved by the upsurge in Bangalore and says it has the most cosmopolitan electorate in the country. “Bangaloreans are more likely to transcend old loyalties and parochial power that mainline parties have,” he says.
As the campaigns in Bengaluru have begun to peak, INN caught up with JP for a detailed conversation. He spoke many things and seems passionate, thoughtful, clear and yet restrained. Excerpts of the Interview.
You have been the single MLA for Lok Satta in AP. What are your hopes for the next AP election (2014)?
Being a single MLA in the assembly is not such a bad thing. We have shown that it is still possible to influence significant public policy outcomes.
We feel 15-20 per cent of the electorate certainly wants change. But there are systemic compulsions in India because of which even if you have good support base, and strong credibility, conversion to votes is not easy.
We are considering issue-based alliances for the AP 2014 elections. If there is an iron clad guarantee on specific issues from a bigger political party in constituencies where we are strong, we may transfer our support to them.
These are issues on which we will seek issue-base alliances:
- Full decentralisation of power to local government at the ward and panchayat level.
- Services guarantee law, with compensation to citizens when there is delay or denial
- Radical change in the power sector
- Agricultural reforms – liberalisation of agriculture, not merely giving short term freebies, but long term benefits
- Anti-Corruption agenda – A Lokayukta for AP with real independent power
- Education and Health care reform.
- We currently have strong presence in 80 constituencies in AP, and there are around 20-25 people who have been working hard in these areas for the people. They may become the MLA candidates for LS in 2014.
There are several concrete outcomes. There is a robust Societies Act in use in AP. The Congress party wanted to amend it in a way that would bring in far more controls. The amendment was unconstitutional according to me. I have stood against this and held it up for the past four years in the legislature and have got the rest of the opposition to stand against it as well. The Congress could have passed it by brute force and has not because of the opposition I have led.
Next is the Citizen Services Delivery Guarantee bill. While this is not enacted yet, there has been debate on the bill and the rules the government needs to put in place for it to function effectively. This has already resulted in real action on the ground, even without the bill being passed.
There is a now a Lokayukta bill pending in the AP assembly. This is also my party's work and we have pushed for it. It is not enacted yet, but we will continue to push for it.
In the 2010 elections in AP, Lok Satta had a well articulated vision with many reform points that the Congress party copied from us. Our party has a lot of credibility in the state in arguing its points and other parties have drawn from us whenever they want. That is also impact.
Tell voters what the Lok Satta party has done for Bangalore and Karnataka that legitimises its claim that it is ready to fight big electoral races such as MLA elections.
The Lok Satta party has already contributed to Bangalore, in three areas.
First, through Ashwin Mahesh, whose work on transportation and traffic control for Bangalore is remarkable, especially for its focus on strengthening public departments. He has also been leading the water management efforts, including lake revival.
Second, it has covered a lot of ground in waste segregation and management: N S Ramakanth and Meenakshi Bharath have been doing stellar work in this area. This is part of our focus on urban planning.
Third is the Saaku movement itself. Lok Satta volunteers were at the core of triggering off that movement in Bangalore earlier, with an initial focus on safeguarding the institution of the Lokayukta. The IAC happened immediately and naturally after that.
More broadly, Lok Satta members are at the core of virtually all the civil society-led changes in the city. That is a very good thing. Politics and development should be strongly connected, and the example of our Bangalore party unit is a very good one in this regard.
Some voters think that too often in elections, people run to make statements, satisfy their egos, etc., even though chances of winning are considered slim. This has happened to parliamentary races before. What will you say to Bangalore voters this month who worry that Lok Satta candidates 'might not win'? How should citizens think about 'winnability'?
You have hit the nail on the head. Winnability does seem to dominate during elections. And with our first past the post system (FPTP), winning for new candidates is a challenge. Our political parties – when you talk to individual politicians -- are themselves not so terrible. Many of them also want the right candidates to run, but they are concerned about winnability.
But when people worry about new candidates not being winnable – they should look at the following.
Lok Satta candidates, even though they are fewer in number, offer a genuine alternative. Moreover, Bangalore city offers a unique opportunity. It has the most cosmopolitan electorate in the country. Voters in Bangalore are more likely to transcend old loyalties and parochial power that mainline parties have. Secondly, because of the way Karnataka politics has gone, there are now many factions and hence fragmentation of votes. There is an opportunity for Bangaloreans to vote with their heart for candidates with an excellent track record.
There is also a difference between unattached independent candidates who do not belong to parties and party-backed candidates. Parties can articulate an agenda, they have organisational memory which they can bring into the Assembly even if they have only one or a few seats in the legislature. Single independent candidates cannot do that.
Your manifesto makes a promise that implies that 12-hour three-phase power supply in rural Karnataka in possible. How?
It is possible. First we must separate rural electricity feeders from agriculture feeders. Secondly every consumer of electricity, even a farmer who gets free power has to be metered. Long back, when Lok Satta was an NGO, we took over four distribution stations and ran it for the AP government. We brought about an 18 per cent reduction in line losses from 27 per cent to 9 per cent. These are all audited figures, publicly available.
There are around 9.75 lakh transformers in the AP power system. 5-7 per cent of these usually fail each year and when taken down for maintenance, it takes several days for them to come back online. Lok Satta showed that we can spend a few hundred rupees to fix these transformers and bring them back online much sooner which helps in running the power system with less outages.
Separating agricultural power from the rest of rural power itself can ensure that 12 hour supply is possible. This provides a boost to SMEs in rural areas because otherwise they have to come to the cities. Making more rural power available will boost rural investment and employment, and cut back on migration to the cities.
Gujarat is the best example for all this. By taking this approach they have already managed 24-hour single-phase power in all of rural Gujarat. So it is possible to promise and deliver 12-hour single-phase power in rural Karnataka.
An opposing candidate from some mainstream party is going to promise very low-cost housing or some freebie to low-income citizens in his constituency. Are you going to compete with that? People are used to a patronage relationship with their MLAs, you know this.
Yes, Promises will be made. After all elections are all about public money. Lok Satta candidates will explain an alternative vision. Our option is to explain to people that short term freebies are not making problems go away.
Our plan also is go to educated voters and youth, and especially women to get their backing.
We are hearing this view from several people – that women are supporting new candidates who stand for change, more than men. Why do you think this is so?
This is an important question and it must be studied. I can only hazard a guess.
Ultimately men see these battles as power games. Patriarchy, caste, linguistic and regional affiliations are above all about power won over identity and parochial loyalties. Men who already have power as part of patriarchy become concerned about who will win. Once issues are boxed into identity politics, there is no coming out.
Women on the other hand do not have power; they tend to be concerned about survival, and what will happen to family, prices, schooling of their children, etc. So they tend to be more open to voting for change. Women and youth definitely helped us win the MLA seat from Kukatpally. So men are concerned about who, and women are concerned about what.
The first-past-the-post system voting system in India presents serious challenges to new parties. Comment on the chances in the Karnataka elections for your Bangalore MLA candidates.
Yes, FPTP for India is a huge challenge. But I have some good news to report here.
Look at India’s most influential states for parliamentary seats: UP, Bihar, Bengal, TN, Maharashtra and AP. Except AP (even there, Congress is shaking), in none of these states has the BJP or the Congress been able to win on their own. Together these states contribute 65 per cent of Lok Sabha's seats. This is because of the FPTP system; it has already caused serious problems for these parties.
In UP for example, Rahul Gandhi invested a substantial amount of time and strategy. See the results though. Samajwadi Party got 3.7 per cent more vote share and got 127 more seats in the last elections. Even though Congress got 3 per cent more vote share, it got only 6 more seats. In Maharashtra, Congress cannot come to power on its own either.
The FPTP system is hurting the national parties in the most influential states.
But leaders of parties should be alive to this problem, it cannot be that they do not understand all this…?
Parties have not taken a hard look at this problem till now. The reality is that leaders do not have time. They are mostly caught up in day-to-day running of the party and the problems that keep emerging. But this is changing now.
The Congress Party has set up a high-powered committee under Ambika Soni, with Veerappa Moily, Mani Shankar Aiyyar, and others to look at reviewing FPTP. There is discussion on this issue also within the BJP at a mid-level. Left parties are already on board to change the FPTP system.
What is interesting is that this does not require a constitutional amendment or even a change in the law. It is just a rule being used to run our elections. If the parties agree, the rule can be changed.
What would you like the FPTP system to change to? You have advocated proportional representation; does that also mean you will support multiple representatives per constituency?
As a winner-takes-all system, FPTP overweighs the views of the winner and ignores all others. This is true even if the winner himself gets only 15 per cent of the vote, as we saw in one recent case. A proportionate system would correct this, and give voice to a greater diversity of views. This is all the more important when, as in India today, we are seeing an increasing fracture of the vote among different parties. Ideally, an elected representative even in a single-member constituency should represent 50 per cent of the voters at least. That's clearly not the case today; in fact it is the exception.
A number of solutions, including multi-member constituencies, run-offs and other options can be considered. Once we accept that FPTP is hindering the broad representation of public opinion in elected houses, a lot of other things will become possible. It has taken many decades for parties to come to this realisation. Now we must act on this, and strengthen democracy by a new system with greater inclusion of voices and views.
You mentioned Arvind Kejriwal. What happened between Aam Aadmi Party and Lok Satta that they could not come together?
There are genuine issues we have to iron out.
One is the whole approach AAP has about good and evil. An approach that says one side is always good and the other is always evil is not right in a democracy. I have always held that our political parties are not evil and they cannot be blamed for everything that is wrong in India. Yes, our parties have bungled, no doubt.
We have to recognise the historical process we have gone through as a nation. Federalism, states, peaceful transfer of power, and universal adult franchise have all come to stay in the country, and our political parties have seen through this. So it is not right for AAP to make this contest one about good and evil.
The good and evil approach also caused us to lose an opportunity earlier. Take the Lokpal bill. In 2011, the bill that went to Parliament was 80 per cent of the bill “we” wanted. But Hazare and IAC did plenty of grand-standing that it could either be 100 per cent or zero. Media also made it into a big deal. In such a negative climate for the government's bill, the path became clear for other parties to use the ruse of 'states rights' to kill the Lokayukta provision. So now, while the Lokpal bill has Lokpal provisions, mandatory Lokayuktas for all the states is gone from it. But 80 percent of corruption impacting people is at the state level, not central. We have lost the chance for getting that option through the central bill.
We all want an ethical india. But the fight against corruption alone can only be a minimum qualification for politics, it is not the maximum. There needs to be more. AAP, for instance, does not support our positions on FDI in retail, and also on power sector reforms.
Having said this, our differences need not be blown out of proportion in the media. In a democracy, there is always a need for a spirit of accommodation. We have not written off working together.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)