07 cover story 02

COVER STORY

FORMATION OF NEW GOVERNMENT AND ITS

Challenges

By Ahmed Kamal Khusro

The new government is likely to wear a crown of thorns and it is expected that it will show a greater political willingness to tackle the odds head-on.

T

he new government is likely to be formed after 16 May and it will be a red-letter day for Indian democracy. According to our political calculus, no major party is likely to get a thumping majority. The most predictable political tableaux will be that a mélange of regional and national parties might form a coalition government. It is an indication of fractionisation of Indian politics that no major party has been able to achieve the absolute majority as in the times of Indira Gandhi.

However, we hope that new coalition will be a “coalition

fact that your deeds are personified in your rulers.

When someone, reportedly asked Ali (ra), the fourth caliphate of Islam, about the problems during his time, he is purportedly quoted as saying that in the earlier period, they were the advisers to the government that put it on a even keel, but “now you are our advisers’.

Therefore, quality of governance also depends on the quality of advice. In a democracy, it refers to the steel frame or the coterie of civil servants that continue to

Governance means equal treatment and facilities for all. As Hazrat Umar (ra) said that, in words to this effect, that even if a horse stumbles on a faraway road, the ruler is answerable for it to Almighty Allah. of conscience” rather than political convenience. We wish the very best for the newly-formed government.

The people get the government they deserve.

According to moral tradition, rulers are manifestations of the nation’s psyche. If they are base, venal and corrupt, they will get a government that does the same. If they are rash and ungovernable, they might get a government that rules with an iron hand. The moral template for action and reaction are quite clear. It is said and it is a 23 EASTERN CRESCENT | MAY 2014

advise the governments in power, even as political leaders come and go.

Governance means equal treatment and facilities for all. As Hazrat Umar (ra) said that, in words to this effect, that even if a horse stumbles on a faraway road, the ruler is answerable for it to Almighty Allah. However, now we see that the centres of commerce and urban conurbations have the best facilities, with minor lapses here and there, while distant rural hamlets far from the

COVER STORY state’s capitals are left in neglect for want of roads, water and electricity.

This lack of regard to the needs of the voiceless and marginalized stems from lack of transparency, accountability, and responsibility of government officials from the top down—from the secretaries, joint secretaries to the municipalities and the gram panchayat office bearers.

The media –TV channels, print media and magazines—provide fodder to develop public perception about the use and misuse of power. With some gravitas, Santosh Desai in a column in TOI said: Kejriwal competes with the media discourse while Modi completes it. Kejriwal is a player in the market for dissatisfaction as is the media. He does have some solutions to offer, but the power of his appeal has been derived from his resonant articulation of the problem…….It could be argued that structurally, it was only a matter of time before the media turned on AAP, given that the two were vying for the same emotional space….

Modi is seen by many, as the answer to problems. But the media has played an important role, unconsciously breeding an atmosphere of active unhappiness. Constant criticism creates need for clarity and Modi has come forward to fill the void widened by the media discourse in the country…..”

Painting the ruling dispensation as ineffective and hobbled by corruption and the lack of firm handed approach, the media has created space for the demand for a muscular leadership that could solve India’s myriad problems.

However, this is too simplistic. What is required is firmness when the situation demands and tenderness towards the plight of those facing privation. This

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calls not for a one-solution-fits-all approach but a nuanced understanding of various needs of the populace, calling for excellent qualities of the head and heart—sadly lacking in our leaders.

The course open before any new government formation is to

Three shining examples of the UPA has been the implementation of MGNREGA, the RTI act and the Right to Education Act. There may have been lapses in monitoring of the rural employment scheme but now with the introduction of Aadhar cards and direct cash transfers to the labourers, the incidence of corruption is likely to come down. continue, with proper monitoring and safeguards, the good work done by the previous government; the second step is the doing of those things that were neglected or not done by the earlier government.

Three shining examples of the UPA has been the implementation of MGNREGA, the RTI act and the Right to Education Act. There may have been lapses in monitoring of the rural employment scheme but now with

the introduction of Aadhar cards and direct cash transfers to the labourers, the incidence of corruption is likely to come down.

Hosts of benefits have flowed from the RTI Act with the disempowered and the marginalized being armed with inside information on various acts of omission and commission by government officials, so that they could take recourse to redressal. It is a tribute to its effectiveness in empowering the voiceless that the UPA tried to dilute the Act, but was faced by a barrage of criticism from civil society. It is for the new government to further strengthen its implementation and clear the backlog of cases.

There have been some voices of dissent from the minority groups about some provisions of the RTE Act, that can be remedied so that even the poorest of the poor are not deprived of basic education. There are two aspects of the problem of education in the country; quality and quantity. The IITs and IIMs are standards bearers of quality and the manifestos of some parties has focused on opening new institutions along the same lines.

Nevertheless, it is depressing that only the moneyed rich can get access to these prime centres of education. Some provision for merit-based scholarships for the rural poor can be devised that they too get the fruits of high quality education.

The second problem is how do we accommodate the vast masses of children who enter the school system every year. Pratham and other NGOs, have shown working to help children learn better, the education of the children in a poor light as they have done various studies that focus on the problem. Even in fifth and seventh

COVER STORY standards most of the children did not basic math skills and were poor in English. Providing the needed appropriate infrastructure is one thing—with toilets, classrooms and drinking water—but the quality of teaching needs to be upgraded on an urgent basis.

Teachers should be given

Rs

27 per day:

India’s new poverty line

The current estimate is based on survey carried out in 2011-12.

The Planning Commission has declared the new poverty line for rural and urban areas. It is Rs 27 a day for rural areas and Rs 30 a day for urban areas.

Just a year ago when the Commission suggested a poverty line of Rs 22 a day for rural areas, there was a national outrage over it.

Subsequently, government scrapped

good salaries even in villages.

Furthermore, a monitoring of the teaching methods, absenteeism and student-teacher ratio should be looked into.

The biggest problem crippling Indian society is the rising price of all commodities and services. These has to be tackled first. Sifting through

the myriad challenges that will face India’s new rulers, we have decided to highlight three of them in this part of our cover story; poverty, education, malnutrition. The new government is likely to wear a crown of thorns and we expect that they will show a greater political willingness to tackle the odds head-on.

269 million Indians are poor According to the latest estimate, some 216.5 million people in rural areas are poor while 52.8 million in urban areas are poor.

This means out of the country’s total population, 269 million people survive on Rs 27-30 a day.

Going by the figures released by the Planning Commission, poverty levels have shown steepest ever fall in recent history. Since 200405, coinciding with the UPA’s ascent to power, 138 million people have escaped the poverty trap. In rural areas, the dip in poverty is stark: there were 326 million poor in 200405; in 2011-12, the number fell to 216 million—a decline of 110 million.

The political message in the new estimate is hard to miss. “It can

Poverty in india

be concluded that the rate of decline in the poverty ratio during the most recent seven-year period—2004-05 to 2011-12—was about three times of that experienced in the 11-year period between 1993-94 and 2004-05,” says the report. The earlier period of comparison coincides with the Opposition BJP’s tenure in government.

Poorest states

Poverty in india

the poverty estimate based on a survey carried out in 2009. The current estimate is based on survey carried out in 2011-12.

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Chhattisgarh is the poorest state in the country with close to 40 per cent of its population being below the poverty line.

However, the geography of poverty remains the same. Seven states – Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh – account for 61 per cent of India’s total poor. These states traditionally host India’s poorest.

COVER STORY

Top 4 Challenges for Education in India

I

ndia is the largest democracy with remarkable diversity among its population of 1.2 billion which makes up about 17% of the world’s population. Almost 70% of Indian population is rural.

The adult literacy rate stands at about 60% and this is significantly lower in women and minorities.

Education in India comprises of government, government aided and private institutions of which

nearly 40% are government. With the population growth rate of 1.5%, there is tremendous pressure on the education system to provide quality education at affordable price and improve the literacy rate.

Education in India faces following primary challenges:

Quality Maintaining standard of education in more than a million schools nationwide, offering training programs to teachers, and keeping good balance with education system worldwide is a big challenge. Schools vary in size and resources and are forced compromise in the all round development opportunities they must provide to students

Cost The cost of education is very high even for the people and places where it is accessible.

E.g. the competitive pressure on students and parents forces them to opt for private tuitions and training to supplement the school education.

Access Having infrastructural constraints and social issues, it becomes harder to make education accessible to all segments of the society (women, minorities, poor).

Social and Cultural The ethnic diversity in India poses challenges to implement consistent education nationwide. There are more than 300 languages spoken in the country and makes it difficult to offer education tailored to specific social segments. Educating women in some societies is a big issue. Children of poor families are forced to work and miss out the learning opportunities. Illiterate adults have very limited opportunities to get educated at later stages in their lives.

Online Education System’s Advantages

A

n educational system augmented by online components presents unique opportunity to solve multitude of challenges in quick time at affordable budget. Proving network 26 EASTERN CRESCENT | MAY 2014

infrastructure at several rural nodes can provide cheaper student-centric learning for those of the poor who are talented but are constricted by lack of options, teachers or cash crunch.

COVER STORY

No neta to fix malnutrition problem

I

n January 2012, PM Manmohan Singh had declared that half of India’s children were malnourished and that was a national shame.

It is a greater shame that despite reports of the dire state of deaths of adults and children due to malnutrition, it has not become a part of the political discourse by leaders who claim to solve all of the nation’s problems with the swish of a wand.

Key interventions to boost nutrition levels include the targeted public distribution system (TPDS), Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) and the school midday meal scheme (MDMS).

Despite increased food production and procurement for TDPS, food insecurity persists and is a chronic problem linked to poor

Despite increased food production and procurement for TDPS, food insecurity persists and is a chronic problem linked to poor delivery. delivery.

The large number of ineligible or fake ration cards issued—a serious problem in some states, usually those that need TPDS the most--- has caused huge leakages. The TDPS has glaring exclusion errors. About 20 per cent of the estimated 20 crore eligible beneficiaries are denied subsidized grain as they have no ration card, while 20 percent of the non-poor do. TDPS remains restricted to wheat and rice

that would alleviate hunger, but not address malnutrition.

The new government should make a provision to include pulses, oil and nutritious millets. The scope of the laudable Food Security Act should be widened to facilitate high procurement of millets, pulses, fruits and vegetables.

This will incentivize their production, instead of focusing only on wheat on rice, which are water-intensive crops.

Muslim backwardness needs urgent attention Muslims have remained backward not merely due to lack of access and employment opportunities but because their moral vitality has sapped. Almighty Allah does not help those who do not know to help themselves. The Muslim community is riven by internal crisis. If they are strict in following the basic tenets of Islam, they should next develop the moral decency to look beyond their homes and jobs and care for the other deprived sections both within the community and outside. Only when they show a larger generosity of spirit will they be able to rely on the help provided by Almighty Allah to his true slaves.

Having said this, it is necessary now to outline the major external causes of Muslim backwardness as 27 EASTERN CRESCENT | MAY 2014

Muslims have remained backward not merely due to lack of access and employment opportunities but because their moral vitality has sapped. evidenced by the Sachar Committee Report. The UPA had taken some steps to identify certain areas as Muslim-dominated that needed urgent

Muslim backwardness needs urgent attention

intervention to raise their living and

educational standards. However, the problem remained because there was no effective mechanism to monitor that the funds allocated were being utilized properly and reaching the deprived that were targeted by government schemes.

It is a fact that some targeted scholarship schemes for the minority community were successful in providing access to good education for those students who were talented but could not afford the costs of higher education.

But it is no-hoper that any future BJP government would remove the lacunae in these schemes and expand their reach, for any such move would raise false cries of Muslim appeasement.

Let us wait and see the result!