Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan

      Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan is the National flagship Programme to achieve Universal Elementary Education in a mission mode. The Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan is also known as the movement or 'Each One Teach One'. It was introduced in 2000-2001 as the flagship programme run by the Government of India. This scheme is framed to provide useful and relevant elementary education for all children in the age group of six to fourteen by 2010.

v Aim and Objectives of SSA:-

The SSA programme is an Endeavour to provide an opportunity for improving human capabilities of all children, through the provision of community-owned quality education in a mission mode. The Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan had been set with specific targets. These are:

• All children in school, Education Guarantee Centre, Alternate School or 'Back-to-School' camp by 2003.
• All children complete five years of primary schooling by 2007.
• Children complete eight years of elementary schooling by 2010.
• Focus on elementary education of satisfactory quality with emphasis on education for life.
• Bridge all gender and social category gaps at the primary stage by 2007 and at the elementary education level by 2010.
• Universal retention by 2010.
• To bridge social, regional and gender gaps, with the active participation of the community in the management of schools.
• To support pre-school learning in ICDS centers or special pre-school centers in non ICDS areas.
• To supplement the efforts of the Ministry of Women and Child Development.

v The goals of SSA:-

·         All 6-14 age group children in school/EGS (Education Guarantee Scheme) centre/bridge course by 2005.

·         Bridge all gender and social category gaps at primary stage by 2007 and at elementary education level by 2010; universal retention by 2010.  

·         Focus on elementary education of satisfactory quality with emphasis on education for life.

v Interventions For Children With Special Needs:-

SSA ensures that every child with special needs, irrespective of the kind, category and degree of disability, is provided education in an appropriate environment.  SSA adopts ‘zero rejection’ policy so that no child is left out of the education system. The thrust of SSA provides integrated and inclusive education to all children with special needs in general schools.  It also support a wide range of approaches, options and strategies for education of children with special needs.  This includes education through open learning system and open schools, non formal and alternative schooling, distance education and learning, special schools, wherever necessary, home based education, itinerant teacher model, remedial teaching, part time classes, community based rehabilitations (CBR) and vocational education and cooperative programmers.

v Components of the programme:-    

·         Early detection and identification: A concerted drive to detect children with special needs at an early age should be undertaken through PHCs, ICDS, ECCE centers and other school readiness programmes. Identification of children with special needs should become an integral part of the micro-planning and household surveys.

·         Functional and formal assessment of each identified child should be carried out. A team should be constituted at every block to carry out this assessment and recommend most appropriate placement for every child with special needs.

·         Educational Placement: As far as possible, every child with special needs should be placed in regular schools, with needed support services.

·         Aids and appliances: All children requires assistive devices should be provided with aids and appliances, obtained as far as possible through convergence with the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, State Welfare Departments, National Institutions or NGOs.

·         Support services: Support services like physical access, resource rooms at cluster level, special equipment, reading material, special educational techniques, remedial teaching, curricular adaptation or adapted teaching strategies could be provided.

·         Teacher training: Intensive teacher training should be undertaken to sensitize regular teachers on effective classroom management of children with special needs. This training should be recurrent at block/cluster levels and integrated with the on-going in-service teacher training schedules in SSA. All training modules at SCERT, DIET and BRC level should include a suitable component on education of children with special needs.

·         Resource support: Resource support could be given by teachers working in special schools.  Where necessary, specially trained resource teachers should be appointed, particularly for teaching special skills to children with special needs.  Wherever this option is not feasible, long term training of regular teachers should be undertaken.

·         Individualized Educational Plan (IEP): An IEP should be prepared by the teacher for every child with special needs in consultation with parents and experts.  Its implementation should be monitored from time to time.  The programme should test the effectiveness of various strategies and models by measuring the learning achievement of children with special needs periodically, after developing indicators.

·         Parental training and community mobilization: Parents of children with disabilities should receive counseling and training on how to bring them up and teach them basic survival skills.  Strong advocacy and awareness programs should form a part of strategy to educate every child with special needs.  A component on disability should be included in all the modules for parents, VEC and community.

·         Planning and management: Resource groups should be constituted at state, district levels to undertake effective planning and management of the programmes in collaboration with PRIs and NGOs. An apex level resource group at the national level to provide guidance, technical and academic support to children with special needs under SSA may be constituted.

·         Strengthening of special schools: Wherever necessary, special schools may be strengthened to obtain their resource support, in convergence with departments and agencies working in that area.  

·         Removal of Architectural barriers:     Architectural barriers in schools will be removed for easy access.  Efforts will be taken to provide disable-friendly facilities in schools and educational institutions.  Development of innovative designs for schools to provide an enabling environment for children with special needs should also be a part of the programme.

·         Research: SSA encourages research in all areas of education of children with special needs including research for designing and developing new assistive devices, teaching aids special teaching material and other items necessary to give a child with disability equal opportunities in education.

·         Monitoring and evaluation: On-going monitoring and evaluation should be carried out to refine the programme from time to time.  For this, appropriate monitoring mechanisms should be devised at every level and field tested at regular intervals.

·         Girls with disabilities: Special emphasis must be given to education of girls with disabilities.

v Conclusion:-

All activities, interventions and approaches in the area of education for children with special needs will be implemented in convergence with existing scheme like Assistance to Disabled Persons for purchase/fittings of Aids/Appliances (ADIP), Integrated Education of the Disabled Children (IEDC) and in coordination with the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, State Department of Welfare, National Institutions and NGOs.

Expenditure upto Rs. 1200 per disabled child could be incurred in a financial year to meet the special learning needs of such children.  The ceiling on expenditure per disabled child will apply at the district level.

On the eve of Anna Hazare's fast against "weak" Lokpal Bill,

NEW DELHI: On the eve of Anna Hazare's fast against "weak" Lokpal Bill, Government today asked him to wait for the outcome of Parliament's debate on the legislation tomorrow before launching his agitation. 

Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Rajiv Shukla said everyone should leave it to Parliament to decide on the Lokpal as it is in its domain now. 

"The Government has already piloted the Bill in Lok Sabha. It is a very strong and effective Bill. So, I think we will go by the decision of Parliament. Everybody will be deliberating upon that," he said here. 

Shukla said Parliament will decide on the fate of the Lokpal Bill. 

"I would only request him (Hazare) to wait for the outcome of Parliament," he said when asked whether he thought Hazare should have more patience on the issue. 

Hazare will launch a 3-day fast tomorrow in Mumbai in protest against the "weak" Lokpal Bill introduced by Government in Lok Sabha. The Lok Sabha is expected to debate the crucial legislation tomorrow. 

On Hazare suffering from viral infection, Shukla said: "I will always wish him the best health. At the same time, I think he should wait for the outcome of Parliament and then only he should go ahead." 

Meanwhile, Congress sought to know why BJP jumps to Hazare's defence whenever someone alleges that the anti-corruption crusader has links with RSS. 

"Whenever it is asked whether Anna Hazare shares same views as BJP and RSS, instead of Team Anna replying to the question we have the BJP and RSS clarifying that Hazare has no link with them. I am surprised with such kind of equation shared between them," Congress spokesman Rashid Alvi said. 

Hindu guardian vs Muslim mother

Now In Supreme court.

New Delhi: In 2004, a Hindu man found a six-year-old Muslim boy wandering the streets alone and took him in. Three years later, the biological parents turned up and claimed him though the boy didn’t want to return to them.





In resolving this unusual tangle, the Supreme Court on Wednesday opted for a humanitarian approach rather than sticking to the dictates of law.


Seeking an affidavit from the mother on her finances since the father has died, the bench wondered: “Why would we order the boy, who has now spent seven years under the good care of the person, be given back to the mother disregarding the child’s wish. The mother did not lodge a complaint about her son missing. So, let the child attain majority and himself decide the question.”


Finder Keeper

Akbar, 6, strays in Allahabad while his dad drinks away

Surfaces in Lucknow, where tea stall owner Aiku Lal takes him in, puts him in school, keeping name, religion intact

3 yrs on, parents go to court. HC says boy should remain with Lal. Parents appeal in SC , Child’s wish vital, says SC

Despite the mother being the natural guardian, the Supreme Court on Wednesday questioned returning a Muslim boy, brought up for seven years by a Hindu man, especially given that the child did not want to return.

Six-year-old Akbar went with his father to a roadside drinking joint in Allahabad in 2004. The father got drunk and didn’t notice the child slip away. Strangely, the parents — Mohammad Abbas and Shahnaz Begum — did not lodge a missing complaint with the police.

The boy surfaced in Lucknow before a tea stall in Qaiser Bagh.Stall owner Aiku Lal took pity and advertised about him in TV channels. When he got no response, he took the boy in as a son, admitting him to school without changing his name or religion.In 2007, the parents moved the Allahabad HC seeking custody. They accused Lal of using the boy as bonded labour. Lal proved with school marksheets and other documents that he had been taking care of the child. .Akbar too refused to go with his parents being fond of Aiku Lal.

“We are a secular country and the consideration of caste and creed should not be allowed to prevail.

If there can be inter-caste marriages, which is not very uncommon, there can also be an inter-caste father and son relationship and that need not raise eyebrows,” Justice Barkat Ali Zaidi ruled in 2007.The parents then moved an appeal before SC. “We know the mother is the natural guardian under the law. But, the child does not want to go back, abandoning the man who brought him up,” the bench said while inquiring about Shahnaz’s financial status as the boy’s father died in the meantime.

In such a context, it is refreshing to come across a study that seeks to go beyond the sociological veil spread by a focus on purdah, and actually examines the conditions faced by different categories of Muslim women in the country. A new book by Zoya Hasan and Ritu Menon (Unequal Citizens: Muslim Women in India, New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2004) presents the results of a national survey covering around 10,000 Muslim and Hindu women.

This is the first such survey of this magnitude, covering the whole country, and obviously therefore, the findings deserve attention. But perhaps even more interesting than the results themselves are the insights that are drawn into the interplay of various factors that determine the conditions of Muslim women's lives.

Of course, there are some easily predictable conclusions, especially with respect to economic status. The low socio-economic status of Muslims is now well-known; like the Scheduled Castes, they are disproportionately represented among the poor and have the lowest per capita income indicators. This is ascribed not only to the lack of access to asset ownership, but also to poor educational attainment and occupational patterns, which show clustering in low-paid activities, as well as the concentration of the Muslim population in the economically backward regions of the country.

This economic differentiation constitutes probably the primary source of differentiation in status between Muslim and Hindu women in the aggregate, since the household's level of assets ownership, occupation and income possibilities critically determine the basic conditions of life of the women. However, there are significant regional differences in this: Muslims are generally poor in the north (especially rural areas) and the east, but less so in the south.

Farmer suicide in West Bengal

 Dec 20,2011

Burdwan (WB), Dec 20 (PTI) A farmer allegedly committed suicide today at Bhatar, 30 km from here, in the rice bowl of West Bengal, after his paddy crop failed. Police said Barun Pal (42) had consumed pesticide at his home at Belanda village and fell sick today morning. He was rushed to Burdwan Medical College and Hospital, where he died. Bhatar block development officer Amartya Sarkar said Pal had taken a loan from a private moneylender for growing paddy in his 9 bigha land. But his crop failed after an attack by pests. The farmer, who was a widower, was suffering from depression for the past few days, his teenage daughter Chaitali said.

BURDWAN (WB): West Bengal, where 11 districts were declared drought-hit, registered its first farmer death in the rice bowl of Burdwan district.

45-year-old farmer Yunus Sheikh of Basantapur village of Ausgram I block drank pesticide last evening and died at the Burdwan Medical College Hospital today, SDO, Burdwan, (North) Arindam Neogi said.

Even though the West Bengal government is yet to confirm that suicides by farmers in the Ausgram block of Bardhaman district are drought-related, following the third incident on Wednesday, district authorities admitted on Thursday that the farmers were “under a stress of debt burden.”

“It is not possible to be sure whether the suicides are drought-related or not, but it is clear that the economic condition of the farmers was not good and they seem to be under the stress of a debt burden,” District Magistrate Omkar Meena told The Hindu on Thursday.

Gosai Patra, a share-cropper, hanged himself. His wife was delivered of a baby girl just three days ago and his family says he had appeared stressed ever since, Mr. Meena added.

Bardhaman is one of the 11 districts declared drought-affected. Gosaid Patra is the third farmer to have committed suicide within a fortnight.

The State government however, maintained that whether or not the suicides were drought-related could be ascertained only after further investigation. “As of now I would not say that these farmers committed suicide because of drought, as that is being investigated,” said Naren Dey, Minister for Agriculture.

Clarifying that there was no scarcity of foodgrains in the district and that none of the families of the farmers in question faced a threat of starvation, Mr. Meena said some of them had fallen into a debt trap with local money-lenders because of inadequate institutionalised financing. “There is a need for improving the access to loans from banks and micro-financing. We had a meeting with the bankers on August 31 asking them to provide loans as per the guidelines of the Reserve Bank of India in drought-affected areas,” Mr. Meena said.

Keywords: Farmer suicide, Bardhaman district, drought, debt burden

Irom Sharmila

Irom Sharmila’s fast enters 12th year ‘Government afraid of civil society groups’ Irom Sharmila went on a fast unto death from November 4, 2000, demanding the repeal of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act from the Manipur. Irom Sharmila, whose fast enters its 12th year this Saturday, was produced on Friday in the court of the Chief Judicial Magistrate of Imphal East on completion of her one-year detention. The law under which she is detained permits the authority to detain her for one year at one go. As she refused to break her world-record fast she was remanded in judicial custody for 15 days. The period is likely to be extended. Talking to journalists, Ms. Sharmila expressed disappointment over the denial of permission to the representatives of the Save Sharmila Campaign, coming from Jammu, Delhi and other States, to meet her. It is in sharp contrast to the government policy of allowing some others if it will serve its purpose.

Sharmila said that it appeared that the government was afraid of civil society organisations. Asked what she would like to tell Prime Minister Manmohan Singh regarding her campaign, Ms. Sharmila said there was no point in telling anything to a person who had decided not to listen to anything sensible. For 11 years, the Prime Minister and others had refused to listen and they were likely to do so again. Ms. Sharmila had been anguished by the increasing instances of massacring innocent persons long after the gun-toting extremists had fled the scene of bloodshed. Gun-toting extremists She went on a fast unto death from November 4, 2000 — when 10 innocent persons were killed by troopers of 8 Assam Rifles — demanding the repeal of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 from the State. Since then, she has refused to break her fast. As she had to be force fed, a room in the J.N. Institute of Medical Sciences was declared a sub-jail. She

spends her time reading, writing poems and articles for some newspapers. She has been given the highest national awards by some countries for her sacrifice and campaign. Carte blanche Manipur Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh told The Hindu that the AFSPA was imposed to combat foreign-trained extremists who had gained an upper hand in the State. If it was withdrawn the extremists belonging to more than 60 underground organizations would get the carte blanche. The State would be in an embarrassing position if it had to go to the Centre for getting the AFSPA reinstated. He said that in view of the protests by the people, the government had lifted the Act on an experimental basis from seven Assembly segments of Imphal Municipal areas on August 22, 2004. The government had hoped for a good response from the extremists. However, they launched an attack during a Ras Lila dance festival at the International Society for Krishna

Consciousness here , killing six persons and injuring many others. Withdrawal of the Act had not made much of a difference, Mr. Singh said, adding that his government was under great pressure to reinstate the Act in the segments.

Source: The Hindu

Corruption in India

All luxury corrupts either the morals or the state.

- Joubert

Corruption in the Indian society has prevailed from time immemorial in one form or the other. The basic inception of corruption started with our opportunistic leaders who have already done greater damage to our nation. People who work on right principles are unrecognized and considered to be foolish in the modern society. Corruption in India is a result of the connection between bureaucrats, politicians and criminals. Earlier, bribes were paid for getting wrong things done, but now bribe is paid for getting right things done at right time. Further, corruption has become something respectable in India, because respectable people are involved in it. Social corruption like less weighing of products, adulteration in edible items, and bribery of various kind have incessantly prevailed in the society.

In today’s scenario, if a person wants a government job he has to pay lakhs of rupees to the higher officials irrespective of satisfying all the eligibility criteria. In every office one has either to give money to the employee concerned or arrange for some sources to get work done. There is adulteration and duplicate weighing of products in food and civil supplies department by unscrupulous workers who cheat the consumers by playing with the health and lives of the people. In the assessment of property tax the officers charge money even if the house is built properly according to the Government rules and regulations.

Political corruption is worst in India. The major cause of concern is that corruption is weakening the political body and damaging the supreme importance of the law governing the society. Nowadays politics is only for criminals and criminals are meant to be in politics. Elections in many parts of the country have become associated with a host of criminal activities. Threatening voters to vote for a particular candidate or physically prevent voters from going in to the polling booth – especially weaker sections of the society like tribals, dalits and rural woman occurs frequently in several parts of the country. Recently, the Government increased the salary of the M.P.’s from Rs.16, 000 to Rs.50, 000, that is 300% increase to the existing salary. But many of them are unhappy with rise and want the Government to increase the salary to a much more extent. This clearly shows how the politicians are in constant thirst for monetary benefits and not caring about the welfare of the people. Tax evasion is one of the most popular forms of corruption. It is mostly practiced by Government officials and politicians who lead to the accumulation of black money which in turn spoils the moral of the people