Elephants destroy crops, villagers ransack forest offices...

MIDNAPORE (WB): Angry with loss of crops by a herd of elephants, villagers at Dhadika in West Midnapore district today ransacked offices of the forest department alleging that the department was not helping them.

The police said a range office, a beat office and a community hall of the forest department were ransacked by the villagers of Dhadika under Garbeta police station.

A herd of 25 elephants came to Dhadika last night and destroyed standing crops like potato, mustard, radish, cabbage and cauliflower.

Forest department sources said they had to follow procedure in such cases but the villagers wanted instant action which was not possible.

The herd, originally from the Dalma range, has come to Dhadika from Mayurjharna locality under Belpahari police station of the district, they said.

Villagers complained that another herd of elephants had damaged crops in the same village about a fortnight ago, but no compensation was given till now.

The forest department said the higher authorities had been informed about the incident.

Three forest department personnel, who had been kidnapped by the villagers, had been rescued by the police.

J&K launches website for school education..

JAMMU: The Jammu and Kashmir government has launched an official website for the state's School Education Department for better assistance and access to information regarding the education sector.

"We have launched the website of School Education Department at 'www.jkeducation.gov.in' in Jammu and Kashmir for information and assistance to people on the state's education sector," the State Education Ministry officials said.

As per a circular issued by the Ministry, information regarding government orders, seniority lists, circulars and other important official communications has already been made available on the website.

This has been done to prevent officials and general public from making unnecessary visits to the school education department for collecting petty information regarding department orders and circulars, he said.

Bhopal: Government to ensure 25% quota under RTE in private schools

BHOPAL: Admission process under the Right to Education Act in all schools in the state capital would be monitored by specially appointed nodal officers. The schools will have to admit 25% of their seats to students hailing from the below poverty line (BPL). A decision to this effect was taken at a meeting of the district administration and school authorities on Tuesday.
The Rajya Siksha Kendra (RSK) under the school education department would appoint the nodal officers. These officials would supervise the admissions and ensure that admissions are made in a random manner in various schools. The nodal officers would be appointed in a couple of days.
The schools were also instructed that 25% seats should be made available to children from nursery level to standard one, wherever direct admissions are conducted. The schools can divide the number of children admitted under RTE into multiple classes but they should comprise 25% of the total strength, according to the government decision.
Commissioner of the Shiksha Kendra Ashok Barnwal also said that applications for the children from BPL sections of the society would not only be taken at the respective schools but also at the district and block education offices.
The concept of neighbourhood was explained to the school principals present at the meeting. It was also pointed out that the children from the school's neighbourhood should be the first preferred for admission. If seats are left vacant, then children from the extended neighbourhood could be considered for admission.
All admissions including the children not falling under the RTE Act would be conducted through random selection.
Collector Nikunj Shrivastava has instructed that the schools cannot discard any of the applications being filed. If any applicant is found wanting or fail to fulfill the criteria he would be communicated. Moreover any further query about the applicant can be filled in a written receipt.
It was also discussed that in case of any doubt about the validity of the below poverty line card provided by the applicant, it would be reported to the collector's office through the district education office.

Anna Effect: People take over reins of power ...

Few would have thought that the Anna Hazare-led agitation against a system that is neither accountable nor transparent, that breeds corruption, would ever reach the state it has now. One thought a full-blown confrontation would be averted. But that was not to be.

The turning point was August 15-16, when an unnerved government blundered, badly. The whole issue shifted from Lokpal Bill to whether citizens have the right to protest or not! The sea of humanity that has since converged on Delhi has pushed the government into a cul-de-sac from where there's now little room for it to escape.

What we are seeing now is no spur of the moment, intemperate outburst against a democratic system. It has been in the making for a long time. There has been enough and more warning, that people who man our administrative and government machinery have to mend their ways. The restrictions that the government imposed proved to be the last straw. Somewhere it all had to end. And, it looks like this is the beginning of the end.

What we saw on the streets of Delhi yesterday, and the unceasing overwhelming, almost reverential, support for Anna Hazare, is in fact, symbolic of the people's frustration with the system. People have lost confidence and hope in all constitutional institutions like elections, government, parliament, and even judiciary. This as much a reactive backlash as much as it's a proactive revolution.

DECLINE OF THE POLITICIAN

In a democracy, it's the politicians who hold the reins of power. And, that's why it's said that democracy is only as good as its politicians. Sadly, over time, during the past 64 years, our democracy has been eroded by its very guardians -- the politicians whom the people voted for, to run the country.

It's an open secret that many people enter politics because they know a lot of easy money can be made out there. Not surprisingly, the quality of political class deteriorated over time, and people, each time they were presented a set of leaders to vote for, had little choice. During each election, the frustration was very much evident -- the increasing demands for either an option to mark "none of the above" or the “right to recall” legislators. Indian democracy has been trampled over and converted into a free-for-all joke. 

The entire political class has now been brought to its knees. For the first time ever, the government and Parliament -- the august body people elected -- is being told what to do by the people themselves. Team Anna wants the official Lokpal Bill withdrawn, and "people's" version -- Jan Lokpal bill -- introduced and passed.

Anna, backed by the surging humanity has presented Parliament with not many options -- pass the Jan Lokpal Bill within a time-frame. The government says this is tantamount to blackmail, undemocratic, and unconstitutional. But then, who cares -- people had since long lost its faith in government, parliament, and the politicians that it comprises.

What we may see over the coming days, could be historic, seeing the buoyancy Team Anna is getting. The politicians -- who till now have been either hiding or scoring political brownie points -- will now have to come clean. For the first time, politicians have been held accountable. They will no longer be able to hoodwink people. They will have to answer quite a few tough questions. This agitation has left them with no options.

It will be interesting to see how the government wriggles out of this highly embarrassing situation, and also how the entire political class will react, now that it's clear as daylight who really holds the reins of power, the people.

Looking ahead to 2012...

If there’s one thing that I am looking forward to this year, it’s a change in our mindset. The world around us is rapidly evolving, thanks to science and technology. But our responses to many contemporary issues continue to be stereotyped and often warped by anachronistic values and judgements. Here are some areas where a break from the past would be welcome.

Move from symbolism to practice
We as a nation revel in symbolism. Patriotism, purity, virtuosity, morality, non-violence... the list goes on. We throw stones at dogs and make lives of animals miserable, while at the same time worship them. We litter public places with gay abandon, even while being obsessed with purity and cleanliness when it comes to religious practices. We value, respect and honour our national flag, song and anthem; though we waste public money and resources, and destroy public property. We need to realise that national symbols, our language and traditions draw their strength from the state of our nation and our people. Patriotism is not just about standing up for Jana Gana Mana, but it’s more about contributing to our national wealth.

End, not the means
If a signboard has to be put up at a public place, hardly any thought goes into whether people can read it or not. Either it will be positioned at a wrong place, or it will be in a language very few people can read. The typical stereotyped response often heard is: “Let people learn the language and then read it!” It symbolizes our attitude to many situations, where bureaucratic procedures, traditional concepts or misplaced sense of values take precedence over convenience and comfort of the common people.

Political consensus
A cliche that is merely heard, never brought about. The American equivalent is “bipartisan approach”. They don’t merely talk about it, they actively practise it. Look at the way the anti-corruption and Lokpal debate went both in Parliament and outside. We don’t have a solution to the problem everyone is so clear about. We need to change the way politics is practised in our country, all the more because in a democracy it’s the political decision-makers who are the final authority.

Separate the private and the public
A lot of public fights in our country are about personal matters and beliefs. Be it the dress we wear or the food we eat or the language we speak or the source of strength we believe in. A number of public issues are left unattended and unresolved, because there is little time or energy left after battling personal egos. The private and the public are mixed up so badly that often policy decisions are taken based on personal whims rather than on public interest.

Move on...
Here’s an often-spoken about scene that typifies our indifference -- a suited and booted nouveau riche, while travelling in his newly acquired SUV, lowers the windshield to throw the banana peel on the road. Helen Keller said, "Science may have found a cure for most evils; but it has found no remedy for the worst of them all -- the apathy of human beings."

Stages of the Family Life Cycle...

Stages of the Family Life Cycle

Stage One: Single young adults leave home

Here the emotional change is from the reliance on the family to acceptance of emotional and financial responsibility for ourselves. Second-order changes include differentiation of self in relation to family of origin. This means we neither blindly accept what our parents believe or want us to do, nor do we automatically respond negatively to their requests. Our beliefs and behaviors are now part of our own identity, though we will change and refine what we believe throughout our lives. Also, during this period we develop intimate peer relationships on a deeper level than we had previously and become finacially independent.

Stage Two: The new couple joins their families through marriage or living together

The major emotional transition during this phase is through commitment to the new system. Second-order change involves the formation of a marital system and realignment of relationships with extended families and friends that includes our spouses.

Stage Three: Families with young children

Emotionally we must now accept new members into the system. This isn't hard initially because babies come to us in sweet innocent packages that open our hearts. Unfortunately, in the middle of the night we may wonder what we've gotten ourselves into. Nevertheless, we adjust the marital system to make space for our children, juggling childrearing, financial and household tasks. Second-order change also ocurs with the realignment of relationships with extended family as it opens to include the parenting and grandparenting roles.

Stage Four: Families with adolescents

Emotional transitions are hard here for the whole family because we need to increase the flexibility of families boundaries to include children's independence and grandparents' frailities. As noted above, second-order change is required in order for the shifting of the parent-child relationship to permit adolescents to move in and out of the system. Now there is a new focus on midlife marital and career issues and the beginning shift toward joint caring for the older generation when both children and aging parents demand our attention, creating what is now called the sandwich generation.

Stage Five: Launching children and moving on

This is one of the transitions that can be most emotionally difficult for parents as they now need to accept a multitude of exits from and entries into the family system. If the choices of the children leaving the nest are compatible with the values and expectations of the parents, the transition can be relatively easy and enjoyable, especially if the parents successfully navigate their second-order changes, such as renegotiation of the marital system as a couple rather than as simply parents. Other developmental changes include development of adult-to-adult relationships between us and our grown children, inclusion of in-laws and grandchildren, and dealing with the disabilities and death of our own parents.  for what can happen when transitions in this stage become particularly bumpy.)

Stage Six: Families in later life

When Erikson discusses this stage, he focuses on how we as individuals either review our lives with acceptance and a sense of accomplishment or with bitterness and regret. A family systems approach, however, is interested in how the family as a unit responds and sees the key emotional principle as accepting the shifting of generational roles. Second-order changes require us to maintain our own interests and functioning as a couple in face of physiological decline. We shift our focus onto the middle generation (the children who are still in stage five) and support them as they launch their own children. In this process the younger generation needs to make room for the wisdom and experience of the elderly, supporting the older generation without overfunctioning for them. Other second-order change includes dealing with the loss of our spouse, siblings, and others peers and the preparation for our own death and the end of our generation.

Corruption, Lokpal and the IAS brotherhood... 20

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          There is an IAS officer in the state that I live in. In 2003, he disappeared without informing his bosses. For five years there was no trace of him, officially that is. Everybody knew that he was in the US. The government (read his colleagues in the IAS) was kind enough to persist with his ‘service’ and merely mark him "AWOL" (absent without leave). Then one day in 2008 he showed up. The government made motions of asking him why he was missing from service but he provided some answers that would put the mythological Shravan Kumar to shame (that his father in law who lived in a different city in India was unwell and he was tending to his medical needs all this while!). “Satisfied” with these answers, the government took back the officer. Of course, anywhere in the private sector he would have lost his job within a few weeks of his absconding. But this is not the end of the story. On December 31, 2011, that is, over the weekend, the officer retired on attaining the age of superannuation. To make his exit smooth, the government (read other IAS babus) on the last day of his service closed an inquiry pertaining to some alleged wrongdoing by him long ago. If the file had not been closed the gentleman would not have got his pension. A typical case of the government being one of IAS officers, by IAS officers and for IAS officers?

 

Read on. In the same state an IAS officer has been named in an FIR for a major case filed by the CBI as accused number 1. The case relates to loss of hundreds of crores to the exchequer. There are many other accused including “unknown some” in the FIR. But the CBI has gone ahead and arrested these unknown some and even as they are spending time behind bars, this IAS gentleman is very much in his office. Of course, I am not saying that the officer is guilty, but the fact is that he is accused number 1. Incidentally the gentleman is the principal secretary, department of home of the state government and nobody thought it fit to at least shift him to a less important post pending the FIR. What sort of signal does the public get when the accused No. 1 in a major case of corruption continues to function as the principal secretary, department of home? But as I said this is a case of a government of IAS officers, by IAS officers and for IAS officers. This is the biggest brotherhood in the country but yet the Lokpal Bill thrust by Anna Hazare and acquiesced in by the Union government concentrates more on bringing in the 55 lakh Group C and D employees under the ambit of the proposed ombudsman. This is only going to add to the burden of the Lokpal’s machinery and will result in an enormous burden on the exchequer, while the big fish will continue to flourish.

You want to hear more stories? There is an upcoming golf club in this city. A decade or so ago, golfers keen to pursue their game went and met the chief secretary asking him for land. The chief secretary said that it was fine but asked for a concession, senior government officers (read mostly IAS officers) must be allowed to become members of the club at nominal rates and they should also have a say in the management of the club (never forget even if they do not know the g of golf). So a decade later, while genuine golfers pay Rs 7.5 lakhs for a lifetime membership, the IAS brotherhood pays peanuts: Rs15,000 for the membership that brings along with it other club facilities for socializing, eating and drinking. More concessions are given to these superbabus: they were allowed to pass over the membership to not only their kin but also third parties for a nominal fee (opening up scope for black marketeering?). The story has not ended. Now that the club is growing bigger, the superbabus want to increase the number of memberships for them. At present, there are 200 babu members but more joining the ranks of babudom they are demanding 100 more.

I guess that the golfers can do nothing to resist this because the premises of the club is adjacent to a 500-year-old historical fort that is under the charge of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). The golf greens has now started encroaching on the premises of the fort. But the ASI is silent. Why? Possibly this is because both the ASI director general and his boss the secretary, department of culture, are IAS officers. The story doing the rounds is that the latter is a golfer but it is quite possible that the duo at Delhi are not even aware of these violations. The funniest thing is that the government of India (GOI) is now sending (or has recently sent) a proposal to Unesco so that the fort and its premises can be declared a heritage site. Perhaps for these superbabus, golf greens is an example of the type of heritage that must be protected in this country.

These are a few examples of wrongdoing perpetrated by the IAS brotherhood that I have seen in this city. There are many other examples too numerous to be recounted. I am sure there are equally potent one in other states. I am quite convinced by what I see around that a large number of IAS officers are rank corrupt, though an equally large number are honest to the core. The really corrupt ones have made tens of crores. And for the information of the ilk of Baba Ramdev, this money is not kept in Swiss Banks. It is deployed to buy land and to run benami businesses. Everybody knows the names of corrupt IAS officers but nothing can be done to them. Many of them move around as if they are paragons of virtue. Anna Hazare and his team instead of concentrating on that elusive Lokpal Bill that focuses on 55 lakh small employees should think about how to tackle the big fish. For this is required an understanding of what makes these big babus corrupt.

Many so-called intellectuals think that corruption in the IAS can be controlled by increase their salaries to a sufficiently high level. They point to the ICS officers of the British times who were honest. But they miss the main point. The ICS officers were honest because they had no elected government to report to. Today’s politician coming up all the way through the grind for a five year term wants to break even or make profits to try to get elected for a new term. So he does illegal things and forces the superbabus to toe his line. But the superbabus of IAS can resist: because theirs is an almost lifetime employment till the age of superannuation. Nobody can sack them or throw them out of employment. The maximum that can be done is to be transferred to positions that have no scope for work and therefore corruption. But so used they have become to good life that many of them have started collaborating with the netas. It is this corruption and wrongdoing of IAS babus that has to be curbed first. This is what Anna an his team and in fact all of us should concentrate on instead of trying to nab that traffic constable who takes Rs 50 to look the other way as you jump the signals.