Jobs, where?

I am as keen as most of us to learn as to how the government would tackle the lack of creation of jobs, which has landed the youth at the door of the political parties as restive cadres, ready to protest at the drop of a hat. The growing fiscal deficit and massive borrowings might restrain the government in expanding their selling, which also could witness more PSUs under the hammer.

A report from the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR) said India suffered economic losses of $80 billion during the 20 years of 1998 to 2017. Climate change costs India $10 billion every year: Government climate change is projected to impact agricultural productivity with increasing severity from 2020 to the end of the century. By 2030, it may need 70 million tonnes more of food grains than the expected production in 2016-17.

The economic survey, in its last mid-year report, says “estimates indicate that currently, India incurs losses of about $ 9-10 billion annually due to extreme weather events. Of these, nearly 80% of losses remain uninsured”. It pointed out that 2014 floods in Kashmir cost more than $ 15 billion and Cyclone Hudhud the same year cost $ 11 billion.

I firmly believe that in the absence of the private manufacturing sector and the challenging prospects of agriculture, the onus of providing jobs by the government becomes paramount importance. The government of India initiated a National Rural Employment Act in 2005 and made the MGNREGA the implementing scheme, the largest of its kind in the world, guaranteeing 100 days of unskilled manual work to all rural households in India. Last year, about 235 crore person-days of work were generated under the scheme.

MGNREGA, this year has an allotment of Rs.61084 crores. Assets created under NREGS include works related to natural resource management that include water conservation, land development, irrigation, etc. Besides these, dams, irrigational channels, check dams, ponds, wells’ Anganwadi’ assets are also constructed under this scheme.

However, despite the sum of Rs.5.34,483 crores spent on MGNREGA since its inception, the assets created though are very little. Because India is repeatedly reeling under severe drought conditions in several parts of the country, it becomes imperative that the creation of the assets focus on reversing the adversities of the climate impact on the rural folks. It can be done by acquisition of several intermittent lands amid farms, and water bodies are created around waterbodies intensive forestation of a few square kilometres are created, which will ensure appropriate usage of MGNREGA funds in quality employment, assets creation and long-term social benefits.

Every job created by government initiatives and from funds like MGNREGA must address the societal cause. Many thousands of kilometres of Highways and rail tracks, including those for the proposed Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train corridor will see millions of trees chopped off, though such calculated destructions are unavoidable. We should aptly compensate by planting a billion trees and creating an adequate number of water bodies as a long-term investment in the nation-build.

Sampath Kumar
Intrépide Voix

No to Fatwas!

The elected members of Parliament take the oath iterating that they shall bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution of India, uphold the sovereignty and integrity of India and will faithfully discharge their duty, in pursuance of Art 99 of the Constitution. This is done at the commencement of a sitting of the House as provided in Rule 5, or at any other convenient time during the session of the House as the Speaker may direct.

Nusrat Jahan, the new Trinamul MP from Bashirhat Parliamentary constituency and joined politics only in 2019. She came to the Parliament, dressed in a saree, with vermillion on the parting of her hair, a large bindi on her forehead, mangalsutra on her neck, red bangles that are usually worn by new brides, signifying her wedded status. She married businessman Nikhil Jain at Bodrum, Turkey and had missed the oath-taking day, which was held later for her.

Everything was perfect to the Tee, as she read out the oath and ended with a Jai Hind, Jai Bangla and Vande Mataram. She finished her oath-taking, walked up to the Speaker and touched his feet, an act of obeisance, and walked back to her seat. The last two words those she chanted are anathema for many Muslim clergies, who suddenly sprang up to condemn her, beyond other things, her marriage to Nikhil Jain, a Hindu and her chanting Vande Mataram.

Vande Mataram was penned by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, as an alternative to the God Save the Queen, which was being pushed by the British. In his novel Anandamath in 1881, he included this song as well, which became a symbol of expression of freedom, when it was sung by Rabindranath Tagore in the 1896 session of Indian National Congress. The novel and the song were promptly banned by the British.

Vande Mataram became the choice for great freedom-fighters like Chandrasekhar Azad, Ashafullah Khan, Maghfoor Ahmed, Bhagat Singh, Shahnawaz Khan, Maulana Azad, Gandhi Ji, and Ambedkar.

‘Vande Mataram,’ meaning I praise thee, my mother, is the most iconic and promising slogan of all times. Traces of its existence found during the Sannyasi-Fakir Rebellion of 1767-1800, many years before the first war of independence. Attributing a gender for their country is not uncommon, India is called Bharat Mata, meaning ‘Mother India,’ to infuse a bond of unparalleled love and respect between the country and its citizens. There are also countries like Germany, Scandinavia, Central Asian republics, Slavic and Baltic nations which are called ‘Fatherland.’

The objection for the clergies emanates from the fact that the freedom struggle, portrayed the country not only as a mother but as a manifest of Goddess Durga and the term Vande for them could be arguable ‘to bow’ in reverence, which is proscribed by Islam. The Sanskrit translation could more apt be ‘praise’ instead of a bow as ascribed.

One cannot forget that moment when a physically weak and ailing, Bharat Ratna, Late Ustad Bismillah Khan, couldn’t control the tears in his eyes, while he was playing Vande Mataram in the Parliament. Our then-president, Dr APJ Abdul Kalam just went up on stage to kiss Bismillah’s hand. How can one forget A.R. Rahman’s rendition of Vande Mataram song? It still gives Goosebumps to me!

Our Chief Minister never fails to chant La ilaha illallah Muhammadur Rasulullah, meaning there is no god other than Allah, while simultaneously invoking every other Hindu God like Kali and Durga (except Ram though!) Hindu religious leaders have not objected to this. That’s religious tolerance.

Nusrat is the face of a new India, which finds no difficulty to integrate comfortably with modernism, shunning the draconian maulvis and their fatwas.

Sampath Kumar
Intrépide Voix

Lychees and the deaths!

The dusty roads to the orchards are abuzz with activity. It is the peak plucking season, as is evidenced by a dozen or more trucks standing in wait to load the thousands of cartons of the magical fruit, lychee. The fruit is grown in abundance in Muzaffarpur, called the lychee bowl of India. 32000 hectare produced 300000 tones of lychees in Bihar in 2017.

The much devoured seasonal fruit, however, suffers severely, accused of causing a dreaded Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES), colloquially called ‘Chamki Bhukar,’ or seizure illness. 1028 cases of AES were reported in 2014 and 390 in 2015. However, in 2016, only 1 case was reported and 9 in 2017. Doctors attribute higher cases of AES during temperatures exceeding 38 deg Celsius with humidity with 68-85 per cent humidity.

The Indian medical researchers also attribute the AES to Methylene Cycloprine-glycine (MCPG), a toxic phytochemical found in the lychee fruit. MCPG could cause hypoglycaemic encephalopathy, a metabolic illness that affects the brain when body sugar levels are low due to fasting or undernourishment.

Such cases of AES have been earlier reported from the lychee growing areas of Bangladesh and Vietnam. The studies there showed that the children who ate lychees during the day, often skipped dinner, causing hypoglycaemia, and they falling ill the next morning with severe symptoms of high fever, brain function derangement and seizures.

The Americal Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, investigating the death of 12 children in May-June 2012 in Dinajpur District of Bangladesh, reported the causes to the excessive use of several insecticides such as Endosulfan, cypermethrin, alpha-cypermethrin and lambda-cyhalothrin etc. The farmers were illiterate, and the bottles of insecticide and pesticides often did not bear any label at all.

However, not all medical professionals are convinced that lychees are the cause of deaths.

The deaths from AES is not new and have been reported over the last few years during the lychee season. Political inferences by leaders that the blame on the fruit is spread by the jealous competitors like China, who too vie for a share of the export market is pathetic.

The real villain could be malnourished children, who alone are the victims and not those who are relatively well-off and resultantly healthier.

Meanwhile, the crimson-pink bunches of lychees beckon more innocents and eventual deaths, 170 and more this season!

Sampath Kumar
Intrépide Voix

Cut money II

I had already posted on ‘cut-money,’ the malaise afflicting all political parties, and which was admitted dramatically by the CM of West Bengal during her meeting with thousands of Bengal’s Panchayat councillors. I needed to add a few lines and hence, this follow-up post.

Didi has also repeatedly stated earlier that nothing is unknown to her within the state, which I guess could include the deep percolated corruption in her party. There are posts from people claiming to be economists quoting a ballpark figure of the cut-money around Rs.30000 crores annually, which is based on the overall financial budget of West Bengal government amounting to Rs.2.94 lac minus the Rs.1.94 lakh crores on salary, pension and verifiable revenue expenses. On the balance of Rs. 1 lakh crores, the substantial earnings could be from the various capitalization expenses, where no admitted values of capital are created at all, or the assets created could be at a much-inflated cost than real.

The small portion of ‘cut-money’ amounting to a not a vast sum in comparison, from the few thousand crores doled out as various populist schemes and handled by rural-bodies is the real reason for the anger by the citizens, which has reflected in the recent poll results and alarmed the ruling party leadership.

The case of misappropriation of Rs.200 crores over a bridge built, where no river ever existed, led to the arrest of Gondala Kiran Kumar (IAS), the then Malda District Magistrate and former CEO of Siliguri Jalpaiguri Development Authority by the Siliguri Police Commissioner K Jayaraman. The matter died a quiet death as Kumar was sent back to Andhra Pradesh, and the cop packed off to a ‘compulsory-waiting.’

More recently the DM of Birbhum, Moumita Godara Basu caught the Mathpalsa Panchayat siphoning off Rs.1.4 crores in the name of dug ponds, where no digging has ever been done. Perhaps the DM erred in her inspection, as another round of MGNREGA funds may have been spent in the coming months, the accounts showing ‘low-lands filled up.’

The PWD department in Tamil Nadu went into a tizzy when its contractors resorted to a lightning strike and put up a massive hoarding in front of the Government Secretariat, claiming that they have to be the lowest tenderers. Despite this, they got only 25% of the quoted sums but are often charge-sheeted for the poor quality of work and blacklisted too. They alleged that 25% goes to the CM, 25% to the PWD Minister and 25% to the department, which includes the Secretary. With alacrity the government invited the contractors and held a meeting ‘in-camera’ and sorted out their grievances, perhaps agreeing to soften the charge-sheets and blacklisting!

The gospel truth is, the government earns on its spending, which is essential for the maintenance of its thousands of cadres. If there are yet no riots demanding employment, it is because the political parties have become the largest employers, many times bigger than the Indian Railways. It may be a near impossible task to push the genie into the lamp, whether in West Bengal or elsewhere.

Sampath Kumar
Intrépide Voix

The cut-money!

Electoral defeat for Mamata is a green area. She has been on the climb ever since she began her career in her teens as a Chatra Parishad activist. She is used to be as the sole member of parliament of her party but has bounced back to become the CM of West Bengal eventually.

She obliterated the Left, but where did all the committed communist cadres go? Most shifted their loyalties and joined TMC. Thus, Mamata had a free run of the State for the past seven years winning handsomely in all the elections, from the Panchayat, Municipalities, the Assemblies and the Parliamentary seats. Filled with power, she went about strengthening her position by even nominating Congress candidates like Abhishek Manu Singhvi to the Rajya Sabha from the State.

The last Lok Sabha Polls changed all that in a jiffy. She has nearly lost half her strength in the Lok Sabha, and each day a few councillors and MLAs of her party are switching over to BJP. PM Modi did mention about 40 MLAs being in touch with his party, but his claim was rubbished by the TMC Supremo. Another heavyweight from her party too challenged Modi that not a single member from their party would ever join BJP. I wrote then that it may be wiser to give weight to the PM’s words. The self-confidence bordered on arrogance then.

Mamata called a meeting of her councillors, which was open to the media, where she admitted corruption at many levels. She could’ve stopped at that. She went on to mention the cut money retained, Rs.200 per Rs. 2000 doled by the government and admonished her men to return the money. Well, in the face of it, it seems a little gesture, but there could be more to it as well.

It is not that Mamata did not know earlier about the corruption, which seems to be rampant at all levels. The new millionaires of Bengal are not industrialists or businessmen but are mostly her party leaders, a well-known fact. By admitting corruption, she seems to step out of the ring, trying to prove clean, but she heads her party and cannot absolve herself of ignorance. The admission of corruption, in specific terms, 10% on all deals, might throw up some legal battles, though corruption is a lowly debated factor in India today.

The reaction at the villages has already started, many demanding the return of their cut money, retained by the leaders, claiming that the sum would go to the party.

At the outset, I appreciate Mamata’s dare in admitting corruption in her party, but too much squeeze would accelerate the jumping of the ship by her greedy men. The matter, therefore, is like a bone stuck in the throat, which can neither be spit nor swallowed.

Sampath Kumar
Intrépide Voix

The bike-gangs of Kolkata!

Ushoshi Sengupta, a model and former Miss India, was returning from a shooting assignment from JW Marriot in an Apps cab. I too was incidentally on the way, after a family dinner at Royal Bengal and saw the Uber cab racing away, chased by many two-wheelers, many with 3 riders, but not one with a helmet, as prescribed by law. They may have targeted the lady much before the place of incident as described, near Exide crossing near Park Circus area.

All the arrested are from a particular community, and young men barely crossed their teens. The boys apparently beat up the Uber driver, and as the lady came out in support of the driver, she was molested too. She ran to the nearby Police stations, each one claiming that the place of occurrence was out of their jurisdiction, forcing her to post her travails on the Facebook, which went viral and prompting the police to sweep into action and arrest six culprits who were all from the minority community.

Young boys driving without helmets is a show of defiance against the establishment, their flouting of traffic rules in Park Circus area is from the fact that the government has instructed the police to turn a blind eye over such trivialities. Topsia is a no-go area for the cops unless a crime of severe nature takes place and comes to light. I had factory, relatively a large one, which I had to hive-off due to the increased threat from the locals. I never regretted the decision.

The fundamental problem of the youth is that they have no education or have no interest in going through formal schooling. The boys are all happy to become political cadres and bike-gangs available at the beck and call of their bosses, enjoying a fixed earning, the rest which they manage to get by way of extortion and subscriptions. This has sizably increased in the last 6-7 years.

Until the education policy changes and the youth are forced to study, the problem can never be eliminated. Most these days are drivers, security guards and of course, Civic Police, thanks to the kind secular government!

Be that as it may, I would suggest that the OC of the Police stations who had refused to file a complaint in the middle of the night for a lady in distress be suspended. There must be a suitable law amendment, of filing any complaint or FIRs in any PS, regardless of the place of incidence, which the Kolkata Police HQ could pass on to the concerned Police Station’s jurisdiction soon after.

Such bike gangs should be curtailed, if necessary, by restricting the number of riders in a two-wheeler to just one, unless there is a proper justification to carry a pillion rider between 10 pm and 5am. Racing bikes on Ma flyover is a common sight, and summary confiscation of the two-wheelers have to be done, cases filed.

No solution can be found, if the policemen following the rulebook are soon overridden by the political bosses to release the culprits, as is always done. A Uniform Criminal code does exist, but only on paper, which can throw some light on which way the Uniform Civil Code could be implemented, if passed as a law in future.

Sad! Kolkata is shamed!

Sampath Kumar
Intrépide Voix

Salutes to the doctors!

Even had there been an India-Pakistan match scheduled at that time, I still would’ve missed it, in favour of the first ever live-telecast meeting between the striking doctors and the Chief Minister and her officials.

The suspense was on, whether or not the meeting will go ahead, as the doctors stuck to their demand of meeting under the glare of the media. The reasons were obvious. They were not trained politicians but were novices at the art of negotiation, pitted against the most seasoned politician of the state, the Chief Minister, the State Health Minister, the Chief Secretary, the director of health, the Home Secretary, the Health Secretary, the Police Commissioner and the Commissioner Law & order among others.

The atmosphere elsewhere in the country was getting hotter, with doctors joining the strike of their Bengal colleagues. A solution had to be found, and the strike called off for the sake of humanity. The seventh day in the running, the paralysed health system of the state could not be allowed to engulf into a national protest.

The initial defiance of the government soon dissolved under pressure, who agreed for the live telecast of the proposed meeting, and the doctors accepted the CM’s conference room for their session. The government also relented on the number of doctors permitted to partake in the deliberations, as 31 of them trooped into Nabanna from a bus that ferried them.

The doctors were all orderly, humble and respectful despite being a little nervous, without realising that they were imparting lessons to millions watching around the world, the fine art of negotiation. The posture of the CM initially was of disinterest, and she could have been ready to call off the meeting and walk away, given a chance and a small scope. There was absolutely none and the respectful, but firm tone of the young doctors made her realise the void in the healthcare system of Bengal. Mamata charmed the doctors with immediate administrative orders for all the points raised without losing her cool a bit. This is what she was when she walked into the Writers’ Building.

The doctors did not seek any personal benefits but were demanding safety at workplace for their community. They iterated that they were secular and were not concerned about the religious, caste or creed antecedents of the patients. They firmly declared that they were not outsiders, nor allowed to be swayed by the outsiders. It was a fabulous show, a repeat of David Vs Goliath.

Despite knowing the weaknesses of the government, which was pushed to the wall, by the Central Government, the Governor, by the civil society and the media (save, The Telegraph), the doctors were extraordinarily graceful and represented the real face of Bengali gentry. I wish I went to NRS to give a hug to the young doctors, who came back as humble as they went to declare the withdrawal of their strike soon after explaining the meeting with all their colleagues, most democratically.

In a period of lost hopes and losing faith in humanity with disturbances all over the state, the episode rekindled a new religion, a unique feeling of trust.

Bravo boys, Yeh Dil Maange More!

Sampath Kumar
Intrépide Voix

The spreading doctors’ strike!

I wrote a long post and a few snippets on the Junior doctors’ strike already. The scene of a three-year-old dead, for want of timely medical attention, will haunt not only its parents but you, me and the striking doctors as well, who fell terribly guilty over the developments.

This is a state, where posting a meme of the political leaders on the social networks could land one in jail, but lorryloads of angry people can land up and ransack hospitals, beat up doctors at work, at their sweet whims. The age or the condition of the patients while admission is immaterial. The attackers in large groups always outnumber the handful of disinterested policemen posted in the hospitals.

A junior doctor was seriously injured among a few others, with a cracked skull, in a similar attack four days ago at the NRS hospital, following the death of an 87-year-old patient, which led to a lightning strike by the doctor’s colleagues.

As the problem of intimidation, abuses and assaults are not uncommon in the other hospitals, it was but natural for the juniors from other government hospitals to join the strike, which has now snowballed to other states as well, as a mark of solidarity and support from the medical fraternity.

CM Mamata dropped by at the SSKM hospital on her way to her workplace at Nabanna and was greeted with slogans, which infuriated the CM. She gave an ultimatum of 4 hours to withdraw the strike or else threatened to clear the striking interns from their government allotted hostels. She also decided that ‘outsiders’ were instigating the students to strike, and from that point went on to make mistakes after mistakes, culminating in her ill-advised rigid stand and a pathetic press conference in the late evening.

Though it has been a peaceful protest seeking the safety of their persons and lives, the interns keeping all the political parties at bay, Mamata did not lose time to blame the BJP and outsiders as the one who were fomenting trouble at the hospitals.

She needn’t have had to visit SSKM at all, but had to meet the NRS students, where the assault had taken place. In a cheap gimmick, characteristic of lowly politics, the fans and the lights were disconnected and taken away from the protest tent of the students, disregarding the sweltering heat and the mood of the interns. Besides, a group of goons seen in the vicinity of the striking students with sticks and bamboos further aggravated the situation.

If my heart goes out and out to the unsafe doctors, it equally is anguished at the plight of thousands of terminally sick, who could die, or health conditions terribly worsen for no fault of theirs. They were only faulty, being born poor and not able to afford a private hospital or a nursing home. I am sure the doctors will relent, and their sacred oath of saving lives will prevail over their present traumatic situation and will return to their workplaces.

Poor people will not forgive politicians for their arrogance, which they do with the strength of their ballots, but for now, it’s time to take a kinder stand and attend to the lives in agony and pain.

Sampath Kumar
Intrépide Voix

Indian Notional Congress!

I must declare that the caption is no typo. The election results are a great leveller in Indian politics. The common man today is far more politically conscious, thanks to the multitude of TV channels in most regional languages and social networks. The government is firmly in the grip of BJP, but the opposition is more distraught than ever.

The dream of ousting BJP and his bête noire Narendra Modi lay shattered for the President of the Congress party, Rahul Gandhi, who did not hide his cherished fantasy of becoming the Prime Minister of India. His promise of sending Modi to Jail also was tattered during the elections, when Rahul had to feebly mumble an apology for the unfounded insinuation of Modi over the Rafale deal. With elections over, the Rafale accusations too died a sudden death.

It was a mess, as the defeat in Amethi stared at the face of Gandhi’s through their still operative intelligence. He ran to the minority populated Wayanad when I wrote that Rahul had lost the moral battle and the war. True to the expectations, Rahul lost the three decades nurtured turf at Amethi. He should have forthwith resigned on moral grounds and could have still led the party without holding any post. Politics is not a charity, and any goodness shown can take away the empire called the Congress party forever from the Gandhis.

But Rahul was not an astute politician but was thrust into the Congress president’s chair by his mother to retain their family control. The loss was too much to handle, and Rahul put in his papers as the President of the Congress party and stood firm on it. The repercussions were felt all around, as the disgruntled state leaders dared the leadership and for a few days the virtually headless Congress party became a free for all. When the leaders failed to convince the scion of the Gandhi family, they began quietly to look around. The idea was then to fall back on Sonia Gandhi, who though had retired due to ill health, was still firmly in the saddle as the Chairperson of the UPA. She was disinclined and always hoped that Rahul would turnaround and accept to lead the party once again. While the coterie was working harder on Rahul, they looked around for faces within the party and outside the Gandhi dynasty.

Then came the most important realization that there’s not a single nationally acceptable face in their great party, who could keep the Hawks at bay and lead the party successfully.

The Indian Notional Congress was thus reborn, with a mourning Rahul continuing to reign as its President.

Note: A good opposition is as much an integral part of a good government. Whether this edition of the Congress party has matured, or would they repeat the raucous scenes like in the last Lok Sabha is to be seen!

Sampath Kumar
Intrépide Voix

Save the doctors!

Mohammad Shahid, the wrinkly oldster, had seen seventy-five summers and was hauled in by his relatives to be admitted into a Government Hospital, where he died. Apparently, he had lived a healthy life before that, but died in the hospital. This enraged the relatives of the dead, who went on mayhem, beating up a junior doctor so severely that he landed in the ICU with a fractured skull and could be battling for his life.

The infuriated colleagues promptly struck work demanding protection at the workplace, which was the fundamental responsibility of the government. The abrupt stoppage of work by the doctors has caused tremendous hardship to critical patients, many who have come from far-off places. The strike seems to have moved into day two.

Assault on doctors, by dissatisfied relatives of patients, has become a routine affair, not limited only to Kolkata or West Bengal, but throughout the country. In a similar case, the doctors from the government hospital from Mumbai demanded that they are allowed to keep a gun for their personal safety. Fortunately, the frayed tempers were calmed as the doctors returned to their workplaces and the country saved from being another America.

A survey by the Indian Medical Association reveals that 75% of the doctors working in hospitals have faced some sort of violence, while on their work and 70% of all such attacks were from the relatives of the patients.

As against a World Health Organization preferred one doctor per thousand people, a doctor in India has a heavy load of 11528 patients in government hospitals. Defective equipment, lack of medicines or infrastructure affect the doctors and their performance. Terminally ill patients from small nursing homes are always referred to government hospitals and the relatives, thanks to the easy availability of symptoms, causes and cure for any disease over the internet, come and challenge the doctors with their ill-acquired knowledge.

Although Karnataka and Maharashtra besides Delhi have laws enacted against the assault on doctors, seldom the rules have come to the rescue of the beaten-up doctors. The sad fact is those who assault are mostly well-connected with political leaders and rarely are booked.

The assault on doctors just cannot go on and must end. The damage incurred by turning away many patients from the locked doors explains the rot that has set in our system. I was a few months ago in a hospital in Kolkata, when the aggrieved relatives ransacked the reception, the patient records, computers as everyone huddled into a distant corner. There always are policemen in every hospital, who too were as terrorized as we were.

Counselling of the relatives, must begin in all the hospitals without any delay to avoid recurrence of such avoidable shameful incidents.

In one word: Shame!

Sampath Kumar
Intrépide Voix