Twins and a helpful hand!

Its been a news thats been covered by most Media channels and definitely one that is worth mentioning. Arundhati and Stuti, two conjoined twins having been deserted by their parents because of a complicated medical condition in a hospital in Betul, Madhya Pradesh, India looked helpless until the hospital authorities and staff decided to help the babies by collecting funds through selling of home-cooked food. Each and every staff member of the hospital cooked various kinds of meals each day and sold them outside donating the proceeds of around 15 lakhs towards the operation.

In a country, where there are so many doctors who are reportedly fake and robbing people of their money with long list of unwanted tests and hefty amounts of bills, the effort by the hospital needs to be appreciated. The responsibility taken over by the hospital is not yet over as the operation has been successful but the twins are reportedly in a critical condition and have been kept under observation.

Each and every staff member needs to be appreciated for the contribution towards such a noble cause. Its indeed one of a story but the effort stands tall. Hope, there are many more such doctors and hospitals who think first and foremost about their patients rather than about money. For now, hope, their efforts get paid and the twins survive.

Water crisis and Economic Development

Economic Times carried an article on 2 March 2012 by Brahma Chellaney, a Strategic Affairs Analyst tiltled 'India's looming water crisis' where he pointed out that growing water shortages carry economic risks in terms of droughts and floods and the need to double India's annual grain production to more than 450 million tonnes to meet the demands of increasing prosperity and a growing population. Without expanding its irrigated land and adopting new plant varieties and farming techniques, India is likely to become a Net Food Importer in the coming years-a development that will roil the already tight international food markets.

My Views
With the demographics and statistics that India has, its quite clear that seeing only the rising prices and inflation scenarios do not have much of an effect. When the Government cannot do anything, NGOs are not allowed to do, Companies and Corporations do not feel the need to do, it boils to the individual to save water by not wasting it wherever and whenever possible.

I think. its not always possible to go back to water harvesting methods in our 'busy' lives, but atleast, we could do our bit, not just for the conservation of the environment but also for economic properity. After all, water is a strategic resource.

What is Development?

Free education for the underpriviledged- Documentary Screening

Free education uptil the age of 14 years is mentioned in the Right To Education Act, 2005 but the resources to do so are inadequate in terms of infrastructure, staff and the awareness created. The blame game is a part of the usual working of the bureaucracy and the Government and thus the people themselves are the initiators of change. A documentary by the name of ‘Wings’ showcased how a neighbourhood effort can lead to betterment of hundreds of lives.

Suyam organisation in 2003 started the Siragu Montessuari School in the Thiruvalluvar district of Tamil Nadu to encourage the underpriviledged children to learn and study through innovative methods. The founders of the school, Ms. Uma and Mr. Muthuram decided to teach the children with help from other colleagues and friends. Initially started in a tent with a smaller number, the counting began to increase as the initial suspicion and antagonism later gave way to trust through sustained efforts of the staff. The objective of the school is to provide quality education to the first generation learners of the scheduled tribes, pavement dwellers and beggars.

In order to attract more students towards learning and education, the curriculum has been designed in a manner that appreciates the talent and the creativity of the child rather than rote-learning and examination pressures. The “children decide the day” meaning that the students are free to choose what they would like to study at any given day, in the words of Ms.Uma, who is incharge of the same. The syllabus contains various fields of study including Anatomy, Vedic Maths, Tamil, English, Dramatics, cooking, playing etc. Also, the method of teaching is different from the usual chalk- and- board method, wherein the students are taught by Story-put method where different themes are interwined through stories in groups and other practical techniques like visuals and models to emphasize on comprehensive and overall development rather than on marks and percentages. Even, the books are written for different subjects by the teachers themselves in simple and easier terms. The knowledge and the maturity of the students are displayed in the group activity of Bornfire, wherein the students write what they would not like to see in society and put them to fire including “NO CASTE”, “NO RELIGION”, “NO BAR SHOPS”.

The parents and guardians of the children are amazed at the excellent performance shown by the kids to such an extent that eventhough, they fail to understand what the meanings of many words mean, yet they have started to believe that meanings of life are hidden in education and it is the only and the best way to come out of the vicious circle of poverty and helplessness.

MY OPINIONS:-

I really think that it is an excellent effort on the part of the administrators and its high time that the Government sits up and takes notice of the effort and provides financial and infrastructural support to such organisations and initiatives so that others are encouraged to come forward as well.

Also, CBSE AND ICSE AND ALL OTHER BOARDS SHOULD ALSO TAKE NOTICE OF SUCH BRILLIANT AND MORE ENGAGING TEACHING METHODS AND TECHNIQUES BECAUSE OUR BOOK PAGES ARE INCREASING DAY BY DAY AND THE LEVEL OF EDUCATION, MIND YOU, NOT LITERACY IS DECLINING.

The only thing that we students can do is just to encourage such children to go to a neighbourhood school and teach them if possible! I am saying this, because I have taught the children of our earlier maid and it was a new experience to be with them.

Cleanliness Drive- Development Communication

February 4th, an official College holiday turned out to be interesting, thanks to Abhay Chawla sir, our Development communication lecturer. We were told to get plastic bags which obviously very few got and pliers to prick the nails from the barks of trees, which none of us got. We set out on our very first project this semester, to clean up the posters stuck on the trees, and other government properties like electric poles and electric boxes. We also managed to put waste papers around a barbed tree. The experience was although new but do not know how much, it was successful.

WHY DO I SAY THAT?

Firstly, i enjoyed the activity but could not yet get the true objective behind it. I mean, its good to pull out the posters but putting those papers in between the barbed wire, did not make sense to me, infact, it looked like another way to throw your coffee cups away, as we discussed in class.

Also, to know that there is no first step in development as such, is a kind of confusing because, all these years that is what we have been taught, to take the first step ahead and see the change, so is that bullshit?

Only one time effort will not be much of an use, need to have more such exercises going!

Any which ways, thank you for the experience!

World Development Report 2012: Gender Equality and Development

http://publications.worldbank.org/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=0&products_id=24225

The lives of women around the world have improved dramatically, at a pace and scope difficult to imagine even 25 years ago. Women have made unprecedented gains in rights, education, health, and access to jobs and livelihoods. More countries than ever guarantee equal rights in property, marriage, and other domains. Gendergaps in primary schooling have closed in many countries, while in a third of all countries girls now outnumber boys in secondary school. And more young women than men attend universities in 60 countries. Women are using their education to participate more in the labor force: they now make up for 40 percent of the global labor force and 43 percent of its farmers. Moreover, women now live longer than men in every region of the world.

Despite the progress, gaps remain in many areas. Women are more likely to die—relative to males—in many low- and middle-income countries than their counterparts in rich countries,especially in childhood and during their reproductive years. Primary and secondary school enrollments for girls remain much lower than for boys in many Sub-Saharan African countries and some parts of South Asia, as well as among disadvantaged populations. Women are more likely than men to work as unpaid family laborers or in the informal sector, to farm smaller plots and grow less profitable crops, operate in smaller firms and less profi table sectors, and generally earn less. Women—especially poor women—have less say over decisions and less control over household resources. And in most countries, fewer women participate in formal politics than men and are underrepresented in the upper echelons.

The World Development Report 2012: Gender Equality and Development argues that closing these persistent gender gaps matters. It matters because gender equality is a core development objective in its own right. But it is also smart economics. Greater gender equality can enhance productivity, improve development outcomes for the next generation, and make institutions more representative. Building on a growing body of knowledge on the economics of gender equality and development, the Report identifies the areas where gender gaps are most significant—both intrinsically and in terms of their potential development payoff—and where growth alone cannot solve the issues. It then sets forth four priorities for public action:

•Reducing excess female mortality and closing education gaps where they remain

•Improving access to economic opportunities for women

•Increasing women’s voice and agency in the household and in society

•Limiting the reproduction of gender inequality across generations.

MORE STUDENTS IN SCHOOL-HINDUTSAN TIMES REPORT

SOURCE- HINDUSTAN TIMES has published a report on January 15 2012, saying that the number of children joining the Municipal Corporation of Delhi's (MCD) nursery and primary schools has gone up. Dr. Mahinder Nagpal, chairman, MCD's education committee, said that the number of students in nursery classes has witnessed an increase of over 4000 while primary schools have witnessed increase by 14000 students.

At the outset, this information is a good indicator of the growing infrastructure and the development that is happening in the literacy and educational levels in the country. Although, the enrollment is taken care of by various schemes and facilities launched by the Govt. such as mid-day meals, upgradation of school infrastructure, free books, copies, school bags, dresses, shoes and water bottles, which are given to the students, the actual problem is the huge number of dropouts who drop out of school without completing their education to support their families and find work and for numerous other reasons as well. The number of schools have increased from 1629 to 1740 and the number of students have increased from 9,28,406 to 9,42,135 but how many of them actually remain in schools uptil the basic age of 14 years according to the Right To Education Act is an altogether different matter and the reasons are to find work to support families, baby sit the siblings and such help at home or the mere lack of funds to go to school even if the basic education uptil the age of 14 years is free and in some cases, the unavailability of good quality teachers who can motivate the students to remain in schools.

My opinion in this matter would be that the Govt. Departments or the Govt. as a whole needs to look at the issue on a broader basis so as not to focus narrowly on the enrollment levels only. This is all the more important because there are two sides of a coin and looking only at the input process and not at the failing output defeats the entire purpose of the plan itself. There has to be a more sustained effort to keep the students in school.

Some Suggestions-

The age of 14 years is the lower limit and thus the students have to be engaged and encouraged to remain in school despite their family problems and in this the teachers have a bigger role to play.

Also, their have to be some infrastructure in place to help the students look after their siblings or arrangements made in order to help them.

The very obvious has to be the availability of good and learned teachers who are able to impart knowledge, though the present circumstances present a grim picture at many places throughout the country.

Thus, its important that we focus not only on the enrollment levels but also on the students who remain in school and complete their education.

DELHI GOVT'S inefficiency in water bodies development work

Source- HINDUSTAN TIMES SPECIAL article on the lack of action by the Delhi Govt on the protection and conservation of water bodies despite promises made in the Delhi High Court.
The article carried on 8 January 2012, sunday by Nivedita Khandekar has been taken up by RTI activists and attempts to bring the issue to the limelight.

As a resident of the city, reading the article made me realise the red tapism that still exists in the working of the Govt deptartments, be it the entire Parliament or only a part of the system. Each of them survives on putting off the issue until and unless, an alarm rings and in this case, the RTI activist Gopal Prasad was the whistle blower. Moreover, the proposed 'water body authority'- announced in May 2010- as a coordinator for all agencies involved in the preservation of such entities has not yet materialised. The status report has not been satisfactory where in, although the work has been shown as completed, in reality, it has not been. The  concerned authorities have been unavailable for comments and the laxity shows how our city is progressing and thus, its necessary that the Judiciary checks these kinds of carelessness shown by the Govt. officials. The issue is still running and there ought to be more disclosures in the coming days.