Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Friday, August 21, 2009
Time for Revival of 'Jai Jawan Jai Kissan' Slogan
Since the past few days, the news and the visuals beamed by a television channel, relating to suicides by some farmers in Andhra Pradesh, and the plight of some helpless widows in some remote villages of Uttar Pradesh who were struggling to keep their bodies and souls together, all due to the failed monsoons and drought like situation , shook me badly. Perhaps, there are many such tragedies across rural India, which have not caught the attention of the media, but nevertheless do deserve our attention.
Sixty two years after Independence , some of our farmers are still under the mercy of raingods ! A telling indictment of our policy makers and political leadership. Notwithstanding the impressive claims made by our respected Prime Minster and the Union Minister for Agriculture not long ago, regarding their assessment of the situation initially, and steps like NREGA being taken to counter the same, the fact of the matter remains, that some farmers who used to toil day and night to bring food to our tables at affordable prices, were driven to end their lives, leaving their helpless families at the mercy of God Almighty. Some of our rural folk who are dependent upon agriculture for their livelihood are literally on the edge. All due to a failed monsoon this time.
This brought back memories of suicides by more than 500 farmers in Vidarbha in Maharashtra just last year, due to failed cotton crops. After handing over compensation cheques to the bereaved families, and the much hyped loan waiver scheme announced in last year’s budget, the political leadership perhaps thought that their job was over.
While drought proofing of our agriculture may seem to be a tall order for our nation today, but what is amazing is that , is it too much to expect due importance to be accorded to the agriculture sector, especially to the marginal framers whose very existence can be threatened just by one failed crop or one failed monsoon ? Are our District Administrations headed by District Magistrates incapable or unwilling or both , to identify such vulnerable sections of our rural economy ,within the areas under their respective jurisdictions, and keep the higher ups in the state administration updated of the state of affairs alongwith suggested remedial actions from time to time ? Are the state governments incapable of taking timely measures to handle such alarming situations before it gets out of hand , instead of the Chief Ministers rushing to the Prime Minister when the damage is done, with huge demands to bail out their farmers from distress ? And above all, after the Vidarbha suicides not so long ago, was there any initiative thought and implemented to prevent such reoccurrence in the future, by our Prime Minister or the Union Agriculture Minister ?
Surely enough, answers to these questions would require great amount of introspection within the political leadership at all levels, cutting across party affiliations, states and districts, besides of course within our bureaucratic apparatus.
At the very least, we should stop taking the rains for granted , and before the onset of monsoons every year, the entire politico – bureaucratic apparatus right from the Central, State, and district levels, should be geared up to face failed monsoons.
Yes, today our buffer stocks of food grains can meet the shortfall in production this year, and we can even shop abroad to feed our teeming millions should the need so arise. But then, do we not need to feed the farmer who feeds us everyday ? If our indifferent approach to the plight of framers continues, and our political leadership at all levels , besides our bureaucratic apparatus, wakes up only after the damage is done as witnessed this time, and worse still, if they refuse to take lessons from one set of disasters in the preceeding years , as witnessed by the approach after Vidarbha suicides, then the day is not far when foodgrains would rival oil in our import bills.
Time for a revival of “ Jai Jawan Jai Kissan “ slogan with a renewed vigour before it is too late.
As a footnote, let me add that my previous posts below , substantiate the need for the “Jai Jawan” component of the above slogan.
Sixty two years after Independence , some of our farmers are still under the mercy of raingods ! A telling indictment of our policy makers and political leadership. Notwithstanding the impressive claims made by our respected Prime Minster and the Union Minister for Agriculture not long ago, regarding their assessment of the situation initially, and steps like NREGA being taken to counter the same, the fact of the matter remains, that some farmers who used to toil day and night to bring food to our tables at affordable prices, were driven to end their lives, leaving their helpless families at the mercy of God Almighty. Some of our rural folk who are dependent upon agriculture for their livelihood are literally on the edge. All due to a failed monsoon this time.
This brought back memories of suicides by more than 500 farmers in Vidarbha in Maharashtra just last year, due to failed cotton crops. After handing over compensation cheques to the bereaved families, and the much hyped loan waiver scheme announced in last year’s budget, the political leadership perhaps thought that their job was over.
While drought proofing of our agriculture may seem to be a tall order for our nation today, but what is amazing is that , is it too much to expect due importance to be accorded to the agriculture sector, especially to the marginal framers whose very existence can be threatened just by one failed crop or one failed monsoon ? Are our District Administrations headed by District Magistrates incapable or unwilling or both , to identify such vulnerable sections of our rural economy ,within the areas under their respective jurisdictions, and keep the higher ups in the state administration updated of the state of affairs alongwith suggested remedial actions from time to time ? Are the state governments incapable of taking timely measures to handle such alarming situations before it gets out of hand , instead of the Chief Ministers rushing to the Prime Minister when the damage is done, with huge demands to bail out their farmers from distress ? And above all, after the Vidarbha suicides not so long ago, was there any initiative thought and implemented to prevent such reoccurrence in the future, by our Prime Minister or the Union Agriculture Minister ?
Surely enough, answers to these questions would require great amount of introspection within the political leadership at all levels, cutting across party affiliations, states and districts, besides of course within our bureaucratic apparatus.
At the very least, we should stop taking the rains for granted , and before the onset of monsoons every year, the entire politico – bureaucratic apparatus right from the Central, State, and district levels, should be geared up to face failed monsoons.
Yes, today our buffer stocks of food grains can meet the shortfall in production this year, and we can even shop abroad to feed our teeming millions should the need so arise. But then, do we not need to feed the farmer who feeds us everyday ? If our indifferent approach to the plight of framers continues, and our political leadership at all levels , besides our bureaucratic apparatus, wakes up only after the damage is done as witnessed this time, and worse still, if they refuse to take lessons from one set of disasters in the preceeding years , as witnessed by the approach after Vidarbha suicides, then the day is not far when foodgrains would rival oil in our import bills.
Time for a revival of “ Jai Jawan Jai Kissan “ slogan with a renewed vigour before it is too late.
As a footnote, let me add that my previous posts below , substantiate the need for the “Jai Jawan” component of the above slogan.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Our Tricolour
" Our Tricolour flies in the sky,
And I hold my head high.
The air around me is full of action,
Keeping our Tricolour is a state of perpertual motion.
I know we are celebrating our Independence Day,
In more than one way.
But I just hold my head high,
Not only to salute our Tricolour up in the sky.
Today we all pledge to ourselves,
That our Tricolour would fly higher than high.
After all, we the people of India ,
Can show to the whole world,
What it means, to aim higher than high."
And I hold my head high.
The air around me is full of action,
Keeping our Tricolour is a state of perpertual motion.
I know we are celebrating our Independence Day,
In more than one way.
But I just hold my head high,
Not only to salute our Tricolour up in the sky.
Today we all pledge to ourselves,
That our Tricolour would fly higher than high.
After all, we the people of India ,
Can show to the whole world,
What it means, to aim higher than high."
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Kargil - A Decade Later
On the eve of the tenth anniversary of our victory in the Kargil war, one question which begs an answer is “ Can the nation be reassured that there would be no more Kargils in the future, even though the former President of Pakistan Pervez Musharraf, has gone on record saying, that “ Till the Kashmir issue is not resolved , more Kargils cannot be ruled out.”
These words coming from non other than the chief architect of Kargil war, should not be dismissed as yet another statement aimed at playing up to the gallery.
While reflecting back ten years ago, what is indeed astonishing, is the kind of bon homie we witnessed in Indo Pak relationship , just three months before we went to war to counter the infiltration by the Pakistani Army across our side of the LoC, with a clear mandate to cut off Leh from Srinagar by targeting NH 1.
The much hyped bus ride ferrying some of our VVIPs across the Wagah border, turned out to be an exercise in self deception, as it became clear later on , that hectic preparations were going on simultaneously for the Kargil Misadventure by the Northern Light Infantry Regiment of the Pakistan Army..
Political naivety apart, the Kargil war proved it beyond doubt, that our entire intelligence machinery was woefully ill prepared to detect the movement across the LoC, and above all, our mission in Islamabad perhaps also miserably failed to notice the hectic military activity close to the LoC. The price which the nation paid for such pathetic show of incompetence was especially in terms of loss of precious lives of some of our finest youth, who in the highest traditions of our armed forces, took on the enemy from a severely disadvantaged position, and in the most inhospitable climate with freezing temperatures at night. It goes to their credit that they ultimately managed to evict the intruders, at the cost of huge sacrifices made by them.
The ruling NDA alliance celebrated the victory by calling it “Vijay Diwas” , but failed to fix responsibilities on those who had miserably failed in discharging their duties to detect such intrusions on a timely basis, besides of course offering an answer to the nation, on what went wrong in their overall assessment of the intentions of the Pakistani leadership vis a vis India, and to what extent was our mission in Islamabad was to be held accountable for such lapses.
Sadly enough, answers to such questions are still awaited. That we were no better off at least till November 2008, especially where our overall abilities and capabilities to thwart off such nasty surprises from Pakistan were concerned, needs no further elaboration. Add to the fact the mass killings of our police personnel by the Maoists, which of late have become routine news, exposes the utter state of our helplessness to tackle such threats from within as well.
Such balant example of political indifference towards our overall security (both internal and external) environment , and absence of any clear strategy and vision to preempt any nefarious designs from across our borders aimed at creating mayhem in our soil, is alarming indeed, and does not inspire much confidence amongst ordinary citizens, regarding the security of our lives and our borders.
Yes, we are indeed proud of our defence personnel , who could be counted upon to meet any challenge or threat to our security and sanctity of our borders/LoC. But then, do we need to tolerate a totally inept and incompetent bureaucratic and intelligence apparatus, alongwith a relatively indifferent political leadership, just because some of the brightest youth of the nation, who too have loved ones back home, and who perhaps despite stiff opposition from their families, chose to serve our motherland through our defence forces, and are even prepared to make the supreme sacrifice, should the need so arise ?
A serious nationwide debate, and a sincere introspection on this issue, alongwith a changed mindset, and priorities at the level of our political leadership and bureaucratic intelligence apparatus on this front, would be a true homage to all those who had to lay down their lives at the prime of their youth, for the sake of our motherland and we citizens of India, just because of the incompetence or overall indifference of some powers that be.
These words coming from non other than the chief architect of Kargil war, should not be dismissed as yet another statement aimed at playing up to the gallery.
While reflecting back ten years ago, what is indeed astonishing, is the kind of bon homie we witnessed in Indo Pak relationship , just three months before we went to war to counter the infiltration by the Pakistani Army across our side of the LoC, with a clear mandate to cut off Leh from Srinagar by targeting NH 1.
The much hyped bus ride ferrying some of our VVIPs across the Wagah border, turned out to be an exercise in self deception, as it became clear later on , that hectic preparations were going on simultaneously for the Kargil Misadventure by the Northern Light Infantry Regiment of the Pakistan Army..
Political naivety apart, the Kargil war proved it beyond doubt, that our entire intelligence machinery was woefully ill prepared to detect the movement across the LoC, and above all, our mission in Islamabad perhaps also miserably failed to notice the hectic military activity close to the LoC. The price which the nation paid for such pathetic show of incompetence was especially in terms of loss of precious lives of some of our finest youth, who in the highest traditions of our armed forces, took on the enemy from a severely disadvantaged position, and in the most inhospitable climate with freezing temperatures at night. It goes to their credit that they ultimately managed to evict the intruders, at the cost of huge sacrifices made by them.
The ruling NDA alliance celebrated the victory by calling it “Vijay Diwas” , but failed to fix responsibilities on those who had miserably failed in discharging their duties to detect such intrusions on a timely basis, besides of course offering an answer to the nation, on what went wrong in their overall assessment of the intentions of the Pakistani leadership vis a vis India, and to what extent was our mission in Islamabad was to be held accountable for such lapses.
Sadly enough, answers to such questions are still awaited. That we were no better off at least till November 2008, especially where our overall abilities and capabilities to thwart off such nasty surprises from Pakistan were concerned, needs no further elaboration. Add to the fact the mass killings of our police personnel by the Maoists, which of late have become routine news, exposes the utter state of our helplessness to tackle such threats from within as well.
Such balant example of political indifference towards our overall security (both internal and external) environment , and absence of any clear strategy and vision to preempt any nefarious designs from across our borders aimed at creating mayhem in our soil, is alarming indeed, and does not inspire much confidence amongst ordinary citizens, regarding the security of our lives and our borders.
Yes, we are indeed proud of our defence personnel , who could be counted upon to meet any challenge or threat to our security and sanctity of our borders/LoC. But then, do we need to tolerate a totally inept and incompetent bureaucratic and intelligence apparatus, alongwith a relatively indifferent political leadership, just because some of the brightest youth of the nation, who too have loved ones back home, and who perhaps despite stiff opposition from their families, chose to serve our motherland through our defence forces, and are even prepared to make the supreme sacrifice, should the need so arise ?
A serious nationwide debate, and a sincere introspection on this issue, alongwith a changed mindset, and priorities at the level of our political leadership and bureaucratic intelligence apparatus on this front, would be a true homage to all those who had to lay down their lives at the prime of their youth, for the sake of our motherland and we citizens of India, just because of the incompetence or overall indifference of some powers that be.
Monday, July 13, 2009
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
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