Murli Manohar Joshi
Murli Manohar Joshi

"Sanskrit can solve
problem of high
consumption expenditure"

BANGKOK, May 21: Knowledge of Sanskrit can provide the solution to the global problem of high private consumption expenditure....more

NDA plans to increase
strength in RS derailed

NEW DELHI, May 21: Poll reverses suffered by the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in the Assembly polls have jeopardised the ruling coalition’s. ....more

Rajiv Gandhi
Rajiv Gandhi

Rajiv Gandhi’s
10th deathanniversary
observed as
anti-terrorism day

NEW DELHI, May 21: The tenth death anniversary of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was today observed as "anti-terrorism day" with the nation . ...more

Villagers are undertaking
repair work of old wells

CHANDWAD, May 21: In an effort to alleviate their hardship, villagers in this water scarce area in Nashik district are undertaking repair work of old wells....more

Atal Behari Vajpayee
Atal Behari Vajpayee

Farmers rights will be
fully protected under
WTO regime: PM

NEW DELHI, May 21: Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee today asked the states to urgently evolve a consensus action plan to decentralise food grain .....more

Employment a major
issue for water-scarce
Rajasthan

MAKANPURA VILLAGE (RAJASTHAN), May 21: If battling nature’s fury was not enough, the people of this arid state face another serious problem, this .....more

Cattle left to fend
for themselves

WAVAD (NORTH MAHARASHTRA), May 21: Hope mingles with despair as farmers in drought-stricken Nandurbar, Jalgaon and Dhule districts ponder .....more

M Venkaiah Naidu
M Venkaiah Naidu

Media should shift
focus from urban to
rural areas: Venkaiah

NEW DELHI, May 21: Rural Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu today urged the media to shed its urban bias......more



"Sanskrit can solve problem of high
consumption expenditure"

BANGKOK, May 21: Knowledge of Sanskrit can provide the solution to the global problem of high private consumption expenditure, Human Resource Development Minister Murli Manohar Joshi said today.

Extolling the vitues of Sanskrit, the minister who is here to attend a seminar on Sanskrit in South East Asia, said "let our knowledge of Sanskrit lead us to wisdom and sublimity so that we set an example of holistic approach to all the problems faced by the world."

In oriental tradition, consumption was severely conditioned by the simplest outlook of life, Joshi said, adding "we have, therefore, first to understand our oriental value system and its philosophical moorings available in sanskrit literature and philosophy."

He said the rich nations and its people strived for more and in the process had lost peace and happiness. "... If we listen to our own voice, we will understand that consumption itself does not give satisfaction because by enjoying the desires they grow more and more just as fire grows more by offering butter and other objects into it.’’

The world was finding it difficult to sustain a high private consumption expenditure by high income nations due to "the crisis in thinking and the western exploitative order," Joshi said in his keynote address at an international conference here on "South-East Asia: The harmonising factor of cultures.’ (PTI)

NDA plans to increase strength in RS derailed

NEW DELHI, May 21: Poll reverses suffered by the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in the Assembly polls have jeopardised the ruling coalition’s plans to shore up numbers in the Rajya Sabha.

The Assembly polls have served a major blow to the nda ambitions to increase its tally in the Parliament’s upper house where it is in minority and faces frequent humiliation at the hands of opposition, mainly Congress.

NDA prospects of increasing the tally nosedived following the landslide victory of AIADMK in Tamil Nadu and installation of Congress Government in the eastern state of Assam at the cost of AGP-BJP alliance.

The term of Congress leader Manmohan Singh and AGP’s Dr Joyashree Mahanta is ending on June 14 causing the first round of RS polls on June 11.

In the next round, six members from Tamil Nadu are retiring on July 24.

One one more seat will be vacated by Talwai Sunderam of AIADMK who has been elected to the Tamil Nadu Assembly.

TMC’s Jayanthi Natarajan is also retiring in July. Others are Mr O S Manian, R Margabandu, Dr. D D Mastan and Mr Rajendran, all from AIADMK and Mr V P Doriaswamy of DMK.

Since Congress and AIADMK came out with flying colours, their tally will apparently remain unaffected. The DMK may also retain its seat, but for the the AGP securing victory will be a tedious task following the party’s drubbing in the Assembly polls.

In West Bengal, one rs seat was falling vacant following election of Mohammed Salim and his induction to Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee’s ministry after his election from Kolkata city’s entally constituency.

The ruling coalition will again face rough weather in the Parliament’s upper house as the thumping success in the state assemblies will embolden Congress in tandem with other opposition.

Ostensibly mindful of these developments,the ruling coalition is trying to increase its strength in Parliament.

Though no foraml announcement has been made so far about the fresh tie-ups, discussions are underway with smaller parties including expelled RS members of the the RJD-Mr Ranjan Prasad Yadav, Mr Dhamma Virio and Mahendra Prasad.

Speculation is rife that tie ups are linked with impending expansion of the A B Vajpayee Council of Ministers.

The first round elections, being held on June 11, will fill up five vacancies, including two being caused by the retirement of leader of the opposition Manmohan Singh and AGP MP Joyasree Goswami Mahanta. Both were elected to the Upper House from Assam.

Apart from these seats, there are three casual vacancies in the upper house, caused by the death of Mr Devi Lal (Haryana) on April six and the resignation of Mr Raj Mohinder Singh (Punjab) on March one, 2001 and Mr Rajnath Singh (Uttar Pradesh) on April 19 this year.

While Mr Devi Lal’s term was upto August one, 2004, that of Mr Raj Mohinder Singh was upto July four, 2004 and of Mr Rajnath Singh upto April two, 2006.

While Mr Rajnath Singh quit the Rajya Sabha after taking over as the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, Mr Raj Mohinder Singh resigned after becoming a member of the Punjab Assembly from Majitha in a by-election.

According to the schedule announced by the Election Commission, the poll notification would be issued on May 25 and the last date for filing nominations would be June one. Scrutiny of nominations would be taken up on June two while June four would the last date for withdrawal of candidatures.

Polling would be held on June 11 and the entire electoral process would be completed by June 13. (UNI)

Rajiv Gandhi’s 10th death anniversary
observed as anti-terrorism day

NEW DELHI, May 21: The tenth death anniversary of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was today observed as "anti-terrorism day" with the nation pledging to root out the scourge of terrorism with a greater vigour and determination.

President K R Narayanan and Vice-President Krishan Kant led the nation in paying glowing tributes to the former Premier who was killed by a human bomb on this day in 1991 minutes before his election speech at Seriperambudur in Tamil Nadu.

Congress president and widow of the late leader Sonia Gandhi, her daughter Priyanka and son-in-law Robert Vadra were among the early visitors to Veer Bhumi, the cenotaph of the late leader, to pay their respects.

An all-religion prayer meeting was also organised to observe the day, which was attended by representatives from nine religions. Floral wreaths were placed on his ‘Samadhi’ (mausoleum).

Several Congress Chief Ministers, including Ms Sheila Dikshit, Mr S M Krishna, Mr A K Antony, Mr Digvijay Singh and Mr Ashok Gehlot, besides senior party leaders Dr Manmohan Singh, Mr Shivraj Patil and Mr R K Dhawan, and Mr Vincent George, personal advisor to Mrs Gandhi, were also present.

An anti-terrorism pledge was administered to employees in various Government offices and private institutions asking them to oppose all forms of terrorism and violence and to "uphold and promote peace, social harmony and understanding among all fellow human beings and fight forces of disruption threatening human lives and values."

The Union Home Ministry had yesterday asked the State Governments and Union Territory administrations to organise programmes in Government offices, Public Sector Undertakings and public institutions to observe the day as "anti-terrorism day" to educate and wean away people, especially youth, from terrorism and violence.

The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) as observed the day as anti-terrorism day at its headquarters with Additional Director General G Jha administering the pledge against terrorism to all officers and staff of the directorate.

Ms Dikshit inaugurated a blood donation camp at the party headquarters where several people and party acrtivists donated blood.

Hundreds of youth, led by Indian Youth Congress (IYC) president Randeep Singh Surjewala, undertook a ‘Padyatra’ from the IYC headquarters at Raisina Road to Veer Bhumi. (UNI)

Villagers are undertaking repair work of old wells

CHANDWAD, May 21: In an effort to alleviate their hardship, villagers in this water scarce area in Nashik district are undertaking repair work of old wells either voluntarily or with Governmental assistance.

As many as 86 of 112 villages, including the Chandwad tehsil, have been declared drought-affected because of below normal rainfall in the last monsoon. The people in the region are facing an acute water shortage since the past two months.

A UNI team, which visited some of the worst affected villages found the situation grave, despite efforts of the administration to provide water through tankers.

The tehsil has a population of 1,28,000 and about 46 tankers have been pressed into service to provide water, according to official sources. But their service remains irregular.

The Chandwad township has so far remained the least affected area as the Grampanchayat has been able to provide drinking water from the three-century old well built by Punyshlok Ahilyabai Holkar.

This well, as well as some tankers, are now the lifeline of the 20,000 inhabitants, as the main water supply centre of the Grampalika is running out of water, Chandwad Sarpanch Ms Meenatai Kotwal told the UNI team.

The worst affected villages of this tehsil are Mangrul, Denewadi, Matewai and people there are anxiously awaiting the monsoon. According to villagers, this is the first time in more than two decades that they have faced such an acute water shortage. The area, a major onion-producing region, is a drought-prone area because of its geographical topography.

Farmers in the region are also disadvantaged because of the fissile quality of land which does not produce quality crops. To add to their helplessness, poor rainfall in the region has restricted them to a single crop per season.

But more than this, it is the shortage of water which has made life difficult. "We have enough food, enough money but no water," says Fakir Patel, a farmer from Kheldani village. We could have faced the situation had water shortage not been there as the cash crops last year had been good, a villager told the UNI team.

Local MLA, Sirish Kotwal, said that with falling water levels and rising prices of cattle feed, the cattle population in the tehsil had fallen by more than 75 per cent.

The village elders told the visiting team that the population of the township had fallen significantly due to various calamities over the decades. The population, which was 96,000 at the beginning of the 19th century, is now just 20,000.

After suffering for the past several years, villagers have taken matter in their own hands. They have voluntarily started reopening old lakes. Work on a 20 acre lake has already commenced.

The villagers are hopeful that the reopening of the lakes may help them in storing maximum water in the coming monsoon to overcome the situation. (UNI)

Farmers rights will be fully protected
under WTO regime: PM

NEW DELHI, May 21: Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee today asked the states to urgently evolve a consensus action plan to decentralise food grain procurement and distribution system with foodstocks worth over Rs 50,000 crore lying in the godowns.

Inaugurating the Chief Ministers’ conference on WTO and agriculture and food management, Vajpayee assured full protection to farmers under the World Trade Organisation regime, asserting that India need not reduce its domestic support and subsidy to agriculture under this agreement.

Describing the cost of centralised procurement, storage and distribution as ‘unacceptably high’, the Prime Minister said this has resulted in both higher subsidies and issue prices creating serious administrative and fiscal consequences both for the centre and the states.

"Our hands are in no way tied to prevent us from taking further protective and promotion measures for farmers", he said adding the anti-dumping and other new measures announced in the EXIM policy was intended to fully protect the interest of farmers.

He said contrary to the impression being spread by some people, the record of recent years clearly show that the Government has taken adequate measures to protect the interest of the farmers.

"We must find an effective solution to the present anomaly between surplus foodgrains and hungry stomachs", the prime minister said adding it is necessary to improve implementation of food for work programme to create durable rural assets.

In the direction of decentralising the procuremnt system, he said the Government proposed to restructure the Food Corporation of India.

Under this year’s budget the Government has unveiled a new system of decentralised, state-level procurement and distribution system under which financial assistance will be provided to the State Governments instead of providing subsidised foodgrains.

This is to enable them to procure and distribute foodgrain to the people living below the poverty line at subsidised rates.

Since many State Governments are still unclear about the advantages of this new initiative, the Centre would apprise them of its benefits, the Prime Minister said.

Seeking to allay apprehensions of an adverse impact of removal of Quantitative Restrictions (QRs) on the farm sector, Vajpayee said recent data shows this has not led to any surge in imports. "Non-oil imports have actually decreased by 14.7 per cent in 2000-01", he said.

The Prime Minister said since the present rates of import duty are less than the maximum possible rates or "what are called the bound rates, we have ample scope to increase duty still further if necessary".

He said India was able to raise the maximum import duty for 15 sensitive items whose maximum import duty had been historically set at zero or a low level.

He also said India had not undertaken any commitment to providing minimum market access to other countries.

"Our minimum support price scheme and the public distribution system can continue without any hindrance", he said, adding India does not have to reduce its domestic support or subsidy to agriculture.

While the present level of support is below the permissible level of ten per cent of the value of agriculture production, he said India could also continue to subsidise research, pest control, marketing and provide various infrastructural support and extension services.

India has adequate provisions under the Agreement on Agriculture (AOA) to take effective steps against sudden surge in imports, Vajpayee said adding the ongoing negotiation on agriculture would help the country to air its views.

"During these negotiations (which began on January one, 2000) we will argue strongly for a complete level playing field in the global trade so that domestic producers do not suffer from any disability", he said. (PTI)

Employment a major issue for water-scarce Rajasthan

MAKANPURA VILLAGE (RAJASTHAN), May 21: If battling nature’s fury was not enough, the people of this arid state face another serious problem, this time man-made — shortage of employment opportunities.

On a journey through the remote villages of this desert state, one finds that lack of employment is as much important an issue with the villagers as no rain.

With about 40 million population of the desert state facing a possible third successive drought and around 53.6 million cattle also hit, the Government has so far guaranteed employment against work for a meagre 1.4 million people.

Figures reveal that around 8.94 million hectares of crop land, valued at a whopping Rs 3511.77 crore, was damaged due to no rain. Last year which affected 30,583 villages. Thus, the situation could be alarming this year with 31 of the 32 districts watching their only sources of livelihood face damage due to shortage of water.

In this remote village in the Banswara district, which is about nine km from the state’s main highway and has a population of only 200, employment is a major problem.

Villagers say only 15-20 per cent of them could be given employment under the ‘food for work’ scheme with the rest left to fend for themselves or under the mercy of the rain gods.

"Most of our crops have dried up due to no rain. Also, the employment scheme of the Government has not benefitted us much as work is not readily available to us, despite our willingness," says a villager.

"There are 20-25 destitute families in our village and we don’t know how to cope up with the situation," he says in despair.

However, senior officials say they were doing, the maximum they could with the ‘limited resources and funds’ and providing work on a rotation basis so that more and more people could be employed.

For solving the foodgrain problem, they say programmes such as food-for-work, Self Help Group (SHG), Annapurna Scheme, Antyodya Yojna, among the many others, were being implemented.

"Of this the food-for-work programme is proving to be effective. Under this scheme which was started last year, we give work and wheat to Below Poverty Line (BPL) families and people from the lower strata of society. To give this employment opportunity to everybody, it is rotated on a fortnightly basis," State Relief Secretary Ram Lubhaya said.

Under the scheme, Rs 60 per day is provided to a labourer as well as five kg of wheat per day. Out of the daily wage, around Rs 23 is deducted as cost of the wheat and the payment is made accordingly.

"The payment is made within ten days of the finish of the work," Mr Lubhaya said.

He said the Government was planning to increase the allocated labour ceiling by 600,000 to two million by June.

The Relief Secretary said there was another scheme - gratuitous relief - for the poorest of the poor. "Under this, two quintals of wheat is kept at all the panchayat headquarters for the poor and destitute."

For the conservation of cattle, the State Government was supplying fodder at subsidized rates and has opened free-of-cost cattle camps and ‘Gaushalas’.

However, a journey across the state shows that the Government’s Rs 60 promise seems to be only on paper with the average wages per day, including money for wheat, coming out to be around Rs 50.

Officials say this was the case as workers failed to do the stipulated work marked against the promised amount.

However, most of the people said the work was too much for an individual to cope in temperatures ranging anywhere between 40-46 degrees celsius.

The works are mostly related to water conservation projects, with many being of digging canals, ponds, making roads, among others. On soft ground, a person is expected to dig around ten feet in length, five feet in width and one feet in depth for Rs 60 as wage. However, most of the people say this is too much in a day and hence they land up doing less work and getting less wages.

However, Mr Lubhaya said the amount against work was fixed after a study by the State Public Works Department and was appropriate.

Official data recorded up to April 30 this year shows that the money paid per day went as low as low Rs 35 (Jaisalmer), Rs 37.87 (Bharatpur), Rs 38 (Jodhpur), Rs 40.42 (Banswara).

Also, the number of labour sanctioned per district was low compared to the requirement. With most of the districts having population in lakhs, largely rural, the labour ceiling sanctioned stood very low at only a few thousands.

Villagers say lack of facilities to them was forcing migration of people to places such as Jaipur, Kishangarh, Punjab and Haryana where "work is available."

The desert state had a rainfall deficit of minus three per cent in 1998 and saw it drop to a negative 29 per cent in 2000.

Many of the major lakes and other traditional sources of water in the state are fast drying up due to a possible third drought and the State Government has estimated a figure of Rs 2367 crore for adequate relief. (UNI)

Cattle left to fend for themselves

WAVAD (NORTH MAHARASHTRA), May 21: Hope mingles with despair as farmers in drought-stricken Nandurbar, Jalgaon and Dhule districts ponder the fate of their missing cattle.

"We do not know whether our cattle are dead or alive... We will know only if they come back after the monsoons," says farmer Pratap Singh, as he echoes the sentiments of many others in this village and surrounding hamlets. Pratap has no idea whether his seven pairs of bullocks have survived.

In Nandurbar district alone, nearly 16,000 livestock are feared to have perished and the condition of many heads of cattle is unknown as hapless farmers have left them to fend for themselves.

The adjoining Jalgaon and Dhule districts face a similar situation with farmers having either abandoned their livestock or sold them after finding it impossible to look after their upkeep.

The administration, however, does not confirm whether any cattle have perished. The exact figures of cattle deaths, if they have occurred, are not available, an official said.

Hanumant Waman Dungre, another farmer, while talking to a visiting UNI team, said that he had sold most of his bullocks and cows, fearing water scarcity may cause their deaths.

"Cows are holy for us and we do not want to be responsible for their death due to starvation," said Hanumant, who has sold a pair of bullocks worth Rs 20,000 for a mere Rs 1,400. There are many others like him who have resorted to distress sale of animals at whatever prices on offer mainly for short term financial gains.

Distress sale has been a regular affair in the remote villages of the three districts of Nandurbar, Dhule and Jalgaon, ever since they had a below 50 paisewari crop (less than half) and were declared as drought-hit by the State Government.

"We do not have water for ourselves... How can we provide them with water?" was the principal query of many farmers and livestock owners who spoke to the UNI team. Some of them have even left their cattle to graze in the wild as it is not possible for them to provide fodder and water.

"We don’t even know whether they are alive," lamented Chimanrao Patil of Wadi village in interior northern Maharashtra, who added that he would know their fate only if and when they returned home after the rains.

Some farmers have sold their stock blindly to any buyer who comes along, without bothering to find out their occupation. When asked whether they might be butchers, the farmers did not deny the possibility. "It is better to sell them off than take the sin of such holy animals dying in our house," he reiterated.

Most of the animals are half fed with stuff like dried banana plants which do not form a regular part of their diet.

Nandurbar District Collector Aseem Gupta said that fodder was being provided to farmers on loan. "We make a note of the fodder given to each farmer and when the crop is good we will recover it from them in money terms," he said. Similar arrangements to provide fodder on loan to farmers have been made in Dhule and Jalgaon.

However, most farmers have still not got fodder. One villager, showing his dated receipt of fodder, said he was yet to receive it. The receipt pertained to april but even after a month of being registered, he was still to receive his share.

The landscapes of the three districts are dotted with stray animals feeding on dry grass and contaminated water from ditches. Other animals are luckier to cool themselves in the dead water stock of small rivers and minor dams, while the rest have roamed far into the interior. If they survive the drought, they might return to their owners.

The cattle are weak and dying and all the farmer can do is wait and hope. (UNI)

Media should shift focus from urban to rural areas: Venkaiah

NEW DELHI, May 21: Rural Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu today urged the media to shed its urban bias and help remove rural poverty by empowering the people with greater information about developmental programmes instead of focussing on negativism.

Mr Naidu joined his Ministers of State Rita Verma and Subhash Maharia in stressing that lack of information about various programmes was the biggest handicap towards capacity building in rural areas.

The Union Minister regretted that people did not have information about large number of programmes launched by the Central and State Governments and thus were unable to take advantage of various facilities available to them to improve their lot.

The ministers were addressing the opening session of the orientation workshop for bi-media rural development campaign organised in collaboration with Prasar Bharati, which was also addressed by the secretaries for drinking water supply and rural development and attended by producers of All India Radio and Doordarshan from all over the country.

Noting that empowering the rural areas was as important as removing rural poverty, Mr Naidu said there was also need to take information technology to the villages so that it could be used to educate the people about the progress in various programmes.

Urging All India Radio and Doordarshan to improve their infrastructure and make more software on programmes aimed at reducing rural poverty, Mr Naidu said money was not a constraint if used properly. He regretted that the approach of the media was negativism and sensationalism, and this must undergo a change.

Referring to various programmes launched by his ministry, Mr Naidu said the need was to create awareness through the media, generate knowledge through signboards, have greater transparency with social audit, and involve the corporate sector (for which a National Rural Development Fund had been created). He referred particularly to the empowerment created by self help groups which were now directly questioning the progress in various fields.

Professor Rita Verma said the media could get its message across only if programmes were made in the language and idiom of the target groups and based on their customs and festivals. She said programmes made by mere translation from english to Hindi would never leave any impact on the people for whom they were meant. There was also need to clear miscoceptions about central programmes, she added. She regretted that Doordarshan had still not reached many parts of the country more than forty years after it was launched in the country. Mr Maharia said success of development programmes depended on participation of the target groups, and this necessitated creating greater awareness. He referred to the work being done by the Information, Education and Communication (IEC) division of the ministry set up on the basis of the report of an advisory committee on media in 1999. He said an action plan had been launched under the IEC for creating and enhancement awareness.

Drinking Water Supply Secretary S K Tripathi and Rural Development Secretary Arun Bhatnagar said people in most areas were not even aware of the need for basic amenities like sanitation, potable water or rain water harvesting. They said there was need to prioritise programmes and create awareness.

Prasar Bharati Chief Executive Officer Anil Baijal and Doordarshan Deputy Director General T R Malakar also addressed the opening session.

Several sessions are to be held over the next five days on various aspects to create greater awareness among the programmes for the need to have more informative programmes. These will be addressed by senior officials from the Rural Development Ministry and from Prasar Bharati. (UNI)

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