Daily Excelsior... Editorial

EDITORIAL

Parliamentary panel lambasts unscrupulous NGOs
Men and Matters

By B.L. Kak

Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in India have to be fair, sincere and honest in their overt and covert activities particularly after the Union Government has been cautioned against the dangers inherent in the far-from-satisfactory performance of a number of NGOs. And the Government cannot afford to be indifferent after parliamentary standing committee on Ministry of Human Resource . .........more

Veerappan revisited

By Vinod Vedi

The slaying of forest brigand Veerappan underscores a military truism that such operations are manpower intensive. After looking for him for the better part of two decades, the police, the paramilitary forces and finally the joint teams of special task forces (STF) did what should have been axiomatic in the first instance: They used massive manpower to flush him out of his traditional hunting ground on the Karnataka side of the border into the ........more

Broadband policy to boost PC sales, gaming

By Arvinder Kaur

The broadband policy announced earlier this month by the Government is all set to usher in a whole new range of services including gaming, entertainment and education, which will give further impetus .....more

EDITORIAL

Saffron country

Lest the title of this editorial should generate any controversy regarding the expression saffron because of the connotation it has in the rest of the country we must clarify right at the outset that we have in mind only the real and aromatic saffron cultivated in the State. It has nothing at all to do with politics but simply with spreading fragrance all through the globe. Our tale is tinged with depression though for, as a detailed report in this newspaper points out the trade in this rare natural bounty continues to be hit because of drought and adulteration. As it has happened the cheaper and easily available Iranian imports have added to the worries of the local growers. Behind the giant signposts in Pampore on the national highway in the Kashmir Valley which proudly claim that the world's best saffron is grown in vast fields spread on its either side is actually hidden a sob story so far as farmers is concerned. It may take some time before precise figures are available but the estimates point to an all-time low production this year. Not all of billions of flowers that presented a striking sight in 4500 hectares of fertile land over 200 villages in the Pampore belt have been able to yield their prized content called saffron as they have withered away because of the absence of rainfall. In 2002 only 5000 kilograms of saffron were produced against just 3500 kilograms in 2001. This is a steep decline if one notes that the production had touched as high as 12500 kilograms in the mid-eighties.

It is only too well known that the Kashmir saffron is much sought after across the world. It is an expensive ingredient used in selective medicines and the South Asian cuisine earning for the State millions of rupees. Priced at Rs 38,000 per kilogram it has met more than a match in Iranian saffron which is locally available at Rs 18,000 per kilogram. Doubtless it is a serious blow to the local growers as well as traders. Surprisingly a plea that seems well-merited on the face of it that the local product should be given a distinctive Kashmiri trademark so as to differentiate it from the imported but inferior Iranian counterpart has not met favour with the Government. What is the harm in taking such a step? It is not clear. This should prevent the adulteration of Kashmiri and Iranian varieties and the sale of the mixed product as a Kashmiri brand.

Admittedly, with the globalisation caching up it will certainly not be possible to stop imports even though a product may be locally available in abundance. Assuming that influential lobbies are able to force the Government to take a decision in this behalf it can at best be a temporary measure for, there is unlikely to be any let-up in the race that the world has set for itself now. For us, therefore, the best course to follow will be to gear up our men and machinery to take on the existing and emerging challenges. Hopefully an enforcement division of the agriculture department would be in place soon to check the saffron adulteration. Simultaneously the experts and researchers should be called upon to review the farming techniques that are evidently antiquated. If the per hectare Iranian saffron yield is six kilograms there is no reason why it should be merely two kilograms each hectare in our case. Obviously there is something appallingly wrong about the manner in which we are going about our job. Beginning with the selection of seeds, cultivation, crop pattern and harvesting all steps must be subjected to fresh appraisal. Our saffron is qualitatively way ahead given the strength of its colour and aroma. We should also be peerless in not only preserving its components but also boosting its production and dictating the market forces much like we would do in the none-too-distant past. The fact that there is a blanket ban on the sale of land under saffron cultivation should help us in achieving this target.

Foil this trend

What is happening to our education scenario? First, we witnessed the ugly spectacle of question papers of top professional examinations having been leaked. Then, there was the theft of similar papers although for a different course from this city's prestigious GGM Science College. Now comes another disgusting revelation: fake certificates are being issued from matriculation to graduation for helping the unemployed young persons to secure jobs. In between one hears about the trouble in some of teachers' training colleges which have mushroomed all through the State. Is anybody worried that all this will raise a serious question-mark about the credibility of our fabled education system as a whole? Who will disprove that the State has always had a sound reputation in this field barring except for two or three years in the late sixties when the mass copying was virtually the order of the day. Of course, there has been a setback during the peak of the terrorism as well but nobody can say that conscientious teachers and administrators have not valiantly tried to keep the situation under control to the extent possible particularly in schools. In the latest incident the crime branch has seized more than 50 certificates that were about to be issued to uneducated youth. What is shocking is that over 200 persons may have already secured government jobs like bank clerks, foresters and teachers, among others, on the strength of these false documents. Like the question-papers for admission in medical colleges, which were printed outside the State, fake certificates are found to have been produced in the Paharganj area of the national capital. It is thus a racket with multi-state dimensions involving not only the people from this city but also at least one from Himachal Pradesh and the others from New Delhi.

Clearly it is a warning shot. With the State having major expansion plans in the realm of higher education --- new campuses of Jammu and Kashmir universities, 14 new colleges and two more universities of which the Mata Vaishno Devi University has already started functioning --- there is need for a stricter control. It is a pity if the impression goes around that educational institutions in this State are breeding ground of corrupt and the inefficient where everything is available for a price. Arguably the negative developments are taking place all over the country. There have been media disclosures about fake degrees having been issued in the name of top medical colleges. Leave alone routine courses those concerning the much-sought-for enviable management discipline have been bedevilled by the premature disclosure of papers. Should this imply that just because the scenario is bad elsewhere it should be replicated in this State as well? This will just be like justifying corruption on the ground that it is a much wider --- actually a global --- phenomenon. There is the need to foil this utterly harmful trend. Universities should strengthen their internal vigilance. They should also encourage cooperation with each other and, if necessary, evolve a combined mechanism along with the concerned agencies of the Government to stave off wicked influences.

Parliamentary panel lambasts unscrupulous NGOs
Men and Matters

By B.L. Kak

The Department of Women and Child Development, forming part of the HRD Ministry, is a highly important establishment. The parliamentary standing committee, while taking cognizance of the HRD Ministry engaging NGOs for implementing some schemes of the Department of Women and Child Development, has made public its judgement on two points. First, idea of involving NGOs is good. Second, functioning of some of the NGOs leaves much to be desired.

In fact, parliamentary panel has made a pointed reference to the complaints--a plethora of complaints--of misuse and misappropriation of Government grants by some NGOs ''from time to time''. And more disturbing than this is the panel's specific mention of allegations that in some cases different organisations were being run by one person and same NGO was receiving grants under different names.

All NGOs are not unscrupulous. The parliamentary panel insists that ''many of them were rendering yeoman service''. At the same time, another side of the coin is a bit stained. In other words, The Department of Women and Child Development has blacklisted several NGOs. This step has not satisfied the members of the panel. Their verdict: Simply blacklisting some NGOs will not deter the delinquent ones; they might resurface with change of nomenclature and address.

Nor is it all. The parliamentary standing committee has strongly recommended penal provisions for recovering the grants given to defaulting NGOs. The panel laments that no restriction is in force for having a maximum number of NGOs in a particular area. A glaring example in this connection: Of the 60 NGOs provided financial assistance to the tune of Rs 2.53 crores under the National Creche Fund during 2003-04, as many as 31 are from Andhra Pradesh with IB NGOs based in one district alone.

Out of 463 NGOs provided financial assistance under Swawlamban Scheme during 2003-04, 98 were equipped with funds for running computer institutes and 55 for readymade garments. This phenomenon egged the parliamentary panel to stress that NGOs involved in imparting technical education, even though on a very low standard, should be certified for running such courses. Feedback from NGOs implementing various schemes of the HRD Ministry is not made available on a regular basis.

The number of NGOs in India is reported to be 1,20,000. And the bad news: Almost half of them are unregistered. As many as 14 Ministries in the Union Government have contracted 15,468 NGOs to implement their various projects. How many of these NGOs are run by retired Government officials ? A precise answer to this question is not forthcoming, although it has been admitted, officially, that some retired IAS officials, three of them based in Jammu and Kashmir, have already set up their own NGOs.

The Ministry of Rural Development has created history by contracting the largest number of NGOs----6,467. The two other important establishments, namely, Ministry of Social Justice and Ministry of Health and Family Welfare do not lag behind. If the former has contracted as many as 2,944 NGOs, the number of NGOs contracted by the latter is 1,038. According to the parliamentary penal, substantial funds under different heads are lying with State Government or NGOs and utilisation certificates have not come from them for years together. And there is no clear information whether these funds have been utilised at all.

The panel has reasons to voice dissatisfaction over the manner in which a large number of NGOs have failed to submit utilisation certificates. This notwithstanding, some NGOs were given funds for the subsequent years also. And the panel's pointed question: How come grants were released even without utilisation certificates furnished by the NGOs? The panel is not to blame for its recommendation: Besides strengthening the monitoring mechanism, the Government must make the sanctioning or approving authority accountable for the non-performing and under-performing NGOs across the country.

Setting up of the Department of Women and Child Development in 1985, in fact, was a big step in providing a focused and coordinated impetus to the holistic development of women and children who together constitute 70 percent of the total population of India. Plan allocation for the Department for the year 2004-05 is Rs 2400 crores against a projected demand of Rs 2500 crores.

It is unfortunate that a large number of children under the age of five die every month in the country. Most of these deaths were due to malnutrition. The Department of Women and Child Development has divulged that under-five mortality rate in India is 94.9 per 1000. Incidence of large scale malnutrition in the children indicates that there is a serious lacuna in the existing system. It is incomprehensible as to why there is malnutrition in the children despite the number of schemes operated through different departments of the Union Government as well as by State Governments.

The parliamentary standing committee has opined that multiplicity of schemes as well as departments is also creating confusion, leading to wastage and duplication of resources and efforts. Schemes relating to nutrition and health of children are being implemented by many other departments of the Union Government, besides Ministries. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare was responsible for immunization, eradication of polio, nutritional anemia control and reproductive child health programme. The department of secondary education was providing mid-day meal for children in schools, which had an allocation of Rs 1175 crores during 2003-04.

The standing committee has advanced two suggestions. One, a coordinated approach must be ensured among all the departments and Ministries. Two, Department of Women and Child Development should be the nodal agency for all schemes to achieve optimum results.

Veerappan revisited

By Vinod Vedi

There was a single-mindedness of purpose in this final operation that was commendable and a paragon that needs to be emulated in every counter-insurgency operation/guerrilla warfare sweep that has become endemic to India be it in Jammu and Kashmir or the north-east.

For too long India's war on terror has been fatally flawed by a neglect of this cardinal principal of guerrilla warfare employed in the anti-Veerappan operation conducted by the two teams of STFs. Make no mistake it needed to be coordinated to the minutest detail to be able to succeed. (In an aside it is ridiculous and totally insulting to the men on both sides to single out any one team for kudos and it is to be hoped that not one of them will be left out of the list of honours and awards.)

In classic terms, the joint operation had elements of the "hammer-and-anvil" as well as the "pincer" tactics of counter-insurgency operations and, in the final analysis it was the efficacy of the "hearts and minds" psychological ploy that had the dreaded bandit using a STF-supplied ambulance to travel to his death. And it was heartwarming to see that leaders of both teams held a joint press conference to explain how they did it.

It was made abundantly clear that the area of the dense forest lands In which Veerappan enjoyed the most support because of caste connections was saturated by STF personnel in their hundreds. It needs to be recalled that in empirical studies on guerrilla warfare China's Mao Tsedong and Latin American hero Che Gueverra calculated that it would take 50 security forces to neutralize one guerrilla. Given that they were looking for approximately 15 brigands the two STFs deployed about 1600 personnel on both sides of the Karnataka-Tamil Nadu border along with supporting services. It was overkill by any standards. It cramped Veerappan's style restricted his movements, and his spies told him what the STF wanted to convey: That he better move on, or else.

He did. He went into an hitherto less used and less dense forest on the Tamil Nadu side of the border where the other team of the STF was waiting for him with generous medical facilities and other basic requirements of an hitherto neglected rural habitat. It won the hearts and minds of the local population and also loosened their tongues to intelligence experts. Veerappan, the fly-by-night, had walked into the spider's web.

All this has lessons for the much-vaunted National Security Council and the Cabinet Committee on Security, the bodies created to ensure peace in both its internal and external contexts. It is of particular relevance to the "unified headquarters" whereby elements of the Army, the paramilitary forces and the local police are sought to be welded into a single whole to be able to handle terrorism/insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir and, now, in the north-east.

For many years this setup has been plagued by institutionalized superiority complex and turf wars and has, thus, failed to achieve the same kind of success as the search for a needle in a haystack that was the anti-Veerappan operation because the single-mindedness of purpose tended to be frittered away by internal squabbling for supremacy within the "unified headquarters" setup.

Undignified attempts to undermine the image of the civilian authority when it was designated as the nodal personality authorized to conduct the meetings of the "unified headquarters" (in some cases the Chief Minister of the State) tended to reduce the efficacy of the setup. Dr Farooq Abdullah of Jammu and Kashmir can testify to this. It contributed to the misperception of Pakistan's intentions post-Siachen and opened the way for the Kargil intrusion.

The "unified headquarters" system was the brainchild of Gen K.V.Krishna Rao, former Governor of Jammu and Kashmir. When he presented his plan to Army HQ along with a requirement for additional troops, Army HQ, quoting prior commitments along the international border as well as the Line of Control indicated that there were no additional troops for deployment in Jammu and Kashmir till new raisings were completed.

The waiting period gave the Kashmiri terrorists to entrench themselves and terrorise the local population to harbour them and provide sustenance much as Veerappan had done in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. When the "unified headquarters" became fully functional the effect was electric.

Disruption of terrorist cells, large seizures of arms and logistical equipment, and killing of top terrorist leaders became a regular feature. Frustration began to creep into the ranks of the ISI-created echelons and when the Government of India decided to hold elections in Jammu and Kashmir they were unable to disrupt the process and Mufti Mohammad Sayeed became Chief Minister in a major restructuring of the political landscape.

But the one act of commission, almost criminal it its effect, was the reduction of the strength of the Indian Army by 50,000 men on the totally specious assumption that money would be saved for modernization. It happened at a moment in the history of terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir when the most manpower was needed to stop the infiltration across the Line of Control and at the same time to carry out effective cordon-and-search operations against the terrorists who had managed to secure sanctuaries among the local population.

An overstretched "unified headquarters" setup put unsustainable pressure on the men on the ground leading to mistakes that helped Pakistan highlight the human rights issues which undercut Indian efforts to win the hearts and mind of the local population. Several terrorist attacks on military cantonments and offices, the targeted killings of former militants who had joined the government forces and of members of the village defence forces took their toll.

It would have helped, as it definitely did on the Karnataka-Tamil Nadu border, to have been able to saturate pre-selected target areas with enough manpower (a combination of the adequately armed military, the paramilitary and the local armed police) to create the kind of "killing fields" in which Veerappan was trapped at the dead of night.

Post ipso facto it is also now clear that failure to induct enough manpower along the Indo-Bhutan border when the Himalayan kingdom bravely took on the Indian terrorists encamped on its territory allowed many of them to escape back into Assam, Nagaland and into sanctuaries in Bangladesh and Myanmar leading to the current exacerbation of the security situation in that area.

It is to be hoped that the Indian security bosses would have learned the cardinal principle of counter-insurgency operations: That it is manpower-intensive and that it will not pay the expected dividends if there is miserliness on this crucial aspect.

It could be in the fitness of things if both teams of the STF of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, after adequate rest and recreation and due honours, are inducted into the north-east as part of the recently-created "unified headquarters" in the region so that their demonstrated expertise in jungle warfare is fully utilized in the national interest.

The idea is not novel. After all the leader of the Tamil Nadu STF Vijay Kumar had been posted out to the Border Security Force for counter-insurgency duties in Jammu and Kashmir when there was a lull in operations against the sandalwood smuggler. It apparently was a learning experience, which he put to good use when he was redeployed against Veerappan.

The expertise gained by the two teams in their operations against Veerappan can be utilized to good effect in the recently created "unified headquarters" in the north-east. The propaganda effect of news that the killers of Veerappan are now in the north-east will have its own place in what is known as "psychological operations" in counter-insurgency in which their reputation casts a long shadow ahead of them.

In nitty-gritty terms the two STFs can contribute effectively in interdiction of routes of ingress and egress used by the militants along the border with Bangladesh or Myanmar wherever their activities are accentuated.

As a cohesive unit they have already proved their effectiveness and their police backgrounds will help induce a culture of grassroots collection of intelligence within the area of their operation, which, over time, can be used to neutralize the militants.

---Syndicate Features

Broadband policy to boost PC sales, gaming

By Arvinder Kaur

Broadband is defined as always-on data connection supporting interactive services including internet access within a download speed of 256 kbps per subscriber.

The policy would also throw open a vast opportunity for IT and electronic manufacturers as deployment of various boxes to create infrastructure for delivery of broadband services.

It does bring India closer to high speed, "always on" internet, a massive improvement on the 56 kbps dial up connectivity, but those in the industry say it will be a while before one can actually start downloading DVD quality films though.

Experts say the recognition of broadband as the basic infrastructure would give a much needed impetus to e-governance, distance learning and telemedicine while taking care of urban congestion and job creation for the world's largest youth population segment.

The policy would also a give fresh push to local language multimedia and content industry.

The policy also permits the use of Wi-Fi (Wireless Fidelity) on the 2.4 GHz band in outdoor locations against the present regime of restricting it to a closed area. The move will enable consumers to access the internet even when they are travelling in a car or train similar to what they can do with mobile phones.

Those in the industry say this move is likely to trigger a growth in the WiFi usage within the country. The delicencing of frequencies in the 5 GHz band for both outdoor and indoor purposes in another positive step and will fuel the growth of mobility products by enabling convenience of access.

Deregulation of wireless frequencies has been a long-standing demand of the industry. Keeping the policy flexible to include newer technologies, as and when they happen, has been largely welcomed by the industry.

Procedures for obtaining clearance for radio frequency usage have also been simplified for VSAT operators. Broadband operators will now be able to use the Cable TV network as franchisees.

According to the policy estimates, by the end of year 2005, the country would have an estimated three million broadband subscribers and six million internet subscribers. This number is likely to grow up to mine billion broadband and 18 million internet subscribers by the end of 2007.

The broadband rollout in India has been extremely slow with a number of Asian countries being ahead of us in this area. The TRAI recently identified how other countries were ahead of us with respect of broadband connectivity and demanded a number of concessions from the Government to help private companies in providing broadband services.

The most important of them was "unbundling" the local loop - allowing other internet providers to use the cables laid by the incumbent telephone companies - MTNL and BSNL - to provide their internet services.

But the policy allows these two state-run telecom companies to enter into commercial arrangement with all the service providers on mutually accepted terms and conditions. However, it did not accept Telecom Regulatory Authority's proposal for unbundling the local loop.

"Recognising that last mile copperloop is not a bottleneck facility for broadband services, access providers shall be free to enter into mutually agreed commercial arrangements for utilisation of available copperloop for extension of broadband services including content," Telecom Minister Dayanidhi Maran said while announcing the policy.

The minister said unbundling of the local loop will only cause confusion and so the Government decided, especially after looking at the developed countries like the US and the UK, where unbundling has failed.

However, the policy gives full freedom to incumbents to commercialise the local loop through franchise agreement. But the other service providers entering into an agreement with any of the incumbents will have to operate under the brand name of the incumbent.

While the Government has made it clear that the price is for the industry to decide, it is estimated that the services would come in the range of Rs. 500 - 800 per month.

Thus, with the massive growth in the telecom market, India is favourably poised for the emergence of the broadband economy. Through suitable technologies deployed either on the telecom, cable or wireless networks and a triple play box connected to the PC and TV at the user premises, broadband services allow users to access the net through an "always on, high speed connection without keeping the telephone line busy," receive TV channels and Video on demand (including movies) on the TV, play games on the PC, benefit from two-way audio vido system, access citizen and health services in an interactive mode and have video conferencing.

Such services are now available in many parts of the world and are becoming increasing popular in Korea, Japan, China, Taiwan and U.S.A. with penetration levels in countries like Korea exceeding 60 per cent of the households.

Many developed countries have already adopted broadband as a national priority with definite adoption targets. The synergistic impact of IT and Telecom on GDP will be felt with the development of the broadcast sector and its ecosystem. Broadband catalyses social and economic development and enables skill enhancement by eliminating the problems of distance and time in an increasingly connected world.

PTI Feature