DECLINING SEX-RATIO IN PUNJAB AND HARYANA

DECLINING SEX-RATIO IN PUNJAB AND HARYANA       

 MALE CHILD IS THE DETERMINING FORCE FOR FEMALE FOETICIDE AND

             INFANTICIDE

• Male child is an old age insurance
• Male child brings social status

GIRL CHILD IS AN INCREASING LIABILITY

• Perceived as the “other”, over which parents have no claims.
• Dowry exchange is crucial in preventing the birth of a girl child.
• Penetration of the market has appropriated male child preference to promote
consumption patterns through large scale celebrations of birth, lohri, mundal,
namkaran etc.
• Celebrating rituals associated with the birth of a male child and his
life stages are becoming status symbols.
• Technology is differentially utilised to practise male child preference.
• Revivalism of the fundamentalist movement and identity assertions
• Women perceived as the group’s honour
• Imposing codes of conduct
• Restrict mobility
• Norms of seclusion.
• Small family norm has displaced the girl child
• Segmented initiatives to promote women’s development have marginalised
the girl child
• Property laws in peasant patrilocal society have resulted in increased
dowry and resentment towards the girl child
• Shagun scheme at the level of norm has endorsed the view that the
girl child is a liability therefore provided compensation for by
government.

INTERVENTION STRATEGY

Any strategy to combat female foeticide and infanticide needs to address all factors that
determined male child preference and those that enhance the worth of the male child.
The core elements of patriarchy (gender typed roles, male descendancy and
inheritance, defining the male as the earner and protector, the vanguard of family
lineage and inheritor of resources and property) ensure the male child to be the
preferred sex at birth. The initiation into each life stage revolves around these
prototypes and reinforce them. This differentiation between male and female continues
around the life cycle initiated by different institutions and practices at different junctures.
Thus the coming of age of both male and female adolescents charter their
respective responsibilities and functions in accordance with their gender placement.
Female mobility gets restricted, dress and conduct codes and imposed, as is earnest
harnessing of capacities to be dictated towards being a home-maker,pro-creator and
nurturer. The male, on the other hand, is encouraged to acquire productive income
earning skills. The institution of marriage and death-related practices form part of the
gender determined constructs with unfolding of each life stage the hegemony of the male
is dictated. Therefore, intervention cannot be restricted to birth, pre-birth or post-birth
activities that discriminate between the male and the female. It is the entire life cycle and
associated institutions (gender structures that attach a high value to the male child and
lower the worth of the girl child), practice through differentiating roles have to be
undermined. In other words, the male child preference does manifest starkly in the
preferred birth of a male child, but the hegemonic importance of the male is instated at
every juncture of life with different social mechanisms and processes supporting the
difference. It has also been found that while patriarchy does ensure the importance of the
male child with the male being the preferred child at birth, intervening external factors
interlink with patriarchy to ensure that the girl child is received as a burden and the
importance of the male child is enhanced. The penetration of the market has ensured that
celebration for the birth of a male child, dowry exchange and associated marriage
ceremonies have acquired the dimensions of status symbols.
Market forces have thus transformed normative rituals, practices or customs into an
entity, valued for their material and resource worth. For instance, celebrations at the
time of the birth of a male child are seen as a status symbol enhancing social worth of
the family in terms of popularity, goodwill, in providing an occasion to display its
opulence. The politics of fundamentalist extremism and identity assertion have glorified
the female as the family’s honour posing bodily restrictions in terms of appearance,
codes of conduct and mobility. The added burden of visible control over female
sexuality and reproduction has reinforced the sense of liability of a female while also
targeting her for avenging honour. These fundamentalist assertions continue to fuel the
culture of violence in Punjab which promotes violence as a method of conflict
resolution. This regenerates violent masculinities be it for martyrdom or for heroism.
Shedding blood for one’s land or women has a mandate, increasing the value of
protection – male to provide the protection over female. The culture of violence may
perhaps even be providing acceptability to acts of violence including female foeticide and
infanticide.
Simultaneously, the adoption of the small family norm has displaced the girl child in this
milieu of increasing importance of the male child. Other development initiatives such as
property laws in the peasant patriarchal society and subsequent increase in dowry has also
impacted towards the negative worth of the girl child. Implementation of schemes to provide
positive discrimination to the female and the girl child, such as favourable labour laws have
ousted women from the formal sector. The Shagan scheme which at the level of norm has
endorse the view that the girl child is a liability and, therefore, the provision of
compensation. These initiatives could be effective measures to check the discrepant male
female worth only when these are contextualised in a gender sensitive environment. In
other words, simultaneous efforts at the level of practice, norms and values have to address
the practice of differentiation between the male and the female.
 

NATIONAL POPULATION POLICY

NATIONAL POPULATION POLICY

In 1952, India was the first country in the world to launch a National Programme, emphasizing family planning. In 1966, several important developments concerning the family planning programme took place.

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A full fledged Department of Family Planning was established within the Ministry of Health, which was designated as the ministry of Health and Family Planning, and a Minister of the cabinet rank was placed in its charge. A cabinet committee of Family Planning, initially headed by the Prime Minister and later by the Finance Minister, was constituted at the central level.

In 1976, during emergency, the Government of India announced National Population Policy. Through this:

i. The Government proposed legislation to raise the age of marriage to 18 for girls and 21 for boys;

ii. The Government would take special measures to raise the level of female education in the states;

iii. As the acceptance of Family Planning by the poorer sections of society was significantly related to the use of monetary compensation as from May 1, 1976, to Rs. 150 for sterilization (by men or women) if performed with 2 children, Rs. 100 if performed with three living children and Rs. 70 if performed with four or more children.

The announcement of the National Population Policy 2000, by the NDA government in February 2000 and setting up of a National Population Commission, under the strong and promising leadership of then Prime Minister Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee and comprising eminent persons from all walks of life on May 11, 2000 reflected the deep commitment of the government to population stabilization programme.

The National Population Policy 2000 (NPP 2000), affirms the commitment of the government towards voluntary and informed choice and consent of citizens while availing of productive health care services, and continuation of the target free approach in administering family planning services.

The NPP 2000 provides a policy frame work for advancing goals and prioritizing strategies during the next decade, to meet the reproductive and child health needs of the people of India, and to achieve net replacement levels (TFR) by 2010.

It is based upon the need to meet and simultaneously address issues of child survival, maternal health, and contraception, while increasing outreach and coverage of a comprehensive package of reproductive and child health services by government, industry and the voluntary non-government sector working in partnership.

Highlights on National Population Policy, 2000 of India!

The National Population Policy (NPP) 2000 provides a policy framework of achieving goals and prioritizing strategies during the next decade to meet the reproductive and child health needs of the people of India along with the target to achieve the net replacement levels (Total Fertility Rate). It aims at stable population by 2046.

The following national socio-demographic goals were formulated to be achieved by 2010:

1. To address the unmet needs for basic reproduction (contraception), child health services, supplies and infrastructure (health personnel).

2. To make school education up to age 14 free and compulsory and reduce dropouts at primary and secondary school levels to below 20 per cent for both boys and girls.

3. To reduce infant mortality rate to below 30 per 1,000 live births.

4. To reduce maternal mortality rate to below 100 per 100,000 live births.

5. To achieve universal immunization of children against all vaccine preventable diseases.

6. To promote delayed marriages for girls, not earlier than age 18 and preferably after 20 years of age.

7. To achieve universal access to information/counseling, and services for fertility regulation and contraception with a wide basket of choices.

8. To achieve 80 per cent institutional deliveries and 100 per cent deliveries by trained persons.

9. To achieve 100 per cent registration of births, deaths, marriages and pregnancies.

10. To prevent and control communicable diseases, especially AIDS and sexually transmitted infections (STIs).

11. To promote vigorously the small family norm.

12. To integrate Indian Systems of Medicine (ISM) in the provision of repro­ductive and child health services, and in reaching out to households.

It is to be noted that like China, a coerced population control policy of one child only has not been accepted in India. It has been kept totally voluntary. For achieving the goals of family welfare programme, accredited social health activists have been appointed.

The policy document hoped that if NPP 2000 was fully implemented, India’s population in 2010 would be 1,107 million. In other words, the absolute population would be lower by over 55 million if TFR is brought down to replacement level by 2010.

The document stated a special strategic theme for underserved population—slum population, tribal communities, displaced migrant population and adolescents. Not only this, NPP 2000 had identified a separate strategic theme for the aged persons for their health care and support.

Ironically enough, the family planning (new welfare) programme failed to deliver desired results at least till recently. Much of the failure, as is generally suggested, can be attributed to a deep-rooted attitude of preference for a male child and also ignorance of the rural masses about the birth control techniques. Despite all efforts, there is little evidence of our capacity to arrest population explosion. An estimate suggests that about 8,000 persons are added to it every day.

According to the Human Development Report (2011), India ranks a low 134 position among 187 countries in terms of HDI. The HDI ranking is a combined measure of long and healthy life (expectation of life), education and standard of living.

TRIBAL POLICY IN INDIA

TRIBAL POLICY IN INDIA

Approaches to tribal development in India are based on three models, to conserve, assimilate and integrate.

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First, there was a school of thought which favoured isolation. Hutton, who was a Commissioner for Census of 1931, gave a solution to the tribal problems of uncontrolled acculturation. He suggested the creation of self-governing tribal areas with free power of self-determination.

Earlier Verrier Elwin suggested the creation of’ National Parks” where the tribal people could live safely without being victims of what Elwin calls an” “over-hasty and unregulated process of belief and civilization”. But later on Elwin discarded the idea of a national park. Both Hutton and Elwin were severely criticised for recommending this policy of isolation which was looked upon as a proposal to create a museum or zoo, instead of helping the tribal people to utilise the resources of modern knowledge and improve their condition of life.

Second, there is another school which favoured assimilation. According to G.S. Ghurye, the tribals are backward Hindus and they should be completely assimilated into Hindu culture. D.N. Majumdar has put forward a philosophy and programme of tribal welfare. He says that it is not possible to ignore the entire .tribal population and leave them to their own lot. It is not also possible to completely assimilate them in the Hindu culture.

Therefore, a gradual transformation of the tribal population is the best policy. We should try to help them in assimilating in their own way of life the elements of alien culture which they readily accept. This view was also supported by social reformers and voluntary organisations.

The Christian missionaries and some social reformers like Thakkar Bapa have recommended and have worked for the assimilation of these tribal groups either into Christianity or into Hinduism.

The third view, which is followed in the recent years, is that of integration. The policy of integration, as against isolation and assimilation, was laid down in five principles by Nehru in 1957 in forwarding to Verrier Elwin’s the philosophy for NEFA.

The tribal ‘Panchasheel’ as enunciated by him are as follows:

(1) People should develop along the lines of their own genius and we should avoid imposing anything on them. We should try to encourage in every way their traditional art and culture.

(2) Tribal rights in land and forests should be respected.

(3) We should try to train and build up a team of their own people for the work of administration and development. Some technical personnel from outside will, no doubt be needed especially in the beginning. But we should avoid introducing too many outsiders into tribal territory.

(4) We should not over-administer these areas or overwhelm them with a multiplicity of schemes. We should rather work through and not in rivalry to their own social and cultural institutions.

(5) We should judge results not by statistics or the amount of money spent but by the quality of human character that is evolved.

To conclude, the policy of isolation was neither possible nor desirable. Assimilation as advocated by some was not accepted because it would mean imposition. Only therefore, the policy accepted which would make available to the tribes the benefits of modern society and yet retain their separate identity is integration. However, the process of assimilation is bound to continue as some of the tribal groups are adopting Hindu customs because of their association with the village people. Others have been converted to Christianity.

RELIGION VS SPIRITUALITY

RELIGION VS SPIRITUALITY

Historically, the words religious and spiritual have been used synonymously to describe all the various aspects of the concept of religion. Gradually, the word spiritual came to be associated with the private realm of thought and experience while the word religious came to be connected with the public realm of membership in a religious institution with official denominational doctrines.

In the field of psychology, spirituality has emerged as a distinct social construct and focus of research since the 1980s. With the emergence of spirituality as a distinct concept from religion in both academic circles and common language, a tension has arisen between the two constructs. One possible differentiation among the three constructs religion,religiosity, and spirituality, is to view religion as primarily a social phenomenon while understanding spirituality on an individual level. Religiosity is generally viewed as being rooted in religion, whereas this is not necessarily the case for spirituality. A study of the differences between those self-identified as spiritual and those self-identified as religious found that the former have a loving, forgiving, and nonjudgmental view about religion, while those identifying themselves as religious see their god as more judgmental.
    Among other factors, declining membership of organized religions and the growth of secularism in the western world have given rise to this broader view of spirituality. The term "spiritual" is now frequently used in contexts in which the term "religious" was formerly employed.

NATIONAL ANTHEM VS NATIONAL SONG

NATIONAL ANTHEM VS NATIONAL SONG OF INDIA

 National anthem and national song both refers to patriotic songs that describe the culture and pride associated with the country. National anthem is officially adopted by the countries, whereas as national song may or may not be officially adopted by the country.

The word anthem is associated with any song or hymn that consists of feelings like praise, joy, triumph and pride. Thus, a song that brings out the same feelings is selected as the national anthem. National anthem is a patriotic hymn or song and is officially adopted by the countries. Hence, a country can have only one national anthem.

National anthems are chosen on the basis of the content and significance. For example, in 1931, ‘the Star Spangled Banner’ became the official national anthem of the United States. This song was selected due to the significance of the lyrics that symbolizes the strong characteristics of the United States. A national anthem always reflects the culture and tradition of the country.

Singing an anthem requires following of certain guidelines. National anthem is a tribute to country and thus should be sung with respect. National anthem is sung according to the defined codes. The anthem is usually sung on historic days that are marked by national holidays, and also is usually sung in international sports events, etc.

A national song is also a patriotic song but it is different from national anthem as it may or may not have official recognition. It is also a patriotic song like anthem. It is not mandatory to have a national song. India recognizes ‘Vande Matram’ written by Bankim Chandra Chaterjee as its National song. This song was famous among the freedom fighters, and due to the patriotic fervor, it was later adopted as the country’s national song.

It is important to mention that all countries do not have both national anthem and a national song. Sometimes a national anthem is also referred as national song in countries where they do not have separate national anthem and song. The differences are listed in the table; these differences are according to the countries where there is a national anthem and also a different song that is recognized as national song.

	National Anthem	National Song
Definition	National anthem is a patriotic hymn or song and is officially adopted by the countries	National song is also a patriotic song and may or may not be adopted officially by the countries
Rules	Specific rules and regulations need to be followed while singing a national anthem	No specific rules
Compulsory	Generally in national ceremonies	Not mandatory
Example	‘Jan Man Gan’ of India	‘Vande Matram’ of India

MIND-MANAGEMENT

MIND-MANAGEMENT

While i was in school ,my respected Sanskrit teacher used to say some moral lesson emanating a timeless truth, which i might translate in English that funeral pyre and worrying thoughts are harmful .But the later is more harmful than the former .Becoz ,the former burns a dead body while the later burns a living body.In today's era of breakneck change and chaos of crisis ,most of the people are not able to manage their mind .I would like to mention the fact that mind is a submissive servant and dominant dictator.If we lose control of mind,then mind controls us.Thus we would be able to recognize the most memorable moment of our life ,when we develop the potential & possibility of erasing our worrying thoughts ,distracting and disturbing ideas and we would be able to add escape velocity to our ambition and mission,so that we could overcome the gravitational pull of mind.
.............................................SAROJ SAMAL

NARCO-TERRORISM

Narcoterrorism is a term coined by former President Fernando Belaúnde Terry of Peru in 1983 when describing terrorist-type attacks against his nation's anti-narcotics police. In its original context, narcoterrorism is understood to mean the attempts of narcotics traffickers to influence the policies of a government or a society through violence and intimidation, and to hinder the enforcement of anti-drug laws by the systematic threat or use of such violence. Pablo Escobar's violence in his dealings with the Colombiangovernment is probably one of the best known and best documented examples of narcoterrorism.

The term has become a subject of controversy, largely due to its use in discussing violent opposition to the US Government's War on Drugs.

The term is being increasingly used for known terrorist organizations that engage in drug trafficking activity to fund their operations and gain recruits and expertise. Such organizations include FARC, ELN, AUC in Colombia, PCP-SL in Peru, Hamas andTaliban

In 2000 the U.S. began funding, continued under the U.S. Bush administration, of Plan Colombia, intending to eradicate drug crops and to act against drug lords accused of engaging in narcoterrorism, including among them the leaders of the marxist FARC and theAUC paramilitary forces. The U.S. government is funding large-scale drug eradication campaigns and supporting Colombian military operations, seeking the extradition of commanders.

Although Al Qaeda is often said to finance its activities through drug trafficking, the 9/11 Commission Report notes that "while the drug trade was a source of income for theTaliban, it did not serve the same purpose for al Qaeda, and there is no reliable evidence that bin Laden was involved in or made his money through drug trafficking." The organization gains most of its finances through donations, particularly those by "wealthy Saudi individuals".

Critics of the prohibition of drugs say that it is this prohibition itself which funds terrorism.