LIFE INSURANCE CORPORATION OF INDIA

LIC IS OFFICIALLY RECOGNISED MAHAJAN

Please see the following details to understand why I have labeled LIC as Mahajan. Mahajans exploit the needy.

For LIC annuity of Rs. 1948428.00  monthly pension details are given below.

Option 1 pension amount is Rs 15246.00 only for  life time of member, after the death of member no benefit accrues.

Option 2-pension amount is Rs. 15100.00 only for life time of member with guaranteed benefit for five years only.

Option 3-pension amount is Rs. 14743.00 only for life time of member with guaranteed benefit for ten years only.

Option 4-pension amount is Rs. 14256.00 only for life time of member with guarteed benefit for fifteen years only.

Option 5-pension amount is Rs.11382.00 only life time of member with refund of the principal annuity amount upon death of the member.

Option 6 pension amount is Rs 12454.00 only for joint life time of member as well as his/her spouse.

Option 7 pension amount is  Rs. 13655.00 only for life time of member with guaranteed benefit for twenty years only.

Option 8 Rs  pension amount is Rs. 10628.00 only for joint life and survivor pension with return of capital.

LIC clocks Rs 11,000 crore profit through equity investments in FY16

PTI|

7 Apr, 2016, 05.57PM IST

MUMBAI: Life insurance giant LIC has made a profit of Rs 11,000 crore through its equity investments in the recently concluded 2015-16, a senior official said today.

"We saw some profit booking opportunities during the fiscal and have made a profit of Rs 11,000 crore through our equity investments in the recently concluded FY16," its executive director for investment operations, Pravin Kutumbe told reporters on the sidelines of an event here.

Read more at:
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/51729458.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

Why Modiji admires Sardar Patel?

Sardar Patel was Home Minister during Hyderabad police action. Please read Sundarlal report in the following URLs.
http://www.frontline.in/static/html/fl1805/18051140.htm
 
http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-24159594

Farmers

Farmer takes home coveted Balapur laddu for Rs 9.5 lakh

TNN | Sep 9, 2014, 04.53AM IST

Farmer? These are the 'farmers' who get all kinds of subsidies. They are land lords not farmers. They have labour force who work in their farms. And they get pittance. Times of India   should not have used the word farmer for this 'laddu premi'.

TSSPDCL -Southern Power Distribution company of TG Ltd :Taking people for a ride.

If you are in LTCat-1 B Domestic and if you consume just 200 units your energy charges are just Rs.620/-, but if you consume 204 units  charges are Rs.843.52. Is it reasonable?

Who is middle class

The Times of India, Hyderabad of Saturday, November 23,2013 carries an article ‘India’s middle class awakes’ by Pavan K Verma. He writes, ‘If we take a strictly economic criterion of defining a middle class person as anybody who belongs to a household which has a monthly income of between Rs 20,000 and Rs 100,000 a month, the middle class starts to look very substantial. Estimates reveal that as per this criterion the size of the middle class in 1996 was a paltry 25 million. Today, it is in excess of 160 million’.

160 million sounds big, but it is just about 15% of our population. And the criterion is unconvincing.  May be that is the reason the word ‘if’ is used.

                       

Census figures of 2011 are available in my post ‘ lest you forget’ in this very blog.

As a manager in a PSU my gross salary in 1996 was Rs.13774/-( IT deduction was Rs.3402/-;net was Rs.7619/-) in 1999 it was Rs.17770/-(IT deduction was Rs.2799/-;net was 7080/-). The purchasing power of Rs.7000/- that time gave me a least uncomfortable living.

The point is I was much below Mr. Verma’s middle class. Today at least Rs. 30000/- net carry home salary is needed for the comfort level that Rs.7000/- provided in 1996-99.

 My views on classification are as follows:         

Those whose income is 2 lacs a year and not liable to pay IT cannot be considered as middle class. They get around 16600/- a month.

Those who pay 10% IT beyond 2 lacs can be considered lower middle class. But we cannot compare life of those getting 4 to 5 lacs with those getting less than 3 lacs.

 Those who pay 20% IT i.e. with income between 5 to 10 lacs can be mid-middle class. Even here one cannot compare life style of someone getting 5 lacs with another getting 10 lacs. It is very painful to call all of them mid-middle class.

Then those getting 10 lacs and above are upper middle class. But ceiling of middle class can be for those getting up to 15 to 20 lacs.

 Beyond 20 lacs upper class can be divided into lower upper, mid-upper and upper.

There are rich and super rich who really matter in every field.

Godhra

Majority appeasement?

Around the place I live there are many govt. and PSU offices. In every office premises there is a temple. Town planning office, MMTC office, Bank of India and even JNU Fine Arts College have temples maintained by them on their own premises. I am sure there are at least a few Christian and Muslim employees.

The PSU I worked for has a temple in every location. Every department has a specific place for pooja. When the pooja is performed work is at stand still. Prasadam is distributed. Muslim and Christian employees are silent spectators.

Ayudha pooja is a grand affair. Offices do not function because each instrument of work has to have a vermillion (kumkum) mark—computers and any other instrument of even Muslims and Christians are not spared.

Whenever I went for inauguration of a distributorship, I had to break a cocoanut before a photograph. If I happened to be at a location and pooja was performed there I accepted prasad in the way they accept—with right hand, left palm touching right forehand. On the occasions of Independence day and Republic day a garlanded picture of durga is placed on the pedestal where the flag post stands.

Once I was traveling with a senior. When he saw a temple on the roadside, he folded his hands, murmured some thing and turned to me and said he did the same whenever he passed by a durgah. Message was loud and clear.

Muslim officers, to realize their ambitions trying to please Hindu officers, tend to be harsh on junior Muslim officers.

When I was posted in Chennai, head of the plant summoned all managers who were to write confidential reports of their juniors. His advice was not to waste ‘outstanding’ rating on SC officers. His logic was SCs get the benefits anyway. I was shocked by his behaviour and thought he would be harsher on Muslims if I were not present.

  On personal level too a minority person has to please majority. If a Brahmin colleague visits my house, he puts forward many excuses to avoid taking anything including water. When I happen to visit his house, his wife, may be, washes those cups and saucers ten times or they have separate cups etc. for visit of minority people.

I had a telagu Brahmin friend in Bombay university hostel. Years later we happened to meet in Calcutta and he invited me with my family for lunch. My two-year-old son walked into their kitchen and the face of my friend’s wife (Tamil iyer) was worth watching.

A very interesting incident happened when I invited a visiting Christian manager’s family for lunch. They were in Hyderabad on a personal visit and I arranged IBP guesthouse. When I invited them for lunch his wife flared up. She said ‘ you people do not eat any thing in our house and why should we come to yours’. She thought I was a Brahmin.

Then there is informal reservation. Muslims and Christians are at the bottom of the heap when it comes to promotions in any organization. Reservation exists everywhere—in employment in private sector, admissions in private schools, promotions in public sectors and many other fields. I am talking of informal reservation.

Employment bias mars private sector – Study (NDTV) reporter Adhana Sharma
Saturday, October 27, 2007 (New Delhi)

 A study was released by the Indian Institute of Dalit Studies in collaboration with Princeton University. It reveals that in fact a person's caste and religion could be a hindrance in getting a job, despite equal qualification.

The study says that a dalit had 60 per cent less chances of being called for an interview, and a Muslim had 30 per cent less, as against their higher caste peers.


''Here in India, it is a routine practice for employers to enquire about family background and use it as a means for screening. This is an anti-thesis to what one expects in a merit based system,'' Professor Katherine S Newman, Princeton University.

We are in an officially/ constitutionally declared ‘secular democratic republic’ that guarantees equality. What should be the terminology for what it really is in practice?

Lest you forget

The Telegraph Calcutta dated July 13,2013

Times of India of 14.3.2012

Kharij

Last night I saw Bengali film 'kharij'. Mrinal Sen made this film in 1982. It is about how middle class families exploit the poor and have 10-12 year old boys as as their domestic servants. The domestic servant dies of carbon monoxide while sleeping in the kitchen.
What struck me was a matter of fact statement by a senior advocate, who the family appraoches,that 'legal lie must prevail over moral truth'.

Coastal Andhra and poverty

It is normally believed that people of Coastal Andhra in Andhra Pradesh are better off than those in Telangana. I lived in Vishakhapatnam for four years and I know the condition. May be ten percent are rich and forty percent lead an average life. But the bulk of the people are landless labourers and those ill paid working for contractors. Adivasis have particularly tough life. People from Srikakulam and Vizayanagaram are poor. All industries are in Vishakhapatnam but those employed there are from East and West Godavari districts.

I stay near Income tax towers, which is quite close to shantinagar colony. There are more than hundred five story buildings—all residential—each building having ten to twenty-five flats and most of them occupied by IT workers, who are very well paid.

Every building has just one watchman, who is paid about Rs.3000/-per month and is on duty round the clock. The watchmen live with their families in a single small room provided by the building societies. Watchman’s wife works as maidservant and earns some money to meet both ends meet. The residents give left over food to them. Ninety percent of these watchmen are from Srikakulam and Vishakhapatnam. Who says coastal Andhra is developed?
It is very common to see girls below the age of ten are employed to look after babies of these buildings as most of the women are also employed. The girls employed are either the children of watchmen or are brought from the native towns of the residents.
Where is the labour department?

SC wants caste system abolished

“Unfortunately, the centuries-old Indian Caste System still takes its toll from time to time. This case unfolds the worst kind of atrocities committed by the so-called upper caste (Kshatriya or Thakur) against the so-called lower caste — Harijan caste in a civilised country,” the top court observed.
“It is absolutely imperative to abolish the caste system as expeditiously as possible for the smooth functioning of rule of law and democracy in our country,” a Bench of Justices Dalveer Bhandari and A.K. Patnaik said expressing anguish over occurrence of such crimes. While restoring the life sentence to six members of the Thakur community — Mathura Singh, Udai Bhan Singh, Dhirendra Singh, Munna, Ram Niwas Singh and Vijay Karan Singh — for the heinous crime, the Bench directed that the four surviving accused should surrender to the authorities immediately while cancelling their bail bonds.
“The accused belonging to Thakur caste butchered seven innocent persons belonging to the Harijan caste and to wipe out the evidence of their atrocities, after shooting they were thrown in the Ganges,” the court stated.
The above text is from Deccan Chronicle report on 6.12.2009.
I studied caste system as a student of Sociology. There are only four castes—brahmin, kshtrya, vaishya and shudra. Dalits are outside the fourfold hindu society. I do not use the term harijan. I agree with what Mayawatiji said about it. Dalits do not belong to any caste.
It is a very noble thought that caste system should be abolished. It would have been most welcome had the judges suggested ways of abolition.
What were the judgements of lower courts?

Another notable judgement.
Recognising the right of Muslim women beyond the iddat period under the Family Court Act of 1984 and other relevant legal provisions, the Supreme Court has held that a divorced Muslim wife would continue to get maintenance from her ex-husband if she doesn’t remarry. This was reported in the same news paper on 5.12.2009. As expected muslim clerics have raised concerns and I am also sure that a Rajiv will undo the judgement.
In one judgement SC asks for abolition of caste system but in this case does not even suggest enactment and implementation of uniform civil code, which to my knowledge is part of ‘directive principles of state policy’.

national song

In his Autobiography of an Unknown Indian, Nirad C. Chaudhuri has aptly described the atmosphere of the times in which the song was written. "The historical romances of Bankim Chatterjee and Ramesh Chandra Dutt glorified Hindu rebellion against Muslim rule and showed the Muslims in a correspondingly poor light. Chatterjee was positively and fiercely anti-Muslim. We were eager readers of these romances and we readily absorbed their spirit."
R.C. Majumdar, the historian, writes "During the long and arduous struggle for freedom from 1905 to 1947 'Bande Mataram' was the rallying cry of the patriotic sons of India, and thousands of them succumbed to the lathi blow of the British police or mounted the scaffold with 'Bande Mataram' on their lips. The central plot moves round a band of sanyasis, called santanas or children, who left their hearth and home and dedicated their lives to the cause of their motherland. They worshipped their motherland as the Goddess Kali;... This aspect of the Ananda Math and the imagery of Goddess Kali leave no doubt that Bankimchandra's nationalism was Hindu rather than Indian. This is made crystal clear from his other writings which contain passionate outbursts against the subjugation of India by the Muslims. From that day set the sun of our glory - that is the refrain of his essays and novels which not unoften contain adverse, and sometimes even irreverent, remarks against the Muslims". As Majumdar puts it, "Bankimchandra converted patriotism into religion and religion into patriotism."

Full song from Anand Math a Bengali novel is:

vande maataraM 
sujalaaM suphalaaM malayaja shiitalaaM 
sasyashyaamalaaM maataraM || 
 
 
 
 
shubhrajyotsnaa pulakitayaaminiiM 
pullakusumita drumadala shobhiniiM 
suhaasiniiM sumadhura bhaashhiNiiM 
sukhadaaM varadaaM maataraM || 
 
 
 
 koTi koTi kaNTha kalakalaninaada karaale 
koTi koTi bhujai.rdhR^itakharakaravaale 
abalaa keno maa eto bale 
bahubaladhaariNiiM namaami taariNiiM 
ripudalavaariNiiM maataraM || 
 
 
 
 
 tumi vidyaa tumi dharma 
tumi hR^idi tumi marma  
tvaM hi praaNaaH shariire 
 
baahute tumi maa shakti 
hR^idaye tumi maa bhakti 
tomaara i pratimaa gaDi 
mandire mandire || 
 
 
tvaM hi durgaa dashapraharaNadhaariNii 
kamalaa kamaladala vihaariNii 
vaaNii vidyaadaayinii namaami tvaaM 
namaami kamalaaM amalaaM atulaaM 
sujalaaM suphalaaM maataraM || 
 
 
 
 
shyaamalaaM saralaaM susmitaaM bhuushhitaaM 
dharaNiiM bharaNiiM maataraM ||  

 The following English translation is by Shree Aurobindo.

Mother, I bow to thee!   
Rich with thy hurrying streams,   
bright with orchard gleams,   
Cool with thy winds of delight,   
Dark fields waving Mother of might,   
Mother free.   
Glory of moonlight dreams,   
Over thy branches and lordly streams,   
 Clad in thy blossoming trees,   
Mother, giver of ease   
Laughing low and sweet!   
Mother I kiss thy feet,   
Speaker sweet and low!   
Mother, to thee I bow.   
   
Who hath said thou art weak in thy lands   
When the sword flesh out in the seventy million hands   
And seventy million voices roar   
Thy dreadful name from shore to shore?   
With many strengths who art mighty and stored,   
To thee I call Mother and Lord!   
Though who savest, arise and save!   
To her I cry who ever her foeman drove   
Back from plain and Sea   
And shook herself free.   
     
Thou art wisdom, thou art law,  
Thou art heart, our soul, our breath  
Though art love divine, the awe  
In our hearts that conquers death.  
Thine the strength that nervs the arm,  
Thine the beauty, thine the charm.  
Every image made divine  
In our temples is but thine.  
 
 
Thou art Durga, Lady and Queen,  
With her hands that strike and her  
swords of sheen,  
Thou art Lakshmi lotus-throned,  
And the Muse a hundred-toned,  
Pure and perfect without peer,  
Mother lend thine ear,  
Rich with thy hurrying streams,  
Bright with thy orchard gleems,  
Dark of hue O candid-fair  
In thy soul, with jewelled hair  
And thy glorious smile divine,  
Lovilest of all earthly lands,  
Showering wealth from well-stored hands!  
Mother, mother  mine!  
Mother sweet, I bow to thee,  
Mother great and free!  

Bankim, as we will see in the translation done by Aurobindo, referred to “seven crores” of people worshipping motherland. This was the population of the then Bengal Province.

Dalits and Tribals

‘Caste bias can't be equated with racism: India’ (18 Apr 2009, 0428 hrs IST, Indrani Bagchi, TNN) has two issues:
1) Caste discrimination is equated with racial discrimination.
2) Of giving tribals the status of "indigenous people".
In both the cases there is hypocracy. It is a fact that discrimination does take place and it is also a fact that Aryans, Kushans, Hans, Pershians, Turks, Arabs and Afghans were all invaders, who made India their home. Aryans called "indigenous people" ‘rakshasas’ and ‘nagas’. It is high time we apologise to tribals and dalits for the atrocities committed against them.

The news in NDTV web site should make us look within. The Govenment of India should accept the reality with dignity and come clean.

Employment bias mars private sector – Study (NDTV)

Adhana Sharma
Saturday, October 27, 2007 (New Delhi)
The private sectors' refrain that affirmative action is good enough may not stand now. Fresh studies have proved that there is discrimination in employment.

It was subject of much dispute - many had been saying it, others contesting it. On Friday, a study was released by the Indian Institute of Dalit Studies in collaboration with Princeton University.

The study was conducted against 548 job advertisements with 4808 applicants over 66 weeks, across five metros.

It reveals that in fact a person's caste and religion could be a hindrance in getting a job, despite equal qualification.

Inequality in private sector

The study says that a dalit had 60 per cent less chances of being called for an interview, and a Muslim had 30 per cent less, as against their higher caste peers.

The wage earnings too were found to five to 20 per cent lower, between SC as compared to upper castes.

And that is not all, one may also carry the baggage of family background, when being interviewed for a job.

''Here in India, it is a routine practice for employers to enquire about family background and use it as a means for screening. This is an anti-thesis to what one expects in a merit based system,'' Professor Katherine S Newman, Princeton University.

The survey contradicts what employers have been claiming all this while that jobs are given purely on merit, a contradiction that needs to be addressed urgently.

''The result of the studies need to be taken seriously and we need an equal opportunities policy in the form of reservation in addition to what everyone is already doing,'' Professor Sukhdev Thorat, report author and UGC chairperson.

Affirmative action, like skill and enterprise development, taken up by the private sector so far, may just not be enough, if employment opportinities in the country are to become inclusive.

women and quota in Parliament

Women's quota bill is likely to be introduced in parliament. Like men all women are not socially under previledged. Supposing the bill gets passed, who do you think will be nominated by the political parties. I am certain wives, daughters or daughters-in-law of the MPs and MLAs who are no more will find place. Women without godfathers will not find place.

At present nominations are largely based on caste. If we talk of AndhraPradesh, there are three major and influential communities within Shudra caste and all the political parties nominate members of only those communities. Same selection procedure will be folllowed by all political parties for nomination of women candidates. What happens to women who are from sub castes numerically weak?

When it comes to reservation for socially under previledged boys and girls in colleges, there is talk of merit ( under the present system merit is more a myth than reality, those who can spend money send their wards to expensive tutorial classes, where answers to probable questions are memorised.). With regard to quota in parliament for women, only wives,sisters or close relatives of rich and influential will get preference.For instance wife of Pramod Mahajan will be considered.
There should be quota for women from the socially under previledged sections of society.

POOR INSULTED

I do not like the concept of free meal. It is nothing but giving alms. And, perhaps, it has a placebo effect for the highest executive body of this country. Unfortunately all religions encourage poor feeding as it is referred to. During my morning walks, I find women from wealthy families taking out packets of food items and distributing to the poor, who have just woken up from their footpath bed. Those who take the packets have need for it. May be they slept empy stomach or just lying down without sleep because of pangs of hunger. But for those giving away the packets it was placebo effect. It is akin to watching a tragic film and saying to self, ‘ thank god this did not happen to me’.
By distributing free meals to poor students Governmment is doing exactly the same thing. Do you think the parents of children receiving free mid-day meal feel happy? On the contrary, they are sad about their inability to provide food to their children.
Instead of giving alms the Government should work for economically empowering the poor. According to sensus there is no unemployment in our country. The problem is one of wages. If a worker gets wages that can enable him to provide for food, shelter, clothing, education upto high school level and medical care for three members, he will not sacrifice his self-respect to opt for free meals.
There are many schemes for upliftment of the poor. But the benefits hardly reach the poor. Incharge officials of the scheme get richer. It is not enough to just allocate funds. Government should have a mechanism to see that the justice is done. Instead of giving free meals wages should be increased. Democracy is not for just 10% of the population. A handful of people from India coming in the bracket of ‘world’s richest’ is not an achievement, it is infact a matter of concern. When there is hunger, mal nourishment, planning for going to moon is akin to a starving family wanting to buy a colour television.

CASTE PREJUDICES

Talking about Hindu tolerance, I would like to qoute swami Vivekanand “ No religion on earth preaches the dignity of humanity in such a lofty strain as Hinduism, and no religion on earth treads upon the necks of the poor and the low in such a fashion as Hinduism".
Mayawati will go down in history as empowering Dalits politically. It is not a small achievement! There was a time when socially oppressed could not even exercise their franchise according to their wish. Upper caste people always try to find fault with her. It is natural. No priledged section of society wants a social change.

Caste prejudices continue, though the upper caste people keep saying that the system has almost disappeared. Atrocities on lower castes continue openly in rural India. In urban areas discrimination and prejudices are subtle and sophisticated. They have replaced the word merit for caste.
The extracts from various news reports and studies given below support my view:

Bant Singh is a Dalit who lives in Mansa village in Punjab. Born a Dalit, his is an inheritance of loss. He has a minor daughter, Baljeet Kaur, who was gangraped by upper caste men of her village in January 2002.

Many Dalit girls are raped while calling them untouchable and denying them the right to draw water from the village well and other forms of social ostracism, upper caste men do not hesitate to sexually violate them. It is a well-planned strategy of subordination.
25 Oct, 2006 0003hrs IST TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi-based research organisation Cfore, which conducts an annual B-school survey for a national weekly, used RTI Act to expose the fact that SC/ST students are paid way below general category students during placements and also that the recipient of lowest salary offered is usually a Dalit.

The survey found that the average salary for a Dalit is at least 2 lakh less than the average salary at IIMs. At IIM-A, while the average salary was Rs 9.6 lakh per annual, Dalit students were offered 7.8 lakh. IIMs reserve 22.5% seats for SC/ST students.
"During the survey, we found that Scheduled Castes/Tribes students were mostly recruited by PSUs rather than MNCs.
12 Sep, 2006 0051hrs IST TIMES NEWS NETWORK
BHOPAL: A Dalit woman sarpanch of Mahoikala village in Chattarpur district of MP was beaten up, stripped and then paraded naked by upper caste men for not paying them Rs 50,000 from the village development fund.
Thursday, June 22, 2006 11:19:58 pm TIMES NEWS NETWORKShocking allegations of intimidation of Dalit students have surfaced in the country’s premier medical institute, AIIMS. Two first-year MBBS students have submitted written complaints to the director of being subjected to casteist remarks and other forms of harassment by seniors.
12 Sep, 2006 0011hrs IST TIMES NEWS NETWORK

HYDERABAD: Parents of SC/ST students of the Hyderabad Public School (HPS) have alleged that their children faced discrimination in the school.

Addressing mediapersons on Thursday, HPS SC/ST Parents' Committee president M Samuel said there were 1,200 SC/ST students in both the campuses of the school — in Ramantapur and Begumpet. Out of these 400 are boarders but they are not allowed to live in the boarding rooms inside the school campuses. "They were asked to live in special hostels provided by the social welfare department which are in slum areas," Samuel said.
"The issue was raised in the assembly even in April and the school education minister held a meeting of all concerned. But we came to know that it was decided that SC/ST students should not be allowed to live inside the school premises," Samuel alleged.
0158hrs IST 6 Oct, 2006 TIMES NEWS NETWORK
Pradip, a young Dalit man from a remote village in Madhya Pradesh, decided to fight back when upper caste people in his village refused him water.
Instead, the 20-year-old was beaten up and as a result, 250 Dalit families from his Chotiche village have been denied access to water.

Kalabai is a Dalit, but never before has she been so acutely conscious of her status. Her son Pradip has been missing since the incident.
The village gets its water supply from a government tubewell, but upper caste families determine how much water the Dalit families have access to.
June 23, 2006 (Khandwa) NDTV
BHUBANESWAR: Breaking a nearly 300-year-old ban, hundreds of Dalits on Thursday entered a Jagannath temple in Orissa's Kendrapada district. Prior to this, Dalits could have darshan only through the nine small holes on the walls of the temple located at Keredagada village.
15 Dec, 2006 0101hrs IST TIMES NEWS NETWORK
BHUBANESWAR: Upper caste people on Friday responded to Dalits' entry into Jagannath temple at Keredagada by observing a bandh .

Some of the priests and upper caste people reportedly wanted to perform mahasnana , a ritual bath of the deities at the temple. The priests were trying to contact temple trust president Rabindra Narayan Bhanjadeo, a scion of the Kanika royal family.
16 Dec, 2006 0259hrs IST TIMES NEWS NETWORK
JAIPUR, June 8: Even in the 21st century, life is not easy for dalits in the rural parts of the country. A scheduled caste community in a Rajasthan district has been ostracised for daring to seek police help to allow their grooms to ride horseback and for holding meetings to oppose atrocities of the upper castes.
Recently, in separate incidents, two Meghwal community grooms were not allowed to ride horseback in Udaipur district’s Amarpura and Nimdi villages. The marriage procession could move only after police protection was sought. The Meghwal community was ostracised in both villages for this misadventure.
Following these developments, the community called a meeting on 4 June. The community leaders there reportedly raised their voice against the atrocities of the upper castes. But Meghwals are being made to pay for this as they are facing a total boycott. Statesman--9th June,2006
Chandigarh, March 1: A group of incensed Rajput youngsters attacked and set fire to a number of dalit houses in Haryana’s Salwan village. A few policemen, who tried to stop the attackers were injured in the incident on Thursday afternoon. However, nearly 24 households in the dalit quarter of the village have been destroyed. After ransacking the homes, the mob made bonfires of the furniture and other belongings. Deccan Chronicle 2.3.2007
Despite India's bid to integrate itself into the global economy that counts more on merit than on lineage, Indian employers continue to follow age-old hiring practices that discriminate against lower castes.
This is the view of Katherine Newman, professor of sociology in Princeton University and Paul Attewell, professor of sociology at the City University of New York, who led a research study along with Surinder S Jodhka of Jawaharlal Nehru University and Sukhadeo Thorat.
"Indian employers, especially the large employers, do continue, despite their views that they do not rely on the caste factor for employment decisions, to have preconceptions or stereotypes about applicants in the labour market that reinforce caste as a source of employment discrimination," Newman said. Suman Guha Mozumdar in New York
a study was released by the Indian Institute of Dalit Studies in collaboration with Princeton University.
The study was conducted against 548 job advertisements with 4808 applicants over 66 weeks, across five metros.

It reveals that in fact a person's caste and religion could be a hindrance in getting a job, despite equal qualification.
The study says that a dalit had 60 per cent less chances of being called for an interview, and a Muslim had 30 per cent less, as against their higher caste peers.

Of job hunting and Indian caste system. Suman Guha Mozumdar in New York
November 02, 2007

INFORMAL RESERVATIONS

There has been a lot of talk on reservations for OBCs and BCs. This fresh talk has been triggered by Arjun Singh’s proposal for reservations in IITs and IIMs.

As a Muslim, I consider it basically an internal issue of Hindu society. Though a few Muslim communities are classified as OBCs, as MJ Akbar rightly says, “they are at the bottom of the heap”. However I do have my views on the subject.

Every upper caste person argues that the children of IAS and IPS officers should not be given reservation. One among them is my friend for 35 years. Though they are financially moved up, their social status has not changed much. Social prejudices have remained. I have personally come across many instances in my working life. While SCs and STs suffered for four thousand years, the present day upper caste is showing its intolerance in just fifty years. In my view the upper caste people should be willing to atone for the sins of their forefathers. There are news items very frequently about atrocities on Dalits not far from the cities. In cities upper caste people shed their status once they leave their home for work. But in social circles and at home they are very much upper caste. Out of social compulsion if he visits a Dalit home he puts forward many excuses for not taking even water. Muslims face the same problem.

About reservations for OBCs and BCs it is a different issue. They do not come in the same category as SCs and STs. Here the point is one of environment. How do you expect a boy or a girl from a municipal or Zilla parishad school to compete with boys and girls from Delhi Public School or Meridian or HPS? Infact it can also be argued that the upper caste poor face the same situation. But the difference is the upper caste boys and girls enjoy informal reservation.

Those who enter educational institutions on reservation take the same examinations as others. There are no separate examinations or any separate evaluation systems. Here all are judged on the basis of merit.

If there is no reservation, what is the remedy?

The list of OBCs and BCs needs review. I think much of political pressures have gone into inclusion of certains sections, who really do not fall into the category. OBCs were never subjected to social stigma as SCs and STs did. This should be the first step.

The remedy is in making available uniform education of same standard to every child upto twelfth standard. This will ensure equal level of education for all. This should be the responsibility of the government. One hundred crores are spent every year for maintaining armed forces in Saichin. I do not know how much is spent on free primary education. On an everage each one of us gives fifty to sixty percent of gross earnings to government by way of various taxes. Apart from income tax just calculate the amount that you give as excise duty, sales tax, customs duty (where applicable) and service taxes and professional tax. When you buy soap you pay tax. When you buy any item you pay tax. God! When you buy petroleum products you pay nearly half the cost on taxes. Government is required to be committed to the betterment of everyone, not just the previledged upper castes.

Here are extracts from Unicef reports published in The Statesman of 26th February 2005:


“The Unicef 2005 report also says millions of Indian children are equally deprived of their rights to survival, health, nutrition, education and safe drinking water. It is reported that 63 per cent of them go to bed hungry and 53 per cent suffer from chronic malnutrition.
The report says that 147 million children live in kuchcha houses, 77 million do not use drinking water from a tap, 85 million are not being immunised, 27 million are severely underweight and 33 million have never been to school. It was earlier reported that the country continues to have the highest number of malnourished children under five in the world having one-third of the world’s malnourished children. And every third new-born child in India is under-weight having the risk of impaired health and brain development.
The Supreme Court had earlier held that children’s right to dignified existence must be protected. The court also said that the government should work out a welfare scheme for the children working in pathetic conditions in hazardous industries.
The Child Mortality Evaluation Committee recently reported that around 160,000 infants died every year in Maharashtra owing to malnutrition particularly in the rural, tribal and urban slum areas. It criticised the indifferent attitude of the state government. Other states like Orissa, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh faced a similar situation where a number of starvation deaths among children took place. Malnutrition reduces life expectancy and leads to low productivity adversely affecting the country’s economic development.”
This is the plight of the children of underpreviledged.
Till such time the situation is rectified, reservation is necessary for genuine OBCs and BCs. As for informal reservation, upper caste should look within.

Reservation exists everywhere—in employment in private sector, admissions in private schools, promotions in public sectors and many many other fields. I am talking of informal reservation. How does one solve this problem? Infact informal reservation has done a great harm to the progress and development of India.
Some argue that reservations should be for the economically backward. The point they miss or do not even realise that social injustice is much much worse than economic injustice. Social injustice is a stigma and basis for prejudice.


CARTOON IN TOI ON 29.1.2002

WOMEN AND PROPERTY RIGHTS

Do Hindu women have right to their father's property?

Anil and Mukesh Ambani have divided Dhirubhai's business between them.
Dhirubhai has daughters too. It appears they have not received any share in the business assets. This is discrimination.

Similarly I find Muslims do not give share in the business establishments to their daughters. A woman gets half of what her brother gets only in property such as house, lands, bank deposits, but not in business. This needs to be clarified.

As I see it, uniform civil code is the only solution. More than Muslim, Hindu women will benefit. If bill on uniform civil code is introduced, Hindu MPs will not allow it to be passed. They will fight using unimaginative Muslim leaders.

Derogatory terms for Muslims

These days there is so much of protest against derogatory remarks against race or religion.

When I was admitted to school in 1949. Right from that day I heard my classmates or schoolmates calling me 'katela' ( a derogatory term for surcumcision), 'ulta'( derogatorily referring to Urdu being written from right to left) and 'musula' ( a derogatory term for Muslims).
As a boy of six I did not understand what they meant and I am sure neither did they. They must have heard their parents say that.
"Manohar Joshi, former speaker of the Lok Sabha, a post where you must prevent the use of unparliamentary language, defended the use of the pejorative 'landya' for Muslims when he deposed as Maharashtra chief minister in front of the Srikrishna commission". This is from TOI dated 12.12.2007. You know what 'landya' means, don't you?

Among Hindus it is very common to use derogatory terms against lower castes. The parents are responsible.

Om Sahana Vavatu Sahanau Bhunaktu
Sahaveeryam Karavavahai
Tejas Vinavati Tamastu ma vidhwishavahai
Om Shanti Shanti Shantihi


Translation
May He protect both of us. May He nourish both of us. May we both acquire the capacity. May our study be brilliant. May we not argue with each other. Om peace, peace, peace.

Gurus and the hungry

Will someone tell me what spiritualism is? I have not been able to understand. The gurus, they call spiritual leaders, talk only of stress managemant, various aasanas and deep breathing called ‘pranayam’.
I read an article ‘twist of faith’, relating question answer session between a spiritual guru and his followers. I quote Edward Luce: “Someone asked how she could truly know she was a good person. “You don’t need to be sweetie sweetie, goodie goodie all the time,” said guruji. The audience broke into delighted laughter. Puzzled, I looked around to see hundreds of shining eyes and ecstatic expressions. The next question, which came by email and was read out by one of his followers ended with: “I love you so much guruji.” Someone asked about whether it was always wrong to pay bribes. “You shouldn’t be too idealistic all the time,” he said. “Sometimes you have to make little, little compromises,” he added. Again, the audience erupted in laughter. I was beginning to wonder about the Art of Living’s breathing techniques”.
Is this spirituality? A guru should teach morals. Answers given by the guru encourage wrong doings.
Muslims, who call themselves practicing Muslims, do all those rituals such as prayers, fasting and paying ‘zakat’ once a year. A large part of Quran deals with egalitarianism. Exploitation and profiteering is a sin. But the mullahs are satisfied if the Muslims pray and fast. Infact religion is what you do after you leave the prayer hall. A true Muslim is one who before doing anything asks himself, “ Will my action have the approval of Allah?”
Spirituality, if it means peace and satisfaction with oneself, is social justice. Gurus (sunni Muslims do not have gurus) and Shia Muslim gurus have a large following, which they can utilise for harmony in society. Imams, who lead prayes for Sunni Muslims should also emphasise the sins of profiteering and exploitation in their weekly sermons.
A large majority of Indians are poor and cannot afford basic necessities of life such as food, shelter and clothing (roti, kapada aur makan). Not that the poor do not work. Poverty is not because of unemployment. In many families almost all the members work including children. But they continue to live in poverty. Children distribue newspapers, milk, work in garages and retaurants. Still they are hungry and ill clad.
“One of the most important causes of mass poverty is that a large proportion of workers get inadequate income or wages for their work. A family remains poor even when two persons in a family of six are working. People who work should get at least that much income with which they can purchase all the basic goods and services required for a dignified human existence for themselves and their dependent family members”. Writes Jasvir Singh, an economist. He further says, “ People are poor despite being in work. According to the 2001 Census, there were 402 million workers in a total population of 1,027 million, or a work participation rate (WPR) of 39 per cent, which cannot be said to be low”.
Now to aggravate the situation the government has decided to abolish child labour, without any consideration of ground realities. If a person can earn enough to support a wife and two children giving them basic necessities of living, he will not send his children for work. Problem is not unemployment. Problem is of wages. Even the daily wage fixed by the Government does not give a man enough purchasing power for basic requirements of life for three people. Wages should be fixed to take care of basic needs of workers. In the unorganised sector even minimum wages are not paid. In organised sector many services have been privatised. The contractor does not pay what he shows as having paid. If the problem of wages is solved no parents will send their children for work. No legislation can work with our greedy and self-centered middle class. Most of the working population is in unorganised sector and the wages they get are are far below the existance level of a family of four. In the case of rural workers the condition is still worse. How much do the landlords pay them? Do the agricultural lords, who are exempted from income tax, pay their workers enough to buy their daily requirements?
The gurus with their following can teach the exploiters to pay wages that can take care of needs of the poor.