Tuesday, May 26

National Anthem taken for granted

Ram Gopal Verma and controversy deliberately go side by side. For his new film under the garb of personal creativity National anthem is being distorted. What is more interesting is Mr Arun Jaitely appeared for the celebrated film director and tried to equate the song in the film "Jana Gana Mana Rann" as an artistic expression of the anthem. lol...
Where as the party he belongs to has been opposing the artistic expression of M .F Hussain. Can Arun Jaitly explain this hypocrisy? If Ram Gopal Verma's distortion of the National Anthem is Artistic Expression why is MF Husain not been ignored?
He has been called the anti Hindu painter. Of what i read , listen and feel artistes in India are being subjected to the worst campaign of politically inspired censorship's .. They say that what they term a "moral police of cultural vigilantes" have targeted art, literature and films.
As for the arguments for freedom of artistic expression etc., we've been through all that too often before..The issue has thrown the focus back to the case of one man, believed by many to be the father of modern Indian art: M.F. Husain. If he dies outside the country. its a shame that we will never overcome.
Nudity is not the same as vulgarity those VHP/Shiv Sena members who believe that the approved dress code for heaven is khaki knickers. One should understand that Democracy is about tolerance and respecting other person's right to be and to believe. If you do not like the some/painting, songs, books -IGNORE IT .. or if you have the ability make a 'alternative' version of it
Can we ignore Gandhi ji.What could have been more Hindu than Gandhiji's movement ? And yet, there was not a single element of sectarianism or communalism in his appeal.
In the case of Ram Gopal Verma the Bench said borrowing lines from the national anthem to create a new song could not be termed an artistic expression since nobody had a right to tinker with it. What aN attention seeker Ram Gopal Verma is.. masterfully created the controvercy.. sure will create a big contoversy.
I find these protest and even controversies suspicious.

Monday, May 25

Evil works under the cover of darkness

Should the Govt. Censor the internet?.....

Internet is quite a dodgy place if at all a check is not kept.. Is this innocence or ignorance or both? This is an area that is really now coming into full focus. It has already sparked off a major row with online advocates who strongly guard the freedom of the World Wide Web and the governments of the world are toiling on since 1995.

Content, harmful content, and copyright ETC are no more emerging issue. The government, directed by those diabolical think-tanks, are engaging in war on their own people since a decade. Free speech is intergral to the Internet. I bet the next we will hear is ....govt. taxing the net next!I find this a terrifying prospect..Clandestine agencies in the US and in the UK, working outside of the law are bullying ISPs to restrict access to many political sites anyway.

Nannying .. into believing censorship of ‘beheading’ sites is needed is the thin edge of a very dangerous axe head of its own. The Internet should be freely accessible to everyone . Censoring of the web is a difficult mountain to climb. Very difficult…Corn-Revere once made-known, “’on-line systems give people for more genuinely free speech and free press than ever before in human history.’Internet is the people’s last fortress of freedom of speech in the country.. world.Everybody has the freedom to receive broadcasts from free Internet radio, tv, web sites, and blogs.

This is FREEDOM OF SPEECH, PERSONAL FREEDOM and we must preserve this most inalienable right if we want to have any chance to save our country from the corporate takeover and tyranny that is now visible.
Evil works under the cover of darkness. Surrendering our freedoms in exchange for a “phony security” has been and will continue to be a disaster. The greatest tool we have for freedom is unfiltered and uncensored knowledge and information. The truth movement and alternative Internet news are dusrurbing the major networks and the corporate controlled media, and they’re determined to change that… nothing else.. Just for thir profits/If “we the people” allow the Internet to be controlled, then the game is over and the and the citizens of the world, lose.Truth and freedom will fade from the public eye like two ships disappearing into the horizon.
Secondly the whole thing is just unmanageable. There are about 100 million websites on the internet made up of over 20 trillion pages .. weird man…When Scientology tried to censor one clip from the interwebs, the interwebs came out in droves to the real world, and the battle is on between Scientology and the online collective known as ‘anonymous.’ lol.Most search engines, video sites and image hosting services already have mechanisms in place people can buy additional black/whitelisting software if they really want to. No need for nation-wide laws which trim freedom.

I find censoring ,law and plan both appalling and utterly preposterous.

The internet is one of the last free places on earth. John Milton remarked in 1644, "Who ever knew Truth put to worse, in a free and open encounter?" good speech -educates and informs - not censorship

Saturday, May 23

We are a young country today?

Of the 543 elected members of Parliament's lower house, 147 are 45 or younger.

According to census data, about two-thirds of India's 1.2 billion people are 35 or younger, and half are 20 or younger. It is estimated that by 2020, the average age of an Indian will be 31, compared with 37 for China and 48 for Japan. In the recent elections, more than 20 percent of the 700 million eligible voters were 35 or younger.

The India Today newsmagazine wrote in its current issue, "This is the era of Rahul Gandhi, where to be young is to be politically correct."

On Friday, two English-language newspapers, the Hindustan Times and the Times of India, ran stories asking women why they find him "hot" and what they thought a date with him would be like.


We see the potbellied culture of senior citizens getting over in the parliament like the country as a whole; India's politicians are getting more youthful.

Friday, May 22

The Torture Memos

The new article by --Noam Chomsky.

The torture memos released by the White House elicited shock, indignation, and surprise. The shock and indignation are understandable -- particularly the testimony in the Senate Armed Services Committee report on Cheney-Rumsfeld desperation to find links between Iraq and al-Qaeda, links that were later concocted as justification for the invasion, facts irrelevant. Former Army psychiatrist Maj. Charles Burney testified that "a large part of the time we were focused on trying to establish a link between Al Qaeda and Iraq. The more frustrated people got in not being able to establish this link ... there was more and more pressure to resort to measures that might produce more immediate results"; that is, torture. The McClatchy press reported that a former senior intelligence official familiar with the interrogation issue added that "The Bush administration applied relentless pressure on interrogators to use harsh methods on detainees in part to find evidence of cooperation between al Qaida and the late Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein's regime ... [Cheney and Rumsfeld] demanded that the interrogators find evidence of al Qaida-Iraq collaboration... 'There was constant pressure on the intelligence agencies and the interrogators to do whatever it took to get that information out of the detainees, especially the few high-value ones we had, and when people kept coming up empty, they were told by Cheney's and Rumsfeld's people to push harder'."1
to read further check-http://www.chomsky.info/articles/20090521.htm

Wednesday, May 20

"MISSING LINK" found: New Fossil Links Humans, Lemurs?




The Holy Grail of human evolution. A team of researchers Tuesday unveiled an almost perfectly intact fossil of a 47 million-year-old primate they say represents the long-sought missing link between humans and apes.
Officially known as Darwinius masillae Read more:
Meet "Ida," the small "missing link" found in Germany that's created a big media splash and will likely continue to make waves among those who study human origins.
In a new book, documentary, and promotional Web site, paleontologist Jorn Hurum, who led the team that analyzed the 47-million-year-old fossil seen above, suggests Ida is a critical missing-0link species in primate evolution.
The fossil, he says, bridges the evolutionary split between higher primates such as monkeys, apes, and humans and their more distant relatives such as lemurs.

"This is the first link to all humans," Hurum, of the Natural History Museum in Oslo, Norway, said in a statement. Ida represents "the closest thing we can get to a direct ancestor."

Ida, properly known as Darwinius masillae, has a unique anatomy. The lemur-like skeleton features primate-like characteristics, including grasping hands, opposable thumbs, clawless digits with nails, and relatively short limbs.

"This specimen looks like a really early fossil monkey that belongs to the group that includes us," said Brian Richmond, a biological anthropologist at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., who was not involved in the study.

But there's a big gap in the fossil record from this time period, Richmond noted. Researchers are unsure when and where the primate group that includes monkeys, apes, and humans split from the other group of primates that includes lemurs.

"[Ida] is one of the important branching points on the evolutionary tree," Richmond said, "but it's not the only branching point."
At least one aspect of Ida is unquestionably unique: her incredible preservation, unheard of in specimens from the Eocene era, when early primates underwent a period of rapid evolution. (Explore a prehistoric time line.)

"From this time period there are very few fossils, and they tend to be an isolated tooth here or maybe a tailbone there," Richmond explained. "So you can't say a whole lot of what that [type of fossil] represents in terms of evolutionary history or biology."

In Ida's case, scientists were able to examine fossil evidence of fur and soft tissue and even picked through the remains of her last meal: fruits, seeds, and leaves.

What's more, the newly described "missing link" was found in Germany's Messel Pit. Ida's European origins are intriguing, Richmond said, because they could suggest—contrary to common assumptions—that the continent was an important area for primate evolution.
—Brian Handwerk
Photographs courtesy PLoS ONE

Tuesday, May 19

Madhya Pradesh Tourism goes to charity

Madhya Pradesh Tourism goes to the charity.

Loll.. that what I think right now…after reading in a newspaper about the adoption of 10 SOS Children by the Managing Director of the Madhya Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation in Bhopal.

MP tourism has taken responsibility of education, health, clothes, and other daily basic needs of all the ten children living in the house No 16 under the family home sponsorship programme.

Last month it was in news for wrong reasons. Madhya Pradesh is among few states which failed to utilize funds provided by the Ministry of Tourism. The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) pulled up the ministry for releasing funds for various projects without monitoring their timely implementation.

What is interesting is the fact that the State Tourism department not only failed to utilize the much-needed funds but in some cases also failed to submit utilization certificate. This is when the Madhya Pradesh State Tourism Department is headed by so-called tourism expert Ashwani Lohani and Secretary of the department is one of the powerfully bureaucrats of the State.
The ministry of tourism released Rs 1,500 crores from 2002-2007 to state governments for implementation of various projects relating to destination development and tourist circuits but did not monitor utilisation of these funds in an effective manner to ensure timely implementation of the projects by the state governments, the report said.
India Today in April reported the losses MP and Chattisgarh Tourism department is incurring loss --- monetarily and in terms of visitors inflow . Corruption is at large , consultants without experience and fake degrees are being appointed , officers who have retired are given another chance to destroy the tourism of the state.
Will somebody wake up ??

Monday, May 18

Central Library Known as “Edward Museum”

Recent actions in the Central Library near Bharat Talkies are making the wrong noises.This red sand stone building is completing its hundred years and there aren't proper caretakers . The custodians- the Education Department of Madhya Pradesh, Swami Vivekananda Library Staff and the P.W.D together have brutally hacked the beautiful monument by removing the antique furniture out and having used bathroom tiles and the harrowing result is visible at the entry itself.

Today we stand up to make a silent protest by gathering at the library lighting a few candles and laying wreath mourning at 6 pm today for the library a fabulous creation of well known architect Sir Swinton Jacob patronized by Nawab Sultan Jahan Begum.

The building was built in 1908, by the then Begum Shajhan, Mr. B. Ghosal was the first Curator, a beautiful red stone building, with Teak wood and oak furniture, huge almaharas filed with thousands rare books, written by the Begams of Bhopal, and Ghosal being a Bengali had personal contact with Ravindera Nath Tagore and Raja Ram Mohan Roy, the one and only library had a beautiful garden and every week army band used to play at the Gazebo out side the building, in the middle of the city, it was a pride of Bhopal.

After independence in 1956 it was handed over to the Education department, since then nobody took interest in this beautiful building, roof started leaking furniture saw the dark days of neglect we saw with despair and frustration.. Ms. Susheila Ghosal grand daughter Shri Ghosal did show a lot of interest & initiatives. Unfortunately the project which was to be undertaken by the Tourism Department for making it a Museum of Rare books slipped from the hands due to the lackadaisical approach .

On 13 May 2009 some foreigners were seen by Miss Ghoshal visiting the building to buy few books. An active social worker, dedicated to the cause ..my school history teacher Miss Ghoshal working for past 25 years sent a letter to the department questions the selling of books and other things in the Library.


After receiving a frantic call from my teacher 3 days back while i was travelling ..along with our batch mates we have shown our concern towards the cause by forming a human chain today to protest and save the Heritage building .This is the same building which once was noteworthy and now fail to acknowledge the attention of state government and others like any other building.The library has been ignored and brushed aside.

Sunday, May 17

Youth is the Power

He may be the clear winner from Gandhinagar constituency but lost the bigger fight that his family and party members heavily overindulged in. Both -age and people of India were not on his side.

His last attempt to get nations top job in the twilight of his five-decade old career has ended even, if he has succumbed to his party men for retaining the post of the opposition leader.

The battle between the ideology …..??

Advani ji had lost the script somewhere in the compulsion of coalition politics that catapulted Vajpayee. Attempts to change the position- into the secular mode- left the BJP leader with no clear identity of his own the people say.

It started off with his 2005 Pakistan visit where he praised Mohammad Ali Jinnah.

The new avatar of Advaniji also put the cause of the Ram temple on the backburner….

He breathed new life given by his party and was made the prime ministerial candidate due to Mr. Atal Vajpayee ill health.

Leaving no stone unturned reached out to every nook and cranny of the country, traveling more than 60,000-odd km challenging the scorching heat nearly 40 degrees Celsius, he lifted weights and bent himself in cyberspace.

The hard-line campaign by Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi, who was expected to pull in votes, actually turned out to be counter-productive. Varun Gandhi's strident message.. the campaign against terror went over the top.. factionalism, local factors cant be missed…
He made a made a very strong case for himself continuously out bursting against Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, calling him weak and subservient to Congress president Sonia Gandhi. But it didn’t work…

Succumbing to the party men and claims of BJP not an individual centric party he agrees for the post of Leader of opposition till hoe long is another question..

Prime Minister in waiting .... just to think of 2011 elections we look at an 86 year old man and a 48 years old youth . He clearly failed to recreate the magic of Vajpayee who had bestride the political spectrum like a colossus. Claim

Voters have cast their mandate. The voters have surprised the poll pundits ,exit poll experts and offcourse the media who argued , asserted .

I feel on has always failed, time and again, to appreciate the maturity of our voters.” YOUTH POWER”.

This election will be remembered for JUST ONE REASON -for making more than 200 million young voters, under the age of 25, eligible to cast their votes.

The young Turks would vote for-for an aged LK Advani, who has been clinging to his life ambition or Rahul Gandhi, a youth of not much political experience?? Today’s youth, like in all ages, look up to somebody they can identify themselves with. The people have been clear when delivering their verdict—that they want accountability in return of the faith they have reposed on their representative

With 79 MPs under 40 years of age and 36 members who are at least 70 years old, the 15th Lok Sabha is a fine blend of youth and experience.
These elections witnessed voters who are also progressively maturing.. Proving anti-incumbency is no longer a fate accompli in an era when alliances fall apart at the slightest hint of a threat.

The Delhi Assembly election, not too long back, is a case in point. Despite the Mumbai attack & anti-terrorist rhetoric from the BJP, Delhi voters elected the Government on its past.

Wise think no single individual can call himself strong and decisive lest it offends its coalition partners.:) The Prime Minister in waiting Belongs to an old school of politics. He undermined the role to his own team-his coalition partners and the youth... The electorate, like Omar Abdullah said, “decided that the present PM is strong enough, and that the stronger alternative portrayed by the BJP was not strong enough!”

Left is left out and everybody is left out :) The new Lok Sabha has the highest number of women MPs ever elected in to the Lok Sabha, a higher number of under-40 members compared with the last,

Ram Sundar Das (88), the giant-killing JD(U) MP from Hajipur who defeated Ram Vilas Paswan, is the oldest member of the House while 26-year-old Muhammed Hamdulla Sayeed, the Congress MP from Lakshadweep, is the youngest

The representation of women members has crossed the 10% mark for the first time in Indian history.There are 12.2% women MPs elected from reserved seats while only 10.2% of the general MPs are women. At 58, the 15th Lok Sabha has 13 more women MPs than the last House and nine more than the previous best of 49 in the 13 Lok Sabha.

Invent India.
no shackles for 5 years.

Thursday, May 7

Issues in Madhya Pradesh after Polls


Issues in Madhya Pradesh a report by Vikas Samvad

There are issues, questions, problems and crisis in Madhya Pradesh and voters are facing then in their regular life. Now the state is in election fever. In this context it is interesting to have a view of some issues, out of many.
Corruption in Madhya Pradesh (Brief of the Transparency International Report)
Madhya Pradesh is one of the 5 (Bihar, Assam, Jammu & Kashmir, Utter Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh) most corrupt states in India. The report of transparency International (Released in June 2008) shows that the level of corruption in Madhya Pradesh is Alarming. The study, like the earlier ones, is based on CMS PEE model where the scope is not limited to perceptions about corruption in general, but perception in specific context of a service and, more importantly, actual experience of paying bribe by BPL households in availing one or more of the 11 selected public services. Depending on the frequency of interaction, the eleven services are divided broadly into “basic services” (PDS, Hospital, School Education (up to class XII), Electricity and Water Supply Services) and “need based services” (Land Records / Registration, Housing, Forest, NREGS, Banking and Police Service (traffic and crime)). In Himachal Pradesh the level of corruption is “moderate” in all the 11 services studied whereas in the case Madhya Pradesh and Assam, corruption level in all the 11 services was high or very high or alarming. The research was carried out in 5 districts (Shivpuri, Jhabua, Bhopal, Balaghat and Sidhi) of Madhya
Pradesh. As regards the relative position of States on corruption in availing the 11 public services by BPL households, Assam, J & K, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh have an “alarming level” of corruption.
▓ Hunger in Madhya Pradesh (Brief of the IFPRI Report)
A recently released report by International Food Policy Research Institute notes that not a single state in India falls in the ‘low hunger’ or ‘moderate hunger’ categories defined by the GHI 2008. Instead, most states fall in the ‘alarming’ category, with one state Madhya Pradesh – falling in the ‘extremely alarming’ category. IFPRI Report shows the position of the 17 Indian states relative to the countries for which the Global Hunger Index 2008 is reported. India’s rank on the GHI 2008 is 66; the ranks of the different states in relation to the GHI range from 34 for the state of Punjab (whose ISHI score lies places it between Nicaragua and Ghana) to 82 for Madhya Pradesh (whose ISHI score places it between Chad and Ethiopia). Ten of the 17 states have an ISHI rank that is above India’s (66), which indicates that these states are relative out performers. This report also presents the association between the hunger index and the rate of economic growth for each state. The figure shows little evidence of a consistent relationship between the two variables. A state that experienced negative real growth (in net state domestic product per capita) between 1999-2000 and 2004-05 (e.g., Madhya Pradesh) has a high hunger index, but so did states like Bihar, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh that experienced much higher rates of economic growth over this time period. Again, Punjab stands out as a remarkable “positive outlier”, with its much lower hunger index than states such as Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Haryana whose rate of economic growth was two to threetimes larger 1 This information Backgrounder has been prepared by Vikas Samvad, Madhya Pradesh during the same period (<2% color="#ff0000">▓ Water Crisis in Madhya Pradesh
Drought is becoming a regular phenomenon in Madhya Pradesh. In last 15 years 14 to 39 districts have been facing the distress situations of drought every year. As pert the reports of Madhya Pradesh Public Health Engineering Department there were 9000 habitations were provided with less then 40 liter per person per day. This is the amount of water considered to be the minimum requirement for an individual to fill the daily needs. Alarmingly the number of habitations in crisis has now gone up to 15000 in the Year 2007-08, Department’s report says. In continuation to the same context, the number of habitations having “no water source” has also increased by more then 5 time then the 2001 situation. There were 448 habitations were identified in “no water source category”, but in the year 2007-08, it has gone up to 2000 habitations. Water has been an issue being talked about on various forums but no governments bothered to have debates on the causes of water crisis like losing community control over water resources, de-forestation, privatization and marketisation of water and extreme industrial use. The studies of Central Ground Water Board have put 6 blocks on most crisis zone, where more then 100% ground water. There are 65 development blocks, which have consumed 65 to 100% of water. The Central Ground Water Board report also says that the water level of more then 40.73% open wells has decreased by 2 meter and in many of the locations it has gone down by 4 meter. It is a caution for the future government. This biggest curse is that our representatives and political leaders do not have a perspective of handling the crisis of water in a sustainable manner.
Health Crisis in Madhya Pradesh
It just not a coincidence that Madhya Pradesh tops the list with highest Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) of 72, Lowest life expectancy of 57.7 Years in comparison to Indian average of 63.2 years. 80 percent of the expenditure comes out of private pocket and this is the biggest cause of indebtedness among tribal, dalit and other marginalized communities. We just have one hospital bed for the population of 5.6 villages in public health institutions. In the collapsed health system even doctors do not want to work, interestingly in last 4 years average post of 39 CMHOs have been filled by in charge doctors, so that they could be exploited by the authorities. Only 137 posts of gynecologists and obstetricians are approved in the entire state, many of which were vacant for years. After a long battle, the government began the process of filling the vacancies last year: 78 posts of gynecologists and obstetricians, and 112 posts for anesthetists. But only 31 applications were received for the former and only 12 anesthetists’ posts could be filled. Expenditure in health services has increased enormously in comparison to any other services because it is essential but not fully provided by the Government. Alarmingly provision for Health sector has been stagnant to 2.40% of the total Madhya Pradesh budget expenditure; it simply means that strengthening public health sector is not a priority for the Government. Presently Madhya Pradesh allocates approximately 900 Crore rupees for the State Health services, for the population of 6.50 Crore. It means only an amount of Rs. 138 has been allocated per person per year. Interestingly, even out of this amount Rs. 114 just goes in Salary and overheads account and one person gets Rs. 2 for medicine, checkups, investigations and other care. There has been a need to create more and more infrastructure and new institutions in the State, but again not a singe Primary Health Institution has been created in last five years in the State. The state of
Madhya Pradesh needs 478 PHCs and 1528 Sub Health Centers for last 8 Years, but no improvement could be seen. Normally data does not give a very real picture, but here it will!! According to population we require 916 Medical Specialists, but only 49 in place, out of 4708 posts of Medical Officers 1659 are laying vacant, there are only 216 pharmacists in Health department against the need of 1421, and 1098 posts of ANM are still to be filled. The reality on political side is very depressing, because political parties or even peoples representatives never came out on road for people’s right to Health Care. It very difficult to say that now doctors will come and join the state health services at any COST, because now they are bound to spend Rs 25-35 Lakh to become a doctor, and a salary of Rs. 40 thousand will not support them to pay the interest against the education loan. In other words, if Government have human character and wants to provide genuine health services to poor, they will have to subsidies and control the medical education.
Education in Madhya Pradesh
A report on the performance and indicators of the elementary education in the nation, released by the District Information System for Education [DISE], NUEPA, depicts the jeopardous state of elementary education in Madhya Pradesh. The series report flashes various data and indicators of elementary education for the academic year 2006-07 in 35 Indian states and Union Territories [UTs]. It also shows that to promote the private education institutions / or the market of education, State government has been avoiding the development of public education sector. It seems policy makers want government education institutions to be collapsed, specifically in terms of quality, facilities, credibility and access. The way private sector has been invited and given opportunities through investors meet, it also shows that fact the Public resources have been handed over to the corporate sector in the name of education
development. Interestingly the education of tribal and other marginalized children has been handed over to less skilled, less educated and non-trained Para- teachers. To get the political gain State Government in the year 2007 took a policy decision that now Para-Teachers will also be included in mainstream teachers list. In a sense they may get salary or other related benefits, but it does not ensure that quality of education will be upgraded. Though the Madhya Pradesh government has taken strides in enrolling children in schools but there have been blithe efforts in providing quality education to them thus leading to their retention in schools. As per the report there is a robust hike in the GER [Gross Enrollment Ratio] of children at primary level, i.e., from 129.76% in the year 2005-06 to 143.58% in 2006-07 but there has been a keel on the
educational development front of the children as on various development indicators the state has
delivered mediocre performance. The state's commitment in providing quality education to all its children is clear from its slumping position at 30th rank, i.e., sixth from the lowest in terms of performance on four basic variables used in computing Educational Development Index [EDI], namely, Access, Infrastructure, Teachers and Outcomes.
Madhya Pradesh's rank and performance on various components of EDI at Primary Level Primary Level Upper Primary level 2005-06 2006-07 2005-06 2006-07
Index Rank Index Rank Index Rank Index Rank
Access 0.634 5th 0.593 8th 0.548 10th 0.590 20th
Infrastructure 0.513 29th 0.540 26th 0.531 2 9th 0.581 27th
Teachers 0.320 33rd 0.355 33rd 0.498 33rd 0.380 33rd
Outcomes 0.570 12th 0.492 25th 0.458 16th 0.384 24th
Overall EDI 0.514 24th 0.478 31st 0.509 29th 0.483 31st
Combined Primary and 0.512 – 29th rank [2005-06] 0.481 - 3 0th rank [2006-07] Upper Primary level
The above table shows that Madhya Pradesh has terribly sunk in providing access, infrastructure and outcomes in its educational service and programme. The indicator for Outcome includes Gross Enrolment Ratio – Overall, Scheduled Castes: Gross Enrolment Ratio, Scheduled Tribes: Gross Enrolment Ratio, Gender Parity Index in Enrolment, Repetition Rate, Drop-out Rate, Ratio of Exit Class over Class I Enrolment (only at Primary stage), Percentage of Passed, Children to Total Enrolment, Percentage of Appeared Children passing with 60 per cent and more marks. An enormous downfall in terms Outcomes have shown that there is a thrust on enrolling children in school without paying any heed in delivering quality education to them for improving their performance and results in schools. As per the DISE report 06-07 75.39% boys and 73.24% girls passed in grade IV/V, whereas 21.31% boys and 20.48% girls have passed with 60% and above marks. Similarly, 62.67% boys and 62.40% girls passed in grade VII/VIII and 19.10% boys and 20.10% girls have passed with 60% and above marks. At the combined primary and upper primary level Madhya Pradesh has fallen down from 29th to the 30th position in 2006-07. The peculiarity of providing access to children is not just limited to providing schools in every habitation but is also about making the school environment conducive and enabling for children and providing adequate upper primary schools in the proportion of primary schools. Notwithstanding this the ratio of Ratio of primary schools to upper primary schools Madhya Pradesh has fallen down from 2.8 in 2005-06 to 2.7 in 2006-07.
As per the Annual report of the Department of School Education report, 2006-07, the state government has met 83% of its physical target of upgrading 386 primary schools into Middle schools and have spend 51.1% of the budgeted amount [Rs. 14447850]. There are funds but perhaps there is no commitment to utilize them for the apt cause. Also, the issue of access is somewhere related to the defying dignity and exclusion of children in schools on the basis of caste, religion, creed, sex, etc. When Scheduled caste children are oft repeatedly discriminated and excluded in the school on the basis of caste then how can a state ensure appropriate access and retention of children in schools? An insight in the details regarding infrastructure, particularly available classroom for children in schools, presents the giddying attitude carried by the state government on the plight of children attending government schools in the state. As per the DISE report 2006-07 the percentage of schools with Student Classroom ratio more than 1:60 has raised from 15.55% in 2005-06 to 17.87% in 2006-07. On the other hand the Annual report of School Education Department, 2006-07 says that MP government has achieved merely 31.49% of its target of constructing additional rooms and 37.8% of its target of
constructing buildings in primary schools [constructed 1650 buildings out of targeted 4357]. While the state government has got the budget for constructing rooms for children due to its sheer ignorance children are huddled like animals in a classroom. Only 76.88% schools have pucca buildings, paying little attention on the inclusion of disabled children only 22.04% schools have ramp, 24.59 % government and aided schools have kitchen shed, 11.8% schools doesn’t have drinking water facility in school, only 26.43% schools have girl's toilet in school and 22.12% schools are single teacher schools.
Though the overall GER has taken a huge stride but there has been no significant growth in the
inclusion of girl children in schools. The government schemes and intention for enhancing girl's
enrollment has taken a setback as the percentage of girl's enrollment has fallen down from 48.85 % in 2005-06 to 48.75 % in 06-07 in class I-V. Moreover, the percentage of female teachers in primary schools has also slumped down to 66.62% in 06-07% 66.69% in 05-06. Though there has been efforts for recruiting more female teachers by bringing a reservation policy for them but a little has been offered in the name of facilities and security of these female teachers recruited in rural remote areas. As an offshoot of this the female teachers tend to get themselves transferred to an accessible place and in the process the schools are again left without teachers.
Madhya Pradesh at a glance
(Source: DISE 06-07])
􀂾 76.88% schools have pucca buildings.
􀂾 Average Student – Classroom ratio is 44.
􀂾 22.12% schools are single teacher schools.
􀂾 19.08% children [Primary schools]; 13.67% children in all schools are attending a single teacher school.
􀂾 % schools having PTR > 60 has increased from 22.72% in 2005-06 to 24.14% in 2006-07 [PS] and 21.03% in 05-06 to 22.16% in 06-07 [all schools].
􀂾 % schools having PTR > 100 has also increased from 5.55% in 05-06 to 6.75% in 06-07 [PS] and 5.30% in 2005-06 to 6.56% in 06-07.
􀂾 % schools with female teachers have come down from 66.69% in 05-06 to 66.62% in 06-07.
􀂾 % schools having drinking water facility in school – 88.2%.
􀂾 % schools having girl's toilet in school – 26.43%
􀂾 5.62% teachers [20735] involved in Non Teaching Work; 22 days spend in non teaching work.
Identification of Poverty
The issue of poverty has been more challenged by its own definition and strategy of avoidance adopted by the State and Central government. It worth mentioning that as per the latest definition by economic indicators, those families living in rural areas spending Re. 11 per person per day and in urban areas Re. 19 per person per day are considered to be poor. There is no need to define how a person can survive on this expenditure criterion. On these points Government of India reaches to a conclusion that poverty in India is decreasing. Actually Poverty is not decreasing but policy makers and some policy makers shortening the poverty line, which now should be called Starvation Line. On the basis of these criterias poverty in Madhya Pradesh has increased to 38.2 percent in 2004-05 from 37.43 percent in 2002.
Interestingly Central Government decides the level of poverty and leaves no space for State government in discussion, and this non-coordination creates havoc between Central-State relations. As per the Government of India 41.25 Lac families are in BPL list but Madhya Pradesh Government has already distributed BPL cards to 64 lac families. Madhya Pradesh Government is saying that poverty in Madhya Pradesh is increasing and state needs more support for poverty eradication programs, but GoI is not at all ready to accept any argument on poverty. Due to this huge difference all the families get only maximum 20 KGs food grain under the PDS scheme, because state government is dividing the food allocated by the Central Government for 41.25 lac families in 64 lac families identified by household survey in the state.
Still many most marginalized individuals, families and communities at large are living with acute poverty,but have not been identified for below the poverty line list. This invisibalisation makes their life more complex and though, because they go out of the essential criteria list for getting any benefit under poverty eradication program and social security scheme. One example is very commonly seen in the villages, now Government of India has extended the benefit of Old Age Pension scheme from destitute old aged persons to all the old aged persons living below the poverty line, but the problem is that still many eligible old aged persons have been kept out of the BPL list.
Madhya Pradesh no. 1 in crime against children
The National Crime Records Bureau, Ministry of Home Affairs report released in late 2007 says that Madhya Pradesh has acquired the 'top slot' in the nation in terms of number of incidence and rate of crimes committed against children during 2006. The report has undertaken a
comparative analysis of crime in thirty-five States and UTs [Union Territories] in India.
During 2006, total 3939 incidence of crime against children were reported in Madhya Pradesh,
highest in India. It was followed by Maharashtra [2841], Delhi [2160] and Uttar Pradesh [1767]. The State contributed almost one-fifth [20.8%] to the all-India percentage of incidence of crime against children.
Indore, the commercial hub of Madhya Pradesh, acquires 2nd position in the city-wise data
succeeding the 'national crime capital', Delhi. Portraying itself as a fore-runner in showing callousness towards children, Bhopal [the State capital], is ranked at 6th position. Total 418 and 72 incidences of crime committed against children were reported during 2006 in Indore and Bhopal, respectively.
During 2006, 829 incidence of rape and 43 incidence of infanticide; the highest number in India,
were registered in Madhya Pradesh. Also, the State has bagged third top-most position in the
incidence of murder of children. Following Uttar Pradesh [392 cases] and Maharashtra [203] total 117 murder cases of children were registered in Madhya Pradesh. Moreover, in the State four incidences under Child Marriage Restraint Act, 1978 were reported.

The data for disposal of cases by courts for crimes committed against children during 2006 depicts the grey side of judicial trial system. As per the records out of the total 9948 for trail [including the pending cases from previous year], 7019 were pending at the end of the year, 1344 were acquitted or discharged, 1075 were convicted and 510 were withdrawn. This implies that at the year-end the pending percentage of cases is 70.6%.