Sunday Reading

New Delhi, 4 March 2010

Fighting Malnutrition

MORINGA CAN DO MIRACLES 

By Proloy Bagchi

It is such a shame that the level of malnutrition in India is nearly twice of what prevails in Sub-Saharan Africa. The World Bank, in a report last year, slamming the Government of India on its tag of “one of the most malnourished nations in the world” said that robust economic growth and food security by itself would not lower the incidence of malnutrition, especially among women and children.

Stating that malnourishment rates are high, 54 per cent among Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and 50 per cent among rural children, the report observed a mismatch between “intentions and implementation” in the Integrated Child Development programme. The nutrition-related sectoral plans of other ministries were also found to have remained mostly unimplemented. Even the Mid-day Meal Programme, while ensuring better attendance in schools, has failed to be of value in reducing malnutrition.

This is not all. Noting that 2000 to 3000 children die of malnutrition every day, even the UK-based Institute of Development Studies described India as an “economic powerhouse but a nutritional weakling”. With 46 per cent children in the country still malnourished, the Institute felt India would not be able to meet the UN Millennium Goals of halving the number of hungry citizens by 2015. Veena S Rao, a former secretary to the Government of India, in her book “Malnutrition, an emergency: what it costs the nation” estimated that malnutrition has led to a loss of 4 per cent in GDP. Stressing that malnutrition was a huge human resource calamity, she called for making “high-energy, low-cost food” available to the poor.

This is precisely where Moringa, the “Miracle Tree”, our humble drumstick tree (botanical name: Moringa oleifera), has a role. For many, it is inconceivable that this non-descript tree could ever be an effective foil against the prevailing widespread malnutrition in the country.

Malnutrition is caused by deficiencies of micro-nutrient like, inter alia, iron deficiency anemia (IDA), vitamin A deficiency (VAD),, iodine deficiency disorders (IDD). About 70 per cent of pre-school children suffer from IDA. Further, low birth-weight (LBW) is one of the key causes of under-nutrition in India, where about 30 per cent of the children are born with LBW largely due to poor maternal nutrition.

Almost a third of the women in India have a body mass index below normal and the prevalence of anemia among pregnant women is around 60 per cent. Besides, want of proper sanitation and hygiene, coupled with lack of safe drinking water and consequential gastro-intestinal disorders, are basic causes of under-nutrition and chronic ill-health. The United Nations has defined malnutrition as a state in which an individual can no longer maintain natural bodily capacities such as growth, pregnancy, lactation, learning abilities, physical work and resisting and recovering from disease.

The miraculous Moringa Tree could take care of most of the nutritional deficiencies, if only it is put to proper use. Increasingly considered as the world’s most valuable natural resource, the main constituents of the tree are several nutritive ingredients. Its leaves, pods and flowers are considered good sources of vitamins A, B, B2, B3, B6 and C, folic acid, ascorbic acid, beta-carotene, calcium, iron, and amino acids.  More importantly, its leaves are highly nutritious, being a significant source of beta-carotene, vitamin C, protein, iron and potassium.  In fact, Australians claim that the Moringa tree provides seven times the Vitamin C in oranges, four times the calcium in milk and Vitamin A in carrots, two times the protein in milk, and three times the potassium in bananas.

A versatile plant with a multitude of natural attributes, Moringa is great food for humans and animals alike. Its leaves, flowers and fruits, all are edible. Its leaves, dried and powdered, when added to the diet of undernourished children enhance their appetite and increase their weight.  Among the nursing mothers it markedly increases lactation providing greater nutrition for the infants. It also makes great fodder for cattle. Experiments have revealed that the weight of livestock increased up to 32 per cent through Moringa feed, increasing their milk by 43 per cent.  As in the case of humans the dried leaves appear to be much more effective.

What is, perhaps as important is the capability of the Moringa seeds to purify water and thus take care of many of the ailments, including the debilitating diarrhea, of the rural folk that arise from unsafe drinking water. The pulp of the seeds makes an effective coagulant, which can be used to clean turbid waters. In an hour or so of immersion of seeds, the contaminants are pulled to the bottom of the water. Researchers have shown that the seeds, in the process, also neutralise over 90 per cent of bacteria and viruses present in the water, rendering it safer for, both humans and cattle. This it can do even after extraction of its oil, called ben oil, which is of use in several industries.

With its incredible diverse utility as a medicinal, industrial and ecological plant, planting the tree in and around Indian villages, therefore, makes perfect economic sense. Native of India and widely distributed in the country in virtually in its every region, it can grow fast and in any condition. It is drought-resistant and has remarkable survival instincts.  Moringa is kind of a “never say die” plant, so much so that it is difficult to kill it. It can, with facility, green the semi-arid regions of the country rendering several benefits to the local communities.

Africa is using the tree in a big way to fight hunger and malnutrition. The value of the Moringa tree has been documented and has been found to be sustainable solution to malnutrition in the continent. What is more, a new remarkable attribute has since been discovered and that is its capacity to build up the immune systems. Hard hit by HIV/AIDS, a huge number of the drought-resistant trees are being planted in most of the affected countries of Africa.

Internationally some non-governmental organizations such as Trees for Life, Church World Service, and Educational Concerns for Hunger Organization — have actively advocated Moringa as “natural nutrition for the tropics”. The beneficiaries have been some of the Central American, South American, African and Asian countries. Shockingly, no such governmental or non-governmental initiative has so far taken off in this country, though it happens to be the world’s largest producer of Moringa. It seems it is yet to be appreciated that Moringa could well be the provider of (Veena Rao’s) “high-energy, low-cost food” for the Indian anemic and malnourished.

For emancipation of the deprived and the disadvantaged from the curse of chronic ill-health and malnutrition a well thought-out campaign to harvest the varied benefits of Moringa must be launched. Let us begin with the gram panchayats and anganwadis. --- INFA

(Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)

Sunday Reading

New Delhi, 25 February 2010

Countering Maoists

STATESMANSHIP MAY HELP

By Dr P K Vasudeva

The Maoist/Naxalite menace appears to be a far more serious and complex threat to the country’s democracy than from extremist religious groups. The Maoist movement has got mixed up with some genuine grievances of the tribals, whose cause appeals to a lot of well-meaning people, especially those who are living in shabby and neglected conditions.

Unlike the past, the Maoist/Naxalite movements are now much more integrated, spanning the interconnected forest areas running from the borders of Nepal all the way to Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra. The radical groups have got control of sophisticated arms procured from our adversaries (neighbouring countries) and are involved in murders, of rival political party members, local government officials and policemen (all considered enemies of the people), looting of banks, commercial establishments and destruction of public property disastrous for the democracy.

They are of the opinion that the tribals have not had their share of the benefits of development. Most of them do not have any legal rights to the land they have been cultivating or living on for centuries. They do not have access to schools, medical services, fair price shops or even safe drinking water. Many still live on gathered forest produce and firewood.

Their deprivation gets magnified when the Government leases out rich mineral resources in the tribal areas to big industrialists. Some fear that industrialisation on these lands and forests (even with reasonable compensation) will deprive the tribals their customary way of life, making them slaves of an industrial society. Their culture and living styles are curbed and to some extent destroyed by the intruders in their society.

One major problem is that the most radical elements may not allow the local administration to enter and pursue the development projects in these areas as any such activity would weaken their case against the present system. Here, the local administration, with the mediation of some NGOs and social activists, will have to strike a deal with the less militant leaders that they will allow government officials to carry out development works without fear in a time-bound manner.

The representatives of the tribals should be part of the local committees who will oversee that the projects are implemented speedily and effectively.  The threat of an impending all-out armed offensive against the Maoists may also induce some of the leaders to change track.

A path of armed struggle against the State will mean deaths of thousands of innocent people, as it would be extremely difficult to isolate the innocent from the perpetrators of violence. Thus there would be largescale human rights’ violations, as feared by activists.

However, if the majority of Maoist leaders give up the armed struggle and participate in the development process as responsible leaders of a mass movement in a democratic system, then they may get the satisfaction for having played a historic role in helping the poor. They should remember that even after many decades of Maoism, China has rejected the Maoist path. Additionally, the intellectuals who are sympathetic to the tribal cause, but do not support using the adivasis as canon fodder for the Maoist armed struggle, should impress upon the Maoists to let the development initiatives take place at a fast speed.

The political parties who are being soft on, or ambivalent to, the Maoists should realise that hardcore Maoists do not believe in democracy (however pro-poor or welfare-oriented it may be) and would eventually try to overthrow them by violent means. Marriage of short-term convenience would be a disaster in the long run. The current plight of the Pakistani state, which relied on encouraging militants for short-term gains, is a living example.

Joan Robinson, the noted “Marxist” British economist (who was even sympathetic to Maoist Cultural Revolution at one stage), said: “There is one thing worse than being exploited by capitalists — that is not being exploited at all.”

Intellectuals are the first to come under fire from the political or governing class whenever it finds itself in a critical predicament and desperately needs scapegoats. This inevitably gets him into trouble from both sides of an issue or an argument. Whatever stand he espouses after objectively weighing the pros and cons, he is invariably accused by each side for favouring the other. Such was the lot of intellectuals in Britain and the US during India's freedom struggle, the Vietnam War, the fight for civil rights for the blacks or the invasion of Iraq.

Intellectuals are invariably seen as spoilers, gadflies, thorns in the flesh, and even sympathisers of agitationists, when they stand up for human rights and tolerance of dissent. Hardly has there has been a political or governing dispensation which has taken them as holding a mirror to itself.

It is not surprising in this background to find Union Home Minister, P Chidambaram, bristling at any suggestion by those who care for the nation as much as he does for adopting an empathetic approach to Maoism without blackballing it as an attempt to overthrow the Government. Those spearheading it may well have given this impression, but the Government needs to ask itself why Maoism has been able to expand its support base in so many States in such a short time.

Anyone who lives and moves in villages and among people will find that all state instruments are becoming the armaments of the rich and powerful to deny the legitimate aspirations of the downtrodden. You try as an aam aadmi to get a land right or drinking water supply and see how brutally you are humiliated, harassed, hounded and robbed.

The situation today is further compounded by the want of trust in the Government or representative institutions. Even the judiciary has shaken the people's faith. In olden days, all this would have resulted in a French or a Russian revolution accompanied by a horrendous bloodbath. The manifestation of Maoism is perhaps India's own version of a revolution advancing from district to district.

It cannot be countered by shooting Maoists at sight. The Government should spare no efforts to provide a just, fair, sensitive, effective, honest governance, deal sternly and summarily with the corrupt and the venal, rid legislatures and cabinets of scoundrels and criminals and force officials to behave with humility and in a spirit of service.

As Chidambaram himself used to say, Maoists/Naxalites are not enemies but our own people. Although their methods are abhorrent, they have at least turned the spotlight on the untold hardships and excruciating sufferings of the poor and the vulnerable. Clearly, the Government should not stand on prestige but respond to the Maoist offer of talks by displaying sagacity and statesmanship.--INFA

(Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)

Sunday Reading

New Delhi, 16 February 2010

Preserving Heritage

TIME FOR “INCLUSIVE” STRATEGY

By Suraj Saraf

Tremendous effort has been made over the years to preserve our invaluable Indian heritage. However, instead of effecting any improvement in the situation, conditions have turned from bad to worse. So much so that it would be no exaggeration to underscore that precious Indian heritage has become hostage to smugglers and encroachers.

The facts are truly disturbing. About 249 monuments, protected by the Archeological Survey of India, the principal official agency to protect and promote national heritage, and by State departments of archeology, had been encroached upon (euphemism for disappeared), according to a Parliamentary Standing Committee, headed by CPM leader Sitaram Yechury.

The Committee had said: “The case of vanishing of our monuments is a dangerous process which if not controlled in time may lead to a situation where we will be left with only a few monuments as symbol of our culture and traditions. Vanishing of monuments should be stopped with all resources at our disposal.”

Likewise, the Vice-President of the World Council of Museum, Amareshwar Gala, had lamented: “If I were in power in the Indian government, I would declare a state of emergency for the cultural property.” Clearly, he was referring to the increasing cases of smuggling of artifacts from India. This has evoked an interesting comment from an expert, who warned that if this trend continued, Indians will be worshipping only fake gods in the temples or they will have to go to London, Paris or Washington to worship the genuine gods!

According to INTACH (Indian Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage) there were 70,000 monuments in India of which only about 10,000 had been taken under protection by the ASI and the archeology departments in different States. The rest 60,000 were at the mercy of nature and needed immediate attention.

This is the dismal state of affairs despite the fact that Article 51 of the Constitution talks about protecting and preserving our composite national culture and Article 49 relates to protection of monuments, places and objects of national importance.

Apparently, as a desperate remedy, the ASI has decided now to outsource the protection of monuments to private security agencies and had invited bids. However, one wonders how the ASI bigwigs, who had always advanced lack of adequate resources as the main reason for being unable to afford protection of the monuments, would find the resources to afford this private protection.

Moreover, this goes against the opinion expressed by the Union Home Ministry, which was not in favour of handing over the protection of the monuments to private security agencies. Sadly, there is no uniform security system or guidelines for the monuments and that most of the present ASI staff is unaware of their duties and security procedures due to lack of training.

The other problem is that while the ASI tends to opt for private security to solve its problem, the latter is on contract for only three years. Since there is no proper chain of command, the private guards feel they are above ASI officers. Also, the guards have the same problem as the ASI watch and ward staff-- they are often not trained or equipped to man these monuments.

The Home Ministry shares a similar opinion i.e. the private security personnel are neither professionally competent nor adequately trained for the task and also do not have weapons/arms and metal detectors. Visitors are frisked manually but women visitors would be spared for want of lady officers.

An interesting suggestion appears to be gaining ground and a consensus i.e. the community must be involved in this task. However, both education and awareness would be the primary requisites and so far there no viable process has been suggested. But two suggestions made by President Pratibha Patil and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh should deserve attention and perhaps even immediate implementation.

Inaugurating a global conference on Conservation of Heritage in New Delhi last year, Singh observed that awareness should be increased to preserve heritage structures. He stated: “Our cultural properties have been exposed to various threats--natural and manmade.  Over the centuries, conquerors, explorers, colonizers, vandals and thieves had added their bit to the vagaries of nature and the passage of times.” And, in developing countries like India, while attention was mainly focused on the immediate challenges of survival and development, little thought was given to larger issues such as culture and its preservation.

At the same time there was a word of caution: “One must not get trapped into this binary choice between development and conservation of heritage. The two must go together. We need strategies and policies that facilitate such a walk on both the legs.” A step forward would be to garner people’s involvement in the development and conservation of our heritage. Conservation should not be seen as an elitist pre-occupation. Coordinated efforts should be made along with comprehensive planning of the local areas’ plans with participation from the local community.

In fact, some would opine that it was wrong to suggest that additional resources were needed for the preservation of heritage sites. What was more important was the mindset, a value system and culture that respects the past and wishes to learn from it. Indeed, involvement of the community should be viewed as the most viable solution for safeguarding the country’s heritage.

In this regard, President Patil has strongly pleaded for giving priority to art and its appreciation in the education system. During the presentation ceremony of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Awards she had said: “In our present education system much priority is not accorded to art and its appreciation. A change in this approach is necessary. It would require efforts on behalf of art practitioners to make teaching interesting and the education system to accord priority to performing arts.”

One option that readily comes to mind is for the Akademi to explore alternatives such as setting up a digital library to provide people easy access to its archival material, which would encourage studies on Indian culture. Indeed, it is this inclusive approach that may ensure the safety of this treasure of rich ancient art heritage in a vast country like India. Let us not waste any more time. ---INFA

(Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)

Sunday Reading

New Delhi, 10 February 2010

Of Chastity & Hymenoplasty

ARE OLD VALUES CHANGING?

By Syed Ali Mujtaba

The five-year-old statement of Tamil film actress Kushboo on pre-marital sex and virginity after making the rounds in lower courts and the Madras High Court has now reached the Supreme Court of India. The actress made an appeal this January to the apex court, challenging the defamation complaints filed against her in various places in Tamil Nadu on grounds that there was no whisper of obscenity in her statement.

The three-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice K.G Balakrishnan observed: “it is a wide statement, slightly difficult to digest.” The CJI called for production of the full transcript of the actress’s statement for considering this case and posted it for future hearing.

The aging siren of Tamil cinema found herself in the eye of the storm way back in 2005 for her opinions favoring pre-marital sex. In an interview to a magazine, she had said:  “Our society should liberate itself from such ideas that brides should all be virgins at the time of marriage. No educated man will expect his bride to be virgin at the time of marriage. But when indulging in pre-marital sex, the girl should guard herself against pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases.”

This statement stirred a hornet’s nest in the southern State. As many as 23 defamation complaints were filed against the actress and the Madras High Court ordered them to be bunched together for its speedy trial. The actress challenged this in the Supreme Court.   

Notwithstanding the apex court’s judgment on the issue, the fact remains that Kushboo’s statement focuses on a few societal issues, particularly those related to gender and certain developments that are taking place bringing out the hard realities of the Indian society.

There is no denying the fact that under the onslaught of the new forms of media, and sweeping societal and life style changes, the psychological distance between childhood and adulthood is shrinking in our country.

Many youngsters at an unbelievable age are indulging into sexual experimentation and playing out the adult fantasies in grown up ways. This could be illustrated by pointing out a news report that emanated from one of India’s prosperous but relatively conservative State, Gujarat. A news item shockingly revealed that many young girls are queuing up before the clandestine medical clinics for hymenoplasty, the surgical procedure that restores their virtue intact in the eyes of their future husbands.

The trend for the restoration of woman's hymen, technical virginity had started some eight years back in Gujarat, but is now fast catching up in other parts of the country. Just like sex determination clinics that operate secretly, the clinics doing hymenoplasty are also secretly mushrooming in big cities. The price for the restoration of the hymen is about Rs.20, 000 ($500) and doctors describe the surgery as ‘simple and not too painful’ that is further made comfortable in the ambience of corporate clinics.

Chastity is a cherished value in the Indian society and girls turn up to such clinics with the sole intention of keeping their future husbands happy that they are virgins. The plastic surgeons, who are reportedly making a killing out of this thought-out fancy, say there were only few such cases earlier. Earlier, mostly those who used to come were inquisitive youngsters wanting to know the details of such surgery but never volunteered for the same. The trend has changed now. Of late hymenoplasty surgeries are on the rise.

Importantly, it appears that the new age woman is warming up with the idea of an arranged marriage, but not before she has had her fill of fun and flings. The case history of hymenoplasty ranges from those who want to get married but did not want their husband to know they had indulged in pre-marital sex. Others may even want their husbands to inform his parents that their daughter-in-law is a virgin.

Interestingly, it is not just young women in India who are going for such procedures but Indian girls settled abroad too. Apparently, they are longing for it because the Indian value system remains intact in their households. Moreover, compared to the western countries, such surgeries are cheap in India. And, many plastic surgeons are cashing on this trend.

However, there are some alarming signals coming out of this fascination. It looks as if this is going the sex selection way, where the doctors only flourish. Instead of educating the society and spreading information about sex, they are instead making a killing out of it. Their conspiracy of silence is also providing Indian patriarchal set-up a more conducive environment to retain the old mindsets.

Those involved in such activity scoff at the theory that they are not acting responsibly. Many feel this is a transitory phase and the day is not far when the claims of marrying a virgin, will be box-itemed in newspapers.

Now, if we link this news to Kushboo’s statement, then we can draw our own conclusions. What the actress did was to take a liberal stand on a subject that is normally kept under wraps. She spoke her mind about the changing value system that is taking place in our society. But, there are people who feel offended about such ideas and have raised the voice of protest against the actress. Can we not construe this as gagging of the freedom of speech and putting restrictions on airing personal views?

There is another angle to Kushboo’s episode. Her statement provided fodder to the cultural police in the country. Such people prey on this sort of things to occur and raise voice of protest to gain mileage and popularity. They are joined by those who are entrenched in the old value system and take this as a personal offence.

Unfortunately, such people find strong political backing and do every possible thing to stop liberal voices to gain an upper hand. It is hoped that with changing times people will learn to adopt themselves to hard realities and do not make fuss over such statements. 

This brings us to a larger question where parents are struggling to strike the right balance between being relaxed, being liberal and still others drawing a line on such issues. Again these are personal choices and can not be generalized. However, when one has to choose between light and darkness, black and white, true and false, right and wrong, the choices are limited. ---INFA  

(Copyright, India News & Feature Alliance)