CRIMINALS, KILLERS AND SEX PERVERTS IN INDIAN PARLIAMENT

Dhananjay Singh, a member of Parliament belonging to Bahujan Samaj Party, at the young age of 38 has an excellent record of PUBLIC SERVICE: 29 criminal cases including murder and double murder (like double century in Cricket). He was arrested yesterday for suppressing evidence of a murder committed by his second wife  Jagriti. A senior dental surgeon at Delhi's RML hospital, Jagriti has a turbulent temperament like her married life. With three servants in her flat, she had enough targets to release her anger. On Sunday one of them (35) died, rather was beaten to death by Jagriti. A juvenile maid (17years) was seriously injured. The maid's death was reported to police only on Monday. Jagriti was arrested.

Peethambara Kurup is a senior Congressman and MP from Kerala. He looks sedate with white and black hair, more white. But behind this calm exterior, Kurup has a virulent libido, not controllable even in public. Recently at a public function of which he was an important organiser. The famous movie actress Swetha Menon was the chief guest. Gandhian Kurup received her warmly by keeping his arm around Swetha's waist  for a long time, and pressing the body. As her modesty was violated she finally complained to the police. Kurup made a public apology. Swetha gracefully withdrew the complaint. Politician Kurup ungracefully retracted his statement. He said he apologised only as the organiser of the function, and not for any wrong-doing. A public figure, Swetha cannot fight against the Congress Party and the UPA government which go all out to defend a Congress leader. The new generation Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi talks of value-based politics at every public meeting. Will he show courage to remove a leader with moral turpitude like Kurup from the Congress Party?

BJP did not lag behind . A senior leader and MP from Gujarat was arrested yesterday for being behind the murder of an RTI (Right to Information) activist .

Indian Parliament has a galaxy of great criminals of different specialities . Long live our Parliamentarians. They need not do anything good to the people. But let the harm they are capable of doing be kept at the minimum level.

MEDICAL NEGLIGENCE AND ACCOUNTABILITY OF HEALHCARE PROVIDERS

Countless patients have lost their lives due to medical negligence in India. Many have been disabled. Numerous families have lost the precious lives of their loved ones in Indian hospitals. Medical negligence occurs in all countries. But in India the extent of negligence by hospitals and medical practitioners is enormous. Enforcement of accountability by the Indian Medical Association and Medical Council of India has been feeble. Accountability by the judiciary is time-consuming, but it is the only effective way of making the healthcare providers answerable to the affected relatives and society.

 

October 25 is a RED letter day in the healthcare history of India when the Supreme Court ordered Kolkata's AMRI hospital and three doctors to pay a cumulative compensation of 11.41 crores INR (including interest) to Dr.Kunal Shah, a US-based doctor of Indian origin, whose 29 year old wife Anuradha Shah, a child psychologist, died due to medical negligence in 1998. They came to Kolkata to spend their holiday in their home. But unexpectedly she was admitted to AMRI hospital for treatment of skin rashes. And she breathed her last in the hospital. The relentless struggle of her husband came to a happy ending yesterday, though his loss is irreparable, when the Supreme Court pronounced this historic judgement. It is the highest ever compensation awarded in a case of medical negligence in India. It is also a victory for millions of people who expect medical care with real concern to the patients. The Supreme Court observed that the judgement would be a deterrent to doctors, hospitals, and nursing homes to discharge their responsibility seriously.

 

Some years ago, V. CHANDRASEKHAR, India's national Table Tennis champion, was admitted to the much-touted Apollo Hospital for a minor procedure. But the procedure ended the brilliant sport career of Chandra when he came out of the surgery as a paralysed person. The hospital fought to justify its "innocence", but the Supreme Court in 1995 ordered the hospital to pay a compensation of 19 lakhs INR.

 

Recently India's most prestigious All Institute of Medical Sciences has been in the news for wrong reasons. Doctors make diagnosis and treat patients based on blood test reports prepared in the laboratory. But who does this crucial work? Untrained lab attendants. Qualified lab technicians are found sleeping entrusting the work to lab attendants. Unsuspecting patients and their families are cheated. If this is the state of affairs in AIIMS, what happens in other hospitals can be imagined with utter helplessness.

GODS AND GODDESSES: BRAND INDIA

Swami Vivekananda, the architect of Indian renaissance, was a common man . Similarly Swami Chinmayananda, the founder of Chinmaya Mission, was a seer of eminence. In recent times Sri Sri Ravishankar, the globally respected creator of the highly effective Art of Living, never claims that he is a guru ( teacher).J. Krishnamoorthy, the great philosopher and educator, whose speeches mesmerised millions refused to be a guru.

 

In contrast to these great Indians, there are many Godmen and Godwomen, who parade as Gods and Goddesses with Indian spiritual brand. Their evolution is in stages. First the claim of a divine vision: in psychological terms an imagination or hallucination. The news gets wide circulation and the supporters discover miracles from the person: healing or creation of some article from nowhere.

 

Interested media popularise the vision and miracle. Devotees flow and the place of residence becomes an ashram or mutt. A GOD OR GODDESS IS BORN. Devotees from far and near throng round the clock and long queues for a sight, touch, or hug become a routine. International devotees converge from different parts of the globe. High security cover from the police follows. Ashrams spring up in different countries. The God or Goddess starts making regular global spiritual tours to bless men, women and children there. High profile marketing strategies project the image of the person in larger than life terms. Liberal donations, gifts and offerings in gold pour in from the rich, the corrupt, the taxevader, the guilty ,the sinner as well as from the gullible and global devotees for hospitals, educational institutions, and community service. Daily prayers and poojas as in temples crown the godman or godwoman as GOD OR GODDESS. The evolution is complete.

AADHAAR: A TOOL FOR BULLYING PEOPLE BY THE STATE

No scheme of the government of India has created as much anxiety and fear as that of the UIDAI's AADHAAR:Fear of losing state-promoted benefits.Some overzealous state governments have already made Aadhaar number mandatory.Millions find it difficult to get the Aadhaar number.Finally the Supreme Court ruling that Aadhaar is not mandatory for availing of government services, and it is optional for the citizens to seek Aadhaar number.

UIDAI and the government say that Aadhaar number is to establish the IDENTITY of the beneficiary of the services provided by the governments.Illegal migrants and even terrorists can avail of all government benefits.Some can even plant bombs to kill innocent people.The government says Aadhaar is not intended to establish CITIZENSHIP. IDENTITY IS DIFFERENT FROM CITIZENSHIP:A PERVERSE AND DANGEROUS POSITION.

The Supreme Court ruling stipulates that before issuing Aadhaar number the legitimacy of the citizenship of the recipient needs to be established.But the government's stand is motivated by political considerations which would even endanger the safety of the nation and the security of the citizens. The present system of giving Aadhaar numbers through private agencies and introducers is defective. Often the introducers introduce prospective recipients without even knowing them. EXTREMELY DANGEROUS. Some months ago the media exposed the irregularities in giving Aadhaar numbers.But the government ignored these valid exposures and is going ahead with ambitious targets. Short-term political gains at the cost of the nation.What a leadership this country has chosen!!!

When Indian celebrities are detained at US airports there is a big hue and cry in India as if the Indian nation is humiliated. But the US authorities continue with this practice. US is keen about the security of America and Americans.At the same time Indian authorities just do not bother about India's security. They are keen only about the security and convenience of the so called VIPs.The government is keen to circumvent the Supreme Court order banning convicted MPs and MLAs from the sacred precincts of the legislatures through an Ordinance.The government is planning a legislation to make UIDAI a statutory body.GOOD. But if the proposed act is intended to legitimise IDENTITY at the cost of CITIZENSHIP requirement it would be disastrous.As a citizen I hope that the Supreme Court would protect India and the Indians.

SOCIAL WORK IN INDIA: A BIZARRE SCENARIO

The Platinum Jubilee of social work education in India was observed in 2011. But there is nothing to cheer about. Mushrooming of social work courses (BSW and MSW ); sub-standard distance education programmes barring the ones of IGNOU; no national association of social workers;  no regulatory council; no certification for social work practice:...

For some years a voluntary association called Association of Schools of Social Work in India (ASSWI)existed. It was called a Headmasters' Association as a small group of "headmasters" and their collaborators controlled it.They were the permanent participants of international conferences and seminars; and beneficiaries of government nominations and international assignments. They also claimed themselves as practitioners. During 1977-81, a committed team was elected to manage ASSWI in which I had the opportunity to be one.For the first time social work teachers from different regions were nominated to international programmes ; many were invited to direct many workshops and seminars; and organised various faculty development and curriculum restructuring workshops.But when our four-year term ended, we faced a vicious character assassination campaign led by a group of "senior" social work educators. The new team succeeded in making ASSWI a weak organisation, which eventually had its demise.

The association of social workers--Indian Association of Social Workers (IATSW)--was a fairly strong Delhi-based body for some years. When a new power centre emerged in another city, internecine squabbles led to its closure.But the recent trend of associations of professional social workers in different cities without any national strangulating agency is a healthy sign.

From time to time, attempts were made for a statutory regulatory council of social work education without any success. The promoters of the council are overzealous as they could control the council if it ever becomes a reality.

In recent decades, a good number of committed professional social workers across the country are changing the landscape of professional social work practice in India .Thank GOD! they are independent of social work educators whose agenda is more personal than professional.

SOCIAL WORK : A PARADISE OF PIRATES AND GULLIBLE VICTIMS

Social work researchers often refer books which are not worthy to be referred. Professor Shankar Pathak, who retired from the Delhi School of Social Work ( now Department of Social Work at the Delhi University ),recently brought to  the attention of social work fraternity the "social work academic piracy " through a privately  circulated letter. A writer of impeccable academic and professional integrity, Professor Pathak has exposed the wholesale piracy of a multi-volume Encyclopaedia of Social Work brought out by a private institute based at Lucknow. Encyclopaedia is a very serious academic effort needing enormous organizational and academic co-ordination. But copying others' works does not need any serious  effort. Only two requirements for such an enterprise:(1)materials are to be  identified for copying, and (2) unlimited confidence that the mass copying would not be noticed, and if noticed no one would bother about it.

 

Many social work researchers, when they work for a research degree, are not serious about the authenticity  of the sources which they refer while writing. Research degrees are considered a hurdle to be crossed for promotion, or as a mandatory requirement. Many , these days, aim at getting PhD degree as a status symbol.So there is an unholy nexus  between research guides, research scholars , and dissertation writers.Outsourcing research degree work has become a lucrative business enterprise.A real case of a PhD:(1):Research instruments from Internet sources; (2):contract for data collection from 300 respondents and data analysis ( Rs.3 lakhs ); (3):contract for writing the dissertation including typesetting and getting dissertation copies bound (Rs.3.25 lakhs); (4): miscellaneous (Rs.1 lakh).Total around Rs.7.5 lakhs for a PhD degree. In this scenario, plagiarism and piracy thrive.

 

Only a war -like action by the governments, UGC, and committed academics can make a dent on this menace. It is as deadly as corruption in public and social life.

INDIAN WOMEN IN A SICK SOCIETY

Scriptures glorify indian women as SAKTHI and we worship in temples. But in families and society, women have always been domesticated , ill-treated and abused. Women's body has always been viewed as an object of sexual gratification, and violation of women's modesty has often been condoned.In modern society, patriarchal systems continue unabated in the mind- set of the custodians of law and justice.The female segment of the population starts life (if they survive foeticide and infanticide) with bias as  a burden on parents, and face sexual abuse within families in many cases, sexual harassment at the workspot ,and then direct sexual assault. The popular TVChannel in Malayalam ASIANET reported extensively on child sexual abuse in families under the title "It is your daughter, do not forget " and the numerous instances of abuse by fathers themselves. Rape is not always reported for fear of neighbours and police, and the conviction rate of rapes is low mainly because of prejudiced and defective police investigation, weak prosecution and often  judgements with leniency towards the rapists. Reporting rape in police stations is often risky for the victims. Many a time rape victims are sexually assaulted by the police officials.Law often stands helpless when people with money and power are the sexual offenders.

 

Society is generally cruel to the rape victims. Sympathy is often found missing and the victim as well as her family are ridiculed and ostracized.Many girls and women commit suicide because of social ostracism. Support systems to rape survivors are woefully inadequate in India.Social Work profession's response to the restorative and rehabilitative services is not worth mentioning. Living in a sick society cannot make our women healthy.