More than 900 participants from 87 countries are currently participating in the 62nd World Newspaper Congress of the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) in Hyderabad. However, the breaking news, brought to light by noted journalist P Sainath in The Hindu is of a few dailies in Maharashtra eulogizing the achievements of the Chief Minster of the state during the election time. In all three rival dailies the same report appears, with different bylines. Moreover, none of the newspapers mention of the word advertisement or sponsored feature next to the item, just goes to show how low journalistic ethics have stooped in India.

While the coverage of the ‘achievements’ were not ‘advertisements’ as it was not mentioned and the accounts of election expenditures do not reflect any spending on ads, it might be worth mentioning that had these been ads, the bill for the same would have run into few crores, given the profile of the newspapers in which these appeared, drastically exceeding the election expenditure limit. The issue is that of illegal cash transactions and tax evasion worth crores of rupees- and both media outlets and politicians are guilty of not just of financial wrongdoing but connivance to subvert professional ethics and undermine democratic processes and principles.

Unfortunately, the trend is not limited to Maharasthra, it is a national phenomenon. Governments patronize newspapers by giving Government advertisements in the newspapers have become so common and a regular source of revenue for the local forth estate that often feels obliged to give maximum (and usually favourable) coverage to the party during the elections. Also, with many television channels and newspapers being owned by members of the political parties, it is difficult to differentiate between ‘news’ and ‘views’, between real ‘achievements’ and ‘advertisements’ and between ‘criticism’ and ‘propaganda’.
Is the forth estate, often hailed as the watchdog for the society is blatantly conniving with those in power to influence public opinion? Is this a new revenue model? Or as Sainath asks- Is ‘paid news’ getting institutionalized?

It is important that the Election Commission of India (ECI) takes note of the practice and takes immediate action to counter it. Similarly, the Press Council of India should also take some bold decisions to discourage the misuse of media and setting self-regulatory mechanisms to curb the menace.

The print-media has been the torch-bearer and custodian of public opinion and this responsibility. India has always taken pride in the freedom that media exercises. However, with such alliances, the integrity of the press is under scrutiny? Will the media please take it as a wake up call?

What kind of regulatory mechanisms should be put in place to reduce political influences on press?

Corporal punishment is a violation of a right of the Child to protection from all forms of violence, abuse and maltreatment in any setting. The Convention on Child Rights (CRC) to which the Government of India is a signatory, states that learning environments should respects children’s dignity and discipline in school should be administered in a manner consistent with children’s dignity.

The National Policy on Education (1986, modified 1992) states that “corporal punishment will be firmly excluded from the educational systems”.

The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 (No 35 of 2009) (26 August, 2009) prohibits physical punishment and mental harrasment to the to the child.

The Act states:
(1) No child shall be subjected to physical punishment or mental harassment.
(2) Whoever contravenes the provisions of sub-section (1) shall be liable to disciplinary action under the service rules applicable to such persons. The enactment of the new legislation is the first step towards the universal prohibition of corporal punishment in schools and other educational institutions.

However, as is always the case in India, implementation is a serious challenge. Only 17 states/union territories in India have prohibited corporal punishment in schools under the National Policy on Education and even in states that have prohibited, there is no way to know if the guidelines of corporal punishment are followed. However, from what appears from sporadic newspaper reports and experiences of interacting with students, teachers and parents, corporal punishment is often an accepted and sanctioned part of education.

The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 that has seen civil society engagement in its formulation is considered to be more comprehensive. However, there are apprehensions that the provisions of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 may be inadequate in that disciplinary action will be determined by “service rules”. The threat of such disciplinary action, of possibly losing their job, however may not be enough to deter teachers. Equal protection demands that the criminal law should be available and enforced. The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act (2000, amended 2006) provides punishment for cruelty to juveniles or children both in and beyond childcare institutions. The Act makes no exceptions and intends to punish cruelty by those in authority and applies equally to parents, guardians and teachers.

Physical and other forms of humiliating and abusive treatment are not only a violation of the child’s right to protection from violence, but also counter-productive to learning and indeed to child development. However, public action also need to change societal attitudes towards corporal punishment has to be understood by the society first, before policies have an impact.

What should be policy priorities in dealing with corporal punishment?

Shortage of nursing staff is a global problem existing both in the developed and developing parts of the world. While the developed nations get around the problem by recruiting nurses from other countries to fill its vacancies, the developing countries are struggle with acute shortage.

The global migration of nurses is particularly high. It is common for Indian nurses to migrate to other countries, especially the neighbouring gulf countries attracted by better pay and opportunities of international exposure and professional development. The situation is  severe in smaller island nations such as Jamaica where, according to World Health Organization (WHO) estimates,  eight percent  of its generalist nurses and 20 percent of its specialist nurses leave for more developed countries each year.  Between 2002 and 2006, more than 1800 nurses left the Caribbean to work abroad. English-speaking Caribbean nations currently have 1.25 nurses for every 1000 people; 10 times fewer than countries in the European Union and the United States of America Situation is almost similar in India. According to the Indian Nursing Council, 2.4 million nurses will be needed by 2012 to provide a nurse-patient ratio of one nurse per 500 patients. (Source: http://www.who.int/bulletin/volumes/88/5/10-020510/en/index.html).

Shortage of nurses is an important concern because it compromise health service delivery both in terms of quality and quantity. According to WHO, India, empirically, the states with the worst health-care human resource shortages are also the ones with the worst health indicators and highest infant and child mortality.
Paucity of training is cited as one of the main reasons for the global nurse shortage. In India, for example, the focus of nurse training is often an issue, with curricula more suited to teaching skills useful in developed countries rather than in resource-poor settings in nurses’ home countries. This is true for most of the developing countries. There is also an issue of trainers. The faculty-student ratio for nursing training in developing countries is reported to be as high as 1:45 compared with a 1:12 ratio in developed countries (Source: http://www.who.int/bulletin/volumes/88/5/10-020510/en/index.html).

Also, while nurse shortages occur at every level of the health-care system in India, recruitment and retention of nurses to rural areas is especially difficult and therefore needs special attention. Expereinces around the world have shown that in some cases different incentives (including rural allowance, better educational opportunities, and better insurance coverage) to remain in nursing posts in rural areas work well. In general, incentive packages tailored to local conditions are more likely to be effective.

Increasing nursing training opportunities, better pay, good working conditions- these are the three fundamental considerations to make nursing an attractive profession. Are we working on it?

What can be done to attract more students to nursing?

The protected area (PA) network in India currently covers an area of 8.1 million ha, encompassing about 14 percent of the country’s forest area and 4.61 percent of its land mass.

Most PAs in India have a core zone with National Park status and a peripheral buffer zone, which can be either a wildlife sanctuary or a reserve forest. Resource use has been restricted to the buffer zones, where it has been regulated, while core areas are completely closed.

The basic approach to management of PAs has been exclusivist that understands natural resource management essentially as protection of the parks from people living in surrounding areas and shield wildlife and other natural resources from exploitation. Attempts to protect PAs from human intervention by coercion have often led to hostile attitudes of local people towards wildlife management and sometimes to open conflict.

In recent years there has been a shift towards participatory approaches in forest management and biodiversity conservation. The National Forest Policy (1988) declared that local communities were to be involved in natural resources conservation. Subsequently, in 1990 the Indian Ministry of Environment and Forests issued a circular for joint forest management (JFM) and resource sharing. The JFM approach seeks to develop partnerships between state forest departments (as owners) and local community organizations (as co-managers) for sustainable forest management. User groups receive usufruct rights only; land is not to be allocated or leased.

Since 1991, the Government of India has committed funds, particularly in the field of PA management, for eco-development (also called integrated conservation and development) and a site-specific package of measures for conserving biodiversity through local economic development. All the eco-development activities are administered by village eco-development committees (VECs) or forest protection committees (FPCs). Eco-development integrates environmental and forestry activities with those of other development agencies including such activities as the provision of drinking-water and irrigation facilities, village road-work, health care camps and employment generation for local communities in the vicinity of PAs. These activities have improved relationships between local communities and PA management staff.

However, Eco-development, as interpreted and implemented in India, has some inherent weaknesses-it limits local people’s participation in the management of national parks and wildlife sanctuaries. The Forest Department, hierarchical in its decision-making processes, has difficulty to practice the new approach. Consequently, participation often means informal discussions. Also, under the present tenurial arrangements, it has been difficult to involve local people in conservation, since the earlier exclusionary approach failed to develop interest in conservation among local communities. Finally, while the list of eco-development activities can be quite comprehensive, it does not amount to a strategy. As a result, the conservation-development linkages are generally weak.

Given the scenario, the need to rethink about our intentions and how we go about implementing these need to be scrutinized. Are we ready for it?

Does the present approach to Protected Area (PA), protect the rights of the people dependent on it?

A year after cyclone Aila, the inhabitants of Sunderbans continue to live precariously.

According to newspaper reports, nearly three hundered thousand families were affected in South 24 Parganas district in the wake of Aila. District authorities said only about half the claimants have received the compensation amount so far. (http://www.hindu.com/2010/05/26/stories/2010052660100900.htm).

For the lucky few who received compensation, the amount was so meager that only temporary houses could be re-built. Those close to the now damaged embankments were washed away by heavy tidal waves, less than a year after they were re-built. The promised 600 crores central assistance for building 900 kms of damaged embankments is yet to arrive.

For many, the compensation has been used to buy basic provisions. With a failed crop and soil that continues to be affected by salinity, food production has been severely compromised. Degraded fields mean less work as agricultural labour.

While this is certainly a matter of concern, what is more appalling is the institutional apathy. Even in the wake of the First anniversary of Cyclone Aila, there was still no Disaster Management System or even an Early Warning System in place, instituted by the Government.

Aila was certainly a big blow, but life and livelihoods in Sunderbans have always been precarious. Tidal waves ravage villages every year. Roads and embankments are washed away every year. Crop failures of various degrees happen every year. Aila, being so devastating and sudden made it to the headlines. Civil Society Organizations working in the areas know that shocks and disasters are cyclic, whether or not they are newsworthy.

Quite a few NGOs are working it the area. Some of them have repaired water sources like tube wells post disaster. Some are engaged in providing disaster resistant water supply sources. Others are supporting alternative livelihood activities. However, the magnitude of the problem is such that it cannot be addressed by NGOs. According to their own estimates, all NGOs taken together impact approximately five hundred thousand people, of the estimated 45 hundred thousand who live in the Sunderbans.

The urgency of action cannot be over-stated. There are some recent efforts by NGOs working in the area and by academic institutions like Jadavpur University to study, document and recommend strategies and action plan for the development of this area. One can only hope that the effort is able to preserve the delicate man-nature balance in this fragile ecosystem.

How can the Sunderban areas be more resilient to natural disasters?

As we discuss the ways in which we can achieve sustainable development balancing economic, environmental and social aspirations, we are increasingly faced with the inescapable question of institutional choice.

When we talk environmental protection, who do we think should be in charge?

The Ministry of Environment and Forest, the Government of India?

The Forest Departments of the various states or the structures created by them?

Local governmental structures like Panchayti Raj Institutions and/ Municipal Corporations?

Environmental NGOs?

Local people?

All of the above?

Clearly, the answer is not straightforward. While we may talk about stakeholder participation, we know that it is easier said than done. Bringing these multiple actors on a common platform is not just difficult but often impractical.

There is often a conflict of approach as the different stakeholders conceptualize nature in different ways. The state represented by its ministries and departments often want to have some kind of an ‘ownership’ and control over the natural resources (and be the de facto owner even when some de jure community based structure like Forest Protection Committees are formed). The environmental NGOs (though any such generalization is problematic as there are many kinds of NGOs with varying ideologies) often view nature as a pre-social category that leads to the exclusion of the people, local institutions are often not empowered enough to balance access with conservation. So the question remains tricky.

Numerous studies including those by the Institutions and Governance Program, World Resources Institute have shown that countries and agencies claiming to support democratic decentraliza­tion often fail to empower democratic local governments. Instead, powers are transferred to a plethora of institutions, in­cluding non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and private associations, which can be detri­mental to the legitimacy of local democratic institutions. The answer instead needs to be searched for in the context of institutions that empower the public do­main in conservation and the im­pact on the issues of representa­tion and accountability.

Which are the appropriate institutions for conservation of natural resources?

• A majority of the registered pregnant women did not use the health centres for institutional deliveries. This was particularly so in the States lagging on health and development parameters due to lack of planning in micro birth plan entrusted to the Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) and the Auxiliary Nurse Midwives (ANMs)

• Facilities were inadequate and there was a shortage of supporting staff and doctors at the health centres.

• The District Level Household and Facility Survey-III (2007-08) indicated that the percentage of institutional deliveries was 47 against the National Rural Health Mission target of 100 per cent institutional deliveries by 2012.

• More than 50 per cent of pregnant women in seven States and 20 to 50 per cent in nine States did not receive the full dose of iron and folic acid tablets due to delays and shortfalls in supply.

Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India, 2009

The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has criticized the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) for problems in implementation of the Janani Suraksha Yojana – maternity benefit scheme. In its latest report, the CAG pointed out that in addition to the above, the national targets for progress in human development goals and health indicators such as Infant Mortality and Maternal Mortality Rates were fixed by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare but there was no attempt to ensure that individual State targets matched national targets or that these were achievable.

These are serious allegations considering that NHRM is the flagship program of the government. India is lagging behind in terms of basic indicators of health such as rates of infant and maternal mortality. While increasing institutional deliveries was envisaged as a way to risk mitigation, the fissures in the system ensure that this becomes difficult to achieve. Indeed there is no point in institutional deliveries if the institutions lack basic facilities. There is also a strong lobby that proposes strengthening of the community based systems such as training of the Traditional Birth Attendants (TBA) as a way to ensure safe deliveries. It is also argues that cash transfer is the only motivation that brings women to the institutions that are also ill-equipped to handle complicated cases. The cash transfer also has little meaning in the absence of adequate pre-natal and post natal care and support.

Child birth, one of the most natural human processes is at the crux of development. In order to ensure the safety of mother and infant, it is important to undertake multi-pronged programs to enhance quality and outreach of pre natal and post natal care along with complete immunization, access to adequate and nutritious food, clean water and proper sanitation facilities, etc. This is the minimum basic that we have to ensure for the mothers and their children, failing which no program can address the problems of Infant and maternal mortality.

States will take into account that markets do not automatically result in everybody achieving a sufficient income at all times to meet basic needs, and should therefore seek to provide adequate social safety nets and, where appropriate, the assistance of the international community for this purpose.

Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Voluntary Guidelines on the Right to Food.

Right to food is among the most fundamental rights guaranteed to all human beings under international treaties, without any discrimination on grounds such as race, colour, sex, language, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. This means that the State has a duty to ensure that that all its available resources are being called upon to fulfill these rights. In other words, it entails an obligation on the part of the state try to realise this substantive right that cannot be relegated to being a mere ‘aspiration’.

The central idea of the right-to-food campaign in India is based on similar premises. It is directly linked to the right to life, a fundamental right enshrined in the Constitution. Without it, democracy is incomplete. A starving population cannot effectively participate in democratic processes.

India is among the few countries that are in the process of introducing legislation to guarantee food security. However, implementing the right would require multi dimensional interventions- agricultural productivity has to be increased and sustained with a balance of national and on local farming systems, distribution systems have to be streamlined and purchasing power has to be improved through better penetration of employment guarantee programs. This implies convergence of various social security schemes- a realization that the right to food, to health, to education, and to employment are interdependent and incomplete without one another.

There is much debate about the quantity of food to be made available and at what price. There are also issues pertaining to limiting the number of Below Poverty Line (BPL) and much disagreements about the numbers. However, the focus should be on creating universal access and ensures that the nutritional requirements are met. With widespread hunger and malnourishment, we cannot afford compromises on food security and should be prepared to make the necessary financial commitments. To quote economist Jean Dreze, ‘the Indian economy desperately needs redistributive mechanisms’.

Can the proposed food security act adequately address the food security issues of the poor?