Children & the Commonwealth Games

One cannot miss the contrast in the preparations made for implementing the Right to Education and staging the Commonwealth Games.

The law endowing on India's children the right to education (RTE) carried a date. So did the decision to host the Commonwealth Games in Delhi. For the vast numbers of out-of-school children of the city, the law has brought no change. When the schools reopen next week after the summer break, they will be no better prepared to receive and retain the thousands of children who have either never enrolled or were eliminated by the system. Nor will life at school be any more child-friendly for those who have got used to the cramped, often cruel, conditions of Delhi's municipal schools. The authorities have made no preparation for implementing the new law, which seeks to transform India's schools and end the apartheid that divides private from state-run schools.

Under RTE, all private schools and Kendriya Vidyalayas were supposed to offer one-fourth of their seats to children of the poor living in the vicinity. Some private schools of Delhi have done this following an earlier court order, and some have made a provision for an afternoon shift for the poor, which violates RTE. The Kendriya Vidyalayas have taken no steps whatsoever and the Pratibha Vikas Vidyalayas, for which the Delhi government screens children at Class VI, are carrying on with this practice. This too violates RTE.

It can be justifiably argued that the scale of systemic changes the RTE demands would require a gestation period of more than the three months that have elapsed since its promulgation. Fair enough. But one cannot miss the contrast in the preparations made for implementing the RTE and the Commonwealth Games. The authorities have put in an extraordinary effort to stage the games in October. Quite literally, no stone in Delhi has been left unturned to make the event a historic achievement of national glory. The contrast between the apathy to RTE and anxiety for the Games reveals the official meaning of national pride. True, the Commonwealth Games are a one-time event whereas the RTE involves a vast, sustained effort. Both call for a massive investment in physical infrastructure. Preparations for implementing the RTE would mean judicious deployment of available resources and mobilisation of new ones. Neither process has begun. In the case of the Commonwealth Games, officials have gone overboard to squander a pumped-up emergency budget to dress up Delhi in time to stage them.

Not just the venues where the Games will be held and people will stay, but the city at large is undergoing expensive plastic surgery. Roads and sidewalks are being dug up and redone. Wherever you look, piles of freshly purchased tiles waiting to replace the existing ones greet you. Parsimony is out; extravagance is in. All along Willingdon Crescent (now known after Mother Teresa), raised flowerbeds are being installed. For this, the beautiful and extensive sweep of well-maintained grass stretching from the Teen Murti House to the Lohia Hospital is being removed. Terraced flowerbeds and tiles will cover the stretch. Tiles seem to be the favourite among contractors and officials. Even the ones installed only last year are being replaced. The surroundings of India Gate are witnessing a similar relaying of perfectly acceptable sidewalks with garish cement tiles and sandstone curbs. The story of the Delhi University campus is probably the saddest. Here, an angular, tall rugby stadium now stands facing the old Vice-regal Lodge which was restored to its original architectural ambience only three years ago at an enormous expense. Hundreds of mature trees have been cut down to build an ugly parking lot. Access to it has been provided by destroying another park which, till now, marked the university's platinum jubilee.

No doubt the chaos will soon settle down. The glitter of the Games will erase the memory of all doubts and dilemmas. The city will go on, coping with its endemic problems such as chronic water shortage, air pollution and lack of sanitation. Both the manner and style in which the preparation for the Commonwealth Games have proceeded will exacerbate Delhi's problems. Let us take water shortage, for instance. All along the freshly tiled sidewalks, a strip has been left open for flower bushes. Who will water them after the Games? The dried-up beds will remind children going to school that sustainable development is a nice slogan and a topic to elaborate for marks. The bricked tree enclosures erected to welcome Queen Elizabeth a few years ago along her route soon became convenient garbage dumps. During the days ahead of U.S. President Bill Clinton's visit, a magistrate was sent around in a van to fine anyone throwing garbage on the street. Each time such a thing is done, we bring back to life the British stereotype of Indians as people who will starve and save for years in order to spend millions on a wedding night. It seems we have learnt no lesson whatsoever about the meaning of modernity as an exercise of reason and judgment for human goals. Had these been applied for the staging of the Commonwealth Games, it could have been planned differently, with austerity and warmth, to convey India's original vision and priorities as a nation committed to equality and a new world order.

Schools are going to stay closed during the Games. When they reopen, sports will remain as inaccessible and exotic as they are now for the majority of children. Playtime will be cut in general, to make up for the closure during the Games. In schools which have the misfortune to be located in the vicinity of a stadium or practice grounds, life has been tough. In one such government school, the sports ground was used for storing cement, bricks and sand for developing a nearby Commonwealth practice field. The Games' contractor chopped down the volleyball poles and left the ground littered with rubbish. For a whole session, children could not play. The coming session promises no relief. This school was lucky to have a playground. Most schools in Delhi have none. And college students are only slightly better placed in this respect. Inspiring the young was apparently not intended to be an outcome of the Games. Like everyone else, children were expected to act as spectators of a five-star extravaganza.

The RTE represents the Republic's dream of recognising every child as an active learner and a national asset. The law assiduously lists the systemic conditions that must be met to realise this dream. These conditions include a room for every class, special classes for older children who were never enrolled, 1:30 teacher-pupil ratio, higher qualifications and in-service training for every teacher, and a child-friendly environment in schools. A lot of hard work should — and could — have been done to meet the RTE standards in Delhi's schools before April 1 when the law was to come into force. Now, after the summer break too, schools and teachers will be no better prepared to receive the tens of thousands of additional children the RTE intends to bring into the system. Nor will teachers have any clearer understanding of what it means to allow children from diverse socio-economic backgrounds to study together.

Private schools will continue grooming children of the richer classes for elite roles. Not one school in Delhi has emulated the example of Sister Cyril's historic achievement of turning the Loreto school in Calcutta into an exemplar institution where children of the poor study with the rich. Many corporate houses have now entered into the business of running schools. Fitted with centralised air-conditioning and close-circuit television cameras, the schools are chilling symbols of India's new apartheid culture. Under this culture, the poor have been thrown out to the margins of cities like Delhi. Their children are supposed to be content with the sub-human conditions which prevail in schools meant only for the poor. The RTE rejects this situation and seeks to transform it so that education becomes a means of accelerating social cohesion rather than conflict. The governments of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, among others, have declared that they do not have the funds to meet the RTE norms. The Delhi government might do the same. Never mind the tiles.

Comment: India - facade all the way?? Namaste to unwelcome guests and speak behind their backs; Dressing up what will be seen to the world (western world?) ignore everything else; education - does it feed me now? then why should I care....ironic - give a man a fish and you feed him for a day teach him to fish and you feed him for a life time is what (Confucious?) said. India prefers that fish for one day - hey I dont have to go out and fish (well at least for that one day). And that is how the politician can feed you every x years when he needs your vote...so the story goes on...

One man’s initiative ensures water-security in drought condition by M. J. Prabu

Planting lakhs of trees, designing hundreds of check dams, and evolving new techniques of irrigating tree saplings in dry regions are feats of an out-of-the-box thinker named Mr. Premjibhai Patel, Rajkot, Gujarat.

Mr. Patel’s tree planting efforts first started from Rajkot, but soon spread to states such as Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.

Every morning, carrying a bagful of seeds and a small spade, the farmer planted seeds on field bunds, along road sides, and vacant lands. Individuals and some institutions also volunteered to help in the farmer’s effort at ecological restoration.

Since manual seed planting proved laborious, Mr. Patel developed a petrol-driven mechanical blower mounted on a jeep back for broadcasting seeds.

The blower, which cost about Rs 12,000, blows seeds upto a distance of 15 meters, says the farmer. Using the blower he broadcasted 10 tonnes of tamarind seeds in several villages.

Mr. Patel also developed a unique technique for tree planting in drought prone regions of Kutch, Bhuj, and Saurashtra. He selected plastic pipes of about seven inches diameter and 1-1.5 feet height.

“Bore two small holes on opposite sides at the top end of the pipe and place it inside a half foot pit. Keep the root of the seedling next to the pipe inside the pit. Add a mixture of sand, soil and gravel to fill the pipe. Insert a small stick through the two holes at the top of the pipe and remove the pipe. Water poured on the sand reaches the roots of plants without wastage or evaporation,” he explains.

The rate of seedlings survival increases by this method, according to the farmer.

Now Mr. Patel is concentrating on watershed development through an organization called Vruksh Prem Seva Sanstha Trust. The trust works through about 150 nature clubs on nearly 1,000 hectares. The trust launched a campaign in several villages for ground water conservation through well recharge.

“Though the government introduced several schemes to encourage the development of checkdams’ in drought prone regions of Gujarat and offered subsidies, villagers did not evince interest in them because they often considered check dams as government projects. To motivate people to actively participate in building dams and to bring awareness on groundwater recharging I introduced a scheme for people,” says the farmer.

Mr. Patel himself bears the cost of checkdam construction except cement cost. (In some cases the farmer also bore the total cost including cement). Those interested in the scheme contacted him and he personally visited the area to get first hand information about the location and help them construct the dams.

Explaining the checkdam construction method Mr. Premjibhai says:

“I place large stones in the middle of the flowing water and use river sand, stones and cement to fill the gap between the stones. Iron rods are inserted into holes in the stones for added strength. The body wall of the dam is built in such a way that it slopes at an angle of 60 degrees and the width of the top wall maintained at one metre height (height can be increased in future)."

According to the farmer, circular dams are more economical than the straight ones, because the thin walls of the dams make them cost effective.

About 1,500 check dams and 50,000 feet of pipeline for recharging underground wells are his contribution to society.

Mr. Premjibhai’s initiative in water conservation ensures water security even in a drought season. Today farmers no longer remain idle even during summer as ground water table has increased considerably and there is timely water availability for agricultural activities. He also bagged the National Water Award recently from the Ministry of Water Resources.

For more information readers can contact Mr. Premjibhai Patel, Fulara Mill Godown, Furniture Gali, Rajmarg, Upleta, Rajkot, mobile: 9426202340.

Year 2XXX only man will inhabit earth - will we survive?

By Prachi Pinglay
BBC News, Karera bird sanctuary, Madhya Pradesh The Great Indian bustard is globally threatened (Image: Asad Rahmani)

The authorities in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh are under pressure to declassify a national park because much of its rare bird life is believed to have been lost forever.

Locals eager to have free use of the land complain the park's special status prevents them from doing so.

But critics say any move to downgrade Karera bird sanctuary - created in 1981, principally to help save the Great Indian bustard - would be an admission that conservation efforts there have failed.

If ratified by the central government and the Supreme Court, Karera will become the country's first national park to lose its official recognition.

Conjugal success

The residents of 33 villages in the 200 sq-km (124 sq-mile) sanctuary argue the Great Indian bustard has not been seen in more than 10 years because of "habitat destruction".

Villagers say no rare wildlife exists any more

The Great Indian bustard is one of the world's heaviest flying birds.

It lost out to the peacock when India's national bird was decided - reportedly because of its tricky spelling and the peacock's more attractive looks.

Apart from Madhya Pradesh, it is found in the states of Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Gujarat.

At Dihaliya, a village on the banks of Dihaliya lake, villagers explain how the sanctuary has affected their lives and livelihoods.

They are not allowed to buy, sell or make any significant changes to the land and cannot mine it, or carry out any kind of construction work - even building irrigation canals is not easy.

Jawahar Singh, the village head, says there are more than 35,000 people living in villages adjoining the sanctuary.

"Our sons cannot find brides as they cannot raise money by selling land if required," he said.

Manoj Siwari, from Phatehpur village, is 25 years old and says he has been turned down five times by prospective brides.

He blames the national park for his failure to marry.

"Please declassify this sanctuary so that we can organise our lives," he said.

"There are no rare birds here any more. We are being held to ransom unnecessarily. During marriage discussions, people criticise us for our inability to raise money. It is not fair."

Hostility

Great Indian bustards were once found in great numbers in Karera - an area characterised by semi-arid grasslands.

Continue reading the main story

The bird has disappeared over a period of time

Alok Kumar, chief conservator of forests

In an attempt to save the 15 or so birds left, the area was classified as a sanctuary in 1981.

The population grew for a few years to up to 40 birds, but it has since dropped steadily and not a single Great Indian bustard has been sighted since 1994.

In view of this, the state government has sent a proposal to the central government to declassify the sanctuary.

GK Sharma, a forest officer, says villagers' hostility has affected conservation efforts.

"When we built watch towers, they tore them down. They do not kill the animals but do not report any illegal activity either. It was difficult to build relations with the residents as they felt forest officers were friends of the birds and therefore were their enemies."

However, it was not always like this. Asad Rahmani, director of Bombay Natural History Society in Mumbai, worked for more than six years in the sanctuary in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

"The bird does not mind farming land and there was no poaching in this area," he said.

"But constant habitat destruction is the main reason for its disappearance. We had given a detailed plan to protect it but nothing was done. In fact the figures of 35 to 40 bustards were inflated."

'Fix responsibility'

The bird prefers walking to flying and requires undisturbed nesting areas. If the egg or offspring do not survive, bustards are known to desert that particular area - if the offspring survives, they will return to the same place.

Mechanised farming and over-grazing by cattle and sheep - combined with increasing human encroachment - are the main reasons cited for the bird's habitat being disturbed.

Its disappearance from the sanctuary is a cause of concern, wildlife experts say, and is an indicator of the health of the country's grassland ecosystems.

One of the recommendations in Dr Rahmani's plan is to "fix responsibility" for the disappearance of the bird. Activists say those to blame should be held to account.

The sanctuary could become the first in India to be declassified

"The bird has disappeared over a period of time. Something could have been done earlier. It is impossible to hold any one person responsible," says Alok Kumar, chief conservator of forests.

Dr Rahmani suggests protecting pockets of about 200 hectares in different parts of the park to rebuild a habitat after it loses its special status - in which only traditional farming methods not resisted by the birds would be allowed.

The conflict between conservation and promoting the needs of farmers has intensified because of government apathy over the years.

The vast expanse of the Karera bird sanctuary looks parched and barren in mid-summer. Herds of cattle and sheep graze every few kilometres. This used to be the bustards' breeding season in Karera but not any more.

The golden bird gave up on this home many years ago. It is a scenario which would be a tragedy if repeated in India's other national parks - home to some of the world's most endangered animals, including the tiger

Will human beings "succeed" where asteroids and the odds of 76 million years have failed?

Close encounter with a bizarre venomous beast

By Rebecca Morelle Science reporter, BBC News, Sierra de Bahoruco, Dominican Republic

Dr Richard Young gets up close with one of the world's weirdest mammals

Conservationists are in the Dominican Republic to save one of the world's strangest and most ancient mammals - the Hispaniolan solenodon.

After days of searching, the team finally tracks down one of the bizarre beasts.

A shout from the forest sounds, bursting through the night chorus of frog tinks and cricket chirrups.

"They've got one, they've got one," someone yells.

It is the middle of the night, and local research assistants Nicolas Corona and Lleyo Espinal have been trawling the dense forest vegetation, attempting to track down the elusive Hispanian Solenodon

They need complete silence to find the animals: they pinpoint them by listening for the sounds of rustling leaves as the little creatures scuttle across the forest floor.

At last, science reporter Rebecca Morelle gets to meet a solenodon

With anticipation building, we head towards them, our head torches illuminating the path ahead, all the while attracting a blur of insects drawn by the light.

The solenodon has been placed in a bag, which is the best way to keep it calm while it is temporarily captured.

As the bag is opened, a pungent, musty smell - the solenodon's signature scent - seeps out.

It is carefully pulled out by its tail. And while this looks uncomfortable, the researchers say this is the least stressful way to hold the animal.

Thick gloves are donned, essential for protection against the solenodon's most ancient feature - it is the only mammal in the world that can inject venom through its teeth.

While the poison is not deadly to humans, it is far from ideal to get bitten - and this seems even more pertinent as the creature first tries to sink its sharp teeth into Dr Sam Turvey, and then, when it is my chance to hold it in my glove-covered hand, me.

The venomous solenodon attempts to nibble Dr Sam Turvey

At last, face to face with the animal, and it is easy to see why it has been dubbed one of the world's oddest creatures - it looks like a cross between an ant-eater, a shrew and a rat.

It has a ginger-brown coat and is about the size of a rabbit. It has a long, slender nose, which it is snuffling about with in the palm of my hand; its super-sensitive whiskers are twitching around.

And every now and then, it has a little scratch with its huge clawed feet, all the while peering at the cooing crowd with its tiny, beady eyes.

The animal has been around since the time of the dinosaurs

It is hard to believe that the animal I am holding would probably have looked more or less the same when it shared this land with the dinosaurs, 76 million years ago.

But while this creature has managed to survive through a whole series of major trials and tribulations - the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs, major changes to the climate and then the arrival of humans - today, the animal is under threat.

And this is the reason why we are here.

And from our few days in the Sierra de Bahoruco, a mountain range that straddles the border between the Dominnicain Republic and Haiti, some of the problems facing this mammal are plain to see. Haiti has suffered from heavy deforestation, which has had a devastating impact on the country

As we drive along the aptly named international road - a bumpy track that at some points, marks the border between the two countries - the differences are clear.

Where the Dominican side is mostly lush, green and vegetation covered, Haiti is dry and brown, with barely a tree in sight. And this does not just occur in the border area. While about 25% of the Dominican Republic is covered with forest, only 1% of Haiti is.

Jorge Brocca, director of the SOH, says: "It's probably impossible for the solenodons to survive in that kind of habitat."

He says that in some ways, the problems caused by deforestation in Haiti, such as the soil degradation that has left the country flash flood-prone, serve as a stark warning to the Dominican Republic - and to the rest of the world.

Charcoal problems

But the Dominican part of this mountain range is still suffering problems.

As we trek through the dense vegetation, we frequently come across patches that have been cleared of trees, the wood burnt in a pit covered with earth to create charcoal.

Pedro Martinez says that more and more trees are being burnt down to make charcoal

The SOH's Pedro Martinez tells me: "This has always happened, but we've been finding more and more of these since the earthquake in Haiti."

Poor Haitians, displaced by the earthquake, he says, are coming across the border into the Dominican Republic's tree-rich forests to make charcoal to take back Haiti to sell.

He explains: "They have no trees left in Haiti, so they come here."

But loss of habitat is not the only problem facing the solenodons. Animals that have been introduced to the country over the last few hundred years are also causing problems.

Cats have been caught on camera coming out of solendon burrows

Dr Richard Young, head of conservation science at Durrell, explains: "Invasive animals like rats, mongoose, cats and feral dogs have all been suggested to be major threats."

Motion-sensitive camera traps that the team have been setting outside solenodon burrows are beginning to shed light on how much of an issue this might be.

Dr Young said: "We've filmed cats and rats emerging from their burrows. And this is really worrying."

Wishful thinking

As our close encounter with the solenodon nears its end, the team record the GPS location where it has been found, measure the animal, and take some DNA samples by pulling out a tuft of hairs.

They are doing this to start to build up a clearer scientific picture of an animal that has, until now, been barely researched.

What we want to do is ensure the long term survival of this unique animal

Dr Richard Young Durrell

Dr Young says: "This is a mammal in a region of the world that is fairly well developed, it's not that remote - but yet, still, we know next to nothing about it, which is really quite shocking."

Over the next three years, The Last Survivors team wants to answer some of the really basic questions about solenodons - where they are found, how many there are, and how problems such as deforestation and invasive mammals might be affecting them.

And then, once they know that, says Dr Young, the conservation of the solenodon can really begin in earnest.

He says: "We are really laying the groundwork for the survival of the solenodon - what we want to do is ensure the long term survival of this unique animal."

After the tests are complete, the little creature is finally released. It scurries back into the forest - making a quick stop for an insect snack on the way.

And as it vanishes into the darkness of the night, I feel hopeful that this remarkable animal, which has managed to survive against all the odds for the last 76 million years, could somehow, with the help of these scientists, remain a weird and wonderful fixture in these forests for many more years to come.