Earlier, the cut-off salary for 50 per cent pension was Rs 8,500, which has been raised to Rs 21,040. Beyond this salary, employees will get 40 per cent of their basic as pension subject to a minimum of Rs 10,520 a month. The cut-off of Rs 21,040 will actually work out to be Rs 21,800 if personal qualification allowance of about Rs 700 is included.

Following the settlement, Chidambaram said the employees had called off their strike and would resume work from Monday. Satisfied with the outcome, All India SBI Staff Federation Secretary PK Patnaik said all the pending work due to the strike would be cleared so that customers are not put to any inconvenience.

To a question, the union leader said the employees would not claim salary for the strike period. SBI Chairman AK Purwar said losses suffered due to the strike were "enormous," but he cannot quantify them.

Chidambaram said the settlement is unlikely to spark off "competitive demand" from other nationalised banks and public sector undertakings. "Other nationalised banks have their own formula and SBI has separate pension formula. The wage settlement of banks clearly stated that pension clause will not apply to SBI, which will be settled separately.

Expressing regret over the inconvenience caused to customers during the week-long strike, Chidambaram said: "Customers have been put to some inconvenience. They should understand the circumstances... I have no doubt all this will be removed beginning tomorrow."

On the financial implications of the settlement, Chidambaram said it was within the capacity of SBI. "Only we are readjusting the cut-off point."

"This is a very satisfactory conclusion... I compliment both the management and the unions for reaching the agreement", he said. (PTI)

As many as 3980 seats are available for entry into seven IITs--Mumbai, Delhi, Guw-ahati, Kanpur, Kharagpur, Madras and Roorkee. Of the these seats, 584 are reserved for SCs, 293 for STs and 117 for physically challenged.

However, many students seemed disappointed over the proposed government move to reserve 27.5 per cent of the seats for the OBCs.(PTI)

IIMA director Bakul Dholakia told PTI that the media would be informed when the reservation matter comes up for discussion in Monday's meeting. He said the date of meeting of IIM directors was decided in January 2006 and the meeting was not fixed after the reservation issue cropped up. (PTI)

"A register maintained in a school is admissible in evidence to prove the date of birth of a person concerned in terms of Section 35 of the Indian Evidence Act. Such dates of birth are recorded in the school register by the authorities in discharge of their public duties," a Bench of Justice SB Sinha and Justice PP Naolekar said.

"It may be true that an entry in the school register is not conclusive but it has evidentiary value," the Bench clarified. (PTI)

New Delhi: Under attack from the Election Commission for his going public with plan for reservations in elite institutions of learning, Union Human Resources Minister Arj-un Singh Sunday appeared defiant saying the government has not yet decided the percentage of quota and he has not violated the model code of conduct for elections.

In his reply to EC's communication which sought his comments on the reported move as the election process is on in five states, Singh said "there was no announcement of any concession much less any other breach of the model code of conduct...There is no basis even for a prima facie view to that effect".

"It is unfortunate that the Commission has issued the communication to the Cabinet Secretary merely on the basis of what it calls "various reports appearing in the electronic and print media" and has concluded that the alleged announcement "amounts to new concession to certain sections of the electorate" in the five states, Singh said. (PTI) 

Chennai: The opposition DMK on Sunday got a shot in the arm when Sedapatti R Muthiah, a former speaker of the Tamil Nadu Assembly and a bitter critic of DMK leader M Karunanidhi, joined the DMK along with his followers.

Muthiah, who became the Speaker when Jayalalithaa Ministry assumed charge for the first time in 1991, had also been a union minister in the Vajpayee government in 1998 before he resigned in the wake of framing of charges in a disproportionate wealth case against him. He attracted the wrath of Jayalalithaa when he did not cast his vote on the confidence motion moved by the Vajpayee Ministry in the Lok Sabha in April 1999 in the wake of withdrawal of support by the AIADMK.

Expelled from the AIADMK in April 2000 along with a few others for ‘anti-party activities’, he was convicted by a court and sentenced to 25 months in the wealth, leading to disqualification of his nomination in the 2001 assembly elections which he sought to contest as an independent.

Muthiah called on the DMK Supremo and joined the party by presenting a shawl to him at the party headquarters. Later in a brief chat with the press and in a statement, Muthiah said he was now feeling sad that he and his supporters were ‘forced’ to function for a few years ‘under a leadership known for its high handedness’.

"We, as slaves, had no other go except to sing hasannahs for the leadership. We were like children who were lost in a festival but subsequently fell in the clutches of a gang leader", Muthiah said on his return to the parent body. He claimed there were several others like him waiting to return to DMK "very soon" from southern districts.

Muthiah was the treasurer of the Jayalalithaa faction of the AIADMK when the party split in 1988 after the death of party founder M G Ramachandran. He continued in that post till he became the assembly Speaker. The five years of his tenure was eventful, as a number of privilege issues against journalists and politicians were raised in the House.

He also created a flutter when he prostrated before Jayalalithaa in the assembly itself after his election as the Speaker. A well-known leader of the Thevar community, a dominant one in southern districts, he has a considerable following in his native Sedapatti and also the adjoining areas in Madurai district. (PTI)

New Delhi: A group of students from the capital Sunday said they would launch protests against the government’s move to increase the scope of quota for lower castes in academic institutions. "We, the middle and upper class, pay taxes and form the intellectual capital of the country and now the government is targeting us for its own good," said Rishab Bhargav, a student of Amity College.

As the government had failed to provide better primary education, it was now trying to compensate by providing reservations, he told a press conference here on behalf of nine students under the banner of ‘United Students’. Under a new proposal made by Union Human Resources Minister Arjun Singh this week, 27 percent reservations will be provided for Other Backward Castes (OBC) in all education institutes including premier centres of excellence.

Said Dhruv Suri of Indraprastha College: "A 50 percent quota is against the fundamental principles of human rights as well as constitutional rights of equal opportunities.

"We want the government to be responsible and accountable for its lack of efficiency and take remedial actions rather than covering up their flaws through such blatantly unfair means," he added.

Suri said the group of students was not against due benefits to lower caste students. "The government should give them scholarships or monetary help to study but reservations is not the way."

The students said though their group was small in number, they had started an SMS and e-mail campaign, and were requesting people to come out in support.

"We are requesting all students to come out against this decision," said Jasleen of Indraprastha College.

"We have started receiving good response from most colleges, including the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) here," she added."If all the students in the country take to the streets then the government will have to listen to us. No party can go against voices of millions of students." They said they would send petitions to President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in the coming week. (IANS)

The programme was part of a temple festival at Vilappilsala. The condition of one of the injured was stated to be serious, police said adding the deceased were identified as Ananthu (9) and Rajesh (13), who was a member of a local dance troupe. (PTI)

About 50 guerrillas Saturday appeared at the site where work was being carried out by Balajee Construction Company at Bhojpur village, some 50 km from the district headquarters, and abducted Prabir Swain, the 32-year-old site-in-charge, and Ashok Sethi, a 34-year-old accountant.

A senior construction company official reportedly met the Maoists and had negotiated for their release, a senior district police official said. The condition on which the Maoists released them was not known, he said. The released employees reached the construction site safely.(IANS)

The reconversion ceremony was conducted on the second day of the ‘Hindu Mahasabha’ where fiery speeches were made by VHP bigwigs. The reconverted persons, who belonged to 74 families, were blessed by the Sankaracharya of Puri, Swami Nischalananda Saraswati. Speaking on the occasion, VHP International President Ashok Singhal demanded that the Centre should enact a law to completely ban conversions from Hinduism.

However, there should not be any restriction on Christians if they wanted to return to their ’mother faith of Hinduism’, he said while refusing to acknowledge as conversion the return of the people to Hinduism from Christianity.

Preachers of the Christian faith should be thrown out of the country, the VHP leader demanded. "There is no need for anyone to teach religion to the people of this country as Indians are religious anyway," he said.

As per the provisions of the Orissa Freedom of Religion Act (OFRA), anyone desiring to change his religious faith would have to inform the administration beforehand.(PTI)

"All electors who have been issued the EPICs shall have to produce these cards to exercise their franchise," state’s Chief Electoral Officer Debasish Sen said here on Sunday. He said the EPIC coverage in the state had reached 95 per cent and only five per cent had been left to be covered.

Sen said that the poll panel would, however, permit the electors who have their names in the electoral roll but not obtained their EPICs to vote in the coming Assembly election. Such electors should, however, prove their identities by producing of any of the 14 alternative documents like passports, dirving licenses and Income Tax Identity (PAN) cards etc.

The list of alternative documents also included service identity cards with photographs issued to its employees by state or Central government, public sector undertakings, local bodies or public limited companies, besides passbooks with photographs issued by public sector banks and post office and Kisan Passbooks with accounts opened on or before February 28, 2006. Student identity cards, SC/ST/OBC certificates, Railway identification cards and Arms licenses will also do. (PTI)

Bhopal: A Madhya Pradesh court hopes to stem withdrawals of rape accusations by Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe ‘victims’ - who make a quick buck crying wolf to milk a state compensation scheme - by handing out seven-year prison sentences.

A state government scheme introduced in 1995 offers financial aid of Rs.50,000 to an SC/ST rape victim and Rs.25,000 to those injured in violence. The abused is paid Rs.25,000 soon after a medical examination while the balance Rs.25,000 is paid after a court verdict.

"Compensation to SC/ST victims seems to be counter-productive as fictitious complaints are being made for money," said a police official from the Sheopur district.

The modus operandi adopted is reportedly to lodge a complaint, manipulate a favourable medical report (suggesting sexual abuse), and walk away with the first instalment of the compensation amount. And since the victims and the accused are hand in gloves in such cases, the former changes her statement in the court to set the stage for the release of the ‘culprit’.

Chhote Bai, a resident of Nagda village of Sheopur district, had accused Chhotemali of outraging her modesty. The accused was arrested but she later denied the allegation in the court. The denial was seen as contempt of court and she was awarded seven years’ jail.

"The rapid rise in crimes against these people, since the announcement of the compensation scheme, points to fictitious complaints being made for money or to settle personal scores," the official said.

Prior to the publicity blitz about the state government’s compensation scheme, crimes against the SCs and STs were, on an average, pegged between 400 and 500 annually. Going by police records, while 8,768 cases of molestation were registered by the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe people in 2000, the figure shot up to 10,738 in 2003. This respectively included 671 and 740 cases of rape.

The conviction rate, however, has been below five percent as the victims either changed their statement or did not follow up the cases at all.

"A female employee posted in an SC/ST police station in Bhopal had lodged a complaint - of her modesty being outraged - and got Rs.25,000 immediately. But later in court, she changed her statement, letting the accused go scot-free," said another police official.As many as 18 cases of rape of ST women were registered in 2001 in Bhopal district alone. Out of these, the accused have been freed in five cases while the remaining 13 cases are still going on.

Of 21 such cases registered in 2003, two ‘accused’ have been declared innocent whereas the remaining cases are yet to be decided. Of the 2,752 cases of molestation of ST women in the state,, only 20 culprits were convicted while in 2001 only 17 people were convicted as against the registration of 2,676 such cases.(IANS)

SHILLONG: Chief Secretary SK Tiwari who visited the West Khasi Hills border areas favoured an action plan to promote export of horticulture produces even as he expressed concern over poor road connectivity in border areas, including Borsora.

During his two-day visit from Friday, the Chief Secretary assessed the improvements needed for the border areas.

"Borsora road is in bad shape. There is no infrastructure facility and the land customs station is also small, though the area has nearly 10,000 population both permanent and floating", Mr Tiwari told The Shillong Times on Sunday. "Borsora is a busy place without facilities and there is also water scarcity", he said.

At present, coal, limestone and boulders are exported to Bangladesh from Borsora. The Chief Secretary felt that instead of exporting boulders, stone chips (after breaking the boulders) should be exported, "as there will be value addition to the product".

Mr Tiwari also visited Balat border and its adjoining areas for first-hand experience. On Bangladesh side of Balat, there is no infrastructure facility and there is a customs centre only at Balat. The Chief Secretary pointed out that Balat could be a place from where horticulture products could be exported to Bangladesh. He also visited plantation areas of oranges, cashew nuts, black pepper, spices and other horticulture products and held discussions with the farmers.

"If there is some sort of planning, the farmers instead of coming to Shillong can sell their products directly to Bangladesh", he said.

"We will formulate an action plan as far as the export of these horticulture products are concerned", Mr Tiwari said.

Besides Mr Tiwari, government officials of various departments, the BSF, Customs officers, and members of the traditional institutions were also present during the border visit. Meanwhile, it was also decided that a new Land Customs Station (LCS) would soon be set up at Lalpani near Balat for the resumption of trade between India and Bangladesh through this area.

According to sources, limestone, coal, horticulture and agriculture produces like orange and ginger are some of the items to be exported through the new LCS. As of now the Centre has agreed to setting up of this LCS in the area.However, some formalities on part of Bangladesh are still awaited.

"The efforts of Mr Kyndiah for having the proposed tripartite talks between the Khasi outfit, Centre and the State government is a good sign and would go a long way in resolving the militancy problem of the State", Rev Basaiawmoit said.

The Church leader asserted that both the Centre and State government were serious on the issue and "would ensure that my initiative to bring the HNLC to the negotiating table does not go in vain".

The DONER Minister on Thursday claimed that he had been pursuing the issue with the Union Home Ministry and personally spoke to the Union Home Minister Mr Shivraj Patil in this regard. Mr Kyndiah expressed his hope that a tripartite agreement would be reached very soon.

Meanwhile, Rev Basaiawmoit said he would send fresh letters to Union Home Minister, Chief Minister DD Lapang and Mr Kyndiah urging them to take some measures so that the proposed dialogue with the HNLC could take place soon.

SHILLONG: The MeSEB will resort to load shedding from April 12 midnight in various localities here because of low power generation caused due to low water level at Umiam.

The MeSEB, in a notification, said as the catchment area of Umiam reservoir received abnormally low rainfall during 2005, the water level on April 7, 2006, was registered at only 3171.28 feet height, compared to the level registered last year on the same day (3186.00 ft).

The authorities here said that as the power generation was to be restricted due to less water in the reservoir, the Board decided to go for load shedding from April 12 midnight till the water level comes up.

SHILLONG: Laws are many but there are not too many followers. Ban on smoking in public places, use of tinted glasses in vehicles, use of plastic bags, pollution control measures, protection of catchment areas and so on - the list is long but without many takers.

Concerned over inadequate measures for pollution control, the State Law Commission Chairman Mr AH Scott Lyngdoh shot a letter to the State Pollution Control Board Chairman, urging him to identify "highly polluted areas" and take necessary action to counter that.

"We also wrote to the concerned authorities to strictly enforce all regulations related to conservation of catchment areas, which are of utmost ecological importance", said Mr Lyngdoh. He said the State Law Commission picked up these few laws and wanted necessary action from the concerned officials for their enforcement.

"We wanted to know from the State Pollution Control Board as to how many rivers are polluted and what steps have been taken to clean them", Mr Lyngdoh said.

According to him, siltation in Umiam lake is high due to extreme pollution in Wahumkhrah and other rivers. Beyond the environment issues, there are many laws, which are not taken seriously by the public.When asked about the present situation of lawlessness with regard to environment protection and other related issues, the Deputy Chief Minister in-charge of Law, Dr Donkupar Roy, washed off his hands saying: "implementation of laws is not within the control of the law department".

The law-enforcing agencies are mostly the Police or the heads of concerned departments. But the IGP in-charge Law and Order, Mr B Kezo, spoke in other words. "Police are not the only authority to enforce all laws. Departments like excise, taxation, transport, forest and such others are also equally responsible for enforcement of laws".

"Police are visible law enforcers, however, their success is not seen by the public", Mr Kezo rued.

SHILLONG: Amidst the Congress’ attempt to increase the size of the Ministry to 20 from the existing 12, the history of Meghalaya reveals that the State could manage even with seven Ministers when it came into being. In the subsequent years till the late 90's, there were not many Ministers in the State cabinet.

The first Ministry in Meghalaya, which took up the reins of the State in 1972 headed by the then Chief Minister Capt WA Sangma, had only seven Ministers - five cabinet and two Ministers of State - in the House of sixty.In 1976, the Ministry was expanded with four more Ministers being inducted in the Cabinet, including the two Ministers of State, who were elevated to the Cabinet rank. Former Chief Minister SC Marak was one of them.

In 1978 when Mr DD Pugh became the Chief Minister, the strength of his Ministry was 13 and subsequently the number rose to 20 in 1983. In 1988, the State saw 24 Ministers forming the State Cabinet, and in 1993 when Mr SC Marak became the Chief Minister, strength of his Cabinet was 26.

During the regime of Mr BB Lyngdoh, there were 31 Ministers, while the number of Ministers went higher with 33 in the EK Mawlong’s Cabinet in 1999. In 2001, when Dr FA Khonglam replaced Mr Mawlong, he inducted 39 Ministers out of 56 MLAs, who supported his candidature as the new Chief Minister. In the next change of guard, Mr DD Lapang became the leader of the MDA government with the initial support of 49 MLAs and he duly acknowledged their contribution by having 42 Ministers in his Cabinet that was formed in 2003.

However, after the downsizing of Ministry in July 2004, he was forced to reduce the strength of his Cabinet to 12. Political observers feel that large ministry was necessitated due to the fear of instability of the government. From 1998 onwards, the State witnessed formation of as many as six governments. It was only after the Anti-Defection Bill came into being that the frequent change of government could be prevented in Meghalaya.

The present move of the Congress to increase the size of the Ministry is viewed as a means to satisfy those MLAs, especially a section of Congress legislators, who are not in the Cabinet.

Churches in both Shillong and Tura were packed to capacity as faithful carrying palm leaves attended service and prayed to God. The priests and pastors have urged the faithful to keep the coming week in a spirit of prayer and worship.

At Tura Baptist Church and Sacred Heart Church, Pastor Namseng Marak and Vicar General Rev Fr Arthur K Marak gave sermons on the importance of Palm Sunday for Christians while highlighting that the event marked the beginning of events of the holy week which culminate on Easter Sunday, the resurrection of Lord Jesus Christ. Holy Communion was also offered to the faithful.

On Tuesday evening, there will be the blessing of the sacred oil at the churches. On Thursday evening, holy mass will be celebrated in the Catholic churches and vigil, accompanied by prayers, will be carried out all through the night to remember the suffering of Christ in the hands of the Romans.

Good Friday will be observed with church service everywhere and many would undertake fasting on that day. Different programmes have been chalked out to observe Good Friday by various denominations of the Christian Church.

Although the Manmohan Singh government has shown considerable political courage in shedding the Congress party's traditional commitment to Jawaharlal Nehru's Fabian socialism and taking to the path of pro-private sector economic reforms, it is evidently unable to break the shackles of identity politics which continue to haunt India. The latest example of such pandering to particular communities in the name of egalitarianism but really to secure votes is the proposal to introduce 27 percent quotas on seats in institutions of higher education for Other Backward Classes (OBCs).

Along with the constitutionally mandated 22 percent reservations already in force for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, the additional quotas will raise the number of seats reserved for certain groups to as high as 49 percent. If the quotas have remained below the halfway mark in terms of percentage, the reason is the Supreme Court's obiter dicta against such reservations exceeding 50 percent of the seats. Otherwise, in the government's zeal to placate various groups, including the Muslims or the poor among the upper castes, the quota might well have gone beyond the 50 percent mark.

As has been pointed out by opponents of the move, reservations of this nature militate against the culture of academic excellence, which is the driving force behind the new economic policies with its emphasis on competition, quality and academic achievements. The apprehension is that because of the limited number of seats in central universities and the institutes of business, technology and management, a sizeable number of meritorious students will be unable to secure admission if such a high percentage of seats remain reserved for various claimants. As a result, the standards of these institutions are bound to fall, especially if the entrance tests are made easier for the students in the reserved categories. It would obviously have been better if affirmative action were in place at the primary and secondary levels of education so that the students from the lower and intermediate castes would have been better prepared to enter the higher academic bodies.

What is unfortunate is that this latest blow to meritocracy has come at a time when these institutes have been gaining recognition worldwide for their excellence and some of them have been thinking of setting up their campuses in Southeast Asia. Now the fear is that it is the Indian students who will go abroad in larger numbers. It is strange that the step to introduce quotas has been taken when the prime minister had set up a National Knowledge Commission to give the country what has been called a "knowledge edge". Not surprisingly, the member-convener of the commission, Pratap Bhanu Mehta, who is also chairman of the Centre for Policy Research, has ascribed the move on reservations to "political" predilections.

The history of reservations in India is a long one and has become increasingly complex over the years. It began with quotas only for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes - the so-called Dalits (oppressed) and Adivasis (indigenous groups), in today's parlance - who were acknowledged by virtually everyone to have suffered immense discrimination at the hands of the upper castes through centuries. Even then, the quotas were prescribed for only 10 years from the start. It was expected that their status would improve sufficiently during this period for them to be able to dispense with the clutches of reservations. However, this did not happen. The original 10-year period was routinely extended, therefore, by another 10 years from 1959 onwards and has continued to this day.

The complications began, however, with the decision of the Janata Dal leader and prime minister in 1989-90, V.P.Singh, to introduce quotas for the OBCs as well. No single move has been so portentous for the country. Since Singh and his party were suspected of politically wooing the numerically large and clannish-minded backward castes, the Bharatiya Janata Party felt threatened.

So, its leader L.K.Advani embarked in 1990 on his first 'rath yatra' political campaign to consolidate the mainly upper caste Hindu vote bank of his party. The rest is history. Since the rath yatra was specifically aimed at "removing'' the Babri Masjid, which was build by Mughal emperor Babur in 1526 on the mythical birth place of Lord Ram, riots between Hindus and Muslims broke out. Two years later, the mosque was demolished by a rampaging Hindu mob and there were more riots.

There is little doubt, therefore, that V.P.Singh's disastrous decision in favour of reservations for the OBCs brought about a sea change in Indian politics. While it led to the rise of the BJP at the expense of the Congress, it didn't help either Singh or his party. The former prime minister is now a has-been of politics while the Janata Dal has splintered into several outfits. The emotions roused by the casteist and communal issues in the nineties have since died down. The BJP has lost power at the centre while the Congress has recovered some of its lost ground.

What is strange, however, is that the Indian political class has learnt no lessons from the turmoil of that period. The politicians are still pandering to the various castes and communities in the hope of securing their votes without any sign that such cynical tactics are of any help. If they were, the Janata Dal wouldn't have broken up and the BJP would still be in power at the centre.

Given this background, an otherwise forward-looking Manmohan Singh government might have been expected to steer away from such evidently futile policies of wooing specific groups with various sops. But old habits die hard. Besides, it is easier to allot quotas for the underprivileged at the top than to embark on the long, hard journey of improving the educational system for everyone at the bottom. It remains to be seen what impact this ill-considered move will have on India's image as a country which is currently the virtual home of information technology and a business destination for the corporate world, considering the upheaval which the quota system will cause at the academic centres of excellence. (Amulya Ganguli is a political analyst. He can be reached at aganguli@mail.com)

The 4.9 meter tall Angel on the top of the Victoria Memorial which was built to commemorate Queen Victoria's 25 year reign in India had stopped rotating recently in 1999. But after a seven-year effort, courtesy Professor Madhusudan Bhattacharya of Kolkata's Jadavpur University, it has become operational.

A public interest litigation was filed against the Victoria Memorial authority in the year 1999 about the non functioning of the Angel. An expert committee was formed by the Victoria memorial, headed by retired head of Mechanical department of Jadavpur University Madhusudan Bhattacharya, to look into the matter. Madhusudan was the first to have discovered that the lightening arrester copper conductor was snapped deliberately and, as a result, ball bearings got spot-wielded.

"The problem with the Angel was mainly because of two things. One was the copper conductor which was placed to bypass the lightening current was taken out. As a result, the lightening current, which has passed through the bearings, got spot wielded. So, the whole thing became one piece.

The other one was that the space in between the bearing, space between the spindle and all these were packed up with mixture of marble dust, white cement and iron powder," said Prof. Madhusudan Bhattacharya, Retired Head of the Department, Mechanical Engineering, Jadavpur University.

In 2003, Prof. Bhattacharya and his team took up the project and gradually removed the block between the spindle and the Angel. Almost 80 per cent of the block has already been removed. The lightening arrester, which snapped earlier, has also been reconnected with the Angel. (ANI)

It is estimated that along with Brazil and China, India will be one of the three dominant economies of the world by the year 2050. But, on the other hand, in spite of such projections and the high growth rate of over 8 per cent for the last two years, the inequality between the urban and rural sectors and between the rich and the poor has been widening. There can be no denying that the benefits of high growth have not penetrated to the poorer sections which are still deprived of the basic amenities of life. Illiteracy and health conditions are virtually deprived of this. According to a UNESCO report, titled ‘Education for All: Global Monitoring Report 2006’, as many as 47 countries have already achieved universal primary education and 20 more are likely to do so by 2015. But 23 countries, including India, may not be able to impart universal primary education by 2015. It has pointed out that there are 771 million people above 15 years (adult literates) in the world and India and China account for nearly half of them (46 per cent). India’s share at 261 million is much larger than 87 million of China. And 54 per cent of adult illiterates are women.

It is thus clear that the Government has over the years virtually neglected primary education, specially girls education. Though, as per official Census figures of 2001, the Government has claimed literacy rate of around 71 per cent for the 15-35 age group. This may not be the true picture, experts believe. Even if we consider these people literate (literally speaking), it may be that a large section may be able to only write their names in their mother tongue. Obviously such literacy attainment has little value to any person in life.

It has been seen that in the backward States the literacy rate is rather low. The rate below and around 60 per cent is in the following States: Bihar 47 per cent, Jharkhand 53.6; Andhra Pradesh 54.3; Jammu & Kashmir 55.5; Uttar Pradesh 56.3; Rajasthan 60.4. In 2002, the Government launched the Sarva Siksha Abhiyan (SSA) which assures that all children in the age group 6-14 years will complete five years of primary education by 2007. It goes without saying that such a scheme should have been started much earlier and the target cannot be achieved by 2007, not even by 2015.Many surveys have come up in recent years all of which prove that though the enrolment may not be disappointing, the education they receive is very poor. A recent survey of rural householders by a cluster of NGOs showed that though 93 per cent rate enrolled, 41 per cent are unable to do a two-digit subtraction and 35 per cent (in the age group 1-14) cannot read a small paragraph. The surveys have further revealed that 55 per cent of children cannot do division sums and 36 per cent can do neither subtraction nor division.

The more authentic ASER 2005 survey has come out with rather startling revelations that class VIII children cannot read. Close to 50 per cent children in Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh could not read a one-page story. The percentage of class V children who could not read has been 21.4 in Uttaranchal, 25.5 in West Bengal and 28.7 in Bihar.As regards mathematics about 65.5 per cent of the children (in the 7-14 age group) could not tackle simple arithmetic problems. More worrying is that 47 per cent of children in the 11-14 age could not solve class II level arithmetic problems across States like Orissa, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka.

Apart from the poor education imparted, another cause of concern is the rather high drop-out rates which is estimated to be around 30 per cent for boys and 35 to 40 per cent for girls before they reach class V standard. Obviously the question arises: how can literacy rate and primary education levels in the lagging States be geared up? All the States where the literacy rate is below or around 60 per cent are economically poor and socially backward.

The other question that emerges from the surveys is the poor quality of education imparted and also possibly the lack of interest of students to learn because of various factors like irregular attendance, work at home etc. How to spread literacy in the uncovered areas, and especially in the rural and backward areas of the country is the challenge before us. In this connection, the Supreme Court order about providing mid-day meal to students is a step in the right direction. In the current Budget, however, the allocation for mid-day meals has been increased from Rs.3010 crore (in 2005-06) to Rs.4813 crore in the current financial year and this money needs to be effectively used.

Regarding the curriculum, apart from formal education, some skill-based training from the primary stage has to be imparted so that this could help the children in later life. Some preliminary training on tailoring, art and crafts, music, dance, etc. should help children to become self-employed in later life. Basic sciences that are very important in our day-to-day life should also be part of the education. But what is most important is that education has to become lively and enjoyable so that children take interest in the learning process. The need for relating learning with the possibility of earning through skill development cannot be doubted. This is more so because, as per a report of the International Labour Organization (ILO), there are around 250 million working children in the age group of 5 to 14, of which 100 to 120 are full-time workers.

To ensure education to these children, a vacation-oriented approach combined with elementary literacy skills would be appropriate. Moreover, the UNESCO has been of the opinion that people of the Third World countries may have to be introduced to the world of work at a very early age and as such skilled training combined with basic education would be useful and effective. Adult literacy is also equally significant and there should be an endeavour to educate these people. However, non-formal education for women methods has to be given more priority when it comes to their education. It may be mentioned here that education for women has been found to be three times as effective as that of men as it helps in decreasing the birth rate and lowering child mortality. Also literate women are more conscious about nutritional problems, health problems etc. of themselves and their family. Apart from all this, women become conscious about their social and economic rights and guide their male counterparts in the right direction.

In the present budget, the allocations for elementary and adult education have been quite satisfying (with a 36 per cent hike), though may not be up to our expectations, and the onus is now on the Government to take up the challenge with all seriousness. To ensure the success of literacy/education for all, the active cooperation of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and CBOs is a must. Such organizations with a proven track record should be handed over schools in rural areas for a contract period of 2/3 years or so. However, there has to be regular checks by Government agencies to find out whether the schools are running properly and the role to teachers therein in imparting the necessary education and training. For a country like India, which is growing at a fast pace, the need for spreading basic education need not be over-emphasized. The materialistic charter of society has taken away the much-needed dedication in the human individual that was earlier prevalent. But even then, there has to be sincere and serious efforts by those who educate and all those who run schools to take interest in their profession as a social responsibility.

Sir,

Apropos the news item 'KSU unit to issue quit notice'(ST, April 7), one wonders how a student body like KSU can take such decision as a means to check unabated influx in the State especially to non-tribals, who are the bonafied citizens of India and it is their fundamental right to settle anywhere in the country and Meghalaya is very much within the ambit of India. If the student body sticks to the decision there is a possibility that such decision would have a negative repercussion as there are also many indigenous people of Khasi Hills who have either settled outside or are presently studying outside Meghalaya. What if the student body of the mainland India would also resort to the same agenda? Also what if they also want to introduce the infamous inner-line permit? But I am sure the student body out here term all these agendas as impractical in today's world of globalisation and inter-dependence.

There is no denying to the fact that one of the serious consequences of unabated influx of illegal migrants is that it results in the extinction of a particular community/tribe provided the said tribe does not have any law to safeguard their interest. But in the case of Khasis there are sufficient laws to safeguard their interests which have been passed by the District Council and the State Government from time to time. Despite these the student body instead of taking serious concern about the development of the region is always involved in such things and agenda which are impracticable to the present scenario. They should first consider the fact that how this influx of illegal migrants has been made possible? And what are the measures so that such things can be checked at the very point of origin? I am sure once they ponder on the above fact such influx can be checked at the initial stage without harassing the non-tribal community of the State who unfortunately consider themselves as a part of the State and who also plays an important role in the development of the State.

Yours etc,
Ravi Kumar
New Delhi-3,
Via e-mail.

Sir,

The present strike by employees of SBI has brought untold inconvenience to the customers of the Bank, especially the State government employees who have to draw their salary from the bank and businessmen who transact their business through the Bank. In fact, the whole spectrum of society in Meghalaya is suffering because of the non-functioning of the Bank which has been in complete shut down for the last few days. And it is not sure when they will start functioning again. Though employees have the right to demand justice from their employers for whatever or anything that they feel is within their right, yet the way the SBI employees have been going about their demands is unacceptable. It is understood that employees of SBI are provided all sorts of benefits by the management, benefits not enjoyed by employees of other banks. So it can well be understood the extend of benefits that these people enjoy. And yet, they want more and more. Is it akin to the saying "give the devil an inch, and he will take a mile?". The salary of the SBI employees was last revised only in 2002. Now, compare this to the government employees and teachers in the State whose pay was last revised in 1996. A decade ago! And yet have we heard of the employees talking about resorting to any kind of agitation for getting their pay revised? Not by a long shot. The Union Government should not bow down to this 'blackmailing' tactics and put down the strike with an iron hand. After all, the SBI is also in a public sector house providing public service, and where the Government is a major stakeholder. May be it's time that the State Government and all other customers of the Bank consider transferring their accounts to some other banks, even to private banks, who can guarantee that such blackmailing will not take place in the future. Other public sector banks, MCAB and private banks should also seriously consider strengthening their operation and open more branches to cater to the needs of the State and its people, so that the Government and its people are not held at ransom, such as the present, by a bunch of self-seeking individuals!

A concerned citizen,
Via e-mail

Guwahati: Total 482 candidates are in the fray in the second phase of Assam Assembly polls to be held on Monday in 61 constituencies spread over 12 districts including the violence affected Karbi Anglong hill districts in the state.

Over 82.27 lakh voters are expected to exercise their franchise to elect their representatives to the 12th Assam Assembly in the second phase polls. About 73.23 % voters turned out for the first phase election held on April 3 last. The second phase polls will be held under tight security of over 42,000 paramilitary and police personnel.

The election holds key to the political career of the former chief minister Mr Prafulla Kumar Mahanta who is fighting from his new party that he had formed after being expelled from the AGP. Mr Mahanta is contesting from Barhampur and Nagaon constituencies. The AGP president Mr Goswami is engaged in keen tussle with Congress candidates at both Tezpur and Borcholla constituencies.

Guwahati: Suspected supporters of the rival camp attacked the vehicle of Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) president Brindabon Goswami at Tezpur on Sunday forcing his PSOs to "open fire" in the air to disperse the attackers.

However, Mr Goswami, the sitting MLA from Tezpur constituency, who is in the fray for Monday's second phase election, escaped unhurt in the attack although a security vehicle was damaged as miscreants pelted stones on his convoy near Tezpur town.

The AGP has registered a formal complaint with the Election Commission regarding the incident. Hundreds of AGP workers converged to the party office at Tezpur to see their leader after the attack. Tension was already running high in the northern Asom town on Sunday following Saturday night's clash between supporters of the AGP and Congress that left three seriously injured.

An official source informed that three AGP leaders were allegedly hacked during a clash with Congress supporters near Tezpur town on Saturday night. Two of the injured, Mr Chandan Bora and Mr Phulhas Ahmed, were referred to the Guwahati Medical College Hospital in a critical condition. The third injured person Mr Arup Bora, was admitted to Kanaklata Civil Hospital in Tezpur with serious cut injuries.

The president of the AGP and sitting MLA of Tezpur Mr Brindabon Goswami, and party vice-president Birendra Prasad Baishya rushed to the local civil hospital immediately to call on the injured. Mr Goswami accused the local police and the administration remaining lukewarm to the incident.

"I tried to contact the district administration but all attempts failed. I had to contact the Chief Electoral Officer seeking his intervention that resulted in delayed action on part of the district administration action regarding the incident," he added.

According to Kokrajhar police, the activists were picked up when they were participating in a rally to protest against Saturday's assault on their president by the supporters of the BPPF (Robiram) group. The rally was organised on Sunday to demand arrest of the culprits and a highlevel inquiry into the incident.

The police has arrested one person in connection with Saturday's incident in which ABWWF president Kanan Bala Basumatary was allegedly assaulted and her valuables stolen. Several Bodo women's organisation had condemned the incident and urged the voters to maintain peace. (PTI)

Imphal: The Joint Action Committee against the missing of driver Salimuddin and minor student Arif Shah has called a 24-hour general strike in the whole of Manipur from 5 pm on April 15. The JAC called the bandh to mount pressure on the O Ibobi Singh Government for tracing the truck driver and his helper, who were allegedly kidnapped by some armed persons in January. The duo are still untraced. Driver Salimuddin (33) and his 13-year old relative Arif Shah were kidnapped by unknown armed persons along with their truck on January 21 from Dimapur.

The truck was returning to Imphal from Guwahati with chicken feeds. While the truck was found abandoned at a place in Dimapur a few days later, the truck driver and the boy are not still found. It is believed that the two were killed by the kidnappers. Reports said that a large number of chicken feed bags loaded in the truck are found missing when the vehicle was recovered. The vehicle was recovered by Dimapur police.

M Rajendro Singh, a leader of the JAC said in a release that the JAC decided to call the bandh as the Government failed to find the whereabouts of the missing persons. The JAC organised a sit-in-protest on Saturday at Yairipok Bazaar demanding release of the truck driver and the boy. The JAC appealed to all organisations in Manipur to extend support to the general strike.

It said that the Manipur Truck Owners Association submitted a memorandum to the Chief Minister in February. However, the Government has not done anything in this regard. The case had rocked the recently held State Legislative Assembly session. Responding a call attention raised by the Opposition Ibobi Singh promised the House that an official team or ministers' team would be sent to Nagaland to help the Nagaland Government in finding whereabouts of the duo.

The United Naga Council (UNC) has strongly condemned the planting of a hand grenade in the residential complex of Manipur Outer Lok Sabha MP Mani Charenamei on Saturday night by unidentified persons.

A hand grenade was recovered in the premises of a private residence of Mr Charenamei in Imphal on Saturday at around 9 pm. The hand grenade did not explode. Sources, however, believed that the motive behind the act was to mount pressure on the MP to yield to certain demands of the culprits.

In this connection, the UNC urged the Manipur Government to give adequate security cover to Mr Charenamei while it reminded the Government that this was the second time that the MP had been targetted. In a strong worded statement, the UNC said that if the Government does not provide enough security cover to Mr Charenamei, the Lok Sabha MP would be forced to stay in one of the hill districts for security reason. At present MP Mani Charenamei is in Imphal.

Meanwhile, the Naga Peoples' Movement for Human Rights, Delhi strongly denounced the attack on Mr Charenamei, the only Naga Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha), a statement issued here said. The rights body also said that demand for a sum of Rs three lakh was made to him earlier. "The bomb did not explode but it was a message to him to meet their demand or else - face the consequence," the statement said.

The NGO also blamed the Government of Manipur for the incident for not providing ample security to the MP. The NGO has also warned that if any untoward incident happened in future to the MP, they will be compelled to take their own course of action while the Government of Manipur will be in every respect responsible for any unseemly activities in the future.

The Zeliangrong Union of Assam, Nagaland and Manipur (ZU-AMN) has also condemned the incident and appealed to the culprits to identify themselves and clarify the reason as to why the MP had been targetted. (NNN)

Dimapur: Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio on Sunday urged President A P J Abdul Kalam to ensure that the basic ideal of secularism as enshrined in the Constitution was not negated or diluted in any manner by the Anti-Conversion Bill passed by the Rajasthan Assembly recently.

In a letter to the President, Rio said the Bill was a complete misnomer as its main objective appeared not to secure freedom of religion for the people but to take away their fundamental rights to freedom of speech and expression, freedom to profess, practice and propagate religion by their choice as guaranteed by the Constitution of India.

Rio alleged that the Bill was mainly targeted at Christian missionaries, who were doing commendable social services to the Dalits and other poor sections of the society.

"In fact, there is no question of Christian missionaries converting people to Christianity through force, allurement or fraudulent means. We have never heard of such instances and if there be any, it can be dealt with under the existing provisions of the India Penal Code," Rio said.

Rio opined that the Bill was a "direct assault" on the secular character of India and therefore, deserved to be condemned in the strongest of terms by all those who value secularism. (NNN)

Imphal: All the regional parties of Manipur have reached a consensus to merge and fight the ruling front together in the next assembly elections. The Federal Party of Manipur (FPM), which has has maximum number of MLAs in the Opposition, has endorsed the decision. Party president Dr L.Chandramani has been authorised to effect the merger.

The Manipur People's Party (MPP), with two MLAs, has also extended its support for the merger move. MPP MLA O.Joy said since November the Opposition parties have decided to merge to fight the ruling party. The Congress and the CPI have two thirds of the MLAs in the 60 member house.

Mr Joy said here on Sunday, ''we need a strong regional party to safeguard our interests. The Democratic Revolutionary People's Party and Manipur State Congress Party have also favoured the merger.''

The merger would have impact in the next assembly elections which may be held at the end of this year, he added. (UNI)

Giving details on the rehabilitation of tribal people through rubber plantation, the Minister said TRPC and TFDPC have planted rubber trees in 6673.19 acres of land during the 2004-05 financial year and altogether 4767 tribal families benefited from the scheme.

Besides, the Rubber Board had brought 2884.74 acres of land under the integrated rubber plantation during the period, he said. Choudhury said as many as 10,620 tribal families have been rehabilitated through rubber plantation covering 12921.19 acres of land during the '05-'06 fiscal year. Over 2500 tribal families will be rehabilitated through the rubber plantation in the current fiscal year '06-'07 and about 2610 acres of land will be covered under the scheme.

The Government has also decided to implement the Tripura Rubber Mission in the next 14 years. 2610 acres of land will be planted. Under the plan, about 85094 acres of land along the Indo-Bangladesh will be brought under rubber plantation.

Delivering the key note address at a two-day annual group meeting of All India Coordinated Cotton Improvement Project at the University of Agricultural Sciences here, he said there was also scope for bringing an additional five lakh hectares under cotton cultivation in Jharkhand, Chattisgarh and Orissa. (UNI)

Aizawl: If dry season comes, can power shortage be far behind?

As usual, Mizoram along with many parts of the north eastern region, have been experiencing power supply shortage, thanks to the dry season. Apart from this dryness, a Government's statement said, an overhauling of the Kopil and Khanding Hydro projects which produces a total of 250 MW is another reason for the load shedding across the State.

Ironically, rains accompanied by storms on Friday destroyed at least five posts of 132KV line between Dimapur and Imphal, restoration of which would need at least ten days, which is yet another reason for the power insufficiency.

"We receive only 25MW from the Central sector power projects against the State's requirement of 85MW. So, we will have to continue the load shedding for some more time," the statement said.

Mizoram has an allocation of 87MW from the Central sector power projects. The ongoing indefinite strike of the State Bank of India has also something to do with the State's power supply shortage. The 22.92MW Bairabi thermal plant has run out furnace oil which could not be refilled due to the bank strike. The Power & Electricity Department has requested the consumers to understand the situation.

The Government also would like to make it clear that power trading has no connection with power supply shortage.

"Power is sold to other states only when there is a surplus. So the selling of power does not affect the State's consumption," another statement said.

"The power allocation to Mizoram keeps changing, generally low in dry season and high in monsoon. Under the Indian Electricity Act 2004, a State who does not produce power has the right to sell power from its allocation share. While the State's maximum requirement is 55MW, its allocation share is 87MW, meaning 32MW could be sold when the share is fully received", it said.

"Even if we did not sell our surplus power, the North Eastern Regional Load Despatch Centre (NERLDC) did it. So it is profitable to sell our surplus power as allowed by the Act," it said. (NNN)

Aizawl: The Mizo Zirlai Pawl has expressed displeasure over the appointment of 108 employees by NEEPCO for several projects in the region.

The MZP leaders met H Deka, NEEPCO general manager and head of Tuirial Hydel Project and DC Das, secretary manager, on Saturday in this regard. The MZP has demanded that indigenous people be given preferences regarding employment in various Central departments and Central government undertakings in the North East. (NNN)