Is India at her strategic best with China at a precarious position in the PoK post Uri and Surgical Strikes?

Pakistan downplaying and rejecting the first-of-its-kind surgical strikes made by India on the terrorist launch-pads located in PoK certainly shows the adeptness of our military expertise over theirs. India have got worldwide acceptance of the strike and the big powers (US and Russia) have asked Islamabad to eliminate terrorist camps sprouting in Pakistan. China, in this case, has caught itself in a catch 22 situation. Supporting Pakistan would bring in international defamation, and it can definitely not support India that it has always been envious of!

China that invests heavily in Pakistan for the CPEC and other superstructures, cannot afford to allow Pakistan’s economy go topsy-turvy. CPEC would offer the Chinese a strategic advantage over India and the Indian Ocean region. Just after India claimed that it had conducted surgical strikes across the LoC and destroyed several terrorist camps, China asked Islamabad and New Delhi to settle the matter bilaterally using political and diplomatic means. Recently, China announced that it had blocked a tributary of the Brahmaputra to facilitate work on one of its "most expensive" hydropower projects in Tibet. Brahmaputra waters remains an emotive, volatile issue in India's northeast, particularly Assam and Arunachal Pradesh. This might come in response to India’s announcement of reviewing the Indus Waters Treaty. In addition China has also extended the technical hold on India’s move to get Masood Azhar (JeM chief) listed as a terrorist by the UN. China’s involvement and its inclination towards Pakistan can now be felt.

The issue of Balochistan (where the CPEC meets the Arabian Sea at Gwadar Port) concerns China. Internationalising the issue by Narendra Modi has also affected Chinese stand in the global forum. So the Chinese, at the moment, are not the happiest with India.

Should there be another Indo-Pak war, history says China has never helped Pakistan directly in its war against India. But when its own investments are on stake, it might take some drastic steps. The hinting is already being seen.

Whether India is at a beneficial situation right now is more or less vague. The current situation might look in our favour but we shouldn’t get carried away boasting of it. I’m afraid such chest-thumping could enrage the opposition in taking bolder steps.

It has now become difficult for China and Pakistan to proceed with the CPEC project. I’m sure things won’t be smooth. China should just understand the folly it has committed by announcing a $46 billion project involving disputed territories!

We have avenged, our stand was clear. Pakistan’s denial should NOT worry India. India does not want things to get escalated. The message has gone clear that India can long for offensive defense. But India should be ready for any misconduct on the part of Pakistan. Saying this India should now not be obsessed with Pakistan, and rather look inside for development of the nation. We do have a lot of issues to address to.

Let’s wait for someone else to make the next move!

Poor Women Participation... What I propose to do when I become an administrator

Among the top 50 most powerful women outside the US, according to a list by Fortune, we have India’s top three women bankers – SBI chief Arundhati Bhattacharya, ICICI head Chanda Kochhar and Axis Bank CEO Shikha Sharma. At the same time India ranks 103 out of a total of 141 countries in terms of women representation in politics with less than 12% female representation. A paradox!

Today in the 21st century, although we talk of gender equality and justness, such debates are confined to pen and paper. The ground reality is different. Women are still the subordinated section of a family – restricted to low education, lack of freedom to work outside, and cursed for not delivering a male child! But was this system prevalent in ancient India? Scholars believe that in ancient India, women enjoyed equal status with men in all aspects of life. Patanjali and Katyayana suggest that women were educated in the early Vedic period. Rigvedic verses suggest that women married at a mature age and were probably free to select their own husbands. Scriptures such as the Rig Veda and Upanishads mention several women sages and seers, notably Gargi and Maitreyi. However, this egalitarian status declined with the foreign invasion, notably from 500 BC.

To remedy the low participation of women electors, India in 1994 established quotas through the 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendments to reserve 33% of the seats in local governments for women. The Women’s Reservation Bill (108th amendment) has also been introduced in the Parliament to reserve 33% of the Lok Sabha seats for women, but the bill is yet to be passed.

As an administrator, I shall stress to improve the social imbalance through following measures:
1) Educating Women: One of the key challenges faced by women is lack of education which hinders their political involvement. We recommend bridging this gap by providing quality education to women in the country. Awareness about their rights and privileges as mentioned in the Constitution can only be ensured once women are appropriately educated. Educated women not only contribute to national growth but also become aware of their rights, are able to take care of their children and contribute to health and well-being of the family.
2) Ensuring Safe Workplace: If the working environment is safe, more women would join the workforce.
3) Skilling the Mid-aged: Vocational trainings and camps can help in making the not-so-educated housewives to get into some productive work. SHGs should be encouraged and properly funded.
4) Voice Against Inequality: Sensible citizens should protest against any gender inequality in any sector of the society. The issue of gender-based violence and provision of safety and security of women should be addressed on a priority basis to promote gender equality in the social and political arenas. Although the Government of India has initiated the National Mission of Empowerment of Women in 2014 with the broad objective of gender empowerment, the progress of this project is not up to the mark.
5) Help Resolve Conflicts: Women are vulnerable to social ills and a slower justice system breaks their career. A faster trial would allow them to start afresh.

There are a various other schemes launched by both the central and state governments to empower women. The results are yet to be felt. It is thus imperative to strengthen its functioning and implementation.
In addition, there is need for capacity building of prospective women leaders by imparting leadership training to the female members of political parties. Women empowerment was a part of the famous MDGs and the current SDGs.

Even when they comprise 50% of us, absorbing their rights wholeheartedly is the unfinished business of the 21st century!

"I raise up my voice—not so I can shout, but so that those without a voice can be heard...we cannot succeed when half of us are held back." ―Malala Yousafzai

INDIA IS RICH, INDIANS POOR

Mark Twain once said, “India is the cradle of human race, the birthplace of human speech, the mother of human history, the grandmother of legend and great grandmother of tradition. Our most valuable and most constructive materials in the history of man are treasured up in India only”. Both geographically and resource-wise India is a blessed nation since the evolution of mankind. With ample access to oceanic resources and a huge land border, protected by the Himalayas, we have been uniquely positioned in the globe. Water, coal and iron are amply available. The Indus Valley Civilisation stands out as an epitome of our rich history of entrepreneurship. The works of rishi Kannad (including the Laws of Motion) in 600 BC and Arthashastra by Chanakya in 400 BC, shows the intellectual erudition on the Indian subcontinent when the rest of world was still uncivilised. From the empire of Ashoka the Great to the riches of Devagiri Kingdom, from the huge trade routes spanning the oceans to legendary gold hordes, India has seen it all before the Europeans turned this sacred landmass into resources center for exports of raw materials from India and imports of finished goods into India, thereby leading to a collapse of local industries.

Well, let bygones be bygones. After independence, with a broken back, India has still managed to stand up erect and establish herself as a major power in the world economy. However, India still continues to be among the poorest nations of the world having about 25% of the world’s poor. The unorganized sector of the Indian economy suffers severely from this menace of poverty. Rural India lacks basic modern amenities and is not properly integrated to the national markets even after 70 years of independence. As per the Rangrajan Committee, the poverty line estimated at INR 1,407 per capita per month for urban and INR 972 per capita per month for rural, we have about 35 crore people below the poverty line. What has gone wrong? Why even after so many efforts we are not able to alleviate poverty? The causes are many. The important ones can be:

1)      Population explosion: An explosion in the population of India hinders the process of poverty alleviation. A high population growth rate would mean high levels of illiteracy, diluted health care facilities and lack of access to financial resources. If the fertility rates are not immediately lowered, India is expected to reach 170 crore by 2050!

2)      Corruption: It is said that corruption has been inherited into Indian culture by the British. Today, it is so deeply rooted in our culture that considerable efforts to eradicate it have a negligible impact. This aspect has to cease to exist and this can start only at the individual level

3)      Land Degradation: This can be a repercussion of a very high growth rate of population in India. Increase in population coupled with limited land resources leads to land shortage which further leads to unsustainable agricultural practices leading to land degradation.

4)      Low Wages: Low wages of the unskilled labourers in the unorganized sector contributes to poor becoming poorer. A low wage would mean lack of education and job opportunities which leads to exploitation by the employer. The worker is unable to rise economically, lives in unhygienic conditions, suffers from illnesses and malnutrition, and gets economically drained. This forces him to get into the grip of the loan sharks and hence becoming poorer.

5)      Social Factors: Large scale inequality, capital deficiency, extravagant spending on social events like marriages contribute their share towards becoming poor.

There are a lot of attempts made by the governments, NGOs and other altruistic institutions to help fight poverty in India. There is some success but it is not adequate to boast about eliminating poverty. The main issue lies in scaling up the attempts made by them. Labour intensive sectors should be promoted to absorb the growing unemployment. Schemes like Make-in-India, etc. are aimed towards this objective. Self-employment through skill development has been made encouraging through schemes like MUDRA, Stand-up India Start-up India, etc. Labour and land reforms are a crucial part in this regard.

I am optimistic of a novel way in which the populace-rich India give in return the demographic dividend and we prosper again. The major aim should be to increase the ‘Total Factor Productivity’ instead of just employment because it is high time we had done away with this menace.