I was saddened to read this news report yesterday-
When Sitaram and Ramabai had their fourth child, a girl, they did not even want to think of a name for her and started calling her Nakoshi.That’s Marathi for the ‘unwanted one’.A random survey conducted by the Satara district health department showed 222 girls named Nakoshi in the 0-16 age group.Hearteningly, there have been efforts to change this distressing mindset of the parents of discriminating against daughters.
The district administration has a programme to educate the parents and to persuade them to rename the girls.
Dr Sudha Kankaria, who is associated with the project, says
,“We are also asking couples to take eighth pheras instead of the traditional seven pheras during their wedding ceremony. The eight phera will be an oath they will not discriminate between a boy and a girl.”
Panchayat elections in over 580 villages in Pune district are to be held this week. Many of the candidates are facing unexpected problems due to the unfamiliar and sometimes hilarious election symbols allotted to them.
“One of the candidates in our village is a wrestler and the symbol he’s got is that of a baby’s frock. He finds it really difficult to promote something so contradictory to his image and personality,” says Sachin Kamthe, who is also contesting.
"One of the leaders has been appealing to the masses to use a pair of scissors to cut his opponent to size as the opponent’s symbol is a pair of scissors." says Ashok Bajare of Peth.
Candidates complain that some symbols -
such as cake, battery, bread and piano - don’t connect with the villagers.
The Election Commission has declined to change the symbols.
In Gadchiroli District, Maharashtra, over 50 policemen have lost their lives in encounters with the Maoists during the past one year. Police personnel show exceptional bravery in putting their lives on the line when on duty in this dangerous area.
Often announcements are made of rewards to these policemen in appreciation of their work. However,
these rewards, though announced, have not actually been paid for the last four years.'The total sum on this count which has piled up to a Rs 1.5 crore remains to be disbursed for want of funds'.
On the other hand,
about 30% posts of Class l and ll government officials are vacant in Gadchiroli District because '
officials do not prefer going to the area due to security reasons'.
The Dabbawalas of Mumbai are quite famous- despite the fact that most of them are illiterate, they have given lectures on management to MBA students, and their organization is Six Sigma and ISO 2000 accredited.
There are 5000 Dabbawalas who deliver 2 lakh tiffins daily to office-goers in Mumbai.
They have been chosen this year
to represent homeland Maharashtra in Delhi at the 2010 Republic Day parade. "
An honour to represent our state at the national level is bigger than any recognition,"
beams association president Raghunath Medge.
A tableau has been created for the parade depicting the dabbawalas' famed management system.
"
Be it any season, heavy rain, scorching heat or winter, the dabbewallas deliver the tiffin boxes. We have tried to recreate this scene with the local train, the handcarts, cycles and the dabbewallas in their midst,"
Director, cultural affairs, Ajay Ambekar said.
In a development that, activists say, sets precedence for other tribal villages, Mendha-Lekha and Marda in Gadchiroli district
have become the first villages under the Forest Rights Act (2006) to get community ownership of the forests around them. Maharashtra Governor S. C. Jamir handed over the Record of Rights to the villagers at a function in Gadchiroli on Tuesday.
The Record of Rights recognises the villagers' rights
to manage their forest, water, and the right to forest produce. It gives them ownership of the surrounding forest and allows them to graze cattle there, as well as to collect and store minor forest produce, except timber.
Mohan Hirabai Hiralal, a well-known social activist and environmentalist, says that granting tribals their traditional rights,"
is the only way with which the union government can put an end to insurgency."
As per the
latest notification of the excise department of Maharashtra, effective Dec 1,2009, the amount of liquor a person can buy per week, is now down to two bottles.
56 lakh people in Mumbai drink, and there are 150 excise officers monitoring sales at over 550 wine shops , across the city; which gives you 37,333 drinkers being scrutinized by a single officer.
This updated order is a result of activist Anna Hazare's protest about the Government making it cheaper to get beer licences.
There is no photo-id system for the liquor buyers, and it is expected that this foolish rule will encourage some innovative corrupt practices. The fine for flouting the rule is Rs 500 to Rs 10,000.
While cities and farmers thirst for water, rulers drunk on power can only think about liquor, it seems .
As almost always, it is the neglected, away-from-the-limelight aam admi from Bharat who has, without being asked by anyone, gone beyond tokenism after 26/11.
While well-heeled, media-conscious Indians have limited the show of their solidarity with those who died by lighting candles and holding peace marches, prayer meetings and TV studio debates, immediately after the attack and to mark its first anniversary, the aam admi of Maharashtra has come forward to take the bullets on his chest, if necessary.
The number of persons
volunteering to serve in the military has doubled in Maharashtra. In 2007, there were around 2000 recruits. This year over 5000 have already been recruited, the second largest among states. Volunteers have been lining up selection centres across the state.
Any surprise that this jump in recruitments is for jawans, not officers?
Govt in Maharashtra is now going to be in place, 16 days after the results were announced. The delay was mainly due to portfolio allotment.
Justified.
In junior school, they used to recite a story, something on these lines.
A dacoit from Chambal used to be very popular amongst his gang members. So he was called chief.
After every decoity, he used to keep a major part of the loot and the rest was equally divided amongst his gang members.
Chief bhi khush-- toli bhi khush....Gaon wale dukhi.
Also at times, two gangs would get together if the expected loot was big.
I am not suggesting anything, except that let us start reading school days stories again.
When will we have someone to govern rather than rule this country?
Let us CHANGE INDIA for INDIA OF TOMORROW.
B k chowla
