Options and The Choice

India is on the eve of another parliamentary election. This time is crucial for any democratic country as it is the time when the electorate is supposed to evaluate the incumbent government from various angles and to form a decision regarding entrustment of their destiny to a government for the succeeding term.

The common man normally thinks beyond politics. He has an urge to place the country above everything else. But when he has many options to choose from, he sometimes gets confused. It is seen that to make a sound judgement, the enlightened electorate generally adopt a few criteria. When they have two or more options, i.e. parties/alliances, before them, they go by a few criteria and look at each of the options from the angle of these criteria.

1. The ability to provide a matured leadership.
2. A clear vision about the nation’s progress.
3. The ability to provide stability in governance.
4. Absence of many conflicting ideologies within the prospective Government
5. Political ideology which keeps common man’s welfare above everything else.
6. Ability to build a feeling of security and confidence among the people.
7. Orientation towards an egalitarian society. 
8. The will to keep corruption at bay.
9. Respect for dignity and civil liberties of citizens.
10. Respect towards the established legal system.
11. Non-interference in the free functioning of the fourth estate, i.e. the media.
12. Prospects of formation of a delivering government.

When the choice is made with the support of criteria of the above sort, that would facilitate a reasonably prudent judgement out of the hustings and the nation would get a delivering government. Above all, it is the paramount responsibility of an enlightened electorate to become instrumental in seeing the election resulting in such a government. Progress of the country and welfare of the people should be the guiding factors and should get precedence over politics and everything else.

Patriotism

Patriotism is something which most of the democratic countries regard with high esteem. Patriotism or national pride is the ideology of love and devotion to one’s homeland, and a sense of alliance with other citizens who share the same values. It is a strong bond holding a nation intact. A patriotic person is bound by duty to support his or her country, irrespective of his beliefs, ideologies or leanings. Without regard for peripheral details, patriotism defines a habit of identifying oneself with a single nation and placing it beyond good and evil while recognising no other obligation than that of advancing its interest. Fighting anything that puts one’s nation in the wrong track ought to become a patriot’s passion. This means that fraudulent conducts such as corruption, or any other disruptive forces which pose a present or prospective threat or danger to the progress of the nation ought to be addressed without any fear by patriotic citizens.

So, patriotism boils down to purposeful examination of one’s own conscious thoughts and feelings about what one can do for his country; not what the country can do for them; how one can advance the interests of a nation; not how one is easily tempted to abuse a leadership position for personal gain.

Patriotism is above politics, but true patriotism is very important to politics. It is not patriotism that disfigures politics; rather, what disfigures politics is the intentional effort by some politicians who don’t understand what patriotism really means, to exploit the ignorance of voters for their selfish ambitions.

Patriotism is an ideology and when used in moderation is healthy but, taken to extremes, it can be harmful. It is a painful sight to see the spirit of patriotism frequently getting impaired or tainted in many ways in our country with the negative influence or erratic interpretation of ethnic, cultural, historical, religious or a few other aspects. This aspect needs no over emphasis in the present times.

No Relief

The crisis ridden banking sector in India is persistently sounding alarm bells for the economy. Indian banks' gross non-performing assets (NPAs), or bad loans, stood at Rs 10.25 lakh crore as on 31 March 2018. Public sector banks (PSU banks) have written off non-performing assets (NPAs) worth Rs.1.20 trillion, an amount that is nearly one-and-a-half times more than their total losses posted in 2017-18, according to official data.

The country’s largest lender State Bank of India alone has written off bad loans of Rs.40,196 crore, which is nearly 25% of the total write-offs during 2017-18. This was followed by Canara Bank (Rs 8,310 crore), Punjab National Bank (Rs 7,407 crore) and Bank of Baroda (Rs 4,948 crore). Industry leader, the State Bank of India (SBI), which tops the NPA chart, has logged an increase of Rs 24,286 crore in bad loans in the March 2018 quarter to Rs 2.23 lakh crore. The Nirav Modi scam-hit Punjab National Bank (PNB) has reported the maximum rise of Rs 29,100 crore in gross NPAs to Rs 86,620 crore in the March quarter.

Among private banks, the gross NPAs of ICICI Bank and Axis Bank have risen significantly. ICICI Bank's bad loans pile grew by Rs 8,024 crore or 17.4 percent in the March 2018 quarter to Rs 54,063 crore; Axis Bank's widened by Rs 9,248 crore or 37 percent to Rs 34,249 crore in the March 2018 quarter from Rs. 25,001 crore during the December 2017 quarter. Most of the public sector banks and many of the private sector banks have registered huge posses.

As much as 90 percent of the NPAs are on the books of government-owned banks. The colossal write-offs of NPAs and consequent losses have pushed down many banks below the stipulated capital adequacy requirement while some are on the brink. The situation has prompted the Government to go for massive capital infusion of banks. Taking note of the alarming bad loans situation, the government, last year, announced a Rs 2.11 lakh crore bank recapitalisation plan to pull out state-run banks from the mess.

The funds requirement for capital infusion of banks or other public sector institutions does not form a part of the provisions made in the Union Budget. Thus the Government will have to find out additional sources of funds for capital infusion / strengthening of banks. Since the entire funds requirement cannot be met through issue of equity shares due to regulatory caps /  restrictions, the Government will be forced to raise money through other means. The first causality will be taxation. Thus the Government will be compelled to raise various taxes, thanks to the surge in NPAs. Or in other words, the ultimate victims of bank’s bad loans are the people.

According to Government sources, there is no respite in the NPA position of banks even in the current financial year. NPA menace warrants harsh steps not from the curative angle alone, but from the preventive angle. But the action forthcoming from the authorities on both curative and preventive fronts is no match to the enormity of the NPA issue confronting the banking sector. The very slow process involved in seizure of assets of the borrowers and tardiness in investigation into staff lapses / collusion, reluctance to publicise the names of corporate defaulters etc. in spite of the strong sentiments expressed by several quarters are all factors which stand in the way of banks regaining confidence of the people. The causative factors behind the genesis of corporate NPAs should be studied and publicized without any veil. Banks should resort to all possible measures for cost reduction also to improve their profitability.

All said, putting the burden of NPA write-offs, caused mainly by the corporate defaulters, on the common man in the form of taxation is totally unjustified. And, the corporate defaulters should not be left free to enjoy with public money.

പരിഹാരം

ജനപ്രതിനിധികളിൽ നിന്നും കുറേയേറെ പൗരന്മാരെങ്കിലും പ്രതീക്ഷിക്കുന്ന   പ്രധാനഗുണങ്ങളാണ്  സാമൂഹിക ബോധം, വിവേകം, പക്വത, സഹാനുഭൂതി, അഭിജാതമായ സംസാരം, കുലീനമായ പെരുമാറ്റം  തുടങ്ങിയവ. പക്ഷെ യാഥാർഥ്യം ഇതിനു കടകവിരുദ്ധമാകുന്നതും ഇതിൽ നിന്നും അകലങ്ങളിലേക്ക് പലായനം ചെയ്യുന്നതുമായ  കാഴ്ചയാണ് കുറേക്കാലമായി കണ്ടുകൊണ്ടിരിക്കുന്നത്. ഇതിന് വളരെയേറെ ദൃഷ്ടാന്തങ്ങൾ നമുക്ക് മുമ്പിലുണ്ട്.

തെരഞ്ഞെടുക്കാനുള്ള മാനദണ്ഡങ്ങളായി മേൽപ്പറഞ്ഞ ഗുണങ്ങൾ സമ്മതിദായകർ കണ്ടുതുടങ്ങാത്തതാണ് ഈ അവസ്ഥയ്ക്ക് പ്രധാന കാരണം. നല്ല വ്യക്തിത്വം ഉള്ളവരെയും, നല്ല പൂർവ ചരിത്രമുള്ളവരെയും, പൂർവകാല പ്രവർത്തനങ്ങൾ ഭംഗിയായി നിർവഹിച്ചവരെയും  മാത്രമേ തങ്ങളുടെ പ്രതിനിധികളായി തെരഞ്ഞെടുക്കുകയുള്ളൂ എന്ന് സമ്മതിദായകർ കർക്കശമായിത്തന്നെ വിചാരിച്ചുപ്രവർത്തിച്ചാൽ മാത്രമേ ഈ ദുരവസ്ഥയ്ക്ക് പരിഹാരമുണ്ടാവുകയുള്ളൂ. ഈ അവബോധം സമ്മതിദായകരിൽ ഉണ്ടാക്കിയെടുക്കാൻ  സന്നദ്ധസംഘടനകൾ മുന്നോട്ടു വരേണ്ടതാണ്.

ശരിയായ വഴി

പലയിടത്തും ചർച്ച ചെയ്യപ്പെടുന്ന ഒരു വിഷയമാണ്, നമുക്ക് ഒരു ദിശാമാറ്റം അത്യാവശ്യമാണ് എന്നുള്ളത്. സമൂഹത്തിന്റെ ഇന്നത്തെ യാത്ര ശരിയായ ദിശയിലേക്കല്ല എന്നുള്ളത് പകൽ പോലെ സത്യമാണ്.  അതിനു കാരണം ഇടയ്ക്കെവിടെയോ, അല്ലെങ്കിൽ പലയിടത്തും  വഴി തെറ്റിപ്പോയി എന്നുള്ളതാണ്.  എങ്ങനെയോ അസത്യത്തിന്റെ, അധർമ്മത്തിന്റെ, തിന്മയുടെ, മനുഷ്യത്വരാഹിത്യത്തിന്റെ വഴിയിൽ എത്തിപ്പെട്ടുപോയി.  അത് മാത്രമല്ല. കൈയ്യിലുണ്ടായിരുന്ന വിലപിടിപ്പുള്ള പലതും യാത്രയിലെവിടെയോ നഷ്ടപ്പെട്ടു പോകുകയും ചെയ്തു. അവയുടെ പേരാണ് ജീവിത മൂല്യങ്ങൾ എന്നത്. അവ കണ്ടെത്തി തിരിച്ചെടുക്കുകയും വേണം.

ഏതൊരു  യാത്രയിലും വഴി തെറ്റി സഞ്ചരിച്ചാൽ നേർവഴികണ്ടെത്തി യാത്ര തുടരാൻ സാധിക്കും. അത് പോലെയൊരു ദിശാവ്യതിയാനം ആണ് ഇപ്പോൾ വേണ്ടത്. ചുരുക്കിപ്പറഞ്ഞാൽ നഷ്ടപ്പെട്ട അമൂല്യവസ്തുക്കൾ കണ്ടെത്തി വീണ്ടെടുത്തുകൊണ്ട് ശരിയായ വഴിയിലേക്ക് പ്രവേശിച്ച് യാത്ര തുടർന്നില്ലെങ്കിൽ ആപത്താണ്.

പഴയ കാലത്ത് വഴികാട്ടികളും സൂചികകളുമായി മഹത് വ്യക്തികൾ തലയുയർത്തി നിന്നിരുന്നു. പക്ഷെ ഇന്ന് അവർക്കു പകരം അവർ എഴുതിവെച്ചിട്ടു പോയ അവരുടെ ജീവിത ദർശനങ്ങൾ മാത്രമാണുള്ളത്. അവയല്ലാതെ യഥാർത്ഥ വഴികാട്ടികളും യഥാർത്ഥ സൂചികകളും ഇന്ന് നന്നേ കുറവാണ്. പക്ഷെ നമുക്ക് നഷ്ടപ്പെട്ടവ തിരിച്ചെടുത്ത് ശരിയായ വഴിയിൽ കയറി യാത്ര തുടരാതെ നിർവാഹമില്ല. അത് കൊണ്ട്, മഹത് വ്യക്തികളുടെ ജീവിത ദർശനം മനസ്സിലാക്കി മുന്നോട്ടു പോകാനുള്ള ശ്രമത്തോടൊപ്പം അപൂർവമായി മാത്രം കാണുന്ന നല്ല വ്യക്തിത്വങ്ങളുടെ മാതൃക പിന്തുടരുകയും ആണ് പുതിയ തലമുറയെങ്കിലും ചെയ്യേണ്ടത്. ഇത് കാലത്തിന്റെ ആവശ്യമാണ്.

Food and Diseases

World Health Organisation’s (WHO) reports supported by several advanced research studies have clearly established the direct relation between excessive non-vegetarian food and incidence of cancer. According to WHO reports, excessive consumption of meat of any nature is the sure cause of a large number of diseases including cancer, heart diseases, nervous disorders, kidney failure, gall bladder problems, arterial wounds, arterial blocks, paralysis, arthritis, hysteria, weakening of bones, dementia etc. It has been also found that moderate consumption of fish would not have any adverse impact on health. Further, people who consume only moderate quantity of food have been found to have relatively better health and higher longevity.

A study by the Regional Cancer Centre, Trivandrum has established the alarming incidence of cancer among people who consume predominantly meat. A Japanese scientist on the basis of prolonged research has proved that non-vegetarian food plays a major role in raising anger, anxiety, restlessness and criminal mentality among people. 

Incidentally, many recent studies also clearly establish that frequent consumption of food from hotels and restaurants is a strong reason for the increasing incidence of cancer.

No doubt, food is the individual choice of individuals. But there is no harm in heeding to the findings of research studies and benefiting from them.

The take-aways from the above report are:-

1. Minimise, if not avoid, the consumption of meat. Let meat consumption become the bare minimum.

2. Substitute plant protein for animal protein by replacing meat with pulses, green peas, beans, different kinds of nuts, oats etc.

3. Moderately consume fish, if non-vegetarian food cannot be totally avoided.

4. Minimise, or, if possible, avoid consumption of food from hotels and restaurants.

5. Avoid consuming large quantities of food. Consume only moderate amount of food.

Eleven Point Regimen for a Healthy Living

1. Be moderate in quantity of food intake.
2. Do thirty minutes of exercise or brisk walking at  least five days a week.
3. Drink ten glasses of water every day.
4. Minimise (or avoid) outside eating, i.e., eating from restaurants, food joints etc.
5. Minimise (or avoid) intake of non-vegetarian food, particularly meat.
6. Add plenty of vegetables in food.
7. Take one serving of fruits every day.
8. Avoid oily, sweet and salty food.
9. Do mind exercises like memorizing, solving puzzles, meditation, reading, writing etc. every day.
10. Relax by enjoying music.
11. Consciously regulate the pace of life in every possible way.

Always remember, your food habits and life style decide your health and longevity.

രാഷ്ട്രപുരോഗതി

രാഷ്ട്രത്തിന്റെ പുരോഗതിയ്ക്ക് എല്ലാത്തിനും ഉപരിയായ സ്ഥാനം നൽകുന്ന സമീപനം അധികാരികളുടെയും പൗരന്മാരുടേയുമെല്ലാം ഭാഗത്തുനിന്ന് ഒരേപോലെയുണ്ടായാൽ മാത്രമേ ഏതൊരു രാജ്യത്തിനും യഥാർത്ഥത്തിലുള്ള വളർച്ച ഉണ്ടാകുകയുള്ളു. സ്ഥാപിത താല്പര്യങ്ങൾ സംരക്ഷിക്കാനായി ഏതെങ്കിലും തരത്തിലുള്ള സ്പർദ്ധ വളർത്തുന്നത് രാഷ്ട്ര പുരോഗതിയ്ക്ക് താങ്ങാനാവാത്ത ക്ഷീണമാണുണ്ടാക്കുന്നത്. ലോകരാഷ്ട്രങ്ങളുടെ മുൻ നിരയിൽ നിൽക്കാൻ എന്തുകൊണ്ടും യോഗ്യതയും ശേഷിയുമുള്ള ഇന്ത്യയെ അതിന് പ്രാപ്തമാക്കേണ്ട ചുമതല ഓരോ ഇന്ത്യക്കാരനിലും നിക്ഷിപ്തമാണ്. എന്തുകൊണ്ടോ ഇത് മറന്നുകൊണ്ടുള്ള പ്രവർത്തനമാണ് കൂടുതലായി കാണുന്നതു്. ഇവിടെയാണ് മാറ്റം ഉണ്ടാകേണ്ടത്.

ഇന്ത്യയെപ്പോലെ ചരിത്രപരമായും സാംസ്കാരികമായും ഭാഷാപരമായുമൊക്കെ വൈവിദ്ധ്യമാർന്ന ഒരു രാജ്യത്തിന് അഖണ്ഡത പരമപ്രധാനമാണ്. നമ്മുടെ ഭരണഘടന ഉയർത്തിപ്പിടിക്കുന്ന പ്രധാന മൂല്യം ഇതാണ്. അഖണ്ഡത പരിപാലിക്കുന്നതിലും രാഷ്ട്രനിർമാണത്തിലും ഓരോ ഭാരതീയനുമുള്ള പങ്ക് പ്രൈമറി തലം മുതൽ ഏറ്റവും ഉയർന്ന ക്ലാസുകൾ വരെ പാഠ്യപദ്ധതിയിൽ ഉൾപ്പെടുത്തി ഒരു പുതിയ സംസ്കാരം രൂപപ്പെടുത്താൻ അധികാരികൾ തയാറാകണം. രാഷ്ട്ര പുരോഗതിയുടെ ദർശനം യുവതലമുറയിൽ എത്തിക്കാൻ രാഷ്ട്രീയ സാംസ്കാരിക നേതാക്കന്മാർ പരിശ്രമിച്ചാൽ സാധിക്കും. രാഷ്ട്രങ്ങളുടെ സൗരയൂഥത്തിൽ എന്നും തിളങ്ങുന്ന ഒരു നക്ഷത്രമായി ഇന്ത്യയെ മാറ്റിയെടുക്കുവാൻ എല്ലാ ഭാഗത്ത് നിന്നും പ്രചോദനമുണ്ടാകട്ടെയെന്നു ആത്മാർത്ഥമായി ആഗ്രഹിക്കുന്നു, പ്രാർത്ഥിക്കുന്നു.

A Dilapidated System

Medical education in India has been witnessing the heights of injustice for quite some time. The plight of some the meritorious students and their parents is really miserable. Though the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test is (NEET) conducted by the CBSE for admission to MBBS/BDS courses,  lot of unjust practices have been going on in the matter of admission to medical courses. The private Medical Colleges have been extracting exorbitant amounts running to lakhs/crores from the parents of students for admission. The existing ruined system sees meritorious students not securing medical admission as their parents are not able to spend lakhs of money, while students who have secured very low ranks in NEET are getting admission only because their parents are in a position to pump in colossal amounts of money. And when academically backward students secure medical admission, how far it affects the standard and quality of the doctors ‘produced’ by such a system is a matter of concern.

The above money game coupled with the existing reservation system for certain sections of students is resulting in denial of justice to meritorious students whose parents are not in a position to pump in lakhs of money and those who do not have any reservation benefits. It is a fact that this is sheer denial of justice to certain sections of students and crass discrimination based on the power of money. In some States, nativity issue also seals the chances of students of other States.

There is no regulatory mechanism as of now to oversee and control the shabby practices going on in the realm of medical admission. The responsibility of the CBSE is limited to the conduct of NEET, declaration of result and providing All India Rank to the Directorate General Health Services, Government of India for the conduct of counselling for 15% All India Quota Seats and for supplying the result to state/other Counselling Authorities. It is high time that a Medical Admissions Regulatory Authority was set up to oversee, monitor control and regulate the medical admission regime. A suggestion to this effect has been submitted to the Union Ministry of HRD and Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.

Justice Demands It

Corruption and black money are like twin brothers or twin sisters. And both are always hand in hand. The history of independent India eloquently illustrates that all the initiatives taken by a few of the various Governments at the centre so far to tackle the menace of the twin most dangerous issues, viz; black money and corruption in varying degrees have been thwarted by the concerted efforts of a powerful lobby comprising of various ruthless sections of the society which are all hands in glove. The strategy of this abysmally unholy but unlimitedly powerful lobby in defeating such well-intended measures has been to feign their blessings to those measures outwardly but doing everything possible to sabotage them by stooping to any level.

There is no denying the fact that these lobbies are behind most of the problems faced by the country. Their power is enormous. Their share in the nation’s resources is unimaginable. They are financial power houses. They would see to it that when a Government does something to tackle corruption or black money, a situation is created which prompts the Government to divert its focus from the well-intended measures and change the priorities. The might of the right thinking citizens is trivial compared to this cold blooded lobby. This explains the reason for the lackluster impact of many of the well-intended reforms undertaken by the present and previous governments to cleanse the economy of the above mentioned twin devils.

Every day we are hearing sordid stories of recovery of huge amounts of black money earned through corruption from individuals and how corruption has poisoned the economy to an extent of near no return. But what happens to the culprits after the money is seized always remains behind the curtains. It is an unfortunate sight, seeing the legal system miserably faltering before corruption and black money. No right thinking citizen will ever say that the corrupt deserve a compassionate treatment. When will our country start treating the corrupt in a manner which justice demands, which the honest people crave for?