Bank of Article

Drug abuse on the rise in Northeast

2020-04-01T21:01:00.002+05:30

Curbing the drug menace or illicit drug trafficking still remains a challenge for the law enforcing agencies in Northeast India, especially the four Indian States of Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Mizoram and Nagaland bordering Myanmar to its east. This echoes in the growing number of drug users, especially among the young people. The Northeast’s age-old affinity to what is called the Golden Triangle, a tri-junction of Myanmar, Thailand and Laos, is one major reason that exacerbates the problem as it is famous for such deadly narcotics. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Southeast Asia Opium Survey Report 2013 lays bare that opium cultivation in the region rose to 22% in 2013 impelled by a 13% growth in Myanmar, the country which is the world’s second largest illicit opium producing country.

Over a decade before, the Golden Triangle used to supply half the world’s heroine. But the drug barons popped up by ethnic militias in Myanmar have since been trafficking huge volumes of amphetamines and methamphetamines, which can be produced even in a small plot of land and in low cost. Interestingly, these narcotics now predominates the Myanmar portion of the Triangle. Insurgencies in Myanmar have been funded by drug smuggling. But the Myanmar civilian government has so far come a cropper in curbing the drug menace in the Golden Triangle with drug-peddlers being well organized Chinese syndicates operating from outside of Myanmar. China is not affected by drug trafficking ever since the Myanmar ethnic rebel group Wa relocated their drug production units to the Myanmar Thailand border at the former’s persuasion. Where actually the civilian government did a great blunder is its entering into ceasefires with home grown insurgent outfits. The agreements have left them free to carry on with their agenda of manufacturing and smuggling drugs.

It may be noted here that drugs are trafficked regularly across the common border of Myanmar and Mizoram, Manipur and Nagaland because the border is porous and unmanned at some sectors. The Northeast insurgents regulate the routes leading to western Myanmar.

The Principal Secretary of Social Welfare Department, Government of Assam, Hemanta Kr Narzary, while delivering a keynote address on the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking at Guwahati in 2016 divulged that in 2015, the highest amount of illicit stimulants in the country was seized in Mizoram. Over 80,000 tons of drugs were seized from the State. These developments, he rightly said, are a vivid pointer to the gravity of the situation in the region. He also was of the view that the Northeast was one of the worst affected regions because of its affinity to the Golden Triangle, which accounts for over 60% of narcotics traded across the world.

Some days ago, the police chiefs of all the northeastern States in a meeting at Agartala unanimously decided to step up their efforts to curb drug menace. Belated though, it has been a step in the right direction against the backdrop of the troubled region emerging lately as a major transit point for drug trafficking. As the region shares common borders with the neighboring drug-producing countries, drug smuggling has become a major cause of concern. Just as wholesale markets, the easy availability of the drugs and at affordable prices at transit points containing narcotics and psychotropic substances has contributed to the surge in the cases of drug abuse among school and college students in many parts of the region. These reasons apart, yet another contributing factor behind the growing number of addicts that has made many people concerned is that the drug-peddlers not only use different routes, but also carry on with their clandestine activities in unison. Furthermore, they are, depressingly, targeting educational institutions in the region so as to lure the teenagers to the dark world of drug addiction.

As a result of their stepped-up efforts, there has been a rise in the number of young drug addicts in the region. To exemplify, just as Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur or Mizoram or even Nagaland, the tale of Assam too, is equally frustrating because here in the State, in spite of remedial measures initiated by the Government, the use of illicit drugs, especially among school and college students, is abnormally on the rise in Assam. A recent study by UNICEF reveals the State as the country’s second highest trafficking zone and identified six districts – Udalguri, Kokrajhar, Baksa, Sonitpur, Dhemaji, Lakhimpur and Kamrup – as the most vulnerable districts.

Actually, the drug use among young people in Northeast India, especially in the four States bordering Myanmar, began following the introduction of heroin in the early 1970s. Many young males, and in small number young females, in their teens, started getting addicted to drugs this time around. Gradually they switched over from non-injecting to injecting drug use (IDU). As per an estimate of 2006 by the National Aids Control Organization (NACO), there are 50,000 IDUs injecting drug use in the region, a large number indeed, the majority of them in Manipur, Nagaland and Mizoram, and lately in Meghalaya. This figure itself speaks volumes about the problem in these States.

What is, however, disappointingis the involvement of young drug addicts in a lot of petty crimes within the family and beyond. Common crimes like thefts are done to finance their drug habits. Through close observation, it is found that such an addict is unable or unwilling to do any constructive work beyond what is required for continuing his/her addiction. Most young drug users are educated and relatively smarter in the community they belong to.

The most dangerous aspect of injecting drug use is that this method falls into the category of the high risk behavior for HIV infection through sharing of the substance. As per a study, over 40% of the IDU share their needles and syringes despite their knowledge of a likely HIV transmission via such hazardous practices. This makes it deadly, dimming whatever little hope left of having a cure for HIV in the immediate future.

However, more frustrating is the fact that over the years there is a steady rise in female addicts in Assam as also the Northeast. Since the situation is supposedly something far from satisfying, law-enforcing agencies should initiate stringent measures to curb drug abuse and illegal trafficking. Curbing smuggling can be easy if India establishes institutional mechanisms with China, Myanmar and Thailand. The region should have a well-trained force along its border with the drug producing countries to nab and take the drug barons and traffickers to task. More importantly, NGOs and voluntary organizations should also make endeavour to ensure that the young boys and girls in Assam as well as the region do not fall prey to these deadly drugs, besides carrying out a periodic mass awareness campaign.

Satyagraha: Gandhian weapon of victory

2020-03-31T20:00:00.001+05:30

In the vortex of Indian politicsas well as of human civilization, Mahatma Gandhi popularized the theory of unique philosophy and technique of noniolence – ‘Satyagraha’. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, while assem-

bling the Indian community in South Africa against racial discrimination and ‘Khilafat Movement’ in India against the British regime, adequately propounded the philosophy of non-violence or Satyagraha as a weapon of protest. In South Africa, the saga of Satyagraha sprouted during the period 19061914 and in India during the period of 1915- 1947 as Lokmanya Balgangadhar Tilak, the stalwart political figure, and Gandhi then without any political clout, had plunged

into the field. The pitiable plight of the Indian labourer class, numerous revilements meted out to him and the community as a whole transformed Gandhi and made him determined to protest against these injustice and exploitation through non-violent resistance. None but Gandhi knew the true essence of non-violence and he used to say that non-violence is not a cover of cowardice, but it is the supreme virtue of the brave for which he propounded the example of Jesus Christ, Daniel and Socrates who represented the purest form of passive resistance or soulforce. Albert Einstein while commenting on Gandhi’s philosophy of Satyagraha remarked that Gandhi’s notion of non-violent ways of solv-ing political problems was honest and significant. Einstein remarked about Gandhi that he is ‘a leader of his people, unsupported by any outward authority; a politician whose success rests not upon craft nor the mastery of technical devices, but simply on the convincing power of his personality; a victorious fighter who has always scorned the use of force; a man of wisdom of humanity, armed with resolve and inflexible

consistency, who has devoted all his strength to the uplift of his people and the betterment of theirlot; a man who has confronted the brutality of Europe with the dignity of the simple human being, and thus at all times risen superior.’’ Mahatma Gandhi’s non-violent philosophy worked miraculously in the event of ‘Khilafat Movement’ organized by the Muslim Mullahs and Aligarhi intellectuals to protest against the British hegemony as a whole and as a part to dethrone the Turkish empire stripping the Sultan of Turkey of his leadership of

the Islamic world as the ‘Khilafat of Islam’. The Arabian Muslims considered the Sultan of Turkey to be a foreign ruler and were reluctant to preserve the khilafat. In India too, only a handful of Muslim people belonging to foreign origin were intensified in Islamic rule over India hankering after extraterritorial loyalists and political

benefits. Mahatma Gandhi, who was invited to this movement extended his support without knowing the history and fundamentals of Islam. Gandhi inculcated the protesters to launch a demonstration of nonviolence and non-cooperation with the British Government in India. Some of the Mullahs did not agree to this suggestion of Gandhi as they did not like the ideology and methodology of non-violence. Gandhi advised them to take non-violence as a temporary policy and not as a principle and he was capable of convincing the khilafat leaders to adopt non-violence as a tool for their protest. Thus, Gandhi became the uncrowned leader of the movement.

Mahatma Gandhi believed that non-violence is not a cover of cowardice, but it is the supreme virtue of the brave. Einstein first recorded his admiration of Gandhi’s nonviolent movement and on his 75th birthday, Einstein wrote the universally quoted words: “Generations to come, it may be, will scarce believe that such a one like this ever in flesh and blood walked upon this earth.’’

Gandhi stressed on non-violence as a creed to be followed in all circumstance and wrote that Satyagraha has had ample scope in India. There had been an inevitable series of struggles beginning with the rather local questions. In the struggle of khilafat, Gandhi declared that he had fought to win Swaraj and his confidence was unshaken, that even if a single Satyagrahi held out to the end, victory is absolutely certain. Gandhi remarked that Satyagraha is applicable for all situations; from interpersonal to the group and national and in ternational conflicts, from micro to macro conflicts.

The fundamental concepts of Satyagraha, in accordance with Gandhi, are four – truth, non-violence, faith in human goodness and creative elf suffering. Gandhi considered that the ultimate goal of human life is ‘truth’ and it denotes self-realization or maximizing one’s human potential. Violence begets violence and at any cost it is not possible to differentiate violence as justified and unjustified ones. The idea that violence against another is violence against oneself is best made out by Gandhi when he wrote that Satyagraha aims at seeking truth in any situation using non-violent means to reach the goal. While talking about goodness in man, Gandhi used to say that everyman is a mixture of good and evil and for the very reason, belief in the goodness of human nature as well as the operation of reason is the optimist’s act of faith. Regarding self-suffering, Gandhi opined that reative selfsuffering does not mean meek submission to the will of the evil doer but rather it means putting of one’s whole soul against the target of the tyrant. The beauty of Satyagraha lies in the fact that it comes up to oneself; one does not have to go out in search for it and it is a virtue inherent in the principle itself. Satyagraha may be considered a science in the making, just as the violent ways of resolution conflict are with the development of ever more destructive weapons. The struggle which has to be previously planned is not a righteous one and Mahatma Gandhi believed that in a righteous struggle, God himself plans campaigns and conducts battle. Therefore, it may be inculcated that it is the duty of all of us who believe in non-violent resolution of conflicts, to follow Gandhi’s ideals of non-violent resistance and to continue to experiment with and evolve ever more effective methods to the resolution of conflicts.

<Dr Dinamani Kalita>

Anti-CAA stir: Next is what?

2020-03-28T21:49:00.003+05:30

Unprecedented civil disturbance is being witnessed in many parts of the country for the past few weeks over the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, or CAA. Having initially begun in Assam, the violence quickly fanned out to other parts of the country.

While violence in any form cannot be condoned, the ruling dispensation in New Delhi will have to shoulder blame for first having rushed through the legislation without trying to build a political consensus, and then failing to pre-empt the violence sweeping across States. The Opposition parties and their leaders too cannot absolve themselves from their insidious role in exacerbating an already volatile situation. Instead of trying to calm the situation, a few have been even found adding fuel to fire with provocative comments. Blaming the Government is easy, but that doesn’t mean that they can run riot with irresponsible statements by instilling fear in the minds of a particular community.

Meanwhile, even as Assam – which witnessed violence for three consecutive days beginning on December 10 over CAA – limps back to normalcy, the winter of discontent is apparently unlikely to go away anytime soon. It needs no iteration that, unlike in other parts of the country, the campaign against CAA in Assam is about ethnic identity. And with dharnas, rallies, public meetings, etc., becoming the norm and a section of local media acting as rabble rousers, there is no indication that the cycle of protest will end anytime soon. The saving grace, however, is that almost all organizations have decided to carry forward their stir in a ‘democratic’ and ‘peaceful’ manner, besides announcing not to carry out any protest post dusk. This has been done with the twin objectives of helping normalcy return to the State and thwarting unscrupulous elements from hijacking the movement.

Further, to allay misgivings and apprehensions among the student community and their parents, All Assam Students’ Union chief adviser Samujjal Bhattacharyya has also been quite categorical in asserting that the academic atmosphere would not be allowed to be affected by the ongoing agitation. The apprehension was not totally unfounded as lakhs of students had to lose their precious academic years during the six-year Assam Movement (1979-85).

Now, even as organizations filed petitions before the Supreme Court challenging the CAA, they have also made no bones about not calling off their stir anytime soon. Thus, the campaign against the Act seems to be on a long haul. Be that as it may, but while the outrage against the legislation is understandable, there are some aspects of the movement that raise several questions.

Without going into the merits of the CAA or the stir surrounding it, what is very apparent is that the

current movement is being largely emotionally driven as was witnessed during the six-year Foreign-

ers’ Movement. People are pouring out on to the streets in large numbers singing, reciting poems,

performing naam and jikir (traditional hymns sung collectively), painting, tonsuring heads, etc.,

even as a section of the media, particularly some local news channels, has converted the entire campaign into some kind of a reality show replete with melodrama telecast live 24x7 so as to arouse public passion. But, as the earlier mass movement of 1979-85 had proved, any agitation driven purely by emotion and bereft of any strategic planning is likely to falter in the long run. Sadly, the current campaign’s leadership seems to have learnt little from history and apparently trudging along on a similar course this time too. Impressed with huge public turnouts, they are yet to put their heads together in chalking out a strategic plan and seem content in playing to the gallery. While the movement’s primary objective may be lofty, there is still no clarity over: i)how long this would continue (as the legal battle won’t end anytime soon); ii) whether it would be called off in the event of a favourable judgement from the Supreme Court; iii) what would be its ultimate goal; iv) will a political alternative (or alternative politics) be explored in future, especially if the apex court’s ruling doesn’t go along the expected lines of the movement’s leaders? Without any vision or long-term planning, it could prove difficult for the leadership to sustain the current tempo, and the movement runs the risk of faltering as public fatigue would set in soon. Yes, protesters across the world tend to get emotional, but it’s the responsibility of leaders and organizations leading them to draw blueprints, which is absent in Assam today.

Another aspect is the movement’s somewhat exclusive character. Besides being largely confined to the Brahmaputra Valley, the movement has also seemingly failed to cut much ice among other communities in the valley, let alone in other Northeastern States. The sad reality is that communities in the Northeast are largely bound by convenience than by heart. Hence, it shouldn’t come as a surprise if other communities view the entire campaign as another assertion of Assamese chauvinism. Therefore, the challenge before the leadership is to make the movement more broad-based and inclusive lest it acquires a sectarian character and fails to meet its objective. There are several fault lines that need to be bridged else it will become another voice in wilderness. The movement will have to take into account the complex ethnic, communal and linguistic composition of the State.

Further, even within the Assamese community, not everyone is gung ho over the movement. With

changing demographic dynamics, a section is not entirely convinced that opposing Bangladeshi Hindus alone from acquiring citizenship would ensure protection of the community. Thus, the anti-CAA campaign will have to traverse many undulating paths.

Different thoughts, different books

2020-03-28T21:02:00.001+05:30

It was after years that I went inside the store. It was a swank showroom displaying the latest models of anything electronic from computers to cameras, television sets to fridges. It took me some time to meet the owner of the store as he was busy in a meeting with some Japanese businessmen. I was having a look around and discussing the advances in the latest iPhone, which costs more than a lakh of rupees. I felt happy that there were people in Assam and the Northeast to afford a high end mobile phone with a price tag of a lakh plus. Waiting to meet the owner, I strolled around the store conversing with the floor assistants and educating myself on the benefits of a smart TV and a smart fridge. Not only have the people of Assam become smart, but even TVs and fridges have become smart these days. As a show of intimacy with the owner, I told the young shop assistants how their boss, fresh from a semi-township in Jorhat, had started out from a small room and a scooter, selling and delivering desktops and computer accessories in the offices and homes of Guwahati and how steadily not only sold computers but also introduced the people of the city to digital technology. I was proudly regaling them with anecdotes, especially about the one about the Congress minister who kept a computer monitor prominently displayed on the office table, which had no connection to a CPU! He’d put the monitor on display, as their leader Rajiv Gandhi had insisted that computer literacy in India begin from the top. The CPU came a good six months later when the minister heard that you could play cards with the computer.

The owner took a good 45 minutes to make his appearance after I was treated to two cups of coffee by the secretary, who wouldn’t let me leave as per orders of the boss. He was very apologetic and took me to his room and again ordered for another round of coffee. We got talking about the present state of affairs of Assam and the economy of the country. Although a non-Assamese by birth, the entrepreneur had studied in the Assamese medium and was familiar with Assamese literature and litterateurs. Then the topic came to motivational books. Motivational books now form the bulk of non-fiction books sold worldwide. Not only are they taught in business schools, these books and their authors are heard in paid lectures in the developed world. Economically, those countries did not have the dire need to study or discuss these books, but were read to stay ahead of competition. China, Japan and Korea and even the Russians get the popular English motivational writings translated into their languages within a month of hosting the charts. This has a multiplier effect in their societies, in a sense that it keeps them updated with the latest thoughts and concepts and also keeps the youth motivated for higher levels of personal successes and thereby the nation as a whole. Yet in Assam motivational literature was not available in Assamese in original or in translation. A Steven Covey or Shiv Khera or Yuval Noah Harari is not a familiar name among the youth of Assam. Years ago Homen Borgohain probably wrote the only such motivational book Uchchaakankshya . Assam’s current motivational heroes are Zubeen Garg, Samujjal Bhattacharya, Himanta Biswa Sarma and we’ve seen how they have led the youth force in Assam. The saving grace among the youth motivators are probably limited to the sportspersons like Hima Das or the moviemaker Rima Das, innovator Uddhav Bharali who have been examples of positive thinking and ambition. As for the entrepreneurs and innovators, not many get to hear about them as the mindset of the media is rooted to politics in the headlines. My store owner friend rued the absence of motivational literature in Assamese and how that had negatively affected the thinking of the youth of Assam into a quick money culture. The surfeit of fiction of all shades have not been able to addpositivity into the State, rather it’s left us emotionally surcharged, with no positive outcomes.

The third cup of coffee over, I had to leave in deep thought of this deficiency. Our publishers and translators must take this up in right earnest and haste. Literature in economics and commerce are also limited to textbooks. Updated books on these subjects or being Assam specific are not available easily or at all. How can we expect the society to think modern and move with times if motivational reading, monitoring the Sensex, economic news of the day, technological advances are not a part of the daily life of the youth? Opposing the CAA is ok but choosing to limit oneself to the mundane is not the answer.

Motivational books apart, even books and magazines in Assamese on economics, commerce, science is a rarity. It’s imperative that developments in these fields get discussed in drawing rooms and student common rooms. The Assam Science Society had started a monthly magazine on popular science in the early 60s, but in the absence of required government support, the magazine never took off. The Government on its own had

never tried to install a scientific temper in the educational environment. Assamese textbooks have a bias towards history, harping on the golden days of the past. How golden it was is debatable. Our kingdoms were small ones without much economic power. The monuments, that have lived to see modern days, give us an indication of the state of the financial status of the kingdoms. No temple or monument is grand on an international scale nor landmark achievements in technology or aesthetics. But they are our own and we have to take care of it. Economics has never been given its due importance, not even in the 21st century, when the world talks of GDP, strength of the currency, volatility of the stock market, trade balances, world market share. The Prime Minister has not been able to transfer this commercial bent of mind into our ministry, who feel that building MGNREGA and PMGSY roads and doling out largesse are great achievements. Without economics percolating into the society, Assam will languish in being obsessed with refugees and infiltrators Even in other aspects of social activity we definitely need to raise our standards.

The poor standards of political banter are an indication of the low level of discourse in the State. Ministers and youth icons speak in a language that will put fish market conversations into embarrassment. A spiritually-biased government, if it goes into street fighter’s lingo, does not speak well of the prevailing standards nor augurs well for the future. Restraint should be the guiding factor, not a mood of ‘eye for eye, tooth for tooth’. No security in the world is unreachable and violence or repression does not get to the final goal anywhere. What applies to the government applies equally to its opponents. In a nation of youth, the 40 pluses would better do to suggest than lead. If it’s a student’s fight, it’s better left to be fought out by the students. The State must intervene in the event of violence only. Living in the past serves no purpose. The Government would do well to instil an atmosphere of intellectual debate and discourse, so that modern ideas reach every open window in the State. This brooks no delay.

Monitoring and evaluation of development

2020-03-14T19:20:00.000+05:30

Development in a democratic country is entailed with sensitivity. Every government tries to come up in sequence of five years with the objective of ‘do or die’ for developing the country. But this may or may not be fruitful. There might be a chance of defusing its agenda, rather becoming a deterrent force against the initiatives of the previous government. That is why an independent monitoring mechanism of the ongoing development is needed so as to ascertain it more prominently. Further, development is not necessarily confined to mere exploitation of scarce natural resources. It might be the kind of peace and happiness, security and services, health and wellness, education and wisdom, or innovation and research. Clearly, the modus operandi of development should not be the precursor of a climatic crisis. However, creating infrastructures for all types of connectivity and job avenues in manufacturing and productivity sectors is one of the prime concerns of development for which focusing on ‘projectology’ is sought to be discussed briefly in the beginning.
As discussed elsewhere, a project is a specific activity on which money is spent in the expectation of returns.It has a specific objective, and has a specific geographical location and would serve a group of population. To eliminate exhaustive mechanism of monitoring and evaluation, the project phases are to be observed and preserved seriously. The phases are: i) project identification, ii) project preparation or formulation which is inclusive of preliminary and feasibility studies, iii) project appraisal, iv) negotiation, v) project approval, vi) detailed project planning, vii) project implementation, viii) project monitoring and control, and ix) project evaluation. So, the Detailed Project Report (DPR) will speak the fate of the project’s success. An effective monitoring and evaluation system should prevail in the backdrop of governance mechanism.
Before identifying correct tools for monitoring and evaluation, let us recall the above phases briefly. The first phase of the project is concerned with identifying projects which have high priority, possibility to finance the project, and the government and the users are interested in the project. These projects must also meet a prima facie test of feasibility, i.e., it is viable from the technical and financial point of view. The cost of the project should be less than the expected benefits. Next phase after identification of the project is the project formulation phase. This is an important phase and decides whether the project should be executed or not. In project appraisal phase, feasibility report is examined by different agencies from their respective view. The government agencies give more emphasis on socio-economic aspects, while the financial institution will critically examine its technical feasibility and financial viability along with managerial competence of the organization undertaking the project. Thus, after negotiation, if any, the project is approved for implementation subject to having proper planning of resource mobilization and utilization including scheduling drawn in ‘network techniques’. But the real task that comes into play immediately is project monitoring and control. It is a systematic procedure to collect and analyse information related to the project. The monitoring provides timely information and feedback to the management regarding vital stages in project implementation. Periodic feedback on the progress of the project helps the management to know the achievement and compare it with the other targets in order to take appropriate steps for proper implementation of it. As a corrective step, the management can correct the lagging time schedule, synchronize with other related activities and indentify other slippages and take remedial measures.

Efficiency of the monitoring and control depends upon the efficiency and effectiveness of the information system. For taking corrective measures, there is a need for fast and meaningful data collection, its analysis and dissemination. For the purpose of fast data collection, latest techniques, including drones are appeared to be more powerful. In broad sense, monitoring means control of performance/cost/time (P/C/T). Therefore, these elements (P/C/T) must be reported in a way that ties them all together. Some methods of project reporting are: i) integrated P/C/T charts, ii) financial schedules and variance reports, iii) time scale network plans and iv) problems and there analysis. Reports in the form of graphics and tabular statements are preferred rather than statement in grammatical structure. Finally, projects are evaluated and their performance audit is done with the idea of gaining experience for subsequent projects in their identification, preparation and appraisal. Also, the idea of evaluation is that, past mistakes are not repeated and new approaches, policies, and procedures are adopted to improve the project performance, reduce cost overruns and implementation delays. The popular control techniques called ‘network techniques’ which should have devised in DPR for civil and mechanical projects are: critical path method (CPM), ii) programme evaluation and review technique (PERT) and iii) resource allocation and multi-project scheduling (RAMPS).
The NITI Aayog has endeavoured with de novo attitude of project appraisal followed by monitoring and evaluation mechanism. But this concept is yet to scatter well to the States. Every department in the State Secretariat should have a set of three consultants in hierarchical structure (Junior-Assistant-Senior) to effect the project appraisal and development monitoring and evaluation.
How can we supplement the monitoring mechanism to prevent haphazard encroachment and illegal construction? The very local agency of the government other than the local representative of the people is the police station equipped with comprehensive logistic. Can they be instrumental to make a question to the suspicious stakeholder in that locality, whether the construction is permitted? For more details to view approved permission plan, an infantry technical person may be assigned in each police station. It will reduce hazardous planning, living and resource mobilization. Police is very much active and praiseworthy in breakdown action. Can we plan to make the police force efficient for preventive action?

Two historic agreements in Northeast

2020-02-26T13:24:00.004+05:30

Even as the false narrative about the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and the gitation seeking its withdrawal continue to be flamed by a minority of individuals, the Narendra Modi Government has been silently going about its task in resolving long-pending issues pertaining to minorities and ethnic conflicts in the Northeast.

While the CAA has been grabbing the headlines, the Union Home Minister, Amit Shah has presided over the signing of two significant accords to end the 50-yearold Bodo problem and the 23 year old issue of the rehabilitation of the Bru-Reangs in Tripura.

The ethnic conflict concerning the Bodos has claimed over 4000 lives thus far, but with the recent agreement, a permanent solution has been found for the problem. As per the historic agreement be- tween Government of India, Government of Assam and the Bodo representatives, the Centre has committed itself to a Rs 1500-crore development package to develop specific projects in the Bodo areas.In return, about 1500 armed cadres will abjure violence and join the mainstream. The Government has said after the agreement that a comprehensive and final solution has been found for the demands put forth by the Bodos. Now, after long years of conflict, the Bodo factions will leave the path of violence, surrender weapons and disband their organizations. The Centre and the Assam Government will take steps to rehabilitate over 1500 of these cadres.

Just a few days prior to this historic Bodo accord, the Home Minister presided over the signing of an agreement in New Delhi between the Union Government and the governments of Tripura and Mizoram and representatives of the Bru-Reangs to bring to an end the 23-year-old crisis of these refugees. This agreement enables the permanent settlement of the Bru Reangs in Tripura and the rehabilitation package will cost Rs 600 crore.

The issue of the Bru-Reang refugees had been a festering problem for 23 years. It had its origin in the ethnic tensions that erupted in Mizoram in 1997 when around 5,000 families comprising around 30,000 persons fled that State and took refuge in Tripura. These people were housed in temporary camps in North Tripura. As the problem of the displaced tribals persisted, some efforts were made since 2010 to rehabilitate the Bru-Reangs. Out of the 5,000 families, about 1600 families were sent back to Mizoram and the Union Government took the initiative to assist the Tripura and Mizoram governments in this regard. The Modi Government’s first major initiative came in July, 2018 when the governments signed an agreement which resulted in enhancing the assistance given to these families. Subsequently, 328 families comprising 1369 persons returned to Mizoram. However, thereafter, the Bru tribals wanted a solution which would enable them to settle permanently in Tripura. They felt they would be more secure in that State.

The latest agreement will benefit about 34,000 Bru-Reangs who are living in six camps in Tripura.

that the Reangs came from the Shan state of Myanmar, first to the Chittagong Hill Tracts and then to Tripura. There was also another group which came to Tripura via Assam and Mizoram during the 18th century.

The institute says the Reangs have a population of 1.88 lakh and are divided into two major clans Meska and Molsoi. They are still a nomadic tribe and a large number of them depend on hilltop Jhum cultivation. Their language is known as Kaubru. A good percentage of them are followers of Vaishnavism. The Reangs’ folk life and culture have outstanding cultural components. The most popular of which is the Hozagiri dance with ‘melodious tune of flute’.

Apart from Home Minister Amit Shah, others present at this historic signing ceremony were the Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb, Mizoram Chief Minister Zoramthanga, North-East Democratic Alliance chairman Himanta Biswa Sarma, the scion of the Tripura royal family Pradyot Kishore Debbarma and the Brurepresentatives.

As per this agreement, each of the Bru families living in Tripura will be given a plot of land, a fixed

deposit of Rs 4 lakh, Rs 5,000 in cash per month for two years, free ration for two years and another Rs 1.5 lakh to build their houses. The land will be provided by the Government of Tripura.

The Home Ministry began serious efforts to end the problem faced by the Bru tribals when Shah decided to bring the two State governments and the Bru people together some months ago. He also got the King of Tripura and different tribal groups to support the initiative to settle the Bru people in Tripura itself rather than attempt their rehabilitation in Mizoram. As Shah said after the agreement was signed recently, this is part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas’ policy and his emphasis on resolving long-pending issues in the Northeast.

Both these agreements show the keenness of the Narendra Modi Government to resolve the long-

pending issues in the Northeast to take those States on the high road to development.

<By A Surya Prakash>

Drinking water and RO water filter: a purity concern

2020-02-07T14:38:00.000+05:30

Water is life. Without water life is not possible. For sustaining a good health, pure drinking water is a sine quo non. Simple filtration candles or filtration materials such as sand, pebbles, charcoal, etc., can remove only the suspended materials from dirty water and filtered water carried over with it both the essential as well as the toxic minerals along with microbial germs in the dissolved form. On the other hand, water without the essential minerals, viz., sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, etc., is tasteless. It is mentioned in the Rig Veda that the drinking water should be Sheetham, which means cold, Sushihi (clean) and Sivam which means it should have nutritive values with requisite minerals, Istham which means transparent and Vimalam Lahu Shadgunam, which means it should have a balanced acid-base limit. With the development of technology, the strategy of drinking water purification changed and the concept of use of aqua guard came in with the use of ultrafiltration technique killing the microbial germs through e-boiling or use of ultraviolet lamp. But the problem of separation of the toxic minerals such as heavy metals, arsenic, lead, fluoride, etc., still remained an issue. Finally the technology of reverse osmosis (RO) using a semipermeable membrane in the filter candle has successfully been applied in the thrust area drinking water purification for removal of all the dissolved minerals and microbes from it.

It may be mentioned in this context that the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has however recently prohibited the use of RO (reverse osmosis) filters in Delhi having total dissolved solids (TDS) in water less than 500 mg per litre and directed the RO filter manufacturers to ensure that more than 60% water is recovered setting deadlines to the Central Pollution Control Board and Ministry of Environment to implement it by December 31, 2019. The reason is that the RO system removes all the dissolved minerals including the essential ones and discard 80% of water which is processed that leads to huge wastage. Against this order, the RO filter manufacturers represented by the Water Quality India Association filed a petition in the Supreme Court as there is heavy metals in the groundwater in many of the cities. However, the Supreme Court on November 22 last declined to interfere with the NGT order. Rather, the court asked the association to approach the Centre and directed the Government to consider the representation before passing a notification.

Now, what actually is RO? If a concentrated solution of certain salt(s) is separated from a dilute solution of the same type by a semi-permeable membrane that selectively allows the movement of particles, the solvent molecules from the dilute solution will flow from the dilute solution to the concentrated solution and this movement, a colligative property of a solution, continues until it reaches an equilibrium. This process of flow of solvent molecules due to the difference in concentration is known as osmosis. The driving force for the movement of the solvent is the reduction in free energy of the system when the difference in solvent concentration on either side of a membrane is reduced, generating osmotic pressure due to the solvent moving into the more concentrated solution. This natural flow of solvent from the dilute solution towards the concentrated solution can be made reversed overcoming the osmotic pressure by applying an external pressure, which is reverse osmosis (RO) and the pressure applied is known as reverse osmotic pressure. This device is used in water purification process that uses a partially permeable membrane to remove larger particles, ions, unwanted molecules from drinking water to give highly pure water. However, there is heavy wastage of water in RO filtration as it gives only 20-30% pure water. It is used in both industrial processes and the production of potable water.

The RO membrane used is a thin film composite and is made up basically of two different materials, viz., cellulose acetate or aromatic polyamide and do not have definable pores in the way that film used in ultrafiltration. There are only spaces between the fibres making up the film which can take up water because of the different groupings which form the surface. Cellulose acetate is resistant to chlorine but is affected by bacteria whereas polyamide is resistant to bacteria but is affected by chlorine. Further, pH is a major factor and at high pH cellulose acetate is hydrolysed to cellulose and the changes are inevitable and can be reduced by choosing the condition of operation and finite life of 3-5 years could be expected. The pressure exerted in RO on the side of membrane having the impure water is generally 2-17 bar for ordinary water and 4042 bar for sea water to overcome the osmotic pressure. The latest development in the sphere of RO filtration membrane is the use of nanomaterial, viz., graphene oxide. This is now considered as the most promising and ultimate membrane material for it is stronger, thinner, chemically more resistant than polyamide or cellulose acetate and has excellent hydrophilicity, high water permeability, attractive ionic/molecular separation properties with high surface area, mechanical durability, atomic thickness and nano-sized pores to separate particles larger than 0.1 nm.

The subject of presence of essential minerals and RO water filtration created controversy and disagreement among water and health professionals. This is said to be a weak argument to suggest for making up the deficiency through use of mineralized water. The WHO however clarified that majority of healthy minerals that are needed for human body are from food or dietary supplementary sources only and not from drinking water. Because plants convert the inorganic minerals from soil to useful organic minerals which in our stomach get attached to a specific protein molecule (chelation) in order to be absorbed and then it gains access to the needed tissue sites. Once a plant mineral is digested within the body, it is utilized as a co-enzyme for composing body fluids forming blood and bone cells and the maintaining of healthy nerve transmission. The essential minerals can be accessed from milk and milk products, green leafy vegetables and other vegetables such as pea, broccoli, cabbage, bean, sea food, whole grains, etc.

Of course, as stated above, water without the essential minerals is completely tasteless. Thus, the main disadvantage of RO filter is that there is heavy wastage of water and gives tasteless pure water removing 99.9% contaminants. From that perspective the Supreme Court has righteously given the judgment not to interfere the prohibitory order of NGT. In that context, is it advisable to go for avoiding RO water filter? The answer is definitely ‘no’ because RO filter gives highly pure water. The only solution for this is that the RO filter manufacturers should go for adopting latest affordable technology to ensure at least 60% recovery of water and use re-mineralizer cartridge or TDS modulator that remineralize with essential minerals in the filtered water using GO nano RO membrane. <Dr Amrit Goswamj>

Two historic agreements in Northeast

2020-02-06T09:59:00.002+05:30

Even as the false narrative about the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and the agitation seeking its withdrawal continue to be flamed by a minority of individuals, the Narendra Modi Government has been silently going about its task in resolving long-pending issues pertaining to minorities and ethnic conflicts in the Northeast.

While the CAA has been grabbing the headlines, the Union Home Minister, Amit Shah has presided over the signing of two significant accords to end the 50-yearold Bodo problem and the 23-yearold issue of the rehabilitation of the Bru-Reangs in Tripura.

The ethnic conflict concerning the Bodos has claimed over 4000 lives thus far, but with the recent agreement, a permanent solution has been found for the problem. As per the historic agreement between Government of India, Government of Assam and the Bodo representatives, the Centre has committed itself to a Rs 1500-crore development package to develop specific projects in the Bodo areas.n return, about 1500 armed cadres will abjure violence and join the mainstream. The Government has said after the agreement that a comprehensive and final solution has been found for the demands put forth by the Bodos. Now, after long years of conflict, the Bodo factions will leave the path of violence, surrender weapons and disband their organizations. The Centre and the Assam Government will take steps to rehabilitate over 1500 of these cadres.

Just a few days prior to this historic Bodo accord, the Home Minister presided over the signing of an agreement in New Delhi between the Union Government and the governments of Tripura and Mizoram and representatives of the Bru-Reangs to bring to an end the 23-year-old crisis of these refugees. This agreement enables the permanent settlement of the BruReangs in Tripura and the rehabilitation package will cost Rs 600 crore.

The latest agreement will benefit about 34,000 Bru-Reangs who are living in six camps in Tripura.

According to the Tribal Research and Cultural Institute, Tripura, the Reangs are the second largest tribal community in Tripura and are recognized as one of the 75 primitive tribes in India. It is said that the Reangs came from the Shan state of Myanmar, first to the Chittagong Hill Tracts and then to Tripura. There was also another group which came to Tripura via Assam and Mizoram during the 18th century.

As per this agreement, each of the Bru families living in Tripura will be given a plot of land, a fixed deposit of Rs 4 lakh, Rs 5,000 in cash per month for two years, free ration for two years and another Rs 1.5 lakh to build their houses. The land will be provided by the Government of Tripura.

Both these agreements show the keenness of the Narendra Modi Government to resolve the longpending issues in the Northeast to take those States on the high road to development.