Today's Paper » NATIONAL

4/12/13 Former MLA accuses Delhi government of “betraying and humiliating” slum-dwellers - The Hindu

Published: September 6, 2009 00:00 IST | Updated: March 5, 2010 15:50 IST Former MLA accuses Delhi government of “betraying and humiliating” slum-dwellers Special Correspondent Scheme to hide slums with bamboo screens during C’wealth Games: Vijay Jolly NEW DELHI: Former Delhi MLA Vijay Jolly has accused the Delhi government “of betraying and humiliating poor slum-dwellers” by formulating a scheme to hide slum clusters with bamboo screens during the coming Commonwealth Games-2010. “This is a temporary and cosmetic beautification exercise which is ill-conceived as it would do no good to the slum- dwellers but would only unnecessarily take the focus away from the Games by increasing the inquisitiveness of foreign visitors about the slums in Delhi,” he said, demanding immediate withdrawal of the scheme. “Spend money better” Stating that it would have been better if the money had been spent on providing better basic facilities such as water and power and amenities in the slums, Mr. Jolly said removing sewerage problems and corruption in the public distribution system was the need of the hour for most of the slum-dwellers. As per the government plan, large bamboo partitions would be erected along the Capital’s main roads near major drains and slum clusters to make the city more presentable during the Commonwealth Games. Delhi Chief Secretary Rakesh Mehta confirmed that the first consignment of bamboos for this purpose had already arrived and even been installed. This lot had come from Rajasthan and more were expected from other parts of the country such as Nagaland and Mizoram. The Horticulture Department of the Delhi government was engaged in procuring the bamboos needed for beautifying the city by covering up the “perceivable eyesores.”

Printable v ersion | Apr 1 2, 201 3 1 1 :29:05 PM | http://www.thehindu.com/today s-paper/tp-national/former-mla-accuses-delhi-gov ernment-of-betray ing-and-humiliating- slumdwellers/article1 7 7 088.ece © The Hindu

www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/former-mla-accuses-delhi-government-of-betraying-and-humiliating-slumdwellers/article177088.ece?css=print 1/1 4/12/13 Manmohan makes pitch for inclusive, integrated society - The Hindu

Today's Paper

Published: August 16, 2009 00:00 IST | Updated: March 8, 2010 11:16 IST Manmohan makes pitch for inclusive, integrated society

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh delivering Independence Day address from the ramparts of the Red Fort in New Delhi on Saturday. Special Correspondent ‘Taking special care of deprived sections is not appeasement’ New Delhi: As the first Indian Prime Minister to win re-election after serving a full five-year term since Nehru, Manmohan Singh struck a confident political tone in his Independence Day address to the nation on Saturday, openly advertising the inclusive goals and secular credentials of his government and unabashedly proclaiming his intention to do right by the minority communities. With the spectre of drought looming, the Prime Minister also warned hoarders and black marketeers of food and sought to assure farmers that they would not be left in the lurch. “In view of the deficiency in the monsoons, we have postponed the date for repayment of bank loans of our farmers. We are also giving additional support to farmers for payment of interest on short-term crop loans,” he said. “All efforts will be made to control the rising prices of food grains, pulses and other goods of daily use.” Dr. Singh said that by choosing “a political arrangement which is secular and which includes many varied strands of thought” the electorate had “favoured a politics that integrates our country and our society” and voted for “a democratic way of life which provides for resolution of differences through debate and discussion.” The government, he said, had received a mandate for “starting a new era of cooperation and harmony in our national life.” In line with this theme, the Prime Minister frontally challenged the Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party’s argument against special schemes for promoting the welfare of Muslims and other minorities. “We do not subscribe to the view that to take special care of the deprived sections of the society amounts to appeasement. In fact, we believe that it is our solemn duty to do so.” Two years ago, Dr. Singh was attacked by the BJP for suggesting minority welfare should be given fiscal priority. But with Verdict 2009 under his belt, he said on Saturday that his government “will give its full attention to the well being of our … minority communities.” Existing schemes for their welfare would be taken forward, he promised. “The funds for the special schemes taken up for the development of minority concentration districts have been enhanced quite substantially this year.” At the macroeconomic level, the Prime Minister said restoring the growth rate to 9 per cent “is the greatest challenge we face.” The government would make every effort to meet this challenge by increasing capital inflows, encouraging exports and increasing public investment and expenditure. Holding out the promise of recovery by the end of the year, Dr. Singh nevertheless said everyone would have to “bear with the fallout of the global economic slowdown.” He appealed, in particular, to businessmen and industrialists to “fulfil their social obligations fully.” Though the rescheduling of agricultural loans is a policy decision that comes into effect once a particular district is declared drought affected, the Prime Minister’s announcement is likely to provide succour to lakhs of farmers facing the prospect of ruined crops this season. www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/manmohan-makes-pitch-for-inclusive-integrated-society/article206730.ece?css=print 1/2 4/12/13 Manmohan makes pitch for inclusive, integrated society - The Hindu Printable v ersion | Apr 1 2, 201 3 1 1 :28:46 PM | http://www.thehindu.com/today s-paper/manmohan-makes-pitch-for-inclusiv e-integrated-society /article2067 30.ece © The Hindu

www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/manmohan-makes-pitch-for-inclusive-integrated-society/article206730.ece?css=print 2/2 4/12/13 NGO overruling MLAs, says BJP - The Hindu

Today's Paper » NATIONAL » NEW DELHI

Published: March 18, 2010 00:00 IST | Updated: September 20, 2010 16:34 IST NGO overruling MLAs, says BJP Special Correspondent Recommendation of pension by legislators under Govt. scheme NGO engaged to scrutinise recommendations Rights of the MLAs being taken away: BJP NEW DELHI: With the opposition BJP in the Delhi Assembly protesting over the issue of widows and senior citizens not getting their pension for the past many months and recommendations for pension made by MLAs being overturned by a non-government organisation engaged to scrutinise them, Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit on Wednesday assured the Hose that she would convene a meeting of all stakeholders after the current Budget Session to resolve all the teething troubles associated with the Samajik Suvidha Sangam scheme. In a special mention under Rule 280, Jagdish Mukhi of the BJP had charged that the MLAs' rights were being taken away through the scheme. Earlier the recommendations made by them were enough for providing pension to a beneficiary, but now the scrutiny was being done by an NGO, which often rejected the recommendations. “The pension forms go from the Suvidha to the NGO and it is empowered to even reject the MLA's recommendation,'' Prof. Mukhi charged, even as his other party members rose to support him on the issue. At this, Ms. Dikshit said she wanted to dispel all misgivings about the scheme and assured that there was no intention to snatch away the rights of the MLAs. Stating that the scheme sought to provide several facilities under one roof, the Chief Minister said it was being emulated by other States and had also been appreciated by the President. She said the signatures of the MLAs would have to be there on the pension forms and the MLAs would have the power to ratify the NGO's stand. It would not go forward till then. The District Development Committee chaired by the MLA will have the main say in the matter, she said. Ms. Dikshit said she would convene a meeting with the MLAs and officials concerned in April to resolve misgivings about the scheme. She also declared that cheques for all the pensioners would reach them in about a fortnight. Despite the Chief Minister's assurance, some members insisted that the scheme had altered the role of MLAs. They said the recommendations could now also be made by the Deputy Commissioners and so the powers of the MLAs have also been shared with the bureaucracy.

Printable v ersion | Apr 1 2, 201 3 1 1 :29:42 PM | http://www.thehindu.com/today s-paper/tp-national/tp-newdelhi/ngo-ov erruling-mlas-say s-bjp/article7 307 66.ece © The Hindu

www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-newdelhi/ngo-overruling-mlas-says-bjp/article730766.ece?css=print 1/1 4/12/13 Suvidha Kendras taking the schemes and benefits within the reach of the urban poor - The Hindu

Today's Paper » NATIONAL » NEW DELHI

Published: August 14, 2009 00:00 IST | Updated: March 8, 2010 10:55 IST Suvidha Kendras taking the schemes and benefits within the reach of the urban poor Urvashi Sarkar 70 NGOs enlisted to survey areas of the Capital NEW DELHI: Sixty-two-year-old Jhinkan Prasad has come to Mahila Vikas Sansthan, a Naraina-based non- government organisation here in the Capital, to apply for old age pension. The NGO has been demarcated as a Suvidha Kendra and a Gender Resource Centre by the Delhi Government as part of its Mission Convergence programme launched in 2008. “As a Suvidha Kendra, it is a site of single-window clearance where the poor can apply for schemes and benefits they are entitled to. A Gender Resource Centre is where women below the poverty line come for courses in vocational training, legal aid, knowledge on nutrition and health care, formation of self-help groups and non-formal education free of cost,” says Shyamala Shiveshwarkar, consultant with the Centre for Advocacy and Research. Those who finish the courses receive diplomas awarded by the Union Government. The Mission Convergence programme was launched to place schemes and benefits within the reach of the urban poor in the Capital. “For this purpose, the Delhi Government enlisted 70 NGOs which sent their outreach workers to survey areas of the Capital door-to-door. The NGOs came up with a list of 40 lakh individuals who were classified as below poverty line.” says Ms. Shiveshwarkar. The classification took place on the basis of place of residence, people who are socially vulnerable and those who are occupationally vulnerable. “The outreach workers explained to the people the concept of GRCs and SKs and told them about the single form to be filled even if they were entitled to benefits from several schemes. The people were informed about GRCs in their neighbourhoods,” adds Ms. Shiveshwarkar. Individuals like Jhinkan Prasad learnt about GRCs from people who visited his house during the survey. He displays a piece of paper with his details on it and also the name of the survey worker who met him. Mission Convergence director Rashmi Singh says: “The BPL classification has been expanded to include vulnerable categories instead of limiting it to classification based on income. The programme is still in a transitional stage, services have to be directly carried to the people and there may be objections to change in the traditional systems of delivery mechanisms. Five lakh women have already benefited from GRCs.” Girja Kumari Sahu, who works with the District Resource Centre, South, adds: “At present GRCs are equipped to help individuals in applying for five-seven specific schemes as decided by those in charge of Mission Convergence. The aim is to enable GRCs to deliver the benefits of above 40 schemes.” The programme also aims to provide those who have been identified in the survey with biometric cards. These cards will serve multiple functions including identity proof. The 78 operational GRCs-SKs, which are being pitched as the face of the Government at the community level, are the main interface between the two. Dr. Gyanendra Kumar, executive director of Mahila Vikas Sansthan, says: “When people come to the SK to apply for schemes they are entitled to, they have to submit the self-attested application form, details of their bank account and statement, affidavit and residence proof. These forms are then sent to the District Resource Centre and finally the Department of Social Welfare.”

Printable v ersion | Apr 1 2, 201 3 1 1 :29:25 PM | http://www.thehindu.com/today s-paper/tp-national/tp-newdelhi/suv idha-kendras-taking-the-schemes-and-benefits- within-the-reach-of-the-urban-poor/article20551 6.ece © The Hindu

www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-newdelhi/suvidha-kendras-taking-the-schemes-and-benefits-within-the-reach-of-the-urban-poor/article205516.ece… 1/2 4/12/13 Suvidha Kendras taking the schemes and benefits within the reach of the urban poor - The Hindu

www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-newdelhi/suvidha-kendras-taking-the-schemes-and-benefits-within-the-reach-of-the-urban-poor/article205516.ece… 2/2 4/12/13 www.indianexpress.com/story-print/623685/

Print Close Window

Calling a spade New York Times Posted online: Wed May 26 2010, 00:09 hrs There’s an ugly secret of global poverty, one rarely acknowledged by aid groups or UN reports. It’s a blunt truth that is politically incorrect, heartbreaking, frustrating and ubiquitous. It’s that if the poorest families spent as much money educating their children as they do on wine, cigarettes and prostitutes, their children’s prospects would be transformed. Much suffering is caused not only by low incomes, but also by shortsighted private spending decisions by heads of households.

That probably sounds sanctimonious, haughty and callous, but it’s been on my mind while travelling through central Africa with a college student on my annual win-a-trip journey. Here in this Congolese village of Mont-Belo, we met a bright fourth grader, Jovali Obamza, who is about to be expelled from school because his family is three months behind in paying fees. (In theory, public school is free in the Congo Republic. In fact, every single school we visited charges fees.)

We asked to see Jovali’s parents. The dad, Georges Obamza, who weaves straw stools that he sells for $1 each, is unmistakably very poor. He said that the family is eight months behind on its $6-a-month rent and is in danger of being evicted, with nowhere to go. The Obamzas have no mosquito net, even though they have already lost two of their eight children to malaria. They say they just can’t afford the $6 cost of a net. Nor can they afford the $2.50-a- month tuition for each of their three school-age kids. “It’s hard to get the money to send the kids to school,” Obamza explained, a bit embarrassed.

But Obamza and his wife, Valerie, do have cellphones and say they spend a combined $10 a month on call time. In addition, Obamza goes drinking several times a week at a village bar, spending about $1 an evening on moonshine. By his calculation, that adds up to about $12 a month — almost as much as the family rent and school fees combined. I asked Obamza why he prioritises alcohol over educating his kids. He looked pained.

Other villagers said that Obamza drinks less than the average man in the village. Many other men drink every evening, they said, and also spend money on cigarettes. “If possible, I drink every day,” Fulbert Mfouna, a 43-year-old whose children have also had to drop out or repeat grades for lack of school fees, said forthrightly. His eldest son, Jude, is still in first grade after repeating for five years because of nonpayment of fees. Meanwhile, Mfouna acknowledged spending $2 a day on alcohol and cigarettes. Traditionally, a young man here might have paid his wife’s family a “bride price” of a pair of goats. Now the “bride price” starts with oversized jugs of wine and two bottles of whiskey.

Two MIT economists, Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo, found that the world’s poor typically spend about two per cent of their income educating their children, and often larger percentages on alcohol and tobacco: four per cent in rural Papua New Guinea, six per cent in Indonesia, eight per cent in Mexico. The indigent also spend significant sums on soft drinks, prostitution and extravagant festivals.

Look, I don’t want to be an unctuous party-pooper. But I’ve seen too many children dying of malaria for want of a bed net that the father tells me is unaffordable, even as he spends larger sums on liquor. If we want Obamza’s children to www.indianexpress.com/story-print/623685/ 1/2 4/12/13 www.indianexpress.com/story-print/623685/ get an education and sleep under a bed net — well, the simplest option is for their dad to spend fewer evenings in the bar.

Because there’s mounting evidence that mothers are more likely than fathers to spend money educating their kids, one solution is to give women more control over purse strings and more legal title to assets. Some aid groups and UN agencies are working on that. Another approach is microsavings, helping poor people save money when banks aren’t interested in them. It’s becoming increasingly clear that the most powerful part of microfinance isn’t microlending but microsavings.

Microsavings programmes, organised by CARE and other organisations, work to turn a consumption culture into a savings culture. The programmes often keep household savings in the women’s names, to give mothers more say in spending decisions, and I’ve seen them work in Africa, Latin America and Asia.

Well-meaning humanitarians sometimes burnish suffering to make it seem more virtuous and noble than it often is. If we’re going to make more progress, and get kids like the Obamza children in school and under bed nets, we need to look unflinchingly at uncomfortable truths — and then try to redirect the family money now spent on wine and prostitution.