BORN DIFFERENT TO THINK AND ACT DIFFERENTLY

                                                                - MILAN K SINHA

We are all born different. As we grow in life, we grow as different individuals with different thinking and taste. We act and react differently in different situations. We are in ourselves an example of unity in diversity. Friedrich Nietzsche puts it very nicely in these words, "At bottom every man knows well enough that he is a unique being, only once on this earth; and by no extraordinary chance will such a marvelously picturesque piece of diversity in unity as he is, ever be put together a second time."

We know and appreciate that each day is different from the other and that makes that day a new day with different prospects and possibilities for different persons. So, Paulo Coelho is right in saying, "You can become blind by seeing each day as a similar one. Each day is a different one; each day brings a miracle of its own. It's just a matter of paying attention to this miracle."

It being so, may I request you to stand before the mirror to see and ask yourself how and in what manner you are different from your closest friends? You would surely get answers to many of your questions. All the great persons, from Gautam Buddha to Socrates, Einstein to Raman, Mahatma Gandhi to Mother Teresa, Nelson Mandela to Barak Obama, Steve Jobs to Azim Premji, to name a few, who lived with us and who are still with us, have achieved those seemingly impossible feats by attempting their tasks differently.

Why to go far away, you just see around your own domain and you would find that the winner among you has been living his life differently. Please remember, you are a human being and not a machine. You are having your own laboratory inside you to experiment, create, innovate, improvise and in the process discover your true potential and enjoy life.

Before signing off tonight, let me share with you these thought provoking lines written by an unknown author: "We do not choose to be born. We do not choose our parents. We do not choose our historical epoch, the country of our birth, or the immediate circumstances of our upbringing. We do not, most of us, choose to die; nor do we choose the time and conditions of our death. But within this realm of choicelessness, we do choose how we live".

As always, I am keen to know what you think on this subject. Hence, request you to post Comments to share your views and experiences.

                  Will meet again with Open Mind. All the Best.

# Published in Patna Daily.com 
# Do visit my site : milanksinha.com  

WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR 'ATM' INCIDENTS ?

                                                                                   - MILAN K SINHA

In our country politics overtakes all other discussions less for good reasons, more for wrong ones. It is also happening with Bangalore ATM incident - a very sensitive public issue, a barbaric act beyond imagination.

In broad daylight a lady was attacked inside an ATM situated at the intersection of Bangalore's one of the busiest locations -the corporation circle. The dare devil act of the miscreant of pulling the shutter without bothering for attracting public attention and then assaulting the lady - a bank officer, to finally robbing the money by injuring her very seriously. The brave lady, who struggled with the robber, as shown in the footage of CCTV camera, is now struggling to get well in a private city hospital.

Naturally, it is pertinent to raise a few basic questions on behalf of the general ATM users. Why even in a metropolitan city like Bangalore, out of total ATMs numbering 2580, more than 600 ATMs didn't have security guards? Why, according to local police, in spite of repeated police call, banks failed to put in place even normal security measures to protect its customers visiting ATMs? What is the mechanism through which the local police take care of the security of branches and ATMs of banks at large? What is the responsibility of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) as controller of Banks in the country in this regard?

Surprisingly, neither the banks nor the RBI has anything specific to ensure security of ATM users. Painfully, the normal blame game and shifting of responsibility have set in. According to bank officials, ‘almost all facilities related to the ATM centre have been outsourced. The agency looks after the facilities provided at the ATM centre. The agency also looks after the installation and maintenance of the ATM machines. In nutshell, the functioning of ATM centres does not come under our purview.’ May be that's the reason one of the general managers of the Corporation Bank in whose ATM the lady bank officer was assaulted  said through a press release that taking care of ATM was the job of outsourced security agency. In fact, though very surprising, the Reserve Bank of India guidelines do not prescribe a mandatory security guard in ATMs. 

Then, whose responsibility is this? Or, nobody can be held responsible at least as per law, for this state of affairs. 

Interestingly, National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) which is the umbrella organization of all retail payment systems including ATM in India and is set up by the banks with the support and guidance from Indian Banks’ Association (IBA)has its ‘Vision’ of providing ‘Anywhere, Anytime Payment Services, Simple & Easy to Use, Safe & Secured, Fast & Cost Effective’. If that is so, millions of ATM users in the country deserve a point wise reply to such issues which don’t match with NPCI’s vision document in reality.

Now, see the other side of ATM story. Based on NPCI data, the number of ATMs in the country — of public, private,  foreign and cooperative banks, part of the National Financial Switch (NFS) connecting all ATMs — has crossed 1.25 lac mark, majority of which have been installed in metropolitan and urban areas. Not only this, notwithstanding the ground reality about the security and other operational issues confronting the management of existing ATMs, the union government has directed public sector banks to have on site ATMs at all their branches as part of government’s financial inclusion drive. It may be recalled that finance minister while delivering his budget speech in Feb’13 had said that PSU banks assured him that all their branches would have an ATM in place by the end of current financial year. To say in plain words, the gap of 34668 ATM is to be bridged by March end as at the end of March'13, these banks had a combined strength of 72,340 branches, of which only 37,672 branches had onsite ATMs. 

So, as the things stand, PSU banks are to run against time to install more than 20000 ATMs in residual four months of this fiscal as despite clear directive by ministry and RBI, the state run banks are running behind schedule on this count. 

Be as it may, the primary responsibility, by any scale of measurement and judgement, of protecting the interest including safety and security of customers within its premises rests on the shoulder of the banks. They have outsourced this whole process of installation, its operation and maintenance to other agencies based on their business plan and operational convenience. As such, the banks are squarely responsible and accountable for any lapse in rendering safe and secured banking services to its customers who reposed confidence in them by establishing a business relationship under the extant banking norms and regulations.

Undoubtedly, RBI, as the apex bank of the country has a definite role to play not only to monitor the security and safety related aspects of ATMs but also to ensure justification of the tall promise of anytime-anywhere banking. It is because there has been gradual increase in complaints related to non- functional ATMs, failed transactions, ATM frauds to name a few. RBI on its part, must also look into the fact that despite its clean note policy, how even ATMs are dispensing unclean notes as a matter of routine.

Local police must keep a serious watch on ATMs and branches of banks during their routine patrolling and also arrange to have regular security review meeting with all concerned in order help prevent recurrence of  such horrific incidents in future.

As always, I am keen to know what you think on this subject. Hence, request you to post Comments to share your views and experiences.

                Will meet again with Open Mind. All the Best.
# Do visit my site : milanksinha.com  

NELSON MANDELA - THE REAL HERO AND STATESMAN

                                                                        -MILAN K SINHA

Nelson Mandela, the icon of South Africa’s anti-apartheid struggle and a colossus of 20th century public service is no more. Mandela died at home in Johannesburg at the age of 95 after spending months fighting his illness.

In a nationwide televised address, the South Africa’s President said, "Fellow South Africans, our beloved Nelson Mandela, the founding president of our democratic nation, has departed…. Although we knew this day was going to come, nothing can diminish our sense of a profound and enduring loss. His tireless struggle for freedom earned him the respect of the world…."

"Nelson Mandela was a giant for justice and a down-to-earth human inspiration. He showed what is possible for our world and within each one of us if we believe, dream and work together for justice and humanity,’ Ban Ki Moon, UN Secretary-General said. In his condolence message the Indian Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh told, ‘A giant among men has passed away. This is as much India's loss as South Africa's. He was a true Gandhian. His life and work will remain a source of eternal inspiration for generations to come. I join all those who are praying for his soul.’

In fact, Mandela rose from rural obscurity to challenge the might of white minority apartheid government of South Africa. Mandela was born on 18 July 1918 in the village of Mvezo in Umtatu of Cape province. His father, Gadla Henry Mphakanyiswa, was the chief councillor to the monarch. The name of his mother was Nosekeni Fanny.

On one occasion in 1994, Mandela, whose forename was Rolihlahla, candidly admitted,” No one in my family had ever attended school. On the first day of school my teacher, Miss Mdingane, gave each of us an English name. This was the custom among Africans in those days and was undoubtedly due to the British bias of our education. That day, Miss Mdingane told me that my new name was Nelson. Why this particular name, I have no idea."

Instead of serving the monarch following his father, Mandela chose to fight against white domination. He studied at Fort Hare University, an elite black college, but left in 1940 without completing his studies and involved himself with the youth league of African National Congress (ANC) with Tambo and Sisulu.

His struggle against apartheid was untiring and completely focused. He organized mass boycotts, particularly against the laws supporting racial discrimination and oppression. The historic statement of Mandela during the course of his 1964 sabotage trial revealed his firm resolve towards his mission. "During my lifetime I have dedicated myself to this struggle of the African people," Mandela said. "I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die."

Twenty three years ago when he was released on February 11, 1990 after 27 years of detention for opposing the then white-minority apartheid regime of South Africa, he wrote on that day, “As I finally walked through those gates ... I felt even at the age of 71 that my life was beginning anew. My 10,000 days of imprisonment were at last over."

Really so. Series of talks and negotiations began in 1991 between the African National Congress and the government, which finally led to South Africa's first all-race elections on April 27, 1994. As a natural outcome of the said election, Nelson Mandela was chosen as the first black President of South Africa. It was really a defining moment of the 20th century. Nevertheless, his task as president was immense and extremely challenging, nothing less than preventing a civil war.

Mandela made reconciliation the theme of his presidency. “We enter into a covenant that we shall build a society in which all South Africans, both black and white, will be able to walk tall, without any fear in their hearts, assured of their inalienable right to human dignity—a ‘Rainbow Nation’ at peace with itself and the world,” he declared on being sworn in.

Undoubtedly, the hallmark of Mandela's mission was the Truth and Reconciliation Commission which investigated apartheid crimes on both sides and tried to heal the wounds of all.

In 1999, Mandela handed over power to younger leaders and engaged himself in another activity of human welfare - fighting South Africa's AIDS crisis. In early 2005 when Mandela lost his only surviving son to the disease, his fight against AIDS became more intense and personal.

Mandela and President FW de Klerk were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993. He was the Second non-citizen and non-Indian recipient of India’s highest civilian award, Bharat Ratna in 1990.

Truly speaking, Nelson Mandela’s long walk from an apartheid prisoner to South African President to a loving father of all south Africans, black and white alike, who tried his best to remake the country based on equity and justice for all through democratic process has been matchless and hugely inspiring.

As always, I am keen to know what you think on this subject. Hence, request you to post Comments to share your views and experiences.

                Will meet again with Open Mind. All the Best.

# Published in Patna Daily.com on 6th Dec'2013
# Do visit my site : milanksinha.com  

DR. RAJENDRA PRASAD – A SIMPLE MAN, A BRILLIANT SCHOLAR AND A GREAT STATESMAN

                                                                                             - MILAN K SINHA

The country of 1250 million Indians has only one Desh Ratna and he is no other than the first President of India Dr. Rajendra Prasad who was also conferred Bharat Ratna in 1962.

On this day, 3rd December, Rajendra Prasad was born 130 years ago in a village named Jiradei in erstwhile Saran district of Bihar. His father Mahadev Sahai, a scholar of Sanskrit and Persian sent the five year old Rajendra to an accomplished Muslim scholar to study mathematics along with Hindi and Persian languages. Prasad’s mother, Kamleshwari Devi, was a religious woman who used to tell him inspirational stories.

He joined the prestigious Presidency College, Calcutta, in the year 1902 and graduated with first division. He completed his masters in Economics with first division from Calcutta University in 1907. He was a very simple and brilliant student for whom the examiner wrote in his college answer paper, 'Examinee is Better than Examiner'.

After a short stint in teaching profession, Rajendra Prasad went again to Calcutta to study law and completed his Master of Law in 1915. He started practicing law in Patna High Court in the year 1916 and soon became a leading lawyer having roaring practice.

Although Prasad had many family liabilities to take care of, he joined Mahatma Gandhi’s Champaran Satyagrah Movement wholeheartedly without bothering for financial loss and then never looked back. His courage, conviction and dedication to the cause of freedom struggle was so profound that he asked his son to drop out of his school soon after Gandhiji’s call to boycott government educational institutions as part of non-cooperation movement of 1920.

However, in order to take care of the studies of such drop out students, Rajendra Prasad enrolled his son too, in Bihar Vidyapeeth, an educational institution established by Maulana Majharul Haque in 1921 based on our own tradition and culture. In 1921, Rajendra Babu also joined Haque very actively by residing in Bihar Vidyapeeth campus in a thatched-roof house and conducting all freedom struggle activities for 25 long years till 1946.

He was a one of the closest associate of Bapu. He became the President of Indian National Congress in 1934 Mumbai convention. On second occasion, he became Congress President in 1939 after the resignation of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose. He again took over as Congress chief in November 1947.

Rajendra Babu was elected the President of Constituent Assembly on December,1947 and when on 26th January,1950 the constitution of independent India was finally accepted and ratified, he became the acting President of India to be finally elected in May 1952 to hold the office of President which he graced till 1962 - the end of his second term.

After relinquishing office of the President of India on 13th May, 1962, Dr. Rajendra Prasad, returned to Patna and started living in the same small and simple house like a common man, later to move in another small house constructed at the initiative of another great son of mother India, Loknayak Jai Prakash Narayan in the same campus of Bihar Vidyapeeth. He breathed his last there only after a few months on 28th February, 1963.

Dr. Rajendra Prasad was very simple and down to earth person. All through his life he believed in and accordingly practised the principle of 'simple living and high thinking. He was a true Gandhian, a brilliant scholar, and a great statesman who lived like a common man and fought for the welfare of common man.

As always, I am keen to know what you think on this subject. Hence, request you to post Comments to share your views and experiences.

            Will  meet again with Open Mind. All the Best.

# Published in Patna Daily.com on 3rd Dec,2013

# Do visit my site : milanksinha.com  

BANKING ON RELATIONSHIP

                                                                                          - MILAN K SINHA

The heartening news of elevation of a woman career banker, 57 year old Arundhati Bhattacharya, to the highest post in the largest bank (SBI) of the country finally came a few weeks back. The country has other three woman chairpersons in PSU Banks - Vijayalakshmi R. Iyer of Bank of India (BOI), Shubhalaksmi Panse of Allahabad Bank and Archana Bhargava of united Bank of India(UBI). Interestingly, SBI and BOI chairpersons are functioning from the commercial capital of the country, Mumbai - the western part whereas; Allahabad Bank and UBI chairpersons are controlling their banks from historical city Kolkata, situated in eastern part of the country. It hardly needs any reiteration that in private banking space, women have been occupying top positions – Chanda Kochhar in ICICI Bank, Shikha Sharma in Axis Bank, Naina Lal Kidwai in HSBC, to name only three, for quite some time.

In fact, during the long intervening period since nationalisation in 1969 to date, banks of all sorts have witnessed more changes than expected and have tried to keep pace with these changes- may it be huge technological upgradation from totally manual to technologically advanced CBS (Core Banking Solution) system or income recognition or provision for bad debts or capital adequacy or induction and elevation of woman employees in growing numbers, to name a few. All the reforms and transformation have been primarily aimed at serving the growing number of customers having changing needs and requirements in this dynamic financial market.

Be it so, it would be appropriate to look at the things from the perspective of an ordinary bank customer. Isn't it? And more importantly, what needs to be done not only to serve the customers but also to satisfy them. 

                                                

Its common knowledge, whenever a person enters the premises of a bank, a minimum expectation accompanies him. He looks around to find out where his expectation is going to be fulfilled. Here, the front line bank staff having fast response time and eagerness to attend to his job with a smile leave the first indelible impression on the mind of the customer. We know, courtesy always pays and often pays handsomely. Acting and performing the job in consonance with the feeling of extending the same courtesy that one expects and at times demands from the staff of any other organization where he is himself a customer makes all the difference. To say, the staff wins half the battle if he begins putting himself in customer's place. Offering an opportunity to the customer to form the impression that he is being served grudgingly is just short of asking him to move out of the bank. Instead, a cheerful greeting puts the customer at ease, and consequently fosters a sense of goodwill besides bringing good business for the bank.

 Moreover, in order to serve a customer well, one must listen well to find out what actually are his problems. The level of banking service has been as good as one's understanding of customers' need, requirements and his immediate expectation. Notwithstanding, a situation may confront the staff where it is not possible to satisfy the customer at that moment for valid cogent reasons, but he should not say 'YES' only to please the customer momentarily. Here, the banker should act by following the valuable advice of Gandhiji, "A 'NO' uttered from the deepest conviction is better and greater than a 'YES' merely to please or worse to avoid trouble". Yes, it is a great art to say 'NO' and still keep the customer not dissatisfied.

As a matter of fact, any successful bank will have to have ever growing loyal customers to whom it keeps adding value and consolidate the on-going relationship. But, it’s not an easy task to add loyal customers to its fold on a regular basis. Yes, to achieve this most sought after goal, it is of utmost importance to let all its personnel understand well that the transaction effected by a customer is not an one-off-interface, but is the beginning of a long term relationship. That’s why all banks talk loudly of relationship banking. But, we know well that only talking will not lead us to achieve the set target. For practicing relationship banking in real sense of the term, banks must act proactively on ‘3R’ principle of  Recognizing, Respecting and Rewarding its   customers as it has been a sure and certain way not only for sustaining business growth, both top line as well as  bottom line, but also for  image and brand  building exercise of a bank. Interestingly, this strategy of ‘3R’ relationship banking always makes customers feel special and also prompt them to act as bank’s goodwill ambassador which help the bank immensely in any competitive market whatsoever.

With increased social responsibility as well in the wake of government policy of pushing financial inclusion in a big way, it is hoped that banks, more particularly PSU banks would be able to keep itself well equipped with all necessary inputs including nicely trained courteous and computer savvy workforce with more number of women employees at all levels on an ongoing basis so as to ensure delivery of its products and services in a far better manner in days to come. 

As always, I am keen to know what you think on this subject. Hence, request you to post Comments to share your views and experiences.

                      Will meet again with Open Mind. All the Best.

WOMEN EMPOWERMENT IN BANKING

                                                                      - MILAN K SINHA

The country’s first all-women 'Bharatiya Mahila Bank', headed by a woman - Usha Ananthasubramanian, came into existence on 19th November, coinciding with the 96th birthday of former Prime Minister late Indira Gandhi.

Inaugurating the first of its seven branches at a glittering function in Mumbai - the commercial capital of India, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh stressed the point that much more was needed to be done for women empowerment and also for ensuring their safety. He said, ‘It is an acknowledged fact that access to finance and banking not only helps to empower women, but also broadens the social base of development'.

It is interesting to note that ‘Bharatiya Mahila Bank' is the first public sector bank which has been created. As we know, all other public sector banks of the country have been founded first by individuals and nationalized afterwards by the central government. This is a unique bank which will predominantly cater to the needs and requirements of women. With headquarters in Delhi, the bank plans to have 25 branches in different parts of the country by the end of this financial year and 75 branches each year thereafter.

Undoubtedly, it is a novel and pioneering initiative in Indian banking space which has been witness to variety of changes during the long intervening period since nationalisation of banks in 1969 to date.

So far as women representation in Indian banks is concerned, although it registered improvement to some extent during last few years, yet the gender mismatch is still noticeably high, particularly in Govt. run banks. As per a report, the percentage of female workforce in PSU banks is as low as 17% even after 44 long years of nationalisation of 14 major banks with an aim to make this most important financial sector an agent of social change in the country. If we see this figure of 17% in the light of government policies and pronouncements regarding women empowerment vis-à-vis availability of large number of well-educated woman population across the country, the real issue can be analysed and accordingly addressed on priority.

Nonetheless, it is encouraging to see women occupying top positions both in public as well as private sector banks in growing numbers. Presently, we have as many as four women career bankers as the head of four state-run banks namely, State Bank of India, Bank of India, United Bank of India, and Allahabad Bank. Many women are also working in very senior positions such as executive directors and general managers in PSU banks. Yes, the number of woman work force in private banks are much higher- it's more than 30% of total employees in ICICI Bank with Chanda Kochhar as its Managing Director and CEO.

It is hoped that more number of woman will make their way to occupy positions at all levels not only in banking sector but also in other financial sectors in coming days.

As always, I am keen to know what you think on this subject. Hence, request you to post Comments to share your views and experiences.

                           Will meet again with Open Mind. All the Best.

# Published in Patna Daily.com on 19.11.13

TOILETS FIRST, TEMPLES LATER

                                                                       -By Milan K Sinha

"My image is that of Hindutva but I'll tell you my real thinking. I have said in my state: pehle shauchalaya, phir devalaya (toilets first, temples later)," – Narendra Modi

“More than 1.1 billion people in the world practice open defecation. The largest number of these people are in India, followed by Indonesia, Pakistan, Ethiopia, and Nigeria” - A UNICEF & WHO Report

"No matter how many temples we go to, we are not going to get salvation. We need to give priority to toilets and cleanliness," -Jairam Ramesh

  

Surprisingly, however, in our country the poor state of sanitation and lack of toilet facilities have been primarily a matter of political discussion and academic deliberations at different levels. If it is not true, why 60% people of India defecate in the open even after more than 60 years   of planning process; a state like Bihar which has been registering an average state GDP growth of more than 10% for the last seven years, is still known as a state where about 67 percent of rural population does not have access to basic sanitation facilities.

The next few minutes would take you through   some revealing facts about the basic sanitation scenario still prevailing in this second most populous country - a country having a GDP size of two trillion dollar and whose GDP growth rate has been better than that of many well off countries at least during last one decade.

It is interesting to note that “Nirmal Bharat Abhiyaan"  - Total Sanitation Campaign (TSC) was launched way back in 1999-2000 which aimed at motivating rural households to build toilets and encouraging their use to finally achieve an ODF (Open Defecation Free) environment and also make the rural people realize the need for good sanitation practices. The main strategy for implementation of this nation-wide program has been ‘community led’ and ‘people centred’.

But, even after more than a decade, the sordid fact remains. India is termed as the world's capital of open defecation. 53% Indian population lack sanitation facilities, where as it is only 7% in case of Bangladesh and Brazil. More than 60% of households in Uttrakhand, Orissa, Bihar, Chhatisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand and Rajasthan are without toilets. Only 28,000 Gram Panchayats (GPs) are declared as "Nirmal Gram" under TSC   program out of 2.4 lac GPs in the country.   

Yes, it is on record that even Jairam Ramesh, Union Minister for Rural Development, termed it as a matter of shame and sorrow, anguish and anger while asserting, ‘Gandhiji gave ‘Quit India’ call in Sevagram for freedom struggle and today I appeal to all of you to make villages open defecation free because it’s an issue of country’s pride.’ And, in all probability, as a follow up action, the union minister initiated few commendable measures including spearheading an emotive and eye catching awareness campaign where in one can see the Bollywood blockbuster film 'Dirty Picture’ and ‘Kahaani’ fame actress, Vidya Balan in a nicely shot social advertisement stressing the need of having a toilet for each family in rural India.

It is, undoubtedly praiseworthy that few states have taken encouraging initiatives in this direction. Sikkim is one of them and it has earned the honor of becoming the first state in the country which is Open-Defecation Free. Kerala and Himachal Pradesh will soon be in that bracket.

Notwithstanding few such sporadic measures being taken at the level of central government and by  few states, albeit belatedly,  no one can deny the fact that the impact of deplorable  state of sanitation over the decades has been  many and multi-dimensional on health  and hygiene of common Indians and also on the country's much talked about stories of 'economic prosperity'.

     

It has been a painful reality that inadequate  supply of clean and drinkable water together with lack of toilet and urinal facilities in schools are major cause of poor attendance and health problems of the children. As far as adolescent girls are concerned, they tend to drop out of the school due to these reasons. Generally speaking, women and girls, particularly in villages find it very embarrassing and insulting for not having the facility of a toilet at home as they have no other option but to defecate in the open only after sunset, that too at the cost of their health and personal safety.

It is a common knowledge that defecation in open is fraught with high risk of microbial contamination of water which is a major cause of diarrhea and other intestinal infections among the children. Health problems pertaining to  a large section of population due to the aforesaid reasons has a multidimensional impact on our economy in terms of productivity losses, increased expenses  in the name of  providing medical treatment by the government besides having damaging effect on the Shining/Rising India image internationally. If one calculates the net financial loss to the exchequer for not having the basic sanitation facilities, it would be an astounding figure.

Everyone knows for sure, where there is will, there is a way, and so is the cardinal truth that where there is a malady, there must have a remedy. And the remedy of this malady is not far- fetched either. It can very well be in place by initiating and/or accelerating few time bound action plans. State Governments have to   incorporate it on their top agenda items for implementation and Central government to provide adequate financial support in this regard. All Gram Panchayats (GPs) have to identify the needy households and ensure provision of toilet  within the stipulated  time period of maximum two years by availing the required support from the local government authorities. In order to lend active moral support to this top priority government sponsored program, mass awareness campaign is required to be undertaken  effectively on an ongoing basis by all GPs  and other elected bodies  among the affected masses particularly the poor and illiterates. Yes, media has a great role to play in this regard. It must focus its full attention on this vital issue   and report the progress and also the anomaly, if any, being adopted by local implementing machinery regularly.

Our millions of disadvantaged countrymen don’t demand Malls & Museums, Airports & Aircrafts; they demand only basic necessities of a human life. So, the time has come for the civil society, especially women organizations, to come forward in a decisive manner to compel all political parties to unanimously agree to list this item (provision of a toilet for every household) on top of their political agenda along with Food, Clothing & Shelter. Would our political masters be able to act genuinely in this regard to be called really people’s representative, only their action tell in next couple of months.

As always, I am keen to know what you think on this subject. Hence, request you to post Comments to share your views and experiences.

                                 Will meet again with Open Mind. All the Best.

TOWARDS A MEANINGFUL CHILDREN'S DAY

                                                                    -MILAN K SINHA

Nelson Mandela, former president of South Africa said, “There can be no keener revelation of a society's soul than the way in which it treats its children".

This year too, on the eve of Jawaharlal Nehru's birthday on 14th November, Children's Day will be  celebrated; routine functions to be held on this day where all kinds of promises for the welfare of our children will be  made (and  possibly forgotten too as usual) by the ruling political class and their followers- the officials of related departments. Some schools and some NGOs too will organize functions on this occasion and reiterate their concern for the children which is to be covered by newspapers as per the available space for such normal routine activities.

Ironically however, in our country it doesn't make a news if poor and destitute children are found working in roadside tea shops, hotels, dhabas or selling gutkha, cigarettes etc. in running trains/buses or doing household jobs for high ups of our society in their Gareebkhanas (read luxury homes) or picking up waste foods outside the wedding premises or begging in front of a temple, mosque etc. May be because this can mar the country’s make belief global image of one of the fastest growing economies of the world for which everyone in the government is busy improving the prospects of GDP growth by hook or by crook. No doubt, all distressing facts related to our children will be seen later on by them, if time permits.

Notwithstanding the thoughts and actions of power that be with regard to future of country's large children population, it would not be out of place to know about  the present status of two major issues seriously impacting children's wellbeing - education and health.

There is no denying the fact that education of our children is very necessary for cultural, social and economic development of diverse sections of society like ours. Keeping this in view, two major initiatives namely Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) and Right to Education (RTE) Act 2009 were taken during last one decade. The aim of SSA has been  to bridge social, regional and gender gaps, with the active participation of the community in the management of schools, while RTE Act  which actually came into force  from 1st April,2010 provides for free and compulsory education to all children of the age of six to fourteen years.

Both SSA and RTE Act put lots of emphasis on universalization of education at the elementary level. As a result, enrollment rate in schools improved to a reasonable extent. So, the protagonists of government policies may very well claim that education has been on the Centre stage of our national politics for some years now. But when we take a look on the ground realities in totality, we encounter with the following facts:

Our literacy percentage is only 74%. Kerala being highest with 94% and Bihar being lowest with 63%.School dropout percentage is still more than 40%.The drop out percentage is even worse than that of Bangladesh and Vietnam - countries that got independence more than two decades later.

We spend less than 2% of our national budget on education for the children who constitute 25% of our total population.The dropout percentage is higher among tribal, economically weaker sections of society etc., the main reasons being: prevalence of child labour as means to supplement parents' income, poor management of Mid-Day Meal Scheme, lack of adequate infrastructural facilities in schools etc.

In spite of constitutional provisions regarding Right to Education and government's repeated declaration and promises for providing basic education to all children, our performance on this count is still dismally poor.

It hardly needs reiteration that how important it is for the country's real development to have a healthy population, more particularly of women and children. We talk and promise so much on the issue of child and woman welfare and do roll out so many plans and strategies. But malnutrition and under-nutrition have not stopped taking its toll in our country.

So far as child nutrition and overall health is concerned, it hardly needs reiteration that how important it is for the country's real development to have a healthy population. Can we think of a strong India without healthy and strong citizens, present and future? Undoubtedly, many programs including ICDS (Integrated Child Development Scheme) are being implemented across the country, the pace and effectiveness needs to be substantially improved in order to address the following shameful and equally painful facts:

One in every three malnourished children in the world live in India.8.8 lac children die every year, more than 100 deaths per hour in India.The IMR (Infant Mortality Rate) in many states is still more than 50 per thousand for children up to the age of 5 years where as it should be at least below 30 per thousand. About 50% of all childhood deaths are attributed to malnutrition.26% of the world's childhood vaccine preventable deaths take place in the country.Anemia affects 74% of children under the age of three.As high as 44% children under five years are underweight.

Malnutrition in early childhood has serious long term consequences because it impedes development of vital life organs.

These are few revealing facts which raise many nagging questions to be replied by the ruling establishment at the Centre as well as in states and union territories in this sixty three year old sovereign republic along with thousands of NGOs reportedly working for the welfare of these less fortunate children.

If anybody can even estimate, if not calculate the amount which has been expended on such show off celebrations on children's day last year and years before, we can have the figure running in hundreds of millions. Can a country which lobby for international borrowings for funding welfare programs for disadvantaged section of society, afford to waste public money like this?

Can't we stop all such unnecessary and avoidable expenses drawn from public exchequer to make the same fund available instead for addressing effectively the serious child related problems mentioned here-in-above? This may be one small tribute to Chacha Nehru in real sense and also to his political mentor Mahatma Gandhi who on one occasion said, "If we are to teach real peace in this world, and if we are to carry on a real war against all ills in the society, we shall have to begin with the children."

As always, I am keen to know what you think on this subject. Hence, request you to post Comments to share your views and experiences.

                           Will meet again with Open Mind. All the Best.

MAKE LEARNING A FULFILLING EXPERIENCE

                                                                     - MILAN K SINHA
Don't limit a child to your own learning, for he was born in another time - Rabindranath Tagore

As per newspaper reports, CBSE (Central Board of Secondary Education) found that schools were assigning too many projects in each subject to individual students which compelled students to do these projects at home. In a letter sent to schools, CBSE said, "Artificial subject boundaries impede contextualized learning and deprive students of exploring the interconnectedness of different forms of knowledge. Moreover the transfer of knowledge from one subject to other can most effectively be demonstrated and strengthened through multidisciplinary projects".

In the name of modern and progressive education system in the country, the stress of children at their impressionable age is becoming heavy which, experts feel, if not checked and corrected, would be disastrous in coming years.

Four to six hours quality teaching at school is more than enough for the mental development of any child in this age of information and technological boom. In fact, in most of our schools, the teachers are not adequately qualified, what to talk of properly trained. Many private schools have become the commercial establishments making money by exploiting the guardians to the extent possible. And on top of this, the inhumane act of loading projects to be completed at home thereby keeping the children stressed further, sometimes beyond redemption for inexplicable reasons.

If an independent survey is conducted to look into the facilities available for sports and other extra-curricular activities to students in the schools and if at all available, how much time the students are engaged in such activities on a regular basis, it can very well be observed that our children at large are compelled to be away from extra-curricular activities which is so essential for the healthy growth of a child.

This is an open fact that extracurricular activities are great learning as well as self-fulfilling experience in itself. It greatly helps develop many leadership qualities - from time management to relationship building to discovering one's own latent potential and inherent strengths and what not, which are the vital prerequisites for all round upbringing - emotionally, socially, morally, intellectually and physically, of our children.

CBSE authorities should take into account these facts while preparing the course curriculum as well as guidelines for school administration to ensure grooming our own children as strong, sensible and responsible citizens of the country.

As always, I'm keen to know what do you think on this subject. Hence, request you to post comments to share your views and experiences.

         Will meet again with Open Mind. All the Best.

# Published in Patna Daily.com

# Do visit my site: www.milamksinha.com

PLANNING RUNS PARALLEL WITH SUCCESS

                                                                - MILAN K SINHA

"Being busy does not always mean real work. The object of all work is production or accomplishment and to either of these ends there must be forethought, system, planning, intelligence, and honest purpose, as well as perspiration. Seeming to do is not doing". - Thomas Alva Edison.

We all know where there is inadequacy of resources - may it be time, money, energy, goods, minerals, machines or whatever, vis-a-vis its requirement, management of resources comes into play and with management planning runs parallel as an integral component. Planning has been at the core of any big or small projects, particularly in our professional world, where everyone is beset with plethora of assignments to be completed within a time limit and as per the quality specifications. Even in our domestic matters, planning plays an important and comforting role.

Paul "Bear" Bryant, famous football coach asserts this in these words, "Have a plan. Follow the plan, and you'll be surprised how successful you can be. Most people don't have a plan. That's why it's easy to beat most folks".

Interestingly, planning in itself is a unique and thoughtful task which requires lots of inputs as it is regarded as one of the important time and event/task management technique. In fact, it prepares the road map with requisite details for reaching the desired goal. The planning process incorporates various strategies such as organizing, deputizing, supervising, recognizing, rewarding etc. with necessary check and balances to be reviewed periodically in totality.

Moreover, every planning process does have cushion for effecting last minute changes, if at all warranted. It also keeps alternatives ready in case some course correction becomes imperative, because we know absolutely well that every time everything does not go strictly as per the planning due to its dependence on both controllable as well as non-controllable variables.

It is undoubtedly correct to say that perfect planning takes care of unforeseen and unplanned as well, in such a fashion that for onlookers it looks like a very smooth and planned activity. Undoubtedly, planning is basically a proactive and dynamic process full of suspense and certainties, which we all experience and enjoy in our life in varying degrees.

When I thought of writing on this subject, I did plan to share with you two excellent quotes before signing off. Here are those:

"Good plans shape good decisions. That's why good planning helps to make elusive dreams come true". - Lester Robert Bittel, Author and Management expert.

“Someone's sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.” - Warren Buffett, American business magnate and investment wizard.

As always, I am keen to know what you think on this subject. Hence, request you to post Comments to share your views and experiences.

          Will meet again with Open Mind. All the Best.

# Published in Patna daily.com

# Do visit my site, milanksinha.com