THE FIFTH ESTATE We are glad to announce the start of a new movement called Fifth Estate.

At present, secular democracy in India is facing numerous challenges and crises. There is justifiable apprehension whether it is on an irredeemable decline. The legislature, executive, judiciary and the media, which constitute the four pillars of democracy, were expected to interact with and correct one another, and thus provide protection to the entire system. Despite serious limitations, an impression had been created that things were moving in the right direction. But recent developments have revealed the dreadful reality that all the four grand pillars are contaminated by grimy tendencies such as corruption, vested interests, nepotism and maladministration. The decline of the judicial system, which was seen by many as the most important corrective force, has caused widespread apprehension. Even at the global level, no political system exists today which is acceptable as an alternative to parliamentary democracy. Although Indian democracy is in its infancy, it has attracted the worlds keen attention owing to its enormous nature and complexity. Urgent interventions are needed to stem its rot and put it on the right path after ridding it of its functional paralysis. To check the degeneration of the four grand pillars of democracy and lead it forward, a fifth pillar, the Fifth Estate, is being envisaged here. It is conceived as a political forum trying to exist as a corrective force and a guiding force, without seeking entry into the arena of power politics, without even becoming a political party. It will be a civil society movement. It will function without paid activists, all activities being carried on by persons working on voluntary basis. The organization will function in a perfectly transparent and lawful manner. All action reports and discussions of the movement will be posted at its website as early as possible. All persons, including those from the media, will have the opportunity to participate even in Fifth Estates committee meetings at all the levels. The movement will involve itself in activities that will ensure transparency at all levels of power structure from the village office upwards, expose corruption and mismanagement and pressure the authorities to adopt procedures and take action that will ensure social justice. We

believe a wide network of such movements is essential for the effective implementation of the existing Right to Information Act and the anticipated Lok Pal Act. The movement will try to assume such responsibilities at all levels. It will take up such tasks as are essential for reinforcing secular democracy and social justice. The basic standpoints of the movement, action plan and the organizational structure are outlined at its website. The web-site address is: www.fifth-estate.org A collective of the persons listed below has taken the initiative to set up this organization. We could so far contact only a small section of those who are interested in such a movement. Those who wish to co-operate with the movement are requested to contact the address of the web-site.

Fifth Estate Perspect ive

1. The existing system of parliamentary democracy is to be recognized as the best among the political forms invented by mankind so far. At the same time, it is to be noted that it still is at the primary level of development. Several tendencies of degeneration are also visible. Convinced that the historic march of humanity is indeed in the direction of democracy, the deliberations here are aimed at creating a movement which is committed to formulate practical programs to check the degenerative course of democratic processes, to explore possibilities for its further development and to ensure social justice. History has chequered to a large extent the jungle laws of the politics of conquest that prevailed till the end of the Second World War. Although big power interventions still exist as a potential danger, the fact that a new historic process of democracy is taking root among nations generates optimism. Within countries feudal/autocratic forces are being forced to retreat and the process of democratization is spreading. This is not a temporary feature but a historical course in itself. Mankind, undeniably, is on the path of progress. 2. The communist movement, which emerged as the result of the search for an alternative system against the fierce spectre of 19th century capitalism, had taken root among onethird of the world community in the 20th century. But all socialist societies invariably

degenerated and collapsed since they had moved towards economic and political centralization, under the single-party totalitarianism created in the name of the dictatorship of proletariat. It could be seen that the remaining models such as China, Cuba, North Korea and Vietnam are also on way to submission to capitalism. It is a positive indication that in the Latin American countries, which have a long history of being under military dictatorships, democracy has begun to take roots. Other than that no new political model has evolved there. The democratic upsurges happening in Arab countries manifestly indicate that democracy within the countries are spreading to all the countries. The role of information technology in the social movements is also proven during these upheavals. What is reflected in these developments is the irrefutable historic course of the democratizing process of the world community . 3. The competitive market based on profit mongering of capitalism and the parliamentary democratic secular system developed in congruence with it have continuously fostered productive processes and thereby ensured the possibility of political plurality and social impetus. Thus democracy today has demonstrated its capability to transcend the trials of history. In the meantime, the method of exploitation inherent in the competitive market economy creates inequalities that make social justice unattainable. The theory that all socio-economic problems will be resolved through market dynamics remains the fundamental defect of this scheme. Also, parliamentary democracy gives birth to an elite ruling class as a result of which people get repelled from the democratic process. We are here attempting to examine the possibility of a transformation which may resolve the basic weaknesses inherent in the competitive market and parliamentary democracy. 4. The politics of conquest lost its relevance in the international situation after the Second World War. What the finance capital forces then wanted was to make commonly agreed rules in respect of trade relations. Discussions on those lines commenced in 1940s [GATT]. After the GATT period, the World Trade Organization was formed based on common laws evolved through complex negotiations and accepted by a sizable number of nations. In fact, this attempt to build a democratic framework in place of continued highhandedness on the part of the developed countries was an important step forward in history. But the secret moves of the developed imperialistic nations to manipulate these laws in their own favour in line with the interests of international finance capitalist forces

resulted in covering up of WTOs historical importance. It was the strengthening of

productive forces as a result of the growth of science and technology that led to the globalization of productive forces and the rise of global finance capital. What is required is the utilization of historically important aspects involved in this historical process and the building up of defences against its retrograde aspects. WTO s organizational approach makes it mandatory to take decisions by way of consensus and it is devoid of undemocratic features like the veto power that exists in the United Nations Organization. It has been proved in the ministerial level talks in Doha, Cancun and Hong Kong that if the developing nations stand together it is possible to resist the covert machinations of finance capitalist forces and the developed countries. Although the government of India has been adopting such a defensive approach, it is the duty of the democratic movements to pressure our government to adopt more stringent measures of resistance.

5. The new historical process of democracy among countries is the remedy for super-power dominance. Such democratic collectives of nations have formally made appearance in the form of the European Union and have emerged informally elsewhere. If such democratic collectives of countries can be centralized globally, it will render super-power hegemony and imperialism redundant. The concentration of finance capital can also be regulated. 6. India is one among the countries that became independent after the Second World War and it is very vast and complex owing to its diversity in religion, race, caste, language and culture. That a secular democratic system could take root and develop effectively in a country like India has gained worldwide attention. Whereas in a communist country the state has been put up on the sole pillar of the Communist party, in India it has been built upon the four pillars i.e, the legislature, the executive, the judiciary and the media in addition to the constitutional institution of the Election Commission. The principal achievement of the secular democratic system in India is that with reasonable stability it is able to sustain the interaction among the four pillars, despite its several deficiencies and failings. However, in order to rectify the degeneration and decay of the four pillars, there is a requirement of a fifth pillar.

7. India lost its way for decades in the economic realm although it fostered a reasonably sound political structure. Although the economic programmes of Nehru, which tried to realize five-year planning, modelled on Soviet Union and a mixed economy, helped in the beginning to build a sound economic foundation, eventually it led to Licence Raj and economic stagnation. The Indian ruling class was gradually subjected to the big power hegemony of the USA and the USSR. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Indian economy was liberated step-by-step from the Licence Raj system and gradually began striding
towards free trade. During the last two decades, the Indian economy registered commendable growth. India has been recognized internationally as the economy having the highest growth rate, barring China. But those who gave the lead for this transformation were putting into

practice their approach of market fundamentalism which holds that the market will solve all the problems. The promise that an economic policy with a human face will be implemented was not fulfilled in real terms. Since the fundamental question of delivering the fruits of development to all classes of people has not been resolved, the situation where economic policies are implemented chiefly for the benefit of the rich continues. The government has the responsibility to conceive and implement exhaustive programmes that will improve the socio-economic conditions of those who are underprivileged or those who are below the poverty line and are marginalized. The democratic movements have to pressure the government for this. 8. The parliamentary parties who are in power represent and protect mainly the interests of feudal, capitalist and rich sections. Although we may come across parties who claim to be representatives of the middle class, farmers and workers, what we find is that, with regard to the power structure, all of them essentially represent the interests of the afore-said affluent classes. The camaraderie of this class with the bureaucracy that continues to remain in the decadent feudal structure has converted parliamentary democracy into a device to guard their interests. Therefore, one witnesses here numerous examples of colossal corruption, mismanagement, nepotism and family rule which may not be perceptible in developed capitalist countries. 9. Our democracy is not stagnant; the alertness of the Election Commission, the formation of human rights commissions, the enactment of the Right to Information Act - all these are advances in the direction of a better democracy. But the corruption that pervades even

the judiciary, which is entrusted with the task of overseeing the democratic system and the coming together of all the political parties which really control the legislature in the abuse of the power have accelerated degeneration of the democratic system. Political parties in India can be divided into three. Firstly, the secular democratic parties. Parties such as the Congress play a great role in the upholding of the secular democratic structure of India, notwithstanding their many shortcomings. Then come the parties based on religion. The communal basis of any party is to be determined not by examining whether the name of the party contains the name of a religion, but by ascertaining whether it is adopting a political approach based on religion. The Bharatiya Janata Party, which openly upholds Hindutva politics, is the foremost party belonging to this group. The others that can be included in this category are mainly small groups belonging to the Muslim minority who have adopted fundamentalist and extremist positions. All these groups are a threat to democracy as well as secularism. The third group contains the Communist parties and groups who have taken up parliamentary politics but have declared dictatorship of the proletariat as their goal and have assumed anti-religious ideological positions. The Maoists who have shunned the parliamentary path can also be grouped with them. These parties uphold neither democracy nor transparency. It is pointless at present to identify such groups as leftist parties and to term the democratic parties as rightist. There is a notion that all the leftist parties are progressive and others are reactionaries. This perception too is meaningless. Many of the parties which are considered to be democratic are actually personality-centred, family-centred or castereligion-race-centred. Nowadays, only those parties can be reckoned as progressive which are truly committed to parliamentary democracy and secularism and maintaining complete transparency. 10. What is needed primarily is to recognize democracy as a social process beyond electoral politics and mobilization of votes. Democracy has to be understood as the developed form of the social organization that germinated during the tribal era when the collectives started functioning. Capitalist ideologues argue that it is Darwins natural selection theory of survival of the fittest that governs capitalist competition and hence it is absurd to try to regulate this process. This argument does not conform to facts. It is also not scientific. Individual competition cannot exist or function outside the social realm. Only

socially supported competition is sustainable. It is the mutually dependant and dialectical relationship between the individual and the society that is the undercurrent of the democratic process. Capitalist ideologues who argue that all social problems can be resolved through market competition encourage individual rivalry, denying social existence. The society envisaged by them cannot bring in social justice and it cannot bridle inequities caused by cut-throat competition. The solution to this basic social problem lies in bringing in democratic social regulation over the market, without rejecting market competition. 11. Federalism is an essential ingredient of the Indian secular democratic system. India, which is characterized by linguistic and cultural diversities, is able to survive disruptive tendencies owing to the federal system born out of the formation of linguistic states and decentralization of power. Even then, one has to identify the limitations of our federal structure. The power vested in the states is very limited. The Centre tries continuously to take back even the powers that have been made available to the states. The fact is that all mainstream parties are not in favor of decentralization of power although they may not admit this openly. This means constant interventions are needed to make the federal system more just and lead the way to real decentralization of power. 12. Secularism is an indivisible aspect of a democratic social system. Secularism entered our land as a western concept. The western secular model is based on the principle that the state acknowledges a common approach to all religions and does not link state power with religion. Whereas leaders like Nehru who spearheaded the freedom struggle chose to uphold the western concept of secularism, Mahatma Gandhi hoisted a national consciousness based on communal harmony and encouraged and propagated such a lifestyle which is apposite to Indian conditions. Although it is the western secular

concept that forms the basis at the constitutional level, the Gandhian approach of communal harmony subsists as an undercurrent of Indian secularism. Since the secular political leadership has failed to imbibe and further that vision, communal politics has gained strength in recent times. Communal conflicts are instigated and organized consciously. Although this drift so far has not been able to wreck the secular democratic structure, the challenge it poses cannot be ignored. The Communists claim they stand by secularism but their ideological position is anti-religion. Those Communists who

participate in the Indian democratic process cannot afford to take an anti-religious position since it cannot maintain a vote bank on that basis. The pretense that they are taking a secular position, without shunning their known ideological stand, amounts to opportunism and double standards. This ends up in treachery. 13. Communal politics aims at a state dependent on a particular religion. For that reason it is anti-secular and anti-democratic. A secular government directs that all the religions are to be equally protected. In a secular democratic society all socio-religious groups will have the liberty to intervene in the political process and strive for mobilization of public opinion. They ought to have that freedom. A democratic society cannot prevent the propagation of even communal politics. One should try to overwhelm it ideologically. 14. The idea that it is justifiable and historically natural for social groups such as religious societies, nationalities, races and castes to get organized on the basis of identity consciousness and adopt identity politics on a permanent basis has gained strength lately. Such social groups could be visualized in two different situations -- in an oppressed state and in a dominant position. It is a natural historical process for oppressed social groups to redeem their identity consciousness and get liberated through identity politics. But social groups which have been liberated already, in the sense that they have already acquired a status comparable to that of the advanced sections of the society, continuing identity politics will only strengthen sectarian tendencies. Dominant social groups going all-out for identity politics will lead to sectarianism and anti-democratic tendencies. 15 The caste system, which is a particular social feature of Indian society, poses severe challenges to Indian democracy. The backward castes, the Dalits and the Adivasis who together constitute the majority of Indian society were marginalized or excluded from the sphere of political power. In recent times, the situation has changed to some extent. The fact that these social segments have organized themselves and begun to get a share of power, which is due to them, through democratic processes has given Indian democracy a new meaning. Such processes will reinforce Indian democracy till all the oppressed social segments achieve equal status socially and politically. As in the case of identity politics, if caste politics continues to exist even after attaining its primary aim, the possibility of its sliding into sectarianism and narrowness is large.

16 One of the foremost challenges encountered by human society globally in its democratization process is to provide women, who form half of humankind, the same socio-political status as is enjoyed by the male world. In India and in Kerala this remains a major challenge. The proposal to extend reservation for women, now in force at the level of local bodies, to Parliament and the state legislatures is, of course, encouraging. Although this is an important step in the process of empowerment of women, improvement of the status of women in the socio-political arena calls for thorough remoulding of the understanding prevalent in the society regarding man-woman relationship. A cultural concept that provides a dominant status to the male and a secondary status to the female in all domains is well entrenched in the society. Gender equality should be made a reality in all areas of social life remoulding all these social perceptions. 17 The realization that global warming and climate change have begun to affect human life has helped to make ecological conservation a popular issue. However, a clear perception has not evolved so far on how environmental issues can be managed in a democratic society.
Social interventions have become crucial in numerous areas such as large-scale generation of greenhouse gases, use of hazardous pesticides and chemical fertilizers in agriculture, depletion of the fertile top soil, extensive retailing of medicines which are not essential for the preservation of health or are actually injurious to it and widespread deforestation. With regard to environmental issues, there is a school of thought which holds that science and technology are the root causes of detrimental development and what is required is a return to nature discarding the products created by science and technology. However, mankind cannot totally discard science and technology which have emanated from the inquisitive attitude man has been endowed with by nature itself. Unlike animals, which are controlled solely by instincts, man cannot go back to nature. It is the cut-throat competition based on profit motive that results in the abuse of science and technology. Human interventions, oblivious of the importance of environmental conservation, have also led to such abuse. Such abuses can be prevented only by the implementation of democratic social control in all necessary areas. Comprehensive plans for this purpose should be conceived and implemented.

18 Recent advances in genetics have generated a situation wherein genetically modified plants and animals can be created in the laboratory. There has also risen the threat of

multinational companies exploiting the farmers by keeping genetically modified seeds under their monopoly and wiping out the prevailing genetic diversity. Genetic change is a process which goes on continuously in nature. Significantly, from among the genetic changes, nature selects only very few. When scientists conduct selection through experimentation and observation within a limited period, the potential for risk is very high. Only through experimentation and observation over a long period can the possibilities of such threats be recognized and eliminated. Private corporate companies who aim at only quick returns release genetically modified seeds in the market without taking the required safeguards to ensure their acceptability by nature through experimentation and observation. Such research areas need to be brought under complete social control and shielded from the competitive market. Legislation for this purpose is essential. It is likely that during the research projects harmful microbes which may even affect the existence of humankind and other living beings are produced. Hence the whole of this research area must be regulated by laying down strict ethical standards and norms. 19 Since the tribal era, at every stage in the evolution of human social organizational forms through continuous democratic process, ethical standards and codes of conduct which are indispensible for the stability of each society have been determined. Human society has never maintained any eternal value system. The value systems have undergone transformation in keeping with changes in social circumstances. The systems have been evolving and functioning in a manner conducive to the sustenance of each society. Likewise value systems and codes of conduct required for the smooth functioning of modern democratic societies are to be discovered and developed. Action Plan 1. The primary aim of the organization is to create suitable systems to enable continuous modifications in the working of secular democracy while preserving its basic structure. In addition to the four grand pillars that hold up parliamentary democracy, our aim is to build up a fifth pillar, namely, the Fifth Estate. The mission of the Fifth Estate is to detect the degeneration in the existing secular democracy and visualize ways to prevent it and to make continuous efforts to make this political method broader and progressive. The Fifth Estate, envisaged as an indispensible component of the future democratic society, will

engage in the task of vigilantly detecting and exposing the mistakes and aberrations in the functioning of the four grand pillars and promote efforts to rectify them. The other four pillars are parts of the Establishment and have acquired that character. The media, which is the fourth estate, while not taking part directly in the power structure, has been transformed into one controlled by economic powers and has become susceptible to political influence. The other three pillars are subject to compulsions as parts of the power structure. Although the Election Commission has independence, its sphere of activity is limited and controlled. There is a real possibility of that too being subjected to pressures. The most important merit of the Fifth Estate is that it is not a part of the power structure. It can, therefore, remain alert and intervene creatively with respect to the four pillars by positioning itself on the side of the people. The Fifth Estate has been conceived as one which may continue forever as an independent and open democratic forum, without participating in elections and without becoming a political party.The activities of the movement will be entirely lawful. It will oppose uncompromisingly all actions that are illegal. 2. Making the democratic set-up more transparent is a step in this direction. The options for the state to make out a case for secrecy in the name of national defence and internal security are numerous. What needs to be done now is to reduce such options gradually and continuously. Legislation with regard to the Right to Information was a great

advance towards the goal of transparency in our democracy .The law lays down that any citizen, on request, should be given the contents of any file on any matter other than those pertaining to national defence and internal security. For this enactment to be effective, the people have to assume certain responsibility. In the present circumstances, they may not take up this task on their own. A movement like the Fifth Estate can intervene effectively in this area. By invoking the right to information, it can make the administrative mechanism more transparent. 3. Although an e-governance project to computerize the administrative system has been initiated and millions of rupees have been spent, there has been no discernible improvement in this field. The inefficiency of the political leadership and the fact that government officials are collectively undermining the project are the major reasons for

the letdown. Active interventions are required to detect and expose the obstacles and create favourable conditions for attainment of the objective. 4. Responsibility for exposing mismanagement and corruption in the administration needs to be assumed and pressure exerted to set it right and ensure follow-up. Apart from following up information brought out by the media and other agencies, it is necessary to investigate and intervene in selected specific areas. 5. Transparency in the administrative set-up alone cannot ensure meaningful democracy. The process of decentralization of power has to be vigorous so that power reaches the people. The decentralization process envisaged by the Panchayati Raj Act is indeed a step forward. However, the convening of gram sabhas can be reckoned as decentralization of power only if they are given the power to take decisions. This will be possible only through a constitutional amendment. Campaigns to exert political pressure for this purpose have to be undertaken. 6. Delivery of social justice cannot be ensured merely by making the democratic process transparent and lively. An action plan is required to achieve this objective. In a democratic society, where freedom of expression, freedom to organize, freedom of property , open market etc. exist, legislation has to be undertaken to ensure social justice through the democratic process. For make such legislation possible, ideological struggles have to be waged constantly to mobilize majority support. 7. Ensuring social justice does not mean bringing in absolute socialism. It means all the citizens are enabled to get the opportunity to fulfil their basic needs. It means ensuring medical and educational services to all in addition to food, clothing and shelter. The administrative machinery should ensure these to those who are not able to do so on their own. A practical solution is to create prospects for healthy competition between the public and private sectors in the fields of health and education. Historical experience indicates that wherever vigilant socio-political interventions are possible, there will be improvement in the state of affairs. Social security is an area which requires constant and vigorous democratic social interventions.

8. Historical experiences show that the existence of open market and private property are essential for continuous development of the production process. Through democratic legislation social controls which will bridle cut-throat competition and at the same time create congenial conditions for healthy competition in the market have to be established. Legislation is needed to ensure that the lions share of the accumulated capital is brought back to the social process. 9. It is one of the prime tasks of the democratic movement to try to encourage and to practise creatively the secular democratic approach and facilitate maintenance of tolerance among different social classes in the elaborate and complex social system prevailing in India, where different religions, cultures, languages, castes and races coexist. All the religions and other social classes must have full freedom to practise and propagate their own rituals and ideology. Strict control must be maintained to ensure that the activities of one group do not cause hatred and hostility towards another. A social group attempting to protect its shared interests will not amount to communalism. However, if the attempt to safeguard its interests is directed against other social groups it will be communalism. Of late, attempts to instigate communal riots and tensions have become strong. We have to be alert to detect the surfacing of such tendencies and make interventions to create an atmosphere of communal amity. 10. In recent times, violent politics which holds dangerous portends for parliamentary democracy has emerged in our country. Some political parties, including those who
participate in parliamentary politics and those who reject it, engage themselves in violent

politics, including murders, or encourage it with or without forming organizations for the purpose. It is mainly the parties which have proclaimed dictatorship of the proletariat or religioncentred politics as their aim that resort to this. This trend has to be exposed and resisted uncompromisingly. Such parties and some other parliamentary parties are trying to gain influence among elements of the state machinery, such as public servants, the police and the armed forces. It results in the destruction of the democratic system and subversion of the rule of law. This has to be strictly curbed. The trend of trade union organizations, which came up as negotiators for the labour class, moving towards antipeople protests and actions is on the increase. This too has to be rectified. It is essential

for the survival of the democratic system to safeguard the rule of law. Where political conflicts are common, interventions are to be made to maintain a peaceful atmosphere and create awareness against this awful trend which is detrimental to democratic politics. 11. Different zones in the country remain disturbed areas and hence there exist black laws and state terror which employs these laws. All the black laws existing since the colonial period are to be annulled. State terror has to be exposed and the use of emergency laws against the people prevented. The organization
1 The name of the organization will be Fifth Estate. 2. Any Indian citizen above 18 years old who concurs with the basic tenets of the organization and who is not a member of any political party or illegal outfits can become a member of the organization. 3. The members, including office-bearers, shall not use the organization for their livelihood. Their voluntary activity is the base of the organization. Activists shall not receive any remuneration from the organization. 4. No membership fee is levied from the members. They may, however, give donations according to their capacity. Donations can be accepted from non-members also. Donations shall be accepted only through a bank account. Income and expenditure statement of each unit shall be published on the website of the organization. 5. The organizing committee, consisting of members who participated in the first state-wide meeting, shall provide leadership to subsequent activities. A convener and joint convener of the organizing committee were elected at this meeting. 6. Persons who are authorized by the state-level committee shall organize district level committees. All such committees shall have conveners and joint conveners.

7. The term of office of those elected at all levels will be two years. The convener and joint convener shall not be entitled to re-election. There shall, however, be no bar on their re-election after an interval of two years. 8. The functioning of the committees at all levels must be fully transparent. All minutes shall be published on the website. The members of the committee shall sign the minutes after it has taken a decision. All those who agreed to majority decisions shall be responsible for implementation of the decisions. Those who are in a minority shall have the freedom to make their divergent views public and to excuse themselves from participation in implementation of such decisions. 9. Members, including the office-bearers, may tender their resignations at any point of time. The organization shall place no hindrance in their way. 10. The members of any group/unit can participate in the deliberations of any other particular group committee. Non-members of Fifth Estate and members of the media may also be permitted to attend meetings on receiving requests from them. The committees may invite guests to meetings to hear their views. 11. All members shall declare their assets and liabilities. The organization is not expected to have movable or immovable properties other than office equipment. In case the organization is dissolved, sale proceeds of the equipment etc. shall be deposited with the government. The following are signatories to the press statement announcing the formation of the Fifth Estate: Anand Zacharia K M Salim Kumar Dr M Gangadharan T P Rajeevan N M Pearson Jeevan Job Thomas K Venu

E Karunakaran B R P Bhaskar C R Parameswaran K M Roy Hameed Chennamangalur M N Karasseri K Aravindakshan Kavitha Balakrishnan K G Jagadeesan P M Manuel Sara Joseph M G S Narayanan Dr J Devika V C Sreejan K R Meera Dr V K Vijayakumar P Kesavan Nair Dr Sebastian Chittilappilli ---------------------------------