Saving Humanity Swami Vivekanand Perspective

Saving Humanity Saving Humanity Saving Humanity Saving Humanity
Swami Vivekananda Perspective

Vivekanand Swadhyay Vivekanand Swadhyay Vivekanand Swadhyay Vivekanand Swadhyay
Mandal Mandal Mandal Mandal
G.B.Pant University of Agriculture &
Technology, Pantnagar, Uttarakhand
www.vsmpantnagar.org
ii

Saving Humanity Saving Humanity Saving Humanity Saving Humanity
Swami Vivekananda Perspective

Editors
Shivendra Kumar Kashyap
Awadhesh Pathak
Gaurav Papnai

Associate Editors
Richa Lohani
Aditya Tewari
Sudhanshu Barthwal
Aastha Bajaj
Shreena Keswani

Vivekanand Swadhyay Mandal
G.B.Pant University of Agriculture and Technology
Pantnagar, Uttarakhand

iii

Published By:
Vivekanand Swadhyay Mandal
G.B.Pant University of Agriculture and Technology,
E-mail: vsmpantnagar@gmail.com

Copyright2012, Vivekanand Swadhyay Mandal
All rights reserved. No part of the book or part thereof, including the title of book, be reprinted in
any form or language without the written permission of the publishers.

Edited By: Shivendra Kumar Kashyap, Awadhesh Pathak and Gaurav Papnai
With support from: Richa Lohani, Aditya Tewari, Sudhanshu Barthwal, Aastha Bajaj
and Shreena Keswani
Special Assiatance by: Geetika Gupta, Deepankar Rawat, Ashutosh Bhakuni, Mamta
Rautela, Aakanksha Melkani and Goldi Tewari
Cover & illustrations: Harish Khatik and Diwas Joshi

ISBN No. : 978-81-923019-0-7
Price: Rs. Four Hundred Only

Published by : Geetika Gupta for Vivekanand Swadhyay Mandal
Printed at: Ethoes Press, Haldwani

The views and the interpratations in this book are those of the author(s)
and are not necessarily attributable to the editors or the Vivekanand
Swadhyay Mandal.

iv

PREFACE

Youths are mighty force to reckon with. They can move mountains and transform
nations. They have physical power, courage, sense of adventure and enthusiasm to explore the
unknown. They are not bogged down with the chains of traditions and preconceptions. They can
explore the untrodden path and create new society. Swami Vivekananda had aptly commented,
Give me a thousand youth with body of steel and courage of a lion and I shall transform the
nation. The central idea is that we have to channelize this vast energy for constructive purposes
so that they do not waste it in unproductive entertainment and wasteful activities or even worse
anti social activities. There is urgent present need to put programmes and projects in place to
cultivate constructive habits among youth and lead them to the best of their potentials. History is
replete with examples of heroic deed of the youth and their contribution to national building. In
the freedom struggle of our own country youths have contributed significantly. Now that we are
a developed nation and want to forge ahead at global level, predominance of youth population is
an opportunity and challenge. If we want our nation to become strong and grow then we must
use our youth effectively. With seemingly increase in prosperity and expansion of commercial
media, there are many temptations to get entrapped in deviant activities which will be harmful
not only for them but also for nation. Keeping the great goals of State Agricultural University to
create human resource to serve rural India, G.B.Pant University of agriculture and Technology
right since inception not only strived to give the best training in technical subject matter of
agriculture and allied field but also inculcated amongst youths the values of morality, patriotism
and professionalism through novel curricular and extracurricular actiivites. Over past five decades
youth development activities have grown from strength to strength through N.S.S., N.C.C.
different students societies, Four H Clubs, Hobby clubs, cultural programmes, sports and of late
for a decade now in more focused and organized way by Vivekanand Swadhyay Mandal. The
experiences are encouraging and enriching. The voluntary spirit of youth, their eagerness to take
responsibility and impact lives of other youths has encouraged us to take this plunge in the form
of international conference.
Youth leadership is needed for bringing revolution in nations. We owe our leadership in
information technology to his leadership. Are we ready for the change and handing over the
leadership to youth? Have we created ground for them to emerge? Do we have enough
organizations to nurture the youth for the challenging role they have to play in the nation and the
world? The need is to discuss the role education has to play in the lives of youth. Education for
passing examinations, gaining degrees, entering into lofty jobs is the order of the day.
Commercial outfits have mushroomed all-around important urban and semi urban landscape
with impressive buildings to claim their share in the ever growing education market. What kind of
grooming, values, knowledge and skills can be expected from them? We need to discuss
threadware what do the youths feel about the process of education. Then there are millions of
not so lucky youths who are deprived of formal education and lead unproductive lives in the
villages being labelled as unemployed, hooligans and the like for no fault of their own. The hiatus
between the prosperous educated youth and deprived rural counterparts is glaring. This is a great
moral crisis to work with. Almost a century ago rural development efforts were started by Nobel
v

Laureate Ravindra Nath Tagore with focus on development of youth leadership. Similar
instructions were given by Swami Vivekananda to the missionaries and of Ram Krishna Mission,
train the youth in the villages for leadership in rural areas. In a country of many contradictions
and challenges where there are shining metros and darker hinterlands, leadership in information
technology and lack of basic amenities for a majority of inhabitants, should this powerful youth
force sit idle and isolated at the mercy of powers that be or should we infuse the power in them
to come out and play the role they should. The need is to plan strategies for youth development.
Problems of our economy like corruption, Indian political scams, poverty, unemployment,
changing climate, inflation etc. call for immediate attack and youth conviction has to aroused
around these very important issues. How can we inculcate the consciousness and courage among
youth to take the cudgels in their hands? Conducting training programmes for youth across a
wide spectrum of developmental activities like natural resource conservation, Entrepreneurship
Development, NGO Management, Leadership & Personality Development, Disaster Management,
Women Empowerment, Communication Skills, Prevention of Drug Abuse and Alcohol seem
imminent.
Ending with the words of Swami Vivekananda, My whole ambition in life is to set in
motion, a machinery which will bring noble ideas to the door of everybody, and then let
men and women settle their own fate. Let them know what our forefathers as well as other
nations have thought on the most momentous questions of life. Let them see especially
what others are doing now, and then decide. We are to put the chemicals together; the
crystallisation will be done by nature according to her laws. Work hard, be steady, and
have faith in the Lord. Set to work, Keep the motto before you.

Birendra Kumar
Dean Postgraduate Studies
Bihar Agriculture University,
Sabour, Bhagalpur
Bihar

vi

List of Contributors

1. Aakanksha Melkani
College of Agriculture
G.B. Pant University of Agriculture
& Technology

2. Aastha Bajaj
Software Engineer
IBM India
Bangalore

3. Aayushi Gupta
College of Technology
& Technology

4. Abhishek Kumar
Bihar Agricultural University, Sabour
Bhagalpur, Bihar

5. Ach. Agyaatdarshan
Founder and President
SARAL

6. Aditi Vats
Associate Professor
College of Home Science
Department of Family Resource
Management
and Technology

7. Aditya Shukla
Lecturer (Trainee)
Department of Journalism & Mass
Communication
Dev Sanskriti University, Haridwar
Uttarakhand

8. Aditya Singh
Robertson Convent School, Umaria
The Astro Club
Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh

9. Aditya Tewari
Software Engineer
TCS
Hyderabad

10. Ajay Pandey
& Technology

11. Akhilesh C. Sati
& Technology

12. Anjana Kholia
& Technology

13. Ansuman Satapathy
Research Scholar
School of Environment Management
Guru Govind Singh Indraprastha
University, New Delhi, India

14. Anup Prakash Upadhyay
Teaching Personnel
and Technology
vii

15. Anup Uniyal
Product Development Engineer
Ventyx Ltd.
Houston
USA

16. Aprajita
Bihar Agricultural University
Sabour, Bihar

17. Asha T. Landge
Central Institute of Fisheries
Education, Versova, Andheri (W)
Mumbai

18. Ashok N. Bhaskarwar
Petro-tech Chair Professor and Head
Department of Chemical Engineering
Indian Institute of Technology
Delhi

19. Ashutosh Bhakuni
& Technology, Pantnagar
Uttarakhand

20. Awadhesh Pathak
Analyst
Bank of America
Mumbai

21. Bindu N Doddahatti
JSS Law College
President, Spiritus International Trust
Karnataka

22. Bonita Putri Arinida
Badan Eksekutif Mahasiswa
Dentistry
University of Padjadjaran
Indonesia

23. Chaitali Kothari
Assistant Professor
Department of Physiology
SRMS Institute of Medical Sciences,
Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh

24. Debarati Rakshit
Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology
Bhubaneswar

25. Deepa Vinay
Professor and Head
Management
Uttarakhand

26. Deepankar Rawat
Uttarakhand

27. Deepshikha Paliwal
Dev Sanskriti Vishwavidyalaya
Haridwar, Uttarakhand

28. Deepti Kothari
& Technology, Pantnagar,
Uttarakhand

29. Devanshi Panu

30. Harshita Chaudhary
Uttarakhand
viii

31. Hema Bhatt
Research Scholar
Management

32. Itigi Prabhakar
Ph D Scholar
Division of Agricultural Extension
IARI, New Delhi

33. Jagadish Hosamani
Ph. D. Scholar
Division of Seed Science and
Technology
IARI, New Delhi

34. Jagdeep Parihar
Dr. B. R. Ambedkar National
Institute of Technology
Jalandhar, Punjab

35. Jaya
Bihar Veterinary College
Sabour, Bhagalpur, Bihar

36. Jayant Kushwaha
Jalandhar, Punjab

37. Karishma Gupta
Dev Sanskriti Vishwavidyalaya,

38. Kartik Upreti
College of Engineering
Roorkee, Uttarakhand

39. Kuber N Kushwah
Dr B. R. Ambedkar National
Jalandhar, Punjab

40. Kumkum Pandey
Research Scholar
Management

41. Kunal Kochal
Uttarakhand

42. L. Sravan Kumar
Rajeev Gandhi Memorial College of
Engineering & Technology
Nandyal, Andhra Pradesh

43. Madan Mohan Verma
President,
Interfaith Foundation, India
R 265 B, Greater Kailash I,
New Delhi

44. Mamta Rautela
Uttarakhand

45. Manish Balani
National Power Training Institute
New Delhi

46. Manisha Kumari
Dev Sanskriti Vishwavidyalaya,

47. Manpreet Singh Preet
Uttarakhand

ix

48. Manya Rastogi
Uttarakhand

49. Marshal Kumar
Uttarakhand

50. Md. Rustam Ansari

51. Md. Shamsheruddin

52. Mridula Chandra Yadav
Research Scholar
Department Of Education
Lucknow University
Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh

53. Mukesh Kumar Mishra
Department of Social Science
NIMS College, Lalitpur, Nepal

54. Mohd Nayyer Rahman
Aligarh Muslim University
Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh

55. Nandita Pathak
Deendayal Research Institute
Chitrakoot, M.P.

56. Neha Chauhan
Uttarakhand

57. Neeraj Tiwari
Uttarakhand

58. Neeraj Yadav
Institute of Technology,
Jalandhar, Punjab

59. Neha Upreti
Deptt of Agril. Communication

60. Nidhi Budhalakoti
Ph D Scholar

61. Nidhi Virdi
Jalandhar, Punjab

62. Nivedita Raghunath Bhide
Vice-President
Vivekanand Kendra
Kanyakumari

63. Omwono Gedion Alango
D.E.P.G College
Agra University, Uttar Pradesh

64. Pankoj Kanti Sarkar
Research Scholar
Rajiv Gandhi National Fellowship
Department of Philosophy
University of North Bengal

65. Pawan Bisht
x

66. Pinki Das
Research Scholar
Rajiv Gandhi National Fellowship
Department of Philosophy
University of North Bengal

67. Poonam Prajapati
Ph. D. Scholar
Department of Agricultural
Communication
Uttarakhand

68. Prabhat Kumar
Young Professional Institution
National Rural Livelihood Mission
Ministry of Rural Development
Government of India

69. Pranav Tewari
Haridwar, Uttrakhand

70. Priyanka Arora
Uttarakhand

71. Priyanka Karnatak
Uttarakhand

72. Pulkit Jain
College of Technology,
Uttarakhand

73. Purusharth Pathak
Dehradun Institute of Tectnology
Dehradun, Uttarakhand
74. R. Saravanan
Associate Professor Communication
College of Post Graduate Studies
Central Agricultural University
Umiam (Barapani), Megahalya

75. Ragav Garg
Member
Garg Group, New Delhi

76. Rajshree Upadhyay
Associate Professor
Maharana Pratap University of
Agriculture & Technology
Udaipur, Rajasthan

77. Ramanna Koulagi
Ph D Scholar,
Division of Nematology,
IARI, New Delhi

78. Rasna Kandpal

79. Richa Lohani
Business Analyst
Genpact, Gurgaon

80. Richa Pyasi
Jawahar Lal Nehru Krishi
Vishwavidhyalaya, Jabalpur

81. Ruhi Maheshwari

xi

82. S. K. Kashyap
Associate Professor & Associate
Director Communication
Communication
Uttarakhand

83. S. Rukmini
Assistant Professor
Dept. of English
GITAM Institute of Technology
GITAM University, Rushikonda
Visakhapatnam

84. Sanjeev Yadav
Haridwar (Uttrakhand)

85. Saurav Singh Kharayat

86. Shaikhom Inaotombi Singh
Research Scholar
Department of Zoology
DSB Campus Kumaun University
Nainital, Uttarakhand, India

87. Shikha Rajouria
Jalandhar, Punjab

88. Shreena Keswani
College of Agribusines Management
GB Pant University of Agriculture

89. Sonal Keshwani
Research Scholar
Indian Institute of Science
Bangalore

90. Sonia Tewari
Uttarakhand

91. Sonu Fartyal
Ph. D. Scholar
Communication
Uttarakhand

92. Sripathy K V
Ph D Scholar,
Division of Seed Science and
Technology
IARI, New Delhi

93. Sristi Gaur
Uttarakhand

94. Suchiradipta Bhattacharjee
College of Post Graduate Studies
Central Agricultural University
Umiam (Barapani)
Megahalya

95. Sudhanshu Barthwal
Software Engineer
Goldman Sachs
Banglore

96. Sudhir Kumar
Research Scholar
Department Of Education
Lucknow University, Lucknow
Uttar Pradesh

xii

97. Sukanya Thapliyal
College of Legal Studies
University of Petroleum and Energy
Studies, Dehradun, Uttarakhand

98. Sukhdeep Kaur
Jalandhar, Punjab

99. Sukhnandan Singh
Associate Professor
Deptt. of Journalism & Mass Com
Dev Sanskriti University, Haridwar
Uttarakhand

100. Sumit Chandra
Young Professional Institution
National Rural Livelihood Mission
Ministry of Rural Development,
Government of India

101. Swati Rautela
Ph. D Scholar
Deptt of Agricultural Economics
Uttarakhand

102. Syed Abdullah Zaini
Aligarh Muslim University
Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh

103. Tara Negi
Research Scholar
Maharana Pratap University of
Agriculture and Technology
Udaipur, Rajasthan

104. Trivesh S. Mayekar
Central Institute of Fisheries
Education
Versova, Andheri (W), Mumbai

105. Utkarsh Ranjan
Uttarakhand

106. Varun Yadav
Institute of social sciences
Dr. B. R. A. University, Agra

107. Vijayendra Singh Aswal
Uttarakhand

108. Vikas Mangal
Uttarakhand

109. Yogesh Bhatt
Programme in Development
Management,
Tata-Dhan Academy
Madurai

110. Yogita Navani
Communication Centre
Uttarakhand

xiii

xiv

Contents

Preface v
List of Contributors vii

SWAMI VIVEKANANDA: APPLICABILITY OF HIS PHILOSOPHY AND THOUGHTS
IN PRESENT

1. Swami Vivekanandas Insight of Selfless Service 1
Nivedita Raghunath Bhide
2. Swami Vivekananda: The Legendary Role Model of Present Day Youth 10
Shivendra K. Kashyap and Richa Lohani
3. Spirituality as a Prerequisite of Humanity as Earmarked in Indian Culture and Ethos 15
Sonal Keshwani and Aastha Bajaj
4. Educational Aspects of Swami Vivekananda and their Applicability in Present Context 21
Richa Pyasi
5. Swami Vivekananda and his Contribution to the World 26
Sukanya Thapliyal
6. Catalyzing a change in the education system based on Swamijis thoughts and principles 31
Aakanksha Melkani and Goldi Tewari
7. Generating Sensitivity to Support Humanity 38
Geetika Gupta
8. Understanding Education: The VSM Way 41
Awadhesh K. Pathak
9. Reaping the Demographic Dividend through Strategic Nurturing: A Case of India 48
Shreena Keswani and Gaurav Papnai
10. Holistic Path of Education 58
Abhishek Kumar
11. The Real Nature of Education 61
Ashutosh Bhakuni, Deepankar Rawat, Pawan Bisht,
Akhilesh C. Sati and Harshita Chaudhary

UNIVERSAL HARMONY AND BROADER TOLERANCE

12. Common Threads of Universal Values Runing through Various Religions 69
Ach. Agyaatdarshan and Chaitali Kothari
13. Cultural Diversity as Universal Beauty 80
Bonita Putri Arinida
14. Religion for Peace and Prosperity 88
Sukhnandan Singh and Aditya Shukla
15. Religious Harmony and Tolerance as Envisaged by Swami Vivekanand 95
Anup Uniyal
16. Co-Existance, Cultural Harmony and its Understanding in a Modern Society 98
Omwono Gedion Alango

xv

17. How to Bridge the Professed Gap between Different Religions- 102
A Common Man's Guideline
Ganesh Kumar Jha
18. World Peace through Group Meditation 105
Debarati Rakshit
19. Concept of God in Holy Scriptures: Towards Universal Harmony and Broader Tolerance 109
Mohd Nayyer Rahman and Syed Abdullah Zaini
20. Religion for Peace and Prosperity 117
Kartik Upreti and Gaurav Upreti
21. Co-Existence via Symbiotic Relationships and Selfless Service 126
Utkarsh Ranjan and Vijayendra Singh Aswal
22. Relevance of Religion in Current Education System to Bring Religious 131
Harmony and Spiritual Awareness
Aprajita
23. Universal Harmony and Broader Tolerance 133
Madan Mohan Verma

INTEGRATED DEVELOPMENT FOR HAPPINESS AND SATISFACTION

24. Integral Humanism: Road to New Future 140
Raghav Garg
25. The Economics in a Phase of Societal Changes 145
Aditya Tewari
26. Empowering Grass-root Population for Contemporary Societal Restructuring 149
Nandita Pathak
27. Educating Masses for Grassroot Empowerment 152
Ashok N. Bhaskarwar
28. Analysis of Right to Food in India 154
Bindu N Doddahatti and Geethu S Thottammariyil
29. Applied Education 162
Pulkit Jain
30. Astronomical Science Popularization at Grass Root Levels 166
Aditya Singh
31. Demand of Integrated Development: Indian Culture 169
Deepshikha Paliwal and Ruhi Maheshwari
32. Development Surge without Regard for a Life 173
Priyanka Arora
33. Education of Rural Youth for Agriculture Development 182
Md. Rustam Ansari and Md. Shamsheruddin
34. Eductaion to Create Opportunity 185
Kuber N Kushwah, Neeraj Yadav and Nidhi Virdi
35. Empowerment of Rural Youth 195
Jagadish Hosamani, Itigi Prabhakar, Sripathy K V
and Ramanna Koulagi
36. Youth Mobilisation for Reaping the Demographic Dividend 204
Aastha Bajaj and Sudhanshu Barthwal
37. Horticulture based Agripreneur Strategy for sustainable 212
Development of Uttarakhand
Neha Upreti and Shreena Keswani

xvi

38. Gender-Based Inequalities All Along From Farm to Plate 217
Hema Bhatt
39. Improving Governance to Eradicate Poverty 221
Marshal Kumar and Purusharth Pathak
40. Food and Nutritional Security for Happiness and Satisfaction 229
Neha Chauhan and Devanshi Panu
41. Integrated Development for Happiness and Satisfaction 233
Kunal Kochal and Manya Rastogi
42. Happiness : The Ultimate Means of Satisfaction 241
Nidhi Budhalakoti
43. Governance with Empowerment: The Panacea for Developing India 247
Sumit Chandra and Prabhat Kumar
44. Poverty in Natural Prosperity: Can Agriculture Bring the Renaissance 260
in North-East India?
Suchiradipta Bhattacharjee and R. Saravanan
45. Microfinance for Integrated Development 275
Yogesh Chandra Bhatt
46. Human Bioelectricity: An Effective Vedic IT Tool in Thought Transformation 285
Pranav Tewari and Sanjeev Yadav
47. Revival of Philanthropy in India 291
Jaya
48. Service as an Aspect of Education to Create Opportunities 295
L. Sravan Kumar
49. Swot Analysis of Selected Entrepreneurial Activities Performed by Rural Women 301
Rajshree Upadhyay and Tara Negi
50. Values for Empowerment of Youth through English Language Teaching: 311
Contribution of Swami Vivekanandas Vision & Integral Philosophy
S. Rukmini
51. Women Empowerment through Education 315
Sonu Fartyal and Poonam Prajapati
52. Teacher and Human Value: Need of Hour 321
G.P. Yadav, Mridula Chandra Yadav and Sudhir Kumar
53. Nation Building on the Philosophy of Swami Vivekananda 330
Mamta Rautela, Gebaram Chaudhary and Anjana Kholia
54. Social Integration through Human Upliftment by Vivekanandas Thought 333
Karishma Gupta and Manisha Kumari

SAVING EARTH: AN ACTIVIST APPROACH

55. Looking Beyond the Present: Sustainable Energy- A Necessity 339
Priyanka Karnatak and Aayushi Gupta
56. ABCs (Atmospheric Brown Clouds): A Blanket of Pollution 348
As a Great Environmental Threat to Asian Countries
Kumkum Pandey, Deepa Vinay and Aditi Vats
57. Renewable Energy: Global Issues and Indian Challenges 362
Deepti Kothari,

Anup Prakash Upadhyay

and Sonia Tewari
58. Lets Manage Habits to Save Future 368
Jagdeep Parihar, Jayant Kushwaha, Shikha Rajouria
and Sukhdeep Kaur

xvii

59. No Blind Consumerism, Lets Be Ethical 373
Rasna Kandpal and Sristi Gaur
60. Modern Lifestyle, Non Veg Food and its Impact on Environmental Aspects 376
Mukesh Kumar Mishra
61. Save Earth- An Activist Approach 389
Manpreet Singh Preet, Neeraj Tiwari, Vikas Mangal,
Saurav Singh Kharayat and Ajay Pandey
62. Saving Earth: An Environmental Ethical Perspective 392
Pankoj Kanti Sarkar
63. Sustainability Issues in Agro Ecosystems and The Role of Youth 397
Ansuman Satapathy
64. Healing the Earth: Onus on Humanity 405
Yogita Navani and Swati Rautela
65. Environmental Ethics and a Sensitive Society 409
Shaikhom Inaotombi Singh
66. Saving mother Earth through Human efforts 416
Manish Balani

SWAMI VIVEKANANDA SWAMI VIVEKANANDA SWAMI VIVEKANANDA SWAMI VIVEKANANDA : : : :
APPLICABILITY OF HIS APPLICABILITY OF HIS APPLICABILITY OF HIS APPLICABILITY OF HIS
PHILOSOPHY & THOUGHTS PHILOSOPHY & THOUGHTS PHILOSOPHY & THOUGHTS PHILOSOPHY & THOUGHTS
I II IN PRESENT N PRESENT N PRESENT N PRESENT

Swami Vivekanandas Insight for Selfless Service
Saving Humanity: Swami Vivekananda Perspective
Vivekanand Swadhyay Mandal, 2012. pp 1-9

Swami Vivekanandas Insight of Selfless Service

Nivedita Raghunath Bhide

Introduction
India has been a land where the Oneness of the existence was realized and
manifested in life. Swami Vivekananda explains it as, Here and here alone the human
heart expanded till it included not only the human, but birds, beasts, and plants; from the
highest gods to grains of sand, the highest and the lowest, all find a place in the heart of
man, grown great, infinite. And here alone, the human soul studied the universe as one
unbroken unity whose every pulse was his own pulse. (Volume IV p 314) Whenever
there were challenges in her national life, India responded by drawing her strength and
also the validation for the solution to the problems facing then on this grand truth of
Oneness. For example during Islamic invasions when temples were broken and people
were persecuted for going to temples and pilgrimages, then came the traditions of great
saints who told to worship God in the house, as God is not limited to temples and can be
worshiped anywhere. Thus each house got its own poojaroom and people could stick to
their Dharma. The British rule came with the exploitation of our lands and wealth which
led to utter poverty that our country had never known. India which had the share of 33% in
the world production was brought down to 1.5% by the British due to their policies of
bleeding India white to death. And thus famines became the routine affairs. At times even
one third population would perish in the famine affected area.
The pooja of God in ones poojarooms while neglecting the starving people
swarmed around became quite meaningless. Thus came Swami Vivekananda who asked to
serve man as God. He told, For the next fifty years this alone shall be our keynote -- this,
our great Mother India. Let all other vain gods disappear for the time from our minds.
This is the only god that is awake, our own race --"everywhere his hands, everywhere his
feet, everywhere his ears, he covers everything." All other gods are sleeping. What vain
gods shall we go after and yet cannot worship the god that we see all round us, the Virat?
When we have worshipped this, we shall be able to worship all the other gods. ...What is
needed is Chittashuddhi, purification of the heart. And how does that come? The first of
1

2

all worship is the worship of the Virat -- of those all around us. Worship It. ...These are all
our gods -- men and animals; and the first gods we have to worship are our countrymen.
These we have to worship, instead of being jealous of each other and fighting each other.
It is the most terrible Karma for which we are suffering, and yet it does not open our
eyes! (Volume III 300-301)
To a country obsessed with God and spirituality and with one's own mukti it was a
difficult task to convince people to work for the masses as essential form of Sadhana.
Tirelessly Swami Vivekananda worked to explain the concept and need of Service and to
inspire the young generation to take to it.

Oneness as the basis of Selfless Service
Swami Vivekanandas insight in the Selfless Service was rooted in the Oneness of
the existence, Ekoham Bahusyam - One manifested as Many. Swamiji urged us the
service of Jivas in a spirit of oneness. (Volume VII 198) For all those quoting Vedas and
Vedanta he asked sternly, Must the teaching looking upon all beings as your own self"--
be confined to books alone? (VI 319)
Not even a Sanyasi according to Swami Vivekananda could be permitted to not to
take to service of the needy. He wrote to his brother disciple Swami Akhandananda, It is
preferable to live on grass for the sake of doing good to others. The Gerua robe is not for
enjoyment. It is the banner of heroic work. You must give your body, mind, and speech to
"the welfare of the world". You have read --"[(Sanskrit)]-- look upon your mother as God,
look upon your father as God"-- but I say "[(Sanskrit)]-- the poor, the illiterate, the
ignorant, the afflicted -- let these be your God." Know that service to these alone is the
highest religion. (Vol VI 288)
That One who has manifested as many is our real Self. Aim of life is to realize that
Self. Thus serving others is for ones good as the other is only an extended form of
oneself. When once a disciple asked that What is the necessity at all for doing good to
others?
Swamiji replied, Well, it is necessary for one's own good. We become forgetful of
the ego when we think of the body as dedicated to the service of others -- the body with
which most complacently we identify the ego. And in the long run comes the consciousness
of disembodiness. The more intently you think of the well - being of others, the more
oblivious of self you become. In this way, as gradually your heart gets purified by work,
you will come to feel the truth that your own Self is pervading all beings and all things.
Thus it is that doing good to others constitutes a way, a means of revealing one's own Self
or Atman. Know this also to be one of the spiritual practices, a discipline for God
realization. (Volume VII p 111)
To god-oriented society of ours which had passed through many trials and
tribulations to keep its religion alive, the society which had found the way to hold on to its

3

religion by chanting names and doing poojas in the homes when the temples meant for
pooja and social regeneration were destroyed, he told authoritatively, "After so much
austerity, I have understood this as the real truth -- god is present in every Jiva; there is
no other God besides that. `Who serves Jiva, serves God indeed'." (Volume VII 247)
When once a disciple asked Swamiji that, What should be our motive in work --
compassion, or any other motive? Swamiji told that, Doing good to others out of
compassion is good, but the Seva (service) of all beings in the spirit of the Lord is
better.

Types of services that Swami Vivekananda told us to do
For India which was at the lowest ebb, the service was to be done at the various
levels.

Annam daddyat Offer food to the needy- The starving millions of India needed food.
Even today the problem is not that we do not have food to give to the hungry but our
feeling of oneness does not go beyond the family. Whatever is there is lavished only on
the family. Swamiji said very harshly to such persons, Does not our Vedanta also teach
us to see all with an equal eye? Why then do you cherish the idea that the wife and
children are your own, more than others? At your very threshold, Narayana Himself in the
form of a poor beggar is dying of starvation! Instead of giving him anything, would you
only satisfy the appetites of your wife and children with delicacies? Why, that is beastly!
(Volume V 381)
As per our culture, a person is to perform everyday Pancha Mahayagna of which
Narayagna or Bhutayagna meant feeding at least one hungry mouth before taking food for
the self. The practice of that Yagna should start again. A question may come that how in
our busy schedule we go about searching a hungry mouth in a city while staying at the
fifth floor. For that Shankaracharya of Kanchi had given a simple method. While cooking
food everyday keep aside handful of rice / wheat and at the month end hand it over to a
needy person. The question of hunger is not just because of imbalanced distribution but
also because of insensitivity. If the oneness is to be practiced then feeding the hungry
should be part of our daily practice.

Give them education Giving food to the hungry is fine, but if we can give him
education which can make him stand on his own feet and earn with self respect then that is
still better a service. Swami Vivekananda was confident that with the right education our
masses would work out the solutions to the problems. He said, The one thing that is at
the root of all evils in India is the condition of the poor. The poor in the West are devils;
compared to them ours are angels, and it is therefore so much the easier to raise our poor.
The only service to be done for our lower classes is to give them education, to develop

4

their lost individuality. ...They are to be given ideas; their eyes are to be opened to what is
going on in the world around them; and then they will work out their own salvation. Every
nation, every man, and every woman must work out their own salvation. Give them ideas -
- that is the only help they require, and then the rest must follow as the effect. Ours is to
put the chemicals together, the crystallisation comes in the law of nature. Our duty is to
put ideas into their heads, they will do the rest. This is what is to be done in India. It is this
idea that has been in my mind for a long time.
Eucation is not just for bread and butter or to cut them off from their roots.
Swamiji wanted such education should be given to masses which would keep their innate
spirituality intact. If India has to guide the world in spirituality, it should be in the lives of
the people, because the spirituality is always radiated and not taught. The education given
by the Christian missionaries and also the government schools was with lot of derision of
Hindu dharma. Swamiji feelingly wrote to his brother disciple, My whole ambition in life
is to set in motion a machinery which will bring noble ideas to the door of everybody, and
then let men and women settle their own fate. Let them know what our forefathers as well
as other nations have thought on the most momentous questions of life. Let them see
specially what others are doing now, and then decide. We are to put the chemicals
together, the crystallisation will be done by nature according to her laws. Work hard, be
steady, and have faith in the Lord. Set to work, Keep the motto before you --"Elevation
of the masses without injuring their religion".
Remember that the nation lives in the cottage. But, alas! nobody ever did anything
for them. Can you raise them? Can you give them back their lost individuality without
making them lose their innate spiritual nature? Can you become an occidental of
occidentals in your spirit of equality, freedom, work, and energy, and at the same time a
Hindu to the very backbone in religious culture and instincts? This is to be done and we
will do it. You are all born to do it. Have faith in yourselves, great convictions are the
mothers of great deeds. Onward forever! Sympathy for the poor, the downtrodden, even
unto death -- this is our motto. (Volume V page 29)
Thus education should be such that it should not hurt innate spirituality of our
masses or cut them off from their religion but should be for awakening the Divine.

Awaken the divine nature The ultimate service that can be done to an individual is to
awaken the divinity in him/her. Swami Vivekananda wrote in a letter to Sister Nivedita on
7 June 1896, My ideal indeed can be put into a few words and that is: to preach unto
mankind their divinity, and how to make it manifest in every movement of life.
To those preoccupied with their own salvation and practices, he said, Get up, and
put your shoulders to the wheel -- how long is this life for? As you have come into this
world, leave some mark behind. Otherwise, where is the difference between you and the
trees and stones? They, too, come into existence, decay and die. If you like to be born and

5

to die like them, you are at liberty to do so. Show me by your actions that your reading the
Vedanta has been fruitful of the highest good. Go and tell all, "In every one of you lies that
Eternal Power", and try to wake It up. What will you do with individual salvation? That is
sheer selfishness. Throw aside your meditation, throw away your salvation and such
things! Put your whole heart and soul in the work to which I have consecrated myself.
(Volume V 382)
How the divinity is manifested in ones life? By shunning oneself away from the
society? Swamiji was really revolutionary he said, The only way of getting our divine
nature manifested is by helping others to do the same. (Volume VI 319)

Regeneration of India - Swamiji wanted that the education should be such that the people
know what is happening in the other countries and in the context of that, they work out the
regeneration of India. We had stopped looking at the world and playing our role of
contributing to the good of the world that is why the degradation came. He envisaged such
an India to be rebuilt where the great principle of Oneness of Vedanta has become
practical. When the Oneness is experienced and gets manifested in the life of the people,
in the family, social, educational systems then all the above three types of service become
natural. Thus the ultimate type of service would be to rebuild our society based on
Oneness where every needy would be cared for, where everyone would get the education
required for his material and spiritual well-being and where everyone is employed in the
service of the others. It is such India which would be the Guru of the world.
Swamiji in his lecture at Lahore told, There has been enough of criticism, there
has been enough of fault - finding, the time has come for the rebuilding, the
reconstructing; the time has come for us to gather all our scattered forces, to concentrate
them into one focus, and through that, to lead the nation on its onward march we must
first seek out at the present day all the spiritual forces of the race, as was done in days of
yore and will be done in all times to come. National union in India must be a gathering up
of its scattered spiritual forces. A nation in India must be a union of those whose hearts
beat to the same spiritual tune. (Volume III page 367-371)
Vedanta ie the Oneness of the existence should be manifested again in the life of
all the castes. Swamiji instructed his disciples, Impress upon their (masses) minds that
they have the same right to religion as the Brahmins. Initiate all, even down to the
Chandalas (people of the lowest castes), in these fiery Mantras (of Vedanta of Oneness
and potential divinity). Also instruct them, in simple words, about the necessities of life,
and in trade, commerce, agriculture, etc. If you cannot do this, then fie upon your
education and culture, and fie upon your studying the Vedas and Vedanta! (Volume V
page 381)

6

The way of doing this Selfless Service
What to do to begin a selfless life is a concern for many. Selfless service does not
need big plans or procedures. But indeed, it needs an organized approach.

Just start doing the work, the required means would come - Generally the question is
how can we serve people? It needs money and we do not have it. The point is just start
doing whatever you can do and the means keep coming, the plan gets unfolded. The point
is worrying about many things we do not start the work. Desire remains as the desire and
then eventually evaporates. While encouraging his disciples to start feeding the infirm
people Swami Vivekananda told, In a truly noble work, not to speak of men, even God
Himself befriends the doer. Further when the disciple raised the doubt about the
availability of means and money, Swamiji immediately offered help from the
Ramakrishna Math and then said, ...You just find out one or two blind or infirm people
and apply yourself to their service. Go and beg food for them yourself; cook with your
own hands and feed them. If you continue this for some days, you will find that lots of
people will be coming forward to assist you with plenty of money. "-- never, my son, does
a doer of good come to grief." (Gita, VI.40) (Volume VII 160)

As we work selflessly the inner strength to do it increases - Many a times we hesitate to
start the work thinking do we have really the capacity to work for others? But as we start
doing work, the inner strength increases.
When a disciple apprehensively asked Swamiji, But where is that strength in us? I
should have felt myself blessed if I had a hundredth part of your powers, Swamiji., he
thundered, How foolish! Power and things like that will come by themselves. Put yourself
to work, and you will find such tremendous power coming to you that you will find it hard
to bear. Even the least work done for others awakens the power within; even thinking the
least good of others gradually instills into the heart the strength of a lion. I love you all
ever so much, but I wish you all to die working for others -- I should rather be glad to see
you do that! (Volume V 381)
Further citing the example of Sister Nivedita who had come from England and was
serving the people in India he said to his disciple, Don't you see how Sister Nivedita, a
British lady, has learnt to serve Indians so well, by doing even menial work for them? And
can't you, being Indians, similarly serve your own fellow - countrymen? ...it is better to die
with a great ideal in life. Preach this ideal from door to door, and you will yourselves be
benefited by it at the same time that you are doing good to your country. On you lie the
future hopes of our country. I feel extreme pain to see you leading a life of inaction. Set
yourselves to work -- to work! Do not tarry -- the time of death is approaching day by day!
Do not sit idle, thinking that everything will be done in time, later on! Mind -- nothing
will be done that way! (Volume V 382)

7

Do it in an organized way Selfless service needs to be done in an organized way so as
to reach out to many, to bring and involve those who want to work, to learn to be part of
the bigger I and give permanency to the work. Swami Vivekananda saw that in America
the people did not wait for some superman to come and do the difficult task. But they
organized themselves and combining the good in them achieved great things. Swami
Vivekananda continuously wrote to his disciples and brother disciples to organize to do
good to the people. In one of his letters to his brother disciple he wrote, I am giving you
a new idea. If you can work it out, then I shall know you are men and will be of service. . .
. Make an organized plan. You have got lots of poor and ignorant folk there. Go to their
cottages, from door to door, in the evening, at noon, any time -- and open their eyes.
Books etc., won't do -- give them oral teaching. Then slowly extend your centres. Can you
do all this? Or only bell - ringing? (Volume VI 289)

Do it without any expectations- When one starts working for the others it is again getting
entangled in so many tensions and stresses. Thus many feel that it is better not to get
caught into this. But when we are part of the world can we stand aside? Many start the
work either independently or in some organization and then experience lot of blows to
their ideas and feelings as they have to submit many a times to the will of the team.
Whether for others or for our selfish end every action does bring the bondage and tensions.
Does that mean we stay without actions? Is it really possible? Swami Vivekananda
explained this, This world's wheel within wheel is a terrible mechanism; if we put our
hands in it, as soon as we are caught we are gone. We all think that when we have done a
certain duty, we shall be at rest; but before we have done a part of that duty, another is
already in waiting. We are all being dragged along by this mighty, complex world -
machine. There are only two ways out of it; one is to give up all concerns with the
machine, to let it go and stand aside, to give up our desires. That is very easy to say, but is
almost impossible to do. I do not know whether in twenty millions of men one can do that.
The other way is to plunge into the world and learn the secret of work, and that is the way
of Karma-Yoga. Do not fly away from the wheels of the world - machine, but stand inside
it and learn the secret of work. Through proper work done inside, it is also possible to
come out. Through this machinery itself is the way out.
We have now seen what work is. It is a part of nature's foundation, and goes on
always. Those that believe in God understand this better, because they know that God is
not such an incapable being as will need our help. Although this universe will go on
always, our goal is freedom, our goal is unselfishness; and according to Karma-Yoga, that
goal is to be reached through work. All ideas of making the world perfectly happy may be
good as motive powers for fanatics; but we must know that fanaticism brings forth as
much evil as good. The Karma-Yogi asks why you require any motive to work other than
the inborn love of freedom. Be beyond the common worldly motives. "To work you have

8

the right, but not to the fruits thereof." Man can train himself to know and to practise that,
says the Karma-Yogi. When the idea of doing good becomes a part of his very being, then
he will not seek for any motive outside. Let us do good because it is good to do good; he
who does good work even in order to get to heaven binds himself down, says the Karma-
Yogi. Any work that is done with any the least selfish motive, instead of making us free,
forges one more chain for our feet.
So, the only way is to give up all the fruits of work, to be unattached to them. Know
that this world is not we, nor are we this world; that we are really not the body; that we
really do not work. We are the Self, eternally at rest and at peace. Why should we be
bound by anything? It is very good to say that we should be perfectly non - attached, but
what is the way to do it? Every good work we do without any ulterior motive, instead of
forging a new chain, will break one of the links in the existing chains. Every good thought
that we send to the world without thinking of any return, will be stored up there and break
one link in the chain, and make us purer and purer..., (Volume I 114)
Once while talking with his disciples Swamiji told that, The essential thing is
renunciation. Without renunciation none can pour out his whole heart in working for
others. The man of renunciation sees all with an equal eye and devotes himself to the
service of all. (Volume V 381)

Arise! Awake! And Stop not till the goal is reached!
Swami Vivekananda inspired many men and women. The freedom movement
itself owes its inspiration and momentum to this great soul. He revitalized India, she
started surging ahead. If today the world looks towards India as the up-coming world-
power the inspiration has been of Swami Vivekanandas.
The 150
th
Birth Anniversary of Swami Vivekananda is a great occasion again to
take up his message and to put it in action in various fields. Swami Vivekananda had great
faith in the younger generation. Today's youth too can come forward organize themselves
in the name of Swami Vivekananda in their own locality, college or village and take up
some work for service of the society taking into account the needs. Whatever is their core
idea or their interest or the need of the area, the youth can organize themselves in the name
of Swami Vivekananda to offer a tribute to him by rendering service in that field. For
example they could organize themselves to guide regularly the younger students of local
schools in their studies. As Swamiji had told 'muscles of iron and nerves of steel', the
youth could start an Akhada a body building association where everyday exercises, sits-
up, suryanamaskars etc are done. It is the confidence in the strong body that can help
youth to develop their personality as well as for self-protection. They can also organize
themselves to work among the people either in a locality or a village to create awareness
and suitable action about the water-management, cleanliness, up gradation of knowledge,
the consumerism that is consuming our families, traditions, natural resources etc.

9

First the youth can take up a simple survey to assess the need of the area where
they want to work, then make a plan with the basic core team available and then start the
work. To keep the vision of the work clear and also for team dynamics they can meet
weekly for review and planning and also for studying Swami Vivekananda and the
application of his ideas in the field selected for the service. If this thought of self-less
service is not lost sight of, then the selflessness of the youth coupled with their dynamism
and their organized strength would create immense impact on the society. And then we
can very well see the following words of Swami Vivekananda coming true, one vision I
see clear as life before me; that the ancient Mother has awakened once more, sitting on
Her throne-rejuvenated, more glorious than ever. Proclaim Her to all the world with the
voice of peace and benediction. (Volume IV 353)

Nivedita Raghunath Bhide is Vice-President of Vivekanand Kendra, Kanyakumari.

10

Swami Vivekananda: The Legendary Role Model of Present Day Youth

Swami Vivekananda: The Legendary Role Model of Present
Day Youth

Shivendra K. Kashyap and Richa Lohani

Introduction
The great men of earth are the shadow men, who, having lived and died, now live again
and forever through their undying thoughts. Thus living, though their footfalls are heard
no more, their voices are louder than the thunder, and unceasing as the flow of tides or
air.
- Henry Ward Beecher

Swami Vivekananda: a great sage, visionary, thinker and leader; is one such
hypnotic personality that continues to live with us through his ripple creating, man
making, revivalist thoughts, affecting the generation of today, previous generations and
many more generations to come. Driven by a missionary zeal, and a deep faith and
conviction in his ideas, Swamiji devoted his entire life in the pursuit of creating a revived
and evolved nation with its strong, fearless and spiritually enlightened citizens. But such
was his greatness that he never stood as doer and did every bit merely as an agent of
Swami Ramakrishna Paramhans: his guru. In the present era of chaos and disorder, it
becomes more and more a necessity, to understand the life and ideals of Swami
Vivekananda and find the applicability of his thoughts and philosophy in the present
context to live a more purposeful and healthier life.

A Divine Persona
A blend of deep mysticism, striking features and magnetic voice, Swami
Vivekananda possessed a magnificent personality. Such was his charisma that anybody
who came into his contact couldnt be left unmesmerized. Radiating immense confidence,
and enforcing expressions, his words used to leave undeletable impact on the minds of the
audience. His inherent divinity and deep inner conviction got reflected in his external
persona captivating his audiences and followers.

2

11

A Condensed India
With immense reverence and love for India, Swamiji devoted his entire life in the
service of mother nation. He plunged into the heart of the nation to sense and realize its
true spirit. Never satisfied in knowing things on surface level, Swami Vivekanand used to
fathom the depths, explored the facts in his own perspective, and encouraged others too
for the same:
'Do not believe in a thing because you have read about it in a book. Do not believe in a
thing because another man has said it was true. Do not believe in words because they are
hallowed by tradition. Find out the truth for yourself. Reason it out. That is realization.'
And hence, he traveled the length and breadth of the nation, met different people,
explored the root causes of the drudgery of Indian nation and tried to link the gaps with the
developments of the past. With his deep observation, analysis and interpretation, he got a
deeper understanding of Indian culture in true context and it further enabled him to
identify the strong as well as weak areas of the nation that needed working over. He also
discovered the treasures of ancient spiritual texts and mesmerized by their sheer beauty
and the powers they held, made his motto to introduce them to the nation and rest of the
world and enrich its religious and spiritual consciousness. With love for nation flowing
through his veins, and the welfare of nation and her citizens as the sole purpose of his life,
he was indeed a condensed India as he used to call himself.

A Radical Change Maker
Making man realize the divinity and immenseness within him, was his main motto.
He strongly felt that inactivity is the cause of all our miseries.
We are responsible for what we are, and whatever we wish ourselves to be, we have the
power to make ourselves. If what we are now has been the result of our own past actions,
it certainly follows that whatever we wish to be in future can be produced by our present
actions; so we have to know how to act.
He strongly believed that changes begin from within:
All healthy social changes are the manifestations of the spiritual forces working within,
and if these are strong and well adjusted, society will arrange itself accordingly. Each
individual has to work out his own salvation; there is no other way, and so also with
nations. Again, the great institutions of every nation are the conditions of its very
existence and cannot be transformed by the mould of any other race. Until higher
institutions have been evolved, any attempt to break the old ones will be disastrous.
Growth is always gradual.

An Advocate of Inherent Divinity and the Real Youth Icon
With his revolutionary ideas and endless faith in youth power, Swami
Vivekananda emerged as an unparalleled youth icon in the history of the world. He

12

believed that the unlimited potential inside the youth must be channelised and directed
towards positive, nation building work.
I have done nothing as yet; you have to do the task. If I die tomorrow the work will not
die. I sincerely believe that there will be thousands coming up from the ranks to take up
the work and carry it further and further, beyond all my most hopeful imagination ever
painted. I have faith in my country, and especially in the youth of my country.
He implored the young masses to come out of their self-imposed boundaries and
realize the powers that they possess, powers that can change the fate of the nation when
put into use:
Come out into the broad light of day, come out from the little narrow paths, for how can
the infinite soul rest content to live and die in small ruts?
Describing the state of mind of the Indian citizen as a hypnotized one, aligned to
inactivity or a specific pattern of negative and pessimistic thoughts, Swami Vivekananda
emphasized on the need to of dehypnotizing it through self realization:
Everybody is hypnotised already. The work of attaining freedom, of realising one's real
nature, consists in de - hypnotisation.

A Messenger of Strength
It was Strength that he emphasized the most, to be an integral part of every
human being. Taking an undoubtful stand against everything that weakens human values,
he appealed them to reject weakness in any form and be physically, intellectually and
spiritually strong. And truth was the way that he devised for it.
This is the question I put to every man, woman or child when they are in physical, mental
and spiritual training. Are you strong? Do you feel strength? for I know it is truth alone
that gives strength. I know that truth alone gives life, and nothing but going towards
reality will make us strong.

A Believer of Focused Mentality
Swami Vivekananda strongly conveyed the importance of identifying an objective
and focussing efforts in single direction to achieve a substantial output.
Do one thing at a time and while doing it put your whole soul into it to the exclusion of
all else, he used to say. Only men and women with focused thoughts and action can do
something worthwhile and help in contributing towards the nation, he felt.
Take up one idea. Make that one idea your life - think of it, dream of it, live on that idea.
Let the brain, muscles, nerves, every part of your body, be full of that idea, and just leave
every other idea alone. This is the way to success.

A Man of Deeds
Swami Vivekananda was not just a man of words, preaching and giving lectures,

13

he was a man of action, the one who lived and experienced every word he said. And this
being the reason why his teachings were found quite linking to anyone who read or heard
him, even in todays context. His life was a depiction of his preaching in utmost integrity.
Completely detached and aloof from any sort of bondages or possessiveness, he devoted
his life to selfless service. Accepting rules and limitations of monastery with a self-
induced discipline, he abided by them up to the last moment of life. He faced many
challenges in life but accepted all with an unwavering attitude. Living his sufferings with
compassion, he never diverged from the path of his mission.

Flexible yet Uncompromising
He was a man with flexible and open approach, ready to mould according to the
demands of surroundings, keeping himself open to other thought process, civilizations
etc., but never compromising his core ideals. A great visionary as he was, he possessed
perfect clarity in terms of his mission, values and the means to realize them.

A Logical Analyst
Curious and inquisitive in nature, Swamiji raised questions for every established
norm and demanded his own logical satisfaction for every tradition or practiced carried
out. Never convinced of general beliefs, he was critical of dogmas and orthodoxies and
presented the concept of religion in a very different light:
Religion has no business to formulate social laws and insist on the difference between
beings, because its aim and end is to obliterate all such fictions and monstrosities
For him, doing good and being good, was what religion in real terms aimed for.
This was the religion he taught about and this was the religion that he followed too.
The moment I have realized God sitting in the temple of every human body, the moment I
stand in reverence before every human being and see God in him - that moment I am free
from bondage, everything that binds vanishes, and I am free.

A Humanitarian and Apostle of Selfless Service
He talked about inner awakening and the right to serve rather than a might to
acquire. Selfishness, he considered as the greatest barrier to spiritual progress:
'It is selfishness that we must seek to eliminate. I find that whenever I have made a mistake
in my life, it has always been because self entered into the calculation. Where self has not
been involved, my judgement has gone straight to the mark.'
Merging his self with the universal self, his every work was directed towards the
well being of nation and humanity. As he said:
If you want to have life, you have to die every moment for it, so he lived his life too.
Working incessantly throughout life, Swamiji always felt that the life is too short
to accomplish the great tasks ahead.

14

It may be that I shall find it good to get outside of my body to cast it off like a disused
garment. But I shall not cease to work! I shall inspire men everywhere until the world
shall know that it is one with god.
And true to his words, he still is present in the form of an inspiration, directing us
towards a positive and purposeful life, his words still continue to spark the fire within the
hearts of all. His teachings and thoughts find relevance in present context and give a
deeper and purposeful insight to matters related to diverse fields. Introducing us to our
nation in a completely different light, he helps us explore the richness in its culture,
highlighting its greatness and uniqueness, and instilling inside us a sense of pride for being
a part of it.
He breathes through every revolution, every endeavour, every action that aims
towards man making and nation building.
Let the spirit of Vivekananda never die!!! Amen.

Reference
Kashyap, S.K. and Richa Lohani (2011). Motivational Leadership: Swami Vivekananda
way, VSM Publication

Shivendra K.Kashyap is Associate Professor at G.B.Pant University of Agriculture &
Technology, Pantnagar, Uttarakhand and Richa Lohani is Business Analyst at Genpact
Ltd., Gurgaon.

15

Spirituality as a Prerequisite of Humanity as Earmarked in Indian Culture and Ethos

Spirituality as a Prerequisite of Humanity
as Earmarked in Indian Culture and Ethos

Sonal Keshwani and Aastha Bajaj

Introduction
Spirituality can refer to an ultimate or an alleged immaterial reality; an inner path
enabling a person to discover the essence of his/her being; or the deepest values and
meanings by which people live. Spiritual practices, including meditation, prayer and
contemplation, are intended to develop an individual's inner life; spiritual experience
includes that of connectedness with a larger reality, yielding a more comprehensive self;
with other individuals or the human community; with nature or the cosmos; or with the
divine realm. Spirituality is often experienced as a source of inspiration or orientation in
life. It can encompass belief in immaterial realities or experiences of the immanent or
transcendent nature of the world.
Traditionally, many religions have regarded spirituality as an integral aspect of
religious experience. Among other factors, declining membership of organized religions
and the growth of secularism in the western world have given rise to a broader view of
spirituality. The term "spiritual" is now frequently used in contexts in which the term
"religious" was formally employed.
Secular spirituality emphasizes humanistic qualities such as love, compassion,
patience, tolerance, forgiveness, contentment, responsibility, harmony, and a concern for
others, aspects of life and human experience which go beyond a purely materialist view of
the world, without necessarily accepting belief in a supernatural reality or divine being.
Spiritual practices such as mindfulness and meditation can be experienced as beneficial or
even necessary for human fulfillment without any supernatural interpretation or
explanation. Spirituality in this context may be a matter of nurturing thoughts, emotions,
words and actions that are in harmony with a belief that everything in the universe is
mutually dependent; this stance has much in common with some versions of Buddhist
spirituality.
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When do we Experience Spirituality
Spirituality exists wherever we struggle with the issues of how our lives fit into the
greater scheme of things. This is true when our questions never give way to specific
answers or give rise to specific practices such as prayer or meditation. We encounter
spiritual issues every time we wonder where the universe comes from, why we are here, or
what happens when we die. We also become spiritual when we become moved by values
such as beauty, love, or creativity that seem to reveal a meaning or power beyond our
visible world. An idea or practice is "spiritual" when it reveals our personal desire to
establish a felt-relationship with the deepest meanings or powers governing life.

Indian Culture and Basis of Thinking
Indian culture and ethos are one of the oldest value systems in the history of human
civilization. Tyaga (renunciation), dana (liberal giving), nishtha (dedication), satya (truth),
ahimsa (non-violence) and upeksha (forbearance) are the foundations for the Indian values
system. That is the reason that numerous empires invaded India and went off, but India
never invaded any other nation of the world. India has always been the promoter of peace
and universal tolerance. Moreover, we welcomed foreigners and refugees from every
corner of the world and not only gave them shelter but assimilated them within us. We
accepted them with their own unique culture and lifestyle and thus, we have the most
diversified culture in the world where everyone has the freedom to practice his own
religion and spirituality. The richness and greatness of our ancient thoughts is amply
revealed in the few lines of Swami Vivekanands Chicago address of 1893 which instantly
bounded hundreds and thousands of audience of foreign lands in a unique thread of unity
and love. I am proud to belong to a religion which has taught the world both tolerance
and universal acceptance. We believe not only in universal toleration, but we accept all
religions as true. I am proud to belong to a nation which has sheltered the persecuted and
the refugees of all religions and all nations of the earth. I am proud to tell you that we
have gathered in our bosom the purest remnant of the Israelites, who came to Southern
India and took refuge with us in the very year in which their holy temple was shattered to
pieces by Roman tyranny. I am proud to belong to the religion which has sheltered and is
still fostering the remnant of the grand Zoroastrian nation. I will quote to you, brethren, a
few lines from a hymn which I remember to have repeated from my earliest boyhood,
which is every day repeated by millions of human beings: "As the different streams
having their sources in different paths which men take through different tendencies,
various though they appear, crooked or straight, all lead to Thee."
Service before self and Atithi Devo Bhav have been the driving principles of
Indian values. Respecting elders, loving younger and sacrificing our good for the sake of
our peers have been the guiding thoughts taught in the Indian ethos and morals. Our

17

society has always despised those who succeed at the cost of others. One Upanishad (holy
book) says:
Isha vasyam idam sarvam, yatkimcha jagatyam jagat. Ten tyakten bhunjitha, ma
gridhah kasya swid dhanam.
-Yajurveda-40/1
This whole circle of nature is fully pervaded by God whatever is in the universe is
under existence and control of almighty God. Renounce all that is injustice and enjoy all
that is pure delight. Dont covet/grab unjustly the wealth of any creature existing. It
means, O men, always enjoy your all justified wealth which is yours in accordance with
your practice of righteousness. Here is a great teaching for everyone that no one should be
greedy. God is everywhere and He alone sees our all actions and justifies our fruits as
well. So we should be confident on our deeds and satisfied with our achievement of fruits
whatever is justified by the supreme Judge/Lord/God.
In Bhagawad Geeta, it has been told karmanyevaadhikaraste ma phaleshu
kadachan means you have rights to do, not for fruits. This is actually called the duties
without the ambitions of fruits. And this type of duty becomes good deeds and that cause
not worldly pleasure but emancipated bliss.
When India was under British rule, hundreds of brave men, irrespective of their
status in society, gave up their lives and luxury giving prime importance to the service to
motherland and inspired millions of other Indians to work for the cause of their nation.
Today we regard such heroes as our role models and light houses. The virtue of sacrifice
for the good of the nation and humanity has been there in our blood since ages. We find
such apostles of sacrifice in all ages of time. We had Mother Teresa, Baba Amte working
for the cause of deprived people. Even today we find ample examples of this in our
country. Ashish Gautam, a graduate by education, is running a project Divya Prem Seva
Mission for serving leprosy stricken poor people and educating and training them and
their children in Haridwar, Uttarakhand, India. There are numerous examples like Ashish
Gautam who, inspite of being well qualified, are moved by the deprivation prevailing
around them and hence, sought to contribute their life in alleviating misery from their
society.

Sacrifice Impossible Without Sensitivity
This feeling of sacrifice for the good of others and putting others needs above ones
own self cannot be realized without sensitivity. Sensitivity is nothing but the strength of
physical or emotional reaction in people or the ability to which one can empathize with
others. This feeling differentiates the behaviour of different people. The more practical
ones go on living their lives in their selfish pursuits unmindful of the pain and misery
inflicting the society they are living in but the more sensitive ones get perturbed seeing the
harsh life of poor, needy, illiterate or even just the ones less fortunate than them, though

18

their own lives might be luxurious. This difference in perception and behaviour of people
arises because those who are able to penetrate in their self beyond the limitation of
physical realm of body and bodily needs can only manifest this humanity to feel for
others. Swami Vivekananda ji also said So long as the millions live in hunger and
ignorance, I hold every man a traitor who, having been educated at their expense pays not
the least heed to them.
But in order to relate to this broader virtue of humanity, where one can feel for the
needs of others just like ones own needs, one needs to be spiritual by nature. Let us
understand why.

Spirituality as the Mother of Humanity
As said earlier, being spiritual does not mean being religious or having affinity for
some religious thoughts, rather it means having faith in the essential unity of souls with
the supreme Soul. It means coming out of the limitations of physical body and realizing
that you are not just the body but the soul. This soul is nothing but a reflection of that
infinite, seamless, all powerful, ocean of energy which we call Supreme Soul or God or
Almighty. It is unbounded, unlimited, all pervading and the same for all beings,
irrespective of the color, appearance of their bodies. Swami Vivekanand explained it thus
Each soul is potentially divine. The goal of education is to manifest the divinity within.
Swami Vivekananda wanted to touch the ultimate truth through tapasya...but his mentor
and guru Swami Ram Krishna Paramhans didnt permit him. Paramhans proposed a new
concept of practical spirituality in-front of Vivekananda. And there Vivekananda
understood and pronounced a fusion of divinity and humanity. Vivekananda realized his
spirituality through his unconditional sacrifice and intense love for all human beings,
through his compassion for all less-privileged people.... through his total and one-pointed
dedication to motherland.
Swami Vivekananda said, He who gives man spiritual knowledge is the greatest
benefactor of mankind and a such we always find that those were the most powerful of
men who helped man in his spiritual needs, because spirituality is the true basis of all our
activities in life.
'Not compassion for others, but service to others as God'. Such mantras come only
when one feels the truth of divinity in each being, it is not a mere rhetoric, but a fact that
one has experienced. And through service to humanity Swami Vivekananda progressed on
the path of spiritual growth.
Buddha said, "I do not care to know your various theories about God. What is the
use of discussing all the subtle doctrines about the soul? Do good and be good. And this
will take you to freedom and to whatever truth there is." This great philosopher, preaching
the highest philosophy, yet had the deepest sympathy for the lowest of animals, and never
put forth any claims for him.

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Thus we see that only when you start identifying yourself with others, only when
you can sense the essential unity of all beings among themselves and with God, only when
you see others as your own extended self, only then you become sensitized to see them in
pain and get ready to sacrifice anything to alleviate that pain. So, spirituality is indeed the
basis of all humanity. In the nutshell spirituality is the key virtue that nurtures the noble
ideals of compassion, selflessness, tolerance, detachment, sensitivity, faith, devotion,
sacrifice, morality. Our life blood is spirituality. If it flows clear, if it flows strong and
pure and vigorous, everything is right. Political social and any other material defects, even
the poverty of land, all will be cured if the blood is pure.

Present Challenges
Todays generation has unfortunately moved away from the essential ingredients
of harmonious living i.e. spirituality and sensitivity. The world today is confronted with
multiple challenges. Poverty, hunger, malnutrition, piracy, theft, terrorism, bribery,
nepotism are widely prevalent problems in todays global society. The rift between the
rich and poor is widening day by day which can be directly attributed to utter selfish and
negligent attitude of the privileged class towards the deprived ones. Though the number of
measures to eliminate hunger, poverty, unemployment and illiteracy are increasing, but
these problems always seem to be on rise. This is because our efforts are not
wholehearted. Corruption is rampant in the administrative structure and we do not hesitate
to amass the wealth of country allocated for the upliftment of the needy and deprived.
Indiscriminate cutting down of trees and forests for over ambitious
industrialization prospects as well as over exploitation of natural resources like petroleum
is leading to unwarranted environmental challenges. Global warming, melting of glaciers,
depletion of ozone layer, oil slick, environmental pollution, extinction of animal and plant
species are just a few of the side effects of blind materialism practiced worldwide today.
The menace of terrorism which is raising its ugly head in a new place each day has its
roots in sheer directionless and disorientation of youth and rampant religious intolerance.
Number of terror attacks in 2005 was 651 while in 2010, the number raised to 11632
(International Data, US DOS figures). The crime rate among the youngsters is increasing.
The following data on consumption of drugs among teenagers gives an idea of the issue.

Drug and alcohol Use
By the time most teenagers get to 15-16 years old, around 80% have already used
alcohol and 65% of those have been drunk.
Hospital admissions linked to alcohol use have more than doubled in the UK over
the last 10 years, to over 200,000 in the last year, and there has been a 20%
increase in GPs making prescriptions for alcohol dependency in the last 4 years.

20

Around 95% of alcoholics die from their disease and approximately 26 years
earlier than their normal life expectancy.
The annual value of the global illegal drugs trade is around $400 billion.
Global suicide rates have increased 60% in the past 45 years which reveals the
dissatisfaction and fragility of nature and lack of strength of character among people.

The Way Out
Eyeing the multiple problems afflicting the global society today, we are forced to
think a common solution which can come to our aid. As we saw, most of these issues are
related to the selfish, ignorant and materialist outlook of people. Unless we bring a
revolution in the thoughts of people, we cannot dream of bringing an end to these multi
thronged challenges. As we know, thoughts make up character and character defines
attitude and action of people. We need to popularize the religion of selflessness as
propagated by Vivekananda. He said The only definition of morality is: all that is selfless
is moral and that all that is selfish is immoral. This alone should be the basis of all
religions and doctrines followed worldwide. It can be the sole remedy to the pain and
affliction of people in this callous and selfish scenario. Spirituality teaches Universal Love
and tolerance. Where there is light, there is no question of darkness and where there is
spirituality, there is no question of hatred. Spirituality aims at leading a contended life
within limited resources. Spirituality brings closer to nature and infuses Universal love.
With a true spiritual outlook, one can find no distinction between others and ones own
self. With such purity and divinity of thoughts, the virtues of selflessness, love and
tolerance will automatically flow. I read one of the simple yet deeply touching quotations
which explain the beauty of spirituality effectively. It says:
I tried to find myself, but couldnt, I tried to find God, but couldnt, I tried to find
my brethren, and I found all three.

References
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spirituality
http://www.worldhunger.org/articles/Learn/world%20hunger%20facts%202002.htm
http://www.alcoholism-and-drug-addiction-help.com/alcoholism-statistics.html

Sonal Keshwani is Research Scholar in Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore and Aastha
Bajaj is Software Engineer in IBM India.

21

Educational Aspects of Swami Vivekananda and their Applicability in Present Context

Educational Aspects of Swami Vivekananda and their
Applicability in Present Context

Richa Pyasi

Introduction
Vedic Rashes have always seen this world as one united family and described it
as Vasudhaiv kutumbkam. It has always been a wonderful motto of India to teach
whole world a lesson of humanity and sacrifice.
Worlds most ancient Authentic literature Veda is its proof. Rigveda has a
fine collection of certain Mantras which gives a direction about good teaching system.
Education is a process which can bring about an overall development of a person & which
ensures progress of a country.
-( l(i in (i -(| -( l(i in (i -(| -( l(i in (i -(| -( l(i in (i -(|
(iii li-ilniir| (iii li-ilniir| (iii li-ilniir| (iii li-ilniir|
( (i -(---i i lr ( l i ( (i -(---i i lr ( l i ( (i -(---i i lr ( l i ( (i -(---i i lr ( l i
-- riili|| -- riili|| -- riili|| -- riili||
-Rigveda Page number 226
In above Mantra: Prayers are offered to fire considering it as a king of whole
world. Meaning: oh! Fire! its your divine power which gives birth to Brahmins, Its you
which give rise to brave men, you are very kind and we pray for goodness and power from
you It also points that a king should encourage spiritual, economical and all types of
educational methods in its domain.
There are many such mantras in our shastras which discuss about ideal syllabus
in schools, student-teacher relationship, behavior of students towards their teachers, and
many more such issues.
Vivekanandas vision for education was as bold and as effective as the sun rays in
the morning which are capable of eliminating entire darkness of world after a long dark
period. Swamiji was born on the divine land of India to carry out the responsibility of
giving this country a proper direction & motto of living. His thoughts & vision are not
4

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only for the benefit of India but they extend towards the welfare of the whole human
society because they have a very strong motivational approach.
Once swamiji asked himself one question Is India going to die? Then he bravely
replied that no this can never happen because if India dies then whatever around the world
is positive and kind will also decline. Swamiji once suspected that if something like this
happens then there will be an increase in negative energies, misdeeds and crime round the
world.
Today we can see that all suspicions about moral deterioration of world is coming
true. So in this critical situation we should follow the path shown by him. Swamiji
described education as: Education is continual growth of personality, steady
development of character and the qualitative improvement of life. A trained mind has the
capacity to draw spiritual nourishment from every experience, be it defeat or victory
sorrow or joy. Education is training the mind not stuffing the brain
Education is not the amount of information that is put in your brain which
remains there undigested all your life. We must have a life building, man making,
character building assimilation of ideas.
We analyze that according to him: the purpose of education should be formation of
strong character and development of a sense which directs the person to differentiate
between right or wrong, truth or false. He always emphasized on increasing the practical
aspects of life. Stuffing the brain with many facts is not education but analyzing and using
them in day to day life is important.
Although we are developing in many fields but our cultural & moral aspects are
deteriorating with time. Today we need to develop a strong social structure which can
nourish our brains, our emotions and feelings. Swamijis vision was to make coming
generations more strong in every aspect of life. We can classify his important teachings
into following ways:

Practical Teachings
Swamiji said: when we talk about development of a country, first we discuss about
its people. only good, well educated and emotionally balanced people can form a stable
society, According to him: it will be wrong to evaluate a person on the basis of number of
professional degrees acquired by him, but a person should be judged on the basis of his
behavior, kindness, character. His good deed and activeness in society determines that
how well educated the person is.
To grasp the knowledge a person should be mentally alert & physically fit. To
enhance these qualities swamiji has suggested few steps:

Concentration: Every work should be done with concentration and full involvement. To
enhance this power one should practice meditation. Human brain has got numerous

23

powers and an average person utilizes only ten per cent power of its brain and rest ninty
per cent energy goes wasted in negative thinking and wrong thoughts. If cent per cent
capacity of brain is utilized than we can achieve miraculous results.
Swamiji said-if you want to know about character and deeds of a person, then
dont judge him on the basis of his big deeds but examine his day to day small works. His
behavior toward others better describes his character and sensitivity towards society. He
defined this by a beautiful story:- If we stand besides an ocean we hear huge noise of
sea waves but the fact is that one big sea wave is composed of several small waves and we
ignore sound produced by individual wave.

Moral Teachings
When we succeed in developing moral values in a person then only we can dream
of a compact and stable society. Certain moral values are discussed here:

Self evaluation: it means to analyze our-self rather than pointing fingers on others. But
this point of self-evaluation should not be wrongly interpretated in few cases like, if
parents and teachers are informing their children about there mistakes then its their duty to
correct it.
Swami ji once said to his students that one should never deviate from the path of
honesty, hard work and truth. Only after crossing big hurdles one reaches the desired goal.
Big success is possible only after facing difficulties and opposition in life.
According to swamiji if you have not faced any problem in your life then may be
you are on a wrong track. Problems in life are means of testing any ones patience and
tolerance.
When we talk about making a good nation than first thing that comes in mind is its
people which form the nation. Today it seems that there are only few people who think of
doing work honestly & completely. This is the very reason of increase in number of issues
of corruption, crime, inequality, scams and other such problems.
In the mad race of economic development we have forgotten the importance of
emotions and feelings. The consequences can be seen in the form of increase in number of
cases of suicide and depression.

Social Teachings
Swamiji always gave stress on education of each and every section of society. He
said that womens education should be given importance and preference. They play a vital
role in balancing our social structure. He discussed about the right to education for all and
said that education should not be considered as a property of any one section of society.
Infact every one has the right to get educated.

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Economic Teachings
i) He said that in life only little money, comfort and property are needed for proper
living. But humans have developed a tendency of passing their valuable time and
efforts only in greed of money and we know that greed of anything misleads a
person. It is written in our shastra that:-
ln ( ( n| ln ( ( n| ln ( ( n| ln ( ( n|
(ii) Money and Wealth should be utilised for the welfare of society: Swamiji
suspected this long ago that in coming years people will become self centred and
we can see that all such suspicions are coming true today.
Globalization is taking place only in terms of money, technology and glamour, while
love, affection and sensitivity is diminishing among masses. Materialistic world is killing
our spiritualism.
Swamijis teachings can be seen in his own behavior through certain incidences:
1. Once swamiji and one sadhu were standing beside a river. There were no boats to
cross the river. But sadhu announced that he can cross it and said proudly to Swamiji
that this is a very tough skill and it took long time to learn it. In reply of this challenge
Swamiji calmly said to sadhu that you wasted your whole life in learning it, which
was of not much practical use to you. This incidence teaches us that one should learn
only those things which are more important in life.
2. When swamiji returned from Chicago everyone in India was eager to meet him and
honour him.One sex worker along with her mother came to see swamiji. He met
them with great respect. There was a huge hue and cry over his decision of meeting a
sex worker but swamiji talked to that women in front all and said to her that I
respect you as you are keeping this society clean, by allowing these men to come to
you. In this way you are saving our wives and sisters. Your contribution in keeping
this society safe and clean is as great as any other great persons contribution.

Conclusion
According to swamiji it will be wrong to evaluate any person only on the basis of
number of degrees acquired by him, but its his behavior towards others, his character,
honesty, sensitivity, responsibility towards society that determines how-well educated the
person is. One should gather knowledge & take lessons from every thing which is
happening around. Only a trained mind can grasp all these facts. To save the world
swamiji had given many solutions among then is good and effective education planning.
According to swami Vivekananda:-
1. The motto of education should not be mere collection of degrees but it should extend
to development of mental and spiritual powers.
2. Mental strength can be increased only when mind has full control over its thoughts.

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3. This precious human life should not be wasted only in desire of money, name and
fame. Instead life should be dedicated to country & work.
4. It will be wrong to consider the luxury & comfort as the ultimate pleasure of life. But
the real pleasure of life lies in upliftment of thoughts and bringing happiness for
whole humanity.
5. Self evaluation: A person meets with outside world daily but he forgets and ignores
meeting with himself. The day one meets hisself, he learns the real objective of life.
6. Good character: Character building is very necessary for welfare of society. It can
solve the challenging situations like corruption & terrorism.
7. Beyond the class room education: Swamiji always discussed about the practical
implementation of gained knowledge. One should take lessons from past &
happenings around them.
8. Positive thinking and proper utilization of energy: Positive thinking can bring
miraculous results, it can conquer all problems.
9. Concentration: Any work should be done with full involvement & full dedication.
10. Self control: one must have a self control over their thoughts, & deeds. We can see
that todays youth is lacking this quality somewhere in life.
That person is the happiest person of the world who possess self-knowledge and
satisfaction
l-i l-ii ni ii- i l-i l-ii ni ii- i l-i l-ii ni ii- i l-i l-ii ni ii- i
r i i l( iln i-i | r i i l( iln i-i | r i i l( iln i-i | r i i l( iln i-i |
n-i--- ln iii-- ii n-i--- ln iii-- ii n-i--- ln iii-- ii n-i--- ln iii-- ii
ii ln ii(ni n ii- | ii ln ii(ni n ii- | ii ln ii(ni n ii- | ii ln ii(ni n ii- |
-Vivekananda Sahitya; 2/141
Swamiji is still alive because he is there in everyones heart and mind in form
of his wonderful thoughts. Today his teachings are more relevant and meaningful.

Richa Pyasi is masters student at Jawahar Lal Nehru Krishi Vishwavidhyalaya, Jabalpur
(M.P.)

26

Swami Vivekananda and his Contribution to the World

Swami Vivekananda and his Contribution to the World

Sukanya Thapliyal

Introduction
Man is not bound by any other law except what he makes for himself. the above
line clearly encapsulates the zest of all that what was treasured by swami Vivekananda, a
valiant monk of our past who opened up new dimensions to a better and a beautiful world
we dream of.
Swami Vivekananda was the religious leader whose work and efforts were not
only concentrated to the understanding of religion and spreading its word across the
nation. He made appreciable efforts for the overall upliftment of the poor and
downtrodden, he was the first religious leader to understand and openly declare that the
real cause of Indias downfall was the neglect of the masses. He grasped the crux of the
problem of such deprivation and poverty in India (which had escaped the attention of the
soul reformer of the days) owing to the centuries of oppression of the downtrodden masses
that have lost their faith in themselves and capacity to improve their lot. He understood
that first of all it is necessary to infuse into their minds, faith in themselves. This can be
done by a life-giving, inspiring message. Swamiji found this message in the principle of
the Atman, the doctrine of the potential divinity of the soul, taught in Vedanta, the ancient
system of religious philosophy of India. He saw that, in spite of poverty, the masses clung
to religion, but they had never been taught the life-giving, ennobling principles of Vedanta
and how to apply them in practical life.
Thus the masses needed two kinds of knowledge: secular knowledge to improve
their economic condition and spiritual knowledge to infuse in them faith in themselves and
strengthen their moral sense. The next question was how to spread these two kinds of
knowledge among the masses? Through education this was the answer that Swamiji
found. Where religion is the best unifying factor among people, educating them with
proper interpretation of religion can lead the ignorant towards the doors of peace and
prosperity, imbibing them with the sense of acceptance toward different viewpoints and
beliefs which can come only through proper education and spreading awareness.
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Swami Vivekananda made numerous successful efforts to set up machinery which
will bring noblest ideas to the doorstep of even the poorest and the meanest. It was to
serve as this machinery that Swamiji founded the Ramakrishna Mission in which monks
and lay people would jointly undertake propagation of Practical Vedanta, and various
forms of social service, such as running hospitals, schools, colleges, hostels, rural
development centres etc, and conducting massive relief and rehabilitation work for victims
of earthquakes, cyclones and other calamities, in different parts of India and other
countries. Other than this he formed Belur Math that established a new, universal pattern
of monastic life which adapts ancient monastic ideals to the conditions of modern life,
which gives equal importance to personal illumination and social service, and which is
open to all men without any distinction of religion, race or caste that in itself is a
marvelous effort by swami Vivekananda as he not only preached ideal path but also
sought ways to imbibe such thoughts and practices in our daily lives. In the words of first
Prime Minister, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru who stated: Rooted in the past, full of pride in
Indias prestige, Vivekananda was yet modern in his approach to lifes problems, and was
a kind of bridge between the past of India and present. He came as a tonic to the depressed
and demoralized Hindu mind and gave them self-reliance and pride of their cultural
heritage.

Major Contribution of Swami Vivekananda
He propounded and proposed a completely new and impressive understanding
about religion. He interpreted religion as a universal experience of transcendent Reality,
common to all humanity. Swamiji met the challenge of modern science by showing that
religion is as scientific as science itself; religion is the science of consciousnesses. As
such, religion and science are not contradictory to each other but are complementary.
This universal conception frees religion from the hold of superstition, dogmatism,
priest craft and intolerance, and makes religion the highest and noblest pursuit the
pursuit of supreme Freedom, supreme Knowledge and supreme Happiness.
He evolved the concept of potential divinity of the soul that gives a new,
ennobling concept of man. The present age is the age of humanism which holds that man
should be the chief concern and centre of all activities and thoughts. Through science and
technology man has attained great prosperity and power, and modern methods of
communication and travel have converted human society into a global village. But the
degradation of man has also been going on apace, as witnessed by the enormous increase
in broken homes, immorality, violence, crime, etc. in modern society. Vivekanandas
concept of potential divinity of the soul prevents this degradation, divinizes human
relationships, and makes life meaningful and worth living. Swamiji has laid the foundation
for spiritual humanism, which is manifesting itself through several neo-humanistic
movements.

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Another great contribution of Swami Vivekananda was to build a bridge between
Indian culture and Western culture. He did it by interpreting Hindu scriptures, philosophy,
the Hindu way of life and institutions to the Western people in an idiom which they could
understand. He made the Western people realize that they had to learn much from Indian
spirituality for their own well-being. He showed that, in spite of India poverty and
backwardness, she had a great contribution to make to the world culture. In this way he
was instrumental in ending Indias cultural isolation from the rest of the world. He was
Indias first great cultural ambassador to the West.
On the other hand, Swamijis interpretation of ancient Hindu scriptures,
philosophy, institutions, etc prepared the mind of Indians to accept and apply in practical
life two best elements of Western culture, namely science, technology and humanism.
Swamiji has taught Indians how to incorporate Western science and technology and at the
same time develop spiritually. Swamiji has also taught Indians how to adapt Western
humanism (especially the ideas of individual freedom, social equality and justice and
respect for women) to Indian ethos.

Swami Vivekanandas Teachings in Present Day World
What swami Vivekananda contributed to us can hardly be forgotten but in the
present situation we are facing an unprecedented set of problems relating to The
Environment, social, cultural problems and the ongoing process of Spiritual Decline. We
stand at the Abyss, at the steadily approaching threshold of unimaginable chaos, calamity,
death and destruction in a World partly characterized unfortunately, by corruption,
oppression, exploitation, conspiracy and injustice, also a world riddled with division,
conflict, terrorism and mutual distrust. There are also spiritual problems in present times
which relates to the issues surrounding the process of Secularization and the reaction of
Religion in the face of the rise of Scientific Rationalism. Though the world is coming
together under one roof we still live in a world of ideological and religious differences.
The discoveries of science and technology and onset of religion, its ideas, institutions,
rituals and its belief in modernizing society today but there is also existence of people
living with same thoughts and beliefs, with which they have been living for centuries.
Therefore things are quite complex today where not only we have to tackle the
unprecedent set of problems but also have to avoid any clash in the ideologies, bringing
about all the people of different mental status together and lead them for better future
accepting each other as they are without rise of any sort of confrontation among them.

Relevance of Vivekanandas Thoughts
Swami Vivekanandas thoughts are of much more relevance as they not only
preach religion, importance of ethics and values on the ground of fear fear of the police,
fear of public ridicule, fear of Gods punishment, fear of Karma, and so on but tries to

29

bring together all the people by properly satisfying their reasonability of religion on the
ground of science (as it is scientific era based on reasonability), by spreading awareness
among the ignorant and long forgotten masses. Swami Vivekananda never forced his
thoughts upon people or tried to prove the dominance of one culture over another but
accepted each and every religious belief as it is and tried to assimilate them altogether. He
tried to make different religions complementary rather than contradictory and made their
interpretation more clear. He also provided them with secular knowledge to improve their
economic condition, and spiritual knowledge to infuse in them faith in themselves and
strengthen their moral sense for the overall development of the society which is the one of
the major necessity of the present time.

A New Idea Working Simultaneously At Two Levels
The application of these thoughts needs a slight amendment when we try to relate
it with present scenario. With the increase in the complexity in our lives as things are not
that simple as they used to be and bringing about people of different sectors, mindset and
orientation together is a tedious task.
The need today is to introduce such deep revolutionary, reformative ideas at two
different levels simultaneously, one is to introduce such thought processes at the very
basic education level of the child so that he/she could be brought up with good
understanding about religion, people and culture and second is contributing towards a
larger picture which involves work towards the empowerment of the underprivileged
people seeking the assistance and the involvement of thinkers, philosophers,
parliamentarians, NGOs, students and every possible human being who is the part of the
society formulating the system of coexistence and harmony.
Introducing vivekanandas teaching at a very basic education level will help in
eliminating any sort of wrong notion prevailing in the society concerning culture, beliefs
and religion at a moldable age rather than working on them at a stage when it becomes
much difficult to change. This would make a lasting effect on our society and would be a
weapon to fight against all social odds prevalent. this would help the child to build into an
open minded, adaptable and a productive individual instilled with the sense of service and
compassion towards the downtrodden section of our society, who loves himself to
understand that only mutual respect i.e. Love for every living being will help him/her
attain peace and be progressive. Introduction of such thoughts at the elementary level will
help to create a sense of morality among the young ones. The introduction of such an
exercise enables to create a reformed social order. For eg. The ongoing moral crises in
west where the introduction of these thoughts (moral classes involving meditation and
religious education) at school level really helped them to sustain and direct their energy in
a productive direction. The introduction at school level has really helped them to look
beyond their materialistic world that they have framed for themselves and made them

30

realize their duty towards society, has helped in creating a balance in their lives. Also if
we look at the problem of terrorism we would find that this problem is so intense and
strong today is because of the wrong thinking and notions implanted in them at a very
initial level of their life that became so strong that it has became almost impossible to
change their mindset and stop this terrorism industry from flourishing ahead. They have
been led towards a completely wrong direction making this problem of terrorism a severe
threat for the whole world.
Other than this the work at the second level that consists of the efforts of the
thinkers, preachers, student, NGOs and other volunteer would focus on the present need
of society and help the affected people, take necessary steps required for the libralisation
of downtrodden and neglected mass.
The work at both the level are intertwined and complementary to each other which
would facilitate to create and egalitarian society with no or less ideological moral and
personal indifferences .

Conclusion
This would not only lead us to the improvement of our social order by
enlightenment of the people and proper interpretation of religion on the ground of
reasonability but will also open up the minds of the people and help them in channelizing
their energies in positive direction. It would not only help them fight the wrong things
going on in our society like corruption, oppression, exploitation, conspiracy and injustice
through the actual self transformation without any major conflict and make people
understand the real meaning and aim behind education aimed towards social service to
make a real big and worthy contribution to world in which we are living today and religion
as a path to peace and prosperity rather than a reason of conflict among the people of
different beliefs accepting them as they are so that the whole social order could be
improved and their could be spread of long lasting peace and prosperity .
Lastly the conclusion we are heading to is the simple beautiful thought carved in a
Buddhist verse that says:
We are what we think, Having become what we thought.
Like a wheel that follows the cart pulling ox, Sorrow follows an evil thoughts.
And joy follows a pure thought, Like a shadow faithfully trailing man.
We are what we think, Having become what we thought.

Reference
The complete work of Vivekananda: Advaita Ashrama, Calcutta
Religion and culture by S. Radhakrishnan: Hind Pocket Books (P) Ltd.

Sukanya Thapliyal is student at University of Petroleum and Energy Studies, Dehradun,
Uttarakhand.

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Catalyzing a change in the education system based on Swamijis thoughts and principles
Saving Hsumanity: Swami Vivekananda Perspective

Catalyzing a change in the education system based on
Swamijis thoughts and principles

Aakanksha Melkani and Goldi Tewari

Introduction
With a 55% demographic dividend, India as a nation stands on the brink of the
creation of a new future. In what forms will that future manifest itself is a question that
lingers on with much contemplation. Such a large, youthful, enthusiastic, energetic
population of 460 million can steer the nation into any direction. It can create an
environment of productive growth, peace, harmony and a wholesome society. In contrast,
it can play havoc and destroy generations of hard work. The difference is only in the
direction into which the youthful energy is channelised.
We only need a little observation to notice that the generation of the future is also a
generation of confusion. Armed with the powers of rational and scientific thought, the
latest technological progress, a competitive temperament, physical and mental capabilities
to undertake arduous tasks yet unable to harness this potential. Rather misutilizing their
energies into destructive and unproductive activities. It seems a shame that we gawk as
passive onlookers while such a precious resource is wasted.
To find a solution to a problem we must first dig out the root cause of the problem.
One of the basic causes behind the degeneration of values and purposeful directions
among youth today is the lack of proper guidance and leadership. In the ocean of
information and data, we seem to be a lost and confused lot with manifolds of directions
confronting us. Furthermore, in the flux of constant and rapid change the older generation
itself seems perplexed about its roles. The lacuna thus created can be filled by effective
educational institutes as the major part of a youths life is associated with them. This is
possible provided the education imparted here is not limited to the intellectual growth
but contributes to the building of the students character.
Sadly, this is exactly where we find ourselves in a dismal state. The field of
education has seen little innovation since past many years and teaching has become a
profession of last choice rather than a respect worthy endeavour.
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We need radical changes in this scenario based on strong principles, which can be
found in abundance in Swami Vivekanandas thoughts on education. His ideas on youth,
leadership and education are immortal and most relevant today at this moment of dire need
for strong foundations.

Present day problems of the education system and their possible solutions:
I. Purposeless Education
The problem
It is commonplace in India to find every other student pursuing an engineering
degree or an admission to a medical institute. Coaching institutes have mushroomed in
every nook and corner of every city and town. Joining hands with them to reap most from
this profitable business are the multitude of private institutions. We have students, raw
and young, abandoning schools for undergoing rigorous training in coaching institutes at
the cost of their physical and mental well being. All this for the sake of making money,
meeting the parents expectations or creating a social status through lucrative jobs! This
leads to frustration, depressions, suicides in case the student is unable to achieve these
ambitious goals. Suicide appallingly is the second leading cause of death among college
students. In other cases stagnation in growth occurs once the short term goals of admission
into recognized institutes or getting the sought job is fulfilled.
From the lack of innovations in research and technology and our constant need to
pursue foreign firms for technological advancements to the widening gap between the rich
and poor all thread back to the problem of purposeless education.

The solution
The question that arises is that if merely job creation does not qualify as the
ultimate goal of education, then what does?
Swamiji in this context has said, The purpose of higher education is to find out
how to solve the problems of life.
The education which does not help the common mass of the people to equip
themselves for the struggle for life, which does not bring out the strength of character, a
spirit of philanthropy and the courage of a lion - is it worth the name?
Real education is that which enables one to stand on ones own legs.
Swamiji had wanted our educated youth and professionals to spend 5 years of their
life in teaching the rural masses and contributing to the marginalized society. In China
such reforms were introduced by Chairman Mao in 1965 under the Great Proletarian
Cultural Revolution. It is a result that China has a much narrower disparities in income
and living standards than India.
When we witness depravity, crime, narrow mindedness or any other form of social
or economic constraint within our periphery, it is a natural instinct to blame the

33

Government. However, we ourselves are as much to blame for being passive onlookers of
the state of the nation.
Our Government spends $14000 on primary and secondary education of every
individual within the nation (compared to $9000 in the U.S.A. and Australia)
Thus, the onus lies with the educated and privileged class in building of a better nation and
world. We cannot afford to attain purposeless education!

II. Education reduced to rote learning
The problem
Education is not the filling of the bucket but igniting a candle.
Rote learning and patternised study has become synonymous with our present
education system. It is a problem that filters into every facet of education from the
primary level to middle, high school or higher education.
At primary level we find students memorizing chapters and vomiting them on the
answer sheets. The trend continues as education advances. Even in higher studies
qualifying most competitive examinations requires patternized application of formulas.
Original thought and innovative ideas are rarely encouraged. Enquiry is considered
disturbance and creativity is dubbed as restlessness. The problem spreads like a
plague when students adapt themselves to these patterns and do not want to make genuine
efforts towards learning. Thus we have a mob of walking encyclopedias but little
capacity to analyze and apply our knowledge.

The solution
Swamiji had spoken about education, Education is not the amount of information
that is put into your brain and runs riot there, undigested all your life. We must have life
building, man making, and character making assimilation of ideas. If you have assimilated
five ideas and made them your life and character you have more education than any man
who has got by heart a whole library.
He described education as, The training by which the current and expression of
will and brought under control and become fruitful.
Swamiji also stated real education being an experience based process,
We may talk and reason all our lives but we shall not understand a word of truth until we
experience it ourselves.

III. A dearth of efficient teachers
The problem
In ancient India the Guru-Shishya tradition was not just a profession of teaching
and learning but a pious discipline of life.

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What we observe today is something quite contradictory. Firstly, the profession of
teaching has lost its sheen and glory. Most of those who pursue it, do so as a last resort or
to make a comfortable salary with little effort for teachers are often the least supervised
Government employees.
Secondly, the role of the teacher in the classroom has been reduced to that of a
dictator of notes. The students grow up accepting most teachers as despicable
authoritarians where they could have been role models. A teacher can not only make the
most boring subject seem most interesting but also the most interesting ones turn into
nightmares.

The solution
Good teachers are the most needed catalysts for change. Their role is of utmost
significance as they can guide the confused generation to greater clarity. This
however, is no easy task, for the teacher must first develop the capability he/she wishes to
transfer into the students.

Swamijis ideas can act as cornerstones:
The ideal teacher
Swamiji had given the conditions of an ideal teacher. These can be summarized as-
i) Empathy: Swamiji stressed that a teacher must be able to feel from the perspective
of the student.
The only true teacher is he who can convert himself as it were, into a thousand
persons at a moments notice. The true teacher is he who can immediately come
down to the level of the student, and transfer his soul to the students soul and see
through his mind.
The teacher is one who can throw his whole force into the tendency of the taught.

ii) Purity:
The sine qua non of acquiring truth for oneself, or for imparting to others, is purity
of heart and soul. He must be perfectly pure and then only comes the value of his
words.

iii) Motive:
The motive behind a teachers efforts must spring from a genuine love for mankind
at large
The only medium through which spiritual force can be transmitted is love. Any
selfish motive, such as the desire for gain or name, will immediately destroy the
conveying medium.

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Personality of the Teacher:
Swamiji stressed upon the significance of a strong personality and character.
The man who influences, who throws his magic as it were, upon his fellow beings, is a
dynamo of power and when the man is ready, he can do anything and everything he likes:
that personality put upon anything will make it work.
Swamiji has said that the intellectual power of a man is only one third of him; his
personality makes up the two third. The great philosophers only touch the intellect but
a true teacher touches life.

Role of a teacher
According to Swami Vivekananda No one was ever really taught by another.
We only discover the knowledge and perfection manifested within ourselves. Like fire in
a piece of flint, knowledge exists in the mind; suggestion is the friction which brings it out.
Within man is all knowledge and it requires only an awakening and that much is the work
of the teacher.
The role of the teacher is akin to the role of a farmer in growing a plant. You can
supply the growing seed with the materials for the making up of its body, bringing to it the
earth, the water, the air that it wants. And there your work stops.

Catalyzing a Change
Unless we are a part of the solution, we are the problem.
A positive change in the education system has to be ushered to deal with the
multiple problems that stem out of ineffective education.

A Development oriented Virtual Teaching Learning Model
We must start with changing the teacher-learner relationship as we view it
conventionally that of a dictator of notes and a documenter of them into notebooks.
We propose a model which can assist in creation of an aura of teaching-learning as
envisioned by Swamiji.
The model consists of 4 planks or wings through which a student pursues education.
These wings are:
1) The field (villages, factories, industries etc.)
2) The market
3) The research stations
4) The policy making agencies
Each of the wings is to be connected to each other and to a common central
administrative block. This block is a hub of intellectuals, philosophers, visionaries, experts
who share a common passion for imparting quality education.

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Each student is to spend some part of their educational programme in each of the
wings, learning from the real life situation, serving the sector and earning from the
services thus rendered.
The students are consistently mentored and guided by educationists at the central
administrative block and provided all support through virtual classrooms.
Market
Policy
Making
Agencies
Research
Stations
Field
University Market
Policy
Making
Agencies
Research
Stations
Field
University

Development oriented Virtual Teaching Learning Model

Teaching Excellence Centres based on Swamijis principles
Change is the only constant
Today is an age of incessant and rapid changes in every scenario. One must be on
their heels to keep apace with the changing world.
Considering this, regular trainings for teachers to help them keep abreast with the
changing needs and demands seem a necessity. Moreover, training is essential if we wish
to fructify the visions of a new improved education system, not only in terms of updated
subject matter but also for constant sharpening of communication skills, the treatment of
the subject and the overall personality of the teacher.
To achieve this goal, special training units can be provided in every College,
University and Institute. It will not only produce more skillful teachers but also more
motivated and enthusiastic teachers who take up teaching as a challenging job and enjoy
the process.

Conclusion
India today is home to about 333 million young literate population. Yet we cannot
boast of this achievement for this literacy has not yet been instrumental in pulling India
out of the drudgeries of poverty, hunger, social stigma, corruption.the list is endless.

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There is no time to sit and mourn over the tasks left undone. We have parallel tasks
at hand to impart literacy to a vast population by taking classrooms to the doors of those
who cannot reach upto the classrooms. This includes 55% of the rural girl child and 44%
of the boys of rural India.
Simultaneously we have the task of imbibing and imparting true education to a
very large population of our literate uneducated class.
Education is our first step towards a much larger goal. As Swamiji had said:
Education, education, education alone! Through education comes faith in ones self, and
through faith in ones own self the inherent Brahman is woken up.

Aakanksha Melkani and Goldi Tewari are students of B. Sc. Agriculture at GB Pant
Univeristy of Agriculture & technology, Pantnagar, Uttarakhand.

38

Generating Sensitivity to Support Humanity

Generating Sensitivity to Support Humanity

Geetika Gupta

Introduction
If there is any land on this earth that can lay claim to be the blessed Punya
Bhumi, to be the land to which all souls on this earth must come to account for Karma, the
land to which every soul that is wending its way Godward must come to attain its last
home, the land where humanity has attained its highest towards gentleness, towards
generosity, towards purity, towards calmness, above all, the land of introspection and of
spirituality it is India. Those were the words of Swami Vivekananda I would like to
reiterate which pumps me with a sense of pride of getting birth on this Holyland India. But
will a mere pride be sufficient, thats the question. What is my contribution as a citizen of
this country to make it great?
My education, my upbringing and my success, was it only because of my parents
and my teachers. NO! My every countryman has his/her contribution in my growth. Then
why do I get considerate merely for the happiness, emotions and well being of my family
and my blood relations when I reach upto the higher rags of the ladders. Why do I forget
my role as a loyal citizen when I am supposed to bring pride, prosperity and happiness to
all my brethren and to my Nation? How can I sleep relaxed in my cozy blanket when I see
so many children sleeping in a chilly winter night even without a piece of cloth on their
body? How can we enjoy Pizza, burgers where many of my countrymen are even not
getting two times the bread? Can we talk about integrated development or Integral
Humanism with such narrow minded attitude?
I adore Swami Vivekananda as a prophet of selfless service, a monk who gave a
clarion call to dedicate life for millions of bretherns suffering from poverty, hunger,
drudgery and illusion. He understood the essense of Indian culture and made western
people realize the true sense of it. He guided millions of people think beyond the taboos
and superstitions prevalent in Indian culture. He convincingly established the greatness of
Indian civilization at that moment of time when Indians were under the British rule and
made feel inferior every now and then by rulers, historians and western protagonists.
Swami ji restored the selfconfidence in the Hindus for their culture, pride for their
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way of life thus building a sense of pride and patriotism within them. And I believe, after
64 years of Independence, though we have acquired knowledge at academic grounds
where our researchers, scientists, engineers and doctors are making it splendid in history
as Indians but still we need to go deep into the sayings and speeches of Swami ji to
understand the importance of our glorious civilization, civilization which tells about the
spirituality, which talks about compassion and self-less service. We need to put faith in the
belief that Indias future can be shaped-up by the sensitive, confident, educated and
committed youth.
Swami ji once said to sister Nivedita, Social life in the West is like a peal of
laughter, but underneath, it is wail. In India it is sad and gloomy on the surface, but
underneath are carelessness and merriment. The West has much to learn from the East
and the East from the West. And I also got a chance to realise these saying by visiting west
once. I agree that India does not have that much infrastructure, comfort; luxurious life as
in western countries but then India has something else. And that is my culture, my value
system, my inner-connectivity, my sensitivity, my feeling of belongingness and my feeling
of ownership. Though these traits are somewhat missing in present context but they are
somewhere in our roots. We cannot survive by disowning our Indian way of life.
Materialistic pleasures are not long-lasting and we are lucky that we have soulful bliss.
First of all, feel that Pride! Feel that glory! Become convinced! And then be responsible.
Friends, sensitivity is our identity, this should not wither away. This can only bring
that development and progress and happiness by keeping a capable member of this country
work for their deprived brethren. It is good to admire good things of west, but they should
be adopted. We should not get adapted there. This is my country, its future is my future,
its growth is my growth and its pride is my pride. It should always be in first priority. My
every success, growth should be well aligned with the growth of my country. It is my
responsibility too.
So develop that somewhere faded sensitivity again for your nation and for your
countrymen. Feel for those poor, those deprived those under privileged... Vivekananda had
just asked this only... He said, As long as millions live in hunger and ignorance, I hold
every man a traitor who, having been educated at their expense, pays not the least heed to
them.
And when we are here on the occasion of Swami Vivekanandas 150
th
birth
anniversary, I think we cannot have a better platform to rethink. If we could commit few
hours from our times, few thoughts for the unprivileged section of our society and decide
to do something for education for poor people, their growth, their service, it will be the
greatest tribute to this leader of humanity.
Realize the holiness of our country, worship this land, serve its people as God. And
not only to restrict up to here but spread the message of Humanity as messengers of
Vivekananda in the Global fraternity. May everyone on this earth get food and basic

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amenities, may everyone on this earth get light of education, knowledge, wisdom. May
everyone get love, affection and care. May everyone become sensitive and awakened, may
we promote Humanity! May God wish to come to live on earth again!
Amen!

Geetika Gupta is Software Development Advisor in Dell Sevices, working at Noida, India.

41

Understanding Education : The VSM way

Understanding Education: The VSM Way

Awadhesh K. Pathak

The Unending Marathon
We, the human beings, are the most intelligent creation known till date. By our
intelligence we have been able to overcome many inherent limitations that when compared
to other living beings. We did thousands of invention for our comfort and got competitive
edge over other beings. The inventions progressed from comfort creation to quest for
knowledge. This quest gave rise to many more inventions. We went to deep seas and to
distant outer space in order to quench our curiosity. We invented telescopes to keep eye in
the unknown universe. Astronomers keep on discovering new celestial objects and keep
researching their characteristics. We invented space shuttles and invented space stations
for outer space exploration. We went down till the sub-atomic level of molecule and
discovered physical forces which are fundamental to every existence. The quest in this
direction is still on with CERN experimenting to re-create big bang to find Higss boson,
which is considered the god particle. But even before we could reach to the got particle,
the power of atomic level discoveries resulted in mass destruction devices, namely, atomic
bomb and hydrogen bomb. The world saw that save developmental efforts resulted in
destruction of nations and humanity.
To cap it all, the journey has just started. Most of the major inventions have been
done in previous two hundred years only so if we compare human existence and path
travelled towards exploration, we can say that the referee has just said - "On your marks,
get set, go !!!". Alas!!! It is not just any other race that will end in some time. It is a race
taken up by the most intelligent species which is chasing its quest for knowledge. It is
gathering knowledge from all available sources and then using that as baseline and tries to
gain more and more and thus cycle continues.
This cycling has become an integral part of our lives. We run toward one goal and
after achieving it we start craving for another. And sometimes I feel that we have become
slaves of our intellect or rather information contained in our minds, always running for
answers to quench our thirst but when one ends another begins and we start running again.
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The natural counter argument arises: Whats wrong in the continuous quest for
excellence and knowledge? Isn't this all meant for happiness and prosperity? Don't we
get education for the same purpose? Shouldn't we learn more to capitalise on our
knowledge to live a prosperous and dignified life? And after all don't we need money to
get amenities which lead to happiness?
The answer is plain and simple - Do you think that your knowledge has given you
satisfaction? Do you compare your dignified life to that of others to find what you are
lacking and crave for it? Do your amenities provide you happiness and peace or do your
entertainment activities provide you with happiness and satisfaction? If yes, then how
long do these experience persist with you before you become restless again? Or is it that
these aspects make you crave for more and you join the race again the race to earn more,
accumulate more and show-off more to be happy.
If you find that your are still in the race, though you have all you need but not all
that you desired then certainly you went wrong somewhere without even realising it.

In The Flash Back
Our childhood dreams knew no bound. We dreamed whatever we liked and we
never thought whether that was possible or not. As we grew, span of our dreams started
shrinking. First it was limited to passing academic examinations, then appearing for
competitive examinations and getting admissions in good college and then getting a good
job. Once we are in job, we start working on our extended needs rather than dreams or
probably our dreams get constrained to economic gain only a car, a home, child
education, health plan and retirement plan. The fulfilment of needs is necessary but quest
for needs replaces the quest for dreams. Or rather we lose the track of our dreams after
getting the worldly education. From our childhood to our adulthood almost all intellectual
transformation was given by education so probably education ruined our dreams. Probably
the education could not make me to dream big rather it confined my dream horizon. Or
rather is did not provide me strength to dream differently and do something new.
This leads to a fundamental question on our education system Are we really
getting and providing education or are we just getting and providing information only?

Education: As it is Served
When I started my schooling, the very first thing that I noticed was a quote written
on the entrance of educational block: Come to learn, go to serve.
Everyone has his/her own understanding of the quote but the meaning and
implication of same was never discussed formally or informally. One very basic
understanding of same was to pass academic examinations, clear the competitive exams
and get some government job and once you are in government job you will, willingly or

43

unwillingly end up serving. As we grew up, read more and got more information, the
quote made a very different sense. Come to learn, go to earn.
That makes perfect sense when we look at the state of present education system.
Students are taught lots of subjects of financial relevance. Students opt or rather told to opt
for technical courses if jobs in technical streams are highly paying and to financial stream
if that holds weight. The declining number of students in humanities studies and
mushrooming technical and financial institutions are testimony to the argument that it is
not about getting education but about getting information that has financial prospect.
We all see the advertisements of different educational institutions and one thing
that is highly advertised is the number of companies visiting for placement and highest
and average package offered to the students and that is considered as the only benchmark
to judging the quality of education and standard of that educational institute. Doesn't that
mean that educational institutes are just producing "economic beings" and the only
measurement of their prominence is the financial package of their students or number of
companies visiting their campus for recruitment?
With the spread of electronic media, we see lots of reality shows and that include
some intellectual shows as well such as quiz competition and debate on relevant issues.
These debates and other programmes are testimony to the information part of the so called
education. The same information part is also responsible for high attrition rate in
industries. Moreover, this trend of frequently switching jobs and being in continuous hunt
for better package by the young generation is a sign of emptiness that generation is
looking to fulfil by earning more money. The problem is not only theirs, the responsibility
lies with the society and nation as a whole - Our inability to teach them as what is
expected out of life?
These all actions are collectively called riot of information, and that is what great
sage Sami Vivekanand warned of: Education is not the amount of information that is put
into your brain and runs riot there undigested, all your life.
Rather education is something defined in below lines by the same sage: Education
is the process by which character is formed, strength of mind is increased, and intellect
is sharpened, as a result of which one can stand on ones own feet.
A quick look at the prevailing scenario and we can easily decipher that whatever
we are getting in guise of education is actually information that runs riot.

Education: As It Should Be Served
We all have been through the student life and we may not forget the pressure of
exam and course completion that we had. The sleepless night and on top of that pressure to
conce3ntrate. Our elders used to tell us to be calm and cool to concentrate but that rarely
came in those times. This condition increases exponentially once we move out to earn. We
lose our peace to money. Moreover, since we are never told how to be peaceful, we fell to

44

so called enjoyment that makes us more starved than satisfied and we become slave of our
desires.
The sight of young age professionals in metros wandering around aimlessly to
avoid boredom or resorting to fleeting experiences for pleasure is common. This situation
arises when something in us goes dead and we try to fill that gap by experiencing
something different.
Since aim of current education is only to send students to earn, the person becomes
aim less after he starts earning. Had this youth been taught that earning is just a stepping
stone to move forward for higher objective, he won't have been so deprived. This
deprivation creates a feeling in being that something is missing or rather something is
dead. Not to wonder, this feeling of being more dead than alive has been defined by the
great sage in below lines : This life is short, the vanities of the world are transient, but
they alone live who live for others, the rest are more dead than alive.
It took two more years before I could start understanding what education is. As an
engineering undergraduate, I came to study in G B Pant University of Agriculture and
technology. I happen to came across Vivekanand Swadhyay Mandal via Sunday classes.
Sunday classes are organized for the underprivileged students who can't afford tuition fee.
This was my first experience with joy of teaching or rather joy of service which leads to
peace of mind.
When I Asked God for Peace
He Showed Me How to Help Others.
-- Swami Vivekanand.
Had current day youth experienced the joy of service, the time and energy could
have easily been re-directed to productive activities and the feeling of something dead
inside could have not arrived leaving behind boredom and aimlessness miles away.
I personally feel that this experience should be given to all the students around the
nation and around the world. We do already full-fill this need by NSS activities but most
of the time that comes as a part of curriculum in specific semester. We should rather have
a dedicated time for all the students throughout the academic duration to provide some
service depending on the location and need of the society. This service model should be
extended to involve professionals in the cities to get their expertise to reform the society as
well as to provide peace and happiness to wandering talent on the street.
It is not just service aspect VSM has adopted from teachings of Swami
Vivekanand, there is more to this University within University that can be and should be
adopted institution wide for overall growth of coming generations and integrated
development of individual and society.

45

Moving Beyond Livelihood Skills: Providing Life Skills

When I Asked God for Strength
He Gave Me Difficult Situations to Face.
--Swami Vivekanand.

We all might have read the cases when students committed suicide either due
academic pressure or due to other trivial differences with someone close to him/her. A
very recent suicide case of Malini Murmu came into news. She was a IIM Banglore
student when she committed suicide. Besides, she had done her engineering and had
worked with one of the prestigious IT firms of India. The reasons for such suicides may
vary but underlying weakness is same - inability to face adverse situation such as severed
relationship, public humiliation, academic pressure, parents expectations and self
aspirations.
While we were in school or college, the only measurement of our strength used to
be our academic record or at best, our performance in sports and athletics activities that
did add to the physical and up to certain extent mental strength. But situations of real life
are neither like an exam where we can learn in one night and pass it nor like sports where
the physically mighty and agile will win. The inability to deal with these real life
situations leads to depression and suicide and sometimes generates the escapist tendency.
These incidents indicate that education system is not able to impart necessary life skill
training to students rather it is heavily relying on passing exams by studying books or
cracking a problem by getting theoretical knowledge from different sources.
To fill this void and create strength in every student we must have activity oriented
sessions where every students faces adverse condition gradually and in the process
becomes strong.

Doing it the VSM Way

The shell must break before the bird can fly.

The process of hatching has a very important role before bird can come out of the
shell. Besides, this process has to start early and at right time. The process has to be
carefully and delicately regulated and controlled so that it produces required output.
In VSM, this process starts with new students in their first year of academic
session. VSM organises a workshop for first year students and provides them a platform
where they can speak, share and learn without any external pressure. This learning process
gradually becomes steep and so does the maturity and situation handling capacity of every
student.

46

The overall strengthening process is learning by doing. Students organise
different events right from organising events on specific occasions of national and historic
importance to organise national level YUVA festival to commemorate birth anniversary of
Swami Vivekanand. While organising these events, students face real life hurdles and
difficulties and get insight as how to handle and find a solution.

Let them see to believe.

This learning is incomplete unless students see how great things have been done by
others. In order to provide insight and inspiration, VSM organises regular trips to places of
social importance where individuals or group of individuals have broken the shell and
their tremendous effort has given new face to society and brought pride to the nation.

Standardizing the Methodologies
If we look at current educational setup, we find that the most part of our education
is learning from books, doing practical in laboratory for science related subjects and
writing exams to finally get the degree. Industry exposure and market exposures are
provided to the students who go for professional courses. Out of this whole procedure, we
rarely come across directed social and real life exposures. We learn how to earn money
but we never learn why to earn money and how to use that money except for our
wellbeing.
The major missing links in our education systems should be incorporated to create the
integral being. We need following enhancements in our current educational setup:

1. Orientation towards service
2. Character building
3. Building the mental strength
4. Life skill training

To impart those skills, we need a nationwide formal setup to facilitate these trainings
right from schools till higher education level and finally inculcating these qualities as
habits so that once one moves to professional field, one should have the urge to give back
to society by different available means.

Dedicated Centres in Educational Institute:
In order to impart these skills to students we need to adopt the methodology of
activity oriented learning. Every institution should have a Vivekanada Activity Centre
responsible for organising activities for the students and by the students. Teachers and
field experts should be there to provide much needed guidance and support. Activities

47

should be designed in such a way that students get a firsthand experience of social issues
and also get a feel of how things have been resolved in different parts of the world. These
activities should also be able to train students to get necessary soft skill to communicate,
convince and express themselves.

Celebrating the Day:
The service aspect of education has to be emphasized for integral growth of
students. The Vivekanad Centre of respective institutes should plan service outings on
regular interval where students can go out and perform some service. Institutes can adopt a
village or a locality that needs their assistance.
The importance of this service should be commemorated at national and
International level by declaring 12th January, birthday of Swami Vivekanand, as National
Service Day - the day when everyone has to go out and do service to the society and
nation.
This service concept should be spread to the professionals where Corporate Social
Responsibility (CSR) department of respective corporations should send their employees
for service purpose. The kind of service to be provided should depend on the class that is
providing service and the locality or object that needs the service. If a company sends few
of its managers to a service programme, the centre should utilise their expertise in building
its organization. On the other hand if some teaching professionals are sent to the same
programme then they should be utilized to provide free of cost education to the needy
ones. The role of dedicated centres should be to arrange the need based service so that
integrated development of society as well as individual keep in tandem.

Lets Be the Change
It is not about changing the education policy of every nation but it is about
percolating the concept of real education to every individual. It is not about system but it is
about personal resolve and determination.

Give me 100 men of steel will and I will change the world.
-Swami Vivekanand

Lets take the oath to become one of the 100 men as envisaged by Swami
Vivekanand rest all has to fall in place due to our steely resolve.

Awadhesh Pathak is a Computer Engineer working as Analyst in Bank of America,
presently posted at Hyderabad.

48

Reaping the Demographic Dividend through Strategic Nurturing: A Case of India

Reaping the Demographic Dividend through
Strategic Nurturing: A Case of India

Shreena Keswani and Gaurav Papnai

Introduction
The youth segment of the population of India is projected to peak at 484.86 million
in 2030. This demographic fact has important implications for the labour market.
According to official data, India's labour force, which was 472 million in 2006, has
reached around 526 million in 2011 and will touch 653 million in 2031. It is noteworthy
that the growth rate of labour force will continue to be higher than that of the population
until 2021. According to the Indian Labour Report, 300 million youth would enter the
labour force by 2025, and 25 per cent of the world's workers in the next three years would
be Indians.
Can any country like India take advantage of the demographic window in the next
couple of decades and garner its benefits without seriously thinking of the status of youth
population and a strong strategy to develop the youth population in a real asset of future?
How do we ensure that a bulk of them living in rural areas under disadvantaged situation
get motivated and empowered to contribute to the nation building exercise? We need to
develop skill sets, leadership and entrepreneurship of the youth and create policies and
institutions to reap the dividends. There is need for research, training and projects which
must be explored and put into place after thorough discussion to solve a million problems.
Most researches identify some similar and overlapping competencies and outcomes
that young people need to develop or achieve such as cognitive, social, civic, cultural,
spiritual, vocational, physical, emotional, mental, personal, moral, or intellectual
development. Based on its research of existing definitions, Youth has adopted the
following working definition of youth development adapted from National Collaboration
for Youth: youth development is a process which prepares young people to meet the
challenges of adolescence and adulthood through a coordinated, progressive series of
activities and experiences which help them to become socially, morally, emotionally,
physically, and cognitively competent. Positive youth development addresses the broader
9

49

developmental needs of youth, in contrast to deficit-based models that focus solely on
youth problems.
National Research Council and Institute of Medicine (2002) identified eight
program features known to promote positive youth development. They recommend that
community programs incorporate the following features when designing and planning
programs for youth: Physical and psychological safety, Appropriate structure; Supportive
relationships; Opportunities to belong, Positive social norms, Support for efficacy and
mattering, Opportunities for skill building, and Integration of family, school, and
community efforts. They found that participation in community programs for youth was
associated with increases in positive outcomes such as motivation, academic performance,
self-esteem, problem-solving abilities, positive health decisions, and interpersonal skills,
as well as decreases in negative behaviors such as alcohol and tobacco use and violence.
While they could not determine from the studies what program features were responsible
for effectiveness, they did find that many of the programs demonstrating positive
outcomes included the recommended program features.
With these and many similar insight and experiences, a planned effort of youth
development was initiated at G.B. Pant University of Agriculture & Technology,
Pantnagar, India; the first agricultural University of India in year 1960. The data of last 12
years speak explicitly about an innovative methodology of youth development which is an
effective replicable model to be adopted with required modifications. The paper talks in
stretch about the strategy and the model of youth development, standardized at Pantnagar.

Efforts of Vivekanand Swadhyay Mandal: A case of India
A dedicated organization for youth development, of GB Pant University of
Agriculture & Technology was selected for the present study purposively because it is a
voluntary organization working since last 12 years and young masses are not forced to
come but they are promoted and motivated for taking part in the different endavours taken
by the organization. The reason to take the organization was that most of the youth masses
that come to attend the activities remain for long duration of time.

The Vision, Mission and Model of Vivekanand Swadhyay Mandal
Journey of growth and perfection is not a straightforward one. It can neither be
measured in miles nor in terms of fame or money. It has no shortcut even. It is a
continuous process of constant striving towards betterment. This is the driving force of
Vivekanand Swadhyay Mandal, popularly known as VSM, working in Uttarakhand with
the hub at Pantnagar University for last twelve years since 1999. The way of working of
VSM is very different from conventional personality development trainings or even
lectures or classes. The vision behind VSM approach is that every gem needs rigorous
polishing to reveal its inbuilt beauty and worth, which the gem possesses already. The

50

youth has inherent excellence which requires manifestation through proper environment or
consciousness. To achieve this objective, a unique model based on valuing and promoting
growth and learning, collaboration, inclusivity, diversity, openness, creativity, flexibility,
innovation, and harmony has been standardized. VSM has the mission of shaping the lives
of young people to make them socially dedicated, nationally proud, spiritually active and
professionally sharp. VSM undertakes different kinds of activities round the year but with
a central goal of evolution and growth of competent change agents among youth masses.

The Individual Growth Process
The three sermons for VSM process of youth development is:
INTROSPECT -------> ORGANIZE----------> EVOLVE
These stages are not independent of one another but are in a continuous cycle.
Introspection involves looking within yourself in order to understand your vision
and setting your goals. Your ability to do this depends on how much evolved your
thoughts are. The more evolution you gain, the better will be your clarity with respect to
your goals in life. When clarity of the aim of life is established, then honing of the
necessary skills is essential by organizing oneself and orienting the talents according to it.
By working towards the set goal with dedication and sincerity leads to evolution of
abilities and better understanding of life and its purpose.
Thinking beyond the visible line and acting according to it comes naturally to
students as their personalities undergo constant churning and training through the multiple
activities of VSM which systematically provides continuous churning and training to
imbibe perseverance, dedication and goal-oriented way of working, a potential to stretch
beyond the set limits, management of events, team building, leadership skills, mentoring
and multi tasking which gradually result in high self esteem, value based and vision
oriented life, understanding national and social perspectives and so on.

51

The model indicates the interlinkage of professionals, administration, alumni group
and present workforce of Pantnagar students clubbing together to generate potential to
help youth masses from schools, universities, corporate sector and development
organisations. This model is effectively working for last couple of years, bringing laurels
to the University and the state.
The networking also utilizes ICT tools for planned youth mobilization where
Website, e-groups, SMS groups and e-mails have been put into complementary and
supplementary roles.

The Activities
The uniqueness of the project lie in the concept and strategy of youth
empowerment through cultural awakening and using ICT tools to bring thousands of youth
together for self-analysis, helping them in setting right priorities, providing proper
counselling, refreezing them with reformed thoughts & decisiveness and providing them
proper follow-up for reinforcement. The concept of MICROLAB has been successfully
utilized in the project, i.e., UNFREEZING-MOULDING-REFREEZING the youth
mentality for positive attitude, social responsibility and generating national character. It is
about changing the outlook of youngsters to carve them as responsible citizens.

VSM networking
Students from
Pantnagar
Sankalp
alumni

Professionals
from
corporates
Universities
across the
country
School going
adolescents
Youth leaders
&
functionaries

52

Public Speaking Workshops for students
The shell must break before the bird can fly
The biggest hindrance to our capabilities is our own self, the barriers of unknown
fears... With the intention of breaking this self-created shell, the 4-5 days Public Speaking
Workshops are organized, where under the guidance of well trained facilitators (mentors),
the participants are provided with such an environment in which they can free themselves
up and move beyond those self imposed limitations.
The participants get a glimpse of their unlimited potential as they try step by step
to face the public and ultimately succeed in the developmental journey which they
demonstrate through their constant improvement.

Sunday Service Classes for less-privileged sections
Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear,
an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn
a life around.
Knowing that even a small attempt of ours can bring big difference to someone, VSM
started Sunday classes of 2 hrs every Sunday morning where students devote their time
to teach the children coming from unprivileged sections of the society, solving their
doubts in all subjects. Not just teaching but also sharing... understanding,listening and
letting the hidden talents come out. In the process we also get their love and ownership of
tiny tots which is the most surpassing experience.

Study Circle for self-illumination
One needs to be illumined within in order to give light to others
With the purpose of this intrinsic illumination, we have Study Circles for
teammates every friday. Way to learning is through power-point presentation, sharing and
discussion and other group processes. Participants discuss and share their views on topics
from diverse fields like causes of poverty, challenges of our nation, cultural strength of
rural areas, MDG and accomplishments etc. and get enriched from each others valuable
thoughts and experiences.

Personality Development Workshops
To know about a person, dont look what he appears outside, look inside at his
character
Personality development workshops can be described as a microlab. It involves
games and exercises to open up the participants so that they can participate freely and
wholly. Activities and group tasks are taken for realization of the importance of a
personality trait through some discussions, games, movie clips and presentations.
Processing of activities is done very minutely by experts. It develops to generalization and

53

applications steps smoothly. Trained facilitators among students support the activities. The
workshops highlighs traits like Assertivity, Self Motivation, Group Dynamics, Leadership
skills and so on.

Spread of thought-generating literature
We are what we think...
Thoughts make up a man, his character. Thoughts are influenced the most by the
companionship and books that we go through. With the intent of making good books and
literature accessible to university students and rest of the public, we put up a Book stall in
All India Farmers Fair organized twice every year in campus. The stall caters to the
biblical quest of a wide variety of people by providing thought provoking literature.
Added to this, are exhibitions related to our rich cultural heritage, moral values, eminent
personalities lives and words intended on making positive change in the visitors. The stall
is totally managed by students where about 10,000 to 15,000 books are sold every fair.

Daily Yoga and Meditation session
Give up all sorts of weakness for weakness is misery, weakness is death.
Swami Vivekananda said that the biggest sin is to say that you are weak. Physical
strength and fitness is essential for the integrated development of personality. To realize
this dimension of growth, regular yoga session is undertaken in the morning. The
freshness and beauty of nature can be truly experienced at this hour of the day which
drives away all laziness and lethargy from body, filling us to the brim with the vital, divine
energy. Beginning with mantras and surya-namaskar, it includes yogasanas and pranayam.
In the end, we do meditation for a while to thank God for giving us a purposeful life. It is a
very refreshing, healthy and pleasant start of the day and also serves to greet each other in
the morning.

Guest Lecture series
Let the fresh air come from all directions, let it enrich my soul.
To enrich the students of university with their invaluable words, eminent scholars
and experts from various fields are invited to share their experience and proficiency with
the students of the university.

Creativity Camps
Unless you unleash your thoughts, how can you unveil the truth?
Learning is a continuous process, not bound to the constraints of age or time.
Creativity Camp of Summers is a 15 days activity organized by us every year where small
kids to elderly ones of university periphery-all can explore and discover the talents lying
within and simultaneously get a platform to display the same. Training is imparted in 12-

54

13 different traits like dance, music, drawing, painting, stitching, calligraphy etc. to learn,
share and grow simultaneously.

Youth Awakening Festival YUVA
Youth have the capacity to fix the destiny of ages.
This is the single biggest event of the year where an effort is made to plunge the
nation in a spirit of patriotism and rekindle the youth power of the country on the occasion
of Swami Vivekananda Jayanti on 12th January each year. It entails a chain of events like
National Debate competition, National Youth Symposium, zonal oratory and written quiz,
competitions for school children, exhibition, rally and so on. The festivities culminate on
Subhash Jayanti, 23
rd
January. During this period, a number of youth icons are invited to
witness the events and provide guidance to the youth of the country. Students from sixty
five universities including Delhi University, Jamia Milia, JNU, AMU, Tamilnadu
Agricultural University, Anna Malai University, Orissa Agricultural University etc
participated in YUVA 2011, held at Pantnagar in January 2011 which was organised
around theme line- Youth Leadership Generation.

Exposure trips for sensitisation
Reach the depths and touch the corals. You can never ever realize a sea in your books.
VSM undertakes about three exposure trips each year to learn from our
surroundings and from the good work done by great men.

Alumni meet to rekindle the fire
Come together to generate and breed thoughts, spread to utilize it for mankind and again
come together to rekindle it.
Sankalp Alumni Meet is a confluence of younger generations with the older
generations, that is, the annual gathering of the entire family. Its a time to embrace our
seniors and juniors, a time to introspect our renewed roles and a time to evaluate and plan
for further activities. It is held once every year.

VSM Publications
A number of books have been published recently on various themes ranging from
transcending life skills advocated by Indian culture and its great preachers to personality
development, successful experiments on leadership generation etc, through the combined
efforts of students.

The Replicable Working Model
The model is based on several assumptions which are the guiding principles of
VSM. The first is that leadership development is important because it provides members

55

of a group with the skills, knowledge and abilities they need to more effectively work
together to deal with issues facing a community or group, and that the more skilled the
members of the group are, the more likely the group will be to develop creative and
successful solutions to difficult issues.
A second assumption is that youth are capable of developing their leadership
potential through the same processes (e.g. analyzing issues, increasing self awareness,
developing skills, applying learning, etc.) as adults. This model assumes that youth are
capable of and can benefit from developing leadership and using that leadership to analyze
community issues, determine strategies for dealing with those issues, and implement
action plans.
A third assumption is that people learn in different ways. This makes it important
that learning activities address a variety of learning styles. Programs must be designed to
actively involve participants in a variety of experiences and assist them in learning from
those experiences. Participants thus have the opportunity to acquire and actively practice
new skills.
A fourth assumption is that participation in the .global society of the 21st century
will require people to appreciate and build on diversity, and to know how to work
cooperatively and collaboratively with a variety of people. Programs must stress
cooperative group activities and development of skills to build on the unique knowledge
and abilities of all group members in ways that value and appreciate diversity.
The final assumption is that effective implementation of programs requires
involvement of the target group. This requires an inviting and inclusive mindset on the
part of program planners, and means that the target group must be involved from the early
planning stages upto the final implementation and evaluation.
The process has matured with time to realize that activities and endeavours are not
only an attempt to help others to grow but are the underlying source of the growth of a
team process. In other words, activities are the endeavour to emancipate and develop
oneself as well as help in the emancipation of others.

Life Building Learnings
Self Esteem and Self Image: It was found that initially most students had low self esteem
and they were not able to find themselves worth respecting. It was found that after
continues participation in personality development workshops; study circle and life
building sessions students felt higher self esteem and self image. It might be because they
gained the self confidence and changed their mind toward themselves.
Sense of Personal Control: It was observed that majority of the students increased sense
of personal control by attending various life skills workshops, lectures, prayer sessions and
the overall culture of the organization.

56

Interpersonal and Public Speaking Skills: Most of the respondents were lacking in
communication skills before joining VSM. It was experienced that majority of the students
learned better Interpersonal and Public Speaking Skills through various public speaking
workshops and face to face interaction with the peer group.
Decision-Making Ability: Students got enhanced Decision-Making Ability; the reason
might be that they got many opportunities to take up the events on their own shoulders. It
was clearly observed that they could handle the real life problems so efficiently and made
right decisions during taking up of any event.
Dependability: Mostly students had increased dependability over whole process and most
of them found each member more reliable and loyal toward any of the tasks.
Communications in Peer and Family: It was observed that most of the students had
better communication in peer and family because they work as family member in VSM.
They had better distribution of roles and responsibilities. The senior team mates take care
of their subordinate members and also the peer group. This enhanced communication
between their peers, family and junior members of the organization.
Psychosocial Problems: It was experienced that youth associated with VSM had lesser
psychological problems such as loneliness, shyness, and hopelessness. It might be because
of the preaching and teaching of VSM process to motivate, persuade and inspire for quest
to reaching upto excellence.
Involvement in Risky Behaviors: It was observed that youth involved in VSM activities
were found less involvement in risky behaviors such as drug use, decreased juvenile
delinquency. This decrease might be because of the VSM activities, value based lectures
and literatures.
Academic Achievement: It was found that most of the students opted higher education
MS and Ph. D. for getting more professionally sound and equipped. It was also found that
most of the young talent grabbed prizes at national levels for last several years. The reason
might be due to the rigorous training and mentoring through VSM process.
Feeling of Safety among Youth: Students feel themselves safer by being in the VSM. As
it gives family feelings to all the members, they get solutions of their problems in VSM.

Conclusion
The outcome of this project explicitly reveal that youth of the Pantnagr University
who participated in the activities of Vivekanand Swadhyay Mandal developed increased
self esteem and positive self-image, increased sense of personal control, better
interpersonal and public speaking skills, enhanced decision-making ability, increased
dependability, better communications in peer and family, lesser psychosocial problems,
such as loneliness, shyness, and hopelessness; decreased involvement in risky behaviors
such as drug use, decreased juvenile delinquency; increased academic achievement; and

57

increased feeling of safety among youth. It was found that the following outcomes were
associated with the participation of young people in community programs.
Cases are hundreds. VSM touch and transforms the attitude and outlook of
youngsters to go beyond their limits. Every VSM leader is a case to tell. Vivekanand
Swadhyay Mandal is striving on regular basis to generate this rare spirit of dedication and
devotion towards duty and responsibility in every circumstance. Hundreds of young
students come in touch of VSM every year and feel blessed due to the rejuvenation and
reorientation of life. Veterans call VSM, an University within an University, due to the
scientificity and systematic approach. Presently, the challenge in front of VSM is to
develop youth leadership to reap the demographic dividend in favour of agricultural
development in particular and for the country in general.

Shreena Keswani is student of College of Agribusiness Management, G.B.Pant University
of Agriculture & Technology, Pantnagar, Uttarakhand and Gaurav Papnai is Post-
doctoral fellow at Communication Centre, Pantnagar,Uttarakhand.

58

Holistic Path of Education

Holistic Path of Education

Abhishek Kumar

Introduction
Education is a vital component of socio-cultural development. It is a tool for
human resource development. Education, as we see today has become akin to memorizing
books and notes. The ultimate aim for educated youth has become earning a luxurious
living. Everyone asks about the pay package after graduation. Is it education? Swami
Vivekananda rightly said education is manifestation of divinity already present in man.
Cultivation of the attributes, characters and qualities to make human kind more creative
and productive should be the goal of education. Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan once rightly
declared that all the advancement in education around the world is creating more wars
than peace, more crimes than welfare and harmony. In spite of the technological
developments around the world, there is extreme poverty. A handful of people in the
world are enjoying most of the resources at the expense of majority. Rural areas are
lagging far behind and metro cities are flourishing. Thus, the question of questions in the
twenty-first century is what should be the shape of education today to create more
harmonious, secular and productive society.
Education is one of the oldest cultural traits in the history. It emerged with the
appearance of first human life on this earth. The unmistakable presence of education has
been there from the archaic beginning till the modern era. In the intervening period, it has
been moulded by various forces of culture and society. Education, thus, is like water
which has no shape but it takes the shape of container in which it is stored. Society is the
container and education reflects the characteristics of society. Education, in fact, is a
broader term for schooling. It is not limited to what they say as learning the art of
earning. The ultimate aim of education in ancient India was not knowledge just to prepare
for life in this world or for life beyond, but for complete realisation of self for liberation of
the soul from fetters of life both in present and future. The aim of education today should
be to prepare for life that lay ahead and all round development of human personality. It
should strive for making an individual being well-adjusted in society as man is moulded
10

59

by society and in turn moulds the society. Education, in fact, has been seen as the process
of bringing desirable changes in the behavioural complex of human being. It can also be
defined as the process of imparting or acquiring knowledge and habits through instructions
or study. The individual has to learn new knowledge, new ways of thinking, feeling and
doing things as he tries to adjust with his environment to make him useful. [Kumar and
Hansra, 2000].

What is Education?
A tiny butterfly comes out from its cocoon, flips its wet wings first time in air and
sees the world, flies for its survival and further learns to feed, to reproduce and care for its
young ones.
In the beginning we do not know how to feed ourselves, survive in ever-changing
life situations but then gradually we learn from our surroundings and from the wisdom of
the past gained in similar fashion. Life is a very cruel teacher and people learn from
experiences.
The source of education is present everywhere in nature like rays of sun, air and
droplets of water, fruits, plants, etc., The story of a seagull in the book by Richard Bach
amply illustrates the point. A seagull lived with its flock and during its childhood it
learned from its parent and elder members of the flock, how to find food by stealing bread.
However, he was fond of flying and diving in the air instead of finding the food or
snaching the bread. It was outcasted from its flock due to its unmatching personal mission.
Ordinary members of the flock only knew the routine skills but they did not know their
purpose of life. To the contrary, the seagull had realised the real purpose of life as flying
and diving in sky and it wanted to get rid of the limitations. It achieved the goal and
emerged as a role model for the flock. There is a lot to learn from the story to give
meaning to human life and create systems of creative education. The term education has
been defined by many philosophers but ultimately the goal of education is to gain full
potential. Thus it is imperative to think of holistic education incorporating the following
thoughts.
Education must provide happiness and sense of fulfillment. Present education system
in India does not reflect true culture and image of society. In present context
education is making the man self-ended. Man has become predator of mankind. So
our education system should be such as to reflect our true values.
Goal of education cant be different from the goal of creation, the goal of life. Why
has the world been created at all? What is the purpose behind it? Education should
fulfill that purpose because education, if isolated from that basic thought, will never
be able to fulfill its very meaning.
According to Rabindranath Tagore real education is that which does not merely
inform but produces a fulfilled man. He believed in informal education. His

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philosophy of education is based upon-freedom, creative self expression, active
communication with nature and man and development of internationalism. According
to Gandhian philosophy education is drawing the best out of man and childs body,
mind and soul. This was the meaning, Gandhiji attributed to education. As the father
of the nation, he was aware of socio-economic problems of Indians, the majority of
whom were living in poor condition in the village. He was planning for such an
education which would make the children self-sufficient and self-employed when they
complete their schooling and which would be inexpensive. Gandhiji has combined the
educational philosophies of idealism [where an aim of basic education has been
defined], realism [perception of reality leading to self inputs of self employment] and
pragmation [where he advocated craft-centered education which is practiced in
correlation with academic subjects such as mathematics, language and history].
Vivekanand stressed that education is not the amount of information that is put into
your brain and decay there, undigested, all your life. We must have life building, man-
making, character-making assimilation of ideas. If you have assimilated five ideas and
made them your life and character, you have more education than any man who has got
by heart a whole library, he Said. We must have the whole education of our country,
spiritual and secular, in our own hands and it must be on national lines, through national
methods as far as practical. He advocated such education by which character is formed,
strength of mind is increased, the intellect is expanded and by which one can stand on
ones own feet. The aim of education should always be the holistic development referring
to moral, spiritual, intellectual and physical development.

Conclusion
Education must be linked with nature to give peace, harmony and development of
divinity in mankind. It is a process which starts from childhood and continues life long. A
real education gives sense of freedom, creativity, morality, spiritual fulfillment,
holistic development.

Abhishek Kumar is student at Bihar Agricultural University, Sabour, Bhagalpur, Bihar.

61

The Real Nature of Education

The Real Nature of Education

Ashutosh Bhakuni, Deepankar Rawat, Pawan Bisht, Akhilesh C. Sati and
Harshita Chaudhary

Introduction
We must have life-building, man-making, character-making assimilation of
ideasWe want that education by which character is formed, strength of mind is
increased, the intellect is expanded, and by which one can stand on ones own feet.
These words of Swami Vivekanand present the most comprehensive definition of
the aim and end of education. It is worth noting that we do not find any mention of the
word information in the above lines but that of ideas and therein, we believe, lies the
source of all present day anomalies of our education system as well as their
solution.Before we dwell on these anomalies and our efforts to address them at our level, it
is necessary to set a qualified benchmark for this analysis as well as the inspiring ideals for
our efforts.We believe that none but the profound ideas of Swami Vivekanand can fully
serve this purpose.

Vivekanands Concept of Education
The most emphatic message that Swami Vivekanand gave to both the teacher and
the taught was that of MAN-MAKING. He proclaimed unequivocally that the aim and end
of all education, all training was this man-making. The question that naturally comes up is
What is this man-making? To understand this, we must first understand what makes a
man? or rather what makes a complete man?
The trilogy of mind, body and soul constitute a person. They all go hand in hand
enabling the person to efficiently discharge his duties and fulfill his lifes purpose. The
mind is the seat of intellect and ideas; it is the source of all thought which ultimately is the
cause of all action. The body is the instrument which perceives the outside world through
the senses; this perception is fed as raw material to the mind to work upon to develop
thoughts and it is the body which then enables one to manifest his thoughts in this world.
The soul is considered the supreme among the three, which is the sustaining power of
ones existence and the realization, of whose power leads to the awakening of ones inner
11

62

power and strength and thus brings him to perfection. It is only through the harmonious
growth of all three- mind, body and soul- that a person is said to have an integrated
growth. Any lapse in nurturing either of the three leads to disharmony and conflict which
impedes the persons inner and outer growth and subsequently leads to the defeat in the
accomplishment of the ideal of perfection and hence, that of man-making. Thus, by man-
making education Vivekanand meant a process that would lead to the integrated
development of the taught by cultivating his mind, body and soul and hence, would enable
him to fully express his hidden innate potential to the accomplishment of a worthy goal in
his life.
Again, two questions stem up- first, how is this man-making to be accomplished?
and second, what should be the goal of ones life?
Vivekananda stated, Education is the manifestation of the perfection already in
man. Manifestation means that something that was already present has been expressed,
when the obstacles are removed. These obstacles may be external- such as inequitable
share of social privileges, opportunities and resources, or internal- those concerning with
the current individual capacity or the flaws in ones nature; in either case, they prevent the
full expression of ones potential. The ideal of perfection implies the divine virtues
present in latency in every man, waiting to be awakened. Education, thus, holds its end as
the manifestation of this perfection. The means whereby this end could and should be
achieved are those that lead to an integrated development and hence, to the attainment of
the highest potential in man.
As the most important medium of expediting this process of expressing ones
potential, the role of the teacher in man-making is nothing more than that of a gardener. A
gardener plants the seed in the right soil, he loosens the soil for it to grow easily and
provides water, sunshine and manure for its healthy growth, but never does the gardener
make the seed grow- he only removes the external and internal obstacles that had
suppressed the seeds innate nature. Once awakened, the seed grows on its own.
The vital elements that the teacher must supply to the taught are those of character,
purity, faith and purpose. Besides intellectual learning and vocational training, the pupil
must be imparted spiritual and cultural knowledge to bring about an all-round
development of his mind, body and soul. The teacher must instill in him the highest
morals and ideas that will fully equip him to apply his mind and body to face the
challenges of life. The result is an able-bodied, intellectually sharp, morally strong and
spiritually enlightened man who is not only capable of accomplishing his personal
ambitions, but above all, a human being who genuinely feels for humanity and devotes
himself and his education to bring light to the doors of the downtrodden, poor and ignorant
who do not have the means to do it themselves. This service of humanity through
whatever noble means possible by first awakening the lion within should be the goal of
ones life.

63

Thus, Vivekanand envisioned education as the most powerful tool to bring about
perpetual and holistic individual and societal transformation that was based upon the
mighty pillars of universal harmony, character building, intellect and spirituality.
With this insight about the real nature of education, from here onwards all our
further deliberation will be based on this learning.

Present-Day Education
The Bharatiya ancient education system was based on the gurukul culture which
had its roots in morals and ethics. The initial years of education were devoted only for
moral education, understanding the purpose of ones life, learning humanitarian values.
Only then were the students given vocational training. Education involved three basic
steps-first, acquiring knowledge by listening, second, thinking and meditating on what
they had listened, to assimilate the lessons by making their own inferences and third,
comprehending the truth and applying it into their lives. Thus the students grew inside out
as men of character, strength, purpose and intellect, enabling them to stand against all
odds. Education was more about earning respect and less about earning bread,but the
British system of education aimed to prepare Indian clerks for running the local
administration, shifted the focus from man-making whereby education became merely the
gateway to lavish lifestyle and social status, devoid of purpose, meaning, morals and
social sensitivity.
The system has lingered on ever since and is the root cause of all degradation that
the world is facing today. The ideal of all education, all training, should be this man-
making. But, instead of that, we are always trying to polish up the outside. What use is
polishing up the outside, when there is no inside?The result is that we are now creating
soldiers for the global market who think too much and feel too little machine men with
machine minds and machine hearts
i
; tiny straws lacking the strength to survive the
mighty storms of life. Evidence of this is the increasing number of student suicides even in
top brain institutes like IITs (Indian Institute of Technology), numbering to 7 in
2011
ii
.Degree has become the aim of academic courses while information has become
the accepted synonym for knowledge and intellect. Eminent writer Rashmi Bansal
notes in her blog Youth Curry that, "Across India, from Kota to Kakinada, I have visited
college campuses where students are being moulded, into sheep. The kind of minds which
will not think, or question but accept what is told to them."Tremendous focus on
academic, scientific and economic advancement has left little scope for the pursuit of
spiritual knowledge that can provide the stability and axis to ones life. It is an irony that
we have guided missiles and misguided men
iii
. Patriotism finds transient impulsive
utterance in anti-corruption demonstrations, only retreat into shut holes once the wave has
passed. The blind race of prestige rather than dignity, luxury rather than happiness, and

64

money-making rather than man-making has given birth to a distressing mindset which
shockingly overlooks the appalling condition of the millions of poor of the world.
So long as the millions live in hunger and ignorance, I hold every man a traitor
who, having been educated at their expense pays not the least heed to them!
As another aspect, the governments role in providing literacy (not synonymous
with education) has been a mere 3.1% of GDP as of 2006 while the literacy spending
(% of total government expenditure) is 10.7% as of 2003(Source: UNESCO Institute for
Statistics).The responsibility of providing the most important amenity to the society has
been shirked. So while the 8 and 80 year olds have to grind for earning a few coins, the 25
year olds stand hopeless and bewildered for want of work. Based on all the above factors,
not surprisingly, Bharat ranks a low 134 among 187 countries in terms of the Human
Development Index (HDI) in 2011 (Source: Human Development Index report, UNDP),
which assesses long-term progress in health, education and income indicators. The
integral man stands forgotten and sadly, incongruent in the present scheme of things.
It is most urgent that we reconsider the tremendous error in our purpose and means
of imparting education which stand in stark contrast to Vivekanands man-making, and
take immediate measures to amalgamate spirituality, morality and sensitivity with
academic and professional training.

Not Mearly Words but Humble Deeds
They alone live who live for others. The rest are more dead than alive.
With the life and philosophy of Swami Vivekanand as our inspiration, we, 3
rd
year
engineering students at G. B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, besides
pursuing our regular degree education, have endeavoured to realise his exhortation of
man-making in ourselves and in as many people around us as possible. We outline our
experiences of the various initiatives that we have taken inside and outside the University
campus with the motive of implementing Swamijis ideals of education in actual life,
outside the pages of course books and the four walls of classrooms. While some of the
activities are undertaken under the banner of Vivekanand Swadhyay Mandal (V.S.M.),
others are undertaken independently by us who, we believe, is the real test of our
education.

Visits to school hostel and coaching center: One of the authors visits his school
hostel War Memorial Boys and Girls Hostel in the hilly town of Lansdowne during
holidays. Children of army martyrs are reared here in the army lifestyle. Being a
remote hilly area, there are limited resources of information, education and bringing
the students at par with the competitive outside world. The author organises
motivational sessions for the students, arranges alumni meetings for experience
sharing, sends competitive exam entrance forms to meritorious students, and collects

65

old school books and study material from Pantnagar University students to take back
to the students so that they may prepare well for competitive exams.
Another author regularly visits his 11
th
-12
th
class coaching center Basics in
his hometown Haldwani and arranges motivational and counseling sessions for the
students to inspire them to crack competitive exams of reputed Indian institutions and
more importantly, to promote humanitarian values of mutual help, perseverance,
curiosity, hard work, and purposeful learning while they are still in school. Self-made
presentations and motivational videos using laptop are shown in these sessions. The
author also persuades the passing out students to donate their books and study
material for the financially poor students studying there and persuades 12
th
class
students to organise counseling sessions for 11
th
class students in order to make the
coaching center a self-sustained unit.
Through these, not only is the ideal of Be and make lived by serving the
institutions that once nurtured us, but also the authors develop their personality and
learn the leadership quality of sensitising the people.

Visits to Vanvasi Kanya Chattravaas: Situated in Rudrapur (a city about 16km
from Pantnagar University campus), Vanvasi Kanya Chattravaas is a girls hostel
where about 80 girls from North-Eastern states like Assam, Sikkim, Arunanchal
Pradesh, etc. live. They are young school going girls who have lost either one or both
of their parents in terrorist attacks and have been brought to this far away place for
their upbringing. They are looked after by a lady in her forties whom everyone
lovingly calls Varsha Didi. A social worker from Maharashtra, she decided to remain
unmarried to dedicate her entire life as mother to these girls. Her aim is to send these
girls back to their homes as missionaries of Bharatiya culture and values after making
them self-dependent. The entire hostel is run solely by these girls who, starting at 4
a.m. in the morning, do all the work like cooking, cleaning, laundry and looking after
each other without the help of a single hostel employee. They visit their homes only
once every two years. The members of V.S.M. visit the hostel regularly on occasions
such as a members birthday or celebration of Raksha Bandhan. Spending time with
Varsha Didi and these girls and sharing each others experiences overwhelms the
students with the spirit of sacrifice, patriotism, endurance, selfless service.

Diwali celebration in jhoparpattis: Beside the construction sites in the University,
workers live in small makeshift homes of bricks with their families and children. To
the common eye they are just labourers living in obscure settlements. Inspired by
Swamijis call to bring the light to them, we, along with few other inspired
students, teach the children of these workers and celebrate Diwali with them before
leaving for our homes for the festival.Their welcoming hearts and the joy of sharing

66

our happiness with them is a surpassing experience for all of us as well as an
awakening to a new dimension of the world amidst the thick of career, money and
comforts.

Bond of love with children working in shops: Faced by the cruel reality of extreme
poverty, many small children are forced to earn money by accepting the drudgery of
serving customers in canteens and shops, washing dishes and toiling from the crack of
dawn till late night, when similar children from well-to-do families live in the
company of toys and books and the love and protection of their parents; Guddu,
Suraj, Jeevan are just a few of them. It is our humble effort to bring a smile on
their faces by extending our love to them. We share joyful moments with them by
occasionally teaching them, having heart-to-heart talks, taking them to the Farmers
Fair held twice a year, or enjoying a lunch once a week after all the inmates of the
hostel have been served. This unnamed relationship not only makes us understand the
power of a smile or gentle touch or selfless love, but also spurs us to toil relentlessly
to make the most of all our resources and be grateful for the smallest of blessings in
our lives.

Teaching academically weak University students: Every year many academically
weak students of 1
st
year face the brunt of a year back due to poor grades. Sadly, some
of them are from very challenging financial backgrounds and some are physically
handicapped who, deplorably, do not get full acceptance among their peers. We have
made efforts to bring together some intelligent human beings in 3
rd
year to teach
these students. The few of the many needy students whom we are able to find out, are
not only taught, but are also cared for as siblings. They are shown motivational
videos, given inspiring literature to read and assisted financially whenever the need
arises. The result is an improvement in their studies, increased motivation and inner
strength and a beautiful relationship that at the end of the day instills immense self-
esteem and contentment in us.

Technical workshops for students: It is said that the biggest roadblock to a mans
success is found in his own head; it is you who put your hands before your eyes
and say it is dark. Prompted by the students indolence, lack of initiative and
subsequent finger-pointing at the system, and also to promote humanitarian values,
purposefulness and the practical implementation of their learning, the authors of this
paper from Electronics department along with some of their peers, started the
Initiator Pantnagar
iv
group. They have been regularly conducting workshops on
Basic Electronics for their juniors despite the limited financial resources. Besides
technical sessions, quizzes and guest lectures by alumni, self-made presentations

67

along with motivational videos are shown for personality development and
awakening. Small projects and presentations are given to teams to encourage practical
implementation as well as communication skills. Thus, a humble effort is being made
to acquire professional excellence blended with an urge to contribute to society
through personal transformation.

Conclusion
Sawmi Vivekanand stated emphatically that if any lasting transformation in the
society has to be brought about, if the appalling condition of the poor and downtrodden
has to revive, it can only be through educating each and every individual of the society
because individuals are the very constituents of society. In his own words, Travelling
through many cities of Europe and observing in them the comforts and education of even
the poor people, there was brought to my mind the state of our own poor people and I
used to shed tears. What made the difference? Education was the answer I got. Only
the ideals of man-making can restore the dignity and strength of the downtrodden and
bridge this ever widening gap between opulence and poverty. Once the light is shown to
them, they will work out their own salvation. But even before education, the people must
be provided the means to earn their bread, clothing and shelter, and these have to be
provided to those who cannot earn these themselves. Having thus brought out the complete
man, the pursuit of scientific and economic prosperity will also be easily accomplished.
Thus, based on our eternal principles of integrated development, there also arises the need
to reconsider our definition of the developed nation that we have chosen as our goal. It is
never meant that we must revert back to our ancient system and shut our eyes to the world
and all present-day progress. Had this been, Vivekanand would never have exhorted the
notion of western sciences coupled with Indian spirituality, but extracting the essence
of all the good there is in the world and with our roots fixed firmly in the fertile and
vitalising soil of our immortal Bharatiya culture, we must work to manifest the real nature
of man.

References
All quotations of Sami Vivekanand taken from: The Complete Works of Swami
Vivekananda. Volumes I-IX. Calcutta: AdvaitaAshrama, 1989. (Mayavati Memorial
Edition)
Profiles of Famous Educators: Swami Vivekananda, 1863-1902, Swami Prabhananda,
Prospects, Vol. XXXIII, No. 2, June 2003
1
Bharatiya, that is Indian; Bharat, that is India.
2
Lines from the movie The Great Dictator.

68

3
Source: The Economic Times,Sreeradha D Basu, ET Bureau,Nov 15, 2011, 07.54am
ISThttp://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2011-11-
15/news/30401390_1_counselling-sessions-student-suicides-iit-gandhinagar ,.
4
Martin Luther King Jr
5
V.S.M.is a voluntary group of dedicated students and teachers of the G.B. Pant University
(of which the authors are members) which organizes many activities round the year
for the all-round development of University students as well as students of schools
inside the University campus. More details about the organization can be found at
http://www.vsmpantnagar.org
6
A Bharatiya festival in which sisters tie the sacred thread of love on the wrists of their
brothers and the brothers vow to protect their sisters.
7
The Hindu festival of lights signifying the victory of good over evil.
8
Hindi word for small thatched hutments of poor people
9
The details of the group and its activities can be found at http://sites.google.com
/site/initiatorpantnagar/

Ashutosh Bhakuni, Deepankar Rawat, Pawan Bisht, Akhilesh C. Sati and Harshita
Chaudhary are students of College of Technology at G.B. Pant University of Agriculture
and Technology, Pantnagar, Uttarakhand.

Universal Harmony Universal Harmony Universal Harmony Universal Harmony
and and and and
Broader Tolerance Broader Tolerance Broader Tolerance Broader Tolerance
69

Common Threads of Universal Values Runing through Various Religions
Saving Humanity: Swami Vivekananda perspective

CommonThreads of Universal Values Runing
through Various Religions

Ach. Agyaatdarshan and Chaitali Kothari

Introduction
As soon as anyone utters the word religion we start to give it a personal color.
Religion has become an object of possession and obsession rather than liberation and
oneness. Every person has different definition of word religion. In fact there has been no
firm definition of this word so far. There are so many definitions even if we go by various
dictionaries. We may start by understanding various definitions found.
"An organized system of belief that generally seeks to understand purpose,
meaning, goals, and methods of spiritual things. These spiritual things can be God, people
in relation to God, salvation, after life, purpose of life, order of the cosmos, etc. [The
Christian Apologetics & Research Ministry (CARM)]
"Any specific system of belief and worship, often involving a code of ethics and a
philosophy." [Webster's New World Dictionary (Third College Edition)]
"Human recognition of superhuman controlling power and especially of a personal
God entitled to obedience" [The Concise Oxford Dictionary (1990)]
The so called religious man is not willing to study other religions. He prefers to
hold on to his belief systems close to his heart even if he is not able to progress an inch
further in his pursuit of his spiritual growth. It must have been only with great hope in
intellectual capacity of humans in general and probably much ahead of times expectation
that Swami Vivekananda would have said the following..
For our own motherland a junction of the two great systems, Hinduism and
Islam.-Vedanta brain and Islam body-is the only hope. But are we ready or still beating
behind the bush for all the criticism Swami Vivekananda put forward for the wrong doers
and people who used religion for their personal gains just as trade? We must understand
that such a cohesion and synchronicity between seemingly contradicting (at least on the
surface) religions is possible only when we gather courage to drop the instinctive tools like
emotional bias and reach out to other religions to understand and appreciate the deeper
underlying philosophy and objectives. Let us, in the light of these golden words of a man
12

70

of high spiritual caliber delve deeper and unearth the common threads running across
different religions.

Every Religion has Different Levels of Expression in Human Life
The philosophical or mythological approach of every religion might be different.
Nevertheless, every religion on the earth is reflection of a deep quest for knowing the
unknown, the ultimate source and in this attempt whatever is revealed to the seer finds its
expression in some or the other rituals. Every religion seen from outside looks so very
different and sometimes even opposed to others but no one can argue against the words of
Swami Vivekananda who said in one of his speeches, "Religion expresses itself at three
levels, the philosophical, the mythological or historical, and the ritualistic."
And in fact it cant be otherwise because any religion which has nothing to offer in
terms of practice (rituals) for masses would probably not qualify itself as a religion at all.
Muslims are Muslims for they practice the method of prayers prescribed in Holy Quran, a
Christian is so because he is abided by what Bible suggests and so on.

Every Religion Attempts at Demystifying the Universal Questions
To be able to appreciate the discussion we would need an open mind and capacity
to stay objective. It is difficult especially because every religion provides readymade
answers for few questions and you may find some to be contrary to the religion you were
born or converted to by choice. With that open mind we observe the striking similarity
between religions that they all have dealt with some basic questions. Such as "When and
how did this (universe) all began? Who created it and what are the attributes of Creator?
Does the Creator have any specific expectations from us? When will this universe come to
an end? What is the purpose of this creation?" How can we see, experience or attain the
grace or proximity of the ultimate master of this universe? How should we conduct
ourselves to be able to reap the benefits in this life and beyond death? etc. While every
religion has tried to solve these perennial questions in a logical or otherwise approach but
the fact remains they all are attempting to demystify the universe and universal creator!

Enlightened Masters are the Source of Every Religion
If we travel back in history we would find that the basis of any religion is nearly
the same. This basis is either certain book(s) or teachings which are handed down across
generations. Every religion has certain unique doctrines to offer on how to live life.
Needless to say certain do's and donts are suggested stating that abiding by these shall
help in achieving the highest idealized state a human being can; insisting we must. These
doctrines are seen by, channelized or translated for masses by men of very high caliber of
their times. In spiritual vocabulary these people are referred to as "self-realized",

71

"awakened" or "enlightened" ones and by masses these spiritual giants are called masters,
prophets, seers, messiah or avatars.
Humanity has been fortunate to have these men of high spiritual caliber blossom in
the history of evolution (or revolution) and the guidance of these masters has definitely
been the driving force and motivation for the ordinary man to achieve a perfect state of
being. Besides this, repeated appearances of such great men (masters) over time (though in
different scattered geographies) has ensured that thorough their catalytic presence the
prevailing moral-socio-spiritual anarchy and chaos are eradicated. Each master gave
directions on general conduct, personal growth and emphasized correction of certain social
traits which were detrimental to human growth in general. These highly abled people or
Masters definitely seem to be interested in the holistic growth oriented sustenance of
humanity. Although these great men had been displaced by time and geography on this
earth yet interestingly when they share their personal experience of the divine, the ultimate
creator it sounds as if they all are referring to the same ONE.

Every Religion has its Reference Book(s)
The doctrines proposed by these masters or prophets are generally taken on the
record forming sacred books of references. A Moslem would refer to his book "Holy
Koran", a Christian would refer to the "Holy Bible", a Sikh would idealize upon the
teachings of their lineage of Gurus complied in "Shri Guru Granth Sahib", a Hindu will
find guidance in Vedas, Upanishads, Gita and so on.
Religions are subjected to dynamic changes through the tides of times but one
must remember that every religion is one of its kind an idealized way of life where
society is driven to a collective collaboration and congeniality among its members and
inspiring people to cultivate noble qualities to become a better human being. Let us
investigate further.

Further Investigation
There are nearly 21 major religions existing all over the world. To discuss about all
is a herculean task for the given space and time. There are eight major religions in India
including Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Sikhism, Buddhism, Jainism, Zoroastrianism and
Judaism. We will be focusing on three major religions existing in India based on their
followership and they are Hinduism, Islam and Christianity. The basis of the study is the
major doctrines of the leading religions and conversations with various renowned
personalities.
It is really interesting to note that in the diversity of different religions on the globe
they have striking similarities in not one but many threads. In this paper various other
aspects of religions which are analyzed for the commonality are:
1. The attributes of God/Divine Creator

72

2. Element of Universal Justice
3. Common core social values and good conduct.

Every Religion has Almost Similar Attributes for The God
Have a look at the attributes or the names of God below and assess how a believer
of any religion would feel on reading these.
The Compassionate, The Gracious, The Merciful, The King, The Holy, The Pure, The
Perfect, The Source of Peace and Safety, The Savior, The Guardian, The Almighty, The
Invulnerable, The Honorable, The Supreme, The Creator, The Victory Giver, The All
Knowing, The Omniscient, All Hearing, The All Seeing, The Judge, The Utterly Just, The
Gentle, The Kind, The Grateful, The Sublime, The Great, The Preserver, The Nourisher,
The Bringer of Judgment, The Bountiful, The Generous, The Watchful, The Vast, The
All-Embracing, The Omnipresent, The Boundless, The Wise, The Loving, All-Glorious,
The Majestic, The Truth, The Real, The Dependable, The Steadfast, The Friend, Patron
and Helper, The All Praiseworthy, The Producer, The Giver of Life, The Destroyer, The
Bringer of Death, The Magnificent, The One, The Unique, The Indivisible, The Rich, The
Enricher, The Light, The Incomparable, The Unattainable, The Infinite, The Everlasting,
The Guide to the Right Path, The Timeless, The Patient
Needless to say that any person when given the list of above attributes unfailingly
relates it to the God, he believes in. The Allah of Muslims in the Holy Koran, ParaBrahm
of Vedics (Hindus) in Vedas, The God of Christians in the Bible, the God of Jews in
Torahs, the Waheguru of Sikhs in Guru Granth Sahib etc. are echoed with almost each of
these adjectives. In fact all the above names are given to Allah in Holy book Koran but
neither a Hindu nor a Christian or any other person would reject these names for that one
God he believes in.
Have another look at various names gives to God in various religions reflect the
qualities of God and it can never be just coincidence that we have exactly same meanings
of the names given for that Ultimate Source of creation or God in every religion. Lets see
the following names picked from Holy Quran, which was channelized by paigambar
Mohammed (MPBUH) for the masses.
Ar Rahman- The all Compassionate Ar Rahim- The Merciful
As Salam- The Source of peace Al Mahayim- The guardian
Al Khaliq- The creator Al Hakam- The judge
Al Hadi- The guide Al Mughni- The enricher
Al Ghani- The rich one An Nur- The light
AlAfu- The forgiver Azh. Zhahir- The manifest one
Al Awaal- The first Al Aakhir- The Last
Al malikul Mulk- The owner of all/ the king Al Haqq- The truth
Al Adil- The just Al Maajid- The glorious

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Go through the Holy Bible and you would notice that the various attributes or
names given to God/Jesus also pass this test. The names in Bible are no different.
The Mighty God
Isa 9:6
The True God
John 5:20
The god of whole earth
Isa 43:5
The great God, and Saviour
Titus 2:13
The lord of glory
Cor 2:8
The king of righteousness
The creator of all things
Col 1:16
The first and the last
Rev 1:17
The light
John 12:35
The mercy seat
Rom 3:25
The beginning and the end
Rev 1:8
King of kings
Rev 17:14
The king of peace
Heb 7:2
The truth
John 14:6

People who have faith in God whether personified or formless not only believe that
He is the one with all virtues. One may be follower of any faith but to describe the
qualities, powers and attributes of the God one believes in one would verily choose to use
some or the other name.
Hinduism has no different names to offer. See various names by which a Hindu
would designate or describe the qualities of his God.
Dayakara- Compassionate Dayanidhi- Merciful
Shantah-Shant janpriyah- Peace and peace loving Vishwakarta- Creator of world
Vishwa deepti- The light Mrda- Gracious
Pashupati- The king (of all living Beings) Satya- The truth
Tejaswani- who spread illumination Kripanidhan- The merciful
Kailas- The one who bestows peace Kantha- Ever Radiant
Niti- Justice Maheswara- The lord of gods
Anadyanta- having neither end nor beginning Vasuprada- The bestower of
Dhatr- The sustainer riches
Avyaktalasan- The lord of manifest and unmanifest Varenya Excellent
Such a deep similarity exists among these names that an unbiased intellectual
understanding would lead to the conclusion these religions are talking of the same God or
else how could there be such striking similarity here. It is only up to us whether we wish
to consume ourselves in the elaboration of the differences among methodologies or
practices offered by different religions to obtain vicinity of God or we intelligently look at
something which is capable of broadening our understanding and tolerance for each other.

Every Religion Says God is Omnipresent, Omnipotent and Omniscient
Every religion is talking of the same God. There cannot be but one God for His
qualities have been sung by masters and been perceived by Messiahs in real. God may be
an imagination, an understanding, a theology or a concept for us but the same element has
been experienced by Masters and then they have tried to describe it for those who are
prospective perceivers, would be experiences or future god-realized people i.e. you.

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Let us have what Holy Bible has to say about Gods qualities -
God is omnipotent; He is all-powerful and can do anything that pleases Him, but
His actions will always be in accord with the rest of His character (Revelation 19:6;
Jeremiah 32:17, 27). God is omnipresent, meaning He is present everywhere, but this does
not mean that God is everything (Psalm 139:7-13; Jeremiah 23:23). God is omniscient,
meaning He knows the past, present, and future, including what we are thinking at any
given moment. Since He knows everything, His justice will always be administered fairly
(Psalm 139:1-5; Proverbs 5:21).
In Hinduism, Vedas have been the source of inspiration, contemplation,
imagination and firsthand experience about God. This has been elaborated in Upanishads,
also referred to as Vedanta. Let us see what Upanishads have to say about the qualities of
God. Whether God of Hindus qualify the quality of omniences or not?
Ishavashya Upanishad says "Ishaavaasyam idam sarvam yat kim ca jagatyam
jagat Meaning of the above verse is The entire universe is indwelt, enveloped, covered
by the Supreme Being. This indicates the attribute of Gods omnipresence.
Purush Suktam which is part of Vedas says about God - Sahasra seershaa
purushah that God has 1000 (a very large number) of heads (because all heads belong to
the world=God). Sahasrakshah sahasra path 1000 eyes, 1000 feet. All eyes, feet belong to
God=world Sa bhoomim viswato vritvaa, Covers the earth from all sides as sky/space,
Atyatishtat dasaangulam, Yet he exceeds by 10 digits the whole world (Exceeds finite
space and time)
While trying to describe the omnipresence of Brahman, hymn 4.2 of Shvtashvatara
Upanishad says in poetic way: You are woman; you are man; you are boy and you are
girl; you are the shivering old man helped by a stick; you are born in the form of this
world. Hymn 4.4 says - You are the blue butterfly, the green-eyed parrot and the lightning
cloud. You are the seasons and the seas. You are the one without any beginning; you are
omnipresent; all the worlds are born out of you.
In Hinduism the world with all its teeming life and light is considered to be God.
But the concept of God exceeds and transcends it as well. The word "exceeds" implies
finiteness of the world, which is measurable in size (space and time are not infinite, they
are closed, measurable) in contrast with the Brahma (God). Islam contends Hinduism on
the point of multiplicity of deities and Gods but only on having better understanding a
person understands that the God of Hinduism is One. That is referred as to Brahma or
Parabhrahm. There is no multiplicity at that level however when we get in to His
expansion we find his divine spark getting reflected into many deities which find place as
Ishta Devas of an individual for Brahm is unperceivable and thus to form an object of
admiration and devotion people impose their devotion on deities i.e. reflection of God with
3form yet the ultimate, God remains an entity beyond sense perceptions.

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For those who have Islamic faith The Quran says: "Surely Allah can do all things".
(Surah al-Ankabut, 29:20). Reflecting omnipotence of God And when Surah al-Tawbah,
9:115 declares that "Allah is aware of all things it is declaration of Omniscience. Surah
al-R'ad, 13:9 reiterates that "He is the Knower of the invisible and the visible .." Although
Islam believes God not to be part of His creation and Muslims feel they have some
difference herein from Hinduism but in fact it is not. Hinduism is collection of wisdom of
seers where in depending upon intellectual and spiritual caliber of an individual the God
and his creation has been very well classified in principles of Advait, Dwait and
Vishistaadvait. Islam is following one dogma of Dwaita here where in God or Allah is
separate from his creation. This is a meager and petty difference herein because for a
believer all the concepts are only limited to his faith and intellectual interpretation or
understanding whereas the real knowledge about God is only experiential so clinging to
either belief i.e. whether God is or is not the part of his creation is immaterial. The real
understanding would be available only when one is able to experience presence of God,
whether here in this life or on the judgment day. Yet the experience of God has always
been liberating and cause of annihilation of doubt and all sorts of dilemma and dualism.
The quotes from different religious scriptures and holy books of different religion
can be quoted however due to space constraint we have touched upon only few similarities
however it must be noted that God in every religion is understood to be:
- Unique
- All powerful
- Beyond Mortal senses of body
- Infinite Creativity, Wisdom and Bliss
- Knower of all secrets (we may like to keep)
- Merciful and just
- Protector of order in the world (Directly or through the chosen mediums)

Every Religion has an Element of Universal Justice
Every religion preaches that if our conduct will be good towards others we shall be
blessed with goodness and happiness in our life (here or after). And similarly it teaches us
to refrain from inflicting pain and harm others. The same has been reiterated in many
verses of Gita, Upanishads and same is true for Quran, Bible and other Holy books
All religions say God love justice but in mans limited capacity due to which he is
not able to conceive the reality of existence beyond his physical senses he generally gets
baffled to see that there are people around, who seemingly get away with their bad actions
and even enjoy the earnings made through illegitimate means. Masters know this life time
is not the only place where you exist but there are other planes or phases of your existence
in which your consciousness (travelling Ego, Identity or Soul) passes through or stays
before he can be finally relieved of his obligations and thus be cleansed for his further

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journey. In fact every religion makes way for the justice and postulates some or the other
concept to ensure the justice is meted with in all circumstances and no action of an
individual goes unrewarded or unpunished (at least ideologically or in principle).
The spiritually enlightened masters for sure know much more than a normal human
being and also recognize the utmost importance of keeping social fabric intact. To
reinstate this concept of universal justice and inspire people to follow morally good
conduct every religion has adopted its own way. Some of them are as below:

Concept of Heaven and Hell
Heaven is that place where in people are supposed to be transported to enjoy the
fruits of good deeds done in this life time. Hell is that particular place where in travelling
ego or soul or individuality is subjected to pain and torture as a punishment for any
misdeeds done in this life. This concept is common to almost every religion. The depiction
and description of these places are slightly different, that too due to cultural differences
however the reason for their postulation is something we need to look at and that is to
underline the concept of justice.
Hindus find elaborate description of Swarga (heaven) and Naraka (hell) in Garuda
Purana. In Koran these have been termed as Jannat (Heaven) and Dozakh (Hell) and
Bible also describes these places well in detail.
To reinforce this further the concept of The Judgment day has been introduced in
Islam and Christianity. Buddhism, Jainism may not be directly talking about such concept
however they also teach clearly that there is a divine principle (whatever name we give it)
which keeps track of our every action, its effect upon fellow inhabitants (human or
animals) of this plane and makes sure it is returned to us without fail.

Every Religion has Way of Rewarding for Good Conduct and Punishment for Bad
Furthering the concept of Universal justice every religion has hailed the good and
condemned the bad. In fact this is the most scientific concept finding place in religious
philosophies. Its closest resemblance in scientific principles is law of action and reaction
observed by Newton. It also reinforces the notion that every cause must follow with its
effect and vice versa.
See what Holy Quran has to say about it
"Whoever recommends and helps a good cause becomes a partner therein, and whoever
recommends and helps an evil cause shares in its burdens"
Quran, Surah 4, Verse 85

Every Religion has Commanded Universal Social Values and Good Conduct
Religion is not a thing only to think. It should and in reality finds expression in
behavioral attributes of its followers. Every religion professes and advises to observe some
discipline in personal conduct. If we have a close look at various religions we will find

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that each religion is propagating all or subset of common universal values like Truth,
Compassion, Forgiveness, Love and respect for others, Charity, Non-violence and so on.
And there is a reason to it. In fact this is essential to inculcate right conduct and just
attitude in every follower so that it can become instrument in creating a congenial
atmosphere for appreciating interdependence and space for everyone to grow. For example
every religion has declared that there would be similar return to good conduct and vice
versa. Holy Quran has to say -
"Whoever works righteousness, man or woman, and has faith, verily, to them will
We give a new Life, a life that is good and pure, and We will bestow on such their reward
according to the best of their actions."
The Holy Quran, 16: 97

In Hinduism Lord Sri Krishna has spoken at length about this law in Srimad
Bhagwadgita. He declares that good conduct leads to salvation & bliss and Gods vicinity
whereas Bad conduct leads to pain, misery and bondage
The Gita describes 26 divine qualities and many other demonic qualities and
clearly says that those who follow good conduct are liberated and are at peace and other
fall. (Srimad Bhagwad Gita 16:1 - 5)
Christianity is clearly declaring in Bible (New Testament) that
1:5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith excellence, to excellence,
knowledge; 1:6 to knowledge, self-control; to self-control, perseverance; to perseverance,
godliness; 1:7 to godliness, brotherly affection; to brotherly affection, unselfish love.
Peter
1:5-7
5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, 5:23 gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
Galatians
5:22-23

Forgiveness
"Be quick in the race for forgiveness from your Lord, and for a Garden (paradise)
whose width is that of the heavens and of the earth, prepared for the righteous - Those
who spend (freely), whether in prosperity or in adversity, who restrain (their) anger and
pardon (all) men - for God loves those who do good."
Quran 3: 133-134
Kind words and
forgiveness are better than charity followed by injury.
Quran, 2:261-263
Hold to forgiveness,
command what is right, and turn away from the ignorant.
Quran, 7: 199
The repayment of a
bad action is one equivalent to it. But if someone pardons and puts things right, his
reward is with Allah
Quran, 42:40
"Pardon (people) overlook (their faults). Don't you love
that Allah should forgive you."
Quran 24:22

"(The dutiful are)... those who restrain their anger and pardon people. Allah loves those
who do good to others."
Quran 3:134
"Whenever they (true believers) are angry they forgive."

Quran 42:37

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In Hindu scripture Mahabharata it is mentioned that "One should forgive, under
any injury. It has been said that the continuation of the species is due to man's being
forgiving. Forgiveness is holiness; by forgiveness, the universe is held together.
Forgiveness is the might of the mighty; forgiveness is sacrifice; forgiveness is quiet of
mind; forgiveness and gentleness are the qualities of the self-possessed. They represent
eternal virtue."
In Holy Bible we have following verses hailing forgiveness "Forgive us the
wrongs that we have done, as we forgive the wrongs others have done us."
Mat 6:12
"For if
you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
But, if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins."
Mat 6:14-15
"...Forgive, and you will be forgiven."
Luke 6:37

Practice of Truth
"O you who believe! keep your duty to Allah and speak straight, true words."
Quran
33:70
"O you who believe, keep your duty to Allah, and be with the truthful people."
Quran
9:119
" Be maintainers of justice and bearers of true witness for Allah, even if it (the truth)
goes against your own selves or parents or relatives or someone who is rich or poor."
Quran 4:135

Hindu Scriptures are full of praise on practice of Truth. In Tattiriya Upanishad it is
clearly said , , : | meaning You must speak the truth
and follow other universal principles of good conduct.
Instead of getting into the exact description of the proposed concepts we must
appreciate the core teachings here. Every religion by virtue of emphasizing upon good
virtuous conduct is declaring that this universe is not an anarchy rather driven by certain
core principles. We have covered only few guidelines herein however Universal
Guidelines on social and personal conduct across the major religions commonly extend to:
-
Practice of Truth
- Dormant and potentiality within every human being to become divine
- Humility
- Non-violence & Forgiveness
- Charity or helping others
- Respect for parents, elders, teachers and holy texts
- Service and many more...
Every religion has some rituals for gaining proximity of god or his grace

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Prayers and Meditation
Each religion has asked individuals to remember and devote some time in
renewing their personal connection with that highest source of existence or God. It has
been enforced as namaz in Muslims, sandhya in Hindus, mass in Christians This is the
most important of similarity through which individuals are supposed to be appreciating the
benign and benevolent existence of a supreme guiding force in the universe, developing
and deepening their personal understanding of the dogmas and principles of their religion.

Devotional Sacrifice
More or less every religion recommends of something material or otherwise to be
rendered in the service of that supreme power, the God. Its historic precedence might be of
different background but such practice is prevalent with the followers of different faith.
Ardhya, Ygnya, Bali and Aahutis are commonly practiced in Hindus where as Muslims
offer sacrifice of animals on some occasions.

Conclusion
The beauty of religion is its vastness and depth. We have tried to touch few points
along the length and breadth of knowledge found in various religions. Just by being a little
objective we can easily see various common threads that bind all religions together. The
supreme, the God that all religions praise and worship seems to be coming from the same
source. Every religion talks about their God as the creator. When the universe is one than
how can it be created multiple times by different creators? The reality is that The Creator
is one, and the mind differences we find are due to cultural and geographical differences.
The various attributes bestowed over the Supreme have striking similarity. Every religion
talks about the law of reward and punishment. This law helps in keeping the various
human values alive in the followers of various religions. Every religion preaches of
oneness and asks to develop good and valuable qualities. Quotes from various religious
doctrines very clearly tell us that the discretion and separation is all in the mind and not in
the God, The creator of ours. We have been created to live harmoniously and reach the
zenith of human potential. We would like to quote the commandment of Quran which if
practiced by each one of us would bring about revolution in the way we approach other
religions than ours. It has been beautifully said so.
And dispute not with the People of the Book, except with means better than mere
disputation, unless I be with those of them who inflict wrong and injury, but say to them:
"We believe in the revelation which has come down to us and in that which came down to
you; Our God and your God is one; and it is to Him that we bow." (Quran 29:46)

Ach. Agyaatdarshan is Founder and President of SARAL and Chaitali Kothari is Assistant
Professor at SRMS Institute of Medical Sciences, Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh.

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Cultural Diversity as Universal Beauty
Saving Humanity: Swami Vivekananda perspective

Cultural Diversity as Universal Beauty

Bonita Putri Arinida

Introduction
Earth is such a beautiful world to live. Not only because we can see green grass or
blue ocean but also everything that complete our lives. Perhaps you dont realize why you
do the thing that you do everyday. You usually call it your habit because youve been
doing it since you were a child. But, I believe, habit is actually an impact of culture. Do
you eat by your hand? Or do you eat by chopsticks? Thats one of an example that we can
see from the way you eat. And we can see it as a culture in some countries.
Now, of course you know what culture is. Culture is a group-specific behavior and
the way to survive in an area. Actually culture influences our lives everyday since the first
time we were born in this world. I believe, culture is influenced by anatomic and
geographic position of a region, natural resources and what country that ever take over the
area. No doubt every country, even every area has a culture, right?
Lets see Indonesia. Indonesia is just a country, but because there are varieties of
anatomic and geographic positions, Indonesia has plenty of cultures. Indonesia is a big
country that has more than ten thousands islands that are separated by seas. The riches of
every area is different and it too depends on the geographic position of the area. It all
impacts on how people who live there survive in such a condition. And those things make
different culture in different areas.
Believe or not, it makes our world so beautiful. Culture is one of riches of a
country. Thats why there are so many people coming to one area or country to see how
people live in that area. But, why do we sometimes think that our culture is the best culture
in the world? Its such a bad thought! We dont live alone in this beautiful world. Can you
imagine that earth has just one culture? Of course its so boring. We dont want to go to
other place because its same out there. We need it all to complete our lives, because no
one is perfect and no culture is perfect.
There is another problem of culture. Nowadays, in some regions, culture has been
left because of the impact of globalization. There are so many people who think that
13

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culture is such an old thing and unimportant. The biggest problem of this situation, they
have a mind-set that culture is just idiotic with all of complicated things. Culture isnt as
simple as what people can do in globalization era. They just dont know what actually
culture is about. However, the only reason that globalization era can make a destruction of
cultural identities is not the globalization itself but the failure to maintain a balance
between modernization and culture.
In this case, what we have to know is the meaning of culture. Understanding what
culture is means we can act the best thing associated with it. There are so many definitions
of culture. Every professional in his competence has his way to bear a meaning of culture.
I believe in we need a definition from anthropologist due to culture in this context is
associated with human interaction in daily life.
Cited from the book, Primitive Culture, which is written by the pioneer English
Anthropologist, Edward B. Tylor, he said that culture is "That complex whole which
includes knowledge, belief, art, law, morals, custom, and any other capabilities and habits
acquired by man as a member of society."Of course it doesnt carry a message for man
only, woman posses the same like man does. After the first interpretation of culture by
Tylor, many professionals tried to figure out what culture is:
1. Culture refers to the cumulative deposit of knowledge, experience, beliefs, values,
attitudes, meanings, hierarchies, religion, notions of time, roles, spatial relations,
concepts of the universe, and material objects and possessions acquired by a group
of people in the course of generations through individual and group striving.
2. Culture is the systems of knowledge shared by a relatively large group of people.
3. Culture is communication, communication is culture.
4. Culture in its broadest sense is cultivated behaviour; that is the totality of a person's
learned, accumulated experience which is socially transmitted, or more briefly,
behaviour through social learning.
5. A culture is a way of life of a group of people--the behaviours, beliefs, values, and
symbols that they accept, generally without thinking about them, and that are passed
along by communication and imitation from one generation to the next.
6. Culture is symbolic communication. Some of its symbols include a group's skills,
knowledge, attitudes, values, and motives. The meanings of the symbols are learned
and deliberately perpetuated in a society through its institutions.
7. Culture consists of patterns, explicit and implicit, of and for behaviour acquired and
transmitted by symbols, constituting the distinctive achievement of human groups,
including their embodiments in artifacts; the essential core of culture consists of
traditional ideas and especially their attached values; culture systems may, on the
one hand, be considered as products of action, on the other hand, as conditioning
influences upon further action.

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8. Culture is the sum of total of the learned behaviour of a group of people that are
generally considered to be the tradition of that people and are transmitted from
generation to generation.
9. Culture is a collective programming of the mind that distinguishes the members of
one group or category of people from another.
Reading a lot of opinions created by professionals, it stands to reason why culture
is highly misunderstood and misused. But, from all of the professionals opinions we can
conclude there are some aspects which cant be separated with the word culture itself.
Those aspects are language, art and sciences, thought, spirituality, social activity and
interaction. And we all know these aspects actually are associated with people thoughts,
emotions and behaviours.
After knowing what culture is, perhaps its important too to know what actually
influenced the culture. Anatomic and geographic position of a region, natural resources,
and what country that ever take over the area influences culture in an area are probably
influenced areas culture. The evidence suggests the fusion of one culture to another
culture in marrying can influence culture even make a new culture in small group.
Culture influences our life every day. Understanding that there are so many aspects
of culture, no doubt what we do everyday is part of culture. It is clearly seen that our life
cant be separated from culture since were born. So, it can not be denied that culture is
root of our integrity and stability of our personalities.
We know that culture is everywhere even in a small group. Remembering there are
so many things which are able to influence culture, it makes sense that everyone has his
own personality. Perhaps this following process will help us to figure the distribution of
any cultures to our lives. First, the person was born in a small group called family. In his
family, he learns about basic and standard thought, emotions and behaviours. When he
grows older, he comes to another group bigger than the first group, it means he can learn
more culture and wider about other aspects that he never got from his family. And this
continues when he goes to bigger or even different culture from his basic. Actually this
process is such a human behavior that human never stop learning.
Cited from Globalization and Cultural Identity by John Tomlinson, before the era
of globalization, there existed local, autonomous, distinct and well-defined, robust and
culturally sustaining connections between geographical place and cultural experience.
And its called cultural identity. From this sentence we can understand that identity is
like a language, it shows who you are and where you come from. A special thing that you
have so other people can mark you. This identity is fragile and need to be preserved.
Knowing what culture is, now we have to try understanding what globalization
actually is. According to Jan AartScholte, globalization is a process when social relation
isnt associated with geographic anymore. Thus, although we are at one place, we can feel

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like going to other places without leaving our first place. We can see the phenomenon of
living in other world although we do not really go to that place.
The meaning of globalization refers to a change from a thing that we usually do in
a place. That thing is known as culture. The most important thing of every world, region,
area, even people, is called cultural identity seems like disappearing. Now, we almost see
that cultural identity changes into universal identity.

From one of the articles, I found four key concepts of globalization. Those four keys are:
1. Stretched social relations: It is argued that cultural, economic and political
processes in society are increasingly stretched (the existence of cultural, economic
and political networks of connection across the world) across the nation-state
boundaries so that events and decisions taking place on one side of the world have a
significant impact on the other. Whereas regionalization can be defined as
interconnectedness between geographically contiguous states as in the case of
Europe.
2. Intensification of flows: The stretching of social relations seems to be associated
with an intensification of flows and networks of interaction and interconnectedness
that transcend nation-state. One aspect of this is to be found in the density of
communication and interaction.
3. Increasing interpenetration: The increasing extent and intensity of global
interactions is changing the geography of the relationship between the local and the
global. As social relations stretch there is an increasing interpenetration of economic
and social practices, bringing apparently distant cultures and societies face to face
with each other at local level, as well as on the global stage.
4. Global infrastructure: Interconnections that cross nation-state boundaries operate
outside the systems of regulations and control of individual nations and are global
not only in their operations but in their institutional infrastructure ( the underlying
formal and informal institutional arrangements that are required for globalized
networks to operate). Information and communications technologies provide the
infrastructure of interaction that supports the growth of global markets. According to
this claim, nation-states find themselves at the mercy of these markets.
Talking about globalization, it makes confusion globally. Searching for what
globalization is, I find that its more popular with cultural globalization perhaps because
the impact of globalization is going to diminish cultural diversity. While cultural
globalization ishomogenization of the wold under the uauspices of American popular
culture or Western consumerism in general. The meaning of globalization and cultural
globalization has a resemblance. The meaning of these two words goes to Westernisation,
as we know before, globalization comes from the west world.

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John Tomlinson writes Globalization, destroying stable localities, displacing
peoples, bringing a market-driven, branded homogenization of cultural experience, thus
obliterating the differences between locality-defined cultures which had constituted our
identities.
There are many reasons to think that globalization might undermine cultural
diversity
1. Multinational corporations promote a certain kind of consumerist culture, in which
standard commodities, promoted by global marketing campaigns exploiting basic
material desires, create similar lifestyles--"Coca-Colanization"
2. Backed by the power of certain states, Western ideals are falsely established as
universal, overrriding local traditions--"cultural imperialism"
3. Modern institutions have an inherently rationalizing thrust, making all human
practices more efficient, controllable, and predictable, as exemplified by the spread
of fast food--"McDonaldization"
4. The United States exerts hegemonic influence in promoting its values and habits
through popular culture and the news media--"Americanization"
There is a convergence theory that is associated with what happens in our world
now according to globalization, from the West, effect. Nowadays, there is no difference
among one and others. Examples, we can find some brands of fast food everywhere we go.
Or may be we meet people who wear the same type of clothes when we go far away from
our region or nation. Its not a strange thing anymore because of globalization. So, it looks
like we all converge to the same culture.
We all know and think that globalization evokes the loss of cultural diversity in
world. But, after searching about this serious problem which makes contentions and
restlessness worldwide, I find the matter that it is not as simple as globalization obliterates
cultural diversity. Its really a complex problem. I found some theories that probably can
be considered by us. The fact shows developing world is one of the most threatened by
globalization, which is identic with capitalism from West, specifically United States. Why
does globalization affect developing world? It makes sense because developing world has
weak culture. Based on Tomlinson, the economic vulnerability of these non-western
cultures is assumed to be matched by a cultural vulnerability. globalization is associated
with the theory because we know in developing world; government thinks and takes all the
decision based on economic balance. This is why Jennifer Lindsay (1995) in her book
Cultural Policy and The Performing Arts In South-East Asia says, cultural policy in
Southeast Asia have identified and lamented the situation of government control effectively
altering and destroying traditional performing arts, through either heavy-handed
intervention, misguided policies, or neglect, no attention has been given to the symbiotic
relationship between cultural policy and cultural context. Government always thinks
more about developing all the objects in country although culture has to be changed.

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Usually it goes more to the artists, government makes them as developing objects. They
have to adapt with all the development things. It makes culture that we usually celebrate in
traditional day is flat and not special anymore. Therefore, so many people leave their
culture and follow what government does and gives in their country.From this theory, we
can conclude that globalization can affect every nation or world, especially developing
world.
We always think globalization contributes the loss of cultural diversity, its not a
false statement, but it must be perfected because globalization doesnt contribute in every
step of this process. Globalization sometimes just involves in an obliterating of culture.
Tomlinson says that globalization, far from destroying it, has been perhaps the
most significant force in creating and proliferating cultural identity. How can it happen?
We have discussed about how developing world is affected by globalization, it happens
because the weaker culture than globalization itself, and now it will be related to some
world that have stronger culture than globalization which comes. In this world, identity is
like a power to resist globalization. Perhaps we are false to think that culture or cultural
identity is always fragile. Remembering that, now we must try to start thinking in some
world, culture is so important and sacred that needs to be preserved. In this situation,
Tomlinson says The impact of globalization thus becomes, more plausibly, a matter of
the interplay of an institutional-technological impetus towards globality with
counterpoised localizing forces. So, globality has its own media to get into and blend
with local culture but it resists by the strength of locality.But usually, some world which
has this system have a problem with inter-ethnic violence, and its actually more ironic
than the consequence of developing world of globalization impact. May be its one of
reason why David Rothkopf makes a sentence It is in the best interest of America that we
all converge to the same cultural way. Cultural differences lead to conflicts and even
genocides. Then he made examples from ethnic conflicts and the conflict between
cultural cousins.
Talking about media, globalization usually uses media as we know like a modern
technology and communication. This is how globalization is spread so fast and widely to
every mile of earth. From the information I got, 75% of the prepackaged software, 60% of
prerecorded music, 32% of books come from America that obviously depicts that United
States dominates and affects other countries worldwide.
From other references, I find some other reasons to make us think that
globalization will be able to foster diversity:
1. Interaction across boundaries leads to the mixing of cultures in particular places and
practice - pluralization
2. Cultural flows occur differently in different spheres and may originate in many
places - differentiation

86

3. Integration and the spread of ideas and images provoke reactions and resistance -
contestation
4. Global norms or practices are interpreted differently according to local tradition; the
universal must take particular forms - localization
5. Diversity has itself become a global value, promoted through international
organizations and movements, not to mention nation-states - institutionalization
There are so many arguments for globalization and its impact to cultural diversity
whether good or bad. Whatever the argument is, there will be no ending if we just debate
about this or even do nothing to keep universal harmony.
The best thing that we can do is combining all good things from globalization and
our culture diversity. So, we still preserve our cultural identity but be able to follow the
developing of this world. As youth, we have to keep our cultural identity in our mind
because its the inheritance that needs to be preserved. Culture diversity is one of the
greatest gifts for us. Its meaningful for our lives and makes our world beautiful.
It will be a good idea if we combine the implementation of globalization such as
internet, computer, or games, and the implementation of cultural diversity or cultural
identity, such as how to do good to people around you or adapt in a new situation or
community to a thing that is acceptable easily nowadays, such as games. Other things, of
course we know about student exchange, its such a good example because exchange
program is one of examples of globalization good impacts where people can go anywhere
easily by technology. However, in that program we can see that everyone brings his
cultural identity and even shows his culture to everyone.
Every culture has its uniqueness. So, every person has his cultural identity. Culture
can be so fragile that needs to be preserved and can be so strong makes inter-ethnic
violence and conflicts. The best way that we have to do is combining between
globalization and culture. We can take good impacts from globalization to be combined
with culture so we will still be able to feel an atmosphere of cultural diversity beautifully.

Conclusion
Long ago, culture was made naturally as a fragile thing that need to be preserved.
There is always the time for celebrating traditional day where we bring culture on the top
of our lives. Culture is something that looks so sacred.
But then come globalization since early 90s that brings all of the ease and instant
thing in our lives. It has been deemed to be cause of the loss of cultural diversity in the
entire world. Globalization, identic with western, is so close with technology and
especially economic thing. This is the strongest reason why globalization can and looks
like changing the world.
The problems between globalization and culture are not as easy as it seems. There
are so many complex connections between both of these things. From all of the facts and

87

probabilities, it is perhaps true that globalization contributes the loss of cultural diversity,
but not in the entire process of obliterating the cultural diversity.
Whatever it is, we understand there are so many important meanings in every
culture. Culture needs to be preserved, but globalization becomes a good thing in some
aspects. Hence, we always have to try to combine both globalization and culture to make a
universal harmony in our lives.

References
anthro.palomar.edu/culture/culture_1.htm
http://classes.bus.oregonstate.edu/ba350/OVERHEADS%20by%20week/15
Shared%20Vision/SOME%20FUNCTIONS%20OF%20CULTURE.htm
http://www.aou4all.com/vb/showthread.php?t=1991
knol.google.com/k/effects-on-globalization-in-culture-differentiation
Lindsay, J. 1995.Cultural Policy and the Performing Arts in Southeast Asia, Bijdragen
tot de Taal-, Land - en Volkenkunde 151: 656-71
www.comfsm.fm/socscie/allpervading.htm
www.montraykreyol.org/spip.php?article2434
www.polity.co.uk/global/pdf/gtreader2etomlinson.pdf
www.preventelderabuse.org/issues/culture.html
www.roshan-institute.org/474552
www.sociology.emory.edu/globalization/issues.html
www.tamu.edu/faculty/choudhury/culture.html
www.uwec.edu/bonstemj/intro/spring04/Culture.Structure.htm

Bonita Putri Arinida is student at University of Padjadjaran, Indonesia.

88

Religion for Peace and Prosperity


Sukhnandan Singh and Aditya Shukla

Introduction
Religion today is a much confused and misinterpreted term, owing to which the
rational mind mostly shun it and even look at it with suspicion and hatred. It is seen
spreading superstition and hatred among the masses. The sporadic acts of communal
hatred, intolerance and riots are its inevitable results. Terrorism based on religious
fanaticism is today a big threat to social harmony, peace and prosperity of the world. As
such peaceful co-existence and prosperity based on religion looks to be a distant dream.
But this is not the absolute truth regarding the Religion proposed by the sages,
seers and Propagators of different Religions. Swami Vivekananda the Spiritual Giant from
India thundering the Parliament of World religion was a Hindu Monk, a product of Hindu
religion. He was the embodiment of the highest Ideals and Truths of Sanatna Dharma.
The rationale mind of wandering Narender gets his quest for the Eternal fulfilled at the
feet of Ramakrishana Paramahansa, embodiment of all religious realization in one soul.
This Truth is propagated by Swami Vivekananda, a born Jnani and Yogi in his
own way tempered with the scientific spirit. In the words of Swamiji, the goal of all
religions is the same, but the language of the teachers differs. The end of all religions is
realizing God in Soul. Real religion begins where this little universe ends. The fear of God
is the beginning of religion, but the love of God is the end of religion. Religion is the
greatest motive power for realizing that infinite energy which is birthright and nature of
every man.
Temple or churches, books or forms, are simply the kindergarten of religion.
Religious quarrels are always over the husks. If a religion cannot help man wherever he
may be, wherever he stands, it is not much use. It is a man-making religion that we want.
Religion as a science, as a study, is the greatest and healthiest exercise that the human
mind can have. Religion begins where philosophy ends. This rational, man making and
universal religion propagated by Swami Vivekenanda is the need of the hour, which can
ensure peace and prosperity in the society and the world.
14

89

Dilemma about Religion & its Potential PowerToday Religion is a very
misinterpreted term. It is seen to be the cause of so many evils and problems in society.
Rational minds look at it with despise and even hatred. It is seen spreading superstition
and hatred among the masses. The sporadic acts of communal hatred, intolerance and riots
are its inevitable results. Terrorism based on religious fanaticism is today a big threat to
social harmony, peace and prosperity of the world. As such peaceful co-existence and
prosperity based on religion looks to be a distant dream.
Devoid of its rational and spiritual dimensions, religion has potential dangers
affiliated with it. Swami Vivekananda was well aware about this aspect and beautifully
elaboratedWe find that though there is nothing that has brought to man more blessing
than religion, yet at the same time, there is nothing that has brought more horror than
religion. Nothing has made more for peace and love than religion; nothing has engendered
fierce hatred than religion. Nothing has made the brotherhood of man more tangible than
religion; nothing has bred more enmity between man and man than religion. Nothing has
built more charitable institutions, more hospitals for men, and even animals than religion;
nothing has deluged the world with more blood than religion.
v

Despite all such contradictions and potential threats the fate of human race is
deeply attached to the religious institutions, which influence an individual at the deepest
level of his being. Looking at its brighter side Swamiji illuminates - Religion as a science,
as a study is the greatest and healthiest exercise that the human mind can have. This
pursuit of the Infinite, this struggle to grasp the Infinite, this effort to get beyond the
limitations of the sense out of matter, as it were and to evolve the spiritual man this
striving day and night to make the Infinite one with our being this struggle itself is the
grandest and most glorious that man can makeIt is the greatest motive power that
moves the human mind. No other ideal can put us the same mass of energy as the spiritual.
So far as human history goes, it is obvious to all of us that this has been the case and that
its powers are not dead.
vi

Further Swamiji elaborates - I dont deny that men, on utilitarian grounds, can be
very good and moral. There have been many great men in this world perfectly sound,
moral and good, simply on utilitarian grounds. But the world movers, men who brings, as
it were a mass of magnetism into the world, whose spirit works in hundreds and in
thousands, whose life ignites others with a spiritual fire such men, we always find, have
the spiritual background. Their motivating power came from religion. Religion is the
greatest motive power for realizing the infinite energy which is the birthright and nature of
every man. In building up character, in making for everything that is good and great, in
bringing peace to others and peace to ones own self, religion is the highest motive power
and, therefore, ought to be studied from that standpoint.
vii
Religion must be studied on a
broader basis than formerly. All narrow, limited, fighting ideas of religion have to go. All
sect ideas and tribal or national ideas of religion must be given up.
viii

90

Take off religion from human society, what remain? Nothing but a forest of brutes.
In these thousands of years of struggle for truth and the benefit of mankind, we have
scarcely made the least appreciable advance. But mankind has made gigantic advance in
knowledge. The highest utility of this progress lies not in the comforts that it brings, but in
manufacturing a god out of this animal man. Then, with knowledge, naturally comes
bliss.
ix

It is this man making, transforming an animal man into a human being and a brute
into a divine that religion with its brighter side is the most powerful and subtler tool for
the welfare of human race.
Religion Defined in the Words of Swami Vivekananda To Swamiji Religion is
something sacred which makes a person explore and get in touch with his deepest aspect
and get in tune with the Ultimate reality. Religion is the search after the highest ideal.
x

Religion is the manifestation of the Divinity already in man.
xi
Religion is not in doctrines,
in dogmas, nor in intellectual arguments; it is being and becoming, it is realization.
xii
Each
soul is potentially divine. The goal is to manifest this divinity within, by controlling
nature, external and internal. Do this either by work, or worship, or psychic control, or
philosophy by one or more or all of these and be free. This is the whole of religion.
Doctrines, or dogmas, or rituals, or books, or temples, or forms, are but secondary
details.
xiii
It is in line with his master Sri Ramakrishna, who used to say, Having come to
this world, the first duty is to realize God and everything else will follow afterwards.
xiv
Religion is the realization of spirit as spirit.
xv
Religion belongs to the super sensuous and
not to the sense plane.
xvi
Real religion begins where this little universe ends.
xvii
Religion is
a question of being and becoming, not of believing.
xviii
All the religions, from the lowest
fetishism to the highest absolutism, mean so many attempts of the human soul to grasp and
realize the Infinite.
xix

Practical aspects of Religions are also well in the sight of Swamiji. Religion is a
long, slow process.
xx
No one who is impure will ever become religious.
xxi
Religion has
nothing to do with senses.
xxii
The essential thing in religion is making the heart pure; the
Kingdom of Heaven is within us, but only the pure in heart can see the king.
xxiii
Religion
is of deeper importance than politics, since it goes to the root and deals with the essential
of conduct.
xxiv
There is no greater Dharma than this service of living being.
xxv
Service to
these (poor, illiterate, ignorant and afflicted) alone is the highest religion.
xxvi

Thus the concept of Religion to Swami Vivekananda is a Spiritual one grounded
on the solid base of practical life. Well aware about the gross reality of human nature he
talked about the economical value of Religion as well. Whenever any religion succeeds, it
must have economic valueMan is guided by the stomach. He walks and the stomach
goes first and the head afterwards. Have you not seen that? It will take ages for the head to
go first.
xxvii
Somewhere he even says, if even a dog is hungry in my country, religion will
have to feed it.

91

True religion to Swamiji is the one with practical results. The basic aim of religion
is to bring peace to man. It is not wise thing for one to suffer in this life so that one can be
happy in the next. One must be happy here and now. Any religion that can bring about that
is the true religion for humanity.
xxviii

Dimensions of religion
Having so many religions operating in the world and across the country, how is
this vision of peace and prosperity to be achieved through a Universal religion. Before
working out this Religion, it would be better to clarify various dimensions of religion.
Swamiji clarify the fourfold divisions of religion
xxix

Philosoph: The rationale of the whole scope of each religion. It represents the essence, the
principles of every religion. These principles find expression in Mythology.

Mythology: Lives of saints or heroes, demi-gods, or gods, or divine beings. The
philosophy of religion as illustrated in the lives of divine or human teachers acknowledged
by each religion. This includes history; for what is mythology to one race or period, is or
was history to other races or periods. Even in cases of human teachers, much of their
history is taken as mythology by successive generations.

Symbology or Rituals: It is ceremonial and forms. The employment of various external
aids to preserve and develop the religious faculty of man. It can be called as the
kindergarten of religion. Symbols presents concrete examples to the beginners to grasp
and understand the subtler aspects of truth, which comes under Mysticism.

Mysticism or Spirituality: The assertion of something superior to sense-knowledge and
reason which particular persons or all persons under certain circumstances possess; runs
through the other divisions also. It is direct experience of the higher reality.
All the religions of the world, past or present, embrace one or more of these
principles, the highly developed ones having all the four. Different religions may vary on
the first three aspects with varying rituals, mythology and even philosophy. But
Spirituality is the common meeting point between all the religion, fertile ground to evolve
universal principles and value system.

Quest for a Practical and Universal Religion
Religion to help mankind must be ready and able to help him in whatever
condition he is, in servitude or in freedom, in the depths of degeneration or on the heights
of purity; everywhere equally, it should be able to come to his aid.
xxx
The religious ideals
of the future must embrace all that exist in the world and is good and great. The Personal
idea of God or Impersonal, the Infinite, Moral laws, the Ideal Man these all have to

92

come under the definition of religion. And when religion have become thus broadened,
their power for good will have increased a hundredfold.
xxxi

Religions having tremendous power in them, have often done more injury to the
world than good, simply on account of their narrowness and limitation.
xxxii
Religious ideas
will have to become universal, vast, and infinite; and then alone we shall have the fullest
play of religion, for the power of religion has only just begun to manifest in the world
The power of religion broadened and purified is going to penetrate every part of human
life. ..What is needed is a fellow feeling between the different types of religion.
xxxiii
A
common ground for universal brotherhood is to be worked out, instead of the fanatic and
narrow claim of individual supremacy by different religions.

Ideal of Universal Religion
Each religion being the effect of certain peculiarities of the race it sprang from and
being in turn the cause of the intensification and preservation of those very peculiarities,
not one of them can fit the universal human nature. Not only so, but there is a negative
element in each. Each one helps the growth of a certain part of human nature, but
represses everything else which the race from which it sprang had not. Thus one religion
to become universal would be dangerous and degenerating to man.
xxxiv
In 1893 at the
Chicago parliament of Religion Swami Vivekananda had proposed the ideal of universal
religion, which is equally relevant even today -
. If there is ever to be a religion, it must be one which will have no location in
place or time; which will be infinite, like the God it will preach, and whose sun will shine
upon the followers of Krishna and of Christ, on saints and sinners alike; which will not be
Brahmanic or Buddhist, Christian or Mohammedan, but the sum total of all these, and still
have infinite space for development; which in its Catholicity will embrace in its infinite
arms, and find a place for every human being..It will be a religion which will have no
place for persecution or intolerance in its polity, which will recognize divinity in every
man and woman, and whose whole scope, whose whole force will be centered in aiding
humanity to realize its own true, divine natureThe Christian is not to become a Hindu or
a Buddhist , nor a Hindu a Buddhist to become a Christian. But each must assimilate the
spirit of the others and yet preserve his individuality and grow according his own law of
growth.
xxxv

Swami Vivekananda later on proposed practical Vedanta to be an option to the
need of universal religion. In the words of Swamiji, Vedanta understands that and
therefore preaches the one principle and admits various methods. It has nothing to say
against anyone whether you are Christian, or a Buddhist, or a Jew, or a Hindu It
only preaches the principle which is the background of every religion and of which all the
prophets and saints and seers are but illustrations and manifestations. It only preaches the
principle, and leaves the method to you. Take any path you like; follow any prophet you

93

like; but have only that method which suits your own nature, so that you will be sure to
progress.
xxxvi
It preaches the worship of Lord through the service of Jiva (individual soul).
To it all beings are temples too, but man is the highest, the Taj mahal of temples. If I
cannot worship in that, no other temple will be of any advantage. The moment I have
realized God sitting in the temple of every human being and see God in him-that moment I
am free from bondage, everything that binds banishes, and I am free.
xxxvii

Besides the religious ideals of the future must cater to the need and taste of all
human beings, the general classification of which can be made as:
Active worker
Emotional man
Mystic
Philosopher
To propagate a religion equally acceptable to all mind; it must be equally
philosophical, equally emotional, equally mystic and equally conductive to action. This
combination will be the ideal of the nearest approach to a universal religion.
xxxviii
And this
religion is attained by what in India, call Yoga union. To the worker, it is union between
men and the whole of humanity; to the mystic between his lower and higher self; to the
lover between himself and the god of love; and to the philosopher it is the union of all the
existence.
xxxix

Thus Swami Vivekanandas quest for Universal religion leads to the rational
approach of Vedanta and the universal appeal of Yoga and the direct spiritual experience
at the lotus feet of Ramakrishana Paramahansa, embodiment of all religious realization in
one soul.. The watch word of this religion is:
Help and not Fight, Assimilation and not Dissemination, Harmony and
Peace and not Dissension.
xl

Out of this religion will sprout the tree of harmony with fragrant flowers and sweet
fruits of peace and prosperity.

References
1
The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda, Vol. II, p.360,
1
Ibid, p.66
1
The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda, Vol. II, p.67
1
Ibid
1
Ibid, pp. 209-10
1
Ibid, vol. II, p.46
1
Ibid, vol. IV, p.358
1
Ibid, vol.II, p.43
1
ibid, vol.I, p.257
1
Swami Vireswarananda, Spiritual Life for Modern Times., p.123
1
Ibid, vol.I, p.469

94

1
Ibid, vol.III, p.1
1
Ibid, vol.I, p.97
1
Ibid, vol.IV, p.216
1
bid, vol.I, p.17
1
The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda, p.36
1
Ibid, p.58
1
bid, vol.VI, p.132
1
bid, vol.VIII, p.8
1
Ibid, vol.V, p.200
1
bid, vol.VI, p.502
1
bid, vol.VI, p.288
1
bid, vol.I, p.455
1
Reminiscences of Swami Vivekananda, pp. 45-46
1
Complete Works vol. IV, p.374, vol. VI, p.6, vol. II p.377
1
1
Ibid, vol. II, p.67
1
Ibid, vol. II, p.67
1
Ibid, p. 68
1
The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda, vol. IV, p.375
1
Ibid, vol. I, pp. 17-22
1
Ibid, vol. VI, p.17
1
The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda, vol. II, p.321
1
Ibid, vol. I, pp. 85-86
1
Ibid, vol. II, pp. 387-88
1
Ibid, vol. I, pp. 388
1
Ibid, vol. I, pp. 24
1
bid, vol.I, p.17
1
The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda, p.36
1
Ibid, p.58
1
bid, vol.VI, p.132
1
bid, vol.VIII, p.8
1
Ibid, vol.V, p.200
1
bid, vol.VI, p.502
1
bid, vol.VI, p.288
1
bid, vol.I, p.455
1
Reminiscences of Swami Vivekananda, pp. 45-46
1
Complete Works vol. IV, p.374, vol. VI, p.6, vol. II p.377
1
1
Ibid, vol. II, p.67
1
Ibid, vol. II, p.67
1
Ibid, p. 68

Sukhnandan Singh is Associate Professor and Aditya Shukla is Lecturer (Trainee) at Dev
Sanskriti University, Haridwar Uttarakhand.

95

Religious Harmony and Tolerance as envisaged by Swami Vivekanand

Religious Harmony and Tolerance as Envisaged by Swami
Vivekanand

Anup Uniyal

We believe not only in universal toleration, but we accept all religions as true.
Swami Vivekanand

Life is a perpetual journey with different paths yielding to a final destination. The
five elements amalgamate to form the entire universe, the seven colors diffuse in to form
the white light and thousands of cells combine to form the building blocks. We cannot
neglect the big picture; nor can we lose sight of the individual entities that form the
constituents, the absence of anyone of which will render the outcome as incomplete. A
single idea, though quite capable of colossal changes, cannot govern the entire humankind
or timeline in itself. Even a single object can be perceived in many different ways by
different people. How can we therefore expect a single religion to sustain the entire world?
This led to the origin of different religions, customs and traditions over the ages, which
gradually became the identities of particular factions in society.

We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a
human experience. Teilhard de Chardin

The idea of any religion is the quest for a higher truth. The quest for truth is an
ongoing progressive journey. It may take an indefinite time to reach the destination,
depending on our efforts and Gods grace. Our faith stems from different revelations and
experiences at different stages of life. All the symbols, rituals, hymns are the means to
acquire this truth. They help us to progress gradually in our journey to a stage where we
no longer need any medium to seek truth as it is manifested to us. But those who cling to
these means and try to project it as their sole identity and truth often digress from the path
or make a spiral journey.
Very often in the veil of secularism or religious tolerance, we tend to do away with
the religion as such. People often proclaim that to be good and do good is the whole of
15

96

religion. But this is just the religion in its simplest sense and does not encompass the
multitude of religion. One should study the scriptures, analyze, correlate with life and
practice for its pragmatism. Religious harmony in its true essence is the realization of the
spirituality within and around us. If this perspective is clearly understood, there shall be no
conflicts, no egotism, no dogmatism and no escapism in the kingdom of God.

Realization is real religion, all the rest is only preparation-hearing lectures or reading
books or reasoning is merely preparing the ground; it is not religion.
Swami Vivekanand

Each religion has something valuable to contribute towards humankind quest for
truth. Though each one of them is different in their teachings and way of life, yet they all
point towards the noble virtues of life. To truly understand another religion, one should
first be deeply committed to ones own faiths and traditions. Understanding other religion
broadens ones horizon to new spiritual insights.
God has revealed Himself to mankind through umpteen forms and scriptures at
various point of time among various cultures. The teachings have been universal as well as
contemporary, for the common masses as well as the educated group, for the beginner and
for the expert. That is why; often we see some contradictions in those teachings, which
may be purely referential. For human with finite abilities, it is impossible to comprehend
the infinite God. But those who stride their steps in a right direction are often rewarded by
Gods unfailing love. In the words of Swami Vivekanand, The Christian is not to become
a Hindu or a Buddhist, nor a Hindu or a Buddhist to become a Christian. But each must
assimilate the spirit of others and yet preserve its individuality and grow according to his
own law of growth.
True religion preaches us the doctrine of peace, unconditional love and devotion. It
seeks no trade or bargains. It seeks for the highest form of knowledge and enlightenment
by dispelling ignorance. It emphasizes in character making and service to the society. It
establishes the relationship between men and God, body and soul. It is practical in every
sense and unspoiled by external influences. It is not the propriety of a chosen few, but
belongs to one and all who is willing to accept it with an open mind and a pure heart. It
provides with a source of everlasting joy and bliss.

It was not only impossible that there should be one religion for the whole world, but it
would be dangerous. If the whole of religious thoughts was at the same level, it would be
the death of religious thought; variety was its life. -Swami Vivekanand
It is thus important for us to realize that the true religious harmony lies in adopting
and not abandoning. It does not require one to give up ones own religion but to assimilate
the virtues inherent in the mutual development and coexistence. This is a treasure which

97

expands on sharing and experiencing. There are many mysteries and unknown destinations
which one encounters in due course of this journey, but we must learn to enjoy the
moments as the mystery unfolds.

Anup Uniyal is alumnus of College of Technology, Pantnagar, presently working as
Product Development Engineer in Ventyx Ltd. at Houston, USA.

98

Co-Existance, Cultural Harmony and its Understanding in a Modern Society

Co-Existance, Cultural Harmony and its Understanding
in a Modern Society

Omwono Gedion Alango

Introduction
Global efforts towards peace and reconciliation can only succeed with a collective
approach that is built on trust, dialogue and collaboration. For that, We have to build a
grand alliance amongst all, particularly with the Proactive involvement and participation
of civil society and practitioners of peace at all levels. We need to create a culture of peace
and non-violence in the world and promote dialogue among civilizations. This move will
ensure that amity would replace atrocity, harmony would overcome hatred and stability
would remove suspicion. No social responsibility is greater nor task heavier than that of
securing peace on planet earth.
Mahatma Gandhi once said: Non-violence is not a garment to be put on and off at
will. Its seat is in the heart, and it must be an inseparable part of our very being. Non-
violence can truly flourish when the world is free of poverty, hunger, discrimination,
exclusion, intolerance and hatred - when women and men can realize their highest
potential and live a secure and fulfilling life. Then and only then, each and every one of us
can contribute individually to build peace through non-violence.
To me, culture of peace is a set a values, attitudes and ways of life base on
principle of freedom, justice, democracy, tolerance, solidarity, and respect for diversity,
dialogue and understanding. Since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of
men that the defenses of peace must be constructed. The need for a culture of peace is
evident as we reflect on how our civilization has succumbed, time and again, to the human
frailties of greed, ambition, xenophobic myopia, and selfishness. We have seen that very
bad acts are often committed under the veil of public mandates when in fact they are the
wishes of the few in power, be they economic, political, military, or even religious.
The flourishing of culture of peace will generate the mindset that is a prerequisite
for the transition from force to reason, from conflict and violence to dialogue and peace.
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Culture of peace will then provide a firm foundation to support a stable, progressing and
prospering world - a world that is finally at peace with itself.
People who are young in age fear deadly attacks by terrorists and suffer from
genocide or massive violations of human rights which, on most occasions, are carried out
by their own governments. Poverty and lack of opportunities deprive people of their
dignity as human beings, leaving them hopeless and incapable of pursuing the kind of life
they may desire. Marginalization and abuse because of ethnicity, gender or religion, social
turbulence, repression, violence and terror are all closely linked to poverty and the
concurrent lack of basic human rights.

Importance
I. To cultivate friendly interactions among people of diverse cultures and religions this
will help create an environment conducive to building peace and harmony among
communities and people.
II. To work together to promote and preserve peace, justice, human rights, equality,
genuine brotherhood, and tolerance
III. To a world culture wherein the histories and traditions of diverse cultures and
civilizations are respected and accepted. This will bring hope that enmity and
oppression will give way to respect and tolerance as people recognize that everyone
has the basic right to live peacefully and enjoy their own cultural tradition or
religion.
IV. To oppose terrorism and extremism in all its manifestations and the use of religious
symbols and ethnic values to generate conflicts, feed wars, or justify terrorism.
V. To promote understanding and tolerance among people of all religions based on its
understanding that humankind is one family under God
VI. To promote tolerance and respect among various faiths around the world. This can
be done by establish a Permanent Committee for Interfaith Cooperation, comprised
of religious, scholars and representatives of different faiths and communities, NGOs
and the media.

Culture
Culture is a whole complex of distinctive, geographical, spiritual, material,
intellectual and emotional features that characterize society or social groups. It includes
not only the arts and letters but also modes of life, fundamental rights of the human being,
value systems, traditions, habits and behaviors. In this Policy, Culture is defined as the
sum total of the ways in which a society Preserves, identifies, organizes, sustains and
expresses itself.

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Cultural Change
Transformation that involves and may include both positive or even negative
alterations of basic values, norms, beliefs, traditional cultural patterns and ways of life of
people.

Cultural Cooperation
A direct or indirect support, that promotes closer national and transnational ties in
the field of culture. It entails collaboration and exchange of social and cultural
experiences.

Cultural Site
Natural and man-made works that are of outstanding universal value from the
historical, aesthetic, ethnological or anthropological points of view

Cultural Industries
Business, activities involved in the production of creative products which convey
ideas, messages, symbols, opinions and information of moral and aesthetic value.

Cultural Tourism
Consumption of culture through experiencing cultural environments whether in the
form of tangible heritage like sites, monuments, visual arts, crafts, material settlements or
intangible heritage like values, traditions, beliefs and lifestyles

Rationale for the Culture Policy
The Culture Policy complements, promotes and strengthens the overall
development goals of any country. The Policy shall inform other sectors to:
Facilitate community action against practices that impinge on human dignity
Guide, harmonize, complement and promote the distinct and complementary
interventions and roles of stakeholders at all levels,
Ensure effective intra and inter-cultural exchange for harmonious coexistence
Promote aspects of cultural heritage that are cherished by its people;
Guide the private sector, traditional/cultural institutions and civil society
organizations to research on and advocate for culture

Aims and Objectives
i. Realization of personal commitment to peace and to a better world for the future
generations.
ii. Promoting a culture of peace and non-violence in the world and dialogue among
civilizations.

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iii. Identifies major areas such as: education, science and technology, sustainable
development, human rights, equality between women and men, democratic
participation, advancing understanding, tolerance and solidarity and international
peace and security.
iv. Promoting peace and reconciliation with a collective approach that is built on trust,
dialogue and collaboration
v. Inter-religious initiatives, all inclusive the Jews, Christians and Muslims brothers
across the world different religious groups in India. Buddhist and Sikh and non
believers to describe aspects of their traditions that can contribute to peaceful
coexistence among diverse people of the world.

For Us to Have A Sense of Achievement We Should Call For
a) Strengthening communication between the representatives of religions, faiths and
inter-governmental and non-governmental institutions.
b) Laying stress on the role civil societies play in creating social awareness about inter-
religious harmony, human rights and respect of law, as well as the role of religious
and spiritual educational institutions in promoting tolerance, mutual respect and
human rights as human rights are part of all religions and civilization.
c) media and intellectuals to focus on principles that enhance values, equality,
tolerance and acceptance of others after having thoroughly examined and discussed
the common values of the various faiths and religions as well as barriers to building
inter-faith harmony within the international community and people.

Our Declaration
i. Promoting and protecting peace, justice, human dignity, equality, equity, genuine
brotherhood, tolerance and friendly interaction among cultures and religions needs
to be cultivated and nurtured to help create an environment conducive to building
peace and harmony within communities and people.
ii. The promotion of human rights and fundamental freedom, including the right of
individuals to choose religion or faith, can contribute to upholding respect for the
diversity of faiths and religions, which is essential in combating extremism,
intolerance, hatred and violence.
iii. It is more important for people of different religions and faiths to stand united and
make clear that they will not allow the use of violence to divide them. We must all
speak up against those who use religion to rationalize terrorism and murder

Omwono Gedion Alango is Student at Agra University, Uttar Pradesh.

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How to Bridge the Professed Gap between Different Religions- A Common Man's Guideline

How to Bridge the Professed Gap between
Different Religions- A Common Man's Guideline

Ganesh Kumar Jha

Introduction
Religion is a vast concept influencing all aspects of human life and produces due to
deep faith and commitment to the strong, sacred, and precious matter of divine ideology. It
is visualized by our way of living, fashion of worship, rituals, chanting, meditation,
praying etc.
Every religion of world has some differences with some basic similarities. Every
person of world knows that every religion teaches about peace and prosperity but follower
of every religion struggles time to time for establishing the superiority of his religion. Our
history is witness for this carnage which has been done time to time by those people who
says itself as a savior of his religion. Even the intra- religious differences also persist.
Definitely the persistence of acrimony, differences, contradiction and chaos cannot be
fruitful for mankind. To establish the global peace, harmony and fraternity it is mandatory
to eradicate the acrimony among the disciples of various religions. Several scholars and
philosophers have devised various ideas to achieve the aforesaid goal. Some of them are

1. Coordination between different religions
Coordination between different religions means that integration between different
religion by linking the equality within them and which should be reasonable and not be
imposed by external force. But generally except few basic concepts, rituals of all religions
have many differences. For example some believes in idol worship while others not.
Similarly some are monotheist and some are polytheist. So practically it is hardly possible
to establish co-ordination of various religions.

2. Establishing a sovereign religion
Establishing a sovereign religion means underlay the universal religion which will
be accepted by every virtuous person without any problem. For this we have three ways:
a) Accepting any pre-existing religion as a sovereign religion;
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b) Creation of a new religion derived by taking some common basic concepts from
existing religions and
c) Creation of a new religion with no religious ancestry.
Theoretically all of these are possible but practically none of them is acceptable in
present situation due to several reasons. None of the existing religion in the world is
completely perfect. If we create totally a new universal religion the possibility to agree
with new religion is very feeble.

3. Either accepting or denying all religions
But this is also not possible because every religious people mindset is conquered
and hypnotized by it and so he will not be accepting every religion or denying self
religion. In that situation it is a matter of contemplation how to achieve the above goal. In
my opinion prevailed artificial schism can be removed by following these ideas:

a. Sarva dharma moderation: Practically coordination between different religions or
establishing a sovereign religion is not possible. It is possible only when every
disciples will give due respect to every religion with equanimity. One should not be
suffering from superiority complex regarding own religion. Swami Vivekananda
says the truth of a religion depends on the truth of rest of the religions. They appear
to be different morphologically but their anatomy is same. Mahatma Gandhi says
having kept deep faith in own religion and accompanying the best of all religion can
accelerate ones motion to access the God. In my personal opinion all are basically
same. To develop the moderation among disciples one should be generous and
posses broad mindedness.
b. Secularism: According to secular thought the interest of mankind is above all. It
advocates abandoning all ritual, worships, traditions, customs which recedes away a
man from a man. Theoretically it sounds good but since right from birth, religion
passively becomes the integral part of ones lives, keeping oneself isolated is a
daunting task. It can be achieved only by adopting scientific and spiritual point of
view. Science has already uprooted the superstitions and orthodox to greater extent.
Therefore in this context it can be expected that secularism could be the potential
solution in near future.
c. Tolerance to religion: It means acceptance of every religion irrespective of judging
their merits and demerits or personal like and dislike as one endures other social
evils e.g. corruption, dowry system, prostitution etc. Tolerance to a religion should
not be misunderstood with religious moderation or neutrality to any religion.
Neutrality in any religion means one is like devoid of test bud on a tongue for other
religion. On the contrary, in the concept of tolerance to a religion, one has pre
occupied negative conceived notion even though pretending to be normal and

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positive from externally in behavior. Therefore it can be concluded that religious
moderation is more desirable and admirable than tolerance to a religion. Religious
tolerance is nothing but a pioneer step to moderation of a religion. Therefore at first
we must concentrate to explore those methods which should strengthen and develop
the tolerance to a religion. The prime reason of religious intolerance is the mentality
of superiority complex regarding own religion.
Global terrorism in present scenario is the yield of this ill mentality of religion. It
can be removed from basic level to higher level. Since children are at the basic level and
they know the world under the guidance of their parents close relatives, reform should also
begin from here. Parents should give such lessons and upbringing which should ensure a
broad minded and tolerant citizen in future. The above mentioned ill mentality aggravates
the problem if a nostalgic parent incorporates a biased attitude of a religion to their
children. It upbrings a population of children equipped with religious prejudices and an
obstacle for a tolerance to a religion. It can be resolved by quitting liable attitude. Another
reason of intolerance is the ignorance to the other religion. It produces a communication
gap which further acts as a precursor for violence or acrimony on stimulation. It can be
minimized by proper knowledge and understanding of various religion. Children could be
equipped with knowledge by several means as newspaper, television, radio, and by other
communication means. It should also be included in the syllabus of primary and middle
school student. As an extracurricular program there should be provision to visit to
different religious centers like temple, mosque, churches etc. and acquaintance with
rituals. We should also make available such a platform which should bring the children of
different religion come together. Comparative study of different religion, there belief and
philosophy at university will help to produce desired and efficient parent population which
in turn yield the desired unbiased children population. Making a common temple for
different religion where they can worship in own way and interact to each other will be a
good idea to strengthen the relation of various religions. Time to time either from
government side or from cleric side some religious ceremony should be organized in
which people of different religions may be invited. Discourses delivered by religious
leaders or dharma gurus should be focused on unity and not on differences.
Finally until the religions and their followers persist, religious moderation and
tolerance to religion are the best way for religious peace and prosperity. I hope that India
and other multi-religious countries can adopt these methods for happiness of the whole
world.

Ganesh Kumar Jha is student at Bihar Agricultural University, Sabour, Bhagalpur, Bihar.

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World Peace through Group Meditation

World Peace through Group Meditation

Debarati Rakshit

Introduction
Meditation refers to any form of a family of practices in which practitioners train
their minds or self-induce a mode of consciousness to realize some benefit. It is the
psychological approach to mental culture, training and purification.
In a world crammed with to-do lists, unread emails and incessantly ringing cell
phones, its no wonder that were continually on the hunt for inner peaceor any peace
for that matter. Meditation is an ancient practice, a way of focusing your mind in order to
become more aware and to achieve a higher state of consciousness. While meditation is
commonly thought of as a spiritual practice because of its roots in eastern religions, it can
be practiced by anyone who wants more peace and balance in his or her life. Meditation
has become such a common practice that it is now a dedicated field of study at some major
medical centers.

Benefits of meditation
Inner peace: Many people learn meditation not only for the welfare of their mind and
body, but also for spiritual purposes. Finding inner peace is what many people are
concerned of. Although finding inner peace is the hardest thing to do, it is worth all the
effort. This is due to the fact that no book or article can give you all the answers to help
you achieve inner peace. However, with proper meditation, inner peace can be attained.
The benefits of meditation come from neuroplasticity, or the brain's ability to exercise and
do enhancements creating new neural pathways.

Mass meditation: Meditation techniques have been shown to create high levels of
coherence in EEG brain wave patterns of individual practitioners. This increased
coherence and orderliness in individual consciousness appears to "spill over" into society
and can be measured indirectly via changes in social indices, such as reductions in the rate
of violent crime. It's analogous to the way that a magnet creates an invisible field that
causes iron filings to arrange themselves into an orderly pattern.
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Invincibility: Everyone always needs security in life. When we are young, we need the
security of our parents. When we are grown up, we need to secure food, a house, a car and
our belongings. We also need to feel secure in our country. If there is threat of an invasion
by a hostile country, we will not feel secure. This insecurity spoils our lives; it decreases
our happiness and gives stress. As individuals we cannot do much about it, unless we are
the president or another kind of decision-making authority representing the country. It
seems that there is nothing that we could do to prevent a war and so most of us just have to
hope for the best and not think too much about it. Wouldn't it be nice if we, as individuals,
could do something about it and make our nation invincible? Yes, it is also possible.
Invincibility means simply that no enemy could destroy our society and our culture
which we have built up during many generations. What needed to become invincible is
coherence. In physics there are many examples of invincibility. A very well-known
example is the Meissner Effect in conductors.

Meissner effect: The Meissner Effect shows that a magnetic field is easily influenced by
another field. A super-conductor, however, is a very coherent field and will not allow an
outside field to influence it. It is therefore invincible.
In an ordinary electrical conductor, incoherent, disordered electrons allow
penetration by an external magnetic field. In a superconductor, coherent collective
functioning of the electrons spontaneously excludes an external magnetic field, and
maintains its impenetrable status.
. In the same way, a society is built up of many individuals. All these individuals
together form the collective consciousness of the nation. Everyone creates some influence
around themselves. If you throw a stone into a pond, then the waves will stretch over the
whole pond. If someone is stressed, he certainly will create stress in his environment. If
there is division in the country and the majority of people are dissatisfied and tense, then
the collective consciousness will be incoherent. Because of this the country is at risk of
invasion by a foreign power.
On the other hand, if the collective consciousness is coherent, the country becomes
strong and invincible. There is a way to improve the collective consciousness of any
nation. This can be done by training groups of individuals to create coherence in national
consciousness. If someone experiences the field of pure silence then the brain wave
coherence increases dramatically. This is shown in many scientific studies on people who
practice Transcendental Meditation. If a group of people practice the TM technique
together in a group, then the collective effect will be much greater. This effect spills over
in the society to bring about orderliness.
Transcendental meditation: The Transcendental Meditation technique (TM technique) is
an easy and natural way to experience Transcendental Consciousness. Transcendental
Consciousness is the most settled state of the mind and is the home of all creativity and

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intelligence in everyone. Transcendental means beyond. In Transcendental Consciousness
there are no thoughts. It is a state where the mind is without thoughts, a state of going
beyond thoughts.
This is called the Maharishi Effect. It has been found and it has been repeatedly
demonstrated that the group practice of the TM programmes reduces violence, negativity
and conflict in a country.
The Maharishi proposed that all occurrences of violent conflict arise from the
accumulation of collective stress. The most fundamental technique for reducing stress is
the practice of Transcendental Meditation which is experienced as a silent, peaceful state
of heightened awareness that has been closely related to higher EEG coherence and with
reduced anxiety and hostility. Dr. Davies said that if you have a large group of people
meditating together, you can have constructive interference in the societal improvement.
The first country which has successfully established a coherence creating group is
the Netherlands. Since April 2006 there has been a group of around 400 people, who
practice the Transcendental Meditation. This has led to a significant increase of positive
trends in society, such as improved economy, more trust in the political leaders and
increased awareness of environmental issues.
In order for a country to become invincible, it is only necessary to establish a
group of dedicated meditation practitioner equivalent of the square root of one percent of
their population.
According to Dr. John Davies, if one percent of the world population practiced
meditation it would have an impact on the collective consciousness of a society. This
impact would result in a reduction of violence in the community and on armed conflict
throughout the world.
The influence of peace increases by orders of magnitude as the number of peace
creating individuals increases according to the superradiance formula. Fifty research
projects have demonstrated that the square root of 1% of a large population (8,000 for the
world) is sufficient to create coherence and peace for the entire society. For example, a
laser is a coherent system in which coherence is created in a small amount of the atoms by
stimulated emission of radiation. The amount of atoms needed to behave coherently is the
square root of one percent of the total population of atoms in the laser; this is what
superradiance is - the propagation of orderliness throughout a system.

The Washington experiment
On June 7, 1993, four thousand people from 81 different countries descended on
Washington, D. C. to begin a mass meditation experiment which was to last eight weeks,
through July 13th of that year. They were housed in hotels, dormitories and private
residences across the city. The experiment was designed to ascertain whether a mass

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meditation, undertaken every day by all four thousand participants, could have the effect
of lowering the capital city's very high crime rate.
Researchers from the Maharishi University of Management in Fairfield, Iowa, had
predicted that the D. C. violent crime rate would be reduced by at least twenty percent
over the time period of the experiment. The results in fact showed that the crime rate in
Washington dropped by a whopping 23 percent over the course of the eight weeks the
meditations took place.
Since 1993, this experiment has been repeated in many other places in the world,
and always the results have been the same or better than they were in Washington. This
has led to the creation of World Meditation Day.
World Meditation Day is actually a monthly mass meditation that takes place on
the first Sunday of every month, and also the day of the new moon each month, between 7
and 8 PM, local time, through all of the world's time zones. In that way, there is a mass
meditation occurring during every hour of that day.

Conclusion
This is a critical time, probably the most critical in at least last five thousand years.
We have an opportunity that cannot be missed - the chance to bring an era of peace and
prosperity to every living soul on the planet. It can happen and it must, if we are to
transform our civilization.
We must not get caught up in all of the negativity that seems to reign in the world.
We need to see it for what it is - the washing away of the old order to make way for the
new. Decrying injustice, greed, crime and other negative behaviors feeds the very things
we deplore. Loving thoughts are the only force that will eliminate those patterns.

Debarati Rakshit is student at Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology, Bhubaneswar.

109

Concept of God in Holy Scriptures: Towards Universal Harmony and Broader Tolerance

Concept of God in Holy Scriptures: Towards Universal
Harmony and Broader Tolerance

Mohd Nayyer Rahman and Syed Abdullah Zaini

Introduction
Since times immemorial, man has been in search of harmony and peace. From time
to time the nature of harmony has been in question. The modern era is one which has seen
scarcity of harmony. Today all human beings are groping in search of universal harmony
but they are failing. There are several reasons for it which would be discussed.
Before reaching to a point where we analyze universal harmony it is imperative to
discuss the status of man in present times and the hindrance of its assumed status.
Man by his status is creation and those who do not accept this fact they by default
fall into the fallacy of all is right/ unanswerable world/ no day of judgment. Due to
wrong position attached to the status of man, man thinks to be superior and fails to seek
guidance from any source. He starts thinking and acting as per individualistic wishes and
desires. In this way man creates dogmas, ideologies that are the outcome of wrong
assumption that man is absolutely unanswerable. Surely an unanswerable man cannot
stand to work for universal harmony. An unanswerable man makes his desires as his law
and he/she never accepts any other law. One of the distinguishing features of our
civilization is the presence of a large number of religions and ethical systems. Mankind
has always sought to understand the reason for creation and his own place in the scheme
of things. Arnold Toynbee studied the history of man through the ages and put his findings
in a monumental work consisting of ten volumes. He summarized that in the history of
man, religion stood as the center. In an article in The Observer October 24, 1954 he wrote:
I have come back at the belief that religion holds the key to the mystery of existence.
Religion according to the Oxford dictionary means belief in a super human controlling
power especially in a personal God or gods entitled to obedience and worship. In order to
move towards the understanding of a utopian society thus it is imperative to decipher the
meaning of universal harmony and link it to concept of GOD. Lets break the term into
key words, that are universal and harmony. Universal
1
word has two meaning:
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Done by or involving all the people in the world
True or right at all times and in all places.
These two meanings, when are used along with harmony produces a very wide
meaning. Harmony means a state of peaceful existence and agreement
2
. In total we can
say that universal harmony has two notions:
1. Peaceful existence and agreement involving all people
2. Peaceful existence that is accepted by all as just and right
Now these two notions emphasize that there is a concept involving all people and
what is just. When we look at totality concepts, we feel that all people are affected by our
belief in GOD. By default we all believe in an ideology that relies on the concept of GOD.
For few, there is no GOD but still they follow an ideology or path and its leaders become
their GOD.
How can we bring universal harmony when we have differences in approach,
ideologies, rituals, acts etc.? Let us take a simple example to understand the problem.
Suppose Religion A and Religion B have 100 points of discussion and they differ on 90
points but find 10 points where they are common. Should they fight over 90 points or first
should they unite over 10 common points? Remember that our aim is universal harmony
and thus if we fight over 90 points of disagreement we would be failing in our aim. The
answer may differ from person to person but if we want universal harmony then there is
only one path i.e. to unite over the issues we have in common. The first issue in this regard
is concept of GOD as given in Holy Scriptures of major religion. The Quran highlights the
concept of unity in the following words:
Say: "O people of the Book! Come to common terms as between us and you: that we
worship none but Allah (One True GOD); that we associate no partners with Him; that
we erect not from among ourselves Lords and patrons other than Allah (One True
GOD)."
-Qur'an Ch.3 V.64 Surah Ale-'Imran (The Family of 'Imran)
If we pay heed to the correct belief about GOD as envisaged by Religious
Scriptures then we can easily understand that we all are the subjects of GOD and HE do
not differentiates except on the basis of righteousness. The Quran emphasizes through the
following words:
O mankind! We created you from a single (pair) of a male and a female and made you
into nations and tribes that you may know each other (not that you may despise each
other). Verily the most honored of you in the sight of Allah is (he who is) the most
righteous of you. And Allah (One True GOD) has full knowledge and is well acquainted
(with all things).
-Qur'an Ch.49 V.13 Surah Al-Hujurat (The Inner Apartments)

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Swami Vivekananda said: Do not believe a thing because you read it in a book.
Do not believe a thing because another has said it is so. Find out the truth for yourself.
That is realization.
Now we move forward; towards universal harmony by discussing the concept of GOD in
major religions:

Concept of God in Hinduism
1. Concept of God according to Hindu Scriptures: We can gain a better understanding
of the concept of God in Hinduism by analysing Hindu scriptures.

a. Bhagavad Gita: The most popular amongst all the Hindu scriptures is the Bhagavad
Gita. Consider the following verse from the Gita:
"Those whose intelligence has been stolen by material desires surrender unto demigods
and follow the particular rules and regulations of worship according to their own
natures."
-[Bhagavad Gita 7:20]
The Gita states that people who are materialistic worship demigods i.e. gods besides the
True God.

b. Upanishads: The Upanishads are considered sacred scriptures by the Hindus.
The following verses from the Upanishads refer to the Concept of God:
"Ekam evadvitiyam"
"He is One only without a second."
-[Chandogya Upanishad 6:2:1]
"Na casya kascij janita na cadhipah."
"Of Him there are neither parents nor lord."
-[Svetasvatara Upanishad 6:9]
"Na tasya pratima asti"
"There is no likeness of Him."
The following verses from the Upanishad allude to the inability of man to imagine God in
a particular form:
"Na samdrse tisthati rupam asya, na caksusa pasyati kas canainam."
"His form is not to be seen; no one sees Him with the eye."
c. The Vedas: Vedas are considered the most sacred of all the Hindu scriptures. There
are four principal Vedas: Rigveda, Yajurveda, Samveda and Atharvaveda.

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i. Yajurveda: The following verses from the Yajurveda echo a similar concept of God:
"na tasya pratima asti
"There is no image of Him."
-[Yajurveda 32:3]
"Andhatama pravishanti ye asambhuti mupaste"
"They enter darkness, those who worship the natural elements" (Air, Water, Fire, etc.).
"They sink deeper in darkness, those who worship sambhuti."
-[Yajurveda 40:9]
The Yajurveda contains the following prayer:
"Lead us to the good path and remove the sin that makes us stray and wander."
-[Yajurveda 40:16]

ii. Atharvaveda: The Atharvaveda praises God in Book 20, hymn 58 and verse 3:
"Dev maha osi"
"God is verily great"
-[Atharvaveda 20:58:3]
iii. The following verse from the Rigveda Book 8, hymn 1, verse 1 refer to the Unity and
Glory of the Supreme Being:
"Ma cidanyadvi sansata sakhayo ma rishanyata"
"O friends, do not worship anybody but Him, the Divine One. Praise Him alone."
-[Rigveda 8:1:1]
"Dev asya samituk parishtutih"
"Verily, great is the glory of the Divine Creator."
-[Rigveda 5:1:81]
d. Brahma Sutra of Hinduism: The Brahma Sutra of Hinduism is:
"Ekam Brahm, dvitiya naste nehna naste kinchan"
"There is only one God, not the second; not at all, not at all, not in the least bit."
e. Swami Vivekananda quotes in Vedanta about God:
HE the omnipresent, the one without a second, the one without a body, pure, the great
poet of the universe, whose meter is the suns and stars, is giving to each what he
deserves.

Concept Of God In Christianity
New Testament
1. The following statements in the Bible are attributed to Jesus Christ:
a. "My Father is greater than I." [The Bible, John 14:28]
b. "My Father is greater than all." [The Bible, John 10:29]
c. "I cast out devils by the Spirit of God." [The Bible, Mathew 12:28]
d. "I with the finger of God cast out devils." [The Bible, Luke 11:20]

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e. "I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgement is just;
because I seek not my own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me." [The
Bible, John 5:30]

2. Jesus Refuted even the Remotest Suggestion of his Divinity: Consider the
following incident mentioned in the Bible:
"And behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do,
that I may have eternal life?
And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? There is none good but one, that is,
God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments. "
-[The Bible, Mathew 19:16-17]
Jesus (pbuh) did not say to have the eternal life of paradise, man should believe in
him as Almighty God or worship him as God, or believe that Jesus (pbuh) would die for
his sins. On the contrary he said that the path to salvation was through keeping the
commandments.

3. Jesus (pbuh) of Nazareth a Man Approved of God:
The following statement from the Bible supports the Islamic belief that Jesus (pbuh)
was a prophet of God.
"Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among
you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye
yourselves also know."
-[The Bible, Acts 2:22]
4. The First Commandment is that God is One: One of the scribes once asked Jesus
(pbuh) as to which was the first commandment of all, to which Jesus (pbuh) merely
repeated what Moses (pbuh) had said earlier:
"Shama Israelu Adonai Ila Hayno Adna Ikhat."
This is a Hebrew quotation, which means:
"Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord."
-[The Bible, Mark 12:29]
Jesus (pbuh) thus reiterated the message of monotheism that was given by all earlier
prophets of Almighty God.

Old Testament

1. God is One: The following verse from the book of Deuteronomy contains an
exhortation from Moses (pbuh):
"Shama Israelu Adonai Ila Hayno Adna Ikhad".
It is a Hebrew quotation which means:

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"Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord"
-[The Bible, Deuteronomy 6:4]
2. Oneness of God in the Book of Isaiah
The following verses are from the Book of Isaiah:
a. "I, even I, am the Lord; and beside me there is no savior."
-[The Bible, Isaiah 43:11]
b. "I am Lord, and there is none else, there is no God besides me."
c. "I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me."

Concept of God in Judaism
1. The following verse from the book of Deuteronomy contains an exhortation from
Moses (pbuh):
"Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord" [The Bible, Deuteronomy 6:4]

2. "I, even I, am the Lord; and beside me there is no saviour."
3. "I am Lord, and there is none else There is no God besides me."
4. "I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me."

Concept of God in Islam
The Most Concise Definition of God: The most concise definition of God in Islam is
given in the four verses of Surah Ikhlas which is Chapter 112 of the Quran:
"Say: He is Allah, the One and Only.Allah, the Eternal, Absolute. "He begets not, nor
is He begotten. And there is none like unto Him."
-[Al-Quran Ch.112 V.1-4]
The word Assamad is difficult to translate. It means absolute existence, which
can be attributed only to Allah (swt), all other existence being temporal or conditional. It
also means that Allah (swt) is not dependent on any person or thing, but all persons and
things are dependent on Him. The following verse of the Glorious Quran conveys a
similar message:
"No vision can grasp Him but His grasp is over all vision: He is above all
comprehension,
Yet is acquainted with all things."
-[Al-Quran Ch.6 V.103]

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That is the reason why the Quran speaks against all forms of anthropomorphism.
The Glorious Quran says in the following verse:
"There is nothing whatever like unto Him."
- [Al-Quran Ch.42 V.11]
The Glorious Quran says:
"If there were, in the heavens and the earth, other gods besides Allah, there would have
been confusion in both! But glory to Allah, The Lord of the Throne, (High is He) above
what they attribute to Him!"
-[Al-Quran Ch.21 V.22]
Allah has not taken any son, nor has there ever been with Him any deity. [If there had
been], then each deity would have taken what it created, and some of them would have
sought to overcome others. Exalted is Allah above what they describe [concerning Him].
- [Al-Quran Ch.23 V.91]
Allah - there is no deity except Him, the Ever-Living, the Sustainer of [all] existence.
Neither drowsiness overtakes Him nor sleep. To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens
and whatever is on the earth. Who is it that can intercede with Him except by His
permission? He knows what is [presently] before them and what will be after them, and
they encompass not a thing of His knowledge except for what He wills. His Kursi
(Throne) extends over the heavens and the earth, and their preservation tires Him not.
And He is the Most High, the Most Great.
-[Surah al-Baqarah Ch.2 V.255]
Swami Vivekananda writes:
Hundreds of attempts have been made in India, in Alexandria, in Europe, in China, in
Japan, in Tibet, and lastly in America to formulate a harmonious religious creed, to
make all religions come together in love. They have all failed, because they did not
adopt any practical plan. Many have admitted that all the religions of the world are
right, but they show no practical way of bringing them together so as to enable each of
them to maintain its own individuality of any man in religion and at the same time
shows him a point of union with all others.
3

After analyzing the words of Swami Vivekananda we can derive that practical way
is not the way of tolerance. The practical way of achieving broader tolerance should not
define broader tolerance as the end; rather it should be a mere stage or means to reach to
the aim of acceptance of truth. Already the detailed discussion on concept of GOD has
made clear that highest truth is identifying the authority of one supreme lord who deserves
worship in all spheres of life.
Here it would be relevant to quote Swami Vivekananda:
Our watchword, then, will be acceptance and not exclusion. Not only toleration, for so-
called toleration is often blasphemy and I do not believe in it. I believe in acceptance.
Why should I tolerate? Toleration means that I think that you are wrong and I am just

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allowing you to live. Is it not a blasphemy to think that you and I are allowing others to
live?
4

Thus it is evident that acceptance should be our aim and customary tolerance is
hypocrisy. As Swami Vivekananda labels toleration as blasphemy the reason is a fine one
which needs attention: When one start thinking that he/she is allowing others to live,
he/she starts sharing in the dominion of GOD. Because it is the unique feature of GOD
that he allows and disallows s life.

Conclusion
In the end we would like to conclude that concept of god if studied and accepted
dispassionately will pave way for universal harmony and broader tolerance which is
acceptance of truth. The following would be concluding words from the pen of Swami
Vivekananda:
Take Islam for instance, Islam makes its followers all equal. What Islam comes to
preach to the world is this practical brotherhood of all belonging to their faith. That is the
essential part of the Islam.
5

References
Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary, page 1675
Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary, page 710
Vedanta: Voice of freedom, page 282

Mohd Nayyer Rahman and Syed Abdullah Zaini are students at Aligarh Muslim
University, Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh.

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Saving Humanity: Swami Vivekananda Approach
Vivekanand Swadhyay Mandal, 2012. Pp 117-125


Kartik Upreti and Gaurav Upreti

Introduction:
All the difference in this universe is of degree not of kind because oneness is the secret of
this universe.
-Swami Vivekananda
Religion does not exists in talks, but in realization. It is not learning but being. All
religions lead mankind to the same goal. May be the path is different but goal is same.
Either you fill water with bucket or with some other container. Still the water is same. It is
a vision, an inspiration, a plunge into the unknown and unknowable, making the
unknowable more than known, for it can never be known. Every religion wants the
growth of humanity, wants the existence of truth. These terms will surely lead us to inner
peace and prosperity.
The goal is to manifest divinity within. Do this either by work or worship, philosophy,
psychic control etc. and be free. This is the crux of religions. All the scriptures, dogmas
are but secondary.
Religion, as is manifested from the derivation of the term re-back-ligare, to bind, is
that which binds one back to the origin or fountain head. Religion deals with the
metaphysical world and the book from which to learn religion is our own mind and heart.
Religion is like a magical bird whose wings are the selfless actions towards the liberation,
tail is the knowledge giving the direction, whose heart is filled with unconditional love
which can take an ignorant person to the destination.
When we see in the present context, the generation is misguided regarding its
belief in religion. All the fanaticism is created due to feeble intellect and ignorance is
created by the hollow idea of individuality. For some, religion is the most impractical
thing because the religion has become the hub of dos and donts and for some others it is
a medium to become a celebrity. What we are really doing is that we are creating a rift
among the human beings and misguiding the entire humanity regarding their belief in
religion. Today we live for ourselves. To earn bread is a common goal of life.
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When we will go through the religion, we will find that the same foundation taught
by our religion were taught by all others religions. That is to serve the humanity and no
one denies this fact. But what we are doing is the question? We must remember that we
cant live happily with all worldly comfort till the rest of humanity is starving. When we
hurt someone we hurt our self, because we and each soul are connected. It is just like a
circle. Our doing will surely come back to us.

Swami Vivekananda Teachings
Religion is Self-Abnegation. I do not understand what people mean by this
comfortable religion. I want truth for my religion. Whether it is comfortable or not, I do
not care, said Swami Vivekananda. Mankind ought to be taught that the religions are but
the various expressions of THE RELIGION, which is oneness.
We all forgot what the Bible says, If we cannot love our brother whom we have
seen, how we can love God whom we have not seen.
Swami Vivekananda said, All these religions are different streams which lead us
to same goal. All the religions simply try to answer the same question. From where does
this universe came, on what does it rest on and where will it lead to. And the answer to
this question is - from freedom it come, in freedom it rests and to freedom it leads. All
religions are an attempt to that freedom. The religion is constitutional necessity of human
mind. For example, if I have six fingers and no one else has, you may say that is abnormal.
The same reasoning may be applied to this argument that one religion is true and others
false. Human beings live not just to earn bread and living but to realize God. So global
village should be a spiritual global village too.
Swami Vivekananda declared that, Harmony among Religions is the path of the
future world. We want to lead mankind to the place where there is harmony among these
all.
Swami Vivekananda dreamed a world of global harmony. We have to realize
harmony not only among different religions but also between religious and atheists.
As swami Vivekananda said:
I have seen a great many spiritual man, a great many sensible man
which do not believe in god at all, that is to say not our senses of the world.
Perhaps they understand got better than we ever do. The personal idea of the god
or the impersonal, the infinite moral laws- these all come under the definition.
He said that everyone must be independent and should have his own way of
learning and focused on this fact that education must provide the character building block
full of moral education. And the education must reach to each door. If one is not able to
come to school, it should not matter, education must reach at his door. Education must go
along with him, like his shadow. In the same way help must be provided to needy ones at
any cost. Some work has to be done on the intellectual plane. He dreamed to see a balance

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society in every means. One must be free to live his life according to his own philosophy
and terms.
All narrow limited fighting ideas of the religion should be given up. The religious
ideals of the future should embrace all that exists in the world and is good and is great.

Applicabity
Proper study of religion
The violence is at its crest mainly due to variation in religious ideas. It
undoubtedly implies the differences but in reality is it so? Where is the difference? It is not
in religions but in our own perception. Each and every great soul taught the same lesson.
These points should be told to every man no matter what caste or creed he/she belongs to.
Let this be new Bible, new Bhagwatgita, and new Koran of modern world to realize the
peace among all beings.
One lord
The lord is one, the lord is one: schema (Hebrew prayer)
Allah is one: Koran 112:1(Islam)
The lord is one of all the moves: rig Veda 3 (54.8) (Hinduism)
God is everywhere
I fill the heaven and the earth ( 23:24) the bible
The whole one is Brahman (Upanishads) Hinduism
The existence of the soul
Fear not them which are able to kill the body but not able to kill the soul (bible
Matthew 10:20)
The soul will not die (Koran 3:145)
For a soul there is never birth nor death, it is not slain when the body is
slain.(Bhagwatgita)
God is inside of us
The kingdom of god is within you. (Jesus)
The god is hidden in all human beings .(Upanishads)
You are the god (Aapo devo bhawah) (Buddha)
He whom you pray is nearer than the neck of your camel. (Muhammad )
Spiritual knowledge is accessible to every one
all who dwell on earth may find you (Jewish prayer book)
true knowledge can only be attained by human being (Bhagwat gita)
search with sincerity and in the end you will find the truth( Buddha)
if you seek hidden treasures you shall find the knowledge of god.(Jesus)

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Compassion and respect for everyone
he who wishes his own happiness, let him cultivate good will towards the
world.(Buddha)
Love your enemies; bless them who curse you, for if you love only them who love
you what reward have ye? (Jesus)
Morals: non killing, non stealing, being one with truth
The ten commandments,
The ten percepts of Buddha,
16:1 verse of Bhagwatgitagita.
Peace and ahimsa
Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be known as children of god(bible)
And make not Allah an obstacle in doing your good and guarding against evil and
making the peace between men .(Koran 2:224)
Non-violence, absence of anger, equanimity, abstaining from malicious talks,
compassion for all creatures, gentleness and forgiveness, absence of pride, these are
some qualities of those endowed with divine virtues (Bhagwatgita)
All humanity is united
God has made of one blood all nations that dwell upon the face of the earth (bible)
All creatures are member of the one family of god (Muhammad)
Human beings, all , are as head, arms , trunks , legs unto one another (Vedas)
All people are your children whatever their belief, whatever their shade of skin
(Jewish prayer book)
All these gigantic souls taught the same lessons. There is no difference in these teachings.
All religions are simply an attempt to unveil ourselves and to explain our self said
- Swami Ramatirtha.
Our model
Age Group 1-13
Children's first school- home: -
A childs first school is his home and first teachers are his parents. The first lesson
taught to the child should be of love.
A child should be taught the qualities such as truthfulness, non-stealing, continence,
cleanliness, equality, non duality and study.
Its the time when mind is most receptive and the mind set created at this life span
becomes the blueprint of the entire life. Habit is a repetition of some particular
action. The child should be taught these things repeatedly then it will blossom in a
habit within some weeks.

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Discipline
No horse gets anywhere until he is harnessed. No stream or gas drives anything until it
is confined. No Niagara is ever turned into light and power until it is tunneled. No life
ever grows great until it is focused, dedicated, disciplined.
Harry Emerson Fosdick
The more we learn discipline the more our life become organized, less is the
extravagance of energy. Everyone knows the fact that discipline is the back bone of the
character. Discipline should be introduced in children's life.
Concentration:-
The parents should emphasize on the concentration power of the child. The
concentration holds the solutions of the secret intellectual challenging secrets of the
nature. Today many games are available which are very useful in it.
Physical development- Healthy mind resides in healthy body. A great emphasis
should be given for physical development of the child.
Teaching through fables-There is literature for kids like the story books published
by Gita Press and panchtantra. Children should be introduced to the biographies of
the brave and great people. Stories are one of the most fascinating methods of
learning. These can create an indomitable impact on the new fresh minds.
By the ending of this span a child will possess a powerful character- An embryo of a
brilliant effulgent social creature who can give his life a precise direction.

Age Group 14-18: What this world needs is new electric fire to stir up the new vigor in
veins.
Training the subconscious:-We all have learnt that mind is like a fertile garden
and for it to flourish a daily nurturing is required. Mind should be guarded. There
the previous programming plays a great role. They are called samskara. Samskara
are the impressions of our daily life habits on the subconscious mind. So if we
repeat the good things daily they become habit and we can create good samskaras.
Purity is the first condition of being religious.
Learning general aspects of religion: - In the later span of life our thoughts are
diffused from the surrounding society. In this span we should learn the meaning of
religion. The acceptance and the tolerance should be developed here. And the
different paths to be followed in the life and in religious realization should be
understood properly. The blue print of the religion should be starting to become
clear to the young beings.

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The religion generally consists of three layers;
1. The layer of ceremonies and rituals. They work as the fence of the real religion.
Variety occurs in these rituals of different religion. It is changeable with time.
2. The inner layer of theology. Consisting the beliefs and doctrines of religion. Here
the similarities among religion can be observed easily. It rarely changes with
time.
3. Then we approach towards the heart of the religion which is all same in all
religions. Here lies the eternal truth.
Thou art that, thou art that.
Learning the aim of the education:-The aim of the education shouldnt be to create
the crammed minds but to create the ignited minds which can be done by right
education system based on knowledge.

Age Group 18-25
We should learn that we are human beings first and true Indians second.
Strong motivated, inspired people should move forward and be ready to take
challenge. Strong people who can get up and dust themselves up when they fall
down, who can lead all fields be it sciences arts or sports. An army of enlightened
human beings needs to be created.
Learn how to think not what to think.
Learn to differentiate between the right and wrong.
Grasp best literatures and scriptures under proper supervision of some religious
master. Understanding religious conflicts with respect to historical incidents.
Study of the higher concepts of religion, understanding the purpose of life and
religion and grasping the root concepts.

Age Group of Householders - In this life span house holders need to follow their duties:
Work honestly for the country.
They are responsible for the perfect upbringing of their children and they are the
ones who will be moldings their children to be good human beings.
They are hence responsible to provide a calm and serene environment to the
children.
Communities must be created with spiritual master as its head.
Social works can be carried out with proper planning.
Pooling up of money by very micro donations from the families, when I say micro I
mean as less as a mere 11 rupees or so.
Learning the clear meanings of all the theosophical concepts and giving the pure
education to their surroundings and their children.

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Senior citizens
In this span people generally get relieved from the house hold busy activities so they
can get more to social works.
Practice higher spiritual practices.
Guide the new generation and engage in social work.

Sanyasins: There should be only two desires in the sanyasins.
Enlightenment
Serving others.
The sanyasins should lead the spiritual seekers to realize the highest truth to see
god in all men.
They should learn and master the meditation techniques and practically teach them
to the people.
The money collected by the religious institutions and temples which is about billion
dollars should be used under the direction of the sanyasins. That money should be
used to make monasteries in different places to strengthen the poor mass to make
them able to earn their bread.
The monasteries should publish the literature for all age groups and these
unemployed people can get a great chance in it.
Preach the universal teachings discussed above door to door.
Join in the worship of one lord, seeing god in a pariah to a king. .

The role of I: - the most commonly spoken words by us are BUT WHAT CAN I DO ?

Stop Criticizing. Accept the Reality: Variation occurs in nature and every variety has its
beauty. To see that beauty we first have to cultivate the beauty within.
Participation: Actively participating in the social meetings, conferences.
Respect all Life: Respect the life and dignity of each human being without discrimination
or prejudice.
Reject Violence: Practice active non-violence, rejecting violence in all its forms: physical,
sexual, psychological, economical and social, in particular towards the most deprived and
vulnerable such as children and adolescents.
Share with Others: Share time and material resources in a spirit of generosity to put an
end to exclusion, injustice and political and economic oppression.
Listen to Understand: Defend freedom of expression and cultural diversity, giving

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preference always to dialogue and listening without engaging in fanaticism, defamation
and the rejection of others.

Preserve the Planet: Promote consumer behavior that is responsible and development
practices that respect all forms of life and preserve the balance of nature on the planet.
Rediscover Solidarity: Contribute to the development of community and respect
democratic principles in order to create together new forms of solidarity.

Other plans;
Youth Network
A youth committee must be formed comprising of around dozens of members of
different faiths primarily focusing on multi-religious faith action to bring peace in
religions. Secondary focus should be to stop wars, ending poverty and protect the
earth.
Social networking has become quite popular these days. Social networking sites and
World Wide Web must be used. Online groups and discussion forums can be
created.
Calamities and Violence: There is an utter need for the transformation of the
conflicts. Here inter-religion councils should be created which can play a pivotal
role amongst different faiths.
To deepen interfaith commitments to dialogue and cooperation for promoting peace.
To equip existing inter-religious councils with relevant knowledge and skills in
order to prevent the mediate with violent conflicts.
To strengthen the delivery capacity of the IRCs in the implementation of concrete
responses to conflict situations.
To mobilize and equip religious communities to build new IRCs in conflict areas to
serve as a mechanism for peaceful change.
To strengthen the participation and leadership of women of faith in their respective
IRC structures and initiatives.
To facilitate active sub-regional collaboration among religious leaders and IRCs for
the advancement of peace, stability and security

We are the citizens of two worlds the world outside and the world inside. We have
to get the equilibrium. The moment we get it we experience peace which leads to
prosperity. And then we teach it to others and their knowledge of Ganges never stops.

The Bigger Picture: Strings Theory and Advaita Philosophy and the Theory of
Everything
Often science and religion are meant to be the antonyms but the latest discoveries
are nullifying this ideology.

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The central position of advaita is that in reality there is no difference between
consciousness and the universe, no real distinction between the individual, entire universe
and the lord Brahman. It declares that the universe is the manifestation of one
undifferentiated reality.
Similarly theory of everything and strings theory indicate the same. There is
something subtle in the universe which composes the whole universe. Strings theory says
that they are the strings. While theory of everything indicates that there is a single
phenomenon in the universe which can explain all other phenomenon.

Conclusion
Finally what we want is the unity. Unity of mankind is needed because only that
will lead this world to a place where each and every entity can progress. Unity is the goal
of religion Swami Vivekananda. The growth of each being is needed so that everyone
can have his own learning. If one is a human being then one must not live like worms
following each other without having one's own learning.
This Atman is first to be heard of. The first end of life is knowledge, the second
one is happiness. And both of them lead to freedom. But no one can attain liberty until
every being has liberty. Self-sacrifice, not self assertion, is the law of highest universe.
Religion comes with intense self-sacrifice. Desire nothing for yourself. Do all for others.
This is to live and move and have your being in God. This intense self-sacrifice must be
the religion of each and every soul and if it happens a soothing peace will be there in our
surrounding and mankind will prosper.
Never forget the glory of human nature!
We are the greatest gods.
Christs, buddhas are but the waves of the boundless ocean which i am.

Refrences
Complete works of SwamiVivekananda vol 1-9
The Perrenial Vivekananda.
Life of Vivekananda by Romain Rolland.
In Woods of God Realization vol 2

Kartik Upreti is student at College of Engineering, Roorkee, Uttarakhand and Gaurav
Upreti is student at College of Technology, G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and
Technolog, Pantnagar, Uttarakhand.

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Co-Existence via Symbiotic Relationships and Selfless Service

Co-Existence via Symbiotic Relationships
and Selfless Service

Utkarsh Ranjan and Vijayendra Singh Aswal

Introduction
Man lives consciously for himself, but is an unconscious instrument in the
attainment of the historic, universal, aims of humanity.Truly, we all have an important role
to play here, but yet, as a billionth part of this world, our underestimation is an obvious
error, but causation may be stupefying.
Anyone living in the United States in the early 1990s and paying even a whisper of
attention to the nightly news or a daily paper could be forgiven for having been scared out
of his skin. The culprit was crime. Death by gunfire, intentional and otherwise, had
become commonplace. So too had carjacking and crack dealing, robbery and rape. In 1995
the criminologist James Alan Fox wrote a report for the U.S. attorney general that grimly
detailed the sudden rise in murders committed by teenagers. Fox proposed optimistic and
pessimistic scenarios. In the optimistic scenario, he believed, the rate of teen homicides
would rise another 15 per cent over the next decade; in the pessimistic scenario, it would
more than double. The next crime wave will get so bad, he said, that it will make 1995
look like the good old days.
Other criminologists, political scientists, and similarly learned forecasters laid out
the same horrible future, as did President Clinton. We know weve got about six years to
turn this juvenile crime thing around, Clinton said, or our country is going to be living
with chaos. And my successors will not be giving speeches about the wonderful
opportunities of the global economy; theyll be trying to keep body and soul together for
people on the streets of these cities.
But ironically, instead of going up and up and up, crime began to fall. The crime
drop was startling in several respects. It was ubiquitous, with every category of crime
falling in every part of the country. It was persistent, with incremental decreases year after
year. And it was entirely unanticipatedespecially by the very experts who had been
predicting the opposite. The teenage murder rate, instead of rising 100 per cent or even 15
per cent as James Alan Fox had warned, fell more than 50 per cent within five years. By
21

127

2000 the overall murder rate in the United States had dropped to its lowest level in thirty-
five years. So had the rate of just about every other sort of crime, from assault to car theft.
Most of their theories sounded perfectly logical. It was the roaring 1990s economy, they
said, that helped turn back crime. It was the proliferation of gun control laws and
innovative policing strategies put into place in New York City, where murders would fall
from 2,245 in 1990 to 596 in 2003.
These theories were not only logical; they were also encouraging, for they
attributed the crime drop to specific and recent human initiatives. If it was gun control and
clever police strategies and better-paying jobs that quelled crimewell then, the power to
stop criminals had been within our reach all along. These theories made their way,
seemingly without question, from the experts mouths to journalists ears to the publics
mind. In short course, they became conventional wisdom. There was only one problem:
they werent true. There was another factor meanwhile that had greatly contributed to the
massive crime drop of the 1990s. It had taken shape more than twenty years earlier and
concerned a young woman in Dallas named Norma McCorvey.
Norma McCorvey dramatically altered the course of events without intending to.
All she had wanted was an abortion. She was a poor, uneducated, unskilled, alcoholic,
drug-using twenty-one-year-old woman who had already given up two children for
adoption and now, in 1970, found herself pregnant again. But in Texas, as in all but a few
states at that time, abortion was illegal. McCorvey cause came to be adopted by people far
more powerful than she. They made her the lead plaintiff in a class-action lawsuit seeking
to legalize abortion. The case ultimately made it to the U.S. Supreme Court, by which time
McCorvey name had been disguised as Jane Roe. On January 22, 1973, the court ruled in
favour of Ms Roe, allowing legalized abortion throughout the country. , significantly, a
child born in adverse family environment was likely to become a criminal, hence due to
this millions of children were left unborn, thus those who were to be grown as criminals
were not even born, hence a remarkably insignificant woman unknowingly did something
that the US government failed to do for decades.
The realm of our influence may be unusual; of the most unusual , is what we call a
coincidence, we often try to neglect things, we let our insatiable desires fly off, neglecting
the perseverant needs of the society. Every individual is a leader over his successors;
hence we dont need to be a politician or a mentor to affirm to sincerity. The world today,
has earned many revolutions aimed at individualism, freedom of choice, but we should
realize that fundamental rights coexists with fundamental duties. We can control global
warming, crime, materialism, poverty, because, in the end its our selfish motives,
materialistic approach and an elusive lifestyles which we pass on to the next generation.
Although our comment on the problems such as poverty, extortion, exploitation,
global warming and pollution, might seem to be a customary approach, but interestingly,
knowing the problem and even its cause might not help in dissolving it, as all of these

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problems have an anthropological ground concerning humanity with an utopian behaviour.
Interestingly, the bond of brotherhood has been our biggest strength; its our ability to
eliminate the gaps between the needy and the powerful, to form a gross powerful mass
.Hence, we will discuss about our role as professionals, as architects of the society to bring
the essence of brotherhood in the world.

Global Warming, Poverty, Exploitation and Food Crises A Creation Mess
The Green House effect, we all are frequently reminded of it, and problems
related to it, recently governments have tried their best to curb down their wasteful
emissions and carbon footprints, although it has been two centuries since the industrial
revolution had started, and amazingly we have been talking about global warming since
the last 50 years, and yet here we are today. Actually, sometimes the problem is itself not
the problem, what is important here is our own approach , when we study business
sciences we never think about environment, rather sometimes we study it to exploit
government policies supporting or giving precedence to the eco-friendly label , now
thats what we call extortion. Actually, our actions have created a conflict in the harmony
of the creation, our approach of specialised education, has created problem in
understanding the actual relation between sciences, like the money makers are not
concerned about a non-profit deal, for them selfless service and nonfinancial activities are
of no importance, well this doesnt mean that money making is bad, its just that we earn
for a living, or we live to earn, it all depends on our priority.
Our selfish approach leads to problems like extortion, poverty and even global
warming, its true that its our fault in the end, what we need to do is to check ourselves,
what we do might not be harmful for us, but it will definitely cause trouble for the
upcoming generations and for our children.
Our roles might vary as an engineer, a doctor, a lawyer, etc. For instance, about
99% of the power we consume is used for transportation and the products which we get
from industries. As engineers we should look forward to develop eco-friendly stuff,
instead of being concerned about being more idealistic and theoretical in our approach i.e.
that the best possible or most efficient might not be always the best thing, our approach
should be more realistic, instead of being idealistic or specific. Similarly, others may work
accordingly with a selfless approach, by being less money oriented .Why is it hard to
understand, if we help a person we are helping ourselves, as we are helping humanity,
there may come a day when we may be helped by someone whom we helped.
Poverty is a big global issue; every minute about fifteen children die due to hunger,
lack of ability or accessibility. Today the, most important asset we have besides our lives
and our loved ones may be money, without it we cant even survive. Poverty again might
look as a problem to us, but actually its just a result of a bad financial system, if we wish

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to abolish it, we might not need philanthropy because it might give us an illusion of cure,
before it is recreated back to its original state.
A survey says that if the 10 richest men of the world give 1 % of their wealth, it
would just do well to curb the global poverty issue, but what happens after that? , in the
end we will have to correct the system. But the thing is whats wrong with our present
system? The answer to that is usury.
Interest based banking is an old practice though but was globally oriented in the
late 1800, often quoted as the Rothschild banking; its important to know how this
banking causes trouble, usury is an act of lending money based on high rates of interest,
even today people invest a lot to get their fortune doubled, tripled, but we are least
concerned about how or from where this money comes or from where the bank get this
money from. Well the answer to that question is the interest from the loans we take, and
whom do u think will ever take a loan, Of course, a poor guy. And as time lapses he will
have to pay more than he originally took, moreover this loans grows and finally even after
ones death , this debt shall be put upon his children or relatives. It seems to have a
parasitic effect on a social system that leads to poverty.
In order to check this people should be educated about non-interest based banking
system although it seems to be unfamiliar, but truly it has been a promising field of
economics. Other issues such as food crises and exploitation are a just a part or a
consequence of these, hence, they may be of our major interest.

Time Banking A Realistic Modern Approach
Time banking is a pattern of reciprocal service exchange that uses units of time as
currency. It is an example of an alternative monetary system. A time bank, also known as
a service exchange, is a community that practices time banking. The unit of currency,
always valued at an hour's worth of any person's labour, used by these groups has various
names, but is generally known as a time dollar in the U.S. and a time credit in the U.K.
Time banking is primarily used to provide incentives and rewards for work such as
mentoring children, caring for the elderly, being neighbourlywork usually done on a
volunteer basiswhich a pure market system devalues. Essentially, the "time" one spends
providing these types of community services earns "time" that one can spend to receive
services. Communities therefore use time banking as a tool to forge stronger intra-
community connections, a process known as "building social capital."

Core values of Time Banking are
1. Everyone is an asset.
2. Some work is beyond a monetary price.
3. Reciprocity in helping.
4. Social networks are necessary.

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5. Respect for all human beings.
Time Dollars earned are then recorded at the Time Bank to be accessed when
desired. Some Time Banks employ a paid coordinator to keep track of transactions and to
match requests for services with those who can provide them. Time banks are more
oriented towards social service, systems change, and helping underprivileged groups. In
some time banks, both are acknowledged goals.
The time dollar is the fundamental unit of exchange in a time bank, equal to one
hour of a person's labor. However, since the value of a Time Dollar is fixed at one hour, it
resists inflation and does not earn interest.
Time banking, as a way to promote active, engaged lifestyles for its older members. The
idea was to encourage older people to become more engaged in their communities while
also to ask for help more often and "[foster] dignity by allowing people to contribute
services as well as receive them."

Conclusion
Above all things let us never forget that mankind constitutes one great
brotherhood; all are born to encounter suffering and sorrow, and therefore bound to
sympathize and help each other in a healthy symbiotic relation. From a viable economy to
an unbiased political structure, from a clean environment to true equality for all men, from
a strong military to a commitment to racial brotherhood and a violence free environment,
we intend to create a healthy world with men helping men, preaching the lesson of
benevolence.

Utkarsh Ranjan and Vijayendra Singh Aswal are students at G.B. Pant University of
Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar, Uttarakhand.

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Relevance of Religion in Current Education System
to Bring Religious Harmony and Spiritual Awareness

Relevance of Religion in Current Education System
to Bring Religious Harmony and Spiritual Awareness

Aprajita

Introduction
Vivekananda was the greatest thinker of modern times. He practiced what he
preached and was one with the miseries of teeming million. Even after many decades have
gone by, his thoughts and ideas are more relevant to nation today than when he was alive.
Though he dwelled on almost all the issues under this sun, his ideas regarding education
and religion are of particular significance and are still looked upon as the most viable to
our present day civilization.
Swamiji was a great thinker and reformer of India who embraced education as a
medium of man making. Swamiji realized that mankind is passing through a crisis because
of the tremendous emphasis on the scientific and mechanical ways of life which is fast
reducing man to the status of machine. Moral and religious values are being
undermined. The fundamental principle of civilization are being ignored, conflicts of
ideals manners and habit are pervading the atmosphere. Disregard for everything is
prevalent. Vivekanand sought the solution of all these social and global evils through
education. With this end in view, he felt the due need of awakening man to his spiritual
self, where in, his thought lays the very purpose of education. He pointed out the defect of
the present day education is that; it has no definite goal to pursue. A sculptor has a clear
idea about what he wants to shape out of the marble block, similarly a painter knows what
he is going to paint but a teacher says that he has no clear idea about the goal of teaching.
Swami ji attempted to establish through his words and deeds that the end of all education
is man making. He prepared the scheme of man making education in the light of his over
all philosophy of Vedanta.
According to Vedanta, the essence of man lies in his soul, which he posses in
addition to his body and mind. In congruence with this philosophy, swamiji defined
education AS THE MANIFESTATION OF PERFECTION ALREADY IN MAN.
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Acording to him education is the process by which character is formed and mind is
sharpened, as a result one can stand on ones feet. The aim of education is to manifest in
our lives the perfection, which is the very nature of our inner self. This perfection is the
relation of the infinite power which resides in everything and everywhere as existence,
consciousness and bliss. After understanding the essential nature of this perfection, we
should identify it with our inner self. For achieving this, one will have to eliminate ones
ego, ignorance and all other false identification which stand in the way. Meditation fortify
by moral purity and passion for youth, helps man to leave behind the body, the senses, the
ego and all other non-self elements which are perishable.
Vivekanand in his scheme of education meticulously included all those studies,
which are necessary for all around development of the body, mind and soul of the
individual. These studies can be brought under the broad heads of physical culture,
aesthetics, classics, language, religion, science, and technology. According to swamiji the
values of the country should form an integral part of the curriculum of the education. The
culture of India has its roots in its spiritual values. The time-tested values are to be
imbibed in the thoughts and lives of the students through the study of the classics. This
will reap the perennial flow of our spiritual values into the world culture.
Swamiji reiterated that religion is the inner-most core of education. However by
religion he did not mean only particular kind of it but its essential characters which is the
realization of the dignity already in man. He reminded us time and again that religion does
not consist in dogmas, creeds or any set of rituals. To be religious for him meant leading a
life in such a way that we manifest our higher nature, truth, goodness and beauty in our
thoughts, words and deeds. All impulses, thoughts and action which lead one towards this
goal and naturally enabling and harmonizing an ethical and moral in the truest sense is true
religion. It is in this context swamiji`s idea of religion as the basis of education should be
understood. We note that in this interpretation, religion and education share the identity of
purpose. Religion forms the very foundation of education that becomes clear in his
following words In building up character in making up for everything that is good and
great in bringing peace to others , and peace to one`s own self, religion is the highest
motivational power, and therefore, ought to be studied from that stand point. Swamiji
believes that if education with its religious core can invigorate man`s faith in his divine
nature and the infinite potentialities of the human soul it is sure to help man become strong
yet tolerant and sympathetic. It will also help man to extend his love and goodness which
will be beyond the social barriers.

Aprajita is student at Bihar Agricultural University, Sabour, Bhagalpur, Bihar.

133

Universal Harmony and Broader Tolerance

Universal Harmony and Broader Tolerance

Madan Mohan Verma

Introduction
The world history has decisively revealed that religious traditions have not grown
in the air. It would be wrong to treat religious traditions as exclusive entities, being totally
independent of each other. In fact, they have influenced each other more than what the eye
can see. They have enriched each other more deeply than what a common man has
perceived. Every religion has significantly contributed to humanitys understanding of the
Ultimate Reality, which transcends any specific expression. We are unavoidably
interconnected and interrelated today. No religion can refuse to recognize the spirituality
and legitimacy of truth embodied in sacred scriptures. Undoubtedly, our world is more
hospitable to a variety of approaches today than ever before. As we move towards world
civilization, we find many cultures and spiritual traditions impinging on one another. Here,
every tradition takes account of the other traditions. Our world radiates flavours of
unificationism and ecumenism.
The process of globalization has compelled us to rethink our approach to other
religions and their missionary work. The foundation of a pluralistic society, its culture,
legal system and public school education require acceptance of universal human values
derived from human experience. Today, the call for world theology has been sounded by
many a scholar, including Wilfred Cantwell Smith, John Hick and Raimundo Pannikkar
among others. Science and Technology have brought people, cultures, nations and
religions close to each other. So much so the world is being looked at as a global village.
Economic and political interests have created greater interdependence among nations.
Higher education and professional courses have brought men and women from different
nations under one roof. They appreciate each others lifestyle and cultural moorings.
Every religion has something distinctive to offer. Therefore, we should understand
it in its own distinctiveness and see its contribution to the spiritual atmosphere and unity
of mankind. We should promote harmony among religious communities and protect their
diverse cultures. Although there may be some dissimilarity in different religions, yet we
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should work for their peaceful coexistence. In every religion, there are universal human
values and a basic message it has for the mankind. In fact, every divine teacher had first
addressed himself to the problems of his own times. Every prophet had the revelation of
the Supreme Reality and pronounced the same to his own people. In order to understand
other religions, a person should be deeply committed to his own religion. The thrust of
each religion is on making man humane, pious, and righteous and on building a social
environment on these universal values. There are several paths and all paths recognize
unity underlying all religions. Undoubtedly, religion has been a powerful factor in shaping
Worlds civilizations.

Universality in Religions
Hinduism: Ekam Sad Vipraha Bahuda Vedanti (Rig Veda). Truth is one, the wise call it
by different names. Sangach dhvam Samvad dhvam Savomansi jantam. Let us work
together with a common goal. Let us converse with a common purpose. Let our minds
meet together in the quest for true knowledge. Gather information from all sides (Vedas).
A sage is one who is comfortable in all quarters. Let all sides be my friend (Yajur Veda).
All paths lead unto Me (Bhagwad-Gita). Worship Me alone. Dont worship other Gods
(B-G). Worship Me in the wellbeing of all (B-G chp XII). You can worship the formless
Truth or the Truth manifested in several things. What really matters is not the form of
worship but the purity of the heart with which worship is undertaken (B-G). Although
bhakti of the Lord is important but karma yoga is absolutely essential (B-G). After death,
the Soul enters another body with his balance sheet of the deeds of his previous karmas
(B-G, Theory of transmigration of Soul).

Buddhism: Truth cant live where passions and attachments live. Buddha rejects wrong
notionsfalse presumptions, vanity, ignorance, lust, worldly profits and loses. Establish
authority of the soul over the body. Leave the bodily desires. Expunge I from your life.
You can give sermons only after you have delivered your soul from physical bondage. Do
only good deeds, both in mind and outside. Do action as a sacrifice. The wheel follows the
foot of the ox. A good deed implies Nishkam karma. A word spoken in wrath is the
sharpest sword. Mans own deeds like fire of lust will consume him. Our physical eyes
drag us into the world of illusions. Enlightenment is for all, said Buddha. Follow the Eight
Fold Noble Path of Buddha.

Christianity: Jesus said: I have not come to destroy, but to fulfill. True religious growth
consists in expansion and not in contraction. When your heart is pure, you can see God.
Jesus said: Hear, O Israel, your Lord, our Lord, is one Lord. He said: Pray with a clean
heart. Evil mind cant speak well. Evil eye pushes you into darkness. If you follow your
soul, you are not in darkness. Jesus said: Why do you call me good. God alone is good.

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There is reward after death for the one who has surrendered and abandoned. Work for
God, cast out devils. God will decide your reward. The Sermon on the Mount and the Ten
Commandants are known to the mankind. If you keep my Commandments, you love me,
otherwise not, said Jesus. In matters of charity, let your left hand not know what your
right hand does. Dont worry; it is the problem of the Father to feed his children. Have
trust in God and worry not for tomorrow. Ask God for forgiveness of your sins. You also
forgive others if you want God to forgive you. Jesus advised his Apostles: Heal the sick,
cleanse the lepers, raise the dead and cast out devils.

Islam: There is but one God, serve him alone, dont serve other gods (sura 2:1). God has
created everybody from a single soul (sura 4:1). Emulate each other in good deeds (sura 2:
146). Excel in piety (sura 49:13). God is present everywhere. He is there in the East as
well as in the West (sura 2: 115). Not which side is your face, the most important is the
good deeds (sura 2: 177), with the emphasis on purity of heart (sura 9:52). There is no
place in Islam for compulsion (sura 2:56; 109:6). Recite what has been revealed to you in
the book of your Lord. All differences will cease (sura 42:17). Believe in God and if you
deny Him, Angels and Apostles, you are a sinner (sura 2:99). Disbelievers are severely
punished (sura 2:1). Those who mislead people in the name of God are wicked. Those who
have gone astray, invite His wrath. Allah has sent messengers to all people at different
places and different times (sura 2:213, 2.241). Tolerance towards all religions and
Prophets is ordained in the Holy Quran. Do not differentiate among the messengers of
God (sura 2:285). There is no place of violence in Islam (Quran sura 2:83, 5:32). Dont
shed blood of your kinsmen (sura 2: 83). All of you are together one. The believers should
call upon the followers of other religions to unite for the sake of truth, seek mutual help
and friendship and stand firm in constancy and patient perseverance (sura 3:64).

Sikhism: God is one, mankind is one; castes are man-made. There is no Hindu, there is
no Muslim. It means all are children of God and all are the same. Further, there is no
high, and there is no low. If there is any low caste, I am lowest of the low, said Guru
Nanak. Truth is highest but truthful living is higher still, said Guru Nanak. Mandir,
Masjid, Gurudwara and Church are the same. Prayer, Namaz, Ardaas and Mass are the
same, said Guru Gobind Singh. The praise of the Lord and his name is the subject which
all scriptures have addressed (Sukhmani Sahib, canto 24.). His worship and worshippers
are of the same hue (canto 17). You should have the power to see mankinds equality and
realization of oneness in diversity (canto 22). Purity is not merely the outer symbols.
(canto 3). Garbs are not enough (canto 4). His true servants can reduce others pain and
help the whole world become one (canto 16). Earn by legitimate means and hard work.
Give 1/10th of your income towards charity for the weak and the needy. Humanity,

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charity, hard work, sharing and caring for others, along with utmost respect for woman
and the highest sacrifice are some of the fundamental tenets of Sikhism.

Commonalities: The praise of the Lord and His name is the subject, which all scriptures
have addressed (Sukhmani Sahib, canto 24). Praise be to Allah (Quran sura I), is just the
same as in Gayatri Mantra (Hinduism) or Mul Mantra in Sikhism. Of all Holy places, the
most sacred is the heart, wherein lives the name of God (SS, canto 3). God dwells in it,
keep your heart pure, clean and free of filth. The Lord dwells in the positive mind (SS,
canto 4), Advaita, oneness, Unity and no duality (SS, canto 11). It is the same as in Quran
and Gita. You should have the power to see mankinds equality and the realization of
Oneness in diversity (SS, canto 22).
A Hindu who mediates on Brahma, a Muslim who praises Allah, a Sikh, who sings
songs of devotion of Akal Purakh (The Timeless Being), a Christian, who magnifies Jesus,
a Jew who magnifies Adonai, and a Zoroastrian, who honors Ahura Mazda (The Wise
Lord) are all in essence generating devotion towards the One they consider to be the
Supreme Power. They may have differing interpretations of Gods nature, name and ways,
but in a united way, they are all reaching out to the Creator.
The Yajur Veda calls for good thoughts to come from all sides, annoo bhadra
krtavao yantu vishvataha. It said; One who is the permanent friend of all, who is
engrossed in the interest of mankind by his action, mind and speech, is the one who knows
the real religion. Charity means to extend the hand of friendship to him whom one knows
and to him whom one knows not, said Prophet Mohammad.
Love is more emphasized in Christianity and also amongst the Sufis, who called it
Ishq. Nonviolence is more emphasized in Hinduism and Jainism. Compassion is more
emphasized in Buddhism. Equality and justice are more emphasized in Islam. Truth of
course is common to all religions. Zoroastrianism, Buddhism and Confucianism stressed
on balanced living, which later became the kernel of Guru Nanaks teachings. The founder
of Sikhism gave message of the freedom of choice. Individuals should learn from their
own experience and thereby modify their future choices and decisions, said Guru Nanak.
Just as coexistence is valued in Hinduism, similarly, it is valued in Christianity and
Islam. If differences arise, they do so as a matter of rationale and not of actual practice.
The goal of coexistence is achieved in Hinduism through co-recognition, while in
Christianity and Islam, it is achieved through mutual coexistence. It is ultimately the
people who have to deal with one another and must finally decide all crucial issues. Let
the people of the world assert their sense of understanding and unity.
In essence, we have to convince each other that there is something greater than our
differences and distinctiveness, which binds us together. And that is the principle of unity.
From all religious writings people can derive benefit. Blind rejection of one faith in favour
of another is absurd.

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Golden rule
The social concept termed as the golden rule is found in almost all sacred
writings, as well as popular philosophical sources. Sometimes, it is worded in the positive;
Do unto others, sometimes in the negative; Do not do to others. Choose for thy
neighbours that which thou choose for thyself (Bahaullah). Hurt not others in the ways
that you yourself would find it hurtful (Udaan Varga 5, 18). Consider others as yourself
(Dhammapada 10). Therefore, whatever you want them to do to you, do also to them, for
this is the Law and the Prophets (Mathew 7, 12). There is one maxim that ought to be
acted upon throughout ones whole life. Surely, it is the maxim of loving kindness
(Confucius).Do not unto others what you would not have them do unto you (Analects
15, 23). Treat your friends as you would want them to treat you (Aristotle Lives and
opinions of Eminent Philosophers5:21, Bohn Library Translation 188). Do not do to
others what you would not wish to suffer yourself (Isocrates, Socrates Cyprian Orations
149).
Men gifted with intelligence and purified souls should always treat others as they
themselves wish to be treated (Mahabharata 13.11.522). Not one of you is a believer
until he loves for his brother what he loves for himself (Forty Hadith of a Nawawi 13).
A man should treat all creatures in the world, as he himself would like to be
treated (Jainism, Sutra-kiet-anga). Dont take vengeance on and bear a grudge against
any of your people, rather, love your neighbour as yourself (Judaism Leviticus 19:18).
What is hateful to you; do not to your fellowmen. That is the entire law, all the rest is
commentary (Babylonian Talmud, Subbath 3la). As you deemest thyself, so deem
others. Then shall thou become a partner in heaven (kabirs Hymns Asa 17). Regard
your neighbours gain as your own gain and your neighbours loss as your own loss
(Taoism, Tai Shang Kan Ying Plen). That nature alone is good which refrains from doing
unto another whatsoever is not for itself (Zoroastrianism, Dadisian- i- dinik 94, 5).

Challenges
To achieve global unity among millions of people from around the world, who
come from extremely diverse background, is an uphill task. The world desperately needs
universally acceptable values for the sake of unity, peace and survival. A tendency
towards exclusiveness and blind faith may create hurdles in forging ahead a unified
mankind. To follow a lasting path to unity, we still need internal process in order to
succeed at that.
People are different financially, geographically, philosophically and educationally.
However, they can be united on the basis of the soul, which is one common identity that
they share. The path that leads to unity and peace is the universal path, which has little to
do with the apparent symbols.

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Where relationship with God is so ineffable and so direct, the recognition of an
intermediary seems out of place. This is not a denial of any prophet. In fact, it is a
confirmation of the Islamic doctrine that prophets have been sent to all the peoples of the
world. It also indicates that the acceptance of any particular prophet implies the
acceptance of a transmitted spiritual experience.
1. Rigid attitude of the priestly classes. They cannot tolerate that their hold decreases
on their respective constituencies. History is replete with evidences when the priestly
classes fought hard against any attempt to weaken their hold on the masses.
2. Denominational languages are a hurdle before the masses in knowing the meaning of
the Holy Scriptures.
3. Religious texts are misinterpreted and distorted. People are sharply divided
regarding the correct meaning of the Holy Scriptures.
4. Some places of religious worship are stinking with money. Some religious leaders
have built their strong empires whereas, nobody gives a penny for interfaith
movement.
5. Poverty, illiteracy and religious fundamentalism create tension and terrorist
activities.

Suggestions
Let us overcome exclusiveness and end our blindness in order to imbibe a common
culture of consciousness. Lets take lead as the global leaders and establish a centre that
could work at national and international level to find and encourage interfaith initiatives
towards unity and peace. If India does not take initiative then the UN should take. And if
the UN does not take then the NGOs, dedicated to this cause, ought to come forward.
As we gradually approach a world culture, we should overcome tension, learn to converse
and agree gently with one another. We should show reverence to all spiritual paths. Such a
spirit is needed, if we are to live at peace with one another. We should celebrate and
honour the richness and universality of truth, found in all Holy Scriptures of different
faiths. People, who have genuine concern for religion and spirituality should understand
and respect one another.
As religious people, we owe special responsibility to the society. Lets work to
restore the lost image of religion. Let enlightened persons work to re-unite humanity and
reduce artificial boundaries. Religion is a great power and it must be used in the positive
direction.
1. Political and religious leaders should make earnest efforts to create atmosphere for
unity, peace, harmony and brotherhood.
2. Need to change the mindset of the religious leaders and the people.
3. Need for more interfaith dialogue meets.
4. Interfaith NGOs be encouraged.

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5. Need for unbiased interpretation of Holy Scriptures and universal human values.
6. People be allowed to visit all places of religious worship and participate in each
others festivals.
7. Ghettoization should be discouraged, as isolated living is a retrograde step. If
members of different communities live together they can learn a lot from each other.
8. Nobody should create hatred and division among people on religious basis.
9. Foreign intervention of any kind aimed at creating communal disturbances should be
dealt with an iron hand.

Conclusion
In view of the current events and unanswered questions, shaking our faith, we need
to become more acquainted with all prophets through the cascade of familiar, forgotten,
rejected and unheard teachings. Let us admit that similarities and commonalities do exist
among all faiths. Let some True Light radiate from each one of them. Every civilization
should be enriched by the treasure of other religions and civilizations. The followers of all
religions should work for peaceful coexistence. Lets make efforts to find a common
theological platform in a dialogue with adherents of different faiths. Here, India is most
favourably placed in a multi-religious situation. In a secular society, the most important
thing is that the followers of every religion must learn to practice their religion, so as not
to create problems for others or hurt the susceptibilities of the followers of other religions.
In the Indian context, we must accept the reality of pluralism. Of course, Indians are
religious by nature. The value system in any religion is its soul, whereas institutions and
rituals represent its body. As every body has soul, every living religion has its value
system, which gives it identity. Sometimes we focus more on the body system and less on
the Soul. While we create institutions, we neglect the most essential values, which relate to
Soul. However, there is consensus that the most fundamental values common to all
religions are love, nonviolence, equality, justice, human dignity, compassion and truth.

Madan Mohan Verma is President of Interfaith Foundation, at New Delhi, India.

Integrated development for Integrated development for Integrated development for Integrated development for
happiness and satisfaction happiness and satisfaction happiness and satisfaction happiness and satisfaction

140

Integral Humanism: Road to New Future

Integral Humanism: Road to New Future

Raghav Garg

Introduction
A Changing World
Who knew that what started on September 17
th
November, 2011 in Zuccotti park,
New York will soon take over the major streets of the world. Occupy Wall Street as the
movement is called drew tens of thousands of protesters to streets expressing their angst
against joblessness,
income inequality and
concentration of wealth
and power. More
interesting is the attention
and support it received
from the majority of
people across the classes
and across the globe.
Across 95 cities in 82
countries there is one
single message after
communism its time for
capitalism to fail (or
change)!

A Different Mindset
The current international perspective on human as being is limited. Society is
perceived as collection of the individuals bound by social contract and development is
defined as a direct function of consumption. Humans are seen as mere economic beings
where more is considered to be better. Survival of fittest becomes the accepted theory and
man is in constant competition with nature & ecosystem. The corporations are responsible
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only to maximize value of shareholders money,
everything else is secondary. Even the most
widely accepted four part model for CSR as
developed by Caroll (as shown) gives social
responsibility least priority.
The reason this view is limited is that the
humans are not one dimensional, they are multi-
dimensional. Indian philosophy takes a more
holistic view and believes that humans are
inseparable part of the WHOLE. Hindu
philosophy focuses on the completeness of
humans. It believes existence of one supreme-
being and everything else as its form. It does not
see an individual just as biological creature with a logical head but as complete (as God)
Aham brahamsami
xli
(I am God). From the extensive upnishadic literature, one of the
sholka from Eshavasya upnishad enumerates the concept of Wholeness (or cosmic
consciousness):
"Om purna mada purna midam
Purnaat purnam udachyate
Purnasya purnam adaaya
Purnam eva vasishyate
Om shanti shanti shantih"
"That is the whole, this is the
Whole; from the Whole, the Whole
arises; taking away the Whole from
the Whole, the Whole remains; Om
peace peace peace
The holistic world-view,
therefore, offers a new approach to
nature. It recognizes an unbroken
relationship between humankind and
the ecosystem. The relationship is
organic and symbiotic. This principle
of organic relationship among socio-economic systems and ecosystem does not permit us
to seek solutions to problems in parts. Hence, the dynamic balance between humankind
and ecosystem cannot be disturbed beyond a certain limit
xlii
. Therefore, the socio-
economic systems including business and political institutions existent in the society must
be designed such that they strike a balance between whole and parts.
4 Purusharthas (efforts befitting human)

142

In recent times we made
theories and tried to adjust the
world/humans according to them. In
reality, it should have been other way
round. We need to rethink in terms of
integrated human beings and design
the systems and world order in
accordance. Dharma, Artha, Kama
and Moksha are the four kinds of
human effort. Purushartha means
efforts which befit a man. The
longings for Dharma, Artha Kama and Moksha, are inherent in man. Of these four aspects
we have thought in an integrated way. For progress of society and mankind we have to
envision man as integration of Body, Intelligence, Mind (or heart) and soul. We need to
understand the true nature of humans and create ecosystem that fosters efforts in all four
aspects.

Creating Organizations
The capitalist structure that forms the foundation of the existing world cannot be
reversed. Therefore, there is a need to create corporations/organizations that envisages the
entire humanity in holistic manner and creates equilibrium between development and
nature. In current world scenario, in addition to governments and NGOs, the inclusion of
large and small business corporations for social reconstruction is both urgent and
important. To create a sustainable future we must invert the pyramid of business thinking
and focus on the following key points:
1. What does the society requires? How can it be created?
The first task is to identify and assess what is needed and at what scale. Basic
needs such as food, clothes, housing and educations of every human being should be
fulfilled. It is the responsibility of the society as a whole and not just the governments.
2. Will it be environmentally sustainable?
In process of the solution of a problem the key element that needs to be considered that
it should also be environmentally sustainable. World resources are limited and can not be
exploited/utilized beyond a certain limit.
3. How can it generate profits?
For businesses to survive they must create profits. But the motivation should not be
profit maximization but to make the venture sustainable and provide for everyones need.
To quote Frank Buchman There is enough in the world for everyone's need, but not
enough for everyone's greed.

143

The business models of the companies can be redesigned to embed social
responsibility and sustainability with profit making structure. Selfless and self-interest
need not to be in conflict, they can co-exist. In fact, both will supplement each other.

Social Entrepreneurship a beginning!
The traditional thought of business only focuses on single bottom line - profits! A
new breed of businesses / corporations is emerging that advocate a system of triple bottom
line People, Planet and Profit. Social enterprises are evaluated in all three parameters
and not just one.

Indian Perspective on Business (Social Entrepreneurship)
India was worlds largest economy till 1000 AD and thereafter kept exchanging 1
st

and 2
nd
position with China till 1700 AD. In spite of the enormous wealth generated by
the Indian merchants, the merchants were required to act in consonance with the Indian
philosophy and principles of Dharma (righteousness) and use profits as instrument to
achieve larger social benefit without harming the environment.

Shubh Labh (Auspicious Profit)
Even today the Indian businessmen worship their account books (sometime
computers!) during the starting of Hindu financial year. People draw Shubh-Labh on
outside walls of their houses and in their temples along with the symbol of sacred
Swastika denoting the reverence to their business and profits generated.

Deeper meanings and Implications
The closest English word for Shubh is auspicious (also holistic/blessed/pure) and
Labh means gain (not necessarily profit). According to sacred religious texts Shubh and
Labh are two sons of Lord Ganesha (Lord of Beginnings, a patron of arts and sciences,
and the deva of intellect and wisdom). When a businessman or any professional
undertakes any venture he prays for Shubh Labh. Shubh is a precondition for Labh. It
not only includes the modern notion of triple-bottom line (people/planet/profit) but also a
fourth one the spiritual & holistic development of the self.
The Shubh Labh mantra reads as follows

AUM shrim gam saubhaagya ganpataye
varvard sarvajanm me.n vaShamaanya namH
In this mantra we ask for auspicious fortune/destiny (sau-bhaagya) and many
blessings and wishes (var-vard) for our current and future life-times (sarva-janam-me.n).

144

We bow in homage (namH) to Lord Ganesh who protects us with long lives
(avaShamaanya) of health and happiness.
The philosophy denounces pursuit for reckless profit without any thought on
purpose (as in Capitalism). It in fact goes beyond the present day concept of social
entrepreneurship that revolves on the plane of mind, body and intelligence. It adds a new
dimension of soul and spirituality. There is enough literature on how pursuing only profits
has done more harm than good profits are just a tool to reach a broader goal i.e. reaching
peace and happiness!

Emerging Social Entrepreneurial Concepts
The world is exploring, innovating and implementing different models and
methods to reach disadvantaged communities and at least eradicate the evil of poverty.
Concerted efforts are being made to at least ensure basic needs such as food, clothing,
housing and Education to ever increasing 6 billion population of the world. Almost all the
top Business schools of the world now have a chair or a course in Social Entrepreneurship.
Almost all the major corporations of the world are either thinking or have already
established a Social Entrepreneurship division in their companies. Unprecedented in
history worlds richest are coming together on a common platform to help solve the
major problems of the world. There is innovation happening in almost every field for
example Investment Banking (Acumen Fund, NY), Health Care (Aravind Eye care, India),
Banking (Grameen Micro Finance, Bangladesh), Housing (Homex, Mexico), etc. to make
world more inclusive.
Technology that has been the main reason of rise of industries and concentration of
power and wealth in the hands of few is now giving way to a decentralized flat world. Its
the time to use technology and knowledge not to maximize profit for the selected few but
to distribute the fruits of development and knowledge in a sustainable manner. It is time
for us to rise from our individual pursuits & work for universal peace.
Sarve bhavantu sukhina!
(Happiness be unto all)

1
Brhadaaranyaka Upanishad
1
Science, Sustainability and Indian National resurgence

Ragav Garg is Masters in Management from London Business School and presently a
Member in Garg Group with foucs to Integaral Humaninsm at New Delhi.

145

The Economics in a Phase of Societal Changes

The Economics in a Phase of Societal Changes

Aditya Tewari

Individual and the Society
The concept of Integral humanism builds itself with the Recognition of self, from
Jaques Martian in France to Pt Deen Dayal Upadhyay, the votaries Integral Humanism
have aggressively campaigned for pride in the identity of self. While Deen Dayal
Upadhyay, in his series of lectures on Integral Humanism says that neglect of the
Individual is the primary crisis of the day, Psychology informs us how by suppression of
various natural instincts different mental disorders ensue. Such a person remains restless
and dejected. His abilities slowly deteriorate and become perverted and Martian says
that [the thinking being] must contain all things in itself in an eminent mode and be
itself- in an absolutely transcendent way- being, thought and personality. This implies that
the first existence is the infinite plenitude of being, separate by essence from all diversity
of existents. Even as the concepts of the integral humanism lie fondly on the autonomy of
the individual and the supremeness of the self Martian himself expresses concerns about
the autonomous being, he says All forms of statism, however, tend to stifle the human
essence, based as they are on the immoral philosophy of materialism a shortcoming
shared by the truncated kind of secular humanism that reduces man to a partial, isolated,
utterly autonomous individual.
Here I focus not on the Martian Idea of Statism, but upon difference that he draws
between an individual, who lives by his identities, recognizes and respects himself and the
one who is autonomous though isolated. Integral humanism for the beginner seems to
preach towards two directions, one where the self becomes ever more important and the
other in which the self dissolves the integrity existing around him. Apparently on dwelling
into the philosophy, Integral humanism suggests a two point process one where the
individual strengthens himself and takes pride in the existence of the self, the second
which asks the individual to gather his strength from the society, tradition and
environment.
These pointers from the philosophy of Integral Humanism or True Humanism as
some called it in Europr during the early twentieth century assume additional importance
in the Indian Context, Pt Deen Dayal Upadhyay expounding on the subject explains It is
true that the society is composed of a number of individuals. Yet it is not made by people,
25

146

nor does it come into being by mere coming together of a number of individuals. our
view society is self-born. Like an individual, society comes into existence in an organic
way. People do not produce society. It is not a sort of club, or some joint stock company,
or a registered co-operative society. In reality, society is an entity with its own "SELF", its
own life; it is a sovereign being like an individual; it is an organic entity. We have not
accepted the view that society is some arbitrary association. It has its own life. Society too
has its body, mind, intellect and soul. In the present context with the growing Youth
population, and a large youth population working incessantly towards self growth, It is
essential that we discuss the universal Youth or as some may prefer to call a national
youth.

The Crisis of indifferent Individual
In a chapter devoted to perils of capitalism Pt Deen Dayal Upadhyay says
[individuals] His personality is altogether irrelevant to the economic set up. Capitalist
economy recognizes only an "economic man, whose all decisions are based entirely on
calculations of gain and loss, in terms of material wealth. For this economic man, five
rupees are always more than four rupees. Over the past decade or two the social
structure of the nation is steadily changing, with the death of Nehruvian socialism and
emergence of consumerism we have witnessed many positives and also acceleration in the
creation of isolated individuals. While the liberalized, open economy with equal
opportunity provides huge incentives for entrepreneurship of various kinds, a phenomenon
which has certainly taken speed since liberalization but we also seen increasing disinterest
amongst the middle class youth towards issues of the country that do not directly affect
them. While many laurels have been bestowed upon the flag wielding Indian who
materialized at the Ram Lila Maidan and Jantar Mantar last year, some have rightly
spoken about the lack of interest that the same youth displays when it comes to the urgent
pathos of the downtrodden. The flooding of twitter and facebook on every petrol price
increase, and the unwillingness towards giving away the share of fuel subsidies for food
subsidies meant for the weak are indicators that suggest that leave aside Integral
Humanism we are not even ready for socialism in a free economy.

The Indicators
Right after the independence, when Pt Jawaharlal Nehru took over as the Prime
Minister of the Country, and a decision on our economic policies was to be taken Pt
Jawaharlal Nehru inspired by the soviet union and wary of the capitalist west which
represented imperialism to him decided to follow a economy of considered socialism,
which Jawaharlal called Democratic Socialism and our economist later called the mixed
economy. While the government allowed private participation in the economy and allowed
private wealth creation, the economic freedom were too little to inspire individuals into the
economy. The babudome around the economy steadily increased for the next few decades.
The economic stasis of the individual (while the country did improve on various economic
indicators) was the major failure of the time; while the focus on reducing the economic
disparity was high the individual aspiration and capabilities were hampered. As we

147

liberalized the scenario changed and money creation and chasing aspirations was far
easier.
But over the years the youth from the middle class lost touch with his
responsibilities, and the situation has worsened to a situation, that to ask him to protest for
a fair reason he had to be told that lets bring back black money, you wont have to pay
taxes.
A lot of these problems exist because our educated youth is ever more distanced
from the realities of the country, he studies in private schools, graduates in private
colleges, works in private firms and whenever he faces the government he looks into
realities which appear to him as anomalies, and these anomalies frustrates him. He has
already proven that given a medium and an opportunity he can come out, speak and force
the government to initiate changes. Moreover the middle class youth speaks a language of
agitation that does not always reflect the sorrow of villages and towns because the youth is
steadily finding him distant from his town or village.
One of the bigger challenges of the decade before us is the fast concentration of
our wealth generation (thus youth) into some pockets of heavy industrialization, it is
important that what the government calls the Tier-2 cities start attracting the young.
Furthermore our towns and villages will have to reincarnate themselves and be able to
keep the youth close to them, because it is when the empowered youth is closer home that
he will realize the problems of the place and probably voice them loud.
The problem of an indifferent and slightly disenchanted youth seems to be a
strictly social problem, but the economic structure of the country may well be one of the
primary reasons to it. What seems a social problem, may have a well thought out
economic solution to it.

The Solution
One of the primary premises of the capitalist is the insatiable need for expansion.
This need for expansion is an inevitable necessity for generating money, resources and
large scale employment. It has been repeatedly proven over the last two decades that the
economic liberalization should be an irreversible process. However ideal the socialism of
pre 1991 sounds, the development of the last 20 years have taught us that economic
freedom is the pragmatic means towards development. The challenge remains on how we
could carry this development into the corners of the country. Relying on the business
houses for this would be an unimaginative and rather disingenuous. A committed effort
can be made towards attracting these groups into the second Tier cities, but in a large and
diverse country like India that would still not come close to solving the problem of
economic development. Governments (especially at local levels) will have to make efforts
at supporting organized institutions with small capitals.
Various service providers like telephone exchange support, IT support for local
governance. Civic amenities maintenance etc should be localized. Groups with a capital
turnover above a certain Maximum value can be discouraged and smaller capital holders,
who provide local employment, should be encouraged. This would start a new wave of
entrepreneurship at micro levels (which can be a village or a district headquarter).

148

For example, rather than the municipal corporations and the municipalities looking into
the cleanliness, the government can encourage organized citizen groups (better call them
small capital business group) to bid for identified areas and ascertain that good performers
are awarded by some means.
There are many IT related government supports which are required by the local
governments, presently a centralized contract (mammoth in amount) is handed over to a
large IT organization. It can be proposed that District or cluster of Districts can look for
their own IT support providers; this would increase the depth of our service industry and
certainly reduce the pressure that is steadily building on our cities.
Our cottage industries need to be revisited, presently a lot of them are heavily government
dependent and thus carry a large inertia, it is important that funds are available to groups
interested in exploring the capacities of the cottage industries, and a method of small scale
industries fulfilling each other is found. Like the small IT firm can help the cleanliness
firm maintain employee record, payment etc, while the cleanliness firm is the one that
maintenance the hygiene of the IT firm.
While the Government certainly cannot and must not do away with big business
houses and Foreign Investors, the smaller capital groups can easily make space for
themselves even amidst the deep pocketed business groups because of the flexibility they
offer. The Local groups offer customized solutions, better understanding and often a
greater degree of accountability. It can be mooted if village or villages can be glued
together and be declared something like a SEZ where the government acts only as a
facilitator and the finance, infrastructure and services are taken care by the small capital
group.
So what is being proposed is integral humanism co-opting, capitalism where ever it
can and also a pro actively socialist government that tries to feed to the aspirations of the
public. Policies from the government should drive home the need for economical freedom
in the remotest corner of the country. The states function is not to generate economic
resources but to facilitate the individual in doing so. A broad merger of the Nehruvian
socialism and the economics of Integral humanism where government actively support the
small scale industries and organized small capital holder but stays away from economic
activities (especially ones involving services, agriculture) may be the way forward for the
country.

Aditya Tewari is software engineer in Tata Consultancy Services at Hydrabad.

149

Empowering Grass-root Population for Contemporary Societal Restructuring

Empowering Grass-root Population for
Contemporary Societal Restructuring

Nandita Pathak

Introduction
Freedom is called as the mother of self-reliance. But the last 63 years of our
independence have made the youth more and more dependent either of the government or
the employers. The spirit of self-employment and self-esteem has disappeared. Even the
government depends heavily on the favours of multi-nationals and foreign financial
institutions.
Our Constitution is based on democratic principles. But the citizens in general, and
the youth in particular, have no role in shaping the destiny of our county. They have no
alternative but to play a role of mere seekers. The glitter and glamour of city life has
enticed rural youth to shift to the slums in cities, despite the fact that only rural India
abounds in all sorts of natural resources essential for life and prosperity.
Then also the progress of the villages has not been achieved as desired. The
cherished ideals of Gandhiji, the father of the nation, with regard to social reconstruction
have not been fulfilled. The dreams of the illustrious Martyrs of our Freedom Movement
for a reconstructed nation, remains as yet unattained.
The development of our villages is of critical importance for the economic
development of the country. The route taken by successive Governments for development
through 5 year plans that evolve at the top and are to permeate downwards towards the
villages have not been successful.
The Late Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya extensively studied all the different aspects
of human life and Indian society. Thereafter, he compiled his thesis Integral Humanism
on what requires to be done, as a model and guide for a harmonious and progressive
society. The need of the hour is to achieve the overall progressive development of our
youth by following this philosophy.

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The relations between human society and its constituents, is similar to the relation
between the human body and its parts, because the elements of society are also inter-
dependent. The farmer produces food grains, vegetables and fruits that everyone in society
consumes for sustenance. The weaver makes clothes for every one to wear. Therefore,
inter-dependence or complimentarity is the basis of a happy social life. Without fulfilling
each and every essential need of society, neither an individual nor a family could pursue
their respective careers of vocations with perfection and success.
The greatest problem with developmental work since Independence was that they
were discussed and formulated at the National level with inputs core local issues and the
requirements of the particular area. It also ignored awakening a sense of ownership and
initiative in the people involved. As a result, these cost-intensive rural development
schemes were unable to achieve their objectives. This does not mean that we should be
stuck in such a situation and let these activities go on. There is a way to tackle this
turbulent situation and that too by legitimate ways. To tackle this situation, we will have to
move to rural India. Our villagers are still more empathetic than their urban counter parts.
They can identify with the pains of others and try to help the needy. They still have a fear
of immoral acts. They are still under the influence of faith and devotion. They eagerly join
in efforts where personal and social causes are achieved together. To establish a new
social order, all these qualities are essential, Most of the villagers are honest and hard
working they are not interested in Easy money rat race.
This huge creative potential of the people has not been brought into use. If the rural
population is encouraged with love and affection rural society can be transformed into a
prosperous society. These two qualities can help develop a fair, complimentarity social
order. A self reliance social System can blossom in such an atmosphere.
As Pt. Deendayal Upadhayay ji had said, The process of development begins
from the bottom and moves to the top. The roots of our nation lie in rural India. So the
development of our society and country must begin from the rural areas Peoples
participation and initiative in rural projects increases their scope, stability and success rate.
In such a despairing situation, the need of the hour is to infuse a spirit of hope and
confidence among the people for building the future.
To give India a new direction is the need of the hour. Peoples Initiative and local
issues are a key component for any successful rural development programme.
Complimentarity and a social consciousness on in society from the basis of a Nations soul
(chiti) without looking at the needs of a society in totality, no development programme can
succeed.
To achieve this goal our only Capital is the strength of the people and available
resources. Peoples power is more potential.

151

Universally, the family is considered to be the basic unit of society. For
reconstruction of rural India the nation need newly married young couples that can
contribute in the reconstruction of rural India. Deendayal Research Institute (DRI)
founded by honble Nanaji Deshmukh to validate the philosophy of integral Humanism.
Chitrakoot project is an integrated and holistic model for the development of Rural India.
The Chitrakoot project is a self-reliance campaign and covered 500 villages around
Chitrakoot. The self-reliance campaign covers all aspects of the individual, family and
societal lives of the villagers. The key to the campaign is the concept of Samaj Shilpi
Dampati (SSD) graduate couples (Catalysts for change) that live within the villager itself,
and are responsible for motivating and guiding a cluster of 5 villagers. In all areas of the
campaign-increasing incomes; removing unemployment; improving agricultural
techniques; education; health & hygiene; clean & green village; to help them resolve their
disputes at the village level itself; and increasing social consciousness in the villages by
encouraging them to live in harmony with mutual respect and complimentarity.
Deendayal Research Institute is confident that with collective efforts and
integrated approach of Government, Society and on the basis of available Resources, with
peoples initiativeness and performance we can make our villages Self-reliant and
prosperous.

Nandita Pathak is a devoted missionary for rural development and reconstruction,
presently working with Deendayal Research Institute, Chitrakoot, M.P.and looking after
self-reliance campaign being conducted in 500 villages around Chitrakoot.

152

Educating Masses for Grassroot Empowerment

Educating Masses for Grassroot Empowerment

Ashok N. Bhaskarwar

Introduction
What do we need to do beyond what is already being done? How could we do it?
First of all, I guess we need to invest at least ten times more in our education than
we currently are doing. More importantly, we need to prioritize education at the top in our
national agenda as a collective will of our people. Education has to be made totally free for
the poor. Teachers have to be paid an adequate salary so that they can fully concentrate on
their duties with no distractions to earn enough for living. Selection of teachers has to be
based only on merit and motivation and commitment for teaching. This is understandably
a critical limiting step and can only be tackled patiently over a period but not exceeding a
decade.
The students have to be taught the ability to concentrate using well known
techniques of ancient Indian heritage and to acquire physical strength through regular
manual work and sports as pin-pointed out by Swami Vivekanand.

Chain Reaction as The Model? Old Versus New? The Middle Path?
Through short-term training of interested graduating students motivated by
existing teachers, the process may be begun. Role models have to be identified and
involved in this process of mentoring of a chain of teachers. A well-formed teaching
community has to be nurtured and fostered by means of modern technology. Distractions
of the modern technology have to be clearly spelt out to the students, emphasizing the
power of self-discipline as the way to overcome these side effects.

Vision for 21
st
Century?
Every child has to be educated and skilled to earn a living through this education
with a conviction of the dignity of all labor. Each child has to understand his or her own
role in the entire fabric of the nation and the world at large.

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Wisdom and Material Progress?
Vedic understanding of the blissful nature of soul has to be imprinted on every
childs mind. Wisdom lies in moderation and in being in tune with nature. The conviction
that it is unselfishness that eventually pays more has to be understood as the true
pragmatism, as again enunciated by Swami Vivekanand.
Education has to achieve its true goal: That of achieving the human dignity and
self-esteem for every child, and not necessarily the highest income for our nation. The
education must confer the ability to attain and maintain serenity in the midst of procellous
reality of life for each child. This, if achieved, would ensure the true and fitting
empowerment of the masses at the grass-root level in not too distant a future!

Ashok N. Bhaskarwar is Petro-tech Chair Professor and Head of the Chemical
Engineering Department at Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi.

154

Analysis of Right to Food in India

Analysis of Right to Food in India

Bindu N Doddahatti and Geethu S Thottammariyil

Introduction
Food is the most essential requisite of every living being. Right to Food is a human
right derived from the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
(ICESCR). In 2002, The UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food defined it as the
following:
Right to adequate food is a human right, inherent in all people, to have regular,
permanent and unrestricted access, either directly or by means of financial purchases, to
quantitatively and qualitatively adequate and sufficient food corresponding to the cultural
traditions of people to which the consumer belongs, and which ensures a physical and
mental, individual and collective fulfilling and dignified life free of fear.
Many other International covenants have also emphasized the importance of Right
to Food of every Human Being. Article 25 of Universal Declaration of Human Rights
defined it as Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and
well-being of himself and of his family, including food and very recently in the
Declaration of the World Summit on Food security, Rome 2009, it was concluded that
We must collectively accelerate steps to set the world on a path to achieving the
progressive realization of the right to adequate food in the context of national food
security
With these International Declarations in hand, the implementation of Right to Food
is still incertitude. Though it is considered as a legal right, it has not been carried out well
in those countries where it is needed the most. The statement that the right to adequate
food is realized when every man, woman and child, alone or in community with others,
has physical and economic access at all times to adequate food or means for its
procurement is absolutely true and it can be realized only through sound administration
and well established food distribution mechanisms.
India being a developing nation is confronting the challenge of Food security and
hunger. With increasing population this crisis has grown into enormous proportions and
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has affected over 30 million people. A large number of people including children are
exposed to various health hazards inclusive of malnutrition, stunted growth, high child
mortality etc. It is no exaggeration that the value of food is best known to the people of
India. Once a rich country, filled with exemplary and commendable resources is now a
country with the most number of destitute, unemployed, child labourers and an
evergrowing list of grief and anxiety.
Various issues are responsible for the existence of such a condition in the country.
Food Security is a comprehensive matter which encompasses a wide range of issues like
difficulty in accessing microfinance and healthcare services, gender inequality, population
explosion, resource distribution, consumption patterns, agricultural production, climate
change, environmental degradation, development, trade relations, land ownership rights,
default economic policies etc.

Socio-Economic Issues
Population Explosion
India stands at 2
nd
position in terms of population in the world next only to China.
With a population of over 1.2 billion, India is gravely affected by ever-increasing birth
rate which now stands at 22/1000 births (child births per 1000 people) and almost 51
births per minute. Overpopulation perpetuates poverty, lack of opportunity, lack of
Government resources, social care and the cycle continues.
Poverty
Though the economy is growing steadily, India has not been successful in cutting
down the poverty rate to a considerable level. India is ranked at 15
th
among the leading
countries with worse hunger situation. A study by the Oxford Poverty and Human
Development Initiative using a Multi-dimensional Poverty Index (MPI) found that there
are 645 million poor living under the MPI in India.
Illiteracy
The literacy rate being 74.04% India has a big challenge ahead of it. Lack of
proper teaching staff, infrastructure, poverty, gender disparity etc, are some of the reasons
for existence of low literacy rate. The effect of Illiteracy is devastating and hinders the all
round growth of a nation.
Corruption
Corruption is present in every sphere of Life in India. Nepotism, dowry,
favoritism, Red tapism, immorality are some forms of the social corruption. India has no
dearth of scams. Starting from the Bofors to the very recent 2G, all these scams have
looted India exorbitantly giving raise to a chain of problems.

156

Unemployment
The unemployment rate in India stands at 10.8% which includes equal number of
unemployed and under-employed, skilled and unskilled, youth and the middle aged. The
main cause of unemployment is the growing population, Recessions, Inflation, corruption,
disability, nepotism etc. Loss of production, misallocation of resources, low standard of
living, poverty and hunger etc, are the effects of unemployment and often results in
increased domestic violence, crime, health problems and negative psychological effects.
Gender Disparity
Women have a greater role to play in creating food security in India. But
unfortunately they are given a subordinate position and suppressed in different walks of
life. Recent research conducted by the International Food Policy Research Institute
(IFPRI) confirms the vital role women play as producers of food, managers of natural
resources, income earners, and caretakers of household food and nutrition security. Instead
of her capacities regrettably her condition has not improved a lot.
All the above mentioned issues have a direct relationship to that of the food
security problem in India. Poverty, Illiteracy, Corruption in Government and private
sector, corrupt practices of the politicians, Population explosion and also gender disparity
have hindered the achievement of Right to food as a fundamental right in India.

Cognizing these facts a detailed study of the various case laws relating to Right to
Food in India have been discussed and ratiocinated.
The following case laws deal with recent social rights jurisprudence of the
Supreme Court of India, and how judiciary can and should seek to protect the fundamental
social right, i.e., Right to food. This analysis will throw light on the mode of recognition
of the right in each of the decided cases from the early 1986 onwards over a decade and
the remedies granted by the court in each of the cases.
The first case that went up to the Supreme Court of India specifically on Right to
Food was the case of Kishan Pattanayak V. State of Orissa
1
in the year 1986. In this case,
the petitioner wrote a letter to the Supreme Court addressing the extreme poverty of the
people of Kalahandi and Koraput districts of Orissa. On account of extreme poverty, there
was starvation and death so people were forced to sell their children to find a days meal.
The said letter was treated as a writ petition and thereby sought directions to take
immediate steps to alleviate the miseries and sorrows of the people of the said two
districts. In this case petition did not articulate a violation of the right to food on the part of
the State. The Supreme Court in this judgment had taken a pro-governmental approach to
address the starvation problem by implementing some macro-level measures such as
effective implementation of irrigation projects so as to reduce the drought in the region,
fixation of minimum selling price for paddy and appointment of a Natural Calamities

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Committee. But none of these measures directly affected the immediate needs of the
petitioner, i.e., to prevent people from dying of hunger.
Supreme Court in India through Chameli Singh case enunciated that the Right to
life guaranteed through Article 21 of the Indian Constitution implies the right to food,
water, decent environment, education, medical care and shelter to all of its citizen. It was
further enunciated that in any civilised society, the right to live as a human being is not
ensured by only meeting the animal needs of a man. It is secured only when a man is
assured of all facilities to develop himself and is freed from all restrictions which inhibit
his growth. All human beings are designed to achieve this object. But the Supreme Court
did not recognize the specific right, Right to Food within the context of starvation.
The Supreme Court ordered in response to the writ petition filed by Peoples
Union for Civil Libertiesin the year 2001 had a greater impact in seeking the legal
justification for Right to Food. This case, popularly known as The Right to Food case
has become a rallying point for trade unions, activists, grass root organizations and NGOs
i.e., Non Governmental Organizations to make The Right to Food as an enforceable right.
The Supreme Court on July 23, 2001, said:
What is of utmost importance to see that food is provided to the aged, infirm,
disabled, destitute women, destitute men who are in great danger of starvation, pregnant
and lactating women and destitute children, especially in cases where they or members of
their family do not have sufficient funds to provide food for them, in case of famine, there
may be shortage of food, but here the situation is that amongst plenty there is scarcity.
Plenty of food is available, but the distribution of the same amongst the very poor and the
destitute is scarce and non-existent leading to mal-nourishment, starvation and other
related problems.
The Supreme Court of India thus recognized the Right to food as an enforceable
right and held that right to food not only means free from dying out of hunger or starvation
but a fair distribution of adequate means of food for ones survival.

International Covenants on Food Security
The social right, the right to food has been formerly recognized in several
instruments of international law. The International Covenant on Economic, Social and
Cultural Rights (ICESR); Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR); The
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women
(CEDAW); and The Convention on the Rights of a Child (CRC) are relevant in this
context. The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESR) is
one such attempts of the international community consisting of sovereign states who being
the members of United Nations Organisations joined together to set down various
obligations with regard to standards of human dignity, liberties, and fundamental freedoms
which form the core of human rights.

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Article 1(2) of the ICESCR states that in no case may a people be deprived of its
own means of subsistence

Article 11(2) of the ICESCR, declares that the state shall
recognize the fundamental right of being free from hunger and to undertake the measures
specifically through international co-operations thus ensuring adequate means of
nutritional intake for all. The human right to adequate food is of crucial importance for the
enjoyment of all rights. According to the General Comment, the realization of the right to
adequate food requires:
The availability of food in a quantity and quality sufficient to satisfy the dietary
needs of individuals, free from adverse substances, and acceptable within a given
culture.
The accessibility of adequate food, including both economic accessibility
(personal or household financial costs associated with the acquisition of food for an
adequate diet should be at a level such that the attainment and satisfaction of other
basic needs are not threatened or compromised) and physical accessibility (i.e.
physical access to food, including for vulnerable groups, such as children, elderly
people, physically disabled, etc.)
Every state is under peer obligation to provide the food whenever an individual or
group is unable, for reasons beyond their control, to enjoy the right to adequate food by
the means at their disposal. The State may delegate the implementation of the obligation
to the local level, but it remains ultimate responsibility of the state to ensure it.
Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), adopted by the United Nations
General Assembly on 10 December 1948 at Palais de Chaillot, Paris through Article 25 (1)
enshrines the right to a standard living adequate for the health of himself and his family
members thus impliedly providing the Right to one square meal per day. Article 27 (3) of
the Convention on the Rights of the Child imposes certain obligations upon the state to
take appropriate measures to provide assistance with regard to nutrition, clothing and
housing.
The Rome Declaration on World Food Security and the World Food Summit Plan
of Action laid the foundations for diverse paths to a common objective - food security, at
the individual, household, national, regional and global levels. Food security exists when
all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious
food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life. In this
regard, concerted action at all levels is required. Under The Rome Declaration of World
Food Security 1996, Heads of States reaffirmed the right of everyone to have access to
safe and nutritious food, consistent with the right to adequate food and the fundamental
right of everyone to be free from hunger.
Article 51(c) of the Constitution, [in Part IV titled The Directive Principles of State
Policy] says that the State shall endeavour to foster respect for International law and
treaty obligations in the dealings of organized people with another, does not have the

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implication of making International law a part of domestic law. But in the absence of any
domestic law concerning a specific subject then the relevant provisions of International
law can be adopted. Being a signatory to the above mentioned instruments and also taking
into account of the existing socio-economic condition. India has to work hard towards the
realization of the Right to Food as a Fundamental right.

Analysis of the National Food Security Bill 2011
The State has proposed the National Food Security Bill 2011, where the preamble
of the act gives that its an Act to ensure public provisioning of food and related measures
to enable assured economic and social access to adequate food, for all persons in the
country, at all times, in pursuance of their fundamental right to live with dignity.
The significant lineament of the bill goes as the following:
Each household shall be categorised into priority and general in rural and urban
areas.
Every person shall have the right of access to sufficient and safe food either directly
or by purchasing the food.
Legal entitlement to subsidized food grains to be extended to at least 75% of
the countrys population 90% in rural areas and 50% in urban areas.
The priority households (46% in rural areas and 28% in urban areas) to have
a monthly entitlement of 35 Kgs (equivalent to 7 Kgs per person) at a
subsidized price of Rs. 1 per Kg for millets, Rs. 2 per Kg for wheat and Rs.
3 per Kg for rice.
The general households (39% rural and 12% urban in phase 1 and 44% rural
and 22% urban in final phase) to have a monthly entitlement of
20Kgs (equivalent to 4 Kgs per person) at a price not exceeding 50% of the
current Minimum Support Price for millets, wheat and rice.
The minimum coverage, entitlement and price to remain unchanged until the
end of the XII five year plan.
The state government shall provide all children up to class 8 freshly cooked meal in
all schools run by local bodies and the government. It shall also provide mid-day
meals to children who are admitted under the 25% quota for children belonging to
disadvantaged groups in unaided private schools.
In the first phase, food entitlement to be extended to 72 per cent of the
population. In the final phase, to be completed before March 31, 2014, full
coverage of food entitlement (to 75% of the population) to be ensured.
Legal entitlements for child and maternal nutrition, destitute and other
vulnerable groups are provided.

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Critique and Propositions
The Expert Committee on Food Security Bill has identified the following
major operational issues which need to be resolved to realize the goals of the
proposed NFSB 2011:
Given the current trends of food grain production and government procurement, and
the likely improvements in these over time, will there be adequate availability of
grain with the public authorities to implement the full entitlements for the priority
and general category as proposed in the NFSB?
What will be the impact of such large government food grain procurement on the
open market prices? This is relevant since both the priority and general category will
be purchasing a part of their consumption needs from the open market.
What are the subsidy implications for both the phases and can these levels be
sustained in the future?
Arriving at a clear definition of priority and general households and the
methodology of identification of these households especially the feasibility of
involving the Registrar General of India and Census Commissioner in this task.
Given the inefficiencies and leakages in the current distribution system, identify the
principal areas of reform of the PDS and the alternative mechanisms of reaching the
food grain/subsidy to the entitled households.
Further the following flaws can be identified in the bill which also consists of
the proposals which were dropped by Empowered Group of Ministers:
The razing down of the public distribution system (PDS) and its replacement with
cash transfers is highly unacceptable. It is mentioned in bill that the State shall
strive for... introducing (the) scheme of cash transfers in lieu of entitlements is
dangerous and will definitely affect production and the distribution system.
The draft is also extremely disappointing with respect to provisions related to chil-
dren, women and excluded groups. Maternity benefits of Rs 1,000 per month for six
months, an essential recommendation of the Campaign and the NAC has been
withdrawn.
Key provisions for malnourished children, out-of-school children, migrant workers,
starvation deaths, destitute feeding and community kitchens have been deleted or
diluted.
The premise of the NAC grievance redressal mechanism was independence and
autonomy of the functionaries. This has been thrown out by introducing serving
officers, which totally defeats the chance of creating any checks and balances.
Vandana Shiva, environmental activist calls the Bill Economic
disenfranchisement for political gain. She adds, The costs are being raised due to
the wasteful allocation on the identification of the poor: pink and yellow cards [pink

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cardholders are entitled to rice; yellow cardholders draw rations other than rice is
bureaucratic nonsense.

Conclusion
In a country well governed, poverty is something to be ashamed of. In a country
badly governed, wealth is something to be ashamed of.
-Confucius
Is India well governed or ill governed? With 41.6% of population falling below
the international poverty line of US$ 1.25 a day, where the infant mortality is high as
30/1000, where every 30 minutes a women is raped and more than 27% of the world's
undernourished population living in India, the country is definitely not well-governed.
Though Indian economy is progressing, unemployment, gender disparity, poverty,
hunger, malnutrition etc, are haunting the country endlessly and the evidence for it is the
second National Family Health Survey (1998-99) according to which 47 per cent of all
Indian children are undernourished, 52 per cent of all adult women are anemic, and 36 per
cent have a body-mass index (BMI) below the cut-off of 18.5 commonly associated with
chronic energy deficiency. These figures simply show that its high time that the State
implement the proposed National Food Security Bill 2011 with some checks and balances
attributed to it. A panoptic study of the Indian Socio-economic condition reveals that
legalizing the Right to Food will definitely improve the standard of living of the people.
As stated in the critique and proposals, PDS is one of the worst public machineries
working in India. It has to be reformed and made more approachable and trustworthy as
the success of the NFSB 2011 is largely dependent on it. On the 26
th
January 1950, Dr.
Ambedkar said, we are going to enter into a life of contradictions. In politics we will
have equality and in social and economic life we will have inequality.
What he expressed on that day rather unfortunately holds good even today.
Underprivileged sections of the population in India are excluded from active participation
in democratic politics, their aspirations and priorities are not reflected in public policy.
The elitist orientation of public policy, in turn, perpetuates the deprivations (poverty,
hunger, illiteracy, discrimination, etc.) that disempowered people and prevent them from
participating in democratic politics.
What needs to be understood is that the Right to Food cannot be achieved by
NBSB 2011 alone. The term Food security is very comprehensive and it includes right to
education, right to work, right to health etc. All these aspects are interlinked and isolating
one from another will emphatically impede the achievement of a Poverty and Hunger-free
India.

Bindu N Doddahatti and Geethu S Thottammariyil are from JSS Law College, Bindu is
also the President of Spiritus International Trust, Karnataka and Geethu is the secreatry.

162

Applied Education

Applied Education

Pulkit Jain

Introduction
This paper deals with the drawbacks in the current education system of India as
well as factors which are responsible for such state, with regards to type of education only.
In addition to that it not only explains evolution of certain educational policies which
instead of helping the nation has confined its domain but also the objectives of those
policies which were not flawless to develop the education scenario. And, certain proposals
are also made for the betterment of the education system. However, the scope of this paper
is confined only to primary and secondary education considering the fact that the major
part of the population is not exposed to higher education. Neither does the paper deals
with methods of increasing literacy rates.
Several evaluations undertaken by the governmental committees and independent
academicians have underlined the crisis confronting the system as increasing educated
unemployment; weakening of student motivation; increasing unrest and indiscipline on the
campuses; frequent collapse of administration; deterioration of standards; and above all,
the demoralizing effect of the irrelevance and purposelessness of what is being done.
While the policy makers have often spoken about the need for radical reconstruction of the
system, what has been achieved in reality is only moderate reformism. Several factors
which have led to the above mentioned state are mentioned below.

General Pattern of Education in India
According to the National Report on the Development of Education, India at
forty-seventh session of the international conference on education, Geneva, the general
pattern of our countrys education is broadly classified in three categories. They are
primary education, secondary education and higher education. Though the primary
education has witnessed several reforms, the report clearly states that the secondary and
higher education is still the same to a great extent. At present our country follows a
10+2+3 pattern for educating masses. In this pattern the general education is given for the
first 10 years throughout our country. These 10 years are further divided in primary, upper
primary and secondary education with layout as either 5+3+2 or 4+4+2. Still there is a
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grave drawback in this pattern. The education for all is applicable only till 14 years of
age for an individual. That covers the general education only or as we may say only first
10 years of study.
And this has been already stated that the secondary and higher education havent
gone any fundamental change. Thus, higher education had always been strictly limited to a
few. This has limited young brains to text book knowledge rather than real development.

Role of Five Year plans
The Five year plans are the backbone of the development in our country. Yet education
was never a major area of focus in them. In the 3
rd
five year plan (1961-66) several
anganwadi schools were opened to achieve education for all at grass root level. And in the
11
th
five year (2007-12) plan several objectives for the development of education in India
are highlighted but most of them concentrate on rates. The objectives with respect to
education in the 11
th
five year plan are as follows:
Reduce drop-out rates of children from elementary school from 52.2% in 2003-04 to
20% by 2011-12.
Develop minimum standards of educational attainment in elementary school, and by
regular testing monitor effectiveness of education to ensure quality.
Increase literacy rate for persons of age 7 years or above to 85%.
Lower gender gap in literacy to 10 percentage point.
Increase the percentage of each cohort going to higher education from the present
10% to 15% by the end of the plan.
From the above mentioned points, it is clearly visible that the plans dealt in
numbers and not in the worth of the education, especially at grass root level. Or as one
may say, it dealt in quantity and not in quality.

Objectives of Development Policies
Mostly the basic aim of all the policies meant for development of education in
India was to increase the literacy rates. The Sarv Siksha Abhiyan is one such
programme which promises only education for all but doesnt specify the quality of
education. Owing to the low levels of literacy rates which our country has witnessed in the
past, such an aim is not questionable. But, certain amendments for future should be made
with respect to quality so that an all-round development of children could be achieved.
It is only in recent years that certain amends have been made, which include
introduction of grade system in high school, but again only CBSE have implemented
them.

Evolution of NTSE
The National Talent Search Examination, popularly known as NTSE, started with
an aim to identify and nurture talented students, but over the years all the reforms has

164

drifted the examination from its course. Soon after its fabrication it was expanded at a
great scale owing to its nature. Initially in 1964, it consisted of written examination,
project work and interviews. But in 1976 with the introduction of 10+2+3 pattern, the
examination underwent lots of changes and project work was no longer its part. Further in
2011, even interviews were removed and both the papers were made purely objective.
Thus, it should be noted that the NTSE is no longer fully serving its purpose, no
interviews and a perfectly objective pattern has introduced the luck factor, and even if a
talented student is revealed his talents arent exactly nurtured as project work used to.
Thus, its clearly evident that our present education system is more on theoretical
lines, rather than cultivating young minds. The true essence of education is missing and
several reforms are still required. Applied education is one such reform. The basic premise
of applied education is to school students by giving them real insight of the world, and not
just mere text book knowledge. Several eminent personalities were motivated from real
life examples and personal incidences and not with books. Some of the alterations that
should be introduced are mentioned in the consequent paragraphs.
All of us are taught moral sciences in our school life, yet when it comes to donate
to an unknown person most of us withdraw are hands. To get rid of this problem, social
service should be made mandatory part of curriculum in schools. Camps may be organized
once in a month by a school and the respective students should be asked to help the
deprived section of the society. The students can donate clothes or fulfil other basic needs;
they may even provide them one good meal. By doing this, we will not only expose the
true ugly face of poverty but also help the needy. Such practise will inculcate a habit of
donating and sharing among the students. And it is a well-known fact that the habits which
are developed in earlier stages of life continue till the end. Hence, real moral values will
be inculcated in the students and this will also make the students socially conscious.
Similarly, students must be encouraged to explore more in science practical
laboratories. It is seen several times that the experiments are not done with enthusiasm, the
basic reason behind this is that everything that is being done in practical labs is already
embossed in the mind of children in the class rooms, which kills interest in the respective
subject. If students are allowed to mould the experiments in their own way not only their
interest in the subject but also their understanding about the topic will increase. And one
easy way to achieve this is to remove the procedure section from the lab manuals and let
the students figure out the procedure themselves. Though, this will require strict guidance
of teachers, it will sharpen their scientific temperament.
In our country, research work is strictly limited at post graduate levels. Original
research must be encouraged even at under graduate level to compel student in the field of
research and development. Since, research fields are available only at a later stage of life,
development has been inadequate. The option to select subjects must also be introduced at
the time of high school, instead of providing them after completion of high school. This

165

will result in specialization of courses and will make the student master of one trade and
not jack of all. Though such a system may show limitations with respect to the basic
knowledge which a high school graduate must have about all categories of subjects but
this may be eliminated by making a course curriculum which includes a basic knowledge
of all the subjects and extended course of the subject which an individual has opted for.
One last problem this system possess will lie in the inability of an individual to choose
between subjects, and to remove this individual counselling must be done by the teachers,
and aptitude tests must also be made available to help the students decide. Furthermore the
student must be given the privilege to switch between the subjects after high schools, in
case an individual doesnt find themselves comfortable with their choice.
Another important modification required will include training of the teachers. A
compulsory training will ensure that quality education will be delivered to all sections of
the society. The training must be focused on interactive teaching methods to bring out the
best in a child. And in consequent years, teachers may even be asked to qualify an
examination to be designated as educators. This might be the most crucial amendmend
that we should incorporate to ensure quality education.
In our country everyone is supposed to complete higher studies to get a respectable
income. But due to the limited nature of higher education, several students find themselves
helpless. To resolve these problem vocational courses must be executed at a large scale, to
help the masses earn a decent income without having the stress to complete higher
education.

Conclusion
The evolution of education in our country hasnt been proper. Though all the
reforms which have been made to date have left their mark, yet we have a lot to achieve. It
is not a misconception that our system requires a remodelling to achieve the required
impact and to inculcate scientific, economic and social ideas amongst the youth applied
education will play a dramatic role. This will ensure Indias development in all spheres.

References
India, National Report on the Development of Education. Forty-seventh session of the
International Conference on Education Geneva, 8-11 September, 2004.
The Challenges for Indias Education System, Marie Lall, Chatham House, Asia
Programme, April, 2005.
Higher Education Reforms in India: Prospects and Challenges, N. Jayaram, Goa
University.

Pulkit Jain is student at G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar,
Uttarakhand.

166

Astronomical Science Popularization at Grass Root Levels

Astronomical Science Popularization at Grass Root Levels

Aditya Singh

Introduction
Astronomy is the branch of science which is least understood by the people of
India. Understanding science is far away, when they dont even know what actually
astronomy is. Superstitions and beliefs are a threat to the society. As because of this,
people who could do well at a particular time and place are pulled back. They dont know
anything about their earth, their solar system, their universe etc. and are even ignorant of
sun as a star. We dont say that they should know everything, as it is impossible for them,
and is of no use as well, but the basic knowledge of their surrounding is must. Due to lack
of knowledge and awareness, they are also trapped and looted by many frauds. Due to lack
of knowledge, the youth of rural areas are not able to come up with their potentials. When
they had not even heard of the subject, how can they choose the same as their career? One
of the major problems is that even after introducing many non-academic topics, astronomy
is left far behind. Though large funds are received for promotion of this science, the
officers in the rural areas are themselves ignorant of this. Another major problem is that
India is lacking aerospace engineers and scientists, which is a threat to the nation. Youth
does not want to come in this field because they dont know it. Hence, it is needed that
they should be aware of this subject.
The first and the foremost need of popularization is eradication of superstitions and
myths from amongst the society. Awareness of the subject is the basic need of the society
now. A generalized knowledge of their surrounding, their earth, their solar system, basic
natural phenomena, etc. is must so that they not only pray to astronomical bodies as their
god but also know their physical existence. If they are educated about it to a certain extent,
they would certainly be able to make their way out of traps. Astronomy has a really broad
scope, but due to lack of awareness, the youth of rural areas are not able to opt this as their
career. Also, we need to orient students and people towards this branch of science, as it is
a need of the nation. This will not only provide them a better platform but will also
improve their life styles. They will also get some new things to think and talk about. In
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167

short, the need of awareness and knowledge of space science is as important as knowing
about the Prime Minister of the country, as it would certainly make a difference.
The people of rural India are generally orthodox and do not agree to any fact or
statement or postulates, when it comes to their beliefs. They dont want to agree to what
we say as it was proving their traditions wrong. Also, when we went to schools in remote
areas, we found that even class 10
th
students dont know as to what actually a planet is.
The youth and the people are misguided due to old traditions told them by their ancestors,
and therefore is a threat to the development of the country. The students of the rural areas
do feel kind of inferiority complex due to lack of knowledge and confidence. In order to
bring them to our level, they need to be taught in a more innovative and attractive way.
Also, due to superstitions people quit their important works like, during solar eclipse, they
are told not to step out of their home, so whatever emergency is there, they wont come
out and many a times face loss. Also, they dont want to learn from us as we are younger
to them, they want some one of their age. They dont want girl students to be our part, as
they sometimes have to come in the evening for camps.

Methods
Teachers were taught basic Astronomy and were given workshops and training so
that they can teach their students in a better way. A team of experts were teaching them in
the new and improved techniques. Basic astronomy included topics like Solar system,
earth, sun, stars, eclipse etc. Except few, the majority of teachers took keen interest in the
subject and also participated well. A few teachers were so active that they conducted extra
classes periodically on astronomy for the students who created an impressive impact. It
was found that even the teachers had doubts and were confused about the concepts. When
they were explained, they took interest in it.
A booklet was distributed among the students that contained topics of basic
astronomy. In this booklet, the topics were explained in such a way that the students got
attracted towards it and it was taught along with their curriculum periodically. Hence it
was easy for the students and was not a burden for them. The booklet proved an
innovative weapon for us and contributed to a large extent for our aim.
Out team visited the villages and schools frequently, where they organized camps
for the students and people. We carried our telescopes and arranged projectors their, and
explained them about many astronomical phenomena. We also took workshops for them,
where they were taught to make models and therefore, we could judge their mental ability.
During the same workshop we also carried out some personality development sessions.
But the major thing was, what ever we told, we always linked it to the daily life. Each fact
that we told, had a back up with a daily life phenomena and because of it we could easily
explain it to them and they could easy understand.

168

A group of experts was formed who periodically visited the villages and carried
out motivational sessions and personality development lectures. Whenever they visited,
they always told the importance of space science to the villagers, mainly to the students.
They always told the students about space and spent almost whole time with them.
As we know that this is a money dominant society, and nothing other than
financial gifts can attract the most to the people. Therefore, we decided to pay them for a
given task. So, a task was given to a group of students or villagers like to give a seminar
or sky viewing or making models. When completed successfully, they were paid. We
called it "Paise Kamao"
Whenever we talked about any fact, or anything related to their beliefs or tradition,
we did always give sufficient reasons behind that. If we would have not done the sam,e it
was impossible for us to convince them, as they did not want to adopt what we were
saying, so we always tried to satisfy them in every way possible.
As we knew the mentality of the villagers, we knew that we ourselves can't change
the situation completely. So we included some popular personalities of the locality
(district) like collector, panchayat president, dignified citizens etc. and ask them to say the
same what we wanted to convey and fortunately this happened and could make a huge
difference among them.

Aditya Singh is student at Robertson Convent School, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh.

169

Demand of Integrated Development: Indian Culture

Demand of Integrated Development: Indian Culture

Deepshikha Paliwal and Ruhi Maheshwari

Introduction
The old religions said that he was an atheist who did not believe in God, the new
religion says that he is an atheist who does not believe in himself.
-Swami Vivekananda
This is the demand of todays time to have belief on own self for which one has to
believe in ones culture. Many develop their personality but few developed it holistically,
this holistic development turns the individual into a great personality.
Swami Vivekananda says West says do! Show your power by doing, India says show
your power by suffering.
Our culture is based on two important pillars love and sacrifice. According to it
everyone is equal, God resides in everyone in the form of collection of godliness,
creativity, power, positivity and strength. This paper emphasizes on the Indian culture and
its need for integrated development equipped with Swami Vivekanandas thoughts and
teachings.

Need of the study
The western outlook of living life is causing a great un-satisfaction in Indian head
and hearts. Though the living status and economic condition of India is increasing but
similar is the number of divorce rates, suicidal attempts, corruption, generation gap, brain
drain etc. A severe lacking of harmony and peace can be seen all around. People are
running blindly behind name, fame and money and want to satisfy their ego anyhow, even
at the cost of their moral values or anything else. A great spiritual and religious
harassment is all pervading; a sense of inferiority can be seen in the name of spiritual
practices. Neutrality in lives, contracted hearts and meaningless freedom is the present
scenario of India. This is not the real India, where people used to share happiness and
sorrows of each others with mutual cooperation and love.
Lord Macaulay said about India in 1835 in British ParliFament: "I have travelled
across the length and breadth of India and I have not seen one person who is a beggar, who
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170

is a thief. Such wealth I have seen in this country, such high moral values, people of such
calibre, that I do not think we would ever conquer this country, unless we break the very
backbone of this nation, which is her spiritual and cultural heritage, and, therefore, I
propose that we replace her old and ancient education system, her culture, for if the
Indians think that all that is foreign and English is good and greater than their own, they
will lose their self-esteem, their native self-culture and they will become what we want
them, a truly dominated nation."
This proves that we were very happy and prosperous before but when we become
their slaves, we lost our culture and values .Today we are free but only externally .We are
not free from their thinking. Britishers are still ruling over our mind even after so many
years of freedom. They have succeeded in making us brown Englishmen to a large
extent. The countrys so called elite, whose mind had been shaped and hypnotized by their
colonial masters, always assumed that anything which was western was so superior that in
order to reach all-round fulfilment, India merely had to follow European thoughts, science
and political institutions.
Swami Vivekananda was the first to give the call o ye modern Hindus de-
hypnotize yourself. That is in order to become what we were we have get back to our
roots; our culture, our values, our own real immortal nature.

Means of integrated development
Present era is the period of technical development where everyone wants to
discover some new and become perfect. Today everyone wants to be the best and
different. Surely development is there in many dimensions of our personality but we cant
say that it is integrated because if it would have been so, then there would have been no
physical, mental and social problems to the extent we are facing today. Integrated
Development is the development which concerns about knowing ones own nature coping
with all shortcomings of it. This kind of development gives inner satisfaction, everlasting
peace, purified mind and sharp intellect. It is holistic development in which an individual
proves himself productive for his society and consider oneself an important unit of
cosmos. This is the development along with roots just like a seed which develops into a
big tree when it is strongly connected with its roots. This gives a personality with the deep
sense of faith and balancing nature.

Glory of Indian culture
Every society has its outer aspect called civilization, and also its inner aspect
called culture. In both of these, a child is moulded and educated so that the beliefs and
practices of his forefathers are carried on and not forgotten.
Swami Vivekananda has pointed out that every civilization or culture has a
particular life centre, a dominant characteristic or trend. According to him, the life centre

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of Indian culture is spirituality. With spirituality, it means a way of life oriented towards
the ultimate purpose or goal of life which is the realization of supreme spirit or God.
Indian culture is the divine culture which teaches us that the more heart you will be able to
manifest, the greater will be the victory you achieve. Only few understand the language of
brain, but everyone from the creator down to a clump of grass, understand the language
that comes from the heart. This is the culture which shows its power through suffering and
detachment.
Ramakrishna Paramhansaji says about Indian religion that this is a scientific
religion which never says believe. But see, I see and you too can see. Indian culture
preaches us that, let your life be as deep as the ocean but let it also be as wide as the sky.
This study is effective and applicable to every person no matter of what age, occupation
and religion.
Its necessary first to know our own nature for which there is need for freedom of
thought and thinking ,that is not influence deeply by western civilization.Swami
Vivekanand says-it is good and very grand to conquer external nature,but grander still to
conquer our internal nature.It is grand and good to know the laws that governs the stars
and planet; it is infinitely grander and better to know the laws that governs the passion,the
feelings,the will of mankind.This conquering of like Maharishi Raman,Shri Ramkrishna
Paramhansa,etc.Swami Vivekanandas thoughts are easy to understand , practical and have
modern touch. As these saints had lived their lives with these principles (given by them)
which made them glowing stars in the human race. So, one can trust their sayings and by
following them can see results on his own.

One example to show its usability: If one is suffering from frustration and anger,
generally doctor or modern psychologist work to check the effect of this i.e. they give
drugs to calm the mind or to get rid from all kinds of ache but as the cause of frustration
and anger remain untouched so no one cant root out it permanently. For knowing the real
cause, it is necessary to go back to our roots i.e. our scriptures, thoughts and sayings of
saints.
Swami Vivekananda says: Frustration and anger comes in behaviour when there is
disharmony from inside, when is deeply upset from deprivation of something. So, the need
is to check this disharmony from inside which can be treated easily through spiritual
practices like swadhyay, satsang, dhyan, diary writing and many more spirtio-scientific
methods. Its not that we should hate western culture and thinking but its only matter to
accept with pride our religion and culture whole heartedly along with respect for other
culture too. That is, we should learn and speak English but never think Hindi as inferior to
it. Whenever one speaks in Hindi should feel pride in speaking.
We love to go to parties; its not wrong only when we do pooja also and follow our
rituals to the extent possible. If we read novels then should read Indian scriptures also. We

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wear western outfits with so then we should wear Indian dresses also with the feeling of
being Indian and purity. That is our culture which teaches love in which there is idealism
but with immense practicality. Only the need is to understand it and follow it.
Swami Vivekanandji once said -the best way to serve God is to serve mankind
All those great souls who took birth in this earth had one thing in common that is
their love and compassion towards mankind. Following Indian culture will give us an
India which will lead the world, in which there will be several Vivekanandas in several
numbers and forms.

Conclusion
Just like a seed without its roots cant develop itself, similarly, we Indians need to
revive the glory of our own golden Indian culture in our head and hearts, so that we can
develop fully and fulfil the responsibility of jagadguru on the basis of our dignified,
deeply rooted and prosperous culture. This is the divine culture for which Swami
Vivekananda always said, I am proud to belong to a religion which has taught the world
both tolerance and universal acceptance, we belief not only on universal tolerance but we
accept all religions as one. For this era of logics and facts we will have to broaden our
spiritual outlook taking into account of which Swamiji said the older ones were no doubt
good, but the new religion of this age is- the synthesis of yoga, knowledge, devotion and
work- the propagation of knowledge and devotion to all, down to the very lowest, without
distinction of age or sex. In this way, swamiji was determined for reminding Indians
about the value of their culture which can transform them into an enlightened soul.

Deepshikha Paliwal and Ruhi Maheshwari are students at Dev Sanskriti Vishwavidyalaya
Haridwar, Uttarakhand.

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Development Surge without Regard for a Life

Development Surge without Regard for a Life

Priyanka Arora

Introduction
Self-Interest is but the survival of the animal in us. Humanity only begins for man with
self-surrender
-Henri Frederic Amid
When India got freed from the shackles of British rule, so did our policy makers
who strived hard to clear the amorphous air fortified around our country by the British
where our own development was suppressed and their mushroomed. Those epitomes
gradually lifted the poor people and formulated all the legislations directed for their
development and of the nation too. But today the scenario has totally transformed into that
of personalized development processes which constitute colossal treachery, seizing of poor
farmers land without even giving them any compensation for it, spoofing with the
intricate tribal affairs and disturbing their accommodations to set up gigantic plants,
rooting out the poor villagers without their consent and not rehabilitating them.
A seismic success of a man is akin a citadel, fortifying his future, but sometimes
shattering the doors for the outside world. Today all have consumed themselves in that
fortress which is blurring their eyes, their ostentatious personality with amorphous smoke
of developing more and more and leaving behind that fragment of society which has
always been suffering.

Nuclear Programmes: Implications
Prima facie of the nuclear power programmes being triggered and given so much
hype in all nations it makes us remind of the words of our former Prime Minister Jawahar
Lal Nehru who compared the Atomic Revolution to the Industrial Revolution arguing
that either you go ahead with it or.others go ahead and yougradually drag yourself.
But in his half century atomic energy has failed to live up to its promise, and the idea that
it is linked to progress and economic success is now both clichd and historically
inaccurate.
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When the figures of the Department of Atomic Energy are seen and the dominant
role of atomic energy is envisioned then in 1970s it projected 43,500 MW of nuclear
generating capacity by 2000,whereas what materialised was a mere 2,720MW. Last year,
the nuclear contribution to electricity generated in the country was 2.8 per cent and what
little energy is generated it is too expensive to be made available to a common man or for
commercial purpose too. Also when seen in the light of the ample financial and political
support from successive governments, the nuclear programme has been a failure. It has
done more harm in fact if we give due consideration to the figures of the past years.
The claim that modern reactors, such as the VVER reactors in Kudankulam are
100% safe is scientifically untenable; every nuclear reactor has a finite, albeit small,
probability of undergoing a catastrophic failure. Measurements taken by the Japanese
science ministry and education ministry in areas of northern Japan 3050 km from the
plant showed radioactive caesium levels high enough to cause concern. Food grown in the
area was banned from sale. Based on worldwide measurements of iodine-131 and
caesium-137, it was suggested that the initial daily release of those isotopes from
Fukushima are of the same order of magnitude as those from Chernobyl in 1986, and that
the total release of radioactivity is about one-tenth that from the Chernobyl disaster.
Plutonium contamination was detected in the soil at two sites in the plant,

although further
analysis revealed that the detected densities are within limits from fallout generated from
previous atmospheric nuclear weapons tests. Undoubtedly the risk taken to set these
nuclear plants is biggest ever risk that can be taken putting the lives of lakhs of people and
their forthcoming generations at risk.

Mangrove Forest Depletion
The government is the biggest culprit for the depletion of mangrove forests in
India. The forest department has little manpower to spare for protecting mangroves and
where campaigns have been successful, public support has played a crucial role. A natural
breeding ground for several species, mangrove forests act as natural lungs and kidneys of
the ecosystem. They absorb heavy metals and reduce harm to human habitat. It plays a
major mitigating role in the changing climatic scenario and time and again, its importance
has been highlighted in buffering natural hazards such as cyclones, storm surges and
erosion.
Unmindful of the vital role they have in maintaining aquatic as well as avian fauna,
mangroves are being destroyed at an alarming rate in India. For instance, mangrove forests
that once adorned Kerala's entire coastal area are now reduced to just 17sqkm, of which
only 2sqkm comes under the government. The Kerala forest ministry identifies human
encroachment as the major reason behind the depletion of the mangrove layer. Also, the
popular misconception that plant species in mangrove forests are of no use has added to its
slow death.

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Research worldwide has established that mangroves are effective carbon sinks.
One research in Florida says mangrove forests, that cover less than 0.1 per cent of the
global land surface, account for a tenth of the dissolved organic carbon flowing from land
to ocean. Dissolved organic matter is an important player in the global carbon cycle that
regulates atmospheric carbon dioxide and therefore, climate. Globally, mangroves span
some 150,000sqkm, half the area of the Philippines, and are disappearing faster than any
other kind of forest on earth.

Disaster: Natural or Human Made?
The period 2010-2011 was said to be an earthquake year and after Fukushima, it
can also be termed Nuclear-Quake Year. Public memory is notoriously short and self-
centred. Natural calamities like earthquakes and tsunami are happening at more frequent
intervals than they used to, and are shrinking planet distances more than before. For
instance if we consider India, then earthquake zoning divided India into four seismic
zones(zone2,3,4 and 5) with zone 5 held to have the highest level of seismicity and zone 2
with the lowest. Few know how many of our nuclear reactors are located or will come up
in zone 5 and 4, that our national capital territory Delhi and its neighbourhood and the
entire Indo-Gangetic basin, Jammu and Bihar fall in zone 4, that Naroras falls within
zone4 and Naroras twin reactors are an Indianised version of the Canadian CANDU type
reactors.
Another reason for making these natural events a disaster is flocking of people
drawn by undeveloped land and fertile soil to disaster-prone regions. This creates a
situation in which ordinary events like earthquakes and hurricanes become increasingly
elevated to the level of natural disasters that reap heavy losses in human life and property.

The Economic Scenario
If we just take a rough estimate of how the people of our country are getting richer
and occupying place in worlds richest peoples list then we will see that the growth is
directly proportional to the time after independence. They are accumulating more and
more wealth in their pockets and side by side filling the banks of our ministers too. They
are building the enormous bridges linking the distant roads, but they have never thought
that the development surge they envision to bring in our nation is for whom? Is it for the
people who are already able or those who daily strive for their life?
In fact, this year our Planning Commission too proved it through the affidavit that
a person is to be considered poor only if his or her monthly spending is below Rs 26 per
day in the rural areas and Rs 32 per day in urban areas and thus it exposed how unrealistic
poverty lines are. This amount covered not just food costs but all non-food essentials too.
But the fact is that the poverty lines are much higher than these and shows that 75 per cent
of all persons in India are poor. According to a report, per head energy and protein intake

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has been falling for the last two decades as majority of the population is unable to afford
enough food.
The re-classification of villages and towns in Census 2011 showed a huge
turnaround with urban India adding more people than rural India. But we have never
contemplated the reason behind these turning numbers. We have never thought about this
drama in the countryside. A drama of millions leaving their homes in search of jobs that is
not even there, of villages swiftly losing able-bodied adults, leaving behind the old,
hungry and vulnerable, of families that break up as their members head in diverse
directions.
But in this mad race we have forgotten that from our independence we are very
much dependent on agriculture. It is our major strength; agriculture still constitutes 14.2%
of our GDP. But side by side we should not forget that 52% of our GDP is just constituted
by services sector and remaining 27% by industry. Villages are a boon to us, they produce
the requisite amount of food for the country that is 19% of world food grains and our
population is also 19% of world. Neither the census nor the National Sample Survey
captures the fastest growing human movement of all-footloose migration. Footloose
Migration is the desperate search for work that drives poorer people in multiple directions
with no clear final destination. The urban towns and population are swelling. And the
Urban-Rural Growth Differential (URGD) is at its highest in 30 years despite the
population growth rates falling all around. The rampant increase in the number of the
suicides committed by the farmers is just news coverage by the reporters with least time.
240,000 farmers committed suicide between 1995 and 2009, most of them mired in debt.

Illegal Mining
Illegal mining in India is today widespread but the devastating effects of it are not
divulged by the mass or even if they are known they simple dont care as the repercussions
do not affect them directly which spans encroachment of forest areas, underpayment of
government royalties, and conflict with tribal regarding land-right. The iron ores are
alleged to have been illegally mined after paying a minuscule royalty to the government.
In India, according to the Lok Ayukta Report, there have been severe ecological changes
due to illegal mining. Certain species of animals, like the sloth bear, that in the mining
region have disappeared. Medicinal plants from the area do not grow anymore. The entire
system of rain has changed. The mining area is denuded of greenery and has no
agricultural activity. A panel of experts said the planned Vedanta project would threaten
the "very survival" of the Dongria Kondh and going ahead with the open-caste mine
would have a huge environmental impact which would "drastically alter" the region's
water supply, affecting both ecological systems and human communities. About 120,000
trees would be felled to make way for the mine. Deer, antelope, elephants and the rare
Golden Gecko lizard are native to the area. Amnesty International published a report last

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year claiming that a Vedanta refinery in the same area had polluted local rivers, damaged
crops and disrupted the lives of the local tribe.
Gold, copper, diamonds, and other precious metals and gemstones are important
resources that are found in rainforests around the world. Extracting these natural resources
is frequently a destructive activity that damages the rainforest ecosystem and causes
problems for people living nearby and downstream from mining operations. Both
operators rely heavily on hydraulic mining techniques, blasting away at river banks,
clearing floodplain forests, and using heavy machinery. Other toxic compounds are used
and generated in the mining process as well. Mining exposes previously buried metal
sulphides to atmospheric oxygen causing their conversion to strong sulphuric acid and
metal oxides, which run off into local waterways. Oxides tend to more soluble in water
and contaminate local rivers with heavy metals.
Cyanide, a highly toxic compound, is also often used to separate gold from
sediment and rock. While cyanide is supposed to be carefully monitored to prevent its
escape into the surround environment, spills do occurespecially when there's no one
around to enforce mining regulations. While deforestation and chemical pollution from
mining can impact the rainforest environment, downstream aquatic habitats fare worse.
Increased sediment loads and reduced water flows can seriously affect local fish
populations.

Global Warming and Deforestation
The extent and effect of global warming has been long debated by scientists,
industries, and politicians. In 1995 leading scientists and the Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change (IPCC) concluded that global warming had been detected and that "the
balance of evidence suggests a discernible human influence on global climate." Since
1960 atmospheric carbon-dioxide levels have increased from 313 ppm to 375 ppm (20
percent increase) and carbon-dioxide levels are now 27 percent higher than at any point in
the last 650,000 years. The sea is a tremendously important resource for man, and some of
the world's largest cities lie along the coast for trade and commercial fishing. Any rise in
sea level would directly affect these metropolises, causing flooding and the potential
disruption of sewage and transit systems, along with inundating neighbouring agricultural
plots. A change in sea levels will also affect coastal ecosystems like river deltas, wetlands,
swamps, and low-lying forests, which play an important role in providing services for
mankind, in addition to housing biological diversity.
The tropical forest is the jewel in the crown of the biosphere. No other ecosystem
delivers more to enrich the natural resources that support life on earth. The richness of the
tropical forests enables local people to pursue a wide range of traditional livelihoods, from
wood and textiles to food and medicines. About 800 million people live in close proximity
to forest areas, dependent on them to some degree. This concentration of environmental,

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cultural and economic value has not protected the tropical forest from rapacious
destruction. The sensitivity of the forest ecosystem is such that the current rate of
extinction of plant and animal species through global deforestation is believed to be 1000
times greater than that in pre-human history.

Climate Change
In recent times the world has witnessed climate change and natural disasters of
unprecedented proportions. According to spiritual research, the primary cause behind
these weird weather patterns is a cyclic process that occurs in the Universe over time. We
have so far witnessed just the beginning of a destructive phase which will increase in
intensity over the next 5-10 years. The destructive phase of a cycle can be worsened by
humankinds poor behaviour towards nature. The poor behaviour which we see nowadays
is an outcome of the reduced spiritual consciousness of humans and resultant inability to
gain protection against the influence of negative energies. Spiritual practice is the only
way to truly transform our spiritually polluted mind into a pure one.
The worlds most prestigious scientific bodies also agree that the Earth is getting
warmer. The IPCC, the UNs scientific panel on climate change, stated in 2007 that there
has been a rise of about three-quarters of a degree Celsius in the temperature on Earth over
the past century, with much of that warming taking place over the past few decades.
It is the law of nature that whatever has been created is sustained and eventually
destroyed. This is the law of Creation, Sustenance and Dissolution. Human race and nature
affect one another. But through spiritual research it was found that humans exert influence
on the climate to an extent of 90% whereas nature reacts badly to man's influence to an
extent of just 10%.
1. At a physical level: 19%
2. At a psychological level: 19%
3. At a spiritual level: 25%
4. Climate change facts: Nature's effect on the human race: 7%
Natures effect on man is nothing but its response to mankinds bad behaviour.
Example 1: Water evaporation declines as a result of increased oil pollution in the
planets oceans.
Example 2: If water is polluted, the plants that emit oxygen perish, and so there is a
decrease of oxygen on Earth.
Nature can respond to mankinds bad behaviour in any other way too. How it
decides to respond need not be the same as the way in which mankind has affected it.

Effective Action Plan to Save a Life before Reflecting on Its Development
Today the whopping population of the world is putting an enormous pressure on
our Mother Nature by coercing it to produce on the uncultivable land and by inhabiting the

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lands through hideous activities like urban ization and deforestation and the places where
the land is not inhabited there rampant illegal mining is there or big industrial projects are
built disturbing the whole ecosystem. So some steps that can be adopted to reduce the
aftermath of it are:
1. Nuclear Power Plans: If a country cant be anti-nuclear then definitely some strict
measures can be taken by the Nuclear Safety authorities in case of gross negligence
by the companies and even when the government is involved. For instance, in
France, with a population of 62 million, it has 59 nuclear reactors-the highest per
capita in the world, with over 75 per cent of its electricity coming from the power of
the atom. On September 30, Socatri, a subsidiary of Areva, was found guilty of
contaminating underground water cables in a 2008 leak of toxic liquid uranium. The
court then fined the company 300,000 for pollution and gross negligence and asked
to pay damages to anti-nuclear associations and local residents. And the six EPR
nuclear reactors which India is planning to buy from France is experiencing
significant delays with a large number of accidents including two fatalities and so
they will not be completed before 2016 at the earliest and its prices are also sky-
rocketed to 7 billion per reactor of 1,650 MWe capacities with no single EPR yet
operational. These figures are a clear indication of what these nuclear reactors will
do and the money spent on them, thus would be worthless or another loss like post
Fukushima accident?
2. Power From the Waste: Whilst the government is planning to give country the
nuclear power there at the same time people who think more about others than
themselves have come to the way where they dont have to risk others lives and at
the same time fulfil their power needs too. This epitome is set by a non-government
organisation Vivekananda Kendra at Mamallapuram in Tamil Nadu which is an
internationally renowned tourist destination. They have built a solid waste
management shed at the town panchayat for collecting and processing the entire
waste of the town into a bio-gas plant. It constructed the bio-gas plant (of 100 cubic
meter volume)-a floating drum like device attached to a designed bio-gas engines
that are in turn connected to specially designed control panels.
3. Realistic Poverty Lines: With 60 million tonnes of public food stocks, far in excess
of the buffer norms, remaining piled up by mid-2011, the sensible policy is to do
away with targeting and revert to a universal distribution system, combining it with
an urban employment guarantee scheme. Unfortunately, the neo-liberal
policymakers today ask the wrong question: How can we reduce the food subsidy?
and not the right question How can we lift the masses of India from the current
level of the lowest food consumption in the world, even lower than the least
developed countries?

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4. Protection to Mangrove Forests: Growing industrial and residential areas along the
coastlines and discharge of waste to water bodies also harm mangroves. Declaring
mangroves as protected forest will go a long way in protecting them. General
Awareness programmes among localities will go a long way to protect them.
5. Disasters: Scientists believe the increase in hydro-meteorological disasters is due to
a combination of natural and human-caused factors. Global warming is increasing
the temperatures of Earth's oceans and atmosphere, leading to more intense storms
of all types, including hurricanes. People are also tempting nature with rapid and
unplanned urbanization in flood-prone regions, increasing the likelihood that their
towns and villages will be affected by flash floods and coastal floods. Large land
areas are being covered with cement, so the flow of water becomes very strong. The
runoff from the water can't get absorbed by the soil anymore, so it keeps collecting
and rushing down, getting heavier and faster, resulting in much bigger floods.
People aren't just putting themselves at risk for floods, but for natural disasters of all
types, including earthquakes and storms like hurricanes and typhoons. As you put
more and more people in harms way, you make a disaster out of something that
before was just a natural event. So, these disasters can be stopped or ameliorated by
the intervention of the government and the non-governmental organization to stop
influx of the people from rural areas for search of employment, which puts
enormous pressure on the urban areas and thus the lands are cleared to accommodate
the mass. They should make them aware and also self-dependent and create more
job opportunities in their home place.
6. Criterion for the Poverty Line: The criterion set by the government for the poor
people needs to be changed as with the nation being getting developed, their lives
should not be kept behind for they are as much important to us as other big people as
on this Earth everyone has a specific role to play.

Conclusion
So at last I can say that its not the development surge which needs to be put at a
halt, but its the question of the lives that are getting scorched in the light of our so called
development. We want to be trailblazers but behind who has got burnt in that smoke we
never bother to see. We try to snatch a part of the nature which never belongs to us. Man is
incessantly trying to challenge the nature but nature challenges him back. We are
disturbing the whole ecosystem today for our cheap benefits we do illegal poaching,
mining, enticing the local people to compromise with their lives. But in the long run, who
is going to win?
Wse kick poor people from our path considering them stumbling blocks but what
will happen when only some people will have wealth and a large proportion not even able
to complete their nutritional needs. What will happen the day when they are going to unite

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and on that day who will win because the splendid houses in which wealthy people live
are built at the cost of those poors lives only.
An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of
his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity
-Martin Luther King Jr

Priyanka Arora is student at G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology,
Pantnagar, Uttarakhand.

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Education of Rural Youth for Agriculture Development

Education of Rural Youth for Agriculture Development

Md. Rustam Ansari and Md. Shamsheruddin

Introduction
If you are planning for a year, plant seed, If you are planning for a ten years,
plant trees and if you are planning for hundred years, plant men. Planting men regers to
the planting of youths.
-An Old Chinese proverb
According to Dr. P. S. Desmukh, as vitamins are essential for the maintenance and
health of the body, in the similar way young farmers movement is vital and important for
the growth and development of the country.Youth are the adult of tomorrow, they are the
future of India, once these youth are properly educated, trained and inspired, their vitality
and creativity could be utilized for national cause. Youth is a person from the age of
adolescences to full maturity, Youth refers specially to the young person of high school
and early college age. Youth is not a time of life, it is a state of mind.
Around 50 per cent of the population in developing countries live in rural areas.
Some 61.5 per cent of youth live in Asia. Many youth are unable to reach their potential
because of poverty and associated hunger and poor health. Also, education and training is
often of poor quality and is irrelevant and inappropriate for the needs of rural youth and of
the labour market. So, although many youth today are more educated then their parents
generation, still also they often do not posses employable skill.
Even when good education and training are available and youth have been more
trained, obstacles exist, such as social custom(for example,caste and traditional values),
lack of support mechanism and lack of access to capital. Corruption is also a problem, as
are stuctural impediments (institutional and govermental). Also, Youth members are
growing faster than the rate of job creation,very few decent employment oppurtunities are
available for the number of youth seeking them. The result is that a large number of youth
are unemployed or underemployed. Not only do these youth lack income, they lack a
means of gaining respect and a sense of belonging in their communities. Inability to find
decent employement means youth often find employement in the informal sector, with
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poor working condition and pay. Rural youth often look to urban areas for employment
and move to cities.
It is therefore,essential that if we want to make our country free from the shame
and misery of hunger, ignorance and poverty, we must mobilize this vast resources of
young blood towards increasing agriculutre production. If one takes a look around the
world at the countries in which the rural areas have reached an advanced stage of
economic development, it will be observed that active youth organisations have been an
integral part of the development programs.

The Responsibility of Organizing Youths
Development of the youth organistions on a sound basis can be brought about only
when there is a genuine desire on the part of the adult in the community and particularly
the community leaders to serve the youth, and through the youth to better serve the
community. Perhaps, more than many other segments of society, young people on the
farms need a good organistions to help them succeed as farmers and become good citizens
and future leaders in their communities.
Who will organize the youths under one forum? Can this be done voluntarily or
some outside interference have to be brought? Fortunately, this is just the right to think of
such organization. There are a number of rural development programmes touching the
interest areas of youths. In fact Krishi Vigyan Kendra intiated by ICAR and primarily set
up in backward; tribal areas have taken lead in organizing youth for responsible local
development through farm science-club. Wherever such organization exist, voluntary
organization may come to help. Infact such forum may serve as very good base for
implementation of government programmes and keep watch over realization of the
original objectives. Besides Vishwa Yuwak Kendra, Ram Krishan Mission, Nehru Yuwa
Kendra, National Cadet Corps, National Service Scheme, Bhartiya Scouts and YMCA are
some of the youth organizations working in India.
Yuva Mandals were formed in the early stages of the Community Development
Programme with a view to inculcating among the rural youth the habit of the thinking and
acting together for there betterment and ultimately for the benefit of the community. In
some selected blocks attempt was made to utilize these institutions for sharing
responsibilities in certain programmmes of community development.

Rural Youth Club
To organize local club of rural boys and girls and encouraging and teaching them
to use improved and scientific farming and home making method through specific
programme, rural youth clubs should be formulated. It will also develop leadership and
healthy competition in youth.
Objective of Rural youth from agriculture point of view are:-

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1. Creating an appreciation of the importance of agricultuire as an occupation.
2. Earning while learning by producing agriculture commodities.
3. Conserving natural resources.
4. Improving the rural community by promoting their fair leadership in village.
5. Working as a link between extension worker and the farmer.
6. Aspiring for continued learning.

Training of youth
For achieving higher standard and proficiency in agriculture production, it is
necessary that the youth must be well-equipped with extended oppurtunities for learning
the latest technology of agriculture production. In preliminary stage, the training can be
arranged for the selected youth, who in turn will train the neighbours and person interested
in farming. Projects can be selected based on the members needs, interest and ability, the
family situation, area concerned and potentials to contribute to devlopment.

Conclusion
The activities of the youth club can train rural youth in vocational skill and help in
entrepreneurship development to a great extent. Trained, disciplined and skilled rural
youth can and should play a very significant role in increased agricultural production.They
can adopt new technical and managerial skill in farming and non-farming profession. In
past, efforts have so far been made to involve adult farmers in the field of development
programmes but youths have not been tackled to contribute their talent in the rural
reconstructional activities.Youth are always considered to be an asset of the nation. If we
could harness potentialities of the youth in agriculture production and other community
benefit programmes, many urgent problems with which our country is faced would be
solved in an easier way and shorter duration. Organization of rural youth clubs should
have a very clear cut understanding as to what responsibilities youth could undertake
effectively and if they are equipped with necessry skill to acquire profession in these
fields, youth will have a bright future before them.

Md. Rustam Ansari and Md. Shamsheruddin are students at Bihar Agricultural University,
Sabour, Bhagalpur, Bihar.

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Eductaion to Create Opportunity

Eductaion to Create Opportunity

Kuber N Kushwah, Neeraj Yadav and Nidhi Virdi

Introduction
We should be proud, proud of producing the best IITians in the world, proud of
producing the top management gurus, proud of having noted entrepreneurs, proud of
having blooming IT sector, proud of India shining, proud of experiencing Feel Good
Factor, proud of what not! Well, thats India India of dreams! But yes, thats just an
island among ocean admits storms. Its the same traffic stop where BMW stops, beggars
struggle not for future but for life. There are ones who sit for hours in front of rat holes to
satisfy the hunger from the food collected by rats. There are ones who at a age of four are
pushed in the kiln to manufacture bangles. There are ones whose parents are contract
workers and their home changes before they can remember the name of the state. What
about enjoying, they never live their childhood. Well the list goes endless as there are
millions with their own stories to tell. So in a country where meeting the two ends is
impossible, education is a distant dream. Lets have a look to present scenario of India, a
case study of actual reaching out to street children and prospective steps that should be
taken to create opportunities not just impart ability to read and write.

Status of Education in India
According to the 2001 Census, Indias literacy rate stands at 65.38 %, up by over
12 percentage points from 1991 (52.2%). India now has high enrolment of children in
primary school: the Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER, excluding under- and over-age
children) was 94.9 per cent for primary (1-5) and 58.79 for upper primary (6-8) schooling.
The gender differential was 28.5 and 29.6 in 1990-91 and 22 and 19 in 1999-2000,
indicating improvement but pointing to the need for increasing efforts to bring girls to
school and keep them there. The Net Enrolment Ratio (NER, excluding under- and
overage children), at 64 and 78 per cent respectively, were much lower for girls and boys
at the primary level, with an overall ratio of 71 per cent. Thus, at least 29% of children
between the age of 6 and 10 years were not enrolled in school in 1997-98 (and many more
34

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would not actually be attending school, even if enrolled according to the official statistics)
Government of India 2000.
In the last fifteen years, it has become increasingly apparent that parents are keen
to send children to school, and make substantial sacrifices in order to do so when
convinced that the school means business. One aim of the Total Literacy Campaign (TLC)
that began in the late 80s was to instil in adult learners the importance of sending their
children to school. It can be argued that increased demand for childrens education has
been one of the successes of the Campaign.
Much of the improved access to education can be attributed to programs and
initiatives following the 1986 National Policy on Education. They include, for instance,
the Mahila Samakhya project, the Total Literacy Campaign, the Lok Jumbish and Shiksha
Karmi projects in Rajasthan, the Bihar Education Project, and the Uttar Pradesh Basic
Education project. The District Primary Education Program (DPEP), started in the early
90s, and the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (2002) gave another thrust to basic education.
Multiple strategies specifically responsive to local realities underlies the success of these
initiatives. External aid has been useful, but its share in the total provisioning for primary
education is not significant. DPEP, so far the largest of all externally assisted basic
education projects, accounts for less than 3% of the total government expenditure on
education. The importance of external assistance derives more from its potential for
facilitating reforms.

Problems
However in spite of aforesaid steps, quality of education remains a serious problem
that detracts from the improvements in access over the last decade. Public (government)
schools in India still lack basic physical amenities, from buildings to notebooks. Teachers
are underpaid and overburdened with non-teaching duties, being a captive pool for all
manner of government tasks. They are also often under-trained, and lack the ability to
appeal to children's natural curiosity and learning abilities. Teaching materials are few
relative to the requirements, and of low quality. A very large number of children are
undernourished, and lack a literate home environment.
It should come as no surprise, therefore, that school participation and completion
rates sharply qualify the happy picture that the high enrolment rate presents. The drop-out
figures shows that this is an area which needs immediate and concerted attention.
According to the Approach Paper to the Tenth Plan (2002- 2007), net attendance in
primary schools is only two-thirds of the enrolment. The drop-out rates among children
(and, even more so, the girls) from Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe families are
particularly worrisome.
Results from the National Sample Survey (NSS) and the National Family Health
Survey, 2000 (NFHS-2 point to several reasons for non-participation). Disinterest in

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studies arising from the poor quality of schooling is one. The harassment faced by children
from families of low status also impacts on participation. For girls, their usefulness at
home and for household work, as well as marriage in the case of rural girls, was cited as
reasons for non-attendance. Some respondents (nearly 13%) considered education to be
unnecessary for girls. The high cost of providing education and the need for children to
work, for cash or for kind, were other reasons given. While primary education is
ostensibly free, there are hidden costs, including books and learning materials, which bear
heavily on family incomes. For the very poorest, the high opportunity costs are significant
in keeping children out of school.
Segmenting the education system into 'streams' based on the level of fees and other
school-related expenses that parents are able to pay has encouraged "hierarchies of
access. The children of the poor, those belonging to the Scheduled Castes and Tribes, and
especially the girls among them, go to government schools of abysmal quality. The non-
formal system, of an even lower standard, provides for children who cannot access even
these. Where the boys go to the formal government school, girls are found in the non-
formal system in disproportionate numbers. Where the girls are at a formal government
school, their brothers may be sent to a private school if the parents can afford it. Finally,
those who can afford it want to send their children to private schools where English is the
medium of instruction.
In the quest for numbers, 'alternative' systems the Education Guarantee Scheme
(EGS) and the Shiksha Karmi schools, for instance have been encouraged by the Central
and State governments to provide for children and communities so far unreached: those
living in remote areas or difficult terrain, communities with very low literacy and,
consequently, without qualified teachers, and so on. While, as governments argue, such
initiatives quickly open access to unreached groups, they have also been widely criticized
as part of the trend of providing the lowest quality to those who should get the best,
because only the best can counter the historical accumulation of disadvantage that these
groups were born into. Undeniably, in the short term, non-formal education does fill a
critical gap. Very high drop-out and participation rates demand that the learning needs of
those pushed out of the formal system be addressed in other ways. However, these
measures, far inferior as they are, should not be treated as permanent alternatives to
quality formal education for children. The universalization of elementary education is
contingent upon the universalization of formal education of good quality for all children.
That is the aim, and it cannot be negotiable.
Likewise, no concessions should be made in the quality of education offered in the
non-formal, alternative stream. While norms in the formal system are at least premised on
the provision of a full complement of facilities and frameworks for expression -- library,
laboratory, playing grounds and equipment, arts, crafts and non-academic inputs, an
average school day of 4 to 5 hours the normative standards for quality non-formal

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education are not even defined. These should be determined and maintained. It is ironic
that the demand created by the TLC for childrens education was not matched by demands
from the parents for education for themselves. It is harder to bring adults into sustainable
literacy, given their compulsions -- the need to work and earn, support the family, care for
children. These do not support any commitment to learning, particularly in a literacy void.
The TLC did intend to create the same groundswell for adults as for children's
education, but did not ultimately deliver on its promise because of its inability to sustain
the literacy learning process. The post- literacy and continuing education phases did not
fully take into account the adult learner's everyday reality, and the need to sustain
enthusiasm after the excitement of the campaign. In many places, the pressure to declare
the programme a success encouraged more positive reporting of results than was
warranted. In such cases, the post-literacy phases were built on the shaky foundations of
inadequate skills and motivation. This has been well documented in case studies by
Karelia (2001) and elsewhere.
What is required, therefore, is the development of literacy and education
infrastructure linked to peoples lifelong needs: community learning centers, libraries and
reading rooms. At another level, the production of materials for neo-literates has to be
developed by involving literacy experts as well as creative writers. This may require the
creation of specialist, inter-disciplinary organizations which would bring together research
into the needs, motivations and skills of neo-literates and match it with quality writing.
Experience with the existing reading material, and evidence from research shows that
literacy is not sustained unless it is practiced, and that application of literacy skills
depends on cultivation of a reading habit through material that is not only informative, but
also creative and appealing.
In December 2002, the President of India gave his assent to the Constitution (93
rd

Amendment) Bill 2 on the Right to Education making free and compulsory education for
all children in the age group 6-14 a fundamental right. The critique around this
Constitutional amendment galvanized a broad civil society front, the National Alliance on
the Fundamental Right to Education (NAFRE). NAFRE described the amendment as a
retrograde step in its exclusion of the 0-6 age group in the provision of free and
compulsory education earlier provided for in a Supreme Courts judgment of 1993.
Although it is well established that the development of a child in the age group of 0-6 is
critical, the provision for pre-primary education including crche facilities in the country
has been very limited. Moreover, the conception and implementation of the Integrated
Child Development Services (ICDS) located in the Department of Women and Child
Development neglects the crucial area of education. The education, care and development
of children below 6 years of age should therefore have been brought within the purview of
the amendment. The bill likewise does not define the quality of education to be offered
free and compulsory, adding to the fears that this will give leeway for government to

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institutionalize alternative and low cost options. Penalizing parents, mostly poor and
marginalized, for a system that does not deliver is unjust.

Case study: Bal Ashram (New Delhi)
Better than anything its the case studies which speak for the real world solution to
the problems of tackling of illiteracy. Lets consider the case of Ajay Kumar and Kalu,
two students of Ball Ashram, New Delhi who were initially the Street Children, but
today have marked a difference and set up as example for others.
A released bonded child labourer from Bihar, Ajay Kumar (12), was vocationally
trained in the Bal Ashram, where his potential leadership skills were honed. On returning
to his village, he joined the BMG activists in securing school places for all the children in
the vicinity. He played a major role in setting up a school in his village, the building being
constructed with community participation. He was selected the sarpanch of the Bal
Panchayat in the BMG, Ramchandranagar, and started an anti-liquor campaign in adjacent
villages, reporting each wayward case to the police and the administration, and succeeding
in shutting down the liquor vends there. He threatened to fast unto death, to get his
habitually drunken father out of the habit.
Along with the other members of the Bal Panchayat, he requested the village
sarpanch to arrange the construction of a toilet in the school premises, procuring an
assurance that the matter would be seen to, as a matter of urgency. Today Ajay symbolises
the potential of children and youth in creating change. He, along with his friends, has
succeeded in motivating a number of parents - in particular, mothers and has created an
awareness of the need for `education for all. He personally has vowed to work for the
total elimination of child labour.
Another case form the same Ashram is Kalu (14), a former goatherd from Bihar,
was abducted and bonded into the carpet industry. Kalu has the distinction of being invited
by the then President of the United States, Bill Clinton, to launch a book on child labour.
Kalu also has it to his credit that he told Clinton, I have been freed from bondage, but
several of my brothers and sisters are still languishing in it. And had then asked him:
There are 250 million child labourers in the world, what are you doing about them?
Kalu has been at the Ashram since 1998, admitted to the formal school in Sauthana. He
gets good grades and enjoys every minute of his life in school and at the Ashram. His
exposures abroad have instilled an abundance of confidence in him. He wants to be a
social worker when he grows up, working for the uplifting of the rural poor exactly how
and in what form, he is not too sure at the moment.
Well no doubt this may not happen with every student we encounter but yes, the
jewels really need to be looked upon and the gems are needed to be polished.
The success of Bal Ashram in Delhi is due to the following strategies as they stated by
them:

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1. The children are made a part of the decision-making process right from the point of
initiation. The essence of self-actualization and responsibility starts here.
2. Adequate measures are taken to ensure that the traumatized and psychologically
shattered bonded and child laborers enjoy their childhood and their stay at the
Ashram by bestowing ample love, understanding and food security on the children.
3. All the children of the Ashram are part of the Bal Panchayat, where their lessons in
governance start. In their later lives, along with the BMG activists, these children
become a part of the BAL Panchayat in their villages and take up cudgels on various
issues, including the total elimination of child labor in and around their villages.
4. Various sorts of education packages depending on the skills, aptitudes and choices
of the individual child are imparted to build up economic security, thus preventing a
reversion to child servitude.
5. Apart from education, the children of the Ashram are encouraged to participate in
demonstrations, rallies and marches highlighting social problems prevailing in their
local areas. The children are provided with adequate information and support to
design campaigns. This enables them to grasp the issues, internalize them and give
vent to their creativity.
6. Counselling and motivation of parents are undertaken regularly to ensure their
participation in the campaigns regarding child servitude.
The learning procedure hence can be described as Educational Learning and Social
Learning, Vocational Learning. Educational Learning encompasses both non-formal and
formal Education which aims at both creating a skilled work force and also imparting the
basic of education- the ability to read to write, depending upon the focus area. Second is
social learning. Educational learning can make you literate but its social learning that
makes you civilize. It includes social education about sanitation, diseases etc. cultural
education to preserve and glorify your culture, environmental and behavioral learning for
sustainable and symbiotic development, Human Right education especially in context of
labour rights, and physical education for overall growth. Vocational Learning which
constitutes the most imp and crucial segment is imparting them vocational learning. This
may include tailoring, carpentry, etc. which may be beneficial for the person in choosing
his stream of interest and livelihood.

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The Bal Ashram children have shown that a little bit of support, along with the
respect and dignity they are shown as human beings can go a long way to ameliorate the
situation. In short, the Bal Ashram initiative has dared to challenge the bastions of power.
The general impression amongst the elite is that child laborers are dull, diffident,
indolent and lethargic, distrusting and untrustworthy. The favorite argument is that they
come from a background that is alike and nothing can change their attitude. It is true that
most children, as well as their parents or kin, are diffident and distrusting. But then, how
could people be otherwise under similar inhuman circumstances, when individuals have to
bond themselves and their children for a few thousand rupees? How could children behave
otherwise, when they have no childhood, no hope, and no future? When working for
others, very little food, abuses and thrashings are the order of the day? When it has been
ingrained into them over the generations that they are the scum of the society.
However, what a difference it makes to these dull, diffident and lethargic children
when they are told that they too are human; as children, they too have similar rights to
those that the pretty, laughing children of the rich enjoy; they too have a future. If they are

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not doing anything morally wrong, they have nothing to be afraid of. Furthermore, they
are free citizens of a free country. No laws of the land can tie them or anybody down to
bondedness.

Prospective steps to create opportunity via education
Education plays one of the most important roles in the process of socialization of a
child, whereby the child imbibes values and beliefs that form a strong base for his or her
life. The quality of this education plays a major role since it is indispensable to impart
knowledge that is unbiased, relevant as well as capable of making the child adaptable and
successful in todays competitive epoch.
So in a layman language it can be the adhar sanrachana (base) for creating equality,
happiness in ones life, and all government five to ten years plan will go smooth. So we
are not only considered to provide education to read and write but to develop an era to
increase the mental level and making one capable of re-thinking whats best for them. But
in real, thoda bhi nahi hai aur bahut ki zaroorat hai!!!!
Education to Street Children (Mobile schools): The essence of creating mobile
schools is that the school reaches the child. The creation of such schools can solve
the problem of reaching out to the children who cant go to school for diverse
reasons.
Children pursuing their secondary education from government school should be
given extra weightage in various government entries and schemes like reservation in
armed services etc.
Corporate Social Responsibility: Earlier Tickle down effect was considered as the
keen mechanism to uplift the workers, in this if the company get benefited the effect
will be seen tickling down the firm. But as years passes, it failed. In this kind of
system we can link the corporate word to take down the initiative, to create a
network that would help the hinder children to benefit by CSR by donating some of
their funds to public schools this is a term which has risen from the business ethics,
i.e. giving back to the society, probably philanthropy. This can be applied to the
content of imparting education.
Government should provide special tax relaxation for those who are opening
colleges in remote areas. So more number of institutions will come up and everyone
will get a chance to pursue higher education within his/her reach.
Nation Service Scheme: Let makes the school and colleges in India more
responsible towards the unfortunates. Apart from running full-fledged day boarding
and residential schools, they should also engage in various educational extension
programmes supported by various funding agencies and public fund raising. They
not only supplement government initiatives but also cater to educational needs of the
children of the state. For eg. following steps should be taken:

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Starting the concept of school buddy. Let make a school or college more
adopt a government school or a NGO initiative school in slums.
These buddies can contribute by donating the used old notebook, books,
stationary, clothes which can be reused by these children .Old books can be
used for creating book bank in poor schools. Similarly cloth and monetary
collection drive can be done in efficient schools. These stuffs can be donated
proportionally their attendance or marks which can be used to target these
children to perform better.

Beside these the following things needs to be prioritize for the sake of better
education:
Right to education- This right should be made a federal issue and should be
prioritized.
Standing Order- A provision for a Standing Order should be created.
Role of Court- the Court can play an important function in addressing the diverse
problems related to a childs education. A network can be created where the High
Courts of the different states can hear issues related to education
Crches- The girls who stay back at home to look after their younger siblings would
be able to attend school if crches become prevalent countrywide.
Community participation- Involvement of people in various levels is required to
solve issues related to education. The government machinery is somewhat effective
but what is amazing is that the people dont raise their voice against any odd.
Proper utilization of resources- The problem of resources is not so much of
quantity but of deployment. There has been a blatant misuse of funds all over the
nation. E.g. Out of the 16 lakh allotted by HRD on disability, a mere 6 lakh was
actually spent while the remaining 9 lakh was returned.

Conclusion
Child labor and poverty are inevitably bound together and if you continue to use
the labor of children as the treatment for the social disease of poverty, you will have both
poverty and child labor to the end of time. -- Grace Abbot
We need to realize our part in the society, to look again the moral values we possess, and
play our part for the better tomorrow. Policies, budgets, funds, schemes etc. on the part of
government are sherry incomplete without the active indolent and interest of the masses.
There are many to preach, but what the present requires is the one who teach. We should
always remember that
They have a name, which is NOT CHOTU, they have a dream, which is NOT SLUMS,
They have potential, which is NOWAY LESS THAN US???

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References
The Worst Forms of Child Labour, Education and Violent Conflict, Background paper
prepared for the Education for All Global Monitoring Report 2011
Documenting NGO Good Practices Rehabilitation of children subject to the worst forms
of child labour. Case Study of the Bal Ashram
Education to Street Children in Kenya: the role of the Undergo Society: by Wangenge G
Ouma
Towards achieving right to Education by National Coalition for Education

Kuber N Kushwah, Neeraj Yadav and Nidhi Virdi are students at Dr B R Ambedkar
National Institute of Technology, Jalandhar, Punjab.

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Empowerment of Rural Youth

Empowerment of Rural Youth

Jagadish Hosamani, Itigi Prabhakar, Sripathy K V and Ramanna Koulagi

Introduction
Around 50 per cent of the population in developing countries lives in rural areas.
According to 1991 census, there are 156.8 million residing in rural areas of India which
constitutes about 73 per cent of total youth population. Unfortunately, rural youth of today
are counted among the most disadvantaged group of the society. Because of Rapid
population growth, wide spread unemployment, inadequate health and education, lack of
opportunities at farm level has led the rural youth in continued loss of self esteem and self
confidence. Youth are involved in almost all agricultural operations, they have inadequate
technical competency due to their limited exposure to outside world. This has compelled
them to follow the age old practices which result in poor work efficiency and drudgery.
So, they are facing stress and pressure arising from the number of issues including
illiteracy, health care, poor education, migration, lower family income, and high rates of
unemployment. Which resulted the youth to indulge in some dangerous ends like
committing suicide, crime, etc
Thus in order to safe guard the interest and future of country, youth of today
should be guided in proper direction and should be motivated and empowered to undertake
fruitful activities. So, Government and NGOs have several programmes to promote
learning and build employment and entrepreneurial skills, create cooperative enterprises,
inspire, empower and motivate youth, channel the energies and talents of youth
constructively, encourage stable and harmonious rural communities, ensure the systematic
transfer of livelihood skills from experts in the older generation to the young. And village
knowledge centers should be promoted to harness the power of ICT in the knowledge,
skill, economic and social empowerment of rural families based on the principle of
reaching the unreached and voicing the voiceless.

Approaches for empowerment of Rural Youth
Educational empowerment
Education is the key which opens the door to life, develops humanity and can be an
effective tool for youth empowerment.
35

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It enables youth to acquire new knowledge and technology required for improving
and developing their tasks in different fields.

Social Empowerment
Empowering youth contribute to social development. Economic development in any
country whether developed or under developed could be achieved through social
development.
Status of women: inequalities continue to exist between men and women. The low
status is the outcome of a variety of causes in which patriarchal values reinforced by
tradition, media and other socio-political institution play a major role. So,
programmes promoting gender equality should be encouraged.
Health and nutrition: they are two very important basic needs for empowerment of
rural youth. So, an extensive as well as intensive health education and awareness
campaign needs to be given top priority and it should mainly stress on nutritional
education, benefits of immunization, family planning, etc

Economic Empowerment
Empowering youth with economically productive work will enhance their contribution to
agricultural development.
Access to resources: ownership and control over productive assets will create a
sense of belonging and owing. It will help them to take responsibility in family
and local group activities. Other is to enhance their decision making ability to
meet some physiological needs like self esteem and confidence.
Micro credit programmes: extend small loans to poor people for self employment
projects that generate income allowing them to care for themselves and for their
families. Access to productive resources is critical for enhancing youths
economic choices
Access to cooperatives and local youth organizations: group of youth become an
integral part of an economic activity. Organizational efforts should be made for
integrating farm youth into development. Organization of youth clubs,
cooperative societies and discussion groups will serve this purpose. Present
beneficiary approach to youth development should be replaced by participatory
approach.

Technological Empowerment
Youth are involved in almost all agricultural operations, they have inadequate
technical competency due to their limited exposure to outside world. This has compelled
them to follow the age old practices which result in poor work efficiency and drudgery.

197

Capacity building: should include components vital for enabling the poor to
participate in economic activities to develop their skills among farm women in
order to increase their productivity and to keep them aware of modernization
and technological changes for being competitive in the market.
Exposure to mass media: need to provide adequate coverage to the programmes
related to youth and they must get exposure to mass media for improving their
communication and meditation skills to strengthen their capacity to contact and
mediate with external world.
Appropriate training programme: it is an important part of HRD which enhances
knowledge, skill and attitude. For building technical competency among farm
youth, need based skill oriented training programmes to reinforce their role in
farm activities.

Measures to strengthen youth empowerment and rural development
UN Commission on rural youth says self employment in rural area in the service
sector, will generate additional income leading to economic development.
Development of entrepreneurial abilities of youth by organizing special types
of training.
Effective planning at the micro level.
Central and state governments to place more emphasis on untouched areas in
the service sector to involve youth.
Government can establish a separate mechanism at the centre, state and district
levels to look after youth employment and their problems.
Encouraging youth through formal and informal education to involve
themselves in the service sector.
Establishment of supervisory bodies to monitor the implementation of
constitutional provisions related to youth.
Creating awareness among educated and uneducated youth about the
availability of facilities and concessions for entrepreneurs.

Rural Reform Is Rural Youth empowerment given by UNDP Human Development
Indicators 2003
INCENTIVES- Prices that encourage production and marketing
INVESTMENT- Accessible health and education services
INFRASTRUCTURE- Access road, irrigation systems, schools, clinics,
electrification and telecommunication
INNOVATION- Adaptive research on new crops and varieties
INDUSTRY- Labor intensive rural industries to generate income and employment

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INSTITUTIONS- Effective to organize and communicate with farmers, provide
credit and extension services, and govern ownership and distribution of land.

Government Efforts
Government of India took several measures to empower rural youth through
launching pool of programmes. Initially, in an annual conference on community
development held at Mysore in 1959, youth club programme was conceived as an
effective medium for changing the traditional attitude of village community and to create a
climate for wide spread adoption of new practices.
National Service Scheme (NSS): It was launched in 1969 with the objective to render
service to community while undergoing instruction in an educational institution, arouse
social consciousness among students and provide them with an opportunity to work with
the community.
Nehru Yuva Kendra (NYK): It was launched in 1972 to carry out youth programmes and
activities at the grass roots through a network of youth clubs and mahila mandals. In 1987
Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan (NYKS) was constituted as an autonomous organization to
form Youth Clubs and involve the youth in nation building activities to develop their
values & skills so that they may become responsible and productive citizens of India.
TRYSEM: It was launched in 1979 and its main thrust on equipping rural youth with
necessary skills, technology and training to enable them to take up self employment.
Supply of Improved Tool-kits to Rural Artisans (SITRA): The programme is
implemented as a part of IRDP. At the district level, the DRDA is the nodal agency. The
scheme is formulated and circulated to all the State Governments on 20
th
July, 1992.
Under this programme any suitable improved hand tool is to be provided. All the
prudential rural artisans will be able to enhance the quality of the product to increase their
production and their income and lead a better quality of life. No more in operation, it is
merged with S.G.S.Y.
Development of Women and Children in Rural Areas (DWCRA): The Development
of Women and Children in rural areas (DWCRA) programme was launched as a sub-
component of IRDP and a centrally sponsored scheme of the Department of Rural
Development with UNICEF cooperation to strengthen the women's component of poverty
alleviation programmes. The DWCRA's primary thrust is on the formation of groups of 15
to 20 women from poor household at the village level for delivery of services like credit
and skill training, cash and infrastructural support for self employment. Through the
strategy of group formation, the programme aims to improve women's access to basic
services of health, education, child care, nutrition and sanitation. It is merged with
S.G.S.Y.
Million Wells Scheme (M.W.S.): Million Wells Scheme was taken up as a sub-scheme of
N.R.E.P. and Rural Landless Employment Guarantee Programme (R.L.E.G.P.) during the

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year 1988-89 has continued under J.R.Y. Till 1989-90, the objective of the scheme was to
provide open irrigation wells to small and marginal farmers amongst the Scheduled
Caste/Scheduled Tribes and freed Bonded Labourers who are below poverty line, free of
cost.
Indira Awas Yojana (IAY): Indira Awas Yojana (I.A.Y.) was launched during 1985-86
as a sub-scheme of R.L.E.G.P. The objective of I.A.Y. then was to provide dwelling units,
free of cost to the members of Scheduled Caste / Scheduled Tribes and freed Bonded
Labourers living below the poverty line
Jawahar Rojagar Yojana (J.R.Y.): Alleviation of rural poverty has been one of the main
objectives of the development programes. The primary objectives of J.R.Y. are -generation
of additional gainful employment for the un-employed and under-employed men and
women in rural areas. The secondary objective of this programme is creation of
sustainable employment by strengthening the rural economic infrastructure.
Intensified Jawahar Rojagar Yojana (I.J.R.Y.): The objective of the scheme is to
intensify the efforts for rural employment. All employment works resulting in creation of
durable productive community assets providing employment on sustained basis may be
taken up under the scheme. The basket of schemes may include construction of all weather
road, minor irrigation works, soil and water conservation works, water harvesting
structures, watershed development, farm forestry etc.
Operation Black Board ( O.B.B.): Universalisation of primary education is the basic
input for acquisition of functional skills which are absolutely essential for promoting self
reliance of the rural poor and their children. Primary education pre-supposes a basic
infrastructure i.e. a school building with a library, facilities for drinking water, toilet etc. A
large number of primary schools in the state does not have buildings. To fill up this gap
construction of primary school buildings was taken up under O.B.B. programme from the
year 1990-91.
Employment Assurance Scheme (E.A.S.): launched from 2nd. October, 1993, aims at
providing wage employment in unskilled manual works to the rural poor who are in need
of employment and seeking it. The secondary objective is to create economic
infrastructure and community assets for sustained employment and development.
Rural Connectivity Programme (R.C.P): The broad objectives of the Rural
Connectivity Programme in the State is to provide all weather connectivity as per the
prescribed specification from the district to Sub-divisional headquarters, Block
headquarters to Tehsil headquarters and from Panchayat Samiti headquarters to Gram
Panchayat headquarters in order of priority, in original Guidelines of Rural Connectivity
Programme (R.C.P.).
Swarnajayanti Grama Swarojagar Yojana (S.G.S.Y.): launched on 1st April, 1999, the
objective is to provide sustainable income to the rural poor. The programme aims at
establishing a large number of Micro-enterprises in the rural areas building upon the

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potential of the rural poor. It is envisaged that every family assisted under SGSY will be
brought above the poverty line in a period of three years. This scheme is the programme
replaces the earliar Self Employment and allied programmes
IRDP,TRYSEM,DWCRA,SITRA,GKY and MWS, which are no longer in operation.
Jawahar Gram Samridhi Yojana (J.G.S.Y.): launched on 1st. April,1999. It is the
restructured streamlined and comprehensive version of erstwhile Jawahar Rojagar Yojana,
designed to improve the quality of life of the poor. The primary objectives of the JGSY is
creation of demand driven community village infrastructure including durable assets at the
village level and assets to enable the rural poor to increase the opportunity for sustained
employment. The secondary objective is the generation of supplementary employment for
the unemployed poor in the rural areas.
Drought Prone Area Programme (D.P.A.P.): The Drought Prone Area Programme
(DPAP) aims to mitigate the adverse effect of drought on the production of crops and
livestock, productivity of land, water and human resources. It strives to encourage
restoration of ecological balance and seeks to improve the economic and social condition
of the poor and the disadvantaged sections of the rural community.

Investing in Youth
Youth are the present and the future of humanity, as well as of nations. A well
educated and trained population gives a country enormous potential for economic and
social development. Youth are also a growing client base. The numbers and potential
impact of youth mean that they are a vital part of any sustainable development strategy. It
is important that youth are both viewed as an investment opportunity and are treated as
partners in the development process.
The factors which lead to rural youth unemployment and lack of opportunity need
to be addressed directly. Issues such as rural youth poverty cannot be solved by simply
focusing on economic growth and assuming an eventual trickle-down. Direct investment
in rural youth is required. A direct approach involves measures that focus on improving
the quality of life and productivity of rural small holders and landless young men and
women. The focal points for investment in youth are:
Investment in skills training for youth employment that is linked to labour
demand and to national and youth goals
Investment in appropriate technology and microfinance programs for youth
Investment in capacity building for youth-led and youth-serving organizations

Role of NGOs for Rural Youth Empowerment:
NGOs have a critical role to play in this scenario, especially to continue their
decade-long engagement to form and strengthen self-help groups (SHGs). Rural youth

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peer group organizations - with effective leadership based on strong institutional
foundations can:
promote learning and build employment and entrepreneurial skills
create cooperative enterprises
inspire, empower and motivate youth
channel the energies and talents of youth constructively
encourage stable and harmonious rural communities
add to their enjoyment of life and encourage positive forms of recreation
Ensure the systematic transfer of livelihood skills from experts in the older
generation to the young.

Role of Extension in Empowering Rural Youth:
In order to improve employment prospects for rural youth there needs to be
investment in agricultural extension services which focus on the Rural youth. Such
extension services should:
Harness benefits of new scientific advances such as bio-technology, cloning,
remote sensing, modelling, information and IT for farmers and rural
communities. Internet aided extension networks have to be materialized.
KVK's have to be strengthened as nerve centre for dissemination of technical
knowhow. Extension programmes to be based on rural participatory approach.
Formation of commodity specific extension kiosk on indigenous food,
horticultural crops, livestock, poultry, rabbitry, bee keeping, mushroom,
medicinal and aromatic plants, sericulture, tea and value addition enterprises.
Distance education for farmers and small Agri-entrepreneurs need to be
explored and strengthened through television, radio, interactive audio and
video systems, besides print and programmed learning materials which would
be the distinguishing feature of extension teaching and learning process.
Entrepreneurship development as well as management intricacies should be
given emphasis.

Partnerships to Promote Youth Rural Livelihoods
If youth development programmes are to be expanded a multi-sector approach will
be essential requiring close coordination and partnerships between a wide array of public
and private organisations. At the highest level, there is already a global Youth
Employment Network, which was launched jointly by the United Nations, the World Bank
and the ILO in 2001, in order to address the problem of unemployment among young
people.

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Establishing effective national youth development strategies will be a major
challenge. As the current World Development Report notes, influencing youth transitions
requires working across many sectors, yet few countries take a coherent approach to
establish clear lines of responsibility and accountability for youth outcomes.
At both the national or sub-national level, where rural youth can be identified as a
high priority social category with distinct development/livelihood improvement needs,
IFAD should concentrate on developing strategic partnerships with other organisations
that focus on improving the livelihoods of youth, and rural youth in particular. This is
especially important in IFADs own core areas of mandated activity, namely increasing
agricultural and non-agricultural productivity and employment and income generation.
However, IFAD should also contribute to policy formulation and implementation in other
key areas, such as curriculum development for agriculture courses.

Policies Required for Effective Implementation of Youth Programmes
National Youth Policies
Every government should have an up-to-date National Youth Policy or Strategy in
place. To assist with the creation and evaluation of such strategies, international
benchmarking tools such as a Global Youth Development (or Youth Participation) Index
should be developed, showcasing best practices to empower young people in society. A
global consortium of donors and consulting companies might provide specific support to
countries, while the involvement of young people should be considered key to their
development and implementation of such strategies.

Partnerships with Cities and Local Authorities
Special emphasis should be placed on the involvement of cities and local
government authorities in engaging and supporting young people to achieve the MDGs at
the local level. Priorities for Local Authorities should include the creation of local youth
councils to provide input to decision-making, provision of physical meeting spaces for
young people to gather and coordinate projects, support for youth artistic and cultural
expression, promotion of sport for development and peace, and access to Information and
Communications Technologies. The establishment of City-to-City development
partnerships with an emphasis on youth should be encouraged.

Youth Financing
One of the main challenges young people face is a lack of access to finances,
whether it be grants or loans, to support the implementation of their projects. Existing
grant mechanisms system should be made more relevant and accessible to young people,
through simplified or adapted application processes, the inclusion of young people on the
selection committees, and recognition that young people often lack formal structures, such

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as legally registered organizations through which to carry out their activities. New grant
programs should also be established around particular thematic topics, such as renewable
energy, ICTs for Development, HIV/AIDS prevention and awareness, and water
conservation. Micro-credit programs that empower young people to start businesses
should be expanded and married with comprehensive, localized entrepreneurship training.

Conclusion
It is very much important for a developing country like India to empower rural
youth to convert its burdened over population to assets by means of Human Resource
Development. So, government should invest in preventing the crimes, suicides, poverty,
illiteracy, etc rather than controlling it. Finally I would like to conclude by highlighting the
quote of our late prime minister.
If there is any segment of society above all others which need attention, it is the
youth. Future lies in their hand. Youth have to play a special role in the process of change,
reconstruction and progress. Our constitution is full of ideas, but these ideas have not yet
received full recognition in our society. We have to transform these ideas into reality
through determination.
-Indira Gandhi
References
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Human Development Report 2002.
Swaminathan, M. S. (2006) Serving Farmers and Saving Farming; Fifth and Final Report,
4 October 2006 Jai Kisan: Revised Draft National Policy for Farmers
Sudhir.K.Hiremath. (2000) Role of Nehru Yuva Kendra in Youth development ,
Unpublished M.Sc. Thesis, Division of Agricultural Extension, IARI, New Delhi.
Ranjitha.M.H. (2003) Empowerment of Rural Women through Self Help groups,
Unpublished M.Sc. Thesis, Division of Agricultural Extension, IARI, New Delhi.
Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO), Rural Youth figures,
http://www.fao.org/ruralyouth/about.html

Jagadish Hosamani , Itigi Prabhakar, Sripathy K V and Ramanna Koulagi are Ph. D.
Scholar at Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi.

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Youth Mobilisation for Reaping the Demographic Dividend

Youth Mobilisation for Reaping the Demographic Dividend

Aastha Bajaj and Sudhanshu Barthwal

Introduction
According to Economic Times, 28
th
July 2010, India will likely provide the biggest
increase to the global labour force over the next decade, adding an additional 110 million
workers by 2020. The projection for India contrasts with forecasts by the International
Labour Organisation that China's labour force will increase by just 15 million over the
next decade while Japan's will fall by three million.
India has an astounding fifty-one percent of its population under the age of 25 and
two-thirds under 35, according to government figures. The country will need a "massive
revamp of its outdated labour laws and a heavy investment in education and skills
training." Visionaries and planners reveal that India's "demographic dividend in form of
youth population", seen lasting until 2050, could turn out to be its greatest asset -- or a
demographic disaster if the country fails to provide education and jobs for its escalating
youth population.
Youth has always been considered as the agent of change. The awakened and
conscious youth is the only enduring resource who can find solutions to the varied
problems of the country lying in the path of social and economic development. This
clearly implies that the single most important task in front of the nation today is generating
conscious, responsible and visionary youth who can lead the nation out of the multiple
challenges throbbing around the vicious circle of chronic poverty.

Status and Scenario of Indian Youth
What is the quality of India's youth population, which is believed to be a cause of
envy to other nations? What are the opportunities lying in front of them and what are the
major roadblocks?
Let us have a closer look at the status and scenario of India's young population.
Educational deficits : Even after 58 years of Independence, nearly 600 million of the
Citizens of India are not literate. One of the biggest reasons for the above is the very low
investment in education and training, at hardly 2.5% of GDP. This needs to be increased
by at least four times, to 8 - 10% of GDP or nearly US $ 40 - 48 billion per year from
36

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about US $ 16 billion per year. The big number of school dropouts is also a matter of
concern.
The situation in higher education is even more problematic for India's participation
in the global knowledge economy. The overall quality of the higher education system is
well below global standards and it has shown no significant sign of improving. High-tech
employers complain that a large majority of engineering and other graduates are
inadequately trained and must be re-educated, at considerable expense, by their
employers or not hired at all.
Cash out-flow of about US$10 billion per year is made by Indian students by
leaving India for foreign Universities, because of lack of seats and quality education
within India. These funds are enough to build 40 IIM's & 20 IIT's per year! It is estimated
that about 120,000 students leave every year for foreign studies.
The government's plans for expanding and upgrading higher education are
inadequate both in size and scope. They are also impractical. For example, the IITs are
already short of staff and cannot find the quality of professors that they need. The
following news report highlights this grave issue.

Massive shortage of teachers in IITs
Sep 04th, 2010, Asian Age:
The premiere Indian Institutes of Technology are all facing a massive shortage of
teachers with over one third positions lying vacant, belying tall claims about rising
standards of higher education in the country.
IIT-Kharagpur leads the pack with 299 vacancies followed by IIT-Bombay with
222, IIT-Roorkee with 194, IIT-Madras with 138 and IIT-Delhi with 78. Others are not far
behind either. There are 69 vacancies in IIT-Kanpur, 65 in IIT-Guwahati and 48 in IIT-
Ropad. In fact, the situation is the same in all the 15 IITs in the country.
While the IITs have a poor teacher student ratio of 1: 15, Harvard University
boasts 1:7, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Hong Kong and National
University of Singapore have a ratio of 1: 5, while the University of Michigan has 1:6.
IITs can maintain a teacher-student ratio of 1:10 but not with 34.2 per cent of teacher
posts lying vacant.
On the quantitative side too, there are problems. India now educates only 10 per
cent of the age group in higher education. Dropout rates among that 10 per cent are high.

Employment Deficits : Sixty per cent of India's workforce is self-employed, many of
whom remain very poor. Nearly 30 per cent are casual workers (i.e. they work only when
they are able to get jobs and remain unpaid for the rest of the days). Only about 10 per
cent are regular employees, of which two-fifths are employed by the public sector.

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More than 90 per cent of the labour force is employed in the "unorganised sector",
i.e. sectors which don't provide with the social security and other benefits of employment
in the "organised sector."
In the rural areas, agricultural workers form the bulk of the unorganised sector. In
urban India, contract and sub-contract as well as migratory agricultural labourers make up
most of the unorganised labour force.
According to official data, India's labour force, which was 472 million in 2006, is
expected to be around 526 million in 2011 and 653 million in 2031. It is noteworthy that
the growth rate of labour force will continue to be higher than that of the population until
2021. According to the Indian Labour Report, 300 million youth would enter the labour
force by 2025, and 25 per cent of the world's workers in the next three years would be
Indians.
Thus, the country is faced with the challenge of not only absorbing new entrants to
the job market (estimated at seven million people every year), but also clearing the
backlog.

Deficits in Skill Development : A report published on February 03, 2010 says that
according to Dr. T T Ram Mohan Professor, Finance and Accounting Area, Indian
Institute of Management Ahmedabad, India produces more engineers every year than the
US but that's not necessarily a matter for rejoicing. A large number of Indian engineering
graduates are unemployable, according to a report in the Economist, which quotes a study
done by an Indian firm, Aspiring Minds:
According to the company, only 4.2% of Indias engineers are fit to work In a
software product firm, and just 17.8% are employable by an IT services company, even
with up to six months training. A larger share could cope in business-process outsourcing
(call centres and the like). These findings are even gloomier than the 25% figure for
employability that has been bandied about since 2005, when McKinsey released the results
of a survey of international companies. For this reason, Indian firms, including IT firms,
find it convenient to confine their recruitment to the top 100 colleges. But this is a soft
option and one that cannot help meet Indian firms' huge demand for engineers in the
coming years.

The menace of Brain Drain :
08th November, 04:40 AM JST, Japan Today
About 30 percent of the engineers working in Californias Silicon Valley are said
to be Indians. More than 10,000 software companies in India are providing services on
the global IT market.

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YaleGlobal , 16 February 2004
Numbering over 38,000, physicians of Indian origin account for one in every 20
doctors practicing medicine in the US. Another 12,000 Indians and Indian-Americans are
medical students and residents - doctors in specialty training - in teaching hospitals
across the country. And Indians make up roughly 20 percent of the "International Medical
Graduates" - or foreign-trained doctors - operating in the U.S.

Medscape Today, 2004
The British brought European medicine to India in the nineteenth century; today
allopathic medicine is a popular and revered profession. During the latter half of the
twentieth century, large numbers of Indian physicians traveled to the United States, the
United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia in pursuit of residency training and practice
positions. The total number of graduates of Indian medical colleges now practicing in
these four countries is 59,095a workforce equivalent to 10.1 percent of the 592,215
physicians registered by the Medical Council of India. From the perspective of the
recipient countries, Indian medical immigration has brought enormous talent to the
medical workplace and helped buffer physician shortages in these countries. From the
Indian perspective, the benefit/loss analysis is more complicated. The expatriation of so
many Indian physicians is a straightforward loss and a preeminent example of "brain
drain."
The above data gives a glimpse of the existing scenario of the highly qualified
Indian youth which is barely one fourth of the total youth population of India. This
enviable youth mass which can really make the nation proud and on whom rests the
responsibility of development of remaining majority of population, is regretfully
indifferent of the fate of their country.

National Policy for Youth Development but no strategy to follow
The National Youth Policy reiterates the commitment of the entire nation to the
composite and all-round development of the young population of India and seeks to
establish an All-India perspective to fulfill their legitimate aspirations so that they are all
strong of heart and strong of body and mind in successfully accomplishing the challenging
tasks of national reconstruction and social changes that lie ahead.
The Policy is based on recognition of the contribution that the youth can, and
should, make to the growth and well-being of the community and endeavours to ensure
effective co-ordination between the policies, programmes and delivery systems of the
various Ministries, Departments and other Agencies. The thrust of the Policy centres
around Youth Empowerment in different spheres of national life. But the reality of
youth population in the country and the indifference of the sate towards them reveal that
the country is not yet prepared to reap the demographic dividend of the country in rural or

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urban setup. There is no preparation at grassroot level on part of state to utilise the youth
power for nation building through engaging them in productive work and training them for
leadership development. The youth population of the country is confronting a series of
challenges which may turn as opportunities if addressed in systematic and planned way.

Challenges and opportunities ahead
1. One big challenge with youth is that of lack of organisation and unity. Indian youth
is segmented in caste, creed, region and on social-economic level as well. The
present political scenario of the country has also promoted the gap between the
youth and therefore there is no common voice of youth in their interest. The youth
is not even considered as a power block or vote-bank in the country therefore an
unfortunate scenario or situation has arrived that youth has no voice in this nation.
A united forum or a platform at national level is needed which should act merely
for the interest and empowerment of the youth masses irrespective of caste, creed,
region, religion or political theology.
2. On part of government there is no systematic database of youth population. An
urgent need is to create an exhaustive database of unemployed and under employed
youth along with their complete profile including credentials and capacities that
leads to an analysis and categorization. According to which roles/ vocation could
be designed and designated to different segments of unemployed youth for the
proper resource utilization. It should be done at micro level by the development
functionaries clubbing youth of similar profile at block or tehsil level. It may
emerge as a self- help group with institutional assistance.
3. Education is not directly linked to vocation and employment at national level.
None of youth has any idea and proper counseling regarding the real requirement
of professionals and workers at micro or macro level. It leads to a wild goose chase
by youth masses. They select engineering or management or medical sciences or
accountancy or any other traditional discipline on arbitrary basis about which they
have no idea of proficiency in the years to come. Even if they want to go for
entrepreneurship still the market scenario at national and international level
remains hazy. Due to which the success of their endeavor remains doubtful.
Intervention at administrative level is required to pave the clear pathways so that
the youth masses may decide their future pathway with clarity and confidence.
4. The orthodoxian scenario of the country has undermined the dignity of labour. Due
to which the work has been segmented into white collared and layman's job. It is
also detriment to expression of youth power where youth masses are not opened to
all types of work and responsibilities. Manual labour such as farming, carpentry,
black smith's job, driving etc. has been categorized as menial jobs which employed
youth do not want to go for. A pattern change in thinking is needed where every

209

manual job should be treated as significant contributor in nation building.
5. Self-centered thinking has emerged where career has emerged as an individual
option without any linkage to national priorities. The national character should be
depicted in thinking and decision of youth masses and the career choices should
also be linked to the priorities of the nation. One glittering example if of defense
services where thousands of vacancies are present but talented youth has no
passion to join them due to their self-centered outlook. An unfortunate outcome of
this self-centered thinking is that none of educated and qualified youth wants to
serve rural, remote and deserts as doctors, engineers and teachers. The tendency is
to live a life full of commodities in some metropolis. This is one of the root causes
of rural- urban division where facilities are concentrated to urban area and rural are
still struggling for the basic amenities like schools, hospitals etc. The requirement
is that of a system change where family, schools, administration and the
government passionately plead the Nation first theory through their words and
deeds. Then only we can imagine a generation which will dedicate itself for
betterment of society and the nation.
6. Leadership skills need proper training and mentoring without which initiator youth
goes through hit and trial. Therefore there is an urgent and systematic need to cater
the leadership qualities in the adolescent and youth through proper training and
education. Youth masses generally have an instinct of activism which leads to their
wrong utilization by different group and parties. They need proper direction and
mentoring to emerge as rational and logical decision makers. The leadership is not
restricted to social and political activism but it extends to science, industry, arts
and commerce, films and all other segments as well. Youth with instinct of
leadership and proper nurturing have contributed miraculously in their fields in the
past as is evident from the cases of the change agents.
7. Our Indian culture doesnt teach young children to take initiatives on their own.
We are over protective and caring for the children in our family and do not
promote the spirit of independence in them as opposed to the families in foreign
nations where children start doing their own projects, side jobs from an early age.
Indian children feel safe in their small haven built under their parents and dont
feel the need to get out of this cocoon. Over caring makes them self-centered and
indifferent to the problems and hardships of life faced by the underprivileged
people and the nation as a whole. Not only this, it hampers the growth of creative
and innovative thinking and leads to fragile personalities who do not possess the
strength to cope with the challenges of life and are easily shattered in the gale of
adversities.
8. Schools should teach social consciousness to children and make them realize their
responsibility towards the society and nation by designing assignments, projects

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etc such as taking lead initiatives in banning polythene use, cleanliness of roads
and public places, saving water, electricity etc. These things should be a part of the
curriculum at every level of education so that students should not depend on
government for every initiative of social and national welfare as is common today
but contribute actively in such projects. May it be school, college, hostel level or
village, district, state, national or international level, let there be young leaders
leading different arenas with confidence and inspiring others at the same time.
9. We need to change the mindset of the youth of the country who blames the
government for every problem of the country and plays safe by just gazing idly at
the crippled system. eg. Even a determined youth can take initiative in setting up
some business and provide employment to the people of his region. We have many
examples of such visionary people like Suresh Kamath who gives jobs only to
disabled people or Jaswantiben Popat who initially used to wash dishes in people's
houses to earn a living but slowly collaborated with other women to set up Lijjat
papad business which is flourishing now. We need such revolutionising initiatives
by each and every capable youth. Such efforts alone can develop the majority of
our rural population instead of depending on government's policies and plans.
10. The participants expressed crucial concern about scarcity of efforts on
administration and government side to enrich and empower youth population to
emerge as potential change agents in the time to come. They visualize lack of
preparedness of the country to encash demographic dividend in the time to come.
They also expressed concern over misty future of youth.

Generation of youth leadership
1. There are many isolated evidences of individual people among the youth of the
nation who took initiatives and emerged as successful leaders in different places
and domains but it is not a common phenomenon. For truly considering the vast
youth population of India as an asset, we need to create leaders from among them
at every level on a large scale. This concept of youth leadership needs to be
percolated in the very grassroots of the country in order to produce leaders in mass
scale so as to reap the benefits of this demographic dividend for the growth of the
nation otherwise we are just witnessing an era of population explosion of callous
and self centered people which is a matter of shame to the nation as a whole.
2. Also, there are few institutes or programs running in some institutes for this cause
at isolated places but how to create their awareness among the society and how to
link them together to create an integrated and focused effort in this direction?
3. Another concern is the lack of the spirit of entrepreneurship among the youth of
today. They all feel secured in the service of some big company, mostly
multinationals, but lack the vision of making their own mark and becoming job

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providers instead of job seekers. The youth is losing the courage to see big dreams
and getting free from the bounds of service.
4. We need to organize trainings, workshops, seminars for students right from the
school level for development of leadership skills. In addition, we should also train
motivated teachers in such programs so that they have a long term impact on the
minds of the students generation after generation. Presently, there is extreme
scarcity of teachers specializing in such life building skills.
5. Grassroot Leadership development is the need of the hour and thus is a lucrative
business opportunity. We need visionary people who can take advantage of this
opportunity with a social orientation and set up an institute or magazine or discover
innovative ways to popularize youth leadership movement.
6. Getting aware of leadership development initiatives going on different parts of the
country, highlighting these efforts through different ways and learning from them
by getting in regular contact.
7. Taking initiatives to organize events such as YUVA where we can invite the
leaders of such initiatives on a common platform and have face to face discussion
about the challenges and needs of the society and generate solutions by their
guidance.
8. We need to develop a trained cadre of motivated people with representatives across
all the major educational institutes of the country who will work relentlessly for the
promotion of leadership development skills among students at all levels by visiting
these places and organizing camps, trainings, contests and the like. In other words,
we need to initiate the mass youth leadership movement across the country.

Reference:
Kashyap, S.K. et.al.(2011). Reaping the demographic dividend: A case of youth
leadership generation, VSM publication,Pantnagar, India
Kashyap, S.K. et.al (2007). Five Decades of Pantnagar, University publication, GB Pant
University of Agriculture & Technology, Pantnagar 263145, Uttarakhand
Kashyap, S.K. and Lohani, Richa (2010). Motivational Leadership, VSM publication,
Pantnagar, India

Aastha Bajaj is Software Engineer working with IBM at Banglore and Sudhanshu
Barthwal is Software Engineer in Goldman Sachs at Banglore.

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Horticulture-based Agripreneur Strategy for Sustainable Development of Uttarakhand

Horticulture Based Agripreneurship Strategy for Sustainable
Development of Uttarakhand

Neha Upreti and Shreena Keswani

Introduction
Rural development model of hills of Uttarakhand if it has to be sustainable has to
go through the local strength and resources of hilly areas. The positive features of these
hill districts are that they have enormous potential, a suitable climate for high-value
agriculture, and a pleasant environment due to 60 pert cent forest cover. These have to be
harnessed for a development strategy. To change the economic and social backwardness in
these hill districts it is important to adopt a strategy based on long-term planning. Thus the
objective is to identify sectors where these hill districts have a comparative advantage and
prepare a strategy. This paper proposes a strategy for a planned approach to rapid growth
of the hill districts with vision to include both human and economic development
supported with environmental conservation suitable for hill agriculture. The development
of horticulture (floriculture) and a horticulture based system that is linked with the growth
of industries can be the way towards development of the hill regions. This agribusiness
promotion based development strategy for Uttarakhand hills has an insight to develop
brand equity under the name of Green Organic State.
Uttarakhand State: The Development Challenges
Uttarakhand State was carved out of the state of Uttar Pradesh on November 9,
2000. It is divided into two broad regions--Garhwal and Kumaon. The state is comprised
of 13 districts, namely, Chamoli, Pauri, Tehri, Uttarkashi, Dehradun, Haridwar and
Rudraprayag in the Garhwal region and Nainital, Almora, Pithoragarh, Udham Singh
Nagar, Champawat and Bageshwar in the Kumaon region. Of these 13 districts, four
districts (Nainital, Haridwar, Dehradun and Udham Singh Nagar) have large areas in the
plains, whereas the other nine districts comprise the hill region of the state. The state is
further split into sub-divisions and development blocks.
More than three-fourths of Uttarakhands total population depends on agriculture for
their livelihood and the economy is predominantly dependent on mountain agriculture.
The cropping pattern of the hill districts is mainly based on traditional agriculture.
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However, the land holdings are small and fragmented, and irrigation facilities limited. Soil
and water conservation is another issue for inclusive development. For physical,
geographical and environmental reasons, the scope for agricultural policies based on
modern input-intensive agriculture is severely constrained in the hill regions. As a result,
the majority of the rural population in the hills either survives on subsistence agriculture or
migrates to other parts of the country for employment. The state faces the challenge of
promoting livelihoods to retain people through local employment and income generation
and to enhance their quality of life. This is because of the small and fragmented land
holdings, low use of quality seeds, limited irrigation facilities, lack of extension and low
farm mechanization and an effective market facility. Due to the small size of the land
holdings, farm mechanization was not technically feasible. On an average, about two-third
of the land holdings are marginal in size with an average land of less than 0.66 ha in all the
districts. Specifically, in Bageshwar almost 90 per cent of the land holdings are marginal
with 70 per cent of the total area under them. Pauri Garhwal has a better situation with
only 50 per cent of the land holdings as marginal and only 18 per cent area under it. The
average land holding size in Pauri is also above one hectare. Uttarkashi and Chamoli have
a relatively better situation than other hill districts of Uttarakhand.

Horticulture based sustainable agricultural development model for Uttarakhand
This PROPOSED model is divided into three steps. The first section outlines the
indigenization of the technology and plant material multiplication. The second step
discusses the transfer of technology through SHGs and training of the extension agents as
well as farmers. The third step gives the linking of the SHGs chain, secondary producer
and consumers creating a market hub focusing on the horticulture in respect to
Uttarakhand region. It also focuses on how to help farmers to become quality conscious
and more entrepreneurial-minded, i.e. more flexible and creative in their farming. It
describes the mechanisms that can be used to leverage resources in order to further
entrepreneurial activities in Uttarakhand hills.
The model is based in promoting and facilitating local community development
through entrepreneurship. It demonstrates that successful rural development can be
achieved by co-operation between the stakeholders. It also enhances the employment
opportunities through encouraging diversification of economic activities in rural areas.
The core of this model is the promotion of horticulture based agripreneur strategy which
promotes sustainable development. It promotes channel between human resources, natural
resources, the local business communities in to furthering entrepreneurial activities. It
shows that how networking can be used to accelerate rural development. It also includes
the role of agricultural advisory services to further the development. The steps involve
setting up of structured organization and the impact it will have on rural development.

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MARKETING
OUTLETS

Simplification
Cost effective

HORTI-
TECHNOLOGY
HUB
Indigenization of technology
according to socio-economic,
cultural grassroots realities
TRAINING
Transfer of
technology
SHG
SHG
SHG
Local market
Export
Producers
primary &
secondary
Quality control
Technological
reinforcement
Multiplication of
planting material
Input supply
Agribusiness
experts
Agribusiness
experts
Hardware
development
Local experts

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It outlines training with a global management approach for the economic and
social development of a rural area, a training programme which considers the key factor of
rural development.

The components of the model work as follows:
The first circle talks about a center acting as a Horti-Technology hub from where
the technology will be taken i.e. it will provide the technology as for example Holland in
Indo-Dutch project in Uttarakhand for floriculture. This process of technology transfer
will be supported by input supply necessary for the technology development in the state
for example planting material for cut flower production from Holland require
infrastructure development like poly houses etc under the guidance of agri-business
expert. This process of technology transfer is followed by indigenization of the
technology.
This indigenization of the technology is based upon the socio-economic, cultural
grassroots realities. The process of indigenization of technology focus on the conversion
of adopted technology according to the ecological, geographical conditions of Uttarakhand
hills and the varied economic conditions of the people. This indigenization accounts for
simplification of technology making it cost effective so that it is accessible to a wider
range of users in Uttarakhand. And this simplification is done by setting up of R&D unit
for the simplification of the technology and hardware development required to support the
indigenized technology. The work will be carried under the supervision of local experts
well acquainted with the conditions and agribusiness experts.
Simplification of imported technology is made cost effective to make it feasible for
maximum farmers to adopt it as Technology transfer is the process of sharing of skills,
knowledge, technologies, methods of manufacturing, samples of manufacturing and
facilities among governments and other institutions to ensure that scientific and
technological developments are accessible to a wider range of users who can then further
develop and exploit the technology into new products, processes, applications, materials or
services.
Now this technology needs to be transferred to actual growers i.e. technology
commercialization needs to be done. This technology transfer to grassroots is taken up by
the formation of chain of SHGs linked together and through proper training of the local
experts and farmers in different aspects of development. The all SHGs are linked to work
together under local experts and the planting material developed by these links are
provided a market intervention or a market linkage where the product is made available in
the market for secondary producers ,for local markets and for export. The planting
materials developed to finished product are again brought to the marketing outlets for local
market as well as export headed by agribusiness expert. Thus creating a farmer led market

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hub linking farmers, secondary producers, agribusiness experts, market supported by
R&D.

This model may have following impacts on the hills of Uttarakhand:
As the state conditions its climate favours the development of horticulture the
support of technology will result in optimum utilization of its potential and
tremendous increase in production giving relative advantage over traditional crops.
Simplification of technology according to the socio-economic, geographical
concerns will bring cost effectiveness and advancement of traditional to
modernized agriculture at primary level.
Training will lead to development of professionalism in horti-business than
growing for domestic purposes.
Rise in quality consciousness right from the grassroots resulting in higher quality
produce landing in better markets and export.
Saving of the Indian money as qualitative planting material development at local
level and qualitative produce available for local consumers.
Generation of agri(horti) based entrepreneurial development in the hilly people
giving rise to the generation of employment in hills.
More the employment opportunities will lower down the migration from hills
conserving its human resource.
Better quality life in hills
Linkage of SHGs to market or to agribusiness expert will reduce middle men
interference ensuring direct benefit to grassroots.

Neha Upreti is PG student in Department of Agricultural Communication and Shreena
Keswani is PG student in College of Agribusiness Management at G.B.Pant University of
Agriculture & Technolgy, Pantnagar, Uttarakhand

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Gender-Based Inequalities All Along From Farm to Plate

Gender-Based Inequalities All Along From Farm to Plate

Hema Bhatt

Introduction
Women make sizable contributions to agriculture and other rural enterprises as
farmers, workers and entrepreneurs. They make up 43 percent of the agricultural labour
force of developing countries, from about 20 percent in the Americas to almost 50 percent
in East and Southeast Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. In Asia and in sub-Saharan Africa,
women who are employed are more likely to be employed in agriculture than in other
sectors. Almost 70 percent of employed women in Southern Asia and more than 60
percent of employed women in sub-Saharan Africa work in agriculture. In most
developing country regions, women who are employed are just as likely, or even more.
While their roles vary across regions, one factor remains constant: everywhere, women
face constraints that limit their capacity to contribute to agricultural production. They are
also more likely to be in part-time, seasonal and/or low-paying jobs when engaged in wage
employment. These factors not only affect their welfare and that of their families, but also
impose a high cost on the economy and diminish the worlds capacity to achieve the first
Millennium Development Goal i.e of global food security.
Agriculture is important to women, but female farmers have less access to the
productive resources and services required by agricultural producers. Women are less
likely than men to own land or livestock, adopt new technologies, use credit or other
financial services, or receive education or extension advice. In some cases, women do not
even control the use of their own time. While the size of the gender gap differs by resource
and location, the underlying causes for the gender asset gap are repeated across regions:
social norms systematically limit the options available to women. Regardless of cause or
magnitude, however, the gender asset gap reduces the agricultural productivity of women
and thus involves broader economic and social costs.
Women face a serious gender gap in access to productive resources. Women own
less land as compared to men and the land they own is often of poorer quality and their
tenure is insecure. Also, Women own fewer of the working animals needed in farming.
Women farmers are less likely than men to use modern inputs such as improved seeds,
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fertilizers, pest control measures and mechanical tools. They also use less credit and often
do not own the credit they obtain. Finally, women have less education and less access to
extension services, which make it more difficult to gain access to and use some of the
other resources, such as land, credit and fertilizer. These factors also prevent women from
adopting new technologies as readily as men do. The constraints women faces are often
interrelated and need to be addressed holistically. The obstacles that confront women
farmers mean that they achieve lower yields than their male counterparts. Yet women are
as good at farming as men. Solid empirical evidence shows that if women farmers used the
same level of resources as men on the land they farm, they would achieve the same yield
levels. The yield gap between men and women averages around 2030 percent, and most
research finds that the gap is due to differences in resource use. Bringing yields on the
land farmed by women up to the levels achieved by men would increase agricultural
output in developing countries between 2.5 and 4 percent. Increasing production by this
amount could reduce the number of undernourished people in the world in the order of 12
17 percent. According to FAOs latest estimates, 925 million people are currently
undernourished. Closing the gender gap in agricultural yields could bring that number
down by as much as 100150 million people.
These direct improvements in agricultural output and food security are just one
part of the significant gains that could be achieved by ensuring that women have equal
access to resources and opportunities. Overcoming the gender gap in agriculture would put
more resources in the hands of women and strengthen their voice within the household a
proven strategy for enhancing the food security, nutrition, education and health of
children. And better fed, healthier children learn better and become more productive
citizens. The benefits would span generations and pay large dividends in the future.
Gender relations are social phenomena and it is impossible to separate womens economic
spheres from their household activities. Preparing food and collecting firewood and water
are time-consuming and binding constraints that must be addressed if women are to be
able to spend their time in more rewarding and more productive ways. Interventions must
consider women within their family and community contexts. Making rural labour markets
function better, providing labour-saving technologies and public goods and services,
would enable women to contribute more effectively to, and benefit more fully from, the
economic opportunities offered by agricultural growth.
Agriculture is central to food security and global economic growth. In the last
decade, governments and donors have made major commitments to revitalize the sector in
developing regions. Yet, despite being more technologically sophisticated, commercially
oriented and globally integrated, it is still underperforming. One of the key reasons is that
the productivity of women in developing regions is stunted by a lack of access to resources
and opportunities.

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The gender gap is found for many assets, inputs and services and it imposes costs
on the agriculture sector, the broader economy and society as well as on women
themselves. The gender gap in access to assets is largely dictated by social norms and
extends to all dimensions of agriculture. Customary practices often restrict womens
ability to own or operate land, the most important asset for households that depend on
agriculture. Women hold between 10 and 20 percent of total land in developing countries,
generally of a lesser quality than mens. They own fewer of the working animals needed in
farming, like horses and cattle, and do not always have control over income from the
typically small animals they manage, such as goats, sheep, pigs and poultry.
Women also have less access to education, which is strongly linked to the
productive capacity of households, and to financial services such as credit. These factors
hamper their capacity to adopt new technologies, invest in equipment and inputs liked
fertilizers and improved seeds, take advantage of extension services and participate in
modern high value agricultural activities. Women are traditionally holded responsible for
household obligations such as collecting water and fuel, working on household plots,
processing and preparing food and maintaining the house. With less availability of labour-
saving technologies like water pumps and grain mills, these responsibilities significantly
limit the time women can spend on productive activities. As a result of these combined
constraints, women farmers yield is on average 20 to 30 percent lower than men farmers
in developing countries. Ample evidences confirm that women are as good at farming as
compared to men. If empowerment of women is done, agricultural output in developing
countries would increase by 2.5 to 4 percent.
There are 925 million undernourished people in the world today. Productions gains
of this magnitude could reduce the number of hungry by 12 to 17 percent - 100 to 150
million people - a significant progress towards achieving MDG1. This would be one of
many beneficial outcomes. With more control over resources and income, women would
achieve greater influence over economic decisions - a proven strategy to increase
household investment in childrens nutrition, health and education, which in turn improves
human capital, economic growth and prosperity for all in the long run.

Conclusion
There is no blueprint for overcoming the gap in agriculture and rural employment,
but some basic principles are universal: governments, the international community, civil
society and the private sector can work together to eliminate discrimination against
women under the law, strengthen investments in labour-saving technologies and public
services to alleviate their household burden, build up rural institutions and make them
gender-aware, strengthen the human capital of women and girls, improve the collection
and analysis of sex-disaggregated data, ensure that agricultural policies and programmes
are gender-aware, and make womens voices heard as equal partners for sustainable

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development. Achieving gender equality and empowering women in agriculture is the
right thing to do - for women and for the future of global food security. Access to
productive resources such as land, modern inputs, technology, education and financial
services is a critical determinant of agricultural productivity. Women play a triple role in
agricultural households: productive, reproductive, and social. The productive role,
performed by both men and women, focuses on economic activities; the reproductive role,
almost exclusively done by women, includes child bearing and rearing; household
maintenance, including cooking, fetching water, and fuelwood; and the social role or
community building, often dominated by women, which includes arranging funerals,
weddings, and social events.

References:
Asian Development Bank (ADB). n.d. Gender Checklist: Agriculture. Manila: ADB.
Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). 1999. Filling the Data Gap: Gender-Sensitive
Statistics for Agricultural Development. Rome: FAO
FAO. 2006. Time for action: changing the gender situation in forestry. Report of the
UNECE/FAO Team of Specialists on Gender and Forestry. Rome.
Kabeer, N. (2003) Gender Mainstreaming in Poverty Eradication and the Millennium
Development Goals: A handbook for policy-makers and other stakeholders. The
Commonwealth Secretariat, London, UK.
Malhotra, A., Schuler, S. R., and Boender, C. (2002) Measuring Womens Empowerment
as a Variable in International Development. Background Paper Prepared for the
World Bank Workshop on Poverty and Gender: New Perspectives, June 2002.
UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization). 2004.
Global Monitoring Report 2003/04: Gender and education for all: the leap to
equality. Paris.
World Bank. 2001. Social Analysis Sourcebook: Incorporating Social Dimensions into
Bank-Supported Projects. Washington, DC: World Bank.
World Bank. 2007. World Development Report 2008. Agriculture for development.
Washington, DC.

Hema Bhatt is Research Scholar at G.B. Pant University of Agriculture & Technology,
Pantnagar, Uttarakhand.

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Improving Governance to Eradicate Poverty

Improving Governance to Eradicate Poverty

Marshal Kumar and Purusharth Pathak

Introduction
A billion people are hungry because they do not have the means to produce
food for themselves or purchase it. The majority of these hungry people are rural
small-scale food providers, workers and their families, who are unable to grow
sufficient food or earn enough income from their production and labour to meet their food
and health needs. Women are especially hard hit. They are the principal providers of food
for their families and communities, playing central roles in food production, processing
and preparation. Yet they are subject to multiple forms of social, economic and
cultural discrimination, which prevent them from having equality in access to food
and control over productive resources and natural wealth. Hunger and malnutrition are
chronic structural problems and worsening in the wake of the food price, financial,
energy and climate crisis. The food price crisis has hit particularly hard those who
depend on markets affected by global prices for their access to food. There is an urgent
need to change the power and economic structures and policies that have caused
the current crisis.

Vision
Actions to eradicate hunger and malnutrition must be based on a vision of a world where:
1. Food sovereignty is recognized and implemented by communities, people,
states and international institutions;
2. All people, societies and states determine their own food systems and have
policies that ensure availability of sufficient, good quality, affordable, healthy, and
culturally appropriate food;
3. There is recognition and respect for womens rights and their crucial
contribution to food provision, and representation of women in all decision making
bodies;
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4. Terrestrial and aquatic environments and biodiversity are conserved and
rehabilitated based on ecologically sustainable management of land, soils, water,
seas, seeds, livestock and aquatic organisms;
5. The diversity of traditional knowledge, food, language and culture, are all valued
and respected;
6. The way people organize and express themselves is accepted and peoples
power to make decisions about their material, natural and spiritual heritage is
defended;

Improving Governance to Eradicate Hunger and Poverty
Why has eradicating hunger and poverty proved difficult despite its being a
declared goal of the international development community for more than half a century?
Why has the number of hungry people increased in recent years? Over time, the answers
to these questionsthe basis of development strategieshave changed. With the
emergence of a more comprehensive understanding of the challenge of development,
various constraints have been identified: adverse ecological conditions, inadequate
technology, lack of capital and education, cultural factors, and institutional failures. In
analyzing the challenges of eradicating hunger and poverty, governance has attracted
particular attention in the past decade. Governance is the exercise of economic, political,
and administrative authority to manage a countrys affairs at all levels. Good governance
should have participation, accountability, transparency, consensus, sustainability, the rule
of law, and the inclusion of the poorest and most vulnerable people in making decisions
about allocating development resources. As is explained below, each of these dimensions
of governance is important for eradicating hunger and poverty. Overall progress in
improving governance, as measured by these dimensions, has been slow in the past
decade. This is alarming because the poorest and most food-insecure people live in
countries with weak governance.

Relations between Governance and Poverty & Food Security
The dimensions of governance affect hunger and poverty in numerous ways:
Political stability and the absence of violence. A stable environment is a
fundamental precondition for food security and development.
The rule of law. Poor and disadvantaged groups, especially the rural poor and
women, often lack access to justice. The transaction costs of accessing the formal
juridical systems are typically high, and the system is often captured by elites who
have few incentives to serve disadvantaged groups. Poor people thus have few
prospects to defend their land or labor rights or to take action against violence,
which contributes to inequalities.

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Voice and accountability. The extent to which a countrys citizens can participate in
selecting their government is a measure of the peoples voice and the public sectors
accountability, as is freedom of expression, association, and the media. The relations
between this dimension of governance and development outcomes are complex.
Famines are less likely to occur in functioning democracies with a free press. Even
in democratic systems, however, poor people often struggle to make their voice
heard. They need to form organizations and compete in political processes, which is
particularly challenging for the rural poor.
Regulatory quality. Policy instruments and government regulations that create
macroeconomic stability and foster economic growth are obviously important for
poverty reduction. However, regulatory and policy instruments cannot benefit the
poorest and most disadvantaged groups unless equityincluding gender equityis
considered in choosing those instruments.
Government effectiveness and control of corruption. These dimensions of good
governance are important for the implementation of every policy instrument that the
state can use to alleviate poverty and ensure food security. The impact of increased
public spending and donor funding is limited when government effectiveness is low
and corruption widespread.
Environmental governance. Because most poor people depend on agriculture for
their livelihoods, the governance of natural resources, such as water, soil,
rangelands, and forests, requires special attention to ensure that hunger and poverty
reduction strategies are sustainable in the long run.

Strategies to Improve Governance: A Conceptual Framework
The major types of strategies are firslty, demand-side strategies intended to
facilitate poor people in communicating their demands for services and infrastructure from
public-sector institutions and to hold them accountable and, second, supply-side strategies
designed to increase the capacity and incentives of public administration and other service
providers to fulfill their functions. Some strategies directly involve users in the provision
of public services; these can be classified as mixed strategies.

Demand-Side Strategies to Improve Governance
Demand-side strategies thus focus on the voice and accountability dimension of
governance. These approaches include strengthening the capacity of poor people and
disadvantaged groups, including women, to demand better services, and creating
institutional arrangements that help them channel their demands to public agencies and
hold them accountable. The route to accountability can be either long or short. In the case
of the short route, citizens or citizen groups are empowered to provide direct feedback to
public agencies. In education, parent-teacher associations can help to reduce teacher

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absenteeism, which particularly affects poor rural areas. The representation of farmers
organizations in the management boards of agricultural research and extension
organizations can make those organizations more responsive to the specific needs of poor
and food-insecure farm households. Participatory planning and budgeting methods also
increase voice and accountability. In the case of the long route to accountability, poor
people can use lobbying and voting to induce political decision makers to take steps to
improve the performance of public services. Democratization, reducing vote buying, and
promoting political competition can make this route more effective. Democratization also
allows parliamentarians to play a stronger role in improving the accountability of public
agencies to the poor. Political decentralization is attracting increasing attention because it
can bolster accountability by bringing government closer to the people. The short and long
routes to accountability benefit from increased transparency in the performance of service
providers. This method combines surveys among the users of services with public action
and collaboration with service providers. If proper sampling approaches are used, the
citizen report cards and national service delivery surveys provide equal opportunities to
the poor and disadvantaged groups to report their access and satisfaction with public
agencies. More could be done, however, to report the results of such surveys by income
group and gender, thereby making the instruments more effective for disadvantaged
groups. Increasing transparency requires an enabling policy environment. In India, the
Right to Information Act was an important step toward empowering citizens, including the
poor, to demand information from public agencies.

Supply-Side Strategies and Mixed Approaches to Improve Governance
Efforts to improve citizens ability to demand better services and hold service
providers accountable have little impact if the providers do not have the capacity to
respond to the demand and deliver better services. Therefore, demand-side strategies to
improve governance should be coordinated with appropriate supply-side strategies. One
strategy on the agenda for decades is public administration reform, and various models
have been tried. Training, introducing merit-based recruitment and promotion, and
creating incentives by adjusting payment structures have been central elements in most
approaches. The New Public Management approach has introduced private-sector
management techniques into public service and emphasizes the role of the citizen as a
customer rather than as an obedient subject. Other recent approaches, which focus on the
responsive governance model, entail a combination of supply and demand-side strategies.
Innovative approaches and new technologies can help make supply-side approaches more
effective. In the Indian state of Karnataka, computerizing land records under the Bhoomi
programme has enabled the rural poor to access land records, and also limited
opportunities for bribery by increasing transparency. Administrative and fiscal
decentralization are other supply-side approaches. Unfortunately, these types of

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decentralization often lag behind their corresponding demand-side approach: political
decentralization. Public officials at the central level resist the loss of influence and transfer
to locations outside the capital city. Yet the effectiveness of political decentralization
remains limited as long as local governments lack fiscal and administrative resources.
Another set of supply-side reforms aims at improving public-service provision by
involving private-sector agencies, user organizations, and NGOs in the provision of public
services.
Outsourcing. Contracting, or outsourcing, is suitable for functions that require
public finance but not necessarily public provision.
Publicprivate partnerships. Going beyond outsourcing, publicprivate partnerships
create joint responsibilities for financing and provide services and infrastructure.
Urban water and electricity supply and irrigation infrastructure projects have been
implemented using this approach. Not all such programs are suitable for targeting
the poor, but they can free up public resources, which can then focus on the poor
under other institutional arrangements
Privatization. For services that are not confronted with market failure, privatization
is well suited. Creating an enabling investment climate for the private sector is
essential to make this strategy work. If market failures result from natural
monopolies and other reasons, as with water and electricity supplies, privatization
needs to be combined with regulation. In these cases, regulation is important for
ensuring that the poor, especially the rural poor, have access to such services.
Regulation can be combined with demand-side approaches, for example, by making
regulatory decisions subject to public consultations, as they are for electricity
regulation in India. A range of reform strategies represents mixed demand- and
supply-side approaches because they involve citizens directly in public functions
such as service provision and regulation.
Publicprivate people partnerships. These partnerships involve civil society
organizations, such as farmer organizations, along with public-sector agencies and
private business enterprises. This strategy can be important in linking smallholders
to new markets.
Devolving management authority to user groups. This strategy is widely applied in
natural resource management. Community forestry in India and Nepal is a prominent
example.
Service cooperatives. Formed and owned by producers, including smallholder
farmers, service cooperatives can be important for providing pro-poor services. In
India, dairy cooperatives provide livestock services to more than 12 million
households, benefiting women particularly because of their large role in dairy
farming. The extent to which any of these governance reform strategies improves the
quality and accessibility of public services for the poor depends on how the

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approach fits the specific problems of the public agencies to be reformed. It also
depends on the capacity of the private sector, NGOs, user groups, and others to be
involved in service provision. The Political Economy of Governance Reforms
Governance reforms typically confront political challenges because they change
power dynamics and affect vested interests. Reforms of public administration are
particularly difficult if they retrench staff and switch from seniority-based to
performance-based remuneration systems. When general reforms are politically too
difficult, unbundling public administration reform and pilot reforms in key
government agencies is often advisable. Whatever path is chosen, reforming
governance requires vision and leadership. For example, the Bhoomi program in
Karnataka would not have been possible without the leadership of Rajeev Chawla, a
committed member of public administration, and Indias right-to-information
movement has been driven by the leadership of social activist Aruna Roy.

Policy Implications
Governance reforms are high on the political agenda, but making them work for
food-insecure and hungry people requires specific action. Although there is still much to
learn about improving pro-poor governance, several policy implications can be derived
from current reform experiences.
Moving from one size fits all to good fit approaches. Governance reforms work
only if they are tailored to country- and sector-specific conditions. A wide range of
demand- and supply-side strategies exists to help improve governance, but the
combination of approaches to be applied must be based on a careful analysis of the
opportunities and challenges for reform available in a particular context.
Promoting experimentation and learning. Because reforming governance is complex,
it is useful to provide scope for experimentation and learning and to use approaches
that are flexible enough to allow for adjustments over time. Strengthening the
analytical capacity to evaluate reforms based on evidence can contribute to learning
processes.
Combining demand- and supply-side approaches. Various strategies to reform
governance can reinforce each other. Particularly promising is combining demand-
side approaches that give the poor more voice with supply-side approaches that give
public administration the capacity and incentive to respond to the needs of the poor.
Creating an enabling environment. Both demand- and supply-side approaches to
reform governance depend on an enabling policy environment. For example, private
enterprises require a conducive investment climate. Likewise, cooperatives depend
on a legal framework that prevents undue state influence and creates access to
financial and other services. Civil society organizations are better able to hold

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government agencies accountable, if they have the right to free association and the
right to information, and if the freedom of the press is guaranteed.
Strengthening leadership. Governance reforms require leadership from political
decision makers, members of public administration (supply side), and civil society
(demand side). Investing in peoples leadership capacity is thus an important
dimension of governance reform.
Donor coordination and alignment. Although governance reforms, as political and
social processes, are ultimately driven by a countrys citizens and their leaders,
donors can play an important role. Coordination of donor activities and alignment
with country-owned strategies and programs, as foreseen in the Paris Declaration on
Aid Effectiveness, is particularly important in promoting governance reforms.
Mainstreaming poverty in all governance reforms. Mainstreaming a focus on
poverty in all types of governance reforms is necessary to prevent the poor from
losing out in the reform process. Supply-side strategies that aim at making public
administration more efficientfor example, through outsourcing and cost
recoveryrequire special provisions for the poor. Likewise, demand-side or mixed
strategies may not give more voice to the poor unless strategies to avoid elite capture
are applied.

Why is Education Necessary?
An educated person can understand the right ways he can do work and get an
opportunity in world. An uneducated can't understand the real aim of life they can't
understand how to do work and get an opportunity of respect in era. They can't understand
the modern era. They just know that we are a labour and we have to do hard work. But the
life is not for labour, there are many more things.

Vision and Action
There is an unprecedented demand for and a great diversification in higher
education, as well as an increased awareness of its vital importance for sociocultural and
economic development, and for building the future, for which the younger generations will
need to be equipped with new skills, knowledge and ideals. Higher education includes all
types of studies, training or training for research at the post-secondary level, provided by
universities or other educational establishments that are approved as institutions of higher
education by the competent State authorities. Everywhere higher education is faced with
great challenges and difficulties related to financing, equity of conditions at access into
and during the course of studies, improved staff development, skills-based training,
enhancement and preservation of quality in teaching, research and services, relevance of
programmes, employability of graduates, establishment of efficient co-operation
agreements and equitable access to the benefits of international co-operation. At the same

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time, higher education is being challenged by new opportunities relating to technologies
that are improving the ways in which knowledge can be produced, managed, disseminated,
accessed and controlled. Equitable access to these technologies should be ensured at all
levels of education systems

Missions and Functions of Higher Education
Mission to educate, to train and to undertake research.
Ethical role, autonomy, responsibility and anticipatory function.
Advancing knowledge through research in science, the arts and humanities and the
dissemination of its results.
Equity of access.
Ethical role, autonomy, responsibility and anticipatory function.
Advancing knowledge through research in science, the arts and humanities and the
dissemination of its results.
From brain drain to brain gain.

Marshal Kumar and Purusharth Pathak are students at G.B. Pant University of
Agriculture & Technology, Pantnagar, Uttarakhand.

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Food and Nutritional Security for Happiness and Satisfaction

Food and Nutritional Security for Happiness and Satisfaction

Neha Chauhan and Devanshi Panu

Introduction
The youth is raw. The youth is new. But the youth of today is the parent of
tomorrow. But unless we know the world around us we wont be able to mould it the right
way. The future is clear and simple with happiness and satisfaction playing the key roles in
making our lives better. But it is in our hands to develop it to that level. Until basic needs
like food and education are not fulfilled it is very difficult for the global community to
progress as well as increase the quality of life. There are people in the world so hungry
that God cannot appear to them but in the form of bread.
A common myth that prevails is that hunger in the world today is due to scarcity of
food. Unless a river distributes itself it cannot nurture the earth well. The world today
produces enough grain alone to provide every human being on the planet with 3,500
calories a day.' That's enough to make most people fat! And this estimate does not even
count many other commonly eaten foods-vegetables, nuts, root crops, fruit and fish. In
fact, if all foods are considered together, enough is available to provide at least 4.3 pounds
of food per person a day.
As much as food shortages may be a contributing factor to malnutrition in
countries with lack of technology, the FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization) has
estimated that eighty percent of malnourished children living in the developing world live
in countries that produce food surpluses. The economist Amartya Sen observed that, in
recent decades, famine has always a problem of food distribution and/or poverty, as there
has been sufficient food to feed the whole population of the world. He states that
malnutrition and famine were more related to problems of food distribution and
purchasing power.
According to the Global Hunger Index, South Asia has the highest child
malnutrition rate of world's regions. India contributes to about 5.6 million child deaths
every year, more than half the world's total. The 2006 report mentioned that "the low
status of women in South Asian countries and their lack of nutritional knowledge are
important determinants of high prevalence of underweight children in the region" and was
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concerned that South Asia has "inadequate feeding and caring practices for young
children".
Malnutrition is the condition that results from taking an unbalanced diet in which
certain nutrients are lacking, in excess or in the wrong proportions. The World Health
Organization cites malnutrition as the greatest single threat to the world's public health.
Improving nutrition is widely regarded as the most effective form of aid. According to the
World Health Organization, malnutrition is by far the biggest contributor to child
mortality, present in half of all cases. Six million children die of hunger every year.
Underweight births and inter-uterine growth restrictions cause 2.2 million child deaths a
year. Poor or non-existent breastfeeding causes another 1.4 million. Other deficiencies,
such as lack of vitamin A or zinc, for example, account for 1 million. Malnutrition in the
first two years is irreversible. Malnourished children grow up with worse health and lower
educational achievements. Their own children also tend to be smaller. Malnutrition was
previously seen as something that exacerbates the problems of diseases as measles,
pneumonia and diarrhoea. But malnutrition actually causes diseases as well, and can be
fatal in its own right.
Research indicates that improving the awareness of nutritious meal choices and
establishing long-term habits of healthy eating have a positive effect on a cognitive and
spatial memory capacity, potentially increasing a student's potential to process and retain
academic information. Some organizations have begun working with teachers,
policymakers, and managed foodservice contractors to mandate improved nutritional
content and increased nutritional resources in school cafeterias from primary to university
level institutions. Health and nutrition have been proven to have close links with overall
educational success. In another study, those who consumed yogurt performed better on
thinking tasks when compared to those who consumed caffeine free diet soda or
confections Nutritional deficiencies have been shown to have a negative effect on learning
behaviour in mice as far back as 1951. "Better learning performance is associated with diet
induced effects on learning and memory ability".
The "nutrition-learning nexus" demonstrates the correlation between diet and
learning and has application in a higher education setting. "We find that better nourished
children perform significantly better in school, partly because they enter school earlier and
thus have more time to learn but mostly because of greater learning productivity per year
of schooling." 91% of college students feel that they are in good health while only 7% eat
their recommended daily allowance of fruits and vegetable Nutritional education is an
effective and workable model in a higher education setting. More "engaged" learning
models that encompass nutrition is an idea that is picking up steam at all levels of the
learning cycle. There is limited research available that directly links a student's Grade
Point Average (G.P.A.) to their overall nutritional health. Additional substantive data is

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needed to prove that overall intellectual health is closely linked to a person's diet, rather
than just another correlation fallacy.
In an excellent and entertaining paper (Shah, 1998), Dr Parth Shah asks, if we
dont trust government to produce foodthe cultivation of landthen why do we trust it
to deliver educationthe cultivation of the mind? I guess that one of the major reasons
most people would come up with is the one given by Dr Maris ORourke, former Director
of Education at the World Bank. At a recent conference in London, she said, in response to
the question about why governments should be involved in education: The bottom line is
to promote equity. There were many murmurs of assent in the room. In the developed
world, we see huge disparities in the quality and standard of state schools from middle
class to working class areas. Perhaps Robertson and those who think like her would argue
that, with the right sort of government intervention, it could all be different. The problem
here is that there is huge literature which points to the problem of middle class
appropriation of welfare, which suggests that, if education is provided on a universal
level, the middle classes will inevitably benefit more than the disadvantaged. For instance,
Professor Julian Le Grand of the London School of Economics, argues that: There was a
time when many people in Britain believed that state provision of such services as health
care, education, housing, even transport, free or at heavily subsidized prices, would in
itself be a significant contribution to redistributing income to the poorest members of the
community. These dreams were not fulfilled and it is important to understand the reasons.
There is a large amount of evidence suggesting that most of the services mentioned
actually benefit the middle classes at least as much as the poor, and in many cases more
than the poor. (Gooding and Le Grand 1987 p. 91).
For developing countries, a key proxy indicator for inequity is the proportion of
public funds spent on primary schools as opposed to higher education. Higher education is
the province of tiny elite, by and large, in developing countries; the poor generally only
have access to primary education.
Given this fact, we would assume that a necessary (although of course not
sufficient) condition of an equitable system would be one that spent a smaller proportion
of public funding on higher education, to reflect the small number of young people who
pass through to university, and the bulk of its funds on primary education. The reality is
very different. For example, in the 22 countries in Black Africa, 15 per cent of all public
expenditure goes on the 2 to 3 per cent of the population who are going on to higher
education. In Latin America and the Caribbean, the figure is 17 per cent. Nonetheless, I
guess that many would argue that, while governments might not have succeeded perfectly,
they would much better achieve equity than any privatised alternativethat is, where a
greater role in education is taken by the private sector, including philanthropy, agencies of
civil society and commercial organisations. Education in India seems poised at a
crossroads. There is much that is to be admired here. In particular, the spirit of educational

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enterprise and self-helpfound amongst the poorest communities in the slums and
villages as much as in the giant education companies leading the global information
technology revolution lead. And the evidence gained of the way private education for the
poor operates also strengthens the conclusion that it is not government intervention that is
needed for equality of educational opportunity, but in fact a nurturing of the private
education sector.
However, on the other hand, government regulation threatens to dampen the spirit
of enterprise that is so evident and so valuable. Regulation impinges at all levels, and
because of its all-pervasiveness and pernickety detail, it leaves open the way to corruption
and bribery. The most disturbing feature is that those in elite institutions can simply ignore
regulations that they dont like: it is those serving the poor who are most affected by them.
The crossroads has been reached, but the way is open to reform the regulatory
environment to allow a flourishing and continuing revitalisation of education, to the
benefit of all in India. My reading of the runes is that the spirit of enterprise will survive,
and educational entrepreneurs go from strength to strength. The rest of the world will want
to learn from India in the coming decades.
The first suggestion is simple. All the roadblocks currently within the system,
which obstruct the flourishing of private education alternatives for the poor in particular,
need to be removed. The aim of the regulatory environment should be not obstruction, but
facilitation. On one level this requires a comprehensive review of all the regulations that
currently impinge upon private education, at national and state level. Such a review might
point to ways around some of the regulations highlighted above, such as the land,
endowment funds and teacher training requirements, as already mentioned.
Indeed, this approach seems to be in line with the recently published
Recommendations of the Prime Ministers Economic Advisory Council (2001). The report
notes that: The entire resources allocated for education do not have to be spent by the
Government in directly running schools. Private schools can play a very important role in
achieving our targets. To facilitate private initiatives, education should be liberalized and
all entryexit restrictions on and bureaucratic hurdles faced by schools and colleges should
be abolished. (p. 22).
This approach should warmly be encouraged. Some of the regulations which
presumably would need to be examined in this context include the prohibition of the
commercialisation of education, the Unni Krishnan Supreme Court judgment (see Reddi,
1993).

Neha Chauhan and Devanshi Panu are students at G.B. Pant University of Agriculture &
Technology, Pantnagar, Uttarakhand.

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Integrated Development for Happiness and Satisfaction

Integrated Development for Happiness and Satisfaction

Kunal Kochal and Manya Rastogi

Introduction
Happiness and Satisfaction have always been an integral part of ones life.
Happiness has always been the ultimate goal to be achieved. Swami Vivekananda, one of
the greatest souls to be born on this planet, has beautifully quoted in his lines
Many times I have been in the jaws of death, starving, footsore, and weary; for
days and days I had no food, and often could walk no further; I would sink down under a
tree, and life would seem to be ebbing away. I could not speak, I could scarcely think, but
at last the mind reverted to the idea: "I have no fear or death; never was I born, never did I
die; I never hunger or thirst. I am It! I am It! The whole of nature cannot crush me; it is my
servant. Assert thy strength, thou Lord of lords and God of gods! Regain thy lost empire!
Arise and walk and stop not!" And I would rise up, reinvigorated; and here I am today,
living! These lines confirm the belief that happiness and satisfaction are not impossible
things.
Now, let us have a look on the other side of coin, today we live in a world where
more than 35,000 people die of hunger everyday, 925 million people in this world have
nothing to eat, which is more than the population of U.S.A. Canada and Europe. But that
is not all. Let us consider this fact that there are 53 billionaires in our own country, fourth
highest in the world but at the same time India has 3 million children living on streets. As
far as education is concerned only 15% of Indian students reach high school, and just 7%
graduate. It seems that the famous saying children are the future of the world, sounds
like an ominous prophecy.
So, change is the keyword which is the need of the hour. As goes the saying of
Swami Vivekananda All the powers in the universe are already ours. It is we who have
put our hands before our eyes and cry that it is dark. A person will feel happy and
satisfied when his basic needs of shelter and food is fulfilled. Apart from tha,t as one goes
through different feelings and experiences in the journey of life it is the love and
benevolence which is endured upon him which makes him feel happy and satisfied. It is
rightly said that Individuality is the aim of political liberty. By leaving to the citizen as
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much freedom of action and of being, as comports with order and the rights of others, the
institutions render him truly a freeman. He is left to pursue his means of happiness in his
own manner.

Education to Create Opportunity
Swami Vivekananda, the great thinker and reformer of India, embraces education,
which for him signifies man-making, as the very mission of his life. He seeks the
solutions of all these social and global evils through education. But according to the values
of Human Development Index (HDI) for 175 countries, it is depressing to see that India
figures somewhere near the bottom of the ladder. What is more depressing is that the low
level of human development in India is not simply due to the fact that per capita income is
low, even in terms of health and education indicators, India would fare rather badly. The
National Policy on Education in 1968 and 1986 also stressed the need for total eradication
of illiteracy and to provide elementary education in the shortest possible time. But is the
overall situation changing in India? The enrolment in primary schools is less than 50%,
and 38% school entrants drop out before the fifth grade. The goal of the Universal
Elementary Education program is to provide 5 years of compulsory education to all
children with emphasis on special needs of girls. There is projected figure of 9.66 crores of
children, but enrolment is 2.7 crores, i.e. two-third of the population remains out of school.
There are disparities in educational access as between the urban/ rural/ tribal areas. Bihar,
Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan are those states in India which are most backward in case of
education in India.
Though our government has launched many programmes for the development of
primary education and secondary education, launched many schemes such as Sarva
Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) and other projects but still our country needs to do a lot. Apart
from lack of basic primary education, gender disparities also exist. Another important
aspect of Swamijis scheme of education is womens education. He realizes that if the
women of our country get the right type of education, then they will be able to solve their
own problems in their own way. The main objective of his scheme of female education is
to make them strong, fearless, and conscious of their chastity and dignity. There is another
aspect of non formal education which is an integrated component of the strategy to
achieve universalisation of Elementary education. Non formal education is where the hope
for India lies. It is in the slums of cities and rural areas that India's educational needs have
to be addressed. It focuses on experimental and innovative programmes at the elementary
stage. Condensed courses are provided through non formal setups.
But we should not forget that it is not only children in our country who need
education. We have a large adult population which is illiterate. Though there are many
NGOs working for their upliftment, we, as a common citizen should not forget our role in
helping those who are less privileged than us. Some people believe that the low levels of

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education in rural India are because rural parents do not understand the value of education.
But the Annual Status of Educational Report (ASER, 2007) debunks this hypothesis. A
significant number of rural children actually undertake or are enthusiastic to undertake
private tuitions. So there is no lack of demand for education.
Education for swamiji means that process by which character is formed, strength of
mind is increased, and intellect is sharpened, as a result of which one can stand on ones
own feet. But for this, we require intellectual teachers who will enrich the minds of
children with all the optimistic and motivational thoughts that will help them being a good
human being just as in the case of a plant, one cannot do anything more than supplying it
with water, air and manure while it grows from within its own nature, so is the case with a
human child. Vivekanandas method of education resembles the heuristic method of the
modern educationists. In this system, the teacher invokes the spirit of inquiry in the pupil
who is supposed to find out things for himself under the bias-free guidance of the teacher.
However, Swami Vivekanandas scheme of education, through which he wanted to
build up a strong nation that will lead the world towards peace and harmony, is still a far
cry. It is high time that we give serious thought to his philosophy of education and
remember his call to every-body-Arise, awake, and stop not till the goal is reached.

Inspiration
Some non-governmental organisations in the field of education
According to Vedanta, the essence of man lies in his soul, which he possesses in
addition to his body and mind.
PAHAL is a national level non-profit making voluntary organization working for
the welfare of underprivileged children and women in the field of Education, Healthcare
and Livelihood. Most of the areas where they are working have acute poverty, lack of
basic facilities, rampant unemployment where probably the only silver lining is the host of
beautiful mountains. Despite Indias spectacular economic development, millions still
have to go hungry; live in most unhygienic conditions, without even basic education for
their children; and die of diseases that can be prevented. What is needed is to build a
strong civil society that should work in tandem with the government in making a
difference in the lives of those who are in need. Governance is the need of the hour in the
development sector in order to ensure and promote application of best management
practices, compliance of law and adherence to best possible ethical standards. The entire
management processes and practices of PAHAL are in compliance with the principles of
Good Governance.
Education, in Vivekanandas sense, enables one to comprehend ones self within as
the self everywhere. The essential unity of the entire universe is realized through
education. Accordingly, man making for Swamiji stands for rousing man to the awareness
of his true self. So, another social venture philanthrophy includes SMILE Foundation

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which believes that desired changes in the lives of children in need will come only when
more and more privileged people start participating proactively in finding a solution. They
believe that education is both the means as well as end; it empowers these children and
evolves them as better citizens. They underscore the fact that helping is not simply a
matter of dispersing money but of making deep, long term commitment and casting a hard
eye on results. It was formed in year 2002 and it tries to find out innovative solution to
social issues in alignment with the goodhearted individuals and institutions around the
globe. The exposition and analysis of Vivekanandas scheme of education brings to light
its constructive, practical and comprehensive character. He realizes that it is only through
education that the uplift of masses is possible. To refer to his own words: Traveling
through many cities of Europe and observing in them the comforts and education of even
the poor people, there was brought to my mind the state of our own poor people and I used
to shed tears. What made the difference? Education was the answer I got.

Hunger and Malnutrition
When we try to understand what any of the commonly used terms such as
progress, economic growth and development means to common Indians, it is clear that it is
being able to provide a better life for their children. Unfortunately, our country has
astonishingly bad record of child and infant care. In India, a million children die within the
first 28 days of life which is a quarter of such deaths worldwide. Of the lucky ones that are
able to survive, 8.3 million babies are born underweight. Every third child of the world,
who is underweight and is under the age of five, is an Indian.
There is also a relationship between hunger and poverty. Not every poor person is
hungry, but almost all hungry people are poor. Millions live with hunger and malnutrition
because they simply cannot afford to buy enough food or enough nutritious food.
Malnutrition is the underlying cause of as many as half the deaths of children under five.
In India the underweight prevalence rate is 43 per cent. We all take pride in being a
country with youngest populations in the world. But collectively, as a nation, we seem to
have turned our face away from millions of children who continue to die from hunger,
malnutrition and sickness in our country. The states with highest number of underweight
children are Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand and Bihar. India also has the largest pool of
children who have never been immunized in the world. Pneumonia and diarrhoea are still
the biggest killers.
Our country is land of contrasts. The contrast between the rich and the poor, the
haves and have nots, the urban and the rural, have always existed. But nowhere is this
contrast more appalling than the overweight children we see in our metros who are
battling obesity and the scrawny stick-legged children lingering in fields of our villages.
As Swami Vivekananda said If money helps a man to do good to others, it is of some
value; but if not, it is simply a mass of evil, and the sooner it is got rid of, the better.

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How serious are we in making sure that our young ones have at least minimum
nutrition level and basic healthcare so that they have a fighting chance of survival?
Whether its central government or state government, its time we got our act together and
approach the problems with fresh perspectives. With about half of our children under the
age of five being malnourished, we have no time to waste. We all governments,
bureaucrats, media, NGOs, civil society have to work together and with focus to ensure
that all our children are fed, vaccinated and educated. The integrated child Development
Schemes have been in place since 1975. There are other programmes such as Midday
Meal Scheme and Supplementary Nutrition Programme. However they will be a success
only when they cover every needy child.
There are simple things that can help bring about positive changes like educating
young mothers to overcome cultural biases, generating awareness about hygiene,
providing information about post natal care and dispelling myths. There are some ways in
which rural parts of our country can be helped to create a safer, better and healthier
tomorrow for future generations.

Hunger Free World: Active NGOs
Hunger free India Foundation came into existence with a dream that every citizen
takes a pledge to feed a starving fellow citizen of India. Poverty in India is widespread and
our country is estimated to be the third poorest country in the world. We all live in a
country that is hunger-stricken at various levels. Mainstream media though in the recent
past has covered the news about many starvation death and suicides due to hunger, rarely
has an extensive & sustained media coverage has been undertaken. Therefore, we must
come forward and work together to help the impoverished people in our country. We must
realize that eating is not a privilege, but its a basic human right. It is a matter of survival
of many millions of brothers & sisters across India. We must focus on releasing the poor
and needy from hunger and poverty. We need to contribute our best to ensure no man,
woman, or child sleeps hungry in India.
Swami Vivekananda rightly said: Go, all of you, wherever, there is an outbreak of
plague or famine, or wherever, the people are in distress, and mitigate their sufferings
Navdanya International, founded in India by physicist and internationally
renowned activist Dr. Vandana Shiva, was born out of a vision of peace and non-violence.
Navdanyas aim is to defend and protect nature and the rights of people to access to food
and water and dignified jobs and livelihoods. Promoting local and ecological food models
is critical to alleviating poverty, hunger, and safeguarding natural resources, including
water, especially in this time of climate change chaos. With school children and street
children we design little Chefs programmes to create a culture of taste, quality, health
and nutrition among our little ones. Our mission is to keep food security in womens hands
through our network of womens producer groups (Mahila Anna Swaraj). Women are the

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custodians of biodiversity, the providers of food security, the preservers and processors of
food, the conservers of the cultural diversity of food traditions.
Swami Vivekananda ji also said So long as the millions live in hunger and
ignorance, I hold every man a traitor who, having been educated at their expense, pays not
the least heed to them. So it is our duty to extend our helping hand, to reach out to those
98 percent of worlds undernourished people who live in developing countries

A World Free from Diseases
According to UN estimation, it is alarming to note that 2.1 million Indian children
die before reaching the age of 5 every year four every minute - mostly from preventable
illnesses such as diarrhoea, typhoid, malaria, measles and pneumonia. Every day, 1,000
Indian children die because of diarrhoea alone. This problem occurs mainly because of
malnutrition and poverty. Poor health is a chronic problem for the millions of children
who live on streets. These children are not only underweight but their growth has often
been stunted. Only two in three Indian children have been vaccinated against TB,
Diphtheria, Tetanus, Polio and Measles. Most of the street children are not vaccinated at
all, nor are they bound to receive any medical treatment.
Having a look at the other developing countries, the case is still worse. In Africa
pandemic is wreaking havoc. AIDS and other diseases are also spreading at a fast rate due
to lack of proper education and awareness about these issues.
I-India is another philanthropic organization which provides nutrition, medical
treatment, hygiene and reproductive health education to 5000 children yearly in street
schools and homes. They also operate a Shower Bus that regularly visits street points and
offers on-the-spot showers and cleansing products.

Our Vision-A New Beginning
Daily we come across many other international organizations such as United
Nations (UN), World Health Organisation (W.H.O.) and other national organizations,
governmental or non-governmental, and similar institutions who are working to make this
world a better place for living. If we take a close look we will find that we all are trying to
work for the same purpose though our ways may be different, we all are trying to achieve
happiness and satisfaction for every single species on this planet. The various reports on
scarcity of food, increasing rates of malnutrition, more drop outs from schools, and the
rising level of diseases; they all are enough to make us realize the gravity of the situation.
But that does not mean that we should loose hope and think like a pessimist, we need to
come together with all our goodwill, our courage and motivation to overcome these
obstacles.
So the need of the hour is to find a most feasible, economic and practical approach
towards the solution of this problem. According to us a solution can be found if we look at

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the ideas and workings of different organizations and find out how they can be developed
into an integrated whole for the upliftment and elevation of a human being.
The Youth Against Hunger (YAH) is the youth organization of Hunger Free World
(HFW) in Bangladesh.HFW encourages villagers to form cooperatives and work together
to make money. In boda they are supporting a fishing cooperative. They encouraged
villagers to join and purchased a large amount of shares so they would have a startup fund.
19 villagers including men and women bought a one and a half acre pond as fishing
cooperative project. They collected thirty thousand taka from shares and HFW bought
another twenty thousand taka to give them support to get started. The team bought about
hundred kilograms of two inch fish. After five months the fish had grown ranged in size
from half a kilogram to two kilograms. They caught one-third of the fish which had grown
to 240 kilograms and sold them for 26,000 taka. With 50,000 taka of profits, they bought a
cow for the side business. They also bought 22 kilograms of small fish again to replace
those caught. The participants said that it was a great way to earn a living. They look up to
extend their business as they now feel more self confident.
Such an approach is a good example of starting small cooperative ventures in
innovative ways. In India there are many coastal towns, as our country is surrounded by
water on the three sides. So we can have such ventures in our own country too. But since
our economy is agriculture based economy it is better if we support farming cooperatives
at a large level. Our own University, Gobind Ballabh Pant University of Agriculture and
Technology (GBPUAT) has large farming lands. Just like other parts of the country, this
area also has poor people who find it hard to earn a living. So we can start organic farming
cooperatives at large level with the help of professors and other locals as shareholders to
start a venture in which people who dont have their own land can produce seasonal crops
and can sell them in local market or The Kisan Mela.
There are also other ways such as providing volunteer services to the children who
are less privileged than us. Though Vivekananda Swadhyay Mandal (VSM) is itself a
reputed organization working in this field but what we need is to expand its scope and
cover as much areas as possible. For the financing of such projects we can have an
agreement and association with the local NGOs.
Uttarakhand Seva Nidhi is a public charitable trust founded in 1967. In 1987 it was
appointed a nodal agency by the Department of Education, Ministry of Human Resources
Development, Government of India to undertake locale-specific environmental education
programmes both in rural schools and villages in the hill districts of Uttar Pradesh, now
Uttaranchal. Their programmes focus on rural communities and the livelihood issues that
arise out of village land degradation, i.e., water scarcity, falling crop yields, fuelwood and
fodder scarcity, drudgery for women and children, poor nutrition and the forced migration
of men and boys for employment.

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Info International Educational and Welfare Society (IIEWS), Rishikesh District
Dehradun Uttrakhand, is a well established non- government organization founded in the
year 1998-99 by a group of young knowledgeable and enthusiastic people. From its
establishment, the organization is devotedly working for the awakening, upliftment and
prosperity of deprived and poor peoples. By providing them the education, technical
knowledge and skill development trainings continuously for years we can upgrade them
very speedily and make them confident about themselves. This will surely result in the
developed and highly skilled peoples who play an important role in strengthening the
economy of the India. Uttaranchal Daivi Apda Peedit Sahayata Samiti, in Dehradun,
Uttarakhand provides Vocational Education, Agricultural development, weaving training,
Rural Education industry centers.

Kunal Kochal and Manya Rastogi are students at G.B. Pant University of Agriculture &

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Happiness : The Ultimate Means Of Satisfaction

Happiness : The Ultimate Means Of Satisfaction

Nidhi Budhalakoti

Introduction
Happiness is a state of Mind, where as satisfaction is the absence of
want. Happiness is also an emotion, whereas satisfaction is not. One can choose to be
happy regardless of ones material attainment in life. Ones belief system plays an
enormous role in emotional well being. If you believe less is more, then happiness can
be manifested in ones life without wealth.

Happiness is the Greatest Human Wealth
Happiness has been defined as a state of well-being and contentment. The well-
being component would carry a more external dimension whereas the contentment
component a more internal one. The defining characteristic of happiness being the latter
though: a feeling of inner joy of satisfaction. Another way to put it would be that well-
being would address grosser and less profound aspects of our nature as living beings
whereas contentment would address subtler and more profound aspects. Yet both
dimensions refer to basic aspects of our nature as human beings. Happiness has been
ultimately the most cherished goal of any conscious human being in any endeavor to better
his or her condition. Much earlier predecessors, philosophers and sages have referred to
the notion of happiness as the defining yardstick of human realization. Terms such as
ananda, samadhi, nirvana etc. in diverse spiritual and native traditions have been
used to refer to the ultimate bliss brought about by Enlightenment as the greatest state of
happiness. The well-being component, this may be related to the concept of health. The
World Health Organization (WHO) defines health as a state of complete physical,
mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. The
latter tem, infirmity, comes from the Latin word infirmus which means lacking
firmness or being off balance. As may be noted, the WHO definition actually highlights
the importance of the affirmative or preventive aspects of healthsomething neglected in
present day medical practice which focuses on disease and treatment. Health in its
broadest conception is the indispensable doorstep to the deeper aspects of Happiness.
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Because only with a pure body and soul we will be able to see the light, be the light; in
other words be wise, and, with it, attain peace and happiness. Focusing on the contentment
dimension, Buddha said: If health is the highest gain, contentment is the greatest wealth.
Contentment lies in inner peace. As H. H. the Dalai Lama has said: Since we are not
solely material creatures it is a mistake to place all of our hopes for happiness on external
development alone. The key is to develop inner peace (HH., 2003). Happiness indeed
depends ultimately on inner contentment or peace. Amassing material wealth doesnt
make us necessarily happy, inner satisfaction does. Greed is insatiable and thus a cause of
permanent discontent or unhappiness. Transient acquisitions or possessions cannot
guarantee us happiness either.

Material Things Will Not Bring You Happiness
Material things do not necessarily bring you happiness. That is a fact of life. We all
want to be happy and often we strive for that, new car, bigger house, or promotion at work
in order to find the elusive goal of a happy and satisfied life. It is very common to get into
a mode where one thinks, "If only I had object X, my life would be perfect and I would be
happy." Then one buys it and one loves having it for a few days. But over time one gets
bored or it wears out. One can see this pattern repeated constantly in ones own life. There
is a difference between material happiness, which implies having all the basic (or
extravagant) comforts necessary to live life, and eternal happiness, which implies
something else altogether (something which has no beginning or end). The thing about
"wealth" is that there is more than one way to measure it. Traditionally it is measured in
rupees in India and in other ways elsewhere in the world, but there are many other scales.
One can be "rich" in ways that have nothing to do with money. Rich in friends, rich in
health, rich in strength, rich in knowledge, Rich in skill, rich in character. All of these
alternative types of wealth are different from financial wealth, and yet all of them can be
equally rewarding in their own ways. The point is that the act of buying things by itself
may not be what will bring you maximum happiness in life. Things like good friends, a
loving spouse, well-raised children, a home built on love, a good relationship with God, a
clear conscience, a worthy goal and a job you truly enjoy bring you contentment that lasts
and has meaning. As one looks at the world around him and comes to understand what is
important to him, one has to keep in mind few things. One has to think about what it is
that one enjoys and what makes him truly happy. In thinking about it consciously, one
might be surprised by what he discovers. In any case, the more we go beyond relative
happiness (in terms of insatiable material wants, transient possessions or relationships,
and cultural outlooks) to embrace absolute happiness (which is self-referred and related
to the more superior and permanent aspects of our common identity), the more we will
secure ultimate happiness i.e. eternal happiness. This is how one can become aware that
eternal happiness is more blissful than material happiness.

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How to Measure Happiness?
In 2008, Denmark ranked as the happiest nation on the planet, according to the
World Map of Happiness and the World Values Survey. The same year, the Scandinavian
country came in at No. 2 on the world database of happiness, barely beat out by nearby
Iceland. These happiness surveys polled people around the globe on how happy and
satisfied they are with life. Folks in Denmark showed an impressively high degree of
social connections, career satisfaction and political and economic stability -- all of which
are known to promote happiness. Evaluating happiness in terms of consistently finding
fulfillment in the sum of life's events is harder to grasp. Someone can't communicate it
with a single grin or giggle. Consequently, researchers wishing to measure happiness have
to go straight to the source.
Quantifying happiness most commonly relies on self-reporting. Happiness surveys such as
the Revised Oxford Happiness Scale ask a comprehensive set of questions, while the
Satisfaction with Life Scale poses only five. Generally, these polls ask people to rate
their satisfaction about various aspects of their lives on a scale. For example, one of the
most critical questions asked in the World Values Survey is: "Taking all things together,
would you say you are very happy, rather happy, not very happy or not at all happy?"
According to Dalai Lama We tend to forget that despite the diversity of race,
religion, ideology and so on, people are equal in their basic wish for peace and happiness.
In fact the latter has been attested by an international opinion poll committed by the UN
prior to its Millennium Heads of State Summit, held in New York in 2000. People in some
60 countries were interviewed in the largest public opinion poll ever undertaken. Its chief
finding: "people value good health and a happy family more than anything else

Satisfaction versus Happiness
Happiness can be of two types: life satisfaction & the other enjoyment of life.
Life satisfaction may be achieved through earning lots of money & fulfilling ones
objective desires. Often, when asked about life satisfaction, those with higher incomes
invariably rank themselves higher than those with lower incomes. This doesnt mean
money makes everything better. There is far less correlation to the more emotional
enjoyment of life, which includes things like laughing, joy, & connections to family &
friends. Satisfaction is a direct result of completing a task. Ideally a promise we make to
ourselves. It is achieved whether or not we are successful, as long as a lesson was learned.
Although a state of mind like happiness, it is generally a rational product of doing things
that are good for us and/or others. Satisfaction can leave us calm and confident. It is an
opposing force to unbalanced ambition. The idea of comparing the notion of Satisfaction
with the notion of Happiness is extremely interesting particularly because, while they are
not the same, they can engender each other. The potential for Happiness comes from
choices we can make for ourselves in setting goals that "put ourselves in a position where

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the promises (realistically) we make to ourselves are going to naturally offer us a peaceful,
guilt-free outcome in the satisfactory completion of those obligations.
One should work on personal satisfaction to be happy. Personal satisfaction and
positive emotions have a significant and positive relationship with happiness. Negative
emotions are known to decrease happiness. Be content with the past, be optimistic about
the future, and be joyful in the present.

Changes One can Make for Increased Happiness and Life Satisfaction
We all want to be happy, and often we strive for that new car, bigger house, or
promotion at work in order to find the elusive goal of a happy and satisfied life. However,
often the car or house or new position come, but doesn't bring the happiness we expected.
The following goals and changes can be relatively easily attained and can bring increased
and lasting happiness.
1. Find more time for one self: If one would like to increase ones level of happiness
and life satisfaction, one of the best changes one can make is to find more time in
ones schedule, for a life that reflects what one would really like to be doing.
2. Make smart money choices: Many people think they'll be happier if they can just
get their hands on more money. However, more money doesn't usually bring more
happiness, because with increased means often comes increased desire. A more
helpful solution is to make smart use of the money you already have, to feel a
greater sense of freedom and satisfaction in life.
3. Take care of ones body: If ones health fails, it can overshadow everything else
thats going on in ones life. From major health problems to minor aches and pains,
health can really impact happiness and stress levels. Making a commitment to taking
on healthier habits can have a far-reaching payoff: one will feel better in everything
one does.
4. Adopt stress relievers that work for one self: There are many things that
contribute to a happy and satisfied feeling about life, but excess stress can put a
damper on even the best conditions. If one is in a state of chronic stress, it's much
more difficult to enjoy life. So one should try and get one self free from stress.
5. Get involved in a cause that one believes in: People are generally happier when
they're living a life of meaning. And while one may not be able to cast off all of
ones worldly possessions in search of the true meaning of life, one can get involved
in a cause that's important to one self with minimal time, effort or cost. And even
though one can get new friends or a house, what one finds in the way of life
satisfaction will be the real reward. While one will be helping others, one will truly
receive more than one gives.
Satisfaction of desires and achieving consequent happiness are merely mirage in the
ocean of the great desert of life.

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It is not possible to satisfy one's desires because there are countless desires of
countless people and the material things are limited. Thus the eternal current of desires
continues for ever. It is, therefore, definite that ever changing desires can never be
satisfied. Conceptions like those of satisfaction of desires and achieving consequent
happiness are merely mirage in the ocean of the great desert of life. All the desires are
never going to be satisfied and the creature is never going to be happy in the satisfaction of
desires. It is such a common and yet weird behavior among human beings, people tend to
run behind a mirage, knowing it is, but still craving for the same. The most astonishing
behavior in human is that they do not care for what they have or easily get, they always
long for what they cannot get easily or what runs away from them.
This is a common story in each of our lives and there are some phrases that explain
it, like The grass on the other side always looks green. How true is that? People always
like to attain what they dont have and there is the big mistake. Life is all about realizing
ones potentials. If one cant hold on to what one already has, one wont be able to hold on
to what one desires. Therefore, it is important to realize the difference between what is
achievable and what is just not worth running after because as soon as we get aware of the
fact we can get one step closer of achieving a satisfied life which can ultimately lead to
happiness. Although, it is a bit difficult in todays time. Enough is not enough; more is
what one strives for. This is the reason why people remain unsatisfied with their lives and
therefore far from happiness. Self realization of whether what we want is a mirage or not
is very important because mirage can bring us temporary happiness but when it becomes
invisible, leaves us sad and unhappy.

Conclusion
Ultimate happiness, nirvana, or whatever we wish to call it, is not just the most
fundamental human aspiration but it is something within the reach of every human being.
The best way to decide if material possessions bring happiness is up to the person in trial.
Some people are just satisfied with saving up to buy a new car, and some are just as
satisfied in putting their ideas and dreams down in an empty book, or just highlighting
their favorite one.

References
HH The Dalai Lama, Towards Greater Religious and Cultural Harmony, World Affairs
Journal, April-June 2003, New Delhi.
Elizabeth Scott, M.S. 2008. Health's Disease and Condition. Medical Review Board.
Picker, L. 2011. Measuring Happiness and Satisfaction. National Bureau of Economic
Research.

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Frank, R. 2010. Money Can Buy SatisfactionIf Not Happiness. The Wealth Report
Article.

Nidhi Budhalakoti is Ph D Scholar at G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and

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Governance with Empowerment : The Panacea for Developing India

Governance with Empowerment:
The Panacea for Developing India

Sumit Chandra and Prabhat Kumar

Introduction
According to Tendulekar report on Poverty, Poverty Line estimates in the
country are ambiguous and it is more likely to be in the higher range then measured in
earlier reports. Given the present trends in population and economic growth and in the
absence of a concerted effort at poverty alleviation, the numbers are likely to increase
substantially. The problem of poverty is further aggravated by various other social
deprivations and discriminations from which the poor suffer as well as by the spatial
inaccessibility of outlying, remote and distant terrain which prevent the delivery of social
goods and services. Poverty had traditionally been thought of in terms of "relative
deprivation". However, it is difficult to define relative deprivation and, even if defined
with reference to some average expectations of society, poverty defined this way cannot
stand comparison between different societies or comparison over a fairly long period of
time even for the same society as the expectations of society would be changing with the
passage of time. Looking at the reasons of such conditions following reasons stand clear -
1. The country has witnessed an extensive erosion of its natural resource base over the
last fifty years and also some of the worst natural disasters, some of which, like the
floods and droughts, are directly linked to the pressures on the eco-system. The
growing foreign debt burden, together with fresh borrowings, leads to greater
dependency. The brain drain and the skills drain from country to the developed
world constitute a major economic loss. The net effect of these trends is further
marginalisation and a substantial reverse flow of resources - financial, human and
natural - from India to industrialised countries.
2. The pattern of population dispersal has created two basic issues - over-congestion in
cities, urban areas, fertile plains and valleys, and the spatial inaccessibility of remote
outlying mountains, valleys and atolls. The latter makes it more difficult to
implement cost-effective poverty alleviation programmes.
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3. Obsessive preoccupation with capital accumulation, as the driving force in economic
progress, resulted in neglecting the capacity of the poor themselves. The poor
wherever they lived, faced the worst consequences of modernisation processes. The
evidence says that liberalisation programmes when taken alone tend to benefit only
small segments of the population who are better off and leave the poor worse off,
particularly in the shorter term.
4. Endemic poverty, poverty reproduction, low growth and other multifaceted crisis
have added strains to the political and social situation in India. Large-scale
unemployment of educated youth has given rise to much disenchantment and
alienation with the development process. In many cases, conflicts and militancy are
partly the result of the inability of the economies to grow fast enough to satisfy the
awakened aspirations of their people.

5. A major inadequacy of the past development response has been the neglect of
institutions for the poor. The Government took upon itself the responsibility of
taking every initiative in development and thereby inculcating a sense of dependence
and passive response among the poor. Bureaucratic implementation of the
programmes started yielding diminishing returns. The poor could not identify
themselves with the programmes. Programmes became large-scale stereotypes with
little relevance and sensitivity to variations in the local needs. The whole process
suffered from a lack of political will to introduce the necessary social reforms for
greater equality and equity.

Learning from the Ground
New experience has matured at the micro-level in the country, which demonstrates
that where the poor participate as subjects and not as objects of the development process,
it is possible to generate growth, human development and equity, not as mutually
exclusive trade-offs but as complementary elements in the same process. An in-depth
analysis made of the hundreds of participatory processes on the ground confirm that the
poor have also demonstrated that, at relatively lower levels of income, it is possible for the
poor to achieve a high level of human development.
The document has concentrated on articulating the elements that should inform the
Poverty Alleviation front. They are:
Uncompromised access to basic facilities of food, clothing, shelter and education
A minimum level of health, sanitation and entertainment amenities
An initiative from common people to contribute and arrange above two if Govt is
unable to provide them
Information is power, so a strong Right to Information act is enough to provide
good governance

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Past experiences: Generation of a Vicious Cycle of Poverty- How all it Started?
After Independence Government machinery and bureaucratic apparatus went on
expanding. The State took too much responsibility upon itself in the name of development.
In the course of time, people came to depend on the State for everything and lost their
initiative. A top-down approach, insensitivity lo different needs at the local level,
inefficient implementation, wastages and leakages in developmental spending were all
very familiar consequences.
Over-expansion of the State and undifferentiated and unrestrained spending also
led to fiscal and payments crises, jeopardising economic stability and growth. This, in
turn, has necessitated corrective structural adjustment, the consequences of which, in the
short-run, would be more adverse for die poor.

Industrialisation/ Modernisation Strategy of Development
Instead of the modern-industrial sector expanding fast and subsuming the rest of
the economy, it remained an enclave. Its growth was stunted as the sector failed to
generate enough resources for its own expansion. The strong protective wall kept it in a
perpetual state of infancy. This sector became cost and quality blind. Over time, the
initially borrowed technology could not grow further to build the necessary technological
capability and provide a wider technological choice. What is even more serious is that the
so-called modern sector failed to develop adequate linkages with the traditional sector and
the two remained separate enclaves, leading to serious problems of "dualism" within
country. Needless to say, the poor remained, by and large, confined to the traditional
sector (rural-agricultural sector and the urban-informal sector), untouched by the
developments in the new industrial sector. This "dualism" increased the gaps in living
standards and access to opportunities between the few who got into the organised sector
and the large majority who remained in the traditional informal sector.

Pressure of Open Economy
Now when industrial countries are in need of markets for their products and
services, just as their economies are made vulnerable by the international debt crisis, so
they have put into effect the Structural Adjustment Programme consisting of two parts:
a. short-term stabilisation policies for correcting imbalances in the balance of payments
through devaluation, improving macro-economic balances through curtailment of
government expenditure, monetary liquidity and market liberalisation (eliminating
subsidies/price controls); and
b. long-term economic reforms (e.g. liberalisation of trade, elimination of protective
tariff barriers, privatisation of financial institutions and public enterprises,
streamlining of State sector privatisation of social programme and rationalising the
tax system).

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The main prescription for structural adjustment is, therefore, a reduction in
government expenditure which tends to fall disproportionately on social sector services,
government subsidies and other forms of safety nets for the poor. This has often been
accompanied by devaluation, increases in the prices of public utilities (which again hurt
the fixed and lower income groups) and import liberalisation.

The Limitations of Government
"Redistribution with growth", is largely dependent on the State and bureaucracy.
While in some cases a committed bureaucracy was able to deliver inputs to the poor, it
often did not have sufficient motivation or sufficient accountability to the poor themselves
to be universally effective. While the need for a lead role in strategic planning for the State
is clear, the State machinery needs to be vastly improved, made accountable and
sensitised. It cannot directly implement poverty alleviation programmes but can instead
provide sensitive support to organisations identified with the poor.

Harmony vs Conflict Resolution
The conventional development framework assumes poor communities to be
harmonious entities. However, in most communities there are sharp contradictions and
conflicts of interest. There are dominance-dependence relationships, whether at the village
level or in relation to the urban poor. These relationships give power to the dominant
group (the landlord, the trader, the moneylender and the bureaucrat) to bring about a crisis
of immediate survival for the poor. A clear illustration of this is seen in relation to gender
and equity conflicts where poor women have a dual burden of being women and poor. The
conflicts are not only class and gender-based' but can also have ethnic, religious and
linguistic origins. These conflicts which adversely influence the effectiveness of the
delivery system and provision of inputs to the poor need to be mediated and resolved
locally with the participation of organisations of the poor.
Any meaningful approach that will directly benefit the poor must be a political
approach. The approach must begin by building organisations of the poor and the
vulnerable. These organisations, in turn, must help the poor to assert their right to
resources intended for them.

The Delivery vs Empowerment Approach
The best example of the "delivery" approach is the Integrated Rural Development
Programme. In this programme, a key element has generally been neglected. There has to
be a receiving mechanism at the grassroots level for the delivery mechanism to function
properly and fulfill its objectives. Donor attitudes and procedures, by and large, compound
the problems. There were technical complications in understanding the process approach
as opposed to the project approach. There were administrative complications in managing

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a system that had to be based on trust instead of petty financial regulations. A larger
accountability was implied. The problem of the lack of interdependence and linkages
among several activities at the village level seriously limits this conventional project
approach from benefiting the poor.

Governance with Empowerment
Experience shows that a poverty alleviation process must take into consideration
people's awareness, understanding and acceptance. Projects need to be identified,
designed, executed and evaluated by the poor themselves, based on their own needs and
perceptions. As the process evolves, it would also depend on the internalisation of the
group's needs. None of this can be predetermined as required by the conventional project
approach. Participatory monitoring is an essential feature of the process. This kind of
monitoring permits greater attention to detail and ensures that self-corrective actions are
continuously undertaken as the process evolves.
Thus, in this regard too, the validity of conventional cost-benefit and internal rate
of return analyses and the project approach to designing and evaluating poverty alleviation
activities are indeed questionable.

Introduction: Imperatives for Social Mobilisation
Throughout the past fifty years of development response, planners and policy
makers assumed that the State would provide the lead role in formulating and
implementing enabling policies for poverty alleviation. As experience accumulated about
the workings of the political system and administrative machinery and the constraints
within the State, a new understanding began to emerge. The focus then shifted to
development activities of locally rooted, participatory micro-development organisations.
At the formal level, this shift is evident in the increasing attention being paid to voluntary
and non-governmental organizations, in asserting the positive values of participation of the
poor in development and bringing about social changes within a democratic political
framework.
The core element which emerges from the success cases on the ground is
participation. Participation here is seen not in narrow terms pointing towards formal -
activities affected through representatives. Instead, it is defined as a socially vibrant
grassroots process whereby people identifying the process as their own, with occasional
help from facilitators. The process is inherently educative, leading progressively to a
higher level of consciousness which evolves through newer experiences of facing reality.
They are then able to participate as active subjects in the development process rather than
as passive objects.
The main objective of social mobilisation is to induce the poor to create
participatory organisations based on the direct and full participation of all members of

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different and varied socio-cultural backgrounds, irrespective of income, caste, gender or
other discriminating characteristics.
The focus on immediate issues rather than on larger concerns of social and political
transformation has led, in each case, to a movement from the simple to the complex; from
a reliance on external support, to generating community resources for self-reliance and
self-development; from knowledge and skills being in the hands of external agents of
change and the elite to being more widely shared in a participatory manner, and from
power being concentrated among a few to it being dispersed so that internal
authoritarianism is less likely to arise. Above all, it displays a resurgence of confidence by
the poor themselves in the making of their own future.
An in-depth analysis made of the participatory process at the micro terrain such as
the Womens Development Programme (WDP) in India, the Aga Khan Rural Support
Programme (AKRSP) in Pakistan, the Small Farmer Development Programme (SFDP) in
Nepal, the Mongar Primary Health Care Programme (MP1ICP) in Bhutan, the Bangladesh
Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC) in Bangladesh and the Janasaluki Banku Sangam
(JBS) in Shri Lanka, as well as other cases such as the Working Women's Forum (WWF)
and Self-Employed Women's Association (SEWA) in India, the Production Credit for
Rural Women (PCRW) in Nepal, the Orangi Pilot Project (OPP) in Pakistan and the
Grameena Bank in Bangladesh reflect the kind of social mobilisation taking place where
the poor have contributed to growth and human development simultaneously, under
varying socio-political circumstances. They also demonstrate that at relatively lower levels
of income it is possible to achieve a high level of human development. The participatory
process itself ensures that the poor assert their right to resources and a fair share of the
surplus.

What has been Learnt?
(a) Building Organisations of the Poor: An Essential Prerequisite
All the success cases have demonstrated that through the formation of
homogeneous groups with similar socio-economic backgrounds, the poor can achieve
human development and contribute to growth. Individually, they would not have been able
to overcome the obstacles and their struggle for survival, security and self-respect will
continue. How the poor women, who carry the double burden of being women and poor,
have gained positively in this approach is described in cases like the SEWA, WWF and
BRAC. Alone, a poor woman is very vulnerable, but a number of women coming together
create a sense of solidarity. For all categories of the poor, organisation is strength.
Building organisations of the poor requires awareness-creation and sensitising the poor to
the causes of poverty and the need for conceited action to overcome them. In most states
sharp social contradictions exist and that is why separate organisations of the poor are an
essential prerequisite if poverty is to be eradicated.

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(b) The Poor can Save and Invest Efficiently
Once organised into groups, all success cases motivated their members to start
regular if very modest saving. Regular saving provides a new sense of an accumulation
process and also contributes to a higher level of empowerment. Success has been even
greater where credit and savings have been integrated. Repayment capacity and group
cohesion have also been strengthened as collective savings became a new common
property that provided equitable benefits.
(c)The Process has to be Catalysed
Social mobilisation is generally not a spontaneous process. It needs to be catalysed
by an external facilitator and/or an internal animator. Articulate, committed and confident
local leaders/animators have to emerge or be trained/ sensitised to manage the process.
External facilitators also have a role. They connect these local leaders/animators and the
poor with the mainstream organisations. They also bring in new knowledge for the
participants, where necessary.
(d) The Need for Sensitive support Mechanisms
A key to social mobilisation is to offer the poor a partnership in development
through a support organisation. While other agencies and organisations offer a "soft"
approach and "inputs" which further reinforce inertia and dependence, the support
organisation offers a "hard", well coordinated approach, leading to self-development.
Under the "soft" approach, other agencies undertake activities for the beneficiaries. Under
the "hard" approach, two steps are involved - firstly, activities are undertaken collectively
by the beneficiaries mainly with their own resources; secondly, when the beneficiaries
have achieved an appreciable degree of experience and self-reliance, the support
organisation will withdraw. Other roles that the support mechanism can perform are to
ensure that the poor have access to credit at market rates (which are low compared to
informal rates) and related inputs. The support organisation does not undertake activities
on behalf of the villagers. It provides an enabling environment and a sensitive support
mechanism in which people can work for themselves to improve their own lives.
(e) Empowerment is the means to Poverty Alleviation
In all the cases, a higher level of empowerment of the poor is an essential
prerequisite. Social mobilisation and group formation has created a sense of solidarity
among the poor who were otherwise inarticulate, struggling hard merely to survive. As the
process of social mobilisation evolves the poor begin to assert the right to the resources to
which they are entitled. This would also enable them to have access to additional
resources. This makes them vigilant and helps them to monitor the process and also ensure
that the surplus they generate is not dissipated. This countervailing power is a part of the
democratic and human development process which ensures greater equity. The poor
become progressively more aware, further conscientised and self-reliant.

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Successful examples: Andhra Pradesh, Bihar etc;
A. Building Organisations of the Poor
The poor are involved in a wide range of unequal relationships with the rich. Yet
the poor in a particular village may collectively have access to unutilized dispersed
resources which, through an organised effort and use of upgraded indigenous technology,
could provide them with a range of inputs. Similarly, organized pressure by the poor on
banks, local administration or landlords can provide access to cheaper credit, better health
facilities and fairer rents.
Also in the nexus of contradictions between the rich and the poor, in a situation
where the State apparatus is not uniformly strong, there may be considerable space for the
poor to develop locally effective countervailing forces in order to assert their right to a fair
share of the wealth they themselves helped generate, and to the range of public resources
intended for them. In the case of poor women, their organisations can also help them to
deal with the problems of patriarchy.
A participatory process implies that the poor would acquire a greater awareness of
their reality, increase technical expertise by using and building on their own knowledge
systems, rediscover the folk knowledge-wisdom and reinforce a sense of community
identity. It would help develop a holistic approach to their economic, political and physical
environment. At the same time, achievement of specific objectives, like improving their
resources through collective effort, would impart greater confidence, help bring poor out
of isolation and reinforce community identity and strength. For this, a new kind of
animator / catalyst and facilitator who is absorbed in the culture of the poor and also
equipped with scientific training is required. Such catalysts or facilitators, while engaged
in the straggle alongside the poor, would help conceptualize the results of collective social,
political and productive efforts. Such efforts could eventually change the contemporary
creative quest of the community as a whole and gear it to a major sustainable development
effort.
If the organizations are linked across space and sustain each other through
exchange of ideas, they could contribute to the eventual emergence not just of a new
consciousness but also of new kinds of structures. Within such structures, devolution of
power and mass participation in economic/social decision-making could become a distinct
possibility.

Steps in catalyzing the Process
1. The Creativity of the Poor as the Starting Point: Initiatives for change,
undertaken by the poor, form the essence of a process of participatory development
where the poor operate as conscious subjects of change. They reflect their life-
situations and take decisions to bring about changes to improve their social and

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economic status. A meaningful development process must lead to liberation of the
creative initiatives of the poor.
2. Active Subjects of the Process rather than Passive Objects: It is assumed in the
"top-down" models that the poor, have no knowledge base or that their knowledge is
irrelevant/unscientific, and that they have to be told and instructed as to what they
should do. The outcome is an insensitive delivery approach, an attempt to bring
development to the poor through a delivery of knowledge and resources from
outside.
3. The Poor can Investigate and Analyze the Reality: The poor can be expected to
undertake initiatives of their own for change when they become conscientised or
critically aware of their life-situation (the reality of life) and begin to perceive, the
options for changing that reality. Assisting the poor to critically reflect upon,
analyze and understand the socio-economic reality in which they live is, therefore,
another step in the process of participatory development. The reality that the
majority of the urban and rural poor face is characterized by low levels of production
and productivity and income and consumption, and the inability to retain even a part
of the small surplus they generate.
4. Options for Self-Development: When the poor carry out such investigations and
analyses, they also begin to perceive possibilities of dealing with the factors
contributing to their poverty to bring about changes in then- reality. Alternative
possibilities of action are then explored and the feasibility for such actions
examined, using their knowledge and experiences and drawing from the knowledge
available from outside.
B. Social Praxis: Reflection, to review and evaluate ongoing action is undertaken by
the poor groups themselves and constitutes an important element in a participatory
development process. Reflection is needed to learn from experience, for early
correction of mistakes, to identify problems and constraints and to seek ways to cope
with them, to evaluate the benefits that accrued and to explore possibilities of
improving ongoing action as well as initiating new ones.
C. Capacity Building of the Poor: As the development process of the poor unfolds,
they will begin to improve their capacity to conceive development ideas, plan,
implement and manage development actions. A wide range of opportunities will be
created for the practical expression and development of their dormant talents and
skills. Leaders, animators and managers will emerge from the action process
reducing, over time, the dependence on outside facilitators. The poor will tend to
become self-reliant in their thinking and action and will begin to develop a new
sense of self-respect, dignity an autonomous capacity for taking self-development
action.

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D. Deepening and Multiplying the Process: Initially, the poor groups will naturally
tend to start with problems and issues of immediate concern to them which they can
tackle with confidence. The success of one action creates the possibility of
undertaking another, setting in motion a flow of successive actions. Furthermore, the
process tends to multiply across groups and from one village to another. Moreover,
after a point, the poor groups tend to develop an urge to expand the process among
others because they begin to realize that it is only when several groups join hands
and begin to act together that they will have me strength and the bargaining power to
tackle larger issues of common concern.
The poor have a knowledge-base rooted in experience, practice and in living
with nature and society. This knowledge has its own validity and rationality. An
interaction between traditional and scientific knowledge requires a dialogue
approach and cannot be taught or applied mechanistically. Teaching, instruction and
transfer of skills will be replaced by discussion, dialogue, sensitisation, stimulation
of self-reflection and analysis, and sharing of experience and knowledge. The
starting point for this purpose should be an attempt to initiate a dialogue with the
poor on the reality of their lie-situation. The reality that the poor face (lack of access
to resources, exploitation and deprivation) should be posed to them as a problem for
their investigation and reflection. By raising key questions: Why do we have low
incomes? Why is our production low? Why do we buy our needs at high prices and
sell our produce cheap? Can we not find new lands of work in the informal sector?
What access do we have to different kinds of resources? Why do we eat certain
kinds of food?
In many cases, given their behaviour patterns (often non-innovative and non-
experimental in nature) and lack of experience in undertaking initiatives for change,
it will take lime before they begin to develop the confidence in their abilities to bring
about change. Hence, an external input in the form of a facilitator (with or without
additional inputs) is often required to assist them to initiate actions for change.
E. Participatory Monitoring and Evaluation Processes
The internal motivational objective is to raise the understanding of the experience by
the poor through collective assessment, improved articulation, problem solving and
commitment to the tasks they have set for themselves. They also team from their
total experience and derive a political resolve towards group action for overcoming
difficulties and achieving their objectives. Individually, they cannot go very far,
given the magnitude of the problems they face. This is also what is meant by
empowerment.
The three major planks may deepen social consciousness and lead to empowerment
of the poor are -attitudinal change, the capacity for self-management and the economic
and social base of the poor. It is axiomatic that the economic base of the poor has to be

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improved over a period of time through a dual process of savings investment and asset
creation and the emancipation of the poor from economic and social bondage, to enable
them not only to be more productive and keep the surpluses in their own hands. The
establishment of a self-reliant activity base will mutually reinforce the process of
promoting positive attitudinal values. Conscious attempts to diagnose, assess and mutually
stimulate such values will bring them to the fore and will contribute to turning them into a
driving force for further action, contributing to a deepening expansion of the process itself.
Ultimately the process as a whole, which starts with the release of the creativity of the
poor, has to be judged by the increase in their social consciousness, empowerment and
self-respect.

Multiplying the Process
Despite the achievements in the form of group formation, savings mobilisation,
self-management, better support systems and empowerment, an organisation operating in a
small number of villages alone cannot make much of a dent in alleviating poverty unless a
new form of linkage can be made By" many of these groups so that they can be multiplied
and become visible. Multiplication of the participatory process is further eased if
participation is inculcated as a mass culture by fostering it at places of work and
education. Persons with commitment can be found in all parts of societies. Large numbers
of youth can be found to play the role of animators and facilitators and staff the support
mechanisms.
The democratic political process further reinforces the multiplication process. The
multiplication of the process requires a major political commitment by the State not only
to provide the political space for the success cases to expand but also to provide them with
resources and an enabling policy framework, and to encourage organs of the State, banks
for the poor and others to support the process vigorously.

A Pro-Poor Perspective and Premises for Action
A central element of this perspective is that society as a whole must guarantee the
poor the right to participate in decisions that affect their lives: the right to food as a basic
human right, the right to work and a right to full information so that they can contribute
directly to growth. Today, this requires a larger social consciousness and acceptance of a
revised code of social responsibilities and social duties by all.

Savings, Transforming Labour into Capital and Investment
In general, however, the investment activity of the poor is affected mainly through
asset creation by transforming labour into capital and not necessarily in the form of

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monetary instruments. Transforming labour into capital has historical antecedents in the
Indian context. It should be emphasised that, in principle, this is neither undesirable nor
irrational. Given the constraints faced by the poor and the magnitude of the poverty
problem, it ensures optimum use of resources, both human and material more effectively.
India has little choice but to use labour, the factor in surplus. Combined with proper
organisation, it can help unleash new forces and lead to efficient asset creation. A major
task, therefore, is to provide the support needed to improve the productivity of these
investments.
India includes the values of simplicity, frugality and community spirit as well as
the new principles of competitiveness, ostentation and consumerism. As mentioned, the
preponderance of the latter type of values results in the common observation that the rich
do not-save and invest as much as they can. This combined with the fact that the State
cannot access a sufficient volume of resources; the result is that a sustainable
accumulation process cannot be ensured. Paradoxically, the former type of values is being
protected mainly by the poor. These values can be strengthened if their protagonists are
able to act collectively, articulate their beliefs effectively, and generally influence the
needs of the times.

Gender
Poor womens voices are seldom heard in the corridors of power. Plans and
policies are invariably made at high levels where womens representation is often
glaringly absent. Unless poor women have access to decisions that affect and influence
their lives, policies and programmes will continuously fail to integrate poor women into
the mainstream of development. This has already become evident from numerous
examples in the region, for instance institutional credit programmes in most countries still
pursue a gender bias against poor women and the need for collateral makes the situation
worse. Thus poor women have a double burden to overcome.
Additionally, the resources that would empower poor women are not simply access
to financial, natural and physical resources, but involve socio-political resources such as
neighborhood networks, influential contacts, informal credit organizations, improved
patron-client relationships including a greater role for them in traditional community
organizations by which they can combat the forces that undervalue female labour and
reinforce patriarchy.
Characteristically, policy interventions in favour of women are being proposed on
the implicit rationale, that such actions would lead to the control of fertility, income
generation for households and investment multiplier effects for the economy. While these
economic interventions will undoubtedly help to raise the status of women in society, what
is imperative is also the removal of gender bias and discrimination from the attitudinal,
legal and institutional domains of society. A foremost innovation to affect this kind and

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magnitude of social change is to ensure that women are fully and effectively represented
in the Indian political processes.

Role of the State
The pro-poor plan requires moving unambiguously on two fronts, two equally
strong strategic fronts on the modernisation/ industrialisation front and the other, the
poverty eradication front and marks a fundamental departure from the hitherto adopted
conventional development patterns. This requires an unswerving commitment of the
Heads of State or Government to a total mobilisation approach to poverty eradication in
India within an accepted time frame. Given the need for sustained political commitment,
new instituition-building, massive resource allocations, attitudinal changes and the
considerable social transformation that has to be initiated by this holistic approach to
development in which growth, human development and equity cannot be trade-offs, the
State has to play an all-encompassing.
To implement the pro-poor strategic option, new institutions will have to be
established and existing ones reoriented. Basically, three categories of institutions are
involved, support organisations (e.g., umbrella organisations, finance or credit providers,
research groups), monitoring institutions (e.g., think-tanks, media watch-dogs, mediational
institutions) and organisations in the State system.
An investment has to be made in support organisations and in the training and
sensitisation of catalysts. Support organisations for the poor can take many forms such as
sensitive support structures financed by the Government, non-governmental organisations,
banks for the poor, coopeatives, non-profit private groups or action-research groups which
essentially have to be independent of the Government, though supported by it, and have
commitment to and are identified with the poor.

Sumit Chandra and Prabhat Kumar are professionals at Young Professional Institution in
National Rural Livelihood Mission of Ministry of Rural Development, Govt. Of India.

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Poverty in Natural Prosperity: Can Agriculture bring the Renaissance in North East India?

Poverty in Natural Prosperity: Can Agriculture Bring
the Renaissance in North-East India?

Suchiradipta Bhattacharjee and R. Saravanan

Introduction
The progress of the human race have been amazing till date-it has only been half a
million years that we came to exist and our achievements are even surprising us today. We
have landed on the moon, left our footsteps on many of the planets of our solar system and
have gone a long way to look for the existence of any extra-terrestrial neighbour. Back
home, the science fictions of yesterday are the realities of today. The sky is not the limit
anymore, even most of the space has been conquered but when we look down, hunger,
poverty and underdevelopment stares back at us.

Poverty and Hunger: The Global Scenario
According to Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations
(2011), hunger is the consumption of less than 1800 calories per day. Food Insecurity has
been defined as a situation that exists when people lack secure access to sufficient
amount of safe and nutritious food for normal growth and development and an active and
healthy life. In the estimates released by FAO (2010), the hunger situation curve went for
a steep rise from 1995-97 to 2009 (1023 millions). Though the FAO estimates of 2010
(925 millions) have raised some hopes but the situation is still far from satisfactory.
Efforts to reach the Millennium Development Goals set by the UN of reducing the number
of hungry people to half by 2015 are being carried out worldwide. But the report released
by 2010 Global Hunger Index of IFPRI, indicated that, we are nowhere near reaching that
target. The Global Hunger Index (GHI) 2010 shows some improvement over the 1990
GHI, falling from 19.8 points to 15.1 or by almost one-quarter. The index for hunger in the
world, however, remains serious, it noted. On October 31, 2011 was celebrated as the
Day of 7 Billion as baby Nargis was born in India while the number of hungry people
has already reached 1 billion (FAO, 2011), thus every 1 person in 7 are living in chronic
hunger around the world. The worst hit of the situation are the under-developed and the
44

261

developing countries. Out of the 925 million people suffering from chronic hunger around
the world, Sub-Saharan Africa had 239 million and Asia and the Pacific had 578 million
while the developed countries had only 19 million.
According to World Food Programme, 98 per cent of the worlds hungry live in
the developing countries. Asia-Pacific Region is inhabited by around half of the worlds
population and two-third of the worlds hungry people. Sixty five per cent of the worlds
hungry live in only seven countries India, China, Democratic Republic of Congo,
Bangladesh, Indonesia, Pakistan and Ethiopia (http://www.cocoponics.co).

Fig. 1: Number of Hungry People from 1969 to 2010 (Source: Hunger notes, 2011)

This setback has been attributed to not one reason inflation in food prices in the
global market, decrease in purchasing power of the people, inefficient distribution of
income, discrepancy in Govt. distribution systems, etc. The FAO Hunger Portal states,
world currently produces enough food for everybody but many people do not have access
to it. Production is not yet a problem but the gradual depletion of resources are. The hike
in population is accompanied with a decline in the per capita availability of land (US
30.155sq. km whereas, India 2.59sq. km per 1000 as in CIA World Fact books 18
December 2003 to 28 March 2011), genetic erosion, land degradation and severe water
scarcity. As poverty increases, the investing power of the people decreases which affects
agriculture. According to Nobel laureate and eminent economist Dr. Amartya Sen, hunger
usually arose from problems in food distribution networks or from governmental policies
in the developing world (Hunger-Wikipedia, 2011). Hunger eradication depends
sequentially on the following facts: political will, anti-hunger policies, programmes,
hunger outcomes (Masset, 2010).

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Poverty and Hunger: The Indian Context
Worlds largest democracy has many feathers on her crown the country with
space programmes to be proud of, one of the worlds fastest growing automobile
industries - but it is also worlds second most populous country with a figure of 1.21
billion during 2011; home of the largest number (47%) of poor people in the world; the
third poorest country in the world and none to be proud of. According to the data
released by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) during 2011, the 2010
Global Hunger Index ranks India 67
th
out of 84 countries whereas, China ranks 9
th
,
Pakistan 52
nd
and Bangladesh 68
th
. India is home for highest number (42%) of the worlds
underweight children (The Times of India, 2011). The UN Human Development Index has
ranked India in the 119
th
position. These facts and figures are never encouraging for a
country aspiring to gain the status of a developed country.
In official statements, the Indian Government expresses confidence in achieving
the MDG of halving the rate of poverty by 2015 but the real scenario speaks otherwise
(One World Guides, 2011). The BPL population of the country is 40.74 crore (Deccan
Chronicle, 2011). A preliminary assessment of a National Sample Survey conducted in
2009-10 shows the rate has fallen to 32% from the baseline of 45.3% in 1993. The India
Chronic Poverty Report observes that about 65% of the poor in India live in eight (out of
twenty-eight) States: Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra Madhya Pradesh, Orissa,
Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Uttarakhand. These poorest States also have to contend with
the largest and fastest growing populations (One World Guides-India Briefings, 2011).
The Arjun Sengupta committee concluded that some 77 per cent of Indians live on less
than Rs. 20 per day; an evidence that this huge section of the society are still living below
the MDG target. Inflation in food prices soared to 11.43% on October15th, 2011 which
resulted in a 10% decrease in the consumption (Economic Times, 2011).
Around 75% of the countrys population lives in the rural areas. 43% of the total
geographical area is under agriculture which provides 65% of the livelihood. Agriculture
sector accounts for around 18.5% of the countrys GDP according to 2010 estimates
(http://en.wikipedia.org Economy of India). India has the 7
th
largest area used for
agriculture with the highest irrigated area. She ranks first in pulse, milk and livestock
production. The scenario presents with rays of hope. But the wide discrepancies should be
justified. Of the total geographical area (329 million hectare), 265 mh has the potential for
biological production but 50% of the total geographical area is threatened by land
degradation. The Green revolution had increased the production manifolds but the
indiscriminate use of chemicals has caused long lasting effects which is now resulting in
degradation of its natural flora and fauna. According to the governments State of
Environment Report 2009, about 15% of agricultural land has been degraded through
excessive application of subsidized chemicals. Many groundwater aquifers have been

263

depleted to critical levels. The consequence is that the amount of daily food grain available
per capita is lower than in the 1950s (One World Guides, 2011).
Indian agriculture is mainly dependent on monsoons. But still most of the states
lack a proper water management system. There are great variations in the average amount
of rainfall received by the various regions- from too much for most crops in the eastern
Himalayas to never enough in Rajasthan. Season-to-season variations in rainfall are also
great. The consequence is bumper harvests in some seasons, crop-searing drought in
others (Data1995 Agricultural system in India from www.indiachild.com). Depletion of
ground water level is another big problem. Irrigating one area from another without proper
drainage has led to increased salinity of water, flooding of fields and ultimately crop
failure. Furthermore, charges of corruption and mismanagement in government operated
facilities are also hindering the progress (Data1995 Agricultural system in India from
www.indiachild.com). Extensive industrialization is constantly eating up the agricultural
lands leaving many small and marginal farmers landless. Per capita land availability
decreases but more importantly, access to food and income reduces giving a rise in
poverty and hunger.
The adverse effect of climate change in agriculture of the worlds 4
th
largest green
house gas emitter does not come as a surprise. The sea level has been rising at 1.33mm per
annum. The rate is likely to increase and exceed predictions of UN scientists. Studies
suggest that a one metre rise in sea level would displace over 7 million people, threaten
freshwater supplies and the concentration of industry and infrastructure (OneWorld
Guides, 2011). Problems are not over even when the harvest is good. Absence of regulated
market, non-existent minimum support price and absence of proper storage structure
results in loss of tons and tons of agricultural products. The farmers, to pay off their debt,
ultimately take refuge in suicide. The role of the government is also being questioned
incessantly. Every year huge amount of food grains are reported to be rotten in the FCI go-
downs when people are dying of hunger everywhere. The justification of foreign aid for a
country which boasts a space programme and is the worlds most prolific arms importer is
increasingly being challenged by these facts and figures.

Indias North East -The Big Picture of a Smaller Frame
Indias North-East, the true frontier region of India, has over 2000 km of
international border with Bhutan, China, Tibet, Myanmar and Bangladesh. It is connected
to mainland India by a 20 km narrow strip of land. Ethnically and linguistically one of the
most diverse region of Asia, its uniqueness is its most prized possession. The eight states
Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura and Sikkim were added
to the map of India at various points of time after independence to what existed earlier as
the Assam Province. The North Eastern region spreads around 22,439 square kilometres,
about 8% of the countrys total area. Swift rivers, streams and small brooks cutting

264

through the undulating plains, hilly terrains and picturesque valleys forms the topography
of this region. Climate is moderate ranging from the humid sub-tropical conditions of
Assam and Tripura to the temperate zones of Meghalaya, Sikkim and parts of Arunachal
Pradesh. Rainfall is abundant amounting to an annual average of 2600mm. Arunachal
Pradesh has the highest area under forest whereas; Manipur has highest barren and
uncultivable lands. Sikkim has been declared as the organic state. Most of the states
have a literacy ratio higher than the national average except Assam, Meghalaya and
Arunachal Pradesh.

Rich Biodiversity
This region is a biodiversity hotspot. When there is a hue and cry around the
world, the north eastern region boasts of 8,000 out of 15,000 species of flowering plants
occurring in India, 700 species of orchids out of the 1,300 reported in the country - many
of which are rare and endangered. Bamboo, which provides livelihood to a large number
of people in this region, has 63 out of the 136 species belonging here. This region is home
to Eri and Muga silkworm. Yak and Mithun are the unique animals reared by the people
(Swaminathan, 2009).

North-East India: Generic Problems
Though India is one of the fastest growing economies in the world, the regional
inequity is becoming more and more prominent with the north east topping the list.
Unemployment is a serious problem among the educated youth. Infrastructures
encouraging self employment have dire need but are practically non-existent. Reaching the
people is a big problem accounting to the hilly terrains hindering communication.
Insurgency only adds up to the situation. Constant economic blockades, bandhs and strikes
to showcase peoples grievances about the existing conditions are ultimately aggregating
it. Consequences are moral degradation of the youth. The numbers of drug addicts are
increasing at an alarming rate and so are the cases of HIV and hepatitis. India is home to
nearly two lakh Intra-venous Drug Users. Of these over 50,800 people are from Nagaland,
Manipur, Mizoram and Meghalaya. Over 20% of them are HIV+ solely due to sharing of
contaminated needles (Azad India Foundation, 2011). Another highly discussed problem
of north east accounting for many of the regions other problems is terrorism and
insurgency. Development works in the rural areas in almost all the states and even in the
cities in states like Manipur have come to a standstill. The Govt. is trying to rehabilitate
the people involved in insurgency but they seem to be not affective enough. Unless the
social and economic structures are changed altogether, getting a desired outcome cannot
be expected.

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With these Generic Problems, Can Agriculture bring the Renaissance in North-
East India?
To cater the economic development, the agriculture sector must be strengthened to
play much more active and indispensable role in any overall strategy of economic progress
(Torado and Smith, 2004). The UN statement echoes the same thought - Of the eight
MDGs, eradicating extreme hunger and poverty depends on agriculture the most (Food
Security- Wikipedia, 2011). Agriculture is the dominant economic activity of the people of
north east but the gap between potentiality and actual achievement is huge. Though
resources are not a constraint here, appropriately utilising them is a difficult task due lack
of information and knowledge.
Agriculture is the main occupation of the people but agricultural land is very less.
Most of the area is forest covered or hill slopes where agricultural practices are real
constraint. At present, of about 40 lakh hactares under cultivation, 39 lakh or over 97% is
under food grain production. At about 1,520kg/ha, land productivity is very low in this
region. Despite a vast potential, only 20% of the net sown area is under irrigation. Almost
95% of the regions soil is acidic with pH value below 5.6 (DoNER-NEC, 2011). The
percentage of cultivated area to total geographic area ranges from 2.2% in hilly states of
Arunachal Pradesh to 35.4% in Assam as compared to the national 43.3%. Increase in
agricultural land or increasing the productivity of the existing land are the biggest issues to
be concentrated on. But as increase in population increases the demand of land for shelter,
industries and other allied uses, sustainable increase in productivity is the more feasible
option to be emphasised. The growth rates of the agriculture and production of the food
grains were not showing expected positive trends over the years (Fig.2 & Table 1)
Due to the hilly, rugged terrains of the north east, shifting cultivation or jhum
cultivation is the most predominant agronomic practice for crop production. In this slash
and burn method, genetic erosion is becoming more and more prominent. A large number
of flora and fauna are added to the list of extinct every year. Moreover, the productivity of
the land is lost. The cycle which used to be of 7-10 years previously has come down to 2-3
years only. Degradation of natural resources is a big concern and location specific
measures should be called for without further delay. Jhumming should be replaced by
contour bunding, terrace cultivation and conservation tillage and along with food grains
the farmers should be persuaded to grow legume crops like pulses which can hopefully
mitigate the situation to some extent.

Cropping Pattern & Need for Diversification
The cropping pattern of the region is another factor responsible for low
productivity. Mono-cropping is widely followed and other than the cropping season, the
land is kept fallow. Diversification of crops should be encouraged along with crop rotation
that will ensure income round the year conserving the environment alongside.

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Fig. 2: Growth Rates of Agriculture in the North-East from 1993-94 to 2002-03
Source: Central Statistical Organisation- Various years & DoNER- NEC- North East
Vision 2020 Document

Abundant Rainfall & Water Scarcity
The region receives abundant rainfall but every year a large amount of crop loss is
reported either due to flood or drought. Water scarcity in the winters is a common
scenario. A large amount of water is lost in seepage while the people continue to deplete
the ground water reserve. This is due to the lack of proper storage of rain water.
Government intervention is needed for construction of water harvesting tanks and
overhead tanks for storing rain water. Meghalaya Government has taken some notable
steps in this sector but still the scope of work is huge.

Indigenous Technical Knowledge and Lack of Scientific Validation
The indigenous farmers of the region from years of experience and their very own
culture, tradition, language, belief, folklore, rites and rituals have developed their own
practices, many of which have strong scientific foundation. In Meghalaya, crops are grown
with tree species like Alder, Arecanut, Bamboo, khasi mandarin, pineapple, etc. (Jeva et
al., 2006). They have developed bamboo drip irrigation in the undulating topography and
hilly terrains. Farmers of Assam have their own traditional pest management practices.
The crab trap for controlling gundgi bug in paddy is widely adopted for its efficiency. But
unfortunately, research work on these ITKs is very few. Approval of the scientific
community and encouraging their adoption in feasible conditions can make agriculture in
the north east more remunerative and eco-friendly.

Farm Mechanisation and Traditional Farm Implements
In this age of technology, farm mechanization is an important aspect for an
economically sound agricultural system. But in the north eastern region, it is a big
drawback. The farmers use their traditional implements which, in some cases, are time

267

consuming and tedious. Again, the farmers are not financially sound enough for complete
mechanization of their farm operations. In such conditions, the research institutes are
expected to step forward to work on the existing implements to make them more efficient
and cost effective.

States 2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07
2007-
08
2008-09
2009-
10*
Arunachal
Pradesh
217.4 242.3 244.5 226.9 240.9 245.7 248.5 255.8 -
Assam 4023 3894 4035 3618.2 3677.8 3060 3470 4143.0 3939.6
Manipur 400.5 343.7 391.9 447.8 398.5 398.5 421.8 415.0 -
Meghalaya 224.7 227.1 233.8 225.2 183.1 231.5 231.8 236.3 -
Mizoram 126.3 129.1 139.4 124.6 129.8 56.3 19.1 58.9 -
Nagaland 355.4 388 409.8 403.5 424.8 436.2 473.2 514.2 -
Sikkim 98.7 96.6 99.9 103.9 100.3 100.3 111.6 107.5 -
Tripura 597.5 611.8 529.1 556.4 563.6 630 633.3 634.7 -
India 212851.2 174771.4 213189.4 198362.8 208601.6 217282.1 230775 234466.4 218205.8

Table 1: State-wise Production of Total Food Grains in NER, (2001-2002 to 2009-2010) (Production: '000 Tonne)

Climate Change and Natural Disasters of North-East
The climate change around the world has its impact on the north eastern region
also. Global warming is taking its toll. Monsoon is late and prolonged. Floods due to
heavy rainfall are common causing unmitigated damage to life and property every year.
River bank erosion takes an ugly face each monsoon destroying large areas of agricultural
lands in its course. Silting of river beds is a major reason for this.

Rural Youth, Migration and Agriculture
Another major reason for the hindrance in agricultural development in recent years
is the migration from the villages to the cities. The educated youth after completion of
their studies prefer to stay in the cities and strive for jobs and services rather than going
back to the villages and creating job opportunities for themselves and also others. The
number of agricultural labour has also increased in the recent years. But due to the single
cropping pattern in the villages, there is no work for them in the non-crop period when
they come to the cities for jobs. Moreover, the basic facilities of city life allure them
towards it in large numbers. The uneconomic and fragmented land holding is another
reason for it. The government has to step forward to provide entrepreneurial training to the
rural youth, give all the basic amenities like electricity, water supply, roads etc. to the
villages and develop a reasonable land distribution system to keep the rural people content
in their village life and ensure their year round income.

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Market Infrastructure and Limited Access
Underdeveloped market infrastructure is another problem in the village areas.
Regulated markets are non-existent and the prices of products are decided by the local
people themselves. Moreover, the more the supply, the less is the demand. These people
when take their products to the cities, the transportation costs, taxes eat up all their profits.
When they sell it to the wholesalers in the villages, they never get the actual price of the
produce. Strong govt. intervention in setting up regulated markets in the villages,
arranging transportation for the rural farmers and reducing the interference of middle men
can only help the situation.

Low Volume and High Value Export Potential Crops
The north eastern region has a wide range of climate favouring the growth of a
wide variety of agricultural and horticultural plants. Their commercial production can
create a huge demand in both Indian and international market. Exemplary works are being
done in Anthurium and strawberry cultivation in Mizoram and Meghalaya respectively
which are exported to international markets. Tripura has a huge potential for pineapple and
orange, kiwi has been introduced in Sikkim, passion fruit is grown in Manipur in a large
quantity. The 2000 km international border can be utilized fruitfully by exporting the
agricultural, horticultural and allied products to the neighbouring countries. All these
potentials are to be used to their optimum level to take north east to the export map of
India.

Agricultural Research and Development
The research and development initiative in the north east has been taken by the
central government. Indian Council of Agricultural Research has set up its centres in all
the states with the research centre for NEH region at Barapani, Meghalaya where the
research and development efforts are directed towards evolving technologies for location
specific situations. The National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resource for NEH region is also
located here. The Central Agricultural University (CAU) established at Imphal in 1993
was the first of its kind. The seven colleges and three Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs)
under it are training the youth in agriculture and allied activities. The developmental
aspect is taken up by North East Council (estd. 1971), Ministry of Development of North
Eastern Region(DoNER) started in September, 2001, North Eastern Development Finance
Corporation Limited (estd. August 9, 1995) and others. They are working for maximizing
self governance, capacity building and strengthening infrastructure in the region to reach
the desired target of fulfilling the MDGs at least in this part of the country. The National
Policy on Agriculture was adopted in 2000 and since has nurtured programmes.
Establishment of agricultural credit institutions should also be encouraged.

269

Agricultural Extension
Extension work needs a rise in the region to create awareness and develop
knowledge of the rural people regarding the technicalities of agriculture. As long as the
technical know-how is confined to the extension workers, it does not serve its purpose.
Only a proper guidance by the extension personnel can change the farming system from
non-remunerative to profitable agriculture. Few non-government organizations like NGOs,
CBOs and SHGs have been working in the region through social mobilizing, training and
capacity building of the rural people. But training farmers only will not suffice. Extension
is a two way learning method and the extension personnel should have empathy and
proper training to learn from the indigenous population.
A major reason for drawback of extension programme in the North Eastern region
is that the extension personnel are mostly from outside the region. They neither have a
clear understanding of the region nor the socio-economic mindset of the people. They
work for a few years in the region without contributing much. The Govt. has a strong role
to play in this situation. Agricultural graduates should be selected from the region,
provided fellowships to do M.Sc and Ph.D degrees in agricultural and animal sciences
universities and then inducted into the regions Agricultural Research Service. Scientist-
centred system in personnel policies should be encouraged and promoted in place of a
post-centred system (Swaminathan, 2009).

Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) and Its Opportunities
Taking the research findings to the people in the north east is another big problem.
The localities are scattered in the remote parts which have very less access. Because of the
hilly terrains, construction of roads connecting those places is very difficult. But
fortunately, this has not been a hindrance for the technology. Mobile phones, TV, radio
has already reached those places and gained their popularity. Information and
Communication Technologies can only save the day in such conditions and should be
utilized to their best potential. Popularising Kisan Call Centre, broadcasting programmes
on location specific issues of agriculture can increase the credibility of the information
provided, make them reach faster and more effective. Two hundred and twenty five tribes
and their sub-tribes give great language diversity to the region which also makes extension
of research findings difficult. Employing local educated rural youth as facilitators to do the
work after training them properly can make the task easier. Resorting to ICTs to do the
same in local languages in local conditions can give a faster and easier solution in the
remote villages of North East.

Group Extension Approaches
The tribal society in the North East has a very strong bonding and lives in close
association with each other. Agriculture knowledge dissemination efforts will be easier if

270

the extension personnel can utilise this situation to their advantage. Persuading one tribe
about a particular innovation can take them many steps ahead in persuading about the
same to others.

Policy Recommendations and Action Plan
In a nut shell, some of the policy recommendations and action plan that can be taken to
develop the tribal community as a whole and agriculture specifically in the North East are
indicated below:
1. Shifting Cultivation to Permanent (Settled) Cultivation: Put an end to shifting
cultivation for preventing genetic erosion and land degradation.
2. Change of Cropping Pattern, Diversification & Intensive Cultivation:
Encouraging intensive cultivation keeping in view decreasing land availability and
increasing number of mouths to feed. Imparting knowledge to farmers about proper
cropping pattern and crop diversification to ensure year round income and
sustainable development.
3. Water Harvesting: Conserving the water potential of the region through water
harvesting for a secured future.
4. Validation and Popularisation of the ITKs: Identifying, validating and utilizing
the potentialities of ITKs and recognizing their scientific validity.
5. Small Scale Farm Mechanization and Improving Local Farm Implements:
Mechanization and improving traditional farm implements for a more remunerative
return and reducing the labour.
6. Encouraging Adoption of Climate-Smart Farm Practices: Adapting to climate
change, but a better option is to prevent the climate change through adopting climate
smart farm practices and a resilient agricultural system.
7. Creating Vocational Skills and Rural Agro-Entrepreneurship: Discouraging the
rural people from migrating to cities by making agriculture a profitable occupation
by developing vocational skills among farm youth and also creating Agro-based
entrepreneurship opportunities in rural North-East will foster the rural prosperity.
8. Establishing Local Market Infrastructure: As the agricultural produce is to be
sold by the farmer to get a remunerative return for the cost incurred, a good market
infrastructure is very important in the villages which can bring a whole new lot of
revolution in the agricultural scenario of North East.
9. Strengthening Local Peoples Institutions: Empowering the rural people through
farmers co-operative banks, self help groups and NGOs will be of real help in
taking them forward.
10. Encouraging Farm Exports: Getting a remunerative return from the resources and
also utilize the international border for their benefit, the people should be

271

encouraged to make maximum use of the potential and go for international trade
which will increase the flow of foreign currency in the region.
11. Agriculture Research and Development: It is high time to take research and
development in agriculture seriously to promote the region in global map of
development.

Fig. 3: Holistic Provision of Support Services for the Farmers of North-East India
(Adopted from Saravanan, 2011)

12. Effective Agricultural Extension: More efforts from the Ministry of Agriculture,
ICAR and State Departments of Agriculture and allied sectors for diffusion of the
research findings and developing awareness in the people are expected. Considering
socio-economic aspects, North-East specific central sector schemes on agricultural
extension need to be designed and implemented.
13. Human Resource Development in Agriculture: Agricultural education in the
youth should be encouraged as career option by providing fellowships to the
selected students for M.Sc and Ph.D and recruit them in the region for an overall
development.
14. Exploring ICTs Potential: The sources of mass media and ICTs should be utilized
to their optimum potential as they can be the harbinger of change in the region.
15. Relying on Local Strength: The main asset of the region, the tribal people should
be made to realize their own potential and make them their own change agent.
Developmental programmes should be rooted through Village tribal councils which
will give the feeling of ownership on developmental programmes to the tribal
population and they can contribute for better planning, implementation, monitoring
and evaluation.
Agricultural
Outputs: post-
harvest &
processing,
markets
Hard Resources:
money, labour,
technology
Soft Resource:
Skill, motivation,
power
Agricultural
Inputs:
machinery,
manure, seed
Agricultural
Processes:
planting, weeding,
harvesting
Information &
Knowledge

272

16. Harvesting Organic Potential: Most of the tribal farmers of North-east follow
organic farming practices as a tradition over the generations. Hence, farm produce in
north-east by default it is Organic in nature. Huge potential for organic products in
the outside region need to be explored and promoted.
17. Holistic Provision of Farm Support Services: First, the agricultural development
programmes/ projects must find a way to deliver all the resources necessary to turn
farm information and knowledge into agricultural action. This means the provision
of money, labour, technology, motivation, and support. Even if not directly
delivered by the project, these resources must be available to the tribal farmers or the
information or knowledge will remain unused. Second, the project must work
across the supply chain: not just focused on agricultural processes but on backward
linkages to inputs (farm machinery, organic manure, seeds) and on forward linkages
to outputs (post-harvest technologies, and agricultural markets) (Saravanan, 2011).

Conclusion
The World Development Report-2007 of World Bank had clearly emphasised on
attention on agriculture as .agriculture has effectively served as a basis for growth and
reduced poverty in many countries, but many more countries could benefit, if governments
and donors were to reverse years of policy neglect and remedy their underinvestment and
mis-investment in agriculture. Data shows that with the development and transition of
a country to an economic stronghold, the share of agriculture in its GDP decreases but in
the developing and underdeveloped countries it has an immense role to play in fighting
poverty and feeding the hungry mouths. The importance of agriculture lies not only in the
fact that it produces food grains but also the immense opportunity of employment, income
generation and supporting rural population in its mainstream and allied sectors.
Technologies make our life easier, take the human race to a new level intellectually but as
long as even one person die from hunger and poverty in this world, the fruitfulness of it
will be questioned. It was agriculture that started civilizations around the world in the
Neolithic Age (approx. 12,000BC) and has brought men where they are. It is again on
agriculture to save humanity today and retain its existence on the face of earth

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Megahalya.

275

Microfinance for Integrated Development


Yogesh Chandra Bhatt

Introduction
Since the concept was born in Bangladesh almost three decades ago,
microfinance has proved its value, in many countries, as a weapon against poverty and
hunger. It really can change peoples lives for the better, especially the lives of those who
need it most.
-Kofi. A
Anan (Retired
United Nation
Secretary General)
The
effectiveness of
microfinance
programme and its
efficiency for poverty
reduction in the last
three to four decades
is validated by this
statement. Not only
has microfinance
proven effective
through the decades;
it is also practiced
worldwide. Although it started from a small village with few people by Professor
Muhammad Yunus (founder of Grameen Bank) in Bangladesh, now it is successfully used
as an effective weapon against poverty from Asian countries to second part of world,
African countries. Microfinance is not charity. It is not a subsidy. It is not a down to
bottom approach. Microfinance is an empowering approach for poorest of the poor section
of the society. Task Force on microfinance in India define it as provision of thrift, credit
Figure 1-Graduation to achieve happiness and satisfaction for a poor family
45

276

and other financial services and products of very small amount to the poor in rural, semi-
urban or urban areas for enabling them to raise their income levels and improve living
standards. International Labour Organization (ILO) stated that- microfinance is an
economic development approach that involves providing financial services through
institutions to low -income clients.
Microfinance is an effective tool for ensuring the integrated development but we
should know the meaning of integrated development for poor people. Happiness and
satisfaction is an outcome of integrated development. Generally we define development
term as enlargement of capacities or freedom of choices. So integrated development will
be justified only after enhancing the poors choices for achieving different level of needs.
Maslow defined the human needs in his famous need theory; that is applicable for poor
people also with little changes. As it is shown in figure 1, the poor can also ensure their
happiness and satisfaction if they will gradually progress in this pyramid.
When microfinance started that time it had one major objective: to serve poor
people by meeting their immediate credit requirement. With the passing time it was
realised that beyond the credit and saving facilities, many other development issues can be
addressed by this approach. Now all microfinance movements and their development
works can understand under a framework which has four phases: social intermediation,
financial intermediation, livelihood intermediation, and civic intermediation. Clearly this
framework indicates how poor community graduates from one stage to another.
Microfinance proved again and again in different countries and contexts that it can be
successfully intervene at phase of this pyramid through this framework.
Success of microfinance leads few basic questions for all:
Is Microfinance gaining rapid popularity because it is a good money making business? Is
it because Microfinance is one of the best tools for fight against poverty? Is it because it is
profitable with poverty reduction? Can Microfinance be sustainable with poorest of the
poor who are starving with hunger, dreaming for universal education, and fighting for
basic human rights?
This paper is a small effort to understand the current and potential contribution of
microfinance towards integrated development. The remaining of this paper is divided into
four parts. First section elaborates the concept and history of microfinance. The second
section highlight two widely-accepted microfinance approaches; Enabling approach and
Delivery approach. The third section describes how around the world, microfinance is
leading the integrated development initiatives. The fourth and the concluding section will
emphasize on future opportunities and challenges for microfinance that how it can do
better for integrated development of more than two billion poorest of the poor people in
world.

277

History and Evolution of Microfinance
The history of microfinance can be traced long back in 18the century when theorist
Lysander Spooner observed the small credit has significant effect for entrepreneurs and
farmers for getting out from the poverty (Khandelwal, K,A). In todays context,
Microfinance term was coined from the Bangladesh when this concept was emerged by a
small initiative. The Grameen bank concept was perceived from a small village called
Jobra in 1976 and after almost two decade time in 1983, Grameen bank project was
enrolled as an independent bank by Bangladesh government legislation. For serving
million of poor in Bangladesh and other countries, the professor and Grameen Bank
jointly earned the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006. By 2006, World Bank estimated that in 43
countries, 16 million are served by some 7000 microfinance institutions (MFIs) all over
the world.
In India a milestone was established in the SHG movement when the SHG bank
linkage programme was introduced as an action research Project in 1989. Before that, in
1987 NABARD sanctioned Rs. 10 lakh to MYRADA for promoting self-affiliated
groups for credit management. In the same year the Ministry of Rural Development
provided support to PRADAN for promoting SHGs in Rajasthan. The pilot project was
designed as a partnership model between three agencies; the SHGs, banks and NGOs. This
model was reviewed in 1995 and after the Reserve Bank of India advised all national and
commercial banks to provide lending to SHGs as part of integrated credit programme by
SHG-bank linkages. At present, microfinance is well-flourished in India and different
stakeholders like NGOs, government, corporates, and MFIs, all have different strategies
for serving the poor
Evolution of microfinance around the world can be categorised into four phases;
every phase has unique characteristics.

Figure 2- Development of microfinance activities Source- Srnec (2007)

278

The present microfinance phase is experiencing a dilemma. As figure 2 shows, this
sector is now moving forward as financial business and at the same time it is reaching to
more and more poor people.

Microfinance Approaches
There are two approaches broadly categorized through which microfinance serves
the poor. Both the approaches have different models existing in different parts of the
world; these two approaches popularly known as Enabling Approach and Delivery
Approach. Both the approaches have specialty and acceptance in different contexts. This
section will focus on both the services approaches and different models which are
practiced under it.

Delivery Approach
As the name indicates, delivery approach gives opportunity to the poor for
accessibility for financial services. It proposes financial services and products to the poor
people but rarely they decided themselves. Microfinance in Bangladesh was started with
delivery approach when first time individual lending pattern was followed. With time it
was realized that individual requirement of poorest of the poor person may be very
significant for him but for a credit source like bank, that amount was very minimal and
difficult for maintaining individual records. In that case timely repayment was also a
challenge because individual monitoring was not economically viable. After identifying
these functional problems, in 1976 Grameen model introduced a unique microfinance
service delivery model; that is popularly known as JLG (Joint liability group). This model
is a well-known example of delivery approach, and it was appropriate for the context in
which it was promoted.

Enabling Approach
Microfinance was started with the delivery approach but once the broader
understanding engaged in practitioners than enabling model came into existence. In India
microfinance is largely based on enabling approach. SHG model which was introduced
and flourished in India is best example of enabling approach where member owns the
group, they regulate the activities, and they decides byelaws for them. Conceptually
enabling comes with more rights and choices for poor which ultimately lead towards
integrated development.
The SHG system was introduced and nurtured in India by combined efforts of apex
bank NABARD and an NGO MYRADA in the year 1989. Now it is widely practiced by
NGOs, MFIs, and banks. In the SHG model, 15-20 members form a group. One speciality
of that programme is, all the groups are supposed to be linked with the banks so they have

279

financial accessibility of banks; this way it is very effective tool for addressing the
financial crisis and bring people out form the vicious cycle of moneylenders.
There are major positive features of SHG- bank linkage programme is enlisting below:
1. Financial inclusion of poor women: 90% members of all SHGs are women and most
of them are poor and asset less.
2. Efficient loan repayment: one very unique feature of SHG - Bank Linkage
Programme has been highly efficient on-time repayment. As on June 2005, the on-
time recovery under SHG Bank Linkage Programme was 90% in commercial banks,
87% in RRBs and 86% in cooperative banks.
3. Programme impacts are going beyond credit and saving services: studies reveal that
income increment, asset creation, women empowerment, more livelihood options,
reduced child mortality, improved maternal health and the ability of the poor to
combat disease through better nutrition, better housing and health are other
significant outcome of SHG-bank linkage model.
Other than the SHG model, other enabling approaches are also practiced by
different stakeholders. Some examples include solidarity group, village banking group,
cooperative model, SEWA model, and village unit system model (BRI in Indonesia).

At present microfinance institutions around the world have been quite progressive
in developing products and services beyond the saving and credit facilities. It is true that
microfinance is one of the best and most lucrative ways to organise the community but
now it is witnessed around the world, that community organisation through microfinance
can also successfully work for addressing other developmental issues which are prevailing
in third world countries. General Assembly of United Nation designated 2005 as the Year
of Microcredit to emphasize the microfinance importance for achieving the MDGs. Mr.
Mathieu Krkou, former President of the Republic of Benin, stated 2005 was declared
the International Year of microcredit in order to stress the crucial importance of access to
finance and particularly to microfinance. Access by poor people to financial services is a
powerful tool to fight poverty. Microfinance is an important element of the financial sector
and must be treated as such. It makes a huge difference when poor people have access to a
broad range of financial services, where by they can invest in income-producing activities
and meet their vital needs, such as health, education and nutrition.
A major objective of this paper is to argue that microfinance should not be limited
to saving credit but it should go beyond this. Beyond ensuring the basic needs of the
poorest of the poor, microfinance should have the authority to secure the poors social,
economic, political, and cultural needs; only then can it be considered as true and
sustainable empowerment. By going beyond addressing basic needs, this helps families
advance through Maslows hierarchy of needs.

280

An understanding of the meaning of empowerment is also important at this point.
According to UNIFEM empowerment is- gaining the ability to generate choices and
exercise bargaining power. It means Developing the capabilities, firm belief of
individuals for desired changes, and right to live his/her life with choices are important
elements of human empowerment. Empowerment is an implicit, if not explicit, goal of a
great number of microfinance institutions around the world (Lisa Kuhn). True
empowerment can be achieved through microfinance; it has been proved around the globe
from India to Ghana, Kenya, or any other African countries.

Microfinance against Hunger and Malnutrition
Hunger is one of the foremost challenges for so called developing world. In many
Asian and almost all African countries people are starving without food. Food security is
first basic need for all human being for existence. The US Agency for International
Development (USAID, 2000, p. 5) set three criteria of food security:
i. Availability of sufficient quantities of food of appropriate quality, supplied through
domestic production or imports
ii. Access by households and individuals to adequate resources to acquire appropriate
foods for a nutritious diet
iii. Utilization of food through adequate diet, water, sanitation, and health care
It is clear now that food security is not only feeding the poor but beyond that, it also
includes sanitation, safe drinking water, and heath care. Many organizations involved in
the provision of microfinance have also taken initiatives to fight hunger among the poorest
of the poor.
In Indian context also Microfinance, through SHG-bank linkage model ensure the
food security while providing financial assistance to poor people. DHAN Foundation
supported Kalanjiam Community Banking Programme is one of the best example for it.
DHAN is organising the poor farmers in the drought prone areas and forming their group
for promoting rainfed farming. Farmers are getting credit facilities, trainings, and technical
assistance for ensuring the enough food production in agriculture field.
MFIs like Grameen bank (Bangladesh) and K-Rep (Kenya) serves several village
banks, each composed of 15-50 poor selected women. Large number of women in a single
joint-liability group allows to MFIs for much lower costs per client than individual or 5-7
member groups. Group members also can borrow small amounts (typically well below
$300 per loan per average client) without ruining the financial sustainability (Woller,
2000). Poorer people those are more vulnerable to food insecurity, usually avoid to borrow
larger amounts, because of their very limited repayment capacity. Under this village
banking model MFI targets poorest families for finance while ensuring to attain financial
sustainability. It is one of the most effective approaches to reach the poorest of the poor by
providing them credit facilities for ensuring minimum requirements.

281

Different initiatives like rain water harvesting, tank renovation, quality seed
distribution, land improvement, and promotion of micro irrigation are important aspects of
it. Core objective of this programme is to ensure the food security for poor farmers by
enabling approach. At present this project is working in Rajasthan, Maharashtra,
Jharkhand, Tamil-Nadu and many other states.

Microfinance Approach for Livelihood Promotion and Universal Education
According to Sperling (2005), 110 million children (60 percent girls) between the
ages of 6 and 11 did not get formal school education in 2005. In the same year, 150
million children dropped out before completing primary school. This situation is worse in
developing countries. In India, the UN estimated that in 2005, 52.3 percent of the
population was 24 or younger and most of the children are not able to get formal
education. For education, integrated microfinance approach performed well for providing
quality education to poor people. Initially microfinance was only known as saving, credit,
and interest but now scholarship and pension are new features of it.
In SHG model, poor families have scope for special saving for education loan
beyond the regular saving. In that case, families get loan for education in future. Many
time for adult literacy, SHGs has informal classes in workshop mode for providing them
guidance for basic school education. There are ample of evidences which show that all the
responsibilities in a SHG regarding record keeping, transaction records, preparing balance
sheet of group, and bank formalities has been borne by group members itself. In starting
phase catalyst NGOs help for all activities but after some time, group members take all the
responsibilities.
Credit with Education is another concept of self-financing of microfinance poor women
(primarily to very poor women in remote areas). Simultaneously this programme offers
informal adult education for other family members; this education is related to health,
nutrition, livelihood skills, and microenterprise management. Credit with Education was
consciously designed to address the basic problems of poor people like food insecurity,
livelihood opportunity, and skill development. First time Credit with Education programs
were introduced in Mali and Thailand in 1989. Further it was seeded in Bolivia and
Ghana.
Microfinance approach can do wonders for universal education as it is successfully
working for poverty reduction; need of time is to identify how education can be
sustainable with microfinance approach.

Microfinance for Women Empowerment
Women are core of family in all the countries; so when we talk about women
empowerment, she needs easy approach for material, human, economical, and social
resources important for make strategic choices in her and her family life. Historically

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women were more disadvantaged in access to credit, property, and money resources. Not
only this, many times they are excluded from social resources like education, marital
decisions, or participation in livelihood activities. In India, total 85% SHGs are formed by
women so they have more accessibility of financial resources. Most of the microfinance
innovations ensure better health, education, and social security for women.

Snapshots of Women Empowerment
Chinnapillai a SHG leader from Tamil Nadu has been honoured with Stree Shakthi
Puraskar, a national award by the former prime minister of India Atal Behari
Vajpayee.
12 percent of DHAN Foundation-promoted SHGs women had assets such as house,
land and, savings in the post-office and banks, apart from the savings in the SHGs as
against 5 per cent in the control group.
SHG members in Uttarakhand, took initiative against alcoholic addicted persons
and forced to close the liquor shops.
Given study was conducted by CASHPOR 2008, which shows the impact of
microfinance on customers. This study was based on client feedbacks. There are number
of positive changes that can be identified; asset creation, employment opportunities, and
self respect are other dimensions than credit facilities which depicts through this study.

Microfinance for Other Development Issues
Microfinance is a first step for intervention against any development issues either it
is gender issue, health, sanitation, or livelihood. Now microfinance is integrated with all
Millennium Development Goals. One perfect example is community toilet in Madurai
where families did not have accessibility of toilet and they were forced to go for open
defecation. SHG members took initiative for community toilet in slum area under
JNNURM programme. Now this community toilet is financialy sustainable community
toilet model in Madurai and other slums are also following this model. Microfinance also
integrated to fulfil the energy requirement. Four microfinance institutions in Asia, are
promoting energy products to poor families. Self-Employed Womens Association
(SEWA) in India, Sarvodaya Economic Enterprise Development Services (SEEDS) in Sri
Lanka, Nirdhan Utthan Bank Ltd. (NUBL) in Nepal, and Amret in Cambodia are
promoting and supporting wide range of products to fulfil the energy requirement like
solar panels, biogas digesters, cook stoves, and scientific stoves at lower interest rate. In
addition to solar lending, SEWA also offers loans for scientific cook stoves. SEEDS
provides loan for electricity grid connection and village micro hydropower establishment.
Amret assists the clients to purchase generators and battery charging technologies.
Other than these, many other development issues are addressed by microfinance
around the world: Microfinance for family planning, Microfinance and economic

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programming in rural areas, Microfinance and infrastructure, Microfinance for shelter,
Microfinance against HIV/AIDS, etc.

Future for Microfinance
Microfinance has seen a tough time in past and still at present; many institutes and
intellectuals expressed their doubts and criticism about its sustainability, impact, and
poverty reduction capacity. In spite of that, microfinance outreach is continuously
increasing and it is touching new development dimensions. In present context when
poverty is prevailing everywhere; starvation, education, malnutrition, sanitation, and other
basic problem is confronted by more than 50% world population; it is a challenge for
microfinance to prove its worth. Microfinance effectiveness and expansion around the
world depends on certain factors such as enabling environment by the governments,
macroeconomic stability, viable interest rate, subsidised credit schemes, savings, and
mutual cooperation among developed and developing countries. India, Bangladesh, many
other Asian, and African countries governments have legal and regulatory support for
microfinance sector. It is very important to make a common consensus among all the
countries for achieving common MDGs. It is not that, MDGs are the set criteria for
measuring the happiness and satisfaction but yes, it is a way out which can reinforce the
better life standard. Microfinance approach can create a historic opportunity for integrated
development. If we can have an effective roadmap with strong will against all the societal
evils, we can address all development issues through microfinance. Millennium
Development Goals are common vision for all and we can achieve these goals by join
hands; practitioners, governments, donor agencies, national and international institutions,
banks, NGOs, cooperatives, development institutes, civil society and most important
common men. If that partnership and mutuality is possible among all stockholders in long
term, there is no reason why these goals we cannot achieve.

References
Cheston, S. Kuhn, L. Empowering women through Microfinance. UNIFEM Publication.
Retrieved October 3, 2011 from
Dunford, C & Denman, V. (2007). Credit with education: A promising tile 2 Microfinance
strategy. Food and Nutrition Technical Assistance. Retrieved October, 2, 2011 from
Experience of ACSI in Ethiopia. Retrieved October 3, 2011 from
ftp://ftp.solutionexchange.net.in/public/mf/.../res-27-210409-01.pdf
Geleta, E. B. (2009, March). A Lesson of Success in Microfinance in Africa: the
Gibbons, D. D. (2011). The debate on outreach and impact: what do we know and how do
we know it. Global Microcredit Summit. Retrieved October, 4, 2011 from
Hannover, W. (2005). Impact of linkage banking programme in India on the Millennium
Development Goals. GTZ and NABARD. Retrieved October, 4, 2011 from

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Harpor, M. Grameen bank groups and self-help groups; what are the differences?
Retrieved October, 4, 2011 from
http://globelics2009dakar.merit.unu.edu/papers/Conference%20Paper%20on%20ACSI%2
0March%202009.pdf
Khandelwal, K. A. (2007). Microfinance development strategy for India. Economic and
Political Weekly. Retrieved November, 5, 2011 from
Khumawala, S. B. ( 2009). A model for microfinance -supported education programs.
Decision Line. Retrieved October, 1, 2011 from
Latifee, H. I. (2007). The future of Microfinance: Visioning of who, what, when, where,
why, and how of Microfinance expansion over the next 10 years. Retrieved
February, 22, 2011 from
media.microfinancelessons.com/resources/grameen_v_shg_harper.pdf
Morduch, J. Haley, B. ( 2002). Analysis of the effect of Microfinance on Poverty
reduction. NYU Wagner. Retrieved October, 3, 2011 from
pdf.wri.org/ref/morduch_02_analysis_effects.pdf
Reddy. C. S, Manak, S. (2005). Self-help group: A keystone of Microfinance in India-
Women empowerment and social security. Retrieved October, 3, 2011from
Vasimalai, M. P, Narendra, K. (2007). Microfinance for poverty reduction: The Kalanjiam
way. Economic and Political Weekly. Retrieved October, 4, 2011 from
www.aptsource.in/admin/.../1273818040_SHGs-keystone-paper.pdf
www.decisionsciences.org/decisionline/Vol40/.../dsi-dl40_1dean.pdf
www.globalmicrocreditsummit2011.org/.../D_%20Gibbons%20-...File
www.microcreditsummit.org/papers/empowerment.pdf
www.microcreditsummit.org/papers/Plenaries/Latifee.pdf
www.microfinancegateway.org/p/site/m//template.rc/1.9.28920
www2.gtz.de/dokumente/bib/05-0252.pdf

Yogesh Bhatt is Student of Tata-Dhan Academy, Madurai.

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Human Bioelectricity: An Effective Vedic IT Tool in Thought Transformation

Human Bioelectricity: An Effective Vedic
IT Tool in Thought Transformation

Pranav Tewari and Sanjeev Yadav

Introduction
Like the transmission lines of electricity spread all over a township from a power
station, there is a marvelous network of circulatory and nervous systems interconnecting
the brain to nerves carrying messages to the brain from the sense organs and propagating
brains response to the corresponding functional units. The living element or the vital
power in the blood and flesh is the current of bioelectricity controlled by the central power
station in the brain. While alive the beings continue to draw in bio-energy from the cosmic
reservoir through their auto regulated breathing apparatus (respiratory system energized
with the element of consciousness force) present in the being.

Bioenergy of a Body
According to the philosophy of Vedanta the individual soul and the absolute soul
communicates with each other by bio energy. Strong will and focused intellect these
faculties operate as tools for the tremendous bioelectric power of the life force inherent in
soul. One should be aware of the paranormal bioelectricity working within the self. One
needs to ponder over its enormous potentialities. If you desire to take full advantage of
human life, contemplate over the unlimited power of soul present in yourself and the
currents of bio-electricity working in your mind body system and learn to utilize it
properly.

Power of Mind
As we all are already familiar with the theory of the Law Of Attraction. How
does our thought results into action? With the continuous concentration and intensity of
thought most of the information acquired by extra sensory perception turns out to be true.
This is what works in case of telepathy. The bio-electric current in the mind forcefully
paves the way to success by surmounting numerous obstacles in the physical, mental and
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external environment. The invisible field of bio-electricity in ones body exerts much
greater influence on the surrounding life systems than his/her physical activities.

Use of Bio-Electricity by Saints and Sages
Means of Communication: Experienced Yogis could learn much about an individual by
sensing the bio-electric field in the proximity without actually meeting the person. By the
way of extrasensory perception of a bio-electric field Yogis could tell many secrets and
facts without physically coming in contact of a person, place, or an object. The existence
of a bio-electric field in them didnt require a conceptualization or any scientific
equipments. Also telepathy was almost common in the Vedic era. e.g. elaboration of the
entire war of The Mahabharat by Sanjay to Dhritrastra.

Creating Positivity in People: Yogis or saints and sages of the Vedic era had greater
charge in the bio-electric field and could influence the minds of those having weaker fields
making the latter act or think as desired. By this measure they attempted to maintain and
create peace in the society avoiding frequent argument between the good and the evil.
Modern science is still investigating this energy in various ways.

Creating Positive Ideospheres: The bio-electric field also exerts its influence on the
environment around the individual. The ideosphere of each individual exercises an
influences the character, behavior and temperament of other persons coming in contact. So
the yogis performed yagyas or studied scriptures that resulted in creation of positive
ideospheres so that the common man in that ideosphere would find supportive in leading
the Vedic way of life and maintain its disciplines.

Concept of Vedic IT Tool
In the Vedic era the saints and sages used telepathy and other sorts of extra sensory
perception as a means of communication and for distant vision as well. But according to
the modern concept all those means are IT based. Since the bioelectricity was used as a
tool in the Vedic era we can definitely name it as Vedic IT tool.

Science of Bio-electric Field Ideosphere
Thought waves are continuously being propelled from the human brain. They are
like the radio waves which can be transmitted and received by the way of telepathy. Each
thought has its own specific characteristic. Instead of being amalgamated into different
mass, it forever retains its independent identity and existence in the space. Nevertheless
similar thoughts, ideas tend to be attracted from far and wide in space and form intense
clusters. When a thought arises, its frequency in the mind of the thinker interacts with
those of the masses of similar thoughts (collective ideospheres) in the space . The

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individual thought enters the field of large mass of ideospheres. In this way by extra-
sensory perception one comes to know many new aspects of the subject being deliberated
upon. The information comes from pre-existence in the collective mass of ideosphere of
knowledge, ideas and experience of people who had studied, pondered over and elaborated
upon the subject in the past.
For instance, one experiences peace and happiness at places of worship, where as
the environment of areas charged with sorrow such as cancer hospitals or cemeteries,
make one feel depressed. The high frequency of virtuous thoughts transmitted by great
holy persons in course of deep meditation help the masses to an extent not feasible by
collective physical endeavor of a million people. As a matter of fact the great men strive to
make the bioelectric fields (ideospheres) of their spiritual thoughts sufficiently strong to
enable the thought waves being telecast by them easily receptacle by the minds of the
common man. For example:-Mahatma Gandhi was aware of the forces of the powerful
ideology. He often said that the great revolution for independence of India did not require
a large number of people. The objective could be achieved by a few having sufficient
inner strength for propagating the ideology amongst the masses. Collective focus and
interactive endeavors of two individuals on one particular objective, produce exceptionally
high benefits as compared to the outcome of their individual efforts. Concentration on the
same subject binds together their consciousness in a unified field of ideospheres.
Consequently the interchange of knowledge between them takes place in totality.

Need for Thought Transformation
Distorted life style: What we observe today is people are leading their life against nature
and its order. Along with the machines, the human beings also run randomly after getting
things done within shortest time and due to this stress, anxiety and other mental disorders
are increasing day by day in almost every individual whenever circumstances are not in
their favour. And because of that one is subsequently forced to lead the westernized form
of life which has ultimately deviated the path of good living style.

Violation of social norms: In the present context the human beings have transgressed the
social norms as we see the events taking place in ones day to day life. By the incidents
around and the wrong message provided by television programmes, bollywood movies,
etc, youngsters are influenced. Youngsters try to copy it in their life become victim of
anxiety and depression as the real life doesnt match with the fantasy shown in the movies
or any other TV programmes. Thus the activities engaged by the youths are finally against
self discipline and also exceeding the social norms.

Distracted Aim of life: The aim of life of the maximum people in the modern world is to
become an engineer or a doctor, or any professional. Just we can imagine we have been

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provided this birth on this universe. We get engaged in hand to mouth and thats the life of
an individual which is now becoming the aim of life. Is that the only capacity of a human
being running after making money? We are not even able to care for self discipline and the
environment.

Negativities: All around we see is negativities such as blaming others, not accepting ones
own faults, disbelief, jealousy, hatred, quarrel, and cruelty etc. We can easily observe the
consequence of all these in the form of broken self discipline and distraction from the
realms of human life. Even people engaged in worship and regular visit of religious places
have not been able to inculcate positivity inside them. Whenever ones ego is at crisis one
becomes what he has been long back.
Although science and technology has risen to its optimum level in means and
mediums in the IT field, yet, it fails to sustain the objective of thought transformation.
However today the use of communication means like social networking sites and many
others are proving themselves to be successful in spreading awareness among the society
but still they fail to manifest the process of thought transformation in real sense. Further
the speeches broadcasted by radio and television regarding thought transformation has not
been so effective in finding out the solutions of the existing problems of the society.

Techniques for increasing the charge in the bioelcrtic field: Gayatri mantra sadhana,
meditation, continence, maintaining purity, virtuosity, continuously pondering upon
welfare of the people, self actualizing, and autosuggestion are the key techniques for
increasing the self potential and increasing charge in the bioelectric field. Hypnotism also
involves the same technique but as thought transformation is related to the positive
aspects of inculcation of humanity and divinity ( awareness towards self and society) one
getting involved in this method of thought transformation violates the human values.
Hence it should not be misunderstood or mismatched with hypnotism.

Modification of Bioelectricity for Thought Transformation
Creation of ideospheres: A group of people involved in thought transformation can
collectively increase their potentials to that extent where Influence of negativities can be
dominated by effects of ideospheres. Increasing the charge of bioelectric field one can
successfully influence the environment with ones strong will power and concentration.

Modifying the thought Waves of Others: Another thing that can be done successfully is
convincing people around us by presenting the beneficial aspects of thought
transformation. Further we can have access to their thought waves and further modify
them according to the requirement of thought transformation. We can induce the reality of

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the human birth on this universe (humanity and divinity) hence mould them to follow the
Vedic way in order to transform the people around the world.

Restricting the Use of Bio-Electricity to Positive Thought Transformation Only:
It is a universal fact that everything has its light and dark aspects and its up to us
to use it in a better way. It can be a general question that how can we confine the use of
human bio-electricity for welfare only? It is very much possible that the notorious
elements can use it for their purpose. But the ways and techniques described here for the
enhancement of this capacity are purely spiritual and are such that if one goes through
them he himself gets transformed for better. All techniques described are basically
cleansing processes. However we cannot stop anyone from thinking, we can only do is
can put our efforts to change their thinking and that is only trusted one which can really
bring the change.

Suggestions
As far as we are concerned to become a successful personality in our lives, we
need to develop our potential such that our thoughts turn out to result in action. The
energy that makes telepathic communication and distant vision possible is human
bioelectricity. The basic requirement for such extrasensory faculties is purity and
virtuosity. With the help of our own virtues we can attract virtues present in other persons
and with the enhancement of our virtuosity derive sufficient benefits from the inherent
bioelectricity.

Conclusion
Hence as we have already come to know about the working mechanism of
collective ideospheres. The group of people involved in thought transformation today can
increase their charge in the bioelectric field by adopting the above mentioned techniques
and create a positive thought atmosphere. Further by strong will and concentration a group
can receive and modify the thoughts of the people nearby telepathically. In course of
process of convincing others for adopting the Vedic way of living and making them aware
of the great moments of change I think the power of bioelectricity can be successfully
utilized for eliminating the evil problems of society and inducing humanity and divinity in
the people.

References
Acharya, Pt. Sriram Sharma, Wonders of human bioelectricity,(2011) Shri Vedmata
Gayatri Trust, Shantikunj, Haridwar.
Acharya, Pt. Sriram Sharma, Conscious Unconscious And Super conscious mind,(1998)
Akhand Jyoti Sansthan Mathura, Shantikunj, Haridwar.

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Shivananda, Swami, The Conquest Of Mind, (1968), Pub: The Divine Life Society, Tehri
Gharwal, UP.India.
Acharya, Pt. Shriram Sharma, Extra SensoryPotentials Of The Mind,(2005) Pub: Yug
Nirmaan Yojna,Gayatri Tapobhumi, Mathura.

Pranav Tewari and Sanjeev Yadav are students of Dev Sanskriti Vishwavidyalaya
Haridwar, Uttrakhand.

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Revival of Philanthropy in India

Revival of Philanthropy in India

Jaya

Introduction
India today is witnessing a greater disparity between the rich and poor. There is a
greater drainage of resources and facilities towards the privileged class of society which is
widening this gap more and more. India had been struggling for economic equality ever
since independence, but in vain the distribution of assets became more and more
disproportionate. There is a major section of society which lack basic necessities of life, a
healthy food to eat, a wholesome water to drink and a home to live in. Children are
deprived of their basic rights, women are enslaved to evils still present in society, a sound
basic education system is lacking, poor health services, unemployment andandthe list
is endless.
Are we going to blame our government for this? So, should we say our democratic
set up has failed? Practically, we cant point these to the lacuna of ruling body alone.
How, could one forget, India of 1947 has risen through a lot many odds to todays shining
present, whose rays I feel every morning. In every democratic setup there lies a social
responsibility on the part of people, and it seemed we have failed a bit on this side.
The great economic development and industrialization could only benefit the
capitalists and the entrepreneurs. Now, here I dont say that benefit in the hands of
capitalists is a bad thing but I want to remind them of the Indias age old saga of giving,
we were pioneers in philanthropy. I have heard success stories of many great givers, who
brought a change in lives of many, moulded a society and thus brought an aura of
acceptable social change, ushering in happiness and development. But, just imagine, had
this noble cause been supported by many of them, we would have been witnessing a better
scenario today. May be, I would have missed a lot many story, which would have gone
unreported, but wherever I found, the changes were amazing. These philanthropic works
brought a wave of change. But, alas these were very few and we have our present India
before us. This is where, not all, but a major section of capitalists have failed in their
social responsibility. I greatly acknowledge those personas that took the social cause of
philanthropy, and played a major role in Indias social upliftment.
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But can we blame them for it. No, never. We dont have this right. It is all about a
gradual system of socialization that is reflected in us when we become self made men. Its
all about, what portrait of yourself, you want to give to society, because when one dies
none will say hes a billionaire, but speak of his noble face, and have tears for his noble
heart, thats all of his life.and then its, The End.
So, should a revolutionary cause for awakening is started in India? May be one fine
morning, a refined person, wakes up and devote a share of his profit for a noble cause.
This might be the beginning and its fine. But the question arises how could this be done,
and whos going to bring in all this change. Or, shall we wait for incarnation of Lord
Buddha, for mastering this change of heart and mind.
No, it is We, I and all of us going to work in this direction. In life we only need a
pair of clothes, a breakfast, a lunch, a dinner we cant eat more, after that we can give.
Lets look into ourselves. Is our system transparent enough to convince the givers that
their money is being used properly? We have seen government funds going into few
powerful hands instead of those needy. Perhaps this has been the main cause of apathy of
undeveloped Indian regions. Malnutrition and low life expectancy are a major health issue.
Quality healthcare remains unattainable for millions in dire need. Indian public health
system is grossly inadequate and underfunded. In fact education system is also crippled in
these areas. In this developing time there are many new areas and problems for which we
have yet not developed the idea of giving, like creation of new job, environment, climate,
animal welfare and many more which needs to be looked after. These areas really need a
kind look of our capitalists. Of course government is there for it, but we cant show our
back to these, its where humanism is asking for something, that it has given us.
Credit and acknowledgement of their contribution is what everyone would desire
for, I am not making pun, its but a human nature, and when an individual or an
organization gets it, this act as a driving force behind the accomplishment of any work
especially philanthropy. We need to develop such a system which would work out on this
very principle, and drive in a hunger for this desire, a need for a social entrepreneurship, a
charm for philanthropy in our Indian capitalists.
So, formation of an unbiased body, a proper monitoring system, either a
government set up or a strong civil society which would serve as a linkage between the
capitalists and the NGOs. This body should work in aiding of money, giving creditability
for a charity and thus a due reputation which a giver thrives for. They would serve as a
guide for those companies who are not sure where and how to use their profits for welfare.
There will be insurance of excellence in the work being done and a proper communication.
Donors will know what is happening with their money. It will also function as fund
raisers. This body would also be responsible for documenting of success stories, which
would boost many more for this noble cause. This would act like the Watch Dogs and the
Whistle Blowers.

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We need a leadership with a vision. We have forgotten how to ask and ways of
fundraising. Just making a project work and submitting it to donor is not enough. The
details and presentation should be such convincing that it clearly reflects the cause and its
credit. I would also like to mention sum lacuna in this system, which already exists.
Philanthropy for a religious cause is more strong in India rather than for a social cause, but
I think a school or a hospital building and its organization is better way of getting
salvation , than a religious building. Also, support for fashionable and glamorous cause is
gaining rhythm, rather than down to earth activities. I think ground work repays in the best
way and is more satisfying. So, theres a need of professionalism and perception in using
funds. Once it happens, India will have a climate of philanthropist.
Also, a little bit of favor is expected from government in this regard. The British
1856 Society Registration Act led to organized philanthropy in India for the first time.
But, today in the Indian 11
th
Five Year Plan or in the mid-term appraisal, there is no
mention of promoting philanthropy. Making of provisions such as special
acknowledgement and recognitions of persons engaged in philanthropy and their work,
can do a miracle. Framing of a forceful law is not desirable in this regard, as philanthropy
is a social cause. But, provisions such as their (capitalists) indirect incorporation in the
knowhow of government development plans and proceedings could extend their more and
more participation in philanthropy work.
Apart from all this I would like to advocate for a change in education system
existing today, because its the basic force behind what a person is. Education system
should be more job oriented, so that problem of unemployment is tackled at this very grass
root level. Innovative education initiatives should be brought in so that the present day
youth is shaped in the best way for future challenges. A universal education system could
work in a better way to demolish the domestic walls of separatism. One World One
Education would serve in a better way in fulfilling these objectives. It will build a spirit
of international brotherhood, and make one feel as a universal citizen. This would help in
solving universal problems like terrorism, political unrest, unemployment, malnutrition
and above all a global climate change. This system will gradually grow and bring in a
foundation for a global health alliance and organizations, high profile campaigns for
international peace and security.
A universal education system would give an opportunity for an interaction on
social and spiritual issues among different nationalities; this would bring in an
enlightment, which would influence the countrys policy making towards a common goal
and mutual benefit. But again I would like to draw attention to the thing that the
beneficiary of such education system should be equally distributed to all sections of
society, the rich and the poor equally else this disparity will make the situation more
badly. It should have a central sovereign body and a democratic setup.

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Philanthropists have a major role to play in this, as it will need a global
participation, a few countries might have a fund and few may not. This can only be
possible with helping hands of noble hearts. If this does happen, our capitalists, apart from
making money, will also be immortalized for a social contribution, the role of private
money in national development.
Its not that I am asking Indian capitalists of their hard earned profit or of taking the
responsibility of nation building. I am only asking of resources additional and apart from
what is available to India from all cumulative forces, avoiding overdependence on
government I am just talking of a workable partnership between all the forces acting
together to give the resultant sustained development. They have immense hardworking
manpower working for them, they too will feel proud, working with a person rich with
money and heart .this really will make a difference and then many will follow. Its just
seeing how our approach to living can be shaped to the needs of our country. If this
practice is prevalent in other nations, why cant it be in India, the country of great givers?

Jaya is student of Bihar Agricultural University, Sabour, Bhagalpur, Bihar.

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Service as an Aspect of Education to Create Opportunities

Service as an Aspect of Education to Create Opportunities

L. Sravan Kumar

Introduction
Today we are living in a fast moving world of technology and culture. Our
education systems have become more advanced with E-techno schools E-learning etc.
With just a click of mouse we are getting all the information we need sitting in front of our
computers. We are able to any part of the world with ease and the world has become a
global village. Millions of Doctors, Engineers, and Graduates are coming out but still there
are poverty and unemployment problems all over the world and it is increasing day by day.
As the numbers of doctors are increasing so are the diseases. As the technology is
increasing so are the pollution and other environmental problems. Crime rate in youth and
college students groups are increasing day by day. A student, who has to be the future asset
of the society and the world, is becoming liability to that same society and world. An
educated one who is suppose to be the support to the nation during disasters is committing
suicides unable to face a written test. The root cause of these entire widespread problems
is lack of proper education, knowledge and attitude.

Educational Scenario in India
In Indian society and education system education is confined to just book reading
and university exams. A student is forced to choose a course not on his natural talent and
interest buy the amount of salary one gets after completing the course. In my own
experience after visiting 40 educational institutions I have hardly seen students thinking of
pursuing their passions. There are more concerned about getting a job in a high profile
company and settling DOWN in their lives. The rat race for marks and ranks leaves little
time for motivation and self improvement. Adding to this the pressure from parents and
teachers is pushing them to the verge of suicides.
Parents are the first and best teachers but parents in pursuit of earning more money
are neglecting the life of their children leaving them alone pushing them towards wrong
relations and ego problems who end up commit suicides and murders.
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Can this kind of education solve the problems of the world? Absolutely NO. Then
what kind of education we need for a better society and better world. Here are the few
words of Swami Vivekananda on Education. You consider a man educated if only he
passes some examination and deliver some good lectures. The education which does not
help common masses of people, which does not bring out strength of character a spirit of
philanthropy, and the courage of lion - is it worth the name education? Education is not
the amount of information put into your brain and runs riot there, undigested, all your life.
We must have life-building, Man-making, Character-making assimilation of ideas. Real
education is that which enables one to stand on ones own legs.
Todays education is not properly helping youth to develop what Vivekananda
wanted to see in youth of the world. But students and youth in present are not able to sever
themselves how we can expect them to serve the masses. So an educated person should be
able to stand on ones own feet and should be able to serve the masses with what he learnt.
So the solution is education to create opportunities to serve the society.

A Call to Serve
After so much of development we speak that mankind has achieved we still have
many of people starving and not even able to have a quarter meal a day to satisfy their
hunger. When we are having fashion shows all over the world there are people who dont
have sufficient clothing to cover their bodies. When the world is planning to build
buildings touching the sky there are people who not even have proper roof to the hut to
live in. We boost of great achievements and discoveries of mankind when our own kind of
people, our own brothers and sisters are suffering with lack of basic needs.
It was almost a century since Swami Vivekananda sounded his clarion call to youth:
A hundred thousand men and women, fired with the zeal of holiness, fortified with
eternal faith in the lord, and nerved of lions courage by their sympathy for the poor,
downtrodden, will go over the length and breadth of the world, preach gospel of salvation,
the gospel of help, the gospel of social rising up-the gospel of equality.
In other words, one can serve others only if one is worth of doing service. Service
to others has its social importance and need. The very idea of service indicates a persons
personality. Only a strong person wants to serve and can serve. Service, in turn, makes a
person strong and great. For, ultimately, Unselfishness is God. Without service no one
can truly develop a strong and healthy personality.
When Swami Vivekananda was asked by a disciple what is the best way to peace
of mind Swami Vivekananda replied My boy if you take my word, you will first have to
open the door of your room and look around instead of closing your eyes. There are
hundreds of helpless and poor people in the neighbourhood of your house; then you have
to serve the best of your ability. He who is ill and has no one to look after him, for him you
have to get medicine and diet and nurse him; he who has nothing to eat, you will have to

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feed him; he who is ignorant, you will have to teach him, well-educate him as you are. My
advice to you is that, if you want peace of mind, you have to serve others in this way as
well as you can, You must give your body, mind, and speech to the welfare of the world
you have read Look upon your mother as God, look upon your father as God, But I say,
Look upon the poor, the illiterate, the ignorant, the afflicted- let these be our god. Knowing
that service to these alone is the highest religion.
The above example clears that for a peaceful mind one need to serve and service is
the only way to develop your personality. We should not forget that we are getting all we
need because someone is sacrificing them for our sake. So we should respect everything
we have and what we posses is the gift of the sacrifice of millions of people. This helps
one to remove his ego and selfishness making him more humble and humanistic.

Service and its Benefits
All the great discoveries and inventions are out of service full attitude. Service
gives one an indomitable energy of character and strength. The entire great scientist who
made great discoveries and inventions were of service full attitude they wanted to serve
the world with their inventions. As Swami Vivekananda says Even the least good done
for others awakens the power within; even thinking the least good of others gradually
instils into the heart the strength of lion. So by serving others we serve ourselves and we
should be grateful to the man we help, think of him as god. Is it not a great privilege to be
allowed to worship god by helping our fellow men?
All the above problems rooting to poverty and unemployment can be eliminated by
developing and providing Service and Character oriented education. Service is very
essential for development of the world and individual. But the question is: Who will do it?
No amount of government policies, Wealth, policing and other social institutions can bring
this about. To serve one needs right type of education. Acquisition of knowledge must go
together with building up your life on sound principles and values. As Mahatma Gandhi
said education without character is meaningless. It is only when one develops character
and strength that one can face difficulties and sufferings of life in a manly fashion. Service
is the fundamentally necessary for making any advancement in life, individually and
collectively. Of course breadwinning is necessary but it is not the supreme end of life.
Service is the highest ideal one can have.
Today we have lots of literate people but only few educated people. Both the words
seams to give same meaning but they are entirely different. When you know how to read,
write and analyze your called only literate person. Then who is called educated person?
The answer is one who is literate and has harmoniously developed great heart, great mind.
Swami Vivekananda says We need to have three things; the heart to feel, brain to
conceive, the hands to work. First we must go out of the world and make ourselves fit

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instrument. Make yourself a dynamo. Feel first for the world. At a time when all men are
ready to work, where is the man of feelings? Test your love and humility
Hence the idea of harmonious development is
1. The capacity to genuinely feel for others and love them.
2. The capacity to think clearly, in mature and practical perspective.
3. The capacity to be able to put into practice what one has learnt and felt, overcoming
all obstacles and difficulties.
This means all our faculties should work in unison and not in conflict. Todays youth
who is having the attitude to serve not able to do it because they find themselves no time
getting busy in rat race for marks and ranks. And few who yet find time are not able to do
it due to lack of knowledge about whom to serve? When to serve? And what to serve? The
small story gives the solution for this problem.
The story is of a master sculpture well known for his excellent stone sculptures,
especially elephants. People flocked to see his stone sculptures and admired his skills and
workmanship. He became a legend and people wondered how he could do it so perfectly.
His greatness finally reached the king of the country where he lived. The king asked him
to make a marble statue for the palace. The sculpture asked 3 months time and for 2
months he did not start any work at the end of 3
rd
month one day, as if inspire, he took the
chisel and started to carve the marble. He chiselled and chiselled and then emerged an
elephant and the king was astonished on seeing it. How do you do it? asked the king.
It is simple said the sculpture, First I think of the elephant in the marble. I think of its
presence, its head, its trunk, its stomach, legs, and all that. And then, I take the chisel and
chip off all that are non-elephant.
In the same way the youth should be given the directions towards service this starts
from house and then at school or college as a part of education. As parents love their
children they try to give them all luxuries and provide them with the best they can this
sometimes makes the child to feel that everything is well arranged for everyone. This
keeps the truth that millions of children of his age are not even having proper meal a day.
So at a lower level itself they should be taught the art of service and they should be shown
how millions of his/her own brothers and sisters are suffering this would help them to
develop a heart to feel for the poor and downtrodden. Though we have many lives stories
of great people of who dedicated their life to service like Mother Theresa, Gandhi, and
Swami Vivekananda etc. They should be given a practical experience of what is happening
to millions of sisters and brothers.
Here is a live example of a school which has imparted service into a practical way
through its school children. I was one among the volunteers who were with them. When
every school was taking their children to tours to beautiful places, Museums etc. This
school children were taken for a tour too but, not to any museum or historical place but to
a place, a village which was washed out by a flood. The children on seeing the sight of

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that devastated village were moved and came forth to help it and not with the money from
their parents but from their own talent. The following week they arranged a painting
competition and exhibited their paints sold them and they made an amount of four lacks
with which they brought daily utensils and distributed them to all the needy people.
Seeing the great happiness in the eyes of the people they decided to continue with
this kind of service activities. The next step they took was to adopt a school in a very
remote village. They visited that village stayed there in the company of the villagers for 2
days, taught them about cleanliness and cleaned the village which inspired the villagers to
assist them and distributed books to all the children which were purchased from the money
saved by giving up their desires of watching a movie or having a party with friends. The
following month they brought that village school children to their home city, took them to
their homes and for next two days they took the village children all around the city
showing them the city and teaching them the city ways and culture.
After this they say that they feel very happy and peaceful whenever the village
boy/girl calls them and shares their improvement to them. One of the students says
Before doing this service I had no goal but after seeing that village I decided to become a
civil engineer. Now the school is giving free education to 5 students every year in their
school. This is a fine example tells that service help one to discover ones true joy and
passion and gives one a lot of energy.

Practical Application the Real Solution
Today we are not practically applying what we have learnt. We are running after
companies for jobs but we are failing to find our true passion running after jobs and
money. Educational institutions are also failing to help the youth unleash ones natural
talent. They are concentrating on academics but not in practical application of what they
are teaching. If is like teaching the theory beyond the working of revolver but not allowing
the student to touch it and expecting them to be the greatest marksman of tomorrow.
Practical application of knowledge is the solution for the major problems. It creates
opportunities for ones growth and allows a wide scope to serve the society.
We can feed a poor man once or twice but as we keep on feeding him we make him
lazy and worthless one. So one should try to serve in much higher way i.e. by providing
him education and making him to stand on his own legs. If one is educated and stands on
ones own legs he takes the responsibility of rest of his family and he educates his kids. It
looks very good on paper but in practical it is very tough thing. But one real local hero has
done it and stood as an inspiring example for all.
When 27-year old Sarathbabu graduated from the Indian Institute of Management,
Ahmedabad, he created quite a stir by refusing a job that offered him a huge salary. He
preferred to start his own enterprise -- Food king Catering Service -- in Ahmedabad. He
was inspired by his mother who once sold idlis on the pavements of Chennai, to educate

300

him and his siblings. It was a dream comes true, when Infosys co-founder N R Narayana
Murthy lit the traditional lamp and inaugurated Sarathbabu's enterprise.
Sharathbabu who was born in slum in Chennai had two elder sisters and two elder
brothers. Her mom was only breadwinner of the house with an income of one rupee a day.
He sold idlis to help his mother before going to school. Seeing his mothers hard work he
also started to work hard and was school topper all the time. In his 11
th
and 12
th
he paid the
college fee by doing a job at book binding shop. After clearing entrance test he got
admission into BITS, Pilani. He completed his chemical engineering and worked in a
software company to clear the debts and cleared CAT to join the IIM Ahmedabad. He
completed his MBA and refused a 6 digit salary and started his own food business inspired
by his mother. Using his managerial skills he developed the company to employ 10,000
youth who were poor and he is providing scholarships to poor children from the 10 crore
turnover he makes from his catering business. He stands as a guide post to all the youth
who wants to serve the society.
I would like to share this idea which we did to serve the society. Some of my
friends with the help of few of our lecturers started a company called Tech Apps. Last
month we released a remote controlled electrical appliances system designed by students
which coasted Rs.1800/- we were able to make a profit of Rs.8000/- we used this amount
to feed the poor children. Soon we want to develop into a big company and provide
employment to as many youth as possible and would undertake a project of educating poor
children at the cost of the company.

Conclusion
Education institutions should encourage students to unleash their natural talent and
use it for betterment for society. There should be more practical knowledge impartment in
the education system than mere book reading. Students should be encouraged to take up
live and practical projects that help to solve national problems.
Students instead of running after companies for jobs should organize themselves and
start their own organizations and start employing talented youth and serve the society with
the profits of the company.
If one organization can employ 15000 youth who takes care of a family of 4
members tomorrow we could be able to eliminate 15000*4=60000 people from poverty
and unemployment. Finally I would like to give one final quotation of Swami
Vivekananda Lets all work hard my brethren its no time to sleep. On our work depends
the future of the nation?

L. Sravan Kumar is student of Rajeev Gandhi Memorial College of Engineering.&
Technology, Nandyal, Andhra Pradesh, India.

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Swot Analysis of Selected Entrepreneurial Activities Performed by Rural Women

Swot Analysis of Selected Entrepreneurial Activities
Performed by Rural Women

Rajshree Upadhyay and Tara Negi

Introduction
Prosperity of the nation is measured by its economic development and the
economic development to a large extent depends on human resource. Women are
increasingly seen as an important index for the development of nation. It is necessary to
foster economic development among women and encourage them to take up
entrepreneurial activities so that the significant workforce of the country may be utilized
more effectively for the progress of the country. Youths in the rural areas have little
options, this is what they are given to believe. This is the reason that many of them either
work at farm or migrate to urban land. The need is to plant other options in the minds of
rural youth. Entrepreneurship could be the best option. If planted and nurtured in the
minds of rural women and youth, it could result in revolutionizing the Indian economy. It
should be emphasized that the enterprise undertaken by these entrepreneurs should not be
constrained by its location in rural area. Entrepreneurship is the key element in any
development process. It is entrepreneurship which activates, utilizes and coordinates other
factors for economic growth and development. The development of rural areas has been
closely associated with the development of rural entrepreneurs especially the youth and
women.
A rural women entrepreneur plays a crucial and pivotal role in the rural
development. In rural areas development of women is still a challenging task and calls for
attention and priority treatment. Promotion of women entrepreneurship is a dependable
path to economic stability of women and her family. The entrepreneurship shows path of
independence to women who are living in situation of extreme poverty, doing hard work
and have poor infrastructural support. (N. Namasivayam, 2003) Entrepreneurial
development among women offers mental satisfaction and provides diversion to women
from routine work. It gives psychological satisfaction or relief to the educated women,
profiles a sense of achievement and a separate identity in the society (S.Kaur, 2006).
49

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Majority of the women population is living in rural areas, which is illiterate, poor, over
loaded with multiple household duties. Participation of women in agriculture is well
recognized but in income generating activities it has not been established and it varies with
regional cultural norms. Since rural women and rural youth are adopting different
microenterprises at their own level, so it becomes important to analyze their
entrepreneurial performance by the assessment of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities
and threats of selected entrepreneurial activities performed by them. Collectively we can
say that SWOT analysis is a strategic planning method used to evaluate the Strengths,
Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats involved in an enterprise. It involves specifying
the objective of the enterprise and identifying the internal and external factors that are
favourable and unfavourable to achieving that objective. Strengths indicate the attributes
of the person or an enterprise that are helpful in achieving the objective(s) or the strong
points of an enterprise and what advantages do they have over the competitors.
Weaknesses indicate attributes of the person or enterprise that is harmful to achieve the
objective(s) and the entrepreneur must determine, what is the aspect in which the
enterprise is not good. Opportunities indicate the external conditions those are helpful to
achieving the objective(s) and avenues are there for development and growth. Threats
indicate the external conditions which could do damage to the objective(s).
It is important to assess the involvement of rural women in selected entrepreneurial
activities and how much income they are generating, utilization of the income , what
changes they have experienced from their selected enterprises, why they are doing that
particular enterprise, the support system available to them, how they manage their
enterprise and what are the hidden potentialities so that a better and wider horizon can be
created for the economic independence and empowerment of the hilly women, who
constitute the nerve centre for their family and for society. Many research studies have
been done in the part on entrepreneurship but very little work has been done on women as
entrepreneur. Women entrepreneurship need to be studied separately as it well recognized
that is an untapped source of economic growth. It is necessary to collect comprehensive
data about this aspect. Hence, an effort had been laid to conduct the study entitled SWOT
analysis of selected entrepreneurial activities performed by rural women, Hence the
present study was conducted with following objectives.
To assess the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT analysis) of
the selected entrepreneurial activities undertaken by the rural women.

Methodology
The present study was conducted purposively in Almora District of Uttarakhand
State. Four activities i.e. shawl weaving, carpet weaving, alpana making (apan) and pine
work (peeruk work) were selected for the present study as these activities are the specialty
of the area. In order to select the Panchayat Samities and get the information regarding the

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selected entrepreneurial activities being performed by rural women, official of District
Industries Centre, District Rural Development Agency, Non Government Organizations
and Cooperative societies in the Almora district were contacted personally. On the
basis of preliminary discussions, possibility of getting rural women entrepreneurs and
accessibility, four panchayat samities out of eleven namely Hawalbagh, Takula,
Dhauladevi and Bhainsiachana were selected purposively for the present study. For each
activity 15 rural women were selected randomly from the list of women. Hence the total
sample of the study constituted of 60 rural women entrepreneurs. Interview technique was
used for data collection. After collecting data, it is necessary to analyze it with the help of
statistics to arrive at proper and adequate conclusion. Mean weighted score were used, and
responses on different items were recorded on four point continuum viz. strongly
applicable, applicable, partially applicable and not applicable assigning 3, 2, 1 and 0
scores respectively.

Results and Discussion
1. General Information about Selected Entrepreneurial Activities
Majority of the rural women in selected entrepreneurial activities (93.33%) had
started the enterprise to improve the family status and 43.33 per cent of the respondents
were motivated by NGO/GOs to run the enterprise. The reason for selecting the particular
enterprise by rural women was found to be good knowledge and skills about selected
entrepreneurial activities (61.7%) followed by manageable at household level
(41.7%).Near about half of the respondents (46.66%) were running the enterprise from 5-
10 years. Half of the respondents (50%) procured the finance from family members and
invested less than Rs. 5,000/- initially in selected entrepreneurial activities. More than half
of the respondents (56.66%) procured the raw material from city market. About ways of
marketing, more than three fourth of the respondents (78.33%) were doing marketing at
their home and through the help of cooperatives and NGOs (66.66%).Respondents
advertised their produced items with the help of NGOs/GOs and cooperatives (83.33%).
Majority of the respondents (93.33%) utilized the income to fulfill the family requirements
and most of them on childrens education (85%). Further women saved some amount of
income (60%) for future purpose and on medical treatment of the family members
(35%).Majority of the respondents (83.33%) reported changes in food and education of
children whereas half of the respondents reported special recognition by the family
members after starting the enterprise while 31.66-46.66 per cent respondents reported
changes in health, hygiene and clothing.

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2. SWOT Analysis of Selected Entrepreneurial Activities

Table 1: Mean weighted scores (NWS) of Strengths and Weaknesses perceived by the respondents in
shawl weaving, carpet weaving, alpana making and pine work enterprise
n
i
= 15
NB S- Strength, W-Weakness, O-Opportunities, T-Threats

Table 2: Mean weighted scores (MWS) of Opportunities and Threats perceived by the respondents in
shawl weaving, carpet weaving, alpana making and pine work enterprise
n
i
=15
Categories Shawl
weaving
Carpet
weaving
Alpana
making
Pine work
S W S W S W S W
Rate of return 0.533 0.870 0.733 2.230 1.230 0.086 1.066 2.430
Experience 1.330 0.467 2.450 0.000 1.600 0.000 1.000 0.270
Feminine nature of
work
0.466 0.400 1.533 0.200 2.340 0.270 0.266 0.380
Creativity 1.200 0.270 1.933 0.000 1.340 0.000 .0860 0.340
Cost 0.333 0.730 0.000 1.750 0.670 0.133 0.400 0.680
Skills 1.400 0.330 1.733 0.000 0.086 0.000 0.900 0.200
Compatibility 0.470 0.200 0.733 0.330 0.670 0.066 0.600 0.133
Business background 0.133 1.733 2.360 0.900 0.400 1.530 0.066 0.180
Product features 1.066 0.270 1.786 0.000 0.600 0.133 1.600 0.340
Packaging 0.333 0.800 0.240 1.460 0.066 0.730 0.500 0.270
Product life 1.770 0.000 0.933 0.060 1.133 0.000 0.133 1.760
Unique 0.470 0.270 1.890 0.267 1.133 0.073 1.500 0.460
Scope for selling 1.467 0.270 1.600 0.400 1.800 0.000 1.600 0.240
Stocks 0.200 0.670 0.460 0.760 0.270 0.730 0.600 0.400
Location 0.060 1.800 0.000 1.733 0.400 1.530 0.460 1.000
Family support 1.400 0.330 2.580 0.200 1.530 0.000 1.133 0.270
Profit margin 0.340 1.730 0.000 2.33 0.400 0.600 0.270 1.133
Categories Shawl
weaving
Carpet
weaving
Alpana
making
Pine work
O T O T O T O T
Competition 0.330 1.270 0.000 2.533 0.800 1.780 0.890 1.730
Demand 0.220 1.330 0.470 1.330 0.933 1.330 0.330 1.540
Government
policies
0.133 0.933 1.060 0.600 0.200 0.800 0.460 1.40

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NB S- Strength, W-Weakness. O-Opportunities, T-Threats
Symbol* represents that technical assistant is not required in alpana making and in pine
work.

1. Shawl Weaving
Strengths and Weaknesses: Data in the Table 1 shows the strengths and weaknesses
perceived by the respondents in the shawl weaving enterprise. The strongest point revealed
by the respondents was good product life as the woollen shawls if not sold immediately
can be stored for next season without getting them spoiled (MWS-1.17), this was followed
by another strength i.e. scope for selling (MWS-1.47) as the respondents had liaison with
cooperatives centres, with shopkeepers and they themselves sold their product in different
places. Besides that respondent perceived good family support (MWS-1.4) and skills
(MWS-1.4) as strengths in shawl weaving. The family members helped the respondents in
procurement of machinery, raw material, in finishing of shawls and in acquiring of license.
Respondents were creative in design making and in shawl weaving production process
(MWS-1.2). Further respondents reported that they had long years of work experience,
full-fledged knowledge and expertise in their field (MWS-1.33). Further Table 1 reveals
that the weakest point perceived by all the respondents engaged in shawl weaving
enterprise was inappropriate and poor location of the enterprise (MWS-1.8). The reason
was that mostly the respondents were residing in villages, which were away from market
place. This was followed by another weakness i.e. lack of family business background
(MWS-1.73), as majority of the respondents main occupation was agriculture.
Respondents also reported low profit margin (MWS-1.73), as they were not receiving
whatever profit they have fixed and compelled to compromise with the situation. Besides
this respondents also perceived low rate of return in the enterprise (MWS-0.87) as a
weakness to some extent.
The finding are in conformity with Maheshwari and Bhandari (2003) who
revealed that majority of artisans couples (60-70%) faced problems of finance, lack of
work space, storage place, non-availability of raw material, transportation, marketing,
training etc. Besides these problems they did not get full returns of their produce.

Technical
assistance
0.470 1.200 1.060 0.800 * * * *
Raw material 0.560 2.670 0.340 1.870 2.78 0.500 2.780 0.280
Cost 0.560 0.670 0.270 0.730 0.133 0.900 0.133 0.860
Product
quality
0.400 0.000 1.330 0.230 1.780 0.240 1.470 0.240
Expansion 1.250 1.000 1.060 0.270 0.200 0.900 0.270 1.200

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Opportunities and Threats: Perusal of the Table 2 reveals the opportunities and threats in
shawl weaving unit reported by the respondents. Table shows that respondents perceived
unique product quality as an opportunity (MWS-1.25) for their enterprise. The respondents
reported that their shawl were traditional, handmade woven and had intricate designs
which give feeling of warmth and softness that lured the buyers and tourists. Further Table
2 reveals that scarcity of raw material in the local and city market were a major threat for
their enterprise (MWS-2.67) .The reason was that respondents had to go outside the city
namely, Dharchula, Panipat, Hissar, Ludhiana etc. for purchasing of raw material like
Pashmeena wool, Marino wool, Newzealand wool and lambs wool . Besides these the
demands of the product in local and city market were low (MWS-1.33) due to high cost of
shawls. Another threat perceived by the respondents was tough competition (MWS-1.27)
which was a hurdle for their enterprise. The respondents said that it was difficult to sustain
the unit due to the existence of large scale industries in nearby areas that were making use
of machines and getting good return, so it was hampering their progress.
The findings of the present study are also in line with Sharma (2007) who observed
that all the respondents perceived stiff competition as the major threat in the Tailoring and
embroidery enterprise. The respondents said that it was difficult to sustain the unit due to
large scale industries.

ii) Carpet Weaving
Strengths and Weaknesses: Data in the Table 1 depicts the Strengths and Weaknesses in
carpet weaving enterprise which was perceived by the respondents. The strongest point
revealed by the respondents was great family support (MWS-2.58) and long work
experience (MWS-2.45) in the enterprise due to traditional nature of activity. Besides this,
respondents revealed that business family background was also strength for their
enterprise (MWS-2.36) as 40 per cent respondents were artisans. Further creativity in the
enterprise was reported as strength (MWS-1.93) as the respondents were using new
designs, which were both traditional and contemporary. Rural women also revealed unique
features like smoothness, resiliency, good colour combination, brightness in the design
and well-finished product as credible features (MWS-1.89). With regard to weaknesses
respondent reported less profit margin in the enterprise as the main weakness (MWS-
2.33). This was followed by low rate of return (MWS-2.23). The reason was that due to
high selling price the local people could not afford the carpet, so they were solely
dependent on tourists, district fairs and on cooperatives for their sale. Another weakness
reported was the high cost of product (MWS-1.75) due to which only affluent class bought
their product.
The findings of the present study are also in line with Ramchandran and Selvarni
(2005) who observed in a study on, Problems and Prospects of Women Entrepreneurship
in Rural Areas" that women entrepreneurs faced many problems viz. financial problems,

307

shortage of raw material, heavy competition, social barriers, family conflicts, problems by
middle man, lack of information, lack of self confidence, high cost of production and
absence of entrepreneurial aptitude.

Opportunities and Threats: The data from Table 2 depict the opportunities and threats in
the carpet weaving enterprise. Respondents reported that quality of the product was good
as it provides feeling of warmth, had attractive designs, long shelf life, can be made of
different sizes and was easy to maintain (MWS-1.33).They further perceived favourable
government policies like noticification for sale in fairs, in exhibitions and new schemes for
weavers followed by expansion of enterprises in future (MWS-1.06) as opportunities.
Further Table 2 reveals threat faced by the rural entrepreneurs in carpet weaving
enterprise. Tough competition was reported a major threat by the respondents (MWS-2.53)
due to the existence of large scale industries in nearby areas so the value of handmade
carpet is deteriorating day by day and people are going for machine made carpet. This was
followed by another threat i.e. non availability of raw material in the market (MWS-1.87)
and low demand of the product due to its high cost.
The findings of the present study are also in line with Babel et al. (2006) who
observed the constraints faced by the household handloom weaving units in Rajasthan. It
was found that major constrained faced were related to finance, unavailability of raw
material, lack of demand and low income returns. Under such circumstances it was
difficult to continue traditional work sincerely.

III) Alpana Making
Strengths and Weaknesses: Data in the Table 1 shows the strength and weaknesses
perceived by the respondents in alpana making enterprise. Respondents perceived
feminine nature of the job as a major strength (MWS-2.34). The reason was that mostly
the female members were making alpana in the Almora district. Besides this they had
better scope for selling of their articles in footpath markets which are famous tourist
destinations. They also sold their products through cooperatives and non government
organizations. Further rural women had linkages with shopkeepers who sold their articles
(MWS-1.8).Another strength reported by respondents was, they had long years of work
experience in this enterprise (MWS-1.6) which was advantageous for them. Further
respondents reported that good product life (MWS-1.13) and unique features (MWS-1.13)
as a strengths for their enterprise. The respondents revealed that Kumauni alpana (apan)
was an exclusive product and specialty of Almora town. Another strength which was
perceived by the respondents was support of the family members (MWS-1.53) in running
the enterprise. Regarding weaknesses, Table 1 shows that majority of the respondents had
no business family background (MWS-1.53). All the respondents mostly engaged in

308

agricultural tasks. This was followed by the poor location of the enterprise which was
inappropriate in terms of marketing as they were residing in the villages (MWS-1.53).
Swami (1999) in a SWOT analysis of women entrepreneurs reported that the
major strength of women entrepreneurs was husbands support, while their highest
weaknesses were lack of business background and mobility in business from one place to
another.

Opportunities and Threats: Data in the Table 2 represent the opportunities and threats in
alpana making enterprise. The respondents perceived easy availability of raw material in
the city market like colours, paints, hard ply as an opportunity (MWS-2.78). Besides this
the quality of the product was remarkable (MWS-1.78). The reason was that the designs
like Pooja ki chauki, Laxmi ki chauki, Vishnu ki chauki were exclusives and the shelf life
of product was also long. The fine and intricate design was also a good feature of the
product. Table 2 also reveals the threat perceived by the respondents in alpana making
enterprise. Respondents reported that too much competition among different women who
were also making alpana in the city was a major threat for their enterprise (MWS-1.78).
Women reported low demand of their product was a threat (MWS-1.33). The reason was
that now a days shopkeeper sale artificial/machine made alpana which are cheap and easy
to carry so automatically the demand of their product goes down in the market which is a
hurdle for them.
The findings of the present study are also in line with Nayyar (2007) who observed
the constraints faced by women entrepreneurs in entrepreneurial process. Marketing
problems such as poor location of shops, lack of transport facility and competition were
major hurdles faced by the women entrepreneurs in the expansion of their enterprise.
Regarding production problems non-availability of raw material, machinery/equipments
and labour, lack of training and repairing facilities, lack of demand in local market were
the major problems faced by women entrepreneurs.

IV) Pine Work
Strengths and Weaknesses: Data in the Table 1 indicates the strengths and weaknesses in
pine work perceived by the respondents. In pine work rural women entrepreneurs
perceived scope for selling of the articles in footpath markets which are famous tourist
destinations, through cooperatives and in district markets as strength (MWS-1.6). The
reason was that they had good linkages with the other organizations who sold their
products and their own selling efforts, followed by the remarkable features of the product
(MWS-1.6). The respondents further revealed that the product was unique (MWS-1.50) as
it was specialty of Almora and made by fresh pine leaves. Respondents further reported
that they had family support also (MWS-1.13). Perusal of the Table 1 reveals that the
weakest point perceived by the respondents was low rate of return in terms of money

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(MWS-2.43). The reason was that customers do lot of bargaining so they had to
compromise with them. Lack of business family background (MWS-1.8) was also reported
as a weakness, mostly the respondents main occupation was agriculture. Rural women also
reported that the product life of pine article was not too good as it is delicate and could be
damaged easily (MWS-1.76). Another weak point reported by respondents was low profit
margin (MWS-1.13).

Opportunities and Threats: Data in the Table 2 highlights the opportunities and threats in
Pine work. Respondents reported that easy availability of raw material like pine leaves
from forest, varnish and fevicol from local market as an opportunity for them (MWS-
2.78). Another opportunity was product quality (MWS-1.47) which was unique and
specialty of Almora city due to its design and braiding techniques. Table 2 shows that the
respondents perceived competition as a major threat (MWS-1.73) as many male artisans
were also involved in this activity in nearby villages. Besides this the demand of their
product in the market was low (MWS-1.54). The reason was that people were generally
purchasing bamboo and wooden articles which had more durability as compared to pine
work. Respondents also revealed weak government policies for the rural artisans who had
no facilities like marketing of their product (MWS-1.4). Women entrepreneurs were also
striving for the expansion of their enterprise in future (MWS-1.2).

Conclusion
To overcome the weaknesses and reduce the threats in running of enterprise among
rural women it is suggested that government should provide the raw material at lower
subsidy in the local and city market. District Industrial Centre, District Rural Development
Agency, Non Government Organizations must take measurable steps and locate the right
place for marketing. For the availability of raw material the government should take
proper initiatives and should create the liaison with other state departments so that they
can meet out the demand of the raw material .The personnel of the NGOs and local
extension workers should motivate the family members to help the rural women in her
business and enhance the product features so that rate of return could be raised. To reduce
the threats it is suggested to raise the demand and market value of the product in city, state
and national market. Self Help Group approach may be adopted by rural women rather
than running individual activity. Efforts should be made to sale the articles outside the
Almora district and Uttarakhand state. The design made by rural women can be catalogued
and documented which will facilitate the export of such items. Enterprise related
specialized skills oriented trainings should be organized by DRDA, DIC ,Government and
Non government organizations and Cooperatives exclusively on the particular aspects so
that women can become competent in the particular enterprise. For rural women loaning
process and getting license is a cumbersome and difficult job, the government officials

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from rural development department and lead bank officers should take measurable steps to
remove this hurdle. The introduction of branding of the handloom and handicraft products
is another important measure that increases the marketability of the product. A handloom
and handicraft research centre must be set up at the state level to undertake research on
demand patterns, designing weaving and craft technology.

References
Babel, S and Gupta, P. 2006. Constraints in the Economic Development of Women
Handloom Weavers of Rajasthan. Proceedings of 2
nd
National Extension Education
Congress on Technology Application for Extension Education, held at MPUAT,
Udaipur (Rajasthan) from 22-24 May, 2004.p-195.
Kaur, S. 2006. Entrepreneurship among Rural Women. Kisan World. 16: 47-49.
Mahashwari, S. and Bhandari, K. 2003. Artisan involvement in selected entrepreneurial
activities and their problems presented at National Seminar on Extension Strategies
Promoting Development Initiative among Farming Community, held at Pantnagar,
Uttarakhand from 18-20, 2003. Abstract of research paper (IARI) New Delhi.16.
Namasivayam, N.2003. Women Entrepreneurial Development. Kisan world .30:17.
Nayyar, M. 2007. Recent trends in women entrepreneurship. Kisan World. 18: 57-59.
Ramachandran, S.and Selvarani, V. 2005. Problems and Prospectus of Women
Entrepreneurship in Rural Areas. Kisan World.32:30.
Sharma, B. 2007. Prospectus and Appraisal of Rural Women Entrepreneurial Activities in
Kangra District of Himachal Pradesh. A PhD. Thesis, MPUAT, Udaipur.
Swami, D. 1999. Status and Problems of Organized Women Entrepreneurs in Udaipur
District. A M.Sc. Thesis, Rajasthan Agriculture University, Bikaner

Rajshree Upadhyay is professor and Tara Negi is Research Scholar at Maharana Pratap
University of Agriculture and Technology, Udaipur, Rajasthan.

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Values for Empowerment of Youth through English Language Teaching:
Contribution of Swami Vivekanandas Vision & Integral Philosophy

Values for Empowerment of Youth through English Language
Teaching: Contribution of Swami Vivekanandas Vision &
Integral Philosophy

S. Rukmini

Introduction
In the recent years many a heated discussions have been held at various platforms
by the educationists for the reformation and reshaping of the present education system
which is discerned as degenerated. The word degeneration here meant to be devoid of
values such as moral values, ethical values and spiritual values. The reason for such
degeneration opined by them is that the present education system has been overloaded
with theories and concepts rather than the practical things of life that fetch one only to eke
ones livelihood but not live a life to its fullness (wholesomeness).This fullness in other
terms can be framed as holistic personality of an individual.
Right from the inception the education of a child is concerned and child is being
induced by all elders to pick up one particular subject and excel in it so that he/she can
become a professional in that particular area and thus lead his/her life getting a handsome
salary and be in the family way. The child, who undergoes all such challenges in life as
desired by the elders, at a stage later in its feels that these many things that he has
achieved do not give him satisfaction thus dissatisfied groping for satisfaction it finds
solace in gambling, drinking, drug addiction, etc to fill the gap in life. Thus one can say
that the present education is teaching one that getting and spending is the end of life.
When probed into the teachings of our ancient spiritual leaders and thinkers we
find that there is a life beyond all this and one needs to journey from getting and spending
to the study of the self. By introspecting within himself as who is he one may find the
solution for ones dissatisfaction. For it is the answer of this question that ancient people
were able to live wholesome lives.
Great Spiritual leaders like Ramana Maharshi, Swami Ramakrishna Paramahamsa
were living exemplars on how to lead a life understanding the wholesomeness, a world
where there would be no room for dissatisfaction. Swami Vivekananda, Sri Aurobindo and
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Jiddu Krishnamurti were few among the post renaissance era who lived such a life. Their
writings as well as speeches would help one to be free from the afore-mentioned traits that
are incurred from the dissatisfaction in ones life.
Swami Vivekananda avers that the aim of education is to manifest in our lives the
perfection which is the very nature of self. This perfection is the realization of the infinite
power which resides in everything and everywhere existence, consciousness and bliss.
We do understand that the present education system that is overloaded with all the theories
and concepts is helping one only to eke out ones living but not helping one to unveil the
perfection that is already in man but in fact is a veil that stands before us veiling the
absolute truth.

Swami Vivekanandas Vision
Commenting upon the present education system Swami Vivekananda avers, The
defect of the present education is that it has no definite goal to pursue. A teacher has no
clear idea about the goal of his teaching. In this context he attempts to establish through
his words and deeds that the end of all education is man-making. Man-making meant
rousing men to the awareness of his true soul. He also prepares a scheme of this man-
making education in the light of his over-all philosophy of Vedanta.
According to Vedanta, the essence of Man lies in his soul, which he possess in
addition to his body and mind. In true with this philosophy Swamiji defines education as
the manifestation of the perfection already in Man. To him education is not a mere
accumulation of information but a comprehensive training of life. To quote Swami
Vivekananda, Education is not the amount of information that is put in your brain and
runs riot there undigested all your life, It is the process by which character is found
strength of mind is increased and intellect is sharpened, as a result of which one can
stand on ones own feet. Commenting upon the English education he says it is necessary
for mastering the western science and technology provided Sanskrit leads into the depths
of our vast store of Classics.
While mother tongue is the right medium for social or mass education Swamiji
prescribes the learning of English and Sanskrit too. By spreading knowledge of Western
methods of Agriculture, health care techniques and industrial methodologies among the
masses, the needs such as eradicating the hunger and lack of the bare necessities of life can
be met. He is of the opinion that while western knowledge helps one to eke out ones
living the knowledge of Indian repositories gives one the pabulum to know ones self. He
does not shun the western education but says that both spiritual knowledge and secular
knowledge is needed for a holistic development of the individual.
Further he says that spiritual knowledge should not be restricted only to the upper
classes but it has to spread among the downtrodden too. He says both the knowledge i.e.,

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the spiritual and the secular can be imparted through a scheme of Integral Education
carried out on a mass scale with the support of a powerful organization.

Integral Humanism of Swami Vivekananda
His vision is even more relevant to the needs of the present day society than it ever
was before. To him spiritual knowledge as well as secular knowledge is complementary to
each other. Both should go hand in hand. For he believes that education and religion are
two phases of a single process of self-revelation and self-realization. The Integral
Humanistic philosophy propounded by him preaches that education should help a person
to transcend the senses and gain spiritual knowledge and apply this knowledge in practical
life to solve the problem of life. He calls it as Practical Vedanta.
Swami Vivekanandas vision of the unity of Humanity gives a new enlightened
understanding of the concept of secularism. Secularism means freedom from the sectarian
exclusive stranglehold of institutional religions and on the other hand the practical
application of knowledge of the immanent spiritual oneness of all humanity as the
foundation of the ideals of liberty, equality and fraternity in social life, in national life and
international life. Further, it is this understanding that he wanted to be the basis of
educational planning in India. This will prepare children of India to walk the sunlit path of
Integral Education and grow to be enlightened citizens which in turn will pave a way to
build a better and happier world for future generations.

Promotion of Swami Vivekanandas Philosophy through English Language Teaching
As part of English Language Teaching students should be exposed to listen to the
speeches of Swami Vivekananda which will facilitate students assertiveness, personality
development, confidence, leadership and human values. Further, he will be prone to the art
of public speaking.
Selective writings of Swami Vivekanandas philosophy of Education can be given
to the students under reading for comprehension passages. This will improve better
comprehension and understanding as well as facilitate them with analytical and logical
thinking.
With regard to writing skills of students, Swami Vivekanandas writings can help
them to write sentences without committing any grammatical errors. Linguistics skills and
abilities such as Syntax, vocabulary etc., will improve. Overall Swami Vivekanandas
literature will help the students to empower oneself with culturally matched values and
thus develop holistic personality.

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Conclusion
If the present education is embedded with Practical Vedanta as propounded by
Swami Vivekananda then one finds a ray of hope to empower the youth with values that is
witnessed to be devoid from the present education.
It is important that teachers should be given in depth orientation of Swami
Vivekanandas integral Vedanta philosophy to enrich their understanding of the right
education and its goal as well as nurture values and humanism in students. It is apt to
conclude by recalling Swami Vivekanandas call to the youth My plan is to start
institutions in India to train our young men as preachers of the Truth of our scriptures in
India and outside India.

References:
Swami Vivekananda, The Nationalistic and Religious Lectures (Kolkata: Advaita Ashram
Press,1990).
Swami Vivekananda, Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda (Kolkata: Advaita Ashram
Press, 1979).

S. Rukmini is Assistant Professor at GITAM Institute of Technology, GITAM University,
Rushikonda, Visakhapatnam.

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Women Empowerment through Education

Women Empowerment through Education

Sonu Fartyal and Poonam Prajapati

Introdution
Educate a man you educate one person. Educate a woman you educate the whole
family.
- Jawaharlal Nehru
Education is important for everyone, because it creates opportunity for all the
members in the society. Education of all human being is precious asset of a nation.
Education is needed for the overall development of a person. It provides knowledge and
skill to make life better and empower people in all areas of development.
The progress made by India in the field of education after independence, is
unprecedented in the whole of Asia. For the first time in the history of India, a National
system of education is established, i.e., a system that implies that the access to education is
open to all students irrespective of caste, creed or sex. It is universally accepted that
education is a significant instrument in improving the status of women. Education is the
key to create equitable environment and a democratic and peaceful society where women
play equally important roles. India has accepted the goal of a democratic and egalitarian
society, so the promotion and development of womens education is foregone
commitment. The university education commission (1948-49), just after independence,
felt the need of womens education and stated that there cannot be an educated people
without educated women.
Women account for roughly half the world's population, perform two-thirds of the
hours worked, receive one-tenth of the world's income, and have less than one hundredth
of the world's property registered in their names. Indian women are playing a crucial role
in a number of fields and professions over the years, as our nation progresses on the path
of development, and they play an important role in our efforts for inclusive growth. The
education of women and the girl child is a very important tool for this effort, so that they
can contribute towards development.'
Girls who have been educated are likely to marry later and to have smaller and
healthier families. Educated women can recognize the importance of health care and know
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how to seek it for themselves and their children. Education helps girls and women to know
their rights and to gain confidence to claim them. However, womens literacy rates are
significantly lower than mens in most developing countries.

Necessity for Education of Women
Empowerment of women is one of the main reasons as to why female education is
necessary in India. If a woman is educated than it will build self-confidence and among
them and this will result in empowerment.
If women are educated and empowered they will also be a source of income for the
family. This will not only raise the standard of living of the family but also the economic
condition of the country. After all the economic conditions of a country will grow only if
all the citizens are prosperous.

Women Education in India
The Government of India has expressed a strong desire to educate its residents.
Even today the country has the lowest literacy rates amongst females. As per records, there
are more than 200 million illiterate females in India. This low literacy rate not only creates
a negative effect on the females lives but then lowers the economic status of the country
as well. In spite of the low literacy levels, the country has been making a gradual progress
in the overall educational attainment. For instance, in 1971 only 22% of the overall female
population was literate, but then, by 1991, the percentage was increased to 39%.
Considering literacy measures, the literacy rates of females also differs from one state to
the other.
Women education in India plays a crucial role in the all round development of the
nation. It is true that formerly women were deprived of education and the benefits that
came along with the same, but then, things have changed to some extent in recent times.
Today, the government has introduced various initiative programs for the improvement of
female education. With women education turning out to be a compulsory option, females
now have the choice to pursue higher studies and get through well known job fields. The
government has made education free and compulsory for girls up to the age of fourteen. In
addition, the country is also home to a wide variety of schools and colleges that have been
exclusively designed for the female mass.
In India, since the 19
th
century, when the first voice was raised against the inferior
status of women in society, social reformers gave high priority to womens education.
With the establishment of Bethune School in Calcutta in 1849 the first step towards
acceptance of women education was taken. Female Education in India is not a gift of
modern civilization. India has always been a relentless champion of the cause of women at
all international and national front. The policy makers have become conscious that real
development cannot take roots if it bypasses women, who represent the very essential part

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around which social change must take shape. The past few years have seen unprecedented
changes in the political, diplomatic, economic and ideological spheres, but certainly a lot
of developments have also taken roots. From growth to growth with equity, from
economic development to human development and from services endowment to
empowerment, the paradigms of development have certainly come a long way .The
development of women in India - who according to the 1991 census represent 48.1 per
cent of the countrys population - has occupied the centre-stage in our development
planning since independence.
Female Education is not new to us. In olden days women were allowed to enter
gurukuls. They also composed Rigvedic hymns. They excelled in the sphere of education
and hence the goddess of learning was conceived of as a female who was popularly known
as Saraswati, which is followed even today. However all this declined and the situation
worsened till the coming of the British. The social reform movements which arose as a
result of the interaction with the western civilization stressed on educating the women.
The pioneering work of womens education was done by such socio-religious reform
bodies as Brahmo Samaj, Arya Samaj, Ramakrishna mission and also Danish, American,
German and British missionary societies.
After independence the government of India was mainly adopted the welfare the
approach as far as womens issues were concerned. In Fifth Five Year Plan, there was shift
in the approach from welfare to development. The new approach integrated welfare
with developmental services. The sixth Five Year Plan adopted a multi-disciplinary
approach with thrust on health, education and development. In the Seventh Plan,
developmental programmes for women were continued, with the objective of raising their
economic and social status by beneficiary-oriented programmes, which extended direct
benefits to women. The eighth Five Year Plan (1992-97) marked a definite shift from
development to empowerment of women. In order to fulfil the aim to meet the needs of
women and children, the plan outlays of Rs. 4 crores in the First Plan (1951-56) reached
up to Rs. 2,000 crores in the Eighth Five Year Plan (1992-97). In Ninth plan, the aim was
to provide for the basic infrastructural facilities like education for all, and in tenth plan
main focus was reduction in gender gaps. Eleventh plan focused lower gender gap in
literacy to 10 percentage point.

Committee on Differentiation of Curriculum for Boys and Girls (1961): This
committee was set up to suggest necessary reforms without, at the same time, causing an
upheaval in the general pattern of education. The committee suggested following points
regarding girl education:
The public mind will have to be disabused of all traditional concepts of the physical
and intellectual inferiority of women.

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Women teachers should be appointed in all educational institutions which are
ordinarily meant for boys. Similarly some men teachers should also be appointed in
separate secondary schools and colleges for girls.
The committee realised that in the progressive society like ours the women are
expected to share the social and economic responsibilities of men.
The possibility of employment for women in as many vocations as possible to be
explored.

Committee to look into the causes for lack of public support particularly in rural
areas for girls education and to enlist public co-operation (1963):
The basis of recruitment of women teachers should be widened and their conditions
of work should be made more attractive.
Women teachers, as far as possible, should be posted in or near their own villages.
Local bodies should be made responsible for the provision of school buildings,
equipment, playing fields and the observance of the educational code in the state.
The State Government should made all reasonable provision for the advancement of
girls education and government should explore the possibilities of raising the local
resources for the purpose of meeting the full requirement of the advancement of
girls education.
Provisions should be made for offering of electives comprising subjects which
would be of special interest of girls and which would help them later in their fields
of activity.

Factors for Poor Literacy Rate:
Gender based Inequality: This is highly prevalent in India. Women and girls are
not treated on par with the men or boys. The mind set of people, that a girl child is a
burden, is changing.
Occupation of Girls as Domestic Help-Most young girls from the rural areas are
made to drop out of school and made to work as domestic help. This is why there is
such a high rate of drop-outs from school.
Other Reasons-Exploitation, sexual abuse are few of the other reasons why parents
are send their daughters to school.

Role of Women in Society
The roles of women in society have been greatly overseen in the last few decades
but now are coming to a more perspective to people. They are faced with a lot of
responsibility in their lives. Earlier the traditional value of girl education in India was to
teach motherhood, to nurture children and to take care of the household .The Hartog

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committee (Sir Philip Hartog), 1929 fully realized the need and importance of girl and
womens education in India. The education of women especially in the higher stages will
make available to the country a wealth of capacity that is now largely wasted through lack
of opportunity. It is through education that Indian women will be able to increase measure
to culture, the ideals and activities of the country. Also largely high enrolment in primary
school indicates that the old time apathy of masses is breaking down, which leads to
empowerment of a girl and later of women.

Education and Empowerment for Women
Role of Mass Media in Women Empowerment-A large number of women are
emerging out of the system that had once oppressed and exploiter them for centuries.
Since education is an expensive and long process, mass media aims to educate the masses
at a relatively lower cost. It can play a vital role in instilling confidence and self-respect
among women and help them in securing a dignified place in the. The television and radio
are the main sources as they can reach even the rural areas.
Fuller and effective utilization of human resources is a means of developing the
economy and raising the standard of living. Employment has been recognized as their
critical entry point for womens integration is mainstream development.

Benefits of Girl Education
Increase in the Revenue of the Family-If a girl is educated then she can also opt
for a job if the need arises. So she would not be considered as a burden on the
family. This would also control female infanticide.
Check on Social evils-Education, in reality, is the most valuable gift that parents
can give to their daughter. As an educated wife she would be interested in family
planning as well. Studies have shown that illiterate women have high fertility and
mortality rate. Many women prefer to have more children so that they could look
after her in old age. But being educated she would certainly understand the
advantages of a small family which will help in dealing with problems like over-
population and poverty. Also infant mortality is inversely related to the educational
level of the mother. For example, in Kerala female literacy ratio is highest
(87.86%) and has lowest infant mortality rate with highest life expectancy. On the
other hand in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar where female literacy ratio is lowest, life
expectancy is also lowest.
Part in Household Activities-Also being educated she would be able to
participate in the day to day proceedings of the family. This would only add up one
more voice and an opinion. An educated mother would be more conscious about
the health and hygiene of the family than her illiterate counterpart.

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Other reasons- Studies have proved that lack of education affects the general
health of the family. Besides general health inculcating good moral values in her
children would be one of the top priorities of any educated mother. In the long run,
well brought up children, are assets which any society would love to possess. This
is how the civilization progresses and grows.

Conclusion
The present empowerment approach sees the importance of using gender needs as
the basis on which to build a more secure support structure and a means through which
more strategic interests of women may be reached. In our country, a change in socio-
economic and educational status of women is being felt as the impact of various
developmental policies, programmes and institutional mechanisms. The biggest challenge
before government and NGOs is to create awareness and sensitization among the people
of all levels specially in rural areas, about the special needs of women and girls, and that
imparting education to women is a great service to society, as this is to that section of
society which remained deprived and neglected for long in the past. There is a need for
affirmative and real action in favour of women which ensures the women the right to food,
shelter, health, education and employment. The present scenario is kindling hopes for
future.

References
Singh, R.V. (2008). Women empowerment in India, shree publishers & distributors,
New Delhi-110002.
Singh, A. (2008). Women empowerment and sustainable development, Kanishka
publisher, Distributors, New Delhi-110 002.
Deem, R. (1978). Women and schooling, Routledge & kegan Paul, London, Henley and
Boston.
Bhadauria, M. (1997). Women in India- Some issues, A.P.H. Publishing Corporation, 5,
Ansari Road, Darya Ganj, New Delhi-110002.
http://www.indiaedu.com/education-india/women-education.htmla
http://jurisonline.in/2010/03/female-education-and-development-in-india

Sonu Fartyal and Poonam Prajapati are research scholars at G.B. Pant University of
Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar, Uttarakhand.

321

Teacher and Human Value: Need of Hour

Teacher and Human Value: Need of Hour

G.P. Yadav, Mridula Chandra Yadav and Sudhir Kumar

Introduction
Truth (Satya), Righteous conduct (Dharma), Peace (Shanti), Love (Prema) and
Non- violence (Ahinsha) are five human values that should be entered into the human life
so that human life becomes worthwhile. The main ingredients of the concept of value
education comprises of socialization, good citizenship, good cultural heritage protection,
efficiency to select alternative and creating professional human power. Linking human
values and education is the main need of the time.
What really is education? Education is a systematic attempt towards human
learning. All learning is subjective and self-related. Educational activity starts with the
individual. What can empower a nation that, in recent times, has earned the credibility of
becoming an intellectual capital of the world? It is education. Education that is value-
based education imparts roots and also gives wings. The fact that all good education is, in
essence a process of developing the human personality in all its dimensions-intellectual,
physical, social ethical and moral is undisputed and universally accepted. Values are
inseparable from life of the individual. Since education is an essential requirement, an
integral point of education, the aims of education, content and methodology is viewed in
terms of value development. Human development cannot be conceived in the absence of
values. The aim of education is both intellectual and moral growth. Education from the
value development point of view is a scientific process of developing a desirable form of
thinking and ability to deal with issues related to values. Values form a significant aspect
of all the areas of development.
The phrase `Value Education' as used in the area of school education refers to the
study of development of essential values in pupils and the practices suggested for the
promotion of the same. Value education is education in values and education towards the
inculcation of values. In its full range of meaning, value education includes developing the
appropriate sensibilities moral, cultural, spiritual. Value education is essentially `Man
Making' and `Character Building'. Moral or value development is a continuous,
cumulative and highly interdependent process touching all the aspects of personality.
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Moral development is the axis on which revolves ones personality and character.
Based on its nature, moral development has been studied as part of cognitive development,
social learning and psychoanalytic dimensions. The outcome of the studies conducted by
several development psychologists are very useful is deciding about the activities in value
education for school children.
Concern for value education is increasing in recent years as a result of crisis of
values that our society is currently experiencing. The issue has been projected as one of
the national priority in the nation's education. The National Education Policy 1986
declares that the growing concern over the erosion of essential values and increasing
cynicism in society has brought to focus the need for readjustment in the curriculum in
order to make the education a forceful tool for the cultivation of social and moral values.
The National Curriculum Framework for School Education 2000, (NCERT) observed that
schools can and must strive to restore and sustain the universal and eternal values oriented
towards the unity and integration of the people their moral and spiritual growth enable
them to realize the treasure within. The school curriculum has to contain components that
communicate essential values in their totality.
The recent term `value education' is preferred to the traditional approaches such as
moral education, religious education, social and character education, moral and spiritual
education. This revival of interest in value education in recent years in our country appears
to have arisen from the growing realization that the complexity of Indian society with a
heterogeneous population belonging to diverse cultures, religions and creed preludes the
provision for religious education and this situation can be met by introduction of education
in values. If moral or value education is to be effectively undertaken, it must be firmly
based on the principles of value development. One of the distinguishing features of Indian
philosophy is that throughout its long history, it has continuously given the foremost place
to values. Our aims of value development and education are derived from this root. The
content of communication media serves as the sources of values. Teachers and parents act
as models for children to cultivate socially desirable behavioral patterns.

What Values /Human Values Are?
Value is a conception, explicit or implicit distinctive of an individual co
characteristic of group of the desirable which influences the selection from the available
means and ends of action.
-Clyde Kluchholn
In context of the human value the values may be defined as
What we believe (professed values)
What we practice (Operational values )
What we learn from experience in order to adopt and renew traditions received from
past (Traditional values )

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Further it can be remarked as Values that are concerned for the human welfare,
upliftment and progressive life should be operational and also relevant and dynamic.
Values should not be crystallized and frozen to the point of rigidity, stopping further
growth and renewal.

Main Human Values
There are five stem values and many sub-values or virtues that come from the main
values. Together they make up the tapestry that forms an individual of character,
containing all that makes a human being noble, caring and kind. A brief description of the
main values is shown below:
1. Love
Love is not an emotion, affected by the sub-conscious mind, but is a spontaneous,
pure reaction from the heart. It is the power of love which causes one person to wish
happiness for another and take pleasure in their well-being. Love is the unseen
undercurrent binding all the other four values.
1. Thinking with love is truth
2. Feeling with love is peace
3. Acting with love is right conduct
4. Understanding with love is non-violence
2. Peace
We smile when we are happy and contented. Contentment is gained when we cease
to want to give ourselves all the apparent 'good' things conveyed to us through our five
senses. In order to learn self esteem, calmness and freedom from anxiety are necessary.
These qualities are fostered by the Program's components, namely silent sitting and the
self-reflective exercises in some of the group activity sessions.
3. Truth
The desire to know truth has prompted mankind to ask some of the great questions
such as: Who am I? What is the purpose of life? How can I live fully in the present
moment? Learning to speak the truth is a first and vital step in the formation of strong
character. Voicing an untruth is an anti-social act and causes confusion in the mind of both
the speaker and listener and leads to anti-social behaviour. Telling lies hurts ourselves as
well as others in a subtle, but very real way. One great distinction between humankind and
the rest of the animal kingdom is the ability to choose how to behave, rather than just to
follow the lower instincts (the law of the jungle). A human being is also able to recognize
past, present and future and to take note of changes occurring over time.
4. Right Conduct
Information is received through the five senses, i.e. smell, taste, sight, touch and
hearing. When this information is referred to the conscience, the resulting action will be
beneficial. Every action is preceded by a thought. If the thought is consciously seen and

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noted, it aims to assist and is unselfish, the action will be good for oneself and others. If
our minds are busy, or we are daydreaming, the action may be useless, clumsy or harmful
to ourselves and others.
5. Non-violence
For the non-violent person the whole world is his family. When the former four
values are practiced (i.e. the conscious mind is keenly aware, love is flowing, there is
peace and action are right) and life is lived without harming or violating anything else. It is
the highest achievement of human living and encompasses respect for all life living in
harmony with nature, not hurting by thought, word or deed. The program recognizes two
aspects of non-violence. These are:
1) Psychological such as compassion for all
2) Social appreciation of all cultures and religions and caring for the environment

Objectives of Human Values
The main objectives are as follows:
i. To create awareness, conviction & commitment to values for improving the quality
of life through education, and for advancing social and human well being.
ii. To encourage universities, colleges, schools and research institutes to undertake
academic and other activities pertaining to teaching, research and extension
programmes in respect of values and culture like extramural lectures, seminars,
conferences, workshops and orientation programmes for teachers and students.
iii. To encourage universities, colleges, schools and research institutes to undertake
preparation and production of requisite material including books, handbooks,
Journals, teaching materials, video CD and films relating to values.

Classification of Human Values
Walter G. Everett in his book Moral Values classifies human values in the eight
groups that can be represented in picture as:

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Need and Importance of Human Value
The important of the human values in education gets lost in globalization, because
it only stimulates the educational system by the economic point of view and theres no
other reference. The educational relationships are guide only by the mayor power of
insensible and irrational use and abuse of human kind. The great defiance in the education
in this millennium is, without doubt, to give special emphasis in mans, dignity and
values, with a special vision that conceives him as creator who doesnt limit only to watch
the established order, by the contrary, he dynamically participates in the changes that
benefits the human race. In the years of history, mans dignity has occupied a
preponderant place, but actually we observe a deplorable decadency and crisis in the
fundamental values, so we have to recover the course of our own humanity existence
before that is forgotten in history route. Today we have a society that the only practices are
profits, earns, commerce and the great shares in which man is only and object, not a
subject, so disposable as the same products that we make for only one use. For this reason,
is that education development must essentiality contribute to the knowledge and
significance of man as a person, and by no way allowed its mutilation, or worst, its own
reduction as a thing of learning.

How to Enhance Human Value
The methods and strategies of value education are many, which depend much upon
the values chosen, sources of development of these values and many other limiting factors.
The entire school curriculum function is an important source of value education. Values
education in schools, therefore, is effected though direct, indirect, incidental methods.
Values get transmitted via both the implicit or hidden and planned curriculum. The entire
process of value education is a highly comprehensive and complex one that involves a
wide range and variety of learning experiences. The above question gives the path for the
program to be used for the development of human values. The basis of Human Values
program is comprised of three curricular models:
1. The Direct,
2. Indirect, and
3. Co-Curricular Approaches.
The program provides a solid structure, yet allows for flexible implementation
according to the needs and capacities of those who adopt the program.

1. Direct Approach
The direct approach refers to the one which can be directly applied. Every lesson
of the Direct Approach utilizes five teaching components:
1. Quotation, Thought for the Week, Prayer
2. Silent Sitting

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3. Group Singing
4. Storytelling
5. Group Activities
These components provide holistic, balanced experiences that emphasize each of
the values, eliciting them from within each child. Although each lesson has five Teaching
Techniques, the order of these techniques may be changed.
Quotation, Thought for the Week, Prayer
According to the climate of the class setting, quotations or prayers taken from
universally respected sources of wisdom inspire noble ideals, positive attitudes, emphasize
the divinity within, and strengthen unity of thought, word and deed. Quotation or prayers
serve as links between cognition and intuition. These powerful tools are easily retrieved
and become imprinted on the hearts and minds of the children, positively impacting their
daily choices and behaviors.
Silent Sitting
Each class session includes moments of silence. Age appropriate methods of silent
sitting range from simply sitting silently for a moment to group visualizations. This silent
time provides children with the means to discover their divine nature, and to become
attuned to their own inner resources and virtues. Silent sitting aids in the development of
intuition and in the ability to discriminate between positive and negative choices. Silent
sitting fosters the ability of children to concentrate, reduce stress and maintain a sense of
equanimity and well being.
Group Singing
Songs with uplifting rhythms are carefully selected to reinforce the values that are
the subject of each lesson. Music speaks the language of the heart. Group singing
transcends artificial barriers of gender, ethnicity, race, and socioeconomic distinctions and
inspires a spirit of unified community and cooperation. Songs internalize the universal
message of the values and promote feelings of joy, harmony, and confidence both within
the group and within each child.
Storytelling
Storytelling is the cornerstone of every lesson. It is the foundation that imparts the
values to the children. Moral truths conveyed through stories reach children on very deep
spiritual, emotional, and mental levels. Stories with morals develop good character, kindle
a spirit of inquiry and stimulate intuitive understanding. Story selections drawn from a rich
cross-cultural and multi-faith heritage throughout the entire world unveil the thread of
spiritual commonality among mankind. Stories about eminent role models, inspirational
accomplishments, and honorable deeds, help to transform the thoughts, words and actions
of children into responsible and enduring patterns of right thinking and right action.

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Group Activities
Group activities that follow the story provide a broad scope of learning experiences
necessary for children to process and integrate the values of the lesson into their lives on
all levels. In group activities, the children participate in activities that reinforce the value.
Activities range from role-plays and dramatizations to group discussions, service projects,
and arts and crafts.
Life Application
Life application extends and applies the values learned, to the children's everyday
life in the home, school, and the community. Values must be practiced in thought, word
and deed everyday in order to fully manifest and realize the values. Example: Life
application as Thought is practiced through thinking about the value throughout the week.
Life application as Word is practiced through affirmations and journal reflections on how
children are feeling and experiencing the values through the week. Life application as
Deed asks children to put the value into practice through actions throughout the week.

2. Indirect Approach
The indirect approach is based on the precept that every moment of every day can
serve as an opportunity to reinforce the values in children's lives. This approach is
dependent upon the ability and commitment of the teachers, administrators and all staff
members of a given setting to determine how to integrate values and character-enriching
activities into all aspects of their setting. Each and every staff member should consistently
maintain the awareness and focus on the values throughout the day. All staff members are
called upon to maintain an awareness of how to capitalize on any situation that would
provide opportunities to demonstrate or discuss the values.
If the Value Program is being conducted in a school setting, the values would be
integrated throughout the day in both the classroom and in the whole school culture. Aside
from gaining general knowledge, students would learn the intrinsic value of a subject and
the inherent interrelatedness of the subject area to the quality of human life and all of
nature. If the Program is being conducted in a community-based setting, such as an After
School program or neighborhood community center, the values would be integrated
through the program activities in which the children participate while they are in that
setting.

3. Co-Curricular Approach
The co-curricular approach emphasizes the values through physical education,
(sports, etc.), music education, art, family living, health, cultural program, festival
celebration and any of the other augmentative curriculum areas.

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Teacher & Teaching Methodology
Teachers find that their students' intellectual and spiritual development is more
easily facilitated and confidently assured. Theme teaching across the curriculum, critical
thinking, reflective learning, community service, and the underlying unity in the diversity
that children experience are all important features of the classroom approach of the
Program of Education in Human Values. It is designed to be both teacher and parent-
friendly and is easily adaptable to any child in any environment, regardless of economic
class, racial or ethnic background, language, or intellectual capability.
Teacher is the backbone of the entire process of education. It is therefore essential
that the teachers philosophy of life should be in perfect consonance with the philosophy
on which educational system is based. If we peep into the role of the teachers in various
time and philosophy, we can summarize as follows:
In the ancient Indian society the teacher always enjoyed a dignified place. During
the Vedic and Post Vedic period the teachers position was next to God. The role of
teacher is both as high and important as the idealist advocates nor is as negligible as the
Naturalists speak out, it fairly important. The teacher according to the Realist is expected
to have full knowledge of the content and need of the children. In idealism, teacher is the
symbol of right conduct. The first principle of teaching is that nothing can be taught. The
teacher is not instructor or task manager, he is helper and guide. Where as according to
Pragmatism teacher is a friend, guide and philosopher to the child. He must educate the
child in social environment so that he may attain social efficiency. While Montessori
recommends consciously controlled and systematically directed education for young
children.
The Human Values Program should focus on self esteem, affective well-being, and
the daily experience of universal human values through lesson plans that are designed to
tap all aspects of the child's personality. The development of the whole child -- body,
mind, and spirit -- is taken into systematic and deliberate account. The field of value
education is as broad as life itself and touches every aspect of human life, personality and
education. Whether or not they offer specific programs, educational institutions provide
some kind of value education. In many institutions, the curriculum of value education is
formal and direct, while in large majority of schools it is informal and indirect.
While each practice can stand alone on its own, when all are present their effects
multiply. Together they employ six powerful forces in education. The method that can be
employed by the teachers for the value education should have the following ingredients:
1. Encourages contact between students and faculty,
2. Develops reciprocity and cooperation among students,
3. Encourages active learning,
4. Gives prompt feedback,
5. Emphasizes time on task,

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6. Communicates high expectations, and
7. Respects diverse talents and ways of learning.

Conclusion
The human and education go hand in hand. The need of the hour i.e. is inculcation
of human value in every walk of life must be kept in mind while designing the curriculum,
teaching method, strategy and the process of upliftment, enhancement of human value in
order to make the human life perfect. The pupils learning of values in the school is a
continuation of their learning in their family, community and through mass media.
Therefore, the school should take into cognizance and utilize all types of social and
educational influences affecting the development of values in pupils for value education
purpose. The children in the schools and colleges should be told about the religious
concepts such as sin, virtue, faith and duty. The youth should be apprised of their duties in
order to inspire them to contribute to the building of a modern and vibrant nation.

References
NCERT(1988) Teacher and Education: In The Emerging Indian Society, Sri
Aurobindo Marg, New Delhi.
Sachdeva, M.S. et. Al. Education In The Emerging Indian Society, Vijya Publication
Ludiana
Verma. G.S.,(2006) Education in The Values, Environment and Human Rights
International Publishing House Meerut.
Aggarwal, J.C.(2004) Teacher and Education In Developing Society. Vikas Publishing
House, New Delhi
Aggarwal, J.C.(2004) Theories and Principles of Education (Philosophical and
Sociological Basis) . Vikas Publishing House, New Delhi
Raina, M.K. Development Of Education . Maxford books New Delhi.
Gupta Renu , Education In Emerging Indian Society. JPC, New Delhi.
Sharma , Rita Development Of Educational System Alka Publishions New Delhi

G.P. Yadav, Mridula Chandra Yadav and Sudhir Kumar are Research Scholars at
Lucknow University, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh.

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Nation Building on the Philosophy of Swami Vivekananda

Nation Building on the Philosophy of Swami Vivekananda

Mamta Rautela, Gebaram Chaudhary and Anjana Kholia

Introduction
A Nation is not merely a geographical entity but it is by the people sharing similar
values and culture. Nation building is an ongoing process of attaining perfection in
science, arts, philosophy, human resource development and several other factors which is
boosted up by the efforts of its individuals. Nation building is not only making the nation
strong in terms of economy and military accumulation but also powerful and prosperous in
purposefulness and satisfaction leading to strengthening humanitarian aspects of life.
Swamiji said, Political greatness or military power is never the mission of our
race; it never was and never will be. He talked about nation building as an effort is to
conserve, to preserve, to accumulateall the spiritual energy of the race. The Nation lives
in the cottage, where humanity attains its highest towards gentleness, towards generosity,
purity, calmness, above all, the introspection and spirituality. Men, who have even a bit of
nationalism in them, have an urge to develop the nation. They want to be a part of nation-
building process, to carve a better, happy, morally valued nation where everybody is
equal, enjoying equal rights and execute equal duties. He said that, all nations have
attained greatness by paying proper respect to women; the upliftment of women,
development of children and youth, and the awakening of masses must come first, and
then only can any real good come about for a country, for our India.
India today is suffering from many problems. On one side, it is struggling to
emerge as a developed nation and on other side termites of unemployment, illiteracy,
poverty, inefficient resource management, environmental problems, brain-drain, addiction,
dowry system and lot more are obstructing it. For nation building we need to eradicate all
of these stigmas.
The question which arises is that why do we have so many problems in India
today? It is mainly because a large portion of our population lives selfish and self-centered
life. Sensitivity is missing from normal beings and a sense of national responsibility has
eloped. Humans are the most evolved and intelligent beings. Therefore, greater
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responsibilities are entrusted with this superior status to human beings and those who do
not bear the responsibilities of human life, are not justifying their roles which they have to
play in this world. Scarcity of such fervent men with strong nerves and missionary zeal is
the main challenge in front of the nation.
Swami ji once said: my hope for future lies in the youth of character intelligent,
renouncing all for the service of others, and obedient. Who can sacrifice their lives in
working out my ideas & thereby do good to themselves and country at large. Otherwise,
boys of the common run are coming in groups and will come. Dullness is written on their
faces their hearts devoid of energy, their bodies feeble and unfit for work and minds
devoid of courage. What work will be done by these?
To cope with the problems we need to pool up the potential and the people having
the urge to work for nation. When the motivated citizens will work together, collectively,
the result would be manifold and a chain would be instigated, fastening motivated people
into the efforts.
In the process of Nation building, the basic unit is individual. When individual
advances, then only we can think about social reform. So, first find out those who want
reform? Work with them first. Educate the nation, create impartial legislative bodies, and
then the law will be constructive. Create the power, the sanction from which the law will
spring. Even for social reforms, the first remedy is to educate, provide knowledge to the
people without any disparity. The mass needs two kinds of knowledge: secular
knowledge to improve their economic condition and spiritual knowledge to infuse in
them self-confidence and strengthen their moral sense. And this knowledge can be spread
only through education.
Most of the reforms that have been instigated during the last century were merely
ornamental and touched only the creamy layer of society. Is that reformation? We must
dig down to the basis of the things, to the very root of matter. This is called Radical
reform. Put the fire there and let it burn upward and touch every Indian.
India is Yuva nation with youth as majority. This youth power has to be converted
into potential power which can shoulder the mighty task of nation building. Let us pledge
to bring the thought each one, teach one into reality in a true sense. Let the educated
mass be enlightened and responsible. 52% of the US economy is because of Indian minds
that get lured by the lights of foreign nations and forget that they owe their nation and
must serve for its betterment.
In Indian families the children are brought up by women who inculcate moral
values, knowledge and thought-processes in them. But the plight of women still needs
attention so that they are empowered and consequently the whole society moves on to the
path of self- sustainability. An empowered woman is capable of opening the doors of
success for many more.

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And to reach to the goals we need to organize different organizations and societies
at various levels for smooth, better and focused work. As swamiji said:- men, men (youth)
these are wanted. Strong, vigorous, believing young men, are wanted. A hundred such
and the world will become revolutionized. So, the work begins with instilling this spirit.

Mamta Rautela, Geba Ram and Anjana Kholia are students of College of Agriculture of
G.B.Pant University of Agriculture & Technology, Pantnagar, Uttarakhand.

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Social Integration through Human Upliftment by Vivekanandas Thought

Social Integration through Human Upliftment
by Vivekanandas Thought

Karishma Gupta and Manisha Kumari

Introduction
Social integration is basically a concept of social unity. Practically speaking social
integration means the active cooperation and constructive contribution of the people
towards the social unit, integrity and development. To Swami Vivekananda, the sense of
social integration was a unity of variety and individuality in universality most valuable
for development of the society. He also said that there is oneness behind all creation and
we should be conscious of it.
Social integration is not a perfect assimilation. No society is ever perfectly
integrated, but some amount of integration is a requisite for the very existence of a society
and this it experiences all through its life span. The integration of society does not entail
the loss of social identity by any of its cultural subgroups.
Swami Vivekananda had a profound conception of integration. For him all came
through love of god and humanity. The love of his society was part of his love for
humanity, and love for humanity was part of his love for god. He, who truly loves god
loves humanity as a whole and also loves his society. Though we see divisions, in
actuality, according to swamiji, people and cultures of the world are already integrated and
unified on a very sublime level. Only our duty is to re-discover and to acknowledge it in
our thoughts and actions and make it viable in our day to day life.

Need of Human Upliftment for Social Integration
Since social integration is in essence spiritual it is therefore free from all narrow
ideas of regionalism, provincialism, casteism, inordinate attachment to a particular
language or other forms of fanaticism. Swami Vivekananda loved everyone and wished
their happiness, welfare and upliftment, irrespective of caste or creed. He looked upon
whole society as his brothers and sisters without considering whether they were Brahmin,
Kshatriya, Vaishya or Shudra. He always felt that a fully integrated society will not
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practically emerge in India unless the condition of poor and miserable people is improved.
Swamiji always held that their upliftment is the basic pre-condition for building up great
India. He said that no amount of politics would be of any avail until the masses in India
are once more well educated, well fed, and well cared for.
Further he said that human upliftment is necessary for social integration. We will,
have to develop the personality, thinking, character and behavior of the whole society.
Swami Ji proclaimed, Each soul is potentially divine. The goal is to manifest this divinity
within by controlling nature: external and internal.

Multi-dimensional Development of Human Personality
For human upliftment social, mental, physical and spiritual dimension of human
personality should be looked after, because holistic upliftment of human being is
necessary condition for healthy society. Swamiji emphasized on developing these four
dimensions of human personality for human upliftment. Growth at these dimensions leads
human beings towards a scenario of social integration.
1. Physical dimension
Healthy mind dwells in healthy body. Swamiji also emphasized it and made
an urge for sound physical health. He always used to say that, strength is life and
weakness is death. He not only emphasized on physical strength but also on mental
and spiritual strength. Physical health is a prerequisite to all others.
Swami Vivekananda always says that self-confidence is most important in
human life and this confidence is achieved by physical health. Due to physical
weakness, we lose our confidence. Swami Vivekananda called upon youth, -Make
your nerves strong. What we want is muscles of iron and nerves of steel. We have
wept long enough. No more weeping, but stand on your feet and be men. First of all,
our young men must be strong. Religion will come afterwards. Be strong my young
friends; that is my advise to you. You will be nearer to heaven through football than
through the study of the Gita. When muscles and nerves will be strong, you would
well understand the message of Gita and you could follow the message of Gita in
your life.
2. Mental dimension
Besides the physical strength he also emphasized on mental strength. To
develop mental strength, he emphasized on brahmcharya as a way of life.
Brahmcharya is the way of attaining mental discipline by sense control. He said that
every instinct should be changed in life force then mind will be strong and will not
be diverted through the vasana and mental infirmity. It can be done only by
brahmcharya sadhana.
3. Spiritual dimension
Swami Vivekananda said that the way to develop the spiritual dimension of

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human is to know ourselves and to have faith in ourselves. Faith in us will do
everything. The old religions said that he was an atheist who did not believe in god.
The new Vedanta teaches that he is an atheist who does not believe in himself. But
that faith is not selfish faith. It is not faith in the little, limited self but in the
universal self. The self that is in me, that is in you, that is in all.
In our society people of various languages, groups, religions, and sub-
cultures are living together. But according to swami Vivekananda, to the Indian
mind there is nothing higher than religious ideals. The Indian mind is first religious
then everything else. Yet, the religion which Swamiji preached was universal in its
spirit, comprehensive in its scope and practical and concrete in its application.
Religion alone can secure deeper integration for a society. The religion of
universality and spiritual brotherhood, including men of all faiths, affirms the unity
of existence. The fundamental oneness of reality (aitad-atmayam idam sarvam) is
the essence of religion. It also asserts the divinity of man in his essence. Things are
one in their essence, though they appear as many in their manifestation.
The central idea of Vedanta is oneness. There are no two in anything, no two
lives. There is but one life, one world, one existence, every thing is that one. The
difference is in degree and not in kind. It is the same life that pulsates through all
beings from Brahma to the amoeba; the difference is only in the degree of
manifestation. We must not look on with contempt on others but we should respect
them. We all are moving towards the same goal. We should help others to reach the
goal, and never do anything that may hurt them or obstruct them. Knowledge of self
and seeing god in all human beings is true spirituality.
4. Social Dimension
If we want to get real spiritual power, we have to dedicate ourselves in the
service of mankind. Swamijis passion for betterment of humanity came from a
deeper layer of awareness of the essential oneness of humankind. Ordinary people
see only differences every where. They divide humanity into so many races, so
many religion and linguistic communities, so many castes, political parties and so
on. Swamijis vision cut through all these barriers by the service of mankind. He
saw unity everywhere and wherever possible he strived to create unity by breaking
down barriers, by building bridges, by clearing the clouds of misunderstanding and
suspicion, by strengthening the feeling of love and trust. He always emphasized to
worship the living god, the men and women in need and drudgery. He urged to
visualise god everywhere, in the young and the old, in the sinner and the saint, in the
Brahmin and the pariahs, especially the poor, the sick, the ignorant, the destitute,
and the downtrodden, for the god in them wants our worship, our care and service.
The Vedanta says, serve them, worship them and that will be serving and
worshipping the living god, the omnipresent god, the highest god. He who sees shiva

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in the poor, in the weak, and in the diseased, really worship shiva, and if sees shiva
only in the image, his worship is but preliminary.

Conclusion
If we want to integrate our society, we should try to uplift our humanity. Humanity
is uplifted by physical, mental, spiritual, and social transformation. According to Pandit
Sri Ram Sharma Acharya: healthy people will lead towards civilized society which again
will lead to strong nation. For social integration, human upliftment is the basic step.
Communalism, religionalism, and casteism are the main barriers of the social integration.
If the spiritual dimension of the society will be developed, people will understand the real
meaning of religion. On the other hand, with the development of social dimension of
human personality, the feeling of brotherhood will increase leading to social unity. If we
see the thoughts of Vivekananda about social integration in modern perspective, his
thoughts are totally relevant. Looking into the strength of his thoughts, Guru Ravindra
Nath Tagore once said, If you want to know about India, first know about Vivekananda.

Reference
Chaudhari, Asim (2000), Swami Vivekanand in Chicago,1
st
ed., Swami Mumukshananda,
Advait Ashram, Mayavati,Calcutta.
Chatterjee,Dr. Satish Chandra(1963),Vivekanandas neo-vedantism and its practical
application,Vivekananda centenary memorial volume.
Mumukshananda,Swami(1995),Vivekananda-the great spiritual teacher,1
st
ed., Advait
Ashram, Mayavati, pithoragarh,Himalayas.
Majumdar,Satyendra Nath(2001),Vivekananda Charit,17
th
ed.,Ramkrishna Math, Nagpur.
Nikhilananda,Swami,(1984),Vivekananda:The yogas and other works, Ramkrishana-
Vivekananda Centre, New York
Lectures from Colombo to Almora, 22nd ed. Advait Ashram, Calcutta.
The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda, Mayavati Memorial Editions ,Vol.III,9
th

ed., Advait Ashram, Calcutta, p.14.
The complete works of Swami Vivekanand, Vol. IV, V, VI and VII.
To the youth of India,28
th
ed., Advait Ashram,kolkata.
Videhatmananda,Swami,(2002), Swami Vivekananda aur unka Avadan,1
st
ed., Advait
Ashram, Mayavati,Calcutta

Karishma Gupta and Manisha Kumari are students of Dev Sanskriti Vishwavidyalaya,
Haridwar, Uttrakhand.

Saving Earth: Saving Earth: Saving Earth: Saving Earth:
A AA An n n n A AA Activist ctivist ctivist ctivist A AA Approach pproach pproach pproach
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Looking Beyond the Present: Sustainable Energy- A Necessity

Looking Beyond the Present: Sustainable Energy- A Necessity

Priyanka Karnatak and Aayushi Gupta

Introduction
Terrorizing the habitats of tiny innocent creatures, we left them with no homes.
And this we realized, when we crossed all limits of egoism, and plucked the roots along
with the fruits, dug the earth from every corner to empty it of all its treasures, peeped
through the crevices of land barren with the grief of receding water level as if to find
whether the rising sea level outside is in proportion with it. We kept on torturing this earth
astoundingly in every possible way, trying to replace the blue white clouds with grey
smoky ones and we still continue to do so, hiding under the bush of technological
advancement.

Quaffing oil to Depletion
"My father rode a camel. I drive a car. My son flies a jet-plane. His son will ride a camel."
A Saudi saying
Please dont be fuelish !
The number of cars on the world's roads surpassed one billion last year, according
to a study that has spurred debate on what the rapidly-growing car population will mean
for the world's economy and environment. Earlier this year, the OECD's International
Transport Forum forecast that the number of cars worldwide would reach 2.5 billion by
2050. It is estimated that a vehicle population of 2 billion would require the world to
produce at least 120 million barrels of oil per day, up from about 84.4 million today. Given
the slow depletion of conventional oil sources and the gradual move towards more
expensive alternative sources such as the Alberta oil sands, it's not clear the world could
develop such a large capacity to produce oil. As a result of uncontrolled consumption of
oil, peak oil has come into existence.

Peak oil- end of cheap oil
Peak oil is the point in time when the maximum rate of global petroleum extraction
is reached, after which the rate of production enters terminal decline. This concept is based
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on the observed production rates of individual oil wells, projected reserves and the
combined production rate of a field of related oil wells. Peak oil is a turning point for
Mankind. The economic prosperity of the 20th Century was driven by cheap, oil-based
energy. Everyone had the equivalent of several unpaid and unfed slaves to do his work for
him, but now these slaves are getting old and won't work much longer. We have an urgent
need to find how to live without them.
The oil shocks of 1970s were the tremor before the earthquake. The warning
signals have been flying for a long time. They have been plain to see, but the world turned
a blind eye, and failed to read the message. Our lack of preparedness is itself amazing,
given the importance of oil to our lives. The warnings were rejected and discredited as if
they were words of soothsayers and prophets. But the warning was not prophecy - it
simply recognised two undeniable facts:
You have to find oil before you can produce it
Production has to mirror discovery after a time lag
Depletion is an easy concept to grasp. Think of an Irish pub full of happy people.
Think of their pleasure at the first sip from a full glass. Think of the frowns that begin to
cross their faces when their glasses are half-empty. They know they have drunk more than
is left. It is the turning point. Watch them savour the last drops. While they can order
another round of drinks, they know in the back of their minds that eventually closing time
will come when there are no more to be had. That is the meaning of depletion. We need to
know how big each glass - or oilfield - is, and we need to think of closing time, and judge
how many oilfields are left to find. The world's oil supply is fixed because petroleum is
naturally formed far too slowly to be replaced at the rate at which it is being extracted.

Table 1: Average oil consumption by and for each person
Country United
States
Japan Spain Mexico Brazil China India
Barrels of oil
per
person annually
25.00 14.00 13.8 6.00 3.5 1.5

0.8

Deforestration
We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors, We borrow it from our children
~Native American Proverb
Behind your foot, leave some wood!
Its hard to believe that the earth was once covered with 90% forests which has
now came down to less than 30% of the total land. Forests contain a great percentage of
the worlds terrestrial biodiversity. They are home to more than 300 million people and
provide livelihoods for 1.5 billion more.

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Forests not only have an economic value, but they also have social and cultural
values. Today there are many threats to the worlds forests. Unsustainable management
practices, illegal logging, fire, disease, degradation, and deforestation continue to have
significant and negative impacts. Deforestation continues at unsustainable rates, and each
day our forests and the people who depend on them face new challenges
The growing population came has lead to over exploitation of woods because of
the increasing demand for land for cultivation, to build industries, houses need for
firewood, need for wood for furniture, pencils, paper etc. and consequences are
threatening enough to be ignored:
Deforestation makes soil prone to erosion by agents such as wind and water
Destruction of carbon sinks
Destruction of animal habitats.
Destruction of forests leads to destruction of medicinal plants that could be used as
treatment for various ailments e.g. cinchona used for treatment of malaria.
Absence of these trees enables strong winds and or storms e.g. Hurricanes and
Tornados. Hopefully, tsunami at the Indonesian coast where about 150 people have
just lost their lives and hurricanes like Katrina are still fresh in your memories.
Greenhouse effect and global warming
Nature balances the flow of energy and nutrients. Forests plan a very vital role in
these cycles e.g. the carbon cycle where deforestation causes carbon dioxide to remain in
the atmosphere. Accumulation of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere acts as a blanket that
traps long wave radiation of heat and prevents it from escaping the surface of the earth
back into the atmosphere. This phenomenon is known as the greenhouse effect. The
trapped radiation is converted into heat. This heat causes global warming.
Destruction of forests also causes modification of climate of an area mostly leading
to desertification and aridity

Effects of the green house
Weather: The globe is witnessing sudden change in weather cycle. Cold turned hot and
hot had snow, rivers are diminishing and draught prone areas are flooding up, as a result of
the change.
Sea level: Ice melting in the Antarctic and Greenland is flowing into the sea. It has been
assumed that sea levels will rise, by as much as 20 to 40 cm, by the beginning of the next
century. Throughout the world, millions of people and areas of land will be at danger from
flooding.
Flora and Fauna: Many animals and plants may not be able to cope with these changes
and could die. This could cause the loss of some animal and plant species in certain areas
of the world or everywhere on Earth. For example, polar bears and seals will have to find
new land for hunting and living, if the ice in the Arctic melts.

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People : Countries whose coastal regions have a large population, such as Egypt and
China, may see whole populations move inland to avoid flood risk areas.

Table 2: Most Endangered Forests of 2011
Endangered forest Region Remaining habitat
Indo-Burma Asia-Pacific 5%
New Caledonia Asia-Pacific 5%
Sundaland Asia-Pacific 7%
Philippines Asia-Pacific 7%
Atlantic Forest South America 8%
Mountains of Southwest
China
Asia-Pacific 8%
California Floristic Province North America 10%
Coastal Forests of Eastern
Africa
Africa 10%
Madagascar & Indian
Ocean Islands
Africa 10%
Eastern Afromontane Africa 11%

Industrialisation and its Impact on Environment
Modern technology, Owes ecology, An apology.
~Alan M. Eddison , Director, Green Earth Affairs
Destruction via creation!
Industrialisation carries with it the seeds of environmental damage, assisted and
abetted by both needs and greed of man. Activities such as manufacturing, processing,
transportation and consumption not only deplete the stock of natural resources but also add
stress to the environmental system by accumulating the stock of wastes.
Increasing industrialization and use of technology that is not environment friendly
releases CFCs, used in some spray cans to force the contents out of the can, in
refrigerators, air conditioning systems and some fire extinguishers because they are not
poisonous and do not catch fire damage the ozone layer.
Every spring, a hole as big as the USA develops in the ozone layer over Antarctica,
in the South Pole. A smaller hole develops each year over the Arctic, at the North Pole
The ozone layer is like a sunscreen, and a thinning of it would mean that more
ultra-violet rays would be reaching us. They cause sunburn, skin cancer, thus increased
deaths and are also dangerous for our eyes and could cause an increase in people
becoming blind. UV rays can go through water and end up killing small water animals or
plants, called 'plankton' which form the base of the food chain in oceans and seas. Whales
and other fishes have plankton as their main food, and if plankton die because of these UV

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rays, whales will start dying too, because they will not have anything to eat. Large
amounts of UV rays could damage all green plants. If the ozone layer keeps getting
thinner, there could be fewer and fewer plants on Earth, and then there would be less food
in the whole world.
The environmental pollution and ecological degradation because of unplanned
industrialisation first became issues of international concerns in the 1970s when it was
recognised that mass production by industry and mass consumption by society are
depleting the resources and are generating huge amounts of solid waste and hazardous
substances.

AGENDA-21
The catastrophic social and economic consequences of global climate change by
the end of 21
st
century were described in the first report of IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel
on Climate Change) in 1990. As a result, the United Nations Conference on Earth &
Development (Earth Summit) was held in Rio de Janerio in 1992 where more than 180
nations participated. The Rio Declaration, Agenda 21, Framework Convention on Climate
Change, Biodiversity Convention, and Forest Declaration were signed in a historic effort
to cope with the global problem of the 21
st
century.
In the central Agenda 21, the concept of Green Productivity has been included. It
signifies a new paradigm of socio-economic development aimed at the pursuit of
economic and productivity growth while protecting the environment is seen as a key to
achieving sustainable development at local, national and international levels.

Aquifer Depletion
A river is more than an amenity, it is a treasure.
-- Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes
Water-water everywhere, but not a drop to drink...
An aquifer can be compared to a bank account, and ground water occurring in an
aquifer is analogous to the money in the account. Hydrologists refer to this type of
accounting as a water budget. Ground water can be recharged by infiltration from
precipitation, surface water, or applied irrigation water; it can be kept in storage; and it can
be discharged naturally to streams, springs, or seeps, or transpired by plants. In a ground-
water system prior to development, the system is in long-term equilibriumdischarge is
equal to recharge, and the volume of water in storage remains relatively constant. Ground-
water levels fluctuate in time over a relatively small, natural range. Once pumping begins,
however, this equilibrium is changed and ground-water levels decline. Just as a bank
account must be balanced, withdrawals from an aquifer by pumping must be balanced by
some combination of increased recharge, decreased discharge, and removal from storage.

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An inventory of ground-water levels in wells reflect the volume of water stored in the
aquifer, and are analogous to a financial statement.
The rate at which global groundwater stocks are shrinking has more than doubled
between 1960 and 2000, increasing the amount lost from 126 to 283 cubic kilometres of
water per year. It has been found that if water was siphoned as rapidly from the Great
Lakes, they would go bone-dry in around 80 years.
Groundwater represents about 30 percent of the available fresh water on the planet,
with surface water accounting for only one percent. The rest of the potable, agriculture
friendly supply is locked up in glaciers or the polar ice caps. This means that any reduction
in the availability of groundwater supplies could have profound effects for a growing
human population. The new assessment shows the highest rates of depletion in some of the
world's major agricultural centres, including northwest India, north-eastern China,
northeast Pakistan, California's central valley, and the Midwestern United States
Most water extracted from underground stocks ends up in the ocean. The estimate
contribution of groundwater depletion to sea level rise to be 0.8 millimetres per year,
which is about a quarter of the current total rate of sea level rise of 3.1 millimetres per
year.

Effects of Aquifier Depletion
1. With the decrease water table, current pumping technology would fail, as deeper
pumps would be the need. Moreover, the power required will increase beyond the
length of the pocket of local farmer or a poor villager.
2. A related effect of ground-water pumping is the lowering of ground-water levels
below the depth that streamside or wetland vegetation needs to survive. The overall
effect is a loss of riparian vegetation and wildlife habitat.
3. Land subsidence as a result of ground water table decrement.
4. Coastal aquifers tend to have wedge shaped zones of saltwater underlying the
potable freshwater. Under natural conditions the boundary between the freshwater
and saltwater tends to be relatively stable, but pumping can cause saltwater to
migrate inland, resulting in saltwater contamination of the water supply.
Additionally, where ground water is pumped from an aquifer, surface water of poor
or differing quality may be drawn into the aquifer. This can degrade the water
quality of the aquifer directly or mobilize naturally occurring contaminants in the
aquifer.

A Global Crisis
1. 884 million people in the world do not have access to safe water. This is roughly one
in eight of the world's population. (WHO/UNICEF)

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2. billion People in the world do not have access to adequate sanitation; this is
almost two fifths of the world's population. (WHO/UNICEF)
3. million Children die every year from diarrhoea caused by unclean water and poor
sanitation - 4,000 child deaths a day or one child every 20 seconds. This equates
to 160 infant school classrooms lost every single day to an entirely preventable
public health crisis. (WHO/Water Aid)

Alternative Sources of Energy
While our 21st century society has reached for the stars and stepped on the moon,
our civilization continues to be primarily powered with the polluting and dangerous fossil
sources of the industrial age of the 19th century. The new world demands renewable
sources of energy which can successfully substitute the age old, depleting and prohibitive
energy resources.

Biogas and Bio Fuel A Promise of Green Future
Biogas originates from biogenic material and is a type of bio fuel. Bio fuels
include fuels derived from biomass conversion, as well as solid biomass and solid fuel and
various biogases. Recently a new source of bio fuel is discovered algae. Algae are an
attractive bio fuel feedstock because of their fast growth rates and improved land use
efficiency when compared with terrestrial crops. Process train components needed to
produce algal bio fuels include (1) cultivation, (2) harvesting, and (3) conversion into
usable fuel.
1. Anaerobic digestion of algal biomass requires fewer process train components and
occurs regardless of lipid content.
2. Uses waste water for its growth, anaerobically digesting algal biomass generated
from low-technology wastewater treatment processes represents an appropriate
technology approach to algal bio fuels that is poorly investigated.
3. Helps in improving global health by improving sanitation, while providing a cleaner
burning biogas alternative to indoor biomass cooking systems typical of less-
developed areas.

Let Jatropha Fuel Your Car Engine
Currently the oil from Jatropha curcas seeds is used for making biodiesel fuel
in Philippines and in Brazil, where it grows naturally and in plantations in the Southeast,
and the North/Northeast Brazil. Likewise, jatropha oil is being promoted as an easily
grown bio fuel crop in hundreds of projects throughout India and other developing
countries.
The jatropha plant has been grown for the other purposes like watershed
protection, environmental restoration etc. The jatropha tree has the capacity to grow

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without irrigation in the dry conditions where the biodiesel crops find difficult to survive.
The yield of the jatropha plant is also higher then any other biodiesel crop.
The seeds of the jartopha are crushed and the resulting oil is used to prepare the
biodiesel. This high quality biodiesel is used for car engines. And the residue that remains
after the oil extraction are also used a biomass feedstock to produce electricity and
fertilizers. The jatropha plant can yield four times higher than the other biodiesel crops.
So a hectare of jatropha oil can produce 1,892 litres of biodiesel.

Let the Wind Mills Whirl to Power Your Fans
As fossil fuels continue to diminish and climate change poses an ever-increasing
threat, scientists around the world are searching for new and more efficient methods of
generating energy. Wind energy is one of the more promising alternative energy sources. It
is estimated that by 2014 the Wind power capacity growth will be reaching 447GW in
Asia. But it is not yet sufficient to meet the needs of growing population and
industrialisation. In spite of being one of the most efficient sources of energy it is not used
widely mainly because of the limitation of land, climate factors and high initializing
powers.
In hilly areas, the wind power is used to produce mechanical power and ghats are
operated to grind flours. If this power is developed further, this could be efficient enough
for each house to have its own electricity generator.
And enjoy a life devoid of any power cuts, the kind youve always just imagined!

Rob the Sun of its Solar Power while its still up!
It is the conversion of sunlight into electricity, either directly
using photovoltaic (PV), or indirectly using concentrated solar power (CSP). Concentrated
solar power systems use lenses or mirrors and tracking systems to focus a large area of
sunlight into a small beam. Photovoltaic convert light into electric current using
the photoelectric effect.
Among the many benefits/ advantages we may acquire from it is that it reduces
pollution in a much better Generating solar power greatly reduces global warming since
there are no emissions of carbon dioxide, methane or other contributors that warm up the
atmosphere. Another thing about this is that its source is not finite unlike those of fossil
fuels. As long as the sun goes up, there is constant energy production that we may use. The
cost of maintenance is a lot lower than those of others. Upon setting up solar cells and
panels, there is no need for fuels and lubricants. Together with continuous technological
development, the cost of producing solar equipments is falling. In the last few years, solar
technology is rapidly becoming efficient. Application of its system is also suitable in
remote areas not likely reached by traditional energy grids. This is reason enough for

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fossil- fuel poor countries to depend on and spending their funds on more important
things.

Make the Falling Water Your Slave!
Hydroelectricity is the production of electricity from the falling water.
Hydroelectricity power plant is the renewable energy source and it does not generate any
harmful chemicals and gases during the process of electricity generation. This electricity
accounts for approximately 20% of the world electricity and it comprises total 88% of
the renewable energy sources. Hydroelectricity power plants are environment friendly,
invulnerable to hike in fuel prices, has low maintenance cost, can supply stored water in
time of immense demand.
The Hydroelectric power plants are still in the stage of development since they
may be subjected to infrastructure failure which leads to the flood. Moreover, a efficient
hydroelectricity power plant is yet to be developed which may use the waste water to
develop the power.

Geothermal energy- let heat fulfil your needs
Most power plants need steam to generate electricity. The steam rotates a turbine
that activates a generator, which produces electricity. Many power plants still use fossil
fuels to boil water for steam. Geothermal power plants, however, use steam produced from
reservoirs of hot water found a couple of miles or more below the Earth's surface. Small-
scale geothermal power plants (under 5 megawatts) have the potential for widespread
application in rural areas, possibly even as distributed energy resources. Distributed
energy resources refer to a variety of small, modular power-generating technologies that
can be combined to improve the operation of the electricity delivery system.
The main advantages of geothermal energy for the home owner are money saving,
system stability, and a reduction in harmful emissions. Although installing a new heating
and cooling system requires an initial investment, the benefits last for decades.

Hydrogen as Fuel- Propelling Aircrafts Devoid of Haze
Hydrogen is high in energy, yet an engine that burns pure hydrogen produces
almost no pollution. NASA has used liquid hydrogen since the 1970s to propel the space
shuttle and other rockets into orbit. Hydrogen fuel cells power the shuttle's electrical
systems, producing a clean by-product - pure water, which the crew drinks. A fuel cell
combines hydrogen and oxygen to produce electricity, heat, and water. Being the most
abundant element and with highest energy content, the hydrogen is seen as the fuel of the
future Along with its effectiveness as a renewable source of fuel, hydrogen is non-
polluting. The only by product of hydrogen when it burns is heat and water.

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Conclusion
Too engrossed in the fulfilment of our egoistic desires, we never thought of the
consequences - whether this would leave this earth in a tattered, torn condition for the kids
of our kids, who then perhaps would cycle in a world with no greenery to sight in the
already emptied pastures, staring silently at the invisible shadows of the trunks of once
lush green trees that billowed in the breeze. This blindfolded journey, we have been on is
sure to leave the next generation in a suffocating quagmire where apart from quibbling,
theyll have no choice. But alas! There would be no one to answer their why?. To make
that feared dark and dingy dusky dawn sublime into oblivion, its time we shift to
sustainable energy instead of crooning egotistically, the saga of our destructive creations.

References
Trivedi P R and Raj Gurdeep, Encyclopaedia of Environmental Sciences.
Bansal N K, Renewable Energy Sources and conversion Technologies, TMH, New Delhi.
Rai G D, non conventional Energy Sources, Khanna Publishers, Delhi.
www.wikipedia.org
www.siemens.com
www.worldometers.info

Priyanka Karnatak and Aayushi Gupta are students of College of Technology,G.B Pant
University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar,Uttarakhand.

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ABCs (Atmospheric Brown Clouds): A Blanket of Pollution As a
Great Environmental Threat to Asian Countries

ABCs (Atmospheric Brown Clouds): A Blanket of Pollution As
a Great Environmental Threat to Asian Countries

Kumkum Pandey, Deepa Vinay and Aditi Vats

Introduction
I. Atmospheric Brown Clouds (ABCs):- Atmospheric brown clouds (ABCs) are
regional scale plumes of air pollution that consist of copious amounts of tiny particles of
soot, Sulphates, nitrates, fly ash, black carbon and many other pollutants.
Soot results from the incomplete combustion of fuels and consists of nano- to a
few micro-metre (millionth of a metre) size particles. Black carbon (that is, light absorbing
elemental and organic carbon particles) and
many organic acids are the main
constituents of soot. The brownish colour
of ABCs is due to the absorption and
scattering of solar radiation by
anthropogenic black carbon, fly ash, soil
dust particles, and nitrogen dioxide gas.
Typical background concentrations of
aerosols are in the range 100 - 300 cm-3,
whereas in polluted continental regions the
concentrations are in the range 1 ,000 10,
000 cm-3. ABCs start as indoor and outdoor air pollution consisting of particles (referred
to as primary aerosols) and pollutant gases, such as nitrogen oxides (NOx), carbon
monoxide (CO), sulphur dioxide (SO2), ammonia (NH3), and hundreds of organic gases
and acids. These pollutants are emitted from anthropogenic sources, such as fossil fuel
combustion, Biofuel cooking and biomass burning. Gases, such as NOx, CO and many
volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are referred to as ozone precursors since they lead to
the production of ozone which is both a pollutant and a strong greenhouse gas. Gases, such
as SO2, NH3, NOx and organics, are referred to as aerosol precursor gases, and these
gases - over a period of a day or more - are converted to aerosols through the so-called gas
Brown cloud
chemical composition
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to particle conversion process. Aerosols that are formed from gases through chemical
changes (oxidation) in the air are referred to as secondary aerosols.
Although previous research had seemed to indicate that aerosols could create a
general cooling effect in the atmosphere thus helping to mitigate the effect of global
warming a new study has revealed that they may in fact warm it just as much as
greenhouse gases. In fact, these "brown clouds" soot-filled aerosol clouds have been
increasing atmospheric warming over India by about 50%. NASA plans on launching a
new satellite dubbed "Glory" in 2008 that will carry a special sensor to determine
the exact quantity of solar energy absorbed by the aerosols. Our understanding of how air
pollution and these brown clouds are influencing climate change is evolving.

II. Causes: - During humid conditions, it forms haze. It is created by a range of airborne
particles and pollutants from combustion (e.g. wood fires, cars, and factories), biomass
burning

and industrial processes with incomplete burning. The cloud is associated with
winter monsoon (November/December to April) during which there is no rain to wash
pollutants from the air.

III. Brown Haze Composition:- Black carbon and ash, Sulfates, Nitrates, Mineral dust
and 75% of the cloud is man-made.

IV. Black Carbon and Its Sources: Black carbon, often equated with elemental carbon,
is a component of particulate matter, or soot, produced from the incomplete combustion of
fossil fuel, biofuels and biomass. The main sources of black carbon are open burning of
biomass; residential burning
of solid fuels such as coal,
wood, dung and agricultural
residue; fossil fuel
combustion for transportation;
and industrial activities.
Globally, transportation
accounts for 25 percent of all
black carbon emissions, and
diesel engines account for approximately 70 percent of that global 25 percent.

V. Observations: This pollution layer was observed during the Indian Ocean Experiment
(INDOEX) intensive field observation in 1999 and described in the UNEP impact
assessment study published 2002. Scientists in India claimed that the Asian Brown cloud
is not something specific to Asia. Subsequently, when the United Nations Environment
Programme (UNEP) organized a follow-up international project, the subject of study was
Sources of Black Carbon

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renamed the Atmospheric Brown Cloud with focus on Asia. The cloud was also reported
by NASA 2004 and 2007. Although aerosol particles are generally associated with a
global cooling effect, recent studies have shown that they can actually have a warming
effect in certain regions such as the Himalayas.

VI. In ABCs Have Both Cooling and Warming Effects: - For GHGs, the global mean
forcing is positive, while for ABCs it is negative. However, this does not mean that all
aerosols in ABCs have a cooling effect. Some aerosols have a cooling effect and others
have a heating effect, as described next. Some aerosols, such as Sulphates and nitrates,
have a cooling effect. Others, such as black carbon (BC), have a warming effect on the
surface-atmosphere system.
i. Cooling aerosols. These aerosols primarily scatter solar radiation back to space,
leading to a reduction of solar radiation at the surface (known as surface dimming),
which results in the cooling of the surface-atmosphere system. Major examples of
this category are sulphates, nitrates and some organics.
ii. Heating aerosols. Major examples of this category are elemental carbon and some
organic acids in soot. Together these aerosols are referred to as black carbon. The
heating aerosols absorb solar radiation. Furthermore, the ratio of absorption to
scattering exceeds 10 per cent. These absorbing aerosols add solar energy to the
atmosphere and alter the distribution of energy in two different ways.
First, by absorbing direct solar radiation, which would have otherwise reached the
surface, the absorbing aerosols lead to dimming at the surface. This effect is a
redistribution of the solar energy between the surface and the atmosphere, and has a
significant influence on the stability of the atmosphere by warming the air above and
cooling the surface below. Second, by absorbing solar radiation reflected by the surface,
atmosphere and clouds, the absorbing aerosols reduce the amount of solar radiation that is
reflected to space.

VII. ABCs Influence Cloud Properties: Aerosols in ABCs nucleate cloud drops. The
enhancement of the cloud drop population increases the reflection of solar radiation
(making the clouds brighter) which leads to dimming and surface cooling. In regions with
copious amounts of ABC aerosols, competition for water between nucleating aerosols
causes cloud drop size to decrease, and this inhibits the formation of larger size drizzles
and rain drops. The net effect is an extension of cloud lifetimes, that is, the polluted
regions are cloudier with brighter clouds. This latter effect also leads to dimming and
surface cooling.

VIII. ABCs Hotspot and Regional Climate Change: By integrating and assimilating a
surface observations with new satellite observations and chemistry transport model

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(CTM), the ABC Science Team produced global maps of ABC hotspots. ABC hotspots
are defined as regions where the annual mean anthropogenic aerosol optical depth (AOD)
exceeds 0.3 and the percentage of absorbing aerosols exceeds 10 per cent. Substantial
loadings of ABCs over Eastern USA and Europe have also been observed. However, in
these extra-tropical regions, the atmospheric concentrations of ABCs are large mainly
during the summer season since precipitation removes the aerosols efficiently during other
seasons. Five regional ABC hotspots around the world have been identified:
i) East Asia
ii) Indo-Gangetic Plain in South Asia
iii) Southeast Asia
iv) Southern Africa; and
v) The Amazon Basin.
The following 13 mega-city ABC hotspots in Asia have been identified: Bangkok,
Beijing, Cairo, Dhaka, Karachi, Kolkata, Lagos, Mumbai, New Delhi, Seoul, Shanghai,
Shenzhen and Tehran. Over these hotspots, the annual AOD (natural anthropogenic)
exceeds 0.3 and the absorption optical depth is about 10 percent of the AOD, indicative of
the presence of strongly absorbing soot accounting for about 10 per cent of the amount of
aerosols. The annual mean surface dimming and atmospheric solar heating by ABCs over
some of the hotspots range from 10 - 25 percent, such as in Karachi, Beijing, Shanghaiand
New Delhi.
Using satellite data and regional assimilation models, the chemical composition of
aerosols in ABCs and how their chemistry contributes to the AOD have been characterized
for the first time for China and India. The TOA forcing due to the increase of GHGs from
the pre-industrial period to the present is estimated by IPCC-AR4 (2007) at about 3 W m-
2 (90 per cent confidence interval of 2.6 - 3.6 W m-2). The same report estimates aerosol
forcing (direct plus indirect) at -1.2 W m-2 (90 per cent confidence interval of -2.7 to -0.4
W m-2). The combined GHG and ABC forcing is1.8 W m-2 with a 90 per cent confidence
interval of 0.6 - 2.4 W m-2. By comparing this with only the GHG forcing of 3 W m-2 (90
per cent interval of 2.6-3.6W m-2), it is seen that aerosols in ABCs have masked 20 - 80
per cent of GHG forcing in the past century.

IX. ABCs Radiative Forcing Over Asia: The absorption of solar radiation by the surface
and the atmosphere is the fundamental driver for the physical climate system, the
biogeochemical cycles, and for all life on the planet. ABCs have significantly altered this
radiative forcing over Asia, as summarized below.
It is certain that ABCs have caused dimming at the surface.
It is certain that soot in ABCs has increased solar heating of the atmosphere.
It is virtually certain that India and China are dimmer (at the surface) today by at
least 6 per cent, compared with the pre-industrial values.

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Absorbed solar radiation at the surface in China and India are lower today by 15 W
m-2 or more, compared with the pre-industrial values. It is highly likely that black carbon
(BC) in ABCs has increased the vertically averaged annual mean solar absorption in the
troposphere (from the surface up to 14 km in altitude) by about 15 per cent (about 14 W
m-2) and the solar heating at elevated levels (1 - 4 km) over India and China by as much
as 20 - 50 per cent (6 - 20 W m-2). Large increases in heating rates are also widespread
over regions in the Northern Indian Ocean and the Western Pacific Ocean. Over China and
India, the annual mean surface dimming due only to direct ABC forcing is about 14 - 16
W m-2(about 6 per cent). Over the hotspots, the values are about twice as large. The above
values are estimates for ABCs during the period2000 - 2007. Direct radiative effects are
major contributors (about 70 per cent) to dimming while indirect radiative effects
dominate (>70 per cent) the TOA forcing.

X. Observed Trends in Regional Climate and Attribution: China and India: In China
and India, large changes in solar radiation, surface and atmospheric temperatures and
monsoon rainfall have been observed. These changes cannot be explained solely from the
increase in GHGs. Global climate model (GCM) studies suggest that a combination of
GHGs and ABCs, along with natural variables, is needed to properly simulate the
observed trends. For a more reliable estimate of regional climate changes, a combination
of GCMs and regional climate models (RCMs) with a finer spatial resolution (about 50 km
or less) than that adopted in GCMs (200km or more), is required. After the 1970s. Cities
like Guangzhou recorded more than 20 per cent reduction in sunlight since the 1970s. The
dimming trend has been attributed by numerous studies largely to the rapid increase in
ABC emissions since the1950s. In China and India, the dimming trend was accompanied
by large decreases in pan evaporation. However, this does not necessarily imply a decrease
in actual evaporation or evapo-transpiration.

XI. Impact on Solar Radiation: Annual land-average solar radiation over India and
China decreased significantly during the period 1950 - 2000. For India, the observed
surface dimming trend was 4.2 W m-2 per decade (about 2per cent per decade) for the
1960 - 2000period, while an accelerated trend of -8W m-2 per decade was observed for
the1980 - 2004 period. Cumulatively, these decadal trends suggest a reduction of about 20
W m-2 from the 1970s up to the present, thus supporting the large dimming values
inferred from modern satellite and field campaign data. In China, the observed dimming
trend from the 1950s to the 1990s was about 3-4per cent per decade, with larger trends.

XII. Impact on Surface and Atmospheric Temperatures: Asia was subject to an annual
mean warming trend of about 0.7 - 1C from there-industrial period up to the present. The
trend was not uniform over all seasons or over all regions. In India, the warming trend

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from the early 1900s, during the dry season (January-May), was arrested after the 1950s,
whereas the warming trend during the summer continued unabated into the 21st century.
This is consistent with the stronger masking effect of ABCs during the dry season. Annual
mean surface air temperature in Mainland China increased by 1.1Cduring the past 50
years. Minimum nighttime temperatures were subject to a much larger warming trend than
daytime maximum temperatures. However, the warming was not uniform throughout
China. Regionally, North, Northeast and Northwest China, and the Tibetan Plateau
experienced the most significant warming on an annual mean basis accompanied by a
strong cooling trend (0.1 - 0.3 per decade) in Southwest China and in central East China.

XIII. Impact on the Monsoon Rainfall: Observed summer precipitation trends for the
1950 - 2000 period revealed the following: (a) a decrease in monsoon precipitation over
India and Southeast Asia by about 5 - 7 per cent; and (b) a shift in rainfall in China with
Northern China receiving less rainfall and Southern China receiving more rainfall. The
Palmer Drought Severity Index shows an increase in drought-prone conditions, that is, a
decrease in cumulative soil moisture in India and Northern China since the 1900s. Intense
rain events (>100 mm per day) have increased followed by a decrease immoderate events
(<100 mm per day) in India as well as in China. These observed trends in land average
precipitation cannot be explained solely by increases in GHGs. The IPCC-AR4GCMs with
just the GHG increase are notable to simulate the decrease in zonal mean tropical land
precipitation north of the equator, or the decrease in monsoon rainfall in India or the north-
south shift in Chinas rainfall. While the increase in intense rainfall can be accounted for
by global warming due to GHGs and the solar heating of the atmosphere by black carbon
in ABCs, dimming due to ABCs is required to account for the decrease in the Indian
monsoon rainfall since the1950s. Studies with GCMs suggest that four processes are
involved in the ABC modification of rainfall. The first three tend to decrease rainfall while
the fourth tends to increase rainfall.
Dimming leads to a decrease in the evaporation of water vapour (that feeds rainfall)
from the surrounding ocean and land surface.
Dimming decreases the land-sea contrast in the solar heating of the region, an
important monsoon forcing agent.
The preferential dimming of the polluted Northern Indian Ocean, compared with the
relatively cleaner Southern Indian Ocean, decreases the north-south gradient in sea
surface temperatures, another important monsoon forcing term; and the solar heating
of the atmosphere strengthens the monsoonal flow into the subcontinent, increasing
rainfall.

XIV. Impact on Food Security: Throughout Asia, the annual growth rate of rice harvest
has decreased from 3.5 per cent (1961- 1984) to 1.3 per cent (1985 - 1998). Similar

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decreases in growth rates have occurred for wheat, maize and sorghum. Multiple stresses,
such as limited availability of water and air pollution concentrations, are increasing the
crops sensitivity to climate change and reducing resilience in the agricultural sector. The
negative impacts of climate change will be felt most acutely in developing countries,
particularly in Asia. Without a decrease in monsoon rainfall due to ABCs and an increase
in surface warming due to GHGs, the average annual rice output for nine states studied in
India during 1985 - 1998 would have been about 6.2 million tones higher [which is equal
to the total annual consumption of 72 million people]. In addition, elevated concentrations
of ground level ozone have been found to have large effects on crop yields. Experimental
evidence suggests that growing season mean ozone concentrations of 30 - 45 ppb could
see crop yield losses of 10 - 40 per cent for sensitive varieties of wheat, rice and legumes.
Concern for a worsening situation in the future is highlighted by projections which suggest
that the annual surface mean ozone concentrations in parts of South Asia will grow faster
than anywhere else in the world and exceed 50 ppb by 2030.

XV. Impact on Hindu Kush-Himalayan-Tibetan Glaciers and Snow Pack: The
observed retreat of the Hindu Kush-Himalayan-Tibetan (HKHT) glaciers is one of the
most serious environmental problems facing Asia, since these glaciers and snow packs
provide the head-waters for the major Asian river systems, including the Ganges, the
Brahmaputra, the Mekong and the Yangtze. Glacier inventory by the Chinese Academy of
Sciences has reported a 5 per cent shrinkage since the 1950s in the volume of Chinas 46
928 glaciers over the past24 years, equivalent to the loss of over 3000 km2 of ice. About
82.2 per centof the glacial area in Western China is shrinking. Many of the major glaciers
in India (such as Siachen, Gangotri and Chhota Shigri) are also retreating aerates ranging
from 10-25 m per year. The glacier retreat began in the mid-19th century. The retreat has
accelerated since the 1970s. Most of the studies, if not all, attributes the retreat of the
Himalayan glaciers to rising air temperatures. Warming is much more pronounced at
elevated levels of the Himalayan-Tibetan region. The warming trend at elevated regions
(>3km) is as much as 0.25C per decade since the 1950s.
ABC solar heating (by black carbon)of the atmosphere is suggested to be as
important as GHG warming in accounting for the anomalously large warming trend
observed in the elevated regions. Decreased reflection of solar radiation by snow an dice
due to black carbon deposition is emerging as another major contributor to the melting of
snow packs and glaciers. Recent ice core observations reveal large depositions of
Sulphates and black carbon, with a large increasing trend during the past few decades.
Furthermore, new atmospheric observations by Project ABC in elevated regions of the
Himalayas (1 - 5 km) within 100 km of the Mt Everest region, suggest large black carbon
concentrations ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand mg m-3.

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XVI. The Impact of the Ground level Ozone Component of ABCs on Agriculture:- A
large number of experimental studies using a variety of experimental techniques
(fumigation, filtration, chemical protestants and transect studies) have been conducted on
major crops in Asia. The studies suggest that growing season mean ozone concentrations
in the range 30 - 45 ppb could see crop yield losses in the region of 10 - 40 per cent for
sensitive cultivars of important Asian crops (that is, wheat, rice and legumes). Pooling
experimental data on the impact of ozone on crops in Asia allows comparison with
European and North American dose-response relationships. These comparisons would
suggest that Asian grown crop varieties are more sensitive to ozone. This could be due to
varietals differences predisposing environmental conditions or pollutant exposure
characteristics. However, these data should be interpreted with caution given the
heterogeneity in the experimental methods used in the derivation of the Asian data.
Given the annual variability in ozone concentrations, it is important to consider the
growing seasons and developmental stages of the main Asian crops and to identify those
that are likely to be exposed to higher ozone concentrations and therefore be more
susceptible to ozone damage. Economic loss estimates due to ozone impacts on crops have
only been recently conducted for East Asia using North American dose-response
relationships. Global ozone projections suggest that some of the largest increases in ozone
concentration will occur in South and Southeast Asia from now until 2030.Such
projections would see South Asia becoming the most ozone polluted region in the world,
with annual surface mean concentrations reaching 52.2 ppb. The impacts of current and
projected ozone concentrations therefore need to be considered within the broader context
of impacts on agriculture under climate change, as well as consideration of how climate
change may influence crop sensitivity to ozone (through alterations in temperature,
atmospheric humidity and soil moisture)..

XVII. Climate-Related Impacts of ABCs On Agriculture in Asia: Growth of
agricultural output in China and India has slowed down since the mid-1980s. For example,
while rice harvesting India increased annually by about3.2 per cent between 1961 and
1984, it has grown by only 2.4 per cent annually since then. In China, the average annual
growth rates changed from 5.4 to 0.2 percent during the same period. For Asia as a whole,
annual growth rates have decreased from 3.5 to 1. Research on the agricultural impacts of
ABCS is very limited compared to research on the agricultural impacts of climate change
caused by elevated greenhouse gas (GHG) concentrations. Although not focused on
ABCs, the latter research has generated results that provide insights into the likely impacts
in Asia of ABC-induced drying (reduced rainfall) and cooling (reduced temperatures,
especially at night). The impacts of drying, cooling and dimming on Asian agriculture
must be analyzed jointly, not individually. This follows from evidence that these impacts
can be in different directions (that is, negative or positive).

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Impact studies should consider the farmers ability to adapt to worsening
environmental conditions to prevent overestimating damages under given climate
scenarios. There have been very few studies on the joint impacts of climate change on
agriculture due to the build-up of GHGs and ABCs. The only published statistical study on
this focused on wet-season rice in India. It found that reductions in ABCs would have
resulted in significantly higher wet-season rice harvests in India during the period 1985 -
1998, suggesting that ABCs contributed to the well-known slowdown in agriculture in
Asia. Future studies should focus on understanding the impacts of ABCs in a larger
number of locations. A major effort on data collection at the farm level is necessary to
better understand the direct (pollution damage) and indirect (climate-related) impacts of
ABCs in a field setting. Farm level studies would allow for disentangling the direct and
indirect impacts of ABCs, which is pertinent to policy responses related to pollution
control measures. Such studies would advance the understanding of farmer responses.
Data would need to be collected from a wide variety of sites over several years.
Dynamic crop simulation models are effective tools to assess the impacts of ABC
on crop yield. The effects of ABC are mediated through increase in diffuse radiation,
decrease in direct radiation and cooling effect. Incorporation of diffuse radiation as a
separate model input needs to be achieved. Impacts of ABCs are likely to be crop-specific.
For wheat and rice, yield reductions up to 8 per cent were predicted in India when single
effect of aerosol son radiation was considered by crop simulation models. However, when
cooling effect was also incorporated in the model, it nullified the yield reductions due to
enhanced crop duration effect. The effect of ABCs on sugar cane yield was no significant
as predicted by the sugarcane model.

XVIII. Impacts of ABCs on Human Health: ABCs have several characteristics that
determine their impact on human health, including: large geographical reach; long-range
transport of aerosols across continents and oceans; consistent and persistent exposure of
large populations, including high-risk populations; potential for physical, chemical and
microbiological mixing and interactions of the aerosols, and for exacerbating local air
pollution when aerosols transported over long distances transfer to the lower atmosphere.
These characteristics, together with the potential for the aerosols to act as transport
mechanisms for pathogens, pose important challenges for public health, well-being and
welfare.
The focus of the section on Impacts of ABCs on Human Health will be on the
exposure, epidemiology, toxicology, associated diseases, preliminary estimations of
numbers of premature deaths and economic costs, and the science and characteristics of
ABCs, which are important considerations for policy options. Knowledge of the physical,
chemical, and microbial characteristics of ABCs, and the potential for intermixing and
interactions of the anthropogenic aerosol mixture will be important in improving the

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assessment of health risks and effects, This knowledge will be important for supporting
decisions on what research to undertake, what policy responses to formulate, and what
technical and management options to implement.

XIX. ABCs and Adverse Health Outcomes: ABC-relevant pollutant studies reviewed
from available literature include studies of health effects related to increased cardio-
respiratory hospital admissions and mortalities in Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore,
Australia and Brazil from exposure to smoke from forest fires, bush fires, and agricultural
burning; increased asthma and other respiratory effects, cardiovascular hospital
admissions, and mortality in China and Republic of Korea related to dust storm events;
increased acute respiratory infections, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and lung
cancer in Nepal, Indian China, resulting from exposure to biomass and coal smoke; and
reduced pulmonary function, bronchitis, wheezing, shortness of breath, increased hospital
admissions and mortality in India and China associated with exposure to urban and
industrial air pollution.
The biological plausibility of the effects of PM on cardiovascular and respiratory
health has been supported by various lines of in vivo and in vitro toxicological research,
including increased plaque formation from long-term exposures to PM2.5 in experimental
mice and emerging human evidence of increased atherosclerosis from exposures to
elevated ambient PM2.5 levels. Were enhanced in animals with repeated exposure to
concentrated particulate matter. In addition, serious cardiac outcomes have been observed
in controlled human and experimental studies examining the effects of biomass burning.
Toxicity outcomes associated with individual ABC-relevant pollutants include
cardiovascular and respiratory disease, cancer, and reproductive and/or developmental
alterations. Exposure to wood smoke produces extensive lung damage along with
diminished immune competence and increased susceptibility to pulmonary infection in
exposed animal models. Respiratory effects, such as pulmonary inflammation, have also
been observed in response to ABC-relevant pollutants in controlled human studies, in
response to inhaled diesel exhaust.
The willingness to pay and human capital and/or cost of illness approaches are
considered as techniques available for conducting original economic valuation studies.
The benefits transfer alternative is a common approach in the analysis of health policies,
projects and programmes will likely be important in the evaluation of ABC control
strategies. While there is a relatively large value of statistical life (VOSL) literature for
North America and Europe, there is a huge lack of evidence on the costs of premature
mortality for developing countries in general, and China and India in particular.

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XX. Further Studies on ABCs and Human Health: Understanding the science and
characteristics of ABCs is of significant importance to strategic and effective public policy
on human health and welfare. The ABC characteristics that merit attention include:
Wide spatial distribution, hence exposing very large populations;
Composition, which consists of fine and ultra fine particles that can reach target
tissues, exerting their toxicological effects and increasing environmental health risks
and influencing the etiology of diseases;
Likelihood to transport bio-aerosols over long distances with significant
consequences on human health and well-being, livestock and agricultural
productivity and the quality of drinking water.
Health outcomes are compounded by impacts on water, agriculture and ecosystems.

XXI. Exposure Assessment is Essential:- Assessment of exposure is essential to the
estimation of risk associated with exposure to air pollution, as it is not possible to
determine risk without some reliable measure of exposure. There is currently alack of
critical exposure information as it pertains to ABCs. The information that is available is
generally about ambient levels of pollutants, which can be significantly different from
levels that cross biological membranes, reach their target tissues, and exert their toxic
effects. Molecular epidemiology is a potentially important tool for assessing exposure to
ABCs, as well as the consequent effects from such exposure. The field involves assessing,
at the molecular level the contribution of environmental risk factors, with the influence of
genetics, to the etiology of disease. One of the main aims is to gain mechanistic
information from epidemiological studies and to correlate exposure and effects data that
are relevant to the exposure and/or disease. Exposure assessment includes environmental
monitoring, exposure modeling, and bio-monitoring. Environmental monitoring studies
should encompass ambient and personal monitoring of air pollutant exposures. Bio-
monitoring of exposures and effects will include ABC-relevant pollutants and air
pollution-associated health effects, such as asthma and cardiovascular effects.
A new satellite called CALIPSO actually measures the concentrations and vertical
extent of brown clouds, and as presented by Ramanathan et al., central Asia has a
significant brown cloud found in all swaths (note below that the data are from November
to March). The team next ran a numerical model with greenhouse forcing and the brown
cloud concentrations found by CALIPSO, and they concluded Our general circulation
model simulations, which take into account the recently observed widespread occurrence
of vertically extended atmospheric brown clouds over the Indian Ocean and Asia, suggest
that atmospheric brown clouds contribute as much as the recent increase in anthropogenic
greenhouse gases to regional lower atmospheric warming trends. We propose that the
combined warming trend of 0.25K per decade may be sufficient to account for the
observed retreat of the Himalayan glaciers.

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XXII. The Brown Cloud Summit: In March 2000, Governor Jane Hull formed the
Governor's Brown Cloud Summit, a committee of local politicians and business people,
dedicated to restoring the Valley's air to its once pristine clear blue. Chaired by
meteorologist and ex-State Senator Ed Phillips, the Summit examined this issue for ten
months. According to the Brown Cloud Summit's final report, the process described above
not only obscures the once clearly visible mountains surrounding the Valley, it also
contributes to higher than average incidents of health problems, especially respiratory
ailments including allergies and asthma, leading to higher than normal mortality rates from
heart and lung diseases.

XXIII. Cooking Fires Weakening Indian Monsoon: July 14th, 2009 - 3:05 pm ICT by
IANS New Delhi, July 14 (IANS) Soot from the wood-based cooking fires used by 70
percent of Indians is forming a cloud of pollutants that is impeding the monsoon winds,
according to a senior scientist. The Asian Brown Cloud, as the blanket of pollutants over
South Asia and the Tibetan plateau is called, is not only weakening the monsoon but is
responsible for half the warming observed in the Himalayas, Syed Iqbal Hasnain, senior
fellow at The Energy and Resources Institute, said here Monday evening. He was
delivering a talk organised by the Indian Mountaineering Foundation on the melting of
Himalayan glaciers due to climate change. Scientists fear the melting will lead to water
scarcity in the north and south of the Himalayas, affecting well over a billion people.
With 70 percent of the Indian population using biomass for cooking, the Asian Brown
Cloud covers the entire sub-continent at a height of around 3,000 feet, said Hasnain, a
former vice chancellor of Kozhikode University and formerly from New Delhis
Jawaharlal Nehru University. The effect of this cloud gets worse in the cold atmosphere of
the Himalayas where the soot gathers and impedes wind, he explained. Apart from the
weak monsoon that is causing consternation in India now, the cloud also held up the
westerly winds in winter. Scientists have measured the average temperature in the
Himalayas had risen by 1.2 degrees Celsius in the last 100-odd years.

XXIV. Future Prospects: Many agencies and programmes, like, NASA, US
Environmental Protection Agency, UNDP, DPCC in Delhi etc., and various scientist in
Asia, Africa, Europe & in north America working on atmospheric brown cloud to control
their production.
Scientists think atmospheric brown clouds may be contributing to some climate
change. However, there remains no definite answer to whether they warm or cool
the climate.
Scientists are trying to answer that question right now. Do ABCs Warm or Cool the
climate?

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Conclusion: It is clear that the UNEP news release about the Asian Brown Cloud has
created awareness about pollution. This should give an impetus to the ongoing program of
reduction of harmful emissions in our cities. People living in Asia must be concerned
about this haze because it has immediate and long-term impacts on their health. The
general population is always unaware about the recent environmental issues as a result of
which the pollution is rising on a daily basis. This may be due to the increasing number of
automobile vehicles, various industries or indoor pollution. Additionally, there is also a
sudden rise in pollution during the festivals due to excessive fireworks. In India, so far
work done related to global warming is mainly confined to research, conferences,
seminars and workshops, with the general population having very little knowledge about
the burning issue of global warming. Similarly, there is little awareness about the Asian
Brown Cloud in the general population. As global warming has emerged as matter of
environmental concern for the entire world, similarly the Asian Brown Cloud is also one
the essential environmental issues globally and especially for the Asian countries. All
these growing environmental issues are somewhere interlinked either in causative factors
or in the ways of preventing them. There is an urgent need to sensitize the general
population about such growing environmental issues.

References
Ramanathan V.et al. (2006). The Indian Ocean-Experiment and the Asian Brown
Cloud. Journal of Current Science; 83:947-955.
Ramanathan V. et al. (2007). Warming trends in Asia amplified by brown cloud solar
absorption. Nature, 448, 575-578.
Shrinivasan J. and Gadgil Sulochana (2005). Can reducing Black Carbon Emissions
Counteract Global Warming ? Journal of Environmental Science and Technology;
31:5921-5926.
Synthesis Report (2007). Intergovernmental Panel on climate change. Cambridge
university Press.
UNEP Assessment Report (2004). The Asian brown cloud: climate and other
environmental impacts..
http//www.rrcap.unep.org/issues/air/impactstudy/index.
http//www.en.wikipedia/wiki/Asian_brown_cloud.
http//www.nature.com/nature/journal N448by v. Ramanathan 2007.
http//www.unep.org/pdf/ABC Summery Final pdf.
http//www.msnbc.msn.com/.../brown-clouds-dim-asia-threate... - United States
http//www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/11/081114191911.htm
http//www.msnbc.msn.com/.../brown-clouds-dim-asia-threate... - United States
http//www.nasa.gov/vision/earth/environment/brown_cloud.html
http//www.livescience.com/4582-brown-clouds-add-global-warming.html

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http//www.livescience.com/4582-brown-clouds-add-global-warming.html
http//www.treehugger.com/.../brown-clouds-over-india-just-as-bad-as-gree

Kumkum pandey is Research Scholar , Deepa Vinay is professor and Aditi Vats is
Associate Professor in College of Homescience,G.B Pant University of Agriculture and
Technology,Pantnagr,Uttarakhand.

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Renewable Energy: Global Issues and Indian Challenges

Renewable Energy: Global Issues and Indian Challenges

Deepti Kothari,

Anup Prakash Upadhyay

and Sonia Tewari

Introduction
Energy is essential for economic and social development of a region or a nation.
However, consumption of fossil fuels is the major cause of air pollution and climate
change. The threat posed to sustainability by greenhouse gas emissions and deterioration
of the natural resource base (for example oil crisis, fuel wood scarcity, etc.) has caused
worldwide concern. Improving energy efficiency and de-linking economic development
from energy consumption (particularly of fossil fuels) is essential for sustainable
development of a region.
The energy sector, on one hand, is a part of the economy and on the other hand
itself consists of parts such as energy supply and energy demand interacting with each
other. Both these interactions are of immense complexity. Energy is required for all the
economic activities. Energy supplies are essential for both intermediate production as well
as final consumption. So, economic development is dependent on the energy system of the
country. In turn, the implementation of technologies or improvement of the energy system
is dependent on economic factors such as capital costs, energy prices etc. Also, the
demand supply balances involve the flow of energy from source as primary energy to
service as useful energy. Energy has always been a major component in the day-to-day life
of humans. More than a billion people in the industrialized countries (about 20% of the
worlds population) consume nearly 60% of the total energy supply whereas about five
billion people in developing countries consume the other 40% of the total energy supply.
Every country is trying for economic growth through energy intensive paths. Energy
intensities are useful indicators in describing the energy used for entire production chains.
The combination of sectoral energy intensities with the demands for sectoral
outputs provides insight into total energy use in an economy. Changes in energy use
reflect the combined effects of changes in energy intensities in various sectors and changes
in the volume and structure of demand. Moreover, the evolution of the societies, the
economic growth and the way countries develop lead to an increasing demand for energy.
Two problems arise with the increasing energy consumption: firstly, pollution associated
57

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with energy consumption increases leading to unknown changes in world climate that
could have tremendous repercussions, and secondly, fossil fuels commonly used are not
renewable. Even if people are concerned about the future of the planet, power of money
and need for economic growth dominate the debate. Studies have been made on the
different resources, nuclear power and the friendly environmental energies like solar, wind
and others in order to replace the fossil fuels and more generally the non-renewable
energies. In order to have more disposable energy, plausible approach hence would be to
increase the end-use efficiency or to minimize the loss. This results in surplus energy for
more productive uses. Thus, if a country wants to increase its GDP per capita, it will have
to reach high efficiencies. Improving efficiency can save huge amounts of energy. This
illustrates that the increase in per capita GDP is not linked to greater energy use. Rather it
lies with the judicious use of energy without contributing to carbon emissions. This
analysis is revealing and results are contrary to the views increasing per capita energy
consumption to increase the GDP of pseudo energy experts.
Coal is the predominant energy source (58%) in India, followed by oil (27%),
natural gas (7%), lignite (4%), hydropower (3%), and nuclear power (0.22%). Energy
consumption patterns in the Indian residential sector vary widely not only among the rural
and urban areas but also across various income classes in urban areas. Approximately
86.1 % rural households in India use fuel wood and dung cakes for cooking. 3.5% rural
households use LPG for cooking. 50.6 % of rural households use kerosene and 48.4% use
electricity as a primary source of lighting. The annual average fuel wood consumption is
around 270 300 million tonne (Mt), kerosene consumption is about 10.5 Mt out of which
60% was in rural areas.
The natural resource base has deteriorated considerably due to the rapid growth in
population coupled with unplanned developmental activities including industrialization
and urbanization. This also has resulted in exponential increase in fossil fuel consumption.
Sustainable development of a region depends on the health of renewable energy resources
like water, vegetation, livestock etc. The integrated development of all these components
is essential for environmentally sound development of the region. Indias energy sectors
are currently facing the challenges that are:
1. Depletion of coal resources and poor quality: A look at energy consumption at
national level shows that coal accounts for more than 50%. The poor quality of
Indian coal, coupled with a lack of infrastructure to clean it, poses a major
environmental threat. Studies reveal that coal reserves could run out in another
thirty years.
2. Rising oil imports: Oil consumption has increased six fold in the past 28 years and
accounts for about 35% of energy use. Now we import about 65% of petroleum
and it is likely to shoot up to 85% by 2025.

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1. Natural gas demands: Limited domestic gas reserves and the increasing
demand have increased the dependency on neighboring countries. Due to poor
quality of coal and low stock the power sector is gradually shifting to natural gas
for power generation in place of coal.
3. Inefficient electric systems: High transmission and distribution losses
(>30%) coupled with unreliable power supply are the main problems encountered
by the power sector today. The authorities are unable to cope up with the situation
due to financial scarcity consequent to the unrealistic subsidies, free electricity and
political interventions.
4. Energy related land degradation and water shortages: Access to heavily
subsidized power to pump water for irrigation has seen wasteful water use,
depleting the water tables. As water tables lower, larger pumps require more power
to access deeper water supplies. Stagnation of water over a longer period in
agricultural fields has led to salinity and alkalinity problems in soil rendering them
unproductive.
5. Coherent, integrated policy: Energy planning is not an integrated activity in our
country. The plans for electricity, oil, coal, and firewood are separate exercises as
the central energy ministry was divided into the Coal, Petroleum and Natural Gas,
Nonconventional Energy Sources and Power ministries in 1992. Several other
government agencies, including the Planning Commission and Department of
Atomic Energy, play a role in energy policy. Lack of coordination among
competing government ministries has slowed the effort to institute effective energy
policies. This emphasizes the need for a coherent integrated energy policy.
(Ramachandra T V, 2010)
The per capita consumption in India is in the region of 450 KWH per annum. For a
large country like India, a major fraction of energy must come from domestic resources.
From a long-term perspective, we have rather limited options in this regard. The existing
reserves of coal in India would be inadequate to meet an enhanced rate of energy
consumption, comparable to today's world average per capita level. Solar and other
renewable and non-conventional energy sources must be deployed to the fullest extent
possible. Renewable energy resources, which the country has in abundance, such as solar,
wind, biomass, small hydro etc. can effectively meet energy demand and are
environmentally benign. About 5200 MW of power generating capacity based on
renewable energy sources has been installed in the country so far. This constitutes about
3.8% of the total installed capacity.
The effective transition from a fossil fuel driven energy system to the renewable
energy systems is possible only through policy shift, capacity building, strengthening
institutions and building infrastructure. There is a need for strengthening of existing
research institutions and creation of a few centers of excellence that have state of the art

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research/testing facilities for renewable energy technologies. Setting up of a public sector
renewable energy corporation on the lines of National Thermal Power Corporation would
help in promoting the renewable energy in the country. The R & D allocation on
renewable energy by the government and also Indian companies is very marginal. The
present system is bogged down by favoritism and biased approaches which is rather
discouraging for young researchers. Current science managers need to motivate and
encourage bright young researchers of 21
st
century.

The principle types of renewable energies available today are:
Biomass Energy
Hydro power
Wind power
Solar Energy
Municipal waste
Industrial waste
Wave energy
Tidal power
Geothermal heat
The above renewable energies could make a major contribution to meet the present
energy needs. In response to the progress in renewable energy technologies all over the
world, ecologically sound development of the region is required when energy needs are
integrated with the environmental concerns at the local and global levels. Energy planning
entails preparation of area based decentralized energy plans for meeting energy needs for
subsistence and development with least cost to the environment and the economy. The
need to search for renewable, alternate and non-polluting sources of energy assumes top
priority for self-reliance in the regional energy supply. This demands an estimation of
available energy resources spatially to evolve better management strategies for ensuring
sustainability of resources.
Energy resources are available to supply mankind's expanding needs without
environmental detriment. Wastes remain a major concern whether they are released to the
environment or not. Ethical principles seem increasingly likely to dominate energy policy
in many countries, which augurs well for nuclear energy. "When viewed from a large set
of criteria, nuclear power shows a unique potential as a large scale sustainable energy
source." OECD 2001 "The competitive position of nuclear energy is robust from a
sustainable development perspective since most health and environmental costs are
already internalized." OECD 2001
Until the last ten or twenty years sustainable energy was thought of simply in terms
of availability relative to the rate of use. Today, in the context of the ethical framework of
sustainable development, other aspects are equally important. These include

366

environmental effects and the question of wastes, even if they have no environmental
effect. Safety is also an issue, as well as the broad and indefinite aspect of maximizing the
options available to future generations.
Efficient use of energy is achieved when unnecessary energy conversions are
avoided, as each conversion has limited efficiency and therefore, implies a certain loss of
energy as wasted heat. For instance, if secondary energy can immediately serve as final
energy or even as useful energy, substantial losses can be avoided, for example wind
machines in irrigation or hydro turbines powering a shaft. This principle favors
decentralized energy generation and is particularly relevant with new and renewable
energy sources. The history of power development in India commenced with the
installation of a 130 kW hydro station at Darjeeling in 1899. This was followed by
installation of a 100 kW steam generating unit in 1899 at Calcutta. Today the production
and utilization of energy have become one of the most important preconditions for socio-
economic growth as well as welfare of the people. Electric Power Survey Committee, set
up by Government of India from time to time is assessing demand for power in the
country. The energy requirement and peak demand by the end of 2020 may well be in the
vicinity of 1563 billion units and 260000 MW which demands a proper and long-term
energy mix policy planning.
For a large country like India, a major fraction of energy must come from domestic
resources. From a long-term perspective, we have rather limited options in this regard. The
existing reserves of coal in India would be inadequate to meet an enhanced rate of energy
consumption, comparable to today's world average per capita level. Solar and other
renewable and non-conventional energy sources must be deployed to the fullest extent
possible. However, to meet the large concentrated energy needs for industries and urban
centers, the only sustainable energy resource available to us in India, indeed the entire
world in a longer-term time frame, is nuclear energy. India has the potential to emerge as a
key global player in renewable energy by shifting the energy policy focusing on renewable
sources of energy and also by positioning Indias expertise / knowledge and making it
available for the developing world. Government of India created the Department of Non-
Conventional Energy Sources (DNES) in 1982, which later has been converted into full
fledged Ministry of Non-Conventional Energy Sources (MNES). Taking in to account the
limitations of the conventional banking approach and to accelerate the momentum of
development and large scale utilization of renewable energy sources and primarily for
promoting, developing and financing NRSE technologies, Indian Renewable Development
Agency Limited (IREDA) was developed in March 1987.
In its first decade of operation, IREDA committed financial assistance to the tune
of US $ 397million for renewable energy projects. Centralized energy planning exercises
cannot pay attention to the variations in socio-economic and ecological factors of a region
which influence success of any intervention. Decentralized energy planning advocated

367

these days is in the interest of efficient utilization of resources, ensuring more equitable
sharing of benefits from development. The regional energy planning endeavor needs to
focus on the area based decentralized energy plans for meeting energy needs for
subsistence and development with least cost to the environment and the economy. The
regional planning mechanisms take into account all resources available and demand in a
region. This implies that the assessment of the demand and supply, and the intervention in
the energy system which may appear desirable due to such exercises, must be at a similar
geographic scale.
However, to meet the large concentrated energy needs for industries and urban
centers, the only sustainable energy resource available to us in India, indeed the entire
world in a longer-term time frame, is nuclear energy. Here too, we are in a rather unique
situation with regard to the availability of nuclear resources in our country. Resource
limitation today demands judicial use of resources, which otherwise threatens to its end.
The visual effect of the shortage we have has already started picturing in terms of limited
reserves of coal, oil, and gas which may not last long. Integrated Renewable energy
system discussed in this paper aim at mix of possible renewable energy sources taking in
to consideration environmental aspects of energy use. Use of energy, whether renewable
or nonrenewable and its effect leads to different kinds of arguments in terms of its effect
on environment, social cost and economic viability. Solar energy when considered on
human scale is renewable and is environmentally acceptable, but its use is still in primitive
stage in many parts of the country mainly because of economic barriers. Likewise,
biomass energy is being used in many forms all over the world, but the most needed eco-
friendly forms are still in premature stage in most of the world. These are the issues to be
answered if we need to achieve sustainable development in real term.

References
Ramachandra T.V. 2010. RIEP: Regional Integrated Energy Plan, Renewable and
Sustainable Energy Reviews, 13 (2009) 285317 doi:10.1016/j.rser.2007.10.004.
Ramachandra T.V. Yves Loerincik and Shruthi B.V., 2006. Intra and Inter Country
Energy Intensity Trends, International Journal of Energy and Development, 31(1):
43-84.

Anup Upadhyay is Teaching Personnel and Deepti Kothari and Sonia Tewari are students
atmCollege of Home Science,G.B Pant University of Agriculture and Technology,
Pantnagr,Uttarakhand.

368

Lets Managenage Habits to Save Future

Lets Manage Habits to Save Future

Jagdeep Parihar, Jayant Kushwaha, Shikha Rajouria and Sukhdeep Kaur

Introduction
Urban India is likely to face a massive waste disposal problem in the coming years.
Until now, the problem of waste has been seen as one of cleaning and disposing as
rubbish. But a closer look at the current and future scenario reveals that waste needs to be
treated holistically, recognising its natural resource roots as well as health impacts. Waste
can be wealth, which has tremendous potential not only for generating livelihoods for the
urban poor but can also enrich the earth through composting and recycling rather than
spreading pollution as has been the case. Increasing urban migration and a high density of
population will make waste management a difficult issue to handle in the near future, if a
new paradigm for approaching it is not created.
Urban planners, municipal agencies, environmental regulators, labour groups,
citizens groups and non-governmental organisations need to develop a variety of
responses Consumption, linked to per capita income, has a strong relationship with waste
generation. As per capita income rises, more savings are spent on goods and services,
especially when the transition is from a low income to a middle-income level.
Urbanisation not only concentrates waste, but also raises generation rates since rural
consumers consume less than urban ones.
The Ministry of Urban Development and Poverty Alleviation, as well as
Agriculture, should develop the market for compost, and if required provide subsidies for
compost manure first to provide organic soil nutrients to the farmers and to solve the
urban waste problem which continuously is polluting land through uncontrolled dumping.
It is particularly true in the case of thermal treatment of waste using technologies
such as gasification, incineration, pyrolysis or pellatisation. Indian waste content does not
provide enough fuel value (caloric value) for profitable energy production (and is unlikely
to do so soon) while the more developed countries are doing away with incinerators
because of high costs (due to higher standards of emission control), developing countries
have become potential markets for dumping such technologies. Incinerators routinely emit
dioxins, furans and polychlorinated by-phenyls (PCB), which are deadly toxins, causing
58

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cancer and endocrine system damage. Other conventional toxins such as mercury, heavy
metals are also released. For developing countries, recycling of waste is the most
economically viable option available both in terms of employment generation for the
urban poor with no skills and investment. Urban poverty is inextricably linked with waste.
In India alone, over a million people find livelihood opportunities in the area of waste;
they are engaged in waste collection (popularly known as rag picking) and recycling
through well-organised systems. A substantial population of urban poor in other
developing countries also earn their livelihood through the natural resources. Integrated
plant nutrient management, using city compost along with synthetic fertilizers, can
generate enormous national savings as well as cleaning urban India. There is scarcely any
other national programme which can bring such huge benefits to both urban and rural
sectors.
So ultimately the old Indian farming techniques are best for waste management (by
composting) and no fertilizers, pesticides etc. avoiding changes in chemical composition
of soil. Also what we can do in homes is that we can have separate bins for organic,
recyclable and rest of the waste.

Save Energy
The biggest problem today India is facing is Energy crisis, so following are some
ways to reduce energy consumption.
Energy Conservation Techniques for Home and Office
Use solar powered or other energy efficient water heaters instead of the conventional
electric geysers.
Paint the interiors of your house with a light shade as darker walls absorb more light,
compelling you to use high powered light sources which consume more electricity.
Refrain from keeping hot or even warm food items in your refrigerator as this causes
the fridge to consume more electricity. Also, do not keep the refrigerator door ajar
for a long time.
Follow household waste management methods.
Replace incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescent lamps (CFL) as the latter
act as energy efficient light bulbs and give more light but consume way less units of
electricity compared to the former.
Make sure to turn off the lights and air conditioner when you leave the room.
When buying home and office appliances, make sure that are Energy Star compliant.
These are energy efficient appliances that help conserve energy.
Switch off and unplug all appliances when not in use. Plugged in television sets,
DVD players, cell phone chargers, etc. consume energy even when not in use and
merely switching them off is not enough. Unplug them for conserving electricity.

370

Having shade plants and trees outside the windows, especially the ones where the air
conditioners are installed, help keeping the house cool and this decreases the overall
domestic energy consumption. Also, the ACs hog lesser power units when they are
kept under shade and remain cool. When selecting heating or cooling appliances for
your home or office, consider the size of the room where you intend to install them.
A bigger-than-necessary appliance wastes more energy.
Task lighting is an excellent way to save energy, especially in offices, as the lighting
is available at the exact place where it is specifically needed, eliminating the
necessity for a high power diffused lighting system which illuminates the entire area
even when such is unnecessary.
Renewable resources should be used as much as possible.

Building design
In passive solar building design, windows, walls, and floors are made to collect,
store, and distribute solar energy in the form of heat in the winter and reject solar heat in
the summer. This is called passive solar design or climatic design because, unlike active
solar heating systems, it doesn't involve the use of mechanical and electrical devices.

Shopping Green
Watch out for your buying habits. Try to borrow and share books and movies
instead of buying them. It saves money and paper. Do not buy bottled water, instead,
use water filters to purify the water. The bottled water is not only expensive, but also
creates a lot of container waste. Secondly, buy aluminum water bottles rather than plastic
ones when traveling or at work.

Environment: Pollution has been found to be present widely in the environment. There
are a number of effects of this:
Carbon dioxide emissions cause ocean acidification, the ongoing decrease in the pH
of the Earth's oceans as CO
2
becomes dissolved.
The emission of greenhouse gases leads to global warming which affects ecosystems
in many ways.
Smog and haze can reduce the amount of sunlight received by plants to carry
out photosynthesis and leads to the production of tropospheric ozone which damages
plants.
Soil can become infertile and unsuitable for plants. This will affect
other organisms in the food web.
Sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides can cause acid rain which lowers the pH value of
soil.

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Human Health: Adverse air quality can kill many organisms including humans. Ozone
depletion can cause respiratory disease, cardiovascular disease, throat inflammation, chest
pain, and congestion. Water pollution causes approximately 14,000 deaths per day, mostly
due to contamination of drinking water by untreated sewage in developing countries. An
estimated 700 million Indians have no access to a proper toilet, and 1,000 Indian children
die of diarrhoeal sickness every day. In India, air pollution is believed to cause 527,700
fatalities a year.

What steps can we as individuals take to reduce the pollution levels in our country?
The world that we live in now is badly affected by pollution. The rivers and seas
are polluted. The air polluted. The land is polluted. Consequently the things we drink,
breathe in and eat are all polluted. Pollution is virtually destroying the place we live on
Earth. If pollution is allowed to go on and on we will surely destroy ourselves too. We
ought to value our planet for it is only place we can live in. If we destroy it then we are
also finished.
Eliminating pollution completely is impossible. So it is important that we try to keep
pollution to a minimum. There are many things that we can do to reduce it. About
"CO2 pollution", there is no need to reduce CO2. It was recently proven that
temperatures dropped around the world while CO2 was increasing. Something other
than CO2 is causing warming. Most non-biased scientists are starting to think it is the
sun that is causing the changes in temperature. (Also, NASA studies done last decade
show that changes in the sun caused the Earth to leave the Great Ice Age in less than 20
years) and the data from the 'Inconvenient Truth' was proven wrong by expert pale
climatologists. The historic CO2 charts presented in the movie are highly inaccurate.
Ice core samples show that CO2 increases came after increases in temperature. Whether
we can really reduce pollution and thus save our planet is up to us. Pollute it more and
we shall perish. Some easy steps to reduce pollution:-
1. Do not burn garbage, wood, leaves etc. Make a pit and bury them to rust in soil.
2. Separate home garbage into wet and dry and collect in carry bags and throw in bin
collectors.
3. Run vehicles on LPG, C.N.G to free from smoke and carbon.
4. Grow more trees.
5. Do not collect water to stale.
6. We must not throw garbage, plastic bags; toxic wastes etc as these are non
biodegradable and harm the environment.
7. Use of solar power run appliances must be increased which are provided by government
at low interest rates.
8. Instead of cars and individual vehicles use of public transport must be increased as these
save fuels.

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So finally the conclusion is that for Indians the best way to cope up with the
present environmental problems is stick to our age old but eco-friendly Indian lifestyle.
Unnecessary and blind imitatation western lifestyles will aggrevate our problems beyond
control.

Jagdeep Parihar, Jayant Kushwaha, Shikha Rajouria and Sukhdeep Kaur are from Dr.
B.R Ambdkar National Institute of Technology,Jalandhar,Punjab.

373

No Blind Consumerism, Lets Be Ethical

No Blind Consumerism, Lets Be Ethical

Rasna Kandpal and Sristi Gaur

Introduction
The most outstanding characteristic of Eastern civilization is to know contentment,
whereas that of Western civilization is not to know contentment. Contented Easterners are
satisfied with their simple life and therefore do not seek to increase their material
enjoyment... They are satisfied with their present lot and environment and therefore do not
want to conquer nature but merely be at home with nature and at peace with their lot.
-Hu Shih (1891-1962) La Juenesse Nouvelle, April 1918
Just contradicting these lines by Hu Shih, we people are running in the blind race
of materialism where nothing counts better or greater than comfort or leisure. We think
that our status is measured by our expenses, size and cost of our shopping bags, and other
things. People buy things not by seeing and analyzing their value, profits or ingredients
but by watching the price, the packing, and the cost of the thing purchased by a person
adjacent to them. The tendency to show-off is increasing day by day.
The developing world is attracted toward the materialistic leisure of developed
world. Nobody wants to do efforts to get something. The life is now dependent upon the
packed readymade food. Whether nutritious or not, it hardly matters because it is
preventing us from doing work for preparing our food. We are fully caught in the trap of
materialism and consumerism.
A large percentage of those living in developed societies are told what brand of
soda they should drink, what cigarettes they should smoke, what clothes and shoes they
should wear, what they should eat and what brand of food they should buy. Their political
ideas are supplied in the same way. Every year a trillion dollars is spent on advertising.
This rain pours on the helpless masses that are totally deprived of the necessary elements
of judgment to formulate an opinion and the knowledge required for mediating and
discerning. This has never happened before in the history of humanity. Primitive humans
enjoyed greater freedom of thought.
The tragedy of consumerism is that one acquires more and more things without
taking the time to ever see and know them and thus one never truly enjoys them. Material
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goods are not the way to happiness. Love for one another, respect, and compassion to help
human being is what life is truly about.
Despite of being known to the negative impact of this materialistic life, the
developing nations are also going for it very rapidly in the anticipation of comfort and
opulence. They are just running in a wild goose chaase neglecting their duties toward the
environment.
Every year, tons of materials are being exploited from the earth's crust, and
processed into consumer and capital goods. After decades to centuries, most of these
materials are "lost". With the exception of some pieces of art or religious relics, they are
no longer engaged in the consumption process. Where are they? Recycling is only an
intermediate solution for such materials, although it does prolong the residence time in the
anthroposphere. For thermodynamic reasons, however, recycling cannot prevent the final
need for an ultimate sink.
We humans create such a lot of rubbish! We now produce just under half a tone
per person each year. Most of this is taken away by dustmen and buried in enormous
landfill sites or burned in incinerators - both of these actions can be dangerous for the
environment. Is all our rubbish really rubbish? If you think about it, much of what we
throw away could be used again. It makes sense to reuse and recycle our rubbish instead of
just trying to solve the problem of where to put it! Encouragingly rates of recycling have
increased so that we recycle 35% of our household rubbish, although we could recycle up
to 80%. Much of our waste is made up of glass, metal, plastic and paper. Our natural
resources such as trees, oil, coal and aluminium are used up in enormous amounts to make
these products and the resources will one day be completely used up. We must cut down
on energy use.
In the last twenty-five years alone, new inventions and improvements have utterly
transformed the way we live. Personal computers and fax machines, cordless phones and
wireless speakers, e-mail and other hi-tech labor-saving conveniences have revolutionized
our work and home life. Yet have they brought us the peace and freedom they seemed to
promise? Without realizing it, we have become dulled, if not brainwashed, in our
eagerness to embrace technology. We have become slaves to a system that presses us to
spend money on new gadgets, and we have accepted without question the argument that,
by working harder, we will have more time to do more important things.
Materialism, among all nations, is a dangerous disease of the human mind; but it is
more especially to be dreaded among a democratic people because it readily amalgamates
with that vice which is the most familiar to the heart under such circumstances.
Democracy encourages a taste for physical gratification; this taste, if it becomes excessive,
soon disposes men to believe that all is matter only; and materialism, in its turn, hurries
them on with mad impatience to these same delights; such is the fatal circle within which

375

democratic nations are driven round. It was well that they should see the danger and hold
back.
Sustainability is the capacity to endure. For humans, sustainability is the long-term
maintenance of well being, which has environmental, economic, and social dimensions,
and encompasses the concept of union an interdependent relationship and mutual
responsible position with all living and non living things on earth. This philosophical
interpretation moves well beyond definitions driven by progress oriented economic
perspectives that see humans as providing stewardship, the responsible management of
resource used. In ecology, sustainability describes how biological systems remain diverse
and productive over time, a necessary precondition for human well-being. Long-lived and
healthy and forests are examples of sustainable biological systems.
Healthy ecosystems and environments provide vital goods and services to humans
and other organisms. There are two major ways of managing human impact on ecosystem
services. One approach is environmental management; this approach is based largely on
information gained from earth science, environmental science and conservation biology.
Another approach is management of consumption of resources, which is based largely on
information gained from economics.
We can accept ethical consumerism to control the extravagancy and waste of
natural resources by human. Ethical consumerism is the intentional purchase of products
and services that the customer considers to be made ethically. This may mean with
minimal harm to or exploitation of humans, animals and/or the natural environment.
Ethical consumerism is practiced through 'positive buying' in that ethical products are
favored, or 'moral boycott', that is negative purchasing and company-based purchasing.
If we cannot change our lifestyles fully, we can at least stop over consumption of
things. Over-consumption is a situation where resource-use has outpaced the sustainable
capacity of the ecosystem. A prolonged pattern of over consumption leads to inevitable
environmental degradation and the eventual loss of resource bases. Generally the
discussion of over consumption parallels that of overpopulation; that is the more people,
the more consumption of raw materials to sustain their lives. Currently, the developed
nations of the world consume at a rate of 32, while the rest of the developing worlds 5.5
billion people consume at a rate closer to 1."

Conclusion
If each one of us will choose these ideas in day to day life, surely the consumption
rate of natural resources will decrease. The role of individual is very important. No, its
not about materials, its not about status, its not about busyness. Why are we so selfish?
Do something about it, "you must be the change you want to see in the world."
Rasna Kandpal and Srisi Gaur are students of College of Technology, G.B Pant
University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar,Uttarakhand.

376

Modern lifestyle, Non Veg Food and its Impact on Environmental Aspects

Modern Lifestyle, Non Veg Food and
its Impact on Environmental Aspects

Mukesh Kumar Mishra

Introduction
There is changing trend that is occurring globally in how people eat. As the
economic status of people changes, the food consumption pattern changes as well.
Communication technology and bombarded advertisements and modern lifestyle have
made the best tools for forcing people to shift from vegetarian to non vegetarian. There is
a substantial social science literature that examines the factors that influence the meat
consumption behavior of individuals (Dietz et al., 1995). Agricultural economists have
examined the factors that influence demand for different types of food at the aggregate
(Rosegrant et al., 2001). Economic analyses have led to sophisticated models used to
project future demand for various food types, including meat. They find that population
growth, changing lifestyle due to economic growth, and urbanizations are the key factors
influencing global food consumption trends (Rosegrant et al., 2001).
Attraction towards non veg food is high in modern era. The tendency of eating non
veg, fast food in hotels, restaurants and at home has become a fashion which has boost up
the global market of non veg food. The study of Popkin BM (2001) has suggested that
rapid changes in diets resulting from modernization (i.e. improved standards of living and
continued development) and market globalization have had a significant impact on
lifespan of people. In the present modern life style we do not take care of our eating habits,
only when we land into trouble we realize the consequences of the modern life style. The
modernization perspective identifies economic development and connection to global
markets as key influences on production and consumption processes. The modernization
perspective generally assumes that meat consumption are determined by the economic
means of a society to acquire these superior goodsi.e. it is assumed that as national
affluence rises, meat and fish consumption will also rise since they are desirable, although
expensive, food sources (Brown, 1995; Rosegrant et al., 2001). The modern life style with
high Per capita Purchasing Power (PPP) has increased the meat production and
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consumption. The consumption and production of non veg food is rising enormously in
developing countries since the per capita income is growing. In fact, in 2007 at least 60
percent of meat was produced in developing nations (Henning S, Pius C. 2007).
Food consumption patterns, particularly meat and fish consumption, have serious
consequences for environmental Sustainability (Gerbens-Leenes and Nonhebel, 2002;
Goodland, 1997; White, 2000). Meat production is resource intensive and of growing
concern in environmental circles. Up to 10 times the quantity of resources (land, energy,
and water) is needed to produce meat relative to equivalent amounts of vegetarian food
(Durning and Brough, 1991; Dutilh and Kramer, 2000). Beef production in particular has
serious environmental consequences, contributing to deforestation, desertification, and
global warming (Durning and Brough, 1991). In 2007, meat production remained steady at
an estimated 275 million tons; in 2008, output is expected to top 280 million tons. (FAO,
2008) And by 2050 nearly twice as much meat will be produced as today (FAO,
Livestock's Long Shadow, 2007).
So far, systematic studies analyzing the meat consumption pattern of world and its
consequences on environmental resource have not been carried out. This analysis tends to
fill this gap by examining the nexus between meat consumption and environmental
degradation. The study estimates population growth, per capita income and per capita
meat consumption for 2050 and finds association between per capita income and meat
consumption and focuses on exploring the impacts of meat consumption on various
environmental aspects.
Overall objective of this study is to identify relation between modern lifestyle and
meat consumption, estimate per capita meat consumption by 2050, find its correlation with
per capita income and to examine whether meat consumption has any sorts of
environmental impacts, in particular, on water, land use, climate change, rain forest and
biodiversity and if there is, to what extent?

Materials and Methods:
The Study is based on secondary source of data. Data from U.S Department of
Agriculture, Foreign Agriculture Service, 2010 is used for meat consumption analysis.
Global meat production data for 1965-2005 were obtained from the U.N. Food and
Agricultural Organization FAOSTAT livestock database. The total production numbers
were divided by the U.N. population estimates to obtain per capita meat production. To
project population growth by 2050 the following model was used :
Pop = A +B(Year) +C(Year
2
) + D(Year
3
) Using least squares regression the
resulting estimate was: Pop = 46,660,628,985 - 70,374,538(Year) + 35,343.4(Year
2
) +
5.910(Year
3
) R
2
=
.99994 And to project GDP from 2005 to 2050 the available data for
1965 through 2005 were regressed on Year. The equation was estimated in logarithms,

378

and regression gives average annual growth rate of GDP. The regression result was: Per
Capita GDP = 2995.3*e
0.0154
R
2
=
0.98

The global per capita meat production was estimated by using following model:
Per Capita Meat Production = A + B (Per Capita GDP)
Both variables were converted to logarithms before the regression was run. The
resulting estimated equation for 1965-2005 was Per Capita Meat Production = -2.842 +
0.758313(Per Capita GDP) R
2
= 0.976 .
The models developed by Gerbens-Leenes , Nonhebel, and Susan Subak are used
for estimation of land required for production of (Beef, Pork, and Broiler) per m
2
and
estimation of CO
2
emission per

kg meat
.
Both descriptive and analytical method of data
analysis is applied in this study. Data is presented in tabulated as well as graphical forms
for in-depth analysis.

Discussion:
The demand of non veg food (beef, pork, and broiler) is growing higher since they
are regarded as the chief source of protein. It is essential to find, why non veg food
consumption is growing with growth in modernization? Table 1 indicates the reasons for
it.
Table 1: Per Capita and Total Meat Production 2006-2050 Projected

Year

Per Capita Total Meat/ Per Capita
GDP Population GDP 000Metric Meat in kg
$2000 $2000 Tons
1965 $2,825 3,337,974 $9,429,556 84,437 25.3
1970 $3,299 3,696,588 $12,194,430 100,624 27.2
1975 $3,581 4,073,740 $14,587,570 115,765 28.4
1980 $3,966 4,442,295 $17,616,910 136,682 30.8
1985 $4,136 4,843,947 $20,032,840 154,421 31.9
1990 $4,535 5,279,519 $23,944,060 179,958 34.1
1995 $4,727 5,692,353 $26,910,310 206,755 36.3
2000 $5,217 6,085,572 $31,745,760 235,121 38.6
2005 $5,654 6,464,750 $36,554,731 265,236 41.0
2010 $6,103 6,842,923 $41,765,656 296,199 43.3
2015 $6,588 7,219,431 $47,562,691 331,138 45.9

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2020 $7,111 7,577,889 $53,888,672 368,316 48.6
2025 $7,676 7,905,239 $60,680,624 407,148 51.5
2030 $8,286 8,199,104 $67,934,006 447,475 54.6
2035 $8,943 8,463,265 $75,691,056 489,447 57.8
2040 $9,654 8,701,319 $83,999,657 533,234 61.3
2045 $10,420 8,907,417 $92,817,529 578,429 64.9
2050 $11,248 9,075,903 $102,083,102 624,530 68.8
1965-2005
Increase

100.2% 93.7% 287.7% 214.1% 62.2%
2005-2050
Increase

98.9% 40.4% 179.3% 135.5% 67.7%

Modern life style is by and large associated with per capita income. Higher the per
capita income, better the life style. Over the time, the Per capita Purchasing Power (PPP)
of people have increased with increase in Per capita GDP so the per capita meat
consumption has also increased as indicated in table 1 (25.3Kg meat/ person in 1965 to
68.8 kg meat /person in 2050). The increase in income has brought change in the food
consumption pattern. People have attracted towards non veg food (meat) and this situation
is going to be more serious in days to come (Galloway et al.). By 2050, the demand of
meat will be 624,530000 metric tons. Production of such amount of meat by live stocks
will certainly hamper the environment.

Fig.1 The relationship between meat consumption and per capita income 2005

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The projected data shows that there in increase in per capita meat consumption
with increase in per capita GDP. India having, low per capita GDP in comparison to USA
has low meat consumption rate. USA, Japan, Russia and Brazil has very high consumption
rate of meat products (fig.1)

Fig .2. Meat consumption per capital by country, 2010
Source: U.S Department of Agriculture, Foreign Agriculture Service, Livestock and
Poultry: World Markets and trades, annual 2010.

Fig (2) indicates high per capita meat consumption in Australia, North and South
America and some parts of Europe. The per capita meat consumption is less in Africa and
South Asia. This also indicates association of meat consumption with Per capita GDP.
With no more, and perhaps less, productive farmland available over the next 50
years this projected growth in meat production represents a major challenge to both
farmers and the environment. More meat means more feed and forage will need to be
produced, and more land will be required for housing the additional animals that will be
on farms. In addition, more production of all crops will be needed, including those used
for direct human consumption and for industrial uses.
To support the higher animal product with reference to production level of 2050. It
is required that feed crop yields will need to more than double if we are to increase meat
production in line with increases in GDP and changing life style. Failure to substantially
increase crop yields in line with the meat production projections will result in increased
pressure to push crop production onto more of the worlds fragile lands that are not being
farmed today. If feed crops production is pushed onto marginal land, the result will be a
degraded environment, increased soil erosion, increase water pollution, reduced wildlife
habitat, and increased use of chemical and fertilizer inputs.

381

Impacts of Meat Production/ Consumption in Environment.
The findings of Gerbens-Leenes , Nonhebel and Susan Subak has developed a
model to measure the CO
2
e / kg( carbon dioxide equivalent per kg) and land required(
m
2
)for production of 1 kg meat production .

Table.2. Environmental impact of 1 kg of a given commodity

a. Diminishing Availability of Land for Food Production
According to the United Nations, raising animals for food (including land used for
grazing and land used to grow feed crops) now uses a staggering 30 percent of the Earth's
land mass. Soybean cultivated in many countries is mostly used for live stock farming
rather than human use, causing hunger and starvation in some parts of the world. Soybean
production covers around half of Argentinas cultivated land and expansion is spreading
into the heavily forested northern states such as Salta and Santiago del Estero around
415,000 hectares of forest were cleared in Salta between 2002 and 2006(Fuel destruction
in Latin America, 2008). According to government figures a total of 250,000 hectares of
forest are cleared annually, with 80 per cent of this making way for soy and cattle farming
in the Chaco. Brazil is the second largest global producer of soybeans after the United
States, followed by Argentina which is mostly used for live stock farming (United Soya
republic, 2010). It is obvious that live stock farming has excessive pressure on land. Huge
amount of arable land is used for live stock farming and growing crops for live stocks. It
eventually affects the human life causing food insecurity as increased livestock farm will
reduce the supply of soybean, wheat, maize and other crops to people since these products
are used for livestock rearing. The model developed by Gerbens-Leenes and Nonhebel is
used here to estimate the land used for meat production. This estimates the amount of land
needed for feed and other inputs and does not include land usage for pasture and
production facilities.
In 2002 Beef Pork Poultry Total
Land usage (km
2
) 1252849 657692 615806 2526347
In 2020
Land usage (km
2
) 2144609 936180 1017447 4098236
In 2050
Land usage (km
2
) 3604887 1324532 1664808 6594227
Table: 3. Global Land Requirement for Meat Production
Impact type Beef Chicken Pig
C O
2

equivalent (kg)
Land requirement (m
2
)
14.8
20.9
0.2
8.9
0.9
7.3

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One of the problems with meat production is the amount of land required. To
produce 1 kg of beef, pork and broiler in the Netherlands requires 20.9, 8.9, 7.3 m
2
of land
respectively. (Gerbens-Leenes and Nonhebel 2002). If same model is followed, the total
land used for meat production was 2526347 Km
2
in 2002 whereas it is estimated to be
more than double by 2050 i.e. 6594227 Km
2
(table 3).

b. Green House Emission and Climate Change
Livestock buildings are a major anthropogenic [caused by human activity] source
of atmospheric pollutants, such as ammonia, nitrous oxide, methane and carbon dioxide,
which contributes to soil acidification and global warming(CM Wathes et al, 1997) .
Methane and nitrous oxide are the principal outputs of livestock systems that impact on
GHG. Emissions arise directly and indirectly. Direct emissions refer to those directly
produced by the animal from enteric fermentation of fiber by ruminants, manure and
urine excretion. Indirect emissions include those from feed crops used for animal
feed, emissions from manure application, CO
2

emissions from fertilizer production for
feed and CO
2

emissions from processing and transportation of refrigerated livestock
products (IPCC,1997). The greenhouse gas emissions associated with different stages in
the animal food chain production cycle are shown in Table4.

Life cycle
stage
Process creating emissions Type of emissions
Production of
animal
Production of nitrogenous and
other fertilizers, agricultural
machinery, pesticides etc
N
2
O emissions from grazing land,
fertilizer production; CO
2
from
fertilizer production
Housing,
maintenance,
machinery
Heating, lighting etc CO
2
Digestion
(ruminants)
Enteric fermentation CH
4
Waste
products
Manure and urine CH
4
and N
2
O
Slaughtering,
processing, waste
treatment
Machinery, cooking, cooling,
chilling, lighting, leather and wool
production, rendering and
incineration
CO
2
and refrigerant emissions
Transport,
storage, packaging
Transport, chilling, lighting,
packaging materials
CO
2
Domestic
consumption
Refrigeration and cooking CO
2

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Table 4. Livestock Life Cycle Stage and Associated Emissions (Garnett, 2007)

Susan Subak (1999) calculated the environmental effects of methane and CO
2

emissions of cattle. In total, to produce one kg of meat (beef) requires the equivalent of
14.8 kg of CO
2
. As a comparison, one gallon of gasoline emits approximately 2.4 kg of
CO
2
(EPA 2005). Consuming one kg of meat thus has a similar impact on the environment
as 6.2 gallons of gasoline, or driving 160 highway miles in the average American mid-size
car. The following table shows meat consumption and emission of CO
2
in environment.

In 2002 Beef Pork Poultry Total
CO
2
equivalent (1000s mt) 887185 81085 13838 982108
In 2020
CO
2
equivalent (1000s mt) 1518671 115419 22863 1656953
In 2050
CO
2
equivalent (1000s mt) 2552743 163298 37411 2753452
Table: 5. Meat Consumption and Emission of CO
2
by 2050

It is obvious from the table (5) that the meat consumption has adverse effect in
global warming and climate change. As the demand of meat will grow in future the
production of Co
2
Equivalent responsible for climate change will also increase. The CO
2
E
produced from livestock and poultry farming was 982108000 metric tons in 2002 whereas
it is going to be almost triple of it (2753452000 metric tons) by 2050. Such a huge amount
of CO
2
Equivalent emission certainly affects the climate change. Methane is 23 times more
responsible of global warming than CO
2
and the number one source of methane worldwide
is animal agriculture. Methane emission from livestock contribute around 6 percent of
global green house gas.(World Agriculture Towards 2015) .Cow, Sheep and Goat emit
methane through the digestive process(enteric fermentation), while manure is also high in
methane(Table 4). As meat and diary consumption increases, methane emission is
predicted to raise by up to 60 percent by 2030.( Livestocks long shadow 2006) which is
going to be a burning environmental issues in near future.

c. Global Water Crisis and Meat Production
There is widespread acceptance that water scarcity is going to be a burning issue in
days to come. If prediction for meat consumption is proved accurate, water from
dwindling supplies will have to serve both a growing human population and an explosion
in the number of livestock.
Waste
disposal
Transport, composting,
anaerobic digestion and incineration
CO
2
, CH
4
and N
2
O

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Between watering the crops that farmed animals eat, providing drinking water for
billions of animals each year, and cleaning away the filth in factory farms, transport
trucks, and slaughterhouses, the farmed animal industry places a serious strain on our
water supply. Recent projections by the International Food Policy Research Centre
(IFPRI) indicate that if current trends in water management continue, we can expect a
combined rise of 62 per cent in consumption for domestic, industrial and livestock use in
the period 1995-2025. Figures for livestock production, while lower than for industry and
domestic use, are predicted to rise by 71 per cent in the same period - 19 per cent in the
developed world and more than double in developing nations.( Mark W. et al, 2002) .
One indication of the relative water requirement per unit of product is provided
in Figure (3). The high value attributed to beef is notable. The production of 1 kg potato
requires merely 900 liters of water where as 1 kg beef production requires 15,500 liters of
water .Excessive water used for meat production has lead to scarcity of water for
agricultural land causing less production. Low food productivity is causing malnutrition
and untimely death of many children. Less production of meat using more water is
irrational, it could be resolved if consumption of meat is stopped or reduced.

Figure. 3. Water Use for Agricultural Products (liters per kg)

Nearly half of all the water used in the United States goes to raising animals for
food. In 2008, John Anthony Allan, a professor at King's College London and the winner
of the prestigious Stockholm Water Prize, urged people worldwide to go vegetarian
because of the tremendous waste of water involved with eating animals. Livestock
operations are major water users and polluters. The irrigation of feed crops for cattle
accounts for nearly 8 percent of global human water use (ibid). It takes more than 2,400
gallons of water to produce 1 pound of meat, while growing 1 pound of wheat only
requires 25 gallons. You save more water by not eating a pound of meat than you do by

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not showering for six months! A totally vegan diet requires only 300 gallons of water per
day, while a typical meat-eating diet requires more than 4,000 gallons of water per day.
Water demand for meat production has increased over time along with increment
in meat consumption. The water required for meat production was around 2,000,000,000
thousand kilo liters in 1965 where as it is estimated to be around six times more i.e.
12,000,000,000 thousand kilo liters by 2050.
Food Insecurity and Livestock Farming: In spite of the enthusiasm among poorer
countries to enter the international trade in animal products, it defies all logic for them to
import grain to feed animals which they then export to richer nations. Such nations are
unable to provide even the basic foodstuffs (grains) to sustain their poorest people, how
can they utilize land to grow grains for animals feeding and sell such animal meat in lower
price than the food grains? Given that the hungry are hungry because they cannot even
grow or afford to buy enough low-priced grain for sustenance. It is far-fetched to suppose
that they will suddenly be able to afford relatively high priced mutton, pork and chicken.
Indian broiler industry is one of many that exemplify the problem. It has grown
phenomenally from 31 million birds slaughtered per annum in 1981 to 300 million in 1992
and roughly 800 million by the turn of the century. (B. S. Bhattu, 2002). Consumption has
tripled in the past decade. Yet as the industry itself acknowledges, this has had no impact
upon human hunger. Anuradha Desai, Indian Branch President of the World Poultry
Science Association, states that the target audience for the Indian broiler market is the fast
growing middle class of over 250 million potential customers. (Dr. M A Ibrahim, 1997).
Increase in live stock farming is causing excessive increase in price of food grains since
much of the food grains of agricultural countries is exported for livestock farming. Such
situation has created food scarcity and increment in food price causing poor people die
with starvation. According to very conservative estimates, a 50 per cent reduction in meat
eating in developed nations could save 3.6 million children from malnutrition.

d. Poisoning the Environmental Resources
The improper management of manure and over use of insecticide and pesticide on
land for production of grains for live stock is poisoning the land and water. Waste from
CAFOs is emerging as a leading cause of water pollution in China (Xiayon, 2005). It is
estimated that around 90% of industrial farm of China lack adequate pollution control, and
that only 5% of waste is actually treated- the remainder ending up in water system. Liquid
manure discharges and solid waste runoff is responsible for 60-70% of the pollution of
the large Dianchi and Choahu lakes, and in areas around Beijing over-application of
manure has resulted in arsenic contamination of soils (Ellis, 2007). However it is not only
in countries such as China, with lower environmental regulations, that pollution occurs. In
large pig producing countries such as Denmark and the Netherlands, ammonia deposition
originating from manure has caused nitrogen levels to exceed critical loads in many

386

sensitive landscapes (Duyzer et al., 2001). Leakage or over application of manure from the
spray-field and lagoon system used in America is also a leading cause of surface and
groundwater contamination, while the air pollution and odors from these open-air storage
pits is often associated with decreases in community wellbeing and social capital. (Iowa
State University & UoI Study Group, 2002: 148; PCIFAP, 2008a). Meat production thus is
responsible for intoxicating environmental resources.

e. Deforestation and Loss of Biodiversity
Hundreds of miles of the South American rainforest is burned and cut annually and
converted to crop and grazing land (ibid, 2009). The New York Times reported that 1,250
miles of Brazilian rain forest were lost for feed and livestock production in just 5 months.
The Amazon rain forest is on of the worlds largest tropical forest which is the
habitat of many rare and endangered flora and fauna. Such a valuable forest is being
converted in to farm land for cattle rearing. According to Greenpeace, all the wild animals
and trees in more than 2.9 million acres of the Amazon rain forest in Brazil were destroyed
in the 2004-2005 in order to grow crops that are used to feed chickens and other animals in
factory farms. By 2005 over 6 million hector had been converted to soy with in legal
boundaries of Cerrado (Eating up the Amazon, 2006). It is estimated that a further 9.6
million hectors of Amazon forest could be lost to soy expansion by 2020.(The impact of
Soy production,2008). Such a massive deforestation is resulting into excessive destruction
of biodiversity.

Conclusion
It is clear that the current model of livestock production is no longer affordable in
environmental or social terms. The climate, water systems, soil and wildlife cannot sustain
the damage that is being caused. Impacts of meat consumption on environmental resources
are not a small issue, both today and especially in the future. The way the system is
currently setup is not sustainable, and so a range of issues must be dealt with by the
governments of the world sooner rather than later.
Action to replace livestock products not only can achieve quick reductions in
atmospheric GHGs, but can also reverse the ongoing world food and water crises so
organizations should consider making advocating vegetarianism a major part of their
Save the Earth campaigns. At a minimum, environmental advocates should mention
vegetarianism in any information about actions individuals can take to address meat
consumption and global warming. An alternative could be, food companies producing and
marketing such products that are alternatives to livestock products but taste similar, are
healthier and easier to cook and made up of grains.
There should be change in Governments food procurement policies, special
emphasize should be given to encourage vegetarian diets. Possible mechanisms include an

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environmental tax on meat, a shift in farm subsidies to encourage plant agriculture over
animal agriculture, or an increased emphasis on vegetarian foods in government-run
programs like school lunch program.

Reference
B. S. Bhattu.(2002). Status of Broiler Industry in India - A Review, Indian Journal of
Animal Research, vol 35 (2).
Brown, L.R.( 1995). Who Will Feed China? Wake-Up Call for a Small Planet. Norton,
New York.
CM Wathes et al. (1997). Concentrations and emission rates of aerial ammonia, nitrous
oxide, methane, carbon dioxide, dust and endotoxin in UK broiler and layer houses,
British Poultry Sciences, vol 38.
Dietz, T., Frisch, A.S., Kalof, L., Stern, P.C., Guagnano, G.A.(1995). Values and
vegetarianism: an exploratory analysis. Rural Sociology 60 (3), 533542.
Dr M A Ibrahim.(1996). Great Prospects For The Indian Poultry Industry, World Poultry,
vol 12, (7) .
Durning, A.T., Brough H.B. (1991). Taking Stock: Animal Farming and the Environment.
Worldwatch Institute, Washington, DC. World watch Paper 103
Dutilh, C.E., Kramer, K.J. (2000). Energy consumption in the food chain: comparing
alternative options in food production and consumption. Ambio 29 (2), 98 101.
Eating Up the Amazon, 2006. Green peace.
Food and Agriculture Organization. (2007). Livestock's Long Shadow, Environmental
Issues and Options, p. xx.
Fuel Destruction in Latin America. (2008). Friends of Earth Europe, p 21.
Galloway, J.N. Burke, Brad Ford. (2007). Trade in Meat: The Top of the Pork
Chop.Ambio36(8):622-629
Gerbens-Leenes, P.W., Nonhebel, S.(2002). Consumption patterns and their effects on
land required for food, Ecological Economics , p185199
Goodland, R. (1997). Environmental sustainability in agriculture: diet matters. Ecological
Economics 23, p189200.
Henning Steinfeld and Pius Chilonda.(2006). Old Players, New Players in FAO, Livestock
Report, p. 3. Ibid, p. xx.
IPCC. (1997). The regional impacts of climate change: An assessment of vulnerability
Cambridge University Press. UK.
Live Stocks Long Shadow, FAO, 2006
Mark W. Rosegrant, Ximing Cai and Sarah A. Cline.(2002). Global Water Outlook to
2025. Averting an Impending Crisis. International Food Policy Research Institute.
Nathan Fiala.(2006): Economic and Environmental Impact of Meat Consumption.

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New UN Report.(2006). News on Land requirement for live stock farming
http://www.fao.org/newsroom/en/news/2006/1000448/index.html
New UN Report.(2009). Vegan diet vital to save environment, curbing fossil fuel.
Popkin BM: The nutritional transition and obesity in the developing world. Journal
of Nutrition 2001, 131:871S-873S
Rosegrant, M.W., Paisner, M.S., Meijer, S., Witcover, J.( 2001). Global Food Projections
to 2020: Emerging Trends and Alternative Futures. International Food Policy
Research Institute, Washington, DC.
Rosegrant, M.W., Paisner, M.S., Meijer, S., Witcover, J.(2001). Global Food Projections
to 2020: Emerging Trends and Alternative Futures. International Food Policy
Research Institute, Washington, DC
Steinfeld H. (2009). Economic Constraints on Production and Consumption of Animal
Source Foods for Nutrition in Developing Countries. The Journal of Nutrition
November 2010; 133: 4054S - 4061S.
The impact of Soy production. (2008): South American Ecosystem: AID Environment.
U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization. (June, 2008). "Meat and Meat Products," Food
Outlook.
UN Report. (2006). FAO latest published news:
http://www.fao.org/newsroom/en/news/2006/1000448/index.html
United Soya Republic.(2010). The Truth about Soya production in South Africa, p27
White, T. (2000). Diet and the distribution of environmental impact: Ecological
Economics 34, 145 153.
World Agriculture Towards 2015, FAO , 2003.
Ellis, L. (2007): Environmental Health and Chinas Con- centrated Animal Feeding
Operations (CAFOs). Re- search Brief Prepared for China Environment Forum.
Washington D.C.
Duyzer, J., Nijenhuis, N. & Weststrate, H. (2001): Moni- toring and Modelling of
Ammonia Concentrations and Deposition in Agricultural Areas of the Netherlands.
Water, Air and Soil Pollution: Focus 1: 131-144
Iowa State University & University of Iowa Study Group (2002): Iowa Concentrated
Animal Feeding Operations Air Quality Study. Final Report Prepared for the Iowa
Department of Natural Resources and the Environmental Protection Commission.
Iowa

Mukesh Kumar Mi shra i s f rom Depart ment of Soci al Sci ence NIMS
Col l ege, Lal i t pur, Nepal .

389

Save Earth- An Activist Approach

Save Earth- An Activist Approach

Manpreet Singh Preet, Neeraj Tiwari, Vikas Mangal, Saurav Singh Kharayat
and Ajay Pandey

Introduction
The following is a declaration of global emergency not the short term disaster of
an earthquake or hurricane but a long term more slowly evolving series of planetary events
that may be noticed by the people busy earning a living and trying to raise their children.
Every forest that burns sends more heat up into the atmosphere, causing more
drought and more wild fires. Add to that of millions of heat generating engines of cars, jet
planes, coal fired power plants and millions of Air Conditioners which results in global
catastrophe so reducing of these things is imperative. Ecological sanitation is a sustainable
system for human excreta using dry composting toilets. This is a practical, hygienic,
efficient and cost effective solution to human waste disposal. Because we even cannot
imagine the amount of water that loss in a single flush
More & more use of bio products i.e. bio diesel (from Jathropa plant),maximum
use of solar panels in every possible way(trains, vehicles, lights, tube wells etc.) and need
of more innovation like Indian Petroleum Institute did of making petrol from deleterious
polythene should be prompted.

Can We Save Planet Earth?
Likely changes
Before warning that what happens over the next few years is crucial. A BBC
weather forecast for the year 2050 shows that summer temperatures of 38C for the UK
are "par for the course". The probable range by which the planet will warm over the next
century is between 1.4C and 5.8C. "To put it another way, the impact of global warming
will be somewhere between severe and catastrophic." The naturalist is invited to watch a
film that illustrates regional change over the next 100 years. A 2C rise for the south of
England, for example, may not seem to be much but that is not all there is to it. Rainfall is
also predicted to be more intense and storms could be five times more frequent than they
61

390

are at the moment. This makes extreme events, such as the 2004 Bo castle flood, much
more likely. Current defences for severe wind or rain will shortly become inadequate.
Even Hurricane Katrina, with the devastation it caused, is described as "not particularly
powerful". In Australia, a new approach is needed to combat brush fires after the hottest
year on record. If the Amazon tropical rainforest were to disappear, not only would an
entire ecosystem vanish, but a valuable way of cooling the planet would go as well.
Meanwhile, the glaciers continue to melt: one scientist reveals that an area the size of
Texas has been lost over the last 20 years.A warming of 2C is inevitable, as a
consequence of our actions over the last 25 years, but whether or not we end up at 6C is
still very much within our control.

Reducing Emissions
The challenge is to freeze emissions at their current level:
Household solutions
o Turning heating down by a few degrees
o Turning off televisions and similar equipment instead of leaving them in 'standby'
o Composting vegetable waste
o Buying locally grown food to save on transporting it
o Using energy-efficient lighting
o Insulating homes properly
o Using a gas cooker instead of an electric one
Driving more fuel-efficient cars
Using more public transportation
Tripling the world's nuclear power
Scaling up renewable energy, such as solar and wind power
Pumping back emissions titer below the sea bed
The world is waking up to climate change, and everyone has a part to play in
halting it. If the Greenland ice cap were to melt, the sea would flood much of south-east
Britain, including central London. It would take just a 5-metre rise to drown most of
Florida and leave Miami 50 miles off shore. A similar deluge would wipe Bangladesh off
the map. Worldwide, 150 million people could be displaced within 50 years.
"In the past, we didn't understand the effect of our actions. Unknowingly, we
sowed the wind and now, literally, we are reaping the whirlwind. But we no longer have
that excuse: now we do recognize the consequences of our behavior. Now surely, we must
act to reform it: individually and collectively; nationally and internationally or we
doom future generations to catastrophe."
It is now the high time to do our own share in protecting Earth and her wonderful
creatures.

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Our planet is indeed gasping for breath right now, our harmful pollutions is indeed
choking her slowly and continues to stripped her with her ozone layer. I think it is about
time to give our timely response to this alarming state of the only planet we live in, by
doing our own share of protecting her with doing simple things that will surely stir big
difference. For if not, we might be harming ourselves in the years ahead as well, for nature
has its own destructive way of getting back at us humans, the signs of earth's displeasure
with inappropriate and harmful activities of humans are now seen and felt all across the
globe like the global warming, climate change, acid rain, drought, flash floods and other
forms of natural catastrophes. Here are some practical and small ways that could help our
planet get a sigh of relief. Collective small efforts by those who are genuinely concerned
with earth's welfare will inevitably help her by great leap and bounds.

Manpreet Singh Preet, Neeraj Tiwari, Vikas Mangal, Saurav Singh Kharayat and Ajay
Pandey are students from College of Agriculture,G.B Pant University of Agriculture and
Technology,Pantnagar,Uttarakhand.

392

Saving Earth: An Environmental Ethical Perspective

Saving Earth: An Environmental Ethical Perspective

Pankoj Kanti Sarkar

Introduction
Environmental ethics is a new sub-discipline of applied ethics that deals with the
ethical problems surrounding environmental protection. It aims at providing ethical
justification and moral motivation for the cause of global environmental protection. At the
level of ideas, environmental ethics challenges the dominant and deep-rooted
anthropocentrism of modern mainstream ethics and extends the object of our duty to future
generations and non-human beings. At the practical level, environmental ethics criticizes
the materialistic, hedonistic and consumerist attitude of modern capitalism, and demands
for a green lifestyle that is harmonious with nature. Environmental ethics speaks of an
intimacy with the things and beings in the world in a sense of immediacy, care and
frugality. It emphasizes upon the development of a sustainable ecology and society with
the help of a reciprocal and holistic attitude, where all comprehensive aspects and parts of
nature are preserved, protected and do coexist with harmony. Thus, it can be said that
environmental ethics is concerned with the issues of responsible personal conduct with
respect to natural objects, resources and non-human organisms.
Environmental ethics believes in ethical relationship between human beings and
natural environment. Human beings are part of society and so are the other living beings.
When we talk about the philosophical principle that guides our life, we often ignore the
fact that even plants and animals are a part of our lives. They are an integral part of
environment and hence have a right to be considered a part of the human life. On these
lines it is clear that they should also be associated with our guiding principles as well as
our moral and ethical values.
The ethical principles governing those relations determine our duties, obligations,
and responsibilities with regard to the Earths natural environment, future generations and
all the animals and plants that inhabit it. Human survival and well-being could depend on
success in elevating sustainable development to a global ethics.
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We need to recognize that every human being is a part of the community of life on
Earth and that humans are subject to the same immutable ecological laws as all other
species. This community links all human societies, present and future generations, and all
other parts of nature. It embraces both cultural and natural diversity. Because all life
depends on the uninterrupted functioning of natural systems, ecological responsibility
among all people is necessary for the survival, security, equity, and dignity of the world's
communities. Human culture must be built upon a profound respect for nature, a sense of
being at one with nature, and recognition that human affairs must proceed in harmony and
balance with nature.
There are some basic premises in environmental ethics that govern the human-nature
relationship which are as follows:
Humankind is a part of nature and the diversity of living forms.
Our knowledge and understanding of the complexity, diversity, and interrelationships
of life and living systems remain rudimentary.
The sustainability of our life support systems is incompatible with current
consumptive growth patterns and the rate of human population growth.
Humans have altered the natural systems of the Earth to such an extent that much
extinction have already taken place and the existence of countless species, including
our own, is in jeopardy.
One of the challenges of this new decade is that of changing peoples behavior and
attitude towards the environment. A prerequisite for such change is the promotion of
public awareness and understanding of environmental issues. People need to realize that
they are part of the whole community of life that depends on earth's environmental
resources for subsistence and sustenance. People should understand that all living and
nonliving things are interdependent and interrelated and that upsetting the balance of
nature will threaten their very own survival as well as nature. All these depend upon the
proper recognition of intrinsic value in nature.
One should investigate the role of human beings as such in environmental ethics
and in preservation of the environment, and how scientists and non-scientists alike can
contribute towards ameliorating the environment for the present and future generations.
What we need is not so much a new environmental ethic but a new environmental ethos
i.e. an outlook, which is as fully appreciative of the natural world as, is consistent with our
need to survive in it, and which registers horror at any activity which causes the needless
or unnecessary destruction of non-human nature.
Environmental ethics can solve environmental problems and save the world but
first we must recognize the essential normative nature of environmental problems and
their solutions. Environmental ethics as a normative philosophical inquiry about how
humanity should ethically live on our finite planet, we must contribute to our
comprehensive and effective response to the urgent environmental problems. Humanity

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will not be able to save the world from environmental catastrophe unless and until the
normative nature of environmental problems is recognised. Environmental problems are
essentially and irreducibly normative in nature because for the following reasons.
Environmental problems are the result of human behaviour, and human behaviour is
the result of human values.
Our detrimental behaviour to the natural world in the modern, industrial and
globalized society is the result of specific modern values, like, limitless economic
growth and competitive materialism, so that changes in these values will be
necessary if we are to resolve our environmental problems.
Science alone will not be sufficient to solve environmental problems since they
involve more than empirical causation and consequences, the objective of science.
Technology applies scientific knowledge without examining the social values. But
the communitys public political process of discussion, debate and decision -making
among alternatives will be necessary to lead to the solution of environmental
problems according the political values like, justice, fairness, equality and
democracy.
Finally, Environmental problems will be the catalyst for the transformation of the
current hegemonic modern social values, practices and institutions, making
normative discourse vitally important to both environmental ethics with the aim of
saving the world. It is also important that the normative nature of the foundation of
environmental problems is a value judgment based on empirical observation. Thus
all environmental problems contain an irreducible value component that can and
must be addressed by environmental ethicists.
Thus, it is clear that environmental problems cant be solved and our planet Earth
will not be saved, unless we understand the normative nature of environmental problems
and their appropriate value assessment and prescription. These value assessments will be
accepted and implemented with the hope of a social change. In this regard, if we follow
Kate Rawls we can find there a relation between environmental ethics and environmental
social activism where it is said while activists goes on and do something, philosophers
just thinks.
1
But a normative thought, a causal and phenomenological analysis of modern
social condition is the necessary conditions for solving environmental problems. Thus,
there is an important normative relationship between environmental ethical thought and
environmental action in our efforts to save the world from global catastrophe.
In the course of exercising our rationality and intelligence we need to control and
manage all kinds of pollution, but it is not possible for us to opt for zero-pollution, zero-
waste, zero-consumption, or zero-destruction. To put it in a different way, it is not possible
for us to opt for absolute conservation or absolute preservation. To opt for absolute

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conservation would mean not to use any part of the natural world, or not to see any part of
it as a resource. Everything would have to be left as it is, non-used and non-consumed.
This is also same with absolute preservation. Even walking on the surface of earth would
become a source of moral anxiety, since we frequently damage small-scale plants and
animal life when we move around in the natural world, even when we do it carefully.
xliii

It is clear that unnecessary destruction is immoral, but the level of destructiveness
that it takes to pull up a plant, break it apart and eat it, to kill an animal and eat it is
justified for a species when its basic need is at stake. An attitude of respect for nature
which would be on a par with our prescribed respect for other members of our own species
would make it impossible for us to live, since living implies a relatively destructive
activity of eating and potentially polluting activity of excreting waste matter from our
bodies. Our biological appearance implies that we are not pure spirits; we need to hunt,
gather, harvest, find shelter, clothe ourselves, and make some arrangement for the
dispersal of our bodily waste within the natural world.
In a way of conclusion it can be said that what we need is not so much a new
environmental ethic but as a new environmental ethos - i.e. an outlook, which is as fully
appreciative of the natural world as, is consistent with our need to survive in it, and which
registers horror at any activity which causes the needless or unnecessary destruction of
non-human nature. We need to think that we are not bound to solve all the problems in the
world; our duty is only to avoid in creating problems. We must not be responsible for evil
to others; we must not harm others; if we harm, we must repair the damage. This is called
an Ethics of Responsibility.

References:
Dickson, B. The Ethicist Conception of Environmental Problems, Environmental Values,
9(2): 12752.
Gunn, A. Can Environmental Ethics Save the World? in Frederick Ferre and Peter
Hartel, edit, Ethics and Environmental Policy: Theory Meets Practice Athens:
University of Georgia Press, 1994. P.195216.
Hargrove, E.C. Foundation of Environmental Ethics Prentice Hall: Englewood Cliffs, NJ
1989.
Leopold, A. A Sand Country Almanac Oxford Univ. Press: NY 1966 p.340.
Naess, A, Ecology, Community and Life Style: Outline of an Ecosophy trans. and edit.
Rothenberg, D.Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1989.
Padhi, L. Ethics, Values and Environment, Journal of Philosophy, University of North
Bengal, April 2007.
Rawles, Kate. The Missing Shade of Green. In Environmental Philosophy and
Environmental Activism, ed. Don E. Marietta Jr. and Lester Embree, 149-67.
Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield, 1995.

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Rolston III, H. Values in and Duties to the Natural World in Environmental Ethics
Temple University Press: Philadelphia 1988.
Taylor, Paul W. Respect for Nature Princeton University Press, Princeton: NJ 1986.

Pankoj Kanti Sarkar is Research Scholar at University of North Bengal.

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Sustainability Issues in Agro Ecosystems and
The Role of Youth

Sustainability Issues in Agro Ecosystems and
The Role of Youth

Ansuman Satapathy

Introduction
One of the principal aspirations of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) is
to eliminate desperate hunger. The food scarcity caused due to ever increasing natural
disasters, climate change and population increase has serious impacts on the economic and
societal health of people. Sustainable food security depends on the ability to increase
agricultural productivity without degrading the resources on which agriculture depends.
Sustainable agriculture has been defined as the successful management of resources
for agriculture to satisfy changing human needs while maintaining or enhancing the
quality of the environment and conserving natural resources (Technical Advisory
Committee, CGIAR, 1987). Expansion and intensification of agriculture is part and parcel
of development policies of most of the developing countries. The expansion and
intensification of agriculture brings previously virgin land under human control and
regulation and thereby destruct the ecological harmony. Historically youth energy has
been the primary catalyst in bringing change in existing socio-economic practices. In this
context the issue of sustainability of agro-ecosystems and the role of youth has great
significance in development research.

Sustainability
The term sustainable development was coined in the early 1980s. Sustainable
development ensures the stability of society, economy and environment. The pioneer of
green revolution in India Prof. M. S. Swaminathan has emphasized that there can be no
better common future without a better common present. Agricultural sustainability has
been defined in different ways. The various definitions can be categorized into one or
more of three main perspectives: the agro ecological concept, the resource concept, and
the growth concept (Harrington, 1992). The agro ecological perspective focuses on the
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resilience of agro ecosystems. This refers to the ability of maintaining production under
stress and strain. The second category of stewardship refers to care and protection of
resources. According to this perspective, the sustainability of agriculture can best be
enhanced by slowing economic development, stabilizing human population levels, and
discouraging the exploitation of natural resources (Barbier and McCracken, 1988;
Durning, 1990). In the last category are definitions that focus on the need for continued
growth in agricultural productivity while maintaining the quality and quantity of the
resources devoted to agriculture (Technical Advisory Committee, CGIAR, 1987; Gitau,
2008). This requires that renewable resources be used at a rate lower than that at which
they can be regenerated, wastes be emitted at a rate lower than that at which they are
absorbed by the environment, and that use of non-renewable resources be optimized
(Barbier and McCracken, 1988).

Fig. 1 Levels of ecosystem organisation applied to an agroecosystem (Gilessman, 1998)

Structural and functional issues in agro ecological sustainability
Agroecosystems all over the world mainly comprise of plants and animals of one
or two species which are subject to intensive human intervention and help in order to cope
with the negativities of environment and maximize the production potential. In intensive
farming systems the benefits and adversities of available environment are borne by one or
two species while the benefits and responsibilities are well distributed in natural
ecosystems. Structural and functional issues of sustainability associated with
agroecosystems have been well characterised by Miguel A. Altieri and Clara I. Nicholls,
2004 and Gliessman, 1998.

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Trophic Chains: The trophic chain is simpler in case of agroecosystems as there is not
much diversity between species. In case of a paddy cropped land the primary producer is
paddy where as the consumers are basically human beings and in small number of cases
intervening species may be a few number of rodents. Thus the food chain is linear and
simple where as in the case of natural ecosystems like village ponds or small forests the
food chain is very much complex with lots of evidences of cross cutting relationships. The
simpler trophic chain makes the agroecosystems ecologically unsustainable.
Species Diversity: Species diversity is less in intensive farming as there is no natural
choice available. Everything is controlled by human intervention. As biological diversity
is reduced, trophic structures tend to become simplified, and many niches are left
unoccupied (Thies and Tscharntke, 1999)
Genetic Diversity: Low genetic diversity is propagated in intensive farming and genes
with lower physical and chemical resistance are given preference. This leads to increasing
amount of danger from pests.
Mineral Cycles: This also refers to nutrient cycle. According to Gliessman, (2008) the
nutrient cycle in case of natural ecosystems are closed or tight as no components are taken
out of the system where as in case of agroecosystems by products are often used for
secondary uses such as fodder and there is increasing demand of nutrients. This is often
compensated by synthetic fertilizers which further pollute the soil nutrient cycle.
Recycling of nutrients is minimal in most agroecosystems and considerable quantities are
lost from the system with the harvest or as a result of leaching or erosion due to a great
reduction in permanent biomass levels held within the system. The gradual loss of nutrient
creates the necessity of more and more fertilizer use as happening in the Punjab state of
India. Lower levels of soil organic matter (SOM) accumulation and reduced biological
activity in monoculture is also a key factor explaining low soil fertility in deeply
weathered and leached tropical soils. The frequent exposure of bare soil between cropping
seasons also creates leaks of nutrients from the system. Nitrogen fertilization often has
its strongest effects on plant soluble N (38), sap-feeding insects like aphids, leafhoppers,
and plant hoppers are likely to show strong population increases in response to N
fertilization (Matson, et. al., 1997).
Stability: The resilience of agroecosystems against invasive species and pests and internal
equilibrium disturbance is low as there are not much of diverse coping qualities. This is
the result of low biodiversity.
Entropy: The entropy of agroecosystem is higher as more synthetic fertilizers are used.
This affects the sustainability. Hence reduction in fertilizer use is necessary for sustainable
agroecosystem
Temporal Permanence: Natural ecosystems are permanent because of symbiotic
relationship and adequate resilience developed in the system. These qualities are not found
in intensive farming.

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Habitat Heterogeneity: Formation of intensive farming system involves destruction of
pre-existing ecosystem and creation of gaps in niche. Thus habitat structures are simplified
as compared to complexities present in natural ecosystems due to higher biodiversity.
Phenology: Phenology of natural ecosystem is seasonal but that of farming system is
synchronized or adjusted in order to get maximum production in a given time of the year
or as fast as possible by applying fertilizers.
Maturity: In intensive firming systems plants are not allowed to mature for maximizing
production. Hence this leads to early succession which is absent in natural ecosystems as
there is no human intervention present there.
Water resource depletion: Over pumping and increasing population pressure result in loss
of water resource. It also leads to greater salinization. According to P. A. Matson, et. al.
(1997), high rates of sedimentation of water bodies due to loss of soil by wind and water
erosion on agricultural land, reduces the lifetime of water bodies.
Forest Depletion: Agricultural expansion also leads to cutting down trees in fringe area of
forests and depletion old forest biomass. This results in loss of atmospheric oxygen and
increase in atmospheric carbon leading to global warming. Agroecosystem expansion is
not the only reason of deforestation but several proximate causes such as wood extraction,
etc. and underlying driving forces such as population growth and development policies,
etc. are responsible for tropical deforestation. (Geist & Lambin, 2002)
Health and Climatic Impacts: High nitrate concentration in drinking water causes human
health problems. Near estuaries and ponds it can cause loss of fish resource by lowering
dissolved oxygen level. Methane emission from paddy fields and emission of Nitrogen
Oxides due to increased fertilizer use help in global warming and climate change. It affects
the tropospheric Ozone which is critical for human and crop health. Further the lake and
river eutrophication results in loss of balance between the local organisms and habitat loss.
The pesticides applied also contaminate ground water.
Scale and policy issues: As the interests of stakeholders clash among themselves, scale
becomes an important factor in determining the appropriate balanced policy for
sustainable agriculture. For the poor populace in a village intensification with increased
fertilizer and pesticide use may become highly attractive rather than regional
environmental problems of eutrophication and sedimentation. The governments at
different regional scales have conflicting interests too. Governance at higher scale is
environmentally more sensitive than its counterpart at state or village level. Thus the loss
and profit budget of agroecosystems at different scales are needed to be quantified in order
to minimize the conflict of interest among stake holders of development for sustainable
agroecosystem.
Role of Youth
Youth has a great importance in society building. Sensible youth is the most
important asset of any community. Deep sensitiveness and strong passion intrinsic in

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youth make them the right subject for greater environmental awareness. Misdirected youth
energy has the potential to do greater harm to environment. Awakened seers all over the
world have expressed their profound faith on the youth. Supreme value of youth period is
incalculable and indescribable. Youth life is the most precious life. Youth is the best
time (Swami Vivekananda). In order to form a responsible youth community right kind
of education is crucial. Swami Vivekananda considered education as the manifestation of
the perfection already in man. Holistic education system is important in this perspective.
Jiddu Krishnamurthy described education as follows, Education is not only learning from
books, memorizing some facts, but also learning how to look, how to listen to what the
books are saying, whether they are saying something true or false. Education is not just to
pass examinations, take a degree and a job, get married and settle down, but also to be able
to listen to the birds, to see the sky, to see the extraordinary beauty of a tree, and the shape
of the hills, and to feel with them, to be really, directly in touch with them
(Krishnamurthy, 1980). Education for youth should lead to flowering in goodness. In this
context the method of learning by doing is needed to be practiced in a wider way.
Sustainability issues are still to be inducted in education curriculum as current system
doesnt provide deep insight.
The unique contribution of youth for sustainable agriculture can be in the field of
acquiring and disseminating environmental and technological knowledge. The youth has
the potential to acquire knowledge on current best practices in sustainable agroecosystems
and spread awareness among poor illiterate farmers. As scale remains an important factor
in environmental policy formulation, youth can become a bridge between ever widening
gap between government authorities and citizens in developing world. The environmental
loss at regional level due to intense fertilizer use may not be understood by poor farmer
unless youth of the community act as interpreter of scientific language in local language.
Youth remains an active element in any community. The use of modern
technologies such as participatory GIS, energy efficient instruments and agroforestry
techniques are to be implemented through the youth for sustainability in agriculture. Youth
has taken active role in biovillage paradigm of human centered development in states like
Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh in India promoting energy and
environmental security. Named as rural youth green corps they spread awareness about
sustainability of agroecosystems. This has also lead to provision of employment
opportunities for unemployed rural youth at village knowledge centres and village
resource centres.

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Fig.2. Hazard Map through participatory GIS made for Bansi Village in Northern Ghana
showing the key resources in the village and the hazards affecting them (CARE, 2009)

Indigenous knowledge and techniques have proven to be highly effective in
maintaining the sustainability of farming systems. In this context youth has the
responsibility that no knowledge gap is formed between generations and indigenous
techniques are preserved for future use.
Studies have found that youth development programs have significant impact on
sustainable agricultural practices in the tropical countries like India, Thailand and Kenya.
(Dolan, 2006; Villarreal & Anyonge, 2006). Youth is most sensitive towards existing evil
practices in society such as corruption and discrimination as seen in India and rest of the
world. Hence inclusive growth for sustainability can be best achieved through youth
awareness. Enacting rules and regulations on sustainable practices may not result into
harmony in a starving society because of conflicting demands where as spreading
awareness will certainly result in greater community sustainability perceptiveness. This
indicates the pivotal role the youth has to play in development process.

Conclusion
Natural ecosystems have the inherent property of diversity and symbiotic
relationship which is not present in agroecosystems. In spite of this the demand for
agroecosystems expansion and intensification is ever rising due to enhanced population
pressure. The problem is very critical in developing tropical world. Maintaining balance
between food production and environmental sustainability has been the prime focus of
policy formulation through last two decades. In spite of the all the measures taken, there

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still remains enough scope for harnessing the youth potential. The concepts and techniques
of spreading sustainability awareness through youth are yet to be explored through models
like, village knowledge centres, etc. in many parts of the developing world. Equally
important is the scientific exploration required to deal more effectively with structural and
functional issues of agroecosystems sustainability. Climate change has also become a
serious threat for development in recent years. In this context the constructive role of
youth, both in scientific as well as socioeconomic arena can lead to development of sound
policies and practices for our better common future.

References
Altieri, M.A & Nicholls, C.L, (2004) An agroecological basis for designing diversified
cropping systems in the tropics. The Haworth Press, Inc.
Barbier, E., and McCracken, J. (1988) Glossary of Selected Terms in Sustainable
Economic Development. IIED Gatekeeper Series SA7. International Institute for
Environment and Development, London. 19 pp.
CARE International (2009) Climate Vulnerability and Capacity Analysis Handbook.
Dolan, T. (2006) Sustainable agriculture and rural development; a response to the
realities of rural Africa, in Garrity, D., A. Okono, M. Grayson and S. Parrott, eds.
(2006) World Agroforestry into the Future. WAC.
Durning, A. (1990) How much is enough? World Watch 3: 1219.
Geist, H. J. and Lambin, E. F. (2002) Proximate causes and underlying driving forces of
tropical deforestation. Bioscience 52 (2002), pp. 143150.
Gliessman, S.R. (1998) Agroecology: Ecological Processes in Sustainable Agriculture.
Ann Arbor, MI: Ann Arbor Press.
Gilessman, S. R. (2008) The agroecosystems concept in Agroecology: The ecology of
sustainable food systems. 2
nd
Ed., CRC Press.
Gitau, T. (2008) Integrated Assessment of Health and Sustainability of Agroecosystems.
CRC, Hoboken.
Harrington, L.W. (1992) Measuring sustainability: Issues and alternatives, in Hiemstra,
W., Reijntjes, C., van der Werf, E., eds. (1992) Let Farmers Judge: Experiences in
Assessing the Sustainability of Agriculture. London: Intermediate Technology,
pp. 2641.
http://www.sakaaltimes.com/SakaalTimesBeta/20100811/5452008165350235695.htm
(Accessed on 20th September 2011).
Krishnamurthy, J. (1980) Krishnamurthy on education. KFI, Chennai.
Matson, P.A., W.J. Parton, A.G. Power and M. Swift (1997) Agricultural intensification
and ecosystem properties. Science, 277:504-509.

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Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) (1987) Sustainable Agricultural Production:
Implications for International Agricultural Research. Technical Advisory
Committee of the CGIAR, Rome.
Thies, C. And Tscharntke, T. (1999) Landscape structure, and biological control in
agroecosystems. Science 285: 893-895.
Villarreal, M. & Anyonge, C. H. (2006) The challenge of HIV/AIDS: Where does
agroforestry fit in?, in Garrity, D., A. Okono, M. Grayson and S. Parrott, eds. (2006)
World Agroforestry into the Future. WAC.

Anshuman Satapathy is Research Scholar at School of Environment Management, Guru
Govind Singh Indraprastha University,New Delhi,India.

405

Healing the Earth: Onus on Humanity

Healing the Earth: Onus on Humanity

Yogita Navani and Swati Rautela

Introduction
Environment is our surroundings. The air we breathe, the water we drink, the food
we eat, the flora and fauna that we see all constitute our environment. Even the smallest
microscopic organisms present on our bread are part of our environment. All plants and
animals adjust to the environment in which they are born and live. A change in any
component of the environment may cause discomfort and affect normal life. Any
unfavourable change or degeneration in the environment is known as Environmental
Pollution.
Environmental pollution is one of the serious problems faced by the people in the
country. Rapid population growth, industrialization and urbanization in country are
adversely affecting the environment. Though the relationship is complex, population size
and growth tend to expand and accelerate these human impacts on the environment. All
these in turn lead to an increase in the pollution levels. However, environmental pollution
not only leads to deteriorating environmental conditions but also has adverse effects on the
health of people. Environmental pollution is caused due to over-use of natural resources,
presence of a large number of people and livestock in congested areas, use of agro-
chemicals, setting up of factories, running of automobiles, burning of fuel, etc.
A change in the environment due to pollution also affects the ecological balance.
Environmental pollution is caused both in rural and urban areas. Pollution can cause
sickness and discomfort. It also affects the productivity of natural resources, such as land,
water, forests and livestock.
India is one of the countries with the most degraded environment in the world and
it is paying heavy health and economic price for it. Ever since the existence of human
beings which begun slightly more than two million years ago, the natural environment has
offered numerous settings for human beings to set-up their homes starting with physical
natural shelters in caves to the modern settlements in megacities. The concentration of
greater number of human beings in modern habitats in the form of cities and megacities,
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which together with them entail the utilization of energy, material and technology
especially after the middle of last century, has created various forms of environmental
change that is impacting human habitats. Increasing economic activities in developing
countries result in more energy and consumption demand, which generally lead to
environmental degradation.
Human utilization and exploitation of the physical environment naturally began to
have greater impact especially when their numbers increased and their technologies
became more advanced. However, the impact of human utilization of the environment has
not been known to exceed the ability of the physical environment to adjust and achieve an
equilibrium state, not until after the industrial revolution.
With concentration of greater number of human beings in modern habitats in the
form of cities and megacities, which together with them entail the utilization of energy,
material and technology especially after the middle of last century, has created various
forms of environmental change that is impacting on human habitats. Environmental
change must have started when human beings left the caves and built shelters and homes
on their own by clearing small plots of land. However, with their growing number and
better technologies to support them in agriculture, mining and other activities greater tracts
of forested lands were opened up.
Deforestation has gone to a stage where its impact has lead to desertification in the
semi arid regions and soil erosion and land degradation in the humid tropics, a scenario
often referred to be natural in its causes but exacerbated by anthropogenic meddling
(Blaikie & Brookfield 1987). Deforestation has not only caused extensive loss of
biodiversity and water catchment areas, but also soil erosion, silting, more intensified
flooding, and loss of essential carbon sink.
Increasing economic activities in developing countries result in more energy and
consumption demand, which generally lead to environmental degradation. Human
interference with the environment causes problems such as soil erosion, global warming
and acid rain.
Earth is in an ongoing phase of global warming primarily caused by an enhanced
greenhouse effect due to the anthropogenic release of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse
gases.
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) position of January 2001
states that an increasing body of observations gives a collective picture of a warming
world and other changes in the climate system. There is new and stronger evidence that
most of the warming observed over the last 50 years is attributable to human activities.

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Cause of Global Warming
Almost 100% of the observed temperature increase over the last 50 years has been
due to the increase in the atmosphere of greenhouse gas concentrations like water vapour,
carbon dioxide (CO
2
), methane and ozone. Greenhouse gases are those gases that
contribute to the greenhouse effect (see below). The largest contributing source of
greenhouse gas is the burning of fossil fuels leading to the emission of carbon dioxide.
In essence, anthropogenic causes of global warming appear to be dominant. It is
therefore clear that mitigation of the problem leading to global warming and consequent
climate change is possible through anthropogenic actions. It could be difficult but not
impossible.

Giving a Healing Touch
When the human society is believed to have reached the climax of its development,
the Earth is in unprecedented turmoil. Journey of our development reaching climax has
also been posing serious problems to Mother Earth, to the extent that now whole climate
pattern of the globe is undergoing drastic change and posing threat to the entire human
race.
We cannot escape the grim reality of our times. Healing the Earth, healing the
society and healing the self should now become an imperative of our times. Ecological-
spiritual values must be an essential ingredient of our contemporary education. Ecological-
spiritual development should be treated as the fifth dimension of education. Right from the
primary level to higher education level ecological-spiritual values should be essentially
integrated with education programmes. These values need be conceived by globalizing
civilisation much more than their predecessors. Conscientiousness about such values in
integrated value education would be instrumental in developing a more diverse, more
beautiful, vibrant, coherent and sustainable world.
Education is a pivotal means to reshape the humanity and the world. But the
conventional education which has been one of the primary forces to bring the world to this
state is not. The new civilization needs new education. Our current education pattern does
not teach us how to be human, but how to be a consumer. Quoting Plato, The direction in
which education sets a man will determine his future life. It is as true today as it was in
Platos times. Ultimately all systems of education, as well as systems of philosophy are
about how to be human, not to be a consumer, Henryk provides substantial meaning to
education. He further suggests, We must not misread our mandate: we are here to lead
our young to be deservedly human and not to manipulate them for the sake of the status
quo, which always is undermining its own existence.
Education can change the destiny of the new civilization. But not the kind of
education the present young generation is being given the dose of. The right kind of
education can help us construct the real world. Ecological reconstruction should be at the

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heart of our education system. Eco-philosophy guides us to lead to an Ecological Age. The
right kind of education as advocated by Skolimowskian Eco-philosophy would be a
vehicle to help us usher in a real world.
Eco-philosophy is about a new shape of life, dignity of life, dignity of human
work, and about responsibility about our environment, society and the whole world. Eco-
philosophy would help the future generations speak with the voice of eco-wisdom and
eco-values. Eco-philosophy would be of enormous help to change the patterns of our
behaviour towards nature, develop alternative ways of living, bring the world in the state
of ecological renaissance and would be phenomenal towards reviving the tormented planet
we are living on.

Yogita Navani is working at Communication Centre and Swati Rautela is Ph.D Scholar in
Department of Agricultural Economics, G.B Pant University of Agriculture and T

409

Environmental Ethics and a Sensitive Society

Environmental Ethics and a Sensitive Society

Shaikhom Inaotombi Singh

Introduction
The right and wrong idea toward natural environment is the environment ethics. All
the human ethics seek for an appropriate respect for life and assume that human beings
count morally. The ethics of humanist in our day to day life such as business, law,
medicine, nuclear disarmament, cloning, war and peace etc. provide a perceptive for
understanding plight of mankind. Environmental ethics are getting less attention and
thought; however it is very important as it poses a great threat by degradation of
environment. Human beings are disturbing the balance of nature. Depletion of natural
resources is endangering our future generations. Environment ethics bring about the idea
that all forms of life on earth have right to live. It is very complex and stunt in theory. It
says that we human beings should base our behavior on a set of moral standing that guide
our approach toward the other living being in the domain of nature. Most philosophers
ask whether there can be non-human object of duty. Once we were in environment ethics
we will no longer be a humanist. Concern to environmental ethics is very risky like steep
slope where it is easy to get lost and comment on it seem foolishness (e.g. there may be a
right for rocks/stones). Accounting of moral standard to nature is dilemma in making
conclusion for philosophers. Hence, construction of a concrete framework is required.
The paper is devoted to the theory of Anthropo-natura cyclic senses which move
as a function of time. It focuses on the sensible society which observes the environmental
problem augmented by the technological advancement. It is intended to explain, that is,
what the relevant justification of a moral standard at environment would consist in. In
order to deliver a pragmatic outcome extending moral obligation to both human and non-
human organism is necessary. The granting of moral standing to non human is justified in
relation to human mankind in case the obligation is commonly followed by bulk of the
society members (i.e. senses of common). I will try to resolve the ethical conflict in related
to nature. Again, the wrong notion of environment ethics (i.e. killing some animals or
plants) can also be necessary/right at Anthropo-natura cyclic and is judges by the milieu
that arise in that society at product time. The aim of developing environment ethics is to
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provide the moral ground for social policies for the earth and continuing the balance and
lively evolution.

Challenges of Environmental Ethics
Why moral obligation in concerning natural environment is needed? As human
being we will perish if we do not constrain our action toward nature. For example:
Environment pollution diminish our health, depletion of natural resources threatened our
standard of living, climate changes put our home at risk, reduction of biodiversity result in
loss of potential medicine, imbalance of nature also disrupted our life as well etc..
However many philosophers considered this ethics is the Anthropocentric means human
centeredness. This ethical framework granted moral standing solely to human being. It
claims that only human beings are morally considerable in their own right. This meant we
possesses obligation to respect the environment for the sake of human well being and
prosperity. This ethics seems unfit in the system although maximizing own species of
interest. They are not really fitting in the evolutionary processes and it is not the ultimate
philosophical task.
Many philosophers feel that such anthropocentric ethics do not go far enough and
wanted to extend moral standing beyond humanity. The moral standing should be
accorded to the non human world also. But main problem is the boundary of extension. To
what level and to whom we have to extend our obligation? Shall we extend to the right of
stone also?
With the progress of science (in the field of anatomy, physiology, biochemistry,
evolution etc.), the partition of human and non human animal have smeared and trace it as
our own kin .Some higher animal like mammals enjoy pleasures, pain, felt interest etc. that
count morally when human encounter them. Philosophers claim moral extending should
run to sentient animal also (Regan, 1983, ch-7). Every sentient being should be considered
equally and our obligation is founded on the aim of bringing about the greatest amount of
interest satisfaction that we can. That means it legitimate to sacrifice the interest of certain
individual for the sake of interest satisfaction of others. For example: Should we kill an
animal for discovering a medicine for human and other sentient animals. And what about
the obligation to endangered species? Should we stop predator animals from killing their
prey or partition of prey animals so that they are protected from such attacks? That is why
this ethics have been dissatisfied with these kinds of animal extended ethics. They are too
narrowing individualistic rather holistic for the whole world make up and it implied
unjustifiable interference with natural processes. Our concerned of environment ethics
should extend beyond merely worrying about individual creatures. Many ethicists disagree
and are convinced that boundaries of our ethical concern need to be pushed back further.
Many philosophers suggest for extending moral obligation beyond conscious life
such as trees. Albert Schweitzer claims that Living things have a will to live and human

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should not interfered with or extinguished this will. All living things are teleological
center of life (Taylor, 1986). The living things have a good for their own that strive toward
even if they take awareness of these facts. He claims living organisms have a good of their
own, they have inherent values; that values are for their own sake, irrespective of their
values to other beings. It meant we have to grant moral standing to other living organism
also. He defended that we need walk, eat, shelters, etc. which involves harming them so
we should used it when absolutely necessary. He also developed some principles. Human
allow to acts self defence to prevent harm being inflected by other living organisms. The
basic interest of non human entities should take priority over the non basic of human.
When basic interest clash, humans are not required to sacrifice themselves for the sake of
others. Thus they proposed the hierarchal framework and it is difficult to construct such
hierarchies instead of egalitarian. Which entities will be given priority? Here comes the
individualistic nature of ethics. The discord natural processes arise here that annulled the
important ecological liability to the interdependence of living things. The environment
ethics should not be place on individuals. It suffers from the same lapse as anthropocentric
ethics. They simply ignore the importance of whole.
The ecocentrism arises by extending moral obligation to such whole. The Aldo
Leopolds land ethics demand to right for land. We should not treat land as a mere object
or resources, it is a fountain of energy that is flowing through a circuit of soil, plants and
animals. A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability and beauty of the
biotic community, it is wrong when it tend to otherwise, (Leopold, 1949, 89). He claims
for granting moral standing to the land community itself, not just its individual members.
However there is no systematic ethical framework to support these ethical thoughts
relating to the environment. He only presented a challenge and opportunity for moral
theorists. Even it cant describe why should we preserve land it this account of energy
flow is true. The land ethics leaps from a description account of how the land is, to the
prescription account what we ought to do. What precisely is it about the biotic community
that makes it deserving the moral standing? So it is outside the mainstream of moral
theory. The extending of moral obligation to holistic entities was also given by Lawrence
E. Johnson. He claims that once we have recognized that interest are not always tend to
conscious experiences, the door is opened to the possibility of non conscious entities
having interest and thus moral standing, because both human and non human have a good
of their own, based on the integrated function of their life processes. Thus the interest of
both must be taken account in out ethical deliberation. However we need to consider the
features of exaggerating our moral obligation concerning the environment. Holistic ethics
also not regard the sacrificing individuals for the sake of whole. If some animals are
destroying crops, should we cull them in order to preserve plant species? If so, they are
reluctant to sacrificing for human interest. And is not man the most abundant species
destroying the biotic communities? If human individual are just another element within

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the larger and more important biotic community, is it not necessary under holistic ethics to
kill some of these species for the sake of larger whole. So, what to do when interest of
whole clash with the interest of individual? If human cannot be sacrificed for the good of
the whole why do that animal? Even if we adjudicate clashes of interest, based on our
community commitments, but who decided the content and strength of various community
commitments. If human relationship are the closest (i.e. moral commitment are trumped
by our obligation to human commitment), does all these lead back to anthropocentrism.
Extending moral obligation to the degree of holistic ethics required some extreme
careful augmentation. Philosophers like Arne Ness develop new ethics by dividing
ecology into shallow and deep. It is the perspective of ethical framework concerning
the environment. According to him swallow ecology is anthropocentric. Naess and George
session develops eight principles of deep ecology. These principles are diverse
philosophical ideas not and unified perspective. However, it involves only one
fundamental norms Self realization which identified ourselves with all others life forms.
According to deep ecology, the usual ethical concern of formulation principle and
obligation is unnecessary. Once the appropriate consciousness is establish one will
naturally protect the environment and allow it to flourish one oneself (Fox, 1990).
However, deep ecology offers wide ranges of thought not in a unified perspective, and
also claims that it is not about a code of conduct but adopting a comprehensive attitude. So
it is very difficult to deals with the clash of interest. In the third principle: Human has no
right to reduce the richness and diversity except to satisfy the vital needs. Does it mean
we are under the obligation to protect the richness and diversity of natural world, which is
clash with fifth principle; human interference is too excessive. Their ideas toward
environment are irrational, and inauthentic. These principles are too vague to offer any
real guide for action.

The Anthropo-Natura Cyclic Senses
The environmental ethics are posing challenges for all the theories and principles.
The most difficult task is assumption of moral superiority of human being from all the
members of other species on earth. It should be noted that working in these field should
includes the word Anthropo as all the moral duties are derived from direct duties of
human inhabitant. I dont mean the Anthropocentric, as human are not at the centered
merely an environment agent. The Anthropo-natura cyclic is a sensory system that
human mind sense complex natural phenomenon that created an impulse for moving in a
spirally coiled lively evolution. Instead of nature take it own course, let lively evolution
take its own course. Lively evolution is the moving of natural environment along with
human society in a spirally coil or spring without ending. The goal of all environment
ethicist is lively evolution. The fear of human mankind is end of these itinerary or
imbalance due to holocaust, which might be causes by human activities. That is why

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philosophers offer their moral standing to nature. The consequence should be possible
rather linear ephemeral evolutionary path to cyclic and spirally eternal living evolutionary
pathway.
A permanent principle and obligation concern to our environment cannot be
fix/frame, as it changes its idea according to the time where living evolution touches. So,
we should focus our obligation in bringing the theory or radical philosophy into practical
purpose of environment ethics for these day. Human society acts as a sense organ in the
complex circuit of nature. The stimulus arises in mans mind by sensing the environment
phenomenon develops the moral standing. In order to propagate these stimuli into an
impulse we have to evoke a threshold. The direction of propagation of this impulse is the
obligation where we grant toward our environment and is also depend on that threshold.
The degree of threshold is the resolution where most members of the society accepted and
form a sense of common in human mankind. So it is depend on the featured of society
during that time. Here no need of vote for these; education, scientific proofs, discussion,
understanding, integration, coordination etc. among members at global level augmented by
the scientific advancement can bring resolution. Let us take an example; in todays
society; killing of cheetah/endangered species is prohibited or wrong and it reached the
threshold stimulus. Thus, with the course of evolution our moral obligation also moves.
Achieving such a perspective involves both practical knowledge and imagination. From
such a perspective, both anthropocentric and non-anthropocentric value judgments will
tend to follow, along with a truer sense of the importance of our own problems. Granting
of moral standing to nature should remain open to debate and be subject to change. There
may be modification of the past and present natures agents due to the impulse of
evolutionary forces come to mans mind. The mans thought may also be influenced by
stimuli coming from environment phenomena and spend his life according to it.
Integration into the pattern for evoking threshold stimuli to a sensible society is a matter.
Scientific processes and technology is a systemic knowledge which comprehends insight
into nature and our relation to it. Human mankind is neither superiority nor modifier; they
only act as a sensing organ in the interacting patterns of nature. Thus, we handle our sanity
in sociable way instead of asking them against the very sources and origin from which
such wits derived.
Demanding of right or wrong notion is in the features of mankind. We feel that
changes disturb the existing equilibrium. The equilibrium of nature is arises both by right
and wrong work we do. Thus the wrong notion becomes a necessary part of equilibrium.
The existence of right is only relevant till the wrong is there. Introspected and dogmatic
pointless melee subside the possibility of bringing insights together from various
discipline of notion. These complexity can be bring back to reductive strategies enriched
by being open to each others views and heightened by both science and consciences. That
common thought creates impulse to be propagated into anthropo-natura cycle. It is quite

414

possible to sensitize our society that can exhibits moral justice while devaluing and
abusing the environment.

Sensitive Society
Sensitive societies mention here is the thin skin which readily perceives and develops
the threshold stimuli. In order to make a sensitive society, inequity should be uprooted
from the sociological system more particularly within the level of consciousness. The
unity does not imply uniformity within a social body. On the contrary, it is diversity of
component parts of an organic body that permitted the full realization of its collective
capacity within human society. Every individual member in the human society is
interdependent and constitutes a single people with share interest and aspirations. Changes
in the political efforts in curbing environmental problems can acquired a virtuous
environment ethics. Effective governances will affect the types of ethics that emerge
during evolution. So we needed this to inherited practice and assumption in the field of
governance makes harmonizing and coordinating our activities at global level. Oneness of
humanity brings an effective approach of governances at all level. Much like human
being every organism of nature whose well being and continuance of a lively evolution
can only be achieved through integration and coordination of increasingly independent
body of society members of human mankind. Mere admonishing to the failure cannot
surpass to that ethics; we must propose alternative and better means of the problem we
face today. The right/wrong notion is decided by mass experience.

Conclusion
Human society faces several conflicts with nature in the evolutionary processes and
he does so only if he gets benefits from nature. The full realization of the distinctive
capacity inherent in each member makes a sensitive human society. Our scientific
understanding of the environment influences to the ethicists writings on environmental
obligations. Endorsement of environmental philosophers by social and natural scientists
along with the scientific expertise can precisely be customized for further research in
environmental ethics. Turning towards the areas of experimental philosophy instead of
hypothesis, where it insists repeated attention to the non-human world. Self interest and
competitive expression of powers of todays governances may create hurdles in sensitizing
the society. Only when diverse segment of human society contribute equally in a unified
and coordinated framework can propagated the impulse in the Anthropo-natura cyclic
senses. Forbearance, compassion, understanding, humility are essential qualities for
bringing a sensible society where we need this day.

415

References
Alexander, L., 2011. Environmental ethics and the Gaia theory, Encyclopedia of Earth
Topics.
Attfield, R. 1983. The Ethics of Environmental Concern, (Oxford: Basil Blackwell).
Bookchin, M., 1982. The Ecology of Freedom: The Emergence and Dissolution of
Hierarchy, (Palo Alto, CA: Cheshire Books).
Ehrlich, P., 1968. The Population Bomb, (New York: Ballantine Books,).
Fox, W., 1990. Towards a Transpersonal Ecology: Developing New Foundations for
Environmentalism (Boston: Shambhala Press,).
Johnson, L. E., 1993. A Morally Deep World: An Essay on Moral Significance and
Environmental Ethics, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,).
Light, A., 1996. Callicott and Naess on Pluralism, Inquiry 39: 273-294.
Naess, A., 1973. The Shallow and the Deep, Long-Range Ecology Movement. A
Summary, Inquiry 16: 95-100.
Naess, A., 1980. Ecology, Community and Lifestyle: Outline of an Ecosophy. Trans. and
ed. By David Rothenberg. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press,
Naess, A., 1986. The Deep Ecological Movement Some Philosophical Aspects,
Philosophical Inquiry 8: 1-2.
ONeill, O., 1997. Environmental Values, Anthropocentrism and Speciesism,
Environmental Values 6, No. 2: 127-142.
Parfit, D., 1984. Reasons and Persons, (Oxford: Clarendon Press,).
Schweitzer, A., 1923. Civilization and Ethics: the Philosophy of Civilization Part II,
(Translated by Naish, John), (London: A & C Black Ltd,).
Sessions, G., 1995. Deep Ecology for the 21st Century. Boston: Shambhala,
Singer, P., 1975. Animal Liberation, New York: Random House.
Taylor, P.W., 1981. The Ethics of Respect for Nature, Environmental Ethics 3:
197-218.
Taylor, P. W., 1986. Respect for Nature: A Theory of Environmental Ethics, (Princeton
NJ: Princeton University Press).
Warren, K. J., 1990. The Power and the Promise of Ecological Feminism,
Environmental Ethics 12, 3: 124-126.
Warren, M. A., 2000. Moral Status: Obligations to Persons and Other Living Things,
(Oxford: Oxford University Press).

Shaikhom Inaotombi Singh is Research Scholar in DSB Campus, Kumaon University,
Nainital, Uttrakhand.

416

Saving mother earth through human efforts
Vivekanand Swadhyay Mandal, 2012. Pp 416- 422
Saving mother Earth through Human efforts

Manish Balani

Our mother earth has been continuously providing us with all the resources since
years to make our lives easy and comfortable. But now earths degredation has reached its
peak. So its high time to take certain steps to save our mother earth.
Many human activities have been killing earth. The emission of fumes from
vehicles, chemicals, waste from industries, and use of inorganic chemicals in farming are
deteriorating earth surface and theatmosphere. These all is causing green house effect, thus
leading to depletion of ozone layer. These all human activities are like slow poison for our
mother earth. This all is ultimately leading human to suffer from many diseases like skin
diseases, heart diseases, etc.
Thus, there is a need to take immediate steps to save our mother earth.
Todays generation must try to rely on sustainable energy sources to fulfill present
needs like use of solar energy, wind energy, hydroelectricity, geothermal energy instead of
conventional sources of energy like coal, oil, etc.
People must be provided with sufficient encouragement in order to incline them
towards the use of eco-friendly appliances.

Cause of the Deterioration of the Earth's Environment
It is obvious that man is causing the deterioration of the Earth's environment, but
what exactly is he doing wrong? I am only expressing my opinion. My explanation is brief
because the answer is simple.
Nature does not destroy the Earth's environment. Man does. What's the difference?
The difference is rational thought. Nature is non-rationalizing. When things happen in
nature, there is no rationalization involved. When man does something, it is usually the
result of rational thought. Clear-cutting a forest, building a road, damming a river,
constructing and operating a power plant are all a result of rational thought. Since there is
no act that occurs in nature that is a result of rational thought, actions based upon
rational thought are unnatural. If acts based upon rational thought are unnatural, they
must be incompatible with nature. Of course, if man were to limit his rational acts to
singing, snapping his fingers and scratching his head; the effects on the environment
66

417

would be miniscule. Man never seems to limit his rational acts to those things that have an
insignificant effect on the environment. Even the Native Americans, an invasive species,
altered their environment by hunting large game animals to extinction and burning down
forests. Man, as a result of rational thought, releases into the environment many
chemicals; intentionally or not. These are chemicals that would never have entered the
environment by natural means and therefore the effects on nature, though not completely
known, are unlikely to be compatible with nature. Pollution is just the result of actions
based upon rational thought. On Earth, this means man, but if the evolutionary course had
been different; it could have been another species. The end result would have been the
same. Science and Technology cannot solve the world's problems; they are part of the
cause. The more advanced society becomes, the faster the Environment deteriorates.
Existence, based on rational thought, is not sustainable. Man is a rational being who acts
based upon rational thought; therefore man is incompatible with nature. Even if man
makes an attempt to live in harmony with nature, he will try to do so using rational
thought; which will always result in an adverse effect on nature. If actions based on
rational thought are unnatural and incompatible with nature, then intelligent beings
capable of acting based upon rational thought must be unstable and short-lived. If this
principle applies elsewhere in the universe, it may explain why intelligent life is so
difficult to detect; they are always short-lived.

Environmental Issues
There are a number of environmental issues that are due to human activities. These
articles relate to the anthropogenic effects on the natural environment.
Anoxic waters Anoxic event Hypoxia , Ocean deoxygenating, dead zone.
Climate change Global warming, Global dimming, Fossil fuels, Sea level rise,
Greenhouse gas, Ocean acidification, Shutdown of thermohaline circulation.
Conservation Species extinction, Pollinator decline, Coral bleaching, Holocene
extinction, Invasive species , Poaching , Endangered species.
Energy Energy conservation, Renewable energy, Efficient energy use,
Renewable energy commercialization.
Environmental degradation Eutrophication, Habitat destruction, Invasive
species.
Environmental health Air quality , Asthma , Electromagnetic fields,
Electromagnetic radiation and health , Indoor air quality , Lead poisoning , Sick
Building Syndrome.

418

Genetic engineering Genetic pollution, genetically modified food
controversies.
Intensive farming Overgrazing, Irrigation, Monoculture, Environmental effects
of meat production, Slash and burn, Pesticide drift, Plasticulture.
Land degradation Land pollution, Desertification.
Soil Soil conservation , Soil erosion, Soil contamination, Soil salination.
Land use Urban sprawl , Habitat fragmentation , Habitat destruction.
Nanotechnology Nanotoxicology , Nanopollution.
Nuclear issues nuclear fallout, nuclear meltdown, Nuclear power, Nuclear
weapons, Nuclear and radiation accidents, nuclear safety, and High-level
radioactive waste management.
Overpopulation Burial Water crisis, Overpopulation in companion animals,
Tragedy of the commons.
Ozone depletion CFC.
Pollution Light pollution, Noise pollution, Visual pollution, Nonpoint source
pollution, Point source pollution.
Water pollution Acid rain, Eutrophication, Marine pollution, Ocean
dumping, Oil spills, Thermal pollution, Urban runoff, Water crisis, Marine
debris, Microplastics, Ocean acidification, Ship pollution, Wastewater, Fish
kill, Algal bloom, Mercury in fish.
Air pollution Smog, Tropospheric ozone, Indoor air quality, Volatile
organic compound, Particulate matter
Reservoirs Environmental impacts of reservoirs
Resource depletion Exploitation of natural resources, Over drafting.
Consumerism Consumer capitalism, Planned obsolescence, Over-
consumption.
Fishing Blast fishing, Bottom trawling, Cyanide fishing, Ghost nets, Illegal,
unreported and unregulated fishing, Overfishing, Shark fining, and Whaling.
Logging Clear cutting, Deforestation, Illegal logging.
Mining Acid mine drainage, Hydraulic fracturing, Mountaintop removal
mining, Slurry impoundments.

419

Toxins Chlorofluorocarbons, DDT, Endocrine disruptors, Dioxin, Toxic heavy
metals, Herbicides, Pesticides, Toxic waste, PCB, Bioaccumulation,
Biomagnification

Call of the time
Unfortunately we have taken long before guessing the graveness of the issue and
by now the situation has become alarming. However, the good news is that the situation is
not irreversible; we can still control it from worsening if we can take certain measures.
Only by taking care of small matters, we might become capable of leaving a positive
impact upon our generations that are yet to come.

Preventive Measures
When it is about reversing the damage we have already caused, following are some
of the measures that can help us in bringing improvement in the situation. First of all, we
should start using less electricity. Almost every one of us knows that electricity is usually
produced by burning fossil fuels, which majorly result in deteriorating the environment.
Using less energy would automatically means that less fossil fuel would be burnt and less
carbon would enter into the air.
Some other measures that we can take include Reading newspapers on
computers, using public transport instead of personal cars, Recycle as much as it is
possible and lastly sensitize the children regarding the issue. This might be helpful in
saving the future of our only planet.
Use of Sustainable Energy Resources
Sustainable energy is the provision of energy that meets the needs of the present
without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. Sustainable
energy sources include all renewable energy sources, such as hydroelectricity, solar
energy, wind energy, wave power, geothermal energy, bio energy, and tidal power. It
usually also includes technologies designed to improve energy efficiency.
People should be encouraged to adopt sustainable development to reduce carbon
footprint.
Ways to Encourage the Usage of Sustainable Sources of Energies
Various businesses using sustainable energy must be encouraged in the society
Use of public transport must be encouraged.
Government must make a rule that each car must have atleast 3 passengers
otherwise two wheelers or public transport system must be used.
Advertisement to encourage use of public transport system must be given on
television or other media.

420

Certain plays must be organised in schools, institutions so that children get aware
of that
Steps to increase use of biofuel must be taken by the government.
Government must encourage youth to go for higher studies in the field of
Sustainable Development.
Huge funds must be given by the government for youth to initiate the research and
development work in the field of sustainble development.
The new areas coming up must have a sustainable designing to cope up with future
requirements.
Certain campaign must be launched by the government to inculcate sustainable
development in the youth.
Sh.Anna Hazare being a revolutionary personality must encourage youth to go for
sustainable development.
The industries must now try to depend on biofuels which donot harm the
environment.
Extra taxes must be applied on the industries having carbon footprints more than a
certain level.
Media must highlight the development in field of sustainable development.
Rewards must be given by the government for anybody making development in the
field of sustainable development.

New generation of solar thermal plants
Large solar thermal power stations include the 354 megawatt (MW) Solar Energy
Generating Systems power plant in the USA, Solnova Solar Power Station (Spain,
150 MW), Andasol solar power station (Spain, 100 MW), Nevada Solar One (USA,
64 MW), PS20 solar power tower (Spain, 20 MW), and the PS10 solar power tower
(Spain, 11 MW).

Photovoltaic market
Solar photovoltaic cells convert sunlight into electricity and photovoltaic
production has been increasing by an average of more than 20 percent each year since
2002, making it a fast-growing energy technology.At the end of 2010, cumulative global
photovoltaic (PV) installations surpassed 40 GW and PV power stations are popular in
Germany and Spain.
Many of these plants are integrated with agriculture and some use innovative
tracking systems that follow the sun's daily path across the sky to generate more electricity
than conventional fixed-mounted systems. There are no fuel costs or emissions during
operation of the power stations.

421

However, when it comes to renewable energy systems and PV, it is not just large
systems that matter. Building-integrated photovoltaics or "onsite" PV systems use existing
land and structures and generate power close to where it is consumed.

Biofuels for transportation
Biofuels provided 2.7% of the world's transport fuel in 2010. Mandates for
blending biofuels exist in 31 countries at the national level and in 29
states/provinces.According to the International Energy Agency, biofuels have the potential
to meet more than a quarter of world demand for transportation fuels by 2050.

Geothermal energy commercialization
The International Geothermal Association (IGA) has reported that 10,715
megawatts (MW) of geothermal power in 24 countries is online, which is expected to
generate 67,246 GWh of electricity in 2010. This represents a 20% increase in geothermal
power online capacity since 2005. IGA projects this will grow to 18,500 MW by 2015,
due to the large number of projects presently under consideration, often in areas
previously assumed to have little exploitable resource.

Developing country markets
Renewable energy can be particularly suitable for developing countries. In rural
and remote areas, transmission and distribution of energy generated from fossil fuels can
be difficult and expensive. Producing renewable energy locally can offer a viable
alternative.
Renewable energy projects in many developing countries have demonstrated that
renewable energy can directly contribute to poverty alleviation by providing the energy
needed for creating businesses and employment. Renewable energy technologies can also
make indirect contributions to alleviating poverty by providing energy for cooking, space
heating, and lighting. Renewable energy can also contribute to education, by providing
electricity to schools.
So, each and every resident of mother earth must take certain steps to make this
earth an eco-friendly earth.
Let us save Mother Earth. it is not our freedom
Let we fail to keep a treasure of wealth
But let us pledge to keep Mother Earth Beautiful for all the generations to come.

A famous Poet has expressed a painful feeling in following nice Poem, which is really
soulful and I feel it is meaningful call for mankind

422

Wish of Mother Earth
I am the origin I am the shelter
Smallest of the particle and billions of lives
Nurture the existence, day night and every second
Dont ruin me may not exist in the universe, for your cause

Clean you decorate you and beautify you all
Brings charm and fascination every day in your life
Absorbs your wastes within myself
Dont add more of grime
May become ugly stinking and loose my grace

Provide food water and air, to run your life
Reciprocate me this much
Could do my duties and obligations all the centuries ahead

Beautiful sky rivers Oceans and mountains
Are for your adventure amusement and recreation
Beautiful flowers trees and gardens
All adds fun play and pleasure in your life
Be this much kind, this beauty remain in abundance
For all the generations to come

You have acquired so much of knowledge
Shaken my limbs by exploding bombs on my surface
Dont add more to my pain
May become handicap and wont be able to move
Again will become hot and may find difficult to keep you survive.

Manish Balani is from National Power Training Institute, New Delhi.

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