Friday, March 20, 2015

PANCHAAMRITAM 269

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PANCHAAMRITAM 269
(pancha is five in samskritam; amritam is nectar)
Amavaasya / Kali Yugabda 5116 / Jaya Panguni 6 (March 20, 2015)

ONE



An NGO, My Home India (MHI), has successfully reunited 170 lost children who were abandoned in the city, with their families over the last one year. The NGO is now planning to expand its activities across the country. MHI was founded by Sunil Deodhar, who was  formerly a full time RSS worker in North-East states. According to Deodhar, the NGO had searches for abandoned children in and around the city. We found that many children were willing to return to their families but could not do so because (they were unable to contact them). Most children were from Karnataka, UP and Bihar.(We have helped to reunite them with thier families). (So now) they are happily living with their families,” he said. The NGO has focused on children who either run away from their homes or are forcibly pushed into child labour in big cities. Deodhar, a former president of the BJP’s North-East cell, said that MHI has sought permission from Centre to spread their search for abandoned children to other states too. “Our duty does not end after a child is handed over to his parents. We also continuously monitor whether he is happy with the reunion,” he said. MHI also tackles issues of security, law and order, social, economical and emotionalalienation faced by the people of North-East states in other parts of the country. THE NEW INDIAN EXPRESS, March 5, 2015.
TWO


Punsari village, barely 100 km from Ahmedabad (Gujarat, Bharat), could be a textbook case of development. Closed-circuit cameras, water purifying plants, air-conditioned schools, Wi-Fi, biometric machines - the village has it all. And all of it was done in a matter of eight years, at a cost of a mere Rs. 16 crore. The man behind the transformation is its young sarpanch: 31-year-old Himanshu Patel. A graduate from North Gujarat University, Patel had won the panchayat polls in 2006 at the age of 23. Back then, the village didn't even have proper roads, power or water. The panchayat funds were in deficit. Punsari’s turnaround happened when the village sold part of its land for plotted schemes. The money, deposited in government coffers, is used to fund the village’s welfare schemes. The results are obvious. Recently, a team from the Central ministries of rural and urban development had come to study the "Punsari model". But the young sarpanch is already onto his next projects - a unit producing electricity out of plastic waste and e-rickshaws for garbage collection. At the village school, the number has doubled from 300 students in 2006 to over 600. The classrooms are not just air-conditioned but also have computers and projectors."We have managed to attract more children," said teacher Narendra Jhala.  Sarpanch Himanshu Patel says, “The main intention was that we should have an atmosphere of a village, but facilities like those in the city”. It’s just that the village has managed its accounts well and has made optimal use of government schemes. NDTV, November 18, 2014.
THREE
    
At over 30 spots in Salem (Tamilnadu, Bharat), wall writings conveying gripping messages have become crowd pullers. These messages evoke social awareness so effectively that quite often they are compiled into booklets and distributed among guests at weddings in the town. Some of the messages are known to have helped casual readers overcome their depression. Pasupathinathan , a professional wall writing artist of film advertisements, has been at it for the past 22 years, in deference to the advice of his late father freedom fighter Ardhanari to do something useful for the society. A new message appears on Wednesday mornings on Salem walls. It is not automatic. On Tuesday nights, Pasupathinathan moves around the town whitewashing  the walls earmarked for message display till 1 AM, rests for a couple of hours and at 3 AM, sets out armed with brush and black paint, to adorn walls with the message of the week. He returns home well after sun rise. Over the years, not a single message was ever repeated, say locals. He culls quotes from books he reads and stores them. It is his wife Smt Alamelu who nudges him on to his wall writing service, if he feels reluctant during rains and winter. More and more residents keep inviting him to display messages on the walls of their houses but he has to say sorry, as his hands are full. Based on a report by Shri L. Murugaraj in DINAMALAR, February 8, 2015.
FOUR




Born in 1979 in Tumkur district of Karnataka, D K Ravi began his career in civil services as Assistant Commissioner in Gulbarga. He lived a simple life and gained people’s trust. He would go meet them at their homes, sit with them and have food with them irrespective of their status or caste. He worked extensively for marginalized communities and was accessible 24×7. He was transferred 28 times in his career span and collected Rs. 138 crore tax dues in just two weeks. Though he flawlessly performed his duties as an IAS officer, he was a much bigger a person who was doing everything possible to help the poor. He was running free coaching classes on Sundays for poor UPSC aspirants and had resolved to eat at one Dalit family’s home every week. It is said that he was under pressure from his department to slow down on investigations as a lot of big names were involved. It is also claimed that he had received many threat calls from the underworld. Recently he was found dead in his residence under mysterious circumstances. The country will surely miss such an outstanding officer but we hope to see many more Ravis coming up and taking on all the corruption is this country like he did. Based on a post by Smt.  Shreya Pareek in http://www.thebetterindia.com , March 18, 2015.

FIVE




Indian ministers are considering whether to launch a frontal assault on one of the best-defended official privileges in the emerging economic power: the use of red lights on government cars. Known locally as lal bhatti, the lights are theoretically restricted to the top ranks of the list of precedence and only then when officials are on business to help them accomplish their public service. Yet as Indian cities become more and more congested, the lights are increasingly coveted as the only way to clear a path through the jammed cars, trucks, rickshaws, carts and cows. Now the minister for roads, Nitin Gadkari, has suggested a drastic cut in the number of officials eligible for the lal bhatti. If his proposal is agreed by other ministers and by the prime minister, Narendra Modi, only a few dozen people will get the red lights on their cars, rather than the hundreds who currently have them.“Only after the key ministers give their views, a formal proposal will be put before the government. It will take some time. But one thing is clear, that the number of such dignitaries would be limited,” the local Times of India newspaper quoted a government source as saying.If approved, the measure will be a popular one. The sight of official cars forcing ordinary traffic aside enrages ordinary citizens in the capital, already resentful of the constant closure of main roads to ease what are known as “VIP movements”. From a report by Shri Jason Burke in THE GUARDIAN (UK), March 19, 2015.
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Friday, March 6, 2015

PANCHAAMRITAM 268

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PANCHAAMRITAM 268
(pancha is five in samskritam; amritam is nectar)
Poornima / Kali Yugabda 5116 / Jaya Maasi 21 (March 5, 2015)

ONE
On March 2, 2015, Shri Santhanam (55), a farmer from Sriperumbudur, had it all, from hopes to misery to euphoria, in a span of 10 hours.  He misplaced a cloth bag with Rs 1.8 lakh cash meant for his daughter’s marriage. The bag had the cash and invitation cards in it; it had slipped from his hand and had fallen on the road. Minutes later, Shri  Rambabu (60), living nearby, came to see off his grandchildren to school. He noticed the brown cloth bag on the road, in which he found bundles of currency. The man took it to the Tambaram police station and handed it over to the police. Santhanam, who was not sure of where he had misplaced the bag, had approached the police station near his house. On receiving information from Tambaram police, Santhanam went to the Police Station; it was confirmed that he was the owner of the bag and the cash was handed over to him.  Rambabu runs a fertiliser store at Padappai, near Tambaram.           Based on a report in DECCAN CHRONICLE, March 3, 2015.





TWO
Smt Kanthimathi serves food to destitutes battling hunger, poverty and diseases  -   veg biryani and butter milk - on the dusty pavement opposite an oil store on East Masi Street Madurai (Tamilnadu, Bharat).  Kanthimathi, the 64-year-old wife of an ailing tailor, who ran out of business a few years ago, goes on giving. It has become a daily routine for her for the last 12 years. Kanthimathi does not have the means to feed the poor. It was 12 winters ago when she spotted social worker Siva Anbanandan serving food to beggars, street urchins, mentally and physically challenged individuals, the poor and the abandoned. Siva Anbanandan was looking for a cook. Kanthimathi volunteered instantly. Since then, she hasn’t taken a day’s break. Even during illness she prepares the meal and ensures that it reaches the people on time. (She recalls with sadness how on the day Siva Anbanandan died a year ago – in 2013 - , he arranged for rice, sambar and curd. “I served the meal here before going to the cremation ground,” she says). Among the nearby shopkeepers, somebody buys the vegetables, somebody donates rice and oil. And it keeps flowing to meet each day’s requirement. Kanthimathi believes there is God’s hand in arranging the items uninterrupted for so many years. Says Kanthimathi, even passers-by stop to see what is happening and spontaneously donate sweets and fruits; even plates, tumblers and sitting mats.  Based on a report by Smt Soma Basu in THE HINDU, January 3, 2014.


THREE
In the premises of Kerala High Court, an auspicious day dawned recently. Two brilliant students among the inmates of the free shelters run by RSS workers became lawyers. Prajith and Savitha took the oath and wore the black coat of Advocates. Prajith, who lost his parents, was nurtured in Matruchdaya of Aluva (Kerala, Bharat). He studied Law at Ernakulam Law College where he did his PG as well. Through Balagokulam he was directed to Mathruchaya. Another achiever is Savitha E. K, who was an inmate of Oorakom Balikasadanam (shelter for Girls and women) in Thrissur district, Kerala. She is from the village called Kallar, Kasargod district, where many fell victims to Endosulfan (pesticide). Her brother too was a victim. She is now survived by mother, three sisters and three brothers. She serves the cause of children as the district Bhagini Pramukh of Balagokulam. From NEWS BHARATI (news portal), April 23, 2014.


 
FOUR
“I have followed the example set by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan , Power Minister Piyush Goel, etc.,  in supporting the drive to get well to do consumers to stop using subsidized LPG. I will not use subsidized cylinders for my home use.  Subsidy should go to the poor. I am of the belief that the rich and affluent people who can afford to pay market price for LPG, should voluntarily give up subsidized connection. This culture is now being followed in India by many. Let us do it in Jammu - Kashmir also”. That is Shri Nirmal Singh, who is now the Deputy Chief Minister of Jammu-Kashmir state. From a post in his Facebook page dated January 14, 2015. (His father was in the close security cordon of the then Maharaja of the state. He is among the first BJP MLAs to be sworn-in as a minister in the country's only Muslim-majority state. A long time RSS supporter, Nirmal Singh was arrested during the Emergency period in 1975 -- From IBN Live).


FIVE

You cannot find a single cigarette butt, plastic bag lying around in Mawlynnong (Meghalaya, Bharat),  a small village 90 kms from Shillong. It was awarded the tag of ‘Cleanest Village in Asia’ in 2003 by Discover India Magazine. Pallavi Pasricha, a journalist, describes the village thus: “I reach here and I am stumped. Not only is this village spotless clean but it’s one of the prettiest ones I have seen in the country. I am greeted warmly and taken to the guest house, my home for the night. I walk on cobbled streets bordered with thatched Khasi huts and go past gardens that are full of colourful flowers. To keep the village clean there is a bamboo basket outside every house. After a 15-minute walk I’m face-to-face with one of the most spectacular natural bridges that’s made by twisting the roots of the gigantic trees. The roots make a pathway across a stream, making it easy for villagers to commute. Another interesting thing the villagers have constructed here is the Sky View, an 85 feet high viewing tower that’s made of bamboo. When I reach on top I get stunning views of not just the village but Bangladesh on the other side. It’s simply gorgeous. I realise that it’s the simplicity and warmth of the people that makes Mawlynnong so special getting there.” (Based on a report by Smt  Pallavi Pasricha in LONELY PLANET, June 16, 2014).


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