What can we expect from Mr. Kejriwal and Team

Just one year ago, a new wave of change emanated in New Delhi with well know anti-graft crusader Anna Hazare deciding to sit on against the UPA-II government in order to compel the Manmohan-led government to pass the Lokpal Bill. The bill considered to be the watchdog of corruption was hanging in balance since long on account of red tape. But, erstwhile Team Anna vowed to fight for the passage of the legislation. The wave was so strong that it impressed many in the fourth estate and made many of them active supporters of the movement and the torch bearer.

Ashutosh, Managing Editor of IBN-7, enamoured of the movement painstakingly wrote a book on Anna titled "13 days that awakened India". The scribe went ahead and even compared the Anna movement to that of JP's. However, the team succumbed to government politics and was broken into two groups when the septuagenarian decided to break his group of dedicated activists. Second in the line was the former IRS officer- Arvind Kejriwal. It was evident that if the group bifurcates, the obvious choice of the new group would be the Mr. strategist-Kejriwal. And, it did happen. As Lalu and Nitish came to the fore through the famous Students' movement led by Jay Prakash Narayan, same was the case with Mr. Kejriwal. Under the banner of Anna, this RTI activist took charge of the new faction- The "Aam Aadmi Party" which ironically, goes against the tagline of Congress party-Congress ka haath Aam Aadmi ke saath.

Soon after the scattering of Team Anna, the overall tone and strategy of the new echelon witnessed a sea change. Unlike, the Anna way, Team Kejriwal which initially went ahead under the banner of India Against Corruption (IAC) started targeting the big shots in the political and corporate sector starting with the son-in-law of Sonia Gandhi and further taking on BJP chief Nitin Gadkari besides  HSBC Bank. However, there was a marginal difference in the way he started establishing his party. He adopted the "cheapest way" to gain limelight. Just put allegations against your rivals and put personal attacks. This is the most general way politicians in India go ahead especially when the polls are near.

Noteworthy, Kejriwal hardly talks much about his policies, ideas and party's elections menifesto. If one goes through the IAC website and read the norms of the party-on who can contest elections from his party-it is as similar to any other party. I was at least expecting that unlike other parties, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) will not entertain the tainted candidates. It was expected that those involved or accused in any criminal cases will not be entertained by the party which claims to be the party of the common man. However, interestingly, there is scope for people for criminal backgrounds in the party. What they just need to do is furnish details of that.

When Mr. Kejriwal is projecting himself as the saviour of India in the future, he ought to clarify the ways he wants to go ahead. Mere allegations on rival parties are not what the electorate want. They want solution and not statement of the problem. But, Mr. Saviour seems to lack any solutions and ideas as of now. However, he is very keen to talk about laws like Right to Reject and Referendum, which seem vastly impossible practically in this country, which have very few takers in the political arena.

Moreover, the notorious Congress man Digvijay Singh had recently asked him some questions and sought his reply over all those. However, Kejriwal is still reluctant to answer those questions which raises doubt on the credibility of the saviour. One among them was why he was not transferred from Delhi in 10 years as IRS officer.

Although, Kejriwal has attempted to project as his party as the aam aadmi tarandhar, but his amateur party has still have to clarify on its stand on various volatile issues and mention his policies and the ways he wants to rule India, for what is must be dreaming of now.

The Struggle for Community Radio in India

Published in Deccan Herald on 25th June, 2012

By-Manish Kumar

After almost a decade-long campaigning for a ‘three-tier radio broadcasting system’ in India by some media activists and radio enthusiasts, community radio marked its presence in 2006, after getting a nod from the Government of India.

In the last one year, there is an upsurge of people taking interest in setting up community radio stations across the country. This is evident from the fact that a maximum of 100 Letter of Intent (LoI) were issued to interested parties in 2011-2012 by the ministry of information and broadcasting.

The ministry recently updated official data on its website, which claims that now there are 132 operational community radio stations (CRS) all over the country.

However, not many experts are impressed with these figures. “This is a drop in the ocean. We have the potential to accommodate around 4,000-5,000 CRS in the country.

Also, this upsurge is benefitting whom? Most of them are from the educational sectors and not from the civil society. We needed the NGOs and voluntary organisations to flourish, who really work for the community but unfortunately, this has not happened,” says Vinod Pavarala, Unesco Chair on Community Media, University of Hyderabad.

In fact, going by the official ministry data, out of 132 operational radio stations, 81 belong to the educational sector, six to state agricultural universities, four to Krishi Vigyan Kendras and 41 to the NGOs. Point to note is that only these four sectors are allowed to set up community radio stations in India.

Though the number has increased, at the same time a new challenge has dampened the spirit of community radio enthusiasts. The ministry has decided to hike the annual licence fee for these CRS from Rs 19,700 to Rs 91,000 which has irked the radio fraternity.

“This retrograde step by the ministry has hit the very spirit of the CRS. It will discourage the small and marginalised communities running the low power radio stations and can lead to their shut down and will favour only the rich NGOs and private educational institutions. This is against the very concept of developing community radio which was supposed to be of, for and by the people,” says the author of ‘Other Voices: Struggle for Community Radio in India.’

Moreover, what adds to the conundrum is the involvement of multiple ministries when it comes to granting licences to CRS in India. Till now, the government has shown reluctance to open these CRS in ‘conflict zones’ like Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh which are ‘Naxal prone areas.’ Pavarala considers this a huge mistake.

“By barring the people of these areas of information, they are actually helping the extremists. When they (people) lack access to information, chances are more that they will get inclined to the extremists’ views. In fact, we need more CRS in these areas.” says the radio activist who is spearheading the struggle for freedom of CRS in the country.

Non-revenue sector

Nevertheless, community radio stations are treated as a ‘non-revenue sector’ which toil hard to sustain itself. They need funds from sponsors and outside sources to proceed.

Published in Deccan Herald on 25th June, 2012

By-Manish Kumar

Unlike commercial FM channels, community radio channels lack good number of advertisements which can fetch them revenue. Although the CRS can broadcast advertisements, the rates as fixed by the DAVP (Directorate of Audio Visual Publicity) for CRS are very nominal which seem hard to turn this ‘loss prone’ sector into a profit making or at least self-sustaining entity.

However, Patna based media consultant, Anurag Sahay is optimistic. “CRS are an unexplored sector of communication. They can very well sustain themselves and I firmly believe they can make better business than the private FM channels, although they are not meant to, but at least they can become self-sustaining and can get over the financial crunch.”

“Private FM channels do not charge for the making of ads, they charge only for the airspace. However there is no existing policy which bars the CRS from charging for the production besides broadcasting fees. So, for the local advertisers it could become a better option to advertise in CRS because they can offer a package including production cost,” says Sahay.

According to him, the need of the hour is to liberalise the policy guidelines which will encourage interested parties to set up more such CRS which can cater to the needs of the local people and serve as the voice of the voiceless. He also cites the example of New York city which has a simpler policy due to which the city has more FM channels than the total number of CRS in India.

In India, we have witnessed a mixed success rate for the existing CRS. Some have proved themselves as a boon in educating the population in the close vicinity and empowering them. And, we also have examples where the population within 1 km radius is ignorant of their existence.

“The need of the hour is to encourage people’s participation. The more the local community participates, the more would be the success of community radio. When the local community takes active participation in the production process, the real purpose of the community radio stations will be served.” says Shyam Bhat, Coordinator of Radio Manipal, the first community radio of Dakshina Kannada, in Karnataka.

How realistic was Katju in Bihar

Editorial, Published in Bihar Times

The chairman of the Press Council of India (PCI) was recently in Bihar when he sparked yet another controversy when he said that media in Bihar is “gagged” and there is an “unwritten censorship” among the members of press. He went on to allege that the press do not enjoy full freedom under the Nitish Kumar-led government and whoever dares to write anything against the ruling government has to face the wrath of the state government.

Although, for many it was like an alien thing, but many subtly agree with the septuagenarian's  statement. There is large section in the state who believes that the media in Bihar has been gagged by the Nitish government. If sources are to be believed, some intellectuals, academicians and NGOs who strongly believe in this theory went to visit Katju and pleaded him to take stringent action over the issue. Following the controversy, the PCI led by Katju has now constituted a three-member-committee to investigate the matter.

Many allege, the total blackout of the Katju issue in some prominent newspapers was a clear evidence on how the government has influenced some media houses. The serious allegations labelled by the retired Supreme Court judge unfortunately did not get ample space even in some local newspapers which was a big story for some national media houses the same day.

But, questions must have knocked minds of many that how a government can control media in a state. “This is all based on the concept of ‘media management’ and ‘advertisement revenues’. After the JD(U)-BJP coalition government came to power in 2004, it started bombarding newspapers and other media houses with heaps of ads in the course of which many media houses made a good business. But the Bihar Chief Minister was very particular, those who used to glorify his government got numerous ads while whoever tried to be critical of the CM rule were devoid of government ad revenues,” says, a Patna based veteran journalist.

“But this is not new; this all started way back in the late 90’s when Nitish was the Railway minister under the NDA government led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee. He started favouring newspapers who largely spoke in favour of the government by providing railway tender ads. So the concept of ‘media discrimination’ when it comes to ads was always there,” adds the septuagenarian journalist.

Moreover, the Bihar CM  has other tactics too, to be in news. “Nitish very well know how to keep good relations with the media. For this, he sometimes back used to throw tea parties on every Wednesdays and Fridays to keep a track on them and also to maintain cordial relationships. As a result, some newsmen spread a kind of ‘Nitish euphoria’ in front of the mass where the newspapers talked only about public announcements, inaugurations and growth rates. Many in this process forgot to do the ground work and got swiped away by what the government used to say. For them there was only development in the state and the state had gotten rid of all social ailments,” says another senior journalist under the condition of anonymity.

If an RTI activist from JNU, New Delhi is to be believed the rosy picture of the government as projected by some media is far from reality. According to him, Nitish is known in media more for his ‘media management’ rather than the development works carried out by him under his regime. He backs his statement by his RTI plea he filed in 2010 with the state IPRD department.

The information furnished by the department reveals staggering figures. It was found that after Nitish came to power he increased the amount given to media in forms of ads to four times compare to RJD’s regime. From 2005-2009, till Feb 28, 2010, the Nitish government spent Rs 64.48 crore on ads whereas the Lalu-Rabri government spent Rs 23.9 crore in six years.
On November 24, 2009, on the eve of the completion of Nitish’s four years as chief minister, he spent Rs 1.15 crore in a single day on ads given to 24 different national and regional media. A detailed report on the RTI revelations was published in “The Hoot” way back on April 12, 2010.
Another interesting fact is related to the radio industry, another form of media. A well placed source in the radio sector says, “The DAVP (Directorate of Advertising and Visual Publicity) rates are fixed in most of the cities but Patna and many cities are exceptions as FM radio has been launched here for the first time and DAVP has not fixed any rates. Big reason was that there is no competition here.

Secondly, the only private FM channel in Patna (people can easily guess who it is) managed to convince the IPRD officials that normal ad rates are 400/ 10 sec and govt will get 300/10 sec. Its was like a special discount of Rs 100 per 10 sec for the Bihar government. If officials wanted they could have got a rate fixed by DAVP. But don't know why they did not go for that. In places like Allahabad, the government pays Rs 60 for every 10 seconds of radio ads while in Patna the government pays Rs 300 for every 10 seconds for the same.”
But what came as a shock to the media fraternity was when a local news channel in Patna (Aryan TV) was blocked since it held a panel discussion on February 27 evening on the press freedom issue where a ruling politician from the ruling party, intellectuals and journalists were present. Well attempts to control media is not a new event. In the past, former chief minister of Bihar Jagannath Mishra was alleged to have made such an attempt when he introduced Press Bill. Indira Gandhi's example is an classic example. Some time back even, Mamata Banerjee also made an attempt when she tried to interfere with the accreditation of journalists.

Even when Anna Hazare was on his fast, the UPA-II government summoned select group of journalists to advice them not to give more coverage to Anna Hazare. The meeting was called by Information and Broadcasting Minister Renuka Chaudhary but many other Union ministers too attended the meeting.

I always remember the words of Dr M V Kamath, a veteran journalist and the former chairman of the Prasar Bharti and a very good friend of JP. The nonagenarian always used to tell us (He was our teacher in our college in Manipal, Karnataka and we were like his grandsons). "There has always been a bond between the media and politicians. But true journalism is all about been unbiased. Politicians will always be there to help you personally, never take any favour from them, be friends with them but never mix personal things with professionalism."

Can Anna and JP ever be compared

(Book review of "13 days that awakened India)

Recently, i completed reading a recently released book which was written on Anna Hazare, titled "13 days that awakened India" written by a famous face of Indian TV channel, Ashutosh, Managing Editor of IBN7 ( a well know Hindi news channel). Throughout the book he made several attempts to compare Anna with Jay Prakash Narayan, the hero who was behind the removal of Indira Gandhi, former Indian prime minister who dared to impose Emergency in a democratic country like India. JP as what he was called as run a movement in Bihar popularly called as "student's movement" which witnessed the wrath of the people of the country against the dictator and finally was successful in uprooting the dictator government and was responsible for the establishment of the very first non-Congress government at the Centre for the first time in the history of India.

In his 226-page-book which seems to be written by a die hard follower of Anna was basically a compilation of the events and some scenes behind the screen. In his book he targeted Chidambaram and Sibal and almost tried to portray them as villains who were allegedly the real hurdles in the process of Lokpal Bill. At some point of time he also tried to deal with some issues like that of Rahul Gandhi and Indira Gandhi.

But the point that amused me and i thought will astonish many others was when he went on to compare JP and Anna and ultimately declared at last that Anna's movement was far mightier than that of JP. He says, "I know by this i am inviting the wrath of many JP followers but without hesitation i think...."

According to me these kind of statement can be passed only through people who had never known the movement and ever tried to understand the intensity and the emotions imbibed into it. For me it is unthinkable to compare JP and Anna and their movements. Even i think no two movements should be compared ever.

But let's talk more about the comparison he attempted to made and supported through some of his arguments. Starting with this,I would like to compare the era in which the both incidents occurred. JP's movement was a story of 70's. In 1975, when there was hardly any private news channel, pre-occupied to convey their views rather than news and accordingly there were hardly any news anchors who were ready to impose their ideas through their aggressive representation of their views cum news.

Of course, we are talking about an era where there was no concept of bombarding the public with breaking news, no matter how authentic they are. That was an era when we knew only about a black and white idiot box known for Doordarshan and a small black transistor known as radio known for All India Radio (AIR) which were public broadcasters know to convey only news minus views.

Moreover, we are also talking about an era when we hardly had any computers, laptops, ipads and internet. Things like Facebook and Twitter must be a fantasy at that point of time. Letters were the only mode of communication besides newspapers and even telephone was not that developed not to mention there were no place for mobiles and not to talk about the facility of SMS and all.

So imagine, if someone plans a movement how effective they could plan when they know their restrictions related to communications and even to some extent transportation.

At last but not the least, the most important time, JP movement took place at a time when Emergency was imposed in India, thanks to the then PM Indira Gandhi. During emergency it was a well know fact that there was no freedom of press, editors were jailed if they dared to publish against the government, from democracy India went into dictatorship government.

Point noteworthy, during that critical time, the student movement flourished which was led by JP. People were eager to giving their helping hand without ever bothering what they would get in return. There was no TV, no internet, no SMS, no facebook, no online campaign, no SMS campaign, no missed call campaign..but it continued, may jailed many exploited. Note that they were not given the respect Anna and his team got in Tihar Jail, thanks to the 24x7 news channels cameras where every steps of the administration were monitored. People were beaten black and blue. Do we have a single example when an Anna member was beaten by the Police rather, they were given immense respect like a son-in-law.

Moreover, when we talk about the aims achieved, there cant be any comparison. JP's movement uprooted the Indira government and the so called "dictator" but what Team Anna achieved?? Even Anna's demand was a childish thing..He demanded on August 2011 that the government has to pass the law before Aug 30.. Was it practically feasible, also did the Gandhian had the simple knowledge that its not the government but the parliament who passes a law, then comes the Rajya Sabha and the Opposition is equally responsible for the same...

There are lots of things which can be narrated to support my statement but ending it now..will add more when will have ample time..

I think some people add some masala in their book to add revenues..same tactics was applied here too when he dares to compare Anna and JP and also when he takes on Arundhati Roy and Ramchandra Guha when they went against Anna and says it is the problem of their class..

Bihar Medical Colleges: Where caste speaks louder than virtue

(Published in Deccan Herald on February 18, 2012 in open-editorial page)

Manish Kumar

Most selfish politicians of Bihar seemed to have mastered the art of exploiting the ‘caste’ issue for their personal benefit in the past. However, with Nitish Kumar’s ‘Sushashan’ (good governance) gathering enormous support from the common people of all castes and creed, it was believed that the state will soon be rid of the blot.

Of late, with more youths preferring to stay in the state for studies, the situation was even perceived as hunky-dory by many outside the state. However, there is a lot more than what meets the eye. If you also begin to think that the well-educated youths of Bihar will ensure a new era of progress and development in the state, be ready to get flummoxed.

Visit any government medical college of Bihar and you will find that the young and educated minds have equally imbibed the caste-based approach like many of the selfish politicos in Bihar -- a herd mentality of believing in the caste-based classification distinguishes them from their counterparts in other states. Interestingly, they get the passive support of the college administrations, which seem to have turned a blind eye to the whole situation, even though the future doctors are gradually losing morale and ethics right under their noses.

Favourite wards:

The trend of nepotism and college staff supporting their ‘favourite wards’ is not uncommon either. The practice also scares the medical aspirants, more than the mortuary in many government medical colleges of the state. Asks a first-year MBBS student of Darbhanga Medical College (DMCH), “Cracking medical entrance exam was like a dream come true for me. However the prevailing situation in the college brought my euphoria down only within a few weeks. During my first encounter, seniors asked me about my ‘phylum.’ Before I could read about the word phylum in my biology coursebook, I realised they were asking about my caste! Isn’t asking about one’s caste and not the name during the first meeting strange?”

Surprisingly, this is the scene in most government medical colleges in the state. Freshers need to identify themselves first by their caste. Rest of your identity matters less. As per the ritual, once you tell the seniors your identity (caste), you will be welcomed by your ‘sympathisers’ belonging exclusively to your caste. Willingly or unwillingly, you then enter a community whose members assure you that you will be safe in college as long as you have their blessings.

But all this doesn’t come for free. You get the Hobson’s choice of complying by the community norms. “Seniors of my ‘phylum’ gave me a list of norms on Day 1 of my college, which I was later forced to follow. The list included restriction on me from taking help from other caste people or talking to the members of opposite sex of different caste,” says another young medico from Sri Krishna Medical College and Hospital (SKMCH), Muzzafarpur.

Same is the story in most of medical colleges. Customs classified on caste basis are also being followed unabated in Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH) and Nalanda Medical College and Hospital (NMCH), Patna, which incidentally, have the reputation of being the best medical colleges in Bihar.

Point to note, keeping in mind the escalating cases of suicides by college students of late, the University Grants Commission (UGC) had issued letters to various colleges in the country to put an end to caste-based discriminations. However, things are far from satisfactory here. Also, the discrimination is not just restricted to asking caste and favouring those belonging to same caste. The situation can get worse in some cases.

Few years back, a local TV channel had exposed the existence of ‘caste-based kitchens’ in SKMCH. Even though they shared the same classroom, students from different castes visited different kitchens. The then health minister Nand Kishore Yadav had ordered a probe into the matter, but the overall scenario hardly seems to have changed.

Dr S N Sinha, principal, DMCH, Darbhanga also subtly confirmed the existence of such practices in the medical colleges of Bihar. “I agree that such practices existed even in our college five years back. There were reports of teachers favouring wards belonging to their caste. But ever since I joined, I did not come across any such complaints or practices,” he claimed, assuring to take strict action if any such cases were brought to his notice.

Asked for his views on the matter, SKMCH principal Dr D K Sinha, got irked and hurled a straight reply: “Do one thing. Go and speak to the chief minister over the issue. Don’t trouble me.”

Junior journos creating ripples in Bihar

(Published in Deccan Herald on January 15, 2012 in special features)

“There is no Hindi teacher in this area,” screamed a headline and the news item went on to highlight the hardships faced by a good number of students in the densely populated Vaishali district of Bihar. The news item was the lead story in a newsletter brought out by schoolchildren. Many said it’s just a wastage of time as a newsletter run merely by “amateur children” can hardly bring any change in society, but it could hardly break the assion of the young reporters who vowed to fight against all kinds of existing evils in their society.

Proving all such speculations wrong, the hard work of these kids proved fruitful. The state education department had to appoint a teacher hastily after it reported about the absenteeism. Buoyed by the success, it reported on how the teachers were playing truant too often at Shivnandan School in Rajapakar and the administration was compelled to intervene.

These were some of the incidents which were not reported by the mainstream newspapers, but highlighted by the school students of the district in their newsletter. The newsletter is brought out by the young journos taken up as a pilot project by Unicef and Supramental Foundation in Vaishali district in Bihar. Started in June 2010 with merely 60 members, the team now has 300 volunteers.

“We started with rags with a few volunteers, but now the circulation of the newsletter has notched up to 5,000,” Nipurnh Gupta, Communication Specialist, Unicef (Bihar), told Deccan Herald. In the district, children between the age group of 12-17 years have formed among themselves to what they term as “child reporter brigade” and they are on their toes 24x7 to highlight the problems plaguing the society. Myriad range of issues highlighted by these aware kids include child marriage, child abuse and environmental protection as well.

The young journos popularly known as “Mukul Bal Patrakar”, are engaged in the publication of a quarterly published broadsheet newsletter, named as “Hamari Baat, Hamari Awaaz”, which has given the budding citizens a platform to express their concerns and also to eradicate the pre-existing social evils in their area.

The volunteers of the child brigade are more than just happy with their active participation with the mission. For Kajal, an enthusiastic member of the brigade, it was like a dream come true. “We never ever thought we will get such a powerful medium which has the potential to change the world we live in. I always have seen many evils of society and always wondered if I could do anything for the society but always felt helpless. But with this newsletter, we got a voice, ample enough to transform society and bring a revolution,” says the 12-year-old child crusader. Surprisingly, the innocent but socially responsible volunteers, mainly hail from the backward and marginalised sections of society. These determined ones leave no stone unturned to ensure that they utilise the platform to the maximum extent to highlight the plight of their not-so-lucky friends.

However, their views are not just restricted to the problems being faced by some communities. Issues of the whole district find space in their newsletter and frequent impact reports published speak volumes of the children’s efforts. Reports penned by these kids have changed lives of many including the kids involved with the initiative.

“These young scribes are a bunch of matured children. Ever since, they joined the newspaper, there has been a massive transformation in their personality. They are far more confident now and not scared to write anything that is for the benefit of the society. Many were initially shy but gradually their pen’s flow compensated for the lack of words,” adds Nipurnh.

The project which targeted four blocks in the district got massive support from the district administration and also from senior local journalists who helped them in bringing out the four pages of the quarterly on time. Tending to work like professionals, the little scribes do regular editorial meetings to discuss issues relating to the publication in which the local primary schools also come in support whole-heatedly besides the technical support provided by the state division of Unicef.

Also, there is a warm support from parents as they have noticed positive changes in their children. The initiative which had won all-round appreciation has focused on the most backward region and most vulnerable social groups to uplift their condition. The four-page attractive newsletter focu­ssed on places like-Jandaha, Rahapakar, Biddupur and Hajipur. Also, it was ensured that a large number of girls participate in majority. Accordingly, the ratio of girls and boys in the team is 53: 47, ensuring females are given fare chance to develop and make their presence felt. Interestingly, the project is expected to be taken up in other areas too in the days to come.

The broadsheet also has helped in educating the local community on several evils of society and made them ponder over many community related issues. Setting an example for the others the project now awaits some other revolution.