NITI Aayog’s draft bill empowers citizens to check doctors’ degrees

Manish Kumar

New Delhi, Aug 10: The NITI Aayog Wednesday released a draft bill christened draft National Medical Commission Bill 2016 which envisages repealing the current Indian Medical Council Act, 1956 which gives powers to the Medical Council of India (MCI) to regulate medical education in India. The move is likely to replace the MCI with the proposed National Medical Commision (NMC).

This comes after the widespread criticism of the workings of the MCI included in the 92nd Report of Department-Related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health and Family Welfare, presented to the Rajya Sabha  this year.

The Centre earlier had appointed a committee under the chairmanship of vice chairman of the NITI Aayog on March 28 this year.  The Committee, which included Additional Principal Secretary to Prime Minister, CEO, NITI Aayog and Secretary, H&FW as members, was asked to examine all options for reforms in the Medical Council of India and suggest the way forward.

According to the draft bill, now an electronic medical registry must be prepared by the state medical councils under the proposed Board for Medical Registrations. The bill mandates that the data pertaining to the degrees of every doctor from every state must be maintained in the electronic system which could also be accessible to the public as well.

The draft bill meanwhile also bats for forming three different bodies like- under graduate board for medical education, post graduate board for medical education and a board for medical registration. The bill envisages a National Medical Commission which would regulate the medical education in the country with additional powers.

The bill also talks about forming a search-cum-selection committee which will be formed out of members from the NITI Aayog and members from the health and family welfare ministry pre-dominantly. However it talks about autonomy of the commission and different bodies formed under the law once it gets passed by the Parliament.

The draft bill envisages the National Medical Commission (NMC) to be headed by a deserving chairman from the field of health with ample experience in the field besides having a member secretary, eight ex-officio members and 10 part time members.

However, the Aayog seemed to have given more powers to the selection of the members of the NMC and also more representation of bureaucrats from central deputation rather than encouraging participation from states.

Casteism is never alien to Indian universities

By-Manish Kumar

In 2011, as a young journalist who recently jumped onto the bandwagon of this dynamic profession I was thrilled to write a piece on a categorical casteist practice rampant across the medical colleges of Bihar. Buoyed by the inside information I acquired through my old friends and bolstered by one of my seniors to work passionately for the story I went ahead.

I was then posted in Deccan Herald, Bangalore, one of the most reputed English newspapers from the state. After compiling all sorts of cases of discrimination on the basis of caste which was popularly christened as ‘phylum’ in those medical colleges I decided to call up the authorities who are entrusted to safeguard the interests of the students and take care of college affairs.

My first call to the Dean of a government medical college at Muzaffarpur and his arrogant reply flummoxed me. Here is the short conversation we had over phone from Bangalore.

Me: Hello Sir. This is Manish from Deccan Herald Newspaper. I am calling from Bangalore. I am working on a story and wanted to talk to you over an issue relating to your college.

Dean: Ji Bola Jaye (Yes. Please tell)

Me: Sir. I have heard that casteist practices are rampant in your medical college. Students there are divided on caste lines and many cases of discrimination are reported from your centre?

Dean: Hame is Vishay me kuch nahi bolna hai. Aise kijiye aap mukhyamantri se baat kar lijiye (I am not going to answer on the issue. You better talk to the chief minister on the issue)

Me: Ok sir. I will surely talk to Nitish Kumar but are you denying that such activities occur at your premises?

Dean: ping..ping..ping..(hung up)

This was the Dean of Sri Krishna Medical College and Hospital, Muzaffarpur. After my initial research I also came to know that this was the same college where caste kitchens used to exist few years back which meant that different kitchens used to cook food only for one particular caste. The pre-colonial chasm between high and lower caste was already pre-existing in the state and was often bolstered and provoked by the different political parties in the state which often try to exploit the issue to convert it into votes.

However, only casteist grouping and caste kitchens are not the only issue affecting medical colleges in Bihar. Cases of caste discrimination is said to be rampant in premier government medical colleges like-Patna Medical College, Nalanda Medial College, Darbhanga Medical College and others.

A dalit boy was reported to have committed suicide at Patna Medical College when he was pressurized to give more money as contribution for Saraswati Puja event. However it never became a national story. 

However let’s return to the focus point. In general practice and accepted norms, a new comer in any medical college in Bihar is often asked their ‘phylum’ (caste) when he/she joins the medical profession. They are later brainwashed to remain adhered to their phylum to maintain the sanctity of their caste.

The grouping starts in the first year itself. Seniors of your caste will ask you to keep yourself away from the members of other castes of the opposite sex. They will also tell to take help only from seniors of your caste. Moreover, more astonishingly, there will be ‘caste parties’ often called as ‘phylum parties’ where all the same caste students from 1^st year MBBS to last year will flock at a restaurant in Patna and will celebrate.

But point to ponder what they actually celebrate? Sovereignty of their caste? Discuss about how bad other castes are? Stereotyping them? Paving a way for more discrimination in the coming days and how to keep the casteist practice alive?

Such retrogressive practices are evident at a time when many are into the cyberspace expressing freely about freedom of speech, how our PM is a charismatic one, how to mow down people having counter views. At a time when many of them claim that our country is developing but do they ever bother how their activities are still pulling the society backward? Also such practices blindly followed by students and youths from the state is really worrisome.

However the menace is never alien to medical colleges of Bihar. Such practices are reportedly existent in colleges and universities in Uttar Pradesh. Astonishingly, a panel called- Thorat Committee which studied presence of castesist thoughts at premier institutions like AIIMS and IIMs also found out that the next generation high-fi doctors and managers are also not untouched by the casteist thought.

The case of suicide of a dalit scholar at University of Hyderabad has sparked the debate of casteism in educational institutions and media is analyzing and debating in detail, a good sign for the media at least. Otherwise many newsmen choose to avoid such regular practices which are now ok for them.

At a latest speech one of the most rational and senior journalists, Ravish Kumar at TISS gave a food for thought. During his speech he said, “If people are not questioning casteist practices aren’t they doing casteism. Aren’t they casteist if they accept the existing discriminatory norms? At a time when people are writing their biography on Twitter and boasting about development, dalits are forced to wear helmets while riding on horses during their weeding in India. What an irony this is?”  

Time to ponder, analyse and debate …

Homeopathy: Useful or useless

 By-Manish Kumar

(Published in Orissa Post Editorial Page on March 27)

Many staunch supporters of homeopathy in India were flummoxed a few days ago when a study by a reputed medical research body in Australia concluded that the more than 200-year-old system of alternative medicine is not effective in treating any medical condition. The Australian research body-National Health and Medicinal Research Council (NHMRC) even went ahead to state that homeopathy may put people’s health at risk if they delay treatment from trusted medicinal systems. The report sparked a fresh controversy in the medical fraternity in India. Many supporters wrote vehemently about the benefits of the system and how it helped them in the past. Many netizens too jumped onto the bandwagon of those who were discussing the burning issue.

Besides waves of disapproval of the system in Britain, Switzerland and Australia, the WHO too has indirectly attacked homeopathy as a system. WHO has already warned against using homeopathy for treating severe diseases like HIV and malaria. Nevertheless the famous campaign by Canadian-American scientific skeptic James Randi and 10:23 campaign group in UK January 2010 in the past had demonstrated the overdose of homeopathic medicines in public by taking excessive amounts of the medicine. By this they wanted to prove that it neither harms nor heals anything. The campaign spread to many countries across the globe including UK, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the US.
Homeopathy was created in 1796 by German physicist Samuel Hahnemann based on the doctrine of ‘like cures’ which believed that a substance that causes the symptoms of a disease in healthy people will cure similar symptoms in sick people. The system is based on the concept of memory. By diluting these substances in water or alcohol, homeopaths claim the resulting mixture retains a memory of the original substance that triggers a healing response in the body.
The Australian report also says that while some studies do claim homeopathy was effective, the quality of those studies was said to be poor and suffered serious flaws in their design and did not have enough participants to support the idea that homeopathy worked better than a sugar pill.
However, in the case of India, homeopathy emerged as a good alternative to allopathy. Many streets in the country are flooded with several small and big homeopathy clinics. Many big brands too have jumped onto the bandwagon. In small cities too famous homeopathic doctors wield clout over large sections of patients.
The Central government meanwhile has been toiling hard to promote homeopathy and other forms of alternative medicines through several government interventions. A separate ministry christened Ministry of AYUSH was carved out to give importance to alternative medicines on November 9 last. Minister of State, AYUSH, Shripad Yesso Naik had many a time been seen clamouring in the two houses of Parliament about the government’s plan to promote the system. March 17 this year, in a written reply in Rajya Sabha, the MoS had informed the House that currently 52 universities across the country are offering different courses in homeopathy while the country is enriched with 2,79,518 registered homeopathic doctors.
The Centre has already constituted the Central Council of Homeopathy for regulation and education of the system. Government is now planning to open a new homeopathic institute in Shillong to extend the system to the north eastern part of the country. The Union government has already established the Central Council of Research in Homeopathy (CCRH) to conduct research in the subject.
Noteworthy, researches done by CCRH claim to have a positive role in decreasing viral load in HIV patients, in increasing CD4 count and improve quality of life of these people. This is in clear contradiction to the studies by the Australian and other global bodies and recommendations of WHO. Meanwhile, the Central government is planning to broaden the prospects of AYUSH and is extending financial supports to states/territories to providing infrastructure, finance, medicines to AYUSH institutions.
The government has also notified National AYUSH Mission to strengthen the system in the country during the 12th Five Year Plan. It will be worth watching if the country bends its policy after some global studies on the traditional system or will it wait for some more time to scrutinize the scenario itself.
It might be a good idea for the policy makers at the Centre to first do a detailed survey and study from grassroots levels to understand whether homeopathy really works. A major study could in fact contradict the findings of the major global studies. Moreover, in the growing era of digitization and database, it is of paramount importance to prepare a national database and evidence of effectiveness or ineffectiveness to understand the complexity of the homoepathic system on which many depend.
The row over the effectiveness of homeopathy is however not an alien topic for the globe. The use of the system got a major jolt in Britain when the Science and Technology Committee of the House of Commons in the country released a report in 2010 which found that treatments through homeopathy were ineffective. In June 2005, the Swiss government, after a five-year trial, withdrew insurance coverage for homeopathy and four other alternative medicine systems saying they did not meet efficacy standards. Experts believe the new Australian report could potentially harm the industry in Australia as it did in Switzerland and Britain. Many believe it can encourage the insurance firms to reduce the benefits covered under the system. However, a 2009 World Health Organization (WHO) review found Australians spending estimated $9.59 million on the industry alone which could be an indicator of why things are going the way they are.

What's the ART (Reguation) Bill 2010 offers

By-Manish Kumar 

(Published in Orissa Post Editorial page on March 23rd)

The recent confiscation of properties of an In-Vitro Fertilization (IVF) clinic in Bhubaneswar has brought to light the mushrooming unregulated growth of assisted reproductive technology (ART) clinics in the state capital. Experts from the medical field opine that often these clinics flout norms framed by the National Guidelines for Accreditation, Supervision and Regulation of ART Clinics in India which have been in existence since 2005. Many blame it on the absence of any stringent legislation which can regulate these clinics across the country. According to rough estimates, these clinics number more than 2, 00,000 in India.
According to a UN-backed study in 2012, surrogacy itself accounts for $400million business in India, while civil society members claim to be more than double the estimated amount. This sector largely gets blurred as this business is legal in India yet highly unregulated, unaccredited and unsupervised. In 2008, the Gujarat high court, while hearing a case on surrogacy, had said that there is “extreme urgency to push through legislation” which addresses issues that arise out of surrogacy.
Lawmakers in the country however are pondering over a bill which can largely affect the ART clinics across the country and can potentially help in regulating, monitoring and supervising them. The bill christened as Assisted Reproductive Bill 2010 is yet to be cleared from Parliament and is now undergoing wider consultations among stakeholders. The draft bill discusses in detail the problems with the sector and also offers some solutions to this menace.
In order to regulate ART clinics, the draft bill talks about the establishment of a national advisory body, a state advisory body and a registration authority subordinate to the two bodies which can help in regulating, monitoring and supervising the industry. The bill empowers the national and state bodies to frame regulations to decide on the minimum staff at these ART clinics, permissible procedure, training, infrastructure, offences on cases of violation among others.
The most unique part of the bill is that it talks about fixing the age limit for ART and surrogacy between 21-45. It also restricts the number of kids of a surrogate to a maximum three. It also talks about rights of the kids and surrogates. Most prominent among these is the offences occurred under this could be treated as non-bailable, non-compoundable and cognizable. It plans to give the state advisory board powers of a civil court.
However, the bill hardly talks about the health and economic rights of surrogates. The bill only mentions that surrogates could be given monetary compensation and the expenditure on medical over pregnancy which will be borne by the genetic couple. It hardly talks about the minimum monetary benefit for the surrogate or about the post postpartum treatment required. This lacuna can potentially aid in exploiting the poor surrogates for money. The bill is still silent on what happens if the surrogate dies in the course of delivery.
The legislation has meanwhile given many superseding rights to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and has asked the ART clinics to supply all data to the ICMR for maintenance of records. This will surely help in maintaining the ART data nationally to get a correct picture of the business in India. However, India still has a National ART Registry of India, but experts say data pertaining to various dimensions related to ART lie-pregnancy rates, live births, and numbers of cycles are only voluntary to the doctors.
ART has proven to be a boon to many infertile couple. Many foreigners also use ART as they get the treatment comparatively cheap here. Law Commission has already termed surrogacy as a ‘gold spot’. It is a potential technology for boosting medical tourism in India. A strong legislation dealing with different dimensions of the subject can help boost the treatment and also ensure that it is meanwhile regulated to ensure quality and standards and safeguard the interests of people involved in the process.
Union minister of state for health and family welfare, Shripad Yesso Naik, has stated in a written reply to Rajya Sabha March 10 that ICMR is revising the ART (Regulation) Bill based on comments it garnered through several experts. Some ministries and departments have already submitted their comments on the bill. Hope is that the bill gets passed as soon as possible so that the welfare of all involved is secured.

Can govt hospitals in Orissa start IVF treatments?

By-Manish Kumar

Bhubaneswar, January 31: In the last one decade, in-vitro-fertilization (IVF) commonly referred as test tube baby technique has flourished in the country and slowly it has been making mark in the state capital with the opening of few private hospitals, offering this specialized treatment to the needy. However, private clinics had always had a monopoly in this treatment. Governments in different states have always shown reluctance in opening their arms for this technique.

But, in the last five years, many government hospitals have tried to include this treatment on their premises. Government hospitals like Delhi-based All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Lok Nayak Jay Prakash Narayan Hospital  (LNJP), SMS Medical College (Rajasthan) are one of the few institutions who are offering IVF or other specialized infertility treatments like Intra-uterine insemination (IUI) etc at a much lower rate than private hospitals.

Family welfare director Nirmala Kumari Dei said IVF or any other assisted reproductive techniques are yet to be introduced at the government hospitals in the state. Moreover, this facility has also not been started at the medical colleges in the state. Similarly, SCB Medical College and Hospital superintendent Pratap Kumar Rath also indicated the absence of this facility at the premier hospital.  Dr Binod Kumar Mishra, Superintendent, Capital Hospital, Bhubaneswar confirmed that the facility of in-vitro fertilization has not been started yet in their hospital as of now.

Health professionals in the city however disagree on the inception of these facilities at government hospitals. “Government hospitals basically focus on public health and aim to eradicate or treat diseases of ailments which affect the larger mass. They are their first priority. It is not a big deal for any government hospital to invest Rs 1 crore and set up an IVF centre and create adequate infrastructure for it.” says Dr Aditya Das, a city-based IVF expert.

Dr Das also says that Orissa is in infancy when it comes to IVF treatment. Although IVF has marked its presence in many other states but there are only a few IVF centres in Bhubaneswar. It will take a good time even for the private players to establish these facilities in the city.

However, Dr Gurmeet Kaur, another infertility expert begs to differ. “If IVF facility is introduced in government hospitals, it will really benefit the needy infertile couples. But how much they can monitor and regulate them is a question to ponder over. IVF is a very specialized treatment which includes a cycle of injections and medicines pre and post procedure. If some key hormonal injections are not given on time citing shortage of drugs or any other reason, the whole procedure will go in vain.”  

Although the decision to start these facilities lies in the hands of state governments, the only expected beneficiary is likely to be the infertile couples who need this treatment. “I was unable to conceive naturally because my husband had azospermia (no sperm count). I underwent IVF treatment in 2007 outside the state because at that time, these techniques were hardly available in my state. I had to pay around Rs 80,000 but it yielded no result. It was really a bad experience as even after spending so much money I did not conceive. Had it been a government hospital, I am sure I would had to pay less,” says Suruchi Mohapatra.

Experts say that the whole process of in-vitro fertilization is a complex one. One needs to have liquid nitrogen containers to keep quality sperms at good health before being inseminated. Another hassle is in maintaining the pre and post insemination health of the woman. A woman needs to undertake a battery of injections and medicines to make her ready for the procedure. After the procedure also the woman needs to take adequate medicines.

Usually the private clinics charge around Rs 60,000-1lakh for the procedure. But the government hospitals who are providing these facilities are giving it to the needy in a range of Rs 20,000-35,000 and there are also a few hospitals like AIIMS which offer the procedure free of cost. SMS Medical College provides it at an affordable rate for BPL families.

New govt and the gendered life

By-Manish Kumar


Since the beginning of campaigning for the 16th Lok Sabha elections, several parties have been breast beating about being more inclusive in terms of caste, class, religion and even gender. Several promises relating to welfare of women have been made through political speeches made by party honchos in the past few months. But, can the new government provide equal opportunity to the gendered life during the next five years, is a matter of discussion.

According to the 2011 Census, out of the 1.21.02 crore population in the country, 62, 37,24,248 were female which comprise almost half of the population. The same Census also states that while 82.14 per cent males are literate, the percentage of literate women is only 65.46. The chasm in literacy levels of the two genders conspicuously hints at the disparity of resources made available to them.

Trace it to ancient India:

The concept of depriving women access to varied resources could be dated back to the days of the famous ancient sage Manu. The ancient Sanskrit  literature Manu Smriti talked about varied freedom the different castes in the four varna system could enjoy. It said that the top three castes in the varna system can enjoy polygamy and were free for hypergamy but the opposite was never encouraged. In ancient India, women were compelled to accept hegemony of their male counterparts. The patriarchal society in the country also contributed in widening the disparity.

Well, with the advent of more schools, colleges, technologies and with the emerging of nuclear families it was expected the discriminated gender would get more liberty but it could not be achieved. Several data pertaining to the condition of women in our country can flummox many. The new government needs to give a deeper thought to uplift their standards. The new government ought to work on police, judicial and social reforms to minimize the chasm.

How empowered are women in politics:

Few months back the Inter-Parliamentary Union and UN Women put forth its report on the participation of women in politics in 188 countries. India was ranked 73^rd when it came to the percentage of parliamentary and ministerial posts occupied by women. It said that in India, less than 10% of parliamentary and ministerial posts are occupied by women. Some African countries like-Rwanda performed better, where there are 50% female legislators. Europe, America and Africa performed better than Asia in terms of their participation in active politics. Even during the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, according to some media reports most of the major parties have given less than 10 per cent of their tickets to women candidates.

Is the situation better in government services?

Two parliamentary panels which studied representation of women in government services were also rattled by their findings. One panel noted that women formed only 10.4% of the central government staff of all categories. However, the overall participation of women in central services improved in one decade. In 2001, the number was just 7.53%. In Railways, the figures are more pathetic. Here merely 6.43% of the total workforce comprised women.

What about the police force?

Another panel found that the national average of women in the police force is merely 5.33%. The Ratna Singh Committee recommended women’s representation in police force should be 33%. With more crimes against women coming to the fore, it is imperative to increase women force to handle such crimes sensitively. However, attempts have of course been made to establish all-women police station to handle such cases, more needs to be done. The Congress manifesto of 2014 talks about increasing the strength of women in police force to 25% which is much below the Ratna Singh panel’s suggestion. However, most other parties are mum on the issue.

Is the judiciary better off?

The status of women in the Indian judiciary system is more worrisome. Law ministry’s figure released in 2013 states that the number of women judges in high courts is just 53 out of the 614 judges, which make the ratio at 1:10. Even in the Supreme Court, out of the 30 sitting judges merely two judges are women.

The role of women at presiding posts is also not very encouraging. Only four out of 24 high courts in India have women as their Chief Justices. Recently, G Rohini was chosen as the first women chief justice of the Delhi High Court. 

In the recent few days, some steps have of course been made to benefit women. The latest one included allowing maternity leave to women employees in government offices to two years. However, the government needs to give more prominence to the recommendations to different panels which studied condition of women in our country. Several significant suggestions have been provided to the government by such committees which included-flexibility of working hours, new norms on maternity leaves etc. Hope the next government finds ample time to ponder over the gender conundrum.

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..

The tech-savvy Indian politicians

It seems now the Indian politicians have learnt to master a new art in order to getting closer to the mass, the art of peeping more into the cyberspace.

With the escalating interests of people from all walks of life into the internet-driven virtual world and with the social networking revolution the politicians are getting a good platform to spread their messages and also a chance to glorify the works they are doing.

Moreover, it is becoming an easy and affordable medium to propagate thier ideologies and also making their stand on certain burning issues to fetch the confidence of the people, may be in the hope that in return they will provide them with electoral votes during the elections.

The case of Nitish Kumar

Take the case of Bihar Chief Minster Nitish Kumar, the engineer turned politician has a blog which he exploites to tell the people regrading the achievements his government is getting. Also his blog has been regularly followed by 19,85 netizens all over the world.

Following the same line, BJP leader from the same state and also the deputy chief minster Sushil Modi through his Facebook account regularly keeps on sharing positive news items on the state on his wall.

Modi not behind

On the other hand, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi seems to outperform the Bihari politicians. Modi’s blog is the most sophisticated and advanced which provides you with the facility to read his blog in nine different Indian languages besides space for gallery and media. His high-tech blog is also liked by 360, 976 people as of now.

Omar Abdullah also was heard of to be blogging sometimes ago but he halted due to some controversies emerging out of it.

When Shashi Tharoor was in soup

But how can anyone forget the informal brand ambassador of microblogging site ‘twitter’ Shashi Tharoor who had been in soup several times through his views on the site but many a times gave much popularity to him and also to the site, its another matter that the same also cost his post at the cabinet.

However the future seems to be brighter as Vice president Hamid Ansari already issuing I-pads to the Rajya Sabha members in order to make them tech-savvy and also Lok Sabha seems to work on the same.

But one thing for sure, although slowly the general stereotype of politicians being anti-modern is changing.

Moreover, with these steps the netas are reaching out to more number of people through simpler toils and investments. Also it is the best way to reach out to the young generation who are hard to reach through general Rallys and Yatras.

Media changed so as the minds of youngsters

There was a time or we can say an era when in numerous villages across India villagers used to wait with baited breath for Sundays to come. The reason behind these desperate waits was the popular shows on television that used to unite all villagers and used to bring them under roof. The modest old black and white TV set complimented with a large antenna at the rooftop used to telecast some of the very famoous mythological serials which proved historic. Mahabharata, Ramayana and Srikrishna became indispensable with every household at that time.

We are talking about the late 80’s and early 90’s. At that time having a television was a status symbol in itself. In most of the villages in India only few houses could afford TV sets and in some villages one single TV set. TV set used to be placed on the courtyard and bunch of villagers used to flock the site in order to have a weekly glimpse of those mythological serials. Those were the shows that brought the society together. Those were the shows which laid foundation stones in the budding minds of children. TV serials that all family members from 5-75 years used to watch together.

Those days were dominated by public broadcaster Doordarshan and All India Radio (AIR). Besides TV, radio was also a significant option. People were often glued to their old big size transistors for the 8pm news bulletin which aired news in a monotonous and serious tone, totally unaware how the whole dynamics will sea a drastic transformation after the intrusion of FM channels. Many other shows like hawa mahal and others were also close to people's hearts. Cable television was a rare scene in rural India and was to a great extend confined to the elite class of urban India. 

Besides those mythological serials, Doordarshan came up with many other serials that benefited the society in many ways and paved a way for a culturally vibrant India. The vary famous prime time show Surabhi hosted by Siddharth and Renuka Sahanai proved revolutionary in educating the young minds of India besides entertaining the Indian audience of all age groups. This show showcased the cultural and historical heritage of India and was diverse in its subjectivity. Summer vacation special shows for children depicting short stories with moral values and many other scientific programs educated the young minds of India. Among the prominent ones included- Amar chitra Kathaye which was introduced Panchtantra to kids. Many of such shows made the children to know Indian and its culture in a better way.

But with the passage of time new forms of media came into existence and the language and representation of media changed drastically. AIR got replaced by FM channels. A boon came in the FM sector which completely changed the tone and presentation of radio contents. Doordarshan was replaced by cable TVs. The trend of media changed. Some newly-emanated media forms blindly followed western culture and the feeling of pride on our own culture and heritage was suppressed by the new entrants. MTV, Channel V, UTV Bindas the most popular channels of modern times got highly affected by the western culture. Gone are those days when all family members used to watch TV together. Sex, vulgarity are mostly adored by media which gives them cheap popularity and easy money. But the question that comes into the mind is- do they have some social responsibility. Which way the modern kids going and how far the media responsible? Why they are able to do this? How far is the government responsible in regulating this? Educating people with the good side of western knowledge is another thing but disseminating information not apt for kids at a particular age often invokes a curiosity which often hampers the normal upbringing.