Pre-marital testing and HIV

In my humble opinion ( IMHO) , Premarital HIV Testing cannot bemandatory if it were, then it would be a form of coercion certainlynot 'voluntary'. It would definitely infringe the rights of anindividual. There are very serious issues around disclosure inan 'arranged marriage' situation that have to be addressed.
One may even argue that in north India, and perhaps also in otherparts marriage itself is really a 'non-voluntary' thing with 80percent of the brides and grooms pushed around the fire by theirfamilies.
Premarital HIV testing no doubt could be desirable if the coupleconcerned wish to do some concrete planning of their lives together.Premarital HIV testing in itself is no guarantee that in `arranged'and often forced marriage extramarital heterosexual and homosexualliaisons will not occur that risk behaviour will be kept away thatthe risk of infected blood transfusion will be any less
The argument that the testing is desirable because it willsomehow 'protect' the 'innocent' bride from HIV/AIDS is alsopreposterous I would say it's a typically myopic middle-classargument on the one hand there are a lot of women activists who arescreaming themselves hoarse that one in five girls in this country[more so in the villages] are victims of sexual abuse and on theother hand, there are ample independent surveys on sexuality andpsycho-sexual behaviours in rural India in recent times whichindicate that voluntary pre-marital sex is as much a part of theadolescent girls' life as it is a part of the boys'.
This talk of pre-marital HIV/AIDS testing sounds very much liketrying to re-introduce the chastity belt it's cumbersome, woman-unfriendly, and rusty.
IMHO, the argument for compulsory HIV/AIDS pre-marital testing is asasinine as the so-called 'ban' on foetal sex-determination it'sreally a self-defeating exercise.
What's needed is an upgrade on how the middle class in this countrylooks at issues around sex and sexuality, and reproduction andhealth. First accept that sexual behaviour exists. then accept thatit is by and large enjoyable.
Also accept the fact that all people - adolescents, young, and oldhave sexual rights irrespective of their 'marital' status, then workon how to make sexual behaviours as risk-free as possible. [and yes,one of the methods is definitely don't do it unless you're marriedor over 65!]
All that mandatory Pre-marital HIV/AIDS testing will achieve is morepaper work, more government control over private individuals andmore opportunities for corruption to spread.

Author: Frank Krishner

Teachers don't Count Cattle no more

Ask a government teacher what hinders the delivery of quality education, and pat comes the answer, “Non-teaching assignments ordered by the local District magistrate”. Having interacted with scores, if not hundreds of government primary school teachers across Bihar over the years, this is their number one excuse for not getting their jobs done: how can we teach when we are ordered out of our classrooms to count animals?

The one fundamental excuse that a teacher in a state- run school has for not teaching is census and poll-related duties, and it has been around for over four decades. They say that instead of teaching kids in the classrooms, they are forced to traverse all over the countryside counting buffaloes, chickens, people below the poverty line... in fact anything that the state government wants counted is on the teachers' slates.

Frank Krishner at a 'Primary School' in Bodh Gaya 2010

The Bihar government has finally applied its mind to the problem and come up with the concept of a creating pool of ‘statistical volunteers’. These ‘volunteers’ will be unemployed educated youth having a ‘mathematics and commerce background’ according to the Bihar minister for planning and development Narendra Narayan Yadav.

One suspects that the person behind this idea is Principal Secretary of the department Vijay Prakash, who is well aware that having teachers go out and count animals, trees, and humans when they should be in school has always been a very stupid idea. Vijay Prakash has a communication style  that is simple and straightforward. This plan is in line with the Supreme Court’s directive that government school teachers should not be sent around on non-teaching assignments.

The teaching fraternity and educationists have pointed out that there was any number of educated and unemployed youth hanging about the place who could be drafted to do statistical work on a part-time basis.

These volunteers will be known as Accredited Statistical Volunteers (ASV), and a panel will be created for every block. Bihar has a total of 534 blocks, 8,071 Panchayats, and about 46,000 villages. This exercise would create about 80,000 part time jobs for educated and unemployed youth who have the requisite skills. Shortlisted and successful candidates are to be given a proper training in data collection and compilation, and receive an identity card. Their work will be remuneration based. In other words, they will be paid whenever there is census and statistical work .

This is a welcome move. The government teachers will have one less excuse for not doing the job of teaching. However, whether this will make a discernible impact on teaching quality is doubtful. Quality teaching needs dedication, intellect, compassion, and the ability to communicate well with kids. That can’t be addressed by statistical volunteers, accredited or otherwise. 

Author: Frank Krishner

A hundred years, a hundred pledges

A hundred years, a hundred pledges

For three days, starting March 23rd, Bihar celebrated itself. The epicentre of the centenary celebrations, which transmitted the feel-good vibes to the public at large, was undoubtedly the historic Gandhi Maidan, the central park which is also known as the ‘lungs’ of the state capital.

For three consecutive days, hundreds of thousands visited the site of the Bihar Centenary Celebrations. It was here that the past glory, the present progress and the future goals were represented in the form of tableaus, exhibition stalls, activities and workshops, food stalls, competitions, and cultural displays. People from all walks of life dropped in at the Gandhi Maidan.

In the midst of all the excitement, visitors were attracted by a bold brass bell hanging outside a small pavilion painted in blue. A sign read: “100 years/100 pledges”. This space was for people to make a commitment to contribute to the ‘Beautiful Bihar’ dream.

“Everybody, especially the middle class, agrees that the image of Bihar has improved in the recent past. They say it’s because of the political vision of the Chief Minister and his government. But it’s also true that Bihar is still at the bottom of the development table. Just new tall buildings and shopping malls are no indicators of progress. It is the behaviour of the ordinary Bihari that’s a barometer for the state’s progress,” pointed out Shubraja Singh, the State Project Coordinator of Mahila Samakhya, Bihar. Singh, along with some 3,000 rural women from 17 districts held a convention in five pavilions, celebrating their own development story over the past two decades.

PARTICIPATION AND PROMISES

The blue pavilion, an initiative of the Education Department and supported by UNICEF aimed at ensuring the cooperation of the ordinary Bihari and her (his) participation in environment building for Brand Bihar. The stall “AAO Sapath Len” (Come let’s make a pledge) was for visitors to walk in to take oath for Bihari pride. A certificate photograph and pledge was issued to each individual. 

Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s first Prime Minister had said,” Citizenship consists in the service of the country.” It was Theodore Roosevelt, once President of America, who had said almost a centenary ago “The first requisite of a good citizen in this republic of ours is that he shall be able and willing to pull his own weight.”

The Bihar ‘100 Years/100 pledge pavilion put forward a simple proposition: Will you do your bit to make Bihar the best state in the country? If so, come and sign on the dotted line.

 A hundred pledges? “Well, let’s say they are a 100 suggestions, very simple and achievable things that a person can do. And you don’t have to do all of them. Just pick one thing to do or not to do and swear to abide by your promise,” a UNICEF facilitator at the stall.

Education is about human resource development. The quality of the human resources will impact programme delivery and effectiveness for any planned intervention.

Says Nalin Mishra, an officer with the Bihar Education Quality Mission, “It is necessary to nurture the resources. If people have a sense of pride and good behaviour, this will make a difference and increase the growth of the state. Bihar has glorious past. Youngsters should be aware of their past and contribute to the further growth of Bihar. Bihar Divas is to instil a sense of pride in belonging to Bihar.”

The eight millennium goals of which education, gender equity, health and sanitation are prominent have been simplified into very common behaviours that can be easily done by the ordinary citizen. By linking each of these behaviours directly with a promise for the betterment of the state, a sense of pride and kinship is evoked.

THE PROCESS

The process began with a pre-event brainstorming session, which led to the selection of the hundred pledges. These pledges were development indicators in fairly simple and easily understood words. A few examples: To encourage out of school kids to go to school; not to spit indiscriminately, to treat visitors to Bihar with respect, to conserve energy, to pay special attention to girls’ education, not to waste food and so on.

A visitor would fill out her (his) name on a ticket, choose an oath, and then go inside the tent. S(he) would then sit in front of a computer fitted with a camera. The operator would immediately affix her(his) photograph on a soft copy of the oath and after a minute, the visitor would receive a beautifully printed and certified copy of the oath.

Having made the pledge, the visitor would ring the brass bell outside the stall: a symbolic announcement of the commitment to God and State.

Anjani Kumar

Space for expression was provided outside the stall, and children were encouraged to write or draw their dreams and hopes for Bihar. People of all ages took part in this creative exercise. They wrote slogans, penned best wishes to Bihar, and expressed their hopes for a future filled with hope for children.

RESPONSE

In all 10,094 people took a pledge. 3,293 of these were women and girls.

Among those who took the pledge were the Bihar Education Minister Hon’ble P K Sahi, who selected pledge number 34- ‘I will never behave in a manner that will bring down the prestige of Bihar.’ Mr Anjani Kumar, the Principal Secretary (Education) signed his name to pledge number 100: ‘I will encourage girls to achieve higher education.’ Dr. Rajesh Bhushan, the State Project Director of the Bihar Education Project Council pledged to make others aware of the glorious history of Bihar. Unicef Chief Dr Yameen Mazumdar took an oath to protect the rights of children.

The most taken pledge was the first on the list, “Encourage out of school children to enrol in school”. 831 men (12 percent) and 672 (22 percent) women took this pledge. The next important issue for women, was girls’ education. 146 women pledged to give special attention to the education of girls. The males’ second focus was the planting of tress ( 248 men, 93 women), followed by giving respect to teachers (226 males, 122 females). Conservation of water was the third most important issue for females, but it ranked 6th for males. The fourth most important pledge for males was number 82: ‘Completing my work with honesty and sincerity’. Higher education of girls ranked 5th on the men’s priorities, but 9th on the women’s after giving aid to orphans, helping the hungry, protecting trees, and standing up against domestic violence. Domestic violence ranked 25th  on the male priority list.

Each visitor could take only one pledge, thus one had to select the most important issue. The exercise was significant because the data collected can be an indicator of the status of advocacy on various issues.

The exercise had a lasting impression away from the Gandhi Maidan as well.

The mother of a college going student looked at her pledge card and remarked, “So you pledge not to discriminate on the basis of gender, you should have taken a pledge number 66- I promise to use my mobile phone sparingly!” Her daughter replied, “Ma, this isn’t a new year’s resolution. It’s a pledge. It has my photograph and signature on it. I’m not going to make a pledge I can’t keep!”

Author: Frank Krishner

Then there was Utthan...

The Utthan Programme has been regarded as an innovative venture in the ongoing push for the speedy and complete coverage of all Bihar’s children under the umbrella of Elementary education.


The programme, first piloted and supported by UNICEF in 2007, initially focussed on those among the Dalit communities who had the least indicators of development. Following the success of the pilot intervention and initial replication in selected districts, the state Government through BEPC decided to roll it out throughout Bihar. The target population was out of school children of primary school-going ages from the ‘Mahadalit’ castes. The range was soon expanded when the State Government extended the ‘Mahadalit’ nomenclature some relatively better off caste groups .

The programme has resulted in a significant increase in the enrolment numbers of Dalit children from the most depressed classes and in retention and performance statistics as well.

The programme has also faced varied challenges due to geopolitical and socio-cultural factors.

This review looks at the programme implementation at ground level, assess its strengths and opportunities and looks at its implications in the light of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the RTE Act 2009.

here's the link: this is a 40 page report....

BRIDGE TO SCHOOL

Frank Krishner

July 2009

Author: Frank Krishner

Dispatching Despatches

Last week, The Telegraph started a Bihar edition from Patna. I started reading The Telegraph from its inaugural issue some twenty years ago, when it stood up to challenge the staid Statesman, which was every Calcuttan’s breakfast read at the time. It is wonderful to see the familiar Broadsheet at my doorstep every morning, this time from Bihar.

And that triggered memories about my own days as the Gangtok Correspondent of The Telegraph, when I was in the Northeastern India in the mid eighties and early nineties. In those days, there was no internet, and so we newspaper correspondents had to depend on the old wire services provided by the Postal Department. We would write or type our stories out in longhand, and then toodle off to the nearest post and telegraph office to submit them at the counter for telegrams. In those days regular telegrams cost fifty paise a word, so the members of the Press had special ‘P&T’ cards that allowed us to send telegrams to our newspapers on credit. The special ‘newspaper rate’ was four paise per word.

We would have to write our stories in duplicate, and keep a carbon copy. When we arrived at the post office, we would have to submit both the copies at the counter. The despatch ( a very official sounding word, I loved it) would be recorded, and the carbon copy stamped and handed back to you. The chap receiving the telegrams wouldn’t be wearing a smiley face. He’d stare glumly at the paper and say something like , “Seven hundred words! I’ve got to type seven hundred words, and that UNI fellow has handed in a report six hundred words long!” How quickly the telegram would reach Calcutta from Gangtok would depend entirely upon how enthusiastic and skilful the telegraph operator was, and we pressmen had to keep the fellow in good humour if we wanted our despatches to be ‘first off the block’.
In 1989, the fax machine made its appearance, and what a wonder it was. The first time I saw a fax machine was in the office of the UNI Bureau Chief in Shillong. He really showed it off. In fact, he invited all of us 'hick journalists' in Shillong to his place to ogle at it over a couple of swigs of cheap rum!

I dug up a couple of my old ‘Telegram cards’: the yellow one is the one for The Telegraph, and the other one is the telegram card for The Times of India, which I wrote stories for while in Shillong. As I turned them over in my hand, I heard a song play inside my head.. “Those were the days, my friend, we thought they’d never end, we’d sing and dance forever and a day….”

Author: Frank Krishner

Forgotten short story

 Almost two decades ago, one of my short stories was published in The Illustrated Weekly of India.
It was typed on an old 'Brother' typewriter and sent off by good old  India Post from Gangtok.
I didn't think it would be published, but it was.
Since then, I've lost the carbon manuscript and even the copy of the published story, which a friend 'borrowed' and forgot to return many years ago.
On rummaging through some old papers, I discovered this acceptance letter.

It says

Dear Mr Krishner

This is with reference to your letter dated January 17, 1992 --- which I found on my desk only a few days ago, since I was on long leave. Anyway, this is ust to inform you that we have neither a shredder nor a lady in high heels in our outer office mailing rejection slips. Yes, we do have one in our inner office, but that bit of information is rather irrelevant, since your short story will not have to go by that route. Look for it in the Weekly issue dated February 29, 1992.

With best wishes,

Radha Rajadhyaksha

Assistant Editor.

Now these were the times before the e-mail and the SMS invaded our lives and made communication terse, functional, or merely banal.
Author: Frank Krishner

Abhivyakti: Subaltern Voices

As usual, the 9th Ravi Bharati Bihar Low Cost Film Festival featured a few films that provoked responses. One of these films was Debaranjan Sarangi's  'From Hindu to Hindutva'. This film revisited the scenes of the worst ever anti-Christian riots in Orissa and presented the various voices and viewpoints around the Khandamahal carnage. The film was mis-named.

Several people visited the festival with the sole purpose of seeing the film, and one of them was Mr Patrick John, a fairly well known commentator in the Patna Church media. He expressed his appreciation of the film and said that  it showed how religion is being use as an excuse to wipe out the minorities. He called for the Christians to find ways to heal the wounds. A pious thought, no doubt.

Rajinder Dash a former administrator who has handled some of the worst communal conflicts in Bihar during his time, mentioned that the film clearly stated the complexity of the problem: the clash between the militant missionaries on both sides of the divide: Hindu versus Christian; the other issue of it being a Dalit versus Adivasi conflict over land and resources, a third angle being the adivasi communities pitted against the mining companies, and a fourth angel being the political angle: administration, its political alliances with the mining lobby. The root of the clashes were mainly economic, he pointed out. Rajinder Dash, being an Oriya and familiar with the langage of the film and the area, said that the area was so remote that it was no surprise that the adinistration took a couple of days to repond to the violence.

If  Debranjan Sarangi's film [screened on the first day] presented the complexity of religious hatred and manipulation in the name of religion to commit murder and genocide, Arzoo, directed by Shashi Ghosh Gupta [screened on the last day] was the story of a young Muslim girl who rose above the hatred and trauma caused by the Gujarat genocide, and did something beautiful for children. the film was rated the most outstanding of the evening. Arzoo, agreed many participants, was the answer to all the Kandamahals and Gujarats. The courage of conviction of the protagonist of Arzoo shone through the film. Young people took an instant liking to the film. One participant said that the film should be shown in all the colleges of Bihar.

Morality TV or Living a Jehad – Ek manohar Kahani by Paromita Vohra sparked off a lot of reactions - outrage, disgust, incredulity, and wide eyed amazement at the blatant way in which human rights are violated in small town India, how news is manipulated and how myth and lies masquerades as news, the way the small town media of Indore panders to the Hindutva Brigade, and how the police and society targets women. Even women policemen are hand in glove with this regressive repression. Someone said.. "Just look at that sickening display of corruption and coercion... nothing like that would happen in Bihar....and yet they give Bihar a bad name!

The beauty and pace of Do Din ka Mela by Anjali Monteiro and KP Jayashankar took many viewer's breath away, and discussions ranged around the beauty of the shots, and certain sequences, the subtle humour, the nuanced editing.

Student films also sparked off debates and appreciation. BRIDGE THE GAP by Sharanya Gautam & Shilpi Gautam was appreciated for its very interesting use of symbols to argue for holistic primary education. Inside Out by Divya Cowasji and Shilpi Gulati sparked off a considerable discussion about a woman's right to space, a woman's right to her body, how the burkha has been portrayed as  a symbol of liberation, as a means for a girl to access spaces within the city, how the burkha isn't really a symbol of freedom, as a woman she should be able to claim the spaces without hiding behind the burkha and so on.

The films from Bihar were noticed for their portrayal of themes that many of the residents of Patna were not aware of - the beauty of Bhagalpuri silk, the forgotten wedding and birth songs from Mithilanchal, and so on.

Author: Frank Krishner