Much ado about the fair railways hike

Indian Railway horror (Source: Google)

I am an avid traveller and have always enjoyed travelling, but there is not one such instance that I have travelled with a free mind. 

Whenever I had to take a train, the first and the foremost concern for my family was how safe I would be while travelling. 

Who would want to hear about their loved one being hurled out of a moving train if they resisted eve-teasing or rape?

And so I never had the luxury to travel in a general compartment. 

And, what about the quality of food? I remember one instance where a friend couldn't stop throwing up after she had food provided by the railways. We had to abandon our journey and get down at the next station to rush her to a hospital.

I can vouch that no one would like the idea of spending a vacation in a hospital bed.

The lesser said the better about the toilets. Each one of us makes sure we don't eat or drink before boarding a train. Using a toilet in the train has been one of the most harrowing experiences. I would rather go out in a field than be in a train toilet. 

All this only points to the deteriorating condition of the railways' services - a fact which the public transporter will grudgingly admit. 

Certainly the Indian Railways require some serious overhaul and maintenance to ensure that train journey is a pleasurable experience for the millions of train commuters. 

Going by the Indian Railways' financial health, all this will undeniably require more funds. 

The fare hike will help Indian Railways raise an additional Rs 8,000 crore in the fiscal 2014-15. 

The Narendra Modi-led NDA government's decision to hike passenger fares does come across as a harsh decision to many, but it is time for the public to look at the bigger picture.

I am sure the hike will pinch pockets, but I wouldn't mind paying a little extra if it means safer train journeys, availability of food that is edible and access to clean toilets.

© 2014 Nasreen Ghani

Published in Daily Mail and Mail Today
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/indiahome/indianews/article-2665301/WHIPLASH-Much-ado-fair-railways-hike.html

Fate of Delhi University students hang in mid-air

The future of Delhi University's Four-Year Undergraduate Programme (FYUP) has been looking uncertain, with HRD Minister Smriti Irani asking the university to review the system. 

The university has been facing chaos and confusion regarding the FYUP. 

With no clarity, the future of DU students and those applying to the university this year can be best described as hanging in mid-air.

Neither the university nor the HRD ministry has the answer to every student's question: 'What now?'

In fact, the current, first FYUP batch are not sure about their course plan, as well as the provisions and time duration of their course studies.

The FYUP has been a cause for concern ever since its introduction last year. 

Whatever charm the course had on paper faded away gradually in the first year of its implementation, not because it was not worth it, but because of the uncertainty and politics surrounding it. 

To start with, the FYUP has been introduced with a purpose to prepare students for life after college. 

The foundation courses introduced include Literature and Creativity, IT; Business, Entrepreneurship and Management, Governance and Citizenship, History, Culture and Civilisation, Building Mathematical Ability, and Environment and Public Health. 

Whichever angle one looks from, none can deny that the above mentioned courses will only enhance a student's knowledge. 

DU vice-chancellor Dinesh Singh had more or less introduced FYUP despite much opposition from professors and students, especially when the university was not prepared for it.

It is a known fact that the Delhi University's infrastructure is sorely inadequate even for a three-year course. For instance, the university still has around 4,000 vacant teaching positions. 

But then a four-year course would also qualify the graduate immediately for a post-graduate course abroad where undergraduate courses are of four-year duration, and universities insist on four years of college (for students from all countries) before considering a student for a PG admission. 

A little planning on infrastructure and other basic requirements would not have hurt anyone. And, all this opposition to the programme had not happened either. Rolling the programme back is no answer to the problem. 

We should remember - change is difficult and hard to accept but is usually done for the larger good.

© 2014 Nasreen Ghani

Published in Daily Mail and Mail Today
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/indiahome/indianews/article-2658499/WHIPLASH-Fate-Delhi-University-students-hangs-mid-air.html

It's time we learnt to tackle our deadly traffic

SENIOR BJP leader Gopinath Munde's death did come as a shock, but the nature of the road accident did not.

This is simply because you read about or come across fatal road accidents almost every day. 

According to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), as many as 461 people died and 1,301 more got injured every day in traffic accidents in the country during 2012. 

This comes to 19 deaths every hour - or more than one death every three minutes.

Even though we see a number of deaths in road accidents, the authorities concerned have failed to take any steps to bring the number down. 

Whatever little measures are taken, the implementation is so pathetic, the law is reduced to being a rude joke.

For jumping a traffic signal, a person is fined a meagre sum of Rs 100. For those who have cars and bikes, what value does a Rs 100 note have when they spend four times as much on fuel almost daily?

To top it all, there are the name-droppers who seem to be able to get away with anything. How often have we seen people with connections flout rules only to escape without any punishment? 

Drunk driving, no problem! Who cares if you crash into another vehicle owing to your carelessness? A good connection will get you out, don't worry. 

And why just blame the motorists? While most developing countries make rear seat belts mandatory, India has no such law. As a result, most car companies don't even provide seat belts on back seats. 

Several experts have opined that Union minister Munde would have escaped the accident unscathed if he had the belt on. 

We need to take some serious steps to rein in the high incidence of road accidents in India. 

For example, whatever might the offence, even something as small as jumping the red light or not wearing a seat belt or helmet, it should be subject to a hefty fine of nothing less than Rs 5,000.

People who don't pay can enjoy jail for a week or two. With most motorists having little regard for traffic rules, we need to tackle rule-breakers with an iron-fist. It's the need of the hour.

© 2014 Nasreen Ghani

Published in Daily Mail and Mail Today

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/indiahome/indianews/article-2652208/WHIPLASH-Its-time-learnt-tackle-deadly-traffic.html

Living with fear in India's rape province

The two girls were gang-raped and murdered. (Source: Google)

Numbers never lie. In 2013, Uttar Pradesh registered 126 rape cases per week. 

And this did not ring any alarm bells with the state government or Chief Minsiter Akhilesh Yadav. 

Unfortunately, Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh Yadav had declared at a public meeting in Moradabad on April 10 that “Ladke, ladke hain.

"Galti ho jati hai (Boys will be boys. They commit mistakes).” He even went a step ahead and said if SP comes to power, he will do away with the provision of death penalty for rape. 

Mulayam’s “Boy will be boys” statement, it seems, has encouraged the perpetrators of the crime. 

Consider the Badaun gang-rape and murder case which has shaken the people across the country: Two Dalit cousins, aged 14 and 16, were gang-raped and murdered. 

As if the atrocity was not enough, their bodies were then hung from a tree in a village. Two police constables are among the seven accused. 

Reports also said the local policemen had turned away the family members of the girls when they had gone to seek help. 

More shame followed, this time in Mulayam’s home district Etawah. A rape victim’s mother was brutally thrashed by the father of the man accused of raping her daughter. 

Her crime? The woman had dared to file a complaint against the accused. 

With nearly 2,000 rapes, close to 8,000 abductions and over 3,000 cases of assault on women with intent to outrage their modesty every year, it seems UP is the worst when it comes to safety of women. 

Moreover, many such cases are never reported by the victims fearing social stigma.

Shockingly, the state police has said rapes happen because women go to the fields to relieve themselves. 

But isn’t this the failure of the panchayats and the administration as providing basic amenities like potable water and toilets are their responsibilities? 

And when did stepping out of your house become a crime punishable by rape? Isn’t the state police responsible for the ever increasing number of rape cases?

© 2014 Nasreen Ghani

Published in Daily Mail and Mail Today
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/indiahome/indianews/article-2645471/India-rape-Living-fear-Indias-rape-province.html

Why blame Pakistan for all attacks on India?

Indian consulate in Herat (Source: Google)

ON Friday, heavily armed militants launched a gun attack on the Indian Consulate in Herat, a western city in Afghanistan.

Even as a gun battle raged between the Afghan Army, the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and the insurgents, Twitter went abuzz with many of our compatriots pointing fingers at Pakistan. 

Most users who took to the social networking site seemed to already ‘know’ that it was Pakistan attacking the Indian Consulate.

Even news channels weren’t far behind when it came to pinning the blame on Pakistan, as if they had accepted responsibility for the attack in front of world leaders and on TV channels. 

Twitter and other social networking sites give us the opportunity to share our thoughts with the world, but do they also give us the licence to blame a country for any wrongdoing that happens at Indian consulates or with Indian delegates around the world? 

Are we in a state of war with Pakistan? Certainly not! 

With both India and Pakistan being nuclear states, do we really want to take that road?

While here, our PM-elect Narendra Modi is trying to mend relations of the two nations by inviting Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to attend his oath-taking ceremony on May 26, Indians are busy throwing it all away. 

This can be judged by one of the tweets that was posted just after the attack in Afghanistan: “This is Pakistan’s answer to Modi’s invitation”. 

Every Indian has the right to freedom of speech and expression, and we should be thankful for that. 

Imagine living in a country like China with no right to speak freely. People in that country don’t even have the freedom to have as many children as they want. 

But with freedom comes responsibility, and by exploiting freedom, we are doing no favours to anyone, least of all ourselves. 

It is time we stop misusing our rights and give serious thought to what we have and how we put it to use - especially on a forum that is accessible to all.

© 2014 Nasreen Ghani

Published in Daily Mail and Mail Today
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/indiahome/indianews/article-2638906/Pakistan-India-Why-blame-Pakistan-attacks-India.html