Edulight volume 4, issue 7, may 2015 by Edulight Journal

EDULIGHT T

2012

U LI G H

International, Multi-disciplinary, Bi-annual & Peer-Reviewed Journal

ULIG

T ED

COUNCIL OF EDULIGHT

KALYANI, NADIA, WEST BENGAL - 741235, INDIA

SUMMER ISSUE

Volume 4, Issue 7, May 2015

ISSN-2278-9545

EDULIGHT International, Multi-disciplinary, Bi-annual & Peer-Reviewed Journal Volume 4, Issue 7, May, 2015                               

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Dr. Prabir Pramanick, Department of Bengali, University of Kalyani, Kalyani, W.B., India EXECUTIVE EDITOR Mr. Ajit Mondal, Department of Education, Surendranath College for Women, Kolkata–9, W.B. BOARD OF EDITORS Dr. Biplab Biswas, Department of Rabindra Sangit Dance Drama & Theatre Arts, Sangit Bhavana,Visva-Bharati, Santiniketan, West Bengal. Dr. Ramana Maram, Department of Political Science, Osmania University, Hyderabad. Dr. Kaushik Chattopadhyay, Department of Sociology, Prof. S. N. H. College, Farakka, W.B. Mr. Kalyan Kumar Sarkar, Department of Political Science, Kanchrapara College, W.B. Vijay Pd. Jayshwal, Kathmandu School of Law, Dadhikot, Bhaktapur, Nepal Dr. Buddhadev Adhikary, Research Scholar, Department of Bengali, University of Kalyani, W.B. Dr. Kajal Ganguly, Research Scholar, Department of Bengali, University of Kalyani, W.B. BOARD OF ADVISORS Prof. Tony Bush, Faculty of Educational Leadership, University of Nottingham, U. K. Dr. Sushanta Kumar Roul, Faculty of Educational and Behavioral Science, Bahir Dar University, Ethiopia Dr. Ruby Ann L. Ayo, Bicol University, College of Social Sciences and Philosophy, Philippines. Prof. Tarak Kumar Pan, Shiksha Bhavana, Visva-Bharati, Santiniketan, West Bengal. Prof. Sudharshana Rana, Department of Education, Himachal Pradesh University, H. P. Prof. J. C. Soni, Dean, Faculty of Education, Rajiv Gandhi University, Arunachal Pradesh. Prof. Soumitra Shekhar Dey, Department of Bengali, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh. Prof. Sanat Kumar Ghosh, Department of Education, Rabindra Bharati University, W.B. Prof. Hemlata Talesra, Smt. K. B. Dave College of Education, Gujarat. Prof. Goutam Paul, Department of Physiology, University of Kalyani, West Bengal. Prof. Bikash Roy, Department of Bengali, University of Gour Banga, West Bengal. Prof. Arindam Chattapadhya, Department of Bengali, Burdwan University, West Bengal. Prof. Nityananda Pradhan, Department of Extension Education, NERIE, NCERT, Shillong, Meghalaya. Prof. Mahes Nath Parajuli, Department of Educational Leadership & Development Studies, Kathamandu Univiversity, Nepal. Prof. Jayanta Mete, Department of Education, University of Kalyani, West Bengal. Dr. Utpal Biswas, Department of Computer Science, University of Kalyani, West Bengal. Dr. Tapas Kumar Bandhopadhya, Department of Molecular Biology, University of Kalyani Dr. Swadhin Kr. Mandal, Department of Chemical Science, IISER-Kolkata, West Bengal. Dr. Nupur Sen, Department of Education, University of Lucknow, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. Dr. Madhumita Bandyopadhyay, School of Non-Formal & Formal, NUEPA, New Delhi. Dr. Jaya Singh, Department of Social Science, NCERT, New Delhi. Mr. Parthasarathi Bhaumik, Department of Comparative Literature, Jadavpur University, W.B.

EDITORIAL OFFICE B-1/130, KALYANI, DISTRICT-NADIA, PIN-741235, WEST BENGAL, INDIA

Editorial Note ================================================= The age we live in is the age of speed and information. In tune with the spirit of the modern era, â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;EDULIGHT has been increasing its volume in terms of knowledge production. EDULIGHT is an attempt to replicate research in the areas of Literature, Education, Social Science, Commerce, Life Science, Physical Science, ICT and Management, Law and to encourage both the students, researchers and the concerned teachers in research. Thus, this journal has been playing its function as a vehicle for disseminating research papers, innovative articles, case studies etc. in all subject areas by the academicians, research scholars, resource persons and practitioners with substantial experience and expertise in their own respective fields. This issue contains scholarly conceptual articles and research papers on various aspects of Bengali and English literature, Education, Physics, Law, Philosophy, History, Geography, Political Science, Management, Business Administration, Commerce etc. In order to keep the length of the issue within capacity, it has been necessary to be very selective in the incorporation of articles. The ideas expressed in the journal are of the authors. The Editorial Board of EDULIGHT holds no responsibility in this regard. The Executive Editor conveys thanks to the members of the Editorial Board, Advisory Board and Peer Reviewers who have extended their cooperation in bringing out the Vol. 4, Issue 7, May 2015 of the journal and also is grateful to all contributors. Suggestions for further improvement of the journal will be thankfully received. We look forward to your reply in the form of suggestions, views and articles for the next issue in November, 2015. With thanks, Kalyani, West Bengal 5th May, 2015

Executive Editor, EDULIGHT Journal

EDULIGHT International, Multi-disciplinary, Bi-annual & Peer-Reviewed Journal Volume 4, Issue 7, May, 2015

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EDULIGHT International, Multi-disciplinary, Bi-annual & Peer-Reviewed Journal Volume 4, Issue 7, May, 2015 SL. NO.

CONTENT

PAGE NO.

WORKING PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES (PWDS): THE NEGLECTED SIDE OF HUMAN RESOURCE IN INDIA Abhishek Mishra

TRANSGRESSING THE ENFORCED CONFORMITY: VIVEKANANDA AND HIS IDEAS RELATED TO THE INSTITUTIONALIZATION OF DISCIPLINE Ayon Halder

SOCIAL REINTEGRATION OF WOMEN PRISONERS - A STUDY OF COMMUNITY RESPONSES Dr Asha Bhandari

CAPACITY BUILDING OF ELECTED WOMEN REPRESENTATIVES IN PANCHYATI RAJ INSTITUTIONS IN KANGRA DISTRICT Dr Ritu Bakshi

PANCHAYATI RAJ IN INDIA: A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE Dr. Anup Maji

SURVEY OF DIFFERENT TECHNIQUES OF TEACHING ENGLISH PROSE AT ELEMENTARY LEVEL IN DIFFERENT TYPES OF SCHOOLS Dr. Indu Sudhir

A STUDY ON THE AWARENESS LEVEL TOWARDS MORAL SCIENCE AMONG THE STUDENTS OF SECONDARY LEVEL WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO LAKHIMPUR DISTRICT IN ASSAM Dr. Jahnabee Lahkar

VALUE EDUCATION AND ITS DEVELOPMENT THROUGH EDUCATION Dr. Kartar Singh

A TRIBUTE TO A SOCIOLOGIST: AKSHAY RAMANLAL DESAI (1915-1994) Dr. Kaushik Chattopadhyay

10. IMPACT OF AN INTERVENTION PACKAGE ON LEARNING STYLE OF STUDENTS WITH SPECIFIC LEARNING DISABILITIES Dr. M.C. Anilakumari

11. A STUDY ON THE OPINIONS OF COLLEGE/UNIVERSITY STUDENTS REGARDING THE HIGHER EDUCATION SYSTEM IN HIMACHAL PRADESH Dr. Pardeep Kumar

SL. PAGE CONTENT NO. NO. 12. A STUDY OF ATTITUDE OF COLLEGE TEACHERS TOWARDS 87 INTRODUCING-PUNJABI AS A COMPULSORY SUBJECT AT UNDERGRADUATE LEVEL Dr. Punam Chopra 13. A STUDY OF COMPUTER LITERACY AMONG PRE-SERVICE 92 TEACHERS Miss Rajni Kumari & Dr. Radhakanta Gartia & Miss Suchismita Rana 14. PERCEPTION 97 OF TEACHERS ON SCHOOL BASED SUPERVISORY PRACTICES AND ITS INFLUENCE ON THEIR DECISION TO CONTINUE IN THE TEACHING PROFESSION Dr. Sushanta Kumar Roul 15. LAW, MEDIA AND THE JUDICIARY 109 Dr. Sudhansu Ranjan Mohapatra 16. UNDERSTANDING DISABILITY AND THE DIFFERENTLY 115 ABLED: THE VALUES FRAMEWORK OF WESTERNIZATION Dr. Vinita Pandey & Ms. Priyanka 17. LEARNING STYLES AND ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT OF 124 STUDENTS IN HIGH SCHOOLS Dr. A. Subramanian 18. INCLUSIVE EDUCATION IS AN IMPORTANT ASPECT IN 131 TEACHER EDUCATION Dr.Gaurav Sachar 19. CONVERGENCE OF INDIAN ACCOUNTING STANDARD WITH 135 IFRS Dr.Syamal Kumar Mandal 20. FOOD PROCESSING INDUSTRY IN THE DISTRICT OF MALDA, 140 WEST BENGAL – AN ECONOMIC INVESTIGATION Gopal Ch. Roy 21. MID DAY MEAL PROGRAMME, IMPLEMENTATION, 148 MONITORING AND ITS SOCIAL IMPACT IN WEST BENGAL Goutam Mondal 22. PEOPLE, POLITICS AND POLITICAL LEADERS OF INDIA: AN 157 OVERVIEW Harasankar Adhikari 23. WOMEN’S EDUCATION IN INDIAN SOCIETY AND CULTURE 160 Jayanta Acharya & Mousumi Chakraborty 24. THE POWER OF MUSIC AND DYSLEXIA 166 Jayanta Acharya 25. IMPLICATION OF CENVAT CREDIT ON COMMON INPUTS AND 171 INPUT SERVICES USED FOR MANUFACTURING DUTIABLE AND EXEMPTED GOODS AND PROVIDING TAXABLE AND EXEMPTED SERVICES Jharna Chakraborty

SL. PAGE CONTENT NO. NO. 26. FROM TO PUNISH TO NOT TO PUNISH: ATTEMPT TO COMMIT 180 SUICIDE Joydip Ghosal 27. PAROLE IN INDIA 186 Karan Dhall 28. ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT OF PRIMARY SCHOOL GIRLS 194 UNDER SSA PROGRAMME M. Pulisekhar 29. FEW LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SERVICES IN HIGHER 200 LEARNING Md. Nurul Islam 30. SOME SUFIS OF WEST BENGAL AND THEIR CONTRIBUTION 206 TO BENGALESE SOCIETY AND CULTURE Md.Sablul Hoque 31. NATIONAL KNOWLEDGE COMMISSION AND NATIONAL 214 STRATEGIES TOWARDS A KNOWLEDGE-BASED SOCIETY Pramanna Gurung 32. APPLICATIONS OF BOOLEAN ALGEBRA IN DIGITAL 223 ELECTRONICS: AN OVERVIEW Pravash Mandal 33. THE METALLURGICAL STUDY IN ANCIENT INDIA 231 Priyanka Mandal 34. BANKIM CHANDRA CHATTERJEE IN THE FIELD OF INDO – 236 ANGLIAN LITERATURE Professor Keya Ghatak 35. A STUDY ON DEVELOPMENT OF GIRLS’ EDUCATION IN WEST 240 BENGAL WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO NADIA DISTRICT Pulin Mondal & Dr. Arjun Chandra Das 36. SEX RATIO IN DHULE DISTRICT 250 Rajendra k. Pawar 37. A CRITICAL STUDY ON THE ACHIEVEMENT OF THE 253 STUDENTS IN LIFE SCIENCE Tanusree Saha 38. THEATRE IN EDUCATION: A STUDY OF THE USE OF 257 CHILDREN’S THEATRE IN EDUCATION IN INDIA Dr Shuchi Sharma 39. IMPACT OF RESERVATIONS ON INSTITUTIONS OF 264 HIGHER EDUCATION Snigdha Bala 40. (ANTI) ROMANTIC COMEDY: ARMS AND THE MAN AND THE 272 QUESTION OF GENRE Srimay Sinha

SL. PAGE CONTENT NO. NO. 41. Svalakṣaṇa and Sāmānyalakṣaṇa in Buddhist Philosophy: A Study 277 Sujit Roy 42. ROLE OF WOMEN POLICE TOWARDS GENDER 284 SENSITIZATION Sushmita Pal Chowdhury 43. HIGHER EDUCATIONOF BENGAL IN THE PRE INDEPENDENCE 290 PERIOD – A HISTORICAL REVIEW Sutripta Banerjee 44. MODERN SLAVERY IN WEST BENGAL 298 Tamal Krishna Saha 45. EXCELLENCE IN TEACHING AND LEARNING THROUGH 306 QUALITY AWARENESS Vinita Dhawan 46. GREEN AUDIT – A NECESSITY AND AN UPCOMING ISSUE IN 311 BUSINESS Wendrila Biswas 47. HIGHER EDUCATION IN ANCIENT INDIA 317 Dilbaag Singh 48. AWARENESS OF EDUCATIONAL RIGHTS AMONG PTC GIRL 324 STUDENTS Dr. Nisha Raninga 49. A STUDY ON EMOTIONAL STABILITY AMONG HIGHER 330 SECONDARY STUDENTS Dr. P. Suresh Prabu 50. RESPONSIBILITY ACCOUNTING AND MANAGERIAL 335 CONTROL: AN OVERVIEW Dr. Santanu Das 51. MORAL VALUE AND BUDDHIST THOUGHT: A CRITICAL 342 REVIEW Dr. Kuheli Biswas 52. RIGHT TO EDUCATION ACT-2009: EQUITY ISSUES AND 346 POSSIBILITIES Maran Bandhu Majumder 53. CASE STUDY: INTERVENTIONS FOR POSITIVE DEVELOPMENT 354 IN A CHILD WITH DOWN’S SYNDROME Dr Ritu Tripathi Chakravarty 54. A STUDY OF EXPRESSIONISTIC TECHNIQUE: WITH A SPECIAL 358 REFERENCE OF ARTHUR MILLER’S DEATH OF A SALESMAN Deepawali Joshi 55. STRESS - A HARMFUL MODERN PHENOMENON 362 Dr. Nandita Basu

SL. PAGE CONTENT NO. NO. 56. COUNTER INSURGENCY IN NIGERIA BY BOKO HARAM: AN 365 OVERVIEW Sandipan Sarkar 57.  372

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59.

384

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60.

390

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61.

393

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63.



413

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417

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422

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429

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67.

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68 ব ৌদ্ধ তন্ত্রসাধনায় মৈথুনতত্ত্ব

438 অরুণ ৈাহাত

ISSN – 2278-9545

Volume 4, Issue 7, May, 2015

WORKING PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES (PWDS): THE NEGLECTED SIDE OF HUMAN RESOURCE IN INDIA Abhishek Mishra Assistant Professor, Institute of Management Studies, Faculty of Commerce & Management Studies, Mahatma Gandhi Kashi Vidyapith (A U.P. State University), Varanasi- 221002, U.P. E-mail: abhi1234mishra@gmail.com ABSTRACT Across the globe, the number of disabled persons is over one billion and this figure is on the rise every year with the population of the world witnessing a significant increase every year. People with Disability are considered as the largest minority according to World Health Organization. As per Census of India 2011 Data on Disability there were 26,810,557 persons with disability in India. This is indeed a substantial portion of the total population. This population, referred to as persons with disability are often being considered as the marginal section of the society with little access to the benefits, schemes, and privileges offered by the government. Often neglected and looked down as with ‘incapable’ people, they are treated in sympathetic terms. But the working population with disabilities can also be considered to be the untapped potential of available human resources in the country. The present paper gives an overview of the status of the working population with disability in India, the issues of concern, and what can be done to reap the benefit of this untapped human resource available within the country.

Introduction With the inception of the modern management thoughts across the tables of board rooms of corporate houses, the significance and important of human resource gained due recognition and began to be considered as the most vital component of the industrial world. An organisation with rich force of human resource can compete and perform even in most adverse circumstances and yield results aligned with the objectives of the organisation. When we say ‘human resource’ we refer to the physical, intellectual, technical, emotional competencies of an employee to generate income. This workforce encompasses people with diversified backgrounds, skills, cultural backgrounds, ethnicity, and physical disposition. But even though the world has ventured into an era where technology has made all other things and issues look trivial, there is a dark aspect of this workforce which not only needs serious contemplation, but also remedies to it must be search for. This dark aspect represents working people with disabilities. This section of workforce has very often been discouraged to join the workforce. And those who are part of this workforce are not given due recognition for their contribution towards the organisation. A sympathetic view is adopted towards these people and questions are often raised regarding their competencies and capabilities. Thus, the organisations are not only being unfair to them, but also they extend an inhuman treatment towards these working people who are same in capacities and competencies beyond any doubt. As the paper progresses we will discuss what are the challenges that the working people with disabilities have to face in India, and what are the remedies to combat with these challenges Research Methodology Research Methodology serves as the backbone of any form of research. The present paper has been developed on the basis of secondary literature available on the subject. The paper has incorporated findings from various research papers, reports, websites, and other

EDULIGHT-Multi-disciplinary, Peer-Reviewed Journal

Volume 4, Issue 7, May, 2015

ISSN – 2278-9545

sources to draw inferences on the subject. A descriptive approach of research methodology has been followed to achieve the objective of the study. Indian Scenario The latest Census figures on disabilities have shown only a marginal increase in the number of differently-abled people in the country with the figure rising from 21.9 million in 2001 to 26.8 million in 10 years. In percentage terms, it has risen from 2.13 per cent to 2.21 per cent, as per the Census 2011 figures released by the Registrar General of India. Even though disabled people constitute a significant 5 to 6 percentage of the population of India, their needs for meaningful employment largely remain unmet. The majority of disabled worker are engaged in agricultural occupations either as cultivators or agriculture labourer in rural areas1. The scenario is abysmal in service sector. The potential of people with disabilities as precious human resource has so far remained untapped in India. Discussing the Agenda The World Health Organisation2 considers disability as an umbrella term and covers impairments, activity limitations, and participation restrictions. It further defines Impairment as a problem in body function or structure; an activity limitation as difficulty encountered by an individual in executing a task or action; and a participation restriction as a problem experienced by an individual in involvement in life situations. Thus disability is a complex phenomenon, reflecting an interaction between features of a person’s body and features of the society in which he or she lives. The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2006)3 adopted by the United Nations defines disability in two ways. The Preamble to the Convention states that “Disability results from the interaction between persons with impairments and attitudinal and environmental barriers that hinder their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others.” Again it emphasizes that “Persons with disabilities include those who have long term physical, mental, intellectual or sensory impairments which in interaction with various barriers may hinder their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others.” Thus we say almost all the western definitions emphasise a lot on the social immobility of person when he or she faces the trauma of being disabled. As such it concentrates more on the responsibility of the society towards these fellowmen to embrace them in the mainstream of the society. However, things are different in Indian context. Indian definition uses the term disability based on pathologic condition and simply uses the terms like crippled, handicap, etc. to define a disable person. The NSS defines a disabled person as ‘a person with restrictions or lack of abilities to perform an activity in the manner or within the range considered normal for a human being’. The genesis of the problem lies within this very definition. The definition simply focuses on the incapability of a human body to perform usual day activities. This is a perception issue. With this very definition in mind, we as individual, as well as society failed to accept disabled people as vital human resource. This is phenomenon is termed as social model of disability which imposes undue restrictions on the behavior of persons with impairment. In this, disability does not lie in the individuals, but in the interaction between individuals and society. However, things are changing, of course with a slow pace. Sharma (2006) emphasised on the placement of the disabled working people due to the following reasons4:   

Recognising their potentials Realising their worth Providing an input in the production process

EDULIGHT-Multi-disciplinary, Peer-Reviewed Journal

Volume 4, Issue 7, May, 2015

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Paving the way for complete participation and equality

People with disabilities are given space to join the workforce and perform at their best. But as said earlier, the perception issue forces the Indian organisations to refrain from recruiting people with disabilities. Along with this, there are several other challenges that are being faced by the working people with disabilities like, • Lack of accessible education • Impact of disability / logistical barriers • Lack of encouragement from family and society (Social stigma) • Limited interaction • Fast pace of environmental changes Let us discuss some of these in detail: No formal training programs organised: People who wish to join the workforce lack basic education and skills to excel in the field of job market. With no or little availability of specialised and professional centres to provide them with the required knowledge of the corporate market, these persons, even though possessing the required enthusiasm to progress fail to land up with a job. Opening up such centres where people with working potentials can move in to work for the corporate will help in combating with the issue of skill and training. Tailor made programs should be designed for such workers. Equipping them with the desired skills, an organisation can turn these men into a group of competent workforce. Workplace discrimination: Employees generally treat the disabled worker in negative terms. They are subject to indifferent attitude and behaviour. A general notion prevails among the employees that disabled employees are below par with other employees working in the organisation. The management people are clouded by the idea that if disabled workers are hired, there are chances that in future they will turn out into liabilities. It is an irony that even if work in present day has become technological oriented, the potential of an employee is determined on the basis of his physical disposition. Lack of suitable infrastructure: Working people with disabilities have physical restrictions related to movement. Most of the organisations have infrastructural facilities meant for the general employees. No special infrastructural facilities are available for the disabled workers. Disabled employees have different ergonomic needs. They need special sitting arrangement, technology, utilities, etc. Arranging such requirements call for more investment on the part of the organisations. Therefore, keeping in mind the cost factor organisations refrain from hiring disabled workers. Insensitive Working Environment: Disabled workers are often subject to insensitive attitude by their fellow colleagues. Bullying, teasing, non cooperating etc are some of the behaviour that disabled workers have to face while working at the workplace. Reduced Wages: If people with disabilities are employed, they commonly earn less than their counterparts without disabilities; women with disabilities commonly earn less than men with disabilities. The wage gaps between men and women with and without disabilities are thus as important as the difference in employment rates. In short, organisations refrain from hiring people with disabilities due to the following reasons: • Availability of skilled general category candidates • Lack of necessary education and/or qualifications among Persons with disability

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• No efficient centre for sourcing Persons with disability • Infrastructure • Unwillingness / Unawareness Disability is a development issue, because of its bidirectional link to poverty: disability may increase the risk of poverty, and poverty may increase the risk of disability5. Therefore, it becomes a matter of utmost importance that people with disabilities are provided with ample opportunities to excel in life and make themselves stronger. To combat the issues related to the safety of working people with disability, a number of laws have been granted to them. India has ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of persons with disability (UNCRPD) in 2007. Article 27 of UNCRPD “recognizes the right of persons with disability to work, on an equal basis with others; this includes the opportunity to gain a living by work freely chosen or accepted in the labour market and work environment that is open, inclusive and accessible to persons with disability”. The government also passed ‘The Persons with Disability’ Act 1995 .This Act reserves 3% of all categories of jobs in the government sector for disabled persons, and provides employment incentives for public and private sector companies, that have at least 5% of their workforce comprising of disabled persons. Some other legislations that were enacted to protect the disabled people in the economic domain include: (i) the Mental Health Act, 1987; (ii) the Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995 (PwD Act); (iii) the Rehabilitation Council of India Act, 1992 and amended in 2000 (RCI Act); and (iv) the National Trust for Welfare of Persons with Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Mental Retardation and Multiple Disabilities Act, 1999 (National Trust Act). However, till date India has not ratified ILO Convention 159, which is concerned with the Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment of Disabled Persons. This convention has been ratified by more than 80 countries. The Convention requests ratifying states to set out a policy on vocational rehabilitation and employment of disabled persons in the open labour market (integration of disabled in regular working environment). The Convention furthermore promotes equality of treatment between disabled and non-disabled workers, specifying the need for positive action, which would enable workers with disability many opportunities to be as productive as any other worker. This may require specific services for disabled workers, like adaptations in the work environment (access to workplace) or at the workplace of the individual worker. The Convention makes it mandatory to provide vocational rehabilitation and employment services for disabled workers in rural and remote areas, which is very relevant to the situation in India. There are certain challenges that even the government authorities have to face when it comes to employment of disabled persons. Some of them may be cited as below: • Ineffective implementation of job quotas •Ineffective access to persons with disability employment related data/information • No awareness about benefits being available to the disabled workers/employees •No market linked training available to the disabled workers/employees •Limited success or no success of the programs launched for the disabled people Certain Recommendations Among the number of disabled people in India, the majority of this population belongs to the people who are in the age bracket of 12-24 years6. We as a developing country cannot take the risk of ignoring the potential of such a rich source of human resource available within the country. The urgent need of the hour is to bring this human workforce

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into the mainstream so that we are able to reap rich benefits of this especially abled workforce. The government along with the NGOs can come forward and extend helping hands to provide opportunities to this workforce to enter into the job market. This can be achieved with the aid of the following measures: Incentivising Business Organisations: Providing business houses with incentives in case they hire disabled employees will help in the quick implementation of the ‘The Persons with Disability’ Act 1995’. It should be clearly indicated in the industrial policies of the government that if the corporate hire disabled employees as per the provisions of ‘The Persons with Disability’ Act 1995’, they will be provided with incentives. On the other hand, if they fail to do so, strict penalties will be imposed on them. Such ‘stick and carrot’ approach will motivate the employers to hire disabled workers with an open heard and mind. Developing National Disabled Job Portals: The government, in a joint collaboration with the NGOs and business organisations shall develop National Disabled Job Portals where employers can post their job openings specially meant for disabled workers. This portal will act as an interface between the employers and those disabled people who look for jobs. Aligning hiring of disabled employees with CSR: Hiring of disabled employees should be aligned with the philosophy of CSR. It should be made the responsibility of the corporate houses to hire the people who are disabled. Organising sensitising programmes: Disability sensitisation workshops or programmes should be organised at regular intervals to introduce the general employees working in the organisations towards the workers who are disabled. As such, the general public will develop a positive attitude towards the disabled workers. The workshops will also help the disabled workers raise their self respect, self esteem, dignity and positive attitude towards the society. Skilling the disabled: The 11th Plan had set a target of having 500 million individuals in the labour force with some formal training by 2020. To achieve this objective, National Skill Development Mission was also launched in the Eleventh Plan. A Coordinated Action Plan for Skill Development was also defined to identify gaps in the skill ecosystem. A Skill Development Council and Skill Development Corporation have been founded with private sector initiative to impart skill training to the workers. To achieve this goal, more than 1500 new Industrial Training Institutes and 50000 skill development centers are to be set up to provide vocational training and education to the unskilled workforce. Carrying forward the initiative, the 12th Five Year Plan focuses on introducing formal training from class 10 onwards. Skilling the disabled workers should be made one of the objectives of such types of programs. The ILO should also take active participation in the endeavor to include disabled people as target groups in skilling programs organized by the government. Launching a social marketing campaign: Social marketing is the use of marketing principles to influence human behaviour in order to improve health or benefit society7. Through adopting social marketing approach the organisations can built an empathetic attitude towards the working people with disabilities in organisations. Adopting welfare and rights based approach towards disability: To capitalize the untapped potential of PWDs in the country, we need to adopt welfare as well as rights based approach towards them. The welfare based approach considers disables as objects of state charity who are in need of medical treatment and social protection. The rights based approach treats them as citizens with rights, equally capable of claiming these rights and making autonomous decisions based on their free and informed consent as well as being active members of society.

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Conclusion These are some of the suggestive measures through which indifferent attitude towards the workers or employees with disabilities can be mitigated. Today the nation talks about reaping the demographic dividend of the country. India has a population of 70 million disabled (WHO figures) although barely one million are employed8. To reap the benefit of this untapped potential, the recommendations of the 31st session of labour ministerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s conference held in July, 1980 needs to be revisited. The conference suggested the following measures to bring the disabled working population into the workforce: i. ii. iii. iv. v. vi.

Opening of more employment exchanges with the objective of having at least one such exchange in each state. Opening of special cell in the employment exchanges at the district level for the physically handicapped persons. Appointment of placement officers in order to strengthen the placement activities. Skill training centres/production units should be added to the vocational rehabilitation centres for providing tailor made training courses to enhance their employability. Reservations for disabled people in the jobs where they can match to their potential. Monitoring cells may be set up at the state level to ensure the reservation orders are fully implemented.

As a growing nation we cannot take the risk of wasting our rich and diversified human resource. To reap the benefits of the talent available in the form of disabled workforce lying untapped, formulating a national level policy for the government becomes a must. The above recommendations need to be kept in mind while formulating the policies for the disabled workers in India. The NGOs, corporate, and we as an individual and a society must join in hands to extend help hands to this differently abled people willing to join the workforce. Then only the dream of reaping the benefits of demographic dividend can be achieved. References 1. Deshpande, S. S. (2009). Work Participation among Disabilities in India. Journal of Social Science, 2. Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, G. o. (2012). Manual on Disabilty Statistics. New Delhi: Central Statistics Office, P 1-2 3. Ibid. 4. A.M.Sharma. (2006). Aspects of Labour Welfare and Social Security. New Delhi: Himalaya Publishing House. 5. 4. Sen A. The idea of justice. Cambridge, The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2009. 6. Singh, N, Forgotten Youth: Disability & Development in India, RECOUP working paper No.14, 2008. 7. http://www.socialmarketingcollaborative.org/smc/pdf/Social_Marketing_Basics.pdf accessed on 21/01/2015 at 5.30 PM. 8. ILO. (2011). Persons with Disability & the India Labour Market:Challenges and Opportunties. Bangkok: ILO, p 32.

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TRANSGRESSING THE ENFORCED CONFORMITY: VIVEKANANDA AND HIS IDEAS RELATED TO THE INSTITUTIONALIZATION OF DISCIPLINE Ayon Halder Research Scholar, Department of English, University of Kalyani, Kalyani, District – Nadia, West Bengal, E-mail: ayonhalder83@gmail.com ABSTRACT Vivekananda is mainly considered to be an eminent figure among the others for making Hindu religion popular among the people of the West. He has always been eager to look into all other religious doctrines in order to broaden the mental horizon and support the ideals of religious tolerance. He has a firm conviction that no nation can progress without possessing an inherently strong religiosity. Vivekananda is always critical of the low self-confidence and narrow mindedness of the Indians who should drag themselves out of the abyss to progress further towards a positive goal and according to him the people of India need to fall back on the scriptures of Vedantism that can evoke a spiritual regeneration in this nation. He always upholds the Vedantic morality which negates egotism of an individual self and grows an immanent strength. He proclaims that spiritual reformation will inevitably precede everything else because this will provide the impetus to construct a powerful nation. Vivekananda does not profess to follow the path of Vedanta blindly but draws attention to the fact that it should be practiced in both private and public life emphasizing upon the personal experience that is generated within. He does not champion absolute negation or complete withdrawal from the worldly experiences but preach to be absorbed in the contemplation of the impersonal Brahman. He believes that the spiritual reformation should be the most important agenda of the contemporary period as it can provide the strength to form a national consciousness. Vivekananda always relies heavily on building the character of the individual who has to be both physically and mentally well equipped to carry forward the ideology of spiritual existence and in this way contributes his part to uphold a strong national identity and integrity. According to him to build a nation the lessons of the scriptures must be put to action. The mass based Hinduism that he conceives as the urgent need for the Indians renders him an ideal Renaissance figure in nineteenth century colonial Bengal. The idea of attachment with every action is explicitly dealt with in a letter written to Mrinalini Bose in 1898 titled as ‘Our Present Social Problem’ where he avowedly puts forth his arguments which stress upon the need to be fervently anchored to every deed that is an individual is engaged with in society. This in a way also becomes relevant in the context of this present era when people usually do involve themselves dispassionately in his every effort towards his surrounding in general.

Key- Words: Hinduism, Renaissance, Colonial, Vedantism Vivekananda has avowedly proclaimed the kernel of ancient Hindu scriptures to the fellow Indians whom he intends to teach the ideals inherent in these texts. He has always been engrossed in disseminating the liberal ethics that are replete with thoughtful introspection. His religious preaching emanates from an intense contemplation into the societal concerns. Vivekananda gives vent to his insightful thoughts in numerous letters which are written to his close associates. Among them one letter is titled as ‘Our present Social Concern’ which is written to Mrinalini Bose from Deoghar on 23rd December,1898. In this letter he ardently disapproves of yielding blindly to any social norms. Thus Vivekananda turns out to be a radical revolutionary who reaffirms his faith on free will. His words in this letter in which he eloquently articulates his message to one and all appear to be the vehement refutation of any bureaucratic discipline. At the very outset of his letter that he addresses to Mrinalini he puts forth a pertinent question that is relevant till these days. He points out how an individual has to relinquish his free will for the sake of the society at large

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and directs attention to the fact that it has been a perennial problem for the West as it is rift with the demand of sacrificing of “individual freedom to social supremacy”. (Vivekananda, 1898) The Indian monk also acknowledges that “Our motherland is a glowing example of the results and consequence of the eternal subjection of the individual to society by dint of institution and discipline”. (Vivekananda, 1898) Thus he reproaches the coercive notion of the rigid norms of society which cherishes to impose these on the common mass. He then goes on to the extent of propounding that “the hard discipline...is fraught with evil”. (Vivekananda, 1898) Vivekananda never censures any innate quality of an individual who is adept in confining himself to repeat skilful automated actions but comes down heavily on the ‘Shastric injunctions’ that people are strictly made to follow at every single moment of their existence. Thus he is against any unscrupulous acceptance as he addresses that the daily activities that people are engaged with in general are not essentially of any worth and confesses solemnly, “There is no mental activity, no unfoldment of the heart, no vibration of life, no flux of hope, there is no strong stimulation of the will, no experience of keen pleasure, nor the contact of intense sorrow; there is no stir of inventive genius, no desire for novelty, no appreciation of new things.” (Vivekananda, 1898) The grief-stricken heart of Vivekananda is in search of the creative bent of mind that cannot be curbed by any overpowering rule. These irrevocable rules are never favourable for the exertion of independent thought. This also does not do any world of good to enhance the inherent qualities as Vivekananda is quoted as saying, “If living by rule alone ensures excellence, if it be virtue to follow strictly the rules and customs handed down to generations, say then, who is more virtuous than a tree, who is a greater devotee, a holier saint, than a railway train?” (1898) He is in fact vocal against the lack of ingenious ideas that the mind is capable of germinating and denounces the idea of education that has gradually crumbled. This is why he repeatedly enquires of the necessity of being educated at all- “... is that education under whose sway even the old ideas, let alone the new ones are disappearing one by one; is that education which is slowly making man a machine? It is more blessed, in my opinion, even to go wrong, impelled by one’s free will and intelligence than to be good as automation.” (Vivekananda, 1898) He is by all means against the form of education that renders human beings into ‘lumps of clay’ or ‘life-like machines’. The ideal society cannot be a conglomeration of countless living beings who cannot respond to the call of their hearts. The people who become indifferent to their own inner abilities do not succeed in proceeding towards the cherished destination. Even self-sacrifice can also not be called as a virtue till it is mingled with a sense of self-esteem. This is why Vivekananda has written in the letter that there cannot be any glory “in the renunciation of an eternal beggar”. (1898) He also goes to the extent of asking “What virtue is there in the sense-control of one devoid of sense-power? What again is the self-sacrifice of one devoid of idea, devoid of heart, devoid of high ambition, and devoid of the conception of what constitutes society?” (Vivekananda,1898) He does not endure any form of constraints that cause trouble to free thinking and always champions the emancipation of the subordinated self. This makes him assert the sovereignty of the soul. For this reason the readers do not wonder when they peruse these words in his letter- “I say, liberate, undo the shackles of the people as much as you can”. (Vivekananda, 1898) He has also concerns for social ills which are rampant that time and pleads for the redemption of the female counterparts who co-exist in the patriarchal hierarchical structure but are relegated to the margin. He points out how women find it imperative to accept the normative ethics that the society furnishes before them and they have no other way but to comply with these as Vivekananda writes, “Oh what examples or self-denial are our widows! Oh how sweet is child marriage! ...But as to the men, the masters of the situation, there is no need of self-denial for them!” (1898) He relates this to the sheer injustice meted out to those people who belong to the lower strata of society by drawing attention to the Brahminical

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hegemonic rules. No society can progress while the socially downtrodden people are made to suffer in this way. In this regard Vivekananda urges that one has to be bereft of his egoism to be able to do any good for surroundings. Otherwise it is of no to work for his fellow compatriots and only a brave heart can deny his self. He defends his argument by addressing that the desire to purge oneself of the pride a person usually likes to take in will guide one to serve the society at large and writs on- “It is action with desire that leads to action without desire. Is the renunciation of desire possible if desire did not exist in the beginning?” (Vivekananda, 1898) The desire to incite the urge within is sanctioned by him as he awakens the soul that remains oblivious to this truth by urging to “Worship with desire, with attachment...Commence with the worship with the little, then the greater will come of itself.” (Vivekananda, 1898) He rounds of his letter alluding to the solace that comes in the form of enlightenment amid the deep spiritual crisis as it is most crucial hour when the ‘light of Brahman within gleams’ and this inevitably guides, according to Vivekananda, to the “infinite realisation of Brahman in everywhere and in everything”. (1898) His idea of ethical values that bind a man to his duty towards others cannot be disassociated from how he conceives of the binding notion of law in particular. He shows disregard for legal constraints that in a way preclude the progress of the society and maintains that it will turn all possibilities to go astray. This is why he particularly indicates in prose piece Law and Freedom- “Wherever in any society there are too many laws, it is a sure sign that that society will soon die.” ( Vivekananda, n.d.) The freedom that the soul always longs for is crushed by the imperious laws as Vivekananda harps on, “Eternal laws cannot be freedom, because to say that the eternal is inside law is to limit it.” (Law, n.d.) He speaks volume about the doctrine of Vedanta that does not ever stress upon any such requisites that curb the spirit of a soul by diminishing the possibilities within. So he brings his idea of law and freedom into contention by reaffirming the essence of Vedanta that calls for the liberty of the soul- “Our Vedanta is the assertion of freedom always. The very idea of law will frighten the Vedantist...If there is to be an eternal law binding him all the time, where is the difference between him and a blade of grass? We do not believe in that abstract idea of law.” (Vivekananda, n,d.) But he never tries to uphold the anarchic idea that the human being usually cherishes to get indulged in. But as a modern man he voices in favour of the basic human rights. He is the child of Renaissance which infuses radical thoughts by driving away all shady inhibitions. Vivekananda is the avant-garde religious preacher in colonial Bengal as the visionary sage is inwardly a profound reformist. He is an incorrigibly rebellious and never digresses from what he himself believes in life. He has ever registered his protest against any dichotomy and practised everything that he has preached publicly. Vivekananda is thus an archetype of the modern man who brings about a cognitive revolution in colonial Bengal. When the General assembly of United Nations has adopted and proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in which the preamble begins with the declaration- “Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of the freedom, justice and peace in the world” (Universal Declaration, n.d.) one can easily find the echoes of what has already been addressed by Vivekananda way before. When Vivekananda looks for the autonomy of the self and asks people to come out of the cloistered self he intends to profess for the assertive nature of the soul. He never defends the way the intimidating value system works in a society and acts as a suitable means to carry on the surveillance throughout. His words come very close to what Michael Foucault acknowledges towards the last quarter of the twentieth century contrived way and makes an attempt to rationalise their control while purporting to proclaim authoritarian inclinations of a disciplinary society. The autocratic and tyrannical rules that regulate the life of an individual are the mode of controlling and taming the individual who is compelled to be the disciplined subject of the state and act in the same way the several EDULIGHT-Multi-disciplinary, Peer-Reviewed Journal

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institutions of the state require from him. Vivekananda has intended to voice against this function of the colonial authority that takes pride in subordinating the native people in a contrived way and makes an attempt to rationalise their control in a circuitous process. He has fallen back on spiritual meditation that turns out to be essential to guard against such predicaments that causes trouble to humanity. However, the treasures of ancient Hindu scriptures are well equipped to ward off such angst that torments the soul of the people in this century as well. References  



"Universal Declaration of Human Rights." (2007) Worldmark Encyclopedia of Nations. Retrieved from http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-2586700044.html. Vivekananda, Swami. Our Present Social Problem. Complete Works of Vivekananda. Retrieved from http://www.ramakrishnavivekananda.info/vivekananda/volume_4/translation_prose/o ur_present_social_problems.htm Vivekananda, Swami. (n.d.) Law and Freedom. Complete Works of Vivekananda. Vol. 5. Retrieved from http://www.ramakrishnavivekananda.info/vivekananda/volume_5/notes_from_lecture s_and_discourses/law_and_freedom.htm.

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SOCIAL REINTEGRATION OF WOMEN PRISONERS - A STUDY OF COMMUNITY RESPONSES Dr Asha Bhandari Assistant Professor, Faculty of Policy science, National Law University Jodhpur (Rajasthan), India, E-mail: ashabhandari7@yahoo.co.in ABSTRACT Prisoners who return to the society have many things to take care of upon release. These include housing, employment and re-establishing contact with family members, if any. In addition, stigma and sometimes guilt, associated with the imprisonment and crime can lead to feelings of shame, embarrassment and depression. Studies show that most women feel lost and disoriented in the first few weeks or months after their release and experience basic life situations often as unmanageable challenges. Criminal recidivism, mental condition of women, the attitude of the family members and her social circle has significant bearing on her capacity to reintegrate into society upon release. The prison environment itself is not conducive to rehabilitation or preparation for reintegration on release. Studies have shown that provision of some form of support is therefore, crucial to the successful transition from prison back into the community and a return to independent living. In this background this paper is an effort to understand problems and issues related to the reintegration of women prisoners. I understand that any analysis of the social issues faced by women prisoners would be incomplete without taking into consideration the point of view of the members of society and the manner in which they treat ex-prisoners. Therefore, the aim of this research is to collect the perception of both men and women from rural and urban areas of Rajasthan about their attitude towards ex-prisoner and their reintegration into mainstream society. Based on analysis further suggestion were provided having influence on policy implication.

Introduction and Statement of Problem “Leaving prison is like stepping on a landmine…When you are in, you really want to be out and then the gate opens and everything is different, traffic, buildings, family and this is really hard to cope with…”1 Prisoners who return to the society have many things to take care of upon release. These include housing, employment and re-establishing contact with family members, if any. The situation is worse for women prisoners, juveniles and prisoners who have mental or physical problems. In addition, stigma and sometimes guilt, associated with the imprisonment and crime can lead to feelings of shame, embarrassment and depression. Women often face gender specific challenges such as vulnerability to sexual abuse. Due to these issues, women prisoners may feel daunted by the idea of release. Studies show that most women feel lost and disoriented in the first few weeks or months after their release and experience basic life situations often as unmanageable challenges. Some women, especially those who serve long sentences, experience various symptoms related to depression, insomnia, strong desire to return to the daily routine of the prison and may also have developed mistrust towards others and especially towards state institutions2various social, political and cultural issues affect the adjustment of women after release or discharge from prison. Criminal recidivism, mental condition of women, the attitude of the family members and her social circle has significant bearing on her capacity to reintegrate into society upon release. For instance, the family members may feel apprehensive after release especially if the woman has been imprisoned 1

Ibid Melissa Lackner, “Prisoner reentry and reintegration”, School of Law and Justice, Edith Cowan University, 2012 2

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for a violent crime, alcoholism, substance abuse, or crime against any member of the family. The attitude and feelings of friends and family can undergo substantial change with time and the child, even young, may have become used to living arrangements in absence of the mother. On the other side even society is not ready to accept the prisoners upon release. The prison environment itself is not conducive to rehabilitation or preparation for reintegration on release, as the isolation and disempowerment during a prison sentence can worsen one’s sense of lack of control. Studies have shown that provision of some form of support is therefore, crucial to the successful transition from prison back into the community and a return to independent living.3. In this background this paper is an effort to understand problems and issues related to the reintegration of women prisoners. I understand that any analysis of the social issues faced by women prisoners would be incomplete without taking into consideration the point of view of the members of society and the manner in which they treat ex-prisoners. Therefore, a research is conducted and perception of both men and women from rural and urban areas of Rajasthan about their attitude towards ex-prisoner is collected. Conceptual Plan and Objectives To probe the problem and the in-depth analysis of the situation the basic objectives are,   

To identify the key factors –subjective, social, institutional to understand the nature of problem faced by women in social reintegration upon their release. To study the consequences of imprisonment on the imamates and their relationship with the family and society. To contribute in the formulation and development of the policies directed at reintegration of women prisoners.

Hypothesis: Propositions Needs to be analyzed 

Women prisoners face problems in social acceptance and adjustments upon release.



Gender, education and society type have a significant influence upon the perception of community members in the context of social reintegration of women prisoners.



Present measures and programmes for the social integration of women ex-prisoners are not gender specific and inadequate.



Imprisonment excludes women who were socially excluded prior to their imprisonment and excludes already-excluded women still further; therefore there is a need to develop an alternative programme.

Life after Prison-Results of the Community Statistics The Research: An equal number of men and women (both educated and uneducated) were surveyed from rural and urban backgrounds. 100 men and 100 women were surveyed as a part of this study as given hereunder. Of the men, 50 belonged to the urban households and 25 of them were educated. 50 men were from the rural community and similarly only 25 of them were educated. Detailed questioners including the various questions to probe their perceptions about the prisoners’ reintegration into society were designed. This questioner also included the open responses. 3

Agniezka Martynowicz, Martin Quigley, “It’s like stepping on a landmine…Reintegration of Prisoners in Ireland”, Report by the Irish Penal Reform Trust, May, 2010

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The results of the survey are as follows: Table 1.1 Ex-prisoners and Life Chances –Is Guilt Free Life Possible? MALE RESPONDENTS Rural

Ex-prisoners and Life Chances –Is Guilt Free Life Possible? FEMALE RESPONDENTS Urban Total Rural Urban

Educated Uneducated Total Educated Uneducated Total Yes (%) No (%) N/A (%) TOTAL

13.00 52.00 12.00 48.00 0.00 0.00 25.00

10.00 40.00 15.00 60.00 0.00 0.00 25.00

23.00 46.00 27.00 54.00 0.00 0.00 50.00

20.00 80.00 5.00 20.00 0.00 0.00 25.00

10.00 40.00 15.00 60.00 0.00 0.00 25.00

Educated Uneducated Total

30.00 53.00 Yes 60.00 53.00 (%) 20.00 47.00 No 40.00 47.00 (%) 0.00 0.00 N/A 0.00 0.00 (%) 50.00 100.00 TOTAL

10.00 40.00 15.00 60.00 0.00 0.00 25.00

8.00 32.00 13.00 52.00 4.00 16.00 25.00

18.00 36.00 28.00 56.00 4.00 8.00 50.00

Total

Educated Uneducated Total 19.00 76.00 6.00 24.00 0.00 0.00 25.00

15.00 60.00 10.00 40.00 0.00 0.00 25.00

34.00 68.00 16.00 32.00 0.00 0.00 50.00

52.00 52.00 44.00 44.00 4.00 4.00 100.00

Incarceration serves a social purpose and when the authorities impose a sentence on someone found guilty of a crime, they take into account the type of crime and how serious it is, the law and sentencing guidelines, whether the offender admits their guilt, the offender's criminal history, the offender's personal and financial circumstances. In most cases, the punishment awarded corresponds to the nature of the crime and the specific facts and circumstances of the case. But here most important issue arise is that what are the life chances available to the ex prisoners and whether the guilt free life possible for them? As evident,52 % of male had selected the option ‘Yes’ out of which 46% are rural and 53% are urban. 57.45% of rural male are disagreed that prisoners can live a guilt free life. Whereas 42.55% of urban gave same answer.20 educated urban men stated that a prisoner has right to lead a guilt free life while only 10 uneducated urban respondents agreed to the same.13 rural educated and10 uneducated rural male agreed to same. Similarly 52% of female population had answered ‘Yes’ and 44% had answer ‘No’ and 4 % had not answered. 63.64 % of rural women including both educated and uneducated had given negative response. In comparison only 36.36% urban female gave negative response. 19 educated urban women and 15 uneducated urban women agreed that prisoner has right to lead a guilt free life.10 educated and 8 uneducated rural women agreed for same. Therefore, both social background (Rural or Urban) and education have an influence on the answer of respondents. Whereas difference between positive and negative answer in context of Gender are very minor. Table 1.2 Criminal Offence and Prisoner’s Trustworthiness Criminal offence and prisoner’s trustworthiness MALE RESPONDENTS Rural Urban Educated Uneducated Total Educated Uneducated Yes 15.00 20.00 35.00 5.00 15.00 (%) 60.00 80.00 70.00 20.00 60.00 No 8.00 5.00 13.00 18.00 10.00 (%) 32.00 20.00 26.00 72.00 40.00 N/A 2.00 0.00 2.00 2.00 0.00 (%) 8.00 0.00 4.00 8.00 0.00 TOTAL 25.00 25.00 50.00 25.00 25.00

Total Total 20.00 55.00 Yes 40.00 55.00 (%) 28.00 41.00 No 56.00 41.00 (%) 2.00 4.00 N/A 4.00 4.00 (%) 50.00 100.00 TOTAL

Educated 11.00 44.00 14.00 56.00 0.00 0.00 25.00

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FEMALE RESPONDENTS Rural Urban Uneducated Total Educated Uneducated 20.00 31.00 10.00 19.00 80.00 62.00 40.00 76.00 5.00 19.00 15.00 6.00 20.00 38.00 60.00 24.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 25.00 50.00 25.00 25.00

Total Total 29.00 60.00 58.00 60.00 21.00 40.00 42.00 40.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 50.00 100.00

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It is important to note that the trustworthiness and dependability would depend on the crime committed, the cultural and social perception and the manner in which the offender conducts himself upon release. Many habitual offenders do not feel guilt of their crime. Also, the members of the society may not be able to trust offenders who have committed heinous crimes. 55% (55/100) of male population has selected the answer ‘Yes’ and 41% (41/100) as ‘No’ whereas 4%(4/100) had not answered the question. Out of 50 rural male 70% (35/50)gave the answer Yes ,26%(13/50) No and 4% (2/50) had not responded.63% of rural male and 36.36 % of Urban male answer positively in compassion of 19.51 % of rural male and 68.29% of urban male who selected No as an option. As 60% (15/25) educated rural men and 80%(20/25) uneducated rural men agreed that the prisoner’s criminal offence affects his credibility. Only 20%(5/25) educated urban men but 60%(15/25) uneducated urban men agreed to the same. 60% of female population has selected the answer ‘Yes’ and 40 % of them had answered negatively. Out of which 40%(10/25) educated urban women and 76%(19/25) uneducated urban women stated that that the prisoner’s criminal offence affects his credibility. 44%(11/25) educated rural women and 80%(20/25) uneducated rural women agreed to the same. As evident from the responses that both education and social background do influenced their answers. In case of rural male both educated and uneducated had majorly selected that criminal offence do affect the trustworthiness of person. But in case of urban educated only 5 male accepted same in comparison of 15 uneducated, so education influenced the responses in urban setting but not in the rural areas. Similarly uneducated women of both urban and rural background have answered negatively. Table 1.3 Contact with an Ex-Prisoner and Social Status Contact with an ex-prisoner and social status

Yes (%) No (%) N/A (%) TOTAL

Educated 10.00 40.00 10.00 40.00 5.00 20.00 25.00

MALE RESPONDENTS Rural Urban Uneducated Total Educated Uneducated 15.00 25.00 20.00 15.00 60.00 50.00 80.00 60.00 9.00 19.00 5.00 10.00 36.00 38.00 20.00 40.00 1.00 6.00 0.00 0.00 4.00 12.00 0.00 0.00 25.00 50.00 25.00 25.00

Total Total 35.00 70.00 15.00 30.00 0.00 0.00 50.00

60.00 Yes 60.00 (%) 34.00 No 34.00 (%) 6.00 N/A 6.00 (%) 100.00 TOTAL

FEMALE RESPONDENTS Rural Urban Educated Uneducated Total Educated Uneducated 9.00 17.00 26.00 18.00 20.00 36.00 68.00 52.00 72.00 80.00 16.00 8.00 24.00 6.00 5.00 64.00 32.00 48.00 24.00 20.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 1.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 4.00 0.00 25.00 25.00 50.00 25.00 25.00

Total Total 38.00 76.00 11.00 22.00 1.00 2.00 50.00

64.00 64.00 35.00 35.00 1.00 1.00 100.00

The Indian society is closely knit society and the prevalence of joint families and close ties in small villages has an impact on whether an individual would want to maintain contact with an ex-prisoner. This would also depend on the personal situation of the individual, geographical factors and the technological facilities available. Total percent of male population who said Yes to the question was 60% and 34% had answered negatively and 6% had not answered. It means that majority of male respondent believe that contact with ex-prisoners do affect their social status. Out of these responses 41% are rural and 58% are urban males. The % of uneducated in both the categories is higher. Of the 50 rural men, 40%(10/25) educated and 60%(15/25) uneducated men agreed that contact with an ex-prisoner would affect their social status and standing in an adverse manner while

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only 60%(15/25) educated urban men and 80%(20/25) uneducated urban men agreed to the same. As far as women were concerned 64% had excepted that contact and social status are correlated and have a negative effect on the life of common man in comparison to 35% of female who had answered negatively .In both rural and urban category percentage of uneducated women is higher who are saying ‘Yes’ to the question Of the rural female respondents, 36%(9/25) educated and 78%(17/25) uneducated rural women stated that contact with an ex-prisoner would affect their social status and standing in an adverse manner while 72%(18/25) educated urban women and 80%(20/25) uneducated urban women agreed to the same. Therefore it may be concluded that educational background does affect the answers of respondent but gender difference has less impact on the answer of respondents. Table 1.4 Ex-prisoner and Housing Problem (Renting a House) Ex-prisoner and Housing Problem (Renting a House) MALE RESPONDENTS

Yes (%) No (%) N/A (%) TOTAL

Educated 17.00 68.00 8.00 32.00 0.00 0.00 25.00

Rural Uneducated 8.00 32.00 17.00 68.00 0.00 0.00 25.00

Total Educated 25.00 19.00 50.00 76.00 25.00 6.00 50.00 24.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 50.00 25.00

Urban Uneducated 15.00 60.00 10.00 40.00 0.00 0.00 25.00

FEMALE RESPONDENTS Total Total 34.00 68.00 16.00 32.00 0.00 0.00 50.00

59.00 59.00 41.00 41.00 0.00 0.00 100.00

Yes (%) No (%) N/A (%) TOTAL

Educated 17.00 68.00 6.00 24.00 2.00 8.00 25.00

Rural Uneducated 5.00 20.00 20.00 80.00 0.00 0.00 25.00

Total Educated 22.00 19.00 44.00 76.00 26.00 6.00 52.00 24.00 2.00 0.00 4.00 0.00 50.00 25.00

Urban Uneducated 7.00 28.00 18.00 72.00 0.00 0.00 25.00

Total Total 26.00 52.00 24.00 48.00 0.00 0.00 50.00

48.00 48.00 50.00 50.00 2.00 2.00 100.00

Housing is necessary for physical and mental wellbeing and in order to lead a fulfilled economic and social life. Studies have shown that as far as prisoners are concerned, availability of affordable housing is closely linked to the success or failure of post-prison adjustment. It is rightly said “Housing is the linchpin that holds the reintegration process together”4. However, as finding proper housing is dependent on financial well being, prisoners who do not have a family to return to or any savings find it extremely challenging to find housing. Even if the prisoner has financial means to afford the same, the stigma associated with imprisonment and the fear of recidivism can be major impediments due to unwillingness of people to let out houses to ex-prisoners. As discussed, above, the nature of crime committed, the nature of imprisonment (undertrial or subsequent to conviction) and the influence of one’s family and friends are important factors. The presence of fear and apprehension in case of habitual offenders or criminals who have been sentenced for heinous crimes is a valid concern and therefore, many respondents stated that they would be unwilling to allow an ex-prisoner (especially an ex-convict) to rent their apartment. Out of the 59% of male population who selected yes as an option 34 % are urban and 25% are rural male.68%(17/25) educated rural and 32%(8/25) uneducated rural men stated that they would not have any problems in renting their apartment to ex-prisoners or exconvicts. The number was higher in case of urban men and 76%(19/25) educated while 60%(15/25) uneducated men agreed to the same. It implies that urban culture do influence the 4

Kamala Malik-Kane, Christy A Visher, “Health and Prisoner Reentry How Physical, Mental and Substance Abuse Conditions Shape the Process of Reintegration”, The Urban Institute, February 2008

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mind set of respondents and even uneducated urban population is willing to give their apartment on rent to prisoners. But in case of rural population both education and culture is influencing the choice selection. Of the 48% of the female who selected answer Yes . Only 68%(17/25) educated women and 20%(5 /25)uneducated women stated that they wouldn’t mind allowing an exprisoner to rent their apartment; while 76%(19/25) educated and only 28%(7/25)uneducated women from urban areas agreed to the same. It implies that in case of female population both education and cultural background influence their choices. Because in both he category of rural and urban percentage of un educated female saying no is higher. Table 1.5 Neighborhood and Ex-prisoner(s) Neighborhood and ex-prisoner(s) MALE RESPONDENTS

Yes (%) No (%) N/A (%) TOTAL

Rural Educated Uneducated 22.00 20.00 88.00 80.00 3.00 5.00 12.00 20.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 25.00 25.00

Total Educated 42.00 21.00 84.00 84.00 8.00 4.00 16.00 16.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 50.00 25.00

Urban Uneducated 15.00 60.00 10.00 40.00 0.00 0.00 25.00

FEMALE RESPONDENTS Total

Total 36.00 72.00 14.00 28.00 0.00 0.00 50.00

Rural Educated Uneducated 78.00 Yes 18.00 18.00 78.00 (%) 72.00 72.00 22.00 No 7.00 6.00 22.00 (%) 28.00 24.00 0.00 N/A 0.00 1.00 0.00 (%) 0.00 4.00 100.00 TOTAL 25.00 25.00

Total Educated 36.00 20.00 72.00 80.00 13.00 5.00 26.00 20.00 1.00 0.00 2.00 0.00 50.00 25.00

Urban Uneducated 14.00 56.00 11.00 44.00 0.00 0.00 25.00

Total Total 34.00 68.00 16.00 32.00 0.00 0.00 50.00

70.00 70.00 29.00 29.00 1.00 1.00 100.00

The concerns mentioned in the previous question apply. Furthermore, it is seen that areas inhabited by ex-prisoners or sex workers are generally not preferred by families who can afford housing in better areas. Therefore, such areas get labeled as unsafe places to live and people choose not to reside in such areas unless they have few or no other viable options. In both the categories of male and female majority of respondent agree that nebiorhhood of ex-prisoners affect their life negatively and they are not willing to be a neighbor of ex-prisoner. 88%(22/25) educated rural men and 80%(20/25) uneducated ones stated that they would be willing to live in a neighborhood inhabited by ex-prisoner(s) while only 84%(21/25) educated urban men and 60%(15/25) uneducated urban men agreed to the same. Majority of women i.e. 72%(18/25) each out of educated and uneducated rural women surveyed said that they won’t mind living in a neighborhood inhabited by ex-prisoner(s). The number was comparable at 80%(20) for educated urban women but lesser for urban uneducated women as only 56%(14) of them that they would not have any issues living in a neighbourhood inhabited by ex-prisoner(s).

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Table 1.6 Granting Employment to an Ex-Prisoner?

Stable employment plays a vital role in successful reintegration of prisoners as it provides them not only with the necessary income to support themselves, but also a sense of purpose, discipline and identity. Research has indicated that having a legitimate job reduces the chances of re-offending following release, especially among those with higher wages and higher quality jobs5. However, as explained above, finding employment, let alone stable employment can be a challenge for an ex-prisoner. In addition to lack of necessary skills, education, work-experience; the social stigma associated with imprisonment makes it very difficult for ex-prisoners to find jobs.Research suggests that even among those ex-prisoners who are able to secure post-release employment, these are often second-rate and low-wage jobs that provide little inspiration and can even diminish self-esteem and motivation to change or sustain change. Research has shown that several women experienced genderspecific vulnerability: some of them employed as housekeeper or domestic aid were sexually harassed while other women ex-prisoners were approached with offers for prostitution and surrogate motherhood6. As far as employment was concerned, 73% of male respondent selected Yes as an option and out of which 52& are from urban background. As the education as variable concerned the number of educated male in both the category is higher than the number of uneducated who are willing to give employment to ex-prisoners. 72%(18/25) educated and 68%(17/25) uneducated rural men agreed to grant employment to an ex-prisoner; and out of the urban men, 80%(20/25) educated and 72%(18/25) uneducated urban men agreed to the same. The number and % of female population in both the rural and urban category as well as in educated and uneducated is almost same in context of their selection of answer choices.76%(19/25) educated and 72%(18/25) uneducated rural women agreed to grant employment to an ex-prisoner and 76%(19/25) educated urban women and 68%(17/25) uneducated ones agreed to the same

Ibid â&#x20AC;&#x153;Women Integration and Prison: An analysis of the processes of sociolabour integration of women prisoners in Europeâ&#x20AC;?, Final Report, European Commission, September 2005 6

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Table 1.6 Ex-prisoner and family acceptance Ex-prisoner in your family, and mental block? MALE RESPONDENTS

Yes (%) No (%) N/A (%) TOTAL

Educated 15.00 60.00 10.00 40.00 0.00 0.00 25.00

Rural Uneducated 14.00 56.00 11.00 44.00 0.00 0.00 25.00

Urban Total Educated Uneducated 29.00 18.00 17.00 58.00 72.00 68.00 21.00 7.00 8.00 42.00 28.00 32.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 50.00 25.00 25.00

FEMALE RESPONDENTS Total Total 35.00 70.00 15.00 30.00 0.00 0.00 50.00

64.00 64.00 36.00 36.00 0.00 0.00 100.00

Rural Educated Uneducated Yes 21.00 19.00 (%) 84.00 76.00 No 4.00 6.00 (%) 16.00 24.00 N/A 0.00 0.00 (%) 0.00 0.00 TOTAL 25.00 25.00

Total Educated 40.00 20.00 80.00 80.00 10.00 5.00 20.00 20.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 50.00 25.00

Urban Uneducated 21.00 84.00 4.00 16.00 0.00 0.00 25.00

Total Total 41.00 82.00 9.00 18.00 0.00 0.00 50.00

81.00 81.00 19.00 19.00 0.00 0.00 100.00

For women who end up living with their existing families, there can be issues of poverty, overcrowding and relationship issues. For instance, the womanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s husband may have remarried or started living with another partner, the children may have grown closer to other caregivers instead of the mother. This may happen if the woman is convicted of a long prison sentence with no parole. These events can be emotionally taxing and lead to depression and other psychological problems. In case of damaged family relationships, absence of a family or home to return to, abandonment by the family, the prisoner needs to start independent life immediately after release. The same goes for women who are married to abusive husbands or have a troubled relationship with their in-laws etc. as they may choose not to return to their home after imprisonment. 45% of rural male gave positive answer while 58.8 % of rural male select No as option. Of the rural men, 60%(15) educated and 56%(14) uneducated men agreed that exprisoner face problem sin family acceptance and a mental block would inevitably exist with such a family member. 72%(18) educated and 68%(17) uneducated urban men agreed to the same. In case of female percentage of response is almost equitable, Of the rural women, 84%(21) educated and 76%(19) uneducated women agreed for the same.A comparable number of 80%(20) educated and 84%(21) uneducated urban women agreed to the same. In case of both male and female responses social background have little influence on answers as we see very minor variations in the answers of both categories. But educational background has affected their answer. Table 1.7 Ex-prisoner and Mental Problems Ex-prisoner and mental problems

Educated Yes 18.00 (%) 72.00 No 7.00 (%) 28.00 N/A 0.00 (%) 0.00 TOTAL 25.00

MALE RESPONDENTS Rural Urban Uneducated Total Educated Uneducated 18.00 36.00 19.00 17.00 72.00 72.00 76.00 68.00 6.00 13.00 6.00 8.00 24.00 26.00 24.00 32.00 1.00 1.00 0.00 0.00 4.00 2.00 0.00 0.00 25.00 50.00 25.00 25.00

Total Total 36.00 72.00 72.00 72.00 14.00 27.00 28.00 27.00 0.00 1.00 0.00 1.00 50.00 100.00

FEMALE RESPONDENTS Rural Urban Educated Uneducated Total Educated Uneducated Yes 20.00 18.00 38.00 20.00 19.00 (%) 80.00 72.00 76.00 80.00 76.00 No 5.00 7.00 12.00 5.00 6.00 (%) 20.00 28.00 24.00 20.00 24.00 N/A 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 (%) 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 TOTAL 25.00 25.00 50.00 25.00 25.00

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Total Total 39.00 77.00 78.00 77.00 11.00 23.00 22.00 23.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 50.00 100.00

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This depends squarely on the nature of crime, the condition of the prisoner and the impact of imprisonment on the prisoner. It is important to note that mental problems in this question do not encompass only severe mental issues such as schizophrenia but also issues such as ADHD, mood swings and bipolar disorder etc. Most respondents believed that incarceration would have had mental impact on the prisoner and affect his emotional and social skills. This could be more pronounced in case of women prisoners due to the abuse suffered in prison, if any and the guilt associated with not being able to serve their families or children and the social stigma. Therefore, 72% (18) educated and uneducated rural men agreed that an ex-prisoner has mental issues and mental problems while 76%(19) educated urban men and 68%(17) uneducated urban men agreed to the same. Of the rural female respondents, 80%(20) educated and 17 uneducated women said that an ex-prisoner has mental issues and mental problems; a comparable number of 80%(20) educated urban women and 76%(19) uneducated urban women agreed to the same. Social reintegration in India: Steps taken by the governments and the prison authorities in India Employment and Education: The study of the problems faced by the prisoners after release and the reasons for committing crime has guided prison authorities in India to initiate steps, which can go a long way in rehabilitating the prisoners after their release. For instance, in Tihar Jail (the largest prison complex in south Asia that houses around 12000 prisoners) and many other jails, various trades are taught to convicts in the jail factory itself to enable them to secure employment after release. These include pen manufacturing, book binding, manure making, screen printing, envelope making, tailoring and cutting, shoe-making etc. which has not only resulted in learning of the trade but also provides monetary gains to the prisoners. For the post-release rehabilitation of the prisoners, the Social Welfare Department of Delhi Govt. provides loans for setting up self-employed units7. It also has a bakery, where prisoners make bread, biscuits and muffins. According to some sources, Tihar Jail alone generated $3 million in revenue in 2011 alone from the goods produced by the inmates8. The authorities also try to teach them skills that help them find jobs after they're released. Initiatives encouraging social participation and re-integration of prisoners: As a part of community participation in the reformation and social integration of prisoners after release, a large number of respectable members of non-governmental organizations conduct various activities in the prisons. According to the official website of the Tihar Jail, such individuals include, retired army personnels such as major generals, professors of I.I.T Delhi, eminent psychiatrists and psychologists, teachers of various educational institutions. â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;These NGOs have had very sobering and positive impact on the psyche of the prisoners, who have been shown the positive and constructive approach to life after interaction with them. NGOs participation is mainly concentrated in the field of education, vocation and counseling. Apart from the formal education with the NGO support, the classes in various languages like Urdu, Punjabi, German, French etc. are also held. Some of the NGOs have trained selected prisoners on various trades and have been bringing job for them against payment of remuneration. These prisoners are also rehabilitated by them after their release. In Rajasthan, the Rajasthan Prison Department provides services and programs to address prisoner needs, 7

http://tiharprisons.nic.in/html/reform.htm, visited on January 4, 2014 http://ca.news.yahoo.com/blogs/dailybrew/india-prison-programs-keep-inmates-busy-while-helping185225535.html, visited on January 4, 2014 8

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structured use of leisure, and facilitate the successful reintegration of prisoners into society9. The Department has also taken steps to release prisoners before completion of their sentences to provide them the opportunity of rehabilitation in the society. It is given to the prisoners those who have behaved exceedingly well during the period of sentence and have served sufficient deterrent period of their sentence. For this purpose, advisory Boards have been constituted under Rajasthan Prisoners (Shortening of Sentences) Rules, 2006 to make recommendation to the state government for premature release of eligible prisoners. After considering the recommendations of Advisory Boards, the State Government decides to release or not to release the prisoners prematurely. In addition, organizations such as ‘India Partners’ provide rehabilitation for exprisoners through a hostel called, Mukti Niwas or Place of Freedom. The hostel offers a caring living environment, wholesome nutrition and quality accommodation for mentoring and reintegrating ex-prisoners as positive contributors to society. Beneficiaries stay at Mukti Niwas for an average period of three to six months and receive initial support and training in life skills10. Rehabilitation Programme and Employment opportunity-Post Release Rehabilitation, along with punishment and deterrence, is held to be one of the key aims of imprisonment as per the prison rules and the Supreme Court guidelines and other applicable laws. Release preparation must begin much before the date of release and transitional services need to be provided to enable their successful reintegration into the society. This preparation must be individual specific i.e. it should take into account the personality of the woman concerned, her socio-economic and educational background, family etc. The rehabitalation and aftercare programme should take into consideration the following:  Working with women during incarceration to develop an individualized post-release plan linking the prisoner to appropriate services, including accommodation, family relationship.  Linking with families, communities to which women prisoners will be returning and working with other relevant organizations to develop suitable housing options for women prisoners post release.  it is essential that social and public housing authorities and other providers work effectively together with criminal justice agencies to support returning prisoners in a continuum from dependant, institutional care, through emergency and transitional accommodation, to self-sustained housing and independent living  There is a need to make certain policy so that the women offender gets more employment opportunity after the release. So if possible a system may be develop of taking ‘undertaking’ by the staff members since they know them (prisoners) very well. This is required to facilitate them for the better employment opportunity after release. Employer can also seek help of jail administration to reintegrate these prisoners into mainstream society.  Need to develop a system where prisoners with the good records should be given the employment opportunity within the prison premises. The criteria of ‘good’ may be decided by jail authorities. Depending on the skill the person can be employed for different task.eg- education tutor, vocational training –demonstrator. 9

http://rajprisons.nic.in/reformation.htm, visited on January 4, 2014 http://www.indiapartners.org/press-center/press-archive/item/nonprofit-helps-prisoners-reintegrate-intoindian-society.html, visited on January 4, 2014 10

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ď&#x192;&#x2DC; For most women offenders, community sanctions and non-custodial sentences are a far more appropriate response than incarceration, and some countries are identifying alternative schemes. There is a need to develop the alternative programmes i.e. open prison system.11 Conclusion: The responses to the survey throw light on the attitude of the society towards exprisoners. For instance, most respondents agreed that a prisoner has a right to lead guilt free life and the fact of imprisonment does not affect trustworthiness of the ex-prisoner to a large extent. However, the responses to questions pertaining to extending direct help such as granting employment or allowing an ex-prisoner to rent their apartment were mixed. It is important to note that there has been an increase in crime in India. Therefore, the apprehensions of the members of the society regarding trusting an ex-prisoner are not entirely baseless. For instance, even if a rapist has served his entire sentence and maintains that he is innocent, it would be difficult for a family to allow him to rent their apartment. State sponsored community rehabilitation programmes would go a long way in helping the prisoners. For instance, prisoners must be compulsorily required to enroll in programmes and therapy upon release and awarded a certificate of completion. This would not only help the ex-prisoner but also ensure that the members of the society do not feel very apprehensive in trusting him upon release. Such programmes would also help the prisoner in gaining employment and therefore, reduce the social stigma over time. It is imperative that emotional, mental and financial support is provided to ex-prisoners and there is dire need for state-sponsored programs and community participation both to ensure that prisoners lead a normal life upon release. The issue of rehabilitation and reintegration of women prisoners is of vital importance and must form a part of prison reforms in the country as various aspects of reintegration are not covered under any legislation. Also, although the steps taken by the Central and the state governments are laudable, there is need of gender specific laws addressing reintegration of women prisoners.

For example, New York City, has created an important alternatives to incarceration (ATI) program for its prison system wherein the judges have the option of sending those with misdemeanors or felonies to this program instead of giving them a prison sentence. The program has four categories: general population, substance abusers, women, and youth. The program has a 60% success rate, which is relatively high. Offenders who fail the program receive a mandatory prison sentence, which gives them good incentive to succeed. Those who donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t succeed tend to have a past with incarceration. As the biggest city in the United States, New York City is often a trendsetter for other cities. This program could be the first of many in the United States, which could help lower incarceration rates

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CAPACITY BUILDING OF ELECTED WOMEN REPRESENTATIVES IN PANCHYATI RAJ INSTITUTIONS IN KANGRA DISTRICT Dr Ritu Bakshi Assistant Professor, Department of Educational Studies Central University of Jammu, District - Samba, (J&K State, India), E-mail: ritu_raj1995@yahoo.com ABSTRACT Gender Equality and empowerment of women is recognized globally as a key element to achieve progress in all areas. In order to promote development of women the UN adopted ³Convention on the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women´ on 18th December 1979, which came into force on 3rd September 1981. This study seeks to explore the issues, challenges and impact of participation in Panchyati Raj Institutions at Gram Panchayat level on the empowerment of women in the context of the reservation in PRI for women and their empowerment through this opportunity platform and exposure at multiple levels. The study area is situated in District Kangra in the Northern State of Himachal Pradesh, a state which is emerged as model socioeconomic and carbon neutral State with its aggressive and progressive socioeconomic indicator in the country. State government is one of the few States in the Country where 50% reservation is for the women in Local Self Governance is in practice in Panchyati Raj Institutions which reflects State government’s commitment and efforts towards empowering women through multi-dimensional platforms and opportunities in its programmes, systems, processes and policies. 10 case studies of selected Elected Women Representative (EWRs) give a voice to women’s perspective in local self governance and help us to understand empowerment dimensions in multiple depths. The study looks at various dimensions of empowerment – material, cognitive, perceptual and relational. Access to credit/finance to EWRs at their personal level through Self Help Groups/banks and Panchayat level through various programme being implemented including MGNREGA can help in expansion of material base of women by enabling them to start and expand small businesses as well as opportunity to create resource base for sustainable livelihood locally for villagers, often accompanied by expansion of their network; the women also experienced ‘Power within’: feelings of freedom, strength, self identity and increases in levels of confidence and self-esteem. However, gender discrimination is most deeply entrenched in the family, evident in attitudes towards daughters in law, daughters, the gender based division of work, roles and responsibilities as well as the mind-set towards domestic violence and issues of ownership and inheritance of land. At the social level, an encouraging trend is that women have been able to challenge the norm of purdah in front of their elders and senior villagers especially male. Besides, involvement in SHGs/Mahila Mandal and Panchyati Raj has enabled women to have a voice in the community affairs and they have been able to tackle problems such as a lack of drinking water and electricity, access to health services and children’s education. Women emergence as leader in the local Community Based Organisations (CBOs) i.e. SHGs and Mahila Mandals has helped tremendously to their involvement in politics beginning with local self governance platform, and these women are emerging as prospective leaders in the local political field. Nonetheless various constraints like discriminatory practices in labour, a low level of education, Pati-Pradhan, lack of skills etc. operate to contract a woman’s potential for empowerment. It may be comparatively easier to ensure material change than to cause a change in power structures and the ideologies and attitudes which accompany them. However, no milieu is static, and some of the recommendations for a way forward include providing a convergence of inputs, ensuring a proactive involvement of women in the program, changing social norms and perceptions and anchoring with wider movements of social and political change beginning from the local level at the Gram Panchayat level to multiple levels.

Introduction As the nation debated the women’s reservation bill in the Parliament this year, the revolution heralding women’s participation in rural local self governance sparked off by the 73rd constitutional Amendment gained further strength. The move by the centre to increase EDULIGHT-Multi-disciplinary, Peer-Reviewed Journal

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reservation for women in Panchayats from 33.3% to 50% is yet another pointer to the change being brought about by elected women representatives in Panchayats to their villages. Across states, and regions what is emerging is that women, as elected leaders are fast changing the face of development by addressing issues of health, water, sanitation, education, gender justice and social equity, and by doing so, brining about development in the real sense. Much of our country’s governance has been left in the hands of the elected representatives and the official machinery. It has been increasingly recognized that such centralized approach has not produced desired results, especially in terms of inclusion of marginalized sectors within governance processes. Notable Constitutional, legislative and policy reforms within the last decade, including the 73rd and 74th amendments and the continued administrative decentralization through the programme like NRHM, have demonstrated the government of India’s commitment to increasing the political participation of marginalized groups, especially poor women. The Union Cabinet on August 27, 2009 approved amendment of Article 243 (d) of the Constitution to reserve 50 per cent of the total number of seats in Panchayats filled by direct election for women 50% reservation for women in Panchayats all across the country. The states which have already implemented 50 per cent reservation for women in panchayati raj institutions are Bihar, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. The 33% reservation for women in panchayats was achieved through the 73rd Constitutional Amendment during the regime of Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao, though it was Rajiv Gandhi who first mooted the idea of empowering women at the grassroots. Women’s increased political participation has yielded positive results. First, issues central the development, including heath, nutrition, family income and education take central stage as women participate in the PRI, village development boards and other governance structures. Secondly, women have shown that they have critical information about community resources, are adept at managing funds, result in more inclusive governance and learn quickly about how to lead effective community- centered development. Despite such positive results, women remain largely excluded from the PRI and local governance structures. Proxy politics, power brokering and gender discrimination continue and many women sarpanches have had to face extreme violence for challenging existing societal power centres. In other cases, women are only within the PRI in name but in reality, it is male family member who hold the power. Rai (2000) according to his field notes in Merut distrct ‘Pradhanis in New Panchyats’ revealed that many of the Pradhanis were illiterate and only able to put their signature on official papers. Mohanty (2002) in her study of ‘Making the Gramsabha work’ noted the difference utilities in organising the Gramsabhas. Majority of women reported that they were not informed or invited to the meetings, while other were hesitant in participating in meetings in presence of large number of elder members. “Women ERs have special needs which have to do more with empowerment and capacity building. It’s a common experience that in the initial phases of reservation for women many women ERs work as proxy for their husbands or other male members of the family. They have very little experience of the outside world. While they should get the basic training together with men ERs, special orientation courses need to be arranged for women ERs only at various levels. This may be arranged at district, Block and cluster of villages levels. Women ERs need holistic development and their training should cover confidence building, communication skills, facing threat of violence and unintentional injuries, and working in men’s world. Moreover, when they are called for training, special arrangements will have to be made for children travelling with them. Motivation does not seem to be a

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problem for them, mobility is. Women may also be given more information on functioning of social institutions and factors affecting social change specially factors affecting relations of gender, kinship, caste and religion.” (A Baseline Study to Assess Training Needs of Elected Representatives of PRIs in Himachal Pradesh- PRI-Report 2010 -1 by GTZ) Reservation in PRI, I personally see as an opportunity for the poor, semi-illiterate, literate and rural women, in terms of increasing her sphere of interaction at various level outside her home, traditional, patriarchal and dominating. Reservation in PRI has provided rural women a prospect to unfold her latent potential and leadership which she can exhibit and express beyond herself to build a sensitive co-partner(s) at family and PRI level, team members, stakeholders, administration people, political elites and many more concerned on various issues directly affecting rural women and rural beneficiaries’ of multiple programes. Hence, this study was undertaken with the following objective to understand how women participation due to reservation specifically in PRI is changing the dynamic in local self governance and at multiple platform is leading to changes and empowerment in her different aspects of life including: -

increased self-confidence and self-initiative, decision making and empowerment at home, Leadership in PRI as team at Gram Panchyat level, reason for contesting elections freedom of speech and expression, meetings of Gramsabhas dealing with administration Cooperation with multiple stakeholders and beneficiaries including co-partners Factors motivating EWR to participate in Panchyat

Research questions The research questions formulated are given below: Research Q. 1: Does participation of women in PRI as EWR influenced her individual growth and development? Research Q.2: Does participation of women in PRI has increased her level of awareness and knowledge? Research Q.3: Does participation of women in PRI as EWR influenced her participation in economic decision making and her influence over the economic resources? Research Q.4: Has participation of women as EWR in PRI increased her mobility, network and sphere of interaction with her Panchyat members at different level, community and higher level? Research Q.5: Is there influence of women as EWR at household level? Research Q.6: Does participation of EWR in PRI increased her influence and participation in social, community and political activities? Research Q.7: Is there any change in the attitude of husband, community, male PRI members regarding women empowerment? Objectives of the study Hence, the Research extent participation of EWR Panchyat in district Kangra, elected women members in

Objective of this study is to determine whether and to what due to reservation in Panchyati Raj Institutions (PRI) at Gram Himachal Pradesh has an impact on the empowerment of the their different aspects and roles. Given the great importance

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being given to the reservation for women in PRI approach while conceptualizing and implementing any programme for the rural poor, especially women, this study becomes both essential and relevant. More specifically, in this work, I seek to explore if the reservation in PRI for women has been successful in the empowerment of rural women living in the highly patriarchal and traditional societies of the Northern Indian district Kangra in the State of Himachal Pradesh. The Kangra district is a very traditional and cultural area. In this district, the majority of women are economically dependent on their family and they are not in the decision making positions in their family. They are influenced by their male relatives. They are facing the problems of the apathetic and gender biased society. According to National Census, 2011, state shocking report is reflected of female feticide is revealing that there are 873 female per 1000 male in District Kangra (Area under study). In spite of getting 50% reservation in the Panchayat seats they are unable to prove themselves as a leader. Womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s decisions are dominated by their male relatives/partners/colleagues. Sample The sample size consisted of 10 EWRs (Presidents of 10 Gram Panchyats) from Panchayats and development blocks of the district as given below: Name of EWR

Age/Sex

Qualification and caste

Occupation

Category

Mean

Percentage

Govt.

13.72

1.60

68.63%

Private

15.12

2.138

75.62%

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t-value

Significance

-3.02

.01

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This table reveals that the students studying in the private school are more aware about moral science than the students studying in the Govt. schools as the calculated mean for private school students (15.12) is higher than their counterparts (13.72). From this result it is found that there is a difference between the awareness level among the students from private and government school towards moral science as the computed t-value (-3.02) is significant at .01 level of confidence. Hence the projected hypothesis is rejected. So it needs to take the situation seriously by the Government, Parents and the teachers. From this result it reveals that the implementation of moral values in private school is complimentary. 3.1

Summary:

The present study indicated location of residence (urban-rural), sex (male-female) and category of school (Govt.-Private) are the important factors that determine the awareness level towards Moral Science. On the basis of the results, it is understood that the rural, female and the students from private school were more aware about moral science. Therefore an appropriate care to be taken by the government, curriculum planner, teachers and parents to make the students from urban background, male and the government school morally strong by implementing moral science as a compulsory subject. 4.0

Findings of the Study: The study confirms that, 1. The students of secondary level of Lakhimpur district have high level of awareness towards Moral Science. 2. The study indicates that there is a difference between the awareness level of urban and rural students of secondary level towards Moral Science. 3. The study further reveals that there is a difference between the Male-Female respondents in their awareness level towards Moral Science. The result shows that female students are more aware than the Male in this regard. 4. It is also found that the students studying in the private school are more aware about moral science than the students studying in the Govt. school.

5.0

Suggestions and Recommendation:

On the basis of the findings of the study, the following suggestions are found out to make the students more aware about Moral Science: 1. This study has educative value and suggests to the teachers and the other members involving in teaching moral science or value education to try their best to implement it effectively. 2. As one of the key sources of knowledge, teachers should play an important role in imparting knowledge on different issues of moral values to the students. 3. Learner-centered approaches should be implemented to empower students and encourage their active participation, co-operative learning and a sense of solidarity, we-feeling, sharing and caring. 4. Teachers should be trained how to adapt moral or value education programme, using appropriate methodologies and teaching resources to their local and national environment or learner group. 5. To make moral science education successful, everybody should join their hands. The teacher should take active part in developing moral awareness among the children and every agency, Government, parents and concern citizen should come forward to do this. EDULIGHT-Multi-disciplinary, Peer-Reviewed Journal

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6. The Parents Teachers Association (PTA) in schools can be used as a forum for developing better awareness towards value of moral science among the public. 7. The schools should organize some programmes like debate, quiz, extempore speech etc. among the students in relation to morality or value education. 8. Value based education should be implemented for inculcation of human values to maintain the world peace. 9. Research in the area of should receive special attention. 10. ICT, i.e., print media, audio-visual media can play a vital role to aware about the importance of moral Science for a sound society. 6.0

Conclusion:

It is apparent that student’s psycho-social mental make up innate as well as acquire which he/she has developed through continuous interaction with his/her surrounding play an important role for the better awareness towards moral science and value education. The present study found that the awareness towards moral science education is affected by multitudes of psycho-social variables like sex, location of residence and category of schools. All these factors play a significant role in developing better awareness of this issue. A truly transformative moral science education must be begun when children are belonging to place themselves in their social contexts and encourage them to see themselves and others as subjects who are worthy of respect and dignity. References 1. Garrett, Henry E. (1981): Statistics in Psychology and Education, Vakils, Feffer and Simons Ltd. Bombay. 2. Greenwood, D. J. & Levin, M. (2007), Introduction to action research. Second addition, Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage Publications. 3. Khan, Awaishali (2012). Value of Moral science in School Syllabus. http://www. StudyMode.com/essays/Value-Of-Moral-Science-In-School-789731.html. 4. Molly65 (2011). Importance ExpertsColoumn.com

Moral

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VALUE EDUCATION AND ITS DEVELOPMENT THROUGH EDUCATION Dr. Kartar Singh Assistant Professor, IASE, Faculty of Education, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi, E-mail: kartar2030@yahoo.com ABSTRACT Irrespective of the cultural or social diversity of country, a common value system is one of the binding ingredients that give Indians a common identity. Traditionally, Indians have laid high stress on values like peaceful co-existence, spirituality, deference to elders, recourse to nature, artistic expression, seeking prosperity, strong family ties, respecting even the tools of your trade, joyousness and hospitality. The old have always been taken care of, at home, and it is generally the eldest who makes important decisions for the family, be it a financial matter or a relationship. Festivals and traditions have been an integral part of all our cultures and religions. Most celebrations and happy occasions are bright and colourful. Most Indians are very close to aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents; holidays are usually spent together and there is little formality in such relationships. Individualism is more of a western value. Indian society has always focused more on paying your debt to society and being responsible for one's family and rather than breaking away to pursue your own individual desires. It is widely accepted that values are the pillars of society. Values change to somehow as the process of development takes place in a desired manner in society. But, if these degrade sharply and create an adverse impact on society, then their development in students accepted widely through education system.

Key- Words: Education, Education System, Value, Value System Introduction In the last few years, there has been a tendency in the media, in the Government, and in society to give undue importance and much publicity to commercial successes, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), stock exchange, profit in the Information Technology (IT) sector, number of new billionaires, and such matters, like nowhere else in the world. Great recognition is given to salaries being offered to Indian Institute of Management and Indian Institute of Technology graduates. There are frequent competitions in the media to pick the most popular personality in the country or in any given city. The choices given are so skewed, that only sports personalities, cine stars, and business leaders hit the spotlight. Nowhere in the world do sportsmen earn as much as in India through sponsorship. The heroes of today therefore appear to be those who have made big money or have been successful in commercial ventures. One can easily think about and recognized that many of these changes occurred in our society as the consequences of Liberalization, Privatization and Globalization of our economy. Nobody can be jealous or critical of these things, but it is a matter of concern that repeated recognitions of this sort have affected our value system seriously and changed it into one that is mercenary and commercial. This situation does not augur well for the future of the country. With all the changes that we have had in the last few decades, India has continued to progress as one country, by and large because of our Indian-ness. Indian-ness involves aspects other than money and commercial successes. Furthermore, if we want India of the future to be a country that is advanced in all spheres, we have to take greater pride in intellectual and creative accomplishments. It is therefore, important that our leaders, politicians, intellectuals, teachers, and others should talk about these matters in public and highlight our innovations in science, arts and literature, theatre, and other aspects related to human creativity.

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One is not asking for monetary support here, but moral support, and a commitment of society to all spheres of creative activity so that a balanced future for the country is assured. As a country with great traditions as well as cultural and philosophical content, we cannot forget this aspect. When we see what has happened in the last few years to cities such as Bangalore, our worries become real. Bangalore is slowly losing its soul. We see large numbers of young people busily moving around, making money from Business Processing Offices, IT, and other service sectors, but there is hardly any concern about other matters. There is still a chance for us to develop a country of a different kind. It is not about degrading or undermining the importance of economic development and industrial growth, but if our primary concern is only FDI, commercial benefits, and the number of millionaires in the country, it will distort our development as a society and the values of young people. Young people should be encouraged to take up studies of their liking, get involved in creative endeavors in whatever sphere they like most, since we do need extraordinary people in all spheres, for a great India of the future. It is not enough if we routinely create professionals and managers. It would be good to see a great scientist talking in the Parliament once a year; a literary personality or a theatre personality should do the same. It would be nice to hear the Prime Minister and other important persons talking about our efforts and accomplishments in various creative directions and about the vision of a great India, in speeches on Independence Day and other occasions. It is not enough if we say that India will be an international centre for producing machines and materials or for a specific service sector. It is not enough if we take pride in the export of certain goods from India. In these days of economic boom, we should think equally about export of ideas and philosophical thoughts from India, if we have to be a major global player in a future knowledge-powered world. We should also not forget that the countries we admire most are not necessarily the economically prosperous ones, but those that made major contributions to our cultural heritage. Our aim should be to make India a country that is recognized throughout the world and throughout history as a country that has significantly advanced the progress of science, art, and literature. Our Government and planners should therefore come out with an enlightened policy that provides the environment necessary for scientific discoveries and creative successes. While government funds generally imply greater control and less freedom, we need to create a general atmosphere where there is the realization that good accounting, while necessary, does not lead to good science, art or poetry. Values are the mirror of the socio-economic status of the people of any country. A socially valued person makes the environment of society prosperous and progressive. Therefore, values should be preserved in persons. The present paper first discusses meaning of value education along with its objectives, and then highlights degradation of values in society and our educational system. Next, recognizing its need in society, it emphasizes on teaching strategies of value education which includes role of teachers and schools. In the last, it presents a brief conclusion. Value Education Value Education involves two terms that are value and education. Various definitions of value define it in terms of what a person wants, think towards others, expect from others, desires, needs, enjoys, etc. One can say that value refers to objects that human beings view as desirable and worthy of pursuit. These objects may be material or states of mind like happiness, peace, justice, etc. Values function as ideals or standards that direct human thoughts and actions. Education is essentially a value-laden process. Therefore, it is rightly said that one cannot have education that does not derive itself from or serve some values. In this way, value education refers that education which is based on values and geared to EDULIGHT-Multi-disciplinary, Peer-Reviewed Journal

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inculcation of values. Value education serves the objective of developing critical outlook and independent thinking in the student. It enables each one of us to analyze and reflect upon the problems in our social and political life and a course of action that strengths society in its endeavour to become better and ensures the welfare of humanity. Inculcation of desired attitudes, emotions and character in the students is also called value education. It includes all domains of knowledge; cognitive, affective and psychomotor. Mahatma Gandhi, Swami Vivekanand, Tagore, Sri Aurobindo and Radhakrishnan recognized the importance of character building and sought to discover the inner consistency of science and spiritualism through education. Swami Vivekanand (1893) states, “Education for values should be education for man making and character building”. Tagore (1931) rightly points out that, “The highest education is that which does not merely give us information but attunes our life in harmony with all existence”. Mahatma Gandhi (1937) says that, “Education alone is of value which draws out the faculties of a student so as to enable him or her to solve correctly the problems of life in every department”. These ideas of our great persons have been reflecting education as a character building in society which in itself involves many values. Peaceful life of people in society is one of the mottos of education. Degradation of Values in Society and Our Education System The erosion of the value system is for a big part due to the want of importance given in imparting it to the next generation. India has a very young population and it is growing at a very fast pace. If we don't put in enough effort, the coming generations would not have any clue about the legacy we have inherited; we will be failing to pass it on. Human beings enjoy the maximum freedom and power for governing their habitat and environment. This power sometimes enables them to misuse the resources. Materialism has led us to degradation in our moral values. India is the most ancient civilization. Vedas were written in India. Buddha got divine knowledge here. Vikramshila and Nalanda were great universities of India, where people from other countries used to come for getting quality education. We are proud of our rich cultural heritage but today we have forgotten those ideals, values and principles which were so dear to our ancestors. Take for example, the concept of joint family. Today, no young couple prefers a joint family. We do not want to be grateful to our parents. Rather, we want to disown them. The next most prominent degradation in our moral values reflects itself in the form of corruption. In India, corruption is prevalent at all the levels and the irony is that even if we accuse that they are guilty, they remain supreme. These developments are not good for the national economy and the moral conditioning of our younger generations. The free market economics has added fuel to the fire. When we find that most of people are corrupt, so, we should not waste more time in coming over this corrupt system through our educational efforts. There are so many problems in today’s society that have lost the boundaries that would have helped them in past times to determine between right and wrong. Children are now exposed to so much information which in many ways have molested them of their innocence, and have deprived them of a pure and healthy childhood. We come across such news as - An 11 year old child was gunned downed by his fellow student simply because he wouldn't give up his coat. These are a few of the teachings learned by this information generation. That material gain is more important than another human life. The degradation of moral standards starts not only from within the home, but in the Media and Educational system as well as Environmental structures play a significant role as well. To reach a generation that has been exposed to so much with so little maturity or understanding will not only be challenging for its teachers, but overwhelming for those that seek to control them.

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Another factor for the steep decline in moral values manifests itself in the form of our poor educational system and teaching methodologies. In fact, the poor educational system in all the parts of the nation has led to poor moral values in the society. Students do not respect their teachers. Copying during the examinations is a common practice. Best of the brains are drained to the West because the offers are tempting- and nobody misses the opportunity if offered once. Further, in Indian society, respect for elders is taking a backseat in the name of modernization. Our cultural values have taught us to respect our parents and help them during the times of their helplessness. However, the growth of nuclear families has led to complete ignorance of parents and elders. Followed by the United States and China, India's higher education system is the third largest in the world. We keep the honor of having the oldest known university in the world, which has been globally known for imparting quality education and preserving our cultural heritage as well. Despite this being true, India’s education system seems to be reflecting the symptoms of perversion of education standards. What looks extremely awkward and worsens the situation is that we’re not doing much thing about it but playing the paralyzed onlooker. Even though many educational reforms are introduced by the government to upgrade the level of higher education, nothing worthwhile has come out till date. Unlike how the traditional approach of the country always did it, we’re now following the mass production rule wherein 25% of our total population is still illiterate; only 15% reach high school, and just 7% graduate. The quality of education, whether at primary or higher education level, is significantly poor as compared to major developing nations. As show the statistics till 2008, total seats our Under Graduate level institutions had could accommodate about 7% of college-age population only. The worse, around 25% of teachers’ posts were vacant and 57% of college professors lacked either a master's or PhD degree. After this stage, however, we have registered slight improvement on that scenario. Most of our institutes, educational organizations remain short of faculty and facilities. They don’t normally meet the norms set by our regulatory authorities, which, obviously, affects the quality of education. Then education system in India is not fully based on merit. It relies more on reservation policy. 50% reservations are always there in our colleges and universities. Andhra Pradesh, with minimum 83.33% reservations as on 2012, is the biggest Indian state in terms of reservation quota. Let’s analyze how fair or unfair is what schools are doing today. Does the teaching technique we follow instill moral traits essential for elegant and happy living inside young minds? Or they just train us how to participate in unhealthy competition for power and money! Nothing would be as bad and unfortunate as all of us (young people, especially!) joining this blind race leading almost nowhere. One of the miscellaneous factors responsible for degradation of education standards in India is carelessness while appointing teachers and giving them the responsibility of teaching. This mainly is a problem with private institutes. Very often we see them hire freshly passed out teachers etc. to teach new batches. What logics after all we can put to justify such decisions and how. Though there is nothing bad in giving freshers a chance to launch them, still quality can’t be compromised. Qualification, experience and expertise actually matter for teachers. Why we need to emphasize the need of experienced teachers to upgrade education, higher education especially, is because it’s somewhere about generations to come. They’ll have to educate their successors and they would pass on to them, of course, what we give them now. Now it can be easily understood why it is utterly essential for them to keep in reserve the essence of higher education, that too qualitative, bequeathed to them by the right people, at the right time. It is money and power that decides happiness and success in life -

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this type of thinking can ruin the very essence of a pleasant life. We often see young people dropping higher education to earn and then lead ordinary life throughout life. Though it is money we take education, run and work for, still it is not the only motive. All such decisions we take are pure selfishness. A country can grow with the growth of education only and it is essential to maintain the level of higher education for this to happen. It is even more important to mention that our educational think-tank seems to be going completely illogical while promoting the need of more and more education centers, private or government. Opening too much colleges and schools won’t help in raising the standard of education, but we ought to first generate quality, reward creativity, and beget originality in thoughts to encourage innovation. Of late there have been headlines in newspapers about thefts, vandalisms, and violence. Is it that people have started noticing and reporting these incidences more recently or is it that there is an increase of such cases recently? India has had a reasonably tough past with instances of violence strewn throughout history. Quite a lot has been between kingdoms, territories, regions and were more of a military nature. Then there have been religious violence, a remnant of the religious strife cultivated in India by the erstwhile tormentors - the Late British Empire. History does not in itself justify the present. Though, the Growth rate of the Indian economy is good and steady over the years. Illiteracy alone does not result in degradation of value system. Illiteracy does not mean an inability to communicate - it only restricts the mediums of communications to personal and audio-visual. Illiteracy would mean an absence of formal education and thereby limit a person’s analytical skills due to the lack of a proper knowledge foundation on which to build their skills upon. Even if illiterate, a rational person should be able to think up and identify moral values and stick to them. India with its strong enriched backgrounds has had a good value system. So, historic factors do not give us a valid reason for the present trend. Formal education as is being imparted today, mostly, does not give proper importance to building the moral and ethical aspects of human personality. The major stress is to create job-worthy individuals. It is important to have job-worthy individuals but it is equally important to build strong value system in the individuals. Students who come out of the system are trained to work but are not trained to think. Most of the violent/criminal/antisocial incidents that have happened in our system could have been prevented if their perpetrators had a good value system; thinking mind and thought about their actions and their implications. Also most of the continuing social issues like poverty, hunger, unemployment can be tackled if more thinking individuals enter into the system to fight against these issues. Degradation simply means to lower ones standard of lifestyle, to make one a degenerate and to demoralize not only in standards, but in character as well. Today, in such a situation, we need to have and maintain an education system which is a perfect balance of knowledge, skills, ethics, values and even more importantly, common sense of living. A system which relies more on quality and proves to be capable of realizing the dream of culture-opulent education our ancestors saw years back. Present Need of Value Education National Policy on Education (1986) highlighted the need for value education in view of erosion of essential values in Indian society and increasing cynicism. It maintained that “In our culturally plural society, education should foster universal and eternal values, oriented towards the unity and integration of our people. Such value education should help eliminate obscurantism, religious fanaticism, violence, superstition and fatalism”. National Curriculum Framework (2005) states that, “We live in an age of unprecedented violence— local, national, regional and global. Education often plays a passive or even insidious role, allowing young minds to be indoctrinated into a culture of intolerance, which denies the fundamental importance of human sentiments and the noble truths discovered by different civilizations”. It EDULIGHT-Multi-disciplinary, Peer-Reviewed Journal

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further states that India is a multicultural society made up of numerous regional and local cultures. Peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s religious beliefs, ways of life and their understanding of social relationships are quite distinct from one another. All the groups have equal rights to co-exist and flourish, and the education system needs to respond to the cultural pluralism inherent in our society. To strengthen our cultural heritage and national identity, the curriculum should enable the younger generation to reinterpret and re-evaluate the past with reference to new priorities and emerging outlooks of a changing societal context. The guiding principles which are connecting knowledge to life outside the school, ensuring that learning is shifted away from rote methods, enriching the curriculum to provide for overall development of children rather than remain textbook centric, making examinations more flexible and integrated into classroom life and nurturing an over-riding identity informed by caring concerns within the democratic polity of the country. The study of documents reveals that values have been declining and also suggest about its inculcation in students for making society prosperous and finally a country. The Preamble of our Constitution provides the landscape of social values within which we locate our educational aims. The first is a commitment to democracy and the values of equality, justice, freedom, concern for othersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; well-being, secularism, respect for human dignity and rights. Education should aim to build a commitment to these values, which are based on reason and understanding. The curriculum, therefore, should provide adequate experience and space for dialogue and discourse in the school to build such a commitment in children. Teaching Values Values can be taught trough direct method and indirect method. Direct method refers teaching values in bookish way while indirect method focuses on creating a climate that supports value education, wherein students can experience values and imbibe them through a process that resemblance osmosis. Various studies conducted on new teaching methods for teaching values among students. Some of them are Seetharamu (1974) conducted study on Direct Moral Instruction, Singh and Singh (1986) conducted study on Value Clarification Strategies, Bhagia (1986) conducted study on Critical Inquiry Approach, Dhand (1993) conducted a study on Value Discussion Model, etc. mostly reveals the indirect method of teaching values. Value education is essentially a programme of planned interventions for inculcating a set of values that is congruent with the welfare of our society, the nation and the entire human family. Morality of education system in our societies states us the way of serving the human beings and ultimately having judgement between destruction and construction for the others. If health is gone, something is gone. But if character is gone, everything is gone. Teaching moral values is very necessary for the all-round development of a person. It includes discipline, manners and etiquette, behavior, control over oneself, politeness, strength, patriotism, love and care for each other. It also includes speaking truth, no stealing, becoming a good citizen. Moral values are also necessary for developing healthy and friendly relations with everyone. Loss of moral values is a direct loss of the country. A child must be given moral education at an early stage. He must be taught the importance of moral, ethical and family values. Family and society also play a significant role in inculcation of values. By Family Values, we mean to have good thoughts, good intentions and good deeds, to love and to care for those whom we are close to and are part of our groups or communities, like parents and other family members and friends too. They must learn to treat others with the same set of values with which they wish to be treated. Ethical values define a set of principles of right conduct. A child must learn moral values in school, many of the schools teach the students to develop their character through books, moral stories, essays, plays. EDULIGHT-Multi-disciplinary, Peer-Reviewed Journal

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The child must be taught so as they must be filled with moral virtues such as wisdom, courage, justice. These days, we see some students misbehaving with teachers, people go on strike burning buses, including in bad politics or doing other kinds of harms, thus deteriorating moral values. They are having just opposite qualities of these moral virtues such as they start believing in injustice, tyranny, or may be cowardice. A child gets to know and can easily decide what is right and what is wrong for him, learns to behave mannerly in a society, he understands his responsibilities through moral values. Moral principles held the world together. So, there is a need of set of moral principles and values to be imparted in the children to make them a better and a responsible citizen. Role of the School and Teachers in Generating Values The school climate, in order to support value education, must be permeated with value supporting and value nurturing attitudes, relationships, predictable rules and norms that inform life at school and provide support for behavior that is congruent with values. Secondary Education Commission (1952-53) recognized the importance of teacher and states that, “The most important factor in the contemplated educational reconstruction is the teacher- his personal qualities, his education qualification, his professional training and the place that he occupies in the school and as well as in the community”. Studies on Inculcation of Moral Values (Keam, 1984) and Implication of Moral Education (Sarangi, 1994) reveal that school environment influences on the development of moral values. Preamble to the Constitution of India presents the best points for choosing the content of value education. In its preamble the India is constituted into a Sovereign, Secular, Socialist Democratic Republic and to secure to all its citizen: Justice, Liberty, Equality and Fraternity. The modern curriculums have been integrating the issues of gender, marginalized sections of society, minority, etc. for living with harmony in society. Activities for Inculcating Values through Education Values can be inculcated through organization of activities. Some of them are (i) literary activities which include essay writing, slogan writing, making posters, etc. (ii) cultural activities which are stage performing activities like role play, simulation, etc. (iii) conflict activities which may be group discussion on conflict issues, etc. (iv) life- moral education related activities which may be organization of morning assembly, morals based on thought of the day, yoga, meditation etc. (v) value related activities which seeing films on great persons and (vi) community oriented activities which are organized to strengthen the school and community relationship and for enabling students with direct experience of community life. Conclusion Moral values are good and positive attributes and at Positive moral values are important because they allow you to have an overall feeling of peace and joy. Moral values can give meaning and purpose to your life. You are able to direct your behavior towards beneficial and fulfilling activities. When you live your life according to moral values that are based on honesty, compassion, courage, modesty, and forgiveness, then you can also form positive bonds with other people. The condition has become very worse in today’s life. There is no trust between individuals. Competition and selfishness has increased even between siblings, friends and relatives. There is no sharing of happiness and sorrows. People feel happy to know about others sufferings. All want to climb up the ladder pushing everyone down. Life was a lot better, people had good understanding when they had less money as in the olden days when other persons suffering was considered as your own suffering and people used to rejoice in others happiness. In the present world, it is exactly the opposite.

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Our education system should take up the responsibility of the task of inculcating moral values in the children and helping them take ethical and wise decisions. The role of teachers and their conduct, inside and outside the classroom is of extreme importance in this task. The teaching methodology and the classroom environment should also contribute to the development of social and personal ethical skills. In this way, we will be able to achieve what we want, that is a moral and ethical society. In these days, numerous seminars and conferences have been held on value education across the country. Value education has been included as an essential in most in in-service teacher education programmes. It is in teacher education institutions and through teacher educators and teachers that this challenging task has been inculcating in learners. To strengthen the programme of value education in schools, teacher education programmes, both pre-service and inservice, should apprise teachers about the challenging but satisfying tasks of value education and develop their competencies as well as commitment. Value education should be integrate with the education of different subjects. References 

Balakrishnan, V. (2013), Value Oriented Higher Education: Issue of Concern, Pages 1217 in University News, Vol. 51 No. 36 September 09-15, 2013, AIU, Delhi.

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National Curriculum Framework (2005), New Delhi, NCERT.

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National Policy on Education (1986). New Delhi, Department of Education, MHRD, Govt. of India.

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Report of the Education Commission (1964-66), Education and National Development. New Delhi, Ministry of Education, Govt. of India.

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Sabharwal, V. K. (2003), Value Education, Pages 33-49, in Professional Development of Secondary School Teachers (Edited by R.S. Khan). New Delhi, IASE, JMI.

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Singh, K. (2014), ‘Practice of Values in Schools- A Micro Study’, Pages 1-9, in Universe Journal of Education & Humanities, Biannual & Bilingual Journal, Volume 1, Number 1, February, 2014, Om Vadic Shiksha Evam Samaj Sewa Sansthan, C-2, College Campus, DPBS (PG) College, Anoopshahar, Bulandshar, UP, India.

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A TRIBUTE TO A SOCIOLOGIST: AKSHAY RAMANLAL DESAI (1915-1994) Dr. Kaushik Chattopadhyay Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology, Prof. S.N.H. College, Farakka, Murshidabad, West Bengal, E-mail: kaushiksocio@gmail.com ABSTRACT Initiating this discourse, a legitimate question may be posed as to whether Akshay Ramanlal Desai was truly a Marxist or a Trotskyist? Some may squeeze their eye-brows when confronting with such a question. But from the beginning, everyone may come to a uniform decision without any dispute whatsoever about his second identity that he was definitely a Marxist-sociologist. Present paper puts thrust on the inquiries into his second characteristic. It has tried to search as to how AR has evaluated specifically the sociological point of view on the bourgeois-democratic limitations to a socialist revolutionary state. What is the specific attitude of AR from the point of view of Revolutionary Marxist angle? Whether he is talking about peaceful parliamentary road to socialism or taking stance for revolutionary class configurations? Being judged in time perspective, in Indian Sociology, AR sails through a particular period of time and elucidates Indian social reality by class structure barring caste. This is unique approach. In evaluating Indian society, this socialist-sociologist is regarded as an expander of dialectical-historical path in the development and flow of socialism for which sometimes he is regarded as anti-Stalinist. Delving deep into his works, present paper tries to find out the coherence in the missing political link. It looks that particular philosophical problem regarding the inclusion of Marxism in Sociology becomes attenuated in the study of AR.

Key- Words: Marxism, Trotskyism, Class Identity, Bourgeois-Democratic Revolution, Socialist-Sociologist, Anti-Stalinist, Socialism, State Introduction Akshay Ramanlal Desai, who was actively involved in movements of students, teachers, slum dwellers, trade union, farmers, human rights and other oppressed strata, enkindles our historical memory. As preeminent revolutionary thinker and a masterful writer, he led an upheaval that helped to define the contours of twentieth century Indian society and politics. While still a teenager, he threw himself into the anti-imperialist movement and from that time on never renounced his commitment to revolutionary socialist path. 2015 is the birth centenary of Akshay Ramanlal Desai. If each and every year of his life is categorically accounted for, the following timeline can be framed: 1915 – Born on May 31, at Nadiad, Gujrat1 1916 – Socialization progressed in an enlightened family structure 1917 – Started talking in mother-tongue Gujrati 1918 – Last phase (among five) of Indian Nationalism started under the leadership of M. K. Gandhi, when he was only three 1919 – Father, Ramanlal Vasantlal Desai, a well known littérateur, provided an academic atmosphere within the family 1920 – Process of learning started 1921 – Formal schooling started at Nadiad city environment 1922 – Family and school environment influenced his childhood 1923 – Father’s identity made him happy

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1924 – Primary education was on the way to completion 1925 – Learnt the lessons of Fabian socialism from his father 1926 – ‘Man can change the direction of society’ became a guiding principle in his way of life 1927 – Knowledge of science, arts and literature made him a good orator 1928 – Leadership quality was expanded with a number of followers 1929 – Secondary education was on the way to completion 1930 – Bombay Youth League as a strong nationalist and radical organization was established and civil disobedience movement broke out that influenced AR 1931 – Participated in Student Movement and suspended from Baroda College 1932 – Participated in Labour Movement and read The History of Russian Revolution (1932) by Leon Trotsky (1879-1940) 1933 – Became a political activist influenced by C. G. Shah, the ‘most learned Marxist in Bombay’ 1934 – Became a member of Communist Party of India (C.P.I) 1935 – Involved with Trotskyite groups and remained active till 1939 and completed graduation with economics and politics from University of Bombay 1936 – Participated in the Kisan and Trade Union Movements 1937 – Became Editor of bulletins, news-papers, etc. of All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS); in this year Samaj, the first Trotskyite’s newspaper in India published (Editor: Onkamath Shastri) 1938 – Published Indian Feudal States and National Liberation Struggle, another one is: Rural Sociology in India 1939 – Published Gandhi’s Truth & Non-violence X’Rayed: An Open Letter to Mahatma Gandhi; discontinued membership of Communist Party of India (C.P.I) 1940 – Became a ‘Critique’ of Conventional Marxists and published many pamphlets2 on agrarian indebtedness, ways of Gandhian movement, and other contemporary issues 1941 – Started higher education in law 1942 – Jurisprudence, to him, became an instrument to access people’s protest 1943 – Completed LLB and began career as a lawyer to help these movements 1944 – Began career in sociology in University of Bombay 1945 – Completed Masters under G.S. Ghurye from University of Bombay 1946 – Completed PhD in sociology under G.S. Ghurye from University of Bombay and joined as Lecturer of Sociology at Siddharth College in Bombay 1947 – Got married to Neera Desai (1925-2009), who had done pioneering work in the field of women’s studies; became father of Mihir Desai (only son)3 1948 – Published Social Background of Indian Nationalism (reprinted 1954, 1959, and 1966) and the political event, assassination of Gandhi by Nathuram Vinayak Godse, shocked him 1949 – Intense study of nationalism 1950 – In-depth study of Indian Constitution

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1951 – Joined as Lecturer at Department of Sociology in University of Bombay and became an Associate Director, UNESCO project on ‘Group Tensions in India’ 1952 – Taught Sociology at Department of University of Bombay 1953 – Published Rural Sociology in India (ed.) (also revised in 1959, 1969), also joined as a member of Revolutionary Socialist Party (R.S.P) 1954 – Tried to expound Trotskyist ideas in the context of Indian situation 1955 – Contributed to The Call, party’s (R.S.P) journal 1956 – Harold J. Laski published The State in Theory and Practice that influenced him to reassess state theory 1957 – National Sample Survey (NSS) data indicated a poor picture of implications of modern inputs in Indian agriculture from which he depicted the polarizing condition of agrarian social structure 1958 – The process of nationalization of private enterprises was undertaken in India. He realized that these nationalizations had nothing to do with socialism. It was resorted to under the compulsion of the need to expand capitalism, where the capitalist class was not yet capable of undertaking vital sectors of economic processes. 1959 – Published The Indian Society of Agricultural Economics 1960 – Published Recent Trends in Indian Nationalism (revised in 1973) 1961 – Published Rural India in Transition (revised in 1979) 1962 – Completed four volumes of Samaj in Gujarati language and published the same from Gujrat University (1960-62) 1963 – ‘National Integration and Religions’, published in Sociological Bulletin and ‘Bourgeois Agrarian Strategy-Need for a New Approach’, published in The Call 1964 – Participated in the First World Congress in Rural Sociology held in France 1965 – ‘Reliance on Rice Farmers – its Implications: A paper presented to the first World Congress on ‘Rural Sociology’, 1964’, published in EPW 1966 – Published ‘Problems of Modernising Gujarat’ and in Gujarati language, ‘Samaj Shastrama Karl Marxnu Sthan’ 1967 – Published Bharatiya Samaj Ane Sanskriti na Abhyas Pravahe in Gujarati and in English: ‘Social Change, and Educational Policy in India’, in Sociology of Education ed. by Dr. M. S. Gore, Prof. I. P. Desai and Chitnis 1968 – Gunar K. Myrdal published Asian Drama: An Inquiry into the Poverty of Nations (3 vols.) that influenced him to understand the causes of failure of co-operative movement 1969 – Published The Issue and Problems of Rural Sociology in India (ed.), became Professor and Head of the Department in University of Bombay 1970 – Published Slums and Urbanization (with S. Devadas Pillai) 1971 – Published The Implications of the Modernization of Indian Society in the World Context, another one: Essays on Modernisation of Underdeveloped Societies (2 vols.) (Ed.), and visited for three months in Soviet Union as a senior fellow under the Cultural Exchange Programme 1972 – Published A Profile of Indian Slum (with S. Devadas Pillai), and ‘Indian Capitalist Class and Imperialism’

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1973 – Published Currently Operating, and became Senior Fellow of ICSSR (to 1975) 1974 – Published A Positive Programme for Indian Revolution (ed.) 1975 – Published State and Society in India: Essays in Dissent, another one is: Immanent Features of Indian Nationalism and participated in a seminar held in Sussex on ‘Population and Poverty’ 1976 – Retired and participated in a seminar at Columbia University. During his University life he guided theses of 28 researchers and those covered topics, ranging from Marxist theory, urban issues, industrial and agrarian structure, sociology of art, labour and trade union movement as well as peasant movement.4 1977 – Stayed at Bombay, visited Bangkok to participate in Expert Group Meeting on ‘Population Growth and Economic Development in Sub-national areas’ 1978 – Published ‘Centre State Relations, CPI (M)’s New Crusade, its Implication’ and ‘National Integration; Law, Society and Education’ 1979 – Published Rural India in Transition, another one is: Peasant Struggles in India (ed.) 1980 – Published Urban Family and Family Planning in India and became President of Indian Sociological Society (to 1981), and deputed to Canada by U.G.C. under the Shastri Indo-Canadian Foundation 1981 – Did not renew RSP membership and became National Fellow of ICSSR (to 1985) and published ‘Relevance of Marxist Approach to the Study of Indian Society’ in Sociological Bulletin 1982 – Published ‘Caste and Communal Violence in Post-partition Indian Union’ and ‘Informal Sector – A Weird World of Income Seekers’ 1983 – Published ‘Urbanization and Proliferation of Slums’ and ‘Economic Functions of State in India after Independence’ 1984 – Published India’s Path of Development: A Marxist Approach and also published ‘Congress(I), Communist Parties and Communalism’ and ‘Dr. G.S. Ghurye: an Obituary’, and visited UK 1985 – Published Assault on Democratic Rights in Contemporary India 1986 – Published Agrarian Struggles in India After Independence (ed.), another one is: Violation of Democratic Rights in India (ed.) and published ‘Growing ‘Governmental Lawlessness’’, in EPW 1987 – Published ‘Rural Development and Human Rights in Independent India’, in EPW 1988 – Became President of Gujrat Sociological Society (to 1990) 1989 – Published ‘Trends of Change in Indian Society since Independence’ in EPW 1990 – Repression and Resistance in India (ed.) and published ‘Reassessing Trotsky’s Writings’, in EPW 1991 – Published Expanding Governmental Lawlessness and Organized Struggles 1992 – Tried to understand Indian society from a critical Marxist perspective 1993 – Authored and edited more than 10 books in English, and more than 30 books in Gujrati, some of which have been translated into other languages. 1994 – Published State and Repressive Culture, Died on November 12, at Baroda, Gujrat.

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Sociology in India or Indian Sociology If the development of social science in India is exhibited as a 19th century phenomenon, then Bhudeb Mukhopadhyay (1827-1894) and Brajendranath Seal (1864-1938) would obviously be considered as the prominent founders of this discipline. When Nationalist Bhudeb Mukhopadhyay is a class in himself in reflecting the ethos and structure of Indian society during British colonial era, Brajendranath Seal paved simultaneously towards the ways of Hegelian Dialectics the on one hand and positivist tradition on the other in his comparative discussion of Indian society and religion on Humanist philosophical perspective. Sociologist Benoy Kumar Sarkar (1887-1949) had further widened the scope of this positivist tradition in the 20th century. Professor Sarkar’s Nationalist perspective developed a positivist outlook in seeking the conceptual transition from “Social Science in India” to “Sociology in India”. Radhakamal Mukherjee (1889-1968) from a functionalist angle, further advanced this comparative perspective. He analysed the characteristic features and sickness of Indian society and civilization from a sociological standpoint. But in rendering an institutionalized form to Indian sociology and Social Anthropology, and in organizing them as subjects to comprehend society at large, the credit surely goes to Professor Govind Sadashiv Ghurye (1893-1983). As an Indologist, he was the first to study the Indian society from an empirical perspective. Keeping aside all these views, Dhurjati Prasad Mukerji (1894-1961) became the pioneer researcher in analyzing Indian society and her history from a dialectical angle. In exploring and analyzing social reality by applying Marxist analysis and its method, D.P’s contemporary historian Damodar Dharmanand Kosambi (1907-1966) played a significant role. But he observed Indian Society from a historical cultural stand point. At the same time the political perspective of Indian rural social reality was prospered with Marxist analysis by Puran Chand Joshi (1907-1980). These stalwart Indian Social Thinkers along with several others, had a work done successfully that they developed a theoretical and methodological orientation of Indian Sociology. French social thinker Louis Dumont (1911-1998) gave this development a fulfillment and thus positioned Indian sociology on a steady foundation. Dumont was an empiricist who studied Indian society with a mixed prerequisite of Indology and sociology on culturological perspective. Among the social thinkers who were contemporary to A.R. Desai, but younger in age, Mysore Narsimhacharya Srinivas (1916-1999), Ramkrishna Mukherjee (1919- ), Shyama Charan Dube (1922-1996), Romila Thapar (1931- ) are prominently resplendent. Srinivas established the structural-functionalist tradition to analyse Indian society on cultural perspective. Professor Ramkrishna Mukherjee is a reality analyst who inquires into Indian Social Reality based on his probabilistic nomological perspective. Professor S.C. Dube is also a structural-functionalist like Professor M.N. Srinivas, but at the same time, like A.R. Desai he developed various dimensions of Indian rural society. Romila Thapar establishes her anticommunist stand based on her historiographical revisionist perspective. Among all these social thinkers5, A.R is someone extraordinary because according to the reader, when all others are limited to the academic field only, A.R is simultaneously an academician as well as a social activist per se. Akshay Ramanlal Desai was popularly known as A.R among his colleagues. Like D.P, he also did not detach sociology from history. In interpreting methodologically the history of the materialistic base of society, A.R like D.P, had observed the nature and transformation of Indian social relation. D.P remarked, “[H]istory rings the change and sociology offers the unity and continuity. They are the Purusha and Prakriti of the social sciences” (Mukerji, 1945: 87). Abiding him, A.R despondently remarked, “[S]ociological teaching and research are still cast in the colonial mould even after the decades of EDULIGHT-Multi-disciplinary, Peer-Reviewed Journal

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independence… Sociology teaching and research are being undertaken in isolation from indology and history” (Desai, 1984:04). Actually both of them wished to study social reality according to that historical concept which rests on exposition of real processes of production, starting from the simple material production of life and on the comprehension of the form of communion connected with and created by this mode of production, i.e., of civil society and its various stages as the basis of all histories. Desai’s and Srinivas’s sociological views are contrasting in nature. Both of them studied sociology from Bombay University and completed their doctoral work under the supervision and guidance of G.S. Ghurye. Still they interpreted society from two different dimensions. Desai, with his faith on conflict model, contradicted Srinivas’s structural functional model. Simply it can be said that when Srinivas relied on functional paradigm, the Marxist paradigm was accepted by Desai. Like Ghurye, Srinivas’s sociology satisfies those elites who trust the evolutionary path of social order. Desai laid stress on that excluded portion that signifies the inequality, class position and exploitation metaphor. According to Desai, the theories of caste are ruling class ideology. Not as a member of a political party, but as a conflict sociologist he observed that higher caste’s elites hold coercive power from an advantageous position of social norms and by utilizing this legitimized power, they dominate the lower caste and the tribal people. Desai was a Marxist and a sociologist who did not see a difference between sociology in India and Indian Sociology. Desai was interested in analyzing contemporary social change in order to assess how it benefited a few. His work was a critique of mainstream nationalism and its political projects. Its focus was on the nature of the ruling class, their control of the state institutions6, and their constant efforts to use developmental programmes to aid their own reproduction. In a long chapter entitled “Rise of New Social Classes in India,” of the book Social Background of Indian Nationalism, he argued that “one striking characteristic of the new social classes was their national character. This was due to the fact that they were integral parts of a single national economy of India and further, they lived under a single state regime. This engendered community of economic, political and other interests, of the members of each of the new social classes on an all-India national basis ... [T]hey felt an urge to organize themselves on an all-India scale and start movements to advance their common interests on a national basis” [Desai, 1948: 196-197] Colonial modernity had embodied an upper caste notion of nation and became a dominant metaphor in Ghurye’s and Srinivas’s sociology and remained embedded within this lineage as it developed further. Desai asserted that theories of national politics7 had always included both popular insurgency and elite conservatism, struggling against one another, producing conflict-ridden political movements and state regimes. Elites needed states to suppress revolution. To him everyday language sometimes depicts the state as a subject – the state does, or must do, this or that; and sometimes as a thing – this economic class, social stratum, political party, or official caste uses the state to pursue its own projects or interests. Anti-imperialist Indian Sociology The concept, ‘Man can change the direction of society’, changed Desai’s life philosophy. He, trusting on Marxian philosophy, was convinced that social change was possible. From this vantage point of successive flow of social change, Desai tried to explore the feudal character of Indian society and perceived that the lack of private ownership of land constituted a new type of agrarian structure. Prior to the unification of India with the help of the bourgeois-capitalist state system8, which was a byproduct of British colonial rule, the revenue collector represented the system of Monarchy in the self-sufficient village community.

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British rule destroyed the pre-capitalist forms of production relations and introduced modern capitalist property relation. The economic foundation of caste was consequently shattered by the new economic forces and forms introduced by the colonial capitalism. Centralized state system and radical change in economic structure contended such a social system that came in conflict with British Imperialism in absolute terms. Various interests as a whole gave birth to social force which provided the motive power for the rise and development of Indian Nationalism. A.R studied Indian society on Meso and Macro sociological perspectives. He upheld the concept of value loaded sociology. His active participation in 1930s student movement, labour movement and his attainment of membership in the Communist Party incited him to be an applied Marxist. A.R. Desai later on would rightly be identified as a Trotskyist. His knowledge on Fabian Socialism helped him to develop concepts regarding various approaches on applied sides of Marxism. A.R tried to maintain the contemporary Indian Society in the light of anti-bureaucratic9 and anti-imperialist concept. In this endeavour he held that nationalism was a spontaneous collectivization which actually was a synthesis of many processes. He confirmed that the imperialist countries had always actively used the state in the economic conditioning of the colonies. In his edited two volumed books entitled Essays on Modernization (1971), he raised a question as: “can underdeveloped countries modernize themselves and break the vicious circle of poverty by depending on the strategy ‘Betting on the strong’?” (Desai, 1971: 474). He gave an answer to this question in another of his edited book entitled Peasants Struggles in India published in 1979.10 He maintained that in an underdeveloped society, the labouring class had the responsibility to eliminate the feudal elements. Along with this elimination, they should strive to unite all the deprived sections. In this context, Desai adhered to post-Marxian Lenin’s two-stage theory of revolutionary and became a Trotskyist. Abiding by Trotsky’s formula of permanent revolution, he suggested a two-stage revolution that brings about elimination of the state in final stage. At first, the bourgeois-democratic revolution would abolish the bourgeois state machinery and then the socialist revolution as a permanent revolution would wither away that proletarian state.11 The mixed economy in Indian social system and the position of the Indian bourgeoisie made Desai to stand for that two-stage revolution in the context of contemporary capitalist aggression. The theory of permanent revolution was originated in 1905. In analyzing its applied side on the basis of revolution of the backward bourgeois nations, Desai became a complete Trotskyist. In the context of the Indian version of the three phases of the permanent revolution12, he wrote “come to the conclusion that the proletarian parties have to concentrate today on completing the first phase of the revolution by pressurizing the progressive bourgeoisie or by allying with them under the hegemony of the proletariat and completing the National Democratic or People’s Democratic by strengthening the progressive national bourgeoisie, and thereby assist the process of generating an independent economic development of bourgeois lines, free from the trammels of imperialist and feudal forces” (Desai, 1979:754). According to Desai, anti-capitalist political revolution will dislodge the ruling bourgeoisie from state power.13 The working class will whole heartedly help the democratic revolution to become successful. To strengthen its power, the proletariat class will incorporate the toiling peasantry, toiling middle classes, urban semi-proletariat, toiling intelligentsia and so on. In a further discussion about the aim of the revolution, Desai stated that the end of the revolution would have to be an end of the control and ownership of the ruling capitalist class over the decisive means of production, i.e. put “an end to private

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property and the capitalist-controlled system of state capitalism and go over to socialism” (Desai, 1974: 43). A.R was highly concerned with the Revolutionary Socialist Ideology in searching the transition of sovereign, multilingual, independent and democratic Indian society. Desai in the first phase (1934-1939) was an active member of Communist Party of India and in the second phase (1953-1981) was a member of Revolutionary Socialist Party. Thus, he became a commander of Marxist-Leninist philosophy. In his interpretation of Indian social reality, he did not activate the principle of super-industrialization for the development of Indian society. Adhering to the views of Nirmal Kumar Bose, Desai demanded, structural reality for caste would disappear when Indian society enhanced to a higher level. This new class-conscious society never supports the process of forced collectivization, never emphasizes the importance of large-scale executions which is Stalin’s concept of socialism in Russia. A.R directly supported Trotsky. Supporting Trotsky’s context of discussion in Revolution Betrayed: What is the Soviet Union and Where it is going? (published in 1972, but written in 1937), A.R explained Gorbachev’s pragmatic policy of glasnost. To establish Trotsky’s relevance, Desai quoted Tariq Ali and Phil Evans (1980) and wrote, “Trotsky’s legacy is the unfinished struggle for proletarian democracy, for genuine socialism and the overcoming of bureaucracy, for social revolution in the third world, for internationalism.” 14 A.R was willing for that internationalism which considered him the father of anti-imperialist sociology in Indian perspective. Conclusion Desai believes that, “the Marxist approach helps one to raise relevant questions, to conduct researches in the right direction, to formulate adequate hypothesis, to evolve proper concepts, adopt and combine appropriate research techniques, and to locate the central tendencies of transformation with their major implications” (Desai, 1984: 9-10). A.R insists that production in general does not exist in the real world but can still be a valid object of analysis in so far as it brings out and fixes the common element in all production and thus saves repetition; but, since production is always production at a definite stage of social development, it is always necessary to analyse production in each epoch as a complex synthesis of general and specific elements. In a Marxist account of the coercive power, Engels provides certain basic elements. In the same way it can be argued that the power in general is also a rational abstraction but can still be useful in theoretical work of Trotsky to the extent that it brings out the common elements and foundations of all power structure. In this sense Trotsky extends Marxist approach to the applied level. Indeed Marx provides the foundations for a realist scientific method in his 1857 Introduction and relates this to problems of state theory and political practice in his 1875 Critique of the Gotha Programme.15 During 1930s of International Politics, Manabendra Nath Roy (1887-1954) was relevant for extending Trotsky’s revolutionary theory in the socio-economic perspective in India. A.R was eager to understand the actual position of Indian society through an abstractdeductive method. To comprehend everyday’s life problem, one has to keep up with the social relations of production. The criterion of property relations to define the nature of a society will help Indian scholars to designate the type of society we have in India today, the class character of the Indian State and the nature of the path of development being followed with all its implications. His regret is that, “uncritical acceptance of foreign models and techniques without assessing their relevance in or suitability for Indian conditions leading to distortion of perspective and stunted growth of Indian sociology” (Desai, 1984:05).

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In order to distinguish A.R’s theoretical method from others, it is worth emphasizing at the outset that may refer to it as the ‘method of articulation’, which involves nothing more than the social application of a realist scientific method to the field of political action. In terms of its substantive content, like Trotsky, A.R refutes the possibility of a single, coherent, unitary Marxist theory from the various studies that Marx and/or Engels presented concerning the materialistic political history. Instead they offered a variety of theoretical perspectives which co-exist in an uneasy and unstable relation, it is this very plurality of viewpoints and arguments that provides the basis for the subsequent diversification of Marxist revolutionary theories. Desai recognized the dialectics of the evolutionary as well as revolutionary changes of the occurrence of breaks in historical community in the transition from one socio-economic formation to another. If Indian sociology gets its institutionalized form from G.S. Ghurye, then it is modernized by Dumont’s effort, Desai makes the materialistic interpretation of property relation relevant in studying the social relations in that modern sociology. Footnotes 1

There is no debate on the Year of Birth, that is, 1915. But a confusion lies regarding the exact Date of Birth. According to Arpita Mukherjee (2014), and B.K. Nagla (2008), it is April 16; whereas the Curriculum Vitae of Dr. A.R. Desai reveals the date as 31st May, 1915. The Link of this C.V. is: http://www.unipune.ac.in/snc/cssh/HistorySociology/A%20DOCUMENTS%20ON% 20HISTORY%20OF%20SOCIOLOGY%20IN%20INDIA/A%206%20Primary%20sources/ B%29%20A.R.Desai/A%206%20B%2001.pdf (accessed on 16-01-15: 6 PM). See also A. Mukherjee, (2014). A Study of the Contribution of A.R. Desai: The Marxist Sociology in India. Kolkata: K.P. Bagchi & Company, p.1; and B. K. Nagla, (2008). Indian Sociological Thought. Jaipur: Rawat Publications, p. 212. 2

Trotsky’s assassination in 1940 made Desai vocal against the situation created by Stalinist policies. Later he wrote, “[I]t was on August 20… that a Spanish agent of Stalin, Ramon Mercedes, assassinated Trotsky by a blow from an ice-pick. Trotsky died the next day and was buried in Mexico City. Since then the situation has changed considerably in Soviet Union especially recently. Gorbachev’s policy of glasnost has generated currents of democratisation, wherein Stalin and Stalin’s crimes are being attacked on a massive scale... ” [Italics added]. See, A.R. Desai, (1990). “Reassessing Trotsky’s Writing”, in Economic and Political Weekly. September, 15, p. 2048. 3

Mihir Desai is an Advocate of Supreme Court of India, High Court of Mumbai, and a human rights activist. His mother Dr. Neera Desai was one of the pioneers of research on issues of feminism, gender dimensions in family, women’s movement and education. She was a Distinguished Fellow, Centre for Women’s Development Studies Delhi and formerly Professor and Head, Department of Sociology, SNDT Women’s University, Mumbai and she was also the founder Director of Research Centre for Women’s Studies. Her major works include, Women in Modern India, Two Decades of Women’s Movement, Women and Society (Co-author), Women in Indian Society (Co-author), etc. 4

Indian theories of peasant revolt had emerged in the thirties. After fifty years in praxis, in the late twentieth century, Desai realized that inequalities “may lead to a situation where the discontented elements are compelled to organise themselves and the extreme tensions building up with the ‘complex molecule’ that is the Indian village may end in an explosion.” Ministry of Home Affairs, “The Causes and Nature of Current Agrarian Tensions,” in A.R. Desai, Editor, Agrarian Struggles in India After Independence, Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1986, pp.36-43. EDULIGHT-Multi-disciplinary, Peer-Reviewed Journal

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Fore more, see, Amal Kumar Mukhopadhyay (ed.), (1979). The Bengali Intellectual Tradition:From Ramohun Ray to Dhirendranath Sen. Calcutta: K. P. Bagchi & Company; Ramkrishna Mukherjee, (1979). Sociology of India Sociology. Calcutta: Allied Publishers Pvt. Ltd.; Swapan Kumar Bhattacharyay, (1990). Indian Sociology: The Role of Benoy Kumar Sarkar. Burdwan: University of Burdwan Press; Swapan Kumar Pramanick, (1994). G. S. Ghurye. New Delhi: Rawat Publications; D. N. Dhanagare, (1998). Indian Sociology: Themes and Perspective. Jaipur: Rawat Publications; Patricia Uberoi, Nandini Sundar, and Satish Deshpande (eds.), (2007). Anthropology in the East: Founders of Indian Sociology and Anthropology. New Delhi: Permanent black; Sujata Patel (ed.), (2010). The ISA Handbook of Diverse Sociological Traditions. London: Sage; Sujata Patel (ed.), (2011). Doing Sociology in India: Genealogies, Locations, and Practices. New Delhi: Oxford University Press. 6

Desai is vocal about the undemocratic role playing of the state. With an outlook of change of Indian rural and urban societies, Desai in his edited book, entitled Women’s Liberation and Politics of Religious Personal Law in India writes with an outlook of change of Indian rural and urban society, that he desires to study the various dimensions of extension of capitalism in India as how it has influenced the “economic, sexual, cultural and political policies shaping the whole society.” And to do that he has “tried to assess the implication of the capitalist path of development perused by the Indian state on various classes, strata and communities” in his various studies. See, A.R. Desai, (ed.), ([1986]1990). Women’s Liberation and politics of Religious Personal Laws in India. Bombay: G.C. Shah Memorial Trust Publication, Pp. 144-145. 7

Desai contested these received conceptions of the nation in Social Background of Indian Nationalism (1948) by analysing the ideology of Indian nationalism and showed how it represented the interests of dominant classes. He attested that nation and class are in a contradictory relationship. While nationalism was a movement of various classes and groups forging one nation into a whole, it remained internally divided, with classes contesting with each other to mark it with their own interests. He writes, ‘Indian nationalism is that it emerged under conditions of political subjection of the Indian people by the British. The advanced British nation, for its own purpose, radically changed the economic structure of the Indian society, established a centralized state, and introduced modern education, modern means of communications, and other institutions. This resulted in the growth of new social classes and the unleashing of new social forces, unique in themselves. These social forces by their very nature came into conflict with British Imperialism and became the basis of and provided motive power for the rise and development of Indian nationalism’ (1948: xxxiv). The class at the helm imposes its own class interests on the movement subordinating those of other classes to its own. Desai’s sociology interrogated the normative projects of mainstream sociology/anthropology by redefining it as one that analyses the relationship between nation, classes, and power through a historical and interdisciplinary perspective. See, A. R. Desai, (1948). Social Background of Indian Nationalism. Bombay: Popular Prakashan Pvt. Ltd. 8

In his book, Recent Trends of Indian Nationalism (1960) A.R. revaluates the nationalistic consciousness in independent India. He observes that state is more faithful to the bourgeoisie than the masses. Due to bourgeois origin, the state feels higher responsibility to secure bourgeoisie interest than fulfilling the promises given to the masses. See, A. R. Desai, (1960). Recent Trends of Indian Nationalism. Bombay: Popular Prakashan Pvt. Ltd. 9

Criticising British (bourgeois) administration along with their basic bureaucratic administrative structure, Desai writes, “The Constitution has thus clearly accepted the norms and legal premises of capitalist society as the guiding principles for the reconstruction and development of Indian society.” See, A.R. Desai, (1984). India’s Paths of Development: A Marxist Approach. Bombay: Popular Prakashan Pvt. Ltd, p. 27. EDULIGHT-Multi-disciplinary, Peer-Reviewed Journal

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Desai, in despair stated that “the communist parties are more in favour of a peaceful parliamentary transition to socialism and alliance with the progressive, national, anti-feudal, anti-imperialist, anti-comprador bourgeoisie to complete the bourgeois democratic revolution, which is qualitatively quite different from the socialist revolution”. See, A.R. Desai, (ed.), (1979). Peasant struggles in India. Bombay: Oxford University Press, p. 753. Desai views that the Indian communists are confused to the socialist stage with National Democratic or People’s Democratic Revolution and, therefore, sometimes succumb to the pressure of the reactionary, pro-imperialist and pro-feudal elements. 11

In 1931, Trotsky published the book, The Permanent Revolution and Results and Prospects. This book was translated in English and was republished in 1969, from the Pathfinder press of New York. In the Marxian context of permanent revolution, Trotsky pointed at the bourgeoisie revolution of 1848. This revolution should not stop at the democratic stage, should not compromise with the single form of class rule, rather, in a chain reaction, they should enhance to the level of that successive stage of socialist revolution where the complete liquidation of class society happens. But, would this chain reaction be completed? Trotsky here referred to the three aspects of permanent revolution in the sense of ‘three inseparably connected parts of the whole’. In the first aspect the democratic regime will dilute the effectiveness of the bourgeois elements. But it is unable to render a permanent self-sufficiency to maintain social order. Consequently, the second aspect hints the internal transformation. Revolutions in economy, technique, science, the family, morals and everyday life develop in complex reciprocal action and do not allow society to achieve equilibrium. Here from the third aspect asserts the concept of international character of socialist revolution. The elementary features of this internationalism are world economy, world development of productive forces and the world scale of the class struggle. The Cuban revolution (1953-1959) is a splendid example of the logic of the permanent revolution. See, Leon Trotsky, ([1931]1969). The Permanent Revolution and Results and Prospects (Introduction of Peter Camejo). New York: Pathfinder Press. 12

In the context of Indian social dynamicity, A.R acknowledged Trotsky’s extended concept of permanent revolution. Trotsky apprehended that the consequence of isolation of the proletariat would be dangerous because in an isolated proletarian dictatorship, the internal and external contradictions grow inevitably along with the successes achieved. Supporting Trotsky, Desai in an article entitled as “The World Political Situation and the task of the Fourth International” published in a special issue of International View Point on January, 1985, demanded that the capitalist state will have to encounter multifarious adversities which can be said as the resultant of the imperialist-capitalist agenda of neo-colonialism. In criticizing the anti-poor and anti-toiler orientation of regime, he considered the participation and polarization of the Indian agrarian sector as the revolutionary side. In one of his edited books, entitled Agrarian Struggles in India After Independence he wrote that the Indian bourgeoisie among the bourgeoisie of the semi-industrialized countries “is the most independent in relation to imperialism.” See, A. R. Desai, (ed) (1986). Agrarian Struggles in India After Independence. Bombay: Oxford University Press, p. 26. And also see the felicitation volume in Honour of Professor Deai, Ghanshyam Shah, (1990). Capitalist Development: Critical Essays. Bombay: Popular Prakashan. 13

In an article entitled “An Alternative Approach to Development”, published in 1977 in the Teaching Politics journal, Desai directed “Revolution” to the way in which, inspired by ideology, it can eradicate poverty and inequality. He said that, the ideological dimension of the revolution will have to ensure a consciousness among the masses that “poverty and inequality are man-made and all therefore capable by being removed by the creation of a

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proper socio-economic framework.” See, A.R. Desai, (1977). “An alternative approach to Development” in Teaching Politics, 3 (324): 31. 14

See, Tariq Ali and Phil Evans, (1980). Trotsky for Beginners. New York: Pantheon Books. And for Desai’s quote see, A.R. Desai, (1990). “Reassessing Trotsky’s Writing”, in Economic and Political Weekly. September, 15, p. 2048. 15

Marx could not have arrived at his understanding of materialistic reality of society without dialectics, and his method is contrasted with that of two increasingly popular schools of dialectical thinking, ‘Critical Realism’ and ‘Systematic Dialectics’. The 20th century’s leading authority on dialectics and Marx’s method is Paul Marlor Sweezy, the editor of Monthly Review and dean of America’s Marx scholars. For further elaborate study of Marx’s method, see, Derek Sayer, (1979). Marx’s Method: Ideology, Science and Critique in Capital. New Jersey: Humanities Press Inc.; Bob Jessop, (1982). The Capitalist State: Marxist Theories and Methods. Oxford: Martin Robertson & Company Ltd.; Bertell Ollman, (2003). Dance of the Dialectic: Steps in Marx’s Method. Chicago: University of Illinois Press; Paul Paolucci, (2007). Marx’s Scientific Dialectics: A Methodological Treatise for a New Century. Boston: Brill; and also Michael A. Lebowitz, (2009). Following Marx: Method, Critique and Crisis. Boston: Brill. References Desai, A. R. (1948). Social Background of Indian Nationalism. Bombay: Popular Prakashan Pvt. Ltd. –

(1974). A Positive programme for Indian Revolution. Bombay: G.C. Shah Memorial Trust Publication.

–

(1984). India’s Path of Developments: A Marxist Approach. Bombay: Popular Prakashan Pvt. Ltd.

–

(ed.), (1971). Essays on Modernization of Underdeveloped Societies, Vols. 1 & 2. Bombay: Thacker and Co. Ltd.

–

(ed.), (1979). Peasant struggles in India. Bombay: Oxford University Press.

Mukerji, D. P. (1945). On Indian History: A Study in Method. Bombay: Hind Kitabs.

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IMPACT OF AN INTERVENTION PACKAGE ON LEARNING STYLE OF STUDENTS WITH SPECIFIC LEARNING DISABILITIES Dr. M.C. Anilakumari Assistant Professor, CUTEC Vatakara, Kozhikode, Kerala-673 105, E-mail: anilasps2008@gmail.com ABSTRACT The present study explores the efficacy of intervention package on minimizing Dysgraphia characteristics among primary school students with specific learning disabilities (SLD) based on learning style preference. The sample comprised of 39 primary school students in the age group 8- 10 years following CBSE and state scheme. The Investigator had prepared and standardised an e-learning package, Dysgraphia Characteristics Inventory, Learning Style Inventory, a Test to measure the performance of students before and after the experiment, and an informal Proforma for Scholastic Backward students. During the time of experiment all these tools and adopted tools such as Ravens Coloured Progressive Matrices, Ekwall Informal Reading Inventory, and Diagnostic Test of Learning Disabilities were administered. The scores thus obtained were analysed by using appropriate statistical techniques. The major conclusions of the study can be summarized as follows. The intervention package is effective in significantly minimizing Dysgraphia in overall aspects.

Introduction In educational programmes, children must be provided optimum educational experiences and remediation to overcome their lacunae. The broader group of students with learning problem can often be handled through consulting teachers, the education of regular teachers or modification of the elementary school curriculum, whereas the specific learning disabled child usually require intensive remedial assistance. A problem with Dysgraphia may be suspected if the person has difficulty in putting together a written document (such as using outline), bad or illegible handwriting, awkward or cramped pencil grip, or avoids tasks that involve writing. The person may have problems in fleshing out ideas on paper or writing the minimum (or less) that the assignment requires in contrast to the personâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ability to discuss such ideas verbally. There may be an inconsistency in the way letters and words look, or problems with writing within the margins or line spacing and inconsistent spacing between words. Child development experts have identified ages at which certain activities usually occur in children. Such things as rolling over, sitting, standing, crawling, walking, talking, and following directions are all checked against accepted norms. Milestones are duly noted in baby books and in doctors' records. Children's development usually follows a known and predictable course. Although not all children reach each milestone at the same age, there is an expected timeframe for reaching these developmental markers. Very early in life, most children begin developing eye-hand coordination. They reach for objects they see. Later, they scribble on paper and discover that they can produce a particular pattern by moving their arm in a certain way. By changing the movement, they change the pattern. With both visual and muscle memory, they can repeat the image. As they mature, children perceive how complex lines and figures fit together and thus learn to draw and to write. When they see a figure, they know that if they make a series of movements in a certain sequence, they can reproduce that specific pattern. Because children gain these skills at different rates, and in different order, variations are to be expected. In the normal developmental scheme, children are ready to begin to write at age 6. They have developed the visual and auditory skills required for reading and the eye-hand

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coordination necessary to form letters. They can select and organize words into simple sentences. With maturity and instruction, they learn to express increasingly complex and abstract ideas in writing. Children with learning disabilities often fail to acquire written language inspite of normal intelligence and above-average school opportunities. It is important to remember that the child with dysgraphia is not retarded. The problems are not caused by emotional, physical, cultural, or environmental deficits. The actual reason for the failure to develop writing skills depends on the nature of the disorder and must be evaluated. Principles to motivate learning styles The principles to motivate learning styles (Reid, 2005) are: 

Balance: Try to ensure that teaching and planning incorporate a range of styles and that there are activities that can accommodate to visual, auditory, kinaesthetic and tactile learners as well as having areas of the room to accommodate different environmental preferences.



Planning: Teachers need to engage in learning styles at the planning stage. It is important that at that stage information about the learners is obtained. The observational framework in the previous chapter can be useful for this.



Collaboration: Learning styles should be seen as a whole-school issue and responsibility. To successfully implement learning styles in the classroom, environmental considerations need to be acknowledged and this may need the cooperation of other teachers and in particular the school management. Implementing learning styles can be more successful when the whole school is involved and preferably the whole school district or education authority.



Differentiation: Differentiation is about good teaching and planning and if the task and the curriculum are effectively differentiated to take account of the task, the input, output and the resources that are to be used, then it is likely that all learning styles will be catered for in some way.



Learner awareness: It is worth while spending time with the learner so that he/she will be aware of their own learning preferences. It will be useful to help them understand that there are advantages and disadvantages to every style.

Type of learning styles The easiest strategies to implement on the classroom are the Visual, Auditory, Kinaesthetic / Tactile approaches. Auditory learners would benefit from sounding out words in reading, verbal instructions, the use of tapes, rehearsing information, repeating it many times to get the sound Visual learners would benefit from the use of visual diagrams,use of video, flash cards, charts and maps,writing out notes for frequent and quick visual scan and review. Kinaesthetic / Tactile learners would benefit from tracing words as they are being spoken, Learning facts by writing them out several times, moving around while studying, taking risk in learning, making written notes but also discussing these with others, making study plans` Advantages and disadvantages of learning styles Auditory learner will benefit from listening to talks and lectures. Also absorb a lot of information from radio programmes. Very likely have skills in sequencing and organising information and have a methodical approach to many aspects in life. They may remember

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information by using a checklist. They can often be considered to be a reliable and independent worker. There is a possibility to complete one task before embarking on another. There is also a possibility that focuses on small bits of information and do not obtain a holistic and broad picture of something you are working on. They may also prefer to work on own rather than work in groups. Visual learner will be good at visualising events and information and may be able to use imagination to some advantage. They can use visual strategies for remembering information. They may also get considerable pleasure from learning involving visual and creative skills. They may be able to see the whole picture when discussing or working on a problem or task. They may need more time to complete tasks. They can be more interested in the appearance of something than its actual value .That may be a disadvantage in some situations, though not in all. They may not spend enough time or pay attention to specific detail. Kinaesthetic learner will enjoy active learning and this is useful for assembling and making products. They will be able to demonstrate to others how to do something. They will likely be able to enjoy the actual experience of learning. They may miss some instructions or information if it is presented orally. They may find it difficult to concentrate on a lengthy written task while seated. They may not pay attention to detail, especially if it is in written form. If children have faith in themselves, they relentlessly pursue the activities that they have to carry out if not they give up, eroding their self-esteem. Low self-esteem takes away the motivation to study. This leads to further failure, causing the vicious cycle of failure. Children caught in this vicious cycle try to evade failure by avoiding challenges.The response of avoiding or facing challenges has important implications for the LD children's future. Children with good self-esteem cope successfully with life, even if their academic skills are not up to the level.Writing is translating of thoughts on to paper. It is a very important skill, particularly during the school years. Schools lay much emphasis on written communication. Remediation/treatment may include therapy /intervention for motor disorders to help control writing movements. Other intervention may address memory or other neurological problems. Many people with Dysgraphia benefit from explicit instructions in the skills required to produce a written work. Checklissts that outline all the steps involved in a writing process may help. For eg: a student could be taught several different ways to create an outline and use a checklist to make sure all the steps in creating an outline have been used. Some teachers may allow students with a disorder in written expression to use other methods, such as an oral report, to access their understanding of a subject instead of asking them to write a paper or take a written test. Computers can help many students with Dysgraphia, spell check, grammar check, and other programmes may help individuals with Dysgraphia. A tape recorder or creating a drawing to capture ideas before putting them on paper may help as well.Although some individuals with Dysgraphia can improve their writing ability, others struggle with the problem throughout their lives (Pierangelo & Giuliani, 2008).This study attempts to focus on remedial programmes based on learning styles that can be given to Dysgraphyia. Objectives 1.

To identify students belonging to Specific Learning Disabilities (SLD) among Primary School Students (PSS) studying in State / CBSE schemes.

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To find out the effectiveness of intervention on the performance of PSS with SLD at the initial and final stages of integrated phase of e-learning package in terms of different aspects of Dysgraphia on subsamples a. Boys / Girls , b. State / CBSE Schemes , c. Visual / Auditory / Kinaesthetic Learning Styles

Methodology The Investigator at first identified the Primary School Students with Learning Disability and subjected for Diagnostic test of Learning Disability and Intelligence test. Then the Reading Level, Learning styles and Level of Dysgraphia Characteristics among these students were found out. The sample comprised 39 students aged 8-10 years with Specific Learning Disabilities (SLD) from CBSE and State scheme followed Primary Schools of Selected Districts of Kerala and the districts were selected through random sampling technique. One group prepost test design was selected for the study.Then inclusion and exclusion criteria were applied among these students. Then developed e-learning intervention package administered among these students so as to find out the effectiveness of the same. The areas represent the process involved in visual and auditory perceptions, which are included in the intervention were viz.Eye-Hand Co-ordination (EHC),Figure Constancy(FC), Figure Ground Discrimination(FGD), Position in Space (PS), Spatial Relations (SR), and Auditory Perception (AP).The experimental group was given the intervention stage-wise. During the experiment performance test were done at the end of each phase -fundamental and Learning styles-visual, auditory and kinesthetic-phase of implementation of package.. Analysis and Interpretation The performances of PSS with SLD were compared on the basis of their performance test scores at initial, and final stages of implementation of package under the aspects -EyeHand Co-ordination (EHC),Figure Constancy(FC), Figure Ground Discrimination(FGD), Position in Space (PS), Spatial Relations (SR), and Auditory Perception (AP).. Comparison of performance of PSS with SLD with respect to overall aspects of Dysgraphia The Investigator analysed the performance of PSS with SLD regarding all the aspects of Dysgraphia on the basis of pre-post Dysgraphia Performance Test (DPT) mean scores. The data thus obtained were analysed by computing Mean and Standard Deviation and by testing the significant difference between means using paired ‘t’ test. The data and results of analysis are given in the table. Table 1.Results of test of significance of DPT scores of overall for the total and subsamples Category Total Gender

Boys

Scheme of study

Girls State CBSE

Pre Test Mean SD 35.2 8.4 34.9 8.2 35.6 8.8 36.7 9.8 33.8 6.7

N 39 21 18 19 20

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Post Test Mean SD 63.0 9.0 64.8 8.1 60.9 9.6 63.4 10.5 62.6 7.5

aspects of Dysgraphia

N 39 21 18 19 20

Mean Diff.

Paired ‘t’

27.8 29.9 25.3 26.7 28.8

26.44** 19.68** 20.67** 24.19** 16.38**

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Learning style

Auditory Visual Auditory + Visual + Kinaesthetic

37.0 36.1 32.5

7.7 8.3 9.0

9 18 12

62.7 62.8 63.4

9.2 9 8.3 18 10.4 12

25.7 26.7 30.9

9.59** 20.12** 17.74**

**:- Significant at 0.01 level

The mean score of performance regarding overall aspects in the pre test, is 35.2 and in the post test, the mean score increased to 63.0, an increase of 27.8 can be observed for the total sample. The paired ‘t’ value is 26.44 , which is greater than the table value (2.58) for 0.01 level of significance. So it can be inferred that the performance regarding overall aspects is significantly increased through the intervention. In the case of PSS with SLD-Boys, the performance regarding overall aspects in the pre test, the mean score is 34.9 and in the post test the mean score increased to 64.8, an increase of 29.9 can be observed for the boy students. The paired ‘t’ value is 19.68, which is greater than the table value (258) for 0.01 level of significance. So it can be inferred that the performance regarding overall aspects is significantly increased through the implementations. The performance of PSS with SLD –Girls, the performance regarding overall aspects in the pre test, the mean score is 35.6 and in the post test its score increased to 60.9; an increase of 25.3 in the mean score can be observed for the total girl students. The paired ‘t’ value is 20.67, which is greater than the table value (2.58) for 0.01 level of significance. So it can be inferred that the performance of girl students regarding overall aspect is significantly increased through the implementation. The performance of PSS with SLD belongs to the scheme of study –State scheme regarding overall aspects, in the pre test the mean score is 36.7 and that in the post test, the mean score increased to 63.4; an increase of 26.7 in the mean score can be observed for the total sample. The paired ‘t’ value is 24.19 which is greater than the table value (2.58) for 0.01 level of significance. So it can be inferred that the performance regarding overall aspects is significantly increased through the implementations. In the case of PSS with SLD belongs to the scheme of study - CBSE, the performance regarding over -all aspects in the pre test, the mean score is 33.8., and that in the post test, the mean score increased to 62.6. An increase of 28.8 in the mean score can be observed. The paired ‘t’ value is 16 which is greater than the table value (2.58) for 0.01 level of significance. So it can be inferred that the performance regarding overall aspects is significantly increased through the implementation. Among the PSS with SLD belongs to the Auditory learning style the performance regarding overall aspects in the pre-test, the mean score is 37.0.and that in the post- test, the mean score increased to 62.7. An increase of 25.7 mean score can be observed. The paired ‘t’ value is 9.59, which is greater than the table value (2.58) for 0.01 level of significance. So it can be inferred that the performance regarding overall aspects among students having Auditory learning style, is increased through the implementation. Among the PSS with SLD belongs to the Visual learning style the performance regarding overall aspects in the pre-test the mean score is 36.1, and in the post-test, the mean score increased to 62.8; an increase of 26.7 mean score can be observed. The paired ‘t’ value is 20.12, which is greater than the table value (2.58) for 0.01 level of significance. It can be inferred that the performance regarding overall aspects is significantly increased through the implementation.

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In the case of PSS with SLD belongs to the (Visual +Auditory+ kinaesthetic) VAK learning style, the performance regarding overall aspects in the pre-test, the mean score is 32.5, and in the post-test the mean score increased to 63.4. An increase of 30.9 mean score can be observed. The paired ‘t’ value is 17.74, which is greater than the table value (2.58) for 0.01 level of significance. So it can be inferred that the performance regarding overall aspect is significantly increased through the implementation. The performance of PSS with SLD at prepost Dysgraphia performance respect to its overall aspects is given in the following figure.

test with

80 70

Mean Value

60 50 40 30 20 10

Gender

Syllabus Pre Test

Auditory + Visual + Kinaesthetic

Visual

Auditory

CBSE

State

girls

Boys

Total

Learning style Post Test

Figure 1: Performance of PSS with SLD with respect to overall aspects of DPT Findings The paired ‘ t’ values obtained between the pre-test and post-test based on overall aspects of total sample, sub samples-Gender (Boys / Girls), Scheme of study (State/CBSE), and learning styles (Visual, Auditory, Kinaesthetic) were showed that all results are significant at 0.01 level. It is found that the e-learning package is effective in minimizing Dysgraphia in its over all aspects among PSS with SLD belongs to different gender and learning styles and scheme of study. Package is more effective on the performance of PSS with SLD having different learning styles with respect to different aspects of Dysgrphia. There is significant difference in the degree of effectiveness among different learning style groups and different scheme of study group taught through e-learning Package. The PSS with SLD was more common in the scheme of study –State as well as CBSE syllabus, and they belongs to different learning styles such as Visual, Auditory and combination of Visual, Auditory and Kinaesthetic. The learning style preference such as Visual, Auditory and Kinesthetic is worth while spending time with the learner so that he/she will be aware of their own learning preferences. It helped them to work independently and in a group. The package is equally effective in benefiting Gender- boys/ girls. Scheme of study –State/ CBSE in minimizing SLD in its all aspects among PSS.

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Conclusion One of the principal points to appreciate in learning styles is that all styles can be effective. However, the actual task demands can make one type of style less effective than another. For example, if the student has to locate detailed information from a library using index cards or computer referencing then an auditory style may be more effective and the visual learner may have to use a visual strategy to do this. But when it comes to locating books from the shelf the visual learner may be able to locate the title of the book from the visual appearance of the book faster than the auditory learner can from the book reference number. At the same time it is important not to pigeonhole students by their learning styles as this may be unnecessarily restrictive. It is important not to think that a certain type of learner is incapable of learning using another mode. It is for that reason that e-learning intervention / teaching and planning of learning should involve a range of learning experiences that can reinforce learning and ensure that all styles are accommodated in the mainstream classroom. References Bharadwaj, M. P. (1995). A study on handwriting errors and its improvement. Primary Teacher,3 (2), 10-12. Bose, K. (1996). Studying the effectiveness of computer programmes as remedial strategies for overcoming specific learning disabilities. In S. Uppal (Ed.), Sixth survey of educational research (volume 1).New Delhi: NCERT. Cavey, D. W. (2000). Dysgraphia (3rd. ed.). Austin: Opro.ed, An International Publisher. Getman, G. N. (1965). The visual motor complex in the acquisition of learning skill. In R. Reger, W. Schroeder & K. Uschold, Special education: Children with learning problems. New York: Oxford University Press. Gillinghan, A., & Stillman, B. (1956). Remedial training for children with specific disabilities in reading, reading writing and penmanship (5th ed.). In L. Harding, Learning Disabilities in the primary classroom. London : Croom Helm. Given, B. K., & Reid, G. (2005). Learning styles. A guide for teachers and parents. St Anneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s-on- Sea, Lancashire; red Rose Publications. Marshal, J. (2005). Writing difficulties. [Electronic version] Nature, 353 (6341), 209. Pierangelo, R., & Giuliani, G. (2008). Teaching students with learning disabilities .Thousand Oaks : Corwin Press. Reid, G. (2005). Learning styles and inclusion. California: Paul Chapman Publishing. Working Together: Computers and People with Learning Disabilities.(2000). (ERIC Database, ED 481 296).

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A STUDY ON THE OPINIONS OF COLLEGE/UNIVERSITY STUDENTS REGARDING THE HIGHER EDUCATION SYSTEM IN HIMACHAL PRADESH Dr. Pardeep Kumar TGT (N.M) Department of Education, Govt. of Himachal Pradesh, Shimla, E-mail:listengarg@gmail.com ABSTRACT The higher education system plays a vital role in the development of a nation. Recently, the State and centre governments have taken several initiatives to improve the educational structure within the country. This paper focuses on the opinions of college/university Students regarding the Higher Education system in Himachal Pradesh. The method implemented was the descriptive type survey and the students of higher Studies showed a favourable attitude towards higher education system in concept of Planning/Administration, Infrastructural facilities, Examinations, courses of study, Students issues and Co-curricular activities in Himachal Pradesh. Key- Words: College, Development, Growth, Higher Education, Institutions, University

Introduction Education determines the development of a nation. The quality of manpower in any country ultimately determines sustainable well-being of its people. Creation of social opportunities for all sections of society is a reflection of the progress of that society. The educational system, especially the higher education plays a vital role in the social and Economic development of a nation. It has been taking a large number of new initiatives in order to meet the needs of human resource development and the challenges of a global world. Co-ordination and determination of standards in higher education is a subject in the union list and is special responsibility of the central government. This responsibility is discharged mainly through the University Grants Commission. For Arts and Social Sciences, there are four such national agencies namely, Indian Council of Social Sciences Research, Indian Council of Historical Research, Indian Council of Philosophical Research and Indian Institute of Advanced Study (Jain, 1989). For other faculties, similar agencies exist as well. Higher education in the 21st century has become increasingly important for both individuals and the larger society. Education not only inculcates social, economic and cultural awareness but is also an important medium for enhancing values among the human beings. History has established beyond doubt, the crucial role played by human resources in the development of nations and education has been universally recognized as one of the basic requirement for human development. After independence, India has witnessed major changes in the area of higher education with the rapid industrialization required to restructure its agriculture based economy and to rebuild itself as a dynamic, modern, strong and self-reliant nation (Altbach, 1991). This requires a huge infrastructure in higher and technical education, industries and research laboratories covering a wide range of disciplines. This process led to the rise of knowledge-based industry in India. To address these requirements, various research institutes, universities and industrial organizations have been established across India after independence. Until last a few years, the state of Himachal Pradesh, due to its geographical location had only a few higher educational Institutes. Recently, to raise the gross enrolment ratio in higher education, the centre government has proposed to set up various universities across India. The government of Himachal Pradesh has also taken some concrete steps in this direction. In this paper, our objective is to discuss the opinions of college/university students regarding the Higher education system in concept of

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Planning/Administration, Infrastructural facilities, Examinations, courses of study, Students issues and Co-curricular activities in Himachal Pradesh. Higher Education in Himachal Pradesh Himachal Pradesh has one of the highest literacy rates in India, next only to Kerala. Hamirpur district is among the top districts in the country in terms of literacy rates. Literacy rates among women are also quite encouraging in the state. The standard of education in the state has reached a considerably high level as compared to other states in India with several reputed educational institutes located in the state for higher studies. Four states, sixteen private and one central university characterize the higher education landscape of Himachal Pradesh. The state currently does not have any deemed university. In addition to these universities, there are two Institutes of National Importance located in the state. Three of the four state universities were established prior to 1990, with the Himachal Pradesh University being the oldest university in the state established in 1970.The state of Himachal Pradesh has 77 colleges in total, of which 87% are government Colleges, followed by an even number of government Sanskrit colleges (6.5%) and private colleges (6.5%) (Agarwal, 2012). The colleges in the state are primarily government funded and there is limited investment made by the private sector in education. The CAGR of higher education institutes in the state stands at 38.83% as compared to the national level of 7%, which indicates an impressive progress and above average performance in providing higher and technical education to the youth of the state. The number of higher and technical institutes has more than doubled from 225 in 200607 to 608 in 2009-10. The state Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) has been rising steadily between 2006-07 and 2009-10, thereby reflecting increased access among the age group of 18 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 24 years population to higher education. While the GER during the year 2006-07 was 15.9%, it has maintained steady growth and reached 23.9% in 2009-10. The GER of 23.9% in 2009-10 is much higher than the national average of 15%. At the national level, the dominant programs that are offered in higher education are in the areas of arts, science and commerce (ASC). A similar trend is reflected in Himachal Pradesh as well, with 62% of the total number of institutes offering ASC programs (ASHE, 2012). There has been a deliberate emphasis put on promoting education in field of engineering at both degree and diploma level. All major faculties have witnessed a strong growth in the concerned time period indicating that higher & technical education in the state is being aggressively pursued; however such growth needs to be balanced with quality of education imparted, tangible infrastructure and capacity building. Objectives of the Study To find out the opinions of college/university students regarding the higher education system in Himachal Pradesh Methodology The present study is descriptive in nature, made on the basis of data gathered to find out the opinions of college/university Students regarding the higher education system in Himachal Pradesh. Sample and Sampling Technique of the Present Research The sample of present study consisted of 300 University and college students i.e. 50 university and 250 college level students selected from five districts of Himachal Pradesh. The sample was collected by purposive and incidental sampling technique.

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Tools used in the Research In the present research the tool used was the questionnaire. It is very flexible and versatile tool for getting both quantitative and qualitative information. There were in all 78 statements. Each of the statement was calculated with the frequencies and percentage of response for each item in questionnaire. Results of the Research: Question-wise Data Report in tabular Form Table 1: Responses of Students Regarding Planning/Administration Item 1.

Statements

Yes No N (%) N (%) 41(13.7) 259(86.3)

The existing system of higher education is satisfactory in Himachal Pradesh Higher education helps in raising the standard of living

Higher education is made available to everybody

234(78)

66(22)

69(23)

231(77)

The number of colleges are sufficient in the state to fulfil the demand There is one college in every district

234(78)

66(22)

More girl colleges should be opened

207(69)

93(31)

One University is enough for the entire state

45(15)

255(85)

Standard of education are at par with national level

48(16)

252(84)

205(68.3) 95(31.7)

Linking development grants by UGC with autonomy 242(80.7) 58(19.3) of the colleges 10. Higher Education in India helps in facing the challenges of 21st 192(64) 108(36) century 11. Government is taking interest in development of higher education in Himachal Pradesh 12. There is linkages between higher education institutions and industries 13. Peoples in the state take interests in the growth and development of higher education in Himachal Pradesh 14. Colleges/University have Duly constituted bodies 15. Functioning of the above bodies is satisfactory

144(48)

156(52)

204(68)

96(32)

205(68.3) 95(31.7) 144(48)

156(52)

50(16.7) 250(83.3)

16. State government is playing satisfactory role in development of 160(53.3) 140(46.7) higher education 17. Administrators of higher education at different levels 98(32.7) 202(67.3) are professionally trained 18. Higher education institutions have administrative autonomy 126(42) 174(58)

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Table 2: Responses of Students Regarding Infrastructural Facilities Item 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Statements Educational and Research facilities at Himachal Pradesh University are satisfactory Infrastructure and maintenance of the higher education institutions are of National standard There is need of facilities like market, bank, post-office, parks inside campus Library facilities of Colleges/University is satisfactory

Yes N (%) 111(37)

No N (%) 189(63)

117(39)

183(61)

240(80)

60(20)

117(39)

183(61)

141(47)

159(53)

65(21.7) 235(78.3)

Quantity and quality of text books, journals and reference books available in University / Colleges Library are satisfactory Adequacy of practical laboratories of Himachal Pradesh University are at par with National standards There is a health care centre inside the Colleges/University

36(12)

264(88)

There is problem of water and electricity services

234(78)

66(22)

Sanitation arrangements are adequate

62(20.7) 238(79.3)

10. Photostat and typing facilities are at subsidized rates in the campus 11. There is sufficient hostel accommodation for boys and girls 12. Hostel facilities are adequate

61(20.3) 239(79.7) 62(20.7) 238(79.3) 54(18)

246(82)

13. There are sufficient students welfare services

82(27.3) 218(72.7)

14. Sports facilities are adequate

105(35)

195(65)

Yes N (%) 300(100)

No N (%) -(-)

Table 3: Responses of Students Regarding Examinations Item 1.

Statements

There is internal/external examination system at higher education level in Himachal Pradesh There are periodic evaluations for promotion of students higher level Promotion in higher education is based on single examination system Internal evaluation waste the time of students and teachers

System of examination followed in university is reliable

There is need to change the examination system in Himachal Pradesh Private candidates allowed to appear in periodic examinations

2. 3.

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155(51.7) 145(48.3) 189(63)

111(37)

60(20)

240(80)

118(39.3) 182(60.7) 237(79)

63(21)

261(87)

39(13)

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Teachers set paper according to prescribed syllabus

165(55)

135(45)

New techniques of paper setting is followed

216(72)

84(28)

10. Teachers take help from guide books while preparing question papers 11. Teachers helping students in the examinations

196(65.3) 104(34.7)

12. Students use unfair means to pass the examinations

245(81.7) 55(18.3)

13. Students are not satisfied with marking of the answer sheets 14. There is the opportunity of re-evaluation in the university

198(66)

240(80)

102(34)

60(20)

227(75.7) 73(24.3)

Table 4: Responses of Students Regarding Courses of Study No N (%) 117(39)

The curriculum of different courses are at par with National standards Use of prescribed books for various courses of study

Yes N (%) 183(61) 176(58.7)

124(41.3)

The syllabi in higher classes should be updated

259(86.3)

41(13.7)

The existing syllabi in higher education system is developed by subject experts

221(73.7)

79(26.3)

176(58.7)

124(41.3)

237(79)

63(21)

27(9)

273(91)

249(83)

51(17)

179(59.7)

121(40.3)

161(53.7)

139(46.3)

79(26.3)

221(73.7)

Item 1.

Statements

The existing centre of IGNOU is sufficient for fulfilling the requirements of students 6. The department of distance education established in university fulfils the needs of the students 7. The functioning of adult and continuing education department is satisfactory 8. There is common entrance test for admission to higher education 9. The new up-coming courses introduced in the higher education system 10. The existing diversity of courses in higher education are satisfactory 11. The professional and academic courses as per manpower requirements of the state Table 5: Responses of Students Regarding Students Issues Item 1. 2.

Statements There are good relationships between students and teachers in the higher education institutes There is the need of students association

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Yes N (%) 147(49)

No N (%) 153(51)

270(90)

30(10)

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267(89)

33(11)

There is duly constituted student’s association in higher education system of Himachal Pradesh These association working for the genuine causes of students

150(50)

There must be ban on ragging in higher education institutions

272(90.7)

28(9.3)

212(70.7) 88(29.3)

Private tuitions becomes a kind of fashion for getting knowledge Problems/situations compel students to take private tuitions

8. 9.

Satisfaction with the style of teaching in University/Colleges Students frequently involved in acts of violence and rowdism

208(69.3) 92(30.7) 78(26) 168(56)

222(74) 132(44)

10. Involvement of higher education student’s in political activities 212(70.7) 88(29.3) 11. All students in higher classes should play at least one game daily 12. Meritorious students given free education in higher studies 13. Students at higher level studying sincerely with full concentration of mind

241(80.3) 59(19.7) 251(83.7) 49(16.3) 204(68) 96(32)

Table 6: Responses of Students Regarding Co-curricular Activities Item

Statements

Yes N (%) 272(90.7)

No N (%) 28(9.3)

Co-curricular activities motivate the students

Co-curricular activities as important as other educational programmes Co-curricular activities properly planned and organized in the institutions of higher learning Debates and declamation contests are the usual features of the institutions

269(89.7)

31(10.3)

102(34)

198(66)

207(69)

93(31)

There are literary societies in Colleges/University departments

117(39)

183(61)

Excursions and educational tours organized in Colleges/University Organizing various events in University/Colleges

252(84)

48(16)

273(91)

27(9)

232(77.3)

68(22.7)

3. 4.

7. 8.

There is students association for organizing functions and cultural programmes

Findings Opinions of Students Regarding the Present Status of Higher Education in Himachal Pradesh Planning/Administration The existing system of higher education in Himachal Pradesh was considered unsatisfactory by an overwhelming majority of the students (86.3%). They felt that the

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number of colleges in the state were not sufficient to fulfil the demand. The students were of the opinion that at least one college should be there in every district, and the number of girl colleges should be more (69%). Only one Academic University was also not considered enough for the entire state which was the views of almost four-fifth of the respondents (85%). The standard of Higher Education in the state was not considered to be at par with national level by quite a large number of the students (84%). The students wanted that the colleges should be given autonomy for raising the standard of education (80.7%). About half of the students (48%) reported that government is taking interest and playing satisfactory role in the development of Higher education in the state. Fifty percent of the students reported that colleges and university of Himachal Pradesh had duly constituted administrative, academic and financial bodies. However, majority of the students (83.3%) felt that the functioning of these bodies needs improvements. The administrators of higher education, at different levels were not professionally trained, as reported by (67.3%) of the respondents. Infrastructural Facilities The infrastructural facilities in the university, more so in the colleges were found to be severely lacking and inadequate. The majority opinion about various facilities was: • The education and research facilities were considered unsatisfactory by 63 percent of the students. • Infrastructural and maintenance of higher education institutions were not of national standard (61%). • The practical Laboratories were neither well equipped nor well maintained (78.3%). • Lack of health care Centre in the colleges and university campus (88%). • Severe water/electricity services (78%). • Sanitation arrangements were inadequate and poorly maintained (79.3%). • No provision of Photostat and typing facilities at subsidized rate (79.7%). • Insufficient hostels accommodation available to boys and girls (79.3%). •Unsatisfactory hostel facilities like mess, canteen, rooms, sanitation, magazines, newspapers, common-rooms etc. (82%). • Unsatisfactory student welfare services in colleges/university (72.7%). The libraries and facilities available in them, particularly in college libraries, were found unsatisfactory by quite a large number of students (61%). They were also not satisfied with the quantity and quality of textbooks available in the college libraries particularly. The sports facilities available in the colleges/university of Himachal Pradesh were inadequate, was the opinion of almost two-third of the responding students (65%). Examinations All students in the sample responded that both internal and external examinations were used for evaluation purposes. The students reported that in some courses periodic evaluation were held for promotion of students (51.7%), whereas in some institutions promotion in higher education is based on single examination system (63%). Majority of the students (80%) did not mind internal evaluation, however for the rest (20%) it was wastage of time. As per 60.7 percent of the students the examination system adopted by the university was not reliable but the remaining 39.3 percent did not feel that way. However most of the students (79%) opined that the examination system needed modifications. Majority of the

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students (87%) opined that private candidates should be allowed to appear in periodic examinations. As responded by the students (55%), the teachers set the question papers within the syllabus and they also used new techniques of question framing. However, 45 percent students were not satisfied with the standard of question papers. Use of unfair means was quite common among the higher education students, was the opinion of large number of respondents (81.7%). The students were satisfied with the marking of their answer sheets (80%) and the opportunity of re-evaluation system exists in the university was the opinion of 75.7 percent respondents. Courses of Study The curriculum of various courses was as per the national standards, was the opinion of 61 percent students whereas 39 percent students disagreed with this statement. Majority (86.3%) students were in favour of updating the syllabus of higher education courses, both at graduate and post graduate level. Most of them (73.7%) felt that subject experts should prepare these syllabi. Although 58.7 percent of the respondents considered that the existing centre of IGNOU is sufficient for fulfilling the requirements of students, whereas 79 percent of the students were also satisfied with the distance education department of Himachal Pradesh University. There is a huge scope for improvement in the functioning of the adult and continuing education department was the view of majority of students (91%). There should be a common entrance test for admission to higher education was (83%). 59.7 percent students believed that new up-coming courses were started in colleges and university departments. The studentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s opinion was almost equally divided on the diversity of courses available in higher education institution. However, quite a large number (73.7%) opined that the professional and academic courses offered by these institutions were not at all enough for fulfilling the manpower requirements of the state. Studentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Issues The student/teacher relationships in the higher education institution was not very satisfactory was the view of 51 percent students negative response. Most of the respondents (74%) were not satisfied with the teaching style of their teachers. A duly constituted students association in the higher education institution was the opinion of majority of the students (89%) and such associations exists in the university and most of the colleges of Himachal Pradesh. The students opinion about the functioning of these organizations was equally divided i.e. 50 percent positive and 50 percent negative response, meaning thereby that some of the organizations were not working for the genuine causes of students. Ragging in higher education institutions should be banned (90.7%). Taking private tuitions was found very common amongst higher education students (70.7%). Reasons could vary because it was fashionable trend to compelling circumstances. More than half of the respondents (56%) opined that higher education students in Himachal Pradesh were involved in political activities and acts of violence/rowdism. Playing at least one game daily by all the students was considered necessary as it would make use of their surplus energy (80.3%). Four-fifth of the respondents (83.7%) were in favour of providing free education at graduate and post graduate levels to the needy and excellent meritorious students. Students study sincerely with full concentration of mind was the opinion of 68 percent respondents. Co-curricular Activities Curricular and co-curricular activities both were considered important for the overall development of students and these activities motivate the students accordingly was the opinion of majority of the respondents (90%). These activities were not properly planned which required attention by the concerned institutions (66%). (69%) of the students believed that the debates and declamations contests in higher education institutions were organised.

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Literary societies existed in less than half of the institutions (39%). The students association were taking interest for organizing functions and cultural programmes, was the majority opinion (77.3%). Conclusion From the above findings, it can be concluded that sincere, focused and continuous efforts by the state government are needed for bringing the requisite improvements in the planning and administration of higher education system like concrete, constructive, clear-cut policies, strict administrative control, free from any kind of political or government interference must be there. The infrastructural facilities in the university and colleges were found to be severely lacking and inadequate. Committee of experts should be constituted to examine all matters related to infrastructural facilities. The examination system adopted by the university was not reliable and it should be in accordance with the national standard. In courses of study, Majority of students were in favour of updating the syllabus of higher education courses, both at graduate and post graduate level from time to time with new technology. There are various issues related to the students of higher education institutions like students/teacher relationships, ragging, violence, rowdism and political activities etc. all such activities should be resolved. Co-curricular activities are important as other educational programmes for the overall development of students and these activities motivate the students accordingly. These activities were not properly planned and conducted, which required attention by the concerned institutions. References 1. Afzal, S. M. and Ahmad, S. (2008). Students Enrolment in Higher Education: A Gender Comparison. University News, Vol.46, p. 17-25. 2. Agarwal, P. (2012). Annual Status of Higher Education of States and UTs in India (120-133). 3. Altbach, P.G. (1991). The Dilemma of Change in Indian Higher Education, Higher Education, Vol.26, p. 13-20. 4. American Psychological Association (2010). Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (6th Ed.) Washington, DC. 5. Annual Report (2010-11). Himachal Pradesh Annual Report: Shimla 6. Chakravarty, N. (2000). A Study of Difference in Attitude of College Students towards National Integration in Meghalaya: Factors Affecting Attitude. Fifth Survey of Educational Research, Vol. II, NCERT. 7. Dash, J. P. (1990). Growth and Development of Higher Education, Orissa (19351985). Fifth Survey of Educational Research, Vol. II, NCERT. 8. Deka, B. (1989). Growth and Development of Higher Education in Kamrup District since independence and its impact on society. Fifth Survey of Educational Research, Vol.2 NCERT, 2000. 9. Jain, B. (1989). An Appraisal of Indian History of Higher Education in PostIndependence Era. Ph.D. Thesis, Meerut University Library, Meerut. 10. Koul, L. (2009). Methodology of Educational Research (4th Rev. Ed.). New Delhi, India: Vikas Publishing House Pvt. Ltd. 11. Kumar, P. and Rana, S. (2013). Higher Education: Issues, Challenges and Initiatives in Himachal Pradesh. University News, 51(43), October 28 – November 03, p. 9-14. 12. Lohumi, M. (1996). Development of Tertiary Education in Himachal Pradesh. Highlander’s Communications, Lower Kaithu Shimla. 13. Rana, S. Gautam, P. and Jishtu, P. (2012). Higher Education in India: Issues and challenges in transforming the vision. New Era College of Science and Technology Ghaziabad. Vol.4 No.2, p. 4-16. EDULIGHT-Multi-disciplinary, Peer-Reviewed Journal

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A STUDY OF ATTITUDE OF COLLEGE TEACHERS TOWARDS INTRODUCINGPUNJABI AS A COMPULSORY SUBJECT AT UNDERGRADUATE LEVEL Dr. Punam Chopra12 Assistant Professor, Anand College of Education for Women, Jethuwal, Amritsar, Punjab, E-mail: optimisticpunam@gmail.com Introduction Language is the back bone of any culture. It is a method of communication. The evolution of the human language began when communication was done through pictograms or pictures and drawings. Most human languages use patterns of sound or gestures for symbols which enables communication with others. In India, a variety of languages previal. Different states have different official languages. In the state of Punjab, Punjabi is the official language, Punjabi is spoken in some parts of Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan and in Punjab. Apart from this it is also spoken by immigrants who migrated to USA, Canada, UK, Australia and Singapore. Punjabi, is a preferred language of the Sikh people, as it is the language of their religion. Punjabi has many dialects. Punjabi as a language gained prominence in the 17th century. However, the literary period of the language began with the sacred scriptures of the Sikhs-the Guru Granth Sahib. After the period of ten gurus it was the sufi poets who developed the Punjabi Language. Emergence of the Problem In this Tech-era Punjabis mother tongue, Punjabi is losing its importance not only at the global level, but in its own country. No doubt language is considered as the medium of communication and English has a great importance at the global level but one cannot have mental growth without knowing the mother tongue. The Punjab State Government is trying to keep the language alive. On June 25, 2012, Guru Nanak Dev University introduced Punjabi as a compulsory subject at the undergraduate level. Attitude, is a specific mental state of the individual towards something according to which his behaviour towards it is molded. The teachers play a important role to develop positive attitude among Punjabi language as the students are always effected by teachers. When the teachers will think positive about Punjabi language the students shall also develop positive attitude towards Punjabi language. Teachers can bring awareness about Punjabi language if they have a positive attitude towards Punjabi as a compulsory subject at the undergraduate level. Objectives 1.

To study the attitude of college teachers Towards Punjabi as a compulsory subject, at the undergraduate level.

To compare the difference in attitude between male and female college teachers towards Punjabi as a compulsory subject at the undergraduate level.

Hypothesis 1.

There is a positive attitude of college teachers towards Punjabi as a compulsory subject, at the undergraduate level.

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There is no significant difference in attitude between male and female college teachers towards Punjabi as a compulsory subject, at the undergraduate level.

Delimitations of the Study 1.

The study is delimited to colleges affiliated with Guru Nanak Dev University only.

The study is delimited to colleges situated in Amritsar District only.

Method An attitude scale was prepared in order to assess the attitude of college teachers towards Punjabi as a compulsory subject at the undergraduate level. While preparing the scale its validity, reliability and practicality were kept in mind. The length of the scale was not kept too long so that the teachers could finish within ten minutes. Convinence of administering was also kept in mind. For the present study the population was college teachers teaching at under graduate level. Sample The sample consisted of 100 college teachers, 50 male teachers and 50 female teachers, teaching at Undergraduate level, in Amritsar District. Tool An attitude scale was prepared for collecting the data. Result and Discussion The first hypothesis was verified with the help of attitude co-efficient using the following formula:Attitude co-efficient = f+ + f (-) f+ + f(o)- (f -) f+

Total of agreed frequencies

Total of uncertain frequencies

Total of disagreed frequencies.

Table I (a) - Showing Attitude co-efficient Responses

Yes

Uncertain

Attitude Coefficient

Scores

1978

191

335

0.66

Table I (b) - Showing percentage of attitude co-efficient Responses

Yes

Uncertain

Scores Percentage

79.12%

7.64%

13.4%

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PIE CHART SHOWING %AGE OF TOTAL RESPONSES

Figure 1 showing % of Total Responses For testing the 1st hypotheses the attitude co-efficient on the basis of responses was calculated. The attitude co-efficient was calculated on the basis of the attitude scale developed. The scale measures, the attitude of the teachers towards introducing punjabi as a compulsory subject. It is a three point scale and consists of 25 statements. Each statement has three options Yes, No and Uncertain. For all statements the attitude co-efficient was calculated from the responses of teachers with the help of the formula. For Table 1(a), we se that:The total score of 25 questions was 2500. The number of yes responses for the scale was 1978. The number of no responses for the scale was 335 and the number of uncertain responses were 191. The total percentage of these three options is shown in 1(b).The option of Yes (79.12%). The option of no response is (13.4%) and the third option uncertain is (7.64%). So, from the results it can be concluded that the college teachers have a positive attitude towards introduction of Punjabi as a compulsory subject at the undergraduate level. The first hypothesis is accepted. Verification of 2nd hypothesis For the verification of the 2nd hypothesis the attitude co-efficient of male and female teachers was analysed separately. TABLE (a) - Showing the attitude co-efficient of male and female teachers Gender

Yes

Uncertain

Attitude Co-efficient

Male

992

176

0.65

Female

986

104

159

0.66

TABLE II (b) - Table showing the %age of Male and Female Teachers Responses Gender

Yes

Uncertain

Male Percentage

79.36%

14.08%

6.96%

Female Percentage

78.88%

12.72%

8.32%

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Figure II (a) - showing the % of Male Teachers Responses

Figure II (b) - showing the %age of female Teachers Responses

The total sample was divided into 50 male and 50 female teachers. The total score of male college teachers is 1250 and the female teachers is also 1250. With the help of the formula, the attitude co-efficient of male teachers calculated was 0.65 and that of female teachers was 0.66. The percentage of responses based on the three options is shown in Table II (b). The % of yes responses of male teachers is 79.36% and female teachers is 78.88%. The % of no responses of males is 14.08% and of females is 12.72%. The % of uncertain responses for males is 6.96% and of females is 8.32%. So, there is no significant difference in the attitude towards punjabi as a compulsory subject at the undergraduate level between male and female college teachers. So, the second hypothesis is accepted.

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Findings From the above results the findings are:1.

College teachers have a positive attitude towards punjabi as a compulsory subject at the undergraduate level.

There is no significant difference in the attitude of male and female teachers towards introducing punjabi as a compulsory subject at the undergraduate level.

Educational Implications 1.

Since, it has been found that college Teachers have a positive attitude towards Punjabi, they should encourage the students to develop a positive attitude towards punjabi. The responsibility of the college teachers is to make the students aware of the importance of punjabi language.

Both male and female teachers have a positive attitude towards teaching of mother tongue at undergraduate level.

The Heads of various educational institutions and various higher authorities should also help for the development of Punjabi language.

Bibliography 1. Best, M.B. et. al (1986). Research in Education, Prentice Hall in India Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi. 2. Malik Neeru: A Study of Attitude of School Teachers towards Teaching Profession in Journal of Education vol 1, no. 1, Dev Samaj College of Education, Chandigarh 3. Nimvathi, V. (2013) Effectiveness of Multimedia for the Development of Scientific Attitude Edutracks Vol. 13, No. 4. 4. Padam, P.S. (1969). History of Punjabi Language New Book Company Publishers, Jalandhar. Website References 1. www.indianmirror.com/language/punjabilanguagehtml./ 2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/punjab-language 3. http://www.wisreek.com/what-is/language.//

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A STUDY OF COMPUTER LITERACY AMONG PRE-SERVICE TEACHERS Miss Rajni Kumari Senior Research Fellow (UGC), Department of Education, Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra, PIN: 136119, E-mail: rajni.april@gmail.com & Dr. Radhakanta Gartia Block Education Officer, Bijepur, District: Bargarh, Odisha, PIN- 768032, E-mail: radhakantaedu@gmail.com & Miss Suchismita Rana M.A. (Education), Department of Education, Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra, PIN: 136119 ABSTRACT The present investigation examined computer literacy of pre-service teachers with reference to their gender, locality, basic qualification and type of institutions. A total of 200 pre-service teachers selected randomly from different colleges of education affiliated to Kurukshetra University of Haryana state constituted the sample of the study. Computer Literacy Test developed by the investigators was used for the collection of data. The data were analyzed using both descriptive (mean, frequency and percentage) and inferential (t-test, F-test) statistics. Present investigation found 63.50% pre-service teachers less literate to average literate in computer. Results indicate no significant difference in the computer literacy of male and female pre-service teachers. Pre-service teachers from Government or Aided institutions were found to be more literate in computer than preservice teachers from self-financed institutions. Pre-service teachers from science stream were found to be more literate in computer than pre-service teachers from Arts stream. Pre-service teachers belonging to urban areas found to be more literate in computer than their counterparts from rural areas. The technological tools of the information age such as computers, the internet and telecommunications systems have brought us a huge volume of information accompanied by certain issues such as what information is available, when to use it and how to find out about it. People today face an explosion of information resources together with the challenge of using them effectively and responsibly (Erdem, 2007). What might a person do when faced with so many facilities in information? Which information is reliable and which is not? To handle this questions everyonewhether they be in the education system or not must have technological skills. As today’s society is becoming more and more dependent on new technology, increasing attention is given to computer literacy, which in the current information age is no less significant as was reading, writing and th th calculus in the 19 - 20 centuries (Anderson, 1983). Like reading, which is sometimes rightly called by socialization scholars ″the socialization of socialization″, computer literacy becomes an essential precondition for successful socialization and professional career. For this reason education, being an important factor in society development plays an essential role in addressing the issue of literacy and in particular computer literacy. Through no fault of their own, most teachers are not prepared to teach about computing or use a computer in teaching because they received their education before computer. Now they are finding computer literacy as part of their jobs (Martin and Heller, 1983). Not accidentally computer literacy is increasingly widely addressed in research around the world (Hayden, 1999; Saparniene, Merkys and Saparnis, 2002). Computer literacy is of utmost importance for the teachers of 21st century. As prospective teachers are expected to transmit computer knowledge to students of 21st century, they must possess required computer knowledge. Timely assessment of computer knowledge of prospective teachers therefore is the need of the hour. Taking all these facts into consideration, present research is an endeavour to study the computer literacy of pre-service teachers.

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OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY 1.

To study the computer literacy of pre-service teachers.

To compare the computer literacy of pre-service teachers from government/ aided institutions and self-financed institutions.

To compare the computer literacy of male and female pre-service teachers.

To compare the computer literacy of urban and rural pre-service teachers.

To compare the computer literacy of pre-service teachers from Arts and Science streams.

HYPOTHESES OF THE STUDY 1.

There will be no significant difference in computer literacy pre-service teachers from government/aided institutions and self-financed institutions.

There will be no significant difference in computer literacy of male and female preservice teachers.

There will be no significant difference in computer literacy of urban and rural preservice teachers.

There will be no significant difference in computer literacy of pre-service teachers belonging to Arts and Science streams.

MATERIALS AND METHODS In the execution of the present study, descriptive method of research was employed. Sample and sampling technique: The sample of the present investigation constituted of 200 pre-service teachers selected randomly from different Government, Aided and Self-financing Colleges of Education affiliated to Kurukshetra University of Haryana state. Instrument: A self made Computer Literacy Test developed by the researchers was used to assess the computer literacy of pre-service teachers. The test consisted of two types of objective items i.e. multiple choice & true and false. The computer literacy test contained two different sections. The first section consisted of biographical data of research participants such as information about name, gender, locality, stream, qualification, and name of the institution, etc. The second section consisted of questions on the computer literacy. The test consisted of 30 questions, of which 15 are of multiple choice and 15 are of true and false. Scoring method and data analysis: In the scoring procedure, the subject is asked to choose the answer from multiple choices and true and false. Thus, right answer given a score of ‘1’ for each item and wrong answer given ‘0’ score. To analyze the data, statistical techniques like percentile, mean, standard deviation, and t -test were applied. RESULTS Table-1 Categorization of Computer Literacy of pre-service teachers Computer Literacy Level

Frequency

Percentage

High (On and above 23)

36.50%

Moderate (20 to 22)

35.00%

Low (Below 19.17)

28.50%

Total

200

100.0%

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Table- 1 reveals that out of 200 pre-service teachers 57 i.e. 28.5 % pre-service teachers who score below 19.17 are less computer literate, 70 i.e. 35 % pre-service teachers who score between 20 to 22 are average computer literate, and 73 i.e. 36.5 % pre-service teachers who score on and above 23 are high computer literate. Table-2 Comparison of computer literacy of Pre-service teachers from Govt. or Aided Institutions and Pre-service teachers from Self-Financed Institutions Variable

Computer Literacy

Group

Mean

S.D.

Pre-service teachers from Govt. or Aided Institutions

100

21.55

3.56

Pre-service teachers from Self-Financed Institutions

100

20.43

‘t’ ratio

Level of Significance

2.24

Significance at 0.05 level

3.50

It is depicted from the Table-2 that, the mean scores of pre-service teachers from Government/Aided and Self-financed institutions are 21.55 and 20.43 respectively where as the standard deviations of the same groups are 3.56 and 3.50, the calculated ‘t’ value of the groups is 2.24 which is significant at 0.05 levels of significance. It indicates a significant difference in the computer literacy of pre-service from Government/Aided institutions and pre-service teachers from self-financed institutions, with pre-service teachers from Government/Aided institutions found to be computer literate than their counterparts from self-financed institutions. Hence, the earlier stated hypothesis, “there will be no significant difference in computer literacy of male and female pre-service teachers” was rejected. Table-3 Comparison of computer literacy of male and female pre-service teachers Variable

Computer Literacy

Group

Mean

S.D.

Male Pre-service teachers

100

20.78

3.63

Female Pre-service teachers

100

21.10

3.89

‘t’ ratio

Level of Significance

0.60

Not Significance at 0.05 level

It is revealed from the Table-3 that, the mean scores of Male and Female pre-service teachers are 20.78 and 21.10 respectively, where as the standard deviations of the same groups are 3.63 and 3.89, the calculated ‘t’ value of the groups is 0.60 which is not significant at 0.05 levels of significance. It indicates no significant difference in the computer literacy of male and female pre-service teachers. Hence, the earlier stated hypothesis, “there will be no significant difference in the computer literacy of Male and Female pre-service teachers” was accepted

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Table-4 Comparison of computer literacy of rural and urban pre-service teachers Variable

Group

Mean

S.D.

Computer Literacy

Urban

20.84

3.63

Rural

108

15.50

6.40

Level of Significance

‘t’ ratio

7.30

Significance at 0.05 level

It is shown from the Table-4 that, the mean scores of urban and rural pre-service teachers are 20.84 and 15.50 respectively, where as the standard deviations of the same groups are 3.63 and 6.40, the calculated ‘t’ value is 7.30 which is significant at 0.05 levels of significance. It indicates a significant difference in the computer literacy of rural and urban pre-service teachers, with pre-service teachers from urban areas were found to be more computer literate than their counterparts from rural areas. Hence, the earlier stated hypothesis, “there will be no significant difference in the computer literacy of urban and rural pre-service teachers” was rejected. Table-5 Comparison of computer literacy of pre-service teachers belonging to Arts and Science streams Variable

Group

Mean

S.D.

Computer Literacy

Arts

100

20.06

3.13

Science

100

21.82

3.45

‘t’ ratio

Level of Significance

3.78

Significance at 0.05 level

Table-5 indicated that, mean scores of pre-service teachers from Arts and Science streams are 20.06 and 21.82, with S.D. of 3.13 and 6.45 respectively. The calculated t value 3.78 is significant at 0.05 levels. It shows a significant difference in the computer literacy of pre-service from arts and science streams, with pre-service from science stream were found to be more computer literate than their counterparts from arts stream. Hence, the earlier stated hypothesis, “there will be no significant difference in the computer literacy of pre-service teachers belonging to from Arts and Science streams” was rejected. DISCUSSION OF RESULTS Present investigation found 63.50% pre-service teachers less to average literate in computer, this finding of the present research is incongruence with the finding of Erdem (2007), where he found 54% students less to average literate in computer. Another finding of the present research found no gender difference in computer literacy; this finding is against the finding of Olatoye (2009), where he found male students more literate in computer than female students. Next finding of the present research found urban pre-service teachers more literate in computer than their rural counterparts; this finding is against the finding of LeBold, Montgomery, Budny, Bjedov and Ward (1997), where they proved computer literacy is not locality sensitive. Present research found pre-service teachers from government teacher education institutions more computer literate than their counterparts from private institutions. This result might be due to the fact that government teacher education institutions provide better computer facilities to pre-service teachers. EDUCATIONAL IMPLICATIONS Over the next decade, the need for individuals competent with computer education will increase as organizations transform from mechanical to intellectual structures. The

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present investigation has implications for students, teachers, administrators and the experts or the individuals who are working in the field of computer education. Computer literacy is the knowledge and ability to use computers and related technology efficiently, with a range of skills covering levels from elementary use to programming and advanced problem solving. In the present investigation more than sixty percent of pre-service teachers were found to be moderate to less literate in computer, this reports the illiteracy of prospective teachers in computer. To come out of this situation, pre-service teachers must look at the computer in an entirely different perspective as an active partner in the teaching-learning process, which may be most effective in teaching subjects that are either not taught at all or not taught well. Instead of looking at these machines as pieces of hardware, teachers must try to use them as a communication tool. Computer education will enable the prospective teachers to acquire knowledge and explore possibilities to solve the increasing problems. This will develop their decision making abilities and improve the conditions for mutual interaction between the pupil and system of the computer. It will help the pre-service teachers in developing self-educational practices by devising library classification, by data selection and by carrier guidance through providing selective information on educational and employment facilities. Computer education will also help the administrators to solve the administrative problems and introducing it in different institutions for preparing skilled workers. Awareness programmes need to be organized for bringing changes in the attitude of pre-service teachers towards computer education. It has been observed that teacher training institutions are lacking computer access for the prospective teachers. Computer access in the training institutions will lead to confidence building for using computer. Authorities related with teacher education need to monitor the facilities provided in the institutions regularly. REFERENCES 1. Anderson, C. A. (1983). Computer literacy: Rationale, definition and practices. Paper presented at a Satellite Teleconference on Microcomputers in Education, ERIC ED228983. 2. Erdem, M. (2007). Self-efficacy levels of teachers in information and computer literacy. World Applied Sciences Journal, 12, (4), 399-405. 3. Hayden, M. (1999). What is computer literacy? Bulletin of Science, Technology and Society, 119, 220 -233. 4. LeBold, W. K., Montgomery, R., Budny, D., Bjedov, G. & Ward, S. (1997). Assessing Computer literacy and achievement using self-concepts. 1997 ASEE Annual Conference Proceedings, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 5. Martin, C. D. & Heller, R. S. (1983). Computer literacy for teachers. Department of Computer Science, University of Maryland, College Park. 6. Olatoye, R. A. (2009). Influence of computer anxiety and knowledge on computer utilization of senior secondary school students. Electronic Journal of Research in Educational Psychology, 7, (3), 1269-88 7. Saparniene, D., Merkys, G., & Saparnis, G. (2002). Studentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; computer literacy and

social environment in the context of the society with limited resources. The International Association for Research on Textbooks and Educational Media. In J.Mikk, V.Meisalo, H.Kukemelk, M.Horsley (Eds.), Learning and Educational Media, 3, 126 -136 (ERIC ED467429).

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PERCEPTION OF TEACHERS ON SCHOOL BASED SUPERVISORY PRACTICES AND ITS INFLUENCE ON THEIR DECISION TO CONTINUE IN THE TEACHING PROFESSION Dr. Sushanta Kumar Roul Associate Professor in Education, Faculty of Educational & Behavioral Science, Bahir Dar University, Ethiopia, Africa, E-mail: drsushantaroul@gmail.com ABSTRACT This study was concerned with investigating the influence of perception of teachers on school based supervisory practices and its influence on their decision to continue in the profession at government schools of Afar regional state. The target population of this study was all the teaching staff in the selected 10 secondary and primary schools of a far regional state in Ethiopia. Accordingly, from each of selected schools, 50% of the staffs were selected randomly using lottery method, where 115 male teachers and 47 female teachers, totally 162 were taken as respondents for this study. Questionnaire with 5 point Likert scale was used to measure both teachers’ perception of school based supervisory activities and their decision to continue in the profession. Data was analyzed using various statistics; the Pearson product correlation computed has revealed that there statistically significant positive relationship among teachers’ perception of school based supervisory activities (except performance appraisal skills) of school principals and their decision to continue in the profession. The result of linear regressions has depicted that teachers’ perception of the principals’ school based supervisory activities do not significantly predict their decision to continue in teaching profession (p > 0.05). Furthermore, the independent sample t-test has revealed that there is no statistically significance difference in the beginner and experienced teachers decision as well as primary and secondary school teachers’ perception of school based supervisory activities indicating that both beginner and experienced teachers have not yet decide to continue or resign the teaching job, while both primary and secondary school teachers have trust in their school principals’ supervisory skills. It was also found that there is statistically significant mean difference between primary and secondary school teachers’ decision to persist in teaching job. Key - Words: Supervision, Supervisor, School based Supervision, Decision, Teaching Profession

Introduction Supervision in general is long-lived phenomenon in the education sector and has experienced changes in form and focus over centuries. In its earliest form, supervision, as it was said inspection, had a hierarchical nature whereby teachers were visited in the classroom by a formally designated supervisor without prior arrangement and notification. This was done with a view to judge the teacher. It assumed that there were fixed and known methods of teaching and teachers’ quality was judged by compliance of the same method. The end of the 20th Century witnessed a shift in the form and focus of new supervision: school based or instructional supervision which emphasizes teachers’ growth rather than compliance and encourages teacher participation in instructional process with the view to promote better learning outcome. The earlier supervision service took the form that a supervision team from regional or district education offices were mandated to monitor the functioning of schools. However, acute shortage of qualified manpower to supervise the increasing number of schools and teachers added with the shortage of budget and transportation facilities reduced the effectiveness and efficiency of this external supervisory practice. As a result, the rapid expansion of the education system along with shortage of adequately prepared teachers calls for alternative supervision modality: School based supervision or instructional supervision,

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which is to be conducted by school principals, department heads and senior or experienced teachers (MoE, Ethiopia, 1987). School based supervision is fruitful in achieving the desired goals of school than traditional system of external supervision. In describing the necessity of school based supervision, it was stated as: “they may not try to develop their skills and may inevitably act against the interests of the school. Yet, if supervision is used properly, then all teachers in a school would develop and perfect their teaching skills for the benefit of the pupils. Looked at this way, teacher supervision becomes very important in all schools if the quality of education is to be improved (Ogakwu, 2010)”. School based supervision is non-hierarchical and participatory type of supervision which aimed at monitoring and supporting teachers to perform better. Being participatory, the supervisor in this approach gets directly involved in the classroom teaching and is able to gain a more authentic view on the instructional process and thereby propose a more realistic and pertinent changes and improvement to be made on the functions of the teacher. The provision of good school supervision is not as such an easy task which rather requires one to develop a number of skills like perspective, personnel administration, human relation, group process, evaluation skills as well as technical skills such as planning, directing and managing complex operations in the school. Indeed, to be an effective, school-based supervision need one to develop sincerity, sympathy, open-mindedness, intellectuality, objectivity, creativity, inspiration, proportional balance and respect for people (Tarrant & Newton, 1992). The implementation of the aforementioned skills and abilities by the school-based supervisors are expected to play various roles such as creating a conducive school atmosphere by coordinating the staff and arranging workshop or seminars within the school system, visiting classrooms and conduct conferences, propose solutions to teachers in light of instructional improvement and learner growth. School based supervision become effective and efficient if it is planned, directed, initiated, coordinated, communicated and evaluated by effective supervisory program and supervisor activities in the school. This is to say that school-based supervision involves the process of directing and controlling, stimulating and initiating, analyzing and appraising as well as designing and implementing those behaviors directly and primarily related to the improvement of teaching and learning (Eye and Netzer, 1965). The decentralized and school-based supervision redefines the role of the school principal from school building manager to instructional leader. The core responsibilities of principals encompass ensuring quality teaching and learning in the classroom through supporting teachers' classroom instruction, instructional supervision, and professional development (Sindhvad, 2009). Teachers’ perception about the supervisory practices of their respective schools may or may not coincide with what the supervisors really act and do. However, it is believed that their perceptions of those supervisory services they receive have a tremendous impact on their continuation in the teaching profession. Unless teachers perceive supervision as a process of promoting professional growth and student learning, the supervisory practice will not bring the desired effect one of which may be their persisting in profession (Fraser, 1980). Many teachers at various levels in Afar region in Ethiopia are showing symptoms of burnout with the profession. This indicates that the skills and roles the supervisor, particularly school principal has a meaningful contribution to attract and repel teachers towards the

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profession. Thus, this study was aimed at analyzing the perception of teachers’ on school based supervision of principals on their continuation in the profession. Conceptual Framework of School Based Supervision Supervision consists of all the activities leading to the improvement of instructional activities related to moral, improving human relations, in-service education and curriculum development (Wiles, 1967). The concept of supervision, therefore, could be considered as service to interpret to teachers and the public educational policies of the government (Mohanty, 1996). According to Singhal, et al. (1996), supervision is defined as an expert technical service primarily concerned with studying and improving the conditions that surround learning and pupil growth”. According to Harris (1975), school-based supervision is defined as what the school personnel do with adults and thing to maintain and change the school operation in ways that directly influence the teaching process employed to improve or promote pupil learning. Ben (1985) enumerated ten tasks of school based supervision: developing curriculum, organizing instruction, providing staff, providing facilities, providing materials, arranging for in-service education, orienting staff members, relating special pupil services, developing public relation, and evaluating instruction. Therefore, instructional supervision is the process of bringing about improvement in instruction by working with people who are working with pupil. It is usually refers to activities that serve to improve the quality of teaching-learning and curriculum implementation in the school. The Roles/Tasks of Supervisors According to Haileselassie (2007), the service oriented supervisors expected to play the role of coordination, a consultant, a group leaders and an evaluator. Coordination: the supervisors serve as coordinator of programs, groups, materials and reports. As coordinators, the supervisor should plan with teachers’ service programs for teachers in order to promote staff development. Consultant: in this case, supervisor serves as specialist in curriculum development, instructional methodology and special help to teacher. Group leader: the supervisor help and assist not only individual but in most case he helps, guides and assists group to foster group work, research and to improve their performance in a dynamic way. Evaluator: supervisor as evaluator provides assistance to teacher in evaluating instruction and curriculum. This means the supervisor help teachers find answer to curriculum and instructional problems and conduct action research. According to Glickman (1985), supervisor has certain educational tasks at their disposal that enable teachers to evaluate and modify their instruction. In planning each task, the supervisor needs to plan specific ways of giving teachers a greater sense of professional power to teach students successfully. Those supervisory tasks that have such potential to affect teacher development are explained as follow. Curriculum Development: The task of instructional supervisor with regard to curriculum development is to provide support and service directly to teachers to help them improve their performance. Such support enables teachers and supervisors to examine plans for instruction and analyze instruction with reference to what was planned, what happened, and what results were achieved. Direct Assistance to Teachers: Direct assistance to teachers is one of the crucial elements of a successful school. It is the provision of personal, ongoing contact with the individual teacher to observe and assist the classroom instruction. Direct assistance can be used to gather classroom data on the extent to which moral principles are present in the

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classroom. Supervisors, mentors, and coaches can work with the teacher to develop observation tools, describe classroom culture, reflect on current conditions, and engage in classroom based improvement. The supervisor gradually can increase the teacher’s decisionmaking responsibility, empowering teachers, and thus, enhancing the teacher’s capacity to empower students. Professional Development: Teachers as well as supervisors invariably need an opportunity to grow professionally through in-service education. From the point of view of its broad professional context, in-service education can be seen as an endeavor to upgrade the effectiveness of teaching and supervising staff (Lovell and Wiles, 1983). Group Development: Group development can assess and improve group culture by gathering and analyzing data on how teachers treat each other. Enhancing dialogue, empathy, trust, and collaboration within adult teams will improve the functioning of those teams, and ultimately affect the way teachers work with students. Action Research: The supervisor can engage in collaborative action research with teachers of moderate or mixed levels of development, expertise, and commitment. The supervisor engages in joint decision making with teachers during the goal identification, action planning, implementing, evaluation, and revision phases of action research. Hence, directive informational, collaborative, and non directive approaches are appropriate for supervising action research. Since, teacher action research involves teachers making their own decisions about inquiry and instructional improvement, controlling directive supervision is inappropriate for action research. School Based Supervisory Practices Supervision of activities at the school level is the key factor in ensuring the good functioning of the primary and secondary education programs. In fact, supervision has always been an integral feature of education programs in all countries. The schools need to take more responsibility for their own performance and quality, and that a culture of quality assurance can only be developed through promoting internal school supervision. School-based supervision requires school visit in various capacity full general recognition, routine, ad-hoc inspections, and monitoring teaching-learning activities and give appropriate advice on ways to improve the academic activities (Nwaogu, 2006). Supervision in education has its own greater importance. Through supervision, different activities of the school are detected and checked. Both pedagogical and administrative activities of school inspection, evaluation, checking and advising, assisting and support after its assessment of the system. Mainly supervision based on guide line, check lists, manuals and procedures are used as reference points to check whether or not the school activities are done using those references as bench mark for further enhancement and achievement of activities towards intended goal. Significance of the Study Currently in Ethiopia, it is not uncommon to see and hear many teachers planning to and resigning their job for other jobs even with less salary. For this and the related acts are the shocking news in that it results in both loosing of experienced professionals and would be resulting in temporary as well as long lasting shortage of teachers due to unexpected withdrawal of such personnel, is a potential headache for the government. Nevertheless, it is believed that efficient and skillful supervisory practices at school level may have a role to play in minimizing teachers’ dropouts and leaving of their job. The problem of teachers’ migration to other jobs is also common in many other countries. Johnson (2001) in his study has noted that at least 30% of beginning teachers

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leave the profession during the first two years of employment. Williams (2011) stated that those teachers under 30 years of age start out intending to make teaching a lifelong profession in USA. He reported that young teachers leave the profession at a rate 51 % higher than older teachers and transfer to a different school at a rate 91 percent higher than their older colleagues. By and large, being influenced by many factors, school-based supervision has missed some of the core agendas for which it was needed which may have had its own contribution for migration of many professionals away from the teaching profession. Thus, this study was tended to find out whether the teachers’ decision to persist in the profession was influenced by their perceptions about school based supervisory activities or not. Objectives of the Study  To investigate whether there is a significant relationship exists among teachers’ perception of school based supervisory practices and their decision to continue in the profession in the schools of Afar region.  To find out whether teachers’ perception of school based supervisory practices significantly affect their decision about continuing in their job.  To state whether there is significant mean difference exist between beginner and experienced teachers’ decision to continue in the profession.  To identify whether primary and secondary school teachers of Afar region plan to persist in teaching profession or not.  To identify whether there is a significant mean difference exist between primary and secondary school teachers’ perception of school based supervisory activities. Methodology Since the study was concerned with investigating and describing the perception of teachers’ on school based supervisory activities and their decision to continue in the profession. To this end, the study employed a descriptive survey research design. In this study, the dependent variable was the teachers’ decision to continue/not continue in the profession of teaching, whereas independent variables are various supervisory skills which encompass variables as teachers’ perception of conceptual skills, human relation skills, technical skills, curriculum development skills, staff developing skill and performance appraisal skills. Sample and Sampling Techniques The target population of this study was all the teaching staff in the selected 10 secondary and primary schools of Afar regional state in Ethiopia. Accordingly, from each of selected schools, 50% of the staffs were selected randomly using lottery method, where 115 male teachers and 47 female teachers, totally 162 were taken as respondents for this study. Tools Used All data for this study were gathered through questionnaire. The 35 questions on the supervisory activities practiced by school based supervisors (principals in this study), which was classified as the basic skills of supervisory leadership and major tasks of supervision provided or facilitated by instructional supervisors. On the other hand, 12 of the questions on the teachers’ decision to continue in the profession questionnaire was developed by the researcher. All the questionnaires involved likert scale with five levels; that is from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree) for which each respondent was required to respond as per his/her degree of agreement for the statements expressing his/her stance. The pilot test was done and the reliability of items was calculated; hence 3 among 15 items from teachers’ decision scale with low reliability were rejected while the rest of items in this scale and all

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the items measuring teachers’ perception of school based supervisory activities were appeared reliable enough to be directly administered to the target population. Data Analysis Techniques Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used in the analysis process such as mean, standard deviations, t-test and correlation coefficients. The Cronbach alpha reliability estimation formula was applied for piloted test. To see whether there exist relationship among teachers’ perception of school based supervisory practices and their decision to continue in the profession, Pearson product moment correlation coefficient was used. To see the effect of teachers’ perception of supervisory practices on their decision to continue in the profession, multiple linear regressions were used. All significance tests were made at α = 0.05. Data Analysis Firstly, Pearson’s product moment correlation result stated, whether there is statistically significant relationship among the variables indicating teachers’ perception of school based supervisory practices and their decision about continuing in teaching profession. Secondly, the chapter dictated about the effect of teachers’ perception of school based supervisory practices on their decision to continue in the teaching profession using multiple linear regressions. The next three parts involved carrying out independent sample t-test, stated about the whether there is significant mean difference between beginner and experienced teachers’ decision to continue in the profession, whether there is statistically significant mean difference between teachers’ decision to continue in teaching profession of primary and secondary schools, whether there is significant mean difference between primary and secondary school teachers’ perception of school based supervisory activities dictated in the third, fourth and fifth parts respectively. 1) Relationship among the variables indicating teachers’ perception of school based supervisory activities and their decision to continue in the profession: Table 1: Correlation matrix of teachers’ perception of school supervisory activities and their decision to continue in the profession Correlation coefficients No. Variables

Mean

SD CNS

HRS

TNS

CDS

SDS

PAP TDSN

CNS

20.9934

5.23259

1.00

HRS

21.1192

5.87983

.767**

1.00

TNS

32.2318

8.04027

.619**

.740**

1.00

CDS

16.7550

4.77070

.554**

.755**

.802**

1.00

SDS

20.2119

5.71035

.602**

.751**

.798**

.818**

PAP

13.6556

4.12964

.636**

.679**

.788**

.733**

.791** 1.00

TDSN

30.8742

7.17710

.178*

.195*

.176*

.216**

.227** .126

1.00

**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed). *. Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed).

N = 151 Note: CNS = teachers’ perception of the principal’s conceptual skill HRS = teachers’ perception of the principal’s human relations skill

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Volume 4, Issue 7, May, 2015 TNS = teachers’ perception of the principal’s technical skill CDS = teachers’ perception of the principal’s curriculum development skill SDS = teachers’ perception of the principal’s staff development skill PAP.= teachers’ perception of the principal’s performance appraisal TDSN =teachers’ decision to continue in the profession

The result of Pearson product moment correlation coefficient presented in table 1 has indicated that there is a statistically significant relationship among most of the variables at the (p < 0.05). It revealed that there is significant positive interrelationship among teacher’s decision to continue in teaching profession and teachers’ perception of the principals staff development skill (r = 0.227, p < 0.01), that of curriculum development skill (r = 0.216, p < 0.01), that of technical skill (r = 0. 176, p <0.05), that of human relations skill (r = 0.195, p <0.05), and that of conceptual skill (r = 0.178, p <0.05). However, the model has indicated that there is no statistically significant relationship among teacher’s decision to continue in teaching profession and performance appraisal. 2) The effect of teachers’ perception of school based supervisory activities on their decision to continue in the teaching profession: Table 2: The effect of teachers’ perception of school based supervisory activities on their decision to continue in the teaching profession Unstandardized Coefficients B

Std. Error

(Constant)

31.297

2.783

CNS

.199

.189

HRS

-.202

TNS

Standardized Coefficients

Sig.

Beta 11.246

.000*

.138

1.051

.295

.210

-.157

-.960

.339

-.005

.150

-.006

-.036

CDS

.319

.254

.201

1.256

.211

SDS

.265

.258

.169

1.028

.306

PAP

-.070

.277

-.038

-.253

.800

F=2.214,

N=151,

R2 = 0.084,

0.084

.972

R2Adj. = 0.046, P < 0.05

The multiple linear regressions in table 2 above has indicated that teachers’ perception of their school principals’ supervisory activities such as conceptual skills, human relation skills, technical skills, curriculum development skills, staff developing skill and performance appraisal, when entered together, significantly affect their decision of persisting in teaching profession (F6, 151=2.214, p < 0.05). The R square (coefficient of determination) was (R2 = 0.084), which indicated that 8.4 % of teachers’ perception of school based supervisory activities practiced by principals can be explained by the combined impact of the independent variables (perception of conceptual skills, human relation skills, technical skills, curriculum development skills, staff developing skill and performance appraisal). Analysis was made to see the weight of each independent variables contributing to the variation in teacher’s decision to continue in the profession. The table above has revealed that

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all variables entered, that are curriculum development skills ( = 0.138, t = 1.051, p > 0.05), human relation skills ( = 0. -.157, t = -0.960, p > 0.05), technical skills ( = -0.006, t = 0.036, p > 0.05), staff developing skill ( = 0.201, t = 1.256, p > 0.05), staff development skill ( = 0.169, t = 1.028, p > 0.05), performance appraisal ( = -0.038, t = -0.253, p > 0.05) do not independently significantly predict teachers’ decision to continue in teaching profession. 3) Independent sample t-test of primary and secondary school teachers’ perception of school based supervisory activities: Table 3: Mean difference on the perception of primary and secondary school teachers’ perception of school based supervisory activities Variable CNS HRS TNS CDS SDS PAP

School level

Mean

t-value

Sig.

primary

20.7326

5.57183

1.072

.302

secondary

21.3385

4.76733

primary

20.8953

5.89522

.141

.708

secondary

21.4154

5.89198

primary

32.0000

8.34407

.259

.611

secondary

32.5385

7.67316

primary

16.7209

4.73697

.045

.833

secondary

16.8000

4.85155

primary

20.2093

5.91731

2.342

.128

secondary

20.2154

5.47007

primary

13.9535

4.05523

.027

.871

secondary

13.2615

4.22521

No. of items of (CNS = 6, HRS = 6, TNS = 9, CDS = 5, SDS = 5, PAP = 4) p < 0.05

The result of independent sample t-test in table 4.3 above has indicated that there is no statistically significant mean difference among primary and secondary school teachers’ perception of school based supervisory activities. It has revealed that there is no statistically significant variation in primary and secondary school teachers’ perception of conceptual skills, human relation skills, technical skills, curriculum development skills, staff developing skill and performance appraisal of principals practicing school based supervisory activities in their respective schools all with (p > 0.05). When the total number of items representing each variable indicated under table 4.3 are multiplied by the maximum value level for each item in the questionnaire (5 or strongly agree), the mean value of responses for each of the respective variables will be 15, 15, 22.5, 12.5, 12.5, & 10 for CNS, HRS, TNS, CDS, SDS & PAP respectively. Nevertheless, the calculated mean value indicated in the table for all of the above value is greater than the expected mean indicated above. This indicates us that both primary and secondary school teachers have a positive perception of the school based supervisory activities practiced by their respective school principals. It can also be inferred that teachers in both primary and secondary schools of Afar region do trust in their respective school principals’ supervisory activities.

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4) Independent sample t-test result of primary and secondary school teachers’ decision to continue in teaching profession. Table 4: Below states the mean difference between primary and secondary school teachers’ decision to continue in teaching profession

Teacher’s decision

School level

Mean

primary

36.7209

6.03256

secondary

35.9385

8.93182

t-value

Sig.

9.734

.002*



p < 0.05 No. of items=12

The computed independent sample t-test value in table 4.4 above has indicated that there is statistically significant mean difference between primary and secondary school teachers’ decision to continue in teaching profession in Afar region with (p<0.05). Even if all respondents rate as undecided (3) for all items measuring this variable, the mean score would be 36. Since the observed mean score of secondary schools is below 36 and that of primary schools is 36.72, it can be inferred that primary school teachers plan seek to persist in teaching profession whereas the secondary school teachers plan to resign the job. 5) Mean difference between beginner and experienced teachers’ decision to continue in teaching profession. Table 5: Below shows the independent sample t-test result of beginner and experienced teachers’ decision to continue in teaching profession

Teachers’ decision

Teachers’ current level

Mean

Beginner*

36.3514

7.26948

Experienced**

113

36.4071

7.51028

*Beginner = those who served < 2 years

t-value

Sig.

.149

.700

p<0.05 No. of items=12

** Those who served more than 2 years

The result of independent sample t-test above has revealed that there is no statistically significant mean difference between beginner and experienced teachers’ decision to continue in teaching profession in Afar region with (p > 0.05). If we take the response of all respondents as undecided (3) for all items measuring this variable, which is a bench mark between preferring to continue and not continue, the mean score again would be 36. The ttest result above reveals the mean value for beginner teachers to continue in the profession as 36.3514 and that of experienced as 36.4071with no statistically significant difference between both groups. Since the result of each group is nearer to undecided (36), it can be inferred that both beginner and experienced teachers in Afar region are undecided whether to continue in the profession or resign the job. Discussion of Results  It was revealed that teacher’s decision to continue in teaching profession is significantly and positively related with their perception of the principal’s staff development skills, curriculum development skills, technical skills, human relations skills and conceptual skills all with (p < 0.01). Nevertheless, the result has indicated that there is no statistically

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significant relationship among teacher’s decision to continue in teaching profession and their perception of the principals’ performance appraisal.  Multiple linear regressions carried out to answer this leading question has revealed that teachers’ perception of their school principals’ supervisory activities such as conceptual skills, human relation skills, technical skills, curriculum development skills, staff developing skill and performance appraisal, cumulatively significantly predict their decision of persisting in teaching profession (F6, 151=2.214, p < 0.05). However, the model has revealed that none of the aforementioned elements indicating teachers’ perception of the principals’ school based supervisory activities (conceptual skills, human relation skills, technical skills, curriculum development skills, staff developing skill and performance appraisal) tended to independently significantly predict their decision to continue in teaching profession (p > 0.05).  This research question has not got statistical significance in that an independent sample ttest has revealed that there is no statistically significant mean difference among primary and secondary school teachers’ perception of school based supervisory activities practiced by their respective principals. From this, it could be inferred that primary and secondary school teachers in Afar region perceive the conceptual, human relation, technical, curriculum development, staff developing and performance appraisal skills of principals in their respective schools in positive manner. which has revealed that there is no statistically significant difference between beginners and experienced teachers in their perception of supervisory processes practiced at their schools. This research question has got statistical significance for the result of independent sample t-test has shown that there existed significant mean difference between primary and secondary school teachers’ decision to continue in teaching profession (p < 0.05). The finding has pointed out that the primary school teachers tend to persist in teaching profession where as that of secondary school are planning to resign the job and transfer to other civil service organizations.  An independent sample t-test which was put in to operation to answer this research question has revealed that there is no statistically significant mean difference between beginner and experienced teachers’ decision to continue in teaching profession at (p > 0.05). It has pointed out that both beginner and experienced teachers’ in the schools Afar region have not yet transfer sound decisions whether or not to in the teaching job. This finding partly antagonizes what was revealed by Williams (2011) who has indicated that young teachers under 30 years of age failed to perceive teaching as a lifelong profession in USA by reporting that young teachers leave the profession at a rate 51 % higher than older teachers and transfer to a different school at a rate 91 percent higher than their older colleagues, if experience of teachers’ in this study is a function of age. Major Findings  Teacher’s decision to continue in teaching profession is significantly and positively related with their perception of the principal’s staff development skills, curriculum development skills, technical skills, human relations skills and conceptual skills all with (p < 0.01).  There is no statistically significant relationship among teacher’s decision to continue in teaching profession and their perception of the principals’ performance appraisal.  When all these independent variables entered together they significantly predict teachers’ decision to continue in teaching profession (F6, 151=2.214, p < 0.05).  However, it was found that none of the elements of teachers’ perception of the principals’ school based supervisory activities (conceptual skills, human relation skills, technical skills, curriculum development skills, staff developing skill and performance appraisal)

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tended to independently significantly predict their decision to continue in teaching profession (p > 0.05).  There was no statistically significant mean difference among primary and secondary school teachers’ perception of school based supervisory activities practiced by their respective principals.  It has gave us that primary and secondary school teachers in Afar region perceive the conceptual, human relation, technical, curriculum development, staff developing and performance appraisal skills of principals in their respective schools in positive manner.  It was fond that there is significant mean difference between primary and secondary school teachers’ decision to continue in teaching profession.  This analysis has revealed that primary school teachers plan to persist in teaching profession while that of the secondary school teachers plan and prefer to resign the job.  It has revealed that there is no statistically significant mean difference between beginner and experienced teachers’ decision to continue in teaching profession at (p > 0.05).  The result has indicated that both groups of respondents have rated that they were undecided to persist or resign the job. Conclusion The purpose of this study was investigating the effect of teachers’ perception of school based supervisory practices on their decision about continuing in teaching profession. Based on the findings, the following conclusions could be drawn. There found significant and positive relationship between teachers’ decision to continue in teaching profession and their perception of supervisory activities (except performance appraisal) played by their respective school principals. Teachers’ perception of the principals’ school based supervisory activities (conceptual skills, human relation skills, technical skills, curriculum development skills, staff developing skill and performance appraisal) do not independently significantly predict their decision to continue in teaching profession. The finding has depicted that there is no significant mean difference between primary and secondary school teachers’ perception of the school based supervisory activities carried out by principals of schools of Afar region. It has revealed that both groups perceive the supervisory activities positively and has trust on their principals. Furthermore, the study has indicated that the primary school teachers tend to persist in the teaching profession while the secondary school teachers plan to resign the job. It is surprising that both beginner and experienced teachers in the schools of Afar region are not yet decided to continue or resign their job (append. III). This gives homework for regional and zonal educational administrative bodies to in ways of enhancing teachers’ job satisfaction giving special attention to those at secondary schools to assure their persistence in the profession. References 1. Ben, M. (1985). Supervision Behavior in Education. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: prentice Hall. 2. Eye, G. and Netzer, L. (1965). Supervision of Instruction. New York: Harper and Row, Inc. 3. Glickman, C. D. (1985). Supervision of instruction: A developmental approach. Boston: Allyn & Bacon. 4. Johnson, H . R. ( 2001). Administrators and mentors: Keys in the success of beginning teachers. Journal of instructional psychology, 28 (1),44-49. 5. Haileselassie, W. (2007). Educational Supervision. AAU. Addis Ababa University Printing Press.

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6. Harris, B. (1975). Supervisory Behavior in Education. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc. 7. Lovell, J.T. and Wiles, K. (1983). Supervision of Better Schools. New Jersey: Prentice Hall Inc, Pp. 154-159 8. MoE, Ethiopia (1987). Educational programs supervision manual. Addis Ababa: MoE, Ethiopia. 9. Mohanty, J. (1996). Inspection and School Organization. Sambalpur: Crescent Publishing Corporation 10. Nwaogu, J. I., (2006). A guide to effective supervision of instruction in Nigeria Schools. Enugu: 4th Dimension Publishing Co. Ltd. 11. Sindhvad, P. (2009). School principals as instructional leaders: An investigation of school leadership capacity in the Philippines Retrieved on March 6, 2013. 12. Ogakwu,V.N. (2010). A Comparative analysis of supervisory control measures in Public and Private secondary schools in Enugu state. Knowledge Review, 21(3) ,2532 13. Singhal, R. et al. (1996). School Inspection System: A Modern Approach. New Delhi: Vikas Publishing House Pvt. Ltd. 14. Tarrant, T. and Newton, C. (1992). Managing Change in Schools: Practical Hand Book. London: Route Ledge, Pp. 142-146. 15. Wiles, K. (1967). Supervision for Better Schools. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc. Engle Wood Cliffs. 16. Williams, S. (2011). Combating Teacher Burnout, retrieved on March 6, 2013 form http://thejournal.com/articles/2011/11/03/teacher-burnout.aspx

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LAW, MEDIA AND THE JUDICIARY Dr. Sudhansu Ranjan Mohapatra Associate Professor, Centre for Juridical Studies, Dibrugarh University, Assam, E-mail: drsudhansu1963@gmail.com Introduction The basic concept of freedom of speech and expression is as old as civilization. Freedom of the Press is one the grand themes of this basic concept and like any other basic freedoms it is a vital theme of human history. There cannot be genuine democracy without free expression; nor there genuinely free expression without democracy. Both democracy and free speech remain rare commodities, undervalued and under constant threat right across the world. Censorship is a highly contagious disease. It afflicts those who exercise power everywhere.13Media plays a very important role in the society. It has several facets. Therefore it is aptly characterised as the “Fourth Estate”. The three wings of the State- Executive, Legislature and the Judiciary are bestowed with the responsibility of protecting the constitution and to sub serve a common constitutional purpose- the purpose being the common good of the people. The role of media as the watch-dog in a democracy is to ensure that constitutional objective is sub served by discharging the constitutional obligations by each of these three wings. With the development of information technology where information is said to be power and knowledge, the people experience much progress because of dissemination of information to almost every partof the globe. The media being the watchdog of the government informs the public about the doings and mis-doings of the government. The democratic culture of a country envisages an open society and the concept of an open government is derived from the ‘right to know’ which is implicit in thefreedom of speech guaranteed under article 19(1)(a) inthe Constitution of India. Dissemination of information or ‘freedom of communication’ is a part of this exercise. One can enjoy the freedom of speech meaningfully if is included with the ‘right to know’ which in turn is effective only with ‘freedom of communication.’It is beyond doubt that freedom of speech and expression includes freedom of propagation of ideas, and that freedom is ensured by freedom of circulation.14 In the words of Madison: “A popular Government, without popular information, or the means of acquiring it, is but a Prologue to a Farce or a tragedy, or, perhaps both- And a people who mean to be their own governors, must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives.”15 Realising the importance of the press, Mahatma Gandhi said:, “Freedom of speech,and pen is the foundation of Swaraj. If the foundation stone is indanger, you have toexert thewhole of your might in order to defend that single stone.”16 Freedom of press is not expressly mentioned in Article 19 of the Constitution of India but has been held to cover the general freedom of speech and expression guaranteed to the people of India under Article 19(1)(a). Therefore,thePress and the media enjoy their right to express free opinion under this provision of the Constitution. By judicial construction it has been held to include freedom notmerely to write and publishthe views but also to disseminate information to the people and to propagate the views of the individuals. But this freedom is 13

Law and Justice: An Anthology by Soli J sorajbee, Universal Law Publishing Co. Pvt. Ltd., 2003, p.277 RomeshThapar v. State of Madras, AIR 1950 SC 124 15 Justice J.S.Varma, New Dimensions of Law and Justice, Ed.2000, Universal Publcation, p.195 16 Dr. K.S.Padhy, “The Indian Press: role and Responsibility”, Ashis PublishingHouse,New Delhi, 1994, p.50 14

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subject only to reasonable restrictions imposed by law under Article 19(2). Article 19(2) reads: “ Nothing in sub-clause(a) of Clause (1) shall affect the operation of any existing law, or prevent the State from making any law, in so far as such law imposes reasonable restrictions on the exercise of the right conferred by the said sub-clause in the interests of the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security of the State, friendly relations with foreign States, public order, decency or morality, or in relation to contempt of court, defamation or incitement to an offence. “There was a debate in the Constituent Assembly to have a specific mention of the word ‘freedom of press’, but clarifying all doubts, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, the Chairman of the Drafting Committee put it in the following words:, “The Press is another way of stating an individual or a citizen. The Press has no special rights which are not to be given to or which are not to be exercised by the citizen in his individual capacity. The editor of a Press or the manager is all citizens and, therefore, when they choose to represent any newspapers they are merely exercising their right of expression and in my judgement, no special mention is necessary of the freedom of Press at all.”17 The media derives its rights from the right to freedom ofspeech and expression available to the citizen. Therefore, the media hasthe same right than any individual to write, publish, broadcast or circulate. The Privy Council in a very important case observed that: “The freedom of the journalist is an ordinary part of the freedom of the subject and to whatever lengths the subject in general may go, so also may the journalist, apart from the statute law; his privilege is no other andno higher...No privilege attaches to his position.”18 This media right remains the same in post-independence India also. The Supreme Court in the case of M.S.M.Sharma v. Krishna Sinha was of the view that: “ A non-citizen running a newspaper is not entitled to the fundamentalright to freedom of speech and expression and, therefore cannot claim, as his fundamental right,the benefit of the liberty of the Press. Further, being only a right flowing from the freedom of speech and expression, the liberty of the Press in India stands on no higher footing than the freedom of speech and expression of the citizen and that no privilege attaches to the press as such, that is to say, as distinct from the freedom of the citizen. In short, as regards citizens running a newspaper, the position under our Constitution is the same.”19 The great impact of the information disseminated by the media in the formation of public opinion imposes a corresponding obligation on it to act responsibly and to exercise self-restraint. The ‘right to privacy’ of individuals including public men must be respected and any invasion into it has to be limited to the area of its impact on public life. Proper balance must be struck between the conflicting claim of privacy of an individual and public interest. The Supreme Court of India has on several occasions had the opportunity to express its opinion on the need for protecting the right to freedom of the press. In Romesh Thappar v. State of Madras20, the Court was of the view that..(The freedom) lay at the foundation of all democratic organizations, for without free political discussion no public education, so essential for the proper functioning of the processes of popular government, is possible. A freedom of such amplitude might involve risks of abuse…(But) “ it is better to leave a few of its noxious branches to their luxuriant growth than, by pruning them away, to injure the vigour of those yielding the proper fruits. In Bennet Coleman case21, the Court was of the view: The faith of a citizen is that political wisdom and virtue will sustain themselves in the free market of ideas so long as the 17

Constituent Assembly Debate, dt. 2.12.48, p. 780 Channing Arnold v. Emperor, AIR 1914 PC 116 19 AIR 1959 SC 395 20 AIR 1950, SC 124 21 Bennett Coleman and Co. v. Union of India, AIR 1973 SC 106 p.129 18

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channels of communication are left open. The faith in the popular government rests on the old dictum “let the people have the truth and the freedom to discuss it and all will go well”. The liberty of the press remains an “Art of the Covenant” in every democracy…The newspapers give the people the freedom to find out what ideas are correct. Justice Mathew in the same case observed in page 143: The Constitutional guarantee of free speech is not so much for the benefit of the press as it is for the benefit of the public. The freedom of speech includes within its compass the right of all citizens to read and be informed. In a very important judgment in the case of Indian Express Newspapers v. Union of India Justice Venkataramiah, emphasizing the role of the Court in securing the freedom was of the opinion: In today’s free world freedom of press is the heart of social and political intercourse. The press has now assumed the role of the public educator making formal and non-formal education possible in a large scale particularly in the developing world, where television and other kinds of modern communication are not still available for all sections of society. The purpose of the press is to advance the public interest by publishing facts and opinions without which a democratic electorate cannot make responsible judgments. Newspapers being purveyors of news and views having a bearing on public administration very often carry material which would not be palatable to governments and other authorities. The authors of the articles which are published in newspapers have to be critical of the actions of government in order to expose its weaknesses. Such articles tend to become an irritant or even a threat to power. Governments naturally take recourse to suppress newspapers publishing such articles in different ways. Over the years, Government in different parts of the world has used diverse methods to keep press under control. They have followed carrot –and-stick methods. Secret payments of money, open monetary grants and subventions, grants of land, postal concessions, government advertisements, conferment of titles on editors and proprietors of newspapers, inclusion of press barons in cabinet and inner political councils etc. constitute one method of influencing the press. The other kind of pressure is one of using force against the press. Enactment of laws providing for precensorship, seizures, interference with the transit of newspapers and demanding security deposit, imposition of restriction on the price of newspapers, on the number of pages of newspapers and the area that can be devoted for advertisements withholding of government advertisements, increase of postal rates, imposition of taxes on newsprint, canalization of import of newsprint with the object of making it unjustly costlier etc. are some of the ways in which governments have tried to interfere with freedom of press. 22

Then if the press is so useful and indispensable mechanism for information and exchange of views in a democracy, then what is the necessity of regulating the freedom. The answer is very clear that is no guarantee of individual rights can ever be absolute. This applies equally to the freedom of the press. This freedom must be reconciled with the collective interest of the society, or what is referred to as the “public interest”23 Lord Denning while suggesting on the need for balancing these two interests, expressed himself as under:24 The freedom of the press is extolled as one of the great bulwarks of liberty. It is entrenched in the constitutions of the world. But it is often misunderstood…It does not mean that the press is free to ruin a reputation or to break a confidence or to pollute the course of justice or to do anything that is unlawful…

1985(1) SCC 641 p.664 Law and Justice: An Anthology by Soli J.Sorabji, Universal Law Publishing co. pvt. Ltd., p.318 24 Ibid, p.318 23

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It means that there is to be no censorship. No restraint should be placed on the press as to what they shouldpublish: Not by a licensing system. Not by executive direction, not by court injunction. It means that the press is to be free from what Blackstone calls ‘previous restraint’ or what our friends in the United States….call ‘prior restraint’. The press is not to be restrained in advance from publishing whatever it thinks right to publish… It can publish whatever it chooses to publish. But it does so at its own risk. Afterwards, after the publication, if the press has done anything unlawful they can be dealt with the courts. If they should offend by interfering with the course of justice they can be punished in proceedings forcontempt of court. If they should damage the reputation of innocent people. They may be made liable in damages… In spite of the observation of the court and limitations imposed, media plays a great role in giving publicity to the individuals and organizations which are engaged in securing human rights. This will encourage as well as motivate others to-dothe similar work. Mediacan inform and educate the people of their rights and suggest ways and means by which they can solve their problems and thus empowering them to protect their rights’since media plays the role of commutation between the state and the public, it can also play an effective role of making the authorities aware of their duties. Media’s new role today is reporting, analyzing and commenting. It faces a challenge in playing the role in protecting human rights in the world. While playing this new role, there is risk of its misuse. For that self-regulation is the need of the hour. Journalists’should setlakshmanrekha while reporting human rights violations. The main aim before the journalists should be to give facts but not in a manner and with the purpose to create sensation and to arouse the sentiments of the people. While reporting such violation media should not get influenced byauthoritiesandshould not work for any patronage. Mere reporting of the facts is not enough. It should give reasons of the problem and the nature of the violations and then gave solutions. The media should not sit over judgment of a problem thereby belittling its ethics. Press hasa sacred duty to focus human rights violations and then measures for protecting them. Freedom of expression is a sacred and sacrosanct right well accepted over the globe and journalists should respectthisfreedom. In Indian constitution, it finds place as a guaranteed fundamental right. The Apex court in the case of Olga Tellis observed that a man has not only a right to live but to live with human dignity. Consequently all attributes for living with the dignity of a human soul namely education, shelter etc. are to be guaranteed and welfare activities of the State must be directed to ensure socio-economic condition where no one in the country is deprived of the basic requirements to lead a meaningful and dignified life. In a landmark judgment in R.K.Anand v. Delhi High Court25, the Supreme Court examined the important questions relating to trial by the media. The case arose out of a sting operation carried out by a private television channel to expose an unholy nexus between the prosecution, its witness and the defence in the infamous BMW hit and run case resulting in the death of six persons by a speeding BMW car. While trial was still pending, NDTV telecast a sting operation to expose the manner in which a Senior Advocate appearing the accused was negotiating, with the help of the Special Public Prosecutor, a sell out in favour of the defence. The operation was conducted with the help of a concealed camera used by the witness who acted as a mole. The Delhi High Court initiated suomoto contempt proceeding. They were held guilty of contempt of court and debarred from appearing in the Delhi High Court. In appeal before the Supreme Court, it was contended on behalf of the appellants that TV channel had indulged in a trial by media and that it could have telecast the stings only after obtaining the permission of the Court. Rejecting the contention, the Supreme Court held 25

(2009) 8 SCC 106

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that:“Such a course would not an exercise in journalism but in that case the media would be acting as some sort of special vigilance agency for the court. On little consideration the idea appears to be quite repugnant both from the points of view of the court and the media.”26 The Court went on to observe that: “It would-be a sad day for the court to employ the media for setting its own house in order; and media too would certainly not relish the role of being the snoopers for the court. Moreover, to insist that a report concerning a pending trial may be published or a sting operation concerning a trial may be done only subject to the prior consent and permission of the court would tantamount to pre-censorship of reporting of court proceedings. And this would be plainly an infraction of the media’s right of freedom of speech and expression guaranteed under Article 19(1) of the Constitution.27 The Court gave a clean chit to the television channel and said that the channel concerned was not guilty of trial by media. But the Court finally observed that though the telecast of the sting operation was clearly in the public interest, the court was cautious not to give a carte blanche on sting operation. The court was of the view that: “This is, however, not to say that media is free to publish any kind of report concerning a sub -judice matter or to do a sting on some matter concerning a pending trial in any manner they please. The legal parameter within which a report or comment on a sub-judicematter can be made is well defined and any action in breach of the legal bounds would invite consequences. Compared to normal reporting, a sting operation is an incalculably more risky and dangerous thing to do. A sting is based on deception, therefore, it would attract the legal restrictions with far greater stringency and any infraction would invite more severe punishment.”28 The notion of media as a major catalyst and contributor to the formation of mass opinion has, for the most part, remained a hallowed yet hollow myth. On most issues, average people do not form their own opinions even when suitable facts are available from the media. Political elites are the Chief opinion makers and the main users of media news supply. Elites, as the term is used here, include pressure groups, public who are keenly attentive to selected issues, and political dissidents who oppose prevailing political ideologies. The media were designed, or rather, have grown to be, a haphazard performer of public service functions and a major source of public entertainment and advice on everyday living and business. The media came to be developed along these lines primarily because most were organized as self-sustaining private enterprises dependent for survival on earning sufficient money to pay for the costs of the enterprises. As private business in capitalist society, the media’s primary mission is to please their clients in order to earn more profits. Complaints have also been directed at the fact that the press enjoys its great powers without corresponding responsibility or accountability for the consequences of its actions in the area of press freedom and public welfare. In a society that believes, in checks and balances, the uses and abuses of such unchecked power have become a major cause for concern. This concern is heightenedbythe fact that the long-term trend has been toward ever greater press power and ever broader-press freedom. How to hold the press accountable for irresponsible behavior that endangers public and private welfare without destroying the independence of the press has remained a problem yet to be solved.29

Ibid at.p. 197, para.289 Ibid at.p. 197, para.290 28 Ibid at.p. 197, para.291, See also on sting operations, Uma Khurana case decided by the Delhi High Court: Court on its own Motion v. State,(2008) 146 DLT 429 (DB). As quoted in Facets of Media Law by MadhaviGoradiaDivan , p.S-2. 27

New Dimensions of Law and Justice, by Justice H.G.Balkrishna, Snow white publication, Bombay, P.75

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Conclusion The state of health of a society depends on the degree and extent of awareness of its constituents. Justice Learned Hand said: “A Society so rive that the spirit of moderation is gone, no court can save; a society where that spiritflourishes, nocourt need save. In a society which evades its responsibility thrusting upon the courts the nurture of that sprit, that spirit, that spirit in the end will perish. I often wonder if we do not rest our hopes too much upon Constitutions, upon Laws, and upon Courts. Believe me, these are false hopes. Liberty lies in the heart of men; when it dies there, no court can do much to help it. 30” Mahatma Gandhi said: “There is a higher court than courts of justice and that is the court of conscience. It supersedes all other courts.”31 The media, in the current state of society has a significant role in the implementation of the ‘rule of law’, protecting the human rights of the individuals and proper functioning of the ‘democracy’ for the health of the nation. This is the touchstone to indicate the true role of the media and to test its performance. This is how it must be understood by everyone, particularly the media persons.Therefore, the media being the watchdog of the nation must work for guiding the people and the government to move towards the goal of realization of human rights. Media being the fourth estate in a society if works with the true spirit, then the spirit of human rights can be realized properly. Media enterprises occupy a unique position in Indian society. Their performance is more closely inter-woven with the general welfare that hold true for most other institutions. In recognition of the essential role they play in a democratic society, they are the beneficiaries of unique constitutional protections. The media, therefore, owe greater obligations to the public than the merchants of more ordinary consumer merchandise and common services.

30 31

Justice J.S.Varma, New Dimensions of Law and Justice, Ed.2000, Universal Publication, p.201 Ibid, p.201

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UNDERSTANDING DISABILITY AND THE DIFFERENTLY ABLED: THE VALUES FRAMEWORK OF WESTERNIZATION Dr. Vinita Pandey Assistant Professor (C), Department of Sociology, Nizam College, Osmania University, Hyderabad, E-mail: pandeyvini@gmail.com & Ms. Priyanka Ph.D. Research Scholar, EFLU, Hyderabad, E-mail: satyapriyanka.r@gmail.com ABSTRACT Disability has been viewed in different ways, dimensions and perspectives. There are socioeconomic, psychological and cultural dimensions. Cultural dimensions pertaining to disability is critical since the response of the society and legislations thereof are reflections of the cultural ethos. In Indian context the process of Westernization has been critical in shaping the cultural ethos and value systems in modern India especially post 1700 AD (which initiated Westernization).These values inherent in Westernization influenced the perspective towards the disabled. Within the framework of change and mobility the socio-cultural changes that have taken place in India can broadly categorized into these processes namely: Sanskritisation, Westernisation and Modernization. These three processes reflect an attempt on the part of Indian masses to achieve some amount of mobility both within and outside the framework of the caste system. The present paper attempts to utilize the framework of values inherent in Westernization to not only understand disability but also to develop and evolve a practical perspective to resolve issues related with disability. Key Words: Differently Abled, Disabled, Sanskritisation, Westernization, Modernization

Defining Disability According to the Persons with Disability Act (1995), a person with a disability is anyone who suffers at least 40 percent impairment from a medical issue such as blindness, low vision, leprosy, hearing problems, locomotor disability, mental retardation or mental illness. A disability is an umbrella term, covering impairments, activity limitations, and participation restrictions. Impairment is a problem in body function or structure; an activity limitation is a difficulty encountered by an individual in executing a task or action; while a participation restriction is a problem experienced by an individual in involvement in life situations. In India disabled population has increased by 22.4% between 2001 and 2011. The number of disabled, which was 2.19 crore in 2001, rose in 2011 to 2.68 crores - 1.5 crore males and 1.18 crore females. Rural areas have more disabled people than urban areas. The growth rate of disabled population is more in urban areas and among urban females. The decadal growth in urban areas is 48.2% and 55% among urban females. (Kumar, 2013) Evidence suggests that people with disabilities face barriers in accessing the health and rehabilitation services they need in many settings. Differently abled people have been subjected to direct and indirect discrimination for centuries in most countries of the world, including India. They have faced social exclusion for decades. However, the human rights movements all over the world and in India have brought the attention of policy makers from the mere provision of charitable services to vigorously protecting the basic rights, dignity and self-respect of the differently abled. In the new scenario, as individuals with a wide range of abilities of the disabled the conditions should be

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created in such a way that each one of them is willing and capable to utilize his/her potential and talents. In a country like India the numbers of the disabled are so large, their problems so complex, available resources so scarce and social attitudes so damaging, it is only legislation which can eventually bring about a substantial change in a uniform manner. Although legislation cannot alone radically change the fabric of a society in a short span of time, it can nevertheless, increase accessibility of the disabled to education and employment, to public buildings and shopping centres, to means of transport and communication. (Baquer and Sharma) Sanskritisation It would be worthwhile to briefly explain the concept of Sanskritisation which in Indian context is very closely related with Westernization. The term Sanskritisation was introduced into Indian Sociology by Prof. M.N. Srinivas. The term refers to a process whereby people of lower castes collectively try to adopt upper caste practices and beliefs, as a preliminary step to acquire higher status. Thus, this indicates a process of cultural mobility that took place in the traditional social system of India. Sanskritisation is not a new phenomenon. It has been a major process of cultural change in Indian history, and it has occurred in every part of the Indian sub-continent. It denotes the process in which the lower castes try to imitate the life-styles of upper castes in their attempt to raise their social status. The process seems to be associated with the role of local “dominant caste”. Sanskritisation denotes the process of upward mobility. In this process, a caste is trying to increase its position in the caste hierarchy not at once, but over a period of time. It would take sometimes, a period of one or two generations. Mobility that is involved in the process of Sanskritisation results only in “positional changes” for particular castes or sections of castes, and need not necessarily lead to a “structural change”. It means, while individual castes move up or down, the structure as such remains the same. The castes which enjoyed higher economic and political power but rated relatively low in ritual ranking went after Sanskritisation for they felt that their claim to a higher position was not fully effective. Economic betterment is not a necessary pre-condition to Sanskritisation, nor must economic development necessarily lead to Sanskritisation. However, sometimes a group(caste/tribe) may start by acquiring political power and this may lead to economic development and Sanskritisation. The process of Sanskritisation serves as a “reference group”. It is through this process a caste group tries to orient its beliefs, practices, values, attitudes and “life styles” in terms of another superior or dominant group, so that it can also get some recognition. Sanskritisation does not take place in the same manner in all the places. Though the notion of disability is not being associated with caste in this paper, Sanskritisation definitely brings cultural change through upward mobility and the same is being implied here with regard to the positional change of the differently abled. As caste backwardness does not stop the backward castes from acquiring the cultural practices of upper castes disability does not stops the differently abled from acquiring skills and improving their positions in the social set up. Westernisation East IndiaCompanysuccessfully established ‘British Imperial Rule’ in India. British ruleproduced radical and lasting changes in the Indian society and culture. The British brought with them new technology, institutions, knowledge, beliefs, ideology and values. Thesehave become the main source of social mobility for individuals as well as groups. It is

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in this context, M.N. Srinivas, introduced the term “Westernisation” mainly to explain the changes that have taken place in the Indian society and culture due to Western contact through theBritish rule in India. According to Srinivas, westernization meant “certain value preferences”, which in turn subsumes several values, such as “humanitarianism”. It implies an active concern for the welfare of all human beings irrespective of caste, economic position, religion, age and gender. Westernisation not only includes the introduction of new institutions, but also fundamental changes in old institutions. For example, India had schools long before the arrival of the British, but they were different from the British introduced schools. Quite like Sanskritisation the concept of Westernisation is also employed for evaluating social change in India. The concept was also constructed by M.N. Srinivas to describe the process of social and cultural mobility in the traditional social structure of India. It has also emerged, in Srinivas’ study of the Coorgs of south India. The emphasis given by Srinivas on Westernisation basically included humanitarianism and rationalism. Commenting on the broader dimensions of Westernisation, Yogendra Singh (1964) writes: Emphasis on humanitarianism and rationalism is a part of Westernisation which led to a series of institutional and social reforms in India. Establishment of scientific, technological and educational institutions, rise of nationalism, new political culture and leadership in the country, are all by-products of Westernisation. Srinivas has given details about the development of Westernisation in India. He traces it from the period of British Raj. Surely, the colonial rule brought with it exploitation and suppression of the masses of people both at the rural and urban levels. The colonial rule, thus, integrated the different segments of Indian society. The modern state actually got its beginning from this period. The land was surveyed, revenue was settled, a new bureaucracy emerged, and army, police and law courts were established. The British rule also developed communications, railways, post and telegraph and also started schools and colleges. “One obvious result was that books and journals, along with schools, made possible the transmission of modern, as well as traditional knowledge to large numbers of Indians— knowledge which could no longer be the privilege of a few hereditary groups—while the newspapers made people in different parts of the far-flung country realize that they had common bonds, and the events happening in the world outside, influenced their lives for good or ill.” (Srinivas, 2000). This education was instrumental in developing a rational outlook towards the differently abled. Yet another force released by the British rule was the working of Christian missionary. The Christian missionaries worked in the different parts of the country, particularly in those which were backward and inhabited by tribal and untouchables. This brought the weaker sections, marginalized groupscloser to Westernisation. Impact of Westernisation in evolving ethos supporting Differently abled Westernization resulted in certain specific conditions which facilitated in creating socio-cultural ethos which favored differently abled. Some of the factors are as follows: Modern English Education and Education for all Modern education opened up the doors of the knowledge flourished in Europe after Renaissance movement of Middle Ages. It had widened the mental horizons of Indian intelligentsia. During second half of the nineteenth century, British government in India opened the doors of education to all the sections of Indian society, irrespective of caste or creed. Still, very few amongst the general public could avail the advantages of formal modern

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education. Education remained confined within a small section of society. But introduction of English education was instrumental in paradigm shift with regard to disability and differently abled persons. It is important for the education system to respond to the needs of differently abled.English education was also instrumental in bringing technology to the forefront. Technology was instrumental in designing and manufacturing goods and equipment and planning services to meet the special needs of differently abled. Technology helped to bring down barriers to fuller participation of differently abled in all activities of the society. Technology would bring out substantial number of differently abled from their isolation and extreme dependence. The required priority has not been given to the education of differently abled children, due to various reasons. Some of them can be listed below:  



The attitude of the parents, family members and the community which does not see much value in educating differently abled child or adult. However there is change in the attitudes and education is being encouraged even if the change is marginal. When there are other siblings of a differently abled, appropriate priority is not given for education compared to his/her siblings, either due to poverty of parents or the attitudinal barriers in the society. Poverty and Disability is a vicious circle. Due to poverty education is denied for children. Even if parents from the economically weaker sections of the society want to educate their children, the opportunity of a disabled child going to school is a rarity, as the cost involved in educating a disabled child is more when compared to a non- disabled child, due to the architectural barriers in the society. There are architectural and environmental barriers such as inaccessible built environment, school buildings, roads, transport and so on. Many times parents will have to carry their differently abled child due to the architectural and environmental barriers. They cannot use public transport and private transport is too expensive for them. Thus as the child grows older their environment is restricted to their home. The education system is also inaccessible for many disabled students, as the teaching methods, learning aids, the curriculum itself and the evaluation system is not differently abled friendly. (Braille books and materials, readers for students with visual impairment, sign language interpretation and teaching are not available in most schools). Even when alternative teaching methods are used, the same methods are not used for evaluation.

It has been asserted by many that by creating special schools and teachers in the country - in the world in fact - a big mistake has been committed. If there were no special schools, no special teachers, probably the society would have learnt over the years to cater to different disabilities. By segregating them, somewhere, the main stream schools have never felt it to be their responsibility to include all children. Westernisation highlighted evil practices and encouraged fighting barriers Modern education had highlighted the evil practices and weaknesses developed into the system like rigidity and harshness of many social customs and practices prevalent at that time for the weaker sections of the society i.e. un-touch-ability and inhuman treatment to women, Sati, Polygamy, child marriage etc. prevalent at that time.Westernisation through its latent function has helped in understanding the evil discriminatory practices against differently abled. Differently abled also have human rights which have been violated at several fronts and fields. There is a need to integrate and facilitate social inclusion of the differently abled

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irrespective of their intensity of the disability. People with impairment feel disabled not because of their physical and/or mental handicaps but because of the barriers society chooses to put up to establish differences between the disabled and non-disabled. These barriers fall in to the following broad categories: Environmental barriers like inaccessible public and private buildings, schools, colleges, offices, factories, shops, transport, information, communication system. These shut the differently abled out or keep reminding them of their alleged shortcomings and shouting at them that you are not welcome. Institutional barriers like expulsion, exclusion and segregation from key social institutions including education, employment, health, law, recreation, etc. Direct and indirect discrimination against the differently abled prevents them from taking full advantage of these provisions. Attitudinal barriers leads to treating the differently abled with prejudice and, in varying degrees, regard them as incapable, inadequate, resentful, bitter, pathetic, tragic, pitiable, abusive, aggressive, immoral, criminal, unhealthy, dependent on charity, costly for society to support, drain on family resources, inferior, unemployable, etc. These barriers, as well as many others, are the result of prejudice born out of ignorance and misconceptions. It is imperative that steps should be taken to remove such barriers and eradicate widespread discrimination against men and women, children and adults suffering from physical and mental impairments. The differently abled must also be offered wider and just opportunities to live independently in society with dignity and freedom to contribute to nation building in accordance with their skills and talents. Westernization attracted attention of social reformers andinitiation of social reforms: Modern education had attracted the attention of intellectuals and social reformers towards evils caused by ignorance, irrational rituals and superstitions created by some selfish people to entangle the ignorant and poor masses. They suggested remedies for social, political and economic ills of the country. They took upon themselves the responsibility to build a modern, open, plural, culturally rich, prosperous and powerful India out of a fragmented, poverty stricken, superstitious, weak, indifferent, backward and inward looking society. As a result of such efforts, it led to the abolition of Sati system and slavery. Female infanticide practice lowered to a great extent.The idea of Westernisation which was propagated by the British rule struck hard on social evils which eroded the Indian society. The introduction of British law put an end to certain inequalities. Disability is a social construct and reflects a flaw in the thinking processes of our society. The person who is physically challenged does not have a problem; the problem is rather with the building which prevents his wheelchair to get inside or with the bus which stops him from riding in it or the taxi driver who ignores him on the roadside. There is a need to give boost to the self-esteem of every differently abled in the country. Westernisation was very critical to change our world view especially with regard to mentally challenged persons. (Baquer and Sharma) The laws and reforms are important to liberate differently abled. He/she should have ample opportunities to change his/her life rather than to remain dependent on others. There is need to replace the feelings of anger, frustration and self-disgust be replaced gradually by competence, independence and health. Realization of the worth of liberty and freedom Westernization equipped national leaders which helped them fight the oppressive British Raj. Indians realized the worth of liberty and freedom. It is not that they were not earlier aware of such values. They got exposure to the philosophies of thinkers like Locke,

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Mill, Rousseau, Voltaire, Spencer and Burke etc. The understanding of western logic and reasons and impact of English, French, American revolutions was also vital in appreciating liberty and freedom. The realization of worth of liberty and freedom was instrumental in enactment of the legislation on Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights & Full Participation) Act, 1995. It represents the culmination of years of hard work behind the scenes, countless hours of consultation between officials of Ministry of Welfare and of other Ministries and experts/ organizations working with and for disabled people, campaigning by differently abled activists for a better deal for differently abled. Moreover Westernisation also brought with it certain distinct values which helped in developing a positive attitude towards differently abled. However this is not to convey that prior to Westernisation there were no such values. Westernization boosted the following values with a very scientific and modern perspective: Humanitarianism: According to M.N. Srinivas, Westernisation is loaded with certain value preferences. “A most important value, which in turn subsumes several other values, is what may be broadly characterized as humanitarianism, by which is meant an active concern for the welfare of all human beings, irrespective of caste, economic position, religion, age and sex.” Srinivas has argued that the term ‘humanitarianism’ is quite comprehensive. It is inclusive of a large number of other values, the important being the welfare of all. Differently abled have been subjected to a long history of neglect, isolation, segregation, poverty, deprivation, charity and even pity. The responsibility for the care of the disabled is generally left to their families and a few institutions managed by voluntary organizations and government. Since the disabled, as yet, do not have any economic or political or media power in India, they tend to be mostly ignored by society. The indifference of society is reflected in all facets of the lives of the differently abled–from cradle to grave. The educational, social, health, transport and residential arrangements made by local, State, Central governments or voluntary organizations frequently fall short of the total demand for them. They are also uncoordinated and irrelevant to the actual needs. Such approaches, either out of a profound lack of understanding or sheer callousness, are designed to promote dependence, charity and segregation of the disabled instead of independence, dignity, self-respect and integration. These common practices reinforce the traditional and misguided stereotypes that continue to project people with disabilities as deserving pity, alms and charity. The prejudices against the differently abled and ignorance about their potential get institutionalized and are inevitably reflected in policy making, resource allocation, service provision and the status accorded to them. The values of humanitarianism and welfare motive is instrumental in ensuring and replacing the negative stereotypes with a positive attitude and facilitating in developing a sense of self- respect and living with dignity. Equalitarianism: Westernisation has another value of equalitarianism. It is a democratic value and stands for minimizing inequality, removal of poverty and liberty to all. The humanitarianism, as a characteristic of Westernisation, stands for a society which could be called as a socialist society in the long run. Any Socialist society aspires for equality and welfare for all. The Persons with Disabilities (Equal opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Bill, 1995

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opened doors for differently abled so that they can, individually and collectively, become not only an integral part of the mainstream but also get equal opportunities. The Indian Act guarantees full equality, independence and freedom to all people with disabilities. This law has given confidence to the differently abled that this glorious example will be followed in other countries. Most people do, however, realize that the Indian Act is not a solution to the intricate and complex problems of the differently abled but, they also know that the Indian Act is definitely a beginning in finding lasting and practical solutions. The pursuit of social justice and equal opportunities should become more vigorous so that all, irrespective of their disabilities, lifestyles and potential could be treated equally and fairly. Secularization: Both the British rule and at a later stage the Constitution of India introduced a new value of secularization. Secular India is conceived as a nation charged by the idiom of a rational and bureaucratic society. Accordingly, the state is required to have respect for all the religions of the society. It also includes the value of scientific ethics which helped in evolving an ethical attitude towards the differently abled. The differently abled should be able to take active participation in all activities of their lives. Such participation can only become a reality if society removes these age-old barriers and the accessibility of the differently abled to education, training and employment increases in a substantial measure. The lawmakers, and those implementing policies, must realize that people with disabilities want, deserve and are entitled to the same range of choices and lifestyles as the non-disabled. Self-advocacy is critical for ensuring equal rights and a secular approach towards the differently abled. There is need to actively involve the differently abled in their own struggle for equality, self-respect and independence. All those who believe in creating a just and secular society free from exploitation, must support efforts aimed at achieving equal rights for all, for the differently abled as well as the non-disabled. The people with impairments must be encouraged to gain full control of their lives, their environment, and their society. They must have the right to decide what they themselves want. The participation of the differently abled in taking charge of shaping their own lives would help to shift the focus from individual impairments to real problems confronting them i.e. the discriminating attitude of the society against them. The differently abled, in partnership with the non-disabled, shall together remove the obstacles and barriers that history has put in front of them. Only through such collective and sustained efforts society would be able to minimize, and ultimately eliminate prejudice and discrimination that have become daily occurrences. In all countries and cultures of the world, differently abled have one experience in common, an experience that stares at them constantly, hurts them relentlessly. This single common experience, cutting across geographical, political and cultural boundaries, is Discrimination. This realization must give each one of them the courage to challenge the prejudice of society and demolish the image that they are dependent and pitiable. Secularization has brought change in the attitude towards differently abled. Predominance of science and technology and greater application of technology in day today life The British rule also introduced modern science and technology in Indian society. This brought railways, steam engines and technology. As a result of this, the Indian society moved towards industrialization. Though, science and technology came as a setback to

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village industries and local arts and artifacts, the industrial growth increased. This also gave encouragement to urban development. Migration from village to town and city also increased.There was a take-off from tradition to modernity during this period. Industrialization and urbanization also introduced new values in society. Many of the traditional institutions like untouchability and caste received new interpretation and analysis. The world for and of the differently abled is changing at a rapid pace and the aspirations are also changing. Breakthroughs in technology, advances in medical and surgical sciences, greater understanding of the causes of disability and improved methods of coping with it, increasing consciousness of civil rights and the emergence of people who are differently abled are displaying skills and knowledge to improve their own lives, are some of the factors which have contributed to the new thinking that the differently abled deserve a dignified status in society on the same terms as the non-disabled. Westernisation and Modernization Westernisation in India also consolidated the process of Modernization and Urbanization which immensely helped in developing new technologies for the differently abled and also understand disability from a scientific perspective. Since Modernization also included urbanization it enhanced media exposure and wider economic participation. Modernization also implies social mobility. A mobile society has to encourage rationality. In the fast developing world, lot of favorable things have happened and are still happening in a much faster pace. Aesthetics and Technology has come hand in hand, creating beautiful barriers in the environment around. In addition to this is the disability insensitive attitude, which promotes the barriers first hand. It is interesting to note that making a building differently abled friendly costs just 2 percent of the total building costs. A lot of cost effective adaptations can be made within and outside buildings to make them exclusively barrier free. The areas that get affected due to various barriers include education and information leading to intellectual disability, employment leading to financial disability, play, leisure and health leading to health issues, all the above affecting the rights and contribution of differently abled leading to isolation from society, affecting their sense of self-esteem, social respect and dignity of life leading to an emotional disability; an all-round life of disability. Stringent laws can do very less unless there is a change in the mindset of people and a willingness to accept and respect differently abled. There is an attitude of relating differently abled with his or her disability and not to his/her abilities. The world exists because of its differences and the natural balance among them. Moreover Westernisation definitely laid the foundation for globalization. With accelerating pace of developing information and communication technology, social media has become a very efficient medium to exchange of views. Conclusion It is appropriate to conclude that Westernisation created certain conditions and facilitated such processes which have been critical to understand disability and differently abled in very different light. Many differently abled are still untouched by westernization and its allied processes especially in rural areas. Westernisation is not the panacea for disability but it has definitely contributed in evolving a modern, humanitarian, egalitarian and secular outlook towards the differently abled. References Baquer

Ali, Sharma, Anjali. Disability:Challenges Responseshttp://www.healthlibrary.com Retrieved in February 2015

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Kumar, Siva .http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Disabled-population-up-by-22-4-in2001-11/articleshow/28072371.cms. (2013): n.pag. Web. 10 Jan. 2014 Role of Sanskritization and other Essays. Delhi: Oxford University Press. 56–71. Singh, Yogendra. 1986. Modernization of Indian Tradition. Jaipur: Rawat Publications Sobsey, D. Violence and Abuse in the Lives of People with Disabilities: The End of Silent Acceptance? Baltimore: Brookes Publishing Company. 1994. Print Srinivas, M. N. (1996). Indian Society through Personal Writings. Oxford University Press. Srinivas, M. N. (1998). The Cohesive Role of Sanskritization. In M. N. Srinivas,The Cohesive Srinivas, M. N. (2000).Social Change in Modern India. Orient Longman India. Srinivas, M. N. A Note on Sanskritization and WesternizationThe Far Eastern Quarterly Vol. 15, No. 4 (Aug., 1956), pp. 481-496 Srinivas, M.N.(1962). Caste in Modern India and Other Essays. Bombay: Media Promoters. Watson, J. D. “Talking about the best kept secret: Sexual abuse and children with disabilities.” Exceptional Parent, 14, (1984): 16-20. Print Waxman, B.E (1991). “Hatred: The unacknowledged dimension in Violence against disabled people.” Sexuality and Disability 9, (3), (1991): 45-57. Print.

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LEARNING STYLES AND ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT OF STUDENTS IN HIGH SCHOOLS Dr. A. Subramanian Assistant Professor, Department of Education, University of Madras, Chennai, E-mail: asubramaniandiet2000@gmail.com ABSTRACT Information about learning style can help the faculty to be more effective to bring some difference in the classroom. It also helps as a guide framing the learning experiences that match or mismatch to the students styles. Matching is used in working with college students who entered as newcomer to the college. In some studies says that identifying a students’ style and then providing instruction will give place to effective. In other cases, some mismatching may be appropriate so that students’ experiences and help them to learn in new ways and to bring new ideas and ways of thinking which is not previously developed. Mismatching should be done with consideration among the students because the experience of discontinuing much creates threatening among the students who are weak in these areas. Knowledge about learning style can help the faculty to frame the matching and mismatching styles which makes them to work with systematically and also effectively. The purpose of this present investigation was to study about the “Learning Styles and Academic Achievement of students in High School” in relations with some selected Personal and Institutional related variables. On the basis of the findings from this present study it is revealed that the school students have good Learning Styles and Academic Achievement. The Academic Achievement of the students’ will be high if we provided them with the suitable and appropriate Learning Styles.

Introduction The knowledge what we gain, the language what we speak, the habits what we follow, attitudes and skills what we developed in us everything are all happened only by the use of learning. Learning only gives the basic knowledge to human. Psychologists defined that learning is “a relatively permanent change in behavior, which occurs as a result of activity, training, practice or experience”. An environment where the students feel safe and supported where the individual needs and uniqueness are honored, and where the abilities and life achievement are acknowledged and respected by others. An environment that fosters the intellectual freedom and also encourages experimentation and creativity. An environment where faculty treats as adults and students as peers were the knowledge is accepted and respected and the opinions are listened to, honored, appreciated. Such faculty members are say that they learn more from their students were as the students learn from them. Types of Learning Styles The Visual (Spatial) Learning Style: People who are all interested in visual style of learning, they use charts, colors, images, maps, pictures, tables and other teaching learning aids to combine and organize the information and communication with others. They can visualize the objects, plans and easily bring it to their minds and also it creates a good spatial sense, which helps them to have a good sense of direction. The writing board and writing material are best friends for them. They love doodling, drawing, scribbling and writing especially with coloring materials. Basically they have a good dressing and coloring sense. The aural (auditory-musical-rhythmic) learning style. The Aural (Spatial) Learning Style: People who are all interested in aural style of learning, they like to use and music in their learning. They have a good sense of rhythm and pitch. They can sing and play musical instrument, or identify the sounds which comes from different instrument. Certain music can invoke some strong emotions. They can easily

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identify the music comes in the movies, TV shows and other media related programs. They often find them with tapping or humming a song or jingle, or theme music or jingle pops. The Verbal (Linguistic) Learning Style: Both the written and spoken word involves in verbal learning style. People who are all interested in this style they find to express themselves to others by both in written and verbal. They love more to read and write. They always like to maintain good relationship with the books. They like to play with the meaning, sound of words such as tongue twisters, rhymes, limericks, poems etc., they know the meaning for many words, and they regularly exercise to find the meaning of new words. When taking with others they use many proverbs and phrases. Physical (Bodily-Kinesthetic) Learning Style: People who involved in this kind of physical style they like to use their whole body and they like to know everything with the sense of touch. They love to participate in sports, exercises and other physical activities such as constructing and gardening. They would rather go for a run or walk if something is bothering them, rather than sitting at home. They are more sensitive to the physical world around them. They notice and appreciate textures, for example in clothes or furniture. They like “getting their hands dirty” or making models, or working out jigsaws. Logical (Mathematical) Learning Style: People who like this style they like to use their brain for logical and mathematical reasoning. They can easily recognize the patterns and connections. This helps them to they to classify the group information and this style helps them to understand everything easily. They always like to work with numbers and ready to perform complex calculation. Quite often they know the basics of algebra, geometry, linear equations, matrix, trigonometry and algebra and they can do other complex calculations also. They like to find new methods for future use and also they like to work out problems and calculation in a systematic way. They will be an expert in setting targets and ready to apply them into action. The Social (Interpersonal) Learning Style: People who are all strong in social style they communicate well with the people in both verbal and non verbal, others will come forward to listen their words and advices. They will give right suggestions and advices for the person in need. These people were sensitive to their feelings and moods. These people give respect to others words and views. They like to be a mentor as well as counselor for others. They like to prefer learning in groups and they like to spend much time one-on-one time with a teacher or an instructor. They always like to work with issues, ideas and problematic situations which arise in a group. They always like to stay around with friends and others. They involve in social activities. They spend their time in a useful way. They like to play games like card games and board games because these need a group of people to play. They like to play sports such as basketball, baseball, football or soccer, volleyball and hockey. The Solitary (Intrapersonal) Learning Style: People who are all interested in this style they will be private, introspective and independent. They always concentrate in the current topic which focusing in their thoughts and feelings. They are very much aware of their own thinking, and they try to analyse other ways of thinking. These people spend much time in self analysis. They spend time on self analysis and they like to and assess their own accomplishments or challenges. They maintain a dairy to record all of their personal thoughts and others. Most of the time they like to spend alone. They must have a personal hobby and they like to do things innovatively. They like to remote rural places which are away from the huge crowds.

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Learning Styles and Academic Achievement In recent years with the restricting movement in schools they focuses on diversity in students populations, educators question about students’ learning style makes a difference in achievement (Guild 1994). Even learning style is neutral in relationship to intelligence (Cornett 1983), researchers recommends that very few learning styles may be more stable for particular activities in the school environment than other styles (Guild and Garger 1985; Matthews 1991). In this article these issues from a slightly different perspective aspect that how the high school students with differed in their learning styles and to see their own academic achievement. The study explained that students with various learning styles can estimate themselves different way. Other students who follow learning styles they will be de-emphasis on human relationships and an emphasis on deductive thinking estimated themselves as a higher academic than their peers with other learning styles. Students who were peopleoriented approach they had the lowest learning styles and lowest overall academic selfassessment. The way that students estimated themselves in a high or low level according to their qualities they possessed and they valued or devaluated by the traditional school programs. School provide a way to restructure the curriculum and also provide some services in school with all the learning styles were the student can get an equal chances for success. Statement of the Problem The present study has been specifically intend to study about the Learning Styles and Academic Achievement with respect to personal variables (gender, age) and institutional variables (type of school, type school management, board of affiliation, medium of instruction, family occupation , parents’ educational qualification) among the high school students. In the present termed as “Learning Styles and Academic Achievement of students in High School. Need and Significance of the Study There are different styles in Learning. The study is planned in such a way to whether these Learning Styles influence in the Academic Achievement or not. This study focuses on each Learning Styles in terms of teaching-learning process. This study mainly focuses on the preferential learning style of the students which in turn enhances their Academic Achievement. Objectives of the Study 1. To study whether there is any significant difference in learning styles and its dimension belonging to different group of students based on i.

Gender

ii.

Age

iii.

Fathers’ Qualification

iv.

Mother’s Qualification

Mothers’ occupation

vi.

Family income

2. To study whether there is any relationship between learning styles and academic achievement among the students.

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Hypothesis of the Study 1. There is significant difference in learning styles between the students belonging to different groups based on i.

Gender

ii.

Age

iii.

Fathers’ Qualification

iv.

Mother’s Qualification

Mothers’ occupation

vi.

Family income

2. There is significant relationship between learning styles and academic achievement of the high school students. Method of Study: Among the different methods of study normative method is used in this research. Tools Used in the Study: The tool is the instrument which is used to collect the data for the sample. In the present study, the tool namely “Memletics Learning Style Scale” was used to study the Learning Styles of the high school students was originally developed by Sean Whitely (2004). Collection of Data: The investigator contacts the Head of the institution in person and obtained permission to collect the data. The investigator requested the ninth standard students to fill the tool. The investigator was administrated in person to the selected tool. The duration of fillings up the tool was around 45 minutes to 1 hour. Sample and Sampling Techniques: Totally 300 samples were collected from 9 schools. Samples are collected randomly from the 9th standard students in high schools. Statistical Analysis In the present study the following statistic techniques were used to assess learning styles of the high school students. 1. Descriptive analysis (mean, standard deviation) The Mean and Standard Deviation were calculated for learning styles and its seven dimensions and academic achievement with respect to the entire sample and the result of the same are summarized in table. Table – 1: Mean and Standard Deviation for the scores on Learning Styles & Academic Achievement for the Entire Sample Variables / Dimensions Visual Verbal Aural Physical Logical Social Solitary Overall Learning Styles Academic Achievement

Mean 12.48 12.14 12.55 11.83 12.54 11.56 13.08 86.19 59.54

Standard Deviation 2.722 3.026 3.070 3.121 3.390 3.274 3.561 16.520 14.326

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The Perusal of Table revealed that the Mean and Standard Deviation of the Overall Learning Styles for the entire sample were 86.19 and 16.520 respectively. The mean score percentage was highest (65.4%) for the dimension solitary and the same was lowest (57.8%) for the dimension social. It was also found that the Mean and Standard Deviation of the Academic Achievement for the Entire Sample were 59.54 and 14.326 respectively. Mean and Standard Deviations of Learning Styles and Academic Achievement with Respect to Gender The Mean, Standard Deviation and t-values were calculated for Learning Styles and its seven dimensions and Academic Achievement with respect to Gender and the same are given in Table-2. Table -2: Mean, Standard Deviation and t-value for the scores on Learning Styles and Academic Achievement with respect to Gender Variables / Dimensions Visual Verbal Aural Physical Logical Social Solitary Overall Learning Styles Academic Achievement

Boys Mean 12.76 11.94 11.76 11.69 12.05 11.25 12.85 84.31 58.35

SD 2.944 3.179 3.133 3.064 3.640 3.446 3.670 17.963 13.818

Girls Mean 12.18 12.35 13.37 11.98 13.05 11.88 13.33 88.14 60.78

SD 2.433 2.854 2.783 3.183 3.039 3.064 3.439 14.678 14.781

t-value 1.878 1.162 4.717 0.795 2.566 1.669 1.160 2.014 1.471

Level of significance P > 0.05 P > 0.05 P > 0.01 P > 0.05 P > 0.05 P > 0.05 P > 0.05 P > 0.05 P > 0.05

From the table it was found that Overall Learning Style was high for the Girls (88.14) than those of Boys (84.31). It was also found that the Academic Achievement was high for Girls (60.78) than those of Boys (58.35). The t-value calculated for the Overall Learning Style and its seven dimensions with respect to Gender revealed that the Boys and Girls differed significantly in their Overall Learning Styles and its three dimensions namely Aural, Logical and Social. Moreover Girls scored more than Boys in all its seven dimensions, whereas they did not differ significantly in four dimensions namely Visual, Verbal, Physical and Solitary even at 0.05 levels. The t-value Calculated for Academic Achievement with respect to Gender revealed that the Boys and Girls students differed significantly. Moreover, Girl students scored more than boys students in Academic Achievement. Findings of the Study Finding based on Descriptive and differential Analysis of the data related to Learning styles: 1. The mean and standard deviation of Overall Learning Styles were 86.19 and 16.520 respectively, where the Mean percentage of Overall Learning Styles was assessed to b e Moderate (61.56%). The Mean percentage was high (65.4%) in solitary and it was low (57.8%) in social. 2. Girls had more Overall Learning Styles and its dimension Aural, Logical and Social. 3. The students did not differ significantly in Overall Learning Styles and differed in one of its dimensions namely Aural with respect to different Age group.

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4. The students whose fathers’ Educational Qualification PG had more Physical Learning Styles that others. 5. The students’ did not differ significantly in Overall Learning Styles and any of its dimensions with respect to Mother’s Educational Qualification. 6. The student’s whose Fathers’ working as Government Employee had more Overall Learning Style and differed significantly in the dimension solitary than others 7. The students’ did not differed significantly in Overall Learning Styles and any of its dimensions with respect to Mothers’ occupation. 8. The students’ parents’ earned more than 2 lakhs had more Overall Learning Styles and did not differ significantly in any of its dimensions. Findings based on Descriptive and Differential Analysis of the Data related to Academic Achievement 1. The Mean and Standard Deviation of Academic Achievement were 59.54 and 14.326 respectively. 2. The Boys and Girls differed significantly in the Academic Achievement where Girls were better than Boys in Academic Achievement. 3. The students’ belong to different Age group did not differ significantly in their Academic Achievement. 4. The students’ who’s Fathers’ Educational Qualification PG had high mean score than other groups in Academic Achievement. 5. The students’ who’s Mothers’ Educational Qualification PG had high mean score than other groups in Academic Achievement. 6. The students’ Fathers’ working in Government Employee had high mean score that other groups in Academic Achievement. 7. The students’ who’s Mothers’ Educational Qualification PG had high mean score than other groups in Academic Achievement. 8. The students’ Parents’ earned above 2 lakhs had high mean score than other groups in Academic Achievement. Conclusion The purpose of this present investigation was to study about the “Learning Styles and Academic Achievement of students in High School” in relations with some selected Personal and Institutional related variables. On the basis of the findings from this present study it is revealed that the school students have good Learning Styles and Academic Achievement. The Academic Achievement of the students’ will be high if we provided them with the suitable and appropriate Learning Styles. Reference 1. Gravenhorst, Robynne M. (2007). Student Learning Styles and Academic Performance in a Non-Traditional Anatomy Course. Journal of Dance Education, 7(2), 38-46. 2. Hlawaty, Heide. (2009). "Lernen" and Learning Styles: A Comparative Analysis of the Learning Styles of German Adolescents by Age, Gender, and Academic Achievement Level. European Education, 40(4), 23-45.

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3. Hsieh, Pei-Hsuan., & Dwyer, Francis. (2009). The Instructional Effect of Online Reading Strategies and Learning Styles on Student Academic Achievement. Educational Technology & Society, 12(2), 36-50. 4. Burke, Karen, C. S. J. (1997). Responding to Participants' Learning Styles during Staff Development. Clearing House, 70(6), 299-301. 5. Chitra.D (2010).A Study of Learning Styles and Academic Achievement among higher secondary students.University of Madras.

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INCLUSIVE EDUCATION IS AN IMPORTANT ASPECT IN TEACHER EDUCATION Dr.Gaurav Sachar Assistant Professor, P.K.R Jain (P.G.) College of Education, Hisar Road, Ambala City. Mobile No:-098964-90521. E-Mail: drgauravsachar@gmail.com, gauravsachar2012@yahoo.in ABSTRACT Inclusive education and teacher education are important aspect with regard to quality of education. Inclusive education promotes quality and equity in education as it includes every individual with disregard towards gender, disability, behavioral problems, family background, poverty, etc. While teacher education includes educating teachers and providing training on the job and also prior to the job, which builds and develop the knowledge, skills- cognitive and physical both, character of teachers. Therefore it can be said that inclusive education and teacher education are interdependent with each other. As the former provides teaching methods which will encourage teachers to organize their works in teams and also apply problem oriented teaching methods and at the same time respect diversity and different teaching styles among their pupils. At theoretical level inclusive education has huge support but at practical level it still faces many challenges, as inclusive education is difficult to implement because teachers do not lend their support. It is already known that teachers play central role for promoting participation and reducing underachievement. The paper deals with role of teacher, barriers as well as strategies for teaching in inclusive education settings.

Introduction This article focuses on the responsibilities of teacher education in promoting inclusive education. It also discusses the barriers involved in such process. It also states the strategies for teaching in inclusive setting. There are number of reasons for making teacher education as an important technique for promoting inclusive education and the main reason is that teachers play central role in promoting education i.e. inclusion. As Dr. S. Radhakrishnan said, “The teacher’s place in society is of vital importance. He acts as the pivot for the transmission of intellectual traditions and technical skills from generation to generation and helps to keep the lamp of civilization burning. ” Therefore there have been many efforts taken by international and national organization for promoting inclusive education which has been explained in the following paragraph. Extending access to education is part of a worldwide agenda. The Education for All (EFA) initiative from the United Nations is an essential element of the Millennium Development Goals, in part because education is seen as being crucial to human development, and also because so many children do not have access to education UNESCO (2005). Also in India, the recommendations of various committees constituted from time to time and specifically Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan and inclusion of Right to Education(RTE) has discusses the importance of education for everyone. For example, Kothari Commission (1964-66) emphasized that the education of children with disability should be “an inseparable part of general education system” commission is also specifically emphasized the importance of integrated education in meeting its target. The term ‘inclusive education’ is nowadays broadly conceptualized to include students from different backgrounds and with languages other than English, as well as students with disabilities (Ashman, 2002). ‘Inclusive Education’ denotes that all children

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irrespective of their strengths and weaknesses will be part of the mainstream education. The feeling of belongingness among all community members – teachers, students and other functionaries is developed through inclusive education. Inclusive education is for all, irrespective of any social community, caste, class, gender and disability of the child. Inclusive education is brought about by having all children of society to become students of the same school. Here the school has to undergo changes to include all of its students to be a part of it. So, inclusive education means, “the act of ensuring that all children despite their differences, receive the opportunity of being part of the same classroom as other children of their age, and in the process get the opportunity of being exposed to the curriculum to their optimal potential”. Inclusive education is very important as it fulfill constitutional responsibility (RTE, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan, compulsory primary education, etc.), helps in achieving universalization of education. It develops nation, break barriers of poverty. The main goal of inclusive education is to improve the quality of education and also helps in achieving social equity. Responsibilities of Teachers in Promoting Inclusive Education To teach in inclusive settings, co-operation and understanding between regular, special and resource teacher is an essential condition. The teacher for teaching in inclusive classrooms must be aware of 3R’s i.e. Rights, Roles and Responsibilities. The teacher is expected to welcome all children, without any discrimination by making necessary accommodations and arrangements for their education in the same school and classes along with the non-disabled peers. The teacher should help the child to grow his/her potentiality to the maximum and making students to understand and accept human differences; provide opportunities for overall development of child’s physical, cognitive, emotional and social skills. A teacher is to follow ‘zero rejection policy’ according to which everyone should be welcomed in the class and foster positive attitudes among students, also help in preparation of curriculum which includes effective learning for all students. A teacher has to maintain contacts and linkages with other professionals working for the welfare of disabled students and appreciate the need for modification of the school or classroom organization for the curriculum of teaching techniques plus appreciate special services available to children with special needs. A teacher should also help parents, voluntary organizations and educational planners in understanding the problems of exceptional children possess knowledge of various technologies, understand the value of parents and contributions which parents can make to their children’s development. The basic responsibility of a teacher is to identify the children that need special attention and also those children suffering from any kind of disability and refer them to their parents, schools so that necessary steps can be taken at right time. Barriers Education Department of UNESCO (2003) has divided barriers in three categories First category is of social barriers which includes negative thinking of society about disabled and handicapped children, discrimination, belief that special education is a good alternative, resistance to accept change, etc. People need to provide awareness about such children. Second category is educational barriers like lacking of characteristics of acceptability, availability, accessibility, adaptability, and attention in teachers and organizations towards children. Teachers, administrator etc. are less sensitive towards diversities, prefers rigid, inflexible curriculum, views inclusive education as a technique for lowering of quality of education and regards it as additional burden also shortage of trained teachers.

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Third category is economic barriers like expending grant-in-aid in a wasteful manner. The money provided under SSA to teachers for purchasing material or aid useful for children is not spent accurately as they regard this grant as wastage of money, etc. Strategies for Teaching in Inclusive Setting The following are the different innovative ways that peer supports can be used to meet the instructional and social needs of students with disabilities in the general education setting. However, each of these models require upfront planning that includes selecting the right type of strategy, utilizing it at the right time with perhaps individualized outcomes all aligned with the lesson goals. Team Teaching: Team teaching is an approach in which two or more teachers, join together, plan together, teach together and evaluate together. In inclusive schools the regular education teacher and the special education teacher also work together in providing service to children with Special Need in the classroom. In inclusive education, meeting the special educational needs of children is the joint responsibility of the regular teacher, the special teacher and other professionals. For team teaching you have to plan jointly with others for teaching and evaluating a particular topic or subject depending upon your expertise/experience. Peer Tutoring: Peer tutoring involves one-to-one instruction from a student to another in the tutoring role and the tutee who receives instruction. Peer tutoring meets the individual's needs of the child with disabilities by providing remedial or supportive instruction. The teacher must encourage the student-teacher and guide him from time to time. The student teacher must show patience and tolerance while teaching and must give maximum examples to help the learner understand the concept. Co-Operative Learning: Cooperative Learning is a strategy used by group/number of students to achieve a common goal with mutual collaboration and support. In an inclusive classroom where a large number of children with and without disabilities have been enrolled, children can be taught with the help of cooperative learning in which they have common goals. The teacher would operate only as: Planner, Facilitator, Evaluator and Monitor. Language Experience Approach (LEA): The Language Experience Approach (LEA) integrates the development of reading skills with the development of listening, speaking and writing skills. What the child is thinking and talking about would make the material for developing the lesson. LEA deals with the following thinking process:- (a) what a child thinks about, he can talk about, (b) what a child says, he can write (or someone can write for him) and (c) what a child writes (or others write for him), he can read. Multi-Sensory Approach: The Multi-Sensory approach is based on the premise that for some children learning is facilitated if content is presented via several modalities Kinesthetic and tactile stimulation are used along with visual and auditory modalities. Task Analysis: In task analysis, the task to be learnt by the child is broken up into small teachable components. The components are sequenced and each component is transacted to the child. The next component to be taught is taken up only after the child masters the initial ones. Children with Special need cover a large range of disabilities. For each child the basal level and the profile have to be assessed and accordingly considering his pace of learning, the task is to be broken down. Various activities of daily living as need academic activities can be taught through this method. Modifying materials and activities: Teaching social studies can involve many different instructional practices. Within the classroom setting teachers can employ discussions,

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demonstrations, and learning Centre’s. Other intriguing techniques involve simulation activities, role-playing, or dramatic improvisation. Conclusion Inclusive education is an innovative step towards quality of education and helps in developing each child fully and helps in universalization of education. Therefore inclusive education should be utilized effectively in schools, other institutions, etc. Teacher education plays an important role in making this goal of inclusive education achievable. For this purpose teachers, administrators, organizations, etc. Should be trained and have broad mind in order to accept diversity and fulfill their responsibility. Adequate steps should be taken by different organization for promoting inclusive education. References 1. www.inclusion-education-in.action.org. 2. http://www.abdn.ac.uk/eitn/uploads/files/issue16/EITN-1-Rouse.pdf. 3. Depssa.ignou.ac.in/wiki/images/5/5e/CRC-inclusive Education pdf. 4. Ashman, A. F. (2002). Society, culture and education. In A. F. Ashman & J. Elkins (Ed.) Educating children with diverse abilities. French’s Forest, NSW: Pearson Education, Pp. 5–40.

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CONVERGENCE OF INDIAN ACCOUNTING STANDARD WITH IFRS Dr.Syamal Kumar Mandal Assistant Professor, Department of Commerce, Dukhulal Nibaran Chandra College, Aurangabad, Murshidabad, West Bengal, E-mail: syamalkumar.mandal@gmail.com ABSTRACT The International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) issued by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) are increasingly being recognised as the global financial reporting standards. Convergence with IFRS has gained worldwide momentum in recent years. India being an important emerging global economy, the Government of India has decided to convergence of Indian Accounting Standards with IFRS from April 1, 2015. In the wake of globalization, convergence of national accounting standards with international standards has been considered necessary as a measure of transparency and quality assurance for better management of corporate enterprises and facilitating multinational flow of investment. Convergence with IFRS means to achieve harmony with IFRSs and to design and maintain national accounting standards in a way that they comply with the International Accounting Standards. In India the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) has decided to fully converge with IFRS issued by the International Accounting Standards Board. Convergence will bring forth galore benefits to investors, industry, professionals and the economy as a whole. India will be adopting IFRS means our national GAAP will be the same as that practiced in over 130 countries today. This is a significant move towards the emergence of IFRS as a global accounting language. In this paper we are to examine the objective of IFRS, benefits of convergence with IFRS, the ICAI’s strategy for convergence and major challenges of convergence with IFRS. Key - Words: IFRS, IASB, Convergence, GAAP

I. Introduction The International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) issued by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) are increasingly being recognised as the global financial reporting standards. Convergence with IFRS has gained worldwide momentum in recent years. India being an important emerging global economy, the Government of India has decided to convergence of Indian Accounting Standards with IFRS from April 1, 2015. In the wake of globalization, convergence of national accounting standards with international standards has been considered necessary as a measure of transparency and quality assurance for better management of corporate enterprises and facilitating multinational flow of investment. Convergence with IFRS means to achieve harmony with IFRSs and to design and maintain national accounting standards in a way that they comply with the International Accounting Standards. In India the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) has decided to fully converge with IFRS issued by the International Accounting Standards Board. Convergence will bring forth galore benefits to investors, industry, professionals and the economy as a whole. India will be adopting IFRS means our national GAAP will be the same as that practiced in over 130 countries today. This is a significant move towards the emergence of IFRS as a global accounting language. In this paper we are to examine the objective of IFRS, benefits of convergence with IFRS, the ICAI’s strategy for convergence and major challenges of convergence with IFRS. II. Objectives of IFRS The Main objective of IFRS is hrarmonisation in financial statement reporting. In the modern globalised era the various factors like cross border investments, interdependence on trade, increase of business complexities, global financial crisis, global slowdown and

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mobility of capital and people across the globe are significantly influencing the global economy. Thus the prime objective of IFRS development is harmonization in financial statements reporting. Some more objectives are: i.

To create the global financial reporting infrastructure.

ii.

To generate sound business sense among the beneficiaries.

iii.

To generate the dimensions of fair presentation of financial statement.

iv.

To maintain higher transparency of financial statement and mobility of capital.

III. Benefits of Convergence with IFRS Reliable, consistent and uniform financial reporting is an important part of good corporate governance. Thus it is sensible to make a careful preliminary assessment and a cost – benefit analysis of whether or not under the particular circumstances, an adoption of IFRS would be desirable and also examine different scenarios concerning timing of adopting IFRS. The number of companies which elect to adopt IFRS is growing and this is because IFRS reporting offers a wide scope of benefits. Examples of these benefits include the following: i.

IFRS significantly improves the comparability of entities and provide more consistent financial information.

ii.

IFRS are accepted as a financial reporting framework for companies seeking admission to almost all of the world’s stock exchanges (including US).

iii.

The enhanced comparability of the companies’ financial information and the improved quality of communication to their stockholders, decrease investor uncertainty, reduce risk, increases market efficiency and eventually minimises the cost of capital.

iv.

IFRS eliminates barriers to cross border trading in securities, by ensuring that financial statements are more transparent.

Management reporting for internal purposes under IFRS, can improve the quality and consistency of information that management needs in order to make effective, efficient and timely decisions for the business.

vi.

IFRS adoption may be used as a chance to make some strategic improvements to the finance systems and processes as well as to reduce costs in the longer term.

vii.

IFRS financial statements that are universally understood and comparable can both improve and initiate new relationships with customers and suppliers across national borders.

viii.

Because of the positive effect IFRS financial information has on credit ratings, a company’s position strengthens in negotiations with credit institutions and cost of borrowings are reduced.

ix.

IFRS can also result in more accurate risk evaluations by lenders and to a lower risk premium. It also helps companies to take advantage of alternative forms of finance.

In the case of groups it removes the need for individual companies to prepare two set of financial statements, if all individual companies in the group apply IFRS. It also allows multinational groups to have a common accounting language, thereby improving management reporting and decision making.

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IFRS reporting makes easier to implement cross-border acquisitions, initiate partnerships & cooperation agreements with foreign entities, simplify the sale of the reporting entity and lower the costs of integration in post acquisition periods.

IV. ICAI’s Strategy for Convergence with IFRS The ICAI as the nodal agency has adopted a strategy for initiating the process of convergence with IFRS in India starting from April 1, 2015 and completing the same by 1st April 2017. The strategy emphasized upon stage wise approach rather than one step adoption. It had drawn a road map for different types of users to make the process of convergence systematic and efficient. Companies with a net worth of over Rs 1,000 crore will have to adopt International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) from April 1, 2015 for preparing their financial statements. For companies with net worth of Rs 500-1,000 crore, the recommended date is April 1, 2016. For all other companies (including listed ones), the recommended date is April 1, 2017. The new IFRS roadmap does not cover banks and insurance companies. It is for the respective sectoral regulators. Reserve Bank of India and Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority will decide the date of IFRS enforcement. The Government was earlier looking to enforce IFRS from April 1, 2011. But this was not implemented. On its part, the ICAI has already prepared Indian accounting standards (Ind AS) that converged with IFRS. Since the international accounting standards board is expected to come up with new standards on important areas like leasing, financial instruments, ICAI has suggested that IFRS may be adopted from April 1, 2015 so that Indian Companies do not face hardship. With convergence of accounting standards at multinational level and the introduction of standardized accounting practices with limited alternatives in treatment of financial transactions, undoubtedly the accounting output will be more capable of meeting the multinational requirements and there would be greater transparency and efficiency in accounting operations. This will make accounting information more suitable for meeting managerial requirements comprehensively and raise the status of accounting as a discipline and as a profession. This will also provide cross border employment opportunities for accounting academics and professional accountants. It is widely accepted that there will be a positive impact of convergence on large companies and professional accountants. As mentioned in the notification by the ICAI for companies in terms of better quality of financial reporting, lower cost of raising funds abroad, increased trust and reliance by investors, analysts and other stakeholders and for professional accountants in terms of better employment and earning prospects. However, this may not be the case with SMEs, as they may find it difficult to cope up with the rigorous requirements of IFRS to reap the benefits. V. Major Challenges of Convergence with IFRS The problem of differences in accounting standards will continue to exist for some time. From a regulatory perspective, convergence to IFRS would require amendments to the Companies Act and the Income Tax Act, to mention the major ones. Currently industries such as banking and insurance are also regulated by specific acts that prescribe accounting norms. Today, IFRS does not provide industry specific standards so there would be additional transition challenges as and when progress is made. IFRS requires valuations and future forecasts, which will involve use of estimates, assumptions and management’s judgments. The ICAI and the Ministry of Corporate Affairs have already made noteworthy progress in moving towards IFRS. 1. Legal and regulatory considerations In some cases, the legal and regulatory accounting requirements in India differ from the IFRS. In India, Companies Act of 1956, Banking Regulation Act of 1949, IRDA EDULIGHT-Multi-disciplinary, Peer-Reviewed Journal

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regulations and SEBI guidelines prescribe detailed formats for financial statements to be followed by respective enterprises in their financial reporting. In such cases, strict adherence to IFRS in India would result in various legal problems. 2. Economic Environment Some IFRS require fair value approach to be followed, for example: IAS 39, Financial Instruments: Recognition and Measurement IAS 41, Agriculture. The markets of many economies such as India normally do not have adequate depth and breadth for reliable determination of fair values. With a view to provide further guidance on the use of fair value approach, the IASB is developing a document. Till date, no viable solution of objective fair value measures is available. 3. SME Concerns In emerging economies like India, a significant part of the economic activities is carried on by Small- and Medium-sized Entities (SMEs). Such entities face problems in implementing the accounting standards because of: (i) Scarcity of resources and expertise with the SMEs to achieve compliance. (ii) Cost of compliance not commensurate with the expected benefits. In India, exemptions/ relaxations have been provided to SMEs. These exemptions/ relaxations are primarily related to disclosure requirements, though some exemptions/ relaxations from measurement principles have also been provided, e.g., AS 28 Impairment of Assets and AS 15 - Employee Benefits. Keeping in view the difficulties faced by the SMEs, the IASB is developing an IFRS for SMEs. 4. Training to Preparers Some IFRS are complex. There is lack of adequate skills amongst the preparers and users of Financial Statements to apply IFRS. Proper implementation of such IFRS requires extensive education of preparers. 5. Interpretation A large number of application issues arise while applying IFRS. There is a need to have a forum which may address the application issues in specific cases. In India, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India has constituted the Expert Advisory Committee to provide guidance on enterprise specific issues. VI. CONCLUSION Irrespective of various challenges, adoption of IFRS in India will significantly change the contents of corporate financial statements as a result of: I.More refined measurements of performance and state of affairs, and ii. Enhanced disclosures leading to greater transparency. With the rapid liberalization process experienced in India over the past decade, there is now a huge presence of multinational enterprises in the country. Furthermore, Indian companies are also investing in foreign markets. This has generated an interest in Indian GAAP by all concerned. In this context, the roles of Indian accounting standards, which are becoming closer to IFRS, have assumed a great significance from the point of view of global financial reporting. More than 12,000 companies and about 109 countries presently require or permit use of IFRS in preparation of financial statements in their country. By 2015, this number is expected to reach 150. The Indian GAAP has conceptual differences with IFRS and our legal and regulatory frameworks need to be amended to adopt IFRS. The bridge to successful IFRS reporting can be crossed only with strenuous efforts of experienced professionals.

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India’s blue-chip companies have begun to align their accounting standards to the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), two years ahead of the mandatory time for the switchover. The list of companies includes IT firms like Wipro, Infosys Technologies and NIIT, automakers like Mahindra & Mahindra and Tata Motors, textile companies like Bombay Dyeing and pharma firm Dr Reddy’s Laboratories. KPMG India launches IFRS Institute which will help companies and individuals to transition from Indian GAAP to IFRS. It has also launched online IFRS institute to provide information updates and view on IFRS. REFERENCES 1. Adukia, R. S. (2008): “Convergence of Accounting Standard World over with IFRS”, Journal of the ICAI, Vol.56, No.11. 2. Baingani, V. et. al. (2005): “Indian Accounting Standards and IFRSs: A Comparative Study, Journal of the ICAI, Feb 2005. 3. Basu, A. K. (2007): IFRS – US GAAP Convergence: Recent Developments, Indian Accounting Review, Indian Accounting Association Research Foundation, Vol. 11, No. 1, PP 64-72. 4. Kumar, P. (2009): “Changing Financial Statements from Indian GAAP to IFRS (IFRS 1- First Time Adoption)”, Journal of the ICAI, Vol.57, No.07. 5. Muthupandian, K. S. (2008): “Disclosure Requirements Introduced by IFRS 7Financial Instrument: Disclosures”, Journal of the ICAI, Vol.56, No.11. 6. Singh, D. R. et. al. (2006): “International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) for Small and Medium-Sized Entities (SMEs): Issues and Challenges for National Jurisdictions, Indian Accounting Review, Indian Accounting Association Research Foundation, Vol. 10, No. 2, PP 1-17. 7. Sharda, N. P. (2008): “IFRS Preparing Industry for Compliance”, International Conference on Accounting Profession, Shining Bridge Between Global Economies, ICAI, Jaipur, Nov.20-22 8. Sharma, K. R. (2010): “Convergence with IFRS and Accounting Education: The Indian Panorama”., Indian Accounting Review, Indian Accounting Association Research Foundation, Vol: 14, No. 1, PP 60-68. 9. Street, L. D. (2003): Convergence between National Accounting Standards and IFRS: Results of Large accounting Firms’ Survey of Asian Countries, Indian Accounting Review, Indian Accounting Association Research Foundation, Vol. 7, No. 1, PP 1636.

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FOOD PROCESSING INDUSTRY IN THE DISTRICT OF MALDA, WEST BENGAL – AN ECONOMIC INVESTIGATION Gopal Ch. Roy Department of Economics, Dukhulal nibaran Chandra College, Aurangabad, District – Murshidabad, West Bengal, E-mail: we1gcroy@gmail.com ABSTRACT Food processing sector is indispensable for overall development of an economy which provides a vital linkage and synergy between the agriculture and industry. The food processing' is mainly process of value addition to the agricultural or horticultural produce by various methods. Food processing industry which is highly labour intensive is suitable to be organized in the small – scale sectors which creates employment opportunity in our country. Malda District, agriculture has been sustaining its consistency in attaining a track record in food grains production. These include, scale and supply chain efficiency, brand competitiveness and effective marketing, deploying superior technology, product innovation and pricing. Key - Words: Linkage Effect, Developed Food Processing Industries, Employment Opportunity.

Introduction The intrinsic strength of West Bengal relating to its food production is its favourable agro-climatic conditions with six agro-climatic zones favouring cultivation of a multitude of crops, vegetables and fruits round the year, availability of perennial rivers and large water bodies for pisciculture, coastal area in the southern part of the State for marine production and substantial production of egg, poultry and meat. The major agricultural produce of the State are food grains, particularly rice. Potato is the second most important crop of the State after rice. In the Horticulture sector, West Bengal is the major producer of fruits, viz., Mango, pineapple, litchi, mandarin orange, guava and vegetables, viz., tomato, cabbage, cauliflower, brinjal, cucurbits and okra. Major spices produced here are ginger, chili, turmeric, garlic and coriander. The State also has a strong and vibrant livestock population. Overall, the State is one of the major producers of food material for the country having a strong agro-horticultural raw material resource base relating to food processing industry. Since production of food and agricultural raw materials is substantial, to ensure adequate return to the farmers and avoid losses due to perishable nature of the produces, value addition through processing has become very important. This would also enable export of food products to the markets world over and avoid glut in the local market. The State Government has identified six crop specific Agri Export Zones to give target oriented boost to the production of such crops, in which the State has natural advantages. They are : Mango AEZ at Malda comprising the districts of Malda and Murshidabad, Pineapple AEZ at Siliguri comprising the districts of Coochbehar, Jalpaiguri and Uttar Dinajpur, Litchi AEZ at Malda comprising the districts Malda, Murshidabad, South 24 Parganas and North24 Parganas , Potato AEZ at Hoogli and comprising the districts of Hugli, Howrah, Bardhaman and Paschim Medinipur, Vegetables AEZ at North24 Parganas comprising the districts Nadia, Murshidabad and North24 Parganas and tea AEZ at Darjeeling. Linkage Effects According to Hirschman is called the input providing derived demand or backward linkage effects. On the other hand, final demands will induce attempts to utilize its outputs as inputs in some new activities are called forward linkage effects. The backward linkages of food processing industry is created demand for raw material and encourage the production

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and strategies for crop Diverfication will be workforce in the agricultural production. The employment opportunities will make sustainability development of agricultural sector. Another part of the linkage effect is forward linkage of food processing industry. Food processing industry will be actively encouraged of the farmers. Food product shall be improve market size, Communication, increased revenue collection, infrastructure of work facilities and improvement relationship of producer and food processing industries. The food processing industry will make necessary arrangement for development of West Bengal economy. The Development of Food Processing Industry West Bengal agriculture has occupied around 3 percent of India's productive land. More than 8 percent of India's food is being generated by the agricultural sector of West Bengal. A small and marginal farmer rule over the West Bengal agriculture and cultivates more than 68 percent of the total area. The agriculture in West Bengal is one of the most significant means to earn livelihood especially in the rural sectors. This has been enabled by various schemes of the Green Revolution and the land reforms. West Bengal comprises of 8 percent of India's population and the majority of them are engaged in farming and other agricultural activities. The principal food crop cultivated in West Bengal agriculture is rice. Other food crops of West Bengal include maize, pulses, oil seeds, wheat, barley, potatoes, and vegetables. The most vital cash crop of West Bengal is Tea and it is also exported every year. Darjeeling tea is most well-known all over India. West Bengal agriculture supplies about 66 percent of the jute requirements of India. The soil and heavy rainfall witnessed by India are absolutely perfect for jute cultivation. The two other crops that are cultivated highly in the agricultural sector in West Bengal are tobacco and sugarcane. The chances of increasing the area of cultivation are so less that the agricultural department of West Bengal decided to increase the fecundity of various crops cultivated over there by using superior quality seeds, fertilizers, various plant protection schemes as well as improved packages of practice. The department of agriculture in West Bengal also decided to distribute extra and vested land area to the actual agricultural laborers with the help of land reforms. This will act an added advantage to the productivity of the crops in West Bengal. There has been a significant rise in the cropping of West Bengal from 131 percent to 162 percent during the last 2 decades. West Bengal agriculture has been sustaining its consistency in attaining a track record in food grains production. The state also ranks first in producing rice among all other states in India. The agriculture in West Bengal also witnessed a remarkable rise from 0.24 million tons to 0.55 million tons in the last decade in its production of oil seeds. West Bengal agriculture also ranks second in potato production in India as it produces about 28 percent of the total potatoes cultivated in India. Apart from these food crops, West Bengal agriculture produces more than 60 percent of India's raw jute fiber. West Bengal agriculture has been flourishing heavily and it has become one of the most essential parts in West Bengal's economy as it has been fueling it with its high productivity as well as export trade in some sectors. Review of Literature India is the largest mango producer, accounting for about 40% of the global mango production (Hanemann, 2006). In India, less than 5% of the produced mangoes is processed and mango pulp is the main export product both in terms of volume and value (Babitha, 2009). It accounts for about 20% of the processed fruits and vegetables exported from India (MFPI). India has a large production base and is competitive in terms of production costs (Jha, 2002). EDULIGHT-Multi-disciplinary, Peer-Reviewed Journal

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There is strong governmental support in developing the infrastructure and there are improvements in the logistic sector that can be seen as major opportunities. The main weaknesses include a lack of marketing, low innovatively produce, few processing varieties, under capacity performance of the processing plants and poor infrastructural works such as storage and cool chain facilities and repeated power cuts during the period of processing (Raj, 2008). The presence of large numbers of middlemen in the chain as another weakness for the sub-sector. This has resulted in the fact that mango growers get variably low prices for their mangoes. The major threats for the Indian mango pulp subsector include the availability of other sources that supply mango pulp of good quality with relatively lower price, low volume of mangoes available for large pulp processing factories due to high fragmentation of mango growers, and increased need for high volumes and standardization in the international market. The fact that India is the world’s largest mango producer, so far export of mangoes and mango pulp from India has not been considerable (Jha, 2002). Only small amounts of mango pulp are exported to Europe (Babitha, 2009). As a result, European demands are fulfilled by imports from South America and Africa. The plausible reason for limited export from India to Europe could be due to transport prices and possibly quality aspects. 10 Mehta and George, 2003. Mehta and George (2003) also mentioned that it is costly to obtain ISO certification. Other bottlenecks for the Indian mango pulp to penetrate the European and American markets are the issues of pesticide residues and other SPS requirements (Jha, 2002; Das, 2008). There are also other issues that affect quality and acceptability of the Indian mango pulp in the European market. Mehta and George (2003) indicated that mango pulp from India is brownish colored and packed in punctured bags. They also indicated that the drums in which the pulp is exported are of poor quality. This low quality packaging material could be attributed to a lack of available quality material in the domestic market as a result of either lack of technology in the country or high cost (Mehta and George, 2003). Hamper and Wittenberg (1982), speak about the need to develop the strategic industry, namely, the food industry and its irrevocable place in the whole edifice of the economic structure of a country. 'The interdependence which exist between different segments of the economy with its base, so to say, in the food industry, leading to the simultaneous development of the entire industrial structure of an economy, as it has kept pace with the population explosions of the past and present A study conducted by Baron and Keddiew Leghorn. Lall, Kaplinsky and Masseuse’s(1989), assert employment generation and satisfaction of the basic needs of the entire population a s the primary importance of the food processing industry (henceforth, FPI) in developing countries. They do not discuss food supply or its distribution as such but concentrate on the closely related and equally important issues of food procurement and processing. The cost of tackling environmental problems will affect profits and wages and hence competitiveness and performance, thus threatening employment potential. The real problem with the developing countries is not the dearth of resources but is the mal-utilization and under utilization of the available resources. Inability to tap the existing resources leads to clear wastage of resources. This has been pertinent to food processing industry in the developing countries. A study conducted by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization ‘UNIDO’ (1969), throws light on the imperativeness and urgency in initiating the FPI in developing countries. The newly emerging countries must develop the FPI on a first priority basis, the study points out, because the huge amount supply of food raw materials in these

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nascent economies are either non- utilized or mal utilized leading to the import of food. Food shortages and deficient diet are clear obstacles in the path to maturity. Food quality is ultimately judged by the wisdom of human judgment and consumer is the ultimate judge. Hence it is logical to organize the materials in accordance with the human senses involved in the judgment. According to them the discipline of quality control is divided into two parts, the first deals with measurements and the other section may be called the hidden attributes of quality. The role of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in developing countries was one of the hotly debated issues of the 1960's and '70's. The potential for foreign investment in the food and drink industries of developing countries is probably greater than ever before. Rama (1970) gives a penetrating analysis of the trend in FDI as also the interplay between the interests of both the host government and foreign government. There are chances that the home industry may be bandaged incessantly to the whims and fancies of the investor country. The FPI being so basic to the life of the economy such a situation may be untoward. Devasahayams (2001) proposes a number of recommendations. There should be a personnel involvement of the farmers who are the producers, and the market makers. Measures should be adopted to protect the farmer and the consumer against the vagaries of production and market forces to enhance agricultural productivity and ensure fair prices; cost of food grain procurement, storage, transportation and distribution has to be brought down. Delivery system also should be made non efficient. All controls except quality controls, on movement, processing, marketing and export of farm products except during seasonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s scarcity, have to be destroyed. Establishing a chain of rural and urban godowns, with warehousing and food grain banking facilities, one godowns, being located in a cluster of 10 to 12 villages or around small towns, too is recommended. Total system approach to the production of vegetables is advocated by Singh (1991) According to him post harvest losses, amounting to nearly 50%, are additional cost on vegetable production. Post harvest losses occur due to lack of knowledge on maturity standards and not harvesting fruits at the correct stage, lack of post harvest treatment with fungicides, non-availability of suitable transports such as refrigerated trucks, inadequate usage of packaging materials and use of improper containers, non- ,availability of adequate facilities for cold storage and controlled atmosphere storage, production units being small and located in rural areas, mono-culture of varieties and crops leading to glut. All these have great bearing on processing too. He also points the absence of adequate processing of the abundantly available fruits and vegetables. Chaya.(1994) makes a historical as well as chronological development of the food processing industry in India According to Rarna,(1992), in some countries such a s India, under nourishment of a sizeable chunk of the population is aggravated on account of the wastage of food due to lack of processing, insufficient storage and export facilities and by poor exploitation of domestically available food products. Proceeding along in these lines of thoughts, a fully developed food industry is a must. Today food processing has become very complex and complicated by involving a wide variety of industrial processes with correspondingly large variety of products as well. One of the main functions served. According to a study undertaken by Gopalan (1994), the changes in food consumption patterns can be attributed to advances in agricultural production, food processing, distribution, marketing and advertising systems. According to him, many factors have added to the prospects of processed food. Increase in urbanization, migration of rural population to urban areas, rising literacy and income levels, more working women and increased health

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awareness are some of the factors that have contributed to the brightening of the prospects of processed food. Studies conducted by Potty (1992) and Debroy (1994) reveal the fact that food processing is categorized into the organized and the unorganized sector. This establishes a vital link between agriculture and food processing, as the former is the supplier of raw materials to the latter. They also found out the specialization of the unorganized sector in certain processed foods while the organized sector specialized in certain other processed foods. Scope of Study The socio- economic profile of the Malda District will be reflected through research work due to geographical region the mango tree of the Malda District are induced of the economical situation of the people of this district food processing industries are available for the same. On the other hand growth of horticulture sector in general and FDI in particular is a complex phenomenon due to a lot of influencing factors. In order to understand economic performance of food products, marketing and exports of Malda in the state of the West Bengal more preciously all possible thinks, material – tools are to be employed to get valuable results. The problems of the people related to food processing industry i, e – mangoes, berries etc and related to processor of this concern as well as various market functionaries, especially in which economical benefits would be acquired involved to local people and food product. The study will also help the policy makers and planners to frame an appropriate policies in this regard, so, it can help the general (food product) people to heavy product and for enhancement of their socio – economical condition. Research Objective Marketing, processing, production, farm supplies, research, extension, government policies and programs are important areas for agri-business. The focus in this study is on processing of agricultural commodities. Processing refers to deliberate activity, which changes a commodity into a more useable form with value addition. Among the agroprocessing industries, food processing is the dominant one. The industry’s growth in the postreform period in India is attributed to various fiscal relief and policy initiatives like the delicensing of food processing, declaring a number of them high-priority industries, and permitting foreign equity investments up to 51 per cent of the paid-up capital and removing restrictions under the Monopolies and Restricted Trade Practices (MRTP) Act. In spite of all these policy initiatives, the capacity utilization of the industry has remained below 50 per cent in the post-reform period. In our study it will be examined how far these policy initiatives have effect on this industry in Maldah. The shift from food crop production to the production of horticulture or plantation crops necessarily involves an entrepreneurial response on the part of rural farmers, since cultivation for subsistence is substituted by cultivation for profit. In our study will examine the production process in the Malda District. Production of juices and values added products including jams, jellies, pickles, canned products etc, has become a commercial success. The study will analyze the value addition of food processing industry in the District Malda. Opening global market may lead to export of our developed technologies and facilitated generation of additional income and employment. It will be observation of the share in value addition in this study in context of Malda. Processed fruits and vegetable products have considerable export potentials and if it is properly utilized, growers, processors, traders as well as national economy will benefit. It requires correct assessment of

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world market, high quality of raw product, high quality of processed product and competitive product cost. The study will export promotion of processed product to local market to international market. Data Source and Methodology Data on the number of processing units, production, installed capacity, capacity utilization and related parameters will be collected from published sources i.e. Annual Reports of the Ministry of Food Processing Industry, Government of India and Government of West Bengal; FAO, Fertilizer Statistics, Economic Survey of India, National Sample Survey and Annual Survey of Industries data, WBIDC, NBH, ASI, APEDA etc. The study on food processing unit in Malda is based on both primary and secondary data. Primary data user collected using a plethora of wide ranging tools. Since food processing in Malda is so characteristic of its past history and personal interviews. Secondary data were collected from learned works of a numbers of book, journals and magazines. The rural covered in this study 1990 to 2010. For the purpose of data analysis popular statistical and econometric tools Finding of the Study The structure of the Indian Economy with view of the importance of agriculture in the national economy. Agro-industry is expected to continue to be the dominant constituent of its industrial sector. The West Bengal exposed an exception to this when we look at the Annual Survey of Industries data. Recently dominance of non-agro based manufacturing enterprises stands out clearly as follows from Annual Survey of Industries data. The latest data are available, organized segment of agro-based industries shared 42.99 percent in the year 200001 in terms of units of enterprises. The non-agro based industries coverage at 57.01 percent. The strength of agro-based industry is thus comparatively less than those of non-agro-based industries in West Bengal as evidenced by Annual Survey of Industries data. Nature and composition of Agro-based Industries in the State of West Bengal Working Units (Nos) Sl. No

Industry

Organized sector

Unorganized sector

1994-94 2000-01 % change 1994-95 2000-01 % change 1 Manufacture of food products

4 Manufacture of textile and its products

965 1048 (17.25) (17.20) 124 461 (2.22) (7.57) 1089 1509 (19.47) (24.77) 322 350 (5.76) (5.75)

5 Manufacture of wood and products, furniture and fixtures

220 (3.93)

227 (3.73)

3.18

326796 (17.12)

368717 (13.43)

12.83

6 Manufacture of paper & paper products, printing publishing & allied industries

324 (5.79)

308 (5.06)

-4.94

39571 (2.07)

31074 (1.13)

-21.47

7 Manufacture of leather and fur products (except repair)

136 (2.43)

225 (3.69)

65.44

10618 (0.56)

10453 (0.38)

-1.55

8 Non-food processing industries (4 to 7)

1002

1110

10.78

635414

962846

51.53

2 Manufacture of beverages, tobacco and tobacco products 3 Food processing industries (1+2)

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8.60 271.77 38.57 8.70

350607 562432* (28.48) (20.48) 350937 844643** (18.38) (30.76) 901544 1407075 (47.23) (51.24) 258428 552602 (13.54) (20.12)

2.15 140.68 56.07 113.83

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(33.29)

(35.06)

9 Total agro-based industries (3+8)

2091 2619 (37.39) (42.99)

25.25

1536957 2369921 (80.51) (86.30)

54.20

10 Total non-agro-based industries

3502 3473 (62.61) (57.01) 5593 6092 (100.0) (100.00)

-0.83

372027 (19.49) 1908984 (100.00)

1.16

11 All industries (9+10)

8.92

376340 (13.70) 2746261 (100.0)

43.86

Data Source: 1. Annual Survey of Industries (ASI) data for organized manufacturing

2. National Sample Survey (NSS) data for unorganized manufacturing, 2000-01. *includes beverages also, **includes tobacco products The agro-based industries, food-processing industries predominate with their relative share being 57.62 percent in the total number of agro-based enterprises. During the period between 1994-95 and 2000-01, food processing units in number increased by 38.57 per cent in the within the period, the number of non-food processing industries grew at the rate of 10.78 per. The food processing industry 83.86 in the rural area and 16.14 percent in the urban area. Conclusion The food processing industry has seen significant growth and changes over the past few years, driven by changing trends in markets, and consumption patter. The changing demographics, growing population and rapid urbanization are expected to continue in the future and therefore, will shape the demand for value added products and thus for food processing industry in India. India, having access to vast pool of natural resources and growing technical knowledge base, has strong comparative advantages over other nations in this industry. The state Government has provided various incentives such as capital subsidies and tax exemptions for boosting investments in these segments. These include, scale and supply chain efficiency, brand competitiveness and effective marketing, deploying superior technology, product innovation and pricing. The West Bengal Government also encourages many participative models such as terminal markets and contract farming arrangements to benefit the various stakeholders. Many private players participating in these arrangements have been successful. The various states realizing the importance of this industry from an employment as well as revenue generation perspectives have been extremely forthcoming in bolstering growth in this industry. A variety of horticultural crops are grown in the district, among which mangoes are undoubtedly the best known product. Malda grows a range of defferfent varieties of mango ranging from the prized langra to the himasagar, amrapali, laxmanbhog, gopalbhog and fazli mango varieties The Malda district is relatively backward industrially and has only a few large and medium scale enterprises. The horticultural production is rich and small scale industries based on horticultural resources can be developed in the district. Organization of a Food Park near Malda town also provides scope of agro-base. Existence of an Agro-Export Zone in Malda provides incentives for export of agricultural products. Improvement of Agri Industries, state of the art technology needs to be adopted. References 1. Annual Survey of Industries (2000-01). Factory Sector, (Vol. I), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation Central Statistical organization (Industrial Statistics Wing) Kolkata. 2. APEDA 2008 http://www.apeda.com/apedawebsite/six_head_product/PFV_OPF.htm

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3. Babitha M. 2009: Export of Fresh Mangoes and Mango Products from India 4. Christopher . G, Baron(1989). Technology, Employment and Basic needs in food processing in developing countries .New York pergamon press. 5. Das K., 2008 Copping with SPS challenges in India: WTO and beyond. International 6. Deboy, B. (1994), Food Processing industries in India. New Delhi Ministry of Food Processing Industries. 7. Devasaham, M. G. (2001), Indian Food Policy, The Hindu 8. Fairtrade Foundation 2009 http://www.fairtrade.org.uk 9. Gopalan, C.(1994), Trends in food consumption pattern. Impact of developmental transition: in Nutrition in the Ninetees Biowar M. R.Gobar M (eds.) New Delhi: Oxford University Press. 10. Government of India, (1993), Ministry of Food Processing in Industry, Food Processing Industries in India: Investment Opportunities—New Delhi. 11. Hamper , Edward C.Jr andMarleWittenberg,(1989), Development of the food industry. New York : Mcgrow HillBook Company. 12. Hanemann L.P., 2006 An Assessment of the Export Competitiveness of the Banana, http://icaap.org.in/node/ 13. Indian Ministry of Food Processing Industries MFPI http://mofpi.nic.in/mango.pdf 14. Jha V., 2002 Strengthening developing countries’ capacities to respond to health, Journal of Economic. 15. K.T. Achaya(1994), The Food industry in British India,Delhi, Delhi oxford university press. Mango and Mango Pulp Sectors in the State of Tamil Nadu. 16. Mehta R. and George, J., 2003 Processed Food Products Exports from India: An Exploration with SPS Regime. 17. Parthasarthy, Ashok, (1998), Food Processing Industry—Futuristic View, SEDME. 18. Potty, V.H. (1992), Impact of new industrial policy on development of food processing industries, Indian Food Industry. Vol. 11. 19. Raj A.X.S., 2008 An economic analysis of mango pulp agro based industry in Krishnagiri District, Tamil Nadu. Political Economy Journal of India 20. Ruth Rama, (1992). Investing in food, Paris; OECD. Sanitary and environmental requirements. A scoping paper for South Asia, UNCTAD 21. SIDBI, (1994), Profiles on Food Processing and Agro-based Industries— Lucknow. 22. Singh, P.K. (2004), Prospect of Indian exports in Global Trade: Need to Revamp export strategy, Southern Economist. 23. Unorganized Manufacturing Sector in India 2000–2001‟ Key Results. NSSO Report No. 477 (56/2.2/1) National Sample Survey Organization, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, September. 24. UNs Industrial Development Organization (1969). Food processing industry United Naions.World Bank, Abt Associates, Inc.

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MID DAY MEAL PROGRAMME, IMPLEMENTATION, MONITORING AND ITS SOCIAL IMPACT IN WEST BENGAL Goutam Mondal Assistant Teacher, Nasherkuli Netaji Vidyalaya, Nasherkuli, Nadia. West Bengal, E- mail-goutam04011980@gmail.com ABSTRACT The Midday Meal Scheme is a school meal programme of the Government of India designed to improve the nutritional status of the school going students at the age group of 8 to 14. The programme supplies free lunches on working days for children in Primary and Upper Primary students across the country, serving 120,000,000 children in over 1,265,000 schools and Education Guarantee Scheme centres. It is the largest such programme in the world. It is the most important of all government initiatives in education in recent years. Under the scheme, on every school day, all students in primary classes in public schools are to be provided a cooked meal consisting of no less than 300 kcal and 8-12 grams of protein. Though officially started in 1995, the National Midday Meal Scheme remained unimplemented in most states till 2002. Following a Supreme Court ruling in November 2001, most states started providing school meals by 2003. As such it represents, at least in outreach, one of the most successful government interventions in recent years, having now become universal across the country. With all the states mid day meal was also started in West Bengal with the aim of improving the nutritional status of children in classes I – Viii in government, local body and government-aided schools and EGS and AIE centres; encouraging poor children, belonging to disadvantaged sections, to attend school more regularly and help them concentrate on classroom activities; providing nutritional support to children of primary stage in drought-affected areas during summer vacation and decreasing dropout rate in the elementary stage. The State has committed to providing "adequate nutritious foods" for children. The programme entered the planning stages in 2001 and was implemented in 2004. The programme has undergone many changes and amendments since its launch. Key Words: Elementary Education, Enrolment, Drop-out, Nutrition, Mid Day Meal

Introduction With the aim of providing adequate nutritional support all the states have taken different feeding programs in schools around India. These programs are premised on expectations of significant gains in schooling and nutritional outcomes; in developing country contexts particularly, school meals are thought to exert powerful incentives that increase school participation. Additionally they are thought to help in addressing problems of undernourishment among school children through nutritional supplementation. It is also expected that indirectly these programs will lead to improved levels of learning through various channels: by boosting attendance, by reducing ‘classroom hunger’ and thus improving concentration, and by improving the children’s overall levels of nutrition. This article intends to find out the policies and programmes of the govt of West Bengal and how the policies are implemented and monitored in the elementary stage of the school education. Objectives of the Study The present study aims    

To find the policies and programmes of the government regarding mid day meal To find whether the policies are fulfilled or not To observe the monitoring system of the programme To look into whether nutritional safety measures are followed in the kitchen

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A Brief History With a view to enhancing enrolment, retention and attendance and simultaneously improving nutritional levels among children, the National Programme of Nutritional Support to Primary Education (NP-NSPE) was launched as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme on 15th August 1995. In 2001 MDMS became a cooked Mid Day Meal Scheme under which every child in every Government and Government aided primary school was to be served a prepared Mid Day Meal with a minimum content of 300 calories of energy and 8-12 gram protein per day for a minimum of 200 days. The Scheme was further extended in 2002 to cover not only children studying in Government, Government aided and local body schools, but also children studying in Education Guarantee Scheme (EGS) and Alternative & Innovative Education (AIE) centres. In September 2004 the Scheme was revised to provide for Central Assistance for Cooking cost @ Re 1 per child per school day to cover cost of pulses, vegetables cooking oil, condiments, fuel and wages and remuneration payable to personnel or amount payable to agency responsible for cooking. Transport subsidy was also raised from the earlier maximum of Rs 50 per quintal to Rs. 100 per quintal for special category states and Rs 75 per quintal for other states. Central assistance was provided for the first time for management, monitoring and evaluation of the scheme @ 2% of the cost of food grains, transport subsidy and cooking assistance. A provision for serving mid day meal during summer vacation in drought affected areas was also made. In July 2006 the Scheme was further revised to enhance the cooking cost to Rs 1.80 per child/school day for States in the North Eastern Region and Rs 1.50 per child / school day for other States and UTs. The nutritional norm was revised to 450 Calories and 12 gram of protein. In order to facilitate construction of kitchen-cum-store and procurement of kitchen devices in schools provision for Central assistance @ Rs. 60,000 per unit and @ Rs. 5,000 per school in phased manner were made. In October 2007, the Scheme was extended to cover children of upper primary classes (i.e. class VI to VIII) studying in 3,479 Educationally Backwards Blocks (EBBs) and the name of the Scheme was changed from ‘National Programme of Nutritional Support to Primary Education’ to ‘National Programme of Mid Day Meal in Schools’. The nutritional norm for upper primary stage was fixed at 700 Calories and 20 grams of protein. The Scheme was extended to all areas across the country since 1.4.2008. National Programme of Nutrition Support to Primary Education The Government of India initiated the National Programme of Nutritional Support to Primary Education (NP-NSPE) on 15 August 1995. The objective of the scheme is to help improve the effectiveness of primary education by improving the nutritional status of primary school children. Initially, the scheme was implemented in 2,408 blocks of the country to provide food to students in classes I-V of government, government-aided and local body run schools. By 1997–98, the scheme had been implemented across the country. Under this programme, a cooked mid-day meal with 300 calories and 12 gram of proteins is provided to all children enrolled in classes I to V. In October 2007, the scheme included students in upper primary classes of VI to VIII in 3,479 educationally backward blocks, and the name was changed from National Programme for Nutrition Support to Primary Education to National Programme of Mid Day Meals (MDM) in Schools. Though cooked food was to be provided most states (apart from those already providing cooked food) chose to provide "dry rations" to students. "Dry rations" refers to the provision of uncooked 3 kg of wheat or rice to children with 80% attendance. EDULIGHT-Multi-disciplinary, Peer-Reviewed Journal

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Food and Safety Guide Lines for Mid Day Meal The Commissioner of Food Safety has noted that Food Poisoning from Mid day meal schemes are rampant now a day. This is because of the use of substandard raw materials and unhygienic preparations. So the following guidelines are issued for strict compliance.  

  

   

The school authority shall nominate one senior teacher as the responsible person to comply all the provisions of the FSS Act. He will also be included in the monitoring committee There shall be a committee at school level for monitoring the mid day meal scheme comprising the Head Master, PHC Doctor, PTA President, Panchayath/Municipal member, Head boy/students or student representative and the nominee of the school under Food Safety and Standards Act. The Headmaster or the nominee of the school under Food Safety and Standards Act shall on a daily basis inspect the quality of raw material and hygienic conditions of kitchen before cooking starts. The school authorities shall obtain Registration from the Food Safety Department There shall be a register for the procurement of the raw materials to trace the source and quality of food articles purchased. As far as possible, raw materials shall be purchased from vendors having license/Registration under Food Safety and Standards Act. The storage of food materials shall be constructed/maintained in the most hygienic way. The rice and other materials taken out of packets/purchased without packets shall only be stored in containers with proper lids, so as to prevent rat, cockroaches etc. from coming into contact with the food materials. If any supplier including Government agencies supplies sub standard food, the matter should be brought to the notice of the Food Safety Officer of the area. The telephone number of the local Food Safety Officer shall be affixed in a prominent place so that the students/parent can make complaint if any. To the extent possible, the 30 point hygiene and sanitary practices shall be followed by the school kitchen.

Supreme Court Order In April 2001, People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) initiated the public interest litigation (Civil) No. 196/2001, People’s Union for Civil Liberties v. Union of India & Others (PUCL) – popularly known as the "Right to food" case. PUCL argued that Article 21 – " Right to life" of Indian Constitution when read together with Articles 39(a) and 47, makes the Right to Food a derived Fundamental Right which is enforceable by virtue of the constitutional remedy provided under Article 32 of the Constitution. PUCL argued that excess food stocks with the Food Corporation of India should be fed to hungry citizens. This included providing mid day meals in primary schools. The scheme came into force with the Supreme Court order dated 28 November 2001, which requires all government and government-assisted primary schools to provide cooked midday meals. Interim orders The Supreme Court occasionally issues interim orders regarding midday meals. Some examples are

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Order regarding Basic entitlement

Order Dated

Exact Text "Every child in every Government and Government assisted Primary Schools with a prepared mid day meal with a minimum content of 300 calories and 8â&#x20AC;&#x201C;12 grams of protein each day of school for a minimum of 200 days"

28 November 2001

Charges on "The conversion costs for a cooked meal, under no Conversion circumstances, shall be recovered from the children or their cost parents"

20 April 2004

Central assistance

"The Central Government... shall also allocate funds to meet with the conversion costs of food-grains into cooked midday meals"

20 April 2004

Kitchen sheds

"The Central Government construction of kitchen sheds"

for

20 April 2004

Priority to "In appointment of cooks and helpers, preference shall be given Dalit cooks to Dalits, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes"

20 April 2004

Quality safeguards

"Attempts shall be made for better infrastructure, improved facilities (safe drinking water etc.), closer monitoring (regular inspection etc.) and other quality safeguards as also the improvement of the contents of the meal so as to provide nutritious meal to the children of the primary schools"

20 April 2004

Drought Areas

"In drought affected areas, midday meals shall be supplied even during summer vacations"

20 April 2004

shall

make

provisions

Entitlements The nutritional guidelines for minimum amount of food and calorie content per child per day are Entitlement norm per child per day under MDM Item

Primary (Class I to V) 450

Upper Primary(Class VI to VIII) 700

Protein (in Grams )

Rice / Wheat (in Grams )

100

150

Dal (in Grams )

Vegetables (in Grams )

Oil and Fat (in Grams )

7.5

Calories

In the case of micronutrients (vitamin A, iron, and folate) tablets and de-worming medicines, the student is entitled to receive the amount provided for in the school health programme of the National Rural Health Mission. Finance The central and state governments share the cost of the Midday Meal Scheme, with the centre providing 75 percent and the states 25 percent. The central government provides grains and financing for other food. Costs for facilities, transportation, and labour are shared

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by the federal and state governments. The participating states contribute different amounts of money. While the eleventh five-year plan allocated INR.38,490,0000,000 for the scheme, the twelfth five-year plan has allocated INR .90,1550,000,000, a 134 percent rise The public expenditure for the Mid Day Meal Programme has gone up from Rs. 73,240,000,000 in 2007–08 to Rs. 132,150,000,000 in 2013–14 The per day cooking cost per child at the primary level has been fixed to 3.59 while at the upper primary level is 5.38 Implementation Model Decentralized model: This is the most widespread practice. In the decentralized model, meals are cooked on-site by local cooks and helpers or self-help groups. This system has the advantage of being able to serve local cuisine, providing jobs in the area, and minimising waste. It also allows for better monitoring (e.g., by parents or teachers). In the absence of adequate infrastructure (such as kitchen sheds, utensils etc.), it can lead to accidents and maintaining hygiene can be difficult. In 2004, 87 children died when the thatched roof of a classroom was ignited by sparks from a cooking fire. In 2011, a child died after succumbing to burn injuries she sustained after accidentally falling into a cooking vessel. Centralised model: In the centralized model, an external organization cooks and delivers the meal to schools, mostly through public-private partnerships. Centralized kitchens are seen more in urban areas, where density of schools is high so that transporting food is a financially viable option. Advantages of centralized kitchens include ensuring better hygienic as large scale cooking is done through largely automated processes. Various NGOs such as the Akshaya Patra Foundation, Ekta Shakti Foundation, Naandi Foundation, and Jay Gee Humanitarian Society provide mid-day meals. A study of centralized kitchens in Delhi in 2007 found that even with centralized kitchens, the quality of food needed to be improved. The study also found that when the food arrives and is of inadequate quality, even teachers feel helpless and do not know whom to complain to. The Ministry of Human Resource Development reported that 95% of tested meal samples prepared by NGOs in Delhi did not meet nutritional standards in 2010–12. In response, the Ministry withheld 50% of the payment for the deficient meals Monitoring Committees to monitor the MDM Programme Level National

State District

Committee 1. The National level Steering / Monitoring Committee 2. Program Approval Board (PAB)

Frequency of Meeting Quarterly

The State level Steering / Monitoring Committee

Quarterly

The District level Committee

Monthly

Municipal The Municipal Committee Block

The Mandal Level Committee

Village

Panchayat level Sub Committee

School

School Management and Development Committee or Parent Teacher Association.

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The Government of India Review Missions on Mid Day Meal Scheme, comprising members from Central Government, State governments, UNICEF, and the office of Supreme Court Commissioner was created in 2010 to review the programme and offer suggestions for improvement. The scheme is independently monitored twice a year. Feedback in Respect of Report of Monitoring 

The Visva-Bharati University and Calcutta University submitted their evaluation reports on MDM programme for four districts of West Bengal during the 1st phase of this year. Their observations are as follows:



MDM service has not yet crossed more than 70% of the school days.



Supply of food grains in school is more or less regular.



Due to heavy workload at the district, MDM payment to FCI is not always up to date.



Regularity in delivering cooking cost at the school end is not maintained everywhere.



No discrimination in social equity in class room.



Display of the menu board is not maintained everywhere. Variety of menu in Sabji is maintained. Eggs are served three/four times in a month.



The role of SMC/VEC in MDM is very nominal. Involvement of the guardians was seen occasionally.



Maintenance of MDM records/registers is more or less good. The flow of information from school to Block office is also done monthly basis.



MDM accounts and stock registers are generally maintained by the Head teacher of the school. In some cases the accounts is being maintained by the SHG groups.



The team found that though health check up and supply of micronutrients are done in MDM running schools but these are not done in regular basis everywhere.



The Cook-cum-helpers are mainly drawn from SC, ST, OBC, Minority etc. strata of society. SHGs are mostly engaged as cook-cum-helpers. Remuneration is given as per Govt. circular.



Not all the schools are covered by pucca kitchen shed.



All the blocks are not yet fully equipped with required staffs.



Monitoring meetings is found to be regular in all districts.

Observation of the Pratichi Trust In 2004, the Pratichi research team conducted a study which reported on the following problems        

poor quality and variety of food; poor hygiene (including reports of sickness after meals); inadequate infrastructure (e.g. food was prepared in the open with the possibility of accidents and without adequate utensils); inadequate payment of salaries to cooks; insufficient budgetary allocation toward conversion costs which reportedly resulted in the fixed menu; caste and religious bias among some parents in some places; limited opportunities for parental participation in the programme and

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

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disturbance in teaching activity due to time demands on teachers, even though their participation was whole-hearted and parents were sometimes involved as well.

Multi-Level Responsibilities The primary responsibility for the implementation of the programme was vested in the state governments and the union territories. The following management structures were to be put in place at national, state, district, block and local levels. National Level: An NSMC was to be set up by the Department of School Education and Literacy to oversee the implementation of the programme. The NSMC is mandated to:       

guide the various implementation agencies; monitor programme implementation, assess its impact and take corrective steps; take action on reports of independent monitoring and evaluation agencies; affect coordination and convergence among concerned departments, agencies (e.g. FCI) and schemes; mobilize community support and promote public-private partnerships for the programme; provide policy advice to central and state governments; identify voluntary agencies and other appropriate institutions to undertake

The responsibility for cooking or supplying cooked mid-day meals was to be assigned to one of the following:    

local women’s or mothers’ self-help group; local youth club affiliated with the Nehru Yuvak Kendras; a voluntary organization fulfilling specified requirements; Personnel engaged directly by the VEC, SMDC, panchayat/Municipality.

PTA

Gram

In areas where it would be appropriate, cooking in a centralized kitchen could be possible for a cluster of schools, with cooked hot meals transported under hygienic conditions through a reliable transport system to various schools. Role of Voluntary Organisation Voluntary organizations could be associated with the programme in supplying the cooked mid-day meals and in providing resource support to the programme such as training and capacity-building, monitoring and evaluation and research. Anybody empowered by the state government to do so could award supply work to a voluntary organization for a school or a group of schools. A volunteer organization would be suitable to supply cooked mid-day meals if it met the following conditions:     

The voluntary agencies should not discriminate in any manner on the basis of religion, caste or creed and should not use the programme for propagation of any religious practice. The voluntary agency should be a body that is registered under the Societies Registration Act or the Public Trust Act and should have been in existence for a minimum of two years. The agency must have a commitment to undertake its supply responsibility on a nonprofit basis. The agency must have the financial and logistic capacity to supply the midday meals on the requisite scale. The voluntary agency must commit to abide by the parameters of NP-NSPE 2006, particularly with regard to the definitions of eligible children, nutrition content, etc.

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 

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The voluntary agency must be willing to work with Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) and municipal bodies in accordance with state government guidelines. The agency must provide an Annual Report to the body that assigned it work, along with an audited statement of accounts showing all grants received from the state government, both in cash and in kind, duly certified by an approved Chartered Accountant. The voluntary organization shall not entrust or subcontract the programme or divert any part of the assistance (e.g. food grains or money) to any other organization or agency. The agency must commit to return to the state government any permanent or semipermanent assets it acquires from the grants received under the programme once it ceases to undertake the supply work. All accounts stock and registers maintained by the voluntary organization should be opened to inspection by officers appointed by the state government. State governments may prescribe such other conditions, as they may deem appropriate, in addition to the conditions stated above (Ministry of Human Resources, 2006, 18). Voluntary organizations could also be identified for providing resource support to NP-NSPE 2006, in the form of training and capacity-building programmes, monitoring and evaluation and research studies. Guidelines for this are under consideration.

Health, education and poverty 1. The overall effect of the MDM programme on school attendance and retention is positive. However, there is a class bias with lower classes valuing and benefiting from the scheme more. 2. The MDM programme can, in certain places, displace the primary function of the schools (i.e. education), reducing them to benefit distribution centres. 3. The effect on nutrition is ambiguous and depends upon both the quantity and quality of the meal. If the quantity of food is small, the meal becomes more of a supplement than a substitute. Qualitatively, if the MDM programme is not supplemented by other factors, such as a clean water supply and environmental hygiene, nutritional effects are unlikely. 4. A large potential exists for introducing nutrition supplements to excluded populations. 5. The target population for the MDM programme can be widened to include other hard-to-reach populations. 6. Barriers to mixing castes and classes can temporarily dissolve in the context of the MDM programme. Impact in the Society and the Institution 1. Many schools grow vegetables in the kitchen gardens of the schools and utilize the vegetables in Mid-Day-Meal. 2. In some schools in Birbhum district, fish for Mid-Day-Meal is procured from the ponds managed by the school teachers. 3. In some schools of Purba Medinipur district the community members often contribute their agricultural produce to this programme. 4. In some schools equal MDM plates have been distributed through local patronage. 5. Solar System is used for Cooking Mid-Day-Meal in Vidyasagar G.S.F.P. Vidyalaya under Taherpur in Nadia district.

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Conclusion The MDM scheme has many potential benefits: attracting children from disadvantaged sections (especially girls, Dalits and Adivasis) to school, improving regularity, nutritional benefits, socialization benefits and benefits to women are some that have been highlighted. Studies by economists show that some of these benefits have indeed been realized. The positive effect on enrollment of disadvantaged children, on attendance, on learning effort, on improving nutritional inputs, on improving nutritional outcomes, and so on. Media reports also document the positive effect of the programme for women, especially working women, and its popularity among parents, children and teachers alike. Media reports have also highlighted several implementation issues, including irregularity, corruption, hygiene, caste discrimination, etc. Despite few shortcomings, mid day meal programme is able to achieve most of the objectives in West Bengal. Different institutions are using innovative methods to run the mid day meal programme in the state. Parents and guardians are being interested in engaging in the programme specially in the rural and suburban areas. Over all the impact of mid day meal programme in West Bengal is good and positive. References 1. ADB (2007) ADB and India - A Fact Sheet. Available at http://www.adb.org/Documents/Fact_Sheets/IND.pdf 2. Afridi, Farzana (2005) ‘Mid-day Meals in Two States – Comparing the Financial and Institutional Organisation of the Programme’, Economic and Political Weekly, April, 9th. 1528-1534. 3. Blue, Julia (2005) The Government Primary School Mid-day Meals Scheme: An Assessment of Programme Implementation and Impact in Udaipur District. Sewa Mandir, Udaipur. Available at http://www.righttofoodindia.org/data/blue2005middaymeals.doc 4. Census of India (2001) Provisional Population Totals: India. Available at http://www.censusindia.net/results/Committee on Mid-day Meals (1995) Nutrition Support to Education. Ministry of Human Resources Development, Department of Education, with National Informatics Centre. Available at http://www.education.nic.in/cd50years/r/2V/7B/toc.htm 5. Constitution of India (2007). Available at http://www.constitution.org/cons/india/const.html 6. De, Anuradha, Noronha, Claire and Samson, Meera (2005) ‘Towards More Benefitsfrom Delhi’s Mid-day Meal Scheme’. Available at http://www.righttofoodindia.org/data/cord2005mdmdelhi.doc 7. Dreze, Jean and Goyal, Aparajita (2003) ‘The Future of Mid-day Meals’, Economic and Political Weekly Vol 38, No 44, November 1st. 8. Financial Express (2005) ‘Common Cause: Mid-day Meals a Social Leveller’. An Interview with Former Prime Minister Sri Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Sunday July 10th. Available at http://www.financialexpress.com/fe_full_story.php? content_id=96059 9. Food Corporation of India, (2007) ‘Objectives’. Available at http://fciweb.nic.in/objective_fol/frame_objectives.html 10. Pratichi Research Team (2005) ‘Cooked Mid-day Meal Programme in West Bengal – A Study in Birbhum District’. Available at http://www.righttofoodindia.org/data/mdm_pratichi_birbhumstudy.doc 11. Planning Commission, (2002) Tenth Five-Year Plan 2002-2007. Available at http://planningcommission.nic.in/plans/planrel/fiveyr/10th/volume1/v1_ch2.pdf

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PEOPLE, POLITICS AND POLITICAL LEADERS OF INDIA: AN OVERVIEW Harasankar Adhikari Social Worker and Independent Scholar, West Bengal, E-mail: jaoya123@yahoo.co.in ABSTRACT The paper examines how the democratic decentralization of power is being abused by the political parties and their leaders while after a long time of Independence people till suffer from poverty, ignorance, ill-health and so on. The three tired relations of people, political parties and political leader in India is in crisis. It is due to the poverty of intellectuality of political parties and implication of incoherent theory by our electorate accelerating social ecological breakdown. It is ultimately creating our internal unrest which might be benefitted to destroy our national integration and unity of our diversity. Key - Words: Democracy, Coherent Theory, Political Leaders, Poverty of Intellectuality, Social Ecological Breakdown

Introduction A democracy means and provides a government by discussion. The representatives of people voice the wishes of the electorate for effective operation of the socio-economic development thinking and their policy making (Austin, G, 2007). Undoubtedly India is the largest functioning democracy in the world. Dr. Rajendra Prasad declares just after Independence of India that it is a democratic constitution and its successful functioning requires in those who have to work them willingness to respect the view points of others, capacity for comprehensive and accommodation (Misra, S.N. 2013). It does not function without taking choice for voting and to divisions in lobbies strengthens that hope. The welfare of the country is administered. The elected are capable and men of character and integrity, they would be able to make the best even of the defective constitution. If they are lacking in these, the constitution cannot help the country. After all constitution like a machine is lifeless thing. It acquires life because of the electorate who control it and operate it and India needs today nothing more than a set of honest men who will have the interest of the country before them (Misra, S.N.2013). So, there is an integrated three tired relations of people, political leaders and government which is nurtured by the rules and regulations laid down in our constitution. The political leaders as electorate have an immense role to overwhelm the development of country and to strengthen the development centric human relations. As an immediate action the democratic decentralization of power has been ensured people’s participation in Governments’ function from grass root to upper houses. But after along time of Independence the country till suffers from poverty, ignorance, diseases and inequality of opportunities (Bhattacharya, D, 2009). It is the main capital of the so-called political leaders of our country by which they ensure their captive vote bank and the people are misguided. Of because millions of people are undergoing a kind of suffering- food, shelter, health and unemployment and so on. Everyone is being counseled to death and the media is bombarding us with ads and getting us to consume. There is a rampant competition between marketism and consumerism in this global era. The people irrespective of their own capacity enter into a world of consumerism which has been facilitated by rapid urbanization. So, the thrust is the money economy in capital economic system. This has helped to originate the opportunist groups of people who are blind to support a particular politic party. So, gradually the intellectual social ecological breakdown creates disturbances in human relations.

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This paper examines how the politics and political leaders facilitate a crisis among people and their relation with each other. Relevance of Coherent Theory in present context Most of us believe that this world is irrational. In every sense of the world it is not only pitted against external, non-human nature, it is pitted against human nature. But an irrational system today that is anti-ecological. For explanation we find that the India is ruled by different political parties and their leaders. Every political party has its own strategies and method of development of people. But all of these parties prime focus is to accelerate the development of people, when they are using only the people’s ignorance for their absolutism. Eventually our society is trapped within a system of growth, of conflict with nature, of turning the organic into the inorganic. Ecological movement turns into a social ecology. Finding out the roots of the ecological problems is the social problems of hierarchy, the domination of one gender by another, people by politics and so forth(Bookchin, M, 1991). A Coherent Theory (Harold H. Joachim,1906), is to try to make reality or understanding of reality, rational that is the point behind coherence. Coherence literally is a process of thinking out and giving reason to whatever our ideals may be or to whatever reality we are trying to create. It means giving a rational understanding to the reality in which we live- which does not mean that this reality is rational but that we understand how it came about and when it is going. We are now living in a period of incoherence. It denies the existence of rationality, the existence of history, the existence of ideals and has essentially put a text under our noses and asked us to catalyse it. Relevance of Intellectuality among Politics and Political Leaders If intellectuality is to mean drawing great tradition, restating and reinterpreting them in order to make them relevant in a new context of social contact so that we can go beyond. If it is meant to do that, then we are not providing intellectuals. Therefore, intelligentsias are people who think and still live in a public arena and who try to create a public sphere. The interaction of the mind with life in which there is no split between the resolutionary movement and writing in which one is not opposed to the other and the attempt to work outside the institution(Bookchin, M, 1991).. But what is needed today are alternatives that really challenge the society. What is needed are ideals and principles that stand the opposition to the society. They have to be ideals, not only theorized and they finally have to metabolize with people- not immediately with people who are involved with the problems of everyday living, but with the people who are just beginning to study and to think. Conclusion Today everywhere in India political violence is rampant specially when election comes. With an effect to this it becomes an event of manifest coercion for establishing absolute partisan control by a single political party. Political leaders provoke not to allow the opposition. The event of election is being terrorized. It is evident that there is little scope of positive political action towards empowering the people especially at grass root rather it is nurturing a culture of political absolutism. So, the political murders and conflict are very much common. The rejection of a moral belief, the possibility of common people’s taking the onus of their own development lead to the consolidation of power in the hands of political leaders, a so called elite class and shutting down the door of imagination for alternative modes of development. But rapid crisis in human relations is the cause of poverty of intellectuality of the political leader. Abuse of the people’s ignorance would not allow for a

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long to build a progressive nation. The day will come when the internal unrest of country would help to win outsider without any battle. References 1. Austin, Granville(2007), Indian Constitution, the Cornerstone of a Nation, Oxford University Press, New Delhi 2. Bookchin, M, (1991), Intelligentsia and the New Intellectuals, Alternative Forum, Vol-1(1) 3. Misra, S.N., (2013), Constitutional Democracy, Judiciary and Social Justice in India, Jan., 2013 Odisha Review, Govt. of Odisha 4. Bhattacharya, D(2009), Of Control and Factions : The Changing “Party-Society” in Rural West Bengal, The Economic and Political Weekly, Vol-44(9), Feb-28. 5. Harold H. Joachim(1906), The Nature of Truth; An Essay, Oxford, Clarendon Press.

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WOMEN’S EDUCATION IN INDIAN SOCIETY AND CULTURE Jayanta Acharya & Mousumi Chakraborty Assistant Professor, Hope Institute of Bengal, Howrah, Dist-Howrah, West Bengal, E-mail: jayantaacharya16@yahoo.in ABSTRACT A nation’s prosperity depends on educated citizens. A nation’s citizenship consists of both its male and female citizen. Swami vivekanada says, “a bird cannot fly with only one wing.”So the development of a state is not possible without the involvement of both male and female in education. The need for women’s education is quite significant. Education is the basic requirement for human development and right to education is a fundamental human right. The Goddess of Education is Saraswathi a woman, but women are deprived of education in India. Educating a woman creates a vital opportunity for the social and economic development of the country and society. In Asia, India has the lowest rates of female literacy. This is attributed to the fact the country has a biased outlook towards the education of women. On one hand India is referred to as “Bharat Mata” or “Janani” the mother to every Indian and on the other hand, a disregard towards girls and women. A nation’s prosperity depends on its educated citizens. A nation’s citizenship consists of both thetraditional mentality assumes that women are mainly confined to the household activities like “kitchen and kids”. Women nowadays, are no less proficient than men in any field.

Introduction If we analyse the Indian history, we can see the progress of Indian women from Vedic period to modern. In ancient India both male and female students have the opportunity to take part in education. At that time women express themselves with their creative power. We get the names of bidushis like vishwabara, Opala, Romsa, Juhu etc. At that time both male and female students received education from gurukul. Besides learning Veda, uonisod women could learn the art of warfare. Later in Islamic age, the dominance of Islam took away the freedom and women’s education. Then women became a piece of lust for men and a machine to produce children. The dependence of women both in monetary and education turns them into slaves.Women do not have a school of their own. They had to take lesson with men. There is an arrangement of special education for women that help them to behave properly after marriage. During the awakening of Muslim During the period of Muslim many schools, universities, colleges and madrasahs were set up. Women do not have the opportunity to get out of their homes and take part in education. They had to study at home. Later during the rule of East India Company no steps were taken for women education. But Christian missionary became aware of women education. On the opposite side people protest against women education.Swami Vivekananda was emphatic that women must beeducated, for he believed that it is the women who mould the next generation, and hence, the destiny of thecountry. He considered men and women as two wings of a bird, and it is not possiblefor a bird to fly on only one wing. So, according to him, there is no chance for welfare of the world unless the condition of women is improved. Education of women is essential for both all-round development of the nation and also for the improvement ofwomen‘scondition in India.

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Swami Vivekananda’s views on Women Education Vivekananda also stresses the importance of women education. He explains the point about how female illiteracy retards the progress of a society. “There is no chance for the welfare of the world unless the condition of woman is improved. It is not possible for a bird to fly on only one wing” “Educate your women first and leave them to themselves; then they will tell you what reforms are necessary for them” “Our right of interference is limited entirely to giving education. Women must be put in a position to solve their own problems in their own way. No one can or ought to do this for them. And our Indian women are capable of doing it as any in the world” Gandhiji’s Views on Women Education Gandijia apprehended that improvement for women education must be nurtured well to lead the nation towards the path of development .Gandhiji said women should be given redemption from darkness and restriction on some sides. We should rather provide them good education on the basis of their needs. He said, nurture well to their children. Both Plato and Gandhiji showed their faith on women for their intelligence and quality. Raja Rammohon’s Views on Women Education Prevention of ‘sati practice’ and to increase women’s sensibility could help the women’s necessity in society had been thought by Rammohon at that period. But people dwelling at that time of India lacked the interest to perceive this need of women. Rammohan on the meeting of ‘Atmiyosaba’ tried to enlighten the basic necessity for women. He said ‘women intelligence that they can address them less intelligent than men we can address a people less intelligent only when he or she does not accept or education and knowledge well you don’t seem to cater your didactic words to women yet, then how is it possible for you to command that women are without intelligence power. Vidyasagar’s Views on Women Education Vidyasagar’s credit for the benevolence of women is well known to all. He showed his endeavour for the expansion of education for women class. He was determined to overcome the rigidity and prejudice of Hindu pandit when he was principal in Calcutta Sanskrit College and assistant inspector of school in south Bengal .he dedicated himself for the development of women in education. He founded a girl’s school at Jougram of Burdwan in the year of 1857. Apart from that he established more than 35 schools in Nadia, Mednipur and Hoogly for girls. The numbers of student were 1380. Tagore’s Views on Women Education Rabindranath was never comfortable with strident assertions of woman’s right and was not kind to these who were known feminists (Tagore, Chitipatra), he showed a remarkable understanding of woman’s psyche, perceived the injustice of an unequal social structure and advocated far greater freedom and decision making power for women in the family and the larger society. In addition to his remarkable stories about young girls (of which The Postman is a master piece) Tagore’s short stories can be seen as representing three facts of women’s lives 1. The romance between men and women. 2. Social oppression of women (brilliantly portrayed stories like ‘Haimanti’) 3. Birth of the “new women’ that is, a woman who challenges convention and seeks to make decision about her own life.

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About Education Amidst numerous Social impediments, female education was given priority in the Tagore household. Tagore constructs ‘Mrinmoyi’ in the image of a restless urehin one who can create ripples in an otherwise unperturbed life of her locality. Unlike other maidens of her age ‘her enormous black eyes held no shame, no fear, and not the slightest coyness. She was tall, well built, healthy, and strong. Her first meeting with Apurba provides her an ample scope to ridicule the educated BabuApurba Krishna. Apurba’s uneasy steps on the mudly riverbank and his subsequent fall are greeted by Mrinmayi’s melodious peel of high-pitched laughter. His conscious decision to marry this unusual Mrinmay is halters his mother’s hope for a calm and quite daughter-in-low. Even after marriage Mrinmayi retains her strong adherence to her pre- adolescent self. This represents Tagore’s sensitive evaluation of the condition of contemporary women. The status reveal attempts at individual scripting that come into conflict with scripts established by society. Tagore treads a middle path often accommodating the social structure over individual attempts at self-expression. But the pathos and the irony that he systematically uses sensitizes us to his deep sympathies on this issue. The radicalism in allowing the narrative to be taken over by Mrinal allows free access to the sensibility of the women, an experiment that was seathingly attacked in contemporary society. The short stories acknowledge the desire and the urgency to allow contemporary women to script a space of their own. In 1882 according to the report of Hunter commission the area of women education has been broadened. It was mentioned in the report of commission, ”Female education is still in an extremely backward condition and needs to be fostered in every legitimate way” .Commission has recommended that a huge amount should be spent for women education. So both Government and non-Government sector made an attempt to the upliftment of women.12 colleges, 467 secondary schools and 5628 primary schools were set up in India in 1901.But only 447470 female students took admission.IN 1901 the percentage of women education is only 0.8.In higher education of 264 female students,76 people were studying medical course and 11 were studying teacher training course.IN 1916 s.n.d.t woman’s university and lord Hardinge medical college were set up. University Educational commission, established by Sarvapolli Radhakrishnan, recommended that ,“ woman are human beings and have as much right to full development as men have the position of women in any society is a true of its cultural and spiritual level.’ These points are mentioned in Radhakrishnan Commission 1. Women should be provided every scope in studies and suitable atmosphere for education. 2. All kinds of opportunity need to be created on behalf of women. 3. Curriculum needs to be made on the basis of women’s necessity. 4. There will be no difference in remuneration between men and women. In Indian Constitution under section 16(a), emphasis is given at the necessity of women’s education….’There shall be equality of opportunity to all citizens in matters relating to employment or appointment to any office under the state……………while special arrangement may be made for women and children there shall not be any discrimination against any citizen on the ground only at religion, race, caste, sex, or place of birth’. In 1958-59 the national Committee on women’s education had been organized to make a report on the present condition of women. In 1963 the women education feels lag

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resulting to VaktoBatsalam Committee’s endeavor identify the impediments behind women’s education’s growth. The committee advocated these -1. Both the Government and private schools will try at their level best to improve the women’s education. 2. 2. Married as well as trained women can be used in the field of various jobs. 3. It’s the need of the hour to manage co- education right from the primary level. 4. Central Government should allot requisite monetary help for women’s education. 5. Women should be provided knowledge about sociology in the very rural areas 6. Training Institutes need to reserve seats for women Kothari Commission shows the right way to women’s education. According to Commission opinion,…In the modern world the role of the woman goes much beyond the home and bringing up of children. She is now a career of her own and sharing with man, the responsibility for the development of society in all its aspects.’’ Kothari Commission recommends that, as suggested by the National committee, action should be taken on the following lines: (1) The education of women should be regarded as a major programme in education for some years to come and a bold and determined effort should be made to face thedifficulties involved and to close the existing gap between the education of men and women in as short a time as possible; (2) Special schemes should be prepared for this purpose and the funds required for them should be provided on a priority basis; and (3) Both at the Centre and in the States, there should be a special machinery look after the education of girls and women. It should bring together officials and non-officials inthe planning and implementation of Programmes for women's education. In 1968 National Council for women’s Education has encouraged some objectives for the benevolence of women’s education. 1. Women need to be given special trainings so that they can secure their seats in the professional fields. 2. Scope for part time and full time job for the unemployed women must be created. 3. At the secondary level women should be led to some vocational training so that they will be on the way of securing jobs. 4. Selected trainings should be given to the women to make them active and it is very urgent to establish training centers for women. Present Position of Women Education in India In independent India, education acquired special significance and has been support by the government from time to time through its policies and programs. There four in recent years the Education system has expended rapidly. But a large number of women are in dark in literacy rate remains startling by its presence. The gender gap in literacy is (males82.14female65.46)=16.68 in 2011 census.

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Factors Responsible for Low Literacy Rates among Women      

Social discrimination and economic exploitation. Occupation of girl child in domestic chores. Low enrollment of girls in school. Deprived of access to information and alienated from decision-making processes. School established in faraway place. Shortage of female teacher in school.

Recommendations Some Recommendations to Promote and Faster the Women’s Education 

For female education, facilities for girls should be provided in schools and number of schools should be enhanced.

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For adult women, condensed course should be introduced.

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3.For free and compulsory education system ,books ,notes, pen, pencils, rubbers, gum, drawing khatas, water bottles ,Tiffin boxes, umbrellas, socks, shoes, mid-day meal, one pair of uniform should be provided to learners regularly.

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In rural and slum areas, public opinion in favour of female education should be created.

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Scope for appointing female officers should be widened.

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Free health check-up and treatment for the women should be arranged. Trained, skilled and experienced psychiatrists should be appointed for psychological advice to the learners as per their demand.

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Nursery and pre-primary schools should be set up.

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Women should be encouraged to choose teaching as a profession.

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For eradicating all sorts of economic problems, monetary assistance should be given to the female learners.

Conclusion In ancient India education system was prevalent. Women too could take part in education. Later in the periods of Buddhism and Islamic, that opportunity was taken away from women. But after the independence of India women education has progressed a lot. District primary education and women education in sarbasiksha have been getting special priority since 1996-97 and 2002 onwards respectively. District level sector has been set up in every district for women education and women awareness. And inclusive education has been given to both male and female students. It is due to fact that at the present time, the educated women play a very significant role in overall development and progress of the country, India is now optimistic in the field of woman education. Reference 1. Bagulia , A,M (2004) Kothari Commission(p378) New Delhi , Anmol Publication Pvt. Ltd. 2. Dr sudiptoDuttaDey(2001), “education in the vision of swami viveknanda” 3. Dr. Jitendrakumar& MS Sangeeta (2013) ‘Status of women Education in India’ educationia Confab, vol2, no4 April 2013 ISSN;2320-009X

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4. Gosh,S (2001) the history of ancient India, New Delhi Munshilal Manoharlal. 5. S.P Agarval (2001)women’s Education in India(1995-98) present status, Perspective plan statistical Indicators with Global view vol-iii 6. Singh Lata Reflection of Swami Vivekananda views on Women Education in Current Scenario, IOSR Journal of Economics and Finance e-ISSN;2321-5933 VOL-5 Issue5 Bibliography Nanda, Bisnupoda (2015). Inclusion in Education (PP. 30-50). Kolkata: Classique books

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THE POWER OF MUSIC AND DYSLEXIA Jayanta Acharya Assistant Professor, Hope Institute of Bengal, District -Howrah, West Bengal, E-mail: jayantaacharya16@yahoo.in ABSTRACT German Doctor, Berlin coined the term Dyslexia to mean “Difficulty in words, Dyslexia is a term for problems with reading. The word dyslexia is derived from the Greek “dys” (meaning poor or inadequate) and “lexis” (words or language). Dyslexia is a specific learning disability that mainly affects reading and spellingwhich is neurological in origin. Dyslexia is characterized by problems in poor word reading, word decoding, oral reading fluency, and spelling orthographic and phonological coding, chaotic spelling, trouble with syllabication(breaking words into syllables), and failure to recognize words, hesitant oral reading, and word-by-word rather than contextual reading rapid automatic naming and focused, switching, and/or sustained attention. As per the definition given by national institute of Neurological disorder and stroke, “Dyslexia is a brain-based type of learning disability that specifically impairs a person’s ability to read. These individuals typically read at levels significantly lower than expected, despite having normal intelligence. Although the disorder various from person to person. There are many studies that have shown the relationship of music to increase IQ and academic achievement. Recent studies have shown that incorporating music in learning can help to increase language skill in children with dyslexia. Music therapy is sometimes included in a child’s individualized Educational Plan as a way to help improve communication skills and to improve physical coordination. By using familiar songs, children can hum to themselves while completing homework reminding themselves of the facts or the rules they must follow.

Introduction Dyslexia is a reading and language-based learning disability. With this problem, a child may not understand letters, groups of letters, sentences or paragraphs. At the beginning of the first grade, children may occasionally reverse and rotate the letters they read and write. This may be normal when he or she is first learning to read. By the middle of first grade (and with maturity) these problems should disappear. However, a young student with dyslexia may not overcome these problems. The difficulty can continue as the student grows. To him, a ‘ b’ may look like a ‘d’. He may write on when he really means no. Your child may reverse a 6 to make 9. This is not a vision problem, rather it is a problem with hoe the brain interprets the information it “sees” A student with reading disorder might have difficulty with the following: 1. Naming, learning the sequence of or printing the alphabet 2. Memorizing non phonetic words 3. Reading words that cannot be translated into a mental picture (and, a, the etc.) 4. sound/symbol correspondence, or sequencing of letters to create a word 5. Reading g aloud without repeated mistakes and pauses 6. Comprehending reading material, grasp of vocabulary 7. Reading numbers and confusing math symbols Causes for Dyslexia The causes for Dyslexia are not well understood and sometimes there is no apparent cause for Dyslexia.

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1. Heredity Learning disabilities often run in the family, Abnormalities of chromosomes and genes. 2. Problem during pregnancy and birth: Learning disabilities can result from anomalies on the developing brain, illness, Drug misuse during pregnancy, including alcohol intake and smoking, low birth weight, oxygen deprivation. 3. Birth long before the expected birth date-also called extreme pre-maturity. 4. Accidents after birth: Learning disabilities can also be caused by head injuries, malnutrition. 5. An autism spectrum disorder. 6. Poor diet and health care. 7. Psychological conflict, maturation lag, inherited neurological disorder. Dealing with Dyslexia Children are often interested in written language already before receiving formal teaching in reading and writing skills. Learning word recognition and decoding skills progresses in stages. At first, children learn the respective names and phonemes of letter symbols. After that, they connect phonemesinto syllables and syllables into words. Gradually, phoneme connection increases in speed and the child can fluently translate written language into phonetic form. Especially in languages with high letter-phoneme correspondence, the basis of fluent literacy is what is called “decoding”, or reading based on phonemic assembly. With decoding skills, the reader can combine phonemes into syllables and syllables into words, and can thus read words he or she has not learned before. Spelling skills also progress in stages. Spelling is often assessed with dictation tasks. The child must first analyse the auditory perception and recognise the individual phonemes in the word. In the early stages of learning to spell, the child often repeats the word or an individual phoneme in the word to facilitate phoneme analysis. Once the child has recognised a phoneme, he or she can translate it into a respective letter symbol. For the child to translate the phonemes into letter symbols in the correct order, he or she must be able to process words serially. Finnish words are typically long and consist of several letters and syllables. In Finnish and other languages with regular phoneme-spelling correspondence, the abilities to syllabicate words according to the writing system, and to combine syllabication with written language, are important in both reading and writing. Word recognition and decoding skills, as well as correct spelling skills, are tools of communication and learning. For the child to benefit from learning to read and write, he or she must understand what he/she has read, and he or she must be able to express his/her thoughts in such a written form that others can understand what he or she is trying to say. If the child has difficulties in reading comprehension or writing despite having mastered word recognition and decoding, the root cause may be, for example, problems in understanding the language or in directing and organising his or her own functions. Emotions and Learning of these students Students with undetected learning disabilities behave for a variety of reasons. They might feel angry, sad, lonely, frustrated or hopeless as a result of focusing on their difficulties. Frustration might arise out of students’ level of performance compared to their level of actual ability. A baseless lack of security always hunts them. They cannot adopt with the lesson of the class room. A review article by Johnson (2002), has thrown light into the significant association between learning disabilities and behaviour problems. Many other studies including a retrospective study at Child and Adolescent unit at the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS), Bangalore found that 79% of children with learning disabilities had co-morbid psychological disorders, in which 32% had

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internalizing disorders such as anxiety, depression, 28% had externalizing disorders such as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD) and Conduct Disorder (CD) and 19% had other disorder. Learning Disability (Dyslexia)-Difficulty in understanding and producing workSchool failureloss of self- esteemDecreased effort  Discouragement Further school failure DropoutUnemployment\ Way wardness \CrimeWaste of our human resource Music and Self-identity Music is a device or resource to which people turn in order to regulate themselves as aesthetic agents, as feeling, thinking and acting beings in their day-to-day lives.Achieving this regulation requires a high degree of reflexivity; the perceived ‘need’ for regulation described by our respondents emerges with reference to the exigencies and situational ‘demands’ made upon them in and through their interactions with others. Such reflexivity can also been seen in relation to music’s role as a building material of self-identity. The first music we hear is inside the wombs. The sound that dominates the unborn child’s world is its mother’s heartbeat. Other voices and familiar sounds add harmony to the already progressive composition of the uterine symphony. From the 24th week on, the unborn child listens all the time. He or she has lots to listen to, as the pregnant abdomen and uterus are very noisy places. (Hicks 1995:31) This ‘intrauterine symphony’, as it has been termed in the medical literature, consists of the mother’s heartbeat, her voice as she speaks or sings, and any other sounds from the outside world,such as the voices of others. In the sonic foreground of this sound environment is what has been described within the literature as a ‘rhythmic “swooshing” of the blood as it rushes through the placental vessels’ (Collins and Kuck 1990:24) Music is an accomplice of body configuration. It is a technology of body building, a device that affords capacity, motivation, co-ordination, energyand endurance. In the case of aerobic exercise, it is possible to identifysome of the specific musical materials that work, in real time, upon thebody, materials that have been designed and can be appropriated forspecific bodily ends. Relation between Music and Dyslexia Recent studies have shown that incorporating music in learning can help to language skills in children with dyslexia and other learning disabilities. Learning to play a musical instrument may help students with dyslexia.As a consequence of their difficulties, children and adolescents with dyslexia may experience early academic failure.Some studies suggest that reading skills and musical abilities mightbe related andthat musical training may be able to help in the development oflanguage and literacy skills. Studies have also shown that music helps increase language skills. As there have been many studies showing relationship of music to increased IQ, studies have also shown a direct correlation to mastering a musical instrument and learning the spoken language. Auditory skills needed for processing both language and music were discussed in a review by Kraus &Banai (2007). They reported that an individual’s musical training will affect his or her auditory processing. In fact, they discovered that musicians respond more strongly to the sound of their instrument than others, and have stronger responses than nonmusicians to even simple tones. Further, they found the musician’s brain response to pitch follows pitch frequencies more closely than responses of non-musicians. In addition, they stated that the auditory processing system is flexible and can change in response to environment. This effect is heightened by an individual’s intent. In other words, musical

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training results in changes to the auditory cortices, which in turn facilitates perceptual learning. Overy’s (2000) research challenged the position that dyslexics’ music troubles are primarily issues with notation. She suggested instead that dyslexia may also affect other pertinent musical skills such as auditory and visual perception, short-term memory, and motor skills. Overy took the stance that dyslexic’s language and musicalproblems are primarily rhythmic, and that rhythmic musical activities could possibly address both difficulties. In her research, she found dyslexic children’s rhythmic skills severely lacking, as well as skills in identifying the number of notes in sequences and differences in timbre. However, following rhythmic training, the children’s rhythmic, as well as phonetic and spelling, skills improved. The role of teacher and parents Teacher and parents can incorporate music into everyday to help children with dyslexia and other learning disabilities to improve school performance and increase reading and writing skills. By using familiar songs, children can hum to themselves while completing homework or taking a test , reminding themselves of the facts or the rules they must follow. a) Students can learn to break word into syllables by clapping or tapping for each syllable b) Student can improve listening skills by listening to short songs and writing the lyrics down. c) Students can use rhymes or songs to learn grammar lesson . d) Maths classes can be enhanced by using clapping or rhythms to improve understanding of patterns sequences. e) Multiplication facts can be learned by setting them to music. Perceptual language and literacy skills Speech and music have a number of shared processing systems. Musical experiences which enhance processing can therefore impact on the perception of language which in turn impacts on learning to read. Active engagement with music sharpens the brain’s early encoding of linguistic sound. Eight year old children with just 8 weeks of musical training showed improvement in perceptual cognition compared with controls. Speech makes extensive use of structural auditory patterns based on timbre differences between phonemes. Musical training develops skills which enhance perception of these patterns. This is critical in developing phonological awareness which in turn contributes to learning to read successfully. Speech processing requires similar processing to melodic contour. Eight year old children with musical training outperformed controls on tests of music and language. Learning to discriminate differences between tonal and rhythmic patterns and to associate these with visual symbols seems to transfer to improved phonemic awareness. Learning to play an instrument enhances the ability to remember words through enlargement of the left cranial temporal regions. Musically trained participants remembered 17% more verbal information that those without musical training. Children experiencing difficulties with reading comprehension have benefitted from training in rhythmical performance. Mathematics Research exploring the relationships between mathematics and active musical engagement has had mixed results, in part, because not all mathematics’ tasks share underlying processes with those involved in music. Transfer is dependent on the extent of the match, for instance, children receiving instruction on rhythm instruments scored higher on part-whole maths problems than those receiving piano and singing instruction. Use a tune to

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remember various counting patterns. Example count by 3’s to the tune of ‘Jingle Bells’ ,4’s to the tune of ‘Old McDonald’ 6’s to the tune of ‘I am a little teapot’ etc. Conclusion Dyslexia appears, indeed, to be a disorder that is multi-faceted, which affectsmany areas of life, and has few hard and fast answers as to best practice. it is a disservice to students, both academically as well as musically, to continue to think of dyslexia as primarily a reading disorder that only affects reading and language, especiallywhen music teachers, due to the varied nature of tasks students are required to do in the music classroom, are quite possibly on the “front lines” of discovering and assisting different kinds of dyslexic students through the use of differentiated instruction.Dyslexic students may not be readily recognizable to music teachers, or even diagnosed. The ways in whichtheir musical skills will be affected, as well as how music teachers could best help them learn, both musically and academically, are challenges that must be unfolded and dealt with day by day. Teachers and parents can incorporate music into everyday learning to help children with dyslexia and other learning disabilities to improve school performance and increase reading and writing skills. References 1. Ajaya Kumar Penthoi (2011).Special Education. New Delhi, APH Publishing Corporation. Axelrod, A. Pigs will be pigs: Fun with math and money Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers. New York, NY (1994) 2. Bennet, A. &Bennet, D. (2008). The human knowledge system: Music & brain coherence. VINE: The Journal of Information & Knowledge Management Systems, 38(3), 277-295. 3. Bernatzky, G., &Panksepp, J. (2002). Emotional sounds and the brain: the neuroaffective foundations of musical appreciation. Behavioral Processes, 60(2), 133-155. 4. Besson, M., Schon, D., Moreno, S., Santos, A., &Magne, C. (2007). Influence of musical expertise and musical training on pitch processing in music and language. Restorative Neurology and Neuroscience, 25(3/4), 399-410 5. Claussen, D &Thaut, M (1997), Music as a mnemonic device for children with learning disabilities. Canadian journal of Music Therapy,5,55-66. 6. Gunter, T, Schmidt, B., and Besson, M. (2008).Let‟s face the music: A behavioral andelectrophysiological exploration of score reading. Psychophysiology, 40, 742-751. 7. Helland, T. (2006).Dyslexia at a behavioral and cognitive level. Dyslexia, 13,35-41 8. Lakshmi Narayan S &Zayapragassarazanz :Music Education As A Counselling Strategy For Children With Dyslexia196-203, ISBN978-81-313-0798-4 9. Overy, K. (2000). Dyslexia, temporal processing and music: The potential of music as an early learning aid for dyslexic children.Psychology of Music, 28(2), 218-229. 10. Overy, K., Nicolson, R., Fawcett, A., & Clarke, E.(2003). Dyslexia and music: Measuring musical timing skills. Dyslexia, 9, 18-36. 11. Prabu .T,Pachaiyappan P.Ramamorthy, M Identification of learning disabilities and Intervention Techniques.ISSN2250-1991VOL-3 Issu-4 April2014

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IMPLICATION OF CENVAT CREDIT ON COMMON INPUTS AND INPUT SERVICES USED FOR MANUFACTURING DUTIABLE AND EXEMPTED GOODS AND PROVIDING TAXABLE AND EXEMPTED SERVICES Jharna Chakraborty Assistant Professor, School of Management and Social Science, Haldia Institute of Technology, Haldia, Purba Medinipur, West Bengal, Email: jharnadchakraborty@gmail.com ABSTRACT Central excise duty is an indirect tax levied on goods manufactured in India. Excise is collected on the goods manufactured or produced at the time of their removal from the factory for administrative convenience. Before Central Excise duty can be imposed on any article, it must satisfy two basic conditions, (i) the articles should be goods and (ii) it should have come into existence as a result of “manufacture”. Modvat/Cenvat is basically a duty collecting procedure, which aims at allowing relief to a manufacturer on the duty element borne by him in respect of the inputs used by him. The duty paid through Cenvat account is also considered as payment of excise duty. Hence the assessee should first utilize/adjust available Cenvat credit with the duty liability of final product and then pay balance by cash. Credit can be taken as soon as goods are received in the factory or premises of service provider. Rule 4 of Cenvat Credit Rules provides for different conditions for allowing Cenvat credit. Cenvat credit is allowed on inputs immediately upon receipt of the inputs in the factory and on capital goods 50% credit only can be taken in a given financial year. Credit of input services can be taken on receipt of bill of service provider. Rule 6 describes the obligation of manufacturer of dutiable and exempted goods and provider of taxable and exempted services. A manufacturer who manufactures both dutiable and exempted goods can follow either sub-rule (2) or sub-rule (3) of Rule 6 of the Cenvat Credit Rules, 2004 subject to the condition and procedure specified in Rule 6(3A). The Cenvat credit law has been a very significant feature of the Union Indirect Tax System. Cenvat is one of the most crucial but sensitive issues both in service tax and Central excise.The most significant implication of Rule 6(3A) of the Cenvat Credit Rules, 2004 is to remove the restriction on Cenvat credit utilization. Key Words: CENVAT Credit Rules, 2004, Common Input and Input Services, Central excise duty and service tax, Rule 6(3A)

Introduction Central excise duty is an indirect tax levied on goods manufactured in India. The Central Excise duty is levied in terms of the Central Excise Act, 1944 and the rates of duty, ad valorem or specific, are prescribed under Schedule I and II of Central Excise Tariff Act, 1985. The taxable event under the Central Excise law is ‘manufacture’ and the liability of Central Excise duty arises as soon as the goods are manufactured. The Central Excise Law is administered by the Central Board of Excise and Custom (CBEC) through its field officers, the Central Excise Commissionerates. The Central Excise Law and Procedures mainly Comprise of Central Excise Act, 1944, Central Excise Rules, 2002, Cenvat Credit Rules, 2004, Central Excise Valuation (Determination of Price of Excisable Goods) Rules, 2000, Central Excise (Removal of Goods at Concessional Rate of Duty for Manufacture of Excisable Goods) Rules, 2001, Central Excise (Compounding of Offences) Rules, 2005, Central Excise (Appeals) Rules, 2001, CESTAT (Procedure) Rules, 1982 and Notifications issued under Central Excise Act, 1944 and the Rules made there under. CENVAT Credit Rules, 2004 were notified vide Notification No. 23/2004-CE (NT) dated 10-09-2004. Since their introduction, these rules have been amended from time to time and more so to align with the budget changes. These Rules have introduced to simplified

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CENVAT (Central Excise Value Added Tax) provisions and procedures for allowing credit of duty paid on specified inputs, capital goods and input services used in or in relation to the manufacture of specified final products, whether directly or indirectly and whether contained in the final product or not (inputs) and used (capital goods) in the factory of the manufacture of the final product. Similarly the credit of duty paid on specified inputs, capital goods and input services used for providing output services have been allowed. The credit of duty so allowed can be utilized for payment of duty leviable on the final product subject to the conditioned laid down in the rules. Concept relating to Central excise duty and service tax For proper understanding of CENVAT some basic knowledge about Central Excise Duty, Service Tax, Assessee, Manufacture etc. are necessary.  

“Act” means the Central Excise Act, 1944. “Assessment” includes self-assessment of duty made by the assessee and provisional assessment under Rule 7.  “Duty” means duty payable under section 3 of the Act.  “Notification” means the notification published in the Official Gazette.  “Final Products” means excisable goods manufactured or produced from input, or using input services.  “Assessee” means any person who is liable for payment of duty assessed or a producer or manufacturer of excisable goods or a registered person of a private warehouse in which excisable goods are stored and includes an authorized agent of such person. Central Excise Duty Central Excise Duty is a tax on act of manufacture or production. Excise is collected on the goods manufactured or produced at the time of their removal from the factory for administrative convenience. Section 3 of Central Excise Act, 1944 is the charging section and derives its authority from entry 84 of the Union List (List I), Seventh Schedule read with Article 246 of the Constitution of India. Since it is an indirect tax the duty paid by the manufacturer is passed on to the customer. Dutiability/Excisability Before Central Excise duty can be imposed on any article, it must satisfy two basic conditions, (i) the articles should be goods and (ii) it should have come into existence as a result of “manufacture”. Service Tax As per section 65B (51) of Finance Act, 1994 (introduced w.e.f. 1-7-2012), “taxable service” means any service on which service tax is leviable under section 66B of Finance Act, 1994. As per section 66B, there shall be levied a tax (hereinafter referred to as the service tax) at the rate of 12% (plus 2% Education Cess and 1% Higher Education Cess) on the value of all services other than those services specified in the negative list, provided or agreed to be provided in the taxable territory by one person to another and collected in such manner as may be prescribed. The Finance Bill 2015 proposes to levy service tax at the rate of 14%. Factory Section 2(e) of Central Excise Act states that ‘factory’ means any premises, including the precincts thereof, wherein or in any part of which, excisable goods other than salt are manufactured; or wherein or in any part of which any manufacturing process connected with production of these goods is being carried on or is ordinarily carried on.

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Manufacture The term ‘manufacture’ is of significant importance in Central Excise field. Manufacture is defined in Section 2(f) of the Central Excise Act which includes any process (i) incidental or ancillary to the completion of a manufactured product; (ii) which is specified in relation to any goods in the Section or Chapter Notes of the First Schedule to the Central Excise Tariff Act, 1985 as amounting to manufacture; or which, in relation to goods specified in Third Schedule , involves packing or repacking of such goods in a unit container or labelling or relabelling of containers including the declaration or alteration of retail sale price on it or adoption of any other treatment on the goods to render the product marketable to the consumer. Goods and Excisable Goods Central Excise Law does not define “goods” as such. But by an explanation to Section 2(d), inserted by Finance Act, 2008, goods have been defined as including any article, material or substance which is capable of being bought and sold for a consideration and such goods shall be deemed to be marketable. One essential requirement for levy of excise duty is that the goods must be ‘excisable’. Thus unless the item is specified in the Central Excise tariff Act as subject to duty, no duty is leviable. However, once an item is mentioned in Tariff, it will be ‘excisable goods’ even if rate is nil (since nil rate of duty is also a duty), or it is exempt from excise duty. CENVAT Credit Rules, 2004 Excise duty is paid on manufactured goods. All manufactured goods are not used by end users or consumers. Final product of a manufacturer is also used by others as input or capital goods or consumables for production of his goods. As the taxable event in excise is manufacture, all goods suffer excise duty in the hands of manufacturer. When such duty paid goods are used by another manufacturer and duty is paid by such person, then the value of the goods includes duty paid on input also. Excise duty burden on the final products fall on duty paid on inputs. Thus a situation arises whereby duty becomes payable on duty. This result in cascading effect and such process continues till the goods reach ultimate consumer. The price of the goods is inflated due to such extra duty burden. Cenvat Credit Scheme seeks to overcome this problem so that value of goods alone is subjected to duty at every stage of manufacture. MODVAT (Modified Value Added Tax) Scheme (as CENVAT Scheme was called before) was introduced in 1986 budget to mitigate the cascading effect of multi-point levy of tax paid up to the previous stage. Modvat is basically a duty collecting procedure, which aims at allowing relief to a manufacturer on the duty element borne by him in respect of the inputs used by him. MODVAT was substituted with CENVAT w.e.f 2000 which introduced new CENVAT credit rules. After several reforms in design and procedure, the system settled in the shape of the CENVAT Credit Rules 2004, integrating goods and services. A manufacturer or service provider can take credit of duty or tax paid on inputs or capital goods or input services and can adjust the same for payment of duty or tax on his final products or output services. Service received at the office of the manufacturer/ service provider is eligible for Cenvat Credit. The nature of Modvat or Cenvat credit was explained as “provision for facility of credit is as tax paid till tax is adjusted on future goods. The nature of Modvat or Cenvat credit is therefore a provision for facility of credit where tax can be paid till tax is adjusted on future goods. Cenvat Scheme essentially requires that final products should be duty paid and not exempted. But there are situations where final product is held as not liable to excise duty at a later date by Courts. Assessees are faced with demand notices seeking reversal of Cenvat

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credit availed on inputs, capital goods and input services used in the manufacture of such goods. Eligibility and Utilization of CENVAT Credit A manufacturer or producer of final products or a taxable service provider can take Cenvat credit. As Cenvat credit is availed for adjustment of duty liability on final products, such final products shall be excisable as well as dutiable and not exempted. In general, specified capital goods and inputs are eligible to Cenvat credit. The list also includes spares, components, fuels and consumables. The basic conditions for taking Cenvat credit are: (i) there should be ‘manufacture’ or provision of taxable output service; (ii) inputs (goods) should be used in or in relation to manufacture of final product or for provision of output services; (iii) input service should be utilized for manufacture of final product or for provision of output services; (iv) Cenvat credit is available for duties and taxes specified in rule 3(1), paid on inputs, input services and capital goods, subject to restrictions as specified; (v) no credit is available if final product is exempted from duty or output service is not taxable; (vi) credit is available on the basis of specified documents only. The duty paid through Cenvat account is also considered as payment of excise duty. Hence the assessee should first utilize/adjust available Cenvat credit with the duty liability of final product and then pay balance by cash. Credit can be taken as soon as goods are received in the factory or premises of service provider. It is not necessary to wait till the inputs/ capital goods are actually utilized in manufacturer or production. Similarly, it is not necessary that payment should have been made to supplier of goods. The manufacturer/service provider should maintain record of Cenvat credit availed and of credit utilized. Once the eligible duty/tax paid is taken in account as cenvat credit, the question of utilization of the same arises. The Cenvat credit can be used for the payment of (i) excise duty on any final products, (ii) for payment of duty on inputs removed as such or after partial processing, (iii) for payment of amount of capital goods if they are removed as such, (iv) for payment of duty if goods are cleared after repairs under Rule 16(2) of Central Excise Rules, (vi) for payment of service tax on any output service and (vii) for payment under Cenvat Credit Rule 6 of amount on exempted goods or reversal of credit on inputs when common input or common input services are used for exempted as well as dutiable final products, (vi) reversal of Cenvat credit , if assessee opts out of Cenvat, (vii) payment of amount if goods sent for job work are not returned within 180 days. However, Cenvat credit cannot be utilized for adjustment of interest and penalty. The excise duty is payable by 6th day of the subsequent month for clearances made in earlier month through internet banking in case duty amount exceeds Rs. 10 Lac as per rule 8(1) and a return shall also be filed electronically in Form ER1 as per rule 12(1) within 10th of the following month. Only Cenvat credit available as on last day of the month can be utilized for payment of duty even if duty is payable by of the following month. Thus, Cenvat Credit in respect of inputs/capital goods/input services received after the end of month cannot be utilized while paying duty on 6th. That credit can be utilized in any subsequent month only. Input and Capital Goods for Cenvat Cenvat credit is available on input goods, input services and capital goods by both manufacturer as well as service provider. As per Rule 2 (k) of Cenvat credit Rules, ‘Input’ means- all goods, except High Speed Diesel (HSD), Light Diesel Oil (LDO), and Petrol (motor spirit), used within the factory of production in or in relation to manufacture of final products directly or indirectly and whether contained in the final product or not and includes lubricating oils, greases, cutting oils, coolants, accessories of the final products cleared along

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with the final products, the value of which is included in the value of the final product, goods used as paint or as packing material, or as fuel, or goods used for providing free warranty for final products. The input also includes all goods used for generation of electricity or steam for captive use or all goods used for providing any output services. Rule 2(a) of Cenvat Credit Rules defines ‘Capital Goods ‘as (A) (i) all goods falling under chapter 82, chapter84, Chapter 85, Chapter 90, heading No. 6805, grinding wheels and the like and parts thereof falling under heading 6804 of the First Schedule to the excise Tariff act. [tools, hand tools, knives etc falling under Chapter 82, machinery covered under Chapter 84, electrical machinery under Chapter 84, measuring, checking and testing machine etc. falling under chapter 90, grinding wheels and like, and parts thereof falling under subheading No 6804, abrasive powder or grain on a base of textile material or paper, or paper board or other materials falling under chapter heading 6805.], (ii) pollution control equipment; (iii) components, spares and accessories of the goods specified at (i) and (ii) above; (iv) moulds and dies, jigs and fixtures; (v) refractories and refractory materials; (v) tubes and pipes and fitting thereof, and (vi) storage tank – all used (1) in the factory of the manufacturer of the final products, but does not include any equipment or appliance used in an office, or (1A) outside the factory of the manufacturer of the final products for generation of electricity for captive use within the factory, or (2) for providing output service. It also includes motor vehicles other than those falling under tariff headings 8702, 8703, 8704, 8711 and their chassis but including dumpers and tippers. The definition of ‘capital goods’ as per Rule 2(a) of Cenvat credit rules is entirely different from ‘capital goods’ as understood in accounting principles or for income tax purposes. Items like spare parts, tools, dies tubes, fittings etc. are never capitalized in accounts or for income tax purposes but are as defined as ‘capital goods’ for Cenvat. The capital goods should be used in the factory of the manufacturer of the final products, but does not include any equipment or appliance used in an office, or for providing output service. Cenvat Credit of Input Service According to Rule 2(l) of Cenvat Credit Rules ‘Input service’ means any service (i)

Used by a provider of output service for providing an output service; or

(ii)

Used by a manufacturer, whether directly or indirectly, in or in relation to the manufacture of final products and clearance of final products upto the place of removal and includes services used in relation to setting up, modernization or repairs of a factory, premises of provider of output service or an office relating to such factory or premises, advertisement or sales promotion, market research, storage upto the place of removal, procurement of inputs, accounting, auditing, financing, recruitment and quality control, coaching and training, computer networking, credit rating, share registry, security, business exhibition, legal services, inward transportation of inputs or capital goods and outward transportation upto the place of removal.

Input Service Distributer As per Rule 2(m), “Input service distributer” means an office of the manufacturer or producer of final products or provider of output service, which receives invoices issued under Rule 4A of Service Tax Rules 1994, towards purchase of input services and issues invoice or, as the case may be, challan for the purpose of distributing the credit of service tax paid on the said services to such manufacturer or producer or provider, as the case may be. A manufacturer or service provider may have head office/regional office at different places. The services may receive at head office/ regional office but ultimately, these will be indirectly used for manufacture or providing output service. Invoices/bills in respect of input services are raised in the name of head office /regional offices. In the case of services which are not

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specific to a particular factory or premises of a service provider the bills are raised in the name of head office/regional office. In order to provide for a mechanism to pass on the service tax credit in such case, such offices to the manufacturer/service provider are designed as ‘Input service Distributer’. Rule 7 of the Cenvat Credit Rules prescribes the manner in which an input service distributer can distribute the service tax credit. Conditions for availing Cenvat credit Rule 4 of Cenvat Credit Rules provides for different conditions for allowing Cenvat credit. (1) Cenvat credit is allowed on inputs immediately upon receipt of the inputs in the factory of the manufacturer/premises of provider of output service. (2) Cenvat credit on capital goods is required to be availed in more than one year, viz. upto 50% credit only can be taken at any point of time in a given financial year of receipt and the balance may be taken in any financial year subsequent to the financial in which the capital goods were received in the factory of the manufacturer. There is no time limit for utilizing the credit- 50% in the first year and 50% next year. Credit can be utilized when manufacture of goods/ provision of service starts. (3) The Cenvat credit in respect of the capital goods shall be allowed to a manufacturer even if the capital goods are acquired by him on lease, hire purchase or loan agreement from a financing company. (4) SSI units can avail entire 100% Cenvat credit in first year itself. The credit on capital goods is not permissible if depreciation under section 32 of the Income tax Act is claimed on the amount of credit. (5) The Cenvat credit is allowed in respect of jigs, fixtures, moulds and dies sent by a manufacturer of final products to a job worker for the production of goods on his behalf and according to his specifications. The condition of return within 180 days as per clause(a) of sub-rule (5) is not applicable to such jogs and fixtures, moulds and dies sent to a job worker for production of goods on behalf of principal manufacturer. Credit of input services can be taken on receipt of bill of service provider. However, if payment of invoice and service tax is not paid to service provider within prescribed period, the credit is required to be reversed. The input services are eligible even if the services are received outside the factory and credit cannot be denied on the ground that services were received outside the factory. In so far as service provider is concerned, ‘input service’ means any service used by a provider of taxable service for providing output service. If the provider of taxable service avails services for another service provider, the service provided by the ‘other service provider’s will fall under ‘input service’ definition provided the said services were availed by the provider of taxable service for the purpose of providing output service to the ultimate customer. In so far as manufacturer is concerned, ‘input service’ means any service used by the manufacturer, whether directly or indirectly, in or in relation to the manufacture and clearance of final products. The use of any service is not restricted to manufacturing only. Service used in the pre-manufacturing stage and post manufacturing stage are also covered. Availment of Cenvat Credit on common inputs/input services used for manufacturing both dutiable and exempted goods and providing taxable and exempted services. As per Rule 6(1) of Cenvat credit Rules, Cenvat credit is not admissible on such quantity of input or input services which is used in the manufacture of exempted goods or for provision of exempted services. Under Rule 2(d) of Cenvat Credit Rules, 2004, ‘exempted goods’ means excisable goods which are exempt from the whole of duty of excise leviable thereon, and includes goods which are chargeable to “Nil” rate of duty. Thus “exempted goods” for purpose of Cenvat cover (a) Goods chargeable to “Nil” duty as per Central Excise Tariff Act, and (b) Goods which are exempted by a notification issued under section 5A of the Central Excise Act. Under Rule 2(e), exempted services means taxable services which are

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exempt from the whole of service tax leviable thereon, and includes services on which no service tax is leviable under section 66 of the Finance Act. A manufacturer who manufactures both dutiable and exempted goods can follow either subrule (2) or sub-rule (3) of Rule 6 of the Cenvat Credit Rules, 2004.  Rule 6(2) of the Cenvat Credit Rules, 2004 requires the manufacturer to maintain separate accounts for receipt, consumption and inventory of input and input service meant for use in the manufacture of dutiable goods, taxable services and exempted goods/ exempted services and take Cenvat credit only on that quantity of input or input service which is intended for use in the manufacture of dutiable goods or in providing taxable services.  Rule 6(3) of the Cenvat Credit Rules, 2004 gives the manufacturer the option to follow anyone of the following two: (i) to pay an amount of 6% of the value of exempted goods and exempted services, as the case may be or (ii) the manufacturer of goods or the provider of output service shall pay an amount of equivalent to the Cenvat credit attributable to inputs and input services used in, or in relation to the manufacture of exempted goods or for provision of exempted services subject to the conditions and procedure specified in sub-rule (3A). These methods basically ensure that Cenvat credit is not availed on such quantity of input or input service which is used in the manufacture of exempted goods or for provision of exempted services. This is the also the broader objective which Rule 6(1) of the Cenvat Credit Rules aims to achieve. It is upon the discretion of the assessee to follow any of the aforesaid methods, upon which Rule 6 of the Cenvat Credit Rules, 2004 would be deemed to have been complied with. Mode of Calculation The manufacturer or service provider should first take entire Cenvat credit of common inputs/input services used in exempted and taxable final products/ services. He should then determine and pay provisionally every month an amount equivalent to Cenvat credit attributable to manufacture of exempted goods/provision of exempted services, in accordance with the formula prescribed in Rule 6(3A) (b). He should calculate the provisional amount to be paid for (1) inputs used for exempted final products as per Rule 6(3A)(b)(i); (2) inputs used for exempted services (on proportionate basis based on ratio of previous year) as per Rule 6(3A)(b)(ii) and (3) input services used for exempted final products and services (on proportionate basis based on ratio of previous year) as per Rule 6(3A)(b)(iii). The aggregate of these three will be the total amount to be paid every month on provisional basis. Finally at the end of the year, the manufacturer/service provider should calculate the final amount of Cenvat credit attributable to exempted goods/services for the whole financial year based on the actual ratios in accordance with the formula prescribed in Rule 6(3A)(c). If it is found that the manufacturer/service provider has paid excess amount based on provisional ratio, he can adjust the difference on his own by taking credit of such amount. On the other hand, if there is any shortfall, he has to pay the difference by 30th June of the succeeding financial year. In case of delay, he has to pay an interest at the rate of 24% p.a from 30th June till the date of payment. Some Case laws 1. M/s Indian Oil Corporation Ltd, Haldia Refinery Vs. CCE, Haldia [ M-98/5/S-83A-154/ Kol/2010] : 2. M/s Indian Oil Corporation Ltd, Haldia Refinery Vs. CCE, Haldia [ A-75/ Kol/2011] :

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M/s Indian Oil Corporation Ltd, Haldia Refinery, engaged in the manufacture of various petroleum products of different Tariff Heads. The assessee are availing credit in respect of duty paid in common inputs used in the manufacture of goods which are cleared as payment of duty as well as nil rate of duty. In the above two cases show cause notices were issued for a demand of an amount equal to 10% of the price of the final products of Straight Run Naphtha (SRN) / Naphtha and Furnace Oil (FO) cleared without payment of duty from the refinery of the assessee. The subject Show cause notice was issued on the ground of contravention of the provisions of Rule 6(2) of Cenvat Credit Rules 2004 as the assessee are not maintaining separate records and therefore liable to pay 10% of the price of exempted goods. The assessee contended that the credit is being availed in respect of the inputs which are used in or in relation to the finished goods other than Naphtha and FO and they used 28 inputs in the process of manufacture and no credit is availed. In this decision the Tribunal has waived the demand and matter is remanded to the adjudicating authority after granting reasonable opportunity of hearing to the Appellants. 3. M/s Indian Oil Corporation Ltd, Haldia Refinery Vs. CCE, Haldia [S-377-383/A594-602/ Kol/2010]: This is also a case of common input where showcause notice was issued for a demand of an amount. The assessee submitted the certificate issued by the Chartered Accountant in support of their claim regarding reversal of credit on inputs used in the manufacture of exempted goods. Rule 6(3) (b) would not be violated if the credit taken on the common inputs used in the manufacture of exempted product, is reversed by the manufacturer. Reversal of the credit availed on inputs which are consumed for the manufacture of exempted goods is good enough to hold that credit is not availed on inputs. In this circumstance, the matter is remanded to the concerned commissioner of Central Excise to decide the issue of reversal. Conclusions The Cenvat credit law has been a very significant feature of the Union Indirect Tax System. Cenvat is one of the most crucial but sensitive issues both in service tax and Central excise.The most significant implication of Rule 6(3A) of the Cenvat Credit Rules, 2004 is to remove the restriction on Cenvat credit utilization. It is a central feature of any value added tax system that input tax credit has to be provided to justify taxing value addition at every stage in the tax chain. The superiority and efficiency of a value added tax system depends proportionately on the extent of recovery of previous stage input taxes. Availing Cenvat credit on common inputs/services for dutiable/exempted goods on proportionate basis give a much better option to the manufacturer or the service provider. Money saved is money earned. In case an assessee calculates its output tax liability on a higher side or claims less Cenvat credit, the result is that the net tax liability of the assessee goes up. It is also very important to understand the Cenvat Rules properly as lesser claim will increase the net tax liability and excess claim of Cenvat will result into heavy penalties and interest. References: 1. Anand V. Vijay (2011), “Point of Taxation Rules, 2011- Unlocked”, The Chartered Accountant, vol-59, No-10, April, Pp -1551-1555. 2. Balachandra Saumya (DPGD/JL06/0197) - June 2008, “CENVAT and its Implications”, Welingkar Institute of Management Development & Research. 3. Christopher Jatin. (2012), “Paradigm Shift in Taxing services”, The Chartered Accountant, vol-60, No-11, May-2012, Pp -1704-1706.

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4. Datey V.S. (2012), “Negative List of Services-A Paradigm Shift in Service Tax Law”, The Chartered Accountant, vol-60, No-10, April-2012, Pp -1547-1548. 5. Datey V.S. (2014) “Indirect taxes law and Practice”, Taxman Publications (P) Ltd. 6. Gupta, S. S. (2005), “Excise Duty- Proposal in Finance Bill, 2005”, The Chartered Accountant Journal, vol-53, No-9, March, Pp -1175-1177. 7. Hirengange, Madhukar N. (2006), “Budget 2006- Proposals Relating to Central Excise”, The Chartered Accountant Journal, vol-54, No-9, March, Pp -1292-1294. 8. Hirengange, Madhukar N. (2008), “Analysis of Service Tax Proposals in Finance Bill 2008”, The Chartered Accountant, vol-56, No-10, April-2008, Pp -1678-1680. 9. Jain, R. K. “Central Excise Law Manual”, Centax Publications (P) Ltd. 10. Joshi, Gautam (2011), “Refund of CENVAT Credit to Exporter of Goods”, The Chartered Accountant, vol-59, No-07, January, Pp -1077-1079. 11. Order No. M-98/ S-83/A – 154/ Kol/2010, dated 22-02-2010 12. Order No. S-377-383/A – 594-602/ Kol/2010, dated 08-11-2010 13. Order No. A-75/ Kol/2011, dated 23-03-2011 14. Rajendra Kumar, P. (2011), “Point of Taxation Rules- A Study”, The Chartered Accountant, vol-60, No-02, August, Pp -309-312. 15. Ravindran, P. (2010), “The Nexus Theory and Some Issues in the Interpretation of ‘Input Services’ under CENVAT Credit Rules,2004”, The Management Accountant, vol-45, No-9, September, Pp -727-731. 16. Ravindran, P. (2014), “Pushing the frontiers of law in indirect taxation: caselaws at the vanguard”, The Management Accountant, vol-49, No-3, March 2014, Pp -65-68. 17. Ravindran, P. (2015), “Reaching the high-hanging fruits: Reform and progress in Cenvat Credit Law”, The Management Accountant, vol-50, No-2, February 2015, Pp 60-63. 18. Sarathy, R. (2004), “CENVAT Credit Rules, 2004”, The Chartered Accountant, vol-53, No-4, October, Pp -445-448. 19. Singhania, Dr. Vinod Kumar, “CENVAT Law and Practice”, Taxman Publications (P) Ltd.

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FROM TO PUNISH TO NOT TO PUNISH: ATTEMPT TO COMMIT SUICIDE Joydip Ghosal Pursuing Ph D from WB NUJS, Kolkata & Guest Lecturer, Surendranath Law College, Kolkata, West Bengal, E-mail: ghosaljoydip@gmail.com ABSTRACT The Union Government has decided to repeal section 309 of the Indian Penal Code. The recommendation of the deletion came from the Law Commission of India for the last few years. The recent Mental Health Bill also seeks to repeal that very section. In such a situation this essay seeks to find out other relevant areas associated with section 309 IPC which must be kept into mind whenever deletion of the section came in.

Introduction After more than three decades of measured debate in courts and public outrage elsewhere and after repeated recommendations from the Law Commission, the government of India has moved to scrap section 309 of the Indian Penal Code32, which criminalised the attempt to commit suicide. People who are driven to attempt the extreme step, either by illness or extreme adversity, deserve the support of society and the government. Instead, this antediluvian law had heaped insult on injury by turning them into felons. The government’s decision to de-criminalise suicide attempts is a welcome step in the direction of a humanitarian approach towards people who are driven to taking their lives. The action that follows effectively punishes the unfortunate victim twice over; he is tormented first by the circumstances that led him into taking the step and tormented again by the law. The government’s resolve to scrap section 309 IPC will mean that no longer will attempted suicide be punishable with imprisonment or fine. As of now, section 309 IPC entails that a person who makes such an attempt--- and fails--- faces imprisonment for up to a year or a fine or both. The offence of suicide is cognisable. A policeman is empowered to go to the hospital where the individual who attempted suicide is recovering, arrest him and put him through the torture of criminal proceedings at a time when he is already emotionally fragile. In 1968, the World Health Organization (WHO) defined suicidal act as “the injury with varying degree of lethal intent” and that suicide may be defined as “a suicidal act with fatal outcome”. Suicidal acts with non fatal outcome are labelled by WHO as “attempted suicide.” According to one of their report, India has the highest suicide rate in the world after China and world leader in suicides among 15 to 29 years old. The highest suicide rate is not amongst the disadvantaged groups, which means that young, educated adults are facing problems. In many countries, attempt to commit suicide is regarded more as a manifestation of a diseased condition of mind deserving treatment and care rather than an offence to be visited with punishment. Acting on the view that commission of such act deserves the active sympathy of the society and not punishment, the British Parliament had enacted the Suicide Act in 1961 whereby attempt to commit suicide ceased to be an offence. Only a handful of countries in the world like India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Singapore etc. have persisted with this law.

Section 309 of the Indian Penal Code reads thus: “Whoever attempts to commit suicide and does any act towards the commission of such offence shall be punished with simple imprisonment for a term which may extend to one year or with fine, or with both.”

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Law Commission of India on Suicide The Law Commission of India had undertaken revision of the Indian Penal Code as part of its function of revising Central Acts of general application and importance. The Law Commission has already recommended the removal of section 309 IPC and doing so would now be a bit of progress in India becoming a country governed by modern precepts of the law. Duly, the Law Commission had noted that someone trying to take their own life should be treated more as a cause of deep unhappiness and not a penal offence. Section 309 IPC had outlived its purpose long ago and should have been scrapped. The Law Commission of India had six years ago suggested doing away with the provision of the IPC, which it termed as unreasonable because it inflicted further pain on the victim. Since then, several states and union territories concurred with this view and sought a repeal of the section. In 1970, the Law Commission’s 42nd report recommended repeal of section 309 IPC and found it “monstrous ... to inflict further suffering on even a single individual who has already found life unbearable and happiness so slander.”33 The Indian Penal Code (Amendment) Bill, 1978, as passed by the Rajya Sabha, accordingly provided for omission of section 309. Unfortunately, before it could be passed by the Lok Sabha, the Lok Sabha was dissolved and the Bill lapsed in 1979. The Commission submitted its 156th Report in 1997 after the pronouncement of the judgment in Gian Kaur34, recommending retention of the section asserting that owing to rise in narcotic drug-trafficking and terrorism offences in different parts of the country, the phenomenon of human bombs etc. have led re-thinking on the need to keep attempt to commit suicide an offence. However, the suggestion to repeal section 309 IPC came up again in the 210th report of the Law Commission in 2008, a document concentrating solely on the decriminalisation of suicide. This report did make references to the fact that persons committing suicide need sympathy, care and treatment, not punishment. One reason for the failure of the authorities so far to strike down section 309 IPC was that legal opinion itself had been divided. While the Law Commission held that attempt to suicide was a “manifestation of diseased condition of mind deserving treatment and care rather than an offence to be visited with punishment”, the Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court had in Gian Kaur35 upheld the validity of section 309 IPC on the ground that the Constitution, which gives the right to life, cannot also give the right to take one’s life36. It did not go into the wisdom of retaining or continuing the same in the statute book. In view of the views expressed by the WHO, the International Association for Suicide Prevention (France), decriminalization of attempted suicide by all countries in Europe and North America, the opinion of the Indian Psychiatric Society and the representations received by the Commission from various persons, the Commission has resolved to recommend to the government to initiate steps for repeal of the anachronistic law contained in section 309 IPC, which would relieve the distressed of his suffering. Judiciary on Attempt to Commit Suicide Suicide is nowhere defined in the Indian Penal Code. While some suicides are eulogised others are condemned. That is why, perhaps, no attempt has been made by the legislature to define either. But the difficulty in providing a plausible definition cannot certainly be pressed in favour of the validity of the provision, particularly when it is penal. 33

It relied, among other sources, on the commentators on Manu in the Dharmashastra to state that a person who is driven to death is either “incurably diseased or meets with a grave misfortune”. 34 Gian Kaur v. State of Punjab, AIR 1996 SC 946. 35 Ibid. 36 Ibid.

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The want of a plausible definition to distinguish the felonies from the non-felonies act itself, therefore, makes the provisions of section 309 IPC arbitrary and violative of Article 14 of the Constitution as it was held in Maruti Sripati Dubal v. State of Maharashtra37. Justice P B Sawant pointed out that the discriminatory nature of section 309 IPC becomes particularly prominent when its provisions are compared with section 300 IPC. While defining murder, the legislature has taken pains to make a distinction between culpable homicide amounting to murder and one not amounting to murder and has prescribed different punishments for the two. However, section 309 IPC prescribes the same punishment to all individuals irrespective of the different sets of circumstances under which the suicide attempt is made. The matter reached the Supreme Court in P. Rathinam v. Union of India38 which, in a sprawling and untidy judgment, struck down the provision. The Supreme Court was of the opinion that section 309 IPC was a “cruel and irrational provision and it may result in punishing a person again (doubly) who has suffered agony and would be undergoing ignominy because of his failure to commit suicide” and recommended that the section be deleted in view of the global trend in criminal laws. The Supreme Court not only decriminalised the attempt to commit suicide but also observed that the ‘right to life’ includes the ‘right to die’. The Court strongly observed that all fundamental rights have positive connotations as well as negative connotations. The freedom of speech under Article 19 (1) (a) included right to silence, freedom to do business under Article 19 (1) (g) includes freedom not to do any business. Similarly the right to life includes the right not to live. But then decriminalising attempt to suicide is one thing and conferring a right to die is another. Right to silence or right not to do any business constitutes merely temporary suspension of rights and on any future date a person may exercise these rights. But once a life is extinguished, it is lost forever. The divisional bench observed that the view taken by them would advance not only the cause of humanisation, which is a need of the day, but of ‘globalisation’ also, as by effacing section 309 we would be attuning this part of our “criminal law to the wavelength”. But some Supreme Court judges felt that the right to die was inconsistent with “life and liberty”. The need to decriminalise attempts to suicide has been considered by the courts only from the perspective of the right to life under Article 21 of the Constitution not from a mental health perspective. Since the 1970’s, most criminal statutes the world over have been decriminalising attempts to suicide. However, in Gian Kaur v. State of Punjab39, the Supreme Court viewed this differently and held that the “right to life” is a natural right embodied in Article 21 but suicide is an unnatural termination or extinction of life and therefore, incompatible and inconsistent with the concept of “right to life”. The court made it clear that the “right to life” including the right to live with human dignity would mean the existence of such a right up to the end of natural life. This also includes the right to a dignified life up to the point of death including a dignified procedure of death. This may include the right of a dying man to also die with dignity when his life is ebbing out. But the “right to die” is an unnatural death curtailing the natural span of life. The court reiterated that the argument to support the views of permitting termination of life in such cases (dying man who is terminally ill or in a vegetative state) by accelerating the process of natural death when it was certain and imminent was not available to interpret Article 21 include therein the right to curtail the natural span of life.

1987 Cr LJ 743 (Bom). AIR 1994 SC 1844. 39 Ibid, at 3. 38

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The court set aside the judgment of the Bombay High Court in Maruti Sripati Dubal40 and the decision of the Supreme Court in P. Rathinam41case wherein section 309 IPC was held to be unconstitutional and upheld the judgment of the Andhra Pradesh High Court in Chenna Jagdeeswar v. State of A. P.42 holding that section 309 of the IPC does not violate Articles 14, 19 and 21 of the Constitution. Mental Health Bill 2013 on Suicide The new Mental Health Care Bill, 2013 repeals the Mental Health Act, 1987 and is a marked change from its predecessor. The bill adheres to the principles of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and moves the current mental health care law from a medical to a social model based on human rights. The social model of disability urges us to look beyond the issues of medical treatment and disease, to the identification of the social barriers that deny people with psycho-social disabilities the rights to employment, education, recreation and even citizenship. That person driven to commit suicide are, more often than not, facing mental health disorders and are in need of care and treatment was suggested in the new Mental Health Care Bill, 2013.43 One provision of the bill that has been widely publicised is section 124 which provides that there shall be no prosecution of any person who may attempt to commit suicide and presumes that such a person has a mental illness unless shown otherwise. What is important is that sub-section (2) of section 124 goes on to state that in such a case, it would be the duty of the government to provide the person care, treatment and rehabilitation. This provision seeks to nullify section 309 IPC, which made the attempt to suicide a criminal offence. Chapter V of the bill guarantees to every person the right to affordable, accessible, non-discriminatory and good quality mental health care and treatment. However, the bill does not give any guidelines on how care and treatment should be provided for such vulnerable persons. The wording of section 124 is clumsy that if the person is shown to not have a mental illness, he gets neither medical help nor immunity from prosecution. Not all individuals attempting suicide are mentally ill as they may suffer from frustration, debt, poverty, romance, failure, shame or health. The Supreme Court also considered suicide as a mental health concern in its judgment on euthanasia in Aruna Ramchandra Shanbaug v. Union of India and Others44 in which it recognised that a person attempting to suicide is in need of help rather than punishment and it recommended that the Parliament consider the feasibility of deleting section 309. Suicide and Euthanasia The repeal of section 309 IPC also calls into question a lot more than only attempted suicide. It could also be perceived as the starting point for the revival of debates on euthanasia or medically-assisted suicide. Although the term euthanasia implies ‘good-health’, it has largely come to be identified with physician-assisted suicide and regarded as a form of suicide that a terminally-ill person can commit through the assistance of the other, mainly the treating physician. Therefore suicide and mercy killing are different and should not be 40

Ibib, at 6. Ibid, at 7. 42 1988 Cr LJ 549 (AP). 43 The statements of objects and reasons to the Bill state the government ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2007. The Convention requires the laws of the country to align with the Convention. The new Bill was introduced as the existing Act does not adequately protect the rights of persons with mental illness nor promote their access to mental health care. 44 (2011) 4 SCC 454. 41

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confused as one and the same. In the former no third party is involved but in the latter the third party is crucial. We may need a law permitting euthanasia, but not suicide. Euthanasia gained significant attention in our country with the Aruna Shanbaug case in 201145. In this case the court subsequently turned down the plea for euthanasia, but laid down guidelines for passive euthanasia, which involves the withdrawal of life-continuing treatment or food, under the ‘rarest of rare’ circumstance46. Justice M. Katju’s judgment on euthanasia in Aruna Shanbaug’s case did not find approval in Common Cause (A Registered Society) v. Union of India47, which was referred to a larger bench on the grounds that Justice Katju had misconstrued Gian Kaur’s case, which validated suicide and permitted passive euthanasia. The constitutional bench, constituted for the purpose of providing a new set of guidelines on euthanasia, alleged that a clear law on the subject of euthanasia in India was mandatory. It was stated that the procedure set in the Shanbaug verdict did not comply with Article 21 of the Constitution, which guarantees the ‘right to die with dignity’. The sudden removal of section 309 IPC shall play an instrumental role in making a move for the validation of euthanasia. The primary question law makers shall be confronted with is whether Indian society is equipped to have a law on euthanasia. Legalising euthanasia in India, the majority population of which still lies below the poverty line, could have serious implications on society at large. In the absence of proper guidelines and checks, legalising euthanasia will be misused and carried out in a rampant manner. On the other hand, a legislative move on passive euthanasia should be considered seriously. The basic thrust behind the debate should be to arrive at a conscious and acceptable decision that shall be beneficial for Indian society at large. Suicide and Abetment to Suicide The next question arises is what do we do in cases where someone else provokes or abets the suicide? It may be argued that if an attempt to commit suicide is not considered an offence, it must logically follow that the aiding and abetting of the attempt must also not be an offence. However, the Supreme Court in P. Rathinam case observed that self-killing is conceptually different from abetting others to kill themselves. The Delhi and Bombay High Courts felt that while suicide should be decriminalised, abetment of suicide should remain on the statute books. Thus, there was no ground for any apprehension that section 306 of the IPC may not survive if section 309 IPC declared unconstitutional. The court in Gian Kaur case also held that section 306 IPC enacts a distinct offence independent of section 309 of the Code which is enacted even in the law of countries where attempted suicide is not punishable. The abettor and anyone he is in conspiracy with are guilty of homicide. That is why section 305 IPC deals with abetment of the suicide of a child or insane person. The charge invites death, life or other terms of imprisonment and a fine. Again, section 306 deals with abetment of suicide where the abettor, if guilty, may be awarded 10 years and a fine. 48 Those who drive a person to suicide are criminals and not to be spared. We see this in dowry death cases. But since 1986, there has been a direct provision, section 304B IPC, where punishment is not less than seven years and goes up to a life term. The mandatory seven years creates a problem, making judges reluctant to convict under section 304B of the IPC.

Ibid. Active euthanasia involves injecting lethal drugs into the patient’s body. 47 Writ Petition (Civil) No. 215 of 2005. 48 Section 306 IPC says that if any person commits suicide, whoever abets the commission of such suicide, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to ten years, and shall also be liable to fine. 46

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Therefore the fears expressed that abolition of section 309 IPC could weaken other relevant provisions such as section 306 IPC, which makes abetment to suicide a punishable offence, is misplaced because the spirit of the law behind the two sections is different. In any case, once section 309 IPC is repealed, law makers will surely make changes that are deemed necessary to continue holding abetment to suicide as a punishable offence. Conclusion Although section 309 IPC has been on the statute books, suicide has never really been treated as an offence. There have not been any serious prosecutions of persons who attempted to commit suicide and almost no convictions. It has also to be realised that a determined suicide can never be prevented by the fear of only one year’s imprisonment or fine or both which section 309 IPC seeks to achieve. The holding of a ‘right to die’ is in accordance with a capitalistic, property-oriented outlook which prefers to treat everything including the human body, organs as a form of commodity and he is the sole master of it. He has the freedom to dispose it off as and when he desires. Even at present, the relevant statutes permit donation by an individual of certain parts of his body under certain conditions, thereby recognising the right of the individual to deal with his body as he chooses. Besides, to criminalise suicide while extending state support to contraception and the termination of pregnancies logically inconsistent, since both acts violate the sanctity of life. Again there are people who use suicide not as an exit but as an instrument like suicide bombers and those who kill themselves to erase evidence and activists who starve or immolate themselves for a cause. So far suicide bombers are concerned they are covered by provisions that deal with murder, terrorism, disruption of peace and by the legislations like the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act. Whereas hunger strikers are concerned that the deletion would force the government to seek cures for the political diseases that hunger strikes draw attention to, not cosmetic alleviation of the symptom. The logic behind the criminalisation of suicide flows from the presumed sanctity of life. The European tradition was that suicide is illegal because humans do not have the right to take a life, not even their own. The act of suicide is forbidden in the Quran and the Holy Bible. The common belief among Hindus is that a person who commits suicide will not attain ‘moksha’ and his soul will wonder around haunting and tormenting people. But how is a particular society supposed to treat practitioners of its own socially-sanctified customs such as seppuku or hara-kiri, kamikaze, self-immolating monks and the tricky cases of Hindu rituals of prayopravesa, which is suicide by fasting and mahasamadhi where death occurs as a result of consciously and intentionally leaving one’s body behind at the time of enlightment. Most of these are highly formalised customs and have been acceptable for a long time because of their religious context even though a few have run afoul of the law and have become criminalised. Yet, failure to complete the ritual successfully does not result in something that calls for ‘treatment’ because it automatically endows default dishonour on the person concerned that, in most cases, is ‘punishment’ enough. Perhaps that is the real reason why an unsuccessful suicide is still a punishable offence.

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PAROLE IN INDIA Karan Dhall 4th Year, Rajiv Gandhi National University of Law, Punjab E-mail: karan.1993@gmail.com The word parole means release of prisoner on solemn affirmation and it shall not be counted as remission of sentence. To be descriptive, parole is the act of being released from a penal or reformatory institution in which one has served a maximum sentence on condition of maintaining good behaviour and remaining under supervision/guidance of the institution or some other approval agent until final discharge is granted. Parole is granted by administrative or an executive and is always preceded by serving part of sentence. Parolees are considered as undergoing both punishment and treatment. By parole it meant conditional release of a prisoner from prison but not from legal custody of the state. It should also be noted that, although in the transformatory age parole is grated in most of the instance but it couldn't be claimed by the prisoner as a right. The State Government under the parole rules grant parole. Competent authorities such as State Government on few instances, commissioner or additional commissioner and in some special cases superintendent of the jail can grant parole.49 A prisoner may be released after he has completed his full term of sentence. He is then a free man without any restraint against repeated crime. He may feel that he has paid off his debt to the society and, therefore, is ready to have another offence debited to his account. Some corrective methods have been devised to bring about the rehabilitation of inmates so that they can adjust themselves to the free society after their final release from the prison institution. Parole is one such device which seeks to protect society and assist the ex-prisoner in readjusting himself to normal free life in the community. Thus, it has dual purpose, namely, protecting the society and at the same time bringing about the rehabilitation of the offender.50 Historically, parole is a concept known to military law and denotes release of a prisoner of a war on promise to return. These days parole has become an integral part of the Anglo-American criminal justice system, inter-twined with evolution of changing attitudes of the society towards crime and criminals.51 Definition- J. L. Gillin, “Parole is the release from a penal or reformative institution, of offender who remains under the control of correctional authorities, in an attempt to find out whether he is fit to live in the free society without supervision. It is the last stage of correctional scheme of which probation may probably the first”. Another criminologist, Donald Taft characterises parole as a release method which retains some control over prisoners, yet permits them more normal social relationships in the community and provides constructive aid at the time they most need it. Thus, according to him, “Parole” is a release from the prison after part of the sentence has been served, the prisoner still remain in custody and under stated conditions until discharged and liable to return to the institution for violation of any of these conditions.

Retrieved from <http://www.legalserviceindia.com/articles/Reformatory.htm > last visited on 26, October, 2014 at 09:30 IST. 50 N. V. Paranjape, Criminology and Penology, Central Law Publications, Allahabad, 2009, p. 463. 51 Ibid. at p. no. 463.

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As a result of the introduction of parole into penal system, all fixed term sentences of imprisonment above 18 months are subject to release on licence. Parole is taken as an act of grace and not as a matter of right and the convict prisoner may be released on condition that he abides by the promise. It is a provisional release from confinement but is deemed to be a part of the imprisonment. PAROLE AND PROBATION DISTINGUISHED (1) Probation is a judicial function whereas parole is a quasi-judicial function. In other words it is for the Judicial Magistrate/Judge to release the offender on probation whereas the decision as to release of a person is taken by the Parole Board which is not a judicial body. (2) There is no stigma or disqualification attached to a person released on probation but parole carries stigma or disqualification of being a convicted person. (3) Probation is a pre-conviction process whereas parole is a post-conviction technique. (4) A probationer is considered as if undergoing a ‘reformatory treatment’ but a parole is considered to be in custody undergoing both treatment and punishment. (5) Probation is merely suspension of sentence and is granted as a substitute for punishment whereas parole is granted to prisoners who are already undergoing imprisonment if they show propensity for good behavior. (6) As pointed out by J. L. Gillin, probation is the first stage of correctional scheme, the parole being the last stage of it. (7) Historically also parole came into existence much later than that of probation. The system of probation was originated by John, Augustus around 1841 whereas parole came into existence somewhere in 1940s. PAROLE AS PART OF A PUNISIIENT SYSTEM The essence of our criminal justice system is punishment, not deterrence. Experience has shown that punishment is effective in stopping crime during the period the inmate is in prison. Experience has also demonstrated that punishment per se will not prevent future acts of criminality. It is the premise of this paper that parole and punishment are not necessarily symbiotic. Parole can be basedon a reward system. Since experience has shown that a reward systemcan change behaviour, the possibility exists that parole, as partof a reward system, can deter recidivism. Repeat criminal behaviour is not inevitable in the criminal justice system.52 Parole eligibility in the present system is the method wherebyan inmate who has served his minimum period of imprisonmentunder an indeterminate sentence, is considered for release back tosociety. A case record is duly prepared, desired with pertinentinformation; summarized by an institutional parole officer, andpresented to the parole board for its consideration. At this point oftime, the inmate is parole eligible.53 The only relevant question the parole board should ask is..."Is this inmate ready to return to society?" Because no one cananswer that question with any certainty, the parole board has nowset up guide lines based on the severity of an inmate's crime andhis history of past criminality. For the most part, parole eligibilityat this juncture is a format to resentence particular inmates whohave not served sufficient time in prison according to the guidelines. Years after the crime, the parole board makes a new determinationof criminality for those with major crimes, and those inmates areresentenced to serve a 'new' minimum period of 52

26 Nassau Law. 252 1978-1979- Heinonline: PAROLE POINT ELIGIBILITY SYSTEM A PROPOSAL FOR IMPROVING THE PAROLE PROCESS by PHILIP SHERMAN and VIVIAN B. SHERMAN. 53 Ibid.

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imprisonment. Allthat an individual inmate may do during his first period of incarcerationto demonstrate that he has really changed is usually loston the parole board. With the exception of those sentenced under the Rockefellerdrug laws, present parole guide lines have effectivly raised theminimum period of imprisonment to half the maximum, this makesa mockery of the indeterminate sentence, which sets a minimum atless than half the maximum. When the parole board denies parole and sets a new date to seethe inmate, the inmate is being resentenced. He is punished againyears after the crime. (The inmates nomenclature for the eventwhen they are denied parole is 'to be hit'.) Origin of Parole in U.S.A.- The origin in United States of America can be traced back to the earlier system of indenturing prisoners which meant removal of prisoners and handling them over to the employers for work an supervision on condition of being returned back to prison if they did not behave properly.54 Soon after, few State officials were associated with prisons for supervising and guiding the prisoners in their rehabilitation. By the end of eighteenth century, many Prison Aid Societies were formed to assist and help the ex-convicts in their rehabilitation in the society. By 1840’s similar functions were assumed by the Federal States. Experience, however, showed that the commutation of the period of goodtime allowance should only entitle a prisoner his release from the institution and not from the custody and supervision. This idea gained momentum through successful working of the system of parole in England. The Elmira Reformatory in New York State was the first to adopt the system of parole in 1869. This system was subsequently adopted by other states in America.55 The main objectives of parole today are rehabilitation of the offender and at the same time protection of society from his anti-social acts. The United States Board of Parole Research unit is engaged in working out standard rules for parole to be applicable throughout the United States. With the passing of the Parole Reform Act, 1977, a uniform system of parole has been implemented throughout the country so as to do away with inequalities of sentencing and its evil effects on prisoners. The British Parole System The failure of the British system of penal transportation and its unsatisfactory consequences led to the origin of parole in England. The abolition of the system of transportation of prisoners as a penal servitude resulted into overcrowding of British prisons. Consequently, a new method known as “Ticket on Leave” was introduced in the later decades of eighteenth century as a measure for reducing the prison population. Unfortunately, the system did not yield good results because prisoners were discharged from prisons merely on surety for good behaviour without being prepared and trained for a disciplined life in the community. In absence of adequate After-care, these discharged prisoners often developed recidivistic tendencies thus rendering public life more insecure and unsafe. Therefore, it became necessary to introduce radical changes in the method of release under the system of Ticket on Leave and this finally led to the evolution of modern system of conditional release on parole towards the first quarter of 19th century.56 The British penal system admits the following categories of persons for parole:-

Barnes and Teeters : New Horizons in Criminology (3 rd Edn.) p. 423. The Prisoner Rehabilitation Act in U.S.A. authorizes furlough, a system of work release, which allows inmate to participate in unsupervised employment in the community while residing in the institution during his leisure hours. 56 Supra note 2 at p. no 469. 55

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a) Those who are convicted for serious offences for which sentence exceeds three years. The parolees in such cases are to report to the police every month during the period of parole. b) Those who are habitual offenders and sentenced under the preventive detention laws. c) Juvenile delinquents who are institutionalised in Borstals, Reformatories and rehabilitation Centres. The efficiency of parole essentially lay in two fundamental considerations, namelyi. ii.

There must be disposition of good behaviour on the part of the prisoner; and Conditional release under parole was in fact a reward for good behaviour in prison.

The parole practices in U.K. have been criticised on three major grounds. Firstly, it is alleged that the system of parole does not work well too many inmates enter from front door and leave through the backdoor unreformed and bent on new criminal activity. Secondly, indeterminate sentence leaves everyone in the dark regarding the inmatesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; release. No one knows how long a person shall be in prison. Thirdly, Parole decision making policy is not explicit. In other words, Boards and commissions responsible to release operate in secret according to tacit policies unknown and unknowledgeable to public and the offender.57 Parole in India In India, prison reforms did not emerge out of the social movement but were necessarily an outcome of the worst conditions of treatment faced by the political sufferers in prisons during the period of their imprisonment. They repeatedly launched protest with the prison authorities and made all possible efforts to see that the rigours of prison life are mitigated and prisoners are humanely treated. In the meantime the reformative trend which was gaining momentum in the field of penology all around the world also gave fillip to the cause of correctional method of treatment of offenders in India. It was realised that confining convicts in closed prison cells hardly serves any useful purpose. The overall effect of these changes brought about significant reforms in prison administration in India during the later half of the 20th century. But there has always been a lack of planned programme in the country. To take a concrete example, the system of probation is in practice in India for quite some time but it has always progressed in a haphazard manner without clear cut idea as to its ultimate goal. It is well known that probation implies supervision and control of probation officer over the probationers but today this task is entrusted to the central welfare boards. This obviously throws a challenge to the legality of probation system insofar as entrusting the judicial functions to a non-judicial body like welfare board is concerned. However, it is not so with parole which is fully in conformity with the existing Indian penal laws. It must be accepted that post-independence era in India brought in its wake a growing realisation of the need of change in attitude towards the treatment of offenders. With advanced knowledge of human behaviour, the role of psycho-social environment in the correctional field cannot be under-estimated. The institutions such as parole and open air campus occupy a significant place in the correctional treatment of offenders in as much as they are directed towards narrowing down the gap between the prison life and the free life of the outside world. Structural setup of Parole Boards and their Functions The parole board consists of parole administrators who are from among the respectable members of the society. Since the police is looked with bias and distrust in India and elsewhere, the police opinion about an inmate is not considered to be valid ground for 57

Supra note 2 at p. 469.

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allowing a particular offender on parole. The members of parole board are assigned the function of discharging convicted prisoners on parole after careful scrutiny. Thus, the parole board takes administrative decision on paroling out prisoners and while acting as such, they are performing a quasi-judicial function. Another important function assigned to the parole personnel is to prepared a case history of parolees and help and advice them in the process of their rehabilitation. Besides parole board there is also a set of field workers functioning outside the prisons. These field personnel keep a close supervision over parolees and report the case of parole violations to the parole authorities. Thus the parole organisation by large, consists of three agencies, vis the parole board, in case the investigators and the parole supervisors; all of them were enclosed liaison with each other. In U.S.A., the task of granting parole is handed by the expert’s psychologists and psychiatrics who subject a prisoner to a phchylogical test to determine his suitability for being paroled out. No such method, however, exists in India and the prospective parole is given a simple hearing in prison itself to assess his feasibility for discharge on parole. The Indian law provides for parole only in cases of serious offenders who are committed to a long term sentence. It has now generally been accepted that if at all the prisoners are to be released prior to their final discharge, they must be released on parole so that they could be kept under proper supervision and guidance. Conditions of Parole It must be reiterated that the purpose of parole is not leniency towards a prisoner but to seek his rehabilitation in future life. Like probation and other forms of clemency, parole is rehabilitative phase of law enforced. The system essentially involves two considerations namely: i. ii.

Watchfull control over parolee so that he could be returned to prison institution from which he was parole out if the interest of public security so demanded; and Constructive help and advice to parolee by securing him suitable work so as to develop self confidence in him and finally to guard him against exploitation.

The success and failure of parole depend upon the following factors: 1. It has generally been accepted that the offenders committed for crime against person are more suited for parole than those committing crime relating to property. The latter, often resort to recidivism and do not respond favourably to the conditions of release on parole. 2. Family circumstances of the offender have much to do with the success or failure of parole. The noted criminologist, Donald Taft rightly contends that prisoners with domestic liabilities and family responsibilities are “good-risks” as compared to those who are bachelors or without family liabilities. 3. Recent methodical researches on parole clearly demonstrate that recidivists often derogate from parole conditions and have to be brought back to prison sooner or later. The first offenders, on the other hand, are usually good parolees and readily adjust themselves to the conditions of normal society. 4. Social status of the offender also has a direct bearing on the parole success. This is generally observed that offenders who belong to higher socio-economic strata or those who have a better educational background, respond favourably to the system of parole. The obvious reason for this is that such persons are generally committed to

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prison for an act which they might have committed due to sudden impulse or emotional disturbance for which they are usually repentant. 5. At times, certain paroles preferred to wave of their clemency of being paroled out if their final discharge from prison or similar institution is not far off or if they feel that their release on parole under the supervision of parole staff is indirectly an expression of distrust for them. 6. As a matter of policy, parole should be administered only to those prisoners who display an inclination for good behaviour and show respect for law and justice. The adaptability of prisoners can be accessed through a method of careful diagnosis by trained and qualified parole staff. Parole Violation The release of a prisoner on a parole though meant for his own rehabilitation may not necessarily always be a success. At times, the parolee may deviate from the conditions on which he was released. This results into parole violation and he is liable to be returned to the prison or the institution from which he was paroled out. At first, a warrant of arrest is issued and served to the parole-violator and he is finally arrested and brought back to the prison or the institution by the parole authorities without the necessity of fresh trail in his case. He is then given parole violation hearing and offered every opportunity to defend his case in person or through counsel. If he is unable to justify his conduct, he is made to undergo the unexpired term of the sentence if he has violated parole conditions by committing another crime, then in that case, he shall be tried for the new offence and sentenced accordingly. But he shall not be committed to parole second time, i.e., while undergoing the term of sentence for a subsequent offence. In India the Prisons Act, 1894 expressly provides that if any prisoners fail without any sufficient cause to observe any other conditions on which his sentence was suspended or remitted or furlough or release on parole was granted to him. He shall be deemed to have committed a prison offence under section 48-A of the Act. Such paroles shall be proceeded against under the appropriate law for parole violation. The American correctional system, however, provide for the return of the parolees to the institution even without the parole law having been violated. This is intended either to enable the parolee to complete his industrial and technical training which he had to leave incomplete because of his discharge on parole or to offer him an opportunity to pick up a new trade or a job or to complete a course of medical treatment and for similar other reasons. The practice of voluntary return of the parolee to the institution for any of the aforesaid reasons is unknown to the India law of parole. Essentials of an Ideal Parole System It must be emphatically stated that the reformation of the parole through surveillance and systems is the foremost object of the parole.The essential requirements may briefly summarise into the following: 1. Emphasis must be on supervision as well as guidance and assistance to paroles so as to make the system useful to the society in general and parolees in particular. 2. Before release on parole, the parolees must be thoroughly prepared for parole administration. The task can be assigned to Classification Committees functioning under the parole system. 3. The criterion governing selection of prisoners for grant of release of parole should be the particular category to which the offender belongs nor the length of the sentence, what is suitability to respond favourably to the rehabitative process and the fact that

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social readjustment is more likely to be achieved by allowing him the benefit of parole then by treatment under detention in prison. The paroles must be assured an honourable employment and favourable surroundings at the time of their release on parole. This will administer hope confidence and social responsibility in them. It would also help them in overcoming their inferiority complex for being ex-convicts. Since the parolees have to be rehabilitavive in the society through various social agencies, it is desireable that the parole authorities should seek active co-operation of the public in this task. Parole boards should be completely free from political pressures and only persons of proven ability and integrity should be inducted in these boards. They should be well qualified full time officials. The staff associated with parole agency should also be whole time workers. Experience alone should not be the criterion for selecting field officials but well qualified and trained personals should be recruited for this job.

The Object of Parole The main objects of the Parole technique are stated in model prison manual are:1. To enable the inmate to maintain continuity with his family life and deal with family matters; 2. To save the inmates from the evil effects of prison life; 3. To enable the inmate to retain the self-confidence and active interest in life.58 Judicial Trend regarding Parole The courts in India have generally favoured the view that the prisoners who have been incarcerated or kept in prison without trial for a long time, should be released on parole to maintain unity of family. It may be useful to refer to some of the decisions to support this contention. The need to paroling out long-term prisoners periodically for reasonable spells, subject to sufficient safeguards ensuring their proper behaviour outside and prompt return inside, was highlighted by the Supreme Court in Hiralal Mallick v. State of Bihar59. In this case the appellant was found guilty of the offence under Section 326 (causing grievous hurt) of the Indian Penal Code and sentenced to eight yearsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; imprisonment. He was only 12 years of age at the time of commission of the offence. The High Court reduced the sentence to four years keeping in view the tender age of the accused. The Supreme Court directed release of the appellant on parole for reasonable spells so that his family ties are not snapped for long being insulated from the world and he does not become beastial and dehumanised. The Apex Court, however, noted that granting of parole for reasonable spells is subject to sufficient safeguards ensuring prisonerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s proper behaviour outside the prison and prompt return inside on completion of parole term. The Supreme Court, in Dharamvir v. State of Uttar Pradesh60, was once again called upon to consider the desirability of release of long-term prisoners on parole at regular intervals so that they are not totally cut-off from the society. In the instant case, the appellant was found guilty of murder and convicted for imprisonment for life. 58

Bhikhabhai Devshi v. State of Gujrat, AIR 1987 Guj. 136. AIR 1977 SC 2236. 60 (1976) 3 SCC 645. 59

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There being no scope for reduction of period of sentence, the Apex Court found parole desirable in such cases. It therefore, issued directions to the State Government and the jail authorities that such prisoners be allowed to go on parole for two weeks once in a year throughout the period of imprisonment, provided they behaved well while on parole. The Apex Court, in Suresh Chandra v. State of Gujara61t, pointed out the importance of the penological innovation in the shape of parole to check recidivism. It recommended liberal use of parole as a viable alternative for reducing overcrowding in prisons. In Krishanlal v. State of Delhi62, the Supreme Court refused to accept economic necessity as a relevant factor for reducing the period of imprisonment for the offence of forgery. The Court, however, agreed that the accused could be released on parole for reasonable spells in such cases. In its landmark decision in Kesar Singh Guleria v. State of Himachal Pradesh63, the Supreme Court observed that for exercising the power, function and duty to temporarily release the prisoners on parole, the paramount consideration which the releasing authority shall bear in mind is that the right to be released is not defeated merely because the prisoner on account of his impecunious condition is unable to offer a security bond or surety bond. The discretion to waive the requirement of furnishing bond should be exercised in cases of poor prisoners bearing in mind other relevant considerations of family-ties, roots in community and social conditions etc. The Supreme Court in its decision in Ramamurthy v. State of Karnataka64, has observed that overcrowding in prisons can be considerably reduced by release of prisoners on parole, which is a conditional release of an individual from prison after he has served part of the sentence imposed upon him. Recommending liberal use of parole, the Court referred to the Report of All India Committee on jail reforms headed by Justice A. N. Mulla. (1980-83) wherein the Committee stated that the effect of parole is premature release which is an accepted mode of incentive to a prisoner, as it saves him from the extra period of incarceration and at the same time also helps in his reformation and rehabilitation.

(1976) 1 SCC 654. (1976) 1 SCC 655. 63 1985 Cr.LJ 1202 (SC). 64 (1997) 2 SCC 642 (655). 62

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ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT OF PRIMARY SCHOOL GIRLS UNDER SSA PROGRAMME M. Pulisekhar Research Scholar, Department of Education, S.V. University, Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh, 517502, m.pulisekhar@gmail.com ABSTRACT Sarvashiksha Abhiyam (SSA) is Government of India’s flagship programme for achievement of Universilization of Elementary Education (UEE) in a time bound manner, as mandated by 86 th amendment to the constitution of India making free and compulsory education to the children of 6-14 age groups as a fundamental right. SSA seeks to provide quality elementary education including life skills. SSA has a special focus on girl education and children with special needs. The aim of the present study is to assess the Academic Achievement of primary school girls studying under Sarvashiksha Abhiyam (SSA) programme. A sample of 347, 4th and 5th class girls studying in Kurnool and Anantapur Districts of Andhra Pradesh were administered Academic Achievement tool developed by the researcher (2014) to assess the Academic Achievement of children. Results reveal that except religion all the variables i.e., Caste, Education of Mother and Family Annual Income have significant influence on the Academic Achievement of 4th class children and also revealed that all the variables including Religion influences the Academic Achievement of 5th class children. Key- Words: SSA, Academic Achievement and Primary School Girls

Introduction: The 86th amendment to the constitution of India made free and compulsory education to the children of 6-14 years age group a fundamental right. Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan is Government of India’s flagship program with a view to achieve universalization of Elementary Education (UEE) in a time bound manner. The SSA focuses mainly an access to education, social and gender equity of education imparted to the children. The Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan recognizes the need for special efforts to bring the out of school girls, especially from disadvantaged sections, to school. This would require a proper identification of girls who are out of school in the course of micro planning. It also calls for involving women through participatory process in the effective management of school. The District primary education programme have suggested the need for a clear perspective on women issues. The provision for girls education would have to be situated in local contracts and interventions designed to suit the specific community needs in regard. Special interventions need to be deigned to address learning needs of girls and relating education to their life. The SSA is committed to making these intervention is possible. Need and significance of the study: Promotion of girl’s education particularly at elementary level is bring certain benefits for the society from integrated development. Primary education of girls plays an important aspect for boosting the social, economic, political, education and scientific development of country. Government of India was launched many educational programmes for girl childlike District Primary Education Project (DPEP), Kasturibhai Ghandi Vidyalaya School (KGVBS) and National Programme of Education for Girls at Elementary Level (NPEGEL). However, till today a significant number of girl child is suffering from low level academic achievement or academic performance and they could not reach minimal level of learning, in terms of reading, writing and a thematic (additions, sub-stractions, multiplication and dive dividends) because their families have lack of literacy and socio-economic status is very low.

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Objectives of the Study:  To study the academic achievement of primary school girls under SSA programme.  To find out the Academic achievement of the girls 4th and 5th Classes  To assess the relationship of academic achievement of 4th and 5th class girls and their Community.  To analyse the relationship of academic achievement of 4th and 5th class girls and their religion.  To identify influence of mother education on academic achievement of 4th and 5th class girls.  To recognise the influence of family income on academic achievement of 4th and 5th class girls. Hypothesis:  There is no significant association between the academic achievement of 4th and 5th class girls and their community.  There is no significant association between the academic achievement of 4th and 5th class girls and their religion.  There is no significant association between the academic achievement of 4th and 5th class girls and their mother educational qualification.  There is no significant association between the academic achievement of 4th and 5th class girls and their family annual income. Variables of the study: The present study is designed with the following dependant variable and independent variable. : Dependant variable: academic achievement. Independent variable: Community, religion, mother education and family income. Tools used in the Present Study: the present study can assess the academic achievement of primary school girls who are studying 4th and 5th class. In the present study the tool was administered by the researcher as per according to the SSA aims, objectives and Continuous Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE) patterns of primary schools and the draft copy of the questionnaire was given to the experts (academic monitoring officers and senior teachers) for their suggestions to finalise the tool. Ultimately four questionnaires for 4th class and four questionnaires for 5th class were prepared to follow the SSA pattern. Scoring/ Grades: The investigator has followed the grading system of SSA programme. The following table shows the grading system of primary schools. Table: 1 Grade A+ A B+ B C

Grade range 3.5-4.0 2.5-3.49 1.5-2.49 0.5-1.49 0.0-0.49

Level Out standing Excellent Good Fair Need help

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In the form of marks Above 70 61-70 51-60 41-50 Below 40

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Sample: Primary school girls of Anatapur and Kurnool districts were selected the sample in order to study the academic achievement of 4th and 5th class girls under SSA programme with respect to independent variable for the purpose of the study 347 girls were selected from the government and local body primary schools. Collection of Data: The researcher personally visited SSA schools with the permission of District Educational Officer (DEO) of the Anatapur and Kurnool districts. The students who attended the school on day of collection of data are considered for the purpose of the investigation. The necessary instruction are given to school girls about the various instrument and motivated to respond genuinely to all the items. The academic achievement test is administered. Statistical Techniques: To explain the significance and not significance of the primary school girls academic achievement based on the demographic characteristics, the researcher was used statistical techniques that is frequency, percentage and chi-square tests only. Results and Discussion: Table-1: Association between caste and academic achievement of primary school girls S+Z13:AW19UBJECT WISE ACADEMIC STANDARDS AND ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT :: CASTE DIFFERENCE sl.no

Class

4TH N Class %

5th N Class %

A+

B+

A+

B+

A+

B+

A+

B+

3.50%

20.50%

4.10%

0.00%

0.60%

2.30%

2.90%

4.10%

0.00%

0.60%

8.20%

0.00%

2.30%

3.50%

8.00%

18.20%

2.80%

0.00%

2.80%

2.30%

0.00%

4.00%

8.50%

0.00%

5.10%

6.80%

2.30% 0.60% 0

0.00% 4.00%

22.80% 21.60% 39

22.20% 15.30%

Chisquare

29.585**

34.03C**

@ significant at 0.01 level From the above table, it is clearly seen the following: The obtained chi-square values of 29.585 and 34.030 are significant at 0.01 level. It indicates that the academic achievement of SC, ST, BC and OC community children are differ significantly. Hence hypothesis is stating that there is a significant influence between caste and academic achievement of primary school girls is accepted partially as justified by the results. As per as academic achievement is considered the SC girls are better than the BC, ST, and OC community girls. The SC community 4th and 5th class girls are acquired Outstanding grade level (A+, 2.30%), Excellent grade level (A,0.60% and 4.0%), Good grade level (B+,3.50 and 8.00%), and Faire grade level(B, 20.50% and18.20%) in a significant level than the ST, BC and OC community girls. BC, ST and OC community girls are lagging behind in academic achievement when compare with SC community girls. However we can assess from results, that the girls who are belong to different caste have acquired Need-help grade level, Faire grade level and Good grade level. Girls raise from Need help level to Excellent and Outstanding level knowledge in their academic achievement. The teachers and parent community must be concentrate on low level performance girls to overcome the problem. Proper training is needed in terms of reading, writing and arithmetic.

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Table: 2: association between religion and academic achievement of primary school girls SUBJECT WISE ACADEMIC STANDARDS AND ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT :: RELIGION DIFFERENCE

sl.no 1 2

HINDU

Class

A+

B+

MUSLIM B

A+

CHRISTIAN

B+

A+

B+

Chisquare

4TH Class

1.80%

1.20%

9.40%

36.30%

18.10%

0.00%

60.00%

2.30%

5.30%

8.20%

60.00%

0.00%

2.30%

7.00%

5th Class

0.00%

4.50%

14.80%

30.70%

19.90%

0.00%

2.80%

2.30%

7.40%

5.10%

0.00%

60.00%

2.30%

9.70%

0.00%

8.733@ 15.045*

@ significant at 0.05 level From the above table, it is clearly seen the following: The obtained chi-square value 8.733 is not significant. It is suggesting that there is no significant influence between religion and academic achievement of 4th class girls is not accepted as justified by the results. Hence hypothesis is rejected. The Hindu, Muslim and Christianity religion girls are more or less equal knowledge, skills and performance in their academic achievement. The reveals that the obtained chi-square value is 15.045 is a significant at 0.05 level. It indicates that the academic achievement of Hindu, Muslim and Christianity girls are differ significantly. Hence hypothesis is stating that there is a significant influence between religion and academic achievement of 5th girls is accepted partially as justified by the results. As per as academic achievement is considered the Hindu religion girls are better than the Muslim and Christianity girls. The Hindu religion 4th and 5th class girls have acquired excellent level (A, 1.20% and 4.50%) , Good level (B+,9.40% and 14.80%) and Faire grade level(B,36.0% and 30.70%) in a significant level than the Muslim and Christianity religion girls. The Muslim and Christianity girls are lagging behind in terms of academic performance when compare with the Hindu religion girls. There is a need to develop the academic performance of the Muslim and Christianity girls. The parent community and teachers should take active part to overcome the problem. Academic achievement means over all development of the student. Proper training is needed i.e., listening-speaking, readingwriting, numbering concept, mathematical operations of additions, substractions, multiplications and dividends etc. Table-3: association between mother education and academic achievement of primary school girls ILLITERATE

sl.no

Class

4TH Class

5th Class

UPTO 10TH CLASS

INTER Chisquare

A+

B+

A+

B+

A+

B+

0.00%

7.60%

33.90%

27.50%

60.00%

0.00%

4.10%

13.50%

5.30%

1.80%

2.30%

1.20%

60.00%

0.00%

4.00%

14.20%

34.70%

20.50%

0.00%

2.30%

3.40%

13.10%

4.50%

0.00%

1.70%

0.00%

75.91**

23.829**

@ significant at 0.01 level From the above table, it is clearly seen the following: The obtained chi-square values of 75.910 and 23.829 are significant at 0.01 level.It indicates that the academic achievement of girlâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s mother education is differ significantly. Hence hypothesis is stating that there is a significant influence between mother education and

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academic achievement of 4th and 5th class girls is accepted partially as justified by the results. As per as academic achievement is considered the girls who are belonged intermediate mother education is better than the illiterate and below SSC mother’s education. The mother with intermediate education girl have acquired outstanding level (A+,1.80%), excellent level (A,1.80% and 1.70%) and Faire level (B+, 2.30% and 1.70%) in a significant level than the mother with illiterate and below SSC education of girls. Illiterate and below SSC mother education of girls are lagging behind in academic achievement when compare with the girls who are mother educational qualification is inter. Because high educational qualification of mothers are concentrated on children’s academic out comes. There is a need to raise the academic achievement of illiterate and below SSC mother education of girls where teachers, headmasters and educational administrators should take active part to overcome the problem. Academic achievement means children overall academic development, proper training is needed in terms of mother tongue, English language, Mathematics and Environmental Science. Table - 4: association between family annual income and academic achievement of primary school: 10000-20000

sl.no

Class

4TH Class

5th Class

20000-30000

30000 AND ABOVE Chisquare

A+

B+

A+

B+

A+

B+

0.60%

9.40%

32.70%

28.70%

0.00%

3.50%

14.00%

4.10%

1.80%

1.20%

1.80%

0.60%

0.00%

2.30%

13.60%

34.20%

21.60%

0.00%

2.30%

4.50%

13.10%

2.80%

0.00%

3.40%

1.10%

2.30%

0.60%

58.961**

34.993**

@ significant at 0.01 level From the above table, it is clearly seen the following: The obtained chi-square value is 58.961 and 34.993 are significant at 0.01 level. It indicates that the academic achievement of different family income background grils is differ significantly. Hence hypothesis is stating that there is a significant influence of family annual income on academic achievement of 4th and 5th class girls is accepted partiallyas justified by the results. As per as academic achievement is considered Rs: 30,000 and above family income back ground girls are better than the up to,Rs:20000 and below Rs: 30,000 family income background girls. The Rs. 30000/- and above family income background 4th and 5th class girls are acquired outstanding grade level (A, 1.20% and 3.40%), good grade level (B+, 1.20% and 1.10%), faire grade level (B, 1.80% and 2.30%) in a significant level than the up to,Rs:20000 and below Rs: 30,000 family income background girls. Up to Rs: 20,000 and Rs:20,000 to 30,000 family income background girls are lagging behind in academic achievement when compare with the Rs.30,000 family income background girls. There is a need to develop the academic achievement of below Rs. 30000/family income girls. Parent community, teachers and academic monitoring officers take incentive care on low level academic performance to overcome the problem. Proper training is needed in terms of listening and speaking, reading and writing, mathematical operations, applications of in daily life and encouraging experimentation in real life situation, etc. Suggestions 

Focus on low level academic achievement of girls at primary level for sustainable growth in their academic achievement.

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

Special attention is needed on disadvantages sections Scheduled Tribe, Christian and Muslim minorities communities.



Financial help should provides to overcome socio-economic factors.



Saakshar Bharat programme should take spcial care to increase girls mother education.



Remedial classes are needed to improve their achievement in all subjects at primary level i.e., mother tongue (or) local language, English language, Mathematics and Environmental Science subjects.

References 1. Chauhan, C.P.S. (2009). “Education for all in India: A second Look of International Journal, Life Long Education, 28(2), pp. 221-240. 2. Evaluation report on SSA, PEOPC, Govt. of India, New Delhi – 110001, Jun, 2001. pp. 24-36. 3. Patil. J.M., (2013). International Journal of Education and Psychological Research (IJEPR), Vol. 2, Aug, 2013, pp. 123-132. 4. www.ssa.nic.in

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FEW LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SERVICES IN HIGHER LEARNING Md. Nurul Islam Librarian (Selection- Grade), Dhukulal Nibaran Chandra College (NAAC -B), Aurangabad, Murshidabad, West Bengal-742201, E-mail: Islam.mdnurul430@gmail.com. ABSTRACT This article focuses on library and documentation center play an important role to provide the right environment and services for higher learning and research in several ways. Key Words: - Higher Education, Research and Development Organization, Services.

Introduction Education is probably the most important requirement for holistic development of a nation. It is an important element that furnishes both social change and smooth economic growth. Education is basic foundation for well-rounded development of any country. Higher education and research is the most ‘powerful tools to build a knowledge based society’. Higher learning without library services is like a town without light. It is the great weapon for accumulating and using our intellectual heritage. The library and documentation services are the backbone of higher education and research services in any country of the world. Now-a-days the world is so much flooded with information and knowledge that it requires some method to be followed for locating the appropriate, reliable information at a time when it is actually required, especially in the area of higher learning and research. Access to precise and reliable information-scientific, technical, commercial and managerialat the right time and to the right person in a form most conveniently usable by him can help to minimize the wastage of resources due to unnecessary and the making of unfruitful decisions. Further, the access of right information can trigger new directions in higher education research, innovation, development and managerial action. A library plays a vital role in the field of education and research. No, research credit the name can be conducted without the existence of well-equipped libraries. The progress of libraries is closely linked to the status of science and technology, higher learning and socio-economic development programs. Indian libraries, information centers, etc. are trying to provide maximum information and meet necessary demands with limited materials and capacity. Libraries and information centers are helping to the readers and researchers in different suitable ways. Objectives This paper shall attempt to describe the recommendations in each such information and documentation services, which will be very helpful to the learners of education, higher education and research. The objectives are: (a) To know the awareness of the users about the usefulness of library and documentation services. (b)

To encourage the students, teacher-learners, researchers of to collect information for their study, dissertation and reference materials from some reputed organizations.

(c) The main objective of this paper is to reach information about the vital role of some services in higher education and research in this modern scenario.

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Relevancy Present era is an era of information explosion. A large amount of information is being produced of every minute of every second. The demands of information are multidimensional and essential for all of us. Now-a day, the library and information services are trying towards meet the indispensable demands of information users in several ways. Therefore, it should be realized that to meet the demand for rapid developement of nation is possible way by knowing and learning multidimensional knowledge and information through libraries and informention centers. The different organization has taken up number of plans and programs towards satisfy the necessary requirements of the higher education learners and researchers. This has encouraged me that it is relevance to present and discuss the some library and documentation services, which have great function and activities in higher education and research. The following organizations takes part a crucial role to provide learning, research and educational services/environments in India. Information and Library Network (INFLIBNET) Center, New Delhi The first formal meeting for what later on came to be known as INFLIBNET took place on 22nd April, in year 1988 under the chairmanship of Prof, Yash Pal, Chairman, UGC and the report came out in the month December 1988.The University Grant Commission ( UGC), India, has initiated a programmed and framework for the development of an information and library network, into consideration the twin phenomena of information explosion and price rise, which has created a situation of inadequate resources/materials even in frontline and established university libraries, decided to take a new era, by setting up an “Inter-Agency Working Group for Development of an Information and Library Network”, popularly known as INFLBNET, which has recommended that to keep pace with the costly information resources, the libraries in the higher education sector, whether they are University Libraries or Research and Development Institute Libraries should be recognized and links via modern means of communication. The INFLIBNET Center is a great tool to Indian higher education and research in satisfying its information requirements. INFLIBNET plays a prominent role in promoting scholarly communication among academicians and researcher in India. INFLIBNET works as a co-operative network of University and R & D complexes sharing the reading materials and other facilities of each other and offering communication services. It is an enterprise with prospects of immediate and large-range benefits to the academic and research communities in transfer and diffusion of knowledge and information. It is likely to transform the academic library scenario in India to-wards modernization involving computer and communication technologies. Some functions/services [3], [4], of INFLIBNET as follows:*

The SOUL software developed by the center is one of the most popular Library Management Software having maximum number of installations in the libraries of academic and research institutions across the country.

The main aim and objective of the UGC INFONET Digital Library Consortium is bringing to major qualitative change in higher education libraries center in India. This services is to provide access to qualitative electronic materials and resources including full-text and bibliographic databases to academic institutions at a cheap/lower rates of subscription. It will become vehicle/ medium for distance learning in higher education system. It is uses the Education and Research Network (ERNET) infrastructure.

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The INFLIBNET Center maintains another devoted website with search and browse interface for e-resources covered under the N-LIST programmed. Home page of the N_LIST website allows users from registered colleges to login to Proxy server for access to e-resources subscribed under the NLIST programmed and services.

Collaborate with institutions, organizations, libraries, information and documentation centers in India and abroad in the field related to the aims and objectives of the center.

To make easy and helpful academic communication amongst scientists, engineers, faculties. Researchers and students meet through electronic mail, audio/video conferencing and file transfer, etc.

Improve a national link/network of interconnects several different libraries and documentation centers in the country and to develop information handling facilities and services.

Provision for readers, to have access to information regarding books, monographs, nonbook materials, theses/dissertation and serial, etc. by locating the sources wherefrom available and obtain it through the facilities of INFLIBNET.

To arrange training and development of human resources/personnel in the field of computerized handles, operations/services, manage and support INFLIBNET.

National Information for Science and Technology (NISSAT), New Delhi The National committee for science and technology (NCST) was formed to draw-up a science and technology plan, policy and formed of National Information System for Science and Technology (NISSAT). In the year 1972, a UNESCO expert Dr. Peter Lazar visited India, on a request from the CSIR for study, surveying the infrastructure and facilities national plan for this purpose. He visited and studied several documents to acquaint himself with the existing situation. His recommendations were discussed at different levels by several groups and finally a national plan emerged which has come to be known as the NISSAT. It promotes and supports research and development studies and survey techniques. This information center is the major instrument for information resources development and dissemination. The constituents of NISSAT would be in different stages. There are a number of National Information Centers, Regional Information Centers, Divisional Information Centers and Local Information Units. NISSAT began to start its function as a decentralized system to promote standardized and mutually compatibles information system and services for collection, storage, processing, promotion and dissemination of information. The formation and maintenance/servicing of the information centers in several stages would be the responsibility of the agencies of the institutions to which these centers relates. NISSATâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s function and role in promoting Sartorial Information Centers became the model. The information centers were usually built around the existing information resources and facilities. These services are contributing to the progress and prosperity of the nation of our country. The scientometric studies of NISSAT used publication pattern and citation pattern for national mapping in different subjects. NISSAT has been bringing out its NISSAT newsletter to assist and give different types of information to the society of information seekers/users. NISSAT has different activities and services; few of are as follows:(a)

Formation of a national science information plan and policy.

(b)

A national network of mission-oriented centers of information.

(c)

Information services at all stages (local, divisional, regional and national)

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(d)

Co-ordinated policy for the information systems of all sectors of national activity.

(e)

Information services in new areas, capable of supporting economic and social development.

(f)

Techno-economic information facilities for management decision making and on the application of modern computer and technology to information work.

(g)

National plans for important types of information services.

(h)

Consolidate and development of market in information marketing, revenue generation, business and industry-user interaction, etc.

(i)

Co-ordination of international activities in collaboration with UNESCO.

(j)

Promotion of information resource sharing in science and technology via city-based library and information networks with emphasis on web-based information content progress and development.

(k)

Organize technical enquiry facilities.

Indian National Scientific Documentation Center (INSDOC), New Delhi INSDOC [5] was established in 1952 by the Government of India with technical assistance from UNESCO to provide a full range of documen tation services to scientists, technologists and higher learner. It is a constituent set-up of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in the Information Science Group.INSDOC is directly linked with all the libraries and laboratories in the building of the council which are represented in the concerned working group. These centers together with INSDOC and associate information consultants would pave the way for the Council to reinforce its information network. The regional centers of INSDOC has great role to provide necessary information to the readers in different parts of the country. It is a National Center for feeding scientist of India. and agencies, the specialized nature of information requirements of some of the newly developing research complexes. The National Science Library, as an integral unit of INSDOC, was conceived in 1964 as a co-operative acquisition facility for building up a balanced collection relevant to the requirements of the country. In short, INSDOC is a significant network of disseminating information services to higher learning in our nation. It is conducting technical enquiries on requests from scientists, medical practioners, engineers, commercial and industrial organization etc. INSDOC was being developed to support the growing research activities in governmental departments, different higher learning and research institutions and organization in India. This is an important connection, which has given and is giving a new dimension to multidimensional scientific and technical learning. INSDOC has many services to get-up the Science and Technology information, requirements of scientists, researcher and learners in the country. The services [5], [6] are:i) ii) iii) iv) v) vi) vii) viii)

Training. Library automation. Networking. On-line. Web-Design Science and Technology Databases. Printing. Science and Literature.

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ix) x) xi)

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Publication. Document Supply. Translation Services, etc.

National Social Science Documentation Center (NASSDOC), New Delhi The National Social Science Documentation Center was established in year 1970 by Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICCSR). Many factors support the need for establishing a National Documentation Center for the subject of social science and humanities. Similar any other special body, the NASSDOC has had adjust to the organization it look after and ICSSR’s distinctive position made NASSDOC’S task an exceptional challenge which it has tried to fulfils with the help of the different programmes and activities. In social science, students and research scholars face a number of problems in reading and conducting their research activities. It is helpful to provide library and information support services to social science researcher and student. There are many questions asked by the readers and research scholars remain unanswered due to lack of systematic comprehensive tools, techniques and sources of information. For solve this problem, NASSDOC has been giving facilities to the client in pursuing their aims/goals in a very helpful and conductive environment since 1970. The services are expected to liaison centers of excellence (in social sciences) the of country and expeditious service to the information seeker. This documentation center provides accurate information and proper reading materials to our national needs with the help of latest advances Information Communication Technology (I C T). It is considered to be one of the largest center for supply of relevant materials is urgently needed and repositories of bibliographical databases in the area of social sciences. Services [7], [8] of NASSDOC are as follows:          

Ongoing education schedule. Library automation facilities. NASSDOC databases and publication function. Library facilities and reference services. Current awareness services. Preservation of books and other materials. ICCSR sales and supply unit. Literature search facilities. Documents disburse and supply on requirement. Grant-in aid to bibliographical and documentation scheme/assignment. Study grant (for consulting libraries and documentation center for reading).

Small Enterprises National Documentation Center (SENDOC), Hyderabad The Small Enterprises National Documentation Center (SENDOC) was founded in year 1971. In fact, this center serving the needs of various industries and Research and Development units. Industrial research deals mainly with the complex problems arising out the management of men, machines, materials and money. SENDOC is helpful to provides technological and managerial information to small scale industries. Its dynamic function is also useful in solving certain types of situations. It helps and provides technical survey/enquiry sevice.This center collects, store, organizes and disseminate information and knowledge on all aspects of small industry progress and development, such as industrial profiles and prospects, feasibility studies and technological information, etc. This center publishes a number of bulletins/journals for the dissemination of information and reading materials to the information seekers/users. SENDOC plays a key role in the publication of

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Primary research report, journal, which is devoted to small industrialists and researcher, who want to express and exchange their conception on any information of MSMEs (Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises). This organization assists and provides necessary information to students and researcher who are wishing to study and research in the field of micro and small industries area. Some of the important facilities provided by the Center are [1] [2]:     

Lending of books and materials opportunities. Inter-library lending system. Literature search and Reference services. Consultancy facilities. Reprographic services. Product profiles provision.

Conclusion To conclude this presentation, an attempt has been made to give proper, appropriate and needful information and reading materials to reader and researcher of teaching- learning in higher education and research matter. In education of higher learning and research, the several services have brought, developed and are improving new hopes, ideas, thought etc. These services have brought a revolutionary change in the methods and services in higher learning system. Thus, this article focuses on understanding user needs and improving user services. This type of library activities and services to save the time of the reader and try to give more specialized services at their reading desk. References 1. https://www.google.co.in/= SENDOC (Visited on: Feb 23, 2015) 2. Kumar (K) Sendoc. www. Slide share. Net/akshay kumar/sendoc. (Jul 24, 2014) (Visited on : Feb 23, 2015) 3. Arora (J) and Trivedi (K) National Library and Information Services Infrastructure for Scholarly Content: Extending Access to E-Resources. University News. 49, 19; 2011, May. p1-8. 4. Rose (V) A Step in Modernizing Indian Universities: U G C-INFLIBNET. International Journal of Education and Information Studies. 03, 02; 2013, p43-46. 5. www.angelfire.com/in/insdoc/abouto.html (visited on: Feb 23, 2015) 6. Das (A) Indian National Scientific Documentation Center (INSDOC) librarian ashok. blog post. In/2011/10/Indian-national-scientific-html (visited on: Feb 23, 2015) 7. www .icssr.nassdoc.blogspot.in (Visited on: Feb 23, 2015) 8. Wikipdia.org/wiki/National_Social_Science_Documentation_Center (Visited on : Feb 23, 2015)

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SOME SUFIS OF WEST BENGAL AND THEIR CONTRIBUTION TO BENGALESE SOCIETY AND CULTURE MD.SABLUL HOQUE Assistant Professor, Department of History, D.N. College, Aurangasad, Murshidabad, West Bengal, E-mail: md.sablul@gmail.com ABSTRACT It is said that the Sufis first came to northern India and from thence spread to several parts of the country. Some of the Sufis of different silsiahs came to Bengal in the 13th century, settled here, and established their khankahs in different parts. They had no attraction to the worldly pleasure. As such, they engaged themselves in the service of the Creator as well as human beings irrespective of their cast, complexion or religion. At that time Bengali society was caste-ridden thereby the Hindu low-caste people had been being suppressed in every respect. The Sufis were against the caste system and pro-poor. At the same time they could perform some miracles thereby healing incurable diseases. As a result people thronged around them and changed their faith by embracing Islam. So there occurred social mobility and several positive changes in Bengali society and culture the striking feature being the toleration among the faiths and the growth of syncretic cult. Whatever may be, in various cases the Sufis went out the doctrines of Islam thereby contaminating the faith of the commoners as well as of themselves? The advent of the Sufis in West Bengal is a turning point in the socio- cultural history of Bengal. After the advent of them the socio-cultural scenario of Bengal transformed drastically. But it is a matter of debate about how and when they came here. Some historians are of the view that they came after the conquest of Bengal by Ikhtiyarud-Din Muhammad (1203 A.D.), and some opine that their advent occurred much before the Muslim conquest of Bengal, though, it is an established fact that the Sufis began to come here after the fall of the Sena dynasty by the Muslims and they came from Northern India where several Sufi silsilahs, such as, Chisti, Suhrawardi etc., were established. They established equality; fraternity etc. among the people of Northern India first and later on spread different parts of the country.

Sufis of West Bengal The Sufis of Eastern India worked in the same way as their Northern counterparts did. However, from the 15nth century onwards they modified their doctrines as per the local needs keeping intact the basic tenet of Sufism. With their effort the people of the region became acquainted with the Islamic philosophy. It is said that before the Muslim incursion in Bengal some Muslim traders of Arabia and Persia came to the coastal area of Bengal with a view to establish trade relation with Bengal. Dr. Enamul Haque is of the opinion that the trading class propagated Islam here in Bengal during the period of 8th and 9th centuries. He further maintains this view that the Arab traders established their settlement in Chittagong when Mahat Chandra of Rozag dynasty was in power (788 A.D.-810). Not only were the Arabs, the Persian merchants were also active in Bengal in connection with trading activities and established their colony in the capital of Bengal. The trade centres like Hooghly, Chinsura, Midnapur, Tamralipti, Ganga and Saptagrama, Satgaon attracted large number of travelers and Sufis other than merchants from the west Asian countries. The port of Bengal was very crucial to the merchants of Arabia and Persia for the brisk trade. Moreover, Bengal served as a shipbuilding and refueling centre at that time. So the Arab and Iranian merchants visited Bengal from time to time. Traditions confirm that several Sufi saints came to Bengal before the Muslim incursion. Baba Adam Shahid (d.1119 A.D.), Jalaluddin Tabrizi (d.1225 A.D.), Shah Jalal Mujarrad (d.1346 A.D.), Ghiyasuddin Auliya and Azan Faqir were some of such notable EDULIGHT-Multi-disciplinary, Peer-Reviewed Journal

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saints. Minhaj-us-Siraj mentions the presence of some Ispahani merchants in Bengal in 1207 A.D in his Tabakat-i-Nasiri. Among the earliest famous personalities the name of Qazi Ruknud-din Samarqandi is mention-worthy. He wrote a book entitled Kitabul Ma’ani fil Idrakat Alamul insane, based on a Sanskrit work Amrita-Kunda. Some archaeological evidences also strengthen this proposition. At Paharpur in the Rajshahi district some coins have been found which dated 788 A.D. when Abbasid Caliph Harun al-Rashid was reigning. All these evidences are sufficient to prove that Muslim saints came to Bengal with the traders and merchants prior to the Muslim conquest of Bengal. But for a long time they could not penetrate into the deep interior which was covered by mountains and forests and inhabited by wild tribes. The Muslim traders and saints thus remained confined to the Chittagong and Arakanese territory. In spite of all the hurdles and impediments they were able to settle here and married here. Even today many descents of the Arab Muslims are found in some coastal lands of Arakan and Chittagong. The Sufi order was established in Bengal in 1150 to 1400. We know that from the early 13nth century the Sufis ruled supreme in Northern India in religious matters. They permeated divine light from Northern Indian Ajodhan (Pakpatan), Ajmer, Lahore and Delhi. Though, on the contrary of the earlier view, it is also said that the Sufi orders from Northern India spread to Bengal from the 15nth century. Jalalud-Din Tabrizi Whatever may be the fact regarding the introduction and spread of Sufism in Bengal, several Sufis began to come to Bengal from the beginning of the thirteenth century. Jala-uddin Tabrizi (d.1225) was one such Sufi who came to the West part of Bengal. Sekasubhadaya of Halyudha Misra, 1 a Sanskrit work states the Shaikh’s early life. As his father was very poor, he was brought up by a kind-hearted merchant. He got his early education in the merchant’s house. But for some unwanted reasons he had to leave his merchant-patron’s home and later reached Delhi. When Iltutmish was in the throne of Delhi many saints and divines came to India from outside. Iltutmish cordially accepted all of them. Sometimes, on hearing about the arrival of a saint went out for miles to receive him. In the same way, when Shaikh Jalal-ud-Din Tabrizi came to Delhi from Baghdad, Iltutmish went out to receive him also. When Jamal-ud-Din Muhammad Bistami died, Iltutmish offered the post of Shaikhul Islam to Khwaja Qutb-ud-Din. But as per the principle of Chisti silsilah the saint declined to accept the post. After this, Najmud-Din Sughra was offered this post. Sughra was a jealous person. He could not bear anybody’s position surpassing him. After the advent of Jalalud-Din at Delhi his popularity was increasing day by day far and wide. At this Sughra became very jealous and out of it he brought a charge of adultery against Jalalud-Din to bring his fame down.2 However, ultimately the saint became able to acquit himself from this charge. According to Abid Ali Khan shah Jalalud-Din was born at Tabriz in Persia and was a pupil of Shaikh Abu Syed of that city. After his father’s death he became a disciple of another famous saint of the time Shaikh Shihabud-Din Suhrawardi and respected and served him in such a way that no one ever did. It is known that Shihabud-Din used to perform pilgrimage to Mecca every year. But being old and weak he could not digest the food he was supplied during his journey. Sheikh Jalalud-Din came forward to solve the problem. He began to bear a deghdani stove with a pot on his head to cook and serve fresh food to his spiritual guide. We have known earlier that a false charge was brought against Shaikh Jalalud-Din when he was at Delhi. It is a known fact that after this charge framed against him; he became very much perturbed and left Delhi to come to Bengal via Badaun. There is a story that when the saint reached Bengal he performed ablutions by the side of a stream. When asked he replied that he was performing funeral prayer of Najmud-Din Sughra, the Shaikh-ul-Islam,

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who just passed away. And subsequently it is known that the saint was true in this regard. The saint had sufficient property in different parts of Bengal including Pandua. Every year in the month of lunar month Rajab the saint’s urs (death anniversary) is celebrated. Pilgrims from different parts come here in the hope of performing pilgrimage, though it is totally an invented notion as there is no place of it in Islam as the Muslims have no pilgrimage places other than Mecca and Medina. So the devotees who celebrate urs of their saints gain nothing but sin and wrath of Allah. Actually, such type of practices enters among the Muslims from outside. Whatever may be the saint’s death occurred in 1225 A.D.This is supported by J.A. Subhan and Dr. Enamul Haque.3 The tomb of the saint is at Pandua and not at Sylhet as conferred by some, but according to some it is in the Dev Mahal. The original mosque is said to have built by Sultan Aluddin Ali Shah in 1342 A.D., on the spot where Shah Jalal used to sit in meditation.4 The travelers throughout the year are given meal at the shrine. The saint’s seat was formerly enclosed by silver railings. The mosque needed repair in 1075A.H. or 1664 A.D, which was performed by Shah Nimatuulah of Firuzpur, Gaur. The Jhanda (heraldic device of copper) of Makhdum Jalal, as well as ancient banner, are still preserved in this building.5 The inscription written on the eastern wall of the building is as follows: ‘chun in ali ‘imarat yaft tartib shuda tarikh rawsan astan bud’(when this grand building was completed the date was 11075, bright be the shrine). In another place it is written as follows: ‘In ‘imarat Shah Jalal ast marammat kard hazrat shah Nimatullah’(this is the building of Shah Jalal. Hazrat Shah Nimatullah repaired it).6 The Bhanderkhana or store house was built by Chand Khan in the year of 1673 A.D. (1084 A.H.). The inscription written in the Persian on the front wall of the store house goes like this (translation): “In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the most Compassionate! May it well!! O Avenger! Shah Jalalud-Din. He was born at Tabriz, in whose praise tongues are pouring pearls. In the honor of him Chand Khan built this building with sincere purposes. If people ask who dwells this bright and beautiful sculpture, purify your mouth as was done by the poet Sahir to tell the date in the figurative language of the chronogram. It is the sepulcher of Shah Jalalud-Din Tabrizi”.7 The foundation of the building is 1084 A.H. (1673A.D.) which is mentioned earlier. There is a small building opposite of the Bhander Khana named Laskhana Sena Dalan. This is used as Baithak-khana (reception room). There is an inscription over the front gate of the Shah Jalal’s shrine, which reads likes this (translation): This exalted astanah of hazrat makhdum Shah Jalal of Tabriz was repaired by Syed Nimatuuah Shah. As the wall of the southern side was not strong the building had bent a bit during the Mutawalliship of maulavi Haibatullah, Mohammad Ali of Barji. The repairing was completed on the 22nd Rajab of 1133 A.H. (1722 A.D.). It is interesting that the building was named “Lakhan Sen’s Building.” Tradition says that some Lakhan Sen was once a Mutawalli of the shrine for some time. So the name was named after him. The Tandur khana or kitchen of the building was built of brick and is 49 feet wide and 16 feet 6 inches high. An oven is kept in this house. It is believed that the oven was used for cooking food and making bread for his great Sheikh (Sheikh Shihabud-Din Suhrawardi) while

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on travels. The inscription in the Persian language on the building proves that it was built by some Sa’dullah in 1093 A.H. (1682 A.D.) and runs as such (translation): “In the name of Allah, the most Beneficent, the most Merciful, may it end well. Jalalud-Din Shah was the accepted (saint) of Allah. (He was) angelic in disposition and the king of religion and the world. His disciple Sadullah built with sincere hearts this rest-giving building on earth. How excellent is the structure wherein people attain their wishes; which the heart of men for ever find rest. An angel from the unseen world whispered into his ears: ‘It is a famous building full of bliss’. ’’8 Shah Abdullah Kirmani Bengali (alive in 1236) He was Bengali by birth and one of the early disciples of Khwaja Mu’inud-Din Chisti (1142-1236 A.D.). He founded a new sisilah named Kirmani which gained popularity in Bengal and other parts of India during his life time. Records prove that originally he came from a city of Persia named Kirman. In his early days he came to India, visited North India and at last reached Patna. Here he embraced the discipleship of Shah Arzani who ordered him to go to Bengal. First he settled at Bergaon, Birbhum and then moved to Khustigiri. Here he stayed permanently. It is believed that he had great power on serpents. He has been being with charms remembered in the district of Birbhum. Shah Safiud-Din Shahid (d.1290 or1295 A.D.) It is known that he was a son of a noble of Delhi. His mother was the sister of sultan Firuz Shah Khilji (1290-95 A.D.). It is known that there ruled a Hindu king in the village of Mahanath in Hooghly. Here cow-slaughter was totally prohibited. Shah Shafiud-Din, who lived at Pandua, slaughters a cow on the occasion of his son’s khatna (circumcision) ceremony to serve the guests. At this the raja became infuriated and sacrificed the saint’s son forcibly to goddess Kali. The saint went to Delhi to inform the Sultan Firoz Shah about the horrible incident. The Sultan sent a large army to take revenge. The saint also accompanied the army. In the battle the Sultan’s army came out victorious, but Shah Safiud-Din became wounded and died soon. He was buried at Pandua with high esteem. Makhdum Shah Mahmud Ghazni (Rahi Pir) In Burdwan district there lived a king named Bikram Keshari Bikram Datya. He did not like the Muslims and so gave no permission to settle them in his area. The Rahi Pir first came to Delhi and afterwards proceeded towads Bengal under the guidance of his spiritual guide Bahaud-Din Shah living at Delhi. After reaching the kingdom of Bikram Keshari the saint called azan for afternoon (asr) prayer. The Raja filled with anguish ordered the arrest of the saint but he with his miraculous power became successful to save himself. Consequently, the saint was allowed to stay in the Raja’s kingdom. Meanwhile a letter came from the then Emperor to the Raja in Persian. So the saint was called to read out the content to the king and gave out its reply. He wrote a reply letter to the Emperor mentioning that the Muslims were in a horrible condition in the raja’s kingdom and requested him to send an army against the Raja to save the Muslims. The Emperor sent a large army under the leadership of Bhola Shahid. Sixteen Darwishes also accompanied them. Imperial army at last conquered Mongal Kot easily. A few darwishes whose names survive are as follows; 1) Ghora Shahid, 2) Shah Haji Ali, 3) Syed Shah Tajud-Din, 4) Khwaja Din Chisti, 5) Shah Sirajud-Din Akhi Siraj (alive in 1389 A.D.) Akhi Siraj settled at Lakhnauti of Bengal. But he stayed with the companion of Nizamud-Din Auliya four years after first coming to Delhi towards the early part of the fourteenth century. Once a year he visited his mother staying at Lakhnauti. Maulana Fakhrud-

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Din was his teacher. The Maulana presented him to Mehboob-i-Ilahi, who coferred upon him the title of ‘Aina-i-Hind’ (mirror of India) before making him his khalifa (representative). He was actually the mirror of the country. The whole country was illuminated by the light radiated by him in regards of religion and spiritualism. His service to the sake of Sufism surpassed all in magnitude and perfection. All the deputies of Nizamud-Din Auliya were of high eminence in religious matters and in this regard Shaikh Nasirud-Din Chirag-i-Dehlavi and Shaikh Sirajud-Din ‘Aina-i-Hind’ are conspicuous. They helped many scholars in increasing their knowledge in religion. Sirazud-din Akhi Siraj stayed at Delhi a few years after the death of his spiritual guide. When Muhammad-bin-Tughlaq (1325-1351A.D.) transferred his capital from Delhi to Devagiri(1327 A.D.), Akhi Siraj came back to Lakhnauti. Akhi Siraj had the credit of establishing for the first time the Chisti Sisilah in Bengal. Islamic learning and culture was permeated by him in different parts of the region. He became so popular that even the rulers of this region were eager to be his disciples of his khalifa. His tomb at Pandua in Maldah district is largely visited by his disciples round the year.9 Sheikh Alaud-Din Alaul Haque It is believed that he came of a noble family of Khalid-bin-Walid. At first his ancestors settled at Lahore whence he came to Pandua which was conquered by the Muslims recently. He acquired high knowledge and assumed the title of ‘Ganj-i-nabat’ (the store of wealth). He opened his free kitchen to everyone irrespective of caste, religion or creed. He was so generous that the Sultan of Pandua, Sikander Shah (1358-1389) became astonished of his benevolence. His popularity was so deep that the Sultan became jealous of it and ordered the saint to leave Pandua and settle at Sonagaon. But his kitchen was distributing food among the needy as magnanimity and liberality as before. After two years he was called to come back to Pandua where he resettled and breathed his last sigh there in 1398 A.D. Alaul Haque was so great a saint that his fame spreads far and wide of Bengal; even the whole of India. His famous disciples included the notable figures like Shaikh Nurud-Din Qutb-i-Alam, his son and successor, Shaikh Nurud-Din of Manikpur, Mir Syed Ashraf Jahangir of Samnan (d.1405 A.D.). The disciples preached Islam in several parts of the country, such as, Bihar, Jaipur etc. Alaul Haque made many Hindus and ascetics embrace Islam by performing his miraculous power. From Persian treatises it is known that Makhdum Jahanyan Jahan Gasht Bukhari whose real name was Jalalud-Din and who once came to Bengal when Alaul Haque was staying at Pandua. The former was identical with Shah Jalal Bukhari. When Alaul Haque died in 1398 A.D., his funeral prayer, it is believed, was participated by Makhdum Jahanyan Jahan Gasht appearing there from Persia.11 Sheikh Nurud-Din Qutb-i-Alam (d. 1415 A.D.) It is mentioned before that he was the son and successor of Alaul Haque. Qutbud-Din being in charge of khanqah (hospice) during the life time of his father managed the affairs of the monastery to the entire satisfaction of the all people. His elder brother was a minister of Pandua (probably Ghiyasud-Din Azam Shah reigning upto 1409 A.D.). Towards the close of his life Nur Qutb-i-Alm became involved in Bengal politics. When Raja Kans or Ganesh was on the throne of Bengal (1409-1414) he began to destroy the Muslims in many ways. At this the saint became alarmed of the future of the Muslims in Bengal. So to save them he invited Sultan Ibrahim Sharqi of Jaunpur to invade Bengal. The Sultan sent a powerful army at Firozpur (old Malda, Bengal). Raja Kans became perplexed. But at last realised his mistakes and begged pardon of the saint. Subsequently he embraced

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Islam with his family. His twelve years old son, Jadu (named Jalalud-Din after embracing Islam), was placed on the throne of Bengal. Now khutba was read in his name during Friday congregation. When Ibrahim Sharqi withdrew his army Raja Ganesh went back to his earlier faith of Hinduism, captured throne and let loose terror on the Muslims again. He killed Shaikh Anwar, son of Qutb-i-Alam and it is said that the moment Anwar was murdered Ganesh passed away. Jadu or Jalalud-Din again sat on the throne (418-431A.H.). Nur Qutb-iAlam was famous throughout India as a saint as well as religious and political leader. He died probably in 1415 A.D. No one was equal to him in spiritualism in Bengal during his period. His farsightedness and statesmanship earned him fame. His service to Islam and spiritualism were so deep-rooted that no one of Northern India or other parts surpassed him in these regards. Many men of Northern India embraced his discipleship, such as, Shah Kalu (d. 1461A.D.), Shamsud-Din Tahir (deputed to Ajmer where he died in 1476 A.D.), Shah Jalalud-din Gujrati, whose activity was so strong that he was beheaded with all his followers by the Sultan in 1476 A.D.12 Pir Badar (1440 A.D.) Pir Badar was equally favorites to the Muslims and the Hindus. He performed many miracles. He preached Islam in the district of Burdwan. The tombs are found in different parts of the district. Kalna was one of them. There was a Pir Badar in Chittagong also. So the people become confused. Pir Badar of Kalna was perhaps Badarud-Din Badar-i-Alam of Bihar. He died in the year 1440 A.D. Pir Badarud-Din Badar-i-Alam travelled far and wide and perhaps he came to Kalna as well in the early fifteenth century A.D. The local people of Kalna perhaps built a symbolic tomb in the memory of him. Haji Bahram Saqqa (d.1562 A.D.) It is said that he distributed water to thirsty wayfarers in the towns of Mecca and Najd. He was born in Turkey. He came to Delhi when Akbar was the Mughal Emperor (1556-1605 A.D.). Two courtiers of Akbar Abul Fazal and Faizi began to treat him badly. The disgusted Haji left Delhi and came to Burdwan district of Bengal. Here he met a Jogi named Jai Pal who was famous for his magical power. When Bahram met him in his garden the Jogi tried to bring him under his influence with trantric practices. But his trantric power seemed very weak in comparison to the saint’s miracles performed. So the Jogi became impressed and embraced Islam. Both of them began to live in the same cottage built in the Jai Pal’s garden, where they were buried in their respective apartments. Akbar on hearing of the news of the saint granted a few villages to maintain his tomb at Faqirpur in Burdwan. The sanad granted by Akbar under which the village of Faqirpur was handed over to Mutwalli Shaikh Bakhtiyar, was in 1015 A.H. / 1605 A.D. The inscription of the tomb goes like this: 13 “A saint so high, of such world-wide fame excelled a gnosis, this mighty name. From this world he departed and left for good to the world untold. The date of death of the matchless saint, Fathi wrote with golden paint. An invisible voice at his death did declare: Bahram Saqqa, the saint bids fare.” Sheikh Hamid Danishmand Bengali (d.1653 A.D.) He was born at Mangalkot of Burdwan. After completing his education he went to Delhi and established a friendly relation with Prince Khurram or Shah Jahan. Jahangir placed Khurram under the charge of Mujaddid (reformer of an age) Alfeshani, whose disciple was Hamid Bengali. After few years staying at Delhi he came back to Mangalkot where he engaged himself in preaching of Islam there. He built a big madrasah there. After his death Shah Jahan (1628-58) built a mausoleum over his grave and granted a jagir worth of 80 thousand rupees annually to his successors to maintain the cost of the madrasah.

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From the Maktubat of Alfeshani, it seems that both Danishmand and Prince Khurram were his disciples. The text of the Arabic Tughra (inscription) clearly proves that the tomb was built over his grave in 1065 A.H. / 1664 A.D. Syed Shah Nimatullah (d.1664 A.D.) According to Khurshid Jahan Namah the saint was born at Karnal (near Delhi). When Shah Shuja was the Subahdar of Bengal (1639-1660 A.D.), he came to Rajmahal. The Subahdar welcomed the saint. From Rajmahal he migrated to Firozpur (Gaur, Malda) where he died in 1664 A.D. The name of this saint is found in the inscription of Jalalud-Din Tabriziâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s khanqah and other buildings, which were constructed under the supervision of the saint. Another inscription is found in Powa Macca Masjid at Hajo, district of Kamrup, Assam, built during the reign of Shah Jahan and Governorship of Shah Shuja. This shrine bears his name, mentioned reverently by Lutfullah Shirazi, the commander of Shuja. Hazrat Shah Abu Bakar Siddiqi He was the famous disciple of the Sufi saint Fathe Ali Waisi. Abu Bakar died in 1939 A.D. He established a madrash and a khanqah in Furfura Sharif of West Bengal. His disciples revere him greatly, who are from Assam, Bangladesh and West Bengal and also from Bihar. The khanqah and madrasah are still survived under the able trusteeship of his successors who actively take part in preaching of Islam. Maulana Ruhul Amin was a noted khalifa of Abu Bakar Siddiqi. The Maulana was a famous writer in Bengali. Professor Shahidullah was another notable khalifa of the saint. His other famous khalifas are: Shah Sufi Najmul Hussain Siddiqi of Nadia district, Maulavi Tamijud-Din Khan, Khan Bahadur Abdul Halim Chaudhury etc. Hazrat Barkat Ali Shah Mujaddidi Barkati He belonged to the Mujaddidiya Naqshbandiya of Bengal. This order was founded by Hazrat Ali Shah Azhari Uthmani. He was a native of Punjab in the district of Husiarpur. He was the chief khalifa of Hazrat Khwaja Uthman Damini who appointed him for the propagation of spiritual teachings in Bengal. He first settled in Calcutta and started his mission from a khanqah. Bengal, Bangladesh, Bihar, Assam and Malegaon in Bombay were benefitted by his Islamic and Sufi teachings. Until his death in 1926 A.D. he stayed in his Khanqah situated at College Street, Calcutta. His famous khalifas were Hazrat Shah Muhammad of Calcutta, Maulana Syed Amimul Ahsan of Bangladesh, Maulana Abdus Salam of Bangladesh and Maulana Syed Salman Barkati Mujaddidi of Calcutta. Conclusion Many more Sufis came to Bengal for the sole purpose of the propagation of Islam. Most of them were of the Chisti and Suhrawardi orders. They came, settled and established khanqahs here; from where preaching of Islam and dissemination of education were done with utmost zeal and faith. At the outset they had to bear so many hardship and hurdles which they accepted with utmost perseverance. Not only that, some lost everything, even their lives in course of their actions. In spite of this, they did not deviate from their mission. Whatever may be, there are controversies regarding whether the Sufis set their feet in Bengal before the conquest of Bengal by the Muslims or after that. Whatever controversy may be in regards of the advent of the Sufis to Bengal before or after the Muslim conquest of Bengal, it is true that all of them followed the policy of toleration and social equality, which they adhered from the doctrines of the holy Qur-an and the tradition that is Islamic shariah which enjoins its followers to obey it strictly. By the teaching of Islam the Sufis did not fear anyone but Allah. So their every action was to please

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the Almighty Allah. They could perform miracles (karamat). There was the tradition of such activities (estedraz) among some Indian Hindu divines in general and those of Bengali in particular, but their perfection and magnitude was very meager in comparison to the magnitude and perfection the Sufis could perform their miracles. They could walk on water, turn soil into sweetmeat, make earthen pot into a gold one, go out of sight in a second etc. and heal incurable diseases by applying mere breathed water. For these reasons and others the caste-ridden Hindu society was attracted to the Sufis, in other words, to Islam which stresses also on the Oneness of God (Allah). In large numbers they came to the Sufis and embraced Islam. Those who did not change their earlier faith cherished good notion towards Islam and the Sufis. They, along with the neophytes, gathered round the Sufis for solving their various problems, such as, for curing several diseases, for the settlement of disputes, for removing family troubles etc. The Hindu society in general did consider Muslims and their faith as their opponents but as good neighbors. As a result, a new era was ushered in the Bengal society after the advent of the Sufis here. By the influence of the Sufis the Hindu societyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s lifestyle and beliefs and practices changed. They had good faith in Islam and the customs and practices of the Muslims, especially, of the Sufis. So they borrowed many doctrines and practices from their neighbor. The Muslim neophytes could shake off totally the beliefs and practices of their earlier faith. For instance they worshipped goddess Sitala during plague, though worshipping anything other than Allah is strictly prohibited in Islam. Whatever may be peaceful co-existence and cultural reciprocation brought about by the influence of the Sufis. Notes and References 1)

Fatima Hussain, Emergence of Sufi Silsilahs in India, in Anup Taneja (ed.), Sufi Cults, Indian Council of Historical Research, new Delhi, 2003, p.19

Ibid, p.19

Amir Khwurd, Siyar-ul-Aulya (Lahore, rep., 1978), p.27, quoted in Fatima Hussain, op. cit.,p.

Fatima Hussain, op. cit., p.20

Ibid, p.21

Ibid

M.T. Titus, Islam in India and Pakistan (Calcutta, 1959),pp.129-30

Abdul Karim, Social History of the Muslims in Bengal, Dhaka, 2007, p.112

10) Richard M. Eaton, The Rise of Islam and the Bengal Frontier (1204-1760), Oxford, India, 2011, p. 82 11) Sukumar Sen (ed.), Sekasubhodaya, The Asiatic Society, Calcutta, Bibliotheca India Series No.286, introduction, p.xvii; Enamul Haque, A History of Sufism in Bengal, Bangladesh, 1975, p.160 12) K. A. Nizami, Studies in Medieval Indian History And Culture, p.25 13) J. A. Subhan, Sufism Saint Shrines, Lucknow, 1938, pp.228; Enamul Haque, op.cit. p. 161

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NATIONAL KNOWLEDGE COMMISSION AND NATIONAL STRATEGIES TOWARDS A KNOWLEDGE-BASED SOCIETY Pramanna Gurung Librarian, Mirik College, Mirik, Darjeeling, West Bengal. E-mail: gurung_pramanna@rediffmail.com ABSTRACT The 21st century has been world wide acknowledged as the Knowledge Century. Only those nations will survive and succeed which will build themselves by understanding the dynamics of knowledge and create true Knowledge Society. India is however well placed at the dawn of knowledge era. For India to be globally competitive in the 21st century, a critical factor would be our ability to harness our knowledge potential. Keeping this in mind the National Knowledge Commission (NKC) has been created, which in turn has proposed a blueprint for improvement of our knowledge related institutions and infrastructure. This paper therefore outlines and discusses the composition, terms of reference, focal areas, actions and recommendations of NKC. It then proceeds to discuss the recommendations of NKC towards library and considers the role of library as an extremely important element in the foundation of knowledge society. This paper focuses on various national strategies towards a knowledge based society and also mentions the constitutions of Task Force for India’s development as a knowledge society. Keywords: Knowledge creation, Knowledge society, National Knowledge Commission. National Knowledge Network, NKC, NKC Recommendations

Introduction Knowledge can be referred to a theoretical or practical understanding of a subject or concept. It can be implicit, as with practical skill or expertise, or explicit, as with theoretical understanding of a subject. It can also be formal or systematic. Knowledge is considered power and improving our lives in a practical way. Knowledge gives us the ability to make better decisions, come up with more developed and intelligent thoughts, improves the lives of ourselves and thus makes us more valuable people in the advancement of civilization. We have now entered into the Knowledge Century. There is an increasing trend in international recognition that education and research of a country can significantly improve quality of life and humanistic insight. To this point of view and to be effective, use of knowledge derived from educational, scientific and technological research must not be restricted in developed countries. Towards this goal, a serious effort is required to make our human resource knowledgeable through a national approach. Every nation now finds itself operating in an increasingly competitive and globalized information environment where the information infrastructure, research and innovation system, education, lifelong learning and regularity frameworks are the crucial variables. National Knowledge Commission India needs a knowledge oriented paradigm of development to give its people and institutions a competitive advantage in all fields of knowledge. It is with this great task in mind, the National Knowledge Commission (NKC) was constituted on 13th June 2005 by Dr. Manmohan Singh, the then Hon’ble Prime Minister of Government of India. The NKC is an Indian think-tank charged with considering and implementing possible policies that would sharpen India’s comparative advantage in the knowledge-based service sectors. In particular, the Commission has to advise the Prime Minister’s Office on policies related to educational and research institutes, and reforms needed to make India competitive in the knowledge economy. The Commission has to recommend reform of the educational sectors, research laboratories and intellectual property legislation, as well as consider whether the Government

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is capable of using the latest techniques and technologies to make its working procedures more transparent. The NKC website was launched in February 2006. Composition of National Knowledge Commission The National Knowledge Commission started functioning under the Chairmanship of Dr. Sam Pitroda. Its organizational structure is flat consisting eight Members including the Chairman. They all are eminent experts in their respective field and are assisted by a group of Technical Support Staff. ORGANISATION Prime Minister

Planning Commission

NKC

Ministers & States

Chairman

Members

Support Staff

The Planning Commission is the nodal agency for the NKC for planning and budgeting purposes as well as for handling Parliament related issues and responses. The Secretariat of the NKC is located at Chanakyapuri, New Delhi. Terms of Reference The Terms of Reference of the Commission are to: 

Build excellence in the educational system to meet the knowledge challenges of the 21st century and increase India’s competitive advantages in the fields of knowledge;



Promote creation of knowledge in Science & Technology laboratories;

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Improve the management of institutions engaged in Intellectual Property Rights;

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Promote knowledge applications in agriculture and industry;

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Promote the use of knowledge capabilities in making government an effective, transparent and accountable service provider to the citizen; and



Promote widespread sharing of knowledge to maximize the public benefits.

Focal Areas of Consideration To start its endeavour, the NKC has identified the following focal areas: Access to Knowledge: Providing access to knowledge resources through strengthening information infrastructure and networks, promoting and adapting open access to literature,

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open learning resources, open courseware and open source software. Focal points are literacy, language, translation, libraries, knowledge networks and knowledge portals. Knowledge Concepts: Nurturing intellectual capabilities and enhancing professional and vocational skills of youths through a systematic approach to lifelong learning. Focal points are school education, vocational education, higher education, medical education, legal education, management education, engineering education, open learning and distance education. Knowledge Creation: Creating a world class environment for creation of knowledge; making self-sufficiency in knowledge creation; strengthening indigenous research capabilities in science, technology and medical areas; and generating knowledge for social development. Focal points are science and technology, intellectual property rights, innovations and entrepreneurships. Knowledge Application: Promoting application of knowledge for sustained and inclusive growth. Applying knowledge in some subject fields, such as agriculture, industry, health and education where productivity can be enhanced. Focal points are traditional knowledge and agriculture. Knowledge Services: Making governance and government functionaries more accountable, transparent, efficient and sensitive to the causes of common men. The focal point is egovernance. Actions and Functions The actions and functions of the Commission are to: 

Motivate, mobilize, support and encourage existing and new initiatives at various levels in the country;



Help to build knowledge infrastructure and institutions;

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Focus on knowledge for individual advancement, national development and security;

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Encourage innovations and entrepreneurship at all levels;

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Use knowledge to fuel growth in agriculture, manufacturing and services;

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Restructure existing institution and create new institution to respond to knowledge needs of tomorrow;

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Encourage knowledge sharing forum and discussion groups in schools, colleges, libraries, Research and Development institutions, youth groups, etc.;

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Institute district, state, and central awards to recognize people for innovations, entrepreneurships, education and health;

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Constitute Working Groups and organization of workshops, seminars, surveys in extensive consultations with concerned experts and stakeholders;



Disseminate recommendations to state governments, civil societies and other stakeholders; and



Coordinate and follow up of implementation of proposals.

NKC Recommendations NKC reports and recommendations have covered all aspects of socio-economic development that will trigger an equality-based, responsible, responsive, competent and competitive socio economic platform to meet the challenges of globalization and to develop

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an inclusive plural and people-centred knowledge-based society across the country. The followings are the key recommendations of NKC: 

NKC has recommended to enhance quality education for Indian children. Besides, emphasizes that there is a need for a central legislation, affirming the Right to Education;



It has proposed generational changes in the school system which would encourage local autonomy in management of schools, decentralization and flexibility in disbursal of funds;



It recommends that the teaching of English as a language should be introduced, along with the first language of the child, starting from Class-I (One);

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It suggests Vocational Education and Training (VET), and its recommendations focus on increasing the flexibility of VET within the mainstream education system;

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It has suggested creation of models for community colleges that would provide credit and non-credit courses;

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It emphasizes improvement in the quality of Ph.D. for strengthening research work. Massive investment in education and research at all levels has also been suggested;

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It has recommended launching a massive science outreach programme, upgrading available infrastructure, revitalizing the teaching profession and revamping teacher training at all levels;

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It suggests replacement of the current regime of regulation in all professional education streams by sub-groups on different streams under the proposed independent regulator. Other measures for improving professional education include allowing greater autonomy to institutions, reforming the current examination system, developing contemporary curricula and encouraging research;

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It recommends development of translation activities as an industry and setting up a National Translation Mission with a focus on promoting translation activities across the country;



It points out establishment of a high-end National Knowledge Network connecting all our knowledge institutions in various fields and at various locations throughout the country, through an electronic digital broadband network with multiple of 10 Gbps (Gigabit per second) ultra-high speed capacity.

NKC and Libraries It is a universal truth that libraries are the Gateway of Knowledge that is why the library has recognized social function in making knowledge publicly available to all. They serve as local centers of information and learning. They are also local gateway to national and global knowledge. The NKC has realized the importance of libraries for development of every cross-section of the society and the nation as a whole too. The NKC took it as one of its first initiative to review library services, and to examine the present standards of public, private, institutional and specialized libraries and other information centers and resources, in order to create institutions that will serve the people. The Commission therefore set up a Working Group of Libraries in April, 2006 and report was submitted in August, 2006. The report states that the primary objective of the Commission would be to improve overall conditions of libraries with better collection, trained staff, ICT based service delivery, and certain basic amenities such as a reasonably good reading room, drinking water and hygienic toilets. Regarding the improvement of libraries, NKC made some recommendations in 2007. The recommendations are to:

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1. Set up a National Commission on Libraries; 2. Prepare a National Census of all libraries; 3. Revamp Library and Information Sciences education, training and research facilities; 4. Re-assess staffing of libraries; 5. Set up a Central Library Fund; 6. Modernize library management; 7. Encourage greater community participation in library management; 8. Promote Information Communication Technology (ICT) applications in all libraries; 9. Facilitate donation and maintenance of private collections; and 10. Encourage Public-Private Partnerships in development of library and information services. In view of the precise highlights of the NKC recommendations on libraries, it is said that it has attempted to give a sense of direction to organize the field of library and information services as a vital part of knowledge sector. It declares unequivocally that library and information services are fundamental to the goals of creating, preserving, disseminating, and optimally utilizing knowledge. They are instrumental in transforming an unequal society into an egalitarian and progressive knowledge society. National Strategies towards a Knowledge based Society The enormous industrial development of the last 200 years has now led to a second transformation from a highly industrial society to a knowledge based society. It is a society that creates, shares and uses knowledge for the prosperity and well-being of its people. In such a society, Information Technology (IT) is a dominant factor in the improved productivity performance. Knowledge skills and creativities have become key assets. Education will be the mainstay of such society and scholarship will enhance its value. It is concerned with human development with technological innovation and its impacts. As far as India is concerned, our outstanding human resources have the capacity to make India a Knowledge Society. If agriculture is an ancient Indian skill, biotechnology is the new frontier that India will concur. By using the native strengths of the people and enunciating appropriate national plans, this transformation can be further accelerated and used to solve the basic problems of the nation and to develop it as a sustainable knowledge society. It is now for all of us to jointly make it into an Action Plan that will take the country forward in all spheres of Knowledge Economy and the Knowledge Society. Followings are the National Strategies or Action Plans towards a knowledge based society: Employment Generation It is to implement a strategy which suggests designing, developing and deploying the high technology tools and methods applicable in different sectors. A four-tier approach is suggested for increasing employment potential in the knowledge economy: 

Creating structures for both biotechnology promotion and application;



Promotion of knowledge-based service industries in which India has competitive strengths;



Packaging and marketing our ancient scriptures and traditional knowledge, especially in medicine; and

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Improving capacity building in three mutually supportive areas; human resources development, Research and Development capabilities and application of technologies, flowing from innovations.

Wealth Generation The need of wealth generation cannot be neglected while developing a knowledge society. It is therefore following necessary considerations: 1. It is to implement a nationwide knowledge management framework for creating an environment where Knowledge creation is encouraged, nurtured, rewarded and finally deployed for achieving nation’s economic and societal objectives. The seven strategies identified for knowledge creation and utilization are: 

Creating capabilities and mechanism for effective functioning of Intellectual Property Rights;



Research & Development through networked environment;



Human resource planning and development;



Evolving an institutional (financial and technical) arrangement for facilitating innovation;



National and International market development;



Acquisition of selected technologies; and



Infrastructure development.

2. It is to promote local language voice interface to the web to enable greater dissemination of IT exploiting the larger telephone penetration in rural areas where literacy levels are low. 3. The high-quality Research & Development work being carried out in our government funded Research & Development establishments must be translated into commercially successful products. Towards this, a mechanism that will mandate conversion of such research into national wealth as well as migration of technologies for societal benefits should be evolved. 4. A number of technology parks and incubation centers with all basic infrastructures, including venture capital companies and legal advice, accessible to an entrepreneur at nominal cost, must be set up. 5. The existing Research & Development and IT infrastructure must be utilized for accelerating nationwide knowledge management for wealth generation. 6. To bring competitiveness in the national economy, an efficient innovation system needs to be established. 7. India should create a Traditional Knowledge Digital Library (TKDL) which would serve a bigger purpose in providing and enhancing its innovation capacity. Further, this would integrate widely scattered and distributed references on the Indian traditional knowledge systems in a retrievable form. It would act as a bridge between the traditional and modern knowledge systems. 8. A Knowledge Development Index needs to be worked out for the country. This must be used to monitor the interstate and intrastate changes in knowledge development and also help in planning, resource allocation, growth, etc.

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Knowledge and Information Resources Protection In order to protect our intellectual property and resources following measures are considered: 1. It is to design and implement an Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) system that will protect our indigenous innovations, concepts and traditional knowledge. 2. It is to initiate an action in order to bring awareness on IPR among all sections of population, including raising specialist human resources. 3. Research & Development efforts in information protection would be propelled by the growth of knowledge products developed to keep pace with the increasing e-commerce applications. Therefore major private sector initiatives in information security must be launched in a mission mode. 4. It is to develop secure algorithmic softwares for a variety of applications for secured electronic transactions, based on threat perception. 5. It is to create security awareness and confidence to secure transactions over the net. Societal Transformation A people’s movement marching towards Knowledge Society should be started to facilitate societal transformation. This movement would focus on: 

Time-bound programme for universal elementary education;



Ensuring awareness of and access to health care;



Spreading awareness of pride in our nation’s past heritage, expertise and skills; and



Mounting a massive campaign on education in human values, inculcating community solidarity, social harmony and environmental responsibility.

Implementation Structure and Mechanism The task of implementing the national transformation to a knowledge society has to be carried out through establishing a proper mechanism. Towards this end a Cabinet Committee for Knowledge Society (CCKS) is suggested. This committee, being the apex body, would evolve policies, guidelines, the needed management structure and consider the followings during implementation: 1. The employment generation model may be first experimented with agricultural States with higher unemployment problem; 2. An environmental monitoring mechanism as an integral part of technology development projects must be ensured; 3. The Nationwide knowledge management for wealth generation can also be experimented first in those states where Research & Development and infrastructure exists; 4. Nationwide knowledge movement needs participation by all and hence needs political approval and support from all parties. Process, both political and symbolic, for communicating change needs to be developed and implemented. Education and awareness of knowledge society needs to be emphasized; 5. The emphasis in a knowledge society would be more on knowledge than formal education. The growth in literate, educated and knowledgeable manpower would result in different social dynamics. This dynamics needs to be studied on continuous basis to provide mid-course correction to the programme; and

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6. A knowledge society would need massive empowerment at all levels. The empowerment of States, Districts, Villages, Gram Panchayats, and Educational Institutes etc. needs to be studied and be given priority. Task Force for India’s Development as a Knowledge Society The first Meeting of the Task Force for India’s Development as Knowledge Society was held on 10.3.2000 and Shri Atal Behari Vajpayee, the then Hon’ble Prime Minister, Government of India, unveiled a Five Point Agenda for India’s Development as Knowledge Society. The Five Point Agenda indicates to the following aspects: 1. Education for developing a learning society; 2. Global networking; 3. Vibrant Government-Industry-Academia implementation;

interaction

policy

making

and

4. Leveraging of existing competencies in IT, Telecom, Bio-technology, Drug Design, Financial Services, and Enterprise wide Management; and 5. Economic and Business strategic alliances built on capabilities and opportunities. These five points were then considered to implement making India a Knowledge Superpower in global perspective. Experts had predicted, a few years ago, that this millennium would belong to big super powers in this region of Asia and India is one. Conclusion Although certain initial attempts have been yielding results, a sense of doubt appears for the most part of NKC recommendations. But still one must have the reason to be optimistic that the prevailing pressure and the demand of the time shall strengthen the NKC, more and more, which has been constantly pressurizing on the efficient flourish and reform of the knowledge sectors. The government should find a way-frame and corridor to accomplish the NKC recommendations fully, otherwise the implicit course of the recommendations would just be in a paper for archival storage and historical importance. True implementation of the NKC recommendations can give a new face to the country and will go a long way in improving the quality and status of higher education and research in the country. The overall task before the NKC is to take steps that will give India a ‘knowledge age’ in the coming decades, i.e. to ensure that our country becomes a leader in the creation, application and dissemination of knowledge in the global perspective. References. 1. Dey, Dilip Kr. (2009). Role of college libraries in the context of NKC report. In Nandi (Ghosh), Ratna, ed. Opportunities and challenges of the college libraries in the context of National Knowledge Commission report. Kadamtala : Siliguri B.Ed. College; p.36-38. 2. E-prints in Library and Information Science. National Knowledge Commission of India: an overview. www. eprints. rclis.org /7462/1/National _Knowledge _Commission _overview .pdf 3. Ghosh, S. B. and Das, A. K. (2009). Information literacy and emerging knowledge economy in India. In Raghavan, K. S. and and Prasad, K. N. ed. Library and information systems : from Alexandrian heritage to social networking. Bangalore : Ess Ess Publication; p.13-43. 4. Goswami, P. R. (2009). National Knowledge Commission, libraries and library advocacy. In Singh, J.; Malhan, I. and Kaur, T., ed. Library and information science in digital age. New Delhi : Ess Ess Publication; p.830-841 EDULIGHT-Multi-disciplinary, Peer-Reviewed Journal

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5. India. National Knowledge Commission. (2008). Towards a knowledge society : three years of the National Knowledge Commission. www. Knowledge commission. gov. in/ downloads/ documents/ towards_knowledge society. pdf. 6. India. National Knowledge Commission. (2009). National Knowledge Commission report to the nation 2006–2009. www. Knowledge commission. gov.in/ downloads/ report 2009/ eng/ report 09. pdf 7. India. Planning Commission. (2009). India as knowledge superpower : strategy for transformation. www. Planning commission. nic.in/ aboutus/ taskforce/ tk_know. pdf 8. National Informatics Centre. (2015). National Knowledge Network : connecting knowledge institutions. www. nkn. in/ contact. php 9. Pachauri, R. K. Management education for this Knowledge Century. www. teriin. org/ upfiles/ pub/ articles/ gravitas_ 2009022 5160109. pdf 10. Paul, Nilima. (2009). Is NKC the ‘messiah’ to the college librarians? : a brief critique. In Nandi (Ghosh), Ratna, ed. Opportunities and challenges of the college libraries in the context of National Knowledge Commission report. Kadamtala : Siliguri B.Ed. College; p.17-27. 11. Satija, M. P. (2006). Democracy and knowledge society in India. In Kaul, H. K. and Malhan, I. V. ed. Knowledge, library and information networking. New Delhi : DELNET; p.19-30. 12. Venkatasubramanian. K. (2013). An approcah paper on India’s development as knowledge society. www. Planning commission. nic. in/reports/ articles/ venka/ index. php? repts= knowledge. htm 13. Wikipedia. (2015). National Knowledge Commission. en. wikipedia. org/ wiki/ National _Knowledge _Commission

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APPLICATIONS OF BOOLEAN ALGEBRA IN DIGITAL ELECTRONICS: AN OVERVIEW Pravash Mandal Assistant Professor, Department of Physics, NabadwipVidyasagar College, Nabadwip, Nadia – 741302, West Bengal, Email:pmandalnvc@gmail.com ABSTRACT In 1854 George Boole introduced a systematic treatment of logic and developed an algebraic system. This new algebraic system is known as Boolean algebra .However, in 1938 Claude Shannon is the first person who applied it in practical fields and introduced a two-valued Boolean algebra, called Switching algebra. He also demonstrated that the properties of bi-stable electrical switching circuits can be represented by this algebra. Subsequently, scientists and engineers realized that the Boolean algebra could be applied in developing computer circuits. Now-a-days all modern digital electronic systems, such as digital computer, digital multi-meter, digital voltmeter and ammeter, computer memories (e.g. ROM, RAM, CDROM etc.), digital watch, digital camera etc, all are based on the principle of Boolean algebra. In this paper we have given the definition of Boolean algebra using the postulates of E.V. Huntington and discussed different properties and basic theorems of Boolean algebra. Besides, application of Boolean algebra in constructing basic logic gates e.g. AND, OR and NOT gates have been discussed in details .Lastly, we have discussed two most important theorems-De Morgan’s first and second theorems of Boolean algebra, which are mostly used to simplify different Boolean expressions. Key words: Booleanalgebra, Digital Electronics, Logic Gates, De Morgan’s Theorems.

Introduction: For centuries mathematicians felt that there was a connection between mathematics and logic, but they had to wait till 1854 when George Boole could find this missing link. He invented the symbolic logic, popularly known as Boolean algebra. Each variable in Boolean algebra has one of the two values: true or false. The original purpose of this two state algebra was to solve logical problems. Claude Shannon is the first person who used Boolean algebra in practical fields. In 1938, he used it to analyze telephone switching circuits utilizing these two variables to represent relays under open and closed conditions. Thus Shannon opened a new application area for Boolean algebra. Considering Shannon’s work, engineers realized that Boolean algebra could be applied computer hardware circuitries. In 1854, George Boole introduced a systematic treatment of logic and developed an algebraic system. This system is called Boolean algebra. In 1938, Shannon introduced a two-valued Boolean algebra called switching algebra. He also demonstrated that the properties of bi-stable circuits can be expressed by this algebra. 1. Definition of Boolean algebra The formal definition of Boolean algebra (Mukhopadhyay and Das, 2007) has been obtained using the postulates formulated by E.V. Huntington in 1904. Boolean algebra is an algebraic structure defined on a set of elements S together with two binary operators “+” and “.” Providedthe following Huntington postulates are satisfied: Postulate1: Closure property a) Closure with respect to the operator ‘+’; b) closure with respect to the operator ‘.’ Postulate2: Existence of an identity element a) x+0= 0+x =x ; b) x.1 =1.x = x

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An identity element with respect to ‘+’ is designated by 0(zero) and the identity element with respect to ‘.’ is designatedby 1. Postulate3: Satisfying commutative law a) commutative with respective to ‘+’ i.e., x+y = y+x b) commutative with respective to ‘.’ i.e., x.y = y.x Postulate4: Satisfying distributive law a)’.’ is distributive over ‘+’ i.e., x.(y+z) = (x.y) +(x.z) b) ‘+’ is distributive over’.’ i.e., x+(y.z) = (x+y).(x+z) Postulate5: For every element x S,there exists an element x b) x. x = 0 where x is the complement of x. Postulate6: There exist at least two elements x, y

S such that a) x+ x = 1 and

S such that x ≠ y.

Differences between Boolean algebra with Ordinary algebra 1. Huntington postulates do not include the associative law. However,this law holds for Boolean algebra and can be derived (for both operators) from the other postulates. Associative law: A binary operator’ ’ on a set S is said to be associative whenever (x y) z =x (y z) for all x, y, z S. 2. The distributive law of ‘+’over ‘.’ i.e., x+(y. z) = (x+ y).(x+ z), is valid for Boolean algebrabut not for ordinary algebra. 3. Boolean algebra does not have additive or multiplicative inverse. Therefore, there are no subtraction or division operations. 4. Complement operation is not available in ordinary algebra. 5. Ordinary algebra deals with real numbers, constituting infinite set of elements. Boolean algebra deals with the set of elements B which is not properly defined, but in two-valued Boolean algebra, B is defined as a set with two elements, 0 and 1. Two-valued Boolean algebra A two-valued Boolean algebra (Malvino, 2001) is definedon a set of two elements B = {0,1}, with rules for the two binary operators’+’ and ‘. ‘as shown in the operator table 1.a and 1.b: Table 1.a Table 1.b x 0 0 1 1

y 0 1 0 1

x+y 0 1 1 1

x 0 0 1 1

y 0 1 0 1

x.y 0 0 0 1

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The rule for complement operator is shown in table 1.c Table 1.c x

0 1

1 0

It may be noted that the Huntington postulates are valid for the set B = {0, 1} and the two binary operators defined above. 2. Basic theorems and properties Boolean algebra 2.1Duality principle: The Huntington postulates have been grouped in pairs and these are designated by part (a) and part (b). One part may be obtained from the other if the operators and the identity elements are interchanged or in other words, one part may be obtained from the other if ‘+’ is interchanged with ‘.’ and ‘0’ is interchanged ‘1’. This interesting property of Boolean algebra is known as the duality principle. It states that every algebraic expression which is possible to derive from the postulates of Boolean algebra remains valid if the operators and the identity elements are interchanged .In a two-valued Boolean algebra, the identity elements and the elements of the set B are the same, viz. 1 and 0.The duality principle has many applications. If the dual of an algebraic expression is desired, we simply interchange ‘OR’ and ‘AND’ operators and replace 1’s by 0’s and vice-versa. 2.2 Some basic theorems of Boolean algebra 1.a) x+ x = x, b) x. x = x; 2. a) x + 1 = 1, b) x.0 = 0; 3.( x ) = x. 4.a) Associative law : x+(y + z) = (x+ y) + z; b) x(y z) = (x y)z; 5.a) ( x  y ) = x y ; b) xy = x + y ; 6.a) x+ x y = x; b) x(x +y) = x It is easy to prove the above theorems by using the Huntington postulates. 2. The logic of a switch Let us consider the circuit shown in fig.1. The circuit consists of a switch X, a bulb L and a battery E connected in series: The switch may have two states, viz. off and on. Depending on the two states of the switch, the bulb may glow or may not glow. Logically, the state of the switch can be expressed by a variable A which may be either 0 or 1.The off state of the switch represents logical 0 and on state represents logical 1. Similarly, the state of the bulb can be expressed by a variable fwhich has two possible values, theoffstateand the on state, and logically the value of ‘f’ may be either 0 or 1 respectively. Hence it may be written as: f = 1 when A =1 and f = 0 when A = 0.

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A 0 1

f 0 1

The possible combinations of dependent and independent variables have been tabulated in the table3.1, which is termed as truth table. From the table, the relation between A and f can be written as: f = A. Table3.1. Truth table The equation f = A is a Boolean equation and the variables A and f are known as Booleanvariables or binary variables since they may have only one value, either 0 or 1. 4. The AND Function: The circuit shown in fig.2 consists of a battery E, bulb L and two switches X and Y connected in series. As discussed above, the states of the switches can be expressed by two Boolean variables A and B, because these may have either of the two states, logical 0 or 1. Similarly, the indication of the bulb may be represented by the Boolean variable f, since it has only two states. The states may be either logical 0 or 1. Table4.1. Truth table for AND function Inputs A 0 1 0 1

B 0 0 1 1

output f =A.B 0 0 0 1

An inspection shows that, f = 0; when A = 0, B = 0; f = 0 when A =1, B = 0; f = 0 when A =0, B = 1; f = 1 when A = 1, B = 1. There are four combinations and the relation among the variables A, B and f has been presented in table 4.1.The truth table corresponds to AND FUNCTION, sometimes referred to as the Boolean multiplication function and the Boolean equation for AND function is, f =A . B or f = AB.In the world of digital electronics, the AND function is implemented electronically by an electronic gate, called the AND gate( Millman and Halkias, 2010). The conventional symbol for the AND gate is shown in fig. 3 in which the two input variables are A and B, and the output is f.

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4.1The OR function: Fig.4 represents an electrical circuit in which the parallel combination of the two switches X and Y are connected in series with a bulb L and a battery E. Here, in this circuit, A and B represent logical variables for the two switches X and Y respectively and also f represents logical output variable indicating the on or off condition of the bulb. An inspection shows that when one of the two switches or both are in on state, the bulb glows.In other words, when both the switches are off, the bulb does not glow. So, the function of the switches can be summarized as follows: f = 0 when A = 0, B = 0; f =1 when A = 0, B = 1; f = 1 when A = 1, B = 0; f = 1 when A = 1, B = 1. The possible combinations of the switches A and B along with their corresponding output have been tabulated in table4.2.This truth table corresponds to the OR function, sometimes referred to as the Boolean addition function. The algebraic form of the OR function is; f = A+ B,the symbol ‘+’ represents the logical OR operation. Table4.2. Truth table for OR function Inputs A 0 0 1 1

B 0 1 0 1

output f 0 1 1 1

In digital electronics, OR function is implemented electronically by an electronic gate, called an OR gate. The conventional symbol of OR gate is shown in fig.5, in which the input variables are Aand B, and the output variable is f.

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4.2 The Inversion Function: Let us consider the circuit shown in fig.6 in which the two switches X and Y are ganged i.e. inter-locked. When the switch X is on, Y becomes off and vice versa. The two variables A and B represent the logical states of the two switches X and Y, where B = A . Here B is said to be the inverse of A. The output variable f indicates the status of the bulb. The possible states of A are 0 and 1.It may be noted that, f = 1 when A = 0, B = A = 1; f = 0 when A = 1, B = A = 0. The relation between A, A and f are tabulated in table4.4.This truth table is for the inversion function or NOT function. The logical algebraic form of the above logic can be developed from truth table and is given by: f = A .

Table4.3.Truth table for NOTfunction A

A 1

4.3 NOT gate using Transistor: The NOT gate has only one input and one output. The output is in state ‘1’if the input is in ‘0’ state and vice versa. The symbol of a NOT is shown in fig.7 (Ghosh, 2008). The circuit diagram of a NOT gate using a transistor is shown in fig.8.

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If the input is 0V, the transistor is cut off and the output voltage is +5V (high). If the input is high, the transistor is driven to saturation region and the output will be0V (low).Thus the circuit behaves like a NOT gate. 5. De Morgan’s Theorem: The most important identities used in Boolean algebra are De Morgan`s theorems ( Chattopadhyay and Rakshit, 2010).These are stated below: Theorem1: The complement of a sum of two or more variables is the product of the complements of the variables. For two variables A and B, the theorem can be algebraically represented as: A  B = A . B . The general expression is:

A  B  ..........  N = A . B ……….. N . Proof: This theorem can be proved by truth table: Table5.1 A

A B

A.B

conclusion

A B= A.B

Theorem2: The complement of the productof two ormore variables is equal to the sum of the complements of the variables. For two variables A and B, the theorem can be algebraically written as: A.B = A + B . The general expression is:

A.B.C...........N = A + B +…………+ N . Proof: This theorem can be proved by truth table: Table 5.2 A

0 0 1 1

0 1 0 1

A.B 1 1 1 0

A+B 1 1 1 0

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A.B = A + B

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Conclusion: The logic gates are sometimes referred to as binary logic gates since these operate with binary numbers. The building blocks in a digital system are the logic gates. All digital systems e.g. digital computer, digital multi-meter and voltmeter, seven segment display, encoder, decoder, A/D and D/A converters, Flip-Flops, RAM, ROM, CDROM etc. are built using the three basic gates, i.e. AND, OR and NOT gates.Moreover, other logic gates such as NOR, NAND, EXCLUSIVE-OR, EXCLUSIVE-NOR find applications in different digital systems also. References     

Chattopadhyay D. and Rakshit P. C. ( 2010). Electronics –Fundamentals and Applications; 11th edition.New Age International Publishers, New Delhi. Ghosh B. (2008) Advanced Practical Physics, Volume II; 3rd edition. Sreedhar Publishers, Kolkata. Malvino A. P. (2001). Digital Computer Electronics: An Introduction to Microcomputers; 3rd edition. Tata Mcgraw Hill, New Delhi. Millman J. and Halkias C. (2010). Integrated Electronics: Analog and Digital Circuits and Systems; 2nd edition. Tata Mcgraw Hill, New Delhi. MukhopadhyayA. K. and Das A.(2007).Fundamentals of Computer Systems and Programming Technique; 4th edition.KalimataPustakalaya, Kolkata.

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THE METALLURGICAL STUDY IN ANCIENT INDIA Priyanka Mandal Ph.D. Research Scholar, Department of Sanskrit Department, Rabindra Bharati University, Kolkata, West Bengal, E-mail: mandalpriyanka1988@gmail.com Use of metal started in India from the very beginning of her civilization. Archaeological discoveries of different metal items of the sindhu sarasvati civilization support this fact. In the vedic age too use of metals continued. Mentions the gold, silver and copper are found in several places of Rk saṃhitā, Kṛṣṇa Yajuḥ Saṃhitā in the mantra 4/7/5and Sukla Yajuḥ Saṃhitā in the mantra 18/13 mentions and Chāndogya Upanisad in 4/17/7 mention five metals. In the Sukla Yajuḥ Saṃhitā(19/80) it is said that led was used in the weaving machine. The Chāndogya Upanisad too mentions of five metals in the following mantra: “tad yathā lavaneno suvaruam sandadhyāt suvarubna rajatam rajatena trapu trapumā sīsam sīena lolam lohena dāru dāru carmaṇa”etc(4/17/17). In the two epics namely the Rāmāyaṇa and the Mahābhārata, we read about gold ornaments dropped on the mount of Ṛiśyamūka by Sītā while being Draupadī carried out by Rāvaṇa, the copper dish gifted by Surya to during her stay in forest, the weapons made of copper and brass during the battle of Kurukṣetra or the iron icon of Bhima crashed and pounded by Dhṛtarāṣtṛa. It is not irrelevant to mention here that in the period, copper was called ‘ayas’. After discovery of iron, the new found metal was called ‘Kṛṣṇāya’ and copper started to be called ‘lohitāyas’. Latter on copper got its new name ‘tāmra’ which replaced the name ‘lohitāyas’ and simultaneously iron dropped the prefix Kṛṣṇa from its name and started to be called ‘ayas’ only which currest even today. Originally ‘tāmra’ was name of a colour. In support of the fact, we may quote phrase ‘tāmra aruṇaḥ’ from the Sukla Yajuḥ Saṃhitā 16/6. Total eight metals were discovered in India, namely gold, silver, copper, lead, tin, iron mercury and zinc. The first six were discovered before the Vedic period came to an end. For the discovery mercury we were to wait for Nāgārjuna who is called ‘the father of mercury’. Zinc or ‘yasoda’ is recorded Tantra literature of later age. First organized and systematic discussion on metallurgy is found in the Arthaśastra of Kouṭilya of the 4th century BC. The Arthaśastra contains fifteen adhikāras, each adhikāra is again divided into adhyayas. The 12th 13th and 14th adhyayas of the 2nd adhikāra (Adhyakṣapracāra) is devoted to the metallurgical discussion. According to Kouṭilya, all the mines situated within the boundary of the kingdom should be under control of the Royal Administration, as they are a big source of tax collection. He says…… “ākara prabhavaḥ kośaḥ

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Kosada daṇdaḥ prajāyate pṛthivī kośadandābh yām prāpyate kosa bhūṣauā”.(2/12/37) The mines beget the treasury, army is maintained by treasury. With the treasury and the army, the earth is obtained with the treasury as its ornament. The tittle of the 12th adhyaya is ‘ākarakarmānta pravartanam’ which discusses the duties and activities of the Khanyadhyakṣa, Ᾱkarādhyakṣa and Lohadhyakṣa. The word ‘loha’ in the term ‘lohākṣa’ here means metal in general not iron. In the Arthaśastra, the word used for iron is ‘tīkṣṇadhātu’. The copper(12th)starts with locating of mines----old and new and detection of ores of gold, silver, copper, lead, tin and iron. After the lengthy description of the ores of gold and silver, Kouṭilya describes the ore of copper as--“bhārikaḥ snigdho mṛduś ca prastaradhutur bhumibhāgo vā piṅgalo haritaḥ pāṭalo lohito vā tāmra dhatuḥ(2/12). Copper: “ore from rocks or a region of the earth, which is heavy, unetuous and soft (and which is) tawny, green, reddish or red (in colour) is copper ore”. He describes the lead as---“kāka mecakaḥ kapata rocanāvaruaḥ svetarāji maddho vā visra sīsa dhātuḥ”(2/13). Lead: “that which is crow black or the colour of the dove or yellow pigment or studded with white liner (and) smelling like raw flesh is lead ore”. Tin is --“ūsarakarvuraḥ pakva loṣṭavarṇo vā trapudhatuḥ”(2/14). Tin: “that which is grey like saline earth or of the colour of a baked lump of earth is tin ore”. Iron is—“khurumbaḥ pāṇdu rohitaḥ sinduvārapuṣpavarno vā tīkṣṇa dhātuḥ” (2/15). Iron: “that which is made up mostly of smooth stones is whitish red or of the colour of sinduvāra flower is iron ore”. This chapter also discusses on minting of coins like paṇam ardhapaṇam pādam aṣṭa bhāgam māṣakam ardhamāṣakam kākaṇīm ardhakākaṇīm. Name of the 13th chapter is akṣaśālāyān suvarṇādhyakṣa. Its subject matter is duties of the Superintendent of gold in the work shop. The entire 14th chapter is spent on discussions on duties of Royal gold smith in the Market Highway. Name of the chapter is viśikhāyāṃ sauvarnika pracār. In the lateqjr4wqsr age, specially since the age of Nāgārjuna, Indian metallurgical study markedhy developed in method and process. Nāgārjuna’s Rasaratuākara is avowedly a book on chemistry. It is the oldest among available books on the subject. Other books on the same subject are Rasārṇava, Rasaratnasamuccaya, Rasaprakāśa, Rasendracuḍāmani etc. Even some books on tantra literature contain discussion on metallurgy. The chapter titled as “Dhātukriyā” or “Dhātumajarī” of the Rudrayāmala tantra may be cited as example.

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Kākacaṇḍesvarimata is another book of tantra literature and important for metallurgical discussion. In the Kouṭilya’s time, metals or ores were detected by comparing the new founds with established characteristics. But since the age of Rasaratnākara, identification of a particular metal was made on the fire: Rasārṇava says---“ sulve nīlā……vange jvālā kapotā ca nāge malina dhūmatā” that means—‘copper yield a blue flame…that of tin is pigeoncoloured, that of lead is pale-tinted’(iv.49-50). The purity too of a metal in general were tested on the fire as follow: “na visphulinga na budbudaś ca yadā na rekhāpaṭalam na śabdaḥ mūṣāgatam ratnasamam sthirañ ca tadā viśuddham pravadanti loham” (Rasārṇava,iv.52) ‘A pure metal is that which when melted in a crucible does not give of sparks, nor bubbles, nor spurts, nor emits any sound, nor shows any likes on the surface but is tranquil like a gem’. Another difference from Kouṭilya’s Arthaśastra is that these rasaśāstras have dealt with mercury. Nāgārjuna is known to have invented the process of extracting mercury from ‘hingula’ or cinnabar. We see that all the Post-Nāgārjuna books are enthusiastic about the study of mercury. Nāgārjuna is alsocreditable for inventing the process of extracting zine from ‘rasaka’or calamines. He notes in his Rasaratnākara--“kṣāra snehaiś ca dhānyāmlai Rasaka bhavitaṃ bahu/ ūrṇā lākṣā tathā pathyā bhūlatā dhūmasaṃ yutam//31// mūka mūṣā gataṃ dhumātaṃ taṅ kanena samanvitam/ sattvaṃ kuṭilasaṅkāśaṃ patate nātra saṃśayaḥ//32// Nāgārjuna did not baptize the new found metal. It seemed to him ‘Kouṭilasaṃkāśa’ or ‘like tin’. In the Rasaratnasamuccaya, too the metal has been described as ‘bangābka’ that means ‘like tin’. But in the Rasaprakāśasudhākara the metal is described as ‘sīsopama’or like lead. It is the Rudrayanalatantra that has first given the Sanskrit systems of zinc--“jāsatvaṃ ca jarātītaṃ rājataṃ yasa dayakam/ rūpyabkrātā varīyaś ca trotakaṃ komalaṃ laghu//50//

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carmmakaṃ koualaṃ caiva rasakaṃ rasabarddhhakam/ sadṃpathyaṃ rasabarddhakaṃ/ pītorāgaṃ subhas makam//51// etattu kharpara nāma kāryya karmmase siddhi dam/ rasarājārdrakaṃ karma kṛtav siddhis tu jāyate”//52// But all are not synonymes, some are adjectives of the metal. An alloy of zinc is brass prepared with combination of copper Rudrayānalatantra said…. “nauani dhātusaṃ yoge Jātāni tāni ca śṛṇu sulvakharpara saṃyog jāyate pītalam sublean”.//63// [sulva=copper, kharpara=zinc] According to the Rasaratnasamuccaya, brass has two varieties-“rītikā kākatuṇḍī ca dvividhaṃ pittalaṃ bhavet/ santaptā kāñcike kṣiptā tāmrābkā rītikā matā// evaṃ yā jāyate kṛṣṇā kākatuṇḍī sā matā”//192-193// Another alloy of copper is kāṃsya which meant both bronze and bell metal in ancient India. Actually both are alloys of copper and tin in different ratio. About Bronze Concise Oxford Dictionary says---“Brown alloy chiefly of copper and tin (about 8:1) also says about bell metal---“alloy of copper and tin (more tin than bronze). On the ratio of copper and tin in the kāṃsya, Rasaratnasamuccaya says: “aṣṭabhāgena tāmreṇa Dvibhāga kuṭilena ca Vidrutena bhavel kaṇsyam”.

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Reference 1. History of Chemistry in Ancient and Medieval India. Ed Society,1956.

P. Roy. India:Chemical

2. Rasārṇava. Ed. Praphulla Chandra Rāy and Hariś Chandra Kaviratua. Rpt. Calcutta: Asiatic Society, 1985. 3. Sāmavedīyā

Chandogyopaniṣad,

prathama

bhāga.

Ed.

Durgācarana

Sāṃkhyavedāntatīrtha. Calcutta: Deb Sahitya Kutir Pvt Ltd, October, 1984. 4. [Ṥukla O Kṛṣṇa] Yajurveda-samhitā. Ed. Vijanvihārī Gosvāmī. 12th ed. Calcutta: Haraph Prakāṣanī, October, 1977. 5. The Kouṭilīya Arthaśastra. Ed. R.P. Kangle. 2nd ed, 1969. Rpt. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers Pvt. Ltd, 1992.

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BANKIM CHANDRA CHATTERJEE IN THE FIELD OF INDO – ANGLIAN LITERATURE Professor Keya Ghatak Teacher – in – Charge, Berhampore Girls’ College & Head of the Department in English, Head of the Department in Communicative English and Chairperson of Physiological Society of India.2014, Berhampore, District - Murshidabad, West Bengal, E-mail: kghatakbgc@gmail.com Lord William Bentinck set the Thames on fire to take the decision of making English the medium of education in India. The introduction of English education in India played a sheet anchor role in the life and literature of the people. The inauguration of the Universities of Bombay, Calcutta and Madras in 1857 was a momentous one. English became the medium of thought and expression among the Indian intelligentsia. It cast a magic spell upon the soul of Indian People. As a result, Indo – Anglian literature won laurels to become rich in every branch. Although Indo – Anglian literature was rich in every branch, Indo – Anglian fiction had placed India on the literary map of the world. Fiction had brought India home to foreigners. Indo – Anglian fiction had indeed opened a window for foreigners through which they colud see and know India as Indians themselves would like to see and know her. Bankim Chandra Chatterjee was the first Indian to write and publish a novel in English. From The Calcutta Gazette on 09.11.1860, we come to know that he was the Deputy Collector and Deputy Magistrate of East Bengal. It was published in The Calcutta Gazette, “ Baboo Bunkim Chunder Chatterjee B.A., Dy. Magistrate and Dy. Collector, to the charge of the Sub - Division of Khoolnah, and to exercise the full powers of Magistrate in Jessore.” Regarding his work as Administrator of Khulna, C. I. Backland wrote, “ While in charge of the Khulna sub – division (now a district) he helped very largely in suppressing river dacoities and establishing peace and order in the eastern canals.” His experience as an Administrator in East Bengal helped him to write Rajmohan’s Wife which was based on the theme of life of Zaminder in East Bengal. His Rajmohan’s Wife was published in 1864. Bankim Chandra was not satisfied to write his first English novel. As his Rajmohan’s Wife was not written in Bengali, it was not familiar among the Benglees of that time. The novel represented the life of Zaminder of East Bengal. After the death of Zaminder of East Bengal, the lover of his young Second wife , Banshi Badan Ghosh, captured all property of Zaminder. In future, the son of Banshi Badan Ghosh became Zaminder of Radhaganj. The main characters of the novel were Mathur and Madab , two grandsons of Banshi Badan Ghosh , Rajmohan who was the brother – in – law of Madab and their wives Champa, Hemangani and Matangani. Madab got all of his uncle’s property after his death as his uncle had no son. Madab got a letter from a lawyer and came to know the declaration of his aunt regarding the will of his uncle as fraud. Madab realized that this was the trickery of Mathur. All on a sudden, at night Matangani came to know that somebody consulted with Rajmohan about the theft of will from the house of Madab at dawn. Matangani was very much surprised to get some idea regarding the original nature of her husband. Matangani decided to tell everything to her sister and sister – in – law. As a result , Madab became alert to come to know everything from Matangani. The ambition of Rajmohan was not fulfilled. Rajmohan came to know that Matangani had given all information beforehand to Madab.

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Rajmohan wanted to punish his wife but he was not successful. This was the main theme of Rajmohan’s Wife. This novel was not published in the life – time of Bankim Chandra as it was written in English. Although it had some weakness yet it proved the scholarly genius of Bankim Chandra as a novelist and his contribution to the development of Indo – Anglian literature. The following language of Bankim Chandra from Rajmohan’s Wife has made us spell – bound. “ The recent shower had lent to the morning a delightful and invigorating freshness. Leaving the mass of floating clouds behind, the sun advanced and careered on the vast blue plain that shone above: and every house – top and tree – top, the cocoa – palm and the date – palm, the mango and the acacia received the flood of splendid light and rejoiced.” This type of romantic description of nature has cast a permanent stamp on our mind. This language is the hallmark of his genius. According to some critic Rajmohan’s Wife is a romantic and domestic novel. From this novel we can get a romantic picture of domestic life of Zaminder of that time. Besides this, he wrote many famous novels in Bengali and criticised those novels in English. At the time of writing Kapal Kundala, he read Comedy of Errors, King Lear, Romeo and Juliet, Othello, Macbeth, Hamlet, Lays of Ancient Rome, Ode to a Nightingale, Don Juan, Lucretia and Laodamia in order to enrich his mind . J. S. Mill remarked about Kapal Kundala, “ Real Fatalism is of two kinds. Pure or Asiatic Fatalism, the Fatalism of Oedipus, holds that our actions do not depend upon our desires. Whatever our wishes may be, a superior power, or an abstract Destiny, will overrule them, and compel us to act, not as we desire, but in the manner predestined. The other kind, modified Fatalism I will call it.”. Bankim Chandra criticised Kapal Kundala after five years of publication of this novel in his essay Bengali Literature by pointing out, “ The Kapalika ( at) length dragged Naba Kumar to land, but Kapal Kundala was seen or heard of no more. And so the story ends, much to the disappointment of most Bengali readers, who much prefer the orthodox ending, where all live happily ever after.” The long criticism regarding Kapal Kundala was published in The Bengalee Patrika to pay a tribute to the genius of Bankim Chandra wholeheartedly , “ This novel, the name of which we have placed at the head of this article, is a wonderful specimen indeed of the ability of mind to crush its way through difficulties which language presents to the onward pressure of glorious thoughts.” Bankim Chandra enriched Indo – Anglian literature to write some essays in English. He read his own essay On the Origin of Hindu Festivals on 20.01.1869 in Bengali Social Science Association. In this essay ” Bankim Chandra divided Hindu Festivals into Six Groups in the following way. They were “ 1) Solstitial festivals, viz., the Rath and the Makar Sankranti. 2) Astral festivals, as the Durga Puja and the Kartick Puja. 3) Season festivals, as the Dol Jatra and the three other full – moon festivals. 4) Agricultural festivals, which are in honour of Lakshmi, the Hindu Ceres. 5) Mythological festivals, like the Kali Puja and the Jugaddhatri, which appear to the most modern of all. 6) Lastly, festivals which apparently owe their origin to the popular dread of some physical agent of mischief, as the Manasa festival, celebrated to propitiate snakes.” But he said that he had not been able to trace any to a historical origin. In his speech on A Popular Literature for Bengal in Bengal Social Science Association Bankim Chandra said, “ A beginning may be made in every village where there is a Vernacular or Anglo – Vernacular School.” In his English essay entitled Bengali Literature, Bankim Chandra expressed his view regarding

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Bengali literature from Ancient Age to his own Age. His scholarly remarks regarding the poets and man of letters of that time have totally made us spell – bound. Regarding Jayadeva he remarked, “The only Bengali Sanskrit poet of any eminence was Jayadeva, and he does not stand in the first rank. There is not one Bengali name which can compare with those of Kalidas, Megha, Bharavi and Sriharsha.” Bankim Chandra gave a totally different opinion on the writings of Pundit Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar. He could not praise the works of Vidyasagar. According to him , Vidyasagar was only a Translator. He wrote that Vidyasagar’s “ claims to the respect and gratitude of his countrymen are many and great, but high literary excellence is certainly not among them. He has a great literary reputation; so had Iswar Chandra Gupta: but both reputations are undeserved, and that of Vidyasagar scarcely less so than that of Gupta.” The speech of Bankim Chandra in the ‘ Report on the Census of Bengal 1872’ regarding Caste in Lower Bengal was also attractive. He wrote, “ The most important point in connection with Hindu castes is the question of their mutual relation to each other. The fact that each caste has a calling of its own is of less importance – it is not the cause that led to the division of people into castes, but merely a consequence of that division.” Some letters of Bankim Chandra proved his excellency in the field of Indo – Anglian literature. His letter written to Sambhu Chandra was praise - worthy. In his writing in 1872, he pointed out, “I wish you every success in your project. (Mookerjee’s Magazine) I have myself projected a Bengali Magazine with the object of making it the medium of communication and sympathy between the educated and the uneducated classes.” His response to the call of Sambhu Chandra requesting to supply material for the English Magazine was also remarkable. He replied, “For the English Magazine, I can undertake to supply you with novels, tales, sketches and squibs. I can also take up political questions, as you wish. Malicious fortune has made me a sort of jack of all trades and I can turn up any kind of work, from transcendental metaphysics to verse - making.” The writings of Bankim Chandra reveal an intensely felt Indian sensibility. The settings, the characters, the ethos, and the atmosphere of his writings remain essentially Indian. This new writing in English is characterized by experimentation and innovation and realistic attitude, authentic creative urge and an equally superb craftsmanship. We come to know about his position as Deputy Collector in Berhampore from The Amrita Bazar Patrika in 1873, “ According to his { Bunkim Chunder Chatterjee the Dy. Collector of Berhampoor) opinion, ‘ much of the general feeling of distrust towards the Government which has often been the comment, is due to the action of the native press.’...We are taken by surprise at the remarks of an educative native like Bunkim Babu, who holds no inconsiderable position in our society.” The tribute of Ramesh Chandra regarding Bankim Chandra gives us a complete idea about Bankim Chandra’s position in Bengali and in Indo – Anglian literature. Ramesh Chandra wrote, “ From admiring the grandeur and glory of the great, we would now willingly turn to appreciate liberty and resistance in the lowly. We for one hail as the dawn of a better future and we take Babu Bankim Chunder Chatterjee as leader and representative of this healthy change in literature. That he may live long, and that his works may inspire in the mind of every Bengali a love for freedom and individuality is our sincere wish and cherished hope.” References 

Bangiya Sahitya Parishad. ' Bankim Rachanabali'.

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  

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Bhattacharyya, B.B. ’An Introduction To Education’ (Basusree Press, Calcutta, 1986.). Bhattacharya, A. ’BANKIMCHANDRAJIBANI’ (Ananda Publishers Private Limited, Calcutta - 9) Long, J. William. ‘English Literature’ (Shivam Press, Delhi - 110095)

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A STUDY ON DEVELOPMENT OF GIRLS’ EDUCATION IN WEST BENGAL WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO NADIA DISTRICT Pulin Mondal Assistant Teacher, S.M. Nasir Smriti High School, Plassey, Nadia West Bengal & Dr. Arjun Chandra Das Assistant Professor, Department of Education, University of Kalyani, West Bengal, E-mail: acdas2012@gmail.com ABSTRACT This paper shows that Education enhances a women’s sense of her own health needs, prosperity, development and welfare. Discrimination of women from womb to tomb is well known. There is continued inequality and vulnerability of women in all sectors- Economic, Education, Social, Political, Health Care, Nutrition, Right and Legal etc. women oppressed in all spheres of life, they need to be empowered in all walk of life. In order to fight against the socially constructed gender biases, women have to swim against the system that requires more strength. Such strength comes from the process of empowerment and empowerment will come from the education. And rural development will come from women education. The growth of women’s education in rural areas is very slow. This obviously means that still large womenfolk of our Nadia District are illiterate, the weak, backward and exploited.” Education of women in the education of women is the most powerful tool of change of position in society. Education also brings a reduction in inequalities and functions as a means of improving their status within the family. Key - Words: Women Education, Female Literacy Rate, Women Empowerment

Introduction Education provides necessary knowledge and skills which enables an individual to operate ideally in the society and also contribute to its functioning. John Dewey regards educational process as a continuous process of adjustment having as its aim at every stage an added capacity of growth. A large proportion Nadia’s population lives in conditions of poverty and illiteracy. Education, in any form needs to be provided to them for improving their quality of life. The Kothari Commission made demand as “We want education for life We want education for all” Discrimination of women from womb to tomb is well known. All over the world, in communities across time and space, women and men are constituted as distinctly unequal categories: as compared to men, women are usually seen to have more deprived status in terms of access to resources and enjoyment of rights and freedom that together enhance the quality of human life: The National Perspective Plan for Women 1988 – 2000AD (1988) gives us the following profiles of women in India. There is continued inequality and vulnerability in all sectors – economic, social, political, education, health care, nutrition and legal. Women are oppressed in the spheres of life; they need to be empowering in all walks of life. This is also tellingly brought out in the following observation recorded by the United Nations; “Women: half of mankind, they perform two-thirds of the world’s material goods.” Due to such current situation, it was needed to make women free from all the shackles and to empower them as well. This is nothing but empowerment of women. In this context the present researcher is interested to review the gradual development of women’s education and also the present status of women elementary education in Nadia District.

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Statement of the Problem The low rate of women education development is the hardest deficiency of national education development and the improvement of the nation. In the present study the investigator proposes to study the problem- A STUDY ON DEVELOPMENT OF GIRLS EDUCATION IN WEST BENGAL WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO NADIA DISTRICT Objectives The main objectives of the study are: 

To analyses the importance of women education.



To study the Nadia District at a glance.



To discuss the history of education of Nadia district.



To examine the development of education in Nadia district.



To analyses the barriers of women education.

Significance of the Study The significance of the study 

The study will reveal the actual status of women education at secondary level in our society.



It will help to know that, whether the Education of women at secondary level is developed or not, and if it is developed then to which extent it is.



It will be helpful to know about the different deficiencies of the women education.



For overcoming the barriers of the educational systems it will help the planner, developer, reformer, administrator and supervisor of the educational system.



It will be resources of the next researcher works.



The study will make conscious all the people concerned to Education in our society.

Method The method of Historical Research and Survey Method are used in the present study. The main purpose of historical research is to arrive at an accurate account of the past so as to gain a clearer perspective of the present. This knowledge enables us at least partially to predict and control our future existence. In this study also, the researcher has tried to give a picture to the growth of women’s education in India since Independence. In this relation the situation of women’s education up to the Colonial period is also estimated. With the help of this, present educational situation girls up to the secondary level, is examined. Review of Related Study Review of related researches is an important aspect in the field of investigation. As the project work is concerned with the perception about the development of girl’s education in West Bengal with special reference to Nadia District, the investigator has tried to review a few related studies in this field. Sen (2000) in his study attempts to bring out the features of the SHGs promoted by a NGO namely Sreema Mahila Samity in Nadia district of West Bengal on the basis of microstudies. Sreema Mahila Samity (SMS) is a voluntary organization, which is managed by and works mainly with women. The organization was founded and started activities in 1972. At

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that time, women of only one village called Baranaberia in Nadia district, West Bengal were organized to start integrated development activities. To study the stage of development of SHGs promoted by Sreema Mahila Samity and its impact on women members; a study of 10 SHGs selected in Nadia district on a random sampling technique was undertaken in 1999. Importance of Women Education Women education in India plays a very important role in the overall development of the country. It not only helps in the development of half of the human resources, but in improving the quality of life at home and outside. Educated women not only tend to promote education of their girl children, but also can provide better guidance to all their children. Moreover educated women can all development investment both private and social benefit that accrue to individual, families and society at large by: 

Reducing women’s fertility rate.



Lowering infant and child mortality rate.



Lowering maternal mortality rate.



Protecting against HIV/AIDs infection.



Increasing women’s labor force participation rate and earnings.



Creating inter-generational educational benefit.

So women’s education is important both for the women of themselves and for the family, society and the nation as a whole. Nadia District at a Glance 

Literacy (Census 2011)

Total literacy rate – 3480555 (74.97%)

b) Male literacy rate – 1878866 (78.75%) c)

Female literacy rate -1601689 (70.89%)

[Source: www. nadi.nic.in] 

Education

A) Dies (2007-08) Wise 1. Primary School- 2607 2. Total students of Primary School- 370082 3. High School- 462 4. Total students of High School- 311683 5. Child School- 659 6. Total students of Child School – 51,010 7. Madhyamik School- -103 8. Total students of Madhyamik School – 24850 [Source: Uttaran 2003-08, Zilla Parisad Publishied]

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B) Development of Education (2006-07, 2007-08): Year-wise % of Rate Index(2006-07) (2007-08)

Sl. No.

Index

10,000 student-wise all (Primary +Higher Primary School)

37.50

39.30

S.C.R

60.59

53.89

No. of School (%) (S.C.R.>60)

43.59

32.50

No. of School (availability of drinking water)

93.52

100.0

No. of School (availability of toilet)

83.50

100.0

No. of School teacher

34.85

37.08

No. of Teacher without Vocational Training

38.18

29.09

P.T.R

48.65

42.03

No. of School (P.T.R.>60)

17.62

13.12

10.

No. of School with 1 teacher (Student>15)

00.00

[Source: Uttaran 2003-08, Zilla Parisad Publication]

C) Other Educational Institution 1. Handicapped school - 04 2. Child Labour School (N.C.L.P. Projict) - 15 3. Rabindra Open School - 17 4. Madrashs School -17 5. College (General) - 18 6. Teacher Training Collage – 07 7. Engineering Vocational Teacher Training College – 05 8. Law College – 01 9. Universality – 03 History of Education of Nadia District The culture of education of Nadia is very good form very early time. In the history of ancient period, as per description of ‘ Mahabansh’( about 2500 years before) Nabadwip was existed as educationaly cultured centre. Nabadwip and Santipur are also very popular from ancient age as traditional educational centre. It is proved 1. Pre-British Period In pre-British period, traditional education system also existed in Nadia, like different parts of Bengal, before introducing the English medium education system. 15th and 16th decade record and paper proved that for primary education pathsala and for higher education chatuspati were existed. In Bengal, Pal and Sen era Nabadwip and other area ‘ Chatuspati’ was founded for practicing Indian Kabya, Baiyakaran, Naya, Smriti, Astrology in Sultan era with the help of Sultan Hasen sahi, Nabadwip was progressed as educational centre and considered as “Oxford of Bengal”. As per Brindaban Das it is found in chaitanaya Bhagbat that many students came to Nabadwip from outside. It was a Golden period Nayachary Basudeb Sarabobhoumo, Raghunath, Smarta Raghunandan, Tantrik Krishnaanda

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Agambagish was famous for their windom, the chatuspatis and tols were the cntre of higher studies. In pathsala primary level reading level reading, writing and mathematics were taught. Not enough data was available about pathsala. In the last of 4th decade and frist of 20th century, Nabadwip was famous for its educational culture throughout India. Santipur, UlaBipnager, Belpukur, Bilwagram, Kamalpur (Chakdah), Kanchkuli, Palpara were also famous. 2. Expansion of Modern Education (British Period) The first education in Nadia was introduced by Christian Missioanry Mr. Dear. “But the first school was not opened before 1832 when a Church of England Missionary by the name of Mr. Deerr, then stationed at Kalna in Burdwan district, went to krishnagar and Nabadwip. He opined two schools in Nabadwip and one in Krishnagar (Bengal District Gazettes: Nadia, 1910-J.H.E. Garrett). The Christian Missionary society came forward to spread the primary ducation and other education in Nadia District. The school was established at chapra in 1850 to spread the English among people. Girl’s was established at Krishnagar in 1891. Primary Education: Primary schools were established with the effort of government in the second half of the 19th century. According to the information of W.W. Hunter, about 229 primary schools were established during1871-72 in Nadia District. A total of 4836 students studied in these schools. During 1898-99, there were 615 lower primary schools and 85 upper primary schools. There were about 20824 students. It is known from the Bengal District Gazettes, Nadia, 1910 that there were 706 lower primary schools, and 123 upper primary schools in Nadia District- A number of 31235 students were there in the schools. There were152 girls schools among the primary schools that included 3983 girls students from the district. After the independence, the primary education structure was reconstructed in Nadia district. During 1951-52, there were 808 primary schools in Nadia district that included 73174 students to learn. During 1960-61 there were 1393 primary schools and 153077 students were there in the schools. Among them125 primary schools were controlled by the Government where 24305 students were there. Primary schools (1126 Nos.) were controlled by the municipality and district school board about 110610 students was there in these schools. Census, 1961 showed that among the 5-14 aged students 35-58% were boys and 29.18% girls studied in the schools. Bengal rural primary education Act was passed in 1930. According to this Act district school board, Nadia started its work on 1st March 1935. After independence Tarak Das Bondopadhya was the secretary of this board. Now it is present as district primary school council, Nadia. In Nadia district there is primary teacher’s training college at Bara Andulia , Bara Jaguli, Dharmada and Krishnagar, Jr. basic Training College. There is a Teacher’s Training College for women in Krishnagar named Dijendralal Ray Teacher’s Training College for women. Madhyamik Education: In the pre –Independence period, Madhyamik education was in two stage in Nadia District- there were I)Middle English school and ii) High English School. After Independence they were transformed to i) Junior High and Senior Basic School, ii) Schools for class X and class XI and Higher Secondary School. According to Hunter Report (Statistical Account of Bengal, W.W. Hunter, 1875) during 1871-72, there were 69 middle schools in Nadia District where 3526 students studied. Among them 4 schools were led by Govt., 53 schools were Govt. sponsored, 8 were private English Medium schools and 4 were individually controlled Vernacular school. The 4 vernacular schools were controlled by European Missionaries Madhyamik schools were established in different places of Nadia district in the 19th century. Krishnagar collegiate school was established in 1846. It was the

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first Higher School in Nadia district St. John’s C.M.S. school was established in 1834 and Hutcharpara king Edward school was established in 1841. But Krishnagar Collegiate School was first approved in 1857 after the establishment of Kolkata University. After independence, Madhyamik education in Nadia district was widely spread. During 1951-52, there were 60 high schools where there were 19721 students. During 1971-72, this number becomes 117 and 41172. Higher Education (Colleges): With the introduction of modern education in the 19th century, the higher education was also developed in Nadia district. Krishnagar Govt. College was established in 1846 on 1st January. It is the oldest college in Bengal. First principal of this college was D.L Richardson. From the very beginning Ramtanu Lahiri and Madan Mohan Tarkalankar were appoint as Teachers of the college. After the establishment of Calcutta University in 1857, the college was affiliated to graduate level. From 1896-97 to 1920-21, there was Law College in Nadia district. During 2nd World War (1946), the Vidyasagar College was established at Nabadwip. With the growth of population, the number of students also began to increase and colleges were established with the non-government organizations. Santipur College was established in 1948. This college was first affiliated to Calcutta University for vocational courses. Ranaghat College was established in Nadia district. Now, there are 26 colleges in Nadia district and those are affiliated to Kalyani University. University: Kalyani of University was established in 1960 for post-graduate courses. It is situated at with a large area at ‘C’ block covering about 400 acres of land. Arts, Science, Commerce and education were studied at post-graduate and under graduate level. But after 2000-01, only post-graduate courses are conducted in the university. First V.C of the University was Prof. Sachindranath Dasgupta. At present about 30 subjects are taught in this University at the post-graduate level. Library Science and Adult Education are also other important courses of the University. For higher education, Ph.D. and M.Phil courses are also conducted in the University. Till March, 2007, 37 colleges are affiliated to this University. Bidhan Chandra Krishi Biswavidyalaya was established at Haringate (Mohanpur) in 1974. Different branches of agriculture are taught here the retically and practically. With this researches are conducted on soil, seed and fertilizers. From 1996-97 the U.G. courses of Horticulture has also started here. There are Fishery and Animal Husbandry Universities also here. Technical Education: Technical education was started in Nadia district during 1850-52 by the Christian Missionaries. Church Missionary society first established technical school at Hutchapara in 1900. D.H. Bradhan was the founder of this school. At the aim of selfemployment the students were taught carpentry, Tin Smithy, Blacksmit, Brass-work and basket making. In 1951, after independence, ten such institutions were built and the students grew up to 540. The important institutions of the district are Bipradas Pal Chowdhuri Institute of Technology where civil, mechanical, electrical diploma is given. With this thereare Jr. Technical School at Kalyani, Fulia and Krishnagar. Besides these technical Institutions there are industrial schools for women in the district, which are run by Govt. as well as private organizations. Umasashi Silpa iksha Mandir for women (established in 1944) is the oldest industrial training School for women in the district. Besides these there are handicrafts at Krishnagar, Santipur, Chakdaha, Nabadwip.. Illiteracy is the curse of women life. Illiteracy and poverty is the barrier of social progress. In pre-independence period main aim of education was to create the workers for British rule. The picture is almost same in post independence period. The constitution also announce about the women education. But in the political hazard, the improvement of women

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education policy advised by constitution is lost. India is considered as the largest illiterate country. The picture of Nadia district is not different. In 1901 the literacy rate in Nadia was 12.08%. Literacy Rate in Nadia Year

Total

Male

Female

1901

12.08

22.43

1.87

1911

11.72

20.55

2.85

1921

13.64

19.85

4.31

1931

12.49

30.24

4.74

1941

20.32

18.16

9.83

1951

17.82

35.78

12.23

1961

32.54

35.78

18.24

1971

36.95

39.28

22.92

1981

41.89

43.35

24.44

2001

66.55

72.67

60.06

2011

Source: Census Handbook 2001, West Bengal.

As per 1961 census, Nadia’s position was sixth in W.B. in literacy. Number of poor farmer lives in this district. So education is not so important to them. Some social reformer and patriot step forward for improvement of social education. Hemanta Kumar Das and his friend Qazi Nazrul Islam established “Shramajibi Naiso Vidyalaya” in Malopara. Tarak Das Bondhyopadhya established a night school in Krishnagar Chasapara. Poet Bijoy Lal Chattopadhya Established ‘Shree Ramkrishna Naisho Vidyalaya in Nagendranagar Charmakar Pally. 3. Post-Independence Period UNESCO announced 1990 years, as the International Literacy Decade. From that time West Bengal Govt. try to overcome this problem and take a step like “National Literacy Programme”, “Nadia Zilla Literacy Association” established in 23rd April, 1992. In 8th September 1992, International Literacy Day was observed in whole Nadia District. Nadia District literacy Mission, Started Total Literacy Mission, in December 8-14, 1993 and 15-50 year old person are targeted for literacy. Nadia Zilla Saksharata Samity targetted to literate 7 lakh 75 thousand illiterate people in October, November, December, 1992; in association of State Resource Centre, Kalyani, 83 key people trained. They trained 1350 Master Trainer, 52519Volunteer Trainer also trained. Volunteer Trainees are help to literate, the illiterate person. January, 1993 to 30th April 1994, 67208 centres were established to literate 6 lakh 66 thousand and 237 hundred, 24th May, 1994, Total literacy policy of Nadia District is finally evaluated. Out of 7, 75,000 people 6, 66,237 people are literate by this policy. 5, 54,000 people give examination but 48, 4,719 person get 70% and passed. So literacy rate of Nadia district increased from 52.53% to 67.68%. [Source: Nadia- West Bengal District Gazettes: 1910; District Statistical 1978; Post Literacy Campaign: Action Plan 1994-95; 11th Nadia Book Fair (19%) Memorandum]

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Development of Education in Nadia The condition of Girl Education in District of Nadia: The condition of women education in Nadia district is not well. Here also the literacy rate of the men education is greater than the rate of women educator. The overall perspective of women education in Nadia district is given below in a table which is very helpful to know about expected information. Decadal Literacy Rate in Nadia District (in percentage) Year

Boys

Girl

Total

1931

19.85

4.74

12.49

1941

30.24

9.83

20.32

1951

18.26

12.23

15.31

1961

35.78

18.24

27.25

1951

59.90

44.80

52.33

2001

72.67

60.06

66.55

As per census of India 2001, Total literate person is 2644461 (Males 1489,038, Females: 1,155,423). Present condition of women education is Nadia District is not well. Here also the literacy rate in the men education is greater than rate in the women educator especially in rural areas than the urban areas. The overall perspective of women education in Nadia District is given below I a table, which is very helpful to know about expected information. Rural-Urban Literacy rate with Decadal Percentage Point in Literacy Rate (in bracket) 1951-2001) 1951

1961

1971

Total

17.42

20.75

13.85

32.54(15.12)

42.53(21.68)

21.05(8.11)

52.53(4.41)

45.29(2.86)

28.04(6.09)

Rural

14.3

18.38

9.93

26.06(11.76)

35.82(17.44)

15.65(5.72)

29.91(3.85)

38.22(2.40)

21.08(5.43)

Urban

31.91

31.86

31.95

50.04(38.44)

70.30(38.44)

48.91(16.96)

65.76(5.72)

73.94(3.64)

26.87(7.96)

1981 P

1991 F

2001 F

Total 41.89(4.94) 49.78(4.49) 33.50(5.46) 52.53(4.41) 60.06(10.27) 44.42(10.92) 66.14(13.61) 7231(112.26) 59.50(15.16) Rural 34.81(4.90) 42.70(4.48) 26.41(5.33) 46.06(11.25) 53.84(11.14) 37.56(11.55) 61.82(15.76) 68.24(14.40) 54.96(17.40) Urban 66.77(1.01) 74.91(0.97) 58.24(1.37) 73.53(6.76) 80.64(5.73) 66.13(7.89) 81.41(7.88)

86.89(6.25)

75.70(9.57)

Source: Census hand Book 2001, W.B. [T- Total population, M- Male, F- Female, P- Person, R Rural, U â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Urban]

From the table it is clear to us that the increase rate of Nadia district is not so good. But it is also clear that, the rate of female literacy is more increasing than the male and also in terms of literacy, the rural conditions going better than urban area.

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Enrolment of Girl in Different Subject (1995-96) Faculty Arts

Enrolment 11,91,74

Commerce

3, 09,830

Science

4, 40,354

Education

85,699

Law

39,551

Engineering & Technology

26,368

Miscellaneous (Medicine, Agriculture, Fine Arts, Social study, Music)

97,562

Total

21,91,138

Source: Census Hand Book 2001, W.B.

Barriers to Women Education There are several reasons for the low level of literacy in India, not the least of which is the high level of poverty. Although school attendance is free, the cost of books, uniforms, and transportation to school can be too much for poor families. Poor families are more likely to keep girls at home to care for younger siblings to work in family enterprises. If a family has to choose between educating a son or a daughter because of financial restrictions, typically the son will be chosen. Negative parental attitude toward educating daughter can also be a barrier to a girl’s education. Many parents view educating sons as an investment because the sons will be responsible for caring for aging parents. On the other hand, parents may see the education of daughters as a waste of money because daughter will eventually live with their husbands, families and the parent will not be benefited directly from their education. Also daughters with higher levels education will likely have higher dowry expenses as they will want a comparatively educated husband. However, education sometimes lowers dowry for a girl because it is viewed as an asset the husband’s family. The barriers to the education of girls can be explained in the following way: 

Inadequate School Facilities.



Separate Institution for Girls.



India has a Shortage of Female Teachers.



Gender Bias in Curriculum still Exists.



Lack of transport Facilities.



Inadequate Hostel Facilities.



Insecurity



Lack of Child-care Centres or Ballades



Fixed Schooling Hour



Unattractive School Environment

It is an accepted fact that for making a well-balanced nation, the primary and most essential task is to provide educational facilities to all its population, specially the female

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folk. But due to many socio-economic factors, the girls and women are unable to get the required facilities. These barriers must be removed if we want to get a developed society. Conclusion Education is the most important aspect for human resource development. Education of women, therefore, occupies top priority amongst various measures taken to improve the status of women in India. From 2001 onwards there is moderate development of the condition of girl’s education which is reflected in the growing rate of literacy, enrolment and retention. One interesting point is that the gender gap at the elementary level of education is gradually minimizing. It is true that after Independence India has achieved moderate improvement in women’s education. But this is not sufficient because the gender gap still exists in educational achievement. Education also brings a reduction in inequalities and functions as a means of improving their status within the family. To encourage the education of women at all levels and for dilution of gender bias in providing knowledge and education, established schools, colleges and universities even exclusively for women in the state. To bring more girls, especially from marginalized families of BPL, in mainstream education, the government is providing a package of concessions in the form of providing free books, uniform, boarding and lodging, clothing for the hostilities midday meals, scholarships, free circles and so on. Reference 1. Gupta, N.L. (2003). Women’s Education Through Ages, Concept Publications Co, New Delhi. 2. Pandya Rameshwari (2008).Women in changing India, Serials publications, Delhi. 3. Rao Dr. Digumarti Bhaskara & Latha D.P (2011): Women, Education and Empowerment, Discovery Publishing, New Delhi. 4. Agarwal, S.P. (2001), Women’s Education in India (1995-98) Present Status, Perspective, Plan, Statistical Indicators with Global View, Vol III Concept Publications Co, New Delhi. 5. Government of India, Census of India 2001. 6. Government of India, Census of India 2011. 7. Sahay Sushama (1998). Women and Empowerment- Approach and Strategies, Discovery Publishing House. 8. Rao, R.K. (2001). Women and Education, Kalpaz Publications, Delhi. 9. Agarwal, S.P. (2001) “Women’s Education in India 1995-98” Concept Publishing Company, New Dehli. 10. Megarry, J. (1984): Women and Education, London: Kogan Page. 11. Soni, J.K. (2008). Women Empowerment the substantial challenges‟, Authors Press, Delhi. 12. Dutta, S. (1979). Study of the problem of girl’s education in a selected district of 13. W.B. (Ph.D. thesis in 11 survey of research in education). Edited by bunch M.B, NCERT, New Delhi. 14. www.education.nic.in, www.nlm.nic.in, www.censusindia.net.in, www.nadia.nic.in, 15. www.unorg.in,

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SEX RATIO IN DHULE DISTRICT Rajendra k. Pawar Arts, Commerce and Science College, Shindkheda. Dist. Dhule (MH), E-mail: jadhavsk555@gmail.com ABSTRACT Sex composition of a population determines a neat balance between male and female in population graph. It is indeed one of the important biological compositions. The present research endeavours to study sex ratio of Dhule district with study period of 1961 to 2001, in respect with socio-economic review and district census perspectives. It also compares sex ratio statistics with Maharashtra state in whole. Key Words: Sex ratio, Trends, Change, Composition of Population, Growth, Decline.

Introduction Sex composition is an important part of population Geography. Sex ratio generally includes marriage, birth and death proportion with statistical study and its immediate effects on male-female gender (khatibha-2009). Sex ratio signifies number of females at per thousand males. But it is varied and uneven in different regions. However balance sex ratio is required in the development of any region or any country. The present research paper makes a wide study of sex ratio of dhule district of last five decade in comparision with Maharashtra. It also analyses the study in Tahsil wise sex ratio of Dhule district. Study Area Dhule District is located in the North-western part of the Maharashtra state. It extends between 20038’ to 21016’ North latitude and 730501’ to 75011’ east longitude. Four tahsile Dhule district Shirpur, Shindkheda, Sakari and Dhule.dhule district covers an area of 8063 sq.km, with is 2.62% of the geographical area of the state. According to the 2011 census the population is 1875205. Objectives 1. To study of sex ratio in the Dhule district and compare with Maharashtra state. 2. To study trends of sex ratio in Dhule district with tahsile wise analysis. Database and Methodology This study is based on secondary data. Dhule district tahsile wise data is obtained from social and economic review of dhule district .and Maharashtra state level data is obtained from website of census of India. (1961-2001) data is processed and presented through tables. Discussion Table No. 1 show the value of sex ratio of dhule district as well as Maharashtra state. The status of female in census year I indicate the numbers of female – male in sex ratio, with is the proportion of female at per one thousand males. In the year 1961, the sex ratio was 936 females after one thousand male. While comparing this data with Maharashtra state, there is a great difference in statistics. The sex ratio started declining during 1951 to 1971. But after 1971, the sex ratio is slightly raised as it is 937 females after every one thousand males which means 7 female numbers are increased in compared with last statistical data. But again there is a down fall in the sex ratio in 1981,

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1991 and 2001. The same data show in Maharashtra population. After 2011 census year, sex ratio is increased in the Maharashtra population by 3 females more than the census year 2001. The sex ratio of dhule district was higher during 1961 to 2001 in comparision with Maharashtra state. In 1961 census year, 960 females were after per one thousand males while 948 females in 1971 which shows 12 females decline in the sex ratio. The same declining status in sex ratio is continued in 1991, 2001 and 2011, census year. (Table No.1) Table No. 1 Sex Ratio of Maharashtra State and Dhule District. (1961-2011) Census Year

Maharashtra State

Dhule District

1961

936

960

1971

930

948

1981

937

953

1991

934

945

2001

922

944

2011

925

941

Source: www. Census of India. gov. in

Dhule district is comprised with four tahsil – Shirpur, Shindhkeda, Sakri and Dhule . while studying sex ratio of all these tahsils, we find higest sex ratio in sakri tahsil, i.e. 977 in the census year 2001 and lowest sex ratio in the last five decades. The major problem before all these four tahsils is the uneven ses ratios which show unstable increasing and declining status. While studying the statistical data, we do find that four tahsils – Shirpur, Sakri, Shindhkeda,Dhule had uneven growth and decline in sex ratio during their five decade period. The second highest sex ratio is faind in shindkheda tahsil i.e.973 in the census year 1961. Tapi River is at its north which sustains Agriculture occupation, people do believe in equality between male-female. (Table No.2) Another tahsil sakri has remarkable increase in the sex ratio in the census year 1981 and in 2001. The growing sex ratio can be due to its geographical condition as Dhanora mountain is in the surrounding of sakari tahsil . People of this tahsil living in mountainous area have belief in equal sex ratio. Dhule is the head quarter of this district. This tahsil is a plain region. Those are educational, medical, transportation facilities are available in this urban based tahsil, and the sex ratio is lowest and continuous declining. Table No.2 Tahsil Wise Sex Ratio in Dhule District. (1961-2011) Tahsil Shirpur

1961 962

1971 952

1981 968

1991 957

2001 952

Shindkheda

973

967

968

960

950

Sakari

970

961

969

961

977

Dhule

946

930

932

924

Source: Socio Economic review of Dhule District. & Census of India.

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Conclusion After analyzing all data, I come to following conclusions 1. Sex ratio in dhule district is highest than Maharashtra state. 2. The highest sex ratio in Maharashtra in the five decades can be seen in 1981 and lowest sex ratio in 2001 census year. 3. The sex ratio in dhule district is found decling on account of urbanization; head quarter, educational facilities, medical facilities and transportational facilities. 4. Physiography has affected sex ratio. Therefore sakri tahsil has higest sex ratio. 5. Agriculture is an important occupation in enabling and supporting equal sex ratio. References Pawar C.T. –Geography of India (1998) Ahirrao V.R. – Population Geography (2001) Khathib K.A. – Geography of Maharashtra (2009) General Population tables and Dhule District Census Hand book, census of India 19612001. 5. Socio-Economic Abstract of Dhule District 2001. 1. 2. 3. 4.

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A CRITICAL STUDY ON THE ACHIEVEMENT OF THE STUDENTS IN LIFE SCIENCE Tanusree Saha Asstt. Teacher, Purapara High School, Dist. Murshidabad E-mail:sahatanusree5@gmail.com Introduction Modern civilization is based on science. Science has been steadily maximizing the pursuit of happiness, extending life span, and making life possible for more people. The theoretician in education can easily demonstrate that the whole of science permanent the whole of life from birth to death and the whole of social history from generation to generation. Now a day’s thinkers have realized the great contribution of a special branch of science that is Biological science, More or less man live in a society within a natural calamity where a continues interaction is being placed with man and other animals and plants in the environments. To know the nature thoroughly and to make a proper relationship of human with other plant and animals, biological science has shown path to man. Life science should not be considered as an isolate science, it has application of physics and chemistry. But the present method of teaching of Life Science does not give proper justice to this fact by which students can relies this close integration among the subject. Place of Life Science in School Curriculum No doubt knowledge of Life Science is unavoidable in modern era. It is helpful to solving so many problems of Life to develop many good qualities of the education. For this reason it is necessary to acquire some amount of knowledge of Life Science for each student. Accepting this truth, the secondary Education Commission (1952-53) recommends that fundamental prince place of natural and physical sciences are essential for proper understanding of the living conditions in the world of today. If recommends that biology like other sciences such as physics and chemistry should be thought as an independent subject. Its aim is to gives basic understanding and appreciation of scientific phenomenon – biological and physical. Now the term ‘Biology’ is replaced by Life Science which begins at present as a subject from classes VI to X. it includes Botany, Zoology and Physiology. The Objectives pupils’ curiosity and interest in the plant insect and animal life around him’ in his environment 1. To form in the pupils’ habit of accurate observation and of testing knowledge by experiments. 2. To develop in the pupils a sprit of research with a views to enriching human Life. Now the cognitive domain of the minds of the students was taken. The extent of abilities of the students in a particular area “The Unit of Life ____ cell “ with the students of class VIII was taken. The Main Purposes of the Study 1) To prepare and standardize an objective based reliable and valid unit Test in Life Science. 2) To find out the state wise and gender wise differences of the students of class VIII, and to compare the differences, if there would have been any.

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3) To find out a norm for Unit Test ins Life Science for helping teachers to compare the achievement of any students with the norm. 4) To determine relationship between the knowledge of the students and its application. Procedure a) Preparation of the Test Items:The Objective forms and short answer forms of items were adopted as they could be second more rapidly and more reliable for a very large group of students. Again, a test containing thirty fire items was prepared to be used in the initial stage of test construction, obviously, give a well – judged reflection of objectives. Items of the test were selected to judge a student about what she knew, how she knew, through, felt and manipulated. To determine multi dimensional abilities of the students in those particular areas, the selected items were based on knowledge, understanding skill and, application for contracting the evaluation food. b) Sample of the Study In this problem the main interest was to send out the achievement of the students. For this purpose, purposive sampling was used a sample of two hundred students was selected from the two state of the society. The sample was selected from both urban areas and rural areas. There were one hundred rural students. Among all the students there were are hundred girls of boys was one hundred. (C) Administration of the Tool and Eventuation f the Anwar Script For the administration of the test third and ports periods were chosen. The test was tried out for dial selection on 20 students. The response of the students were, The maximum time taken was one how to answer thirty five items. (D) Re-administration of the Tool: The Same test was re administered upon fifty students of the original sample of the same clash fifteen days after the date of the original administration of the test. Presentation and Analysis of the Data Reliability and validity of the test were all significant at the 01 level. And them the test was constructed and standardized. The statistical methods were wired for calculating mean median, SD, coefficient of variation quartile deviation, standard deviation skewers, kurtosis etc. The investigator compared and showered and showed the differences in achievement in life science between different strata through graphical (Gives) representation t-tests were employed for specifying the mean differences in achievement of the students of two genders. The t- values were found significant at the .01 level in case of witan boys and urban girls and at the .01 level in case of rural boy and rural girls. Determination of the Significance of Difference in Mean Scores in the Unit Test in Life Science – Gender –Wise and Strata – Wise To determine the significance of differences in the mean scores in the unit test in life Science of the student Gender wise and strata wise critical rattiest are applied . The CRS of the students Gender wise and strata wise had beer show in the following tables (1-6)

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Table 1: Statement of the significance of Difference in the mean scores in the unit test in Life Science of the boys and Girls Type

Means

Boys

100

38.75

13.81

Girls

100

36.30

14.27

Difference in Means

1.985

2.5

1.234*

*Not Significant of the 0.05 level.

Table 2: Statement of the Significance of the unit test in Life Science of the Urban Students and Rural Students Type

Mears

Urban Students

100

49.10

8.93

Rural Students

100

25.95

9.42

Difference in Means

1.298

23.15

17.84*

*Signification at the 0.01 level

Table: 3 Statement of the Significance of Different in the Mean Scores in the Unit Test in Life Science of the Urban Boys and Urban Girls. Type

Mears

Urban Boys

48.90

29.05

Urban Girls

54.70

8.23

Difference in Means

4.269

5.8

1.36*

*Not Significant of the 0.05 level.

Table: 4 Statement of the Significance of Difference in the Mean Scores in the Unit Test in Life Science of the Rural Boys and Rural Girls. Type

Mears

Rural Boys

28.60

9.51

Rural Girls

54.70

8.229

Difference in Means

1.778

26.1

14.68*

*Significant at the 0.01 level.

Table: 5 Statement of the Significance of Difference in the Mean Scores in the Unit Test in Life Science of the Urban Boys and Rural Boys. Type

Mears

Urban Boys

48.90

29.05

Rural Boys

28.60

9.51

Difference in Means

4.322

20.30

4.70*

*Significant at the 0.01 level. Table: 6 Statement of the Significance of Difference in the mean Scores in the Urban Test in Life Science of the Urban Girls and Rural Girls. Type

Mears

Urban Girls

54.70

8.229

Rural Girls

23.90

8.24

Difference in Means

1.646

30.80

18.70*

*Significance at the 0.01 level.

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Findings From the results of the study the following findings was obtained:1. The Boys and the girls did not show significant difference in the performance in Life Science. 2. The Urban students had shown better performance in Life Science than the rural students. 3. The urban boys and the urban girls did not show significant difference in the performance in Life Science. 4. The rural girls had shown better performance in Life Science than the rural boys. 5. The urban boys had shown better performance in Life Science than the rural boys. 6. The Urban girls had shown better performance in Life Science than the rural girls. References Books 1. American Educational Research Association Committee on Test: Technical Recommendation for Psychological Tests and Diagnosis Techniques Washington D.C.: American psychological Association, 1965. 2. Ambrose, E.J and Dorothy, M.E.: Cell Biology, ELBS, edition, Great Britain, 1970. 3. Baron, D. and Bernard H.W.: Evaluation Techniques of Classroom Teachers. New York: Mac Graw Hill Book Co. In, 1958 4. Barry, J.M. and Barry E.M.: Molecular Biology an Introduction to Chemical Genetics. New Delhi: Prentice Hall of India Pvt. Ltd. 1973 5. Best, C.H. and Taylor, N.B: Living Body. Philadelphia: William and Wilkerson, 1956 6. Best, G.W. Research in Education New Delhi: Prentice Hall of India, 1977 7. Bloom, B.S. et al: Hand Book on Formative and Summative Education of Student Learning New York: McGraw’s Hill Book Co, 1971 8. Buch, M.B: Second Survey of Research in Education. M.S. University of Baroda: Contra of Advanced Study in Education, 1979 9. Carter, V.G. (Ed): Dictionary of Education New York: McGraw Hill Book. Inc, 1959 10. Downine, N.M.: Fundamental of Measurement Techniques and Practices New York: Ox ford University Press, 1958 11. Dutta, P.K.: Cytology Genetics and Evolution. Meerut: Restage Publication, 1975. 12. Fisher, R.A.: Statistical Methods for research Workers (11th Ed) Hafner 1960 13. Garrett, H.E and Wood worth, R.S.: Statistics in Psychology and Education. Bombay: Vakil Feffer and Simons Ltd. 1969 14. Gregory, W.H. and Goldman, E.H.: Teacher’s Manual to Accompany Biological Science for High Schools New Delhi. Eurasia Publishing House Pvt. 1969 15. Guilford, J.P.: Fundamental Statistic in Psychology and Education (2nd Ed.) New York McGraw Hill Book Co. Inc, 1950 16. Maccoby, E. F.: The Development of sex Differences. Standard University Press 1966 17. NCERT: Educational Survey in India. New Delhi, 1971 18. Thorndike, R.L. and Hegen, E.: Measurement and Evaluation in psychology and Education (3rd Ed.). New Delhi Wiley Eastern Pvt. Ltd, 1970.

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THEATRE IN EDUCATION: A STUDY OF THE USE OF CHILDREN’S THEATRE IN EDUCATION IN INDIA Dr Shuchi Sharma Assistant Professor, Dept of English, University School of Humanities & Social Sciences, GGS Indraprastha University. Email: shuchi.sharma@ipu.ac.in ABSTRACT Right stimulus for the appropriate growth of child into a well balanced human being is a must. Both educationists and policy makers in India have come to realize the worth of experiential learning. Children’s theatre is an excellent tool for experiential learning theory professed by famous education scholar David A. Kolb. It gives the child or student an opportunity to improve speech, language and expression thereby learning to communicate well and express his ideas with clarity and cohesion. Above all, drama provides the child a platform where he can release his emotions and socialize well with others in the groups. The paper discusses the worth and relevance of the use of theatre as pedagogical tool in school teaching in India. It documents the evidence of presence of children’s theatre in various parts of India since ancient times and its present status. It further attempts to highlight the need for more serious and concerted effort to promote use of children’s theatre as pedagogical tool by both government agencies and NGOs. Key Words: Child, Children’s Theatre, Education, Creative Dramatics, Experiential Learning

It is noteworthy that the rate at which developments are taking place in the current century is unprecedented. Tablets and iphones, man-less drone planes and terrorist attacks, economic slowdown and hunch-back economy, tsunami and biological mutation – the civilization is moving at a breakneck speed from one milestone to another. But these advances are not limited to technological, environmental and political spheres alone; a serious, concerted study of man leading to a large body of knowledge of how people grow physically and mentally, and how they behave in different situations and how they communicate their ideas, desires, emotions and dreams has emerged. The study of human behavior and action has reached new zenith and child who is the father of man, thus, has gained enormous importance in the field of study of human development. One of the most startling changes in society’s attitude towards itself can be seen in the place child has acquired in the field of enquiry about human development. Future generations may well think of this as the century of the child. The studies about human development suggest that the child may not be a separate breed but certainly he is unique in his physical and psychological structure. He is an individual developing mentally, emotionally, and spiritually as well as growing physically. Serious students of child growth and development (have) began to turn to such diverse fields as biology, genetics, embryology, anatomy, pediatrics, sociology, social anthropology, psychiatry, mental hygiene, and psychology to gain an understanding of the needs of children and youth. The result of enquiry about the child has been widespread and has turned the focus on the role of society and family in the development of healthy human being. Slowly but gradually, more and more people are recognizing the importance of right stimulus for the appropriate growth of child into a well balanced human being. Along with schools, government agencies, community service organizations and the NGOs are working and devising means to meet the needs of children and youth. The child today is certainly leading a more organized life than his predecessors but still lot need be done in this field. In case of India it is evident that the focus has now slightly shifted in favour of progressive education system which gives credence to curricular and activity based learning leading to holistic education instead of rote system of teaching and learning. Educationists are seriously and EDULIGHT-Multi-disciplinary, Peer-Reviewed Journal

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dedicatedly working to incorporate all six components of educational process listed by Hollingworth in his octahedron figure displaying key elements of education. 1.Learner 2.The objective 3.Teacher 4.Content 5.Method 6.Co-curricular methods

Efforts are afoot to make education system more inclusive of activities such as role playing and theatre, so that children may use their logical thinking, understanding of events and situations, creative ability and imagination rather than being passive onlookers in the class. In the past the whole education system in India had been focusing on examinations alone. There had been pressure of examinations on both the children and their teachers. Children thus did not find their subjects interesting. But of late the scenario has begun to change as more and more Indian academicians and educationists are realizing the ill effects of psychological burden created on students by rigorous examination system of the past. They have come to recognize the fact that if some colour is given to the classroom instruction, surely children would find teaching more meaningful and interesting. Studies have revealed that drama can serve this purpose and hence it should be used as a teaching tool. But so far, the co-curricular activities have remained on the fringes and drama has not been given its due place in school curriculum as a subject or method. Drama has been used as a ‘frill’ on the Annual Day show in most of the schools. The Education Commission (1964-66) envisaged the importance of reforms in School curriculum, methods of teaching and the examination and opined, Education (shall) refine sensibilities and perception that contribute to national cohesion, a scientific temper and independence of mind and spirit – thus furthering the goals of socialism, secularism and democracy enshrined in our constitution (New Delhi, 1966). A lot had been done in this direction in India in terms of classroom research projects but when it came to application of the findings, it fell short of desired action. There continued to be pressure of curriculum on both students and teachers; a pressure of examination on both students and their parents resulting in mushrooming growth of teaching shops and coaching centers in the name of quality education. The said most part is that quality and standard of the school is still measured on the grounds of the result of Board examinations. Despite of the introduction of comprehensive evaluation pattern at the tenth class, the education system is still fostering the same old book worm culture. Importantly, Children’s theatre is one powerful instrument to fulfill the goal laid down by National Policy on Education if used in class room situation. The use of drama in classroom teaching is a corrective way to such tendencies and can cultivate the interest of the student in various subjects. By inculcating values and skills of equality, sharing, co-operating and cohesiveness, this type of theatre can provide enriching environment to a child to become an all-round personality who has mental, moral, physical and spiritual grounding. Children’s Theatre gives the child or student an opportunity to improve speech, language and expression thereby learning to communicate well and express his ideas with EDULIGHT-Multi-disciplinary, Peer-Reviewed Journal

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clarity and cohesion. Above all, drama provides the child a platform where he can release his emotions and socialize well with others in the groups. Therefore, the values enshrined in Indian constitution can be achieved through children’s theatre. Moreover, in modern society people have precious few opportunities to gather together in a meaningful way; to explore the human condition. Children’s theater provides communities a way to explore issues while bringing people into the same room. Within this environment synergy can be built that can provide the kind of personal change that in turn may lead to greater societal changes and eventually political changes. India is a country of diversities in terms of language, culture, tradition etc. Children’s Theatre provides children an opportunity to minimize these diversities and bring about ‘National Integration’. It is also an important means of stimulating creativity in problem solving. This type of theatre also gives children an opportunity to challenge the normal perception about world around them. Dramatic exploration can provide students with an outlet for emotions, thoughts, and dreams that they might not otherwise have means to express. A student can, if only for a few moments, become another person, explore a new role, try out and experiment with various personal choices and solutions to very real problems-problems from their own life, or problems faced by characters in literature or historical figures. This can happen in a safe atmosphere, where actions and consequences can be examined, discussed, and in a very real sense experienced without the dangers and pitfalls that such experimentation would obviously lead to in the real world(Buchanan,2010). Children’s theatre at school provides a powerful and vital platform to students to develop artistic perception which fosters creativity on one hand and helps deal with individual personality problems on the other. Due to increased complexity in terms of lifestyle and exposure to plethora of hyper stimuli the children these days are developing range of psychological problems such as extreme shyness, unwillingness to work with others, incipient criminal tendencies, schizophrenia and even manic depression. Interestingly, drama helps even in dealing with complex psychological problems also as it has cleansing and therapeutic effect. Children’s theatre gives such children an opportunity to “play out” their delusions and return to normal mental health. Perhaps, the teacher or mentor may not be equipped to help and handle complex cases of psychological disturbance but certainly can help put a check on those who might develop in such negative directions. For example, there is a child who is shy and finds it difficult to act and express in a group. At first he refuses to join in, stands aside and does not want to come forward or participate in the activity. He is allowed to do so but is encouraged to help the teacher generally. He is given the duty of putting chairs in place ready for a scene – just as a simple duty. Gradually, he is drawn in. He realizes his worth, recognizes his place in the whole order and starts getting involved with others in group activity without realizing to do so consciously. Children’s theatre is an excellent tool for experiential learning theory professed by famous education scholar David A. Kolb. A four-stage cyclical theory of learning by Kolb’s presents a holistic perspective that combines experience, perception, cognition, and behavior. Building upon earlier work by John Dewey and Kurt Levin, American educational theorist David A. Kolb believes “learning is the process whereby knowledge is created through the transformation of experience”(Kolbe, 1984). The theory presents a cyclical model of learning, consisting of four stages shown below. One may begin at any stage, but must follow each other in the sequence: 

concrete experience (or “DO”)



reflective observation (or “OBSERVE”)



abstract conceptualization (or “THINK”)

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active experimentation (or “PLAN”)

Figure 1. Kolb’s Experiential Learning Cycle. http://www.learning-theories.com/experientiallearning-kolb.html Kolb’s four-stage learning cycle shows how experience is translated through reflection into concepts, which in turn are used as guides for active experimentation and the choice of new experiences. The first stage, concrete experience (CE), is where the learner actively experiences an activity such as a lab session or field work. The second stage, reflective observation (RO), is when the learner consciously reflects back on that experience. The third stage, abstract conceptualization (AC), is where the learner attempts to conceptualize a theory or model of what is observed. The fourth stage, active experimentation (AE), is where the learner is trying to plan how to test a model or theory or plan for a forthcoming experience. Kolb identified four learning styles which correspond to these stages(Kolb,1984). The styles highlight conditions under which learners learn better. These styles are: 

assimilators, who learn better when presented with sound logical theories to consider



convergers, who learn better when provided with practical applications of concepts and theories



accommodators, who learn better when provided with “hands-on” experiences



divergers, who learn better when allowed to observe and collect a wide range of information

Theatre provides platform to all four postulates of Kolb’s theory. The child or participant of children’s theatre at school or otherwise acts on stage or takes part in back stage activities such as props arrangement and planning and thereby acquires concrete experience of various activities and concepts. When the child actor does a particular act himself he tends to observe his own and others’ actions as the play can only be staged by synchronizing the activities of one and all. The participant observes not only others’ actions but also, and at the same time, is vigilant of the language skills and body language of others, the contribution of the other participants in your collective existence on stage or back stage. Also, he is made to think and have abstract concept about what is happening around him. He is given an opportunity to plan about the best way he can perform his role and given space for active experimentation in terms of speech and language delivery, the appropriate use of body

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language and plethora of other things. Chinese proverb aptly explains the power of children’s theatre as a medium of education, Tell me and I will forget. Show me and I will remember. Involve me and I will understand. Theatre develops self-confidence and leadership skills, and makes children extrovert. This is why demand for children’s theatre has seen a rapid growth in recent years. If Children’s theatre is a more formal thing involving formal productions where the entertainment of audience is the focus then we can have Creative Dramatics in school. Creative Dramatics (or Creative Drama) has been officially defined in 1978 by The American Association of Theatre for Youth, as “an improvisational, non-exhibitional, process-centered form of drama in which participants are guided by a leader to imagine, enact and reflect upon human experience (Davis & Behm, 1978). Nellie McCaslin, in her book, Creative Drama in the Classroom and Beyond, has observed that in creative drama the activities are always improvised wherein players create situation, scene, dialogue etc. and that all these are not meant for the audience. It is important that the teacher acts as a guide or a facilitator and create learning opportunities for the children to explore while building content knowledge in the discipline (McCaslin,1968). Children’s theatre has the potential of inculcating abilities to listen, understand and apply the knowledge in a danger-free environment. Hodgson and Richards observe in the book titled, Improvisation, “the qualities needed for the best acting are also those qualities required for the fullest living”(Hodgson & Richards,1974). Through Children’s Theatre, children explore who they are, who they have the potential to be, and have the opportunity to reach a deeper understanding of their emotional, physical and social environments. The reason being acting “is an experience in living”, children’s theatre offers an experience in learning how to live through experimentation (Hodgson & Richards,1974). This experimentation has a particularly profound effect on children, because when children are involved in acting through creative drama activities, “they become an integral part of the ideas and concepts, internalizing information and increasing the likelihood of its being remembered” (Heinig,1987). Internet, advanced electronic gadgets, and loud music entice children to get sapped from their roots whereas the folk culture binds an individual back to his roots. The hyperactive stimuli of gizmos devoid the children of all human touch while children’s theatre provide them the essential grounding by developing in them the necessary social skills such as inter-personal communication and group norms. In the olden days children were more agile and due to lack of the technological hindrances were more attuned to participate in outdoor sports and other cultural activities. They used to benefit from each and every cultural and ritualistic act. If acting in the ritualistic dramas taught them essential social and interpersonal skills, backstage management (be it set construction or costume or logistics) helped them found their vocation and learn to co-operate and manage. It is pertinent to note that Children’s Theatre is not new to India, but has a long history behind it. Ramlila of North India, Chhau of Bihar, Gostha Lila of Manipur and Kottiyam of South are few examples of the same. In earlier times children used to participate enthusiastically in Ramlila and such mythological drama productions such as Prahlad Natak and Dhruv Katha. Many children also belonged to traditional performing families also and thus got hands on learning cum training about various aspects of theatre. Certain theatrical productions were actually meant for children only- Gostha Lila and Gaura Lila. Both these productions emerged in Manipur in eighteenth century. However, first concerted effort to EDULIGHT-Multi-disciplinary, Peer-Reviewed Journal

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bring children’s theatre into mainstream of education has been done by Rabindra Nath Tagore. He was perhaps the first person in India to realize the didactic purpose of children’s theatre who founded his boarding school, Shanti Niketan, on the pattern of experiential learning making theatre an integral part of pedagogy and practice. He authored several plays for children such as King and the Rebel and On the Sea Shore, so that more and more number of children can be involved in the process. Other Indian pioneers of children’s theatre include Gubbi Veerana, Sankaradas Swamigal, B V Karanth, Tattuva Minalochani and G R Shirgoppikar. The most organized and concerted effort in this direction by Government of India had been the initiation of Children’s Theatre Course in 1958 at National School of Drama, India, in collaboration with UNESCO. The course was instant success because it was backed by Indian theatre stalwarts such as P L Deshpande, Vijay Tendulkar, Safdar Hashmi, B V Karanth and Ram Gopal Bajaj. Thrilled by the success and relevance of this course, National School of Drama launched its own Theatre-in-Education Company (Sanskar Rang Toli) in 1989. The company’s manifesto described its aim to “perform creative, curriculum based and participatory plays in school, designed and prepared specially for children of different age groups”(NSD,2003). The company harbors the inquisitive spirit of children giving it a much needed direction to think creatively and behave responsibly. According to records available with National School of Drama, ‘The TIE company has staged more than 1000 performances of 30 plays in Delhi and other parts of the country. More than 10 million children, apart from college students, teachers, parents and theatre lovers, have witnessed these plays’ (NSD,2003). The TIE company organizes each year summer theatre workshop for children, Sunday club, teachers’ theatre workshops and festival tour for colleges, parents and social organizations, National Children’s Theatre Festival called Jashnebachpan and a unique and amazing festival of Indian folk and traditional art by children each year. All the efforts by theatre practitioners are definitely a great contribution in this field of children’s theatre. But in a country of about 1.252 billion people with estimated 164.5 million children (and at that 117.6 million children of the age group 0-6 years living in rural belt) the efforts cited above are certainly not enough(Cenus,2011). A serious concerted effort is needed at National level wherein both government agencies responsible for child welfare (Ministry of Child Welfare, Ministry of Education, NCERT), and theatre agencies (National School of Drama), NGOs working in the field of children’s welfare and education ( CRY, Saheli, Shishu etc) and theatre practitioners and playwrights, may collaborate and work together to augment ideas, initiate programmes, initiate methods and institutes to carry forward the Theatre-in-Education’s goal to reach each and every child of the country. This way theatre can be brought to the main stream for children and they can get safe, sound and meaningful environment to learn, experiment and develop much needed skills of cooperation, verbal and non verbal communication, emotional adaptability and management. Getting hands on experience the children eventually will be better equipped to handle problems and eventually will contribute robustly to the development of the nation. References: 1.

Buchanan, M. (2010). Why Teach Drama? A Defense of the Craft. Retrieved from child drama website: http://www.childdrama.com/why.html

Davis, Jed H., and Tom Behm, 1978. Terminology of drama/theatre with and for children: A redefinition. Children’s Theatre Review XXVII (1), 10-11.

Gazette Report of The Education Commission (1964-66), Ministry of Education, Government of India Press.

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Gazette Report of Census 2011 published by Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, Ministry of Home Affairs, Govt of India. Population data related to children retrieved from website:http://censusindia.gov.in/2011-provresults/paper2/data_ files/india/paper2_2.pdf

Hodgson, J and Richards, E. (1974). Improvisation. New York: Grove Press, Inc.

Heinig, R. B. (1987). Creative Drama Resource Book: for kindergarten through Grade 3. EnglewoodCliffs, NJ:Prentice.

Kolb, David A. (1984). Experiential Learning: Experience as the Source of Learning and Development. Prentice-Hall Inc., Englewood Cliffs, N.J.

Kolb, David A. Experiential learning model retrieved from learning theories website: http://www.learning-theories.com/experiential-learning-kolb.html

McCaslin, N. (1968). Creative Dramatics in the Classroom 2nd ed. New York:McKay.

10. National School of Drama. (2003). Jashnebachpan-Theatre in Education.[Brochure] Govt of India, New Delhi.

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IMPACT OF RESERVATIONS ON INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION Snigdha Bala Assistant teacher of Nasherkuli Netaji Vidyalaya, Ranaghat District – Nadia, West Bengal, E-mail: balasnigdha0@gmail.com

ABSTRACT The theme of reservations has figure importantly since the recommendations of Mondal commission report sought to be implemented in 1991 nearby has been extremely tiny discussion by the beneficiaries of reservation. This study is to measure the effect of reservations on its various stakeholders, particularly, higher educational institutions. The paper will seek to achieve answers to questions like whether reservations have enabled better access higher educational courses in educational institutions, whether students from the reserved categories have been able to perform at par with those from the general category, whether the result of the institute is affected by reservations and various others in order to uncover the truth behind the effect of this policy. For this purpose an empirical method of research has been adopted and data has been collected through a questionnaire from various universities and colleges. This paper looks at some of the more important chronological and constitutional development of a reservation procedure in India. Key-Words: Reservation, Higher Education, Backward, Performance, Education, Institution

Introduction This study is based on students belongs to ‘scheduled caste’ and ‘scheduled tribe’ categories generally called SCs/STs and role of reservation policy to see the impact of its implementation in higher education in India, about caste action and the very survival of caste as an institution to participate in higher education for bright career of SCs/STs students – even as it takes on, in a specific socio-temporal context, the dynamics of Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) individuality in contemporary Uttar Pradesh particularly in the major district like Agra. In many ways, this is not surprising because studies of SCs/STs about in sociology and political science, it has held a central axis for sociology and political science in India. Caste studies have been a ground that political science has claimed to be its own, and the other disciplines have not greatly contested the claim. This has led to the people of various perspectives on scheduled caste/tribes, even as efforts to undermine the centrality of SCs/STs for a political issue of India have proceeded briskly. Education is recognized as one of the critical elements of the national development effort and higher education in particular, is of vital importance for the nation, as it is a powerful tool to build knowledge-based society of the 21st century. The conflict over reservations in India is not simply a conflict about the reservation policy meant for higher education itself. There are of course, angry debates over whether such a policy should exist, what the criteria should be, and how exactly it should be implemented, but the strictness of the violence is bound up with longer-term caste conflict, exacerbated by a recent rise in ‘identity politics’ and general social changes. Upper caste Indians feel disadvantaged and discriminated against by the policy, outlined in the Indian constitution, of assign places in government and higher education to those from SCs and STs. This disapproval is intensified when those from OBCs push for reservations policies in their favour as well. This is also called for in the constitution equivalent, but in such a vague way as to allow different governments to define their constitutional responsibility in markedly different ways in the context of Indian higher EDULIGHT-Multi-disciplinary, Peer-Reviewed Journal

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education system. However, India has been a major seat of learning for thousands of years. The present format of higher education in India was started in way back 1857 with the inception of universities in the three presidency towns. Now, India possesses a highly developed higher education system which offers facility of education and training in almost all aspects of human’s creative and intellectual endeavors such as arts and humanities, natural, mathematical and social sciences, engineering; medicine, dentistry, agriculture, education, law, commerce and management , music and performing arts, national and foreign languages, communications, culture etc. Provision of reservation was implemented for the SC/ST and OBC (Other Backward Caste) after the enforcement of Constitution of India. In the beginning, it was 15% and 7.5% for the SC and ST respectively. But in 1991 after the Mandal Commission, 27% reservation was provided to the OBCs. In 1995, 3% of reservation was allocated to the other weaker section i.e. physically disabled in jobs and the same scenario also exits in higher education framework. Objectives of the Study The study will be carried on with the following objectives:      

To assess the existing situation of reservation policy for SC/ST students at higher education level. To evaluate the effectiveness of reservation policy for SC/ST students at higher education level. To determine the size of availability of SC/ST students interested for higher education. To identify/explore the problems faced by SC/ST students while enrolled for higher education. To explore whether reservation policy in its present form has succeeded in improving the conditions of the SC/ST students in higher education. To suggest strategies for improvement of reservation policy for sc/st students for higher education.

Historical Background of Reservation in India “Reservation”, also sometimes denoted as “affirmative action” or “positive discrimination”, it refers to a policy or program, or giving certain preferences to certain groups (usually under-represented groups) over the others. The policy of reservation, it must be kept in mind, was not a post-constitutional phenomenon but had its antecedents in the colonial times. Caste or communal quotas were in vogue well before the Constitution came into force. “Reservations in favour of the backward classed (BCs) were introduced long before independence in a large area, comprising the presidency areas and the princely states in the south of the Vindhyas. Chatrapati Sahuji Maharaj, Maharaja of Kohlapur in Maharashtra, introduced reservation in favour of backward classes in as early as 1902 to eradicate poverty from amongst them and to give them their due share in the state administration. The notification of 1902 created 50% reservation in services for different communities in the State. This notification was the first government order providing for reservation for the welfare of depressed classes in India (Resham, 2012)”. In the year 1942, Dr. B.R Ambedkar established the all India depressed classes’ federation to support the advancement of the scheduled castes. He demanded reservations for the Scheduled castes in government services as well as other sectors. However, in the year 1947, India obtained independence and Dr. B.R. Ambedkar was appointed chairman of the drafting committee for Indian Constitution. The India Constitution prohibits discrimination on the grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex and place of birth. While providing equality of opportunity for all citizens, the Constitution contains special clauses “for the advancement EDULIGHT-Multi-disciplinary, Peer-Reviewed Journal

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of any socially and educationally backward classes of citizens or for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes”. Separate constituencies allocated to scheduled castes and tribes to ensure their political representation for 10 years. It is significant to note that according to “the article 15(4) of constitution of India, which provides a constitutional basis for reservation in education, did not form part or the Constitution as it originally stood in 1950, although there was provision for reservation of appointments or posts in favour of any backward class of citizens under article 16(4). However, an equivalent of the current article 15(4) was the subject matter of considerable debate amongst the founding fathers of the constitution (Singh, S.N, 1996)”. Reservation Policy in Education Sector: The Indian Government’s approach towards the SC/ST population has primarily been shaped by the provisions in its Constitution which basically guarantees equality before the law and empowers the State to make special provisions to promote the educational and economic interest of the SC/ST and to provide legal and other safeguards against discrimination. The role of reservation in the education sector is mixed for the students of SC community. Article 15(4) empowers the State to make special provisions for the advancement of the SCs/STs. Under this provision, the State has reserved seats for SC/ST students in educational institutions namely in colleges and universities, diversified courses including technical, engineering and medical colleges run by the central and state governments and government aided educational institutions. These provisions are supported by a number of financial schemes which include scholarships, special hostels for SC/ST students, concession in fees, grants for books, remedial coaching etc. Reservation in Higher Education – Present Scenario: According to the State of Maharashtra, the Supreme Court abolished state quotas in private unaided professional colleges and specifically held that the state could not impose reservations in unaided institutions. This led to the passing of the Constitution (Ninety-third Amendment) Act, 2005 by the Parliament in December, 2005 inserting the following clause (5) in article 15 of the Constitution: “Nothing in this article or in sub-clause (g) of clause (1) of article 19 shall prevent the state from making any special provision by law, for the advancement of socially and educationally backward classes of citizens or for the scheduled castes or scheduled tribes in so far as such special provisions relate to their admissions to educational institutions including private educational institutions; whether aided or un-aided by the state, other than the minority educational institutions referred to in clause (1) of article 30 (Thorat Sukhadeo, 2007)”. It is to be noted that article 15(5) - does not specifically provide for “reservation” as such. It is only an enabling provision which empowers the state to lay down by law “special provisions” in the matter of admission to “educational institutions”. There is no particular mention of institutions of higher learning, universities or professional institutions as such. Educational institutions could also mean primary and secondary schools. Also, the “special measures” could mean several measures other than reservation (Thorat Sukhadeo, 2007). However, taking the advantage of this constitutional amendment, the union government brought forth legislation namely, the Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Admission) Act, 2006 (the Act) under which the following scheme of reservation has been provided:

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Table – 1: Classification of Reservation Category Serial No. Reservation Category Weight age (%) 1 Scheduled Caste (SC) 15% 2 Scheduled Tribe (ST) 7.5% 3 Other Backward Caste (OBC) 27% (Source: Annual Report, Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Government of India, New Delhi, 2002-2003, Chapter5, Paragraph 5.2) As a result of this, about 50% of the seats have now come under reservation in all central educational institutions including institutions of higher learning and professional institutes like IITs, IIMs and government medical and engineering colleges. However, under the Act, the following institutions are excluded from the purview of reservation- institutions in tribal areas, research institutions as specified in the schedule to the Act, minority institutions and super specialty courses as may be specified by the Central Government. It may be noted that the Supreme Court, in its various decisions, has held that there can be no reservation in super8 Specialty courses. But the Act does not specify the super-specialty courses and it has been left to the discretion of the government to determine the superspecialty courses which are to be Excluded from the purview of reservation. In fact, after six decades of the commencement of the Constitution, the time has come to impartially review the entire reservation system and ensure that only the best talents get Place in educational institutions, irrespective of his caste or class. Apart from reservation Provided to SC/ST/OBC, there are also various other kinds of reservation which prevail in higher education in India, such asi) Reservation in favour of girl students. ii) Reservation in favour of children of government employees. iii) Reservation in favour of resident of particular territories. iv) Reservation in favour of children of defiance personnel. v) Reservation in favour of candidates from union territories or the state of J&K. vi)Reservation in favour of candidates who have passed through the qualifying examination of the same university as distinguished from those coming from other universities, etc. Although there are various kinds of reservations that have crept into higher education, present study mainly focused on the issue of SC reservation in higher education which has created much controversy. Impact of reservation policy on SC and ST Enrolments: There can be no doubt that a substantial share of SC and ST student enrolments in Indian higher educational institutions is attributable to India’s reservation policies. It is very difficult, however, to estimate just how much difference these policies have made. The difficulty of such estimation is due not only the scarcity of detailed data on the composition of higher educational enrolments. It is also due to the complexity of the way in which India’s reservation policies in the educational sphere are structured and administered. First of all, the policies apply only to public institutions. The majority of Indian higher educational institutions are indeed under central- or state-level government control; but the number of private institutions has been growing rapidly since the early 1990s. In virtually all centrallycontrolled higher educational institutions, 15 per cent of the seats are reserved for SC members and 7.5 per cent for ST members; these ratios were established to reflect the

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corresponding shares of dalits and adivasis in the national population.6 Although the reservation of seats at higher educational institutions for SC and ST students was established as a national policy in the early 1950s, its actual implementation was delayed by a decade or two in various regions and institutions, and even now it is not fully established everywhere in India. In the case of higher educational institutions controlled at the state level, the percentages of SC and ST reserved seats are determined by the (approximate) proportions of these groups in the state population. Some states also have a percentage of seats reserved for other backward castes (OBCs). General entry seats are filled first, with applicants from the top score downward in the relevant examination. Where OBC seats are reserved, these too are almost always filled – with applicants from the top down to a somewhat lower cut-off point score. In the case of SC and ST reserved seats, minimum qualifying scores are set well below the cut-off point for general entry applicants, and some schools do not require any minimum exam score; age limits are also often waived for SC and ST students. Even so, SC and ST reserved seats often go unfilled – especially at the more selective schools – because there are not enough applicants from these groups who have completed secondary education and otherwise met the requirements for admission. One piece of hard evidence on the impact of reservation policies comes from Patwardhan and Palshikar’s (1992) study of a respected regional medical college in Pune, Maharashtra. They found that roughly 1/6th of a sample of SC and ST students who were admitted to reserved seats scored high enough on the qualifying entrance examination to have been admitted as general-entry students. In the case of OBC students in reserved seats, the corresponding figure was roughly 5/6th [Patwardhanand Palshikar 1992:44]. likelihood that a significant number of SC and ST students were encouraged by reservation policies to pursue higher education in less desirable programmes, one may conclude that these policies have made a difference in the case of about half of the roughly 7,00,000 SC and ST students enrolled in higher education in the late 1990s. Still, the data adduced in the previous section indicate that, even 50 years after independence, at least half of the seats reserved in Indian higher educational institutions for SC students, and at least two thirds of the seats reserved for ST students, go unfilled. Implications of Indian reservation (1990 – 2015) : 

In 1990 higher education institutions, public sector units & Government Bodies, 22.5% of available seats were made reserved for Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) students (15% for SCs, 7.5% for STs). This reservation percentage has been raised to 49.5%, by including an additional 27% reservation for OBCs in 2008. 5-10% of aggregate marks and 3-5years of age relaxation and exemption from tuition fees is given to SC, ST & OBC candidates who wish to take admissions in various Government institutions.

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The Central government's has given the 5% reservation to the physically disabled person who has 40% or more disabilities.

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In 2010 Women get one third reservation in gram panchayat (village assembly - a form of local village government) and municipal elections. There is a long-term plan to extend this reservation to parliament and legislative assemblies. For instance, some law schools in India have a 30% reservation for females, women also enjoys the separate Higher education institutions which are made only for women and no other is allowed for admission in those institutes.

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The CBSE has introduced examination reforms using Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE) in its affiliated schools from the academic year 2009-2010. Under the new procedure, Children below class 10th will be evaluated under the 9 Grade systems. Student must get D or higher grade to get promoted in next class. The rules for

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compartment and improvement will be same as previous year. No student will be declared fail even if he gets all E1 or below. He will get chances to improve. For class 10 exams, grades on final exam only be treated as done last year. 

In mid-2012 25% reservation is provided to the reserved category children in the Government aided & Private schools under the Right to education act which was passed earlier by the parliament.

Government funding allowing reservations in colleges/universities: A University Grants Commission (UGC) provides financial assistance to universities for the establishment of Special Cells for SC/STs. The cells help universities implement the reservation policy in student admission and staff recruitment processes for teaching and nonteaching jobs. They also help the SC/ST categories integrate with the university community and help remove the difficulties SC/ST individuals may have experienced. SC/ST cells have been set up in 109 universities. The UGC provides financial assistance to universities and affiliated colleges for implementation of Special Cells. It provides the universities with assistance worth 100,000 per annum # Travelling Allowances & Dearness Allowances for field work 1. Data Collection 2. Analysis and evaluation of statistical data 3. New Computer and Printer (once in a plan period) The UGC provided financial assistance only up to the end of the Xth Plan period ending 31 March 2007. The work undertaken by the SC/ST Cells was reviewed at the end of Xth plan. The Xth plan is proposed to ensure that there is an effective implementation of the reservation policy in admissions, recruitment, allotment of staff quarters, hostels, etc. Essentially, its goal was to ensure that the SC/ST Cells were established in the universities. CONCLUTION: Reservation policies at all levels of higher education both redistribute SC and ST students upward in the university quality Hierarchy and attract into universities significant numbers of SC and ST students who would not otherwise pursue higher education..My very rough estimate is that reservation policies enabled about half of the 7,00,000 SC and ST students attending Indian universities in the late 1990s either to gain access to a relatively desirable institution or program me, rather than settle for a relatively mediocre one, or to enroll in a university at all, rather than abandon any possibility of pursuing higher education. The vast majority of SC and ST beneficiaries of reservation policies enter university programmes with poorer preparation and lower academic qualifications than their peers and, not surprisingly, they tend not to perform as well in their studies. There is evidence, however, that the entry-test-score gap between SC and ST and other students has been narrowing over the past few decades. There can be little doubt that most of the SC and ST beneficiaries of India’s reservation policies in university admissions do indeed come from a ‘creamy layer’ of the dalit and adivasi population; it could hardly be otherwise, given the immense obstacles faced by the poor in any effort to persist in school, through to higher education. There is also much evidence that beneficiaries tend to come disproportionately from the better off castes and tribes within the SC and ST categories. Thus, in their direct impact, reservation policies have increased inequalities within the SC and ST populations. However, available evidence also suggests that the average socio-economic status of SC and ST students is significantly below that of other students. Thus it is highly unlikely that reservation policies have benefited well-off dalits and adivasi at the expense of less-well-off university applicants from the rest of the population..The average academic performance and graduation rates of SC and ST

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students is distinctly worse than that of other students .This is hardly surprising, in view of the weaker educational backgrounds of most SC and ST students as well as the variety of obstacles they face in pursuing a degree program me to completion.. It appears, however, that the differential in graduation rates between SC and ST and other students is not so great in India’s elite higher educational institutions. There is also some evidence from relatively selective institutions that graduation rates for SC and ST students have been improving over time, as their entering qualifications have risen and as the institutions themselves have found ways to improve the learning environment. There have been very few studies attempting to trace the post university careers of entering cohorts of students at Indian higher educational institutions. The few studies actually done suggest that SC and ST students who graduate from relatively elite institutions tend to end up in responsible and well-paying positions, typically attaining a much higher socio-economic status than their parents – albeit not as high as that of their non-SC and ST peers. The gap in performance between SC and ST and nonSC and ST students appears to be considerably less in post university career achievements than in conventionally-measured academic performance in university studies. This suggests either: (1) that conventional within-university performance measures understate what these students are actually gaining from higher education or (2)that SC and ST students make further progress in catching up to their peers after university studies. Some critics of positive discrimination policies have claimed that the beneficiaries perform so poorly in the programmers’ to which they gain preferential admission that they would actually have been better off without such preference. There have been no sophisticated studies of the way in which the career achievements of reservation policy beneficiaries compare with what might have been expected in the absence of such policies. However, the limited available evidence does suggest that SC and ST students are graduating at reasonable rates from the more elite higher educational institutions (even though their academic performance tends to be weaker than that of their peers), and that for the most part these graduates are going on to successful careers. This evidence, and the undeniable fact that a degree from an elite institution carries much greater promise of a good career than a degree from a run-of-the-mill school, suggests that it is highly unlikely that SC and ST students at the more elite schools would have been better off without access to reserved seats at such institutions. The fact that reservation policies in admissions to higher educational institutions tend to benefit a creamy layer of SC and ST students is often taken by critics as prima facie evidence that these policies are failing to achieve their objective. Such an inference would be warranted, however, only if the primary objective of these policies were to improve the distribution of educational opportunities within the SC and ST communities. But reservation policies in higher educational institutions are obviously not the right way to promote such an objective; a much more promising way would be to expand SC and ST access to primary and secondary education and to improve the quality of the schools in which SC and ST students are most likely to enroll. Positive discrimination policies in admissions to higher educational institutions should instead be understood as an effort to promote the integration of the upper strata of society – by increasing the access of members of highly disadvantaged and underrepresented communities to elite occupations and decision-making positions. Such integration of a society’s elite promises a variety of benefits, including: greater legitimacy of the political system, better performance of jobs involving familiarity with and understanding of disadvantaged communities; more equal opportunity for ordinary members of SC and ST communities to resources and jobs; greater motivation of SC and ST youth to work to better their future prospects. From this perspective, what matters most in judging the success of reservation policies in higher educational admissions is whether the beneficiaries in relatively elite institutions succeed in completing their degree programmes and advancing into successful careers. The very limited evidence available on this question suggests that most

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SC and ST students enrolled in elite higher educational institutions in India do indeed go on to successful careers . References: 1. Wikipedia - Reservation in India. 2. Vakil A. K, “Reservation Policy and Scheduled Castes in India”, Ashis publishing house, Delhi, 1975 and 1985 3. Singh S. N., “Reservation Policy for Backward Classes”, Rawat publications, New Delhi, 1996. 4. Prasad Prasad, “Reservation policy and practice in India”, Deep and Deep publication, Delhi, 1991 5. Weisskopf, Thomas, E, “Impact of Reservation on Admissions to Higher Education in India”. 6. Economic and Political Weekly, Vol 39, No. 39 (Sep 25 Oct 1, 2004), pp 4339-4349.

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(ANTI) ROMANTIC COMEDY: ARMS AND THE MAN AND THE QUESTION OF GENRE Srimay Sinha Assistant Teacher, Fakirdanga High School, District – Nadia, West Bengal E-mail: srimaysinha@gmail.com ABSTRACT Shaw has aptly called “Arms and the Man” an anti-romantic comedy. In the play he exposes the hollowness of the romantic ideas of love and war. The play is anti romantic because in it Shaw attacks the romantic idealization of life; and it is a comedy because in it he exposes the hollowness of romantic love and the heroic ideals of war. However, the play’s anti-romantic message is articulated in the framework of a romantic comedy. The mismatched lovers, alternative romances, parental opposition and the series of comic applications suggest the structure of romantic comedy. The title of the play is a generic signifier. However Shaw‘s play destabilizes this generic identity of the play. This paper attempts to show how Shaw accommodates his subversion of the romantic notions of war and love within the framework of a conventional romantic comedy.

“Arms and the man” seems to be Shaw’s simplest, most accessible, least mystifying play. But the initial audiences were completely confused by it. The actors themselves were baffled by the audiences response, as Yorke Stephens, who played Bluntschli in the first production, makes clear in his account of opening night, 21 April 1894: ‘....every evening was a still more puzzling ordeal. The play created a certain sensation, there is no doubt about that, but the great outer public simply couldn’t understand—what it was driving at.’ In a letter to Henry Arthur Jones dated 2 December 1894, Shaw explains his view of why the audience totally missed the point of “Arms and the Man”: ‘When I present a drama of pure feeling, wittily expressed, the effect when read by me to a picked audience of people in a room is excellent. But in a theatre, the mass of the people, too stupid to relish the wit....simply cannot see any drama or fun there at all, whilst the clever people feel the discrepancy between the real and theatrical feeling...’ Martin Meise traces that “Arms and the Man” was subtitled “A Romantic Comedy” on its first program, and an “ Anti-Romantic Comedy” in subsequent publications, evidently because original audiences had tended to enjoy the fun and miss the serious concerns. The play was particularly concerned with love and heroism. It was a comedy whose point of departure was not Romantic Comedy, but Romantic drama, and particularly Military melodrama. Shaw’s, subtitle of the play “An AntiRomantic Comedy in Three Acts” therefore indicates the serious concern. The key issue seems to be one of seriousness. Shaw saw it as a “serious play”, but thought his audience misconstructed it and saw it as a satire on seriousness. Shaw has aptly called “Arms and the Man” an anti-romantic comedy in which he has exposed the hollowness of the romantic ideas of love and war. The play is anti-romantic because in it Shaw has attacked the romantic idealization of life; and it is a comedy because in it he has exposed and ridiculed the hollowness of romantic love and the heroic ideals of war. By Romanticism Shaw means all that is not based on fact and reality; all shams and false conventions are romantic for they are not based on facts. Their futility and absurd nature can be easily confirmed. Shaw laughs but his laughter has a serious intention. He is both witty and thought-provoking. Although the subtitle indicates “Anti-Romantic”, in presenting the subversion of the romantic notions of war and love Shaw deliberately used the framework of a romantic comedy. The play is anti-romantic and Shaw succeeded fully in exposing the romantic ideas of life, specially the romantic attitude towards love and war. In fact, there is enough romance. The play opens on a note of romance: ‘Night: A lady’s bed chamber in Bulgaria...Through an

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open window with a little balcony a peak of the Balkans, wonderfully white and beautiful in the starlite snow, seems quite close at hand, though it is really miles away.’ (p. 1)Shaw’s heroine Raina, a romantic girl, lives in the world of Byron and Pushkin. She is depicted as role-playing, a common trait in Shakespearean/Romantic Comedy, and eventually becomes an important factor for the development of her character. When Raina speaks to Sergius of the higher love, she conforms to Shaw’s definition of the ‘Womanly Woman’ in “The Quintessence of Ibsenism”: ‘she deceives herself in the idealist fashion by denying that the love which her suitor offers her is tainted with sexual appetite at all. It is she declares, a beautiful, disinterested, pure, sublime devotion to another by which a man’s life is exalted and purified, and a woman’s rendered blest. Raina contrarily is complicated because, unlike a Womanly Woman, she violates custom from the start. This occurs first when she reveals that she is no coward: The Man....Ugh! Dont do things so suddenly, gracious lady. Its mean to revenge yourself because I frightened you just now. Raina (loftily) Frighten me! Do you know, sir, that though I am only a woman, I think I am at heart as brave as you. (Arms, p.12) From the very beginning Shaw makes it clear that Raina’s pose as the idealizing Womanly Woman is all an act, as she reveals when she learns from her mother that Serguius has become a hero: ‘ It proves that all our ideas were real after all....Our heroic ideals. I sometimes used to doubt whether they were anything but dreams.’ (p. 3) Indeed, Raina recalls that before Sergius left, she realized that both she and he were simply playing heroic roles, not reality: ‘Well, it came into my head.....Real life is so seldom like that! Indeed never, as far as I knew it then.’ (p.3) Raina’s aristocratic pose and her ways of playing them, are learnt from fiction and opera, they are in some sense real for her. These are the only feelings she cherishes. Raina recognizes this in the third act when she gets down ‘off her high horse’. Once Bluntschli points out to her that these are not ‘real’ feelings but theatrical ones, she is able to give up the operatic for the real. Since everyone else accepted the ‘noble attitude’ and the ‘thrilling voice’ as real, she assumed they were: ‘You know, I’ve always gone on like that ...I do it before my parents. They believe in it. I do it before Sergius. He believes in it.’(p. 53) Shaw’s basic ideas related to love and war, as many critics have suggested, is rather practical and socialistic. He projects few scenes in the play which bear the identity of antiromantic ideas. For example,’ the chocolate cream soldier’ episode. The fugitive who is ‘…bespattered with mud blood and snow’ (p.6), opines the striking truth about soldiering ‘...nine out of ten are born fools’ (p.9). He calls Raina’s dream man Sergius ‘Don Quixote’ for his foolish behavior in ‘cavalry charge’ and finally the famous utterance: Ive no ammunition. What use are cartridges in battle? I always carry chocolate instead;…( p.12) It is practically that bite of reality which reminds us about the starvation in Siberia. Shaw’s pithy humour however is attacking. Yet he places all these in a romantic setting. Chocolate itself is a romantic element. And at the end when Raina acts as a kind mother to the fugitive she uses the word ‘poor darling’ and in an instant Catherine reacts: Catherine (scandalized) Well! (She strides to the bed, Raina following until she is opposite her on the other side). He’s fast asleep. The brute! Raina (anxiously) SH! Catherine (shaking him) Sir! (Shaking him again, harder) Sir!!(Vehemently, shaking very hard) Sir!!! Raina (catching her arm) Don’t, mamma: the poor darling is worn out. Let him sleep.

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Catherine (letting him go, and turning amazed to Raina) The poor darling! Raina!!!! (She looks at her daughter). Raina’s romantic feelings are coming out through her actions. J Scott Lee analyses that Raina in the first act of the play is not at all romantically posing, rather she tries to enjoy the romance of life. She wants to save Bluntschli. The incredible notion of hospitality allows Raina’s disposition to act in concert with her kindness. Raina yearns to act life’s romance. Raina Come away from the window. (She takes him firmly back to the middle of the room. The moment she releases him he turns mechanically towards the window again. She seizes him and turns him back, exclaiming) Please! (He becomes motionless like a hypnotized rabbit, his fatigue gaining fast on him. She releases him, and addresses him patronizingly). Now listen. You must trust to our hospitality. You do not yet know in whose house you are. I am a Petkoff. (p. 17) Bluntschli, who is supposed to be the realistic hero in the play, is utterly romantic. His actions from first to last are imbued with romanticism. As a soldier he is not soldier like. He is more like chocolate cream personality as Raina opines about him. His romanticism is first seen when Raina accuses him about being a Austrian who ‘set the Serbs on to rob us of our national liberty…’ Bluntschli’s reply is romantic: The man Austrian! Not I. Donot hate me, dear young lady. I am a Swiss, fighting merely as a professional soldier. I joined the Serbs because they came first on the road from Switzerland. (p.11) He is Raina’s chocolate cream soldier. In the second act when Bluntschli comes back at Petkof’s house for returning the coat, Raina sees him and at once she without resisting herself utters: ‘Oh! The chocolate cream soldier!’ (p.42) and immediately manages that with her fabrication of ice pudding. Even in the third act the conversation between Raina and Bluntschli is comic and romantic. The final account of Bluntschli we get when he asserts himself as a romantic man and Raina sardonically terms him as ‘romantic idiot’. When Sergius asks him about the factors that spoiled Bluntschli’s chances in life, he promptly answers: Bluntschli (promptly) An incurably romantic disposition. I ran away from home twice when I was a boy. I went into the army instead of into my father’s business. I climbed the balcony of this house when a man of sense would have dived into the nearest cellar. I came sneaking back here to have another look at the young lady when any other man of my age would have sent the coat back…. (p.72) Shakespearean comedy is known for its happy ending. The relationship between Raina and Bluntschli ends exactly with the cinematic effect. Their relationship development comes to an end when clarifies the difference between ‘…a school girl of seventeen and a woman of twenty three.’ (p.73) Bluntschli settles his mind to marry Raina what she has already determined. In the last scene Bluntschli holds her and asks whom she will give her heart and she replies the truth: Bluntschli …. (He catches her by the shoulders and turns her face toface with him). Now tell us whom did you give them to. Raina (Succumbing with a shy smile) To my chocolate cream soldier. (p.75)

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This whole romantic comedy, although termed as ‘anti-romantic’ is not only based on the setting of Raina-Bluntschli romantic affair. This affair begets because of the mismatched lovers: Sergius-Raina and Nicola-Louka. Sergius from the beginning of the play is shown as Raina’s ‘hero’ and his relationship with Raina is shown as pseudo-romantic until Bluntschli appears in the scene. Sergius is worshipped and his figure is charming and therefore romantic as well. Shaw apparently tries to point out the comic effect of live and war by placing him in contrast to Bluntschli. However, Sergius too sees the seamy side of life and according to him soldiering is ‘the coward’s art of attacking mercilessly when you are strong’ (p.30). Instead of that he is Raina’s Ernani. This setting of Sergius’ wooing Raina when they are left for conversation shows the idealistic romantic atmosphere: Raina How I have envied you, Sergius! You have been out in the world, on the field of battle, able to prove yourself there worthy of any woman in the world: whilst I have had to sit at home inactive—dreaming useless—doing nothing that could give me the right to call myself worthy of any man. Sergius Dearest: all my deeds have been yours. You inspired me. I have gone through the war like a knight in a tournament with his lady looking down at him. (p.33) This conversation sets the atmosphere somehow ideally romantic. This is however, is in full contrast when Sergius becomes busy with Louka. The earlier was the aristocratic ‘higher love’ and the second is the baser ‘earthly love’ with physical interest. Sergius’ shift from Raina to Louka is natural because Shaw wants to show the sham of higher love. Therefore, it becomes more prominent when Srgius explains to Louka the concept of higher love: Sergius: ….Louka: do you know what the higher love is? Louka (astonished) No, sir. Sergius: Very fatiguing thing to keep up for any length of time, Louka. One feels the need of relief after it. (p.34) Naturally, Sergius’ acceptance of the difficulty in continuing higher love with Raina is not only comic; however, it depicts Shaw’s technique of showing the baselessness of higher love. Interesting to note that the ambiance does not get out of romanticism. Sergius’ character presents a prototype, hankering after ‘love’ which is mundane. It is throughout romantic. Shaw therefore, presents all his anti-romantic notions in a romantic setting. The final point any one can notice is the ‘confusion’ in the action of the play. This is also a trait of romantic comedy, particularly Shakepearean comedy. Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night” creates the confusion when the Duke loves Olivia who in turn loves Ceasario and Ceasario on the other hand loves the Duke. Sergius in “Arms and the Man” loves Louka, although he is in relationship with Raina, Raina loves Bluntschli, though poses Sergius as her lover. Nicola, the servant of Petkoff’s house, loves Louka who loves Sergius. The complication is comically romantic: Petkoff (exasperated) Raina, will you kindly inform me, if I am not asking too much, which of these gentlemen you are engaged to? Raina To neither of them. This young lady (introducing Louka, who faces them all proudly) is the object of Major Saranoff’s affections t present.

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Petkoff Louka! Are you mad, Sergius? Why, this girl’s engaged to Nicola. Nicola I beg your pardon, sir. There is a mistake. Louka is not engaged to me. (P.69-70) Thus, not only the characters, the situations are also comic. Shaw’s technique is unique. He gives the subtitle as ‘An anti-romantic Comedy in Three Acts’, perhaps for breaking the notion of Shakespearean comedy which are in five acts. Shaw’s attack is on the romantic view of war and love and I doing so he introduces some romantic characters and certain romantic situations. He simply plays with the politics of genre. The question of genre has been one of the foremost fields of studies, debates and discussion in recent time. The question arises precisely because of the post structuralist intervention. The generic divisions have become loose and fragile, as more and more forms of intertextual studies and application have begun to come up. Therefore, Shaw’s “Arms and the Man” should be questioned from its generic perspective. The comedy is full of romantic and comic elements. The play also indicates socialistic issues. Naturally, it should not be confined within the structure of an anti-romantic comedy. WORKS CITED 1. Meise, Martin , 1984 Shaw and the Nineteenth-Century Theatre- (New York: Limelight Editions. 2. Shaw Bernard, 1891 The Quintessence of Ibsenism; London: Walter Scott, 3. Shaw Bernard, 1898, Arms and the Man, ed. A.C.Ward. 4. Stephens Yorke, 1990, “Arms and the Man: III,” in Shaw: Interviews and Recollections, ed. A.M Gibbs, Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, p.130 5. Lee. J. Scott, 1986, Comic Unity in Arms and the Man, Shaw, Vol. 6, p. 101-122, Penn State University Press.

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Svalakṣaṇa and Sāmānyalakṣaṇa in Buddhist Philosophy: A Study Sujit Roy Research Scholar, Department of Philosophy, Tripura University (A central University), Surjyamninagar-799022, Tripura, India Phone No: 09436168817, E-mail ID: sujitroy469@gmail.com ABSTRACT The objects of cognition are svalakṣaṇa and sāmānyalakṣaṇa in Buddhist epistemology. The Buddhists admit only two varieties of objects of cognition; the svalakṣaṇa (unique particular) and the sāmānyalakṣaṇa (universal character). Of these two, the svalakṣaṇa-s are alone real entities while the sāmānyalakṣaṇa-s are the constructions of our conceptual thinking. Svalakṣaṇa-s are momentary. Perception captures the unique and momentary particular, which is fleeting and non-repeatable. And this characteristic also found in the nirvikalpaka pratyakṣa. Sāmānyalakṣaṇa is a mode of thought and not a mode of existence. Our modes of thinking are external to things-in-themselves; they cannot touch reality. By pratyakṣa pramāṇa we know svalakaṣaṇa-s and by anumāna pramāṇa we know sāmānyalakṣaṇa-s. The aim of this paper is to compare the nature of these two varieties of objects (viṣayas) of pratyakṣa and anumāna in Buddhist philosophy. In this paper I shall also try to explain the logical exposition of Buddhist philosophers on these two types of objects of cognition. Key Words: svalakṣaṇa, sāmānyalakṣaṇa, pratyakṣa, anumāna, momentary etc.

Introduction: The objects of cognition are svalakṣaṇa and sāmānyalakṣaṇa in Buddhist epistemology. The Buddhists admit two sources of valid cognition or pramāṇa i.e. pratyakṣa (perception) and anumāna (inference).1 According to them, there are only two varieties of objects of cognition (prameya);

the svalakṣaṇa or the unique particular and the

sāmānyalakṣaṇa or the universal/class character. Of these two, the svalakṣaṇa-s are alone real entities while the sāmānyalakṣaṇa-s are the constructions of our conceptual thinking. Svalakṣaṇa can be cognized through pratyakṣa alone and sāmānyalakṣaṇa can be cognized anumāna. The Buddhists do not believe that the same object can be known by different pramāṇa-s, one kind of objects is known by only one pramāṇa. So to cognize the above two kinds of objects we have to admit two different kinds of pramāṇa-s. By pratyakṣa pramāṇa we know svalakaṣaṇa-s and by anumāna pramāṇa we know sāmānyalakṣaṇa-s. The aim of this paper is to compare the nature of these two varieties of objects (viṣayas) of pratyakṣa and anumāna in Buddhists philosophy. In this paper I shall also try to explain the logical exposition of Buddhist philosophers on these two types of objects of cognition in Buddhist logic. 1.

“dvividhaṁ samyagjñānam”. --- NB, I.2. “pratyakṣamanumānañca”. --- NB, I.3.

“māṇaṁ dvividhaṁ viṣayadvaividhyatvāt …..”. --- PV, II. 1.

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The Buddhists view on svalakṣaṇa : According to the Buddhist logicians, the object of perceptual cognition is svalakṣaṇa. Svalakṣaṇa is that which makes a difference between cognitions arising out of a close and a remote observation of a thing. When an object is observed from a distance the resulting cognition is indistinct. But when it is observed closely the cognition is distinct. That which is cognized distinctly on a closer approach and indistinctly from a distance is svalakṣaṇa and it is the real (paramārthasat), because it is free from conceptual impositions (anāropitaṁ rūpam) or thought-determinations. According to the Vaibhāṣikas, and the Hīnayānists, the realities are in the form of unique particulars or svalakṣaṇa and pratyakṣa alone is the means of apprehending such unique particulars. These unique particulars are momentary and are equally self-sustained and self-destructive. In each moment a unique particular destroys itself and a similar (not the same) unique particular emerges in its place. According to the Buddhists, svalakṣaṇa can be cognized through pratyakṣa alone. It has no extension in space (deśa-anānugata) 3 and has no duration in time (kālanānugata). Even the temporal and extended objects of everyday experience are only constructed objects of our general modes or forms of thought (sāmānyalakṣaṇa-s as opposed to svalakṣaṇa-s). When we conceive the svalakṣaṇa-s as arising in succession one after another, we come to construct the idea of duration of time. On the other hand, when we think of the svalakṣaṇa-s as arising in contiguity with one another, we construct the idea of space. Again when we conceive this svalakṣaṇa-s both in succession and in contiguity we have the notion of motion. As a matter of fact external reality is timeless. It is not only in the sense that it is not extended but also in the sense that it has no duration. Similarly, it is space less in the sense that it has no extension. As a result, it is motionless also. It is isolated, discrete and disconnected. It does not share its nature with anything else. It is annihilated as soon as it arises and new one emerges there. Dignāga (400 A.D) says, svalakṣaṇa-s alone are real objects of cognition proper. According to Dharmakīrti (7th century A.D), svalakṣaṇa-s are characterized by a sort of productivity (arthakriyā-sāmartha), distinguished from everything (sarvato-vyāvṛtta), beyond the reach of words, and shorn of all kinds of qualifications or conceptual constructions.4 3.

“In the first period of its philosophy Buddhism admitted the reality of space as one of the elements of the universe. It was an empty space imagined as an unchanging, eternal, all embracing element. But when later Buddhists were confronted by idealism in their own home, they saw that the reality of external objects does not admit of a strict proof, and the reality of a substantial space was then denied.” --- Buddhist Logic, Vol. I, by T H. Stcherbatsky, p. 85. NB, p. 15-17.

The Buddhists view on sāmānyalakṣaṇa : Sāmānyalakṣaṇa can be cognized through anumāna alone and it is mediated by the liṅga or the reason. Anumāna consists of a pure thought process, which is conceptual; though it may be expressed through judgements when it is employed to convince others. It is possible to have inferences which are purely thought

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process and which are not verbally expressed. According to the Buddhists, sāmānyalakṣaṇa is not reals, because it cannot touch reality. Sāmānyalakṣaṇa which is common to other objects, e.g., ‘cowness’ does not really belong to the object, but is imposed upon it by the knower, and hence it does not make any difference in cognition whether an object is observed closely or from a distance. Therefore, it is not an object of pratyakṣa. Sāmānyalakṣaṇa is a mode of thought and not a mode of existence. Our modes of thinking or categories of thought are external to things-in-themselves; they cannot touch reality. Here I like to include one of the great Buddhist logicians Dharmakīrti’s interpretations which are very important in Buddhist epistemology. Dharmakīrti established the existence of svalakṣaṇa on the evidence of sāmānyalakṣaṇa. He argues that there is no doubt that there are constructed objects in this world. Now if we begin to withdraw all constructions from the entities on which the constructions are imposed, what will remain there? The pure entities constitute the real answer. The cognition of these entities is called nirvikalpaka jñāna. Although the cognition of those pure entities is not expressible, we can very well notice it while noticing those entities. Such cognition cannot be denied because there is agreement both in presence and in absence between those entities and their pratyakṣa. Where there is pure entity there is pratyakṣa viz. pratyakṣa of blue patch. Again, where there is no pratyakṣa there is no pure entity viz. son of a barren woman. 5 It may be objected that the Buddhists accept a world of sāmānyalakṣaṇa-s over and above the world of svalakṣaṇa-s? Dharmakīrti anticipating such a possible mis-conception takes up a detailed discussion to prove the unreality of the world of sāmānyalakṣaṇa-s. He states that although in the ultimate sense svalakṣaṇa-s alone are the proper objects of cognition, a svalakṣaṇa may be apprehended in two ways: as it is (svarūpeṇa) or as other than it is (pararūpeṇa). When it is known as it is, it is called svalakṣaṇa and when it is known as other than it is called sāmānyalakṣaṇa. But it is not the case that there is a real sāmānyalakṣaṇa apart from svalakṣaṇa. Pratyakṣa is the direct intuition of the given. Savikalpaka jñāna is the attribution of some image or conceptual construction to what is given. This image or conceptual construction is not a case of fanciful imagination or an illusory object. 5. Buddhist Logic, Vol. I, by T H. Stcherbatsky, p. 155. From this objective reference to reality we can prove the actual existence of svalakṣaṇa. 6 Śāntarakṣita (749 A.D) and Kamalaśīla (750 A.D) too observe that at the very first moment of contact with an object, there is no constructive cognition. Constructive cognition takes place after an association of the conventional name with the object. But before such an association we have to admit some cognition (sensation) of the pure entity. This is evident from the fact that when our attention is engaged otherwise or when our attention is absorbed in a particular object then although we perceive some object, we cannot characterize the object by any qualification. That pratyakṣa of the object is free from all types of kalpanā and that pratyakṣa again is nirvikalpaka which is real and unerring. The unique particular or

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svalakṣaṇa is the object of nirvikalpaka pratyakṣa. Dignāga and his followers regard unique particulars as the ultimate reality. This unique particular again is regarded as an internal conscious moment by Yogācārins and as an external unique particular by Sautrāntikas and Vaibhāṣikas. So, constructive objects apprehended by inference and not by pratyakṣa.

other words, the Buddhists believe in ‘pramāṇa vyavasthā’, so for this the objects of pratyakṣa can in no way be cognized by anumāna and vice versa. Perceptual cognition characteristically lacks all sorts of determination. So it is only nirvikalpaka pratyakṣa that can be called pratyakṣa proper. Savikalpaka pratyakṣa is a sort of such inferential cognition and is not pratyakṣa proper. The sensuous cognition of a pot or of a cow may be savikalpaka certainly not pratyakṣa. In Buddhist epistemology even such a cognition of a pot or of a cow is on ultimate analysis cognition only in the secondary sense i.e., cognition in the ordinary level of life. The so called savikalpaka pratyakṣa is the cognition of objects that belong to the world of thought and not to the world of reality either external or internal. In other words, savikalpaka pratyakṣa is the cognition of unreal entities, and which involves conceptual construction (kalpanā) i.e., association of name, class, character, etc. and for this reason, it is erroneous perception. These logical explanations are taken from Pradyot Kumar Mandal’s ‘Aviśiṣṭa

viṣaya and svalakṣaṇa’, Pratyaya, 2nd Issue, 2008. “svalakṣaṇaviṣayamhi

pratyakṣam

sāmānyalakṣaṇa-viṣayāmanumānumiti

pratipādayisyamaḥ”, --- Pramāṇasamuccayavṛtti, Dignāga. Quoted from Hattori, Dignāga on Perception, P. 79-80. Difference between the svalakṣaṇa and the sāmānyalakṣaṇa: Dignāga, and Dharmakīrti, and other Buddhists draw a very clear line of discrimination between the svalakṣaṇa and the sāmānyalakṣaṇa. The former is real since it alone is causally efficient while the latter is not real. It can at best be regarded to be empirically real while the former one is real from the ultimate point of view. 8 Dharmakīrti in the second chapter of his Pramāṇavārttika lists some fundamental points of distinction between the svalakṣaṇa and the sāmānyalakṣaṇa: (i) “svalakṣaṇasyārthakriyāśaktatvāt, vijātīyavyāṛttyupakalpitasya ca sāmānya syāśaktatvād viṣayadvaividhyam”, 9 i.e. svalakṣaṇa has a power to produce effect while the sāmānyalakṣaṇa conceived only for the purpose of discrimination, does not have any such power. (ii)

“sadṛśaṁ sāmānyam; sarvayaktisādhāraṇatvāt. asadṛśaṁ svalakṣaṇam;

sarvato vyāvṛttatvāt”,

i.e. svalakṣaṇa-s are specific in character since they are

distinguished from everything other than itself, sāmānyalakṣaṇa-s have general character, since they can be common among many things.

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(iii)

“śabdasya viṣayaḥ sāmānyam aviṣayaḥ svalakṣaṇam”,

i.e. svalakṣaṇa is

not expressible through words while the sāmānyalakṣaṇa is expressed through words. (iv)

“tathā

viṣayādanyeṣāṁ

nimittānāṁ

manaskāravat

sādguṇyasaṁketa-

grahaṇānāṁ bhāve grāhikāyā dhiyaḥ sāmānye sattvāt svalakṣaṇe cābhāvāt viṣayadvai vidhyam”,

i.e. svalakṣaṇa is apprehensible without depending on other factors like verbal

conventions whereas sāmānyalakṣaṇa-s cannot be apprehended without depending on such other factors. 8.

“arthakriyāsamarthaṁ yat tad atra paramārthasat.

9. 10. 11. 12.

anyat saṁvṛtisat proktam; te svasāmānyalakṣaṇe”. --- PV. II. 3. PVV, p. 84. 6 - 7. Ibid. p. 84. 12 - 13. Ibid. p. 84. 16 - 17. Ibid. p. 84. 19 - 21. According to Dharmakīrti, there are fundamental differences between svalakṣaṇa and

sāmānyalakṣaṇa in respect of casual efficiency, similarity, expressibility through words and apprehensibility through other factors. 13 Because of such fundamental differences in the nature of the two objects, two different means of cognition are required to apprehend the two different types of objects. Pratyakṣa is fit to apprehend the svalakṣaṇa while the anumāna is for sāmānyalakṣaṇa. If we compare Dharmakīrti’s analysis with that of Dignāga regarding the distinction between these two types of objects, we find that the concept of causal efficiency (arthakriyā) was unfamiliar to Dignāga. It is a new addition by Dharmakīrti. He adds this further concept to the unreality of universal or sāmānya. Later on in the same chapter of Pramāṇavārttika he states that “meyaṁ tvekaṁ svalakṣaṇam”, 14 i.e. the unique particular alone is the object of valid cognition, and shows that this is not at all inconsistent with his previous statement that there are two means of valid cognition since there are two different types of objects. Prameya is said to be twofold because the svalakṣaṇa can be apprehended in two ways, as it is (svarūpeṇa) and as something other than itself (pararūpeṇa). So, it is not the case that there is real sāmānya apart from the svalakṣaṇa-s. It is simply on the basis of apprehending the svalakṣaṇas in two different ways that we have two different objects of valid cognition. 15 Findings:

After a brief survey of the entire proceedings we may now conclude that:

(1) Svalakṣaṇa-s are alone real entities which are free from any type of imaginary constructions. (2) Svalakṣaṇa-s are the only sat viṣaya which can be cognized by nirvikalpaka pratyakṣa alone. (3) Sāmānyalakṣaṇa is a mode of thought and not a mode of existence and it can be cognized through anumāna alone.

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(4) When svalakṣaṇa is known as other than (pararūpeṇa) it is called sāmānyalakṣaṇa. (5) Regarding the two types of objects, the concept of causal efficiency (arthakriyā) also found in Dharmakīrti’s philosophy. “……..śaktyaśaktitaḥ.

13.

arthakriyāyām; keśādirnātho’narthādhimokṣataḥ. sadṛśāsadṛśatvāc ca viṣayāviṣayatvataḥ. śabdasyānyanimittānāṁ bhāve dhīsadasattvataḥ.” --- PV, II.1-2. Ibid., II. 53.

14.

Conclusion: From the above discussion we can say that in Buddhist epistemology pratyakṣa is the only pramāṇa and that pratyakṣa again is nirvikalpaka. Svalakṣaṇa is the object of that cognitive state. Svalakṣaṇa lasting only for a moment and being replaced by another is not static but dynamic. It is not being but becoming. It is a constant movement in the sense that disconnected and detached bits of reality constantly follow one another. It is momentary. Pratyakṣa captures the unique and momentary particular, which is fleeting and nonrepeatable. And this characteristic also found in the nirvikalpaka pratyakṣa and so it is the only perception of Buddhists philosophy. Svalakṣaṇa being momentary is destroyed in the very next moment and the question of savikalpaka pratyakṣa does not arise in Buddhist philosophy. Anumāna is the secondary pramāṇa in the sense that it grasps only the sāmānyalakṣaṇas which according to them is not reals and it is mediated by the liṅga or the reason. Sāmānyalakṣaṇa is the construction of our conceptual thinking which is not reals. It is the subject matter of inferential cognition. 15. “tasya sva-para-rūpābhyāṁ gater meyadvayaṁ matam.” --- Ibid., II. 54. “tasya

svalakṣaṇasya

pratyakṣataḥ

svarūpeṇānumānataḥ

pararūpeṇa

sāmānyākāreṇa gater meyadvayaṁ matam, na tu bhūtasāmānyasya sattvāt.” --- PVV, p. 100.10-12. Quoted from Madhumita Chattopadhyaya’s Walking Along the Paths of Buddhist Epistemology, p. 77. Bibliography 1.

Nyāyabindu, Dharmakīrti : Translated and Elucidated by Satyajyoti Chakraborty, Sahityasri, Kolkata, 2nd Impression, November, 2006.

2. Pramāṇavārttika, Dharmakīrti: Trans. by Satkari Mookerjee and Hojun Nagasaki, Nava Nālandā Mahāvihāra, 1964. 3.

Chattopadhyaya, Madhumita : Walking Along the Paths of Buddhist Epistemology, D.K. Printworld (P) Ltd., Kolkata, First Published in India, 2007.

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Hattori, Masaaki : Dignāga, on Perception, being the Pratyakṣapariccheda of Dignāga’s Pramāṇasamuccaya, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, 1968.

Stcherbatsky, TH. : Buddhist Logic, (Vol. I-II), Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi, Reprint, 2004.

6. Mandal, P.K. : “Aviśiṣța Viṣaya and Svalakṣaṇa.” Pratyaya, Annual Journal, Department of Philosophy, Tripura University, 2nd Issue, November, 2008.

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ROLE OF WOMEN POLICE TOWARDS GENDER SENSITIZATION Sushmita Pal Chowdhury Assistant Professor, Political Science, Jibantala Rokeya Mahavidyalaya, Canning II, Jibantala, West Bengal, Pin - 743502, E-mail: sush_pc@yahoo.co.in ABSTRACT Women police are an indispensable part of every police department throughout the world. The inclusion of women in the male dominated police profession dates back to 1845 in New York City of USA. This study focuses on the role women police plays in creating a gender friendly environment in the arena of law enforcement. For this purpose it required to know that there is a basic difference between the terms ‘sex’ and ‘gender’. Sex refers to the biological and physiological difference between man and woman whereas gender refers to the socially constructed roles, behaviours, activities, and attributes that a given society considers appropriate for men and women. Gender sensitization helps to overcome this bias created due to gender difference.

Introduction Man is a social being who in order to remain within the realm of public order requires a mechanism to preserve discipline and social justice. No society can progress without appropriate law and order management. Police is generally defined as the civil force responsible for maintaining law and order without which there can be no development in civilization. The term POLICE stands for “Protection Organization for Life and Investment in Civil Establishment”. The word police have been derived from the Greek word “POLITIA” meaning the condition of a state or government (Srinivasan and Ilango 2013). The prime duties of this department include maintenance of law and order and controlling crime. Present day police is not only expected to be law enforcers but also be the protector of human rights. Though a male dominated profession yet the role of women police is nevertheless significant in today’s society. Every society distinguishes one individual from the other on the basis of various characteristics like gender, religion, region, lingual, racial and so on. The gender wise difference analyses the position of men and women in different functions of the society. There is a difference between the term “sex” and the term “gender”. The term “sex” refers to the biological and physiological difference that are used to define an individual as either a male or female. On the other hand, the term “gender” is a socially and culturally loaded term. It refers to the socially constructed roles, behaviours, activities, and attributes that a given society considers appropriate for men and women. As per gender difference men are inherently suited for activities in public realm whereas women’s role is restricted to private domain. This difference in turn leads to every society specifying certain profession as stereo type masculine jobs while others are designated as feminine occupations. Examples of masculine occupations would be soldiers, police, accountants, engineers, mechanics, while feminized occupations would include nurse, teacher, typist, beautician and so on. Masculine jobs are more valued by society and hence more rewarding. These professions require more physical and mental potency. Whereas feminized jobs are socially less valued and under paid. These professions demands soft skills like care, concern and emotional support. Policing has always being regarded as masculinised profession. Hence it can be inferred that gender inequality historically and in the modern day context is an unavoidable phenomena in all societies. Gender sensitization helps to overcome this bias which is a result of gender difference. Gender sensitizing "is about changing behaviour and instilling empathy into the views that we hold about our own and the other gender." It helps people in "examining their

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personal attitudes and beliefs and questioning the 'realities' they thought they know.”(Aksornkool, Joerge rand Taylor2004, VIII.) Objective of the study:  

Tracing the history of women in police profession. Analysing how the presence of women police is creating a gender friendly environment in the arena of law enforcement.

Method of the study: This study focuses on the knowledge base created from review of existing literature and data collected from Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPRD), newspapers and websites. In this respect number of publications on gender issues, women studies, women police of different countries of the world, police system of India, women police of different states of India and Kolkata police are studied. Policing is a demanding job which involves long and uncertain hours of duty and other physical as well as mental hazards. Women have made late entry in this profession. The initial history of women policing can be traced back to 1845 in United States of America. It was in the New York City that for the first time police matrons were employed (Ghosh 1981, 19). The informal journey of women in the policing job of UK started in 1883. It was during this period that the Metropolitan Police first employed a female visitor for women convicts on basis of a license and under the direct supervision of the police department. Later fourteen Police matrons were appointed in 1889 (Ghosh 1981, 15). In Germany women police were initially appointed in 1903 at Stuttgart. This was the first country to regard women police as “police woman” (Mahajan 1982, 36). In Canada women police was introduced in 1896, Poland in 1925, Japan in 1946, Singapore in 1949, Indonesia in 1951, Nigeria in 1955, Sweden in 1957, Malaysia in 1960 and Israel in 1960. The dialogue on the need for women police was for first time discussed at an international level at the 3 rd Session of the International Criminal Police Commission (I.C.P.C) held at Berlin from 27 th – 30th September, 1926 (Ghosh 1981, 35). In India women police were first appointed in British India in Kanpur in 1939 to deal with women protestors of the labour strike in Kanpur in 1938. In pre-independent India the princely state of Travancore also appointed one women head constable and twelve lady special police constables in the year 1939. According to Nigam (1963, 45) women police existed in pre-independent India in port cities like Bombay, Calcutta and Madras to check women passengers. However, women police were recruited on regular basis in different states only after independence. This urgent need was due to the chaotic situation arising out of post partition disorder. Women were kidnapped, raped, forcibly converted and sold as goods. Hence for sheltering women and children who were victims of partition, refugee camps were setup. The Ministry of Relief and Rehabilitation felt that women police were more equipped to look after these victims and also to rescue those abducted. Today the women police are an indispensable part of police administration in India. The existence of women police in Kolkata police department dates back to the year 1949. On 31st May, 1949 the first batch of women joined the Calcutta Police Training school. They were recruited as nine sub-inspectors (S.I) and twenty-two assistant sub-inspectors. In India, although independence resulted in the establishment of a democratic form of government, nevertheless the police system retained its colonial characteristics. Hence even today general people consider Indian police as an oppressive arm of government rather than a support system of common man whom they are meant to serve (Mehra and Levy 2011, 232). According to National Police Commission of 1977 findings ‘ in the perception of people, the egregious features of police are politically oriented partisan performance of duties, brutality, corruption and inefficiency, degrees of which vary from place to place and person to

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person’(Choudhary 2009, 23).Violence against women and children is also on its rise. The abuses take place in various ways like physical, economic, sexual or psychological. Most often the victims of such abuse do not report the incident or seek legal help. They are afraid of social humiliation and doubtful whether the police authority will be sensitive enough in regard to their plea. To overcome the negative image the police need to be more humane and sensitive in their approach. The presence of women police develops a sense of confidence and comfort among public especially for women and children in distress. The role assigned to women police initially was as social volunteers to look after women and juvenile victims and accused. Gradually in the XXVIth Session of the General Assembly of International Criminal Police Commission held at Lisbon, Portugal between 17 th and 22nd June, 1957 the duties of women police were defined in a report on ‘Juveniles ’police-the use of women police (Ali 2006,23). These are as follows: 1. Preventive Duties: 

the discovery of children and minors or physical dangers to children who are neglected, abandoned, wayward ,etc.;



family investigations;



discovery of juveniles without occupation or with a tendency to become prostitutes;



teaching school children about traffic rules.

2. Administrative Duties: 

searching for children who have run away and absconded;



transport for children;



establishment of card index system for minors and females;



liaison with social, medical and school services, etc.

3. Supportive Duties: 

investigations concerning juvenile delinquents of both sexes and also young women offenders;



interrogation of children and adolescents (interrogation of male adults will be done by male police officers);



investigation into cases where a child of either sex is a victim of a sexual offence;



interrogation of adult women who are particularly sensitive or emotional;



detection of clandestine prostitutes;



searching arrested women.

It can be inferred from the very nature of the duties assigned to women police is that they have been set so as to provide a safe and secure environment for women and juvenile victims, accused and witness in arena of law enforcement. The all boys image of police organisation is moderated to a certain extent due to the presence of policewomen. It creates a gender friendly environment in the police department. There is also a behavioural change in the approach of the male police person due to the presence of women police. There is a significant difference in policing style in regard to male and female police. It is perceived that ‘policemen see police work as involving control through authority while policewomen see it as a public service’ (Fielding &Fielding 1992, 214). The police today no longer can remain only as authoritarian law enforcers; rather they have to create a bridge between police and

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public. The gender sensitive attitude is very effective in building this police-public partnership through community policing initiatives. Feminine values such as gentleness, sympathy, and genuine caring cannot be devalued in the male dominated police profession. These values do not make a woman less competent as a police person rather these are her real assets which the department should uphold to deal with public grievances. The intimidating and negative image of police should become more humane. Gender sensitization is the behavioural change in the attitude of an individual where he is unbiased between his own and other gender. The Indian Constitution ensures gender equality as a fundamental right and even empowers the state to take positive steps for women‘s empowerment. The year 2001 has been declared as the “International Women’s Empowerment Year”by United Nations to focus on a vision 'where women are equal partners like men'. There have been several policies advocating women’s concerns since the first National Plan of Action for Women was adopted in 1976. In one such move directed towards safeguarding and protecting the interests of women in the country, the National Commission for Women was set up in 1992 by an Act of Parliament. The police force on its part is also trying to create a gender responsive approach to deal with crime against women and children. It will create a favourable environment which will encourage victims report a crime and instil a feeling that their pleas will be rightly investigated by police. In regard to gender sensitization in police force the home ministry is emphasising on recruitment of more women police, establishing all women police stations and organising gender sensitization programmes. Recently on 21st March 2015 the central government announced 33 per cent quotas for women in police forces of all Union territories, including Delhi, for posts from constables to sub-inspectors. Police is the first line of interface between citizens and the law enforcement machinery. It has been observed that many women do not approach the police as they may have to confide or report the incident to a male police officer. After the 16th December, 2012 Delhi gang rape, the government had enacted the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2013. An amendment mandates that only female police or government officers can record reports of crimes against women and their statements. Gender sensitization programme is an integral part of police training modules of Sardar Vallabhbhai National Police Academy (SVPNPA) Hyderabad, North Eastern Police Academy (NEPA) Shillong, Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D) New Delhi, Central Detective Training Schools (CDTS) and Police Training Institutes of Central Police Organisations (CPOs), Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) etc (http://mha1.nic.in/par2013/par2014-pdfs/rs-190214/2704.pdf accessed 19/03/15). Conclusion It is worth mentioning that as per the 7th United Nations survey in 2000 the representation of women officers in the police in India stood at mere 2.2% (Natarajan 2008, 34).According to home ministry statistics of 2013 out of 16, 60,666 personnel working in state police forces, only 97,518 or just 5.87% are women. (http://www.nipsa.in/uploads/country_resources_file/1242_Parl_Comm_Empowerme nt_of_Women_WomeninPolice_report_2014.pdf accessed on 21/3/15). Besides, as per BPRD data there are just 502 all-women police stations in the country out of a total 14,360 stations. Despite the relatively low numbers of women in the police force, yet many more women are now deployed in supervisory positions. The various gender sensitive initiatives taken on part of the government and police department are showing its positive effects. There is also a positive change in the overall treatment and handling of women and children related cases. Another optimistic signal is that women are now not so afraid of approaching police to report abuse and violence. Nevertheless a lot is left to done to further improve the gender equality in law enforcement sector. Firstly, more women police should be recruited EDULIGHT-Multi-disciplinary, Peer-Reviewed Journal

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.Secondly, more all women police stations should be established. Thirdly, mandatory gender sensitization programme should be introduced for all police personnel at regular interval. Fourthly, social media should be used to create awareness among general public in gender related issues. It can be concluded by saying that gender sensitive and empowered police force will surely create a safe and secure legal order for every individual. References: 1. Alexander, K. (2006). Police Reforms in India: An Analytical Study, Discovery Publishing House, New Delhi. 2. Aksornkool, Namtip. Joerger, Cindy; Taylor, Elaine. (eds).(2004). Gender sensitivity: a training manual for sensitizing education managers, curriculum and material developers and media professionals to gender concerns. p. VIII. 3. Bahrul Islam, K.M (ed). (2014). Issues in Women’s Rights: A Practitioner’s Resource Book, Allied Publishers Private Limited, New Delhi. 4. Bhardwaj, Aruna. (1999). Women in uniform: emergence of women police in Delhi, Regency Publications, New Delhi. 5. Bureau of Police Research and Development, (http://bprd.nic.in/ accessed on 17/3/15). 6. Chakroborty, S. October-December (1994). “Equal Opportunities to Women in Police.” Police Research and Developments: 21-24. 7. Chande, M.B. (1997). The Police in India, Atlantic Publishers and Distributors, New Delhi. 8. Chattopadhya ,Tapan. (2014). Kolkata and Its Police: A History of City Police from Charnock’s To Present Day, Naya Udyog, Kolkata. 9. Choudhary, Rohit.(2009).Policing Reinventing Stategies inMarketing Framework, Sage Publication India, New Delhi. 10. Committee on Empowerment of women, http://www.nipsa.in/uploads/country_resources_file/1242_Parl_Comm_Empowerment_of _Women_WomeninPolice_report_2014.pdf accessed on 21/3/15. 11. Feinman Clarice. (1994). Women in the Criminal Justice Syste. Greenwood Publishing Group, USA. 12. Fielding, N. & Fielding, J. (1992), ‘A Comparative Minority: Female Recruits to a British Constabulary Force’, Policing and Society, Vol. 2, pp. 205-218. 13. Ghosh, S.K. (1981).Women in Policing, Light and Life Publishers, New Delhi. 14. Government of India Ministry of Home Affairs, (http://mha1.nic.in/par2013/par2014pdfs/rs-190214/2704.pdf accessed 19/03/15). 15. Jackson, Louise.(2006). Women Police: Gender, Welfare and Surveillance in the Twentieth Century, Manchester University Press, UK. 16. Kaul, Asha, and Singh, Manjari , (eds). (2012).New Paradigm Of Gender Inclusivity: Theory and Best Practices, PHI Learning Ltd, New Delhi. 17. Mahajan, Amarjit. (1982). Indian Police Women, Deep and Deep Publication,New Delhi. 18. Majumdar, Maya, (ed). (2005). Encyclopaedia of Gender Equality through Women Empowerment, Sarup and Sons, New Delhi. 19. Mehra, Ajay K and Levy,Rene. (2011). The Police, State and Society: Perspective from India and France, Pearson Education India, Noida. 20. Mohamed, Ali. A.P. (2006). Performance of Women Police (Tamil Nadu), Kalpaz Publication, Delhi. 21. Natarajan, Mongai. (2008). Women Police in a Changing Society: Back Door to Equality, Ashgate Publishing Limited, England.

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22. Nussbaum, Martha, Basu, Amrita, Tambiah, Yasim,Jayal ,Nirja Gopal.(2005).Essays on Gender and Governance, Macmillan India, New Delhi. 23. Segrave, Kerry.( 2014). Policewomen: A History, Mc Farland, USA. 24. Sharma, P.D. (1985). Police and Criminal Justice Administration in India, Publishing House, New Delhi.

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25. Singh, Joginder. (2003). Discovery of Independent India, Fusion Books,New Delhi. 26. Snow, Robert L. (2010). Policewomen Who Made History: Breaking through the Ranks, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, UK. 27. Srinivasan, S and Ilanga, P. April (2013). “Socio-Economic Condition of Women Police.” International Journal of Multidisciplinary Educational Research 2; 5(3). 28. Subramoniam, K.S and Verma ,Arvind. (2005). Understanding the Police in India, Regency Publications, New Delhi. 29. Vadackumchery, James.( 2000). Police, Women and Gender Justice,A.P.H. Publishing Corporation, New Delhi. 30. Vadackumchery, James. (1998). National Police Commission: Issues for Rethinking, A.P.H. Publishing Corporation, New Delhi. 31. Verma, Arvind. (2005). The Indian Police: A Critical Evaluation, Daya Books, New Delhi. 32. Vishnoi, Om Raj Singh. (1999). Women Police in India, Aravali Books International (P) Ltd, New Delhi. 33. Wells, Sandra and Sowers, Betly Alt. (2005). Police women: Life with the Badge, Greenwood Publishing Group, USA.

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HIGHER EDUCATIONOF BENGAL IN THE PRE INDEPENDENCE PERIOD – A HISTORICAL REVIEW Sutripta Banerjee Assistant Professor, Saheed Nurul Islam Mahavidyalaya, Tentulia, North 24 Parganas , West Bengal, E-mail: banerjee.sutripta@gmail.com ABSTRACT India has a long and venerable history in the field of higher education. In ancient times, the country was known to have been home to the oldest formal universities in the world. The more striking of these ancient universities were Takshila (now in Pakistan), Nalanda (in the modern state of Bihar) and Ujjaini (in modern Madhya Pradesh). These were famous in the prehistoric world and attracted students from all parts of India, Central Asia, China and South-east Asia. The HinduBuddhist University of Takshila, the oldest, was probably established in sixth century B.C. Unfortunately, Takshila University was destroyed by the White Huns (Ephthalites) around 460 A.D. In 1193, Nalanda University was sacked and totally destroyed by Bakhtiyar Khilji. This event not only ended the university, but was also followed by a rapid decline in the practice of Buddhism in India. This paper seeks to explore the growth of higher education in Bengal during the British period. It seeks to find out the various institutions that came into existence during the pre-independence period. West Bengal, the cradle of Indian renaissance and the national freedom movement, is a land of intellectual awakening. The old Bengal known as Gauda or Vanga was aptlymentioned in the great epic Mahabharata. Shaped like a sea horse, West Bengal is thetriple gateway opening eastward to the seven northeastern states, northward intoSikkim and westward into the Gangetic plains. One of the most prosperous territoriesof the British Empire, Bengal had been the nerve centre of intellect and human valueswhere many modern movements in art, education, cinema, theatre, science andindustry were initiated. It was here that India’s quest for freedom began.

Higher Education in Bengal (1765-1813) The OrientalActivity:Turning back the pages of history we go back to the end of 16th century and start of 17th century.It was the era of British Orientalist policy (1772-1830).The East India Company wanted to educate the influential Indians for higher posts under Government and there by win the confidence of the upper class and consolidate rule in India. It was therefore felt that some centers for higher learning should be established. The Calcutta Madrasah was founded by Warren Hastings in1781. In the early years, lands yielding Rs.29000 were assigned for the support of the Madrassah.The main objective of the institution was to produce competent officers for the state.Goverment gave scholarships to the students. Philosophy, principles ofQuran, Law, Geometry, Arithmetic, Logic, Grammar were taught in this Madrasah. This marked the beginning of the Orientalist School of Educational policy. Later Rs 30000 was granted annuallyfrom the treasury to support the institution. It was first placed under Muslim management but later replaced by European Secretary. The Oriental school of thought believed that the company should encourage classical learning in Sanskrit and Arabic. The Asiatic Society was established by Sir William Jones (philologist) in 1784for promoting oriental studies.Important contributions were made in the fields of Indian archeology, philology and history by scholars like William Jones, H.T.Colebrooke, Charles Wilkins, H.H. Wilson and James Princep. The Fort William College was established in 1800 by Lord Wellesly. It was founded as a training place for civil servants of the company in oriental learning. Hindu and Muslim laws, Indian history, Arabic, Persian, and Sanskrit were taught. Bengali Language received tremendous encouragement in this college. Numerous text books were published in laws and languages of India. Culturally though the emphasis was on preservation of Indian culture, language and

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traditions,theseinstitutionsmarked a shift from Persian influence to English influenceinlanguage, administration, education and social etiquette. It paved the way for the Bengal Renaissance. Serampore Trio and Higher Education in Bengal (1799-1818): Running parallel to the oriental activities were the missionary activities at Serampore under the direction of William Carey which began in1799.The Serampore trio –Joshua Marshman, William Carey and WilliamWard- provided an orientalist missionary counterpart to those working at Asiatic Society. The introduction of printing press and the work on Bengali and Sanskrit linguistics andcollecting of Hindu texts which was done byCarey and his associates all contributed to the development of the vernacular andrethinking of the Hindu tradition. The efforts of the missionary were so successful that in1801 Fort William College offered Carey a position to teach Bengali and Urdu. In 1818 the Serampore College was established. This was the first missionary college in India. It went on to become India's first modern university in 1827 when it was incorporated by a Royal Charter as a Danish University. Charter Act of 1813: In 1813 the Company’s Charter came onceagain for renewal. The missionaries prepared the groundfor agitation in England forimpartingwestern education in India. The officials of the East India Company on the other hand influenced the Court of Directors for the revival of literature of the learned natives of India.It was against this background the Charter act of 1813 came up for renewal. The clause 43 clearly reflects a synthesis of both the views. The clause bears three propositions a. The revival and improvement of literature. b. The encouragement of learned natives of India and c. The promotion of knowledge of the sciences among inhabitants of that country. The clause did not give a clear verdict and created an era of controversies with regard to content of education, the aim of education, the medium of education and the agency of education. Higher education in Bengal (1813-1900): Hindu College:The missionary activities in India accelerated after the Charter Act of 1813.Many British officials and non-officials in their individual capacity got involved in the development of secular western education. The most pioneering services rendered in this regard wasDavid Hare. He came to India in1800 and showed a keen interest in the development of education in India. He carried out his educational project HinduVidyalaya with the conviction that India needed schools and collegesto impart secular knowledge. Hindu college wasthe first collegiate institution on western lines in this country and on purely secular basis. In carrying out this project he took the help of Raja Rammohan Roy a staunch supporter of western education and Sir Edward Hyde East the then Chief Justice of the Supreme Court in Calcutta.A resolution was taken to found an institution for providing good English education. A sum of half a lakh rupees was collected and a managing Committee was formed with equal number of Europeans and Indians to give effect to the resolution. Hare himself provided the site of proposed building. The Hindu Vidyalaya was opened on January 20th, 1817.It was given grant in aid in 1824.The college soon developed into a well known institution imparting higher education in a variety of subjects. The curriculum included English, Ethics, Grammar, Hindusthani, Bengali, Arithmetic, History, Geography, Astronomy. Vidyalaya was handed over to company for management and became Presidency college in1854. Sankrit College:The foundation of Sanskrit College was laid during the British regime based on a recommendation by HT James Prinsep and Thomas Babington Macaulay. It was under

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the auspices of Rt. Honorable William Pit Amherst that John PaskalLarkins Esquire, a scholar of oracular knowledge laid the first foundation stone of the college in 1824. H.H. Wilson, the Secretary to the then British Govt., took a major role in establishing this college to impart knowledge of ancient literature, philosophy, Hindu Law, grammar, Indian Culture and to promote the learning of Sanskrit among British officials as well as the Indians. The college has continued to spread the light of knowledge since its inception and survives as a heritage institute and a premier educational organization of the country at present. PanditIshwar Chandra Vidyasagar, E.B. Cowell, Pt. HaraprasadShastri, S. N. Dasgupta, Pt. JoyagopalTarkalankar, M.M Pt. Mahesh Chandra Nỹayaratna, Pt. Satish Chandra Vidyabhushan, Pt. TaranathVacāspati, Pt. Prem Chandra TārkaBagish, Pt. KalipādaTārkacharya, Dr. Kalidas Bhattacharyya, MM Pt. ChinnaswamySashtri, H. H. Wilson, Prof. Durgāmohan Bhattacharya, GourinathSastri are some eminent stalwarts who have enriched and enhanced the College over the years.The institution rose into prominence and glory during the Principal ship of Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar. It was in 1851 that the college first opened its doors for the students belonging to the non-Brahmin community as well. Pandit Mahesh Chandra Nỹayaratna Bhattacharya C.I.E, played a vital role in reviving the “Tol” system in Sanskrit Education and introduced the tradition of titles or “Upadhis”. The College has been one of the finest seats of academic excellence in matters pertaining Eastern philosophy, ancient Indian history and ancientIndian languages like Pali and Prakrit. It had played a major role in the social, cultural and religious transformation of thought during nineteenth century and was one of the pioneering institutions to steer in what came to be popularly regarded as the Bengal Renaissance in history. Scottish Church College: Missionary activities received anew momentumand direction in the hands ofAlexander Duff the vigorous and greatest Scottish missionary of the period. Duff founded theGeneral Assembly's Institution (the present Scottish Church College)in Calcutta in 1830.Although his ultimate aim was the spread of English education, Duff was aware that a foreign language could not be mastered without command of the native language. Hence in his General Assembly's Institution (as later in his Free Church Institution), teaching and learning in the dominant vernacularBengali language was also emphasized. Calcutta Medical College : Calcutta Medical College was established in 1835, its history goes back further. It was in June 1822 that the School of Native Doctors was established in Bengal, reportedly 'for the instruction of natives in medicine with a view to civil and military service'. Other schools of medicine during this time included classes in the unani and ayurvedic systems taught at the Madrassa and the Sanskrit College respectively.But in 1833, Lord Bentinck appointed a committee to report on the quality of education being imparted in these medical institutions and as per the recommendation of the committee, on January 28, 1835, abolished all three.Subsequently, a decree was passed for the creation of a new college 'for the instruction of a certain specified number of young Indians 'without distinction of caste or creed ' in the various branches of medicine'. It was on a happy day in February 1835 that a batch of 50 young Indian boys first attended classes at the college. They were to receive a stipend of Rs 7 to Rs 12 each. Girls were not allowed admission until 1876. Bethune College: Bethune College, the first college to play a historic role in the cause of women's education in Bengal , started as the Hindu Female School and blossomed into the Bethune School on 7 May 1849. Its founding fatherJohn Elliot Drinkwater Bethune, himself a graduate from Trinity College, Cambridge and the Fourth Wrangler, had arrived in India in April 1848 as the Law Member of the Governor General's Council. He also held the post of the President of the Council of Education. In his pioneering zeal to promote women's education, he received the support of some enlightened Indians like PanditMadan Mohan Tarkalankar , Ram GopalGhosh, Raja DakshinaRanjan Mukherjee. PanditIswar Chandra

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Vidyasagar, “The Traditional Moderniser” was the Secretary of the Managing Committee of the Institution and also one of its chief patrons.Bethune School sent up for the first time Miss Kadambini Bose to the Entrance Examination of 1879. Miss Bose was successful, and was placed in the Second division. Kadambini Bose's intense desire to prosecute higher studies prompted the Government to explore the alternative of setting up a Women's College vis-avis the option of continuing graduate classes at Bethune School, the only Government institution for women in Calcutta. The college started functioning in 1879 with one enrolment, Kadambini Bose. By 1887-88 the College Department of Bethune School underwent a radical change, as its students roll now comprised eleven girls, one of them being in the MA class. In February 1888, Bethune College received affiliation to the University of Calcutta up to the BA standard. The policies and recommendations(1813-1900): The period between 1813 and 1853 various policies for action had been proposed and involved controversial issues which needed careful consideration. This was the time when a thorough comprehensive review of the past and a detailed policy for higher education was necessary. At this time the Despatch of 1854 came into being. Despatch of 1854:This document of immense historical importance also called the Wood’s Educational Despatch deals with several questions of great educational importance. The major recommendations in the field of higher education werea. Establishment of Universities at Calcutta, Bombay and Madras. b. All the universities were to be modeled on London University which was then a examining body. c. The Senates were to consist of a Chancellor, a Vice Chancellor and Fellows to be nominated by Government. d. The functions of the Universities were mainly to hold examinations and confer degrees. e. Despatch advised the institution professorships in various branches of learning. f. Despatch also refers to the question of securing properly qualified teachers for schools. It refers to the plan which is been adopted in Great Britain for the training of teachers. The immediate effects of the Despatch in the field of higher education were the creation of Universities at Calcutta, Madras and Bombay. It also led to establishment of training institutions for teachers. As early as 1857 the Government of India passed Acts of Incorporation of all three universities. Except for a few changes of local nature the three acts were identical. The Acts of incorporation of the universities to confer such diplomas or degrees or licences as had been or might be approved by the bye laws or regulations. In 1884 the Indian Universities (Honorary Degrees) act was passed which empowered the three universities of Calcutta, Bombay and Madras to confer Honorary Degree of LL.D. Higher education in Bengal (1900-1947): Curzons Policy: Lord Curzon evinced keen interest for the development of education in British India. Soon after his arrival as Viceroy he convened one educational conference at Shimla in 1901, to discuss the problems ranging from Primary to University education. But it is a matter of great concern that not a single educated Indian was invited to attend that Conference. However, at his instance a University Commission was appointed on January, 27, 1902. The purpose of this Commission was formulated as follows:

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“To enquire into the conditions and prospects of the Universities established in British India, to consider and report upon any proposals which have been or may be made for improving their constitution and working, and to recommend to the Governor General in Council such measures as may tend to elevate the standard of University teaching and to promote the advancement of learning”. It was most unfortunate that like Shimla Conference Lord Curzon did not include any Indian representative in this Commission. By this attitude the sentiments of the Indians were grievously hurt. In connection with the improvement in the administration and education of Universities the Commission recommended the following: I.

Reorganization of the administration;

II.

Systematic supervision of the affiliated colleges;

III.

Imposition of more well defined conditions of affiliation;

IV. Substantial changes in curricula and in the methods of examination. The recommendation of Indian Universities Commission appeared after slight amendments in the shape of Indian Universities Act, which came into force on March, 1904. The following important changes were introduced for the upliftment of University Education. I.

Universities were empowered to appoint their own staff including the teaching staff;

II.

The number of Fellows of a University was limited within 50 to 100 and their tenure of office was reduced to five years;

III.

The number of elected Fellows was fixed at 20 for the Bombay, Madras and Calcutta Universities and 15 for others;

IV. Syndicate was accorded legal sanction with proper representation of University teachers on it; V.

Rules pertaining to affiliation of Colleges to a University were made stricter;

VI. Government was empowered to modify the rules framed by the Senate; VII. Governor-General in Council was authorized to define the territorial jurisdiction of the Universities. After the implementation of the provisions of University Act, though the number of colleges declined, yet the number of students increased considerably. Between 1902 to 1907 the number of Colleges decreased from 192 to 174.With regard to University Act, Nurullah and Naik, in their book ‘History of Education in India’ ventilated their feelings; “It did nothing to overhaul the system of University education and to put in on a proper basis ; it did not create new Universities though these were hardly needed; and finally, it gave so much control to government in the administration of the University that the Calcutta University Commission described the Indian Universities as the most completely Governmental Universities in the world”. However, Lord Curzon’s educational scheme created a new awakening and inspiration in educational field. In-spite of his good motive, he could not win the confidence and faith of the Indians. The rising-tide of’ Swadeshi Movement’ in the country generated a feeling of nationalism in the masses.The University Act brought about changes in the administration of University education. Owing to the scarcity of Technical Colleges there was no scope of vocational education and most of the students sought admission to arts and science colleges.The Act directed the Universities to undertake teaching function. As a result Post-Graduate teaching was introduced in Calcutta University.

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Calcutta University Commission:In 1917, the Calcutta University Commission was appointed by the Government of India under the Chairmanship of Mr. Michel Sadler, the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Leeds. So it was popularly known as the Sadler Commission. This Commission was appointed for the purpose of making recommendations to reform Calcutta University. Although it dealt with the Calcutta University only, the problems it had studied were more or less common to the other Indian Universities. So the report of the Commission is a document of in provincial importance and it had far reaching consequences upon the development of University in India as a whole. The Commission came to the conclusion that the University system itself, particularly in Bengal, was “fundamentally defective in every aspect”. The number of students was “too great to be efficiently dealt with”. The colleges were “generally too meagerly staffed and equipped to be able to do justice to their students”. The courses of studies were “too predominantly literary in character and too little varied to suit varied needs”. The administration was “unsatisfactory and ineffective as an instrument for the encouragement of learning”. On the other hand, it studied the problems of secondary education, as the improvement of secondary education was an essential foundation for the promotion of University teaching itself. Therefore, the Commission also made radical recommendation regarding the reorganization of secondary schools.These may briefly be stated as under: I.

Separation of Intermediate classes from Universities and the stage of admission to the University was to be after Intermediate and not Matriculation, curriculum spreading over three years prescribed for the first degree.

II.

Establishment of Intermediate colleges with the teaching facilities in Arts, Science, Medicine, Engineering, Education, Agriculture etc. These colleges might be attached to the High Schools run independently.

III.

Formation of Secondary and Intermediate Board of Education in each province, consisting of representatives of the Government, Universities, High Schools and Intermediate Colleges for the control and management of Secondary and Intermediate Education.

IV. Establishment of teaching and residential University at Dacca; V.

Introduction of Honours courses as distinct from pass courses to meet the requirements of able students;

VI. Formation of Selection Committee including the external expert to select Professors, Readers and Lecturers; VII. Establishment of Inter-University Board for coordinating the work of all Universities; VIII. Appointment of a Director of Physical Education to look to the physical welfare of students. IX. Expansion of vocational and professional education including Teachers Training; X.

Encouragement to the Muslim students and protection of their interest;

XI. Creation of different faculties; XII. Formation of Academic Council and Board of Studies for setting academic matters relating to courses of studies, examination, research etc.; XIII. Inclusion of ‘Education’ as a subject for B.A. Pass and Intermediate examinations.

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After the recommendations of the Commission many new Universities were established and some of the recommendations were also implemented for the improvement of University education. Dacca University was established in1920. The National education Movement and its effect on Higher education in Bengal: The noncooperation movement and the national awakening helped a lot in moulding the educational pattern of the country according to the changing needs and spirit of times. The glaring defects of modern system of education were clearly brought to light and mere literary education proved quite futile in practical life. Consequently the dissatisfaction against the educational system increased considerably both in official and non-official circles.In 1906, the partition of Bengal led to widespread nationalistic and anti British feelings. The first phase of National education movement was associated with the establishment of the National Council of Education atJadavpur. This later on became theJadavpur University in 1955. ViswaBharati: In December22, 1921 Visva- Bharati was inaugurated by Rabindranath Tagore. In the opening ceremony he spoke of the radical changes in civilizations and the need for new forms of education. Visva-Bharati was to be an experiment in which individuals of different civiisations and traditions learned to live together, not on the basis of nationalism but through a wider relationship of humanity. The Constitution designated VisvaBharati as an Indian, Eastern and Global cultural centre whose goals were: A) To study the mind of Man in its realization of different aspects of truth from diverse points of view. B) To bring into more intimate relation with one another through patient study and research, the different cultures of the east on the basis of their underlying unity. C) To approach the West from the stand point of such a unity of the life and thought of Asia. D) To seek to realize in common fellowship of study the meeting of East and West and thus ultimately to strengthen the fundamental conditions of world peace through the free communication of ideas between the two hemispheres. E) And with such Ideals in view to provide at Santiniketan a centre of culture where research into the study of the religion, literature, history, science and art of Hindu, Buddhist, Jain, Zoroastrian, Islamic, Sikh, Christian and other civilisations may be pursued along with culture of the West, with that simplicity of externals which is necessary for true spiritual realization, in amity, good fellowship and cooperation between the thinkers and scholars of both eastern and western countries, free from all antagonisms of race, nationality, creed or caste and in the name of the One Supreme Being who is Shantam,Shivam,Advaitam. Conclusion: From the above discussion it is clear that Bengal has been the lifeline of Higher education in the pre-independence era. The institutions founded during that period continues to burn more brightly and they carry the Legendry background still today making Bengal a seat of ancient learning. References: 1. Connell, Kathleen M.O (2012) Rabindranath Tagore: The poet as educator (2nded.)Kolkata VisvaBharati 2. Naik .J.P, Nurullah Syed (2005) A Students History of Education in India 18001973(6th ed.) NewDelhi Macmillan India LTD

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3. Purkait .B.R. (1999) Milestones in Modern Indian Education (2nded.)Kolkata New Central Book Agency (P) Ltd. 4. Majumdar, Swapan, Literature and Literary Life in Old Calcutta, in Calcutta, the Living City, Vol I, edited by SukantaChaudhuri,

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MODERN SLAVERY IN WEST BENGAL Tamal Krishna Saha Independent Researcher, West Bengal, E-mail: tksaha86@gmail.com The term Slavery is most familiar in the structure of Feudalism. In this triangular pattern king’s position was at the top and bottom was reserved for those people who named as Slave. Those people who worked as slave had not any freedom and being regarded as commodities they were actually saleable. Though the feudalism is known in the European geographical context in the medieval era, but that socio-economic format also can be seen in other world outside Europe in a quite different forms. With the over changing of times the so called slaver came to an end due to decline of feudalism. But if we look more carefully in the society the slavery like condition can be seen throughout the all civilization of the world. Even there was no interval between the medieval age and modern era in terms of inhuman use of slave system. In this context I want to discuss about the slavery in recent times of Indian society, more precisely of the society of West Bengal. Before enter in the actual discussion it would be better to know the modern outlook on slavery of modern age. Traditionally, slavery relates to the slave trade and to analogous situation such as trafficking in person, debt bondage, forced prostitution, forced labour-including child labourprostitution, pornography, the sale of children, the use of children in armed conflicts, and practices related to customs, religion and colonial regimes. Now-a-days, however, slavery like practices called Modern Slavery or Contemporary Forms of Slavery (CFS) evolves so rapidly that besides the names and definitions in order to establish if a person is a victim of modern slavery it is important to evaluate: the degree of the restriction of one’s freedom of movement; the degree of control one can keep of his personal belongings; and the existence of informed consent and a fall understanding of the nature of the relationship between this person and the other parties involved. Victims are usually among the most vulnerable in society, such as women and children. Trafficking is such activity which is very much responsible for modern form of slavery. The core concept of human trafficking is “exploitation of people against their free will”. According to United Nations Protocol of the definition of trafficking of human beings includes different actions such as to “recruit, transport, transfer, harbor or received by means of threat or force or other forms of coercion, within the purpose of exploitation”. 1 If we set our sight in the Indian context it would clearly visible that trafficking of human beings is one of the major ways through which victims are forced to work in slave like situation. According to the Honorable Dr Justice Arijit Pasayat of India's Supreme Court, there is no bigger problem in India today than human trafficking. India is an important source, destination and transit country for those persons who trafficked, mostly for forced labour and also sexual exploitation. Though it is now very difficult to publish the complete picture and actual nature of trafficking because, the proper authority of India has not yet published updated statistics on bondage labour. The fact is now it has been estimated that almost 90% of human trafficking is internal. Trafficking in women and children for commercial sexual exploitation (CSE) in India is gaining ground due to rapid industrialization and commercialization concentrated in few metropolitan centers. In India, sexual exploitation of children even has its roots in traditional practices, beliefs and gender discrimination. In fact research shows commercial sexual exploitation of children is a socially acceptable norm in certain sections of the Indian society.

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As a part of India, West Bengal cannot escape itself from the allegation of human trafficking. Almost all districts of west Bengal have this type of problem. Though there are differences among the numbers of human trafficking cases of the districts. Like, trafficking of girls, which take place in South 24 Paraganas at a very high rate. There the incidents of trafficking happen for various motives such as forced prostitution, making of pornographies, sex tourism, forced marriage etc. the root causes behind the trafficking of girls in South 24 Paraganas are mostly poverty, lack of employment opportunities, child marriage, false promises and social stigma. Most of the women of this district have to go outside in search of work. Many of them become missing. Ultimately they are rescue from the brothels of Delhi, Mumbai, Hariyana and even Kolkata. West Bengal falls under huge criminal network where South 24 Paraganas acts as a major sending point. Trafficking and consequent slavery with sexual exploitation is a multi dollar business. The blocks like Kulti, Canning I and II, Baruipur, Gosaba, Falta, Majherhat, Diamond Harbor I & II are identified as major trafficking prone areas.1 There is an example to understand the common picture of women of South 24 Paraganas. Ranjana was a 24 years old mother of the children coming from the poverty ridden South 24 Paraganas of West Bengal. She was trapped by a trafficker with a better job in Kolkata. But she was actually travelled to South Delhi. When she refused to comply with their orders, they beat her with sticks and even shoes. She said, “When I asked where I was being taken, he started fighting with me. The co-passenger objected, at which point he claimed that I was his wife. I was screamed I was not. He was then threatened to push me off the train,” following a missing report by her husband the West Bengal police came across the mobile phone and rescued her. And the interesting fact was that during that operation another girl named Kavita was also rescued from the same brothel.1 She was also the dweller of West Bengal. Actually it is not a matter of the particular district but all of the districts of West Bengal. There are a lot of instances like Ranjana and Kavita. And there are also huge stories that still unknown to us. Suparna was 17 when she was trafficked from her hometown in West Bengal by a person named Raj. She was completing her studies in Grade 9 and thought she was being sent to Delhi to marry Raj, who was 20. She was bought to Delhi by a friendly lady who said she was a friend of Raj’s. When she reached Delhi however, she was sold into forced prostitution in the brothels of Grasim Bastion Road. Raj and his friend Raju continuously tortured her physically when she refused to involve herself in sex work. From there she we\as sold to ladies who were apparently the brothels managers in that place. At last with the help of a man she was returned to her village.1 In West Bengal girls are not always forced by the traffickers but also their parents. Poor parents, deprived of any job prospects, often sell their daughters on fraudulent promises of marriage or for employment in towns. The reality however is that girls are brought to brothels, locked up for days, starved and beaten until they accept the demands of the traffickers. They are forced to entertain a maximum number of clients every day. Victims are generally women and children belonging to the scheduled castes and tribes and living in disadvantaged region. Tribal adolescent girls from rural areas of whole West Bengal trafficked and then sold for sexual exploitation in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Goa and Bangalore. North 24 Paraganas is not also lagging behind to South 24 Paraganas. Last July of the year 2014 Shikha Mondal, 16, went missing from her marital home in Tangra village in Bongaon block of North 24 Parganas district. One month after she had disappeared when neighbours inquired why Shikha had still not returned, they were told that she had got ‘lost’ while grazing cattle. In Mahakhola village in Nadia district, Belika Khatun, 15, was sent with her aunt to get ‘married’ to a “good boy” in Delhi three years ago. Since then, her daily wage

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labourer parents have not heard from her. It’s common for young girls to ‘vanish’ or ‘go missing after marriage’ or get ‘lost’ from villages along the 2,000 kilometre Indo-Bangla border in the North 24 Parganas and Nadia districts of West Bengal. According to the Bengal CID, the number of missing children from the state increased from 4,621 in 2008 to 8,598 in 2010 and North 24 Parganas and Nadia top the list of the highest number of missing people in the state. And this despite the fact that there’s Border Security Force (BSF) on the Indian side and the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) across the fence to prevent smuggling and human trafficking along the porous Indo-Bangla border. A mother of a 16 years old girl, Rinku Mondal who was lured by traffickers said, “I pleaded with her not to go but she said she had to earn more money so that we could lead a better life". The District Human Development Report, North 24 Parganas, 2010 survey conducted by the district authorities last year has shown that it is the women who are the most vulnerable in such circumstances. A situation only made worse by the prevailing food scarcity and gender inequality. Poverty coupled with poor education, the lack of livelihood opportunities, and abysmal health care dooms many to lives of uncertainty, with women and girls often falling easy victims to traffickers. Little did 16-year-old Rinku Mondal know what she was getting into when she left her border village of Boaldah in Bongaon block of North 24 Paraganas, in hope of augmenting the family’s meagre income. All she wanted was to earn enough to enable her two younger brothers to study. The second of four siblings, Rinku dropped out when she was 10 to help her mother roll ‘bidis’. It was after four years of living a hand to mouth existence that she decided to accompany her neighbour’s daughter to Mumbai, despite her parents’ opposition. Rinku’s mother Rekha recalls that fateful day, “I told her not to go and that we would manage with the money that we were earning. I warned her that Mumbai was not a good place and bad things happened to girls there. But she didn’t listen to me and quietly left.” Rinku returned home some months later with ‘sindoor’ (vermillion that’s a symbol of marriage) in her hair, claiming that she was working in a house and had married a man who had helped her get a job in Mumbai. Although her family was angry that Rinku had married without informing them, they asked her to stay back with them. Rinku, however, soon returned to Mumbai. “I pleaded with her not to go but she said she had to earn more money so that we could lead a better life. When she gave me Rs 9,000 (US$1=Rs 44.9), I knew something was wrong,” says Rekha. Her worst fears came true when Rinku called her last year saying that she had been caught in a police raid and had been sent to a shelter home run by an NGO in Mumbai. Since then, Rekha has been trying to secure the release of her daughter with the help of Charuigachhi Light House Society (CLHS), a community-based organization working on child protection issues in Bongaon block of North 24 Parganas.1 Sanjog, which is using its knowledge and resources to strengthen and sustain efforts to address trafficking and exploitation of adolescents and children, has teamed up with several community based organizations (CBOs) like CLHS. One such initiative focuses on reducing the prevalence of early marriage of girls in these districts – a major factor facilitating trafficking is the region. Cross-border tensions and uncertainty mean that education is almost certainly disrupted. This, in turn, has serious consequences – like early marriage. More than 80% of the children in rural North 24 Parganas are married before they turn adults, according to government figures. This not only impacts negatively on their physical health but also their mental development, says CLHS, which is part of an antitrafficking consortium of five organizations in the district. It is working to sensitize the community against marrying their daughters before they turn 18. Besides community meetings, they organize street plays and health camps where awareness-raising information, including ways to prevent HIV/AIDS, is disseminated. During interactive sessions with the

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mothers, the importance of educating daughters is emphasized. “Families are not keen on educating their children, particularly their daughters. Poverty drives them to marry those young because then they do not have to pay dowries. They don’t realize that their daughters are at risk of being trafficked,” says CLHA founder Palash Roy.1 Researcher Paramita Banerjee said, “During our research we also found that if the household is a woman-headed one, the tendency to marry the daughters young is even greater. It was hard to miss the fact that it is precisely these families who lose their daughters to trafficking.”1A survey conducted by the National Commission for Women in 2009 revealed that the trafficking of women and children for commercial sexual exploitation took place in 378 districts – accounting for roughly 62% of the total number of districts in India. West Bengal, given its porous border regions, emerged as a prime site for this problem. The state has attempted remedial measures. But their impact has been insignificant largely because of the lack of political will, and the fact that the various implementing bodies have failed to work together. This is a tragic situation indeed for the health and well-being of communities living near the border, who continue losing their daughters to forces far beyond their control. Researcher MR Dasgupta’s study shows that 75% of women in the prostitution industries are from West Bengal, of whom maximum from Murshidabad, Birbhum and Burdwan.1 Another worst activity of our society is Forced Labour which is also responsible for the modern day type slavery. Forced Labour can be described as work or service which is obtained from any person under the menace of a penalty and for which this person has not offered her or himself voluntary. The penalty might consist of a loss of rights, privileges, physical violence, threats and or economic penalties. Bondage, bond labour and bonded labour are appropriate terms to use when economic penalties are linked to forced labour. Bonded labour is a sort of patronage in which the minimum wage is barely enough to cover the living costs of the employee and the relation between employee and employer is often characterized by unfixed and exploitative payment agreements which benefit the employer. It is now worthy of mention that all bonded labour is not forced labour, but most forced labour practices have a bonded nature, regardless of whether the work involves children or adults. Bonded labours exist in the informal and unregulated sectors which employ around 90% of Indian labour force.1 There are many different reasons for bonded labour in India. Foremost among the causes are widespread poverty, inequality, cast based discrimination and the inadequate education system. Large proportions of those who are poor in West Bengal are chronically poor. This is the group which the majority of bonded labourers is composed. Chronic poverty refers to people who are poor for significant periods of their lives, who may pass this condition on to their children, and for whom escaping from poverty is nearly impossible. Chronically poor people accept any work available under any conditions or terms due to fear of unemployment or, as often happens in India, because they have to conform to social and cultural norms, such as hosting a wedding or funeral, which would be otherwise impossible for them to afford. That’s why this modern form of slavery used to be more common in rural than urban areas because it was largely widespread in the agricultural and mining sectors. However, it is now very common to find bonded labourers working in the households, in the production of silks, carpets, matches, cigarettes, and bricks, and in manual scavenging in all major cities. Child labour is one of the features of modern slavery in West Bengal. Child labour refers to the employment of children in any work that deprives children of their childhood, interferes with their ability to attend regular school, and that is mentally, physically, socially or morally dangerous and harmful. This practice is considered EDULIGHT-Multi-disciplinary, Peer-Reviewed Journal

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exploitative by many international organizations. Legislations across the world prohibit child labour. In developing countries, with high poverty and poor schooling opportunities, child labour is still prevalent. Child labour is the practice of having children engages in economic activity, on part or full-time basis. The practice deprives children of their childhood, and is harmful to their physical and mental development. Poverty, lack of good schools and growth of informal economy are considered as the important causes of child labour in India. In India there are many laws to stop the child labour. The Children (Pledging of Labour) Act, 1933 The Employment of Children Act, 1938 The Minimum Wages, Act 1948 and rules made thereunder by the government The Factories Act, 1948 The Plantations Labour Act, 1951 The Mines Act, 1952 The Merchant Shipping Act, 1958 The Motor Transport Workers’ Act, 1961 The Apprentices Act, 1961 The Atomic Energy Act, 1962 The Beedi and Cigar Workers (Conditions of Employment) Act, 1966 The Shops and Establishment Act in Various States, and Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 19861 There are many sectors in West Bengal where child labour can be seen. It’s a common issue throughout the West Bengal. Like tea industry which is very much dependent on child labour. It’s not a matter of only West Bengal but all tea producing country of India. Child labour in the tea industry is allegedly used in the function of plucking, weeding, hoeing and nursery work. Some claims that children make good pluckers because of their ‘nimble figure’; while others argue that plucking is too arduous work for children to perform. The children are also given to the job of removing shrubs that are harmful to the tea plants from the gardens. In tea industry most of the child workers are employed as casual workers. Children are found to do such strenuous work as plucking under very sever conditions; they are assigned to nursery work, fertilization, carrying of heavy loads and household work. They are also made to work in the factories, against established laws.1 So we can say that the tea industries are responsible for modern day slavery. Though now the tendency of employing the child as labour in tea plants is at low ebb due to hardness of laws and restriction. But this activity is not totally vanished from the industries of Northern Bengal. Child labour is also seen in militia who called as child soldiers. A shadow report of UN committee on the right of the child on the involvement of children in armed conflict released by the Asian Centre for Human Rights (ACHR) in March 2012 that state Government in Odisa, Jharkhand and West Bengal recruited thousands of youths as special police officer.1 Insurgent groups reportedly used children in military activities. According to various news outlets and United Nations reports, on 2012 Naxals recruited children for the wing in Bihar, West Bengal… etc states. Insurgents forced families to give up their children. Insurgents trained the children as spies and couriers and gradually in the use of arms, in plantings land mines and bombs and in intelligence gathering.1 Although the UNO was no able to verify all allegation, reports submitted to

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parliament contained similar allegations, recruitment and use of children by Maoist armed groups allegedly continued during the year reports alleged that the Naxalities recruited children between ages 6 to 12. Children reportedly fought with crude weapons or acted as informants. Naxalities reportedly held children against their will and threatened severe reprisal including the killing of family members if the children left.1 According to the 2001 census West Bengal contains 4.5% share of child workers from the population between 5-14 years. The incidence of child labour has shown a much higher trend in rural sector (i.e., 8.9%) than the urban sector (i.e., 3%). The district profile shows that Malda is having the highest incidence of child labour (9.53%) followed by Dinajpur (7.57%) and Bankura (6.95%).1 If we look in the statistics the original facts of child labour would be clear. The statistics are follows; The Child Labour in West Bengal Districts

Child population (5-14 years age)

Child labour (% at parentheses year)

Year

Darjeeling

371091

10341(2.8)

N.A.

Jalpaiguri

863702

31901(3.7)

2007

Coach B ehar

644098

26173(4.1)

2007

U/Dinajpur

698892

52928(7.6)

1995

Malda

928902

88556(9.5)

2005

Murshidabad

1637356

87968(5.37)

1999

Birbhum

766542

39285(5.1)

2005

Bardhaman

1563346

64233(4.1)

1995

Nadia

1068865

38333(3.6)

2007

24 Paraganas(N)

1905879

55619(2.9)

1995

Hooghly

1063045

34850

2006

Bankura

742496

51659(6.9)

2007

Purulia

630803

41056(6.5)

2006

Medinipur

2333062

95739(4.1)

1999

Howra

926037

31577(3.4)

2007

Kolkata

742868

30810(4.2)

2001

24 Paraganas

1764434

55965(3.2)

1995

West Bengal

19029144

857087

-------

Source: International Labour Organization (2007), Child labour Facts & Figures: An Analysis of Census 2001, ILO-Geneva; GOWB (2012): Ministry of Labour (GOWBL), Labour in West Bengal, 2012, Kolkata.

The data on child labour based on employment unemployment survey during NSS 66 round (2009-2010) clearly shows that how many child labour are there in West Bengal. th

Sr. No.

Major State all India

Age Group 5-14 Rural

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Male

Female

Male

Female

Andhra Pradesh

88156

110191

20767

15548

Assam

144655

31909

11833

757

Bihar

224292

38665

11017

2548

Chhattisgarh

3669

7321

636

Delhi

18576

Gujarat

150487

207973

15945

16282

Haryana

22664

17471

28073

3988

Himachal Pradesh

2300

2942

2156

Jammu & Kashmir

11274

16872

1139

10.

Jharkhand

63684

14661

4123

11.

Karnataka

89796

113429

20793

2479

12.

Kerala

1182

1583

13.

Madhya Pradesh

91454

32812

57688

9063

14.

Maharashtra

66370

127996

54230

12077

15.

Orissa

54390

38288

36522

5363

16.

Punjab

16802

6433

15664

9937

17.

Rajasthan

93055

261871

43184

7826

18.

Tamil Nadu

13880

3471

19.

Uttarakhand

14810

7239

3219

2103

20.

Uttar Pradesh

1012294

546320

147820

68899

21.

West Bengal

357265

134657

31946

27716

All India

2511101

1727271

546897

198602

Source: Rajya Sabha Unstarred Question No. 2128, dated 12.12.2012

The picture of solving of child labour of West Bengal is too weak to say. To realize the advancement of solving the problem we have to understand the statistics. Like: Number of child labourers rescued, rehabilitated and mainstreamed through National Child Labour Project scheme during the last three years and current year, State-wise No. of children Mainstreamed Sl. No. 1 2 3 4

State Assam Andhra Pradesh Bihar Chhattisgarh

2009-10 3685 13689 7998 1063

2010-11

2011-12

2012-13 Up to Dec. 2012

274 1858 8552 5164

227 13202 19673 4914

10848 7840 1162 2004

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5 6 7 8 9 10

Gujarat Haryana Jammu & Kashmir Jharkhand Karnataka Maharashtra

1437 1354 Nil 1816 3217 5,150

2129 1293 43 1015 135 5113

609 1895 184 2216 3761 4532

569 1722 132 4003 742 4328

Madhya Pradesh

9,692

13344

17589

5044

Orissa

10,585

14416

13196

10309

Punjab

1,023

123

168

Rajasthan

12,326

4415

1020

4155

Tamil Nadu

6,321

6325

5127

3537

Uttar Pradesh

40,297

28243

29947

10617

West Bengal

13,187

2215

7456

3117

Source: Lok Sabha Starred Question No. 191 dated 11.3.2013

With the help of discussion we can reach into the conclusion. The fact is though India is now going through the modern era but there can be seen various activities those were more appropriate in the medieval age rather than modern times. This is too hateful to us that we live in such a society where we always demand that this is a modern age, but the feature is not telling us that it’s a modern age. The study not meant that the society of recent times is a copy and pest of medieval one but the aim of this study is to find out the actual picture of our surrounding. It’s very sorrowful to the all citizen of our nation that we cannot able to eradicate the harmful things. Being educated many of us took various steps to modernize the nation. But it is not a duty of a section of our society but all of us. The politicians have done more speech than the works to do. The result is that the cruelties are now increasing in a high rate. Now-a-days the situation reached in such a stage that should be stopped as early as possible. To successful the tusk we have to educate from heart. It solely can smash the disease of society. At the same time administrative system will have to more active and hard to suppress such activities. There are many laws for checking of the activities which are responsible for modern day slavery. But the willing of eradication is not seen anywhere in seriously.

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EXCELLENCE IN TEACHING AND LEARNING THROUGH QUALITY AWARENESS Vinita Dhawan Vinita Dhawan, Assistant professor, Rawal College of Education, District – Faridabad, StateHaryana, Pin- 121004, E-mail: dvini413@gmail.com ABSTRACT Learning and teaching should not stand on opposite banks and just watch the river flow by; instead, they should embark together on a journey down the water. Through an active, reciprocal exchange, teaching can strengthen learning how to learn.” Loris Malaguzzi Promoting the learning and achievement of pupils is a main aim of teaching and learning process. Teaching and learning are what ultimately make a difference in the mind of the learner, and thus affect knowledge, skills, attitudes and the capacity of young people to contribute to contemporary societies. So excellence is to be maintained in the field by taking into consideration different aspects related to classroom processes and learning environment, teacher’s role, values, knowledge and skills, teacher’s professional development, culture ,local and national policy etc. The present paper focuses on how teaching and learning can be excellent with different aspects maintaining the quality. Key Words: Excellence, quality awareness, teaching and learning

Introduction Education is a complex system embedded in a political, cultural and economic context. Education of good quality is a prerequisite for learning and human development. It depends upon the factors like availability of teachers and teaching tools, the child’s readiness for learning. The learning and teaching environment can be made effective keeping into consideration various aspects related to teacher and learner. There are some other aspects also which nurture the students desire to learn. Quality in the field of education include-learners are healthy, well nourished and ready to participate and learn, content that is reflected in relevant curricula and materials for the acquisition of basic skills, trained teachers are child centered , teaching approaches in well managed classrooms and skillful assessment to facilitate learning. The excellence in teaching and learning environment provides for teacher’s awareness of the effects of what they are doing and their readiness to share their awareness with their students. Good teaching as instruction leads to effective learning. Well formulated instructional objectives can help teacher to prepare the lecture, assignments, in class activities, out of class assignments and tests. This all provide the effective learning experiences to the learners. The understanding of the quality in teaching and quality in learning depends upon the different aspects mentioned below under quality awareness and teacher, quality awareness and learner and quality awareness and other aspects. Quality Awareness and Teacher When student enters the school, the most important factor for how well he learns is the quality of his teachers. Having good teachers is important for all students. Educating the whole person is an important goal of education in itself and teachers play their part in this process, by taking into account and responding to individual differences in development and learning needs in each classroom. Students may beat risk of negative and meaningless school experiences if a teacher does not understand the whole child and his/her background, and is not ready with responsive, effective instruction and classroom strategies. Effective teachers

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address the needs of children both in terms of what they teach and how they teach. The following points to be considered to maintain the quality on the part of teachers1. Knowledge, enthusiasm &originality of the teacher-The quality of the teaching and learning process can be maintained when the teacher has the knowledge of teaching and learning, subject matter knowledge, experience and a combined set of qualifications needed for his effectiveness in the classroom. teacher preparation is the another aspect which help s candidates develop the knowledge and skills they need in classroom .well prepared teacher produce higher student achievement .teacher preparation includes two important components-teacher knowledge of the subject to be taught, and knowledge and skill in how to teach that subject. The inspiring or enthusiastic teacher have a desire to acquire the knowledge and expertise that produces a rich and stimulating environment which brings the quality in teaching and learning activity of the classroom. He constantly adapts and develops to accommodate further understanding of the pedagogies in their pupils learning. The originality of the teacher reflects his passion about the teaching process will be creative and he will find the new ways of engaging and challenging students and that would create an effective learning climate. 2. Responsibility of the teacher -Teachers are second only to parents in influencing the lives of most of their pupils. Teacher is a guardian for learning in the classroom environment. A responsible teacher for the various activities in the field of education can provide as a quality indicator in the process of teaching and learning .For effective teaching teacher shows a sense of responsibility when he assumes ownership of the classroom and students’ success, uses personal experiences to provide real world examples in teaching, understands student’s feeling and is responsive to situations and students’ needs. 3. Good interaction between the teacher and student - Teacher who has good interaction with their students create classroom environment more conducive to learning and meet students, developmental, emotional and social needs. Those students who have close, positive and supportive relationship with their teacher will attain higher levels of achievement. If a student feels a personal connection to a teacher, experiences frequent communication with a teacher and receives more guidance and praise than criticism from a teacher , then the student is likely to become a more trustful of that teacher, show engagement in academic content presented, display better classroom behavior and achieve at higher levels academically. Positive teacher student relationship draws students into the process of learning and promotes their desire to learn. 4. Teaching methodology of the teacher- The most important factor which brings the excellence in teaching and learning is the use of methodologies by the teacher that are participatory and contribute to equal learning opportunities for all students in a classroom. The teacher can use variety of approaches to engage his students like thought provoking activities, real world example, short video clip, practical application, probing question etc. To stimulate the interest and encourage thinking of students. The teacher can prepare several different ways of explaining the material i.e. real life examples, analogies, visuals etc. to catch the attention of more students and appeal to different learning styles. For the best input in the class teacher can plan the examples and activities, estimate how much time he will spend each. Build in time for extended explanation or discussion. He must also identify some strategies that check for understanding of students. An important strategy that will help the teacher with time management is to anticipate students’ questions in when planning the lesson, EDULIGHT-Multi-disciplinary, Peer-Reviewed Journal

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decide what kinds of questions will be productive for discussion and what questions might sidetrack the class. 5.

Technical competency of the teacher- Teacher must have technical competencies to ensure successful performance in classroom .Technology is advancing so rapidly that teacher education programmes must cover use of latest technology training in this field. The different technological methods should be used exclusively or combined with one another for the effective teaching and learning. The methods demand both pedagogical and didactical knowledge to ensure quality in various areas where the technology is applied.

Quality Awareness and Learner A teacher has the distinct responsibility to nurture a student learning .Active learning can happen with getting students to participate in class , promoting class participation , decision among the entire class , getting more student discussion, making student presentations more of a learning experience for the listeners. These are the areas of quality awareness to be considereda) Classroom activities/learning experiences for learners â&#x20AC;&#x201C; This is the key factor that support effective learning environment in classrooms. The learning experiences should acknowledge the vital role of intrinsic motivation in which students can feel that they are the masters of their own leaning. Teacher can provide learning experiences to students with some specific exercise and techniques that engaged the students. The teacher can have classes where students work co-operatively, to carry out independent research, and to report back to small groups and to the whole class. These kinds of experiences become the part of their learning and they do not feel something is imposed. Such type of activities requires planning, reflection and preparation. b) Assessment activities for learners - Classroom assessment should be a formative approach to improve the quality of student learning. It serves two purposes. It helps to assess the degree to which students understand the course content and it provide the teacher about the effectiveness of the teaching methods. Formative evaluation are most effective when they are done frequently .the quality in the field of teaching and learning can be assured with the use of various techniques for assessing the knowledge, understanding and skill in creative thinking, critical thinking , synthesis, application ,analysis etc. Techniques which assess prior knowledge, recall and understanding are-Background knowledge probe, The one minute paper, The muddiest point. Techniques which assess skill in synthesis and creative thinking areT he one sentence summary. The techniques which assess skill in application and performance are-Directed paraphrasing, Application cards, Student generated test questions, Paper or project prospectus. Techniques which assess skill in analysis and critical thinking are- Pro and con grid, Analytic memo. c) Effective feedback to learners - The strong and effective feedback teacher to his students can offer them rich and focused information to improve their learning. The teaching and learning can be made effective when the teacher feels that feedback is needed to promote learning and he provide strategies to help students to improve.. The feedback given at the time of learning is most effective. However written feedback is beneficial to learning. Quality Awareness and Other Aspects The other aspects to be considered are -

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Education content - The aspect to be given attention towards the excellent teaching and learning with quality consideration is education content. Education content emphasize on taught curriculum and basic competencies. To ensure the quality , the curriculum should be relevant for the student’s future opportunities and it also promote the basic skills for life such as hygiene , nutrition, peace education, conflict resolution, equality and other important priorities. Learning environment - learning can occur anywhere but positive learning environment is that which stimulate and adjust the student’s learning needs equally for boys and girls. Environment should be healthy, safe, and protective and gender sensitive, and provide adequate resources and facilities. The learning environment should be inclusive and also for minorities or students with disabilities. The quality learning environment include where pupil learn to respect each other and also to be respective of the nature and environment around the academic institution. The quality of the learning environment is also reflected when teachers work jointly for an improved learning environment and parents are consulted in the work of making school, a place for the child to nurture and develop. Learning environment should be made up of Physical (quality of school facility, class size), Psychosocial (peaceful and safe environment, teacher behavior, effective discipline policies), and Service delivery (provision of health services etc.). Appropriate and efficient financing and management procedures - In a good education system the two important prerequisites are appropriate and efficient financing and management procedures. This is the responsibility of national leaders and decision makers. An educational institution that is not providing with the necessary means and clear guidelines between for financing and man agent will not be able to deliver quality education. Evaluation of academic institutions-Assessment and accreditation of institutions is necessary to maintain the quality in the field. NAAC is an autonomous body assesses and accredits institutions of higher education in India. The emphasis is to ensure the satisfactory levels of quality in the functioning of higher education institutions. The main vision is to make quality the defining element of higher education in India through a combination of self and external quality evaluation, promotion and sustenance initiatives, to arrange for periodic assessment and accreditation of institutions of higher education or units thereof, or specific academic programmes or projects, to stimulate the academic environment for promotion of quality of teachinglearning and research in higher education institutions, to encourage self evaluation, accountability, autonomy and innovations in higher education, to undertake qualityrelated research studies, consultancy and training programmes, and to collaborate with other stakeholders of higher education for quality evaluation, promotion and sustenance. The Assessment and Accreditation outcome includes a qualitative and quantitative component. The qualitative part of the outcome is the Peer Team Report (PTR) and the quantitative part includes a Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA), a letter grade and a performance descriptor.

Conclusion The creation of an excellent teaching and learning environment recognize the reflective role of a teacher and challenging inspirations of students to learn. In this process the knowledge is shared, students and teachers all become learners and the subject which is taught create a world that moves beyond the ritual of classroom activities. Now in the field of education focus should be less on talking about teaching and learning, attention to be paid to the areas like pedagogical practices to create cohesive learning communities, multiple task

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and contexts support learning cycles, pedagogy promotes learning orientations, student self regulation and metacognitive strategies etc. to ensure good interaction between teaching and learning. References     

Angelo,T.A.,& Cross, K.P.(1993). Classroom assessment techniques: A handbook for college teachers (2nd ed.).San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Gurney, P. (2007). Five factors for effective teaching. Newzealand journal of teacher’s work, 4(2), 89-98. Malaguzzi,L.(1993), The Hundred Languages of Children. Retrieved from www.csun.edu/~kjs26872/Teaching_Quotes.html Mihram,D.classroom assessment techniques.retrived from www.crlt.umich.edu/.../ClassroomAssessmentTechniquesHopkins.pdf UNICEF( 2000). Defining quality in education. Retrieved from www.unicef.org./education/files/quality edu.Pdf.

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GREEN AUDIT – A NECESSITY AND AN UPCOMING ISSUE IN BUSINESS Wendrila Biswas Assistant Professor, School of Management & Social Science, Haldia Institute of Management, West Bengal, E-mail: wendrila@rediffmail.com ABSTRACT Changing expectations of people who are becoming more conscious of the environment due to the worsening global state have brought along a need of objective mechanism. It has become essential to make an assessment of environmental performance since people worldwide are against this exponential exploitation. To take up this unique responsibility and it was necessary to measure, monitor and control the performances of organizations across in terms of certain codes, rules and audit. Thus the launch of ‘Green Audit’ took place. Organizations today realize the benefits of green audit in internalizing the sustainability context in their strategies that can help them achieve competitive advantage. The paper focuses on the fact that how industries today are recognizing green audit as a tool to manage and strengthen the entire system of environment management and create positive effect on environmental performance as well as their brand equity. The environmental issues which are which are referred as ‘Red light issues’ requires an additional and immediate checkpoint. Green audit here would play a crucial role revealing deviations, improving performance enhancing transparency and accountability and fostering efficient use of resources by the industries. Keywords: Green Audit, Exponential Exploitation, Red Light Issues, Sustainability

Introduction Our earth has been going under dramatic changes due to the adverse effects of rising environmental challenges and also has put a pressure on humanity to think back about sustainability of development. Today, we are witnessing a major shift of the world towards ‘adaptation of globalization’ leading to devastation and exploitation of natural resources. This is creating a huge loss not only in economic terms but also in societal terms. Thereby, the world is facing such a critical situation due to imbalance of ecosystem. It is a common notion that industries are the real culprits for such devastating effects as they provided impetus of development. Today people have become more conscious about the environment. There is an increased recognition and concern for the fragility of the environment. It is of extreme importance now to lend ear to the calls of both the wood and the trees. It is a pity that so far we followed a process of development that impaired the gifts of nature. Considering the nature’s gifts that the present generation has inherited, the prevalent social mores, the size, growth and the age of population, the levels of living, the literacy standards, the religious practices, as also the overt and covert belligerency, or otherwise, of the externalities, covering land, water and air, it is but natural that all these issues should call for realistic reckoning so that their effects could be measured and effective antidotes could be adopted for dealing with the situation (Chattopadhyay, 2012). It is an urgent need to keep a check on the activities of the industries and serve as a checkpoint to prevent further devastation of environment. The thrust is as ‘The Biological Diversity Act, 2002 states on the ‘sustainable use’ of the components of ecological diversity. This can be done by auditing the use of ecological components. Measuring and accounting these ‘components’ is a prerequisite to any audit. The idea of ‘Green Audit’ emanated from such a feeling. Green Audit – The Concept As a colour, green has innumerable shades. Green Audit thereby, has to contend with all of them. Green Audit is an umbrella term and is also known by another name ‘Environmental Auditing’. Green reminds us of eco friendly or that which not damaging the environment. This can acronymically be called as (GREEN) Global Readiness in Ensuring

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Ecological Neutrality. Green Auditing is ‘the systematic examination of the interactions between any business operation and its surroundings. This includes all emissions to air, land and water, legal constraints; the effects on the neighbouring community, landscape and ecology, the public’s perception of the operating company in the local area…it does not stop all compliance with legislation. Nor it is a ‘green washing’ public relations exercise…Rather it is a total strategic approach to organization’s activities’ (The Confederation of British industry, 1990). For the betterment of human life, Green Audit is considered as one of the best tools. Green audit has a guiding role for decision makers in the environment of environmental management systems and development of sound environmental policies. Green audits play a significant role in making corporations and governments sensitive to the environmental results of their actions. Companies are also realizing the additional benefit of green audit such as increased access to capital, reduced insurance and interest rate, conformance to due diligence requirements. The audits are useful for states to prove their environment friendly position globally. There should be a compulsory provision for environmental impact assessment prior to allowing industry to set up. But even after such assessment, there are operation processes that have some impact on environment. This post production assessment of impact on environment is the goal of green audit. Prime factors which initiated Green Audit Earlier, the main driving force behind green auditing were fear of prosecution and high penalties imposed by regulatory authorities. Experts have identified different drivers of such auditing. Vineton (1996) categorized forces into three groups: organizational strategy, functional areas, and operational functions. Hillary (1999) identified customers, local government, community, regulator and employees as most important drivers. FORGE Group (2002) identified four essential components as drivers – strategy, management, operational performance and reporting. Sen (2005) a set of 44 general drivers, out of which 17 are environmental value drivers which are stated below: Environmental commitment

Product life cycle analysis (assessment)

Commitment to sustainable Development

Management understands sustainability

Written environment policy

Fossil fuel reduction, uses renewable energy

Targets for environmental performance

Toxic chemical use reduction

Sustainability report.

Reducing unsustainable products

Environmental management system

Quantitative environmental measure

Environmental purchasing policy

Qualitative measures for environment

Environmental training & education

Recognition initiatives

employees

environmental

Employee responsibility for environment Green Audit and competitive advantage Many organizations today fail to see the rationale for spending money on the environment. But now they see peer companies addressing the environment as a competitive advantage. On the other hand, stakeholders demand for more information on corporate environmental performance is high. Here the role of green audit serves as a competitive advantage for the organization. A green audit programme contain both strategic and operational planning component. A clearly designed green audit programme is important because discrepancies between companies environmental policies and performance, local

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deviations and avoidances are uncovered and can be rectified which if not checked can damage the credibility of an organization. Its stringent application reduces penalties, interests, legal costs, compensation charges and environment failure costs etc. If through green audit it is found that there are discrepancies in their processes, they can immediately check them and the outcome of such a report of green audit can lead the organization to further start a) b) c) d) e) f) g)

Prioritizing the goals of corporate environmental policy Prioritize goals of organization in terms of policy To turn goals into specific target To assign environmentalist responsibility To provide feedback and reward To provide training and resources to support the required actions Monitoring performance

This shall help reduce wastage and associated costs, increase product quality etc. This would also help more the organization towards more efficient use of resources and increased profitability. Green audit changes management practices and systems based on business implications of environmental issues. It helps change the corporate culture and establish policies which penetrate in all the levels of an organization. Not only the student community and environmentalists, governments, corporations and individuals are realizing the benefits of environmental sensitivity and environmental progress. Green consciousness has grown. Thus environment protection and economic growth are becoming more closely aligned. Business houses today are redesigning their processes to reduce environmental impact. Thus green audit is becoming an integral part of corporate policy and strategy. For a company to show the public that it understands what is happening, and it takes right steps to handle it, that company must understand and take a right step which requires high quality information from scene which is appropriately provided by green audit. Green audit thus secure a company’s competitive position by communicating the firms real commitment to continuous improvement. Sen’s Theory of societal, Environmental and Stakeholders of Competitive Advantage (2006) states that a healthy mix of four kinds of factors: a) Push (license to exist) b) Pull (motivate to grow) c) Pressure (legitimacy to grow) and d) Support for sustenance are needed for competitive advantage. Societal and environmental drivers contribute substantially to a firm’s performance in a variety of ways. Tangible contributions of green auditing include risk reduction and profitability improvements, while intangible contributions lead to brand equity. All tangible and intangible benefits and cost savings are the keys to achieve competitive advantages. Competitive advantage helps to place the products in the markets, achieve market growth and gain confidence of the customers and socially responsible investors (SRI)

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      Implementing green auditing practices & EMS

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Tangible contributions Profitability improvement & reduced risks Low wastages & its treatment costs No/less penalties & law suits Minimum process cost No/low contamination clean up & control cost

C O M P E T I T I V E

Intangible contributions Improved product quality & safety Brand equity & environment friendly brand image Socio economic development License to operate

A D V A N T A G E

Established Brand

Market Growth

Increased revenues

Brand export

High entry barriers

Low cost advantage

Green Audit and Sustainable Development The connection between sustainable developments appears to have little to do with green audits. But it is to be remembered that sustainable development rests on three pillars – society, the economy and the environment and all the three are closely related and equally important for our well being; the connection becomes more apparent. Sustainable development cannot be achieved without good governance and good governance in turn is greatly furthered by the valuable work done by the green audits. Integrating green audit framework into sustainable development is the need of the hour. Today the word sustainable development is used worldwide to signify ‘all round development’. In recent years green audit has been conducted with the aim of facilitating sustainable development. It is believed that green audit can follow up the environmental obligations and impact of such type of audits can improve the effectiveness of strategies for sustainable development. There are many industry specific green audit programmes for compliance of environmental laws, products and safety norms which become essential parts of national government’s sustainable development (SD) policies. These SD policies become a solid base for formulating planetary SD framework of the earth. This planetary SD is very essential from the perspective of welfare of people and nature. If such framework is properly established, development will follow a ‘trickle down’ effect from world level to individual level and therefore would reach every human being. We must realize that transparency and democracy are not merely procedural safeguards. It is the major component of the framework on which sustainable development rests. Ensuring that the public is informed of government actions – what is sometimes referred to us ‘government in the sunshine’ has been shown to be highly effective means of ensuring that the environment is taken into account in decision making. In short, ‘government in sunshine’ means green government. Toepfer, 2004). With evaluation of Sustainable development as a multi objective theory related to economic, environmental and social issues, governmental policies have begun to search paths of how to maintain the quality of environment, human well being and economic security at the same time. It has

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been deeply realize that it is through such green audit, current and future generation will have equal opportunity without leaving behind a damaged environment due to unsustainable development policies. Thus green audit initiatives at industry level would lead to planetary sustainable development which on behalf would definitely increase societal welfare and stakeholder’s value. Planetary SD Framework Value enhancement of stakeholders’ National Sustainable Development Frameworks

National Green Audit Programmes Individual organizations’ green audit programmes

Outcomes Development & welfare of countries

 Customers  Shareholders & Investors  Employees  Suppliers  Communities  Society

Shareholders’ welfare & Development

Linking Green Auditing to Sustainable Development Source: The Management Accountant Journal for CMAs, July 2012[Green Audit – At the face of changing Business perspective towards nature – Anandaraj Saha]

Conclusion Green audit moves beyond compliance and contributes to the enhancement of transparency and accountability in the functioning of different industries. It also helps to integrate sustainability context into government plans, programmes and organization strategies. Standing in the era of globalization and industrialization, where there is exponential exploitation of natural resources, we essentially need a checkpoint to curb such devastation. Here, green audit comes into play to reduce the malpractice sand negligence of the organization. Ensuring ecological imbalance without denting economic growth is the challenge and the main aim of Green Audit is to ensure equilibrium between economic growth and ‘sustainable use of components of biodiversity’. Amidst all the challenges faced by green audit, it is the only area in which innovations are expected in future not only for a better business but also for a better life. It is our only hope for the generation next. References: 1. Roberts, P. (2006), “Evaluating Regional Sustainable Development: Approaches, Methods and the Politics of Analysis”, Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, 49(4), p.515 – 532. 2. Societal, Environmental and Stakeholders Drivers of Competitive Advantage in international firms - S.K. Sen, Unpublished Ph.D thesis to Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand, 2006 3. Government publications a. The Biological Diversity Act, 2002 b. The confederation of British Industry, 1990 4. Ledgerwood, G., E. Street, and R. Therivel. 1994, ‘Implementing an Environmental Audit: New York: Irwin.

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5. Gerald Vinten (1996), The objectives of the environmental audit, Environmental Management and Health, 7(3), 12 – 21. 6. Hillary, R. (1999), Evaluation of Study Reports on the Barriers, Opportunities and Drivers for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises in the Adoption of EMS, Department of Trade and Industry Environment Directorate, UK. 7. Forge (2002), Guidelines on Environmental Management and Reporting for the Financial Services Sector, British Bankers Association, 90. 8. The Management Accountant-The journal for CMAs- ‘More talked about than acted upon’ by Dr. P. Chattopadhyay, ‘Green Audit vis-à-vis Cost audit and Financial Audit- A CMAs perspective’ by U. Lakshmana Rao, ‘Green Audit: At the face of changing business perspective towards nature’ Anandaraj Saha [All of July, 2012 issue, Vol. 47, No. 7, ISSN 0972-3528] 9. Pradip Joshi, Patil, P. (2014) IBMRDs Journal of Management and Research, Vol. 3, Issue 1, March 2014. 10. http://www.intosaijournal.org/editorials/editorialsapr04a.html accessed on 03-042015 11. http://www.imanet.org/docs/defaultsource/thought_leadership/management_control _systems/implementing_corporate_environmental_strategies.pdf?sfvrsn=2 accessed on 04-04-2015.

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HIGHER EDUCATION IN ANCIENT INDIA Dilbaag Singh Research Scholar, Department of Education, Visva- Bharati, Santiniketan E-mail: dilbaag510000@rediffmail.com India has a long and venerable history in the field of higher education. In ancient times, the country was known to have been home to the oldest formal universities in the world. Most of the Indian are well aware of the two famous ancient universities in the world –Takshashila University (Taxila) and Nalanda. But these two were not only the centre of knowledge that exists in ancient India. Education has always given great importance in the Indian society since the times of the Vedic civilization. At that time gurukul and ashrams were the centre of learning. In due course of time a large number of centres of learning were established across ancient India including Nalanda and Takshashila. Those were the centres of knowledge with their specific features as given below1. Takshashila UniversityTaxila which is called today Takshashila University was established around 2700 years ago. There were 10500 students from all across the world used to come to attain specialisation in over 64 different fields of study like Vedas, Ayurveda, Surgery, Grammar, Philosophy, Politics, Warfare, Archery, Commerce, Music, Astronomy, and Dance etc. Many great people were given by this university are Chanakya, Panini, Charaka, Vishnu Sharma, Jivaka. This the world’s oldest university.Taxila has been listed by the UNESCO as one of the World Heritage Sites. 2. Nalanda UniversityNalanda was established by Gupta dynasty in modern Bihar during the early 5 th century and flourished for 600 years till 12th century. It was the world’s first university to have residential quarters for both students and teachers. Students from many countries like Japan, Tibet, Korea, China, Persia, Indonesia and Turkey came to study in this university. There were also large public lecture halls. The library of this university was the largest library of the ancient world and had thousands of volumes of manuscripts on various subjects like grammar, logic, literature, astrology, astronomy and medicine. The library complex was called Dharmaganja and had three large buildings: the Ratnasagara, the Ratnadadhi, and the Ratnaranjaka. Ratnadadhi was nine stories tall and stored the most sacred manuscripts including the Prajnaparamita, Sutra and the Samajguhya. 3. Vikramashila UniversityIt was established by Dharmapala of Pala dynasty during the late 8th century and flourished for 400 years till 12th century. It was located in the Bhagalpur district of modern day Bihar. At that time there were 100 teacher and 1000 students listed in this university. It was well known for the its specialized training on the subject of Tantra (Tantrism). 4. Valabhi UniversityIt was established in Saurashtra of modern Gujarat at around 6th century and it flourished for 600 years till 12th century. It was described as a great centre of learning by the Chinese traveller Itsing. Gunamati and Sthiramati, the two famous Buddhist scholars are said to have graduated from this University. Training in secular subjects was the speciality of this university. Students from all over the country came here to study.

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5. Pushpagiri UniversityPushpagiri University was established in 3rd century and flourished for the next 800 years till 11th century. It was established in ancient Kalingakingdom(modern day Odisha) and was spread across Cuttack and Jajpurdisricts. The campus of the university was spread across three adjoining hills – Lalitgiri, Ratnagiri and Udayagiri. The Chinese traveller Xuanzang(Huien Tsang) visited this University. Lalitgiri is said to have been commissioned by early 2nd century and it the oldest Buddhist establishment in the world.Recently a few images of Emperor Ashoka have been discovered here, and it has been suggested that the Pushpagiri University was established by Emperor Ashoka himself. 6. Odantapuri UniversityOdantapuri University was established by Dharmapala of Pala dynasty during late 8th century in Magadha (which is in modern day Bihar) and flourished for 400 years till 12th century. The famous Acharya Sri Ganga who was a professor at the Vikramashila University was a graduate of this Odantapuri University. According to the ancient Tibetan records there were about 12,000 students studying at this University. Ancient Tibetan texts mention this as one among the five great Universities of its time, the other four being Vikramashila, Nalanda, Somapura and Jagaddala Universities – all located in ancient India. 7. Somapura UniversitySomapuraMahaviharawas established by Dharmapala of Pala dynasty during late 8th century in Bengal and flourished for 400 years till 12th century. The University spread over 27 acres of land of which the main complex was 21 acres was one of the largest of its kind. It was a major center of learning forBauddha Dharma (Buddhism), Jain Dharma (Jainism) and Sanatana Dharma (Hinduism). Even today one can find ornamental terracotta on its outer walls depicting the influence of these three traditions. Other Ancient Universities The above mentioned list is not a complete list of ancient Indian universities either. Dharmapala of Pala dynasty alone is said to have established 50 mega learning centers across his kingdom, and they have been as huge and as popular as the ones mentioned above. For instance, theMunshiganjVihara discovered recently in March 23, 2013 in Bengal is said to have been established in 9th century and was home to 8000 students who came from faraway places like China, Tibet, Nepal and Thailand. Method of teachingThe teacher would instruct handful of students seated on ground. At the beginning the main subject studied was to be the Vedas. For many hours daily students would repeat verses after verses of the Vedas till they attain mastery of at least one of them. To ensure correctness of memory, the hymns were taught in more than one way. Soon the curriculum was expanded and six Vedangas were then taught-the performance of sacrifice, correct pronunciation, knowledge of prosody, etymology, grammar, and the science of calendar were the topics of study. In the post-Vedic era, teachers often instructed their Brahmin students in the six schools of Philosophy. The writers of Smritis maintain that young women of upper class underwent this kind of training. Princes and other leading Kshatriyas were trained in all the manifold sciences to make them fit for government. Education was barred for the lower rung of the society and boys learned the trade through their fathers, while girls remain uneducated.

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Medium of Instruction As in ancient Indian education system institutions were managed and organized by Brahmans and all the books written in Sanskrit, therefore the medium of instruction was Sanskrit. There were some other languages too like Pali and Prakrit etc. Literature and Curriculum of Higher Education1. Four Vedas 2. Six Vedangas 3. Four Upvedas 4. Four Brahmanas 5. One hundred and eight Upanishads (11) are the most important) 6. Six systems of Philosophy 7. Bhagwad Gita 8. Three Smritis Although the education of this period was dominated by the study of Vedic Literature historical study, stories of heroic lives and discourses on the Puranas also formed a part of the syllabus. Students necessarily had to obtain knowledge of Metrics. Arithmetic was supplemented by the knowledge of geometry. Students were given knowledge of four VedasRigveda, Yajurveda, Samaveda and Atharvaveda. The syllabus took with in its compass such subjects as spiritual as well as materialistic knowledge, Vedas, Vedic grammar, arithmetic knowledge of gods, knowledge of the absolute, knowledge of ghosts, astronomy, logic philosophy ethics, conduct etc. 1. Vedas occupy a very important place in the Indian life. The basis of Indian culture lies in the Vedas which are four in number â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Rigveda, Samveda, Yajurveda, and Atharavaveda. The Rigveda is the oldest scripture of the world. It became the fountain head of the subsequent knowledge that followed. It contains 1017 hymns and contains 10,600 verses. It deals with the four stages of life viz celibacy, family life, forest life and renunciation. The second Veda is Yajurveda, which lays down the procedure of sacrifices. It contains 1,984 verses. The third Veda samveda is very important for the history of Indian music it contains 1,875 verses. Lastly the Atharvaveda primarily deals with medical sciences. It contains 5,977 verses. 1. RigvedaRig means praise. Rigveda contains praises for the dieties like Indra, Agni, Rudra and the two Ashwini gods, Varuna, Maruti, Savitru and Surya. Tapping the energies of the nature is given high importance in Rigveda. It contains 1017 hymns (poems) to it praise the gods. 2. YajurvedaYajuish means rituals. Yajurveda contains different rituals and sacrifices to be conducted to pacify gods. When a mantra is recited and its power is felt, then to make the mantra useful, a certain type of offerings to be done to the concerned god. Yajurveda explains about these offerings to be made to gods through Agni (fire). 3. SamavedaSama means song. Samveda contains verses to be sung. These verses are built in their root from using the 7 notes. Sa, Re, Ga, Ma, Pa, Dha, Ni which are the basis of the classical music now existing in India. These notes aid the liberation of soul by stimulating the energy centres (chakras) in the human body. EDULIGHT-Multi-disciplinary, Peer-Reviewed Journal

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4. AtharvavedaAtharva Veda contains useful rituals to attain worldly happiness. It contains description of diseases, how to cure them, sins and how to remove their effects and means of acquiring wealth. Atharva-Veda is more applicable to modern society since it deals with different subjects like science, Medicine, Mathematics, Engineering, Technology etc. The contents of the Veda may be categorised under the following three heads: 1. The jannaor knowledge and Wisdom 2. The karma or actions or code of conduct 3. The upasanaor dedication and devotion to God Woman Education in ancient IndiaA woman in ancient society in India was respected and was given due importance in the society. The Vedas finds importance of the woman philosophers and intellectuals of the Vedic period. Woman education was prevalent in ancient India. Indian woman during the ancient times were said to be superior to man. The women in India were given significance and they had a prominent position in the society in that time. Access to education was easy for woman in that time. Through the massive woman education in ancient India several woman seers and thinkers originated in ancient times such as Gargi and Maitreyi. Woman enjoys the tremendous right to education and teaching.The woman intellectuals in ancient India gathered eminence by participating in educational debates and discussion in the assemblies of erudite persons. Gargi was a prominent participant in the ancient society beside man such as UddalakaArni. In Vedic period, the system of education was very developed and the main subject taught was the Vedas. Woman education in ancient India produced woman with significant authority. Ancient Indian text describes the influence of the woman in the society. Mahabharata by Veda Vyasa sketch the persuasion of Draupadi on the husbands to overthrow the Kauravas. Valmiki’s Ramayana also depict the influence of Sita that resulted in the wiping away of Ravana. In the early history of Buddhism, the importance was given for the female education, especially in aristocratic and commercial sections of society. Large number of ladies from these circles joined the Sangha and became life-long students of religion and philosophy. Their example must have given an indirect encouragement to the spread of education among lay women as well. Buddhist Sangh had given attention to the cultural development and social uplift of the women Though, Buddhist literature does not speak much of the system of the education of Bhikshunis, yet there are some references of new comer Bhikshunis and taking charge of their education. It makes clear that there must have been some arrangement for their education. There were Bhikshunis whose spiritual knowledge was very high and they could influence a good number of people. There is a story of a Bhikshuni named ―Sumka whose lectures influenced the audience very much. Some of them had studied the philosophy deeply and had become poetess and writers. Some of them had even gone to foreign countries to preach Buddhism. Sheelbhattarika, Prabhudevi and Viyanka were famous in those days as poets and writers. The daughter of the Emperor Asoka Sanghamitra was very famous Bhikshunis, who had done remarkable services of Buddhism. Some of them had studied even politics and took active part in politics of the day.

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Fundamental Features of Ancient Indian EducationDeveloping the wholesome personalityPrimary aim was development of personality and character. Moral strength and moral excellence were developed to the fullest extent. Making formal and Informal Educations ResponsibleImparting and receiving of education was as sacred as anything can be, for example, education started and ended with certain prescribed religious rituals like Upnayan and Samvartan. Adjusting School HoursThe school in the Ancient Education System, lasted for 7 to 8 hours a day. In fair weather classes were held in the open under shady groves.Gurukuls and Ashrams were generally situated on the river banks or on the lake. The whole atmosphere was quiet, calm and peaceful. It must be noted that schools and colleges were not kept for away from human habitation. Close ContactNever in the history of education you will find such a close contact between the teacher and the taught. The teacher was the spiritual father, he was his nurse, when the pupil fell sick, and he was to feed, clothe and teach his student as he fed, clothed and taught his son. The student also regarded the teachers as he regarded his parents, king & god. Both were united by communion of life. In fact they communed together. Emphasising DisciplineThe student had to observe strict regulations. Instruction was important, but was even more significant than teaching was discipline – discipline inculcated through strict obedience to laws and regulations of student life, discipline that was rooted in morality and religion A student was required to give up lust, anger, greed, vanity, conceit and over joy. Low – Teacher pupil RatioIn all schools and colleges the pupil – teacher ratio was too low. Individual attention was given more importance and number of students in a school was kept very small. But if under certain conditions the enrolment increased, the teacher sought the co-operation of more advanced and senior boys who were appointed as monitors (Pittiacharya). In the absence of teacher entire work was entrusted to them. Providing Free EducationEducation was free. It was free because no student was required to pay any fees. It was free also because no outside agency could interfere in the matters of education. There was perfect autonomy. No external authority no external beneficiary, no politics was permitted to enter the school or college system. Acceptable features of Ancient Indian Education System for modern Education. There is a wide gap between the system of education of Ancient and modern India. We can learn from our past as given belowIdealism Although we are living in modern age yet we feel proud of the civilization and culture of our ancestors inherited to us. Even now we give importance to religion, god and desire less deeds. We give more preference to character, spiritualism, philosophy rather than wealth, materialism and science. The present world gives reverence to wealth, power violence and EDULIGHT-Multi-disciplinary, Peer-Reviewed Journal

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diplomacy whereas we rely in truth, non-violence and mortification. We still believe in idealism and wish to lead an ideal life. Discipline and Teacher – Pupil RelationshipThe relation between Teacher and pupil of ancient time is well known to the world. But today the educational environment has become so venomous because of indiscipline. The sense of self-discipline can be developed if the relationship between teacher and pupil is ideal. Subject of studiesToday is the age of language English. The study of Sanskrit language and Sanskrit literature in neglected to a greater extent. It is this literature which is enriched by the sense of peace, humanity, universal brotherhood which should be vital part of our curriculum. Teaching MethodIn ancient period Shravan or Listening.Manan or meditation and Nididhyaana or realization and experience, question and answers, discourse, lecture discussion and debate methods were prevalent. These methods can be still used in our classrooms faithfully. Simple Life of StudentsIn ancient time students used to lead a simple and sober life. Today the life of a student doesn’t look simple from a single angle. It is full of fashion and show decorated with useless gadgets. In such conditions a student cannot concentrate over his studies. To get educated is like to do tappsyaand it can be done only with simplicity and loneliness. ConclusionsThe system of higher education in ancient India was very much developed. There was proper arrangement of the things in context of higher education. There were spread departments of specializations. A good emphasis was put on the betterment of the woman education. Libraries were nicely arranged according to that time. Good scholars were appreciated and sponsored by the authorities. In some of the aspects we can learn from our past and must feel proud on our rich past of higher education. References1. Damal B.D. and Dash B.N, (2005) ―Education in Modern Indian‖, Kalyani Publisher, New Delhi. 2. Ghosh, S.C, (2007) ―History of Education in India‖, Rawat Publications. 3. Nurullah and Naik (1951) ―A History of Education in India‖, Macmillan, Bombay. 4. P.L. Rawat, (1995) ―History of Indian Education‖, Ram Prasad and sons, Agra. 5. N.jayapalan(2005) ) ―History of Education in India‖, Atlantic Publishers &Distributers, New Delhi. 6. Mukherjee, R.K., Ancient Indian Educational Brahmanical and Buddhist ,Delhi Banarassidas 1960(ED) 7. Chaubes.p. (2008) ―History and Problems of Indian Education‖ AgarwalPublication, Agra 8. Ghosh, S.C, (2007) ―History of Education in India‖, Rawat Publications. 9. Nurullah and Naik (1951) ―A History of Education in India‖, Macmillan, Bombay. 10. P.L. Rawat, (1995) ―History of Indian Education‖, Ram Prasad and sons, Agra. 11. N.jayapalan (2005) ―History of Education in India‖, Atlantic Publishers & Distributers, New Delhi. 12. Das, Santosh Kumar (1931), The Educational System of the Ancient Hindus, Mitra 13. Press, Calcutta EDULIGHT-Multi-disciplinary, Peer-Reviewed Journal

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14. Altekar, A.S. (1995), Education in Ancient India, 5th Edn, Nand Kishore and Bros, Banaras. 15. Aggarwal J.C.(2009), Development of Education System in India, Shipra Publication, New Delhi. 16. Ramachandran Padma & Ramkumar Vasantha, (2011) Education in India, NBT India. 17. www.indianetxone.com/39/woman_educatin_ancient_india_htm 18. Wikipedia of ancient Indian Universities 19. www.academia.edu/1747225/HISTORY_OF_EDUCATION_IN_INDIA 20. www.google.com

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AWARENESS OF EDUCATIONAL RIGHTS AMONG PTC GIRL STUDENTS Dr. Nisha Raninga Assistant Professor, Smt. J. J. Kundaliya Graduate Teachers’ College, Rajkot, E-mail: nisha.edu@gmail.com ABSTRACT Education for women is very important in this world. People pay attention to the education of women today. More measures should be taken to improve the education of women is not only those in urban and rural areas. Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, gender, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Furthermore, no distinction shall be made based on the political, jurisdictional, or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it is independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty. For this, awareness of Human Rights is an elementary essential for human being. If one should not aware anything, how he or she can protect themselves? Consequently, awareness is a best clarification of everybody. In this way, the researchers decided that to study the relevance of the awareness of Human Rights in the students of Teacher training college of Rajkot. Therefore, the researcher constructed 14 statements for expressive the relevance of human rights. The sample was selected randomly for data assortment. Whatever data collected from PTC girl students are analysis in the form of percentage. How many girls are given response in yes and No are analysis through percentage.

Introduction Twentieth Century seems to be a period of revolution in all the field of life. As we are living in Global World, we have certain Millennium Goals such as Human rights, Disease, Income poverty, Hunger, Maternal and child mortality, inadequate shelter, Gender in Equality, Environmental degradation and the global partnership. Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, gender, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Furthermore, no distinction shall be made based on the political, jurisdictional, or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it is independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty. For this, awareness of Human Rights is an elementary essential for human being. If one should not aware anything, how he or she can protect themselves? Consequently, awareness is a best clarification of everybody. In this way, the researchers decided that to study the relevance of the awareness of Human Rights in the students of Teacher training college. Therefore, the researcher constructed 14 statements for expressive the relevance of human rights. The sample was selected randomly for data assortment. The term women’s rights refer to freedoms and entitlement of women and girls of all ages. These rights may or may not be institutionalized, ignored or suppressed by law, local custom, and behaviour in a particular society. These liberties are grouped together and differentiated from broader notions of human rights because they often differ from the freedoms inherently possessed by or recognized for men and boys and because activists for this issue claim an inherent historical and traditional bias against the exercise of rights by women and girls. Issues commonly associated with notions of women’s rights include, through are not limited to the right: To bodily integrity and autonomy; to vote (suffrage) to hold public

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office; to work to fair wages or equal pay; to own property; to education; to serve in the military or be conscripted; to enter into legal contracts; and to have marital parental and religious rights. Objectives  

To cheek the awareness among PTC girls student related to their educational rights. To study the opinion of girls related to right to education.

Assumptions   

Women’s are talking benefits of different policies run by Indian Government. Women are having Positive attitude towards their educational rights. After taking better education women’s will reach at more & higher post.

Selection of sampling Women’s right are human right and for enhances awareness among PTC girls is the main intention of this research so the method of sampling is non-probability sampling taken Here purpose fully we need the sample of PTC girls so purposive sampling is taken. In this researcher adopted non-probability sampling. We have certain predefined group in our mind. And attempt is made to seek members of this group to be included in the sample here researchers wanted to do the study awareness at women among PTC girls student to their educational rights. And for that the sample should be of only PTC class girls. So that whatever PTC girls are available that is the sampling. 100 female students were selected from PTC College – DIET of year 2014 Rajkot (Gujarat). Tool: For collecting data related to this research survey opinion questionnaire is all used. Because we want to know how many percentage of PTC girl students are having awareness about their right to education which will be the human right. Technique of Analysis of Data Whatever data collected from PTC girl’s student are analysis in the form of percentage. How many girls are given response in yes and No are analysis through percentage. Methodology Survey Method: For knowing the awareness at PTC girl students about their education right survey method have been used. Because the researcher wants to do study at this awareness form each level and each group of girls. Collection of Data: With the help of opinion questioner data collected from PTC girl students for fulfilling opinions. Analysis of Data Whatever data collected are analyses with the help of percentage by quantitative analysis. Analysis of opinion has been done with the help of qualitative analysis. What are the girls’ opinions above the improvement of present situation of women’s education? To study recommendation subjected by PTC girl Students. System to set minimum standards for women education and to improve quality of women’s education. For all opinions and awareness among PTC student, researcher chooses opinion as a tool. In this opinion or some objective and free statements are included.

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No.

Statement

Response to yes (%)

Response to No (%)

Do you knows about all the women right

Have you studied all educational rights to women

Are you thinking that education is history for women

Can women’s education is help in changing the society

Are you thinking that primary education is compulsory to each or every women

100

Is women’s/ girls are taking benefits at different policies run by govt.

Is education kept free in rural/ urban areas.

Parents are not keeping differences between a boy and girls

There will be no difference between boys and girls for providing facilities by the parents.

10. Is girls are having the right to choice their liked facility 11.

Girls are taking benefits at scholarships given by government

12.

Even though girls are taken education but they are taking their own discussion.

13.

Parents are patting restriction to girls for taking higher education

14. You choose this PTC course Findings

1. In order to awaken the people it is the woman who has to be awakened. But as per the girls student observed that only 32% girl students are familiar about the women’s right and 68% girls students are unknown about total women’s right for them. We all knew that water, food, clothes & shelter are our basic needs. But now- a -days education is also must for human being because education is our third eye. For this purpose education to women is their very basic right that would be compulsory they must have to take. 2. Form the above mention right and from that the Right to education is very basic to women as well as human being because women itself a human being & she must have to get all right those men’s have from the data it will found that only 48% girls student are done the studies of right to women education even though these are came up to higher level education and 52% girls student are having basic knowledge of educational right. Government are running different programs for women But women’s are unknown about that. 3. If we are thinking that the women’s are helping in changing the society then women’s must have to take education. And according to that 96% girls student are agree with this that education is necessary for women. This positive attitude of girl students towards the women education is good symptom of changing society. 4. Making women more conscious of the right and responsibilities, the implications of the laws governing women’s status in society and developing and understanding

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about the various manifests and concealed ways. Which cause women’s oppression? This used help in changing the attitude of society, 96% PTC girl students are of this opinion that women’s education is helping in changing the society. 5. Basic primary education is compulsory for all girls 100% PTC girls student are off this opinion Because the universal Declaration of Human right states that everybody has the right to education, Hence the right occurs to all individuals the right to education are separated into three levels. 6. Primary Education: (Elemental or fundamental) Education: This shall be compulsory and free for any child regardless of their nationality gender, place of birth, or any other discrimination. Upon ratifying the International covenant on Economic Social and cultural Rights states must provide free primary education within two years. 7. Maximum means 68% girls students are not taking benefits of policies run by Indian Government. Only 32% girls student are known about the different polices run by the Indian Government. Question is there then why this big map doesn’t know these policies or why are not the girls are taking benefits at these policies? Because Indian Government is having many polices for women like  Free primary education  Different scholarship  Free books and clothes  Transport facilities  Mid-day meal schemes  Funds are kept available for them.  Reservation kept in education for employment  Free accommodation  Health and by hygiene and so on .Then also why the more girls are not attracted towards it is the big Question. 8. Instead of 25 girls students only girl student means (32%) had taken the benefits of EBC scholarship. Remaining 68% girl students are not taken any benefices of scholarship given by Govt. Whether they don’t know that like these policies are there for girls. Those 32% girls student had taken the scholarship are having tensionless Those girls are taken admission from women quota/ Reservation are doing studies with free mind but those are not having any reservations/ any other benefits like fellowship/ liberation in exam fee they having burden. They are telling they could not able to pay attention on their studies. Always they are thinking about budge of money and survive form that 68% girls came from rural areas. They are having much difficulties rather than urban areas 9. As per girls opinion that parents are keeping difference among boys and girls and so that 92% girls are of this opinion. If we want to 100% literate in India and progressive development of India them each and every part of the society must have to changes according to this only we must have to changes attitude and mentality of people towards the gender difference. 10. Now days in urban areas parents are providing facilities to girls. 11. Most girls are having this opinion that parents are not given the right for choosing the faculty to girls. If we are given the right to take their decision then they will do the greater progress in that field. 12. Big mob of girls are not taking benefits of scholarship given by Indian govt. That will be the 84% and only 16% girls are taken benefits of scholarship. Many parents are not offering more and more expenses so it will cause burden on parents. Suppose in a

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family two/three girls are there then parents get burden of education on them know a day education also very expensive. 13. Mostly girls are not thinking right to take their own decisions. And that percentage is of 68% only 32% girls are taking their decision. Parents must support to the girls but not to take their decision parents must have to increase competencies among girls 14. 80% girl’s students are this opinion that parents are keeping restrictions for taking higher education to them. This is very bad thing parents are telling generally to girls that what the use of taking higher education is. You must have to go to other people’s house and you have to pay your full attention by doing deeds for family. 15. This is very in important statements that must at the girl students are chosen this faculty because at their parents forced. That is 60% their parents are telling to them that this facility is good for you. Self facility is their after getting job you will get self on one place. Along with this job you will also able to pay your full attention towards your family. Suggestion The measures to promote women’s education will have to take into consideration the factors which in habit to take into consideration the factors which inhibit the participation of women in the formal education system many of these measures have already been adapted in certain places, but in most cases partially have less impact. The measures need to be adopted uniformly ting and in a big way. These are the some recommendation suggested by PTC girl students and researcher. 1. Education for girls up to the secondary stage should be made free in all parts of the country, besides, incentives like free supply of Books stationery, uniforms, and Midday meals. Attendance- scholarship and stipends should be provided at least to the 50% (instead of 20% present) of the girls, who hail from the poorer sections of society such measures would reduce the economic constraints which stand in the way of greater participation of girls in education. 2. Separate schools for girls should be established wherever there is a demand for them. However the same standards and courses should be made available in such schools as in mixed schools. 3. More women teachers should be employed and special facilities should be provided to attract them especially to the rural areas, for instance, they could be given free accommodation, special allowance, etc. where women teachers are still not available at least school matrons should be appointed to look after the girls students. 4. The common and relevant curriculum for boys and girls should be introduced to have equal educational opportunity and later equal job opportunity. 5. Impart vocational or employment related knowledge and skills enhance awareness 6. Schools for girls should be set up at easy walking distance from their homes. 7. Special campaigns should be launched to change people’s attitude in favour of girl’s education. Conclusion Women’s have many more rights along with educational rights but the Researcher is having curiosity that how many women’s are awarded about their educational rights. And how many girls and women’s are taking the facilities of policies kept by the Indian government for women’s. Is they are awarded about their, Very conscious about their education rights and policies. For this purpose researchers had decided to study the awareness among specially PTC girls student about their educational right. Be causes these are the

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founder of next coming generation. They are the architect of students who are sitting in front of them. References 1. John Hopkins (2006). Womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Right: A Human Rights Quarterly, University, press. 2. L. Kaul.(1998). Methodology of Educational Research, (Delhi: Vikas Publishing House Pvt. Ltd. 3. UNESCO (2002). Information and communication technologies in teacher education: A planning guide. United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisations: UNESCO.

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A STUDY ON EMOTIONAL STABILITY AMONG HIGHER SECONDARY STUDENTS Dr. P. Suresh Prabu Principal, K.S.R College of Education, Tiruchengode-637215, District - Namakkal, Tamilnadu, E-mail: psprabu23@gmail.com

ABSTRACT Emotional stability can be defined as having a congruent transition of emotional states and moderate emotional resilience to environmental influences (or cues). Someone who has the ability to cope with general changes in the environment, without responding with an intense emotional reaction, is said to be emotionally stable. The ability to stabilize emotions differs from the ability to regulate emotions. The signs of an emotional stability are calmness of mind and freedom from anxiety and depression. An emotionally stable person has the attributes of emotional maturity, self-confidence, and stability in their plans and affections; these subjects look boldly ahead for facts and situations and do not give into occasional fluctuations in their mood. The main findings of the study reveals that the higher secondary students are having low level of emotional stability and irrespective of sub samples of the higher secondary students are having low level of emotional stability. The emotional stability of male students is better than their counter part. The emotional stability of rural students is better than their counter part. The emotional stability of private students is better than their counter part. The emotional stability of Arts students is better than their counter part.

Emotional Stability Emotional stability refers to the state of being able to have the appropriate feelings about the common experiences and being able to act in a rational manner. Stability means to be emotionally and physically predictable and not readily moved. People that are emotionally stable are able to tolerate the day to day strains and stresses by not getting emotionally upset, anxious or angry. Emotional stability can be defined as having a congruent transition of emotional states and moderate emotional resilience to environmental influences (or cues). Someone who has the ability to cope with general changes in the environment, without responding with an intense emotional reaction, is said to be emotionally stable. The ability to stabilise emotions differs from the ability to regulate emotions. The signs of an emotional stability are calmness of mind and freedom from anxiety and depression. An emotionally stable person has the attributes of emotional maturity, self-confidence, and stability in their plans and affections; these subjects look boldly ahead for facts and situations and do not give into occasional fluctuations in their mood. A large deepening occurs in the development of emotional stability after the age of three years old. This allows the child to maintain a sense of self during periods of brief separation from his or her parents. Regulation also plays an important role in the stability of someone's emotions, in that the ability to control and regulate emotions is an emotionally stabilizing factor, whether that can be through cognitive therapy or medication. Emotional stability refers to a person's ability to remain stable and balanced. At the other end of the scale, a person who is high in neuroticism has a tendency to easily experience negative emotions. Neuroticism is similar but not identical to being neurotic in the Freudian sense. Some psychologists prefer to call neuroticism by the term emotional stability to differentiate it from the term neurotic in a career test.

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Emotional Mind and Brain When we talk about emotional stability, it is important to separate the emotional brain and the emotional mind, and in doing so examine the relationship and interplay which occurs between them. The emotional mind can be defined as the subjective experience of emotions (Mind). The emotional brain refers to the physical and neurological reactions which occur in response to stimuli. The way the mind perceives stimuli can directly influence the individualsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; health and physiology. The American Academy of Family Physicians (2004) claim that poor emotional health can cause physical symptoms such as back pain, ulcers, chest pain, insomnia, headaches, high-blood pressure and an assortment of illnesses associated with weak immunity. The impact of emotional mind on the brain therefore cannot be underestimated in the study of emotional stability. Review of Related Studies Bar-On (2003) found that there was a moderate yet significant relationship between emotional and social intelligence and psychological health. The aspects of emotional and social intelligent competencies that were found to impact on psychological health are: (a) the ability to manage emotion and cope with stress, (b) the drive to accomplish personal goals in order to actualize oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s inner potential and lead a more meaningful life and (c) the ability to verify feelings and thinking. Tyagi (2004) conducted a study on emotional stability of secondary teachers in relation to gender and age. Sample consists of 350 male and 50 female belonging to secondary schools (urban and rural) from Dhule district, Maharastra. Results revealed that there was no significant difference between age, gender and emotional stability. Mathur Malhotra and Dube (2005) designed a study to evaluate a gender difference on Emotional stability and scholastic achievement in school going adolescents. Sample consists of 83 adolescents (47 Girls and 36 Boys) in the age group of 13 to 15 years. The result revealed no significant difference in emotional stability between boys and girls. Uma and Umadevi (2005) have examined the relationship between the Dimensions of Emotional stability and selected personal and social variables. The sample composed of 120 parts and their children between the age range of 15-17 year from city of Vishakapatinam. The result revealed that among the personal variables, age was not significantly correlated with emotional stability of the adolescents. But gender, education of parents and occupation of parents were significantly and positively related with emotional stability. Adolescents of joint families were more flexible and adaptable then adolescents of smaller families. Need and Significance of the Study Emotional stability is considered one of the important aspects of human life. Student must be able to control his or her emotions adequately and also express them appropriately. Emotional stability is one of the seven important indicators of superior mental health. It also affects the learning of the pupils. Emotional control may impair performances in situations which require flexibility and adaptability on the part of the person or student. If the students have no or very little emotional control, it may lead to anxiety, inferiority feelings and guild. It has also been found that if the students want to be mental health, these unhealthy feelings must be replaced by the feelings of self respect, security and confidence which can be achieved only after a good sense of emotional stability emerges. So the present study is very needful to the higher secondary students for need of this hour.

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Statement of the Problem The problem under taken by the investigator is stated as “A Study on Emotional Stability among Higher Secondary Students”. Objectives of the Study The investigator of the present study framed the following objectives: 1. To find out the level of emotional stability among higher secondary students in Namakkal district of Tamilnadu. 2. To find out whether there is significant difference between the following sub samples with respect to emotional stability. a) Gender [Male / Female] b) Locality [Rural / Urban] c) Management [Govt. / Private] d) Subject [Science / Arts] Hypotheses of the Study The investigator of the present study framed the following hypotheses: 1. There is no significant mean difference between male and female students with respect to emotional stability. 2. There is no significant mean difference between rural and urban area students with respect to emotional stability. 3. There is no significant mean difference between Government and private school students with respect to emotional stability 4. There is no significant mean difference between Science and Arts students with respect to emotional stability. The Method: In the present study, the investigator applied normative survey as a method. The normative survey method studies, describes and interprets what exists at present. Sample A sample is a small proportion of a population selected for observation and analysis. By observing the characteristics of the sample, one can make certain inferences about the characteristics of the population from which it is drawn. The present study consists of 225 higher secondary students studying in higher secondary schools situated in Namakkal District of Tamil Nadu. The sample was selected by using simple random sampling technique. The sample forms a representative sample of the entire population. Tool Used: The investigator of the present study selected and used the Emotional stability test constructed and standardized by ‘Dr.A.K.Singh’ for data collection. Statistical Techniques Used: For the analysis of the data, the following statistical techniques have been used. a. Descriptive analysis (Mean & S.D) and b. Differential analysis (‘t’ test)

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Testing of Hypotheses TABLE â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 1 Showing the Mean and Standard Deviation of Emotional Stability Scores of Higher Secondary Students Variable Gender Locality Management Subject

Sample

Mean

S.D

Male

113

7.22

2.39

Female

112

9.28

1.69

Rural

102

7.55

2.60

Urban

123

8.82

1.87

Govt.

100

8.26

2.74

Private

125

7.97

1.77

Science

120

8.34

2.10

Arts

105

8.27

2.59

t-value Significant at 0.05 level 7.46

Significant

4.09

Significant

0.96

Not Significant

0.23

Not Significant

Summary of Findings The following are the main findings of the present investigation. 1. The higher secondary students are having low level of emotional stability and irrespective of sub samples of the higher secondary students are having low level of emotional stability. 2. Male and female students differ significantly in their emotional stability scores. 3. Rural and urban area students differ significantly in their emotional stability scores. 4. Government and Private school students do not differ significantly in their emotional stability scores. 5. Science and Arts students do not differ significantly in their emotional stability scores. Conclusion The present study reveals that the higher secondary students are having low level of emotional stability and irrespective of sub samples of higher secondary students are having low level of emotional stability. The emotional stability of male students is better than their counter part. The emotional stability of rural students is better than their counter part. The emotional stability of private students is better than their counter part. The emotional stability of Arts students is better than their counter part. Educational Implications A person who has a high level of emotional stability is preferred in most professions because they have more control over their emotions at work. A person with low emotional stability may be more easily distracted from their work, by deadlines, personal situations, and pressure. The concerned school authorities should provide proper guidance to the students for their emotional stability. The teacher and parents of the students should advice to control the emotions. Also ask the students to replaced unhealthy feelings by the feelings of self respect. References 1. AAP, AAFP, AAO-HNS (2004) Release Guideline on Diagnosis and Management of Otitis Media with Effusion. Am Fam Physician, 69:2929â&#x20AC;&#x201C;31. 2. Bar-On, R. (2006). The Bar-On model of emotional-social intelligence (ESI). Psicothema, 18 , supl., 13-25.

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3. Mathur M., Malhotra, B. and Dube, S. (2005) Gender differences on emotional intelligence and scholastic achievement in school going adolescents. Indian Psychological Review, 64, 3, 133-136. 4. Tyagi, S.K. (2004) Emotional Intelligence of Secondary Teacher in relation to gender and age. Indian Educational Abstracts. New Delhi: NCERT. 5. Uma, M, and Una Devi, L. (2005) Relationship between the dimensions of emotional intelligence of adolescents and selected personal social variables. Indian Psychological review, 64, 11-20

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RESPONSIBILITY ACCOUNTING AND MANAGERIAL CONTROL: AN OVERVIEW Dr. Santanu Das Assistant Professor, Departmet of Commerce, Srikrishna College, Bagula, Nadia,West Bengal, E-mail-100santanudas@gmail.com, Mobile -9477557784 ABSTRACT The most important element of every organization is “people” as they can easily influence the other elements (technology, goals, tasks etc). Every organization is a social system or social unit. A system may be defined as an entity consisting of a number of interrelated and interdependent components of parts which are generally known as subsystem. One of the important features of organization is that it is always engaged in goal directed activities. Like other organization business organization are also engaged in goal directed activities. In every organization there are a number of managers in various levels of management. They perform jointly to fulfill their organizational objectives. Every manager has particularly responsibilities. They worked under the supervision of top management to fulfill their individual responsibilities. The overall success of the organization largely depends upon the fulfillment of the responsibilities of the managers. From this view point, the concept of “Responsibility Accounting” is emerged. It means a system which makes every-one conscious and responsible for the job that is entrusted to him by his supervisor. That is a control by delegating and locating responsibility for costs. In this article an attempt has been made to discuss all the significant areas of “Responsibility Accounting” in an analytical view for a better understanding of this important managerial tool.

Introduction According to Karl Marx, an organization is a collective activity for production and distribution. Every organization is a social system or social unit. A system may be defined as an entity consisting of a number of interrelated and interdependent components of parts which are generally known as subsystem. One of the important features of organization is that it is always engaged in goal directed activities. Like other organization business organization are also engaged in goal directed activities. There are so many goals of a business organization which they try to achieve in their normal course of activities. Like-wise other organization, the prime goal of Business organization is to maintain their existence for indefinite period of time. The other goal of every business organization is generated from this prime goal. As a goal oriented system, business organizations always try to fulfill their goal. In order to fulfill the goal business organization needs a structure. Structure is a mean to accomplish the goal. Structure is a frame work within which different components (peoples, goals, tasks) interact with each other for the accomplishment of the organizational goals.

Goal

Input Output E

Environment

People

Task

Environment

Technology

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Exhibit – I: Organization Structure So, people are very important factor of business structure. Achievement of business goals very much depends upon them. They can normally influence the other factor or elements of organization structure. There are a number of people in every business organization. They perform jointly in a systematic and predetermined way to fulfill objectives of their organization. But, according to McGregor’s “Theory X” peoples are basically lease, they dislike their works. They will avoid their responsibilities if it is possible. So, the controller of the business enterprise has to direct the various employees in a proper and systematic manner. From this viewpoint the concept of Responsibility Accounting developed means a system which makes everyone conscious and responsible for the job entrusted to him by his supervisor. In every organization there are a number of managers in various level of management. They perform jointly to fulfill their organizational objectives. Every manager has particularly responsibilities. They worked under the supervision of top management to fulfill their individual responsibilities. The overall success of the organization largely depends upon the fulfillment of the responsibilities of the managers. From this viewpoint, the concept of “Responsibility Accounting” is emerged. It means a system which makes every-one conscious and responsible for the job that is entrusted to him by his supervisor. That is a control by delegating and locating responsibility for costs. Divisional performance measurement is one of the significant roles that the management has to play to achieve the overall goals of a firm. The objectives of divisional performance measurement are: i) To determine the contribution that a division makes to the total organization. ii) To provide a basis for evaluating the quality of the divisional manager’s performance. And iii) To motivate the divisional manager to operative his division in a manner consistent with the basis goals of the organization. Responsibility accounting as a control device is relevant to divisional performance measurement. It is a fundamental tool of managerial control. This tool plays a key role in measuring actions and outcomes and in defining the rewards to be received by individuals. Responsibility Accounting emphasizes division of an organization among different sub-units in such a way that each submit is the responsibility of an individual manager, this approach recognizes cause and effect relationship between a manger’s decision action and it seeks to relate cost and revenue results of this decision and actions. This approach should be used exclusively to assist top management in planning and controlling the organizational activities effectively and effectively. According to C.I.M.A. London, “Responsibility Accounting is a system of management accounting under which accountability is established according to the responsibility delegated to various levels of management and management information ad reporting system instituted to give adequate feed-back in arms of the delegated responsibility. Under this system division of units of an organization under specific authority in a person are developed as a responsibility centre an evaluated individual for their performance. A good system of transfer pricing is essential to establish at the performance and results of each responsibility centre. Responsibility Accounting is thus used as a control technique.”

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Responsibility Accounting also classifies the cost assigned to each Responsibility centre according to whether they are controllable costs are classified by items. The aim is to show up result of operation by each section or division having control over resources and their use. Responsibility Accounting requires that costs be classified: 1) By responsibility centre. 2) Within each responsibility centre whether controllable and non-controllable, and within the controllable classification by cost elements in sufficient detail to provide useful basis for analysis. Responsibility centre is a personalized group of control centre under the control of an individual. Responsibility Accounting is a concept aims to help achieve a fit between planning and control system and managerial responsibilities. It is a system of accumulating and reporting both actual and budgeted costs and revenues by individual responsible for them. In Responsibility Accounting concept persons are made responsible for the execution of plans and the evolution of actual performance for determining whether actual operations have gone according to what was planned and if the actual are not according to plan, what is the extent of deviation, what is the reason for deviation. What action can be taken to bring in the future actions more in line with the plan? So, it is quite clear that application of Responsibility Accounting system is very significant to exercise control over a firms operation so that its objectives are achieved. Pre-Requisites of Responsibility Accounting i) The area of Responsibility and authority of each centre should be well defined. ii) Each Responsibility centre should have a clear set of goals for the Manager. iii) Only the revenues, Expenses, profits and investments that are controllable by the manager of a Responsibility centre should be included in the performance report for that centre. iv) Performance report for each Responsibility centre should be prepared highlighting variances, the item requiring managerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s attention. v) The manager of each Responsibility centre should participate in establishing the goals that are going to be used to measures their performance. Advantages of Responsibility Accounting i) It introduces sound system of control. ii) It facilities decentralization of decision making. iii) It ensures budgeting in order to compare the results of an operation between the budgeted figures and the actual one. iv) It helps the management to make an effective delegation of authority and required Responsibility as well. v) It fosters a sense of cost consciousness among managers and their subordinates. vi) It compels the management to set realistic plans and budgets. vii) It measures the Performance of individuals in an objective manner. Limitations of Responsibility Accounting i) The manager may find it difficult to fix responsibility.

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ii) Individual interest may conflict with Organizational interest and serious problem of implementation may occur. iii) The traditional way of classification of expenses should be subjected to a further analysis which becomes difficult. iv) The system faces passive resistance, if not active and it will lose its purpose, till it is judiciously applied. Responsibility Centers Responsibility Accounting focuses on Responsibility Centers. A Responsibility centre is a sub unit of an organization under the control of a manager who is responsible for the activities of that responsibility centre. A small firm can possible be managed by an individual or a small group of individuals, however, for effective control a large firm is divided into meaningful segments or departments. Each submit has certain activities to perform and its manager is assigned the responsibility authority to carry out those actives. These sub units of an enterprise for the purpose of control are called Responsibility centers. The important criterion for creating a Responsibility centre is that the unit of the organization should be separable and identifiable for operating purpose and its performance measurement should be possible. In Responsibility Accounting system, Responsibility Centers form the decentralized unit of organization. Each Responsibility centre has a defined executive head to control operations. The other features are: -

Defined Authority

Defined Responsibility

Defined Input

Defined Output

Defined criteria of measuring executive performance.

For control purpose Responsibility centers are divided in five categories. Such as: i) Cost or expenses centre. ii) Revenue Centre. iii) Profit centre. iv) Investment Centre. v) Contribution Centre i)

Cost or expenses centre

Costs centre is a location, function or items of equipment in respect of which costs may be ascertained and related to cost units for control purpose. CIMA define cost centre as â&#x20AC;&#x153;a Production or Service, function, activity or item of equipment whose cost may be attributed to cost unitâ&#x20AC;?. A cost centre is a smaller segment of activity or area of responsibility for which cost can be accumulated. Responsibility in a cost centre is measured in terms of cost. Since the Performance of a cost centre is measured in terms of cost. Since the Performance of a cost is measured by financial measure of cost only, an essential requirement is that the cost of operating the division be directly traceable to it. This means that the relevant costs are the incremental or avoidable cost of operating that division. The incremental cost would include both variable and fixed costs but would exclude costs common to several divisions and allocated among them on some arbitrary basis. From the view Point of the measurement of Performance of the divisional manager, the implication of EDULIGHT-Multi-disciplinary, Peer-Reviewed Journal

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the cost centre is that his performance will be judged on the basis of the cost incurred in his department or division. What is done in the division (output/Revenue) will be of no consequence. The analysis of performance is restricted to the consumption of resources in the division and there is no reference to what the division has achieved as a consequence of consuming those resources. ii)

Revenue Centre:

Revenue centre is the smallest segment of activity or an area of responsibility for which only revenues are accumulated. A revenue centre is a part of that organization whose manager has the primary responsibility of generating sales revenues. CIMA defines Revenue centre as “a centre devoted to rising revenue with no responsibility for production”. In a revenue centre the manager is only held responsible for the level of Revenue or output of a centre but not responsible for the cost of goods or services that the centre sells. iii)

Profit Centre:

Profit centre is a division of an organization in which financial performance is measured on the basis of profit. In this context profit may be defend as excess or revenues over expenses. CIMA defines, Profit centre as “a part of business accountable for cost and revenues.” The structural shape of a profit centre may be as below: A profit centre’s performance report measured in absolute terms would show profit on the bottom line. If a share of “head office” overheads is charge to the profit centre, these non controllable costs should be shown separately and kept distinct from directly attributable costs. A Profit centre’s Performance report might look as shown in Exhibit IX below: iv)

Investment Centre:

Investment centre is a segment of activity or area held Responsibility for both profit and investment. Objective of investment centre is to maximize the centre’s return on investment. CIMA defines investment centre as “a profit centre whose performance is measured by its return on capital employed.” The return of an investment centre can be measured by the use of either ROI (Return on Investment) or RI (Residual income).

Return on Investment (ROI) depends upon two ratios: i)

Net Profit Ratio and

ii)

Capital turn over ratio.

If those two ratios changes, there is a consequent change in ROI since these ratios depends on many factors which may change frequently. V) Contribution centre: Contribution centre is a segment of activity of area of responsibility for which both revenues and variable cost are accumulated. CIMA defines contribution centre as “a Profit centre whose expenditure is reported on a marginal or direct cost basis.” The main objective of contribution centre manager is to maximize the centre contribution. Contribution =Revenue – Variable Cost. The responsibility of a contribution centre’s manager is to rising sales revenue as well as to control variable cost of production.

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Manager’s Control over Responsibility Centre: The manager’s control over different responsibility centre and criteria for measurement of performance can be summarized with the help of the following table – Type of Responsibility Centre

Principal Performance measurement

Managers has control Over

Cost Centre

Cost (only Controllable cost items)

Variance analysis Efficiency measures

Profit Centre

Costs (Controllable Cost), Sales Price (Including Transfer Prices) Output volumes.

Profit

Costs (Controllable Cost), Sales Price (Including Transfer Price) Output volumes. Investment in fixed And current Assets

Return on investment (R.O.I) Residual Income (R.I) Other Financial Ratios

Investment centre

Responsibility Reporting: Responsibility Reporting is an accounting and management reporting system directed towards controlling cost according to Responsibility centre. It involves in defining and grouping responsibilities within an organization structure, determination and assignment of costs to appropriate levels of activities and strong emphasis and controllability. It emphasizes control on person who made responsible for executing of the plan entrusted to them and performance evaluation is done by evaluating of results in a responsibility report. A Specimen Responsibility Report Is Given Below: Responsibility Report Department: Foreman : Production (in unit) Controllable Costs: Direct Materials Direct Labour Indirect Material Maintenance Indirect Labour Total (a) Non Controllable Costs: Depreciation Building Maintenance

Month: Budgeted (Rs)

Actual (Rs)

Variance (Rs)

*** *** *** *** ***

***

*** ***

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Other Allocated Cost

***

Total (b)

***

Total Cost (a + b)

Financial Responsibilities of Centre’s Managers: The various Responsibility Centre’s Managers financial responsibilities on various aspects can be summarized as under – Type of centre Cost centre Revenue Centre Profit centre Investment Centre

Manager Responsibility for Costs

Revenue

Profit/Loss

Investment

Yes No Yes Yes

No Yes Yes Yes

No No Yes Yes

No No No Yes

Conclusion It may be concluded that the main requirement of a system of Responsibility accounting is that the organization should be such that the responsibility of each individual should be clearly defined. Each executive would know what he is required to do and what performance is expected from him with regard to the cost which is controllable by him. The system of accounting and reporting is fitted into the various responsibility areas so that the performance of each area is evaluated and reported for improvement. Thus, Responsibility Accounting lays stress on planning and cost control rather than cost ascertainment and its main advantage lies in the prompt reporting of performance or executives of various levels of management. For follow-up action in a befitting way that leads to the achievement of organization goals. References 1.

C.J Mcnair: Responsibility Accounting and controllability Gorham Lamont,1993)

Charles T. Horngren: Cost Accounting- A managerial emphasis. John A. Higgins Andersen: Responsibility Accounting, The Arther Chronicle (1952)

J.N.Fremgen: Accounting for managerial analysis (Richerd D. Irwil, Homewood, Illinois, 1977)

Peter B.B. Turney: “How Activity Based Costing helps reduce cost”. Journal of Cost Management (winter 1991)

Robert S. Kaplan & David P. Norton.: The Balanced Score Card. (Boston, Harvard Business Press, 1996)

R.N. Anthony & G.A Welsch: Management Accounting (Richerd D. Irwil, Homewood, Illinois, 1977)

Raymond Villers: “Controll and Freedom in a decentralized company”. (Harvard Business Review. XXXII, No.2)

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MORAL VALUE AND BUDDHIST THOUGHT: A CRITICAL REVIEW

Dr. Kuheli Biswas Assistant Professor, Department of Philosophy, University of Kalyani, Kalyani, District – Nadia, West Bengal, Email: 100kuhelibiswas@gmail.com ABSTRACT In this paper an attempt will be made to present a critical review of moral value and Buddhist thought. Ethical values play an important role in the advanced of any civilized society. Although human civilization has made progress over the last several millennia up to the so-called globalization age of present, the world today is full of fear, hate, anger, greed, selfishness, aggression and violence. in this perspective the Buddhist ethics is the most valuable thing in the present time because Buddhism teaches us an ethical system of self-development for human beings to release their nature from all sorts of problems and become truly independent by not relying upon any forces in worldly life and also teaches us human beings how real freedom can be attained. The Buddha was pioneer in the world to preach love to all beings. He preached timeless message of truth (satya) and non violence (ahimsā). Buddha’s teachings are universal in essence and by the practice of it every human being can ensure absolute peace and it provides a new path to the world on which a better and safe world can be created. An attempt has been made in this paper to explain the necessity of Buddhism in the present time. Key- Words: Peace, Middle Path, Ahimsā, Śīla, Samādhi, Prajñā, Duḥkha (suffering).

Introduction Now the world is standing on the volcano of violence and the world peace is being threatened by various types of violence i.e., terrorists, nuclear issue etc. Violent tendencies have been considerable spread to all parts of the world and have also entered in every society. It is also concern that violence cannot be eliminated by violence. Violence can only breed more violence. How this blood thirsty taste and attitude could be completely eliminated? UNO and every government are taking about the necessity of the preserving peace and harmony. The only remedy is non-violence or ahimsā which is more important for peace in the world of our present time. The Buddha preached the principle of ahimsā or nonviolence and kindness. The Buddha teaches us to explore and exterminate the root-cause of the two problems ‘anitya’ (impermanence) and duḥkha (suffering) in this world. Ignorance is the root cause of all human sufferings. All human sufferings are due to man’s own lack of knowledge regarding the real nature of things. All things of the world are interdependent but not permanent. Ordinary people cannot understand the illusion of unity or permanence. As a result, human ignorance makes evil and suffering. Moral evils are all the direct results of attached, egoistic human actions. So man is responsible for all kinds sufferings as well as actions. An honest application of Buddha’s teaching can ensure mankind real and absolute peace. Middle path1 is the conclusion in Buddhism. This path leads to the realization of ultimate reality, to complete freedom, happiness and peace through moral, spiritual and intellectual perfection. Objective The aim of all human beings is to live without problems, but they don’t want to solve them in right way. All form of troubles can be known as three types of self-centered tendencies, i.e., selfish desire for pleasure three types of self-centered tendencies, i.e., selfish desire for pleasure and possession (tanhā), egoistic lust for dominance and power (mana), clinging to view; faith or ideology. These defilements existing in people’s mind make widely EDULIGHT-Multi-disciplinary, Peer-Reviewed Journal

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their behavior to be dangerous to themselves in any society. Only the Dharma1 or ethical (Dhammacaryya-derive of righteousness) is necessary that will be essential ingredient in harmonies. The Buddhist value system provides a potent remedy for this malady.The heart of the Buddha’s teaching is four noble truths i.e.

Duḥkha, Duḥkha -samudaya, Duḥkha-

nirodh, Duḥkha -nirodhmārga (aṣtāngikmārga)2. The four noble truths Buddha show the path to overcome suffering caused by the wheel of samsāra. All human sufferings is due to man’s own lack of knowledge regarding the actual nature of things. All worldly things and things and even soul are not permanent. So, all human being cannot understand the real nature of all worldly things and faces sufferings. The Buddha came to the conclusion that desire (tanhā)3 is the root cause of sufferings. According to Buddhism, evil and sufferings are in the main products of human ignorance. For the attainment of this state and removal of ignorance, the Buddha expresses the eight fold path4 i.e., to be followed by each and every man. This path is known as the middle path5 because its purpose is to show a path of nonextreme performance for attaining the state of noble peace. This path avoids two extremes i.e. i) the search for happiness through the pleasure of the senses, which is low, common unprofitable and the way of the ordinary people’ ii) the search for happiness through selfmortification in different forms of asceticism, which is ‘painful, unworthy and unprofitable’. This path leads the three essentials of Buddhist training and discipline i.e. ethical conduct (śīla)6, mental discipline(samādhi)and wisdom (prajñā). Prajñā, śīla and samādhi are the three broad ways through which one can achieve final salvation. Right action generally consists in observance of five fundamental canons of conduct ( pancaśīla) 7 i.e. i) not to kill but to practice harmlessness and compassion to all, ii) not to take that which is not given, but to practice charity and generosity, iii) not to commit sexual misconduct, but to practice chastity and self-control, iv) not to indulge in false speech, but to practice sincerity and honesty and v) not to partake of intoxicating drinks or drugs, but to practice restraint and mindfulness. All kinds of conducts are regarded as the principles of regulated behavior and very essential to those who tread the noble Path to highest reality. So, śīla-s is indispensable and essential to the smooth and steady progress along the path. The second course of spiritual exercise, samādhi (concentration) deals with man’s mental training and essential path eradication of the defilements. Wisdom or understanding (pajñā) is the third stage of spiritual progress that enables the aspirant completely to eradicate all kinds of defilements and it is due to well observed purification of morality of the three constitutions in the Eightfold path, i.e. right speech, right action and right livelihood. Human being can achieve final salvation through śīla, samādhi and pajñā and these three broad ways also imply a right understanding about the nature of things arises. It is true that without a right understanding and right view about the nature of things, practice of true morality etc. is impossible. Ethical behaviour (śīla), concentration (samādhi), and wisdom (pajñā) constitute the foremost moral ought for individuals living in society. As an integral philosophy of life, the Buddha’s teaching contains physical, mental and soteriological aspect of our existence. In this aspect The Buddha followed the middle path avoiding the exclusive self-indulgence and exclusive selfmortification. This is reflected in his treatment of śīla, samādhi, prajñā as gradual steps towards nirvāna. Social life is ultimately depand upon the life-pattern of its individual members. Therefore, in character-building the foremost importance is given by the śīlamāhāmya. The Buddha prescribed mental disciplines for the purification of mind through concentration (samādhi). Prajñā or wisdom is the realization that everything i.e., physical, mental condition is suffering (duḥkha), impermanence (anicca), non-substantial (anātta). The aspect Brahmavihāra- bhāvana8 has come to occupy a central position in the field of mental training in Buddhism. This aspect exercises include the cultivation of the four

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higher sentiments, namely loving kindness (maitr), compassion (karunā), altruistic joy (muditā) and equanimity (upekkhā). From the ethical point of view, these four principles emphasize the moral foundation of every form of religious life and are considered to be indispensable for spiritual development. By the practicing these four-principle one can transform one’s nature to the greatest and highest state of being known as the state of enlightenment. The Buddha emphasizes on the cultivation of loving kindness for eradication of other’s suffering, compassion towards all beings even at the cost of one’s well-being, experiencing joy at other’s happiness and even-mindedness in doing good to others. To illustrate the practice of benevolence (maitri) to all creation and compassion (karuṇā) to the distressed the Buddha refers to the story of a mother who tries to protect her only child even at the cost of her own life. Therefore, the Master’s advice is to follow the abstention from misdeeds and performing of moral ideal of loving –craving behaviour to all living creatures. This is the way of moral purification and the way of character-building for the good all. At present we should strive towards a social environment where honesty and integrity are virtues that really give, “sarve satta bhavantu sukhittā”. Notes and References: 1. The Bauddha- dhamma represents the four noble truths in the Palī Canon. In Digha Nikāya the following Sutta,16: That both I and you have had to travel and trudge through this long round owes to our not discovering, not penetrating four truths. What four? They are: The Noble Truth of Suffering, The Noble Truth of the Origin of Suffering, The Noble Truth of the Cessation of Suffering, and The Noble Truth of the Way leading to the Cessation of Suffering. 2. The meaning of the Four Noble Truths have been expressed in various places in the Tripitak, but systematic appears and beautiful delineation appears in the Vinay

Pitak,

Samyutta Nikāya of Sutta Piṭak, Vibhanga of Abhidhamma Piṭaka. The word ‘Noble’ is identical term to the Palī word ‘āryya’which means noble, absolute, sublime, real. In Samyutta Nikāya, the meaning as follows: “Now , monks, these four Aryan truths are true, not false, not alterable, that is they are called aryyan truth (imāni kho bhikkhave cattāri ariyasaccāni tathāni avitathāni anaññathāni tasmā ariyassaccaniti vuccati, SN,V,435.) 3. The word ‘tanhā’ means thirst which causes an arising of suffering. It is considered as the only cause of arising of duhkha. 4. In Dhammacakkappavattanavagga the following kārikā is: “katamañca bhikkhave dukkhanirodhagāminīpatipadā ariyasaccam ayemeva ariyo atthagiko maggo. seyyathidam sammādiṭṭhi, sammāsaṇkappo sammāvācā, sammākammanto, sammāājīvo, sammāyāmo, sammāsati, sammāsamādhi. Idam vucactibhikkhave dukkhanirodhagāminīpaṭipadā ariyasaccam.” 5. Chinda Chandrkaew, The Ultimate Truth of Buddhism, Mahachula Buddhist University Press, B.E, 2525, p.29. 6. Buddhagosa’s Visuddimagga, (Part I, Para 25-142) discuss different kinds of śīla In detail. 2 Vols. Ed. by Rhys Davids, London, Palī Text Society, 1920, 1921 and reprint as one volume 1975. 7. The pancaśīla, moral disciplines for purification of individual’s physical behaviour and conduct has an overtone to pursue a balance and proper means of livelihood.

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8. In Kuhuddakanikāya, the sublime states of Brahmavihāra- bhāvanā, “the meditative Developments” are as follows: “tiṭṭam caram nisinno vā, sayāno yāvatāssa vitamidho, etam satim adhiṭṭheyya. Brahmamettm vihāra –midha mahu.” (Whether he is standing, walking, sitting or loving down, as long as he is awake he should develop this mindfulness in loving kindness. This is the Noble living here (in the Dispensation of the Buddha). 9. Mātā yathā niyam puttam āyusā akaputtam anurakkhe/ Avam pi savvabhūtesu mānasam bhāvaye aparinamāṇam// For details see. S.Choudhury’s Goutama Buddhera Dharma O Darśana (in Bengali), Mahabodhi Book Agency, Kolkata, 1997, p.55-56.

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RIGHT TO EDUCATION ACT-2009: EQUITY ISSUES AND POSSIBILITIES Maran Bandhu Majumder Teacher Trainee, Aurangabad B. Ed. College, Aurangabad, District - Murshidabad, West Bengal, E-mail: maranbandhu@gmail.com ABSTRACT The investigator attempts to study Right to Education Act-2009: Equity Issues and Possibilities. This article aims to analyze the various provisions, obstacles of RTE Act-2009. Education is regarded as the third eye of human beings which gives light. It is the remover of illiteracy, ignorance, superstition and poverty. So, education can improve quality of life as well as nation. For this, equity in access to education for all children is most necessary. But the present education scenario, many children like SC, ST, and Minority children drop out before completing their elementary education. The Government of India has taken many initiatives to make education accessible for all by making education as a Fundamental Right under the 86th Amendment of the Constitution in 2002. In present India, the Right to Education Act-2009 has been implemented for all the children the age group of 6 to 14. Now education is a Fundamental Right as well as Compulsory. ‘Compulsory Education’ means obligation of the appropriate government to provide free elementary education and ensure compulsory admission, attendance and completion of elementary education to every child in the 6 to 14 age group. The Government of India equitable distribution and quality of education has not been fulfilled till date which leads to our attention towards equity issues. Key - Words: RTE Act-2009, Equity Issues, Challenge, Possibilities

Introduction With the growth and development of the human civilization, man felt the need of accomplishment in every sphere of life through education. It develops the human being in the true sense of term, developing all potentialities and capabilities through which a nation can benefit socially, economically, culturally etc. so, any nation’s progress depends on quality education and its considered the backbone of a country. In democratic country like India, each and every individual has the basic right to get education. In the Indian Constitutions, under the Article-45, the State has made free and compulsory education for all children in the age group of 6 to 14 years. But, the effect of this provision in the Constitution, i.e., Education for All was not implemented to the desirable extent. So, the Government of India has taken many initiatives to make education accessible for all by making education as a Fundamental Right under the 86th Amendment of the Constitution in 2002. In present India, the Right to Education Act-2009 has been implemented for all the children the age group of 6 to 14. Now education is a Fundamental Right. The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act or Right to Education Act (RTE) is an Act of the Parliament of India enacted on 4th August 2009, which describes the modalities of the importance of free and compulsory education for children between 6 and 14 in India under Article 21A of the Indian Constitution. The bill was approved by the cabinet on 2 July 2009. Rajya Sabha passed the bill on July20, 2009 and the Loc Sabha on August 4, 2009. It received Presidential assent and was notified as law on August26, 2009 as the Children’s Right to Free and Compulsory Education Act. The law came into effect in the whole of India except the state of Jammu & Kashmir from 1st April 2010. And the Act also provides under Article 51-A (K) that it shall be a fundamental duty of every citizen of India who is a parent, guardian to provide opportunities for education to his child between the age of 6 and 14 years. Objectives of the Study 1. To analyze the various provisions relating to equity of RTE Act-2009;

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2. To discuss the various obstacles to implement the RTE Act-2009; 3. To suggest some strategy for effective implementation of RTE Act-2009. Concept of RTE Act-2009 The Right to Free and Compulsory Education Act came into effect in the whole of India except the state of Jammu & Kashmir from 1st April 2010. This was a historic day for the people of India as from this day the right to education will be accorded the same legal status as the right to life as provided by Article 21A of the Indian constitution. Every child in the age group of 6 to 14 years will be provided eight years of elementary education in an age appropriate classroom in the vicinity of his/her neighborhood. It indicates that ‘Compulsory Education’ means obligation of the appropriate government to provide free elementary education and ensure compulsory admission, attendance and completion of elementary education to every child in the 6 to 14 age group. And the Act also provides under Article 51A (K) that it shall be a fundamental duty of every citizen of India who is a parent, guardian to provide opportunities for education to his child between the age of 6 and 14 years.  Features of RTE Act-2009:  Free and compulsory education to the age group of children 6 to 14;  Provide school will have to take 25% of their class strength from the weaker section and the disadvantaged groups of the society through a random selection process and the Government will fund education of these children;  This Act will be applied to all states except Jammu and Kashmir;  No child can be held back and required to pass the board examination till the completion of elementary education;  No donation and capitation free is allowed; `  No seats in this quota can be left vacant;  No admission test or interview either for child or parents;  There is provision for establishment of commissions to supervise the implementation of the act.  All school has to adhere to rules and regulations laid down in this act, failing which the school will not be allowed to function. Three years moratorium period has been provided to school to implement all that is required of them;  A fixed student and teacher ratio is to be maintained;  This Act also prohibits all unrecognized educational institutions;  Norms for teachers training and qualifications are also clearly mentioned in the act;  All schools except private unaided schools are to be managed by School Management Committees with 75% of parents and guardians as members;  Quality education will be improved;  There will be provision for special training for drop-out students to bring up as par with students of same age.  Functions of the RTE Act: The ten functions of RTE Act-2009 are:        

Makes Education Free; Makes Education Compulsory for State to Provide; Curriculum as per Constitutional Values; Ensures Quality of Teachers; Defines Norms for Schools; Pushes for Social Reform; Protects Child; Makes Procedures More Simple;

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 Puts Power in Hands of People;  Removes the Oppression of Exams. Equity Issues in RTE Act-2009 The RTE Act-2009 in different sections makes reference to equity issues both explicitly and implicitly. These are following Equity issues related to disadvantaged group and weaker section: In present India, majority of out-of-school children belong to disadvantaged groups. Disadvantaged groups are defined as those “belonging to the SC, ST, socially and educationally backward class or such other groups having disadvantage owing to social, cultural, economical, geographical, linguistic, gender, or such other factors as may be specified by the appropriate Government.” Weaker Sections are defined as those “belonging to such parent or guardian whose annual income is lower than the minimum specified by the appropriate government by notification.” The Act requires the appropriate government and every local authority to “ensure that the child belonging to weaker sections and the child belonging to disadvantaged groups are not discriminated against and prevented from pursuing and completing elementary education on any ground.” In starting thus the Act opens up the whole sphere of circumstances which come in the way of child’s enrolment in school and his/her completion of the elementary stage. This necessitates an attempt at listing of categories of children who might be covered under section 2 (d) and (e) and spelling out of possible strategies to prevent explicit and implicit discrimination in pursuing and completing elementary education. The Tribal Development Departments have tries to address different problems by establishing residential or ‘Ashram’ schools for tribal children, but there is a need not just for many more residential schools but also for improved quality in these schools. With the notification of the RTE, Ashram schools would also come under its purview and have to follow the prescribed norms and standards. Collaboration with the Education Department on residential schools for tribal dominated areas would perhaps be required to enable a strengthened and consolidated approach to this problem, including recruitment of teachers of similar social and cultural backgrounds and provision of curricular and textbooks that are not alienating for tribal children. There is enough evidence that educationally Muslims are an extremely disadvantaged community. There is need to draw them into educational and social mainstream through necessary measures, including that concerned State Governments be advised to notify them as disadvantaged groups under section 2 (d) of the Act. Under RTE, madrassas have not been excluded from the purview of the Act implying that all norms and standards mentioned in the Act would apply to madrassas as well. The only exception relates to the norms governing SMCs, where these institutions have been allowed to following their own norms.  Equity issues related to gender: Despite significant improvement in the enrolment of girls, girls from disadvantaged communities continue to form the bulk of out-of-school children. Therefore access continues to be an equity issue in the case of girls. Also, there is a need to consider retention as an equity issue as SC, ST, and Muslim girls are venerable, and most likely to dropout. The RTE Act-2009 ensures that ‘Every child of the age six to fourteen years shall have a right to free and compulsory education in a neighborhood school till completion of elementary education (Chapter II Article 3) and also states ‘no child shall be viable to pay any kind of free or

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charges or expenses which may prevent him or her from pursuing and completing the elementary education (Article 3).’ This Act ensures that every child has his or her right to get a quality education. Here teacher is to play a very important role in implementing the mission of RTE Act, especially so in case of gender equity. If teacher is not sensitized to actively dispel traditional perceptions regarding gender or caste roles he/she is unlikely to take measures to help girl students to pursue education which is equitable and free from anxiety. RTE Act tries to ensure empathy of teachers towards every child. It clearly states (24-d) that it is the duty of the teachers to access the learning ability of each child and accordingly supplement additional instructions, if any, as required and (e) hold regular meetings with parents and guardians and apprise then about the regularly in attendance, ability to learn, progress made in learning and and other relevant information about the child. Girls from SC, ST and minor communities and from families below poverty line usually face greater challenge in continuing education after the primary education. The Act requires each school to constitute a School Management Committee consisting of elected representatives of the local authority, parents or guardians of children admitted in such school and teachers the act makes it mandatory that fifty percent of members of such committee shall be women (Article 21) the SMC will monitor the work of the schools, prepare school development plan and there by monitor use of allocation of grant and its uses. The fifty percent of women members is expected to safe guard the interest of their girl children and protest against any kind of discrimination on the basis of gender. RTE Act-2009 tries to involve all local stake holders by making local authority responsible to that the child belong to an disadvantaged group may not be discriminated against and prevented from pursuing and completing elementary education. Article-9 states that every local authority shall maintain records of children up to the age of fourteen years residing within its jurisdiction, in such manner as may be prescribed (Section-d); ensure and monitor admission, attendance and completion of elementary education by every child residing within its jurisdiction (Section-e); provide infrastructure including school building, teaching staff and learning materials (Section-f). Article-10 of RTE Act-2009 makes it mandatory for guardian to ensure admitting their children to school- ‘It shall be duty of every parent or guardian to admit or cause to be admitted of his or her child or ward, as the case may be, to an elementary education in the neighbouring school.’ However mere sensitization of teachers, School Managing Committee and involvement of local authority and community to safe guard the rights of girl child may not be enough and classroom practices would need to be monitored and grievance redressal mechanisms have to be established at the schools and other levels. RTE Act-2009 provides for redressal of grievances too. Chapter IV, Article 31: The National Commission For Protection of Child Rights constituted under Section-3, or as the case may be, The State Commission For Protection of Child Rights constituted under Section-17, of the Commission For Protection of Child Rights Act-2005, shall in additional to the functions assigned to the under that Act also perform the following functions, namely:  Examine and review the safeguards for rights provided by or under this Act and recommend measure for their effective implementation;  Enquire into complaints relation to child’s right to free and compulsory education;  Take necessary steps as provided under section 15 and 24 of the said Commission For Protection of Child Right Act.  Equity issues related to special needs:

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Children with disabilities have not been explicitly included as a category in section 2 (d) of the RTE Act, which otherwise lists children belonging to disadvantaged groups. However, the same section also allows the appropriate government to specify, by notification, any other group of children who are disadvantaged as a result of any other factor. Children with disabilities need to be facilitated to acquire certain skills that will enable them to access elementary education as envisaged in the Act. For instance, they may need mobility training, training in Braille, sign language, tactile sign-language, postural training, etc. thus, ‘school preparedness’ of children with disabilities must be ensured by providing ‘special training’ as envisaged under section 4 of the RTE Act. This training may be residential, non residential or even home based, as per their specific recruitments. RTE Acts provide that children with disabilities, including children with cerebral palsy, mental retardation, autism and multiple disabilities shall have the right to pursue free and compulsory education in accordance with Chapter V of the Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995. Besides the above mentioned, the Right to Education Act-2009 also mentions different important provision for equity in education. These are:  Neighbourhood Schools: If schools are not located in or near the habitations where children reside, they may not complete schooling, even if they are formally enrolled in schools, on account of distance factor. The RTE Act mandates the appropriate governments and local authorities to provide for children’s access to elementary schools within the defined area or limits of neighbourhood, A neighbourhood school is a school located within the defined limits ( 1 K.M. for class I-V & 3 K.M. for class VI-VIII) or areas of neighbourhood, which has been notified by the State Government under the States RTE Act Rules.  All-time Admission in School: All children should be enrolled in school at the beginning of the academic session. However, in the case of children in difficult circumstances, including children affected by migration, displacement or ill health, etc schools may need to be flexible to allow admission at any time during the session.  Child Friendly Schools: The importance of children’s needs, interests and experiences becoming part of the teaching-learning processes in schools has been highlighted by humanistic education. The belief that every child is unique and must be given a sense of self worth and dignity has also emerged from the child rights and human rights perspective. A school focusing on the needs of the children would be one providing an environment of acceptance and nurturance it all students, irrespective of their socio-economic and cultural background, needs, abilities and aspirations. A child-friendly school would also provide space and freedom to the teacher to use innovative teaching strategies, and the flexibility to modify the concept and the curriculum to meet their needs of children with special needs. The RTE Act states that ‘Learning through activities, discovery and exploration in a child friendly and child-centered manner (Section-e).  Special Training for out-of-school Children: The RTE Act makes specific provision for ‘Special Training’ for age appropriate admission for out-of-school children. It also provides that such children shall continue to be provided free and compulsory elementary education even after they cross 14 years of age.  Removal of Financial barriers:

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The RTE Act provides that no child in a neighbourhood school, as notified by the State Government, shall be liable to pay any kind of fee, charge or expensive that may prevent him/her from enrolling, participating and completing elementary education.  Removal of procedural barriers: The RTE Act also provides for removal of procedural barriers to school access. It provides that no child shall be denied admission in a school for want of a Birth or Transfer Certificate. Delay in issues of Transfer Certificate shall not be a ground for denial of admission to a child in the new school. Executive instructions may be issued to all Headmasters to issue Transfer certificates on priority, whenever a child requires it.  No-detain in any Class: The Right to Education Act states that no child can be detained up to class VIII. It is called ‘No detention Policy’. Under the policy, students are not detained in any class, irrespective of their academic performance.  Improve the Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation: Everyday classroom assessment is continuous and comprehensive in nature. Teachers can use a variety of assessment tools to assess the ‘holistic’ development and learning of the pupils. in this context of RTE Act, Continuous Comprehensive Evaluation refers to continuous check of learner’s development and learning so that all children can realize their potential. The Act suggests that all children can learn, and school must ensure that they achieve the desired levels of learning with each child realizing his/her full potential. Teachers and students should not accept failure. The competitive and classification function of evaluation needs to be de-emphasized at elementary education. Every student’s progress may be compared with his of her previous performance. For this, equal opportunities must be provided to diverse learners including children with disabilities. Various Obstacles to Implement the RTEAct-2009 Relating to Equity There are several obstacles in the way to implementing the RTE Act properly. These are:  Losing of right for Neighbourhood concept: [Section 3 (1) and Section-10] By limiting neighbourhood to one or three KMs geographical area the child is belong to the minority and tribal communities. The schools are few in States like Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Orissa, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Tamilnadu, Assam etc. where substantial number of children are tribal or SC, but lack of neighbourhood institutions.  Lack of Trained Teacher: One of the obstacles in the way to implementing RTE rightly is lack of trained teachers. RTE Act came into force 1st April but today the number of trained teachers is not sufficient to provide quality education to the students.  Age Verification: [Section 14 (2)] The managements’ right to verify the age of a child is taken away by Section 14 (2). It provides that no child shall be denied admission for lack of age proof and consequently keeps the door open to everyone without reference to age.  Less Attendance: It is a very pathetic plight of many schools that they have many students enrolled in their admission register but have poor attendance. Many students attend school only for giving examination or taking monetary help form the Government.  Later Comer: [Section 15 (1, 2)] A late comer is to be admitted even after the extended period and be permitted to complete his studies is nothing but interference in the academic calendar of the school.

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 Guardian’s negative attitude: For poor economic condition many guardians are unwilling to send their children to school. They prefer to send their children for earning to send them to school.  Lack of Infrastructure: Still today many schools have poor building. In these schools there are also no provision for different toilets for boys and girls.  Detaining of students in class: [Section 16] This is totally unjust and arbitrary. This destroys the future of the children as the children are asked to move ahead without the necessary capacity to follow the class. Rather to stop drop-outs special study and coaching facilities and counseling incentives be introduced in schools with State funding. Suggestions for Effective Implementation Studies on following are very much important to be conducted:  The State need establish neighbourhood schools for age group at 6-14;  The States must take steps to employ more trained teachers;  States and School Management Committees should be provided the necessary financial and others support;  To effectively implement the RTE Act, Ministry of Human Resource Development, Labour Ministry, Panchayati Raj and Rural Development Ministry have to work together;  Educating the parents because educated people can realize the value of education and they send their children to schools;  Separate schools should be established for girls;  Suitable curriculum for the school children;  Enables providing constructive feedback to students thus improving their learning;  To ensure the enrolment and retention of children and take appropriate steps to reduce the drop out;  To ensure the availability of clean drinking water, adequate toilet facilities etc;  To improve Child Friendly School. Conclusion The Right to Free and Compulsory Education Act-2009 is new innovation of Government of India for educating all children and ensure to get quality education. It is not only elementary education but also a ‘Fundamental Right’ to all children whole over the country. Despite several problems associated with the strategies to implement inclusion policies in schools, there have been some remarkable achievements. Large numbers of children, especially from disadvantaged communities are deprived of quality education which has thwarted the equitable access to basic education. The RTE Act has now become a challenge before the educationists, teachers, social reformers, political thinkers and social activities in India. To achieve RTE Act’s targets, we will have to overcome many different problems such as financial resources, physical resources and human resources. However, it is time for us to face all challenges and build the emerging Indian society into a learning society, where education for all. References 1. Sharma, S. (2014), What is RTE? Some Ways of Making Education Accessible, A Hand Book for Teacher, Department of Elementary Education, NCERT , Govt. of India, New Delhi. 2. Mukhopadhyaya, D., Sarkar, B., Halder, T. and Pal, A. K. (2014), Contemporary Issues in Indian Education (1st Ed.) Kolkata: Aaheli Publisher. 3. Ojha, S. (2013), Implementing Right to Education: Issues and Challenges. EDULIGHT-Multi-disciplinary, Peer-Reviewed Journal

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4. Borodoloi, R. (2012), Accessibility and Equity: A Challenge for Higher Education. 5. Govinda, R. (2011), Who Goes to School? Exploring Exclusion in Indian Education, New Delhi: Oxford University Press. 6. Ravi, S. S. (2011), A Comprehensive Study of Education, New Delhi: PHI Learning Pvt. Ltd. 7. Mehendele, A. (2010), Model Rules for the Right to Education Act, Economic and Political Weekly. 8. Jakhar, J. S. (2010), Right to Education Act, 2009: Salient Features and Major Problems of Implementation, University News, Govt. of India, New Delhi. 9. Ministry of Human Resource Development (2009), Right to Education Act -2009, Government of India, New Delhi. 10. UNESCO (2008), Inclusive Dimensions of the Right to Education: Normative Bases, UNESCO, Paris. 11. Talesra, H. (2007), Sociological Foundation of Education, Kanishka Publishers Distributors: New Delhi. 12. The Government of India (2002): the constitution (Eighty-Six Amendment) Act-2002, New Delhi.

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CASE STUDY: INTERVENTIONS FOR POSITIVE DEVELOPMENT IN A CHILD WITH DOWN’S SYNDROME Dr Ritu Tripathi Chakravarty Assistant Professor, Amity University Lucknow Campus, E-mail:rituchakravarty@gmail.com ABSTRACT Down syndrome is the most frequent genetic or chromosomal cause of mental retardation, occurring in approximately 1 per 800 to 1 per 1,000 live births in developed countries (Baird & Sadovnick, 1989). The syndrome is characterized by trisomy 21, particular morphologic features, mental retardation, and associated health problems. This paper discusses the case of a boy who is with Down syndrome. It presents the comparative analysis of the achievements of the case before attending the school which is especially taking care of children with this special need. It analyses the efforts made by the school named DOSTI FOIUNDATION in Lucknow. The research employed a phenomenographic methodology. Interview with teachers, parents were conducted. Analysis of the data was qualitative. The finding shows positive relations in the behavior of the case with the balance and productive interventions made by the school. The research paper concludes that it is important to provide pupils with appropriate support to avoid failure, particularly during the early stages of learning. It also recommends that the pupil is able to work and participate, with the appropriate support. This is a small-scale study and the findings tentative. It does however indicate the need for further research in this area.

Introduction Children with Down syndrome typically have smaller statures, causing them to keep a “baby” appearance for longer. Low muscle tone also contributes to this. Children with Down syndrome need a little more help reaching their milestones. They do everything a bit later on the developmental charts. But the wait and extra effort make every milestone a cause for celebration. Having a child with Down syndrome will soften your heart, allowing you to accept people as they are, regardless of their abilities. CASE STUDY Name of the Child: Jai Dixit Jai loves to eat pastries and is always smiling whenever someone talks to him. Although he has problem in walking but he makes sure that he does the walking for himself all by himself and does not take any help from anyone. His mother is always there to help him but he wants and loves to be independent. Jai is a cute little boy who would bring a smile on just anybody’s face but this little boy happened to be diagnosed with Down syndrome and also has difficulty in walking as well as his eyes. His chronological age is 9 years and her parents had concerns for him regarding his communication, posture, organizational skills, academic performance and his behaviour with others. Jai was a normal child when he was born; he had jaundice which was cured. Like other children jai could crawl, sit, walk and speak sentences at the age of about 4 years. He had difficulty with co-ordination and his muscle power was also poor. He was a quiet and a shy child but would often smile and laugh. He was easily frustrated and very sensitive to criticism. His attention span was short. Problems with short-term and working memory .Fine motor delays his hands and problems with eye-hand coordination Difficulty processing information given orally Insufficient experiences using math. He is taking longer process

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through the various stages of development. And with so many experiences with frustration that he had become no longer willing to try He was sensitive to sound and could not make out if there were different sound also. He would not respond and cater to many requests. As he was not able to process any information he secluded himself from the group and would remain alone. He uses to show signs of defensiveness. He liked fast movements. Overall he showed difficulty in sensory modulation and processing which affected his skills in various areas because his brain was not capable to cope up with the information. His parents took him to many psychologists and he was referred to KGMC for his neuro treatment. Sensory Integration treatment was used to enhance his abilities in ideation and motor planning skills, and to reduce his sensory defensiveness. He showed good gains in areas of sensory defensiveness, motor control, and fine motor function. After a period of time Jai continued to show weakness in his motor efficiency. He needed a lot of visual support. All these activities affected his abilities in writing and social communication. He had a lot of difficulty in academic skills related to spellings and maths. Initially he use to go in a well renowned school of the city but due to his low energy levels and avoiding of complex tasks and different behavior as compared to other children he was soon taken out of that school. His parents were a pillar of support during his tough time as they did not lose hope and went forward in all means to help their child. Right from speech therapy to sensory processing skills, improving his attention, improvement in mental manipulation he was given help in all aspects but was of no use as he had secluded himself away from the social environment and always avoided big groups. This was the time when his parents got to know about DOSTI FOUNDATION which is an initiative by Study Hall, Lucknow. DOSTI, an integrated program for Children with Special Needs, was established in April 2005 to provide special children with a platform to grow with other children. This initiative is now a full-fledged special education wing of Study Hall that guides and helps 75 children of all age groups in becoming as self-reliant as possible, in their individual circumstances. DOSTI caters to children with a wide spectrum of developmental disabilities, mentally challenged children with various disorders, such as, Autism, Down syndrome, Retts Syndrome and Cerebral Palsy, among others. In addition, they assist children with Speech, Hearing and Visual impairment. Special children gain from DOSTI’s various planned individualized training and counseling programs that are designed to achieve all-round development and growth. Finally, these children are emerging as happy, well-adjusted, productive members of society - DOSTI’s ultimate goal. Soon Jai started going to the Dosti foundation where his needs and problems were well taken care of. At DOSTI the child is a part of a truly integrated set up that includes a modified syllabus implemented by special educators who guide your child through regular mainstream curriculum in smaller classroom settings, keeping in mind an individual’s specific learning needs. The child thus gets equal opportunities normally enjoyed only by mainstream students in other schools. Parents are assured of complete care of their child through this specially developed curriculum that includes various essential activities, along with regular academics, making the children self-reliant and ready for a healthy social life.

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A few of the activities covered at DOSTI include: Computer Education / Digital Learning, Vocational Education, Dance, Drama, Music (Indian and Western), Sports, Arts & Crafts, Swimming, Yoga, Clay Modeling, Non-flame Cooking and Physical Education (PE) The children are guided by a team of dedicated specialized personnel that include: 

Clinical Psychologists

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Occupational Therapists

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Special Educationists

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Teaching Strategies Used by the school

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Emphasize visual learning

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Provide structured learning with some flexibility

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Make learning relevant to the real world

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Focus the student’s attention

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Provide non-distracting written work

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Give simple, clear instructions

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Minimize fine motor demands

Soon Jai was able to sit and maintain his posture better during work time. He was attending better at home and in school. He showed slight improvement in clarity and ability to ask questions. Improvement was noted in her handwriting. He has been more flexible and attempts new tasks. Jai is showing more confidence in his ability to ask questions within the proper context. He is showing better sentence structure and his focus and organization continue to improve. Jai’s parents noticed small gains in clarity of speech and that he appeared more responsible. According to his parents in his previous school he was angrier, very sensitive, and moody. In the classroom he did not listen to his teachers and was very sensitive although he did do her work. His focus was not good: he was active and disorganized. His voice sounded different softer, higher pitched, and words were not as clear. But at Dosti, he began to gain in functions again and stayed calmer and relaxed. His drawing skills appear to be better with visual support and he is showing more complexity by adding details to the picture. Spatial orientation appears to be emerging much better. His parents rated his reading skills as above average. More changes were seen in her vocabulary. Other motor changes were sustained. Jai is showing more self-confidence. His parents have noticed that he is doing his math without struggling and it is easier for him. Jai is showing considerable change in self-organization, being more responsible, improved sentence structure, increased vocabulary, and parents noticed better sense of rhythm, better coordination, and more independence. His sound sensitivities have decreased. There were various tests and therapies which were conducted on Jai. The result of those tests and therapies is that significant changes were seen in the areas of visual memory and visual closure tasks. These changes support the conclusion of improved sensory processing and retrieval skills in tasks that have visual cues. This suggests improvement in his awareness, ability to register, retrieve, and reproduce desired commands in a more organized fashion. Changes noted in visual closure areas support improved motor planning and sequencing. In the area of gross motor skills, Jai is able to jump with two feet and shows better coordination. He is now able to hop with one leg in a single and sequential manner. He is

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able to make more coordinated jumping jack movements with auditory input. He is able to stand and pump in a swing with visual prompts. In the area of coordination and multisensory processing, Jai is now able to participate in an activity involving somato-sensory, vestibular, visual, and auditory input together with rhythm. This means he is able to coordinate actions involving legs and hands during a song with rhythm and beat. He was not able to do this previously and always had a hard time participating during song time in the classroom. Writing skills have improved largely in the area of fine motor control of the hand, and copying skills. He is now able to copy in the classroom from the chalkboard. Jai has shown remarkable progress in her posture, he can maintain an erect and attentive posture. He is able to stay organized and on task for 30-60 minutes depending on the task and the instructions. Previously his time limit was only 5-15 minutes and after having a break he did not return to the table. During an occupational therapy session, a class at school, or events at home, he is able to attend to a new task with some help. Previously he would fuss or refuse to even try to do something new. He is now more flexible and perseveres with the task. Jai is able to initiate and maintain a three-step conversation with better response time. He is able to respond to questions with a maximum of two prompts. His parents report that he now seems to think before acting and is able to connect the consequences. Jai showed improvement in his vocabulary and spelling recall. He is able to read stories and answers questions. He initiates reading willingly and shows better sentence structure. He is coping much better with his math skills and is able to carry two digit additions with ease. Conclusion Continued use of The Listening Program has been useful to Jai along with his occupational therapy classes. He has shown positive changes in Math and English. It has also been an effective tool combined with his home program. He has improved in many areas of his performance and behavior. The facilities which are provided by Dosti foundation include: 1) Regular School Program – This includes regular academics in a formal but friendly classroom environment, along with participation in Activity for Daily Living training (ADL). 2) Home-based Unit – Parents are invited to the school to learn strategies for taking care of their special children through short-term programs conducted by specialists at DOSTI. 3) Early Intervention Program – This service is aimed at children aged 0 - 3 years that have displayed delayed developmental milestones and helps facilitate language, communication and physical development in children. 4) Remedial Education Program – Children with learning difficulties are further assisted through remedial teaching classes after school hours to decrease/control and address learning gaps. Bibliography 1. Bovicelli, L., L. F. Orsini, et al. (1982). "Reproduction in Down syndrome." Obstet Gynecol 59 (6 Suppl): 13S-17S. 2. Hindley, D. and S. Medakkar (2002). "Diagnosis of Down's syndrome in neonates." Arch Dis Child Fetal Neonatal Ed 87(3): F220-221. 3. Newberger, D. S. (2000). "Down syndrome: prenatal risk assessment and diagnosis." Am Fam Physician 62(4): 825-832, 837-828. 4. Shin, M., L. M. Besser, et al. (2009). "Prevalence of Down syndrome among children and adolescents in 10 regions of the United States." Pediatrics 124(6): 1565-1571. 5. Wiseman, F. K., K. A. Alford, et al. (2009). "Down syndrome--recent progress and future prospects."Hum Mol Genet 18(R1): R75-83.

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A STUDY OF EXPRESSIONISTIC TECHNIQUE: WITH A SPECIAL REFERENCE OF ARTHUR MILLER’S DEATH OF A SALESMAN Deepawali Joshi Contract Faculty (English) M.B.P.G. College, Haldwani, Nainital, E- mail: deepalistudy@gmail.com ABSTRACT “Death of a Salesman” is a play written on the basis of finest tragedy, in which the series of past and present are mingled in expressionistic scene and involving the story of a travelling salesman named Willy Loman. Biff and Happy are his two sons, and Linda his wife. It is a story of a common man. This research paper attempts to show the struggle of a common man in this society and use of expressionistic technique by Arthur Miller in this finest tragedy of a common man. Key- Words: Emphasis, Disintegration, Stereotype, Paramour, Inescapable, Buffet

Death of a Salesman could be read as a struggle by a common man against a society which drains him of his energies and then drops him like a sack of Potatoes. Miller has placed the common man at the centre of the drama which led many to believe that he had communist sympahesis and for which he was investigated against by the house of unAmerican Activities in 1947. Expressionism was an artistic movement which began in Germany at the start of this century, under the strong influence of the Swedish dramatic Strindberg ((1849-1912), and reached its height in the decade 1915-1925. It is a dramatic technique which enables a dramatist to depict ‘inner reality’ the soul of Psyche of his Personages. The emphasis shifts from the external to the inner reality. The action moves backward and forward freely in space and time in harmony with the thought process of the character concerned. “The Emperor Jones” was the first play in which O’Neill used Expressionistic technique to express the psychological terrors and obsessions of Brutus Jones, long before he has heard of Expressionism or had the expressionistic plays of Strindberg. In an expressionistic Play, the number of characters is cut down to the minimum. The attention is focused on the central figure and the other characters are not individualized. They serve merely as a background to throw into sharp relief the central figure. The expressionists rejected naturalism as it had a limited scope and was grossly involved with surface reality. Death of a Salesman is an expressionistic play, but Arthur Miller’s expressionism is based on reality. There is no total decay of Plot and Character. There is a sense of realism in the delineation both of setting and character. As the expressionistic play revolves around a single character likewise Death of a Salesman is the play in which whole story moves around Willy Loman, the central character, is an aging salesman whose dreams and fantasies of success and wealth are accompanied by failure and disillusionment in his professional and private life. The company in which he works fires him because of his old age. At the same time, Willy's dream of wealth and power become desperately more frequent. At home Willy's two sons Biff and Happy grow up to be two average non-entities who belie their father's desires of greatness and grandeur. The only person who loves and understands Willy is his loving wife Linda. In a family there is a feeling of disintegration; Linda tries to hold everyone together but unsuccessfully. At the end of the play, Willy finally kills himself in an auto-accident with the hope that the insurance money from his death will bring to his family all the comfort and luxury which he couldn't provide them during his life. The plot reveals to the readers that at

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eighteen Willy was introduced to the life of a travelling salesman. Willy is an artesian who glories in the dignity of labour, and can be proud of the sturdy fine things he puts together out of wood and cement. Death of a Salesman this is, of course, Willy Loman's adultery, which by a alienating son, Biff, has destroyed the strongest value in Willy's life. The structure of the play is filled out with a detailed evocation of modern, urban, lower-middle -class life. According to Miller the hero was a person who acted at a moment when other would remain silent or retire. Drama, according to Miller, illustrates a process of behaviour in which the hero at a crucial moment acts when those around him, if in a comparable situation, would not act. Miller wanted to unveil the inside of Willy's head and mind, to show Willy's inner reality. The aim of this tragedy obviously derives from expressionist drama. He tried to find ways of showing the process of Willy's mind, a strange thing happened. The two European traditions of naturalism and expressionism merged. The stage-setting expresses Willy's divided and unsatisfied consciousness. He has been a firm believer in the American myths that success is obtained by well-liked and his sons have been raised on the same philosophy since their childhood. To escape the harsh reality of unpaid bills and family tensions, Willy wants to remember those days when his sons used to admire him. Linda presents her husband to ask his employer for a non-travelling assignment. There is an inevitable horror in the spectacle of a man losing consciousness with unseen person. As for the realistic technique, we see it in the process of much of the action- the dialogue between Willy and Linda when Willy unexpectedly comes back from his business trip: Willy: I'm tried to the death. I couldn't make it. I just couldn't make it, Linda. Suddenly I realized Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m goin' sixty miles an hour and I don't remember the last five minutes. I'm - I can't seem to- keep my mind to it. Linda: But you didn't rest your mind. Your mind is over active, and the mind is what counts, dear. (2-3) As we see Linda is the stereotype, sympathetic wife and a good mother, understands his husband's irritations and contradictions, and tries to make the three understand their natural relationship. Advised by mother, Biff and Happy plan to celebrate, their new start in the restaurant. But all the tables are turned against them when they leave their father drunken in the restaurant to go off with some girls. In a flashback, Willy remembers the crucial moment at which Biff's faith in his father was shattered, when Biff discovers Willy at hotel, with paramour. Biff says good-bye to his father, but the two fall out, arguing with each other. Biff points out that his father has built, both, his own life and the lives of his sons, on false standards. Willy Loman's dream occupies nearly half of the play. They are the dreams of the world which each and every person want to see and live in his life. The dreams of happiness, hopeful past and inescapable dreams of past guilt. Whenever Willy feels dejected, and rejected by the family as well as the by the society, he tries to commit suicide, but in vain. At the end, to redeem himself by an act that he considers one of the devotions to his family, Willy commits suicide, so that with his insurance money they can rid themselves of debts and make a new start of their lives. Willy is not a materialistic but a mystic for whom money is not an end in itself but a means of grandeur. Willy dies for his son, but he also does for his concept of magnificence and the exalted hope that is will be realized in Biff. Biff attempts to talk to his brother about going west with him, but Happy decides to remain there, and make Willy's dream of success

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come true. American society is highly commercialized requirement that its protagonist be at a turning point in his life. In Death of a Salesman Miller is still concerned with the exploitaion of the individual and the evils of a commercial society. However, the individual is humanized in detail and depth. The ultimate feeling is that although in many respects man is a victim of society, he himself may be a weak individuals who is partially responsible for his failure. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Society" is a power and a mystery of custom and inside the man and surrounding him, as the fish is in the sea and the sea inside the fish, his birth place and burial ground, promise and threat. To speak commonsensically of social facts which every business man knows and talks about but which are too prosaic to mention or are usually fancied up on the stage as philosophical problems. When a man gets old you fire him. You have to, he can't do the work. To speak an even to celebrate the common sense of business man, who love the personality that wins the day but know that you've got to have the right goods at the right price, handsome and well-spoken as you are.(30-31, Miller's Collected Plays) It is clear from his dialogues that he has lost control over his mind, over his sons, and over his car. It is nothing but the picture of Loman gripped in the claws of bad luck. In the chronological present of the play, Willy's fortune is at low ebb. He fights to hold on to his identity. Happy, too, is not satisfied with materialistic success; instead of making a struggle, he is waiting for the death of his company manager. It is nothing but bad luck for Willy when his children are unable to settle down anywhere. In the society a man can earn money by his hard work, he can make a plan for his budget, but it is not his fault when he suffers due to some unwanted or vague expenses. The same is the case with Willy. He tries his best to earn more and more money to achieve name and fame. The incidental breaking of fan belts and random defects in the machinery (car and refrigerator) are sudden expenses. It is nothing but the law of luck (bad luck in this case), which records Willy's progress in life. Personality, too play an important role in the life of a man. Visual personality is nothing but simply the run of luck. Sociologically, self-made man is considered as innerdirected. The stability of a man is such that it can withstand the buffetings of an adverse environment, and can guide him towards the satisfactions of leadership and personal success. But Willy is devoid of the blessings of personality. Generally, appearance is more important, whether one has to sell himself to a prospective employer or customer. Willy's visage is nothing but a laughing stock. He tells Linda about his own humiliation: Willy: I'm fat. I'm very- foolish to look at. Linda i didn't tell you. But Christmas time I happened to be calling on F.H. Stewarts, and a salesman I know, as I was going in to see the buyer I heard him say something about- valrus. And I - I cracked him right across the face. I won't take that. Simply will not take that. But they do laught at me. I know that. (23) He is one of an immortal character of Miller. Willy is an American salesman who is surrounded by the illusion of' materialism which he regards as the key to success and happiness in his life. He is contradictory not only in his personality, his opinions and feelings appear to be self-contradictory too. Willy's commitment to the success ideology directed the education of his sons. Death of a Salesman dramatizes the vagaries of Predestination and the failure of the American myth by showing the past and present failures of the salesman. Willy has been shaped by a society that believed steadily and optimistically in the myth of success, and he has become the agent and representative of that society. For Willy, the achievement possible

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in the earlier society is typified by Uncle Ben, the figure who appear out of nowhere to the accompaniment of flute music, on his way to new capitalistic triumphs. Ben comes from an idealized past. He carries with him the success, the pleasant stroke of luck, and when he visits, it is for a few minutes between expeditions. Ben has the precious secret to success luck. It is summarized in his ritual chant, the formula which sums up his accomplishments. “William, when I walked into the jungle, I was seventeen. When I walked out. I was twenty- one. And, by God, I was rich!” (34-35) The shadowy and an imaginary figure of Ben establishes the common formula that everyman can succeed, which Willy does not accept in his life. As Ben’s method has faded with the passing of the empire –builders and with the advent of big corporations, Willy traces back one’s success to his personality, missing out the entire factor of good luck: Willy: It is not what you do, Ben, It’s who you know and the smile on your face! Its contacs, Ben contact! The whole wealth of Alaska passes over the lunch table at the Commodore Hotel, and that’s the wonder, the wonder of this country, that a man can end with diamonds here on the basis of being liked! (61-62). Miller builds up a sense of fate in his drama by showing the unalterable and unpredictable past upon the present. Willy’s commemoration also casts another shadow over the present prospect. Just as a hero’s commitment comes to Willy as a heritage of the American part, so his sad plight comes of his early life. Expect for the deceptive expanse of time, there is no real difference in the salesman’s life then and now. The dramatic devices used by Miller, such as music and lighting used by Miller in this play, are as indicated about, part of the expressionistic technique, each act, as well as the final requiem is introduced with music. The music is used as a device for dissolving time and distance. The realty of the surrounding apartment-houses fades among as the dream-like remembrance of the past in Willy’s mind becomes the focus of the dramatic action. Among other marks of expressionism, apart from a presentation of dream states already referred to, is the employment of symbolic character. Willy may be regarded as an American Everyman. To conclude, we may say that Death of a Salesman deals with the relationship between a man’s identity and the image that society demand of him. The play begins and ends in one common setting the Loman house, and flash-backs in the popular stream of consciousness style, clarify the present dilemma in terms of past relevancies References 

Abrams, M.H. A Glossary of Literary Terms. 3rd ed. Macmillian India Ltd.

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Miller, Arthur. Death of a Salesman. New Delhi: UBS PUB. Dis. Pvt. Ltd.rpt, 2006. (All the references of the text are cited from this source).

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Miller, Arthur. Arthur Miller’s Collected Plays. Allied Pub. Pvt. Ltd. rpt, n.d.

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STRESS - A HARMFUL MODERN PHENOMENON Dr. Nandita Basu Associate Professor, Department of Philosophy, Hooghly Women’s College, District – Hooghly, West Bengal, E-mail: nbasudutta@rediffmail.com ABSTRACT Each human being stays under stress to some extent. Stress is the bio-psychic-social response of the body. It arises by the pressure of the body, mind . The various types of stresses are raised due to wrong time management, lack of exercise, dissatisfaction of job, load of work etc. So it is very important to show the ways that how stresses can be erased from our daily life. Every human being has right to live their life smoothly and blissfully. To heal our life with full of joy, it is essential to erase stresses at the earliest. Key- Words: Stress, Eustress, Distress, Bio-physical reaction, Yogic-exercise, Heal, Joy

Chart of Daily Routine

Sleep 6 to 7 hrs Home/Family 4 to 6 hrs

Exercise

Job/Business 10 to 12 hrs

Personal work 1 hr

1 hr

Formula of stress management. What is Stress? Stress is the bio-psycho-social response of the body to a demand, mental or physical. Stress is an arousal response that body makes in a particular situation. Stress is an arousal response the body makes to a perceived situation. The impact of this arousal situation results in behavioural and physiological change. When stress continues in a long term then it became chronic, and it leads to psychosomatic ailments. Different Types of Stress: So we can say that Stress is any demand of the individual that requires coping behavior. Stress comes from two basic sources-1) Physical activity and 2) Mental or emotional activity. The physical reaction of the body to both types of stress is the same. Again Psychologists use two separate terms to distinguish between positive and negative forms of stress, even though reactions to the two forms are the same biochemically. Again

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stress can be of two types -i)Eustress ii) Distress. Eustress is the positive stress that accompanies achievement and exhilaration. Eustress is the stress of meeting challenges such as those found in a managerial, technical or public contact job. Eustress is regarded as a beneficial force that helps us to go ahead against obstacles. On the contrary Distress is harmful. Stress becomes distress when we begin to sense a loss of our feelings of security and adequacy. Helplessness, desperation and disappointment turn stress into distress. Link between Stress and Bio-physical reaction: It cannot be denied that there is an undeniable link between stress and physical illness. Stress can be considered with the wings which push us towards achievement. Stress can trigger off psychosomatic ailments in those individuals who are living in the fast track. It can also be a trigger to those who suffering from monotony, boredom or frustration. So it is very essential to make a balance between too much stress and too little stress. The stress reaction is a coordinated chemical mobilization of the entire body to meet the requirements of fight. Then fight full situation will be perceived to be stressful. Again sympathetic nervous system activates the secretion of hormones from the endocrine glands. This type of reaction referred to as the alarm reaction. This involves an elevated heart rate, increased respiration, elevated levels of adrenaline in the blood and increased blood pressure. If distress persist long time then it can result in heart disease, fatigue and exhaustion and also with hypertension. These symptoms are common factors of strokes. Jobs related stress There are found many reasons for arising stress. Out of these, jobs related stress is most important to discuss. It is true that causes of workplace stress are many. One reputed national health -care company points out four main factors of job stress- 1.High demand. 2. Low reward 3.High effort 4.low control. Others says that stress can arise from prejudices, gender, race or religion, inability to voice of complain, poor working condition, even minor irritations such as lack of privacy, disgusting music and other conditions can be distressful to one person to another. How to manage stress? 

Exercise to burn stress

A regular exercise program utilizes the body’s stress hormones. Exercise not only makes the body fit, but also acclimatizes the heart and lungs to increase activity even in stressful situations. Exercise is effective for stress related ailments such as hypertension, headaches, digestive ailments, cardiac problems and also for amnesia. 

To build our self esteem

The first step to managing stress is to develop a stress free personality. High self esteem, assertive behavior and a positive attitude help in building stress-free outlook. It also helps to locate the stress and try to problem solving attitude to deal the situation step by step. So it is very important to increase our self esteem to handle the risky factors. 

Managing the time

Lack of time is presumed to be a major cause of stress. The real cause is lack of time management Extra business without a proper plan is the cause of pressure and major stress. We should plan our day well with a well-balanced programme. A simple formula for time management has been shown above. We should personalize the 24 hours of a day according to work priority. It is essential to remember that we cannot delete any activity that affects our health, like sleep or exercise.

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Sleep right

The best gift of nature is sleep to erase stress. 6 to 8 hours daily sleep helps in repair and relaxation of the body and mind. Sleep provides fresh-thoughts, and good mental as well as physical health. 

Manage life and carrier

We should play an assertive role in our life and feel responsible those for ourselves. We should set goal and target realistically so that we can never reach to failure. We should plan our carrier so wisely which satisfies us. 

Time for outing somewhere

To take some time for outing everyday for simple pleasure like watching the sunrise or sunset. We should spend quality time with family. Cultivate relaxing techniques or habits like reading, listening to music, cooking, gardening and also meditating. 

Yogic remedies

By understanding Yogic Philosophy; it may change our perceptions of the world which set aside the conception of stress.Yogic theories of Avidya,Pancha Kosha, and Purusha Prakrti are important in this regard. Through establishing adequate personal and social adjustment through Niyamas and Yamas respectively, we can prevent and reduce stress by a systematic practice of Astangic Yoga one can imbibe in oneself the yogic values and can have a positive impact on the person in tackling stress. Again Kriya Yoga may successfully divert the stressful condition to relaxation. It may give person of performing some useful tasks. By studying Patanjali’s Yoga sutra and practicing various methods any type of mental stresses can be magically removed. Some of them are: Samadhi Pada e.g. Pranava Japa, Vitarka Bandhane Pratipaksha Bhavanam Chittaprasadanam etc. In concluding part it is obvious to mention that we should observe the above mentioned step to handle stress effectively and find that it actually stimulates better stressfree life. However young and old person alike should develop those habits that will enable them to lead stress-free happier and more productive lives which will undoubtedly be beneficial to them as individuals, to the working organizations as well as to society. Thus every human being can be able to erase stress and also be able to heal their lives with full of joy. References: 1. Human Resources Management A south –Asian Perspective, By Scott Snell, George Bohlander, Veena Vohra, Cengage Learning India Pvt. Ltd, Delhi 110092,2012 , www.cengage.co.in 2. Bpositive , The Apollo Life Wellness Guide, Chennai, July 2014 3. Four Chapters On Freedom, By Swatyananda Saraswati, Yoga Publication Trust, Munger,Bihar, India,1976 4. Yoga Darshan, By Niranjanananda Swaraswati, yoga Publication Trust Munger, Bihar, India, 1993 5. Yoga and Mental Health,By Prof. R.S.Bhogal, Kaivalyadhama Ashram, Lonavla,Pune 6. Light on the Yoga Sutras Of Patanjali, By BKS IYENGER,Harper Collins Publishers India,1993 7. The Human Society,yesterday,Today,Tomorrow, By Essen Ghose: Icon consultant Pvt Ltd.Kolkata, 1983 (Sources are taken from: Daily Newspaper, Electronic-Media)

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COUNTER INSURGENCY IN NIGERIA BY BOKO HARAM: AN OVERVIEW Sandipan Sarkar Guest Lecturer, Khalisani Mahavidyalaya, District – Hooghly, West Bengal, E-mail: sandipansarkar87@gmail.com On the night of 14 April 2014, a group of militants attacked the Governmental Girls High School in Chibok, Nigeria. They broke into the school, pretending to be guards, telling the girls to get out and come with them. A large number of students were taken away in trucks, possibly into the Kodugaarea of Sambisa Forest where the militants have fortified camps. There is confusion about the number of students were kidnapped.i According to the police, approximately 276 children were taken in the attack, of whom 53 of escaped as of 2 may. Other reports said that 329 girls were kidnapped, 53 had escaped and 276 were still missing. Halite Aliyu, member of the Borno-Yobe people’s forum said, the girls are being sold into marriage to Boko Haram militants for 2000 naira ($ 12). According to him, this information coming from villagers in the Sambisa Forest, on Nigeria’s border with Cameroon, where Boko Haram is known to hideouts.ii On may 4, 2014, Abubakar Shekau, the self proclaimed leader of Boko Haram , appeared on the you tube and declared “ I will sell your girls in the market. God instructed me to sell them, they are his properties and I will carry out his instruction.” He further proclaimed: “I am going to marry out any women, who is twelve years old, and if she is younger, I will marry her out at the age of nine. You are all in danger. I am the one who captured all those girls and will sell of them. Slavery is allowed in my religion, and I shall capture people and make them slaves. We are on our way Abuja and we shall also visit the south. I am going to kill all the Islam and other Islamic clerics in Nigeria because they are not Muslims since they follow democracy and constitution. It is Allah that instructed us, until we soak the ground of Nigeria with Christian blood and so called Muslims contradicting Islam. We will kill and wonder what to do with their smelling corpses. This is war against Christian and democracy and their constitution.”iii These words sent a chill down the spine of decent citizens in all parts of the globes. The activities of this militant group are crying down by all over the world. U.S. first lady Michelle Obama said, an “unconscionable act” of terror against the education of the girls.iv The response is also coming from many countries. The U.K. and U.S.A. agreed to send experts to Nigeria to assist in the search for the students. France offered a specialist team. China announced its intention to make available any useful information acquired by its satellites and intelligence services. Boko Haram is an Islamist Terrorist group of North east Nigeria, also active in neighboring countries such as Chad, Niger, and northan Cameroon. The official name of Boko Haram is “Jama atu Ahlis sunna Lidda’ Awati wal Jihad”, means people committed to the prophet’s teaching for propagation and Jihad. But this militant group is more popular as Boko Haram, which means “western education is forbidden.” The word “Haram” is derived from the Arabic word “aram” (forbidden) and the Hausav word “Boko” means “fake” but it’s widely translated as “Western education”.vi Mallam Mohammed Yusuf founded that group in 2002 in Maiduguri, the capital of the north eastern state of Borno. He established a religious complex and school that attached poor Muslim families from across Nigeria and neighboring countries. By denouncing the police and state corruption, Yusuf attached followers from unemployed youths. Before 2009 Yusuf had not fully committed to violence. In this phase Yusuf emphasized on proselytisation, recruitment, indoctrination, and radicalization of his members. He also criticized the corruption and bad governance under governor Ali Modu Sheriff of Borno state.vii That time Yusuf became politically relevant, even political leaders courted his alliance. But in December 2008, conflict had begun between Boko Haram and

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izala sect for capturing ownership of a place of worship at Monguno. The security agencies serially mismanaged the crisis from the outset and in the process pushed the movement to the extreme end of spectrum. An operation was taken place by a Joint Military Task Force named as “Operation Flush II” as a response, and by 30 July 2009, more than 700 people had been killed, mostly Boko Haram members. Yusuf has arrested and died in custody, while trying to escape. After the suppression of the movement and the killing of its leadership Boko Haram went underground for one year. In September 2010 Boko Haram again resurfaced with a vengeance, under their new leader, Abubakar Shekau, second-in-command of Yusuf. Under his leadership, the group changed its ideology, strategy and continuously improved its operational capabilities. In 2010, a daily trust reporter met with Abubakar Shekau, who said the sect had regrouped and rearmed and was soon to start campaign that will lead to the founding of an Islamic State across Northern Nigeria. He said western education will be outlawed and Quranic education will be instituted. Women will be fully dressed as required by the faith and will be made to stay at home.viii This interview is the clear indication of changing ideology of Boko Haram under Shekau. From this time they not only targeted their perceived opponents, but indiscriminately attacked security officials, politician associated with the ruling All Nigeria People’s Party (ANPP) government in Borno State, and reported to bombing high profile targets, such as the Nigerian Police Headquarters, UN office, church etc. On 16 June, 2011 Boko Haram attacked Police Headquarter in Abuja by a suicide car bomb. On 26 August, 2011 Boko Haram suicide bomber drives his vehicle into the United Nation’s buildings in Abuja, killing 25 people and injuring more than 100. This is the first time the sect targets the international community. On 4 November, 2011 Boko Haram attacked at least six churches, four police station, the military Joint Task Force Office, the state security service building, a college and local business. At the end of the attacks, more than 60 people were dead. In December 25, 2011 Boko Haram claimed responsibility for the attack on St. Teresa Catholic Church in Madalla, Nigeria. A bomb exploded while the church was full of people attending Christmas mass. In total, 37 people were killed and 57 were wounded. Since 2012 Boko Haram started targeting school on regular basis. Before 2012 only three attacks recorded on schools, but in 2012, 47 attacks recorded on schools, that resulting in 77 fatalities. This types of attacks were continued throughout the year 2013. In the middle of the 2014, we saw a new form of attack that is kidnapping, and the latest example of this Chibok incident, where 276 school girls were abducted. This is probably a result of getting contact with the other terrorist activities of other part of world, especially the ISIS. ix Because the kidnap of hostages like media person, foreign worker, local people mainly women is the basic strategy of ISIS. If we analysis the target types of Boko Haram, then we see their most commonly targets are private citizens, police, Government body, religious figures, military and also the educational institution.x Actually they want to abolish whole exist system and established a Islamic Caliphate. In August last year, the Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau decleared his allegiance to the Islamic State. “We are an Islamic Caliphate. We have nothing to do with Nigeria. We don’t believe in this name.”xi Now the question is why did they announce war against the whole existing establishment? I think the answer lies in existing system itself. Actually the internal political, social, economical and to some extent religious factors are responsible for the rise of this Islamic sect. Since the colonial period Nigeria was politically, economically and religiously divided into parts- the North and the South. The North is mainly Muslim dominated, because of the contact with Muslim North Africa through Trans-Saharan Trade. Southern part of the country is Christian dominated because of prolonged contact with European culture since fifteenth century. Colonial policies of divided and rule reinforced perception of North- South

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separateness. These regional identities and policies continue to shape Nigerian politics and governance to this day.xii Today, the North Nigeria is suffered by unhealthiness, economic backwardness and racial discrimination than the southern part. So, the economic and social imbalance between the North and the South makes political power sharing a sensitive issue. Actually the fear of domination is the heart of the national political struggle between Nigerian Christian and Muslims. Christians fear the historical legacy of the Northern, Muslims political dominance in the Nigerian federation, while Muslims fear the socio-economic dominance of Nigeria’s Southern regions as well as the “global dominance of the west” and its anti religious values and political institutions.xiii For this reason, Nigerian elites of People Democratic Party (P.D.P.) reached an informal agreement, often referred to as “Zoning”. It provided for the rotation of presidency between the North and the South. But up to 2015, democratic government ruled Nigeria about 15 years, in which the North has ruled for slightly more than 1 year whereas the South that is still in power has ruled for slightly more than 14 years. Olusegun Obsanjo, former president of Nigeria, coming from the South, played a political game. After his eight year (1999-2007) rule, he chooses his successor Alhaji Umaru Musa Yar Adua, who coming from the North (according to ‘Zoning’ system) but he is too sick to rule. Obsanjo expected that Yar Adua would not live more. Truly, Yar Adua died and vice president Goodluck Jonathan became president and also secured the P.D.P. presidential nomination in 2011. Thus Obsanjo secured southern domination on Northerners. In this situation, Northerners fear political marginalization that led Boko Haram to gaining power and get support from Northern politician. This may well explain a security officer’s suspicion of the circumstances surrounding the bombing of force headquarters in Abuja on June 16, 2011. “Before the April elections, some people promised to make Nigeria ungovernable. The threat was real, we are not ruling out possibility that there is a political motive to this. Some politician might have recruited some Boko Haram members to carry out their threat of making Nigeria ungovernable.xiv Nigeria is Africa’s most populous nation and leading oil producer and has SubSaharan Africa’s largest natural gas reserves. In 2014 Nigeria surpassed South Africa as the continent largest economy, but an estimated 61% of Nigerian’s live on less than $1 a day. xv Available records indicate that Nigeria ranks sixth in the world oil production but the fuel subsidy is seen by ordinary Nigerians as the only benefit they receive from the countries oil wealth. Corruption, injustice, lack of fairness in the polity and imbalance in resource allocation are also responsible for poverty. The citizens have been become desperately and hopelessly poorer day after day. Statistically poverty distribution in Nigeria shows that northern Nigeria is worst hit : North Central records 67% of poverty, North West records 71.1% of poverty, and North East 72.2% of poverty.xvi Unfortunately, this situation of poverty is mainly responsible for insurrection. Because males of Nigeria are socialized to consider themselves as providers and as heads of households but can not provide for the social reproduction of their families, so they feel marginalized and insecure, that also attacks their masculine pride and in this situation groups such as Boko Haram recruits gullible young males. If one thinks deeply about the Boko Haram targets, then one can easily understand that their one of the main target is Western education system. They want to reject western education system which is reflected in the meaning of Boko Haram (western education is forbidden) also. Now the question is, why did they reject it? By 1930’s colonial education is produced a limit cadre of western educated elite, who were conscious about their and were yearning to play a role in society. The aim of colonial education, particularly in northern Nigeria, was to maintain the existing status quo by “imparting some literacy to the aristocracy

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class, to the exclusion of commoner classes.”xvii The children of the aristocratic class received western education, which enabled them to climb the social and economic ladder over and above their peers who had a different kind of education, Quranic education. This was the origin of the animosity and distinct between the traditionally educated and western educated elite in northern Nigeria. Thus the antagonism towards western education continues in many northern Nigerian communities, which have defied government campaigns for school enrolment to this day. Mohammed Yusuf simply resurrected and built on an existing historical narrative. Today, for most Muslims, a child education means first and foremost learning about the Quran. This entails learning to recite the Arabic text, without necessarily understanding its meaning. But Muslim families are acknowledging the usefulness of ‘modern’ and ‘western’ education, comprising subjects such as biology, physics, mathematics and English. Though Boko Haram wants to forbidden western education, but parents are increasingly aware of the necessity for their children to acquire modern skill besides Quranic knowledge.xviii Such a combination of two types of education is provided by both Islamiyya and Public school, so governments are beginning to set up Public Islamiyya Schools to fading the distinction between Public and Islamiyya School. The changing scenario of Nigerian education system also the reason of Boko Haram attacks on western education and the government school. Human Rights are tremendously violated in Nigeria by the activities of Boko Haram. According to STARTxix reports, Boko Haram most commonly targets is private citizens and their property (25% of total attacks). It’s killed more than 5000 civilians between July 2009, and June 2014, including Baga massacre (at least 2000 people were dead). The attacks are mainly occurring in North East, North Central, and North Nigeria. Since 2009 Boko Haram were abducted more than 500 men, women and children, including the kidnapping of 276 school girls from Chibok in April 2014. Almost 1.5 million people had displaced for that conflict.xx Some incidents are so fearful that one cannot imagine. According to Amnesty International, survivors had told them that Boko Haram fighters killed a woman as she was in labour, during indiscriminate fire that also cut down small children. “Half of the baby boy (was) out and she died like this” the unnamed witness was quoted as saying. xxi The Nigerian government had failed to solve the problem. The military is not able to protect the civilians. Amnesty International claimed, Nigeria’s military was warned of attack on a school at which over 200 girls were abducted by Boko Haram but failed to action. xxii In the last week of may , 2014, country’s chief defense staff air marshal Alex Badeh said “The good news is that we know where they are …..” but they would not use force for rescue. xxiii Nigeria’s military was accused by many citizens of not doing enough to rescue the girls. So local people, mainly hunters take arms mainly homemade guns, poisoned spears, and amulets in their hand and also believe their supernatural power and magic charms, which help them to find nearly 300 school girls abducted by Islamic extremist. This method they have been followed since ancient times. According to a spokesman for the hunters “We are not saying we are better than the soldiers, but we know the bush better than them.”xxiv Netsanet Belay, director of Amnesty’s Africa, described the situation as a “gross dereliction of Nigeria’s duty to protect civilians.”xxv The activities of military also causes serious human rights problem. According to the 2012 U.S. Department of State Country Report on Human Right Practices, “…….. serious human rights problem included extrajudicial killings by security forces, including summary executions; security force torture, rape and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment of prisoners, detainees’ and criminal suspect …….”. On 2 November 2012, witnesses claimed the Joint task Force shot and killed up to 40 people during raids in Maiduguri. Actually, common people are suffered by the both, Boko Haram and the military of Nigeria. Boko Haram came into exist to protest human right abuses by corrupted government, but they doing same thing, violated human rights and the military’s duty is to EDULIGHT-Multi-disciplinary, Peer-Reviewed Journal

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give security to the common people but they also violated human rights. It is a painful tragedy of Nigeria. Counter Insurgency of Boko Haram also a political issue of Nigeria. Nigerian election commission announced schedule of presidential election. So president of Nigeria, Goodluck Jonathan, who is seeking support of people to re-elected, said Boko Haram was “getting weaker and weaker every day.” He told B.B.C. “ I am very hopeful that it will not take us more than a month to recover old territories that hitherto have been in their hands.” But there is no sign of weakening; also this group tries to link other terrorist group, such as ISIS. The leader of the opposition party (All Progressive Congress) Muhammadu Buhari had launched a “war against indiscipline and corruption”, promised to root out Boko Haram within three months, if elected. Muhammadu Buhari gained political momentum in the wake of Goodluck Jonathan’s failure to curtail corruption and the roll back the insurgency in the north of the country.xxvi So the both party use Boko Haram issue as a tool of political campaign against each other. Ruling P.D.P. (People Democratic Party) try to subdue the issue and opponent A.P.C. gives important it as a major problem and both try to take advantage from it. International politics are also going on in the name of “Military Assistance”. On May 17, 2014, Jonathan attends the emergency African Security Summit hosted by French President Francois Hollande in Paris. The President of Nigeria’s neighbor country such as Chad, Niger, Cameroon and Benin also attend in Paris. Where Jonathan said, “Without west African countries coming together, we will not be able to crush the terrorist.” Though Cameroon is engaged in territorial dispute with Nigeria, which has soured bilateral relations but Cameroon has decided to co-operate with Nigeria in its pursuit of the terrorist. Actually, France created pressured on Cameroon to do this. France has traditionally viewed much of Sub-Saharan Africa to be under its sphere of influence. So, France is wary of the growing unilateral military footprint of the U.S.A. on the continent and also worried about the security of the uranium mines controls by France in Niger. France feels it is duty bound to protect its former colonies from the militant group and also from the U.S. military footprint. So France President Hollande said in Paris the six countries has decided to adopt “ a general and regional action plan” to combat terrorism in the West African region for the medium as well as long term.xxvii AFRICOMxxviii commander, General David Rodriguez, in a testimony to U.S. congress, said that the U.S. military intervention in Africa was largely dictated by the presence of hydrocarbons and other rich mineral deposits, which have not yet been exploited. The U.S. wants to use the anti terror campaign in Africa to gain strategic control over the flow of natural resources to countries such as China. One third of China’s oil imports from Africa and the country is emerging as the continent’s to trading partner and investors. China also tries to strategic control on Nigeria. Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang invest more than $13 billion to upgrade the Nigerian railway system. He also said that China would help to locate the school missing children.xxix Like Nigeria government Boko Haram also try to get help other international militant group outside Nigeria such as ISIS. According to intelligence agencies, ISIS militant group of Iran and Syria and Boko Haram have now developed into a practical relationship with the ISIS offering advice on strategy and tactics. xxx Both militant group try to established world ‘Caliphate’. I think it is a ‘Modern Crusade’, where Islamic militants struggle with west to forming ‘Islamic Caliphate’. Now the question is, is there any ending or not. The United States recently advised the Nigerian government to improve access to economic opportunities for citizens living in northern Nigeria, if it, hopes to put an end to Boko Haram crisis. The government cannot be everywhere, but people however are everywhere. The government must therefore empower its people and enable them to be able to protect themselves. Also punish erring security officers and with military operation the government must at the same time keep the dialogue

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option open. Above all, the government should improve its governance. But all this advices depends on positive willingness of government. On 28 March (2015) , Nigeria’s presidential election would be held. It is not only an election, it’s also a ‘Hope’ for Nigerians. Hope of social justice, good governance, security, basic needs and also right to live. We also hope “Nigerians would overcome one day their all problems.” References: i

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boko_Haram

Times of India, Kolkata, May 1, 2014.

iii

Campbell, Horace G. The menace of Boko Haram and fundamentalism in Nigeria, 04-06-2014, http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/91999

Times of India, Kolkata, May 11, 2014.

‘Hausa’ is a local language of Nigeria.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boko_Haram

vii

Mohammed, kyari, The message and methods of Boko Haram, vide, Marc–Antoine Perouse de Montclos ed., Boko Haram: Islamism, Politics, Security and the State in Nigeria, African Studies Centre, 2014, p.10.

viii

https://adebayoalonge.wordpress.com/.../solving-the-boko-haram-menac

ISIS stands for Islamic State of Iran and Syria. It is an Islamic Militant group, active in Iran and Syria.. x

START Background Report, START, May, 2014.

Cherian, John, Terror as Pretext, vide, Frontline, India’s National Magazine, vol.32, no.4, Chennai, March 6, 2015, p.60 xi

xii

Mohammed, kyari, Op, cit, p.11

xiii

Islamic Actors and Interfaith Relation in Northern Nigeria, Policy Paper N1, NRN, University of Oxford, March 2013, p.12-13, http://www.qeh.ox.ac.uk/nrn xiv

Ahokegh, A.F. Boko Haram: A 21st Century Challenge in Nigeria, European Scientific Journal, September edition vol.8, no.21, ISSN-1857-7881, p. 49

http://www.heritage.org.

xvi

Ahokegh, A.F, Op, cit, p.49-50

xvii

Mohammed, kyari, Op, cit, p.21

xviii

Islamic Actors and Interfaith Relation in Northern Nigeria, Op,cit, p.15

xix

START stands for Study of Terrorism And Responses to Terrorism. It is an U.S. Department of

Homeland Security Science and Technology Centre of University of Maryland. xx

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boko_Haram

xxi

Times of India, Kolkata, January 16, 2015.

xxii

Times of India, Kolkata, May 10, 2014.

xxiii

Times of India, Kolkata, May 28, 2014.

xxiv

Times of India, Kolkata, May 20, 2014.

xxv

Times of India, Kolkata, May 10, 2014.

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Cherian, John, Op, cit, p.60

Cherian, John, War on Boko Haram, Frontline, India’s National Magazine, vol.31, no.11, Chennai, June 13, 2014, p.75 xxvii

xxviii

AFRICOM is the U.S. Africa Command, set up during the last days of the George Bush presidency, has been desperately looking for permanent military basing facilities on the continent. xxix

Cherian, John, War on Boko Haram, Op, cit, p.75

xxx

Times of India, Kolkata, September 10, 2014.

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