Women Safety- Something which should be discussed.

 

What are we discussing?

   Women’s Safety in India

      Biggest challenge in tackling the issues 

     Measures taken by Indian Government 

     Best practices that can be adopted from other countries or from any state of India 

     When I say women aren't safe. There will come a lot of opinions. Some may say women are still not safe, some may say the world has evolved and progressed, so claiming that women aren't safe is a myth. Women are empowered, independent and can fight for herself. So there is no need of talking about it. 

      I personally believe that the ideas and belief and the soul of women has empowered truly and that has led her to touch skies and be a star in educational, economic, political fields. But physically the body of women is still a thing to be scared of. As woman, I might not feel bad if someone admires my thoughts, criticises my work, abuses my beliefs but the one thing which will shake me off would me someone touching me without consent. One thing which will traumatize me would be someone forcefully holding me and not letting me go. And when we think in that way, I would loudly claim WOMEN ARE NOT SAFE! 

      

      Why is it still important to discuss this?

The world has entered into a new millennium but from the dawn of civilization till date, the women of the patriarchal society of India continues to be oppressed and ill-treated. She is dependent, weak, exploited and faces gender discrimination in every sphere of life.

The gender based violence that threatens the well- being, dignity and rights of women extends across social, cultural, economic and regional boundaries.

Women’s safety in india

Statistics:

In the year 2021, India ranked 140th out of 156 countries in a World Economic Forum report assessing gender inequality worldwide. The sobering reality is further underscored by the fact that the country witnessed a staggering 13.2% increase in overall crimes against women in 2021 when compared to the previous year, with a total of 4,28,278 registered cases. The statistics are disconcerting, painting a bleak picture of a nation grappling with gender-based violence and glaring gender disparities.

Causes:

In a world striving for progress and equality, India finds itself at a crossroads when it comes to addressing one of its most pressing challenges - women's safety. The crimes encompass a wide spectrum of brutality, ranging from rape, molestation, acid attacks, cruelty by husbands and their relatives, to domestic violence, among others.

Predominantly, the origins in deeply ingrained gender bias and inequality, exacerbated by the dearth of educational opportunities and a consequential lack of economic and social participation for women leads to crimes against women.

The challenges faced by the Indian administration in tackling the issues related to women's safety in India can be:

To start with the biggest challenge, as a woman what I feel and firmly believe is the cause of failure to tackle the crimes is the glorified objectification of women by media, series, movies, plays, slangs etc. It has now become a culture and with the film industries glorifying it for entertainment has given the people a legal check to objectify women as per their convenience. Perhaps limiting this would be a huge step to take forward.

Further, the challenges are as follows:

   Underrepresentation of Women in Administrative and Law Enforcement Roles: According to the Data on Police Organizations report, published in 2017 by the Bureau of Police Research and Development in India,  women comprise only 7.28% of the total Indian police force. While women’s representation in the police has been growing in recent years, the pace remains slow. They made up only 10.5 percent  of all police officers in the country as of January 01, 2021.

  Inadequate Reforms in Policing Infrastructure:  The police-population ratio, currently 192 policemen per lakh population, is less than what is recommended by UN i.e. 222 policemen per lakh population. 

  Underreported cases: An estimated 99.1% of sexual violence cases are not reported. Even if one excludes marital rape and assault from the analysis, the extent of reporting sexual violence is still small. Only about 15% of sexual violence committed by others (someone other than the current husband) is reported to the police.

Need:

Addressing the pressing issue of women's safety in India demands a multifaceted and comprehensive approach.

1. Cultural and Societal Shift: Challenge gender bias and violence through a shift in societal mindset and extensive awareness campaigns.

2. Inclusive Law Enforcement: Urgently reform law enforcement to be responsive, sensitized to women's challenges, and diverse.

3. Privacy and Comfort: Improve police station conditions for secure reporting with hygiene and privacy; ensure the presence of female officers.

4. Cultural Transformation: Break the culture of silence, support survivors, and establish a system safeguarding rights and dignity.

Measures taken by Government:

Here are the key measures taken by the Indian government to ensure women's safety,

1. Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005

2. National Commission for Women (NCW)

3. Mission Shakti Program

4. Swadhar Greh Scheme

5. Sakhi – One-Stop Centers

6. Digital Shakti Campaign

7. Ujjawala Scheme

8. Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Initiative

9. Nirbhaya Fund

Additionally, to promote gender equity in policing:

1. Reserving 33% of positions for women in Union territories

2. Advising states to pursue legislative action for gender balance in police

3. Establishment of the Women Safety Division within the Ministry of Home Affairs

4. Emergency Response Support System (ERSS) for distress calls

5. Safe City Projects for urban safety with enhanced surveillance and technology

6. Panic buttons on public transport and ‘she toilets’

7. Women's desk in all police stations

These measures reflect the government's commitment to improving the security and safety of women in India.

Different strategies by different countries to ensure women’s safety:

1.      Community Policing and Foot Patrols (United Kingdom): Encouraging police officers to engage with the community, conduct foot patrols, and build trust can deter crime and provide a sense of security.

2.      Women-Only Transportation (Japan and Mexico):  Introducing women-only cars or buses during peak hours can reduce incidents of harassment and assault on public transportation.

3.      Gender-Responsive Budgeting (Sweden): Allocating budget resources specifically for women's safety initiatives can help address safety concerns more comprehensively.

4.      Gender-Sensitive Policing (Nordic Countries, Australia and US): Training police officers to be more sensitive to gender issues and ensuring that more women are part of the police force can improve responses to women's safety concerns. Gender diversity targets by the Australian Federal Police (AFP),  Diversity and Inclusion Strategy 2016–2026 in Australia and the United States Capitol Police’s Office of Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Action (IDEA)

Different strategies adopted by different states of India:

1.      Pink Patrols, Delhi

2.      She AUTO, Ahmedabad Gujarat

3.      Surakasha App, Rajasthan

4.      Nirbhaya Squad, Uttar Pradesh

5.      Women Police Stations

6.      Priyadarshini Cabs, Hyderabad, Telangana

These state-specific strategies aim to create safer environments for women, promote gender- sensitivity, and ensure that incidents of violence and harassment are promptly addressed. While these initiatives are promising, there is still room for further improvement and coordination at the national level to ensure consistent women's safety measures across the country. India, at national level through an effective dialogue with different countries and the states as well, can bring in good policy measures and adopt innovative solutions to ensure women’s safety in the country.  

Why such negotiations are necessary?

Legislation by itself would not suffice because violence against women is a deep rooted social problem. It is worth mentioning that PM Jawahar Lal Nehru who remarked, “Legislation cannot by itself normally solve deep rooted social problems. One has to approach them in other ways too, but legislation is necessary and essential and hence that it may give that push and have educative factors, as well as the legal sanctions behind it, which help public opinion to be given a certain shape.”

With this blog, I open the forum for you all to comment down your thoughts and experiences and share any innovative idea or practice which you think India should adopt to ensure safety of women in public as well as personal space. 

Regards

Aditi Punya Prakash Sharma

 

 

 

SELF LOVE AND WORTH

 Vacations mood! Sleeping, eating, laughing, travelling and again sleeping. We do enjoy our vacations, we do love to have a blast in our vacations. But after a long period of working, studying and having a scheduled life vacations don't turn out to be that productive. It turns out to be a time where we question ourselves, our worth. We get worried about our future and career. Vacations with only fun, seems to be reality check, questioning our productivity. It is important to keep working that is why I always say that I love to keep myself busy. But sometimes even I get such phases where I keep on questioning myself - "What next?" And then that feeling is painful. 

That's why it's important for us to have some sort of productive work in our vacations. I won't lie I searched for a number of internships but couldn't find any relevant to my field. And yes there were some for me but I wasn't enough qualified for that. At such moments we need a mentor or a guide to help us through in finding a good OUR TYPE OF WORK. It is not for our resume or CV or our career etc. It is for our mental stability. Remember when you last questioned your worth? It was painful right? I can understand. That's why its important to keep on doing something. 

Well let's move on to the main agenda of writing this blog. It started with us feeling unproductive. But the blog is for the other section of our society who faces the same problem but it has a profound impact on them instead of us. Yes, the Senior Citizens. The people who have worked for n number of years and after hitting a certain age, either they get retired or their health doesn't support them to keep working like before. 

Their hands and legs ain't strong enough like before, but their mind keeps working right? Their heart still beats right? They go through emotional and mental breakdowns for not being able to work like before. Have you ever seen your grandparent doing some sort of home chores which is not meant for them? Like waking up around 4 am and start cleaning the windows, fans and trying to repair the damaged grinder of your house? If yes, so you need to realize that that person was a workaholic and hitting a certain age and restricted to home for chilling and enjoying the rest of life like that isn't his cup of tea. 

I watched a movie of a person like this who wasn't getting enough attention and required love around himself. So he kept himself busy on various social media platforms and that was a moment where I broke down. I could feel his agony. This age group goes through emotional struggles for being neglected and not productive enough. Isn't this our duty to do something for this. Such questions to policy makers to be asked that what they will do for this particular section of the society. Policies, innovative ideas must come out for this problem as well. 

Looking forward for your story over such issue and also some suggestions to tackle the same from your side in the comment section.   

THE PERSON..

Love is a need, 

People use it for their greed.. 

or may be for their feed.

They say love helps us to grow;

They say love is like a tale of fairy, 

then why he finds love to be scary.

Love helps to live life in a fun way, 

He seems to see love and then run away. 

In the search of his self divine, 

He got the whole of me cryin.. 

I love LOVE but now I'm scared of being in love, 

What if the person's heart is unstable'

then definitely love would make my life disabled.  

I don't wanna be sobbing, 

All I want is to be in love and laughing, 

This scared idiot would leave me and I'll be left weeping. 

I hope my love finds its way,  

Because honey, my trust from love is fading away....

A person, full of life, full of joy, had some past experiences which were pulling back, has went through some pain which was visible in the eyes, wanted to say a lot but was out of words may be. The best part was that the person was a pure soul. That was the vibe. And dude, my vibe never goes wrong. The person was trustworthy, was happy, was a star. 

I had my experiences too, but my heart was full of emotions at that time. I never let my past hold me back, but may be the person did. We were going good, was excited to see each other again. And suddenly I lost the person, deleted me from the feed, didn't want to talk to me anymore now. I was hurt, I was hurt by the fact that the person didn't think of me as a good person, who wasn't vulnerable. I don't know what happened, I wanted to know, but person didn't want to share. I was hurt even more. 

The fact that was pissing me off was that I didn't know anything. What was happening around, I didn't have any clue. Was it my fault?

We met just for once, I thought it would be easy for me to forget and the person and move on, but this time my heart wasn't ready to move on at all. This feel was different, never felt that before. And now, I hate my heart for this.

I want the person to come back whenever it's okay, I want the person to get back whenever it's the best. I will wait. But I am going gaga because I don't know whether I should wait or not. 

All I want to say is that Mystery, I am not a wrong person, I won't hurt you, but yes your instablity is hurting me and I won't forgive you for that. I hope you understand this and come back.   

MY KIND OF LOVE NEVER FADES

Even in the darkest of the times the love I have for you will grow in many different shades, 

Because honey my kind of love never fades. 

Even if my eyes see you for the 6945329th times my cheeks will definitely glow each of the times, 

Because honey my kind of love only shines. 

Even if my mood swings are at the peak or even if your life is going through many highs and lows, 

Honey I'll keep loving you because my kind of love only grows. 

Ever felt those butterflies every time you see a person? How it it possible? Like it's the same person I saw a minute ago and again how can it feel the same and even more? Like how can I still have a big smile on my face and how on this earth is possible that I am still blushing? 

OH! This is beautiful, purely beautiful. Do you feel the same? And tell me what if the person you like doesn't feel the same for you? Will you be hurt? Well I won't be, because honey my kind of love is mine only, no one can love the same way I do! 

May be I like the fact that it's one sided! Because I've heard that it gets complicated by the going time! Do you like that? Complications in your love? No, right1 High five. It's beautiful if its simple and sorted. 

Me going to a cafe, he sitting in a bench visible to me. He is busy with his friends laughing, playing and enjoying and ME? Me busy looking at him. Me just smiling and blushing and ya sorted! And then at home, when I suddenly miss him I take out my phone look at his profile, look at his eyes, his lips, his cheeks, his hair and tadaa I'm smiling again. 

Do you feel the need of texting him? I know it must be really exciting talking to a person you love, even I'd jump off my bed if my phone rings and it's his text!

But you know what I feel, sometimes its okay if you don't talk to him, sometimes its okay if he isn't in love with you! Because love doesn't need two of us, love is pure and infinite and Just ONE is enough to love! 

That's my short One sided love story! What's yours? Comment down your love angle! 

And yes, if you are reading Dear Mystery, I love you. 

AIR POLLUTION AND INDIA

Air pollution has an effect not just on health but also it disrupts the functioning of a country. It reduces overall productivity and decreases the supply of labour. It all translates into elevated health expenditure due to rise in morbidities. 

According to study India suffered an estimated economic loss of 36.8 billion USD due to air pollution in 2019. Premature deaths due to air pollution caused a loss of 28.8 billion USD. 

The state-wise variation in economic loss ranged from 0.67% to 2.15% of the GDP. The low per-capita GDP states incurred the maximum loss. The worst-affected states were Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh. The national capital, Delhi, bore the highway per-capita economic loss due to air pollution, followed by its neighbour state of Haryana. Thus, we can infer that the impact of air pollution is more evident in north India.

Deaths

In 2019, air pollution was responsible for around 1.67 million deaths in India. This number is equivalent to 17.8% of the total deaths in the country. Out of those, 0.98 million deaths are attributable to ambient particulate pollution, while household pollution caused 0.61 million deaths.

Positive 

Going by the figures, there has been a 64.2% decline in the death rate due to household air pollution between the years 1990 and 2019. India has been instrumental in taking state- and national-level initiatives to ameliorate household air pollution. The Indian government launched Unnat Chulha Abhiyan in June 2014, Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana in May 2016, and National Infrastructure Pipeline Project that has contributed to this decline. 

Negative

However, there is a 115.3% elevation in the death rate attributable to ambient particulate pollution and a 139.2% rise in those attributable to ambient ozone pollution in the same period. 

      {International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) and the Council on Energy, Environment, and Water (CEEW)}              

However, in January 2019, the Indian government launched the National Clean Air Program (NCAP), a five-year action plan to curb air pollution, build a pan-India air quality monitoring network, and improve citizen awareness. The program focuses on 102 polluted Indian cities and aims to reduce PM2.5 levels by 20-30% over the next five years. The analysis conducted by researchers from IIASA and CEEW however suggests that NCAP needs to be backed by a legal mandate to ensure successful ground-level implementation of emission control measures. In the long-term, NCAP also needs to be scaled-up significantly to ensure that rapid economic growth and meeting NAAQs are aligned. 

The significance of the research also lies in the fact that are the people aware about the problem of air pollution and the policies formulated by the government for controlling air pollution. 

A public perception study designed to find out the level of awareness. The comprehensive survey revealed that while awareness of the adverse effects of air pollution is very high, most people seem to think that they need to do nothing at the individual level. This perception needs to be addressed. It is only when people make this a priority issue will politicians wake up and take action,” said Debi Goenka of Conservation Action Trust

A survey conducted by the Lung Care Foundation showed that there was massive unawareness regarding air pollution among public in the national capital region (NCR). It also found that people were unaware about government initiatives and necessary precautions taken to control high levels of pollution. 

The failure of the Indian government in mitigating air pollution is caused because of many reasons like limited budgetary allocations, limited planning abilities at local level, lack of focus and year long commitment, lack of coordinated effort of federal government and local authorities, too little and too late actions, weak local and regional capacities, inability to put check, corrupt governance, lack of use of scientific methods, unchecked and illegal mining, lax enforcement of rules and also lack of accountability. 

That is why despite of so many policies and initiatives the problem of air pollution in India still persists. And India still is one among the most polluted countries in the world. 

The needs as per the study include strong leadership, ambitious actions and strengthening local and regional capacities. The central and state governments must do more to align air quality, climate change, and sustainable development goals in a resource efficient manner. 

The study aims at how India has addressed the situation, on ground implementation of policy actions, need of the hour, learnings from the world, citizen and government links, how the policies failed to prove their worth and also the role of the people. 

Air Pollution and Policy actions

Air pollution is the fifth largest killer in the country, according to Global Burden of Disease. Urban air quality data according to the World Health Organization (WHO) reconfirms that India appears among the group of countries with highest particulate matter (PM) levels. Of the 20 most polluted cities in the world, 13 are in India, says the database. Delhi is among the most polluted cities in the world today. The rising trends in population growth and the consequent effects on air quality are evident in the Indian scenario. Over the years, there has been a massive-scale expansion in industries, population density, anthropogenic activities, and the increased use of automobiles has degraded the air quality in India.  

WHY POLICY ACTIONS? 

1) Major Global health challenge to which children are particularly vulnerable. 

2) To reduce air pollution emmisions and exposure to pollution, action is needed at local, national and international levels. 

3) The actions can contribute to achieving multiple other Sustainable Development Goals, including climate change mitigation. 

 

SIGNIFICANCE OF RESEARCH

Air pollution and climate change are closely linked because many of the sources of Green house Gases responsible for climate change are also major sources of air pollution. CLEAN AIR IS A HUMAN RIGHT AND A NECESSARY PRE CONDITION FOR ADDRESSING CLIMATE CHANGE AS WELL AS ACHIEVING MANY SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS.

The continuous degradation of ambient air quality in the urban centres of India demands effective measures to curb air pollution. Though various policy measures are being introduced by the Government of India (GoI) to reduce the vehicular and industrial emissions, the extent to which these measures are implemented is questionable. The lack of infrastructural facilities, inadequacy of financial resources to implement advanced infrastructural innovations, difficulty in relocation of the industries from the urban centres even after mandatory court decisions, and above all, the behavioural patterns among people in accepting the green solutions are some of the crucial impediments on the road to environmental protection that our country seems to be struggling to overcome today. 

In developing countries the implementation of the policies for mitigation of air becomes difficult because initially laws are weak or not applied, secondly the vehicle emission standards are less stringent and coal power stations more prevalent lastly increasing Informal settlements. 

Air pollution problems reflect governance failure because cities transpotation, infrastructure has not kept pace with their growing population. 

The research aims to look into the scope of air pollution, reasons behind the policy failure, initiatives taken by the government, problems in the grounds of air pollution, policies and models of foreign countries and how the citizens and government both being the stakeholders play their respective roles for mitigation of air pollution. The research is for a social impact to look into the awareness among the citizens about the plans, policies and innovations made by the government. 

Everyone has the RIGHT TO BREATHE CLEAN AIR but does everyone care about the air? This research aims to look how we being the citizens pledge to control air pollution. 

Poverty and Inequality

In this blog, I tried putting my views over the relationship between Poverty and Inequality

Question?

Are they same?

Is poverty a consequence of inequality? 

Is inequality a consequence of poverty? 

Will development help to remove them? 

Or removing them will lead to development

Is this a dilema where an economy should look upon?

Development

Development is a multi dimensional concept which involves an overall growth of the social, cultural, economical and political sectors of the economy through which the quality of life of nation, communities or individual would be improved.

Talking about development, the Capability approach of Amartya Sen plays an important role. Here he talks about development to be referred through a person (not an economy) reflecting a progress (not in terms of income or availabitlity of resources) but in terms of capabilities and freedoms. Technically a development which ensures that opportunities are available to each person.

Also, a development which ensures that every section of the society is benefitted. This doesn't mean, the development to be equal because an equal development defines a process where there is inequality in terms of yield distribution. A rich person may get affected negatively while distributing resources and income equally. It should be kept in mind that while expanding the capabilities of some persons, the freedom of any other person should not be impacted negatively.  

Poverty

A poor lacks not only income but also education, health, justice, credit and opportunitues. Thus poverty is not only about a person being under a defined Below Poverty Line. Poverty is a DEPRIVATION of capabilities which limits freedom to achieve something. A multi dimensional approach to poverty describes that poverty is capability failure where the people lack the capability to enjoy key 'beings and doings' that are basic to human life.

Inequality

Inequality is not only in terms of unequal distribution of income but also access to resources and services, access to personal liberty and dignity. The goal while tackling this issue should not be focused only to ensure equal distribution of income but to equalise the opportunities people have to practice their freedoms and not the outcomes people obtain.

Now the question arises what are the causes of inequality and poverty. Are they linked directly to each other? A poor lacks education, health, justice because of the unequal distribution of income and access to resources. A person lacks equal opportunities to education and health, liberty and dignity because of poverty. So is income it's all about? Or is it that if the resources and services like education and health are made available to people equally would ensure a rise in their income levels and pull them out of poverty? 

Is that a human and economic development would lead to a decline of poverty and inequality OR a removal of poverty and inequality would ensure development? Is this the area where the policy makers are confused? What is the priority?

Inequality can not be only income based, it can be gender based, religion based, caste, creed, colour based. So, inequality does not only leads to poverty but also has various impacts like biaseness, tensions and conflicts, violence etc.

Government is to ensure the well being of every citizen of the country. It is important to ensure that no citizen in the country is deprived of basic necessities of living.

Therefore, the main aim should be the removal of poverty. Subsidies, employment generation programmes, affordable and quality education and health services, reservation, safe environment for living are the programmes which contributes in the removal of poverty. They ensure that the citizens are not deprived of capabilities which limits their freedom of ability to enjoy the beings and doings.

A person ensured employment and pulled out from the circle of poverty is economically empowered and thus less subjugated to social inequalities. Is this enough? Certainly yes certainly not. Inequality in justice, raising, freedom has a strong impact on the person's livelihood. Here, empowerment and awareness plays an important role. 

Poverty for me is at individual level and inequality at a community level.

A person deprived from basic necessities loses his/her faith from themselves because of the loss of dignity, trust and livelihood. Thus to strengthen the whole economy, starting from individual level is important. This can be done by incetivising them through employment and financial stableness. And it helps the person to build him/herself strongly. Once the self trust and strength grows, simultaneously the role comes of awareness and empowerment. The community now needs to accept, acknowledge and respect every section of the society and avoid inequalities.

So, this is to be concluded by noting that development, poverty and inequality goes hand to hand. The all three are the consequences and causes of each other. 

By starting the process of removing poverty, the issue of inequality is to be addressed and this leads to development. As well as ensuring development both in terms of social and economical would ensure availability of resources to address the issue of poverty and inequality consecutively. 

Thank you for reading this blog. In this blog I tried my best to put forward my ideas over poverty and inequality, if you have liked it please do comment down and also if you have some points in your minds clicking over this topic do post them in the comment section. 

 

The Trafficking in Persons (Prevention, Care andRehabilitation) Act, 2021.

ISSUE:
Human Trafficking

July 30 is the United Nations World Day against Trafficking in Persons.

Why in News:
A Bill is introduced to the Cabinet which if passed by both the houses of the Parliament may become and Act.

Title:
The Trafficking in Persons (Prevention, Care and
Rehabilitation) Act, 2021.

What is the Bill:
A BILL to prevent and counter trafficking in persons, especially women and children, to provide for care, protection, and rehabilitation to the victims, while respecting their rights, and creating a supportive legal, economic and social environment for them, and also to ensure prosecution of
offenders, and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.

Past: 

In the year 2018, a similar bill was introduced but was not approved as it received a lot of opposition. The new draft has some additions making it different from the earlier one.

EXTENT
(1) It shall extend to whole of India, and it applies to-
(a) all citizens of India within and outside India;
(b) persons who commit offences under this Act beyond India against Indian citizens or affecting the interests of Indian citizens or of India;
(c) persons on any ship or aircraft registered in India wherever it may be or
carrying Indian citizens wherever they may be;
(d) a foreign national or a stateless person who has his or her residence in India at
the time of commission of offence under this Act.
(3) This Act shall apply to every offence of trafficking in persons with crossborder implications.

Extending the scope of the bill to every Indian who is becoming a victim of trafficking ensure inclusive and safe environment to every individual of the country, which is very important.
In some Bollywood movies, (which generally lacked logical concepts) many scenes have been depicted showing the practice of trafficking in and outside the country awestrucked me that in real such thing happens not only with immature and young children but also with the adults who are educated enough to decide their good and bad. In search of livelihoods, home, love, marriage, passion they become a victim of this henious crime.

WHAT ACTUALLY IS HUMAN TRAFFICKING?
According to me, it is an immoral act of taking the advantage of the weak and disadvantaged section of the society by captivating and making them to leave their home places and making them engaged in the activities which hurt them physically, mentally and emotionally.

Reasons behind Human Trafficking:
1) Need of cheap labour
2) Economic crisis
3) Absence of parental care
4) Loss of livelihoods
5) SOCIAL MEDIA

and many more. 

My favorite is social media. Yes, it may sound a bit controversial of having likes and dislikes in such a theme. But social media is my favorite because I am a youngster, who is a part of social media wasting my time surfing through the memes and chatting. Social media is for a bigger purpose which we the majority of the youth isn't understanding. The very significant source of human trafficking is Socila media. Shiny advertisements attracting children, women and the youth can be fake. Talking to strangers has now become a trend where these individuals are trapped once they leave their houses to meet them up. Isn't it so reckless? Are we actually utilising the resources effectively? Not being aware, using it for crimes, is it for what the apps are made? Here, is where the school and education plays an important role for awareness. Well let's stick to the topic.

What role does the International Organisations play in this area: Here are some initiatives.
Blue Heart Campaign: The Blue Heart Campaign is an international anti-trafficking program started by the UNODC.
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) is responsible for implementing the protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children in 2000 as a part of the UN Convention Against Transnational Organised Crime. It offers practical help to states with drafting laws, creating comprehensive national anti-trafficking strategies, and assisting with resources to implement them.
Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) is a non-binding declaration that establishes the right of every human to live with dignity and prohibits slavery.

India do have many laws for protecting the citizens of it's country from trafficking. They can be listed as:
Article 23 (1) in the constitution of India prohibits trafficking in human beings and forced labour.
The Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956 (ITPA) penalizes trafficking for commercial sexual exploitation.
India also prohibits bonded and forced labour through the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act 1976, Child Labour (Prohibition and Abolition) Act 1986, and Juvenile Justice Act.
Sections 366(A) and 372 of the Indian Penal Code, prohibits kidnapping and selling minors into prostitution respectively.
Apart from this, the Factories Act, 1948 guaranteed the protection of rights of workers.
Section 370 of Indian Penal Code: Whoever, knowingly or having reason to believe that a minor has been trafficked, engages such minor for sexual exploitation in any manner, shall be punished with rigorous imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than five years, but which may extend to seven years, and shall also be liable to fine.

So we now know, that the country has its laws and rules in the area of protecting the dignity of the citizens. Then why are the humans still trafficked? It is because of the inefficient implementation policy, lack of adaptive co managment, unawareness in the society, lack of technology to trap and record the cyber crime activities efficiently, lack of bottom top approach, illiteracy, lack of severinity of the punishments in case of offences, interference in the judicial activities, lack of access to psychological counselling etc. etc. etc.

This doesn't mean that India is not responding to such issues efficiently, it is responding but with the low rate in proportion to the rate at which such crimes are increasing and encouraging.

By going through these points, some stakeholders can be listed as follows:
1) NGO
2) Childline Helpline
3) Media
4) Factory/ Industry Owners
5) Police
6) School
7) Society
8) Anti Human Trafficking Units
9) Counsellors
10) Judiciary
11) Government

This reflects that every individual of the society is responsible to the crime of Human Trafficking. If we unite, if we are aware, isn't there a possibility of the decline of such practices.  

By understanding the ineficiency of the laws some solutions could be added in the formulation of the bills or drafts. They can be:
1) Proper staffing and funding of such institutions
2) Community based awareness ad vigilance activities
3) incentivising education and creating safe employment opportunities
4) increasing punishment for offences
5) attention to be paid to the challenges prosecutors and judges face in trafficking cases
6) Proper case management
7) Availability of affordable and qualitative psychological counselling

Significance of bill: 

As noted the bill is extended to every citizen of India including the transgender community, or any other person.
Also, cases such as forced labour, in which people lured with jobs end up in other countries where their passports and documentation is taken away and they are made to work, will also be covered by this new bill.
The bill also introduces a strict punishment in respective cases. Like imprisonment for 7 years minimum or life imprisonment in cases of death of the victim or any severe injury being caused to the victim. The bill also talks about death sentence and penalty upto 30 lakhs. Any property or asset brought by the amount gained by trafficking is subjected to be taken away from the criminal.

Thus, the security of the citizens is very important. The bill is being introduced to the Cabinet and then will be presented in the Parliament.

What is the growth of local government in India?

Self governing village communities existed in India since the earliest in the form of sabhas. These communities later took the form of panchayat which dealed issues at village level. 

 Pre independence era

In modern times before independence, local government bodies were created after 1882 during the viceroy period of Lord Rippon. Now these local bodies were called local boards, due to slow progress of these bodies after long period, village ppanchayatswere established in a number of provinces. 

After some time when the Constitution making was in process the subject of local government was assigned to the states. It was also mentioned in DPSPs. 

Post independence era 

After independence, Community Development Programme (1952) came in existence which sought to promote people's participation in local government. In this program the three tier system of local government was recommended in rural areas of some states. Gujarat, Maharashtra adopted elected system of local bodies but in many states local bodies were not powerful. They were very much dependent on the state and central government for the financial assistance. Later after 1987, a throughout review of functioning of local government institution was initiated in 1989. In 1989, P. K. Thungan Committee recommended Constitutional establishment of local bodies with enlistment of their functions along with their funds.

After 1989, Central government introduced two Constitutional Amendment popularly known as the 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendments, the rural local government with 29 subjects and the urban local government with 18 subjects respectively. 

OPERATION BLUE STAR

Have you ever experienced this? When you bring a person who would support you and help you to rise but then that person only becomes uncontrollable? 😂 Funny right? 

This exactly happened with Congress. 

In 1977 elections, Congress party led by Indira  Gandhi got defeated in Punjab and Akali Dal formed the government under the leadership of Prakash Singh Badal. Congress in order to restore power decided to bring prominent faces who would help them to rise again. 

Prakash Singh Badal

Gyani Zail Singh and Sanjay Gandhi, two Congress leaders chose Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale. 

So how did it affect Congress so badly that it proved to be the worst nightmare for Congress itself?

Let's get into this.... 

Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale was the fourteenth jathedar or leader of the prominent orthodox Sikh religious institution Damdani Taksal. He gained national attention after his involvement in the 1978 Sikh Nirankari clash. 

Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale

Soon, Bhindranwale rose to be the leader of the Sikh militancy group. Bhindranwale joined hands with Akali Dal and launched Dharam Yuddha Morcha in 1982 to fulfill their demands of the Anandpur Sahib Resolution. This was to make Punjab, a semi autonomous and a federal state of India. 

This way, Congress realised that Bhindranwale now, could not be controlled and his actions would effect their functioning. In 1983, to evade arrest, Bhindranwale occupied and fortified Akali Takht and made the Harminder Sahib complex, the holy shrine of Sikhs called Golden Temple as their headquarters. It is said that he had a strong backing of Major General Shabeg Khan and Amrik Singh. 

Golden Temple

The militant group was there in the temple with arms and ammunitions. They were getting regular supply of weapons which came to be known when one day, a truck loaded with food for langar was inspected randomly and large number of weapons were found. 

Two school of thoughts

1) It was said that these supplies were coming from Pakistan who was trying to threaten the internal security in India. 

2) Other was the Operation Kontakt which was sent by Russia. It is said that Russia, through this operation was trying to spread false information to Indira Gandhi, that Pakistan is behind all the supplies of weapons to the members of Pro Khalistani movement. And this worked, as Indira Gandhi believed and launched Operation Blue Star. 

After various rounds of negotiations, which proved to be futile, Operation Blue Star was launched on 1 June, 1984 in the Harminder Sahib complex in Amritsar. 

[According to General SK Sinha, Indira Gandhi had been considering the Operation for more than 18 months prior, authorizing army preparation for it long before any insurgents were in the complex.]

The operation led to 83 deaths and left 249 injured. According to the government high civilian casualties were attributed to militants using pilgrims trapped inside the temple as human shields. However, the Indian Army had allowed thousands of pilgrims and protestors to enter the temple complex and prevented them from leaving after imposing a curfew on the same day. 

The military actions in the temple complex was criticized by Sikhs worldwide, who interpreted it as an assault on the Sikh religion. They call the operation as the Teesra Ghallughara (Holocaust). 

Five months after Operation Blue Star, on 31 October, 1984 Indira Gandhi was assassinated in an act of revenge by her two Sikh bodyguards, Satwant Singh and Beant Singh. 

Indira Gandhi

STORY OF ANANDPUR SAHIB RESOLUTION

India is the world's largest democracy, question arises is it a boon or a bane? Everyone has their different opinions. Comment down yours.

It's an incident of a state which is healthy and wealthy and called PUNJAB. The sweet and beautiful Punjab has it's own history of violence, discrimination, injustice and incited terrorism. Befort starting with the 1984 Sikh riots, let us start from the beginning and the first thing to learn about is Anandpur Sahib resolution. 

Image taken from

In 1972 elections, Akali Dal was defeated and Congress party won elections and framed it's government in the state. Gyani Zail Singh emerged as the respective Chief Minister of Punjab. 

Image taken from

Here starts the journey of the Anandpur Sahib resolution. Though it was a result of a long drawn aspirations but gained a momentum in 1973 when Akali Dal came out with its famous resolution called Anandpur Sahib Resolution. 

Earlier, the consequences of Green revolution proved to be very beneficial for Punjab. Punjab emerged as a prosperous land for agricultural productivity. However, the industrial development in the state was not taking place in the same way the agriculture sector was growing. Large industrial units were at a risk if they were installed in a state which shared border with Pakistan. 

This led to increased education opportunities with lack of job availability for the educated youth. This section were not satisfied with the government's functioning and thus, joined hands with militant organizations to display their grievances. 

This long history of discrimination, economic backwardness, dissatisfaction were put forward to the government in Anandpur Sahib resolution in 1973. It included  both religious and political issues. 

Some of them were:

1) Propagating Sikhism to combat atheism

2) Establishing favourable conditions for encouraging their free expression, satisfaction and growth. 

3) Eradication of poverty and exploitation

4) Many demands on spiritual grounds were made

5) Development of the farmers of Punjab by ensuring more irrigation and other facilities 

Such demands were put forward by the Akali Dal.

However, Anandpur Sahib resolution became controversial because it asserted regional autonomy and desired to refine centre state relations. It spoke of the aspirations of Sikh Quam  and also declared its goal as attaining  bolbala  of Sikhs. 

This was regarded by Indira Gandhi, the then Prime Minister as a secessionist movement as it would hinder the unity of India and thus, the resolution was rejected. 

Many developments took place after this incident which hold a significant place in the Indian history. 

In my view, bringing forward the demands is a right of every citizen. The resolution demanded for equality and freedom of expressions which is a fundamental right of every citizen and the government must ensure that every citizen is treated equally. 

One of the demands put forward by them was providing them sovereignty in their regional and religious matters. India is a secular country, there is no state religion and the government doesn't interfere in the religious matters as per the Constitution. However, the government has and should have the right to interfere in the religious matters if they hinder or infringe the fundamental rights of equality, privacy, life etc. So granting full sovereignty is a matter of grave concern. The examples of right intervention in religious matters can be seen in the abolishment of sati and widow remarriages. 

India is federal in form but unitary in spirit. Demanding full sovereignty would ultimately mean threatening the spirit. And thus the unitary character is threatened to break. 

To some extent, I believe that the demands were not liable to be fulfilled but the right to expression and equality are the fundamental rights which is mandated to be protected by the government. 

We will continue with the operation blue Star. 

कर्तव्य या प्रेम

जब भी तुम्हारा हृदय कर्तव्य या प्रेम, दोनो में किसी एक को चुनने की उलझन में हो तब ये स्मरण रखना कि, 

कर्तव्य सूर्य है, और प्रेम चंद्र। 

यदि प्रेम को चुनोगे तो चंद्र की शीतलता के साथ साथ रात्रि का अंधकार भी प्राप्त होगा। 

और यदि कर्तव्य का चयन करोगे तो सूर्य का प्रकाश प्राप्त होगा जिससे तुम अपने वातावरण को भी प्रकाशित कर सकोगे। 

आगे तुम्हारी इच्छा। 

हरे कृष्ण🙏

Politics and religion

Unity in Diversity. India is full of diverse linguistics, cultures, customs, castes and RELIGIONS. Religious diversity is one of the epicenter in any country's development and also it can be a reason for a country's downfall. The incidents of universal brotherhood along with the traumatic incidents of communal violence are experienced in our country. 

The question arises what is the role of politics in religion or what is the relationship between politics and religion. 

Let's get into this! 

The relationship between religion and politics is very much guided by religious differences in the country. Moreover, we have different considerations about religion and politics. They are:- 

1) Gandhian view of religion and politics: 

Mahatma Gandhi was the first to view that religion cannot be separated from politics. Politics must be guided by values drawn by every religion. Here Gandhi didn't mean by religion as any other religion like Islam or Christianity but the ethical values that are inherent in every religion. 

2) Humanist view on religion and politics: 

Human rights group believed that political power must be used to protect religious minorities, because in our country the victims of communal riots are from various minority groups. 

3) Women's movement on religion and politics: 

Women's movement demanded that religion must be guided by politics in such a way that it is a family law of every religion, which discriminates women, so government should modify these laws in more equitable manner. 

All these instances involve a relationship between religion and politics. Sometimes those who hold the elections should be able to regulate the practice of religion so as to prevent discrimination. But these political acts are not wrong as long as they treat every religion equally. 

Therefore, equality is the key to universal harmony among all religions. 

SHAYAD TUM WAHI HO

The day i first saw, to be honest I did feel a lot of butterflies in my stomach. I looked into your eyes for just a second and I was lost in my world. It's been years I have that feeling for you. Whenever I see you, my heart skips a beat. I don't know what you think about me, may be that's the reason why I am scared of talking to you. It's been years I am still feeling the same but may be I am insane. We are not meant to be ONE. It's alright, it was beautiful in itself as I know it was not love, but I don't know, what was it if it was not love. 

Tum shayad wahi ho jise Mainee kayi baar apne sapno mein dekha hai.. 

Tum shayad wahi ho jise kayi baar Maine kuch kehena chaha hai.. 

Tum shayad wahi ho jise dekh meri dhadkane daudhne lagti hai.. 

Tum shayad wahi ho jise dekh meri saanse thamne lagti hai..

 

Tumhari aankho main ojhal si ho jati hu.. Par kuch keh na paati.. 

Tum shayd wahi ho jise dekh meri subaan tham hai jaati.. 

Main kal mein vishwas nahi rakhti... Bus aaj mein jeeti hu.. 

Tum shayad wahi ho jise dekh mujhe mera aaj mehekta sa lagta hai.. 

Mere dil mein tum reh chuke ho.. Yeh shayd tumhe pata nahi.. 

Tum shayad wahi ho jise dekh main apne bhaav chhupane lagti hu.. 

Shayad hamara milna mumkin nahi.. Tabhi main tumhari Or dekh nahi paati hu.. 

Pehele lagta tha sharam hai par yeh to main tumse milne mein darti hu... 

Yeh kaisa ehsaas hai na main janu... Yeh pyaar to nahi.. Par fir bhi main ise pyaar hi maanu.. 

Tum door ho to bhi koi baat nahi... Ek sunehra ittefaq samjh tumhe dil ke kone mein dafna denge.. 

Tum shayad wahi ho jisse aaj to mil liye hum par shayad kal na mil paate.. Kal na mil paate..!