The Media In India Media Essay

The Media In India Media Essay Looking at the history of news coverage of the war and internal crisis situation, it is quite evident that the news from the area of operation has always interested the mankind. Media these days has now assumed a status which it had seldom enjoyed earlier. Starting as an institutionalized approach to generate awareness and inform masses, media has become an instrument to govern our lives. A close scrutiny and study of Mahabharata would expose to us the nuances of battle that went on between the two adversaries and till date it remains a great testimony to what the quality of battlefield reporting analyses was during the epic period in India. If we were to identify a war correspondent in correspondingly modern India, possibly William Howard Russells name could be the first one to be cited as he reported upon the first war of independence in India in 1857.The coverage of the war and internal crisis in present day scenario has taken an interesting turn with the near real time to live co verage of the events showing pictures from the crisis zone instantly. Media has been playing a vital link to the rest of India on the ongoing insurgency/militancy in Kashmir and North East. Media coverage took an upward surge almost nearing a deluge during the Kargil conflict. Twenty four into seven channels began churning the battlefield in a hunt for not only the latest stories but a series of stories eclipsing the previous one thereby arousing public interest and forming opinions. Never had there been so much support to the war effort in the recent history as was evident during the Kargil conflict. Why did it happen the way it did-did media play a role in it? Do we expect the media to be as supportive during future operations as it was during Kargil? Would the part of media that is controlled and financed by people from outside the country continue to play the ball the way it did during the Kargil conflict? Today, the images of war, for that matter peace, can decisively draw the contours of a nations public opinion even before the authorities can confirm or repudiate the authenticity. Therefore, it is all the more essential to critically analyse the role media can pl ay and how best can it be optimized without compromising any of its essential elements. Press council of India 1. Press Council is a mechanism for the pres to regulate itself. The raison detre of this unique institution is rooted in the concept that in a democratic society the press needs at once to be free and reasonable. If the press is to function effectively as the watchdog of public interest, it must have a secure freedom of expression, unfettered and unhindered by any authority, organised body or individuals. But, this claim to press freedom has legitimacy only if it is exercised with due sense of responsibility. The press must therefore scrupulously adhere to accepted norms of journalistic ethics and maintain high standard of professional conduct. Where the norms are breached and freedom is defiled by unprofessional conduct, a way must exist to check and control it. But, control by government or official authorities may prove destructive of this freedom. Therefore, the best way is to let peers of the profession, assisted by a few discerning layman to regulate it through a properly stru ctured representative impartial machinery. Hence, the Press Council. 2. The Press Council of India was first set up in the year 1966 by the Parliament on the recommendations of the First Press Commission with the objective of preserving the freedom of the press and of maintaining and improving the standards of press in India. The present Council functions under the Press Council Act 1978. It adjudicates the complaints against and by the press for violation of ethics and for violation of the freedom of the press respectively. The Press Council is headed by a chairman, who has by convention, been a retired judge of Supreme Court of India. The council consists of 28 other members of whom 20 represent the press and are nominated by the press organisation/news agencies recognised and notified by the Council as all India bodies of categories such as editors, working journalists and owners and managers of newspaper, five members are nominated from the two houses of the Parliament and represent cultural, literary and legal fields as nominees of Sahitya Academ y, University Grant Commission and Bar Council of India. The members serve on the Council for a term of three years. The Council was last reconstituted on May 22, 2001. The Press Council of India has the following function:- To help the newspaper to maintain their independence. (ii) Medium of Media Role of Media 2. Role of media is that of mediation between the government and the people of the nation. Due to its responsibilities, media is the fourth pillar of the democratic India. After 63 years of achieving independence and quest towards becoming number one power of the world by 2020 through economic growth, the role of media is somewhat uncertain and putting a question mark on the Indian journalism. Before moving ahead we need to ask ourselves and think as to is Indian media playing the role for what it has been known that is the fourth pillar of the state? If not then what role media should play? The obvious answer to this question is that the media should be fair, reliable, impartial, accurate analysis/reporting and work in an integrated manner towards the overall benefit of the people of the nation. As far as news is concerned, media should analyse the news in a very rigid manner, how it has happened and what is the very existence of the news to go to the root cause of the problem inste ad of being biased to any facts and figures available of hand or floated by anybody. But the fact remains very often rather going deep into any problem, journalists are blindly accepting the news as truth which is being formulated and carefully manipulated by the evil elements and disseminate the same publicly. Well, the entire community of journalist s cannot be placed under suspicious category for the inappropriate reporting or misdeeds of few journalists. 3. Medias basic role is to inform, influence, entertain and help develop economy of state which involves news evaluation, analysis and assessment and finally dissemination. Newspapers have a dual role; it is a quasi public institution and a free enterprise and same holds good for the electronic media also. However when the media overlooks its responsibility to the people of a nation and lays more emphasis on being free enterprise that is the problem starts. Another problem is what news is worthy and what is not, and most important is what news need not be published or broadcasted is decided by whom? The journalist is neither to be considered as a detective nor a historian but as mediator in conveying its readers all about the event. Major General Winant Sidle of the US Army says, The appropriate media role in relation to the government has been summarised aptly as being neither a lap dog nor an attack dog but, rather, a watch dog. Apart from acquisition, interpretation and disseminat ion of news, role of media can be summarised as; to create public opinion and attitudes, act as watch-dog for citizens in terms of human rights issues and abuses by institution of power, inform public with events that are balanced and finally maintain national morale by responsible news coverage. The Constitution of India and Press Freedom 4. The Constitution of India, specifically in the chapter on Fundamental Rights, surprisingly, does not mention freedom of press. Later on, Dr. Ambedkar however had mentioned that being part of the guarantees of Freedom of Speech and Expression in Article 19 (1) (a) of the constitution it was not necessary to stipulate the freedom of press separately. Freedom of expression as mentioned in the Constitution implies all forms of opinions, thoughts, ideas and conviction and thus covers most of what is needed for the freedom of press. Censorship is no way covered in any provisions of the Indian constitutions. However during an emergency under the Indian Constitution, Fundamental Rights including Freedom of Expression and Speech stands suspended. The Article 19 (2) of the Constitution of India states that the freedom of the press can be restricted for reasons of sovereignty and integrity of India, preserving democracy and the security of the state, besides some other contingencies. 5. Freedom of the media in actual facts is tempered by hard ground realities such as power and influence of the ownership on editorial policies, commercial orientation of the media, government control over key resources such as newsprint, communications and advertisements. Very often media misuses the freedom given to it and it is evident from a number of issues. Media these days are more engaged in dramatization of an event or news rather than reflecting the informative part. More often, unnecessarily intruding into private lives/personal matters of the people and especially focussing on the distress victims and their families. Media has been in highlight for being involved in corrupt practices and favouring the publishers, political parties, business houses, religious institutions to name a few. Biased publishing, journalist and editor block some news while highlighting others for the reasons of there own. There have been instances where media play up regional emotions leading to s trong appeal and wide spread commotion. During reportage of war or any operations related to internal crisis situation, many a times media has show immaturity and is irresponsible in its reporting by sensationalizing and escalating the conflict. Police, politician and corporate can still be considered for double standards, but how can we expect the same standards from our journalist community. When one pillar collapses, the whole building is likely to fall down. Media being the fourth pillar need to be strong enough in breaking the ice and put forward news and make the truth distinct from ambiguous or falsehood which will entail death of social evil and the people of the nation and the state itself will live in peace. This is the responsibility than needs to be understood and taken up by the Indian journalism. Now, how they are going to shape, direct and lead the new generation of India towards to a peaceful nation as a whole is matter of time and the self awakening. Media ethics 6. Media both print and more so the electronic media plays an important catalyst in shaping the public opinions, sentiments and dogmas by promulgating accurate and desirable information and knowledge. Due to the vast intrusion of television news in public life, it has the power and can create an enduring impact on society, culture and security of a region. These days media is generally facing a qualitative crisis pertaining to the news disseminated by it and it seems as the news channels in India have their respective doctrine charted out presenting anything as news which leads to an departure from the ethical issues of journalism. They have metamorphosed themselves towards packaging of information and have adopted a policy of corporate culture wherein their basic motto has transformed from disseminating information to earning television rating points. With numerous news channels being beamed to our houses the thirst for the actual news by the public is not met due to lack of content , quality and authenticity which have deteriorated over a period of time. Electronic media in India has been irresponsible in presenting news and sensitizing crucial events without understanding and realising the impact and implications on the people and security of the nation. Investigative journalism is the in thing now where in the channels has become a self proclaimed investigating agency which to some extent is instrumental in bringing out the truth but slowly the channels are being used as a means of personal vendetta or gains by insiders as well as outsiders. 7. Media used to be known as the voice of common people and a medium to grab knowledge of the world. Media had over a period of time had built some ethics which was appreciated but with the rapid development, mushrooming of news agencies and requirement of growth it is loosing its credibility. Print media compared to electronic media was known for its accuracy and its ethics and with passage of time everything has become part of marketing and news turned into commodity. The so called free media talks the language of the agencies they are benefited from. The ethics which is being talked about is what should be written or shown and what shouldnt be. The overall aim should to add to society, nation building for a better tomorrow. Contrary to this, media coverage includes matters which are of no use to the citizen but surely for their own mileage. News is supposed to connect the world and not a soap opera in which media ethics, duties and purpose is lost. Reach of mass media 8. It is important for a country like ours to know the capabilities of available mass media facilities, readership, listener ship and viewer ship habits of the people to gauge the reach of media. But do we know when it comes to the reach of various mass media individually and in combination among the diverse population in the country. There many question which arises like how many in the country are exposed to or read newspaper, view television, listen to radio, surf internet, etc? Which one of the available media and how frequently? How many and who all read more than one newspaper, which one and where in India? During what period of the day and how frequently do the people watch TV and listen to radio? What is the duplication/overlap of programmes between different media and many more intricate questions like such will determine the influence the media will create in the people of a nation and gauge its reach. 9. In the year 2006, National Readership was carried out in India which is considered the largest survey of its kind in the world, with samples from 2,84,373 house interviews to measure the media penetration and exposure in both urban and rural India and obviously the readership of publications. According to the survey, today average urban adult is spending 44 minutes per day reading magazines and dailies. Readership of dailies continue to grow as compared to the previous year however there is a decline in magazine readership both in urban and rural India. Satellite television has grown in leaps and bound and has a considerable reach: TV now reaches 112 million Indian homes. Internet has also spread predominantly with a reach now exceeding 12 millions. Resurgence of radio cannot be ignored as its reach has increased to 27% of the population tuning in to any radio station in the average week, almost equaling the number of readers. This boom in media reach and penetration will play a v ital role towards national perception and national security as such. Media Ownership and control in India 10. In February 1995 in a landmark judgement, Supreme Court of India ruled that the airwaves are public property and no longer under government control. In 1996 a Broadcasting bill was formulated and an autonomous Broadcasting Authority was vested with regulatory powers. The ministry of information and broadcasting in June 1998 allowed private Indian satellite channels to uplink from India. With the media being liberalised entry of foreign media was eminent, now the question which comes to mind is; do foreign media impact the policy decisions, a tool of cultural imperialism, western business and foreign policy interest in turn hampering national security. The positive side may be in favours of foreign media on the ground of plurality, competition and readers right to know. Their influence will mould the perception of the population as they wield through their agenda. 11. It is very interesting to know as to who controls the various media entity in India and obviously it will stem out from the ownership. A very popular news channel NDTV, is funded by gospels of charity in Spain which supports communism. CEO of this company is Prannoy Roy who is related to Prakash karat, the General Secretary of communist party of India. CNN-IBN is funded by Southern Baptist Church with its branches all over the world with its HQ in US. Times Group which includes Times of India, Mid-Day, Nav Bharat Times, Stardust, Femina, Times Now (TV news channel) and many more is owned by Benet and Coleman. Star TV is managed by an Australian, who is supported by St. Peters Pontifical Church, Melbourne. Birla Group owned Hindustan Times have changed hands which is presently owned by Shobhana Bharatiya and working in collaboration with the Times Group. English daily, The Hindu started over 125 years has been taken over by Josua Society, Berne, Switzerland. The Indian express in which ACTS Christian Ministries have a major stake. There are many other regional news print who are privately owned by Indians which have more reach and impact in the rural, semi-urban and to some extent urban population. Regional TV network like Enadu is controlled by Ramoji Rao who has connection in the film industry. 12. The ownership explains the control of media in India by external agencies be it foreigner or Indian. The news will be biased by their owners and the product that filters down to the common man will distort. The result is obvious; we are going to be fed with tailor made news by the companies who are holding the strings. Media responsibility 13. Freedom of press might have potential unintended effect while engaged in the internal crisis situation especially when considering modern media as a force multiplier. Many a times the media is in an awkward position when it is covering terrorist events. Medias role to protect the societys right to know comes in direct conflict with the states (military, law enforcement and investigating agencies) mission is to protect and serve, and maintain order when covering internal crisis situations. The precarious balancing act that the press faces while covering terrorist incidents is like having censorship on one side of the weigh scale and freedom on the other side. During internal crisis situations, press needs to be always vigilant about balancing their freedom relating protecting the peoples right to know against their responsibility to play a constructive role. The more the freedom and accuracy goes into reporting, the more the coverage favours the terrorists and vice versa. Issues f acing the governments and media outlets before, during and after a terrorist incident need to be closely examined by both the agencies towards dissemination of information which will strike a balance. The terrorist and governments agendas tend to dramatically oppose, while the media position is often judgment call. Media is a force multiplier stuck in between complete censorship and total freedom of the press. It is important that the media continues to play a constructive role during times of local and national crisis but it is also critical that the media be allowed to continue to provide a counterbalance.

Business Level Strategy In The Market Commerce Essay

Business Level Strategy In The Market Commerce Essay Business level strategy concentrates on developing a firm specific model that will allow the firm to gain competitive advantage over its rivals in the industry such as in which it operates. Business strategy would focus on improving its competitive position of a companys or business units products within the specific industry or market segment that the company and/ or its business units serve. The question explored in business level strategy is: How a company can best be competed in the industry that they are in? For an example Honda motors, Japan has a domestic market for its products and also it operates internationally. Thus business strategy should be crafted focussing on the ways of how it out beat the domestic competitors who operates both in the domestic market and as well as the in the international market like Mazda, Mitsubishi, Daihatsu, Suzuki, Toyota and Nissan and competitors in the international market like General motors, Chrysler, Ford Motors etc. In formulating business level strategies, firm should consider how best it can compete in each of the industries it operates in. Thus business level strategies require crafting the strategy and positioning the firm in each of its business. For an example Honda should formulate a separate business strategy for its motor cycle production section that attempts to add build competitive advantage over rival, motorcycle manufacturers. And there should be another business level strategy for its auto mobile manufacturing division that addresses the ways and means of competing against rival automobile manufacturers and a separate strategy for power products (engines, portable generators, lawnmowers, outbound motors) manufacturing division that attempts to build competitive advantage over power product manufacturers in the industry. Corporate Level Strategy Corporate strategy is to a firms survival and success and it is largely about the choice of the direction for the firm as a whole. I.e. Corporate level strategy describes companys overall direction in terms of its general attitude towards growth and the management of its various business and product lines. Corporate strategy is concerned with two key questions, What business should the company be in to maximize the long term profitability of the organisation? What strategies should it use to enter into and exist from the business area? This is true whether the firm is a small, one product company or a large multi national corporation. Corporate strategy in a multinational company is all about managing various product lines and business units for maximum value. In this instance, corporate head quarters must play the role of the organisational Parent in that it must deal with various products and business unit Children. Even though each product line or business unit has its own competitive or corporative strategy that it uses to obtain its competitive advantage in the market place, the corporation must coordinate these different business strategies in order to be succeeded. For an example Honda Motors, even though there are various competitive or corporative business strategies at various business unit levels, it is the top management that decides the overall direction and goals for the entire organisation. i.e. even though there are several business segments as motor cycle manufacturing, auto mobile manufacturing and power product manufacturing and different competitive or corporative strategies adopted by each of these segments at business level, corporate level strategy for each of these segments all the same. Critically evaluate the process of reconciling dichotomies at Honda Motors with reference to the product-related core competencies versus process -related core capabilities dichotomy. Hondas underlying innovative strategic management process is described as reconciling dichotomies There can be seen number of dichotomies that encompasses management thinking and pass through all the functions and as well as aspects such as buyer supplier relations (e.g. Vertical integration and market relations), work organisation, (efficient and humane), product development processes (simultaneous and sequential development), business strategy (cost and differentiation) etc. These are concerned as paradoxes that should be solved implicitly by the west where as Hondas way of thinking is very different. A dichotomy reconciliation approach exemplifies both the philosophy behind the actual product design and the mental process of technology research. When considering about the product related core competencies in Honda, its adherence to the principle of build in quality has brings forth the competitive advantage to Honda. The build-in quality principle focuses on ensuring the effectiveness of the performance outcome of sub transformation activities. The measure of effectiveness is customer defined standards of performance that can be achieved by breaking down the total standard of performance measures as expected by the customers to number of sub activities where value adding can be realized at every stage of the process in a way that it gives a bigger accrued value by the time of operations process reaches its end. This leads to a reduction in costs and as well as exceed expectations of the customers. In that sense build in quality principle highly emphasis regarding product related capabilities which are measured by the customers eventually. The advance internal combustion engines which power the entire range of Honda products is being regarded as a core competency, which is also a successful reconciliation of dichotomies, deliver direct and immediate competitive advantage for Honda. The right-the-first principle constitute that the result of any process should be free of errors. An error occurred in a particular task necessitate re-working on it before it passed on to next stage of the production process, which may resulted in delaying the entire production process and as well as increasing the operational costs, costs of lost opportunities of sales earned from customers who prefer not to wait and switch to other brands. As such right- the- first principle adopted by Honda, will enhance its operational efficiency by not wasting time and other resources by increasing productivity. More over its introduction of Just In Time production and logistic system leads to more accurate inventory control that save cost further. It can be pointed out as a dichotomy reconciliation that permits both product variety and productive efficiency. Western flawed assumption of management thinking was that the right-first time and the build-in quality is only a dichotomy that takes places only if a substitution of getting the benefits from one at the disbursement of the other is assumed as it is viewed only from a manufacturers perspective, which has to be at least concentrated from a dual perspective, the manufacturer and the customer. If it should be considered from a multiple perspective, taking all partners in the supply chain in to account. Doing things right the first time is a cost savings approach as it helps to eliminate waste and reduce the necessity of reworking. Lower operating costs can transform into higher margins, which will be helpful in attracting customers by offering them the products at a reasonable price and it too will avoid customers from switching to rival brands. Customers not judged a product by concerning only on its quality, but its entire combination that brings forth the benefits and there fore value to them. Thus the features and attributes like delivery time and cost of purchase and ownership are too considered up on. Quality is there fore both process and product dependent. For an example the value of high product quality because of its superior features, characteristics and attributes can be ignored by slow delivery times if things are not done right the first time. Through its wide array of management strategies Honda has shown that the notice of right- first time and build- in quality is not different in nature and does not exist in isolation but are rather similar and complementary processes if the pull strategy is adopted placing customers ahead of else. Question Two: Global Mergers and Acquisitions (MA) Too much Debt and Risk of Bankruptcy Mergers and acquisitions have been the focus of corporate strategies over the last few decades, with an increasing number of mergers across the globe, especially in the automobile industry. A merger or acquisition is a combination of two companies where one corporation is completely absorbed by another corporation. The less important company loses its identity and becomes part of the more important corporation, which retains its identity. Mergers and acquisitions can occur for number of reasons. One such is to overcome too much debt or to avoid bankruptcy situations. Supplier bankruptcies make up the first wave of restructuring and the rate of bankruptcy fillings will continue to accelerate in the near term. As credit becomes more widely available and companies are able to safe and sound liquidity, there will be a wave of Mergers and acquisitions. If a particular company is undergoing enormous debts and finds it difficult to beat competition or even to survive in the industry, management may make a decision to go for a divesture. As a result company may sell out to another corporation or may go for a merger. If a company is suffering from a bankruptcy situation, perhaps it may come to a decision to move for a sell out strategy. Financially viable competitors in the same industry may interested in merging with or acquiring another corporation in the same industry even with huge debts or under a bankruptcy state if there is any potential advantage of merging or acquiring is witnessed. Some times it may be because of the companys ability to produce goods efficiently if they combined their efforts and facilities. These efficiency gains may come simply by virtue of the size of the combined company; it may be cheaper to produce goods on a large scale. Collaborating or sharing expertise may achieve gains in efficiency, or a company might have underutilize assets that the other company can better use or else because of the technology or the brand image or any other unique attribute available to the bankrupt company. Through such merger or an acquisition, the company which suffered from financial difficulties will lessen its burden as it has the ability to overcome its debts as the change in the management may make the company more profitable Potential Product Synergies Automotive mergers and acquisitions act as means of increasing market share, improving reach attaining economies of scale and augmenting product ranges. Automotive mergers are turning into a strategic option for companies looking to accelerate growth. Through mergers or acquisitions companies intended to maximize synergies through their complementary strengths in product line-up, procurement, RD, marketing and personal training which would result in cost reductions, greater global market penetration and other benefits through corporation. As a result of a merger or an acquisition a corporation would get the access to up to the minute technology, a worldwide network and advanced managerial expertise. In addition substantial cost savings have been achieved through a common purchasing strategy and by setting up a common supplier base. Common platforms will be developed to reduce time for new product introduction. Achieving of synergies is the ideal sought in corporate mergers and acquisitions. Synergy refers to an increase in the level of performance of a combined enterprise that will exceed the previous individual performance when it was operated separately. For an example managerial economies such as the increased opportunity of managerial specialisation, technical economies such as technical know how, purchasing economies due to increased order size and associated bulk buying discounts. In automobile industry there are several synergies that can be achieved through mergers and acquisitions. For an example in 1990 Honda entered in to an agreement with Rover under which Honda acquired minority shareholding in Rover in order to begin European production of Honda Accord. And also once Honda rewind its formal relationships had with Rover, BMW acquired Rover Company from its parent company with the expectation of expanding its capacity from 600,000 to 800,000 by 1999 with 150,000 of these vehicles exported. Access to New Technologies and Emerging Markets Mergers and acquisitions bring forth several technology and platform sharing agreements, enabling companies to reduce product development time and costs. Further it will be helpful in stepping in to new markets Through mergers and acquisitions corporations will be able to obtain technology economies. I.e. Mergers and acquisitions will result in enhancing the level of technology sharing and utilisation than earlier. As such in automobile industry there can be seen major acquisitions or mergers. For an example in 1979 Honda Motor company signed technical collaboration with British Leyland (Now Rover Group), covering British Leyland production of Triumph Acclaim cars in the United Kingdom. It was a step taken to enter in to the European market and also to obtain the technology of Rover Group. As mentioned earlier, mergers and acquisitions can be seen as a way of entering into strange, emerging markets. Some countries in the emerging markets such as India, China, and Thailand are growing at a spectacular rate. Thus this amazing growth rates are attracting global automotive majors to these markets in increasing numbers. Companies are resorting to acquisitions or mergers to gain foothold in these markets due to certain cultural reasons or to accommodate differences in two cultures. Question Three: Corporate Social responsibilities Competitiveness Using information from relevant literature on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and appropriate examples from global automotive makers and suppliers; explain the impact of CSR on organisational performance in both financial and non-financial areas Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has permeated management practice and theory up to a point where CSR can be referred to as the latest management fad (Guthey, Langer Morsing, 2006). However, so far CSR integration in to business processes has been very uneven. (Hockerts, 2008) CSR is also known as Corporate Citizenship, Responsible Business, Sustainable Responsible Business (SRB), or Corporate Social Performance. The concept of social responsibility proposes that a private corporation has responsibilities to society and also to the environment that extended beyond making a profit. It is a form of corporate self regulation integrated in to a business model that functions as a built-in, self-regulating mechanism whereby business would monitor and ensure its support to law, ethical standards, and international norms. Further more, CSR focused business would proactively uphold the public interest by heartening community growth and development, and voluntarily eliminating practices that harm the public sphere, regardless of legality. Essentially, CSR is the deliberate inclusion of public interest in to corporate decision making and the honouring of a triple bottom line; People, Planet, Profit. Where as People and Planet in the triple bottom line concept represents the non financial aspects that a firm should concentrates on when carrying out its business in addition to the financial aspect of making profits. The automobile industry at present faces challenges that extend beyond the framework of automotive technology, such as the prevention of global warming by committing to zero emissions as part of a concentrated effort toward issues concerning the global environment, eradication of wasted resources and environmental degradation through mass production, sales and disposal and the realization of fail safe transportation system. It is necessary for an organization, specially an automobile maker to be focused on preventing environmental destruction and damage when establishing its plants and as well as carrying out its manufacturing activities. A new evolution is required, where lean production can be implemented beyond the sphere of technological innovation to contribute to reforming distribution, logistics, recycling and as well as social systems. As such consumers expect automotive corporations to take an active role in the economic and social development of their country. Consumers across the world are very likely to accept or reject a corporation based on its reputation for social and environmental responsibility. CSR surveys indicate that consumers are more likely to purchase a product or a service from a corporation with responsible business practices and they would refrain from purchasing a product or service if the corporation failed to follow environmentally friendly or ethical business practices. Among the global automotive corporations BMW, Honda, Toyota and Volvo trucks ranked highest for corporate social responsibility. BMW rated highest in the Spain and as well as in Italy; Honda for United States, United Kingdom and Indonesia, Toyota for Japan, Korea and Thailand and Volvo trucks for Sweden and Netherlands. Remy Pothet, Global Director TNS Automotive, comments that Large corporations are increasingly aware that their social responsibility directly affects their image and brand equity and consequently, their business success. As such heavy investments in CSR can be seen in the markets where they are focusing on expansion. The result of our study highlights the publics growing interest in the field of CSR, and makes a direct link between this and their purchasing behaviour. Bonsi concludes, The general public is a very important stake holder for the automotive industry as a corporations reputation is often judged in the court of public opinion. Corporations that fail to engage society often suffer serious consequences when there is a crisis. However corporations that develop a strong public goodwill can use it as a social insurance to tide them over during difficult periods. The CSR champions identified by this study are already seeing the value in their investment; now other companies need to take notice. b) Compare and Contrast Japanese and Western strategic leadership models by reference to table 5 in the Honda case study. Explain which of the two models you prefer, and why? According to the management literature, there is a grand distinction between the western management style and Japanese management style in terms of overall description work processes, production organisation and logistic management techniques, organisation and labour relations etc. When concerning about the overall description western management model, Ford system of mass production which leads to standardisation and mass marketing is the fundamental paradigm for production systems in western countries that pays high attention on large lot , just in case production. Where as Japanese developed a different production system called Japanese production system or Just In Time (JIT), which is a flexible manufacturing system. A further development of this is also known as lean manufacturing. They adhered to the Pull strategy of marketing their products as oppose to the Push strategy of marketing adopted by the western countries. The significance of the Japanese manufacturing is it identified the ill effects of mass production with high volume of manufacturing that focuses sole attention towards economy of scale rather than cost reduction through elimination of wasted resources through streamlined production. JIT production and synchronized manufacturing that manufactured what, when, and how much was necessary and eliminated wasteful processes and stock. This was resulted in ending up of cycle of stockpiles and dissolved the rigidity of production where only existing products continued to be manufactured with existing technology. When concentrating the peculiarities between western and Japanese work processes, most of the western work processes were builds upon taylorism theory which emphasis the necessity of breaking down of every action, job or task in to small and simple segments that can be easily analyzed and taught. Accordingly western employees are deemed to be Do workers and most of them are unskilled thus they are expected to be performed in a way they thought, and merely the jobs or tasks assigned to them. But Japanese employees are deemed to be Think workers where they are expected to be innovative, polyvalent and flexible rather than merely executing an assigned job or a task. As such Japanese management model is more appropriate and suitable to todays complex business context due to above mentioned grounds. Conclusion First and fore mostly the report discussed about the business level strategy and the corporate level strategy in the global business context. It was compared and contrasted the business level strategies and the corporate strategies in the global automobile industry. Then it evaluated the process of reconciling dichotomies at Honda Motors with reference to the product-related core competencies versus process -related core capabilities dichotomy. Secondly it evaluated critically the impact of certain factors such as too much debt and risk of bankruptcy, potential product synergies, access to new technologies and emerging markets on Mergers and Acquisitions (MA) in the global automobile industry, using appropriate illustrations from the global automotive industry. In current business context Corporate Social Responsibility bears an important place. As such latter part of this report focuses on the corporate social responsibility and the competitiveness, using information from relevant literature on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and appropriate examples from global automotive makers and suppliers. Further it discussed the impact of CSR on organisational performance in both financial and non-financial areas. Finally it was compared and contrasted the Japanese and Western strategic leadership models and suggested the Japanese strategic leadership model as the most appropriate model owing to the unique features and strengths identified in it with compared to Western strategic leadership model.

Green Laws Boost Clean-up Industry :: essays research papers

Green Laws Boost Clean-up Iindustry Engelskaflevering d. 01.09.95 I Have companies around the globe really become "house-proud", or is planet earth just in for a spring cleaning? It is hard to say - but one thing is for sure; the environmental sector is en-joying a boom. The market for pollution control technology is on a steep exponential growth curve, which seems to be interminable. Especially the European companies put down their names for an immense part of the expansion. But what is the precise nature of this sudden environmental con-cern? After all the deteriorating state of the environment is hardly a novel phenomenon, to say the least. Just how vigorous this potential goldmine is going to be for the clean- up industry ac-tually depends on law and order, so to speak. That is to say that one of the main reasons for the turn up is new legislation. Recent EU-directives as to pollution may cause heavy demands on the purse of one company and consequently pour that money down the pockets of the clean technology indu-stry. Moreover the deadlines for plants to meet EU-directives are getting close, and everything se-ems to show that the laws will be enforced. Yet far from all companies have to meet with the raised finger of the law to start investing in their environmental responsibilities. Investments on a volunta-ry basis are often due to the fact that it makes good ecnomic sense or because it gives the corporate image a face- lifting. Seen from a geoprahical point of view Germany and primarily eastern Europe form tremendously good breeding ground for the sale of clean-up equipment. As a result of opencast mi-ning of lignite coal in Poland, for example, a huge clean-up is left, which will amount to billions of dollars. However accidents also occur at sea, where a spate of oil tanker disasters are likely to fill out the order book at oil cleaning industries. Nevertheless a stroke of bad luck is far from necessary in order to make firms under-stand their green obligations. The power of the consumers has been on the increase over the last few years, and the public environmental image means more to a firm than ever before. The average con-sumer going down to the grocer's for a few necessaries is starting to attach importance to something else than just the product itself. How is the detergent wrapped - is the paper bleached? Is this bottle reusable? Are these outdoor tomatoes? - and so on. Personally I don't think that you notice it, as you're walking alongside the shelves in the local supermarket - but you do pay

Mystifying the Senses: Bimodal Speech Perception :: Biology Essays Research Papers

Mystifying the Senses: Bimodal Speech Perception My grandmother, like many elderly people, suffers from hearing loss. Recently however, she has begun to lose her sight as well. Curiously enough, though her level of auditory impairment remains the same since macular degeneration has claimed her ability to see, her hearing seems to have deteriorated further. Could this be simply the result of alienation because of the loss of a further sense? This situation led me to wonder about my own hearing ability. I have often experienced hearing difficulty in settings where I cannot see the person who is talking to me-in a movie theater, or over the telephone. The questions raised here call into question the conventional notion of sensory processing. Distinctive inputs are received by their respective processing organ and the end result is relayed to the brain. How then can we explain a seeming reliance of two different sensory percepts on each other? Is there more to hearing than our ears? Historically, scientific evidence for the existence of sensory integration has long existed, but the first formal theory developed to this effect was stumbled upon by Harry McGurk and John MacDonald of the University of Surrey (1). The scientists were involved in a study of how infants perceive speech by playing a video of a mother talking in one place and playing the sound of her voice in another place. They randomly began to play with the consequences of dubbing an particular audio sound onto the video of the mother saying a different sound (2). They found that when the auditory syllable, "ba-ba" was imposed on the visual syllable "ga-ga", "da-da" was heard. The same occurred when the audio and visual syllables were reversed. Also, "pa-pa" dubbed on "ka-ka" was heard as "ta-ta". When one of the sensory inputs was eliminated by closing the eyes, or plugging the ears, the correct syllable was identified (2). McGurk and McDonald found "Contemporary, auditory-based theories of speech p erception...inadequate to accommodate these new observations" and concluded that there must be some allowance made for the influence of the visual on hearing (2). The conventional theory of the senses is challenged. So, speech perception is bimodal. Of course, as science repeatedly shows, nothing is simple as that. The question remains, how does this integration occur? When does it occur? What neurological systems are involved? It has become generally accepted that audio and visual inputs are received by independent organs (the ears and eyes) and that integration occurs sometime after these two systems have "processed" the input.

Examining the Conflict of Good versus Evil in Young Goodman Brown Essay

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short story entitled Young Goodman Brown is about a man who takes his journey to the forest to attend a special congregation—without knowing its real purpose in his life. Goodman Brown, the narrative’s protagonist believes that his faith is constant, true, and immovable, but as he takes his journey to the forest, readers realize that the main character’s faith is depthless. He creates evil thoughts throughout his journey, which makes his faith weaker, especially when he encounters the prayerful and vigilant people of his community during his walk. As he steps into the forest to attend the congregation, the evil starts to shake his faith and begins to disrupt his beliefs. The conflict of good versus evil is depicted through Goodman Brown’s unstable mind, inconsistent faith, and distrust to the people around him. This conflict changes Goodman Brown’s idea of trust and faith, as well as his way of life and relationship to others, especially his wife. The conflict of good versus evil emerges through Goodman Brown’s unstable mind, but his wife, Faith, is trying to keep his belief. When Young Goodman Brown is about to leave, his wife said: â€Å"Then God bless you! And may you find all well when you come back† (Hawthorne 190). Goodman Brown’s journey is for the benefit of evil—though he insists that it is for him and Faith, but his wife is trying to restrict him to continue his travel. However, even if Goodman Brown is blessed by his wife in his journey, he is aware of the evil’s existence and its power to hide and seek in the forest. While walking, he said: â€Å"There may be a devilish Indian behind every tree. What if the devil himself should be at my very elbow!† (191). The devilish Indians are symbolisms of evil in this novel—and due to his unstable mind, Goodman Brown is prone to evil thoughts. Even if he has faith and belief in his religion, Goodman Brown cannot stop himself from thinking about negative thoughts because the evil is leading him to the devil’s congregation. Therefore, Goodman Brown’s unstable mind serves as the evil’s instrument to disrupt his faith. Conflict between good and evil exists when Goodman Brown begins his distrust to his community. As he thinks about the devil and his wife, Goodman Brown asked the traveler: â€Å"Friend, my mind is made up. Not another step will I budge on this errand. What if a wretched old woman do choose to go to the devil when I thought she was going to heaven: is that any reason why I should quit my dear Faith and go after her?† (195) As Goodman Brown walks into the forest, he encounters different people taking their journey to the congregation—they are the prayerful and religious ones in the community. As he sees them, he begins to distrust them, which makes him think of going back to his wife. Goodman Brown does not know how to identify the difference between good and evil in the middle of his journey, so when he sees Faith into the congregation, he said: â€Å"My Faith is gone! There is no good on earth; and sin is but a name. Come, devil; for to thee is this world given† (197). Faith is not only the protagonist’s wife, but also a symbolism of his belief in his religion. When he says his Faith is gone, it means that his faith to his community disappears because he believes that these people lives with the devil and not with their God. Goodman Brown fails to trust the people around him and think that they are evil because deep inside him, he is defending himself from being part of the devil. Goodman Brown experiences conflict of good versus evil due to his inconsistent faith. The forest is a symbolism of evil because there is â€Å"no church had ever been gathered or solitary Christian prayed† (196)—and Goodman Brown takes this path as a sign of his union with the devil. Despite of his wife’s disapproval, the protagonist continues his journey, which proves his inconsistent faith to his religion. When he is about to see the congregation and feel the evil spirit within his midst, the protagonist realizes that his faith is gone with him. As he tries to restore his faith, Goodman Brown shouted: â€Å"With heaven above and Faith below, I will yet stand firm against the devil!† (196). The protagonist is trying to use his faith to keep him away from harm, but his soul is offered to the evil. Seeing his community being part of the congregation is a justification of his inconsistent faith because he does not trust anyone around him, even his faith that should only be his source of strength. As he demonstrates his inconsistent faith, his evil attacks his body, mind, and soul. Goodman Brown is a good man, but he fails to bring his faith in his journey to the forest. The conflict of good versus evil emerges when he decides to leave Faith and takes his journey alone. He leaves his faith in his house and thinks that he can overcome any obstacle in his path, but he is unsuccessful because unstable mind, inconsistent faith, and distrust to the people around him become the instrument of evil to own his mind, body, and soul. As a result, Goodman Brown’s mind, body, and soul are eaten by the devil—and no matter how he tries to keep his faith; he cannot restore his belief because the evil lies within his wholeness.

Educational Disparity in India

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION â€Å"I have a heart full of dreams To emulate Lakshmi, my neighbour, Who merrily goes to school; To wear skirts in gorgeous colours; To become a Collector and travel in a car; But, alas, trapped in a heap of matchsticks I am still far from free! † Etymologically, the word education is derived from the Latin term educatio (â€Å"a breeding, a bringing up, a rearing), from educo (â€Å"I educate, I train†) which is related to the homonym educo (â€Å"I lead forth, I take out; I raise up, I erect†), from e-  (â€Å"from, out of†) and  duco  (â€Å"I lead, I conduct†).Education  in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any  experience  that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts. In its narrow, technical sense, education is the formal process by which society deliberat ely transmits accumulated knowledge, skills, customs and values from one generation to another, e. g. , instruction in schools. It means the development of character or mental powers by means of giving intellectual, moral and social instruction especially as a prolonged process.Indian society is characterized by its diversity be it in terms of religion, caste, region or language. This kind of diversity gives rise to people with very different kind of family backgrounds and demographic characteristics. Though diversity in any state is considered a healthy phenomenon but only when people of different caste, religion or region are provided with same kind of opportunities and growth prospects in terms of access to education, employment and other fundamental services. There should not be any kind of discrimination between individuals based on their caste, religion, region or sex.In this light, if we observe Indian society we find that, based on caste and ethnicity, it suffers from substa ntial inequalities in education, employment and income. If the inequalities are arising due to differences in level of efforts made by individuals of different backgrounds then it is morally acceptable but if inequalities are due to circumstances beyond the control of an individual such as caste, religion, region of birth, sex, ethnicity and so on, then it is deemed unethical and unacceptable and also calls for compensation in some form or other, from the society, to those who have suffered due to inferior circumstances.In the case of India this problem becomes much more relevant since historically the Indian society is severely divided into different caste, religion and other social group structures with several groups enjoying privileges more than other groups just because of their superior social status.So, as far as India is concerned, it is very important from the point of view of both academic interest as well as policy implication, to estimate the extent of inequality due to different circumstances of people as it will help in going to the root cause of prevailing income or wealth inequality, evaluating the age old government programs aimed at bringing equality in society, developing policies for bridging gaps between different sections of society and thus leading towards a state which is more just and equal. 1. 1 A BRIEF HISTORY OF EDUCATION IN INDIAMonastic orders of education under the supervision of a guru were a favoured form of education for the nobility in ancient India. The knowledge in these orders was often related to the tasks a section of the society had to perform. The priest class, the Brahmins, was imparted knowledge of religion, philosophy, and other ancillary branches while the warrior class, the Kshatriya, was trained in the various aspects of warfare. The business class, the Vaishya, was taught their trade and the working class of the Shudras was generally deprived of educational advantages.Secular Buddhist institutions cropped up alo ng with monasteries. These institutions imparted practical education, e. g. , medicine. A number of urban learning centers became increasingly visible from the period between 200 BCE to 400 CE. The important urban centers of learning were Taxila (in modern day Pakistan) and Nalanda, among others. These institutions systematically imparted knowledge and attracted a number of foreign students to study topics such as Buddhist literature, logic, grammar, etc.By the time of the visit of the Islamic scholar Alberuni (973–1048 CE), India already had a sophisticated system of mathematics. With the arrival of the British Raj in India the modern European education came to India. British Raj was reluctant to introduce mass education system as it was not their interest. The colonial educational policy was deliberately one of reducing indigenous culture and religion, an approach which became known as Macaulayism.With this, the whole education as well as government system went through chan ges. Educated people failed to get job because the language in which they got education had become redundant. The system soon became solidified in India as a number of primary, secondary, and tertiary centres for education cropped up during the colonial era. Between 1867 and 1941 the British increased the percentage of the population in Primary and Secondary Education from around 0. 6% of the population in 1867 to over 3. % of the population in 1941. However this was much lower than the equivalent figures for Europe where in 1911 between 8 and 18% of the population were in Primary and Secondary education. Additionally literacy was also improved. In 1901 the literacy rate in India was only about 5% though by Independence it was nearly 20%. Following independence in 1947, Maulana Azad, India's first education minister envisaged strong central government control over education throughout the country, with a uniform educational system.However, given the cultural and linguistic diversity of India, it was only the higher education dealing with science and technology that came under the jurisdiction of the central government. Hence the disparity existed and deepened. The government also held powers to make national policies for educational development and could regulate selected aspects of education throughout India. The central government of India formulated the National Policy on Education (NPE) in 1986 and also reinforced the Programme of Action (POA) in 1986.The government initiated several measures like the launching of DPEP (District Primary Education Programme) and SSA (Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, India's Initiative for Education for All) and setting up of Navodaya Vidyalaya and other selective schools in every district, advances in female education, inter-disciplinary research and establishment of open universities. India's NPE also contains the National System of Education, which ensures some uniformity while taking into account regional education needs. The NPE also stresses on higher spending on education, envisaging a budget of more than 6% of the Gross Domestic Product.While the need for wider reform in the primary and secondary sectors is recognized as an issue, the emphasis is also on the development of science and technology education infrastructure. CHAPTER 2 EDUCATION AND THE CONSTITUTION: SHAPING EACH OTHER Thinking about the interaction between the Constitution and education reveals that they are deeply interconnected, at profound levels of interdependence and complexity. Those connections are often strikingly visible, but are sometimes quite subtle. A fundamental interdependence was formed with the decision to formulate our governmental structure as a democratic republic.The Constitution created the necessity for adequate public education to prepare the citizenry to exercise the role of self-government. An educated voting public underpins a successful democratic structure, the importance of education to our democratic society. I t is required in the performance of our most basic public responsibilities. It is the very foundation of a responsible citizenship. Today it is the principal instrument for awakening the child to cultural values, in preparing him for later professional training, and in helping him to adjust normally to his environment.But it is not only our political system that is dependent upon a viable and successful educational system. Our economic system also proclaims its reliance upon well-trained and educated workers. And our social system rests on two largely accepted goals that each requires access to education – the â€Å"melting pot† which requires the successful absorption of diverse immigrant populations into a pluralistic social and cultural structure, and â€Å"upward mobility† which requires the permeability of class/caste barriers.Both goals are achieved substantially through the education system. 2. 1 LEGISLATIVE FRAMEWORK Article 45, of the Constitution of In dia originally stated: â€Å"The State shall endeavour to provide, within a period of ten years from the commencement of this Constitution, for free and compulsory education for all children until they complete the age of fourteen years. † This article was a directive principle of state policy within India, effectively meaning that t was within a set of rules that were meant to be followed in spirit and the government could not be held to court if the actual letter was not followed. However, the enforcement of this directive principle became a matter of debate since this principle held obvious emotive and practical value, and was legally the only directive principle within the Indian constitution to have a time limit.Following initiatives by the Supreme Court of India during the 1990s the Ninety-third Amendment Bill suggested three separate amendments to the Indian Constitution: * The constitution of India was amended to include a new article, 21A, which read: â€Å"The Stat e shall provide free and compulsory education to all children of the age of six to fourteen years in such a manner as the State may, by law, determine. * Article 45 was proposed to be substituted by the article which read: â€Å"Provision for early childhood care and education to children below the age of six years: The State shall endeavour to provide early childhood care and education for all children until they complete the age of sixteen years. † * Another article, 51A, was to additionally have the clause: â€Å"†¦ a parent or guardian [shall] provide opportunities for education to his child or, as the case may be, [a] ward between the age of six to fourteen years. The bill was passed unanimously in the Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Indian Parliament, on November 28, 2001. It was later passed by the upper house, the Rajya Sabha, on May 14, 2002. After being signed by the President of India the Indian Constitution was amended formally for the eighty sixth time an d the bill came into effect. Since then those between the age of 6–14 have a fundamental right to education. * Article 46 of the Constitution of India holds that: The State shall promote, with special care, the education and economic interests of the weaker sections of the people, and in particular of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, and shall protect them from social injustice and all forms of social exploitation. † Other provisions for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes can be found in Articles 330, 332, 335 and 338–342. Both the 5th and the 6th Schedules of the Constitution also make special provisions for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. CHAPTER 3 VIDYA, VEDA, AND VARNA The 1990s were good years for education in India.According to the 2001 Census, the literacy rate for men, over the entire decade, increased by 11. 8 (percentage) points and that for women by 15 points with the consequence that in 2000, 57% of India's (over 15) popula tion was literate, with a literacy rate of 68% among men and 45% among women. Many of the issues relating to literacy are reflected in school participation, defined as the initial enrolment of a child at school. The net enrolment rate of children, aged 6-14, at school varies across the states of India ranging from 99% for boys and 98% for girls in Kerala, to 91% and 84% in Tamil Nadu, to 69% and 56% in Madhya Pradesh.All-India school enrolment rates, for boys and for girls, vary considerably between the Hindu, Muslim and the Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe (hereafter collectively referred to as Dalits) communities: the enrolment rates for Hindu boys and girls are, respectively, 84% and 68% while for Muslim boys and girls they are 68% and 57% and for Dalit boys and girls they are 70% and 55%. In keeping more generally with recent research interest into issues of ethnicity and educational attainment in other societies the key question of inter-group differences in school enrolment rat e in India also needs further investigation.The raison d'etre is to examine whether, and to what extent, the enrolment of children at school in India are influenced by the norms, or other socio-economic characteristics, of the communities (Hindus, Muslims and Dalits) to which they belonged. There are two issues embedded in this study. The first is that inter-community differences between communities, in the school enrolment rates of their children, could be due to the fact that the communities differed in terms of their endowment of ‘enrolment-friendly' attributes. Call this the ‘attribute effect'.On the other hand, inter-community differences in enrolment rates could exist, even in the absence of inter-community differences in attribute endowments, simply because different communities, by virtue of differences in their norms, translated a given attribute endowment into different enrolment rates. Call this the ‘community effect'. The overall enrolment rate is, of c ourse, the outcome of both effects. The average probability of school enrolment is the sum of two (mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive) parts: one that is engendered by the ‘community’ effect and another whose antecedents are in the ‘attribute’ effect.The equation for the likelihood of being enrolled at school is separate for boys and for girls and, in each of the case, the variables differ as to whether the children are Hindu, Muslim or Dalit. Thus, the econometric estimates take cognisance of differences between the children both with respect to their gender and their religion or caste. The econometric estimates are based on unit record data from a survey of 33,000 rural households – encompassing 195,000 individuals – which were spread over 1,765 villages, in 195 districts, in 16 states of India.In many communities there is no tradition of sending children to school; more importantly, these traditions co-exist with well recognised and established social norms that condone child labour and accept out of-school children. Given that ‘the child is the father of the man’, children who do (or do not) go to school will, with a high degree of probability, grow up to be literate (or illiterate) adults. In turn, the life chances of an adult, and his or her children, will be greatly affected by whether or not he or she is literate.Consequently, if one is concerned with inter-community differences in economic and social outcomes, one should, as a corollary, be concerned with inter-community differences in rates of school enrolment. The determining variables used to specify the equations for the likelihood of boys and of girls being enrolled at school, were grouped as follows: 1. The communities to which the children belonged: Hindu, Muslim or Dalit. The respondents to the Survey were distinguished along caste lines as: Dalits (Scheduled Caste/Tribe) and non-Dalits. They were separately distinguished by reli gion as: Hindu, Muslim, Christian, etc.Consequently, membership of the two categories, caste and religion, could overlap: Dalits could be Hindu, Muslim or Christian and, say, Hindus could either be Dalits or non-Dalits. In this study, the two categories of caste and religion were rendered mutually exclusive by defining Hindus, Muslims, Christians (and persons of ‘other’ religions) as persons professing the relevant faith but who were not Dalits. No distinction was made by religion within Dalits though, parenthetically, it might be noted that over 90% of them gave their religion as Hindu.Because of the small number of Christians and persons of ‘other’ religions in the Survey, the analysis reported in this paper was confined to Hindus, Muslims and Dalits. 2. The regions in which the children lived: North; South; Centre; East; West. The Central region comprised Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh; the South comprised Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, K erala and Tamil Nadu; the West comprised Maharashtra and Gujarat; the East comprised Assam, Bengal and Orissa; and the North comprised Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Punjab. 3. The educational levels of the mothers and fathers of the children.These were classified as: illiterate; low, if the person was literate but had not completed primary school; medium, if the person was educated to primary level or above but had not passed the school-leaving examination (the matriculation examination, abbreviated, in India, to matric) administered at the end of ten years of schooling; high, if the person was educated to matric level or above. 4. The occupations of the fathers and the mothers. The mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive occupational categories were: cultivator, labourer, non-manual workers, and ‘unoccupied'. . Personal and household variables such as an index of the value of productive assets. 6. Village level variables relating to the general level of development of the village and, in particular, the provision of schools within the village. In terms of educational infrastructure, only 11% of the children in the sample lived in villages which did not have a primary school, though 50% lived in villages without anganwadi schools, and 30% lived in villages without a middle school within a distance of 2 kilometres.Of the children in the sample, 77% of boys and 64% of girls were enrolled at school. However, underlying the aggregate figures, there was considerable variation in enrolment rates by: region; community; parental occupation; and parental literacy status. In terms of region, enrolment rates were lowest in the Central region and highest in the South, the West and the North. However, in every region, except the South, enrolment rates for Hindu boys and girls were considerably higher than those for their Muslim and Dalit counterparts.In terms, of parental literacy, enrolment rates for children (both boys and girls) were substantially higher fo r children with literate parents relative to children whose parents were illiterate. When both parents were illiterate the gap between the enrolment rate of Hindu children, on the one hand, and Muslim and Dalit children, on the other, was considerable; however, when both parents were literate, the intercommunity gap in enrolment rates was almost non-existent. Lastly, in terms of ccupation, children whose fathers were labourers had the lowest rate of enrolment and children with fathers in non-manual occupations had the highest enrolment rate. These show that, with a handful of exceptions, the means of the factors were significantly different between the groups. In particular, a significantly larger proportion of Hindu children had parents who were both literate – and a significantly smaller proportion of Hindu children had parents who were both illiterate – compared to Muslim and Dalit children.In addition, a significantly higher proportion of Hindu children had fathers who were cultivators and a significantly higher proportion of Dalit children had fathers who were labourers: over half the Hindu children, in the relevant age-group, had fathers who were cultivators while, in contrast, well over one-third of Dalit children had fathers who were labourers. One reason that enrolment rates differed by community is that the distribution of the ‘enrolment-determining factors’ – region, parental occupation and literacy, availability of educational facilities – were unequally distributed between the communities.The other is that there were significant inter-community differences in ‘attitudes’ to education, both with respect to children in their entirety and with respect to boys and girls separately. 3. 1 The ‘Community Effect’: Religion and Caste as Influences on School Participation The NCAER Survey provides qualitative information on the reasons that parents gave for not enrolling their children at sc hool. Factors like ‘school too far’ or ‘school dysfunctional’ (‘demand-side’) did not play an significant role in non-enrolment; nor did their incidence vary across the communities.The incidence of demand-side factors – whereby family financial constraints or the fact that a child was engaged in non-school activity involving work either within or outside the home – was particularly marked for Dalit children: 34% of Dalit parents, compared with 29% of Hindu and 22% of Muslim parents, gave this as their reason for non-enrolment. These inter-group differences in the mean values of the ‘demand-side' reasons were significantly different between the communities.Another significant difference between Hindus and Dalits on the one hand and Muslims on the other, was in terms of the percentage of children who were not enrolled at school because their parents did not think education was important. This was 16% for Hindus and 17% for Dal its, but, at 23%, significantly higher for Muslims. The fact that some proportion of religious and caste groups consider education ‘unimportant’ suggests that Muslim religious and Dalit caste norms might matter for school participation.But, there are also several other explanations that might account for the lower enrolment figures for Muslims and Dalits which need to be located within the historical context of educational policy in India towards minorities. 3. 1. 1. Muslim Education in India In recent times the question of Muslims educational backwardness has been an important element of political and social rhetoric in India. Although Muslims are not alone in reflecting educational backwardness yet recent statistic shows they are one of the most backward communities in the field of education and literacy in the country.This fact is, no doubt, astonishing for those who know that the very first declaration of the Qur’an- ‘IQRA’ (to read) is about â⠂¬Ëœeducation’. And the Prophet of Islam, Mohammad (pbuh) termed education as basic obligation for every individual – male and female, the very first time in the history of mankind, in 610 (AD). However, this write-up endeavours to locate the educational problems of the post colonial Muslims in India and invites sincere review by the present academia to help practical enforcement of all educational plans to get Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) mission a success story by 2010.An important cause that may well affect Muslim education is the role of religious institutions and, in particular, the local clergy. It is conventionally argued that the status of women in Islam implies that Muslim parents may invest less in the human capital of their daughters than of their sons. Muslim parents may also be reluctant to send their children to government funded schools owing to the existence of alternatives in community based schooling (in the form of madrasas) and most particularly on a ccount of the lack of Urdu and Arabic language teaching in the formal system.Islam first came to India as early as 650 AD with the Arab traders, but it was only under Mughal rule, between the 12th and 17th centuries, that education was encouraged. The very first madrasa in India was established in 1781 by Warren Hastings and was called the ‘Calcutta Madrasah College for Muhammedans’. Madrasas were greatly encouraged under colonial rule in the 18th century and, in the second half of the 19th century, they were set up all over India by the Deobandis – a group of Muslims who were trained in the most orthodox madrasa in India, Darul-uloom in Deoband, founded in 1866.It was in this phase of their expansion that madrasas were funded primarily by individual contributions rather than by princely patronage and when they developed a formal institutional structure similar to western educational institutions, including their own presses for publishing in Urdu. In post-indepe ndence India, madrasas were allowed to be set up in India under Articles 30(1) and 30(2), which allows all minorities to establish educational institutions, and which also protects the property of minority educational institutions.In the 1990s, many madrasas have been set up, largely through funds from the Middle East, on the western coast of India and in the border regions of north-eastern India. Today, madrasas mainly teach the principles of the Islamic religion, including an elementary level of the reading of the Qur’an. The Indian government has tried at various times to encourage some madrasas to combine religious education with ‘modern’ subjects such as mathematics.For example, a programme was launched to modernise education in the madrasas in 1993, and some prominent madrasas such as the Darul-uloom in Deoband introduced reforms into their curriculum as a consequence. The Jamia Mohammadia Mansura in Malegaon, Maharashtra is reputed for its teaching of medi cal science, and the Darul-uloom Nadwar-ul-ulema in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh even teaches the English language and English literature as core subjects. However, although in some states such as Karnataka and Kerala, madrasas are a useful complement to the formal schooling sector, such efforts have not, in general, been successful.Urdu (which is spoken in only 3 countries of the world – India, Pakistan and Mauritius) is widely regarded by Muslims in India as ‘their' language. However, in post-independence India, Urdu was not given the status of a ‘modern Indian language’, despite the fact that a substantial proportion of Muslims and non-Muslims particularly in northern India use it as their primary language of communication; in schools Sanskrit was taught as the preferred alternative in the three-language (Hindi-English-Sanskrit) formula.This has had important implications for Muslim education in India particularly as it has tied the issue of education-provisio n with considerations of religious and political identity, and cultural autonomy. 3. 1. 2. Dalit Education in India In their analysis of school enrolment, Dreze and Kingdon found that Dalit children had what they term an ‘intrinsic disadvantage’ – they had a lower probability of going to school, even after controlling for other non-caste factors such as household wealth, parents’ education etc. Dalits – who, generally speaking, constitute the ‘untouchables’ of India comprise, approximately, 17. % of India’s population. Although, the practice of ‘untouchability’ is illegal in India, the reality of life is very different. Often, Dalits live in segregated colonies on the outskirts of villages, usually in the southern fringes because that is where the Hindu god of death, Yama, is supposed to dwell. Dalits are not allowed to use common crematoria. Sharecropping, a dominant form of agriculture in most parts of India is not common among Dalit households due to the concepts of ‘ritual purity’ observed by those within the caste system.More significantly, the practice of untouchability cuts right across religious boundaries, and is observed in day to day interactions not only by Hindus, but by Muslims, Christians, and other religious groups in India as well. Studies of education and caste in India show that the Dalits are less likely to send children to school. Acharya and Acharya [1995] report that the differences between Dalits and non-Dalits in dropout rates are very large: the dropout rates for Dalits are 17% higher than for others in Classes I-V, and 13% greater for those in Class I-VIII.The historical origins of inequality in the access to education by caste lie in colonial policy towards education. After 1835, education policy in the sub-continent was altered considerably by Macaulay’s Minute on Education which changed the dominant language of the curriculum to English, giving rise to what Nehru cynically termed an ‘education for clerks’. Western education both resulted in greater social prestige for the upper castes and greater inequality between castes.The success of the non-Brahmin movement in southern India meant that this inequality was addressed there by positive discrimination in favour of the non- Brahmins, in education and in jobs; however, this was not the case in other parts of India. The influence of religion and caste on school enrolment encompasses both sociological factors such as the role of cultural norms, and historical influences such as colonial and post-colonial policy towards education in India. Collectively, these non-economic factors might exert an important role on current schooling decisions, even after controlling for the economic factors that affect them.CHAPTER 4 THE RURAL AND URBAN DIVIDE India is a vast country with a large population of about 121 crores. About 70 per cent of the people live in villages. They ar e engaged in agriculture or small cottage industries. Though there has been rapid expansion of facilities for education in the urban areas, the rural areas have remained neglected to a great extent. The main reason for such lopsided expansion has been the attitude of our rulers. As in other matters, the urban vocal population has in this matter as well been able to get the lion’s share.Many Universities, Colleges and institutions of higher learning have been established in big urban centres and cosmopolitan cities. The villages and small towns have had to be contented with primary, middle and high schools, with certain exceptions of Intermediate Colleges and a few degree Colleges. The villages have not got their due share in the facilities for education. Education has been a state subject, i. e. , a responsibility of the state governments in their respective jurisdictions. Expansion of education required huge sums of money.The State governments with their limited resources ha ve not been  able to allocate as much funds to education as they should have done. Rich agriculturists could afford to send their wards to cities for education. The rest of the poor and non-vocal motions of the population suffered. The nature of agriculture is ill loch that all the members of a farmer’s family have to work in the fields. Thus the children of farmers start helping their parents in agricultural operations. This is a great hindrance to the expansion of education in the rural areas.If an analysis is attempted, it will show that the illiterates in the rural areas far outnumber their counterparts in the cities. Further break-up would show that not only adults but even children in the age-group 5—15 in the villages do not avail themselves of the facilities for education, available in their neighbourhood. It is not that there are no schools in the villages. Schools are there, but they are not in adequate numbers. Children have to go a long distance to attend schools. These schools are not as well equipped as the schools in urban localities. There are very few school buildings.Classes are generally held either under a shed a tree or in the open. The low-paid teachers of these schools do not pay enough attention to their students. The illiterate parents are not very enthusiastic about the education of their children. Many children in the villages do not go to school at all. The parents of even such children, as are enrolled in the school, pay little attention to their education. They appear to be convinced of the futility of the schooling of their children. They rather engage their children as helpers in the agricultural operations, which they consider better utilisation of their time and energy.Not only children, but a majority of adult men and women in the rural areas are illiterate. This is one reason of their being negligent towards their children’s education. To them there appears no better future for their children even if t hey take education. The large scale unemployment is another factor responsible for their indifference to their children’s education. Lack of enthusiasm in the village people for the education of their children is due to several other reasons. First of all most of them are themselves uneducated.Secondly, the gains of education have not reached the villages. Villagers are conservative in outlook. They do not like sending daughters to schools abridging their practices. So far as their sons are concerned,  they do not find any direct correlation between their education and future progress. Very little attention is being paid to the education of adults in villages. There is no doubt that a little education or even literacy will generate much confidence among the rural adults, who would find it useful in their occupation as well as in general life.It would be interesting to note that the objective of providing free and compulsory education to all children up to the age of 14 coul d not be achieved because of inadequate resources for school buildings and teachers, non-realisation by parents of the beneficial value of education, and poverty. The pool of illiterates and drop-outs grows wider each year, even as governmental efforts are being reinforced. Two-thirds of the non-enrolled children consist of girls. A vast majority of non-enrolled children are again from weaker sections of the community, like Scheduled Castes, Schedules Tribes, Muslims and landless agricultural labourers.Such children constitute the hard core of the problem. They do not attend school, and even if they do, they drop out soon after joining school. | RURAL-URBAN disparities, particularly in post-colonial India, have for long been one of the causes of concern for the policymakers. The disparities are seen in all spheres of human life – economic and non-economic. The extent of disparities, however, differ from region to region. The long colonial rule in India had created an urban-ru ral divide.What causes great concern now-a-days is the sharp increase in the level of disparities after a few decades of planning, especially because planning was conceived as an instrument to narrow down rural-urban disparities. Rural India encompasses a little less than three-fourths of the country's population and is characterised by low income levels, poor quality of life and a weak base of human development. Nearly one-third of the national income comes from villages, but there is a significant rural-urban divide especially when it comes to education.Agriculture is the mainstay of most post-colonial countries. It supports roughly two-thirds of the workforce. But the lion's share of India's national resources is directed to the non-agricultural sector. This is the primary reason why a vast Indian rural population has been left uneducated or with lowest levels of education. The inability of the government to address issues such as gender bias is also an important factor which has brought about educational disparity The agricultural sector has been growing at less than half the pace of the other sectors.During the Seventh Plan, agriculture and allied sectors grew at a rate of 3. 4 per cent, while the national economy grew at 6 per cent. In 1997-98, there was a negative growth of 2 per cent in the agricultural sector, although the national economy grew by 5 per cent. The slower rate of growth of agriculture has serious implications for the rural-urban relationship. In an article in  Alternative Economic Survey, Kripa Shankar has shown that it results in the further widening of the divide, as the following data relating to agricultural and non-agricultural gross domestic product (GDP) at 1980-81 prices indicate.The GDP per agricultural worker was Rs. 2,442. 49 in 1950-51, followed by Rs. 3,196 in 1970-71 and Rs. 3,627 in 1995-96. The GDP per non-agricultural worker rose sharply from Rs. 4, 469. 63 in 1950-51 to Rs. 9,179 in 1970-71 and to Rs. 16,715. 08 in 1 995-96. There has been a further steep rise after the Central government accepted the Structural Adjustment Programme. While the GDP per agricultural worker rose from Rs. 3,544. 98 in 1990-91 to Rs. 3,627 in 1995-96, the per non-agricultural worker rise was from Rs. 14,660 to Rs. 16,715. 08 during the same period.The data tend to show that the ratio between the agricultural output per farm worker and the average output per non-farm worker, which was 1:1. 83 in 1950-51, rose to 1:4. 6 in 1995-96. The introduction of the policy of liberalisation has affected non-farm employment in rural areas. In 1997-98, the annual increase in non-farm employment in rural areas was 4. 06 per cent. In 1983-84 it was 3. 28 per cent. During 1999-2000 it came down to 2. 14 per cent. The consequence has been a very slow reduction in rural poverty. In 1993-94 it was 39. 6 per cent, in 1999-2000 the figure came down marginally to 36. 35 per cent. According to one estimate, the average income of an urban dwe ller is four times higher than that of a rural dweller. Rural deprivation becomes crystal clear if we look at the data on rural India's contribution to the GDP and what the rural areas get back. Rural contribution is 27 per cent but the return is 5 per cent. As a result of the decrease in the actual value of the income from agriculture, inflation being one governing factor, the rural population is unable to afford and finance the education of their family members.Besides, the large family demands have to be met by curtailing expenses on some front. In this kind of a case most of the expenses are curtailed in the educational front. The Human Development Report of India (1999) attempted to divide the rural and urban house-hold on the basis of their incomes as shown in the table. The income status is reflected in the per capita consumption expenditure. In 1999-2000 the per capita per month consumption expenditure on the rural areas was Rs. 486. 08 and in the case of urban areas it was Rs. 854. 96, according to HDR 2002.If we look at the poverty data, a similar situation is noticed. India, a developing economy of over a billion people, recorded a relatively high economic growth during 1980-2000, especially during the 1990s, a decade known for noteworthy structural economic reforms. This period also recorded a decline in the incidence of poverty and improvement in parameters of human development such as levels of literacy, health and nutrition conditions. Development policies focussed on enhanced and targeted public investments in programmes that facilitated improvements in the quality of life of the masses, but the isparity remains. The disparities in the social development sector are mind-boggling. Rural adult illiteracy is a matter of alarming concern. In 2001, the urban literacy rate was 80. 06 per cent but the rural literacy rate was 59. 21 per cent. Thus, the difference in rural – urban areas in terms of percentage points is 20. 85. Data released by th e Planning Commission show that among illiterate people aged 60 years and above, 78. 2 per cent live in rural areas. In urban areas the figure is 48. 2 per cent. Of the illiterate people who are 15 years and above but not beyond 60 years, rural areas have 55. per cent and the urban areas 25. 1 per cent. Of the school-going children in the age group of 5-14 years, 82. 4 per cent live in urban areas. The rural figure is 63. 3 per cent. Kerala has been able to bring this disparity down quite considerably – 93. 2 per cent in villages and 94. 3 per cent in urban areas. Policymakers are of late talking about the introduction of technology to improve the quality of life of the people by enhancing education. The bias of the state in favour of urban areas is evident from the per capita expenditure on basic services.According to the estimate of the Eleventh Finance Commission, per capita expenditure on basic services in rural areas during 1997-98 was Rs. 24, but in urban areas it was R s. 49. Rural India contributes 27 per cent to the GDP, but gets back only 5 per cent, which is less than one-fifth of its contribution. While the share of expenditure on urban poverty alleviation programmes in the total budgetary allocation by the Central government declined from 1 per cent to 0. 8 per cent during the period between 1990-91 and 2000-01, the per capita expenditure for urban poor increased from Rs. 11 to Rs. 8 during the same period. But for the rural poor, the per capita expenditure it is just one-eighth of this. In a post-colonial capitalist country like India, uneven rural-urban development or rural-urban disparity is not unusual. While it is almost impossible to bring it to an end, it is possible to reduce the disparity to a tolerable level. It may be recalled that Gandhi emphasised on rural growth and pleaded for village swaraj. He wanted the engine of India's development to start rolling down from the villages. But it became clear from the discussions in the Con stituent Assembly that it would not happen. Dr. B.R. Ambedkar characterised villages as â€Å"a sink of localism, ignorance and communalism†. Nehru felt that villages were culturally backward and no progress could be made from such places. Urban bias was clearly reflected in the attitude of the policymakers. This seems to be continuing unabated. Apart from taking steps to increase human development facilities in the villages, such as health and appropriate infrastructure such as roads and marketing facilities, there is the need for generating employment, which can better the living conditions of villagers and thereby enable them to finance education seeking process.We need to adopt a long-term policy, keeping in mind the requirements of the rural and urban areas. A close look at the development plan exercises tends to demonstrate that ad hocism permeates the policy processes. CHAPTER 5 GENDER DISPARITY IN EDUCATION There is little denying the fact that investing in human capi tal is one of the most effective means of reducing poverty and encouraging sustainable development. Yet, women in developing countries usually receive less education than men. More so, women in general enjoy far less employment opportunities than men.Any claims and efforts then, to remove poverty and make women independent, can show results only if they address the issue of gender inequality in education. In recent decades, there have been large gains, no doubt on comparable levels, in basic rights and opportunities, in life expectancy and enrolment ratios for women. But despite these gains, the stark reality has not changed. There still are large gender disparities in basic human rights, resources, and economic opportunity, and in political rights. So until India is able to address this issue of gender inequality and resolve it, the vicious cycle of poverty will continue to pervade.This is because poverty leads to and aggravates gender discrimination – it is in the poorer se ctions and nations that instances of gender biases and inequality are more evident. Women and girls are at the bottom of the social, economic and political ladder. Access to the means to influence the development process is a rare and a difficult possibility. And yet, by the same logic, gender discrimination hinders development. So while denial of basic rights (be it education, employment or health care for women) is detrimental to women, this denial, ultimately also harms the society, the nation at large too, by hampering development.Clearly, the gender gap in education that are widespread, is an impediment to development. The only solution to this is gender equality, which strengthens a country’s ability to grow, to reduce poverty and provide its people – men, women and children – a better life. Just because gender inequality is inextricably linked to societal norms, religion or cultural traditions, it should not be either a deterrent or an excuse to gender se nsitive development planning. India represents a picture of contrasts when it comes to education and employment opportunities for girls.Cultural, social and economic factors still prevent girls from getting education opportunities so the question of equality is still a mirage. However, the rural and the urban areas present a contrast. In the rural areas the girl child is made to perform household and agricultural chores. This is one of the many factors limiting girls’ education. Cleaning the house, preparing the food, looking after their siblings, the elderly and the sick, grazing the cattle and collecting firewood are some of the key tasks they have to perform.Households are therefore reluctant to spare them for schooling. Physical safety of the girls, especially when they have to travel a long distance to school and fear of sexual harassment are other reasons that impede girls' education. In the urban areas, however, there is a discernible difference in the opportunities th at girls get for education and employment. Though the figures for girls would still be low as compared to boys, what is heartening to see is that whenever given the opportunity, girls have excelled more than boys.For instance, in the Central Board of Secondary Examinations for grades 10 and 12, which are at an All India level, girls have for over a decade now, bagged all the top positions and secured a higher over all percentage compared to boys. In employment opportunities too, women in India today have stormed all male bastions. Be it piloting aircraft, heading multi-national corporations, holding top bureaucratic positions, leading industrial houses, making a mark as photographers, filmmakers, chefs, engineers and even as train and lorry drivers, women have made it to all hitherto considered male bastions in India.However, this is not reason enough for cheer. For the number of girls and women who have been left out of education and employment opportunities, still far outweighs th ose who have got them. And what needs to change this scenario, is not just governmental efforts but a change in societal norms, in cultural and traditional biases and in general mindsets of people. And in this the media, the civil society, and the youth, the women and girls have a lot to contribute. CHAPTER 6 GOVERNMENT SCHEMES FOR PROMOTING EDUCATION . 1 The Growth of Centrally Directed Projects The national policies of 1968 and 1986 were developed through processes led by the Government’s Ministry of Education and subsequently its Ministry of Human Resource Development and involving widespread consultation at the state level. While the centre always contributed funding to the states through the planning commission process and annual incremental plan allocations, implementation responsibility lay squarely with the state authorities until 1976.From 1977, implementation responsibility lay jointly de jure with the state and the centre and through the 1980s and the 1990s central government became gradually to play a much more directive role in programmes for primary, through the modality of projects. Up to the 1980s there had been little or no foreign involvement in the planning and funding of programmes in basic education. But from the 1980s, and some years before the production of the 1986 national policy on education, a small number of foreign funded projects, designed to improve access to and the quality of primary education, were initiated in various states.These would become the forerunners of the more expansive District Primary Education Programme (DPEP) of the 1990s and the country-wide Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) programme of the 2000s. 6. 1. 1 The Andhra Pradesh Primary Education Project One of the first projects was the Andhra Pradesh Primary Education Project (APPEP) started in 1984 through a programme funded jointly by the Government of India, the UK government and the State Government of Andhra Pradesh. Starting in eleven districts and 328 pr imary schools the project was planned to reach all 48,000 schools in the state.A large scale construction programme designed to increase access to schooling was accompanied by a comprehensive human resource development programme for teachers, teacher educators and education administrators, the provision of materials to support activity-based learning and professional support for teachers on a continuous basis through teacher centres. 6. 1. 2 The Shiksha Karmi Project In the state of Rajasthan, the Shiksha Karmi Project (SKP) commenced in 1987 through a collaboration between the Governments of India and Sweden and the Government of Rajasthan.Literacy rates were lower than in Andhra Pradesh, especially among girls and women, and the SKP sought to counter teacher absenteeism in remote schools, increase enrolment, especially among girls, and reduce dropout. An innovative strategy was the substitution of frequently absent primary school teachers by a two resident Shiksha Karmis (educatio nal workers). This approach was inspired by a small scale project run and funded locally during the 1970s by an NGO, the Social Work and Research Centre (SWRC), in which three experimental primary schools were run by village youth trained as they worked as teachers.Between 1978 and 1986 the experimental programme was expanded gradually to new sites with support from SWRC and other NGOs and the government of Rajasthan. The success of the small scale projects prompted the desire to expand the Shiksha Karmi idea on a larger scale. In 1987 foreign involvement and funding was formalised through an agreement for a ‘six-year’ joint venture between the governments of India and Sweden. 6. 1. 3 The Lok Jumbish Project Shortly afterwards, in 1988, the first draft of an even more ambitious project in the same state – the Lok Jumbish (People’s Movement) Project – was drafted.With three core components – the quality of learning, community involvement and t he management of education – it sought to transform the mainstream system in Rajasthan by building from it and interacting with it. Involving a politically radical strategy and complex design, the leaders of LJ saw it as ‘developer, demonstrator, catalyst and transformer of the mainstream education system from the outside’ (Lok Jumbish Joint Assessment, 1993). Many of its ideas were drawn from SKP and its predecessors, and, like SKP, it attracted financial support from the Government of Sweden, but on a much larger scale.Like the large scale Andhra Pradesh Primary Education Project before it LJ was another example of a three way relationship between the central government, the state government and a foreign agency. LJ gave substance to the 1992 National Policy of Education’s declaration that the Government of India: will, in addition to undertaking programmes in the Central sector, assist the State Governments for the development of programmes of national importance where coordinated action on the part of the States and the Centre is called for.LJ also gave substance to the framework evolved in 1991 by the Central Advisory Board of Education for the availing of external assistance for basic education projects (Lok Jumbish Joint Assessment, 1993:74-76). In the case of LJ however, the partnership involved a fourth agency – the Lok Jumbish Parishad (LJP) – a non-governmental agency based in Jaipur, Rajasthan that worked alongside the state government. Indeed, were it not for the work and drive of those who established LJP, the Lok Jumbish project would probably never have materialised, nor would some radical elements of the programme have emerged.LJ had three major components – community involvement, the quality of learning and the management of education. The component envisaged for improvements in the quality of learning was not especially radical, even if it posed implementation challenges. It involved the traini ng of teachers and teacher educators, a curriculum and pedagogy reform led by the framework of minimum learning levels (MLL), and a system for professional support.The Programme for Community Mobilisation was more radical and involved the mobilisation of the community through public debate, the sharing of information and knowledge to create informed decisions and village household surveys to establish the numbers of children not attending schools and the reasons for non-attendance. Mobilisation involved the establishment in the village of a core group who became an activating agency for the village, the involvement of women’s groups in education decision-making and the involvement of male and female adults in the design of school buildings, construction and maintenance. . 1. 4 The District Primary Education Programme Already by the early 1990s the government had decided to launch the District Primary Education Programme (DPEP) across seven states with support from a range of foreign donors. From an educational planning perspective DPEP represented a shift from removing supply side constraints to a greater focus on quality improvement. In 1994 DPEP was launched in the 42 mostly educationally disadvantaged districts in seven states.The DPEP strategy was drawn in tune with the national objectives of universal access, retention and achievement of minimum levels of educational attainment with a focus on girls and children belonging to socially deprived and economically backward sections of the society. Besides the achievement of the quantitative and qualitative targets within the stipulated period, the major thrust of the DPEP is to promote the decentralised management with active involvement of stakeholders that will have a considerable impact on the sustainability of the project beyond its life cycle.A senior administrator recalled the growing political will for basic education around this time. In contrast to some other sectors, education, and in particul ar universal elementary education (UEE) enjoyed consensus with respect to its value and to its need for financial investment. Since the early 1990s there has been a sustained approach from parties of all political hues in their support for UEE and the states themselves ‘have been trying to outdo each other’ (interview with the author). Barring some issues of governance in one or two states there has been a clear shift in the level of support for UEE.Political relations between the centre and the state are generally good, reinforcing an underlying push for reforms in UEE. Rarely are there any discordant views about how to move forward on the ‘easy’ elements of provisioning e. g. infrastructure. Discord revolves around how fast or slow state governments proceed (interview with the author). Evaluations of the impact of DPEP on a range of education performance indicators suggest that disparities in enrolment and retention were reduced the most in those district s with the lowest female literacy levels. In all 42 districts the percentage increase in female enrolment was 12. %. In the districts with very low female literacy rates the gain was 13. 2% and in districts with low female literacy rates it was 16. 2%. Positive change in the share of scheduled caste and scheduled tribe enrolment to total enrolment was also highest in those districts with the lowest female literacy rates. These enrolment gains were accompanied by reductions in the pupil:teacher ratio, in the pupil:classroom ratio and in repetition rates. While the centre promoted the DPEP programme, states also continued to innovate and to launch major programmes designed to support improvements in access to education.One example was the Midday Meal Programme for children in the lower primary grades introduced in Karnataka in 1995. The programme involved a dry ration of three kilograms of rice per month for each child enrolled in the school. The idea grew out of a huge grain surplus that was going to waste. Although the surplus did not continue, the scheme, once introduced, would continue. Inspired in part by a popular midday meal programme in the state of Tamil Nadu some 25 years earlier, the Karnataka scheme would become a central government initiative in 2004. Dry rations were replaced by a cooked meal and central government funding of 1. rupees per child per day were matched by 0. 5 rupees by the states. In principle the fund covered cooking costs, fuel, pulses and vegetables, salt and masala. In 2008 the programme was extended to the upper primary grades country-wide. Some 120 million children were fed on a daily basis in one million schools. Analysis of evidence generated from the PROBE survey conducted in the Northern states of Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh in the late 1990s indicated the positive impact of midday meal programmes on school participation in rural areas, especially among girls (Dreze and Kingdon, 2001). 6. 1. 5 Sarva S hiksha AbhiyanThe generally positive perception among many stakeholders of the results of DPEP across seven states led on to an even larger nationwide programme, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA). Translated from Hindi as ‘education for all movement’, SSA describes itself on its official website as: An effort to universalise elementary education by community-ownership of the school system. It is a response to the demand for quality basic education all over the country. The SSA programme is also an attempt to provide an opportunity for improving human capabilities to all children, through provision of community-owned quality education in a mission mode.In terms of the international discourse, SSA is the Government of India’s main programme for the delivery of Millennium Development Goal 2, the achievement of universal primary education by 2015. In terms of the national discourse it gives substance to the 2002 constitutional amendment on elementary education as a fundame ntal right. Its aim is to universalise by 2010 an improved quality of education for all children in India aged between the ages of 6 and 14 (Ward, forthcoming). Interestingly SSA’s self-description on the web employs the concept of ‘political will’.It describes itself as ‘an expression of political will for universal elementary education across the country’. SSA has certainly enjoyed ‘will’ and push from the centre. A senior bureaucrat commented that since SSA was a centrally sponsored scheme, the centre was pushing it very strongly. But political will and ownership at the level of the state is also important. The source of funding is key to will and ownership at state level. During the time of earlier DPEP the centre funded 85% of expenditure and the states 15%. SSA has introduced a tapering formula such that by the end of 2011/12 the ratio should be 50-50.SSA is further described as: * A programme with a clear time frame for universal elementary education. * A response to the demand for quality basic education all over the country. * An opportunity for promoting social justice through basic education. * An effort at effectively involving the Panchayati Raj Institutions, School Management Committees, Village and Urban Slum level Education Committees, Parents' Teachers' Associations, Mother Teacher Associations, Tribal Autonomous Councils and other grass root level structures in the management of elementary schools. A partnership between the Central, state and the local government. * An opportunity for states to develop their own vision of elementary education. In 2001 its performance targets (on the website described as objectives) were defined ambitiously as: * All children in school, Education Guarantee Centre, Alternate School, ‘Back-to- * School' camp by 2003; All children complete five years of primary schooling by 2007 * All children complete eight years of elementary schooling by 2010 Focus on element ary education of satisfactory quality with emphasis on education for life * Bridge all gender and social category gaps at primary stage by 2007 and at elementary education level by 2010 * Universal retention by 2010 The Education Guarantee Scheme (EGS) referred to in the first target was introduced originally in 1977 under the title of the Non Formal Education Scheme. That scheme enjoyed only limited success and was re-launched in 2000 (GoI, 2002:29).Its aim was to provide further coverage in small habitations with no schools within a one kilometre radius. The current scheme targets out-of-school children in the 6-14 age group and uses strategies such as bridge courses, back-to-school camps, seasonal hostels, summer camps, mobile teachers and remedial coaching. For the last several years, many of these EGS centres have been upgraded to the full status of primary schools, but concerns remain about the quality of education which they offer as well as their long-term sustainability. 6. 1. 6 The Right to Education BillThe most significant change in national policy on access to elementary education in recent years was the Right to Education Bill. Although a number of states have had compulsory education acts on their statues for many years, some from before independence, these acts had not been formulated in a way that rendered them ‘justiciable’ i. e. no-one could be prosecuted if those rights were not met. In 1992, the Indian government signed the International Convention of the Rights of the Child. An important legislative spur came in 1993 when the Supreme Court ruled in the Unnikrishnan vs.State of Andhra Pradesh [1993 (1) SCC 645]. The Supreme Court ruled that Article 45 of the Constitution which asserted the obligation of the state to provide free and compulsory education up to age of 14 sh