MADRASSA TURNS TECH-SAVVY

A CENTURY-OLD ISLAMIC SEMINARY IN AZAMGARH HAS A CURRICULUM THAT INCLUDES SCIENCE AND COMPUTERS TO KEEP UP WITH THE TIMES



AZAMGARH: Re-inventing itself to keep pace with the times, a century-old Islamic seminary in Azamgarh district not only has a broadbased curriculum with science and computers but also a polytechnic to equip its students with vocational skills.

Apart from the Quran, the madrassa also imparts knowledge in English, science, mathematics, political science, economics, Hindi and computers. Several alumni are doing research in various universities in India and abroad.

Fakhrul Islam Islahi, vice rector of Islah, says that modern education is not incompatible with Islam.

“ We don’t believe in differentiating between education,” said Islah, who also heads the department of Arabic of Shibli National Post Graduate College in Azamgarh city.

“ Science and mathematics are helpful to understand Islam and obey its commandments.

It is difficult to solve inheritance questions and disputes without knowing mathematics,” he said.

The Islamic law of inheritance is an important subject of Islam that is necessarily taught in madrassas.

English has come a long way here and is no more viewed from the pre- independence lens as the language of the oppressor

What makes the madrassa stand out is that it is located in a place often associated with terror and Islamic fundamentalism.


Azamgarh made headlines after the Batla House shootout of 2008 in Delhi in the immediate aftermath of the serial blasts in the capital. Two suspected militants, both Azamgarh natives, were killed in the incident.

Many of those accused of the Sept 13, 2008, Delhi serial bombings belonged to Azamgarh. Following the incident, many local youths were arrested in connection with different terror attacks across the country, which maligned the image of the district.

DID YOU KNOW?
Established in 1908 at Saraimir town in Azamgarh, Madrasatul Islah is one of the oldest Islamic religious schools in the region.


1,000
No of students from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Uttarakhand and Maharashtra that study at the madrassa

Decentralised renewable energy holds the key to rural electrification

Announcement / Economy July 01, 2011, 19:07 IST

National consultation on RGGVY demands revamp of scheme

With Centre’s ambitious Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana failing to provide quality electricity access to rural India, at a National Consultation organised by Greenpeace, restructuring of RGGVY to include decentralised renewable energy for quick and reliable electricity to all, was the key issue on focus. The consultation brought together government agencies, energy experts, policy makers and civil society representatives (1).

Member of Parliament D Raja expressed concern on the findings of the social audit and raised questions on the effectiveness of the scheme. “How long will rural areas have to wait before they get energy empowered? The scheme raised people’s hopes but has dashed them again by not being able to provide reliable and quality electricity, which is not more than a few hours in some areas. The government must rectify the loopholes so that people get what is their right. Their right to electricity, their right to work, study and do business even after dark, their right to growth and a better life,” Raja said.

“The centralised grid based approach of RGGVY has not been able to meet people’s aspirations. Rural areas have always been neglected in this energy hierarchy. Decentralised renewable energy can break this hierarchy and provide quick, reliable and sustainable power to people. The planning commission should consider and include it in the scheme,” said Divya Raghunandan, Campaigns Director, Greenpeace India.

This shift to decentralisation was echoed by Deepak Gupta, Secretary, Ministry of new and renewable energy, recently at the global energy forum at Vienna, Austria. He highlighted the need for a fundamental rethink in India’s approach to rural electrification, and the failure of the currently prevalent grid extension approach towards fulfilling the mandate of electricity for all. He emphasized on decentralised distributed generation models (DDG) operated at the local level which rely on renewable energy sources and technologies as the way forward to deliver on energy access. This would deliver faster on access while reducing costs around centralised grid extension (2).

Ahead of the national consultation, Greenpeace conducted social audits and public hearings on RGGVY in 31 villages across Madhubani and Saran districts in Bihar, Azamgarh district in Uttar Pradesh and Srikakulam district in Andhra Pradesh.

The social audits and the public hearings clearly brought out the inconsistencies in the claims made by the Centre’s scheme and what the reality at the ground level.

In a shocking expose, it was found that while the information on the RGGVY website claimed that Saran and Madhubani districts in Bihar had achieved 100 per cent and 97 per cent electrification, in reality, almost 78 per cent of the population at Saran and almost all villages in Madhubani had no access to electricity. Similarly, in Azamgarh, eastern Uttar Pradesh (UP), the RGGVY website claims electrification upto 93 per cent, while in reality a large number of people have been denied even an electric connection. In energy deficient UP and Bihar, the supply is highly erratic and unreliable.

In Andhra Pradesh, where villages have access to electricity, RGGVY has failed to achieve intense electrification that it set out to do. Improvement in electricity infrastructure has not translated to improved supply and failed to meet the demands of the people who want electricity for more than just lighting purposes. Moreover, lack of awareness and entitlements under the scheme has lead to entry of contractors and rampant corruption as people of the area alleged in our public hearings.

“The scheme has not been able to provide even basic electricity to rural areas because it has envisaged grid extension in the absence of quality and reliable electricity supply. There are inherent problems in the scheme that need to be rectified. The Planning Commission is reviewing the scheme for the 12th five year plan. With the social audits, public hearings, regional consultation and now the national consultation, we hope to input into the review process and take people’s concerns to the policy makers,” said Arpana Udupa, campaigner, climate and energy, Greenpeace India.

Greenpeace calls on the Planning Commission and the Ministry of Power to mainstream DRE in RGGVY in a significant way. The scheme should:

•Take up a target of small scale renewable energy generation (mix of mini-grid and off-grid) infrastructure development in the 12th plan period.
•Include electrification for 100 per cent households in a village.
•Embed the social audit component in the scheme to enhance accountability of the system.
•Include guidelines for energy infrastructure for irrigation and medium and small scale industries as part of rural energy programme
•Inclusion of Panchayati Raj Institutions to enable better implementation and monitoring of the scheme.

Greenpeace will share the recommendations emerging out of today’s consultation with the Planning Commission and the Ministry of Power.

Notes to the editor
1.The national consultation was attended by representatives of GIZ, Power Grid Corporation India Limited, Department for International Development, Planning Commission, Society for Participatory Research in Asia, Development Alternatives, The Energy Research Institute, Rural Electrification Corporation, Vasudha Foundation, Ministry of Power, Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan and Member of Parliament Dr D Raja amongst others.

2.Vienna Energy forum bulletin – A summary report of the Vienna energy forum 2011 http://www.unido.org/index.php?id=1001185

For further details and social audit reports, pleae visit:

http://www.greenpeace.org/india/en/System-templates/Search-results/?all=rggvy

Return in state an uphill task for party

The Congress has miles to go before it can be seen as a political alternative to form the next government in Uttar Pradesh. It has been out of power in the state since 1989 and has been unable to connect with the the people in the elections one since then. The 2009 Lok Sabha polls saw its re-emergence. So all eyes will be on it in the 2012 polls.

In the recent months, it has been able to keep itself on the centre stage by raising issues of public concern. Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi's recent moves to reach out to the people to meet the victims of rape and murder have helped the party connect with the issues of public concern.




His decision to accompany Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee (UPCC) president Rita Bahuguna Joshi to file applications to get information about use of National Rural Health Mission funds and his 'dharna' at Bhatta-Parsaul villages outsmarting others have generated a lot of heat in the political arena.

Take the case of party's organisational strength. A number of district and city units are yet to be constituted notwithstanding the much-prolonged exercise of holding organisational elections.

The party leaders from Azamgarh were staging a dharna in front of the UPCC headquarters to demand early appointment of DCC president when Rahul was attending the state election committee meeting to decide the policy to announce candidates for 2012 assembly elections.

The UPCC had said the party would announce candidates for the assembly elections by May 31, 2011. Even after a month, the party has not been able to announce the candidates.

Besides the state centric factors, the party would also have to find convincing answers for its handling of issues like price rise at national level.

Combating human trafficking proves difficult

Jun 24, 2011, 10.03pm IST

VARANASI: Though the anti-human trafficking cell (AHTC) of police has become operational recently in the district, it has to evolve a foolproof mechanism for preventing and combating human trafficking as Varanasi is believed to be a transit point for the same.


"No case of human trafficking has been registered so far, though we have rescued 15 children below 14 years of age from many 'dhabas' and small hotels," said Pannalal Gupta, the in-charge of the cell that came into existence on June 16. The cell has been established as per the directive of the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India.

The advisory on preventing and combating human trafficking clearly mentions that the Trafficking in Human Beings (THB) is a crime committed in order to target, lead or drive a human being into an exploitative situation with the aim to make profits. Such exploitation may take many forms like commercial sexual exploitation, child labour, forced labour or bonded labour. The country is witnessing cross-border as well as internal (intra-country) trafficking.

In its initial exercise the cell rescued child labourers only. "We have contacted the guardians of the rescued children and sent them back," Gupta told TOI on Friday. According to him, it could not be established that the children were trafficked. However, one of the main objectives of the cell is to put an effective check on trafficking of children and women, who can be exploited as labourers and commercial sex workers. He admitted that it would take some time for the proper running of the cell. The cell has a team of six personnel, including two sub-inspector, two head constables and two constables. "We also need public support and co-operation for effective action against those involved in trafficking," he said.
 
On the other hand, social activists working in this field feel that it needs proper co-ordination to address the deep-rooted problem. "It is a fact that girls are trafficked from Nepal, Bangladesh and Indian states like West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand and east UP itself. This trafficking either culminates and gets accommodated in the brothels of Varanasi, Mau, Azamgarh, Ballia or gets routed (transit point) to Bombay, Delhi, Dubai and other places from Varanasi by virtue of having air, road, rail links," said Ajeet Singh of Guria, an organisation working for women and child rights. "A broader linkage needs to be built between source, transit and destination areas to trace, rescue and rehabilitate trafficked victims of commercial sexual exploitation," he said. According to him, nearly 5% of women and girls engaged in prostitution are from Nepal and Bangladesh and about 5,000-7,000 Nepali girls are trafficked to India every year mainly via UP and Bihar.
 
So far the organisation has rescued around 50 minor girls from the brothels in the red light area of Varanasi with the help of the civil society. Presently Guria is fighting over 100 cases against more than 400 traffickers and brothel keepers. Singh has also been included in the team constituted by the National Commission for Women (NCW) to investigate trafficking channels from Azamgarh to the Middle East. According to him, the problem exists because laws like Immoral Trafficking Prevention Act (ITPA) and Bonded Labour Abolition Act are not enforced properly. A report of the National Human Rights Commission also suggests that laws do not adequately target traffickers, pimps, and brothel keepers. He said around 14,000 persons are arrested every year under ITPA, out of whom about 90% are women, despite the fact that a majority of the exploiters and traffickers are men.


Poverty is believed to be the root cause of trafficking of children for various purposes. Singh said about 44% of the women in prostitution fall prey to traffickers because of poverty. The report of the Ministry of Women and Child Development on Child Protection in the Eleventh Five Year Plan (2007-2012) also admits it. It is estimated that 90% of trafficking for sexual exploitation is within the country. Many of those trafficked are children, sometimes as young as eight years old, or even younger. According the report, trafficking for labour is the most under reported crime.

"There is no appropriate law to put a check, particularly on child trafficking effectively," said another social activist Rajni Kant, director of Human Welfare Association ( HWA). According to him, Varanasi has sensitive pockets that are ideally located for child trafficking through rail road links. "It is fine to create an exclusive cell to tackle this problem, but all police station should also have dedicated teams for this purpose," he said.