Bringing the Incompatibles Together:Some Critical Reflections on SAD-BSP Alliance

Editor-in-Chief: Prem Kumar Chumber Contact: 001-916-947-8920 Fax: 916-238-1393 E-mail: chumbermedia@yahoo.com, editor@ambedkartimes.com

VOL- 13 ISSUE- 14 June 16, 2021 California (USA) www.ambedkartimes.com www.deshdoaba.com

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he Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) isa native heritage political party

of Punjab. The Bahujan Samaj Party(BSP), the newly announced alliancepartner of the SAD, though also bornin Punjab, where Dalits comprise onethird of its population, had to blos-somed only in the faraway Hindi beltof Uttar Pradesh (UP). Both the SADand BSP are currently entangled intheir respective adverse political cir-cumstances. If the SAD is finding itdifficult to maintain its heritage status– being a Panthic party of the Sikhs– for not defending the interests of itscore support base – the famers of thestate, who also happen to mostly beJat Sikhs, the BSP is currently expe-riencing an existential crisis in itsbirth-place.The SAD, being apartner in the National Demo-cratic Alliance, has alienated itsprimary constituency over thequagmire of the three contro-versial agriculture-related laws,enacted by the central govern-ment. Punjab Dalits, thoughlargely landless agricultureworkers, have also felt the ad-verse impact of the laws ontheir lives. Thus, farmers andlandless Dalit farmwork-ers, otherwise locked in classcontradiction, have beenbrought nearer to each other injoint protest against the con-tentious farm laws. The 'farmers’protest’ has therefore been success-ful in eliciting good response from thevarious Khet Mazdoor (agriculturalworkers) unions in Punjab.It has tran-scended its narrow ethnic boundariesand realised an unprecedented widerKisan-Mazdoor political unity. To neu-tralize the negative political impact ofthis new-found Kisan-Mazdoor politi-cal unity on its electoral performancein the forthcoming assembly electionin Punjab, the SAD has astutely cho-sen to sever its ties with the BJP andwalk out of the NDA, and then inkedan electoral alliance with the BSP inthe hope of garnering votes fromlarge swathes of the ScheduledCastes (SCs) population in Punjab,which is mostly concentrated in theDoaba region – namely Jalandhar,Nawanshahr, Kapurthala andHoshiarpur districts.

SAD and BSP stakeholdershave divergent opinions on the effi-cacy of the alliance formed on June12, 2021. Akalis, beleaguered by themounting pressure of farmers' agita-tion and the consequential disbandingof the quarter-century old SAD-BJPpartnership, seek in the alliance notonly a revival of the long-lost unitybetween Dalits and the Akalis in Pun-jab, but also a new lease of political

life to fill the void created by the snapof ties with the BJP with the hope ofsupport fromthe SC one-third popula-tion in the state. However, for the SCsof Punjab, the alliance was more of apolitical stratagem to strengthen thehands of the SAD at the cost of theirpolitical interests in the forthcomingPunjab assembly election. Theystarted echoing their resentmentabout the alliance immediately afterits formal announcement by SukhbirSingh-led SAD, and Satish ChandraMishra, general secretary of BSP anda non-dalit confidante of Mayawati,chief matriarch of the BSP. It is quiteironical that despite being highly SCconcentrated state, it failed to pro-duce any local leader to rise up to the

occasion to mark the alliance an-nouncing ceremony.

The local office bearers of thePunjab unit of BSP expressed their re-sentment over the number and thequality of the seats distributed be-tween the SAD and BSP. The BSP notonly got less seats (20) than the BJP(23), the earlier alliance partner ofSAD, but was also allegedly deprivedof those constituencies where itscandidates performed relatively wellin various previous assembly and par-liament elections. They urged thePunjab unit of BSP leadership ‘to getthe seat sharing pact revised so thatthe reserved seats like Phillaur,Banga, Adampur and Chabbewalcould be allotted to BSP’.2 The threeassembly constituencies of Phillaur,Banga, and Adampur – currently rep-resented by SAD MLAs, who wereearlier affiliated with the BSP – areamong the well-groomed constituen-cies of BSP in the Doaba region ofPunjab. In the Lok Sabha elections in2019, BSP secured more votes thanthat of the SAD in these three assem-bly segments. The cadres of Punjabunit of BSP also expressed its resent-ment over the exclusion of four morewell-groomed assembly constituen-cies (Sham Chaurasi, Chabbewal,Garhshankar and Balachaur) from its

fold. Moreover, in some of the otherconstituencies – Amritsar North, Am-ritsar Central, Pathankot, Bhoa, BassiPathana and Payal – allotted to BSP,its vote share in previous assemblyelections were in three digits.

It is too early to predict howsmoothly this newly formed politicalalliance will work – if at all – but acursory look at the given socio-politi-cal and economic ground reality inthe state divulges enough to identifyemergent trajectories in the comingmonths. It is a common perceptionthat Jat Sikhs and SCs have almostsimilar numerical strength (each 1/3)in the population of the state, but interms of their share in the ownershipof agriculture land in the state, the

latter stands nowhere near the for-mer. The majority of Jat Sikhs areowners of land, though in differentmeasures, whereas an overwhelmingpreponderance of SCs happen to bemanual agriculture workers on thefarmlands of the former. Apart fromthe economic disparity, Jat Sikhs andSCs belong to two distinctive socialmilieus with reference to the preva-lence of caste divide in the state.They have, unfortunately, separatecremation grounds and religiousplaces in their villages. Moreover,within the villages too, they live insegregated socio-spatial settlements.The segregated SC settlements arecontemptuously called Chamarlees inDoaba, Thathees in Malwa, andVehras in Majha – the three distinctspatial-cultural regions of Punjab. JatSikhs live in the mainstream villagealong with the various castes of thefour Varnas.

It is in the above-mentionedvital context, we need to make a crit-ical assessment of the prospects ofthe SAD-BSP alliance in the forth-coming Assembly elections in thestate. Given the fractious caste dividein the society, it seems quite unlikelythat the SC votes would be trans-ferred wholesale to the SAD by wayof its political alliance with the

Mayawat i -headed BSP.Mo re ove r,the SCs ofPunjab, liketheir coun-terparts inother partsof the coun-try, are not ah o m o g e -neous cate-gory– theyare sharplydivided into39 castesamong themselves and further frag-mented into different religions andsyncretic faiths, metamorphosed into

Deras. Dalits, atomised into var-ious castes, religions and Deras,are respectively aligned withdifferent political parties andsocio-cultural outfits in thestate. The SAD-BSP alliancemay not fetch substantial SCvotes for SAD across the entirespectrum of these socio-reli-gious divisions within the Dalitcommunity. Similarly, Sikhs,given their clan affiliations withthe Sikh-headed Punjab Con-gress party and Akali Dals ofdifferent nomenclatures, toohave never voted exclusively forthe SAD (Badal).3 And at the

same time, those SCs who have beenestranged with the BSP – for its notcoming up to their expectations as atrue representative of the legacy ofBabu Kanshi Ram the progenitor ofthe BSP – and were earlier consideredto be the sympathisers of the SAD,may withdraw their support from itprecisely because of its alliance withthe BSP. Similarly, the BSP may alsohave to pay the price for allying withthe SAD. Those SC affiliates of theBSP who were not comfortable withthe SAD, may like to dissociate them-selves from the former for its politicalmarriage of convenience. In fact, thislatter sentiment which looks askanceupon what to many appears to berank opportunism, is likely to pervade,to a greater or lesser extent, the en-tire gamut of sub-groups upon whichthis alliance is predicated. It is wellwithin the realm of possibility that thecarefully weighed vote-bank calculusupon which this alliance is primafacie founded, may capsize upon therock of skepticism.

Further explication of the in-ternal dynamics of the recently an-nounced SAD-BSP alliance and itsexpected impact on the electoral out-comes in the 2022 state Assemblyelection, is gained through a critical

(Contd. on next page)

T

Ronki RamShaheed Bhagat Singh Chair Professor

of Political SciencePanjab University, Chandigarh

ronkiram@yahoo.co.inVisiting Professor, Centre for Sikh

and Panjabi Studies,University of Wolverhampton, UK

www.deshdoaba.comwww.ambedkartimes.com 2V0l-13 Issue-14 June 16, 2021

Bringing the Incompatibles Together:Some Critical Reflections on SAD-BSP Alliance

(Continue from page 1)comparative analysis of previousAkalis-BSP alliances and their inter-face with the current political scenar-ios in Punjab in the backdrop ofvolatile situation emanating frommore than six months old Kisan Mor-cha at Delhi borders. The SAD andBSP came together for the first timein 1996, twenty-five years ago, tojointly contest thirteen parliamentaryseats in Punjab. They achieved vic-tory on 11 seats – SAD on eight outof nine and the BSP on three out offour they contested respectively.Babu Kanshi Ram, the BSP supremo,himself was one the three victoriouscandidates. He won from theHoshiarpur reserved parliamentaryconstituency. However, the 1996 al-liance did not last long, as PrakashSingh Badal, the chief patriarch of theSAD, unilaterally decided to supportthe Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ledVajpayee government at the centre.Babu Kanshi Ram accused PrakashSingh Badal of breaking the allianceand called him manuvadi.4 Subse-quently, he formed an electoral al-liance with the Sarav HindShiromaniAkali Dal (Tohra) that played a signif-

icant role in the defeat of SAD ofPrakash Singh Badal in the Punjab As-sembly elections in 2002. Similarly,Mayawati had also referred to theSAD-BJP government as an ‘anti-Dalit’ formation during a huge rally atNawanshahr on the birth anniversaryof Babu Kanshi Ram.5

Since 1996 much water hasflown under the bridge. Except for theone lone assembly seat ofGarhshankar won by Shingara RamSahungara in 1997, the BSP has notwon any seats in either the assemblyor the parliament elections in thestate so far. Its share in the totalvotes polled during the last five As-sembly elections (1997, 2002, 2007,2012, and 2017) varies between13.28 per cent to 1.59 per cent.7Thus, except for its impressivemaiden electoral performance in theskewed 1992 assembly elections,boycotted by the SAD, wherein it at-tained victory in nine seats with16.68 per cent votes, the BSP hasnever achieved that figure in itstwenty-five year (1992-2017) oldelectoral history. Its electoral perform-ance was catastrophic in the last as-sembly election in 2017. Except

Avtar Singh Karimpuri, former presi-dent of BSP unit of Punjab, the secu-rity deposits of all its other 110candidates were forfeited.Its voteshare dropped precipitously to an all-time low of 1.59 per cent. In the2012 Assembly elections, its per-formance was relatively less abysmalwith a vote share of 4.3 per cent. Outof its 117 candidates,109 forfeitedtheir security deposits. Though SCsconstitute almost one third of thestate population, their intra-caste di-visionshave so far torpedoed theBSP’s ambition to emerge as a main-stream Dalit political party in Punjab.Whether the SAD-BSP alliance provesto be symbiotic or a mutually destruc-tive scenario – given the complex in-terplay of the aforesaid factors – willbe a key lookout in the 2022 Punjabassembly election.

References1. Eight from dalit-dominated Doabaregion, seven from Malwa, and fivefrom Majha belt.2. Singh, I.P., “SAD tie-up cheers BSPcadres, but ‘quality’ of seats vexesthem,” The Times of India, June 14,2021. See also: The Tribune, June

14, 2021.3. Kumar, Ashutosh, “Punjab Is in BadNeed of Political Leadership: Will Op-tics Reap Dividends?” The Wire, June14, 2021. Available at:https://thewire.in/politics/will-optics-reap-dividends-in-a-punjab-in-bad-need-of-political-leadership (Accessedon June 14, 2021).4. Awasthi, Surinder, “Kanshi formal-izes poll alliance with Tohra group,”Times of India, July 1, 1999.5. Kohli, Jatinder, “BSP to go it alonein 2017 Punjab polls: Mayawati inNawanshahr,” Hindustan Times,March 15, 2016. Available at:https://www.hindustantimes.com/punjab/no-alliance-will-fight-2017-pun-j a b - po l l s - a l o n e -mayawa t i - i n -nawashahr/story-xvgQ1XSbk8oJZC656XmF2J.html (accessed on June14, 2021). 6. Gopal, Navjeevan, “Explained: WhySAD is counting on its alliance withBSP for a comeback, The Indian Ex-press, June 14, 2021. Available at:https://indianexpress.com/article/ex-plained/why-sad-is-counting-on-its-al-liance-with-bsp-for-a-comeback-7356346/lite/ (Accessed on June 14,2021).

Sahib Kanshi Ram and Dalit EmancipationPrem K. ChumberEditor-In-Chief:

www.ambedkartimes.comSahib Kanshi Ram devoted his

life for the eradication of caste fromthe domestic structures of Indiansocio-religious realm. The sole aim hislife-long struggle was to facilitate theBahujan Samaj to acquire powerthrough the medium of ballot. He wasa firm believer in the nonviolentpower of democracy that he inheritedfrom the teachings of Babasaheb DrB.R Ambedkar. A chance reading ofone of the numerous valuable writ-ings of Dr. Ambedkar transformed hisvision and he did not only prefer tolive unmarried but also renounced hisfamily life once for all. After heplunged into social struggle for theacquisition of political power for hispeople he did not look back at all to-ward his home in village Khauspur inRupnagar district of Punjab. He did allthis for helping his people to stand ontheir own feet to get rid of centuries'old slavery and blind faith in theChaturvarna system of social hierar-chy, which deny them their bare min-imum human rights. He ingrainedamong his people that the politicalpower is the only key to Dalit eman-cipation and empowerment in the realsense of the term.

Sahib Kanshi Ram Ji was aninnovative thinker and a charismaticmass leader who coined new politicalvocabulary for the mobilization ofdowntrodden. The slogans he chis-eled adroitly caught the imaginationof all and sundry throughout thelength and breadth of India. He told

his people unless and until theyformed their own social and politicalorganizations, no upper caste politicalparty will allow them to come to ruleIndia. And he was confident thatgiven the 85 percent strength ofBahujan, if the latter joined hands noone in the world can stop them reachDelhi. His untiring efforts and firmfaith in his people brought successthough in some parts of the country.But as far as awareness among theBahujan is concerned his was a greatsuccess. Ambedkar Times and DeshDoaba weekly newspaper pays sin-cere tributes to Sahib Shri KanshiRam Ji on his 11th death anniversaryand solemnly resolve to continuestruggling following into his foot-steps. Posted at www.ambedkar-times.com

Some points from Sahib Kanshi Ram’s Speech –

• The Ad-Dharm movement was themovement of rebellion against theHindu religion. It was the movementagainst the Manuwad.• Ad-Dharm movement was the re-volt against the Manuwad.• We as a community must under-stand what Ad-Dharm movement wasand 75 years ago what movementwas started by our forefathers, howAd-Dharm movement ran for 75years, what next needs to be doneand what future holds for us, for themovement.• One thing I know is that if GuruRavidass Ji’s teachings were not in-cluded in Sri Guru Granth Sahib, noone would have ever known aboutGuru Ravidass.

• BSP is a party ofweakest (section ofthe society) but itsfight is with thosewho are powerful.How to fight thesepowerful parties? Bydeveloping the rightthinking/mentality.

We need to become ruling class if we want to forma casteless society

Sahib KanshiRam said– In 1936Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar was invited by the “JatPat Todak Mandal,Lahore” to presenthis essay on the subject of caste. Butthe organizers of theconference did notallow Babasaheb to present theessay. Later on, Babasaheb publishedthe essay in a form of book titled as“Annihilation of Caste”. When I firstread this book in 1962-63, I felt thatannihilation of caste is certainly pos-sible. But later on, when I startedthinking deeply and began to studythe subject of castes, caste systemand behavioral patterns associatedwith the caste system, my under-standing of caste began to change.My study of Caste is not merelybased on reading books but it hasemanated from my real life experi-ence with the castes. There are mil-lions of people who leave their

villages and migrate to metro citieslike Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and otherbig cities. These people do not bringanything else with them; the onlything they bring with them is theircaste. They leave behind in their villages their small huts, a small plotof land, etc.

But they cannot leave behindtheir caste in the village; the caste invariably accompanies them to thecities where they begin to stay indirty shanties along the side of rail-way tracks and nallahs. If the caste isso dear to the people then how canwe annihilate the caste? Therefore Ihave stopped thinking in the directionof the annihilation of caste.

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2022 Punjab Assembly Polls – Akali Dal - BSP Alliance All political parties are gearing up forthe forthcoming assembly polls due inthe first quarter of next year, 2022.Akali Dal and BSP have taken the leadand announced their joining hands onJune 12 to challenge the Congresshold on power with much hope andpromise. Congress Party and BJP arestill in the process of finalizing theirplans and strategies. Akalis severed itslong standing partnership with BJP re-cently in the wake of Farm Laws andfarmers’ agitation and was obviouslyneeded additional support to unseatthe Congress Party. BSP was the onlyoption with a view to attract dalit sup-port in this regard. On the other handBSP also required boosting their aspi-rations to grab power as their cadreswere getting restless and disgruntled.Out of 117 seats of the assembly, BSPwill contest 20 – 8 in Doaba, 5 inMajha and 7 in Malwa ( 12 reservedand 8 general seats) against their ex-pectation of about 25 seats and Akali

Dal will have the major share of 97seats. This share of 20 and 97 seemsfine as BSP has lost its share of votesover the years from more than 15% in1996 to less than 2% in 2017. Thereare many ‘ifs and buts’ on the likelyoutcome of the alliance between AkaliDal and BSP, given the history of theirpolitical conduct in the past. In 1996,both the parties contested the LokSabha elections together and regis-tered a huge victory by grabbing 11seats (3 BSP and 8 Akalis) out of 13seats. Manyawar Kanshi Ram himselfwas steering the wheels of BSP. Later,Akalis ditched the alliance with BSPand joined hands with BJP in the nextassembly polls in 1997. It generatedconfidence deficit on both the sides.Now after 25 years, they have comearound to join hands to capturepower. But the distance between theproverbial ‘the cup and the lip’ is to begulfed.

The leadership of both BSPand Akali Dal demonstrated to be ‘up-beat’ and expressed satisfaction onthe alliance. BSP Supremo Mayawatitermed the alliance as “a new politicaland social initiative’ while BSP’s sen-ior leader who negotiated the alliancesaid, “Today is thenew day in Pun-jab’s politics; a his-toric day” Presidentof Akali Dal,Sukhbir Badal said,The relationshipwhich was formedby SAD PatronParkash SinghBadal and BSPFounder KanshiRam 25 years agohas been revived”.Former CM ParkashSingh Badal bless-ing the alliancesaid, ‘It was the be-

ginning of a secular, federal and dem-ocratic revolution in the state and thecountry for a total socio-economicand political revamp of polity”. Con-gress MP, Chaudhary Santokh Singhdubbed the alliance as “opportunistic”Another Congress MP, Ravneet Bittucreated a ‘political storm’ by makinga controversial and, prima facie, saidto be ‘castiest’ remarks on leaving thesaid to be ‘pious or holy’ seats by theAkalis to the said to be a party of dal-its, BSP. BJP appears to be watchingthe emerging scene carefully beforejumping into the fray. Some politicalpandits feel that BJP might resort toarm twisting of Mayawati, if required,to torpedo the alliance to ‘teach a les-son’ to Akalis for divorcing BJP.

The political analysts and themedia have shown considerable inter-est in the development. The mainstream media gave mixed reactions.The Times of India story done by a

knowledgeable hack I.P. Singh titled itas “BSP cadres happy with SAD tie-up, peeved at leaving ‘good’ seats”.The Tribune in an editorial observedthe alliance as ‘is an attempt by AkaliDal and Mayawato led BSP to revivetheir political fortune jointly in the

state”. One of thesenior most retiredIAS officers of dalitcommunity whoalso remained privyto important deci-sions of ManyawarKanshi Ram and hispolitics, TilakSarangal candidlywrote in his time-line of Facebookand said, “Thepresent alliance willalso meet the samefate (referring to1996). It maybreak even before

2022 election. Even if it continues,BSP is going to be big loser. Of these20 seats which they have got, only 3-4 seats are winnable. They may loseheavily. SAD will be at advantage.They may regain the lost ground be-cause of after effects of Bargari inci-dent. BSP cadre may vote for SAD,but vice versa may not be true. SAD,may go with BJP after elections, ifthey will be anywhere near majority.”The sister of Manyawar Kanshi Ram,has criticized the SAD-BSP allianceand blamed Mayawati for the downfallof the party founder so laboriously byhis brother. I spoke to some of thePunjab leaders of the BSP. They werehesitant of coming out openly. One ofthem, anonymously, said that BSPmight win 7-8 seats – three on Doaba(Kartarpur, Phagwara and Nawanse-har) and 4-5) elsewhere in Majha andMalwa from General seats where theparty will ask its senior ally Akali Dal

to selectand namecandidateswho willcontest onBSP sym-bol as BSPmay notf i n dw innab l ecandidatesin theseG e n e r a lseats fromits owncadres.

o wit will depend on the performance ofboth the alliance partners and theirability to successfully transfer theirvote shares to the respective candi-dates. If they succeed in doing so, itwill be further confirmed that bothparties really believe in an egalitariansociety as visualized by the Sikh

Gurus and Manyawar Kanshi Ramwho once said that Guru Granth Sahibwas his election manifesto. And if theSAD-BSP Alliance did not show goodresults, then dalits will need to sit andcontemplate whether they shouldchalk their own way, independent ofall others streams with about 40%dalit population of Punjab. The newentrants and smaller players like AzadSamaj Party o Chandrashekhar Azad(Ravan) and Jeevan Malla’s BahujanDravid Party among others would bethere upset the applecart. BSP shouldnot be oblivious of this. All said, obvi-ously, it cannot be allowed any furtherthat dalits sit outside the power struc-tures and do the bidding of otherswhosoever they might be. I conclude:

Tu Pehle Baat; Phir Baat Ka Andaj Paida Kar,

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India lags far behind in terms of Sustainable DevelopmentAccording to a report released bythe United Nations on June 6,2021, India's ranking of achieving

Sustainable Development based onthe17 Social Development Goals (SDGs)set by the 193 countries in the 2003agenda, which was 115th last year, hasslipped to 117th position this year. Indiaranks not only the lowest among theBRICS countries — Brazil, the RussianFederation, India, China, and SouthAfrica but also below the four SouthAsian countries — Bhutan, Sri Lanka,Nepal, and Bangladesh. The United Na-tions ranks sustainable development outof 100 points in the Social DevelopmentGoals. India scored 61.9 out of 100points, while the rest of the BRICS coun-tries China, Brazil, the Russian Federa-tion, and South Africa scored 73.89,72.67, 71.92, and 63.41 points respec-tively. In this regard, India's four smallerAsian neighbors — Bhutan, Sri Lanka,Nepal, and Bangladesh have scored69.27, 66.88, 65.93, and 63.51 points,respectively. The report attributes India'sdecline in Sustainable Development tothe challenges of eradicating hunger andfood security. In addition, gender equal-ity, solid infrastructure, sustainable indus-trialization, and the absence ofinnovations are some of the reasons whyIndia's ranking has slipped.

The Global Hunger Index is cre-ated by Welthungerhife and ConcernWorldwide institions to raise awarenessabout hunger around the world. To under-stand the multifaceted nature of hunger,different countries are ranked on thebasis of 4 indicators. The first indicatorrelates to people who are malnourished.The second indicator relates to childrenunder 5 years of age who are under-weight according to their height. Thethird indicator is for children under theage of 5 who are shorter in height. Thefourth indicator relates to the death ofchildren under 5 years of age. Reports ofhunger in various countries of the worldunder the title of 'Global Hunger Index'every year show that India is oftenranked low in this regard. Ensuring foodsecurity for all the people of the countryis essential to eradicate hunger. Thecountry enacted the Food Security Act in2013, which provides food security to67 per cent of the population. Accordingto the law, the beneficiaries are entitledto get 5kg of food grains per month-riceat Rs.3, wheat at Rs.2 and coarse grainsat Rs.1 per kg. Given the food prices, thefood security provided to two-thirds ofthe population looks very good. Butwhen we look at the quantity of foodgrains, there is some frustration because5kg of food grains per person per monthworks out to 164 grams per day, whichis not enough to satisfy the hunger ofthe workers. Ever since the enactment ofthis law, reports of non-receipt of ration,underweight, and very poor quality offood grains from various states of thecountry have been making headlines innewspapers / television channels. Apartfrom these facts, one aspect that re-quires a lot of attention is to understandthe true meaning of food security. Ac-cording to the United Nations’ Commit-tee on World Food Security, food securitymeans a socio-economic approach for allpeople to have access to adequate, safe,and nutritious food at all times in order

to live an active and healthy life. If welook at this definition of hunger, therewill be more frustration.

To understand hunger and lackof food security in India, it is necessaryto review the development modeladopted in the country. After the inde-pendence of the country, the PlanningCommission was set up in 1950 and FiveYear Plans were introduced from 1951.The period 1951-80 is considered as thePlanning Period. During this period, therulers of the country adopted a mixedeconomic development model underwhich public sector enterprises were es-tablished, expanded and developed andprivate sector enterprises were regulatedand monitored. Various research studiesconducted in the country revealed thefact that during the planning period(1951-80) employment opportunities inthe public sector had increased, perma-nent jobs and services at concessionalrates or free of cost were provided to themasses which led to reduction in eco-nomic inequalities. After 1980, planningwas put into reverse gear. The country'sadoption of the 'New Economic Policies'of liberalization, privatization, and global-ization since 1991 has targeted the plan-

ning and the NDA government byabolishing the Planning Commission hascreated 'NITI Aayog' in which the capi-talist / corporate world has been givenan important place.

About half of the country's pop-ulation depends on the agricultural sectorfor their livelihood. Dependents on theagricultural sector include farmers, agri-cultural labourers, and rural artisans. Dif-ferent categories of farmers include large,medium, semi-medium, small, and mar-ginal farmers. According to the 2015-16Agricultural Census, the number of mar-ginal and small farmers (who have lessthan 2 hectares of land) in the country is86 per cent. These are farmers who,after meeting their household needs,have very few commodities to sell in themarket. Apart from this fact, the eco-nomic condition of marginal and smallfarmers has been deteriorating day byday due to the sluggish rise in MSP ormarket prices of agricultural commoditiesand skyrocketing prices of inputs used inagricultural production. In some statesthese farmers sell A-grade commoditiesin the market to meet their needs forclothes, medicines, etc., and to meettheir needs related to these commodities,they buy the lowest grade commoditiesin the market. Apart from farmers, thereare two other classes in the agriculturalsector — agricultural labourers and rural

artisans — who generally belong to theDalit and Backward classes, are the tworungs at the bottom of the ladder of theagricultural economy.They are kickedmore often. As these two classes arelandless, they have no other means ofproduction except to sell their labour. Theever-increasing use of herbicides and ma-chinery in the package of 'New Agricul-tural Strategy' to meet the country'sfood grains needs has significantly re-duced the employment days of thesetwo categories in the agricultural sector.Due to government policies making agri-culture a loss-making business, weakunions of agricultural labourers and ruralartisans and some other reasons, thewage rates of these sections have not in-creased sufficiently due to which their in-come and consumption levels are low.

The issue of gender equality isimportant for the development ofwomen. According to the laws of thecountry, any kind of discriminationagainst women on the basis of gender isillegal and punishable. Despite this, vari-ous socio-economic, political and otherforms of discrimination against womenare common in the country. In addition towage discrimination against women

workers for equal work on the basis ofgender, when the problem of decliningemployment arises, the sword of re-trenchment is more on women.

Infrastructure can make a signif-icant contribution in the Sustainable De-velopment of a country. The GreatDepression of the 1930s and many sub-sequent events in the world have provedthat public sector infrastructure is impor-tant for the Sustainable Development ofany country as it is not for profit but forthe welfare of the people. During theplanning period after the independenceof the country, the public sector playedan important role in the establishment,development, and expansion of infra-structure which contributed a lot to theSustainable Development of the country.As a result of the "New Economic Poli-cies" adopted since 1991, great achieve-ments are often claimed in terms ofinfrastructure establishment, develop-ment, and expansion. In this regard, thepublic sector has been pushed back andthe private sector brought forward. Theultimate goal of the private sector is tomaximize its profits. Thus, the achieve-ments made in infrastructure during thisperiod have benefited the private sector,while the general public has been / isbeing deprived of infrastructure facilities.

Industrialization can make a sig-nificant contribution in the Sustainable

Developmentof any coun-try. Since1991, therehave beenmany claimsof industrialdevelopmentin the coun-try. In fact,large indus-trial units aredevelopingvery fast inwhich the in-creasing useof machinesand auto-matic machines has greatly reduced theemployment opportunities and changedthe nature of employment from perma-nent to casual. Micro, small, and mediumenterprises (MSMEs) are being ignoredfrom various angles. These are the indus-trial enterprises which provide more em-ployment opportunities to the workers.These facts show that the country hasmoved towards unsustainable industrial-ization which will further increase eco-nomic inequalities.

By adopting scientific thinking,new inventions can bring a lot ofchanges. New inventions will only bemeaningful if they reach the masses. Re-search and development work in publicsector institutions plays an important rolein doing so. Some important inventionsare being made in the country, but oftenit is happening in the private sectorwhich is benefiting the capitalist / corpo-rate world and keeping the general publicaway from the benefits of those inven-tions. Such phenomena are found in thefields of agriculture, industry, and serv-ices. Grants for research and develop-ment to government universities andother institutions are either being re-duced or eliminated altogether. Whensalaries and pensions are not paid ontime in most of these institutions, howwill the researchers working there beable to focus on making inventions?

India's rulers never tire of propa-gating that the country would become aninternational economic superpower in thenear future. They have become moreskeptical about the country's economicgrowth rate by not paying attention tothe country's Sustainable Development.When the economic growth rate is ac-celerating, they leave no stone unturnedto pat themselves on the back. When theeconomic growth rate stagnates or goesdown or comes in negative, our rulers arequick to take pro-capitalist / corporateworld and anti-people decisions in thename of economic reforms. For attainingSustainable Development in any country,it is imperative that a development modelbe adopted in the country which ensuresthe establishment, expansion and devel-opment of public sector enterprises aswell as regulating and monitoring the pri-vate sector enterprises. To do that wehave to come back to planning. In addi-tion to doing so for Sustainable Devel-opment of the country, it is alsoimportant to pay close attention to theenvironment as India ranks 168th in theUnited Nations’ report on the Environ-mental Performance Index prepared for180 countries of the world.

Dr. Gian SinghFormer Professor, Department of Economics,

Punjabi University, Patiala, Punjab.

+1 (424) 422-7025

A

www.deshdoaba.comwww.ambedkartimes.com 5V0l-13 Issue-14 June 16, 2021

India lags behind in Sustainable Developmentccording to the United NationsSustainable Development Report

released on 5 June 2021, India slippeddown by two ranks to 117 from 2020’s115th rank in achieving the 17 Sustain-able Development Goals. The 193 coun-tries of the United Nations set 17Sustainable Development Goals in 2015as part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustain-able Development. The United Nationsranks Sustainable Development out of100 points in the Social DevelopmentGoals (SDGs). India scored 61.9 out of100 points while its seven neighbors-China (73.9), Bhutan (69.3), Maldives(67.6), Sri Lanka (66.9), Nepal (65.9),Myanmar (64.6), and Bangladesh (63.5)got more points than India. Sweden hasthe highest score of 84.7 in SustainableDevelopment. The report attributesIndia's decline in Sustainable Develop-ment to the challenges of eradicatinghunger and hindering food security goals.In addition, gender equality, building re-silient infrastructure, sustainable industri-alization and the absence of innovationare some of the reasons why India'sranking has slipped. According to the re-port, India also ranks very low in termsof Environment Performance Index(EPI),ranking at 168 out of 180 countries. Ac-cording to the Yale University's EPI re-port, India is 21 ranks behind Pakistan interms of biodiversity and habitat. Envi-ronmental Health Indicator is another cri-teria that shows the ability of anycountry to deal with the health problemsof its people due to environmental healthrisks. Out of 180 countries, India ranks172nd in environmental health. In thecase of Environmental Health, Pakistan isranked 127th while India is 148th. Therankings are based on indicators such asclimate, air and water pollution, sanita-tion, drinking water supply, ecosystemservices, biodiversity etc.

The first goal of Sustainable De-velopment is to eradicate hunger in allcountries of the world. Four indicatorsare used to understand the state ofhunger. The first indicator is the share ofpopulation that is undernourished(whosecaloric intake is insufficient), the secondchild wasting (the share of children underfive who have low weight for theirheight) and third child stunting (the shareof children under five who have lowheight for their age) and the fourth is themortality rate of children below fiveyears. In the first round of the 5th Na-tional Family Health Survey (2019-20) of22 States and Union Territories it wasclear that the rate of malnutrition amongchildren in India is higher than the Na-tional Family 4th Health Survey con-ducted in 2015-2016. Data collectedbefore the Corona pandemic shows thatthe number of people in India who do notget enough to eat is constantly increas-ing. The rising rate of child malnutritionis also pointing to a bleak future for thecountry. Another reason for the declinein Sustainable Development is the lack offood security. According to the August2020 State of Food Security and Nutri-tion in the World report, food insecurityin India has increased by 3.8 per cent be-tween 2014 and 2019. According to thereport, during the period 2014-2016,27.8 per cent of India's population suf-fered from moderate to severe food inse-curity, but during 2017-19, the

population increased to 31.6 per cent.The number of food insecure people in-creased to 48.96 crore in 2017-2019from 42.65 crore in 2014-16. Accordingto the above report, India accounts for22 per cent of the world's food insecurity.

The issue of gender inequality inIndia is neither new nor surprising. In ourcountry discrimination against girls startseven before they are born and it stayswith them till their death. The birth ofgirls is still not celebrated at home, as ev-idenced by the declining number of girlscompared to boys in every populationsurvey census from 1991. In addition,there are increasing incidents of violenceagainst women on a daily basis, rangingfrom domestic violence to gang rape. Ac-cording to the Global Gender Gap Report2021 released by the World Economic

Forum, India is down 28 ranks from2020 in terms of gender inequality. Indiais ranked 140th out of 156 countries.Out of the South Asian countries, onlytwo countries, Pakistan, andAfghanistan, lag behind India in this re-gard. The report identifies four indicatorsfor measuring women's inequality:women's economic participation and op-portunities in economic activity; educa-tion, health and survival; politicalempowerment; and the pace of develop-ment of reducing gender inequality. Onan average women's income is one-fifththat of men, which is due to rising un-employment among women due to de-clining employment opportunities. At thesame time, there is wage discriminationagainst women. Although there is a lotof talk about the political empowermentof women in our country, the 33 per centreservation bill for women in the Parlia-ment and the Legislative Assemblies,which has been pending for almost threedecades, has yet to be passed. The num-ber of women in the cabinet was 23.1per cent in 2019, which has come downto 9.1 per cent in 2021. The literacy rateof women is also lower than that of men.Inequality of women is an important in-dicator of Sustainable Developmentwhich our country is not paying attention to.

Day by Day India is lagging be-hind in terms of sustainable infrastruc-ture. Institutions related to governmenteducation and health services in ruraland urban areas have declined signifi-cantly in recent decades. Vacancies ofteachers in government educational insti-tutions (schools, colleges, and universi-ties) are not being filled and thepercentage of grants to these institutions

has been gradually reduced. The poorcondition of government hospitals hasbeen exposed in the first and secondwave of the Corona pandemic. Thus, thedecline of public institutions is a clear in-dication of the government's irresponsi-ble attitude towards SustainableDevelopment.

Sustainable industrialization, an-other goal of Sustainable Development,means that industrialization which will in-crease the growth rate as well as provideemployment to the people of the areaand raise their standard of living and theindustries will meet the environmentalnorms so that they can absorb the envi-ronmental elements (air, water and soil)and do not harm the health of the people.India, in the race for economic growth,entangled in the web of corporations, isflouting environmental norms, giving nu-

merous relaxations to industrial enter-prises, leading to a steady increase in airand water pollution in the country'scities. According to the World Air QualityReport 2020, India's capital Delhi hasbeen the most polluted capital in theworld for the third year in a row and 22of the 30 most polluted cities are in Indiawhile China, Pakistan, and Bangladeshhave only two cities each. Every year mil-lions of people die in our country due toair pollution. Indian government contin-ues to plan to increase the number of in-dustrial enterprises and benefit thecorporate world instead of SustainableDevelopment. The Central Governmenthas made a number of changes to the2006 Environmental Impact Assessmentand released a draft of Environmental Im-pact Assessment in 2020, according towhich existing good or bad, illegal occu-pants or on their own land, whether op-erating without obeying, environmentalprotection regulations, provision wasmade to regularize all the projects withdeficiencies from their date of establish-ment by taking some fine. Making suchchanges in the 2006 Environmental Im-pact Assessment would also allow proj-ects like LG Polymer in Visakhapatnam tocontinue with payment of fines even if ithas a detrimental effect on the health ofthe people in the area or the environmentthere. Toxic gas leaked from the projectkilled scores of people in May 2020 andaffected thousands more.

According to the UN report onSustainable Development, India also hasa very low environmental rank. Naturaldisasters have also hit India hard due torising temperatures. According to theUnited Nations Disaster Risk ReductionReport, in the period 2000-2019, India

was hit by321 naturaldisasters inw h i c h80,000 peo-ple died and100 millionpeople werea f f e c t e d .The year2020 hasbeen the 8thw a r m e s tyear onrecord so farand last yearfive terrible cyclonic storms also took aheavy toll on the country. Highly popu-lated and economically backward stateslike Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh,Assam, Odisha, and Chhattisgarh havebeen hit hardest by natural disasters dueto climate change.

About 70 per cent of the coun-try's water resources are polluted. Ac-cording to a report by the NITI Aayog ,by 2030, 40 per cent of the country'spopulation will suffer from shortage ofdrinking water. According to a report bythe Global Water Quality Index, Indiaranks 120th out of 122 countries interms of water purity. According to a2018 report by the NITI Aayog, morethan 60 per cent of the country'ssewage and industrial effluents are dis-charged into rivers and streams withouttreatment. Diseases caused by drinkingcontaminated water kill 1.5 million chil-dren every year.

Our government claims to havemet the Sustainable Development Goals,but makes little effort to reach them.India ranks 172nd in environmentalhealth. Environmental health status is anindication of how well a country is pro-tecting its population from disasterscaused by environmental degradation.The Corona pandemic was a catastrophethat led governments around the worldto provide unemployment benefits to theunemployed during the lockdown, as wellas to make the vaccine available to theirown people on a priority basis.

In our country, there was noconcrete plan to deal with the Coronapandemic in the early days without alockdown. Lack of basic health services,medicines, and oxygen in the countryhas killed millions of people in the secondwave of Corona and continues to do so.The bodies of some people have beenfound floating in the river Ganga evenafter their death.

For Sustainable Development,the present generation should use naturalresources in such a way that the needsof future generations can be easily met.The government of our country needs tostrengthen the infrastructure for Sustain-able Development of the country. Theplanning in the country should be suchthat educational and health services areavailable to every citizen. The govern-ment should ensure education and em-ployment for girls and women to reducegender inequality in society. Environmen-tal regulations for the protection of theenvironment should not be relaxed, butshould be enforced strictly and seriouslyso that the health of the people as wellas the health of the earth and the envi-ronment is maintained.

Dr.Gurinder KaurProfessor, Department of Geography,

Punjabi University, Patiala. 001-408-493-9776

A

www.deshdoaba.comwww.ambedkartimes.com 6V0l-13 Issue- 14 June 16, 2021

Shri Guru Ravidass Temple, Pittsburg (California)

1st. Guru Ghar in North AmericaJune 2nd,1985 was a historic day for the devotedfollowers of Shri Guru Ravidass Ji Maharaj whenthis Guru Ghar was opened for Sangat. As alreadyannounced in the Temple News letter , its 36th An-niversary is being celebrated on June 27,2021

with the recitation of 3 -days Akhand Path ceremony. Hearty congratulations to the entire sangat for celebrating this momentous day.

Pioneers Remembered:- We pay our respectful homage in rememberance to all thefounding members -most of them are not with us- who did a tremendous and an applaudable jobto bring this Guru Ghar into existence. Their memories associated with their vision,devotion anduntiring efforts will remain deeply embedded in thehearts and souls of the entire sangat who will carrytheir legacy to the future generations.

Most of the devotees associated with thefoundation were immigrants from Fiji Islands -joined by a few devoted immigrants from India-carried their cultural heritage to this country andtheir hard work and perseverance became instru-

mental in the opening of this historic place whichhas the honor of being the Shiromani Guru Gharwith five other Guru Ghars functioning in California.

It was an historic accomplishment in theannals of its history and a badge of honor to theundaunted and devotional efforts of the entire san-gat (very few families) who ,inspite of their meagermeans and financial resources at that time openedtheir hearts by donating generously for this noble cause.

Mr. Sukhraj Chopra and Mr. Karma Ram

Dalel had the honor ofperforming the open-ing and Nishan Sahibceremonies respec-tively by donatinggenerously. Today theentire community inUSA is proud to seethe growing splen-dour,glamour and ex-pansion of our GuruGhar to its remarkableheights.

It is our socialand moral obligationsto keep our children,who are our futuresaviours, attached toour cultural heritageby insulating them from the current influence ofundesirable elements of social pitfalls. That will re-flect the real purpose of opening any religious in-stitution like our Guru Ghar.

California Reopened:- Today, the 15th ofJune,2021 is another big and joyous day in our col-lective fight against COVID-19 when the Governor,Gavin Newsom ushers in California reopening thestagnant economy. Let us all pray for an end to thisPandemic which had put the entire life on hold forover 15 months.

I also appreciate Mr. Prem Chumber ChiefEditor, Desh Doaba and Ambedkar Times for keeping his publications open on- line during thePandemic.

With thanks to the entire Sangat.

My Struggle in LifeThe Career-making Event

he ex-amina-

tion dayapproached.We hadmade all

preparations humanly possible. Wegathered at the school, got the bless-ings of the saintly headmaster and thestaff, touched their feet, and left forthe examination center, which, ironi-cally, happened to be the hall of thelocal Sanatan Dharma High Schoolwhere our entry had been refused.After the paper was over, we cameback to the school, touched the feetof the headmaster, and reported howwe had fared on the first day of theexamination. We continued our effortsin right earnest till the last paper.

The examination was over.Everybody was making assessmentsand taking stock of his performance inthe test. I had not done badly, but ex-amination is an examination after all.Nobody can be sure of the result. Wedispersed for our homes after biddinggood-bye to the members of the staffand the students.

Thus my academic career in

the DAV High School, Una, came to anend after a very close and affectionateassociation for full five years. There Ireceived all the love and affection bothfrom the members of the staff and thestudents which made us forget whathad happened when my brother and Iwere admitted in the school.

Otherwise, the associationwith one’s alma mater is a lifelong af-fair. Pending the declaration of the ma-triculation examination results byPunjab University, my thoughts werefixed on getting a job somewhere. Ihad heard that there were morechances of getting a job in the Patialastate. But I had to try only after the re-sult was out.

The Punjab of those days—one of the biggest provinces of BritishIndia—was silent about any promise ofproviding a job. Hopefully, I received aletter from my friend Durga Das, fromChanga Manga in the district of Mont-gomery, now in Pakistan, where hehad secured an employment with afirewood merchant for a monthly payof Rs 30. He wrote me to say that asimilar job with the same employerand carrying the same emoluments

had been earmarked for me. It wasgood news! A job with remunerativepay! I made up my mind to join myfriend and the job after the results. Ireplied, thanking him for his concernfor me and conveying my intention ofjoining him immediately after the re-sult had been declared. I was happy Ihad been assured of a job and that toowithout any effort on my part.

One day, I went to Una withmy father. There we came to knowthat the result had been published inthe papers that very day. I looked upThe Tribune and was overjoyed to findmy name among the first five in themerit list. I had secured 676 marks outof a total of 800 marks. Consequently,I was awarded a university scholarshipof Rs 18 a month for a period of twoyears. Tek Chand Syal also got a gov-ernment scholarship of the sameamount and for the same period.There used to be eighteen universityscholarships and an equal number ofgovernment scholarships.

The first eighteen in the meritlist were awarded the university schol-arships while the next eighteen gotgovernment scholarships. There were

rejoicings also in the school circlesover the brilliant results. The imageand reputation of the school shot up.

Thus the way was paved forme for further studies. My father, veryhappy as he was, promised to aug-ment the scholarship amount of Rs 18by a sum of Rs 10. But I was not con-fident whether he would be in a posi-tion to pay me Rs 10 every month forfour years.

The family was very poor, andthe earnings pooled together were notsufficient to meet the needs of a fam-ily of eleven souls-parents, four sisters,and five brothers of whom I was theyoungest. But nature would help as ithad done before.

T

Humble Sewadar, O.P. Balley (General Secretary)

Supreme Council Sri Guru Ravidass Sabhas USA

1-925-252-6085

www.deshdoaba.comwww.ambedkartimes.com 7V0l-13 Issue- 14 June 16, 2021

My Friend Janak Raj Chauhan – An ObituaryWe are passing through a difficulttime. This is for the 5th time in ashort span of about 2 months that Ihad to write an obituary of my friendsand people of sterling worth for thecommunity and the society at large.Today it is for my close friend and anactive and untiring community ac-tivist, Janak Raj Chauhan, about 65years, who succumbed to various ail-ments like diabetes on June 7. Forthe last couple of months, he wasconfined to bed due to acute falloutof diabetes. Though hewas suffering from thedisease for a couple ofyears yet he remainedactive and participativein all sorts of communityactivities with lot of gritand sense of involve-ment. We all will misshim and his always en-thusiastic approach todeal with matters athand.

I came knowJanak only recently onmy return to Jalandharafter retirement from diplomatic ca-reer in 2010 through my friend RamLal Dass. Janak took voluntary retire-ment from his coveted position of anofficer in the Bank of Baroda a coupleof years ago. Janak was the Con-vener/Patron of Society for the Poors’Economic Development (SPEED) andhe invited me to join them in their en-deavors to do something concrete forthe empowerment of the weaker sec-tions of the society. It was a pleasureto work with Janak. I found him a

man of commitment and total en-gagement with cross sections of thecivil society with regard to his workfor the community. It was Janak whointroduced me or revived my connec-tion with his associates and well-wishers like Principal Dr. V.K. Tiwari,Principal Dr. K.C. Mohindru, Prof.K.K. Ghai, DGP (Retired) LubhayaRam Jassi, IPS, Tax Commissioner(Retired) Joginder Baghe, IRS amongothers in the process. From this onecan understand Janak’s level of en-

gagement with the who’s Who of thecivic society in and around Jalandhar.Some years ago, Dr. Kshipra Uke andher husband Dr. Shankar Das, bothscholars of the JNU, visited us in Ja-landhar with regard to revival ofBabasaheb Ambedkar’s unfinishedtask of establishing School of Politicsin Jalandhar. Janak was very helpfulin facilitating their work. With thehelp of one of his associates, RajeshVirdi, he found a site in a close by vil-lage in Kale Bahian for the school and

even made arrangements for the stayof interested students, who camefrom different parts of the country forthe interview, at the Punjab PressClub. Janak, under the aegis ofSPEED, arranged an introductoryfunction for the visiting JNU scholarsat Ambedkar Bhawan, a nerve centreof the community activities. Unfortu-nately, the school project could nottake off, in spite of Janak’s unstintedsupport. Just to know a bit moreabout Janak, I spoke to our common

friend, Ram Lal Dass before writingthis obituary of our dear friend. RamLal Dass, who used to speak aboutsome funny habits of Janak just in alighter vein as a good friend, spokevery high of the departed soul. Hetold me that Janak was a gem of aman. He was a student activist, analumnus of Jalandhar DAV College,from college days. They used to trainpoor students, particularly of dalitcommunities, for bank examinationsfor employment even after joining

service ind i f f e r e n tb a n k s .Janak Rajr ema i n edactive dur-ing hisservice inthe BoB asan officebearer ofemployeesunion to

safeguard the interests of theemployees. Janak Chauhanwas a much respected personamong his colleagues. I foundthat Janak was having andmaintaining a close liaisonwith the media including Do-ordarshan and the communityoutfits like Desh Bhagat Me-morial in Jalandhar. I recallthat he invited me one day tohis home near Maqsudan forrecording an interview for aTV channel run by his closefriend and associate ChannaSahib and enjoyed his hospi-

tality over piping hot pakoras andmasala tea.

I close this with heartfelt con-dolences to the bereaved family ofmy friend Janak Raj Chauhan. Janakwas an asset of the family and thecommunity. His going has created ahuge vacuum which would be diffi-cult to fill. Jis Dhaj Se Koi Maqtal Mein Gaya;Woh Shaan Salamat Rehti Hai,Yeh Jaan To Aani Jaani Hai;Is Jaan Ki Koi Baat Nahin.

Ramesh ChanderAmbassador - I.F.S. (Retired)91-99885-10940

Special on World Blood Donation DayWorld Blood Donation Day June 14 iscelebrated as World Blood DonationDay. World Blood Donation Day aimsto promote blood donation. WorldBlood Donor Day was first observedin 2004.

World Blood Donation Day:'World Blood Donation Day or WorldBlood Donation Day' is celebrated onJune 14.Special thingsThe theme of World Blood Donor Day2020 is 'Safe Blood, Save Lives'.World Blood Donor Day is celebratedon June 14.World Blood Donor Day was first ob-served in 2004.

World Blood Donation DayJune 14 is celebrated as World BloodDonation Day. World Blood DonationDay aims to promote blood donation.World Blood Donor Day was first ob-served in 2004. It was started by theWorld Health Organization. WorldBlood Donation Day is celebratedaround the world with the intentionof meeting the need for blood andanemia according to this need.Why is World Blood Donation Day orWorld Blood Donation Day cele-brated?

Nobel laureate Carl Land-steiner was born on June 14. Theseare the scientists who were creditedwith discovering the ABO bloodgroup system. World Blood Donor

Day is celebrated on the birthday ofKarl Landsteiner, the discoverer ofblood groups. Prior to the discoveryof blood groups by Carl Landsteiner,group information was provided with-out blood transfusions. For this dis-covery, Carl Landsteinwas awarded the NobelPrize in 1930.

What is a bloodtransfusion or a bloodtransfusion? (What is ablood transfusion?)

Blood transfusionis the transfer of blood orparts of blood from one person to an-other. Blood transfusion is done tosupply blood to the body. Bloodtransfusions are often needed whenthe body is anemic. Blood is trans-ferred to a vein through a needle or athin tube. How much blood is trans-fused determines how long it takes.Blood donation has a good effect onhealth.Significance of World Blood DonationDay

World Blood Donation Day iscelebrated every year on June 14 tothank those who have saved lives andto make people aware of the need forregular blood donation.

The need for safe blood iseverywhere. Safe bleeding is oftenimportant during treatment. This isone of the life saving medical needs.

Blood is also important for the treat-ment of the injured during all kinds ofemergencies (natural disasters, acci-dents, armed conflicts, etc.) and playsan important, life-saving role in ma-ternity and neonatal care. World

Blood Donation Day isimportant for the impor-tance of this blood andthe importance of blooddonation to reach out tothe people and createawareness.Slogan of World BloodDonation Day

World Blood Donor Day slo-gan is 'Safe Blood, Save Lives', SafeBlood Saved Lives. In addition, theslogan on World Blood Donation Dayis 'Give blood and make the world ahealthier place, donate blood andmake the world a healthier place'.Who can donate blood?

Any healthy person can do-nate blood only after the age of 18 ifhe weighs more than 45 to 50 kg.The donor should not have diseaseslike HIV, Hepatitis B or Hepatitis C.Keep the required amount of iron inthe body. For this, eat fish, beans,spinach, rice or any iron-rich foodsbefore donating blood.World Blood Donation Day Events

Due to the current Covid-19epidemic, the WHO will launch aglobal virtual campaign this year.

From timeto time var-ious pro-grams andcampaignsare run byp e o p l earound theworld forthe better-ment of thepeople ofthe world.The benefits of blood transfusions

Improves heart health: Donat-ing blood reduces the risk of heart at-tack. Donating blood does not causeblood to clot, it thins the blood tosome extent and reduces the risk ofheart attack.

Lose weight: Blood transfu-sions can also help you lose weight,so donate at least twice a year.

Calorie deficiency: Day bloodDonating stomach blood burns 650calories from your body.

Improves liver health: Donat-ing blood can reduce liver problems.Too much iron in the body puts pres-sure on the liver. At the same time,donating blood balances the amountof iron. Reduces the risk of diseasessuch as cancer and cancer: Balancingthe amount of iron improves thehealth of the liver and also reducesthe risk of cancer.

Uday Randev91-98786-70658

www.deshdoaba.comwww.ambedkartimes.com 8V0l-13 Issue- 14 June 16, 2021

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Educate, Agitate and OrganizedThus the real sequence of the slogan is: Educate, Agitate and Organize

Prem Kumar Chumber Editor-In-Chief: www.ambedkartimes.com

Educate, Organise and Agitate is the most misquoted slogan of Baba SahibDr Ambedkar. Its true version is: Educate Agitate and Organise. Baba Sahibuttered these precious words at the end of his historic speech delivered atthe All-India Depressed Classes Confer-ence (July 18-19, 1942 at Nagpur), con-vened to create an All-India organizationwith distinct aims and purposes in co-op-eration with all the inter-provincial forces.It was at this very conference that a decla-ration was made about the formation ofthe All-India Scheduled Castes Federation.Below are given the exact words of theconcluding part of this historic speech ofBaba Sahib, as cited in his ‘fascinating bi-ography’ authored by Dhananjay Keer:

“My final words of advice to youare educate, agitate and organize; havefaith in yourself. With justice on our side, Ido not see how we can lose our battle. Thebattle to me is a matter of joy. The battleis in the fullest sense spiritual. There isnothing material or social in it. For ours isa battle, not for wealth or for power. It is abattle for freedom. It is a battle for thereclamation of human personality” (Bom-bay: Popular Prakashan, 3rd ed. 1971, p:351, emphasis added).

Baba Sahib’ struggle for the upliftof the socially excluded was precisely spir-itual in the sense that it intends to restoretheir lost dignity and make them equal withall the other sections of the rest of the so-ciety. For that the method he chooses wasdemocratic-constitutional. Being educatedin the oldest democracies in the world, Dr.Ambedkar imbibed the true spirit of democ-racy and constitutionalism. He wanted his

fellow –beings and his countrymen to follow democratic ways for the peacefulresolution of all one problems including the most fatal one – the Untoucha-bility.

In his democratic scheme of conflict resolution, education figures atthe very beginning of the social struggle. Hence “educate” comes first in his

three stepped slogan of educate, agitateand organize. By education Baba Sahibdid not mean merely certificates and de-grees. For him to educate means to be-come aware of one’s real life conditions;to be conscious of ones surroundings; toraise objection to the inhuman existencein the society; and to ask for change forthe better. “Tell the slaves he is a slaveand he will revolt”, that is the real mean-ing of education.

It is such education that will stir agita-tion within, leading to what Baba Sahibcalled “agitate”. To “agitate” does notmean to organize guerrilla warfare, to domurda bad – murdabab. On the contrary,it means to become aware about ones so-cial conditions and to seek viable stepsfor the eradications of the causes of theproblems. Baba Sahib told us that onlyreal and true education could only makeus to “agitate”.

And it is this agitation, which is within,that would ultimately help us to “orga-nize”. The true example of which is BabaSahib himself, who after obtaining criticaland rational sense through his educationfelt toofan within and consequently or-ganized three political parties (Indepen-dent Labor Party, Scheduled CasteFederation and Republican Party of India)to secure Dalit human rights.

Thus the real sequence of the sloganis: Educate, Agitate and Organize.