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Round the World
Elections & Youth: CAN PARTIES REMOVE APATHY?, By Dhurjati Mukherjee, 8 May 2024 |
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Open Forum
New Delhi, 8 May 2024
Elections & Youth
CAN PARTIES REMOVE APATHY?
By Dhurjati Mukherjee
India’s
foreign minister recently wrote in a leading national daily that “this is the
first general election of the Amrit Kaal,(an empowered and inclusive economy) and
our youth must recognise its significance”. What this means may be clear to the
present government but for youth it would remain a grey area as its impact is
not sufficiently felt by either the educated or uneducated sections. The government
nurturing human resources, enhancing ease of livingand fostering
entrepreneurship, are words unmatched by action for this generation.
Opinion
amongst social analysts and youth leaders boils down to a concern that the
government is unfortunately not aware of the dimension of the problem, even
though the youth represent the most dynamic and vibrant segment of the
population. The country has the largest youth population in the world and as per
Report of Technical Group on Population Projections, by Ministry of Health and
Family Welfare, youth in the age group of 15-29 years comprise 27.2% of the
population for 2021 which is expected to decrease to 22.7 by 2036 but still
huge in absolute numbers of 345 million.
It is
distressing that the general youth by and large are not much interested in the
electoral process and do not see it as a tool to have their voice heard. Whatever
may be projected by justifying high rates of GDP growth, the rural youth are
increasingly finding agriculture unremunerative while small jobs are not quite
available in the rural areas. There is growing sense of frustration and
disillusionment amongst GenNext, and though the ongoing election may be a talking
point it doesn’t inspire hope of a new government addressing their issues.
This is
borne out by a recent report of International Labour Organisation on
unemployment in India. It found that of the total unemployed, 83 percent are
youth. The share of educated youth among the total unemployed population is 66
percent. In fact, India has one of the highest unemployment rates in the world.
The headline rate of 23 percent puts the country in the company of Yemen, Iran,
Lebanon, Syria and other such nations which don’t boast of being the fastest
growing economy or fifth largest economy. For our small neighbour, Bangladesh,
the figure is just 12 percent – half of that of India’s. Even scarier is that
unemployment rate is 44 percent among those in age group of 20-24 years.
It is
thus not astonishing that those who have the highest stake in the future have
shown the least inclination in voting. Around 38 percent of youth have
registered to vote in the 2024 elections with some states such as Bihar, Delhi
and Uttar Pradesh seeing less than a quarter enrolling.Anil Verma of Association
for Democratic Reforms explains there’s cynicism amongst the youth about the
electoral process. The apathy emanates from a feeling that major political parties
which don’t have enough youth leaders, are not genuinely involved about the GenNext
and its problems.
Moreover,
political leadership is not showing concern about emerging social and economic
problems. About Bihar’s low young voter numbers, Rajiv Kumar of Action for
Accountable Governance (AAG) explains that though political awareness was
there, a sense of hopelessness and frustration persists among the youth about
commitment of political leadership.
Therefore,
the guarantees or promises of political parties are not quite appealing to the
young generation as they are not based on genuine intentions. Prime Minister Modi,
BJP’s ‘star campaigner’ has been accused by Opposition of being silent on
creation of job opportunities for youth. There is no word on adequate financial
allocation to states to ensure employment is guaranteed for 100 days in a year,
as per MNREGA. Besides, there’s a demand for such a programme in urban areas to
provide jobs the youth.
Moreover,
many of the guarantees given by various political parties over the years have
remained elusive, leading to disillusionment in elections. The future torchbearers
of the country are also in a situation where there is intense competition and
pressure, right from say Class X or XI, to rank and achieve high standards,
which has resulted in increasing suicides, even among students who have entered
IITs.
According
to a recent Lancet article, 75 percent of those who die by suicide are men,
many economically precarious youths. The suicide rate in India increased from
6.3 per lakh in 1978 to a whopping 12.4 with 44 percent urban growth as
recorded by the last Census, whereas suicides in remote areas largely go
unrecorded.
Additionally,
government fighting graft, which bothers the young generation, is viewed more
of a slogan by the youth, than concrete action. Recently, Prime Minister claimed
that in past decade over Rs 30 lakh crore was spent on various development
policies with beneficiaries receiving money directly into their accounts. This,
he recalled as being different to Congress counterpart, who once had claimed,
“if one rupee was sent from Delhi, only 15 paise would reach its destination…’
adding “imagine the consequences if they had control over Rs 30 lakh crore”. However,
rural youth would be cynical about it as they see little difference in welfare
projects meant for them or their families, whether by Centre or states. Corruption
at grass-root levels remains unchanged, if not increased over the years.
Congress
on other hand has been alleging a pro-rich nexus of the ruling party and has promised
to conduct a financial and institutional survey to ascertain who’s in
possession of country’s wealth and would then undertake to redistribute the
same. Whether it would bring cheer to the young is uncertain as corporates are
moving towards automation which would further cut down job opportunities.
It is
imperative for political parties to ponder why country’s talented youth are
shunning their right to vote. The only answer is a strategy or plan of action
to influence and motivate them, as gainful engagement of GenNext is key to a
harmonious socio-economic development. The government must ensure that apart
from filling up vacancies in its sector, private sector too must recruit enough
personnel, to be determined by a professional body, and not over-work their
labour force, as is the case.
There is
also a need to start an unemployment allowance as suggested by some economists.
When massive projects, whose beneficiaries are the rich, are being undertaken,
starting such an allowance for the poor and EWS should not pose a problem. If
necessary, a cess of say 1 percent for those who are super rich could be
imposed to start such an allowance.
A nation’s
progress is dependent on its young generation. It is essential the economy has
the ability to support the increase in the labour force and the youth have the
appropriate education, skills, health awareness and other enablers to
productively contribute to the economy, as stated by government itself. In our
march towards a developed nation, the interests of youth can’t be ignored as its
this generation which can shape the future of the country and contribute
productively to nation-building. ---INFA
(Copyright, India News & Feature Alliance)
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#Me Too Singes Karnataka: ARE WOMEN PLAYTHINGS?, By Poonam I Kaushish, 7 May 2024 |
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Political Diary
New Delhi, 7 May 2024
#Me Too Singes Karnataka
ARE WOMEN PLAYTHINGS?
By Poonam I Kaushish
If the scorching heat
amidst sweltering electioneering wasn’t hot enough, some prurient parlour games
have been added a heady potent to the mix.
At the centre of the
affair is JD(S) MP and its Hassan candidate Prajwal Revanna accused of sexually exploiting several women
-- Government employees, house helps, unorganised sector -- over many years after
more than 2000 explicit videos appeared on social media. If this was bad news,
another woman also named his father Holenarasipura MLA Revanna for abusing her
from 2019-22 resulting in his arrest. Both are grandson and son of ex-Prime
Minister Deve Gowda.
Predictably, a blame
game has started. While Revanna’s brother and former Chief Minister Kumaraswamy
has distanced the Party from the matter. BJP which has partnered JD(S) in
Karnataka has accused the Congress Government of letting Prajwal flee the
country, against the backdrop it took three long days before the State Government
blinked and formed a Special Investigation Team to nail the truth. With and a look-out
circular and a Blue corner alert, Prajwal is slated to return in a day or two.
Sensing an opportunity
to hit back at BJP, Congress’s Rahul accused it of aligning with a “mass
rapist” and “always protecting” those who commit crimes against women. Besides,
asking Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to help the victims. Yawn.
Why am I not shocked? Primarily,
as, it is not the first time a politician has been caught with his pants down.
Over the years there have been many instances of our Right Honourables exploiting
high offices for sexual favours. Beginning with ex-Defence Minister Jagjivan
Ram son Suresh’s affair in the 70’s down Andhra Governor ND Tiwari sexual romp
with three women 2009 alongside acknowledging a 34-year old as his son after a paternity
test.
Former UP Samajwadi bahubali Amarmani Tripathi extra-marital
affair with poetess Madhumita Shukla 2007, Ex-Haryana Minister Gopal Kunda
accused in an air hostess suicide 2012, Madhya Pradesh Minister Raghavji for
abusing his domestic help by promising Government job 2013, junior Union Foreign
Minister Akbar singed by ‘Me-Too’ 2018, BJP ex-MP Brij Bhushan Singh accused by
female wrestlers last year ditto ex-Haryana Sports Minister and ex-hockey
captain Sandeep Singh accused by a junior coach resigned.
In a country where netas dalliances are seen as mere
peccadilloes and accepted with a wink or ‘weaponised’ by rivals, has the latest
controversy changed anything? No. Fobbed off as political mudslinging between
two Parties, ‘honey-trap-by-rivals-out-to-get-him’ or reduced to entertainment
distractions, a tamasha.
Questionably, at what
point do we say enough is enough? There are hundreds of instances of courage
where women have come out to accost their predators. Political masters and
blatant misogynist have ensured that political, corporate, sports film worlds
thrive on dirty games to flaunt their masculinity. Association for Democratic
Reform found over 134 sitting MPs and MlAs accused of crimes against women.
Raising a moot point:
Why are women viewed as sex objects? A plaything of males to satisfy their
libido and massage their egos? Why are we so complacent when it come reporting
sexual crimes?
Clearly, in a society
which lives with the regressive mindset that freedom and equality for women
tantamount to promiscuity, we swing between two extremes. One where a girl
child is bad news and nurtured on “conform” paranoia: Not to rock the boat, be
fearful of what lies around the corner and subjecting them to countless
restrictions in the name of women’s protection. Whereby fathers make the rules,
husbands enforce them and male bosses reiterate them, speaking out against
someone’s wrong doing is tough.
A girl raped by one of
her male relatives in locked in the precincts of her home, is told to keep
quite to avoid repercussions on the facetious pretext of ‘what will people say’
and ‘nobody will marry you.’ Several women who face sexual abuse at work stay quite
in order to avoid further harassment and unwanted attention. Or are hesitant to
speak out fearing they will be dubbed ‘loose charactered’ at best or ostracized
at worst. Either which way the damage is done.
Getting married and raising kids is the core of female existence. Sic.
Not a few women
complain that they are viewed as sex objects and mince-meat for male lust
camouflaged as human animals to either comply or reconcile to battling it out
at every level. To rise professionally they need a ‘godfather’ who can make or
break them.
Perhaps it has
something to do with our patriarchal lineage and misogynistic culture. Whereby,
we show utter disregard and disrespect for women.... rape, marital rapes,
sexual assault and systemic harassment et al. A culture that believes that the
worst aspect of rape is the defilement of the victim, who will no longer be
able to find a man to marry her — and that the only solution is to marry the
rapist.
Recently, Karnataka’s
Home Minister blamed “western culture these things do happen”. Really? Added
another, “The more skin women show it’s like if there's gasoline, there will be
fire. If there's spilt sugar, ants will gravitate towards it.” Cooed another,
“Girls shouldn’t wear jeans and exposing clothes, it is against desi sabhyata…. They have no business to
be driving around at 2 am in the morning.” Disgusting, to say the least.
In an era when
political image is branded like detergents, our netas completely disregard the fact that they have failed miserably
in making our cities safe for its people. Crimes against women have more than
tripled over the past ten years, according to National Crime Records Bureau’s
latest data.
Notwithstanding the
#Me Too campaign, in a society where the national narrative conditions people to
think that sexual harassment has no consequences; where sex crimes are
dismissed as result of an imbalanced sex ratio; and where women have little or
no cultural respect, it is going to be a steep uphill to change what is just
par for the course.
Where does one go from
here? Given that this oppressive atrocity against women will get worse, not
better. Clearly our leaders need to pay heed and address this seriously. For
starters why haven’t our policing laws been strengthened? Laws tightened which
would deter men to think thousand times before they commit crime?
Our education system
needs to emphasise the importance of gender equality and eradicate the sick
male mindset. We need to change our approach to sexual harassment. One option
is radical feminism to make a social impact and safety of women should be an
important article of faith with people, society and Government. Along-with
dignity, equal opportunity and independence of thought and action.
To that end, we need
stricter laws that ensure that those found guilty of workplace harassment are
punished. The Vishakha judgment guidelines provide many safeguards, like having
an “appropriate complaints mechanism with a complaints committee” at all.
Parties should constitute an Internal Complaints Committee.
Clearly, a
revolutionary change is needed. The Constitution has given equal rights to
women. Merely mouthing platitudes of freedom will no longer work. We need cry a
halt to women being playthings of voyeuristic men. Will women continue to
constitute the weaker gender? Continue to rot at the hands of lecherous,
predatory or pedophile men? Will we break new ground and unshackle women? A time to introspect and say Times Up. Enough
of sexual harassment! ---- INFA
(Copyright India News & Feature
Alliance)
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India-Canada-USA: AVOIDABLE DISAGREEMENTS, By Prof. (Dr.) D.K. Giri, 3 May 2024 |
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Round The World
New Delhi, 3 May 2024
India-Canada-USA
AVOIDABLE DISAGREEMENTS
By Prof. (Dr.) D.K. Giri
(Secretary General, Assn for
Democratic Socialism)
Apparent divergence of
approach to the puzzling interface between liberty and violence has cropped-up
again between India, United States and Canada. The latest trigger has come from
a report in The Washington Post naming an Indian official involved in
the plot to murder Gurpatwant Singh Pannun in New York. The US government has
expressed concerns while Government of India (GoI) responds in its own way. At
the same time, anti-India and pro-Khalistani utterances and activities in
Canada have once again deeply upset GoI. Since India and the US are
strategically coming closer and India and Canada would want to do so, the
question is how to avoid disagreements on balancing individualliberty with peoples’
security.
In reference to the Post’sreport,
the White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said on 29 April to the
journalists that one VikramYadav from Indian intelligence agency RAW contacted
the Indian businessman Nikhil Gupta to get Pannun killed by a hired assassin. Gupta
is currently in the custody of Czech Republic waiting deportation to USA. Yadav
had the approval of SamantGoel, the Chief of RAW. Pannun is having dual
citizenship of USA and Canada, one of the main leaders of Khalistani movement,
and legal advisor and spokesperson for Sikhs for Justice, a Khalistani
organisation based in Canada. India has declared Pannun as a terrorist.
Jean-Pierre said in
the same press conference that, “India is an important strategic partner of
United States, and we are pursuing an ambitious agenda to expand our
cooperation in several areas”. At the same time, she added, “We expect
accountability from Govt of India on that. We are going to raise our concerns
directly with Indian government.” The Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson
said in his response, “a high-level committee is looking into information
shared by American side with us because it equally impacts our national
security”. The Foreign Minister had endorsed this in his reply to Parliament on
7 December last year that a high-powered committee is looking into the material
shared by United States.
What is of curious
importance is that the alleged plot to kill Pannun in US coincided with the 18 June
2023 killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Surrey in Canada’s
British Columbia province.Intriguingly, that operation was also linked to Yadav
according to western officials. This raised the western concern (Canada and US)
about the escalating campaign of aggression against overseas Indians allegedly
involved in anti-Indian activities, by Indian intelligence operations. Prime
Minister Justin Trudeau revealed in the Canadian Parliament on 18 September
2023 that there was ‘potential involvement of Indian agencies in the killing of
Nijjar’.
Trudeau added that
Canadian security agencies – Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and Canadian
Security Intelligence Agency – had the evidence of India’s involvement. He also
reported that a fellow-member of Five-Eyes Alliance had shared similar information.
Five-Eyes Alliance is an intelligence group comprising five Anglo sphere
countries, United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and United Kingdom.
Govt of India at the time had rejected the allegations as absurd and motivated.
India had accused Ottawa of harbouring Sikh separatists.
Jagmeet Singh, the
President of the New Democratic Party, the third biggest party in Canada which
props up the Trudeau government, came out in support of Trudeau’s allegations
of Indian officials’ involvement, “today we learned of allegations that agents
of Indian government murdered Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Canadian killed on
Canadian soil. To all Canadians, this is my vow. I will leave no stone unturned
in the pursuit of justice including holding NarendraModi accountable”.
Once again Govt of
India was alarmed and agitated over raising of pro-Khalistani slogans at a
public event at Toronto, attended by Justin Trudeau. This was the Khalsa Day
organised by Sikhs in Canada on 28 April. As soon as Trudeau approached the
podium, KhalistanZindabad slogans were raised. Trudeau was reportedly
seen smiling at the chants of the slogan. Banners were also displayed which said
‘Modi wanted’. The Sikhs for Justice portrayed huge bannersidentifying
NarendraModi, Rajnath Singh and Jaishankar as killers of Nijjar. This
organisation is a pro-Khalistani group which called for revenge against killing
of Nijjar and had initiated violence against Indian diplomats.
Trudeau’s acquiescence
in such pro-Khalistani slogans is ‘understandable’ as his government is
surviving on the support of the New Democratic Party headed by Jagmeet Singh.
This is a party whose support base consists of Khalistan-supporting Sikhs. Evidently,
immigrants hankering nostalgically for their cultural roots,seek to recreate
those in their adopted countries. If they fail to do so, they support the
separatist and revivalist organisations in the countries of their origin. This
is the case with large number of Sikhs in Canada. Having achieved material
prosperity and lost their cultural identity, they tend to become reactionary in
their approach.
Last year, in the
British Labour Party conference, I happened to run into a Sikh guest delegate
from Canada who was a Member of Parliament from the New Democratic Party. In
our conversation, he said that Nijjar was an innocent ordinary Sikh eking his
livelihood from priestly activities in Gurudwaras. I was shocked to learn that
a terrorist was perceived by Canadian Sikhs as a simple and ordinary person.
The Govt of India
summoned the Deputy High Commissioner of Canada in New Delhi and strongly
protested the patronage given to anti-India elements in Canada. The MEA said,
“It illustrated once again the space given in Canada to separatism, extremism
and violence. It encourages a climate of violence and criminality in Canada
which will prove detrimental to its own citizens”. Trudeau’s complicity in
pro-Khalistani activities may go well with his vote-bank politics and alliance
government. But it is certainly not advisable, nor acceptable in bilateral
relations. How would Canada, for that matter United States react, if Govt of
India were to encourage forces in India that attempt to create divisions and
violence in their countries.
Clearly, USA and
Canada are missing the link between freedom at home and acts of terrorism abroad.
Whether Indian agencies were involved in murder of wanted criminals in other
countries, is a matter of investigation. What is however baffling is the
duplicity maintained by Canada as well as United States. Trudeau should not
miss the link between politics at home and foreign policy. A kind of politics
that conduces Trudeau, should not be causing violence in other countries. Likewise,
United States and its close allies like Israel can take out their enemies in
other countries; Israel’s intelligence agency Mossad has done it in several
countries, and the stark example of USA doing so is killing Osama Bin Laden in
Pakistan.
Quite a few human
rights experts argue that, given the justice system in USA, Osama should have
been captured and tried. This is not the debate we will engage in, but the fact
to underline is Osama Bin Laden was responsible for Twin Tower terrorist attack
killing innocent people. USA militarily moved to Afghanistan and chased Osama
into Pakistan. If any other country were to do a similar act of chasing and
killing terrorists, why should USA object? ---INFA
(Copyright, India News & Feature
Alliance)
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‘Apical’ GST Hits SC Quiz: 30 Cr. JOB LOSS FEARED, By Shivaji Sarkar, 6 May 2024 |
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Economic
Highlights
New Delhi, 6 May 2024
‘Apical’ GST Hits SC Quiz
30 Cr. JOB LOSS FEARED
By Shivaji Sarkar
The
sparkle of GST touchinga collection of Rs 2.1 lakh crore due to higher
contribution from North East states and Uttar Pradeshis subdued by shattering
of the Indian dream for overseas employment as Canadian Prime Minister Justin
Trudeau creates more diplomatic problems and targets Indian youth to deprive
them of jobs.
Foreign
job situation is becoming worse even as the domestic conditionboils with high
unemployment and Lok Sabha elections generating more heat. In a year marked by
a surge in Indian students pursuing foreign education, those already studying
abroad are facing significant challenges in securing jobs. The rising cost of
living combined with limited job opportunities is shattering dreams of many non-resident
Indians (NRIs).
Diplomatic
spats add to woes. While India lodges strong protest on pro-Khalistan slogans
raised at an event on April 29 in Toronto in which Trudeau spoke, almost
simultaneously the US raised the heat over plot to kill Khalistan separatist GS
Pannun.The events have a fall out on jobs for Indians, though reasons could include
economic turmoil in many of the western countries.
Canada,
one of the topmost destinations for Indian youth, on Labour Day limits
international students working hours to 24 hours a week from 40 hours and
curtails startup visa plan to less than 1000. This cuts intake from India to
87,000 study permits against 2.2 lakh new students in 2022.
On an
average a student loses $5000 a year, says Mateusz Salamassi, Canadian Director
of advocacy, Canadian Alliance of Students Association, a blow to debt-ridden
Indian students. Most students have debts of Rs 20 to 40 lakh, which they repay
as they work while studying. Cost of living is rising. Rents range from $1,000
to $1,500 per month. Additionally, expenses for food, transport, and utilities
cost at least another $1,000 to $1,200 every month.
With 6.1
per cent unemployment reported in Canada, many end up without jobs or get into
menial works that is not in keeping with their needs or qualifications. As the
going gets tough, many students are turning to drugs to cope up with the stress
and get into a worse debt and psychic situations.
Jobs are
becoming dearer across the West as International Monetary Fund warns of 60
percent high skilled jobs at risk in advanced economies and predicts 40 per
cent jobs to be impacted due to AI, in 2024. Severe wage cuts are imminent, it adds.
The International Labour Organisation (ILO) says two million jobs are at stake.Global rating agency Goldman
Sachs predicts disruption of 300 million (30 crore) jobs across the world.
While rising
12.4 percent April GST mop up of the highest ever Rs 2.1 lakh crore (trillion) elates
the Finance Ministry, which says, it is the result of intense auditing,there is
a crackdown on bogus registration, fake invoices and norms are tightening.Domestic
transactions rise by 13.4 percent while the import figures are up by 8.3
percent.
Observing
“there can be harassment of people,” the Supreme Court on May 2, directs the
additional solicitor general SV Raju to submit data in GST Act notices and the arrests
made “for alleged defaults of Rs 1 and Rs 5 crore”.Interestingly, North-East
led the GST show. Mizoram, with 35 percent rural poverty, led it with 52
percent, Nagaland had 3 percent lower contribution with Meghalaya and Jammu &Kashmir
2 percent less and Sikkim kitty fell 5 percent. Elsewhere, the highest growth
was in UP – 19 percent, Gujarat and Maharashtra - 13 percent.
However,
the rise in GST is not an indicator of increase in employment. Periodic Labour Force Survey 2023
indicates the unemployment rate at 7.2 percent in December 2022 and 6.5 percent
December 2023 and CMIE puts it at 8 percent in February 2024 and 7.6 percent in
March.In April 2024, major tech companies like Tesla, Apple, Intel Amazon
resorted to mass layoffs and overall job losses are estimated at 70,000. Even
Byjus lays off 500 Indian staff.
Jobs
worldwide are becoming scarce as artificial intelligence (AI) takes over many
assignments. It is no
better in the UK. Even restaurants are sacking them too often. Foreign student,
health&care and skilled work visa applications to UK also fall with new
curbs.Other visas fall by 44 percent to 40,700 against 72,800 last year. It cuts
application for dependent visas to 6,700 against 32,900 a year back. Foreign
students no longer can switch to a work visa before completing their course and
graduate visa norms might limit job prospects. The US offers a slightly bright
spot for Indianstudents. It issued a total of 1,30,839 F-1 student visas in
2023, witnessing a 14 per cent surge from 2022, says an ApplyBoard report.
The ILO projects that the labour market outlook and
global unemployment will both worsen. In 2024, an extra two million workers are
expected to be looking for jobs, raising the global unemployment rate to 5.2
per cent from 5.1 per cent in 2023.
The AI expansion could worsen impact on developing
economies such as India, which are facing political turmoil for job losses. An
added woe could be degrees might lose shelf life as technical skills would
require continuous updating, learning and adaptation throwing up challenges for
Indian universities. Even many companies might go out of business. The world
has yet to evolve pro-active measures to cope up with AItransformation.
The IT sector is already resorting to heavy job
cuts. Google has issued pink slips to over 1,000 employees assisting in voice
assistance, hardware and engineering teams.
It also implemented job cuts across Python, Flutter and Dart teams.The
job loss in IT sector is a major problem along with many other Indian industries.
More than 40 percent of college graduates under the age of 25 are unemployed,
compared with 11 percent of those of the same age group who are literate but
haven’t completed primary school, says Azim Premji University 2023 report.
India would have to launch crash moves to create
jobs to keep the economy in the lead. It is not an easy task with job
recruitment scandals in West Bengal, UP, Madhya Pradesh and many other
states.While AI is certain to make its way into numerous Indian industries, the
country has to take the best advantage of it in creating multifarious jobs as
well.---INFA
(Copyright, India News & Feature
Alliance)
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On-Line Education: NOT JUST AN EMERGENCY MEASURE, By Rajiv Gupta, 4 May 2024 |
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Spotlight
New Delhi, 4 May 2024
On-Line Education
NOT JUST AN EMERGENCY MEASURE
By Rajiv Gupta
In the recent student protests at Columbia University
in New York City, the university administration decided to use on-line classes
as a way to mitigate the potential danger to students. Globally, on-line
classes were widely adopted during the Coronavirus pandemic to keep students
from spreading the virus through proximate contact with each other. These
examples may suggest that on-line education is a means to be adopted under
extreme circumstances. This article presents an alternate view; that on-line
education is an ideal solution for a variety of reasons and whose time has
come.
Distance education, a precursor to on-line education,
is not new. Some of the earliest versions of distance education were
correspondence courses as far back as the 1950s and 60s. Written course
materials were sent by mail to students. The students completed the assignments
at home and sent in their answer sheets to be evaluated. The quality of these
programmes was not very good and they did not receive any recognition from
companies looking for qualified candidates for potential hiring.
In the 1980s, a different form of distance education
began in the United States. In these programmes, video tapes of lectures were
recorded and mailed out to students at different learning centres. A sizeable
group of students watched the tapes at these learning centres. Proctored exams
were conducted at these learning centres. This form of distance learning was a
major improvement from the earlier correspondence courses. However, its major
drawbacks were a lack of direct communication between the faculty and students
as well as among the students.
The next development in distance learning was
streaming videos, which allowed students to stream lectures instead of watching
video tapes. This made the access to the lectures more flexible. However, there
was still no direct communication between the faculty and students, and among
the students. All communication was through a learning management system (LMS)
such as Canvas and Blackboard. The LMS contained all the relevant course
materials, including videos and lecture notes. Communications could be either
via the LMS or via email.
The current form of on-line education uses live,
on-line classes where the faculty delivers the lectures and the students can
choose to either attend the lectures live, or watch the taped lecture at their
convenience. The system permits the students to either type in their questions
or comments during the lecture, or to speak. This allows for a classroom
atmosphere that more closely resembles a typical in-person classroom. In some
cases, students can also turn on their cameras and can be seen as well. The
extent to which this is possible depends on the size of the class as well as
the network bandwidth. It should be noted that, in India, several students
still shy away from speaking in on-line classes, let alone turning their
cameras on. However, this is likely to change over time.
So, what are the main advantages and disadvantages of
an on-line education system? There are three major, and compelling, reasons in favour
of on-line education. First, it allows educational institutions to expand their
academic offerings to a larger student population without a large scale
increase in classroom capacity. This is especially important since most
existing universities have limited capacity to increase the number or sizes of
classrooms. For residential universities there is an additional need to provide
residential accommodation for students if the student strength is increased. In
an on-line environment using virtual classrooms, the one major expense is in
the creation of the computer and video systems for transmitting on-line
classes. This is relatively easier than creating more physical space.
The second major advantage, especially in a country
such as India, is that on-line education can help bring education to a larger
section of the population without having students travel to a limited number of
locations where high quality educational institutions are situated. With a
population that is spread out over a very large geographical expanse, including
a number of rural areas, providing access to quality education is a major
challenge for both government as well as academia.
Every year, cut-off percentages for admission to
sought after colleges and institutes seems to get further out of reach of a
large section of the students graduating from schools. In the last couple of
decades, a number of colleges and institutions of dubious quality have sprung
up in the country in response to the increased demand. It would be preferable
for well established institutions to expand their offerings via on-line classes
as there would be an expectation of quality from established institutes.
Finally, the population where on-line education has a
major impact is working professionals. It has been well established that with
technological change, and new research, a lot of what people learn in colleges
and universities becomes obsolete in a few years. This phenomenon has resulted
in working professionals having to keep their knowledge up to date either
through evening or full-time courses. Evening courses require that working
professionals travel or commute to the place where classes are held, which can
consume a significant amount of time. Full time courses require working
professionals to take time off from work to pursue their studies.
Both of these options pose a major burden both, on the
professional as well the companies they work for. It is here where on-line
education becomes a very appropriate option. The classes for the on-line
courses can be attended by the students either at their place of work, or at
home, or any other convenient location. Moreover, if the student has to miss a
class due to work requirement, the lecture is available on tape. So, the
student can get all the information that he/she misses quite easily.
This is why a number of universities in India and
abroad have been offering on-line courses successfully. Some examples are BITS
Pilani in India, and the University of Phoenix in the US. In addition to degree
programs, leading universities such as Stanford and MIT have collaborated in
offering free on-line courses on various topics. These are known as Massive
Open On-line Courses (MOOC). Coursera, Udacity, and edX offer a very large
number of MOOC courses where the student can choose to either attend for free,
or pay a nominal fee to get a certificate. The faculty who have recorded the
lectures for these MOOC courses are from leading global universities and the
quality of the lectures is excellent.
Although the number of on-line courses and their quality
has grown exponentially, there is still a perception that the quality of
on-line courses is inferior to live in-person classes. It will take some time
before the true advantages of on-line education will be recognised in the
society. Universities have to focus on maintaining high quality and invest in
technology and faculty who can deliver an effective on-line experience for
students. It may not be too long before on-line education is accorded its
rightful place in academia.---INFA
(Copyright, India News &
Feature Alliance)
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