ONCE upon a time, Punjab could claim good book stores and libraries. No longer now. Then people did not have much money and there was no Green Revolution. Now middle class and its upper echelons have plentiful money to squander on ceremonies; marriages, births and even deaths, spend huge sums in sprawling restaurants and buy clothes like crazy consumers. But no time and money to spend on books and yet Punjab wants to be India’s California or what not. Bal Anand, a former diplomat and person deeply concerned at the deteriorating intellectual standards and paucitiy of knowledgeable people feels hurt by this. Here is what he writes.

Punjab is proud of being one of the top performers among the States of India in terms of overall development. The Punjabis have been distinguishing themselves in all aspects of national life. One would, therefore, presume that the state would also be in the forefront in providing necessary legal framework for establishment and promotion of institutions for educational development and intellectual growth of its people, particularly, the younger generation. The future of people, on the threshold of 21st century defined by globalization, would definitely be dependent on the availability of institutions catering to the acquisition of knowledge, information and learning. The role of Modern Libraries in the rural and urban areas in India in empowering people through the free flow of information has been recognized as a crucial factor in the overall scheme of development in the future.

The state of Tamil Nadu (then Madras) was the pioneer in enacting the Legislation on Public Libraries and was followed by Andhra Pradesh. The State of West Bengal has the largest number of public libraries. The Government of India circulated a Model Draft Bill for Public Libraries in 1964 and the Punjab Library Association had requested the Government of Punjab to introduce the Bill in the Legislature. Meanwhile, a number of states in the country have enacted the relevant legislation for the public libraries with the state of Haryana doing so in 1989. The Punjab Library Association submitted to the Government of Punjab a Draft of the proposed Punjab Public Library and Information Services Bill in October, 1993. This Draft has been revised and reviewed by the Department of Education in 2001 and further updated in 2003. This Draft bill titled, 'Punjab Public Library and Information Services Bill', 2003 has been agreed upon by the Library Committee of the Department of Education, Punjab and has also been reviewed by the Legal Remembrance Cell. The draft Bill has since been with the Principal Secretary (Higher Education). It needs to be submitted to the Punjab Assembly for necessary action and approval to become a law.

The States which have enacted the Public Library Legislation have been receiving substantial funds from under various schemes of the Government of India. Punjab has been paying a heavy price for not having been able to enact the Punjab Public Library and Information Services Bill. The State has missed out on the handsome grants in the 60:40 ratios available under Raja Rammohun Roy Library Foundation (RRRLF).

The National Knowledge Commission established by the Government of India under the chairmanship of Saim Pitroda has rightly recognised, in its report in 2007, the role of Libraries 'as local centres of information and learning, … and gateways to national and global knowledge.' The Commission has recommended the adoption of a Library Charter in terms of the objectives of the library and the tasks to be undertaken taking into account all the new technological facilities in a modern library. The aim has to be ' to bridge the gap between the information poor and the information rich'.

The Punjab Public Library and Information Services Bill enjoys the support of all the legislators in the Punjab Assembly, irrespective of their party affiliations. The Act directly impacts the younger generation and the future of the State. There has already been an unpardonable delay in the legislation of this non-controversial and public welfare bill. The bill does not brook any more delay. The introduction of the Bill in the next session of the Punjab Legislative Assembly would indeed be appropriate. The issuing of an Ordinance on the Bill would appear to be a more practical course of action in view of the long history of procrastination in the matter.

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"Sustainable agriculture holds immense potential in the era of climate change"

SUSTAINABLE agriculture approaches have immense mitigation and adaptation potential in the context of climate change and also have the potential to feed the country. This was the conclusion of agricultural scientists, farmers and civil society organizations at a two-day national workshop on "Climate Change and Sustainable Agriculture" in Delhi. The workshop, hosted by Centre for Sustainable Agriculture, Jatan Trust and Oxfam India, was inaugurated on Monday by Mr Shyam Saran, India's Chief Negotiator on Climate Change.

Intensive agriculture, including unsustainable food consumption patterns, is estimated to contribute up to 17-35% of greenhouse gas emissions, directly and indirectly. On the other hand, as per FAO, organic farming utilizes 33 to 56 percent less energy per hectare and sustainable intensification in developing countries through organic practices would increase production by 56%.

There is also acknowledgement that climate change will have several adverse impacts on Indian farming. Reduction in yields is predicted to be more pronounced for rainfed crops and increases in temperature are expected to reduce grain yields in most places. Climate variability is expected to result in adverse effects on farmer livelihoods and incomes and increase biotic and abiotic risks in farming.

Participants shared the enormous experience on the ground which establishes the potential of promoting sustainable agriculture on a large scale. Civil society organizations have played a positive role in creating strong community based organizations of women and men farmers and participants urged the government to come up with enabling policies under the National Action Plan on Climate Change that will help create large scale programmes that replicate these experiences. This would include intensified research and development as well as education and extension services.

Earlier, Mr Shyam Saran in his inaugural address said, "Sustainable agriculture is an imperative even beyond the climate change context. And in the context of climate change, there is an urgent need to step up public research on all fronts including sustainable agriculture".

Emphasising the role of traditional knowledge, Dr B Venkateswarlu, Member Secretary of the Coordination Committee on Mission on Sustainable Agriculture, National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) said, "We have found that practices like inter-cropping and crop rotation, followed by practitioners of sustainable agriculture, reduce risks to climate change impacts where temperatures can rise and rainfall can be erratic".

Sustainable farming, emphasizing on internalizing various inputs used in farming, will make significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, experts pointed out. It will also lead to greater carbon sequestration in the soils. More importantly, it will minimize the climate-related risks being faced by poor Indian farmers through its approaches which focus on multi-cropping, knowledge-intensive processes which are farmer-centric and stabilizing soils. Soil stability will be an important part of coping with droughts and with heavy rains. Sustainable farms are known to be more resilient to different kinds of stresses, including pest and disease incidence.

The two-day workshop was a first-of-its-kind in its attempt to bring together agriculture scientists, members from the Planning Commission, senior technocrats from the National Agricultural Research System (NARS), departments of agriculture, representatives of farmers', environmental and non-governmental organizations and reflects the 'unique linkages' that the National Action Plan on Climate Change envisages. The workshop dwelled on the National Action Plan for Climate Change (NAPCC) announced recently by the Prime Minister and provided recommendations to the Mission on Sustainable Agriculture about possible programmatic interventions through organic farming approaches to support Indian farmers in the era of climate change.

The workshop was attended by Dr S A Patil, Director, Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI); Dr V L Chopra, Member, Planning Commission; Dr S K Sharma, Director, National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources (NBPGR); Dr B Venkateswarlu, Director of CRIDA and Member-Secretary of the Coordination Committee of Mission on Sustainable Agriculture in NAPCC; Dr A K Yadav, Director, National Centre for Organic Farming (NCOF) and other scientists from the NARS in addition to organic farming activists, practitioners and farmer leaders.

For more information, contact:
1. Kavitha Kuruganti, Centre for Sustainable Agriculture at 9393001550/ kavitha.kuruganti@gmail.com
2. Aditi Kapoor, Oxfam India at 9810306200/ aditi@oxfamindia.org
3. Kapil Shah, Jatan Trust at 9427054132/ jatantrust@gmail.com

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Bolshevik revolution still inspires the Russians

Sawraj Singh

THE 1917 Bolshevik Revolution was probably one of the most important events of the modern history. It not only shook up the Western imperialists in Europe and America, but also inspired many oppressed people in the World to liberate themselves from the clutches of the Western imperialism. Ultimately this Revolution was responsible for the beginning of the decline of the Western domination of the World.

As the Western imperialism continued its decline, there was a renewed interest in Marxism and the other revolutionary movements. Sales of the Das Capital, the classical work of Marx, have grown and have risen so much that the publishers in Germany are trying to catch up with the demand.

The present economic crisis of the Western imperialism and its established institutions has further increased interest in Marxism and other revolutionary philosophies. This trend can also be seen in Russia where there is a visible interest in the history of Bolshevik revolution as well as a rise in the anti western sentiment.

Thousands of young and old communists marched through the Red square to celebrate the 1917 Bolshevik revolution. An opinion survey showed that compared to 2005, 9% more people remember the Bolshevik revolution in Russia. Many people remember the Bolshevik revolution as the October revolution, even though it falls in November. The reason for this is that Russia at that time had an old calendar and according to that calendar it was still October when the revolution started.

The Russian government is encouraging the Russians to be proud of their historical achievements. Until 1991, Bolshevik revolution was the most important national holiday. After the collapse of the Soviet Union and the rise of pro western forces in Russia, the Russian government tried everything to suppress the revolutionary legacy of Russia and they wanted to toe the western imperialist line.

However, Putin changed the pro western trend in Russia. Putin has promoted Russian nationalism. He declared November 4 as a national holiday. After the Russian revolution, the Russian leaders could not properly address the issue of Russian Nationalism. There was a tendency towards Russian National chauvinism. Stalin tried to address the issue in his writing “Marxism and National Question”. This was too little and too late. The non Russian nations and Nationalities in the Soviet Union were mostly alienated from the system. Ultimately the western imperialists exploited the contradictions between the people to bring the Soviet Union down.

In today’s environment the Russian nationalism can play a positive role in freeing the world from western imperialistic domination. The memory of the great Bolshevik revolution can not only revive Russian nationalism but can also give hope to the other nations and people of the World that the days of the western imperialist domination are numbered and the world is moving towards a multi polar World.

[Sawraj Singh, M.D. FICS is Chairman Washington State Network for Human Rights]

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