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last word:Manohar Parrikar
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Defence Minister who fits the boots He’s never worked at the Centre, but his political acumen, backing from Modi, and not-to-miss IIT tag should see him through a successful stint in the ministry that is no less coveted than critical. By Vibha Sharma
On Wednesday, when Manohar Parrikar flew home the first time as Defence Minister on a ‘part private, part official’ visit, it was on an economy ticket in a regular flight. As the country’s Raksha Mantri he could have requisitioned the IAF’s VVIP Embraer executive jet. Many liken his rumpled, bush-shirted look to the ‘common man’ played by Amol Palekar in the Seventies and Eighties. He may have to change his ways in his new role, but Parrikar is sure he would use special IAF aircraft only when visiting areas like Siachen, Tawang or Kashmir. The IIT graduate, who comes from the same RSS lineage as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and with who he shares a good rapport, has a political and administrative acumen that could well make him the new ‘Mr Indispensible’ for his party. BJP leader Shrikant Sharma recalls calling on him ahead of the BJP’s executive at Goa in 2013: “We were surprised when we entered his office—simple with absolutely no trappings of a CMO. Later, he took us out for lunch to an ordinary restaurant. ‘The food is good here,’ he told us. We sat amid other guests, without him seeking any special attention.” Hands-on CM At the same conclave, the Goa CM, umbrella in hand, was also seen doubling as a conductor, helping the driver of a bus manoeuvre his vehicle inside a hotel’s premises. Bureaucrats and services officers in the Defence Ministry who attended the intense briefing sessions in his first two days are talking of his quick grasp of complicated matters. With Parrikar known to work 16-17 hours a day, officials in Goa have warned Delhiwallas to be prepared for long hours. Salt of the sea Like all Goans, he loves fish curry, king prawns and Goa — a reason given for why he did not want to move out. Parrikar belongs to a family of Goud Saraswat Brahmins (the powerful minority that decided the fate of modern Goa, politically and economically) that ran a grocery shop at Maupasa. He joined the Sangh while still in school and became the ‘mukhya shikshak’ by the time he finished. He went through a tough period when just a couple of months before his becoming chief minister for the first time he lost his wife Medha to cancer in 1999. “He dedicated himself completely to work and bringing up his two sons,” according to an associate. Goa to Delhi Parrikar’s third stint in Goa saw him face allegations of U-turns on critical issues — removal of casinos, mining and real estate lobbies. He leaves behind a turbulent party in Goa, which successor Lakshmikant Parsekar may find difficult to manage. However, the shift to Delhi was not something he could have put off any longer. Apparently he was shortlisted for Delhi when Modi was putting together his Cabinet in May. Ahead of the recent Cabinet expansion there was also speculation that Parrikar might land Home or Finance. These may have just been rumours, but it does speak about the trust Modi and the Sangh place in Parrikar. The buzz is he is expected to provide support to Modi in the power corridors of the Capital, dominated as they were by seasoned BJP politicians like Arun Jaitley, Rajnath Singh and Sushma Swaraj. “He is one of the few people Modi can confide in,” says a leader. “In May, when he cited family and political reasons while asking to stay in Goa, he was given three months to settle all issues and shift to Delhi. He may now emerge first among equals after Modi.” Parrikar is also known to speak his mind. He pitched for Modi as PM—the first among senior BJP leaders to do so while others waited for cues—but did not shy away from speaking on the Gujarat riots. He said in an interview that he would have handled the 2002 riots better. Parrikar also likened L.K. Advani to “rancid pickle” at a time when the veteran leader was all that the BJP had. Challenges Other than the challenges within the party, many believe managing a small state like Goa can hardly be of help in a ministry such as Defence, with a budget allocation of Rs 2.3 lakh crore. He will have to deal with the dynamics and complexities of the ministry and also tackle difficult international issues—for instance demarcation of the 3,488-km-long Line of Actual Control, pushed after the Modi-Xi Jinping meeting in September. Then there is the Indian Ocean, the power play between New Delhi and Beijing in finding a military toehold in smaller countries and the perpetual tension with Pakistan. International forces are set to pull out of Afghanistan in December, which will change the dynamics in Kashmir. Parrikar will also need to focus on revamping the acquisition process for weapons, aircraft, warships, submarines and artillery guns and balance it with the PM’s new thrust on “Make in India”. His admirers believe he is “perfect for the job”. “He is sharp, in control and meticulous with details, in fact almost a dictator like Modi. Of course, it would not be possible without the confidence of the PM,” they say. The bottom line is, if Parrikar could handle a politically difficult state like Goa, and has the backing of Modi and the Sangh, he can handle anything. |
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The Swan Women Association Network, also referred to as the Swan Women Federation, is the biggest organised collective of rural women in Himachal Pradesh, with the objective of promoting livelihood activities for the socio-economic uplift of women. The federation is an umbrella organisation for 6,119 women members of 427 women self-help groups (SHGs) formed in 92 panchayats of Una district under the Swan River Integrated Watershed Management Project (IWMP). The federation derives its name from the Swan river, which traverses through the district and has shaped the socio-economic-cultural and agrarian conditions of the locals. While the river supports the ground water aquifer of the valley, providing drinking water and irrigation facilities through deep-bore tubewell schemes, the Swan and its network of 73 tributaries, erodes the fertile top soil. To check this, the IWMP was launched in 2007 with an assistance of Rs 160 crore from the Japan International Cooperation Agency and the state forest department as the nodal agency. The goals Dr Suresh Kumar, project director, says watershed development activities like increasing vegetative cover, building water bodies, checking erosion and linking these with income generation activities of locals by way of technical interventions in agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry and horticulture are the main objectives of the project. As the project grew, women took the lead, forming SHGs and user groups for small savings and for sharing the benefits of the project. Each group has 12 to 15 members and activities began with a monthly saving of Rs 10 to Rs 50. The kitty, pooled in nearby banks, began to swell and members initiated micro-credit for purchase of seeds, fertilisers, fodder and cattle. The savings of all 427 groups is about Rs 2.5 crore. Check dams Subhadra Devi, federation chairperson who hails from Dharampur village, says check dams were constructed to store rainwater, and gradually, women groups began small-scale vegetable and fodder cultivation to supplement their monthly income. The project recently introduced 3.5 lakh fingerlings in 30 perennial water harvesting structures, and by the next two years, additional income will be generated by the groups by harvesting fish. Some groups are involved in managing project nurseries, where aloe vera, lemon grass, bamboo and poplar are reared. She says with credit from the groups, members have purchased milch cattle. The project provides chaff cutters and funds for constructing mangers. “Technical expertise and financial assistance are easily accessible during the project period, but our main concern is maintenance, continuity and sustainability of the women collectives after the culmination of the project,” says Subhadra Devi. Meenu Rana of Kotla Kalan village, who is the president of the federation, says all groups in a panchayat have been clubbed into the Panchayat Mahila Sangathan. A cluster of nearby Panchayat Mahila Sangathans have been grouped into Mahila Kalyan Manch. There are 10 Mahila Kalyan Manch with the federation as their registered umbrella organisation. “The project is already in the withdrawal mode and the federation will ensure continuity,” she says. During the last six months, the federation has managed to save about Rs 18 lakh on its own, which has been secured as a fixed deposit in the Kangra Central Cooperative Bank. Federation treasurer Mamta Devi of Kotla Khurd village says the money was contributed as annual membership fee of Rs 100 per member, besides seed money received from women beneficiaries of different schemes. Membership drive “After negotiations, the bank management agreed to give us an additional 1 per cent interest on deposits and charge 1 per cent less interest on loans. This 2 per cent profit goes into the federation’s kitty and more women are extended benefits,” she says. Mamta Devi says they are increasing the membership base. “Our target is to reach a membership of 30,000, which would mean an annual membership fee of Rs 30 lakh for the federation,” she says. Madhu Rani, federation secretary, says women need overall empowerment, not just economic strengthening. She recollects that the federation members took strong notice of reports stating that 24 panchayats of the district had a sex ratio of less than 500. “We have undertaken an awareness drive and announced a scholarship programme. Two girls from poor families are being shortlisted in each panchayat. They will be given a scholarship of Rs 200 a month. We will track pregnancies and prevent foeticide,”she says. The federation has applied to the Deputy Commissioner for a suitable plot of land so that the activities of SHGs can be coordinated from there. “We are also talking to some local industrial houses to provide us financial support for the office from their corporate social responsibility funds,” she says. Market grows Every member has a specific role to play, right from the SHG level to the federation level. By the next kharif season, the federation will begin selling farm inputs like seed to the members with buy-back schemes. “We are documenting proposals for the certification of branding and packaging of processed food items like local spices, mango powder, pickles, jams and syrups and providing marketing assistance to our groups with a small profit margin for the federation,” says Subhadra Devi. The federation has set March 2018 as its target to achieve cumulative bank savings of Rs 10 crore, with the objective to launch a rural women’s mini bank to address their income generation and savings needs. |
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The 26-year-old Ashwika has won the award in the Best Newcomer category for her documentary, “Sirocoo: How Dud Became Stud”. The film focuses on the critically endangered kakapo parrots—a flightless species native to New Zealand. The bird which looks like a cross between an owl and a parrot is nocturnal and can live up to 100 years. It is also the world’s heaviest parrot, weighing as much as 3 kg. Among the rarest of birds, only 125 kakapos are alive today and most of them live on a single, quarantined island in the South Pacific. There are so few left that all of them have been named individually. “The Green Oscar is a validation of my efforts. The journey so far has been highly enriching as well as challenging. My non-science background has been a handicap, but science journals and research papers help me overcome the disadvantage,” Ashwika says, adding “the film is a delightful, rags-to-riches story of this unique kakapo—a loveable bundle of feathers—which betrays human-like emotions.” What makes the win all the more special for her is that the documentary was literally a one-woman project. She says: “From scientific research and scripting, all the way down to camerawork, editing and music, the film is an entirely solo project. Apart from film festivals, I have taken the film to schools, colleges and clubs across Kolkata.” Over 14,000 people from 162 countries voted kakapo the world’s favourite species in 2013. At 22, Ashwika began her journey as a wildlife camera-girl in South Africa. This led to a number of work opportunities in different parts of the world, including Kenya, Borneo, India, Nepal and New Zealand. In 2014, she graduated in science and natural history filmmaking from the University of Otago. There she enhanced her camera skills and much to her delight discovered an innate knack for storytelling. She loves finding and filming unusual and enjoyable stories from nature. Her aim is to ascertain, educate and inspire. Her Green Oscar-nominated film, a rags-to-riches story about a celebrity bird, received critical acclaim worldwide. In a country of 1.2 billion people, Ashwika is among the very few Indian women who have made natural history filmmaking a full-time profession. She is currently involved in the filming and production of two international blue-chip television programmes. Through intimate macro filming, this short film provides unusual, larger-than-life glimpse into the mini world of tide poll animals in Dunedin, New Zealand. As they struggle to adapt to their every-changing environment, the viewer is ushered into a dramatic mini universe, where animals have found unique ways to deal with the fierce competition for food and space. |
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Narendra Modi, prime minister Ghulam Hassan
Mir, j&k agriculture minister Smriti Irani, hrd minister |
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Though worried about his security, for officials Parrikar’s simple ways have come as a pleasant surprise. For those familiar with his unassuming ways, it is a matter of course. Neena Naik, vice-president of the BJP’s Goa unit, says Parrikar did not use most privileges that come with the chief minister’s post. “He has few demands. I am sure the shirt he was wearing at the swearing-in ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan must have been worn on several occasions in Goa,” she says.
K
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