"Coalition politics to continue"
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, May 14 — “The Indian political asystem will continue in its present state for the next two to three years,'' says Prof Ashis Nandy, a political scientist and eminent writer, who does not foresee any dramatic changes in the near future. He is of the view that coalition politics with hung Parliaments are likely to be formed again. Prof Nandy was in the city for an interaction with research scholars from the Social Science and Languages Department at the ICSSR complex of Panjab Uunversity.

He is of the view that the idea of Mrs Sonia Gandhi being of foreign origin is not going to cut much ice with the public. According to him, ultimately it is the performance of the parties which is going to matter, none of whom as on date enjoy much respect. In his opinion, the performance of the Congress as a party is going to improve and that of the BJP will not improve even if it does not decline. As a result, the situation will remain the same.

Commenting on the Manu Sharma case and the violence associated with it, he said the case had brought out that gun culture had spread partly because of the overdose of VIP security. He said that security which was a status symbol had promoted gun culture.

Earlier while interacting with the students of social sciences — mainly students of psychology, philosophy and laws — he pointed out that study of violence during partition had gone unnoticed. In fact, this had left our psyche numbed. He lamented that there was hardly any literature on partition violence even though it was a major event. The interaction was organised by the Department of Psychology in association with the north-west regional centre of ICSSR.

Prof Nandy, who has done considerable work on human violence, revealed that violence was concentrated in pockets and 4/5th of all violent instances had occurred in eight major cities of the country in the past 50 years. He also highlighted the fact that less than 3 per cent of the killings had taken place in villages which covered 75 per cent of the population.

He attributed this to the fact that communities in villages were relatively intact. Even during partition stiff spontaneous resistance was observed from villagers, who had an attitude of helping each other. He categorised violence into two kinds— one pertaining to the countryside was violence associated with gradual empowerment while that of cities was mainly violence for the sake of violence.

He also briefly talked about the response of the human psyche to violence in the next century and the kind of problems which they were likely to face in the next milennium.

The discussion ranged from topics such as growth of violence in urban areas, cultural identity to nuclear theories etc.

Fall in UT villages’ cultivable area
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, May 14 — On account of the rapid acquisition of land for the development of the city, only 10 families in 17 villages have a land holdings of above five acres. The total agricultural area in the city has shrunk from 5,442 hectares in 1966 to just about 2,050 hectares in 1999.

While 250 families have land holding varying from 2.5 acres to five acres, 2,100 families have land up to two acres. The average land holdings in the villages is between half an acre to one acre.

These holdings are likely to be further reduced after the Administration acquires more land by the end of this month. Going by the pace at which the city is growing, the remaining agricultural land will have to be acquired in the next 10 years.

According to figures available with the UT Agriculture Depart-ment, at present the major land holdings are in Khuda Jassu, Khuda Lahora, Sarangpur, Kaimbwala, Khuda Ali Sher, Raipur Kalan, Maloya and Makhan Majra.

Set up in 1967, the department has seen a gradual erosion of the area it was supposed to oversee and this has reflected in the gradual cut in subsidies and facilities available to the farmers. At present the crop husbandry section of the department is actively engaged in popularising the cultivation of vegetables to meet the rising demands of a rapidly increasing population.

According to old timers in the department, at the time of the formation of the city, farmers were poor and were just eking out a living by growing foodgrains and were mostly at the mercy of the rain god. Good rains meant a bumper crop, otherwise the land was barren and mainly used for grazing cattle.

The land was uneven and to make it cultivable, a separate section of soil conservation was created to help farmers level their land at subsidised rates, while steps were initiated to check soil erosion. In the course of the next decade, steps were initiated to bind the soil and hundreds of spill weirs, besides several check dams, were built. Several deep bore tubewells were sunk to help the farmers by the Administration, while loans were given to them to sink shallow tubewells.

At present, all land is cultivable and the main crops grown are fodder for milch cattle, besides a limited produce of rice, maize and wheat. The average production of these principal crops this year was 50, 40 and 50 metric tonnes, respectively.

The aim was that in view of the small land holdings and the limited area under cultivation at least the basic demands of the city like milk and vegetables could be met.

Old timers recall that all changed with the inflow of migrants to the city in the late seventies and early eighties. The lush green fields seemed no more attractive as the returns from one room dingy tenements were more lucrative.

Over the years the entire scenario changed, farmers either sold their land to colonisers or constructed tenements to meet the growing demand for cheap housing for the labour force and workers.

It is an irony that while an acre of land could not sustain a family, a row of rooms built on the same piece of land could bring handsome dividends, which was realised by many and that is the reason why a farmer who had little to eat, can today lead a life of relative luxury, they add.

But till the entire land is not acquired, the department is carrying out farmers’ training tours to familiarise them with the latest and improved farming techniques, and a limited number are taken twice a year to Punjab Agricultural University.

Other schemes include supply of weedicide for wheat and paddy, subsidised sale of spray pumps, distribution of mini-kits of pulses and oilseeds to popularise their cultivation, providing high quality wheat seed, besides development and strengthening of kitchen gardening, nurseries and sale of celphos for safe storage of foodgrains.

To encourage the farmers to grow more vegetables, 10 prizes of Rs 500 each have been proposed to be given to the best growers.

Harassment at public dealing counter
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 14 — How long does it take to deposit money for the renewal of an arms licence, particularly if one is suffering from a medical disorder? More than three and a half hours, if the experience of a Sector 33 resident is recounted.

Mr Gurdeep Singh, who is unable to walk for longer distances because of the injuries he suffered in a road accident in the late seventies, said the shabby treatment meted out to him at the arms renewal counter was a reflection of the way the people are treated at the public dealing counters in the Deputy Commiss-ioner's office in Sector 17.

He said:''I reached the office at 10.30 a.m. and submitted my duly filled form for the renewal of my revolver licence to a woman official at the counter. I was told to submit an application which was handed over to her by me. I was asked to deposit Rs 150 as renewal fee at a State Bank of India branch in Sector 17.''

Narrating the tale of his harassment to TNS, he said: "From this point onwards my ordeal started. I went to the bank right across the DC's office and presented my papers but was told that it was the wrong branch. I returned to the counter and asked the lady that she had directed me to the wrong branch. As she was already exchanging hot words with a person at the counter, she turned towards me and curtly told me to go to the treasury branch and added that how could I not even know this much.

''Although I was pained at such a rude behaviour, I kept quiet and walked to the treasury branch of the bank near KC cinema. Here I was made to wait for a long time to be finally told that I would have to go to the UT Treasury to get my application stamped. The treasury is located near the District Courts complex at the other end of the sector.

''By this time it was really hot and in view of my condition I was in bad shape. My legs were swollen on account of walking and I was overtaken by giddiness.

''But for the help of a person near the bank, I would have almost fainted. He directed me to the treasury. There too I was treated rudely (I reached near lunch time) and had I not highlighted my plight and for the interference of a senior official sitting facing the counter, I would have been turned back to come the next day. I was told to my astonishment that the money would be deposited at the bank only. I again walked back to the bank and deposited the money. It was nearly 1.30 p.m. and I was in real bad shape.''

Mr Gurdeep Singh said that not only should the staff be trained in being courteous to the public but all instructions should also be clearly spelled out to avoid harassment to the public.