“In this part of the interview to Times Now Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami Prime Minister Modi speaks on economy, GST Bill, Raghuram Rajan and other issues. Here are edited excerpts:-

ARNAB: Mr Prime Minister I now want to move to questions on the economy. In the past two years you have started many schemes. If we look at the theme of Jan Dhan Yojna for financial inclusion, Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojna for crop insurance, Swach Bharat, Skill India, Make In India. If we see the theme running through these schemes, is your social agenda at the core of your personal economic philosophy, social transformation? Is the social agenda at the core of your economic philosophy as the Prime Minister? 

PM MODI: The first point is our philosophy is to reach the last man in the line. Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay’s philosophy forms the core of our political, economic and social ideology. And even Mahatma Gandhi used to say that what is there for the last man? So my development parameter is very simple. It is about how the poorest of the poor can benefit from development. The poor is the central focus of my economic agenda. The poor should be strengthened in such a way that they get the willingness to defeat poverty. By helping the poor make ends meet while they remain in poverty is also one of the ways. I am not saying right or wrong but it’s one of the ways. But today the country’s situation is such that we should make the poor strong so that they become partners in defeating poverty. All these schemes are meant to empower the poor and change the quality of life. The Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojna is not only about opening bank accounts for the poor. Because of this the poor are feeling that they are becoming a part of the country’s economic system. The bank that he was seeing from afar, now he is able to enter that bank. This brings about a psychological transformation. Looked at in another way, did you ever imagine that 40 thousand crores could be injected into the banking system by contributions from the poor. The poor who never had bank accounts, have deposited 100 rupees, 50 rupees or 200 rupees. It means that poor man saved 100 rupees and the change began in his life. We have taken up construction of toilets. I had gone to Chhattisgarh and had the opportunity to get the blessings of one mother. An adivasi mother heard about the scheme for building toilets. She sold her four goats and built a toilet. That 90 old mother uses a walking stick and goes around the cluster of 30 or 40 houses in the tribal village and has been spreading the message to build toilets. This change is becoming the reason for the change in the quality of life. I have begun the cleanliness campaign. It’s estimated an individual spends an average of 7000 rupees for treatment of a disease. The main reason for disease is filth. The poor suffer the most from the filth. If a poor man falls sick, he cannot drive his rickshaw for two days and his children go hungry. So how can we help the poor bring about change in their lives? Now there is a neo-middle class and a middle class in the country. The young have their aspirations. So another aspect of my policies you must have seen are the Start Up India, Stand Up India, Seaport activity, port activity, railways expansion, railway station upgradation. These changes directly appeal to the middle class. The middle class has its aspirations. We have to create jobs? How will job creation happen? Till I invest in the development of infrastructure, there be no job creation. You must have seen that the maximum electricity generation since Independence has occurred this year. The maximum amount of coal mined has been in this year. The maximum length of roads being constructed daily is happening in this year. The fastest loading and unloading of steamers at sea ports is happening now. All these changes are creating opportunities for employment like in Start up India, Stand Up India. For instance in Stand Up India, I have said that every bank should give an economic opportunity to one woman, one dalit or one tribal person to become entrepreneurs. This will create many job opportunities. So this is the basis of my economic philosophy. 

ARNAB: Mr Prime Minister, questions are also being raised on food inflation which has still not decreased. The expectation was that the food inflation would decline. The people had put their hopes on the Prime Minister that you will bring down prices. This not only has a political impact but also has a social impact. Over the past two weeks, there were reports that in some places the price of Arhar dal had touched 150 rupees and 200 rupees for other pulses. The price of tomatoes was also rising. Is this only seasonal because the food inflation is increasing at 7.5 per cent year on year. Global oil prices have fallen. Do you think this creates perception issues for your government? 

PM MODI: You can’t view inflation as a perception issue. Price rise should be seen as a reality. What is available for a consumer should be seen for what it is. There should never be an attempt to view price rise as a perception issue as a means of escaping the reality of price rise. We will have to accept reality. You see the fast pace at which prices were rising under the previous government, today that speed has decelerated a lot. You can see the statistics, you will find it there. Second, the country has gone through two consecutive years of severe drought. Drought has a direct impact on the price of vegetables, food and pulses because all these things are produced from the soil. Now when there is such a big drought, it’s not in anybody’s hands. The second option in such a situation is imports. The Indian government has imported pulses in huge quantities. Third, it is the joint responsibility of the state and Central governments. It is not exclusively the state’s responsibility. It is not exclusively the Centre’s responsibility. It is the joint responsibility of both the state and Central governments. This should not be an issue of blame game that the state government did not do certain things and that the Centre did not do certain things. But it will have to be agreed that it is the joint responsibility of both. That is why the Centre has given rights to the states to make stringent laws. How much stocks to keep or not to keep are decisions which the states can take. All these rights have been given to the states. Some states have performed well, some states are trying. But the Centre and state governments are trying to work together on this. I believe that we have been successful to the extent that the speed with which prices were rising (under UPA), what would have happened if the prices were to rise at that speed. We have been successful in stopping that speedy rise of prices. But as far as pulses are concerned, production in India has been very low. Many farmers who were earlier sowing pulses have started cultivating sugar. That is also an area of concern. We gave special incentives for pulses. We have tried to set up a different MSP for pulses. We have taken steps to procure pulses from farmers with bonus. Our focus is on increasing the production of pulses. We are also focusing on building stocks of pulses by importing from abroad. An all out effort is being made and I believe that nobody doubts the sincerity of this government 

On Raghuram Rajan:
ARNAB: Mr Prime Minister what is your view about the controversy around the exit of Raghuram Rajan as the RBI Governor? A lot has been spoken about this. There was commentary that it may effect India’s image, perception as a global economy. What’s your own view of the controversy around the exit of Raghuram Rajan? 

PM MODI: When my Government was formed in May 2014, you take newspapers from May, June, July 2014 and check television debates during that period. The topic of the television debates would be – Will the new govt let Raghuram Rajan continue? Or Will the new Government oust Raghuram Rajan? And there was more or less consensus that he was appointed by the previous govt and so Modi won’t let him complete his tenure and will remove him. You have seen, that he worked his entire tenure. For the time he was appointed by the previous government, he completing his entire term. So all the misconceptions have been dispelled. Secondly, according to my 2 year experience in Govt, those who are creating controversies, are being unjust to Raghuram Rajan 

ARNAB: Why so? 

PM MODI: I will tell you. Those who say…I believe Raghuram Rajan’s patriotism is no less than any of ours. It will be doing injustice to him if one says that he will serve the country only if he is at a particular post. As much as I know Raghuram Rajan, whatever post he holds, wherever he is, he is someone who will continue to serve the country. He is someone who loves his country. Therefore, it’s not like the nation won’t get Raghuram Rajan’s services, Raghuram Rajan is not that kind of a person. He is a person who loves the country. Those who speak such language are doing great injustice to him. My experience with him has been good.I appreciate the work he has done. And my good wishes will always be with him.

ARNAB: Prime Minister Modi, there’s a question related to this. During your speech at the Executive you used seven words begining with letter ‘S’– ‘Sevabhaav’ (service), ‘Santulan’ (balance), ‘Sanyam’ (restraint), ‘Samvaad’ (dialogue), ‘Samanvay’ (coordination), ‘Sakaratmak’ (positivity) and ‘Samvedna’ (sensitivity). I will ask the question in context with Raghuram Rajan because you used these words in the speech at National Executive Meet speech on June 14 in Allahabad. You said, ‘Our party leaders and party workers should use these qualities in their daily dealings and behaviour.’ Prime Minister, in Raghuram Rajan’s context, your Rajya Sabha MP has made many comments. Later he made critical remarks against senior bureaucrats. My question is, do you think it is right? When we talk about ‘Sanyam’ (restraint) and ‘Santulan’ (balance), is it correct?PM MODI: Whether it is someone from my party or not, I believe that such things are inappropriate. The nation won’t benefit from such publicity stunts. One should be more responsible while conducting themselves. Anyone who believes he is bigger than the system is wrong. 

ARNAB: That’s a very clear message. 

PM MODI: I have a very clear message. I have no two minds about it. On Black Money: ARNAB: And Mr Prime Minister, if I may say so, between May 8 and now, you are speaking as straight as you did before you took over as Prime Minister. I think that answer takes me to the next subject. Mr Prime Minister, the issue is that of Black Money. In a very interesting way you said, prices should not be looked at from the point of perception, equally, Mr Prime Minister it can be said said that an issue like Black Money should not be looked at in terms of perception, but it is perception forming. There are political debates on this. Experts say that the Black Money economy has shrunk, 10-15% economy has shrunk through land dealings and other things. You have passed the Black Money Bill, you have made taxation more transparent, you have started information sharing with other countries, you have taken steps, but Prime Minister Modi, people still expect that a Rs 25 lakh crores will be brought back and put into their bank accounts. How will you address that expectation? The hope that people have taking Black Money, how will you address it? 

PM MODI: How did the black money issue arise and how did it become such a serious issue? We have to look at the background. It is an established fact in the minds of the common man those who steal money park their money overseas. It’s a common perception. Even if I look at it from the common man’s perspective, I also wonder where does this money go? This issue was always stalled in the Parliament. When the matter reached the Supreme Court, the Supreme Court ordered Special Investigation Team to look into it, even then the previous government stalled it for three years, from 2011-2014. It’s after this that political parties, the media and the common man started believing that there’s something wrong. Then the issue of Black Money became an agenda. Even today I can say…that yes, when there is money stashed in foreign accounts, there are some norms of engagement with foreign countries on the issue. But between 2011-2014, these people were given the opportunity to launder money here and there 

ARNAB: Mr. Modi, there have been several corruption cases about the previous government, which have now come out. There is AgustaWestland, many defense scams and defense transactions are now being analyzed seriously. The cases which were quoted in the CAG reports but were ignored are now coming in the forefront. This question is important because this isn’t just about financial corruption but these questions have direct implications on the national security of the country. Do you think, when they say that this is a political witch hunt by Narendra Modi Sarkar, do you think all of these cases would have been possible without political patronage? 

PM MODI: There are many things which are not visible. One can’t imagine the difficulty I am experiencing in taking out things from dirt. One who is working there knows the amount of dirt that exists and how certain things have been caught in a web. There are certain powers behind it. The case about Agusta helicopters. I can’t deny it and I believe that we have the right to doubt that people behind this are very experienced. They have perfectly practiced the art of doing wrong deeds. They are very experienced and knowledgeable. And one can also smell the fact that such a thing wouldn’t have been done without a shield. Now, agencies are probing. Let’s see how far the probe goes. But the investigation shouldn’t go ahead while people are being targeted, neither does my government target anyone. The sin has been committed, but how much is done, How was it done, who did it, probe agencies will find out in a professional way. Whatever comes out, will be put out 

ON GST BILL:

ARNAB: Prime Minister Modi, do you think the GST bill which has been stuck for over one and half years, it is a path-breaking economic reform. It unifies the country. Recently you met Ms Jayalalithaa after she was sworn in as the Chief Minister, Mamata Banerjee has extended her support for GST and Congress allies at the state level are supporting the GST bill. Do you feel optimistic that GST bill will be passed in the next session of the Parliament? 

PM MODI: First we need to understand, that we look at GST only within the purview of an economic reform because of which the right information doesn’t come out. Not having GST straight away means loss for the poor of Uttar Pradesh. Absence of GST straight away means loss for the poor people of Bihar. Not passing the GST would mean loss for the poor people of poor states like Bengal, Orissa and Assam. People who sit in the Rajya Sabha must understand this. GST is beneficial for the poor people of the states represented by them, because those states will economically benefit the most from GST. The money will be used for the welfare of the poor people of those states. This is why be it Mamata Banerjee, be it Nitish Kumar, be it Akhilesh Yadav or Naveen Patnaik, all these states want the GST bill to be passed at the earliest. There is just one group which has made it the issue of prestige. Now the kind of arithmetic which is working out, I hope that this decision is passed in favour of the poor. You will be surprised to what extent has the opposition reached to the level of distortion. In the previous session we introduced an act. Indian government has Rs 40,000 crore rupees from the CAMPA Fund. Rs 40,000 crore. we wanted to give that money to the states. States have to use that money for forestry, for greenery, for planting trees and plants. The bill is meant for that. Had this Rs 40,000 crore reached the states before the monsoons, it would have been used for the forests. A lot of people would have got employment, people who plant trees would have been employed. There would be plantation and due to the rains the plants would start growing within a year. But just because of obstructionism, states have been deprived of the benefit of Rs 40,000 crore. The money was meant for the forests and for the tribals. They blocked it. There was no argument on it 

ARNAB: The reason…you had tried 

PM MODI: Made all efforts. 

ARNAB: You had invited former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi here at the Race Course Road 

PM MODI: We held talks at every level 

ARNAB: Still? The word you used ‘ego issue’, why has it become an ego issue? And people would want to know why is the Prime Minister unable to end this? 

PM MODI: The Prime Minister cannot answer this question. Those creating obstructions can only answer this question. But despite this, I will keep trying. I am ready to convince them in which ever way possible. If I have to convoke someone over a cup of tea at their house, I am even ready for that. I have no problem. My only aim is the welfare of the poor of my country and the poor of states like Uttar Pradesh. 

ARNAB: You spoke of Uttar Pradesh. Mr Prime Minister, elections will be held in Uttar Pradesh in 6,7,8 months. The focus of entire nation will be on it. You are the MP from Varanasi. But some comments are made by BJP, some say Sangh Parivar, some independent groups, communal colour is added to it and not just from one party but from other parties as well. Mr Prime Minister are you going to be able to keep development as the sole agenda? The main issue in the Uttar Pradesh polls should be that of development, it shouldn’t get capsized, the focus shouldn’t be elsewhere. Are you confident that communal agenda will not overpower development? 

PM MODI: It’s my conviction, it’s my commitment. You must have seen during the 2014 elections that I fought elections on the issue of development. The new generation of the country only believes in development. I believe that solution to all problems is in development. Development is also the solution to the tension that people talk about. If we provide employment to people, if we ensure there’s food on their plates, if we provide them with facilities and give them education, all the tension will end. And this is why, all those who want good for the nation, I request them to compete towards development and for development. This atmosphere should be created in the country and I think such an environment is being created nowadays. 

Don’t make heroes out of hot heads: PM Modi 

ARNAB: So the hot heads who make extreme comments, is there a necessity to control them? So that there is no politics in the name of religion 

PM MODI: Firstly, I am of the firm belief that the nation should progress on the issue of development. And it is necessary that the country moves forward on the issue of development. I would like to tell the media not to make heroes out of those people who make such comments. 

ARNAB: But they keep making such comments 

PM MODI: Don’t make them heroes, they will stop 

ARNAB: We don’t make them heroes, we make them villains. 

PM MODI: But why do you make them so big? I see such statements by people on TV, whose faces I haven’t even seen and they end up becoming spokesmen on TV 

ARNAB: Self styled spokesmen 

PM MODI: I don’t know why such people are encouraged.ARNAB: Final question to you Mr Prime Minister, what motivates you the most? First of all as I said, will you be able to keep this pace? What motivates you the most and also if you can share with our viewers honestly what is your one greatest source of worry? 

PM MODI: Firstly, I don’t live under the burden of worries. Problems and challenges are there, you can’t deny that. But you must challenge the challenges and not let the challenges turn into worries. This is my principle. I challenge the challenges. I like to face the problems. I don’t run away from them. Whatever loss I have to face for it, I face it. But I can’t leave the country helpless. This responsibility must be taken and I will continue to do so. For all good and bad things, it is my responsibility. I do not regret anything. I believe, people of the country have given me the responsibility and I must fulfill it. Thirdly, when I see the poor in our country, it reminds me of the work that I have to do for them. Day before yesterday, I was in Pune, and met a Shrimaan Chandrakant ji. A retired teacher with a pension of Rs 16000, donates Rs 5000 every month for Swachh Abhiyaan. If a 70 year old retired teacher with children and family at home, without worrying about them, worries about the country, then being the Prime Minister, I should work a thousand times more than Chandrakant ji. This is my inspiration. People of this country who work day and night, they are my inspiration. I look at them and I work even harder.”

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The latest research from the George Institute for Global Health, Public Health Foundation of India and the Centre for Chronic Disease Control, India, highlights the high levels of salt in packaged food sold in India. The survey, which looked at  5796 packaged food products, revealed huge differences in the salt content of similar foods, with some containing almost 10 times more salt than others, and less than a quarter of products would meet the UK 2017 salt targets.

“The high level of salt in processed food is a great public health concern, as we are noticing a shift in dietary habits towards more convenience foods.” said Dr. Vivekanand Jha, Executive Director, The George Institute for Global Health, India. The main problem caused by salt is high blood pressure which greatly increases the risk of stroke, heart attack and kidney failure.  “These are all now leading causes of death and disability in India,” he added.

The research looked at 9 main food categories which contribute salt to the diet in India, and revealed that many food groups contain excessively high levels of salt. In particular, cooking sauces, table sauces and spreads contained on average 5 and a half grams of salt per 100g, with some containing 10 times that amount and others with almost no salt at all.  “This is particularly alarming as sauces and spread are often added to meals, and with such high salt contents, it will add substantially more salt to the diet” said Dr. Jha.

Similarly, papads, a popular meal accompaniment, contained up to as much as 5g salt/100g, whilst others contained no salt. “These findings clearly illustrate that food manufacturers are able to produce these foods with much less salt” said Clare Farrand, Senior Project Manager for salt reduction strategies, WHO Collaborating Centre for Salt reduction at The George Institute for Global Health, Sydney.

“In view of this report and the change in dietary habits, there is an urgent need for the government of India to develop a clear set of criteria or targets to reduce the amount of salt added to food by the food industry.” She added. “This research provides baseline data on the amount of salt in foods sold in India, which can be used to develop reformulation targets to reduce salt levels in food as part of a national salt reduction strategy and reduce the risk of stroke and heart disease related disease death in India.”

The World Health Organisation recommends all member states reduce mean population level salt intake by 30% by 2025. The WHO Collaborating Centre on population salt reduction at The George Institute for Global Health, Sydney has a remit to support countries to achieve these targets.

Further to this, the survey revealed that only a third of products had salt content on the nutrition label, making it impossible for Indians to know how much salt they would be eating, and make a healthier choice.  Almost a quarter of products carried no nutritional details at all.

“We think it’s important that Indian consumers can easily see what’s in their food; there is a clear need for better food labelling” said Dr. Prabhakaran from the Public Health Foundation of India and Centre for Chronic Disease Control, New Delhi. He noted that “It currently isn’t mandatory to display salt levels on food packaging but it’s certainly something we need to consider.” 

Some products contain excessively high levels of salt; for example papads, a commonly consumed meal accompaniment in India have a mean sodium content of 1219mg/100g – with a range of 2-4000mg/100g.  This illustrates that papads can be made with as little as 2mg of sodium/100g, 2000 times less sodium than the papad product with the highest sodium content.

Incomplete nutrition information makes it impossible for people to know what they are eating and hard to make a healthier choice. Absent nutrition information makes it difficult to monitor amounts of salt, fat and sugar in widely consumed food products, and hold the food industry to account to reduce the unnecessary amounts of salt, fat and sugar added to processed foods. The high level of salt in processed food is a great public health concern; salt increases blood pressure, and thereby the risk of developing cardiovascular disease, the biggest killer worldwide.”

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The International Union Against TB and Lung Disease (The Union) is hopeful that India would agree to participate in the second stage of the ambitious STREAM trials for the shortened Multi-Drug resistant (MDR)-TB Regimen. According to I.D. Rusen, Senior Vice President (research and Development) who leads the TREAT-TB Initiative and coordinates STREAM clinical trials for shortened regimens going on since 2010. The Union is in talks with the Indian government on the issue and is hopeful that India would agree to participate in the trials.

India has the largest burden of TB and MDR-TB in the world, and according to the Global Tuberculosis Report 2015, there were an estimated 220,000 TB-related deaths in India in 2014 – marginally lesser than 240,000 deaths reported in 2013. The number of patients living with TB had also declined from 2.6 million in 2013 to 2.5 million in 2014. However, the new cases increased in the same period from 2.1 million to 2.2 million. As per the World Health Organisation, there were 480,000 new MDR-TB in 2014 globally. Only a quarter of these cases are detected and treated, and of the reported MDR-TB patients treated only 50% are treated successfully. The current standard treatment regimen for MDR-Tb lasts up to 24 months and requires frequent injections, which pose a significant burden both on patients and for the health systems tasked with administering treatment. Permanent hearing loss is a serious side effect of the injected medicines used to treat MDR-TB.

“”The Union strongly believes that a more accessible and tolerable treatment for MDR-TB was urgently needed. Experience from a pilot programme in Bangladesh utilizing a nine-month treatment regimen demonstrated impressive outcome,”” Dr Rusen adds. Results of the Phase-1 trial of Bangladesh Project with nine-month treatment regimen, which was a pilot, have shown as overall success rate of 87.9% with a cure rate of 82.5% and only 5.25 death rate. Updated trials showed a success rate of 84.5% with a cure rate of 82.1%. the updated trials had 515 patients.

Further evaluation was conducted on 1,000 patients in West African countries on a modified Bangladesh regimen. The nine West African countries are Benin, Burkina Faso, Burudi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Cote d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Niger and Rwanda.   An interim analysis of 408 patients in this evaluation demonstrated a success rate of 82.1%. STREAM trial is among the ambitious randomized controlled trial going on at present. In STREAM stage -1, the Bangladesh regimen is compared to the locally used WHO regimen in the participating countries.

Stage-1 trials sites for STREAM were Addis Ababa in Ethiopia, Ulan Bataar in Mongolia, Ho Chi Minh in Vietnam and Sizure, Durban and Pietermartizburg in South Africa.  So far, 424 patients have been enrolled for the trial and the final patient follow-up will be done in the last quarter of 2017 and the results are expected in early 2018. After extensive discussion between the study team, the local investigators and other experts it was agreed that additional regimen would be evaluated which would be a fully oral 9-month regimen and a 6-month simplified regimen. Both include the latest TB drug—bedaquiline.

The first patient was enrolled for STREAM Stage-2 in March this year and so far 10 patients have been enrolled. The size of the patients is likely to be 1155 with the recruitment patient to be completed by middle of 2018. The first patient follow-up is scheduled for early 2021 and the initial end point results are expected to come by the middle of 2030. The project is funded by USAID, DFID, MRC, AFD and bedaquiline provided by Janssen Pharmaceuticals, developers of the new drug.”

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hagman”” alt=””hagman”” />THE HANGMAN’S JOURNAL mixes fact with fiction along with tracing the innermost thoughts of a man who chose being a hangman in the early 1940s for the prison authorities in the Kingdom of Travancore and, after independence the states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu. For three decades after the courts had passed a death sentence it was left to Janardhanan Pillai as the ‘aratcher’ or the hangman to put the condemned man to death, swiftly and clinically. Each time he returned from the gallows Pillai told himself that it would be the last time. But he went back a hundred and seventeen times.

Authored by Shashi Warrier the book goes into the mind of a man struggling to come to terms with his dharma, his conscience and his shame. It sheds light on the innermost feelings of the hangman. It is a narrative about the goings on inside Pillai’s head who believes his existence and that of his family depends on death. In the epilogue Pillai admits candidly “”I have done something that I never thought I could do. I have written a book. Here it is in these notebooks that you (Warrier) gave me. Here also is the pen you gave me: I return it because I am not going to write another book. I wrote what I had to. I opened many doors in my mind, and closed a few, and laid a few ghosts to rest. As you see the book is not concluded. I do not know how to end it. It is for you to do so. I only know that at this moment I feel free, peaceful and I want this feeling to last.””

They call it the drop which snaps the life of a condemned person. The warders have a little table for it, to tell you what distance the condemned man must fall with the noose around his neck, for him to die cleanly. Experts explain that the person must fall just enough to gather sufficient momentum for the rope to break his neck. The British worked it out as a rule of thumb. However, no hangman worth his salt needs the table or a weighing scale, or a measuring tape. He can guess the weight of the man to within five pounds, and then work out the length of the drop to within an inch.

The hangman lived some 400 Km away in the neighbouring state of Tamil Nadu and the Warrier being in Kerala decided to meet him. He telephones a woman to inform her if the situation required then he would like her to join him later which she did. When he reached the hangman’s house he was informed that Pillai had died some two weeks back. Pillai’s wife asked her son to hand over a packet to the author as her late husband had desired. These were seven notebooks in which the Hangman had penned down his feelings and thoughts.

Pillai found it difficult to answer the first question that was posed to him: “”If 117 people you hanged could hear you today, what would you tell them?”” Starting with the heart of the matter the hangman was foxed. “”Ask me something else now. I’ll have to think about it,”” he observed initially. Pillai was also worried that if the author twisted anything he had said and put it in his book it would reflect on him and his sons. Even though trusting a stranger was doubly difficult, the hangman decided to take his chances.

The author and the woman from the publishers who spoke Tamil helped translate whatever Pillai had to say to the questions put to him. Anyhow it was agreed that the hangman would write his story in Tamil for which the notebooks and pen were made available to Pillai. Warrier asked the hangman not to throw away any scrap of paper as it might not be of value to him but might be useful to the former.

It did not matter in the old days because the hangman was the king’s hatchet man. May be two hundred years ago the hangman came from a family of handpicked men, loyal to the death, willing to obey the king’s most ridiculous command without question. They killed without compunction, and one life more or less did not matter to them. But Pillai insisted he was “”no hatchet man. Every life mattered to me. I am of peasant blood, of a family of farmers and tillers of the land, taught over generations to nurture life rather than take it away. The king was my master until independence. I had no choice, really, for I don’t want anybody else to be damned as I have been. I have borne the guilt too long. If what I have written is treason, let them do what they will. I have nothing left that they can take.””

The original grant that the hangman’s family received was some sixty acres of tax free land. The king took no revenue from it. This aside there was more land — fields of paddy. And there was uncultivated land on which cashews grew wild. Along with the grant of land came money: seventeen Rupees a month. The clan grew rich. By decree they became janmis, landed gentry. They had wealth and servants. Every now and then they got a message directly from the king, so regardless of their caste, which was not the highest, they had the grudging respect of everyone in the area.

Since the clan followed the matrilineal system, the right was inherited not by the son of the hangman but his son-in-law, the husband of his eldest daughter, and so on. So they began to look for someone who would do the hangman’s job for them. They found his father, a distant cousin of theirs, close enough to be given the job. He took it because he must have known hunger, and one of the perks of the job was a grant of three large sacks of paddy, each about 85 Kg, from each of the two annual harvests. This supplemented by the allowance that father got for each hanging, saw them through the worst years. But there was never quite enough.

The weight of Pillai’s executions, the weight of the pain of killing at least one man who had done no real wrong, all these burdened his mind. He could not eat and sleep came rarely. He could not go back to his friends, or whatever he had considered normal before Warrier came. There was a distance between him and his wife Chellammal but somehow she did not seem to mind. “”I began to understand how I had changed. After I started on the book I hardly noticed anything. My vision had shifted from the fields outside to those inside my mind, and I still l had no idea what I would find there. I did not know what I was looking for.””

Pillai finally discovered that he was no longer the aratchar. The king’s privy purse had been abolished. With the abolition of the purse his job could come to an end. It is likely that he will have to hang no more. The emptiness persisted, and the thought came again, “”you’ve written enough: stop. Without opening them I held the notebooks I had grown so close to in these few months and felt only a great relief. Death was at the core of it. How could I have killed? How could I atone? The confusion grew, for all the truths I had learnt seemed to have been washed away as if in a flood.”” The book is thought provoking and an unforgettable tale.

TR

(T R Ramachandran is a senior journalist and commentator.)
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The All India Network of Sex Workers (AINSW) has suggested inclusion of representatives from sex workers and transgender communities in the District Anti-Trafficking Committees as proposed in the Trafficking of Persons (Prevention, Protection and Rehabilitation) Bill, 2016. Trafficking of Person’s (Prevention, Protection & Rehabilitation) Bill, 2016 has been proposed to prevent trafficking of persons and to provide protection and rehabilitation to the victims of trafficking so as to create legal, social and economic environment against trafficking of persons. However the Bill should clearly demonstrate the legal and social connotations of the words ‘trafficking’ and ‘sex work’.

Under Chapter II of the Bill, where clauses concerning District Anti-Trafficking Committee has been discussed, alongside District Magistrate, District Judge and representative from DLSA there should be a representative from the sex workers organization as well for better representation. Similarly, at the State Anti-Trafficking Committee representation of neither sex workers nor transgender community has been thought about.

In a statement issued by Kusum, president of AINSW has said that Self Regulatory Board (SRB) and its success stands testimony to the fact that it has been an exemplary model in prevention of trafficking in sex trade, hence our suggestions would be to implement a similar model at local & district level which can work in tandem with District and State Anti-Trafficking Committee. Supreme Court Panel recommended similar suggestions. AINSW and its partner can highly be obliged to produce their services to develop this model to prevent trafficking in Sex Work.

As Under Chapter VI, specifications of Protection Homes and Special Homes have been mentioned, but our opinion is that no more than 1 week of shelter in Protection homes and a maximum of 3 months in Special homes should be provided, Ms Kusum has said. Post such shelter facility vocational and skill development training opportunities maybe facilitated when victims of trafficking can reside with her family (children, in law) and be engaged in other occupations of their choice.   

Chapter VII focuses on rehabilitation and social integration. But there is no clear cut definition anywhere of the term ‘sex work’ and how it is different from trafficking asks Geeta Dutta, General Secretary of AINSW. Those women who are by choice in this profession of sex work should be adequately safeguarded, legally and socially protected against adverse situations, harassment and violence of any sort, she added.

“”We are in absolute support of protection of identity and confidentiality of social or electronic media disclosure of such victims of trafficking as mentioned in Chapter IX, Clause 15.

Those involved in Special Courts, Judges and lawyers should be provided adequate orientation program involving representatives from sex workers and transgender community so that they are in a position to differentiate between sex workers and trafficked victims. Also, in case of Special Public Prosecutor similar orientation program may be arranged, Dr Jana, Chief Advisor of AINSW added.

One who is forcefully kept in any house or brothel is in a different position legally, who should be rescued and legal intervention is of paramount significance in such a case but any such woman or a group of women who by their choice reside in a house or a brothel as a collective of sex workers should be legally protected against any kind of harassment or exploitation, also law should clarify their legal status as opposed to brothel owners.  They may be a part of any Cooperative or Self Help Group to form a collective so as to safeguard their rights as social individuals and they could negotiate in police led harassment and with clients effectively.

The Bill should clearly state that sex work by choice is a profession and any act of trafficking is an illegal step.”

After the two-day National Executive of the party in Allahabad on June 12 and 13, is the BJP viewing Kairana as an opportunity for polarisation in next year’s assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh akin to what the communal frenzy in Muzaffarnagar did in the 2014 general elections? The BJP managed to win a mind boggling 71 seats out of the total 80 seats in the Lok Sabha from the country’s most populous state. With its allies winning two, the NDA finished with a record tally of 73 which catapulted them to power at the centre with a majority of 282 seats on its own and along with its allies the NDA crossed the rubicon of 300 and finished with a comfortable 340 in the 543-member House of the People.

It might be too early to make those assumptions at this juncture as the assembly elections are still about eight months away. The question is will Kairana do the trick for BJP in the upcoming Uttar Pradesh assembly elections. Even though it is a dangerous game, the gambit is clearly to keep the Kairana issue alive to influence the electorate. The alleged exodus of Hindu families from Kairana has given the saffron brigade a handle to indulge in divisive politics in the run up to the most crucial assembly elections in UP.

It is now beyond the shadow of reasonable doubt that BJP MP Hukum Singh representing Kairana in Western UP and neighbouring Kandhla district in Shamli let his imagination go wild. The MP allegedly released a list of 350 odd families from Muslim dominated Kairana township polarising of Hindus having been compelled to bolt from there. However, many of those who figured in the list were either still in residence or had left much earlier in search of better prospects. There is evidence that many of those who moved out of Kairana and Kandhla did so not because of communalism but crime.

Both towns are in the grip of powerful and violent criminal gangs which have had a free run of the area. Fact finding teams irrespective of their political affiliation, have been to that region under the threat of such groups, particuarly one run by Kukem Kala engaged in extortion. After the MP’s list was found to be mischievous exaggeration, Hukum Singh himself backtracked claiming that the migration was essentially a law and order problem. The lie of Kairana exodus exacerbated social tensions in the region which is yet to recover from the communal carnage of 2013.

While Prime Minister Narendra Modi has exhorted the BJP rank and file at the party’s Naational Executive to focus on development, others in the party want to exploit Kairana as a campaign plank. Senior police officers posted in Western UP admit that though some of the Hindu families in Kairana had decided to migrate from the area, their decision was guided more by deterioration of law and order than any other reason.

For several years UP has been witnessing some of the worst communal clashes. Unchecked crime affects business and working communities in UP’s mofussil towns has long been associated with Samajwadi party rule. The Akhilesh Yadav government has done little to change this perception. The larger anxiety remains. In regions with mixed populations, the consequences of painting a largely crime related phenomenon with a broad communal brush has the portends of lethal consequences.

The BJP remains unrelenting from its position of a “”Hindu exodus”” and is now projecting the Kairana issue as a forced migration of residents due to fear induced by the police appeasement of criminals belonging to the minority community. The BJP team which visited Kairana has submitted its report to UP BJP president Keshav Prasad Maurya on Thursday. The report will be handed over to BJP president Amit Shah to be submitted to UP Governor Ram Naik. Maurya said the party was preparing a road map to further intensify the issue across the state. What is scary is that BJP activists are looking for more Kairanas in the state.

In its preliminary report submitted to the government, the district administration has listed lack of industries and health and educational centres in Kairana as the reason for economic migration. Reports suggest that along with Hindus, Muslims have also migrated from Kairana in search of jobs. Kairana is not very far from Muzaffarnagar. Historically it has been Muslim dominated.

Meanwhile, BSP supremo and former UP chief minister Mayawati put up a brave front when a heavyweight and and backward castes leader Swami Prasad Maurya quit the party as he felt “”suffocated”” in it. He accused Mayawati with auctioning party tickets for the upcoming polls. He is also the leader of the opposition in the UP assembly. There is speculation that he might join the Samajwadi party.

Expectedly, Mayawati lashed out at Maurya saying she would have expelled him anyway from her party. She said he wanted tickets for his son and daughter for contesting the assembly elections. There are bound to be some queer twists and turns in the run up to the elections as BJP would like break the common refrain that it essentially a party of upper castes. It is in this context that the Lotus party wants to make a determined pitch for the support of the backward castes. That is why it has chosen a backward caste leader in Maurya as the BJP chief in Uttar Pradesh.

This town which has a history of amity between the Hindus and Muslims, Kairana is known for its Hindustani classical music. It is the birthplace of the Kairana Gharana whose practioners include Pandit Bhimsen Joshi, Begum Akhtar, Gangubhai Hangal, Roshan Ara Begum among several others.

(T R Ramachandran is a senior journalist and commentator. Views are personal.)

“Having become a nominated BJP Rajya Sabha member recently, the maverick Subramanian Swamy can be more than a handful as a trouble shooter. He manages to remain in the limelight and revels in particularly targeting the dynastic Nehru-Gandhi family of Congress president Sonia Gandhi, her son and party vice president Rahul Gandhi along with daughter Priyanka and her husband Robert Vadra. This eminently suits the BJP’s top leadership who have no love lost for the country’s first political family.Ironically, he has been a friend of Sonia Gandhi and a bitter enemy of the BJP in the past. He has the dubious distinction of pulling down the Atal Behari Vajpayee government in 1999 when he brought Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa and Sonia Gandhi together over coffee. His rabid anti-Congressism has secured him a seat in the Rajya Sabha recently at the end of April.When the irrepressible Swamy gets close to anyone as evidenced with Jayalalithaa not very long back, her trouble began with cases of corruption being launched against her. It is an entirely different matter that he has suddenly gone quiet on that front perhaps on account of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Amma being close friends.Dr Swamy is associated with a lobby in the saffron brigade gunning for Arun Jaitley’s head since he became the union Finance minister in the Modi government. It is, therefore, not surprising when Congress leader Digvijaya Singh is thinking aloud if Swamy, an economist to boot, is angling for the Finance portfolio in union council of ministers even if that is unlikely to happen.Mr. Modi is not Vajpayee and is unlikely to bat an eyelid in sidelining Swamy or sending him to the cooler if he becomes overambitious or even remotely poses a threat to the present regime. A case in point is how BJP elder statesman and former Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani as well as Murli Manohar Joshi being summarily sidelined and pushed to a corner as “”marg darshak”” or revered advisors.Dr. Swamy may have attacked Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan demanding his dismissal and the Modi government looked the other way without coming to his defence. Even before Rajan took up the the job of RBI Governor during the Congress led UPA regime, he had made it abundantly clear he was here for the short haul as he desired returning to academia. He resigned in keeping with his plans and will call it quits on fourth of September when his three-year-term ends.Dr. Swamy then launched an attack against NDA government’s chief economic advisor Arvind Subramanian from “”Washington DC””. Jaitley wasted no time in backing the CEA rebuffing Swamy suitably. That is not going to deter Swamy who has made his intentions clear that he would soon be demanding the head of 27 others holding senior positions in the government who are not serving the interests of the country. Simply put, Swamy believes these officers are not in sync with the policies of the Modi government. There is unlikely to be a dull moment for the NDA government with Swamy working overtime to haul over the coals those who are inimical to the Modi government.Swamy reacted quickly saying it did not matter what Jaitley says as he is directly in touch with the Prime Minister and BJP president Amit Shah when required. Be that as it may, the quickfire announcements made on June 20 is aimed at lessening the blow of Rajan’s resignation which was not unexpected in the wake of the personal attacks against him by the Sangh Parivar. This is the second opening up exercise of the economy since November last year.Foreign investors are interested in India is evident with a 23 per cent surge in FDI touching a record $ 55 billion. Many in the corporate sector and opposition parties felt Rajan deserved a second term. Rajan had made it clear at the very beginning that he was not in this country for the long haul.Nobody is indispensable in public life and the need of the hour is to find a successor able to retain the credibility that Rajan had brought to the RBI. As the world integrates financial instability is a huge challenge. Before bidding adieu he hopes to complete “”unfinished tasks”” on hand.  His achievements are manifold. Inflation has halved. His role in stabilising the Rupee in September 2013 when the Indian economy faced a 2001 like foreign exchange crisis was noteworthy.The long overdue cleaning up of bank balance sheets has got underway. Foreign exchange reserves have shot up to help this country deal with global shocks. The significance of what has been done in the last three years during his stewardship of the central bank cannot be undermined. The Modi government’s uneasiness stems from its monetary policy which it believes is an important reason for the economy not taking off as fast as it could have. The slow pace of interest rate cuts was another irritant for the Modi regime. Although RBI cut rates by 1.5 percentage points since last year, private investment is just not happening. The RBI forcing others to acknowledge had loans rather than dabbling in giving away more good money has led to record losses since 2015 across the public sector banking system. This has been a source of friction between the government and Rajan.His exit is another instance of brilliance being pushed over by mediocrity. Lip service in undertaking reforms is one thing but actually getting down to the cleansing job is bound to create a delicate situation for the government. FDI investors had found India to be the best destination globally. One wonders if that will continue to remain so when Rajan bids adieu to the RBI in September. Among his tasks is making public the list of wilful defaulters. “”The list is being drawn up and we hope to put it on our website where everyone can see it,”” he said in a television interview.He cautioned that the RBI would have to be careful about the names on the list because not all loan defaulters are wilful or involved in any sort of malfeasance. “”Business had hit a wall because of the economic downturn and unable to pay back loans would not be named and shamed.””The RBI has flagged the challenges for sustaining India’s economic momentum: global growth is uneven and struggling to gain traction, world trade is floundering for want of demand, the US is weighed down by contracting industrial activity as exports, deflationary pressures are building in Japan, and the slowdown in China shows no signs of reversing. Besides if Britain leaves the European Union there is a real risk of “”some turmoil in the financial markets.””Eventually the central bank can only do so much in the end. Amid all this there is talk of increasing the term of RBI Governors from the existing three years to at least five years if not more. The argument is if the Lok Sabha has a five year term as also the the government at the centre and those in the states, then the RBI Governor’s term should also be for at least five years.In this a pointer to the Modi government facing a certain talent crunch inhibiting it from delivering its development goals even after completing two years in office. There is discernible frustration in the government as the the much touted slogan of “”aache din aane wale hai”” seems like a mirage even after it completed two years in office.(T R Ramachandran is a senior journalist and commentator. Views are personal.)“

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The United Nation has announced Zubaida Bai from India as one of the 10 Local SDG Pioneers for Safe and Healthy Birth. The announcement was made at the UN Global Compact Leaders Summit 2016 in New York. Zubaida Bai, founder and CEO of ayzh, was recognized for her efforts that align with Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 3 on Good Health and Well Being. Over 600 nominations were received from 100 countries between February and April 2016.

Launched in 2016 as part of the UN Global Compact’s Making Global Goals Local Business campaign, the Local SDG Pioneers programme seeks out individuals who are demonstrating how the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) can enable business to unlock economic, social, and environmental gains for the world. The 17 Sustainable Development Goals of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development – adopted by world leaders in September 2015 at an historic UN Summit – officially came into force on 1 January 2016. Over the next fifteen years with these new goals that universally apply to all, countries will mobilize efforts to end all forms of poverty, fight inequalities and tackle climate change, while ensuring that no one is left behind.

“Each of the 2016 Local SDG Pioneers exemplifies how business can be a force for good in addressing the challenges we face as a global society,” said Lise Kingo, UN Global Compact Executive Director. “Ms. Bai is dedicated to assuring healthcare for women in India. She has developed an affordable product and successful business model that is making a critical difference in the lives of mothers, children, and families across her country. She is a pioneer for safe and healthy birth.”

The Pioneers are made up of entrepreneurs who are championing sustainability through their business models and change makers who are mobilizing the business community broadly to take action in support of the SDGs. A Pioneers Selection Group, comprised of experts from the UN, academia, civil society and the private sector, ranked the nominees based on a set of criteria, resulting in the ten 2016 Global Compact Local SDG Pioneers. In the years to come, the Global Compact’s Pioneers programme will become a vital part of the organization’s priority to make global goals local business.

“I’m honored to be a part of the inaugural class of 2016 Local SDG Pioneers and wish to thank the UN Global Compact for this prestigious recognition,” said Ms. Bai. “The SDGs provide strategic roadmap for improving the health and wellbeing of mothers and their newborns. We are excited to advance the role of the private sector in achieving the Sustainable Development goals as they relate to the entire reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health (RMNCAH) continuum. We also hope to impact SDG 5 (gender equality), 9 (resilient infrastructure), and 17 (partnerships for the goals) with our work.”

Ms. Bai founded ayzh in India, based on the belief that every woman has the right to a safe birth as well as affordable and dignified healthcare. Since 2010, Zubaida has attracted clients and strategic partners from around the world, putting over 240,000 kits out into the market, all while putting health products into the hands of the women who need them the most.

The UN Global Compact Leaders Summit 2016 is a two-day gathering of the private sector, UN, Government and civil society to jump-start action to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. Together, over 800 leaders from around the world are gathered in New York to identify how to unleash the business activities, thinking, and innovation required for a new era of sustainability.

The UN Global Compact is the world’s largest corporate sustainability initiative, calling on companies to align strategies and operations with universal principles on human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption, and take actions that advance societal goals. In India, over 300 companies and non-business organization have joined the initiative, and the Global Compact Network India has supported their efforts to advance sustainable business practices since 2003.

Ayzh (pronounced ‘eyes’) is a social enterprise that develops and distributes low-cost, appropriate technology designed to meet the unique needs of women and health institutions in low-resource settings, targeting the time around childbirth. Through the sale of our customizable “kit style” products (namely our janma Clean Birth Kit), our sustainable and scalable model increases availability and access to proven health commodities, while providing economic opportunity to local Indian women who package and assemble our products. Our expanding product suite addresses the critical continuum of maternal health, namely newborn care, post partum care, and menstrual hygiene. ayzh has a diverse, dynamic, and passionate management team with expertise and synergy, who naturally foster integrated innovation across the fields of global health, business, and technology.”

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The issue of child trafficking is complex and not limited to just the legal aspect but also relates to social and economic issues, was the verdict of a three member jury on child trafficking. The verdict came out following a public hearing on child trafficking organized by child rights group HAQ in collaboration with several other civil society groups working on the issue.

After hearing the depositions and reading the stories of those who were unable to depose due to emotionalreasons, the jury observed that the issue of child trafficking has to be tackled at its root and there has to be an environment created to prevent trafficking by empowering urban/rural communities, creating awareness and providing education to families and children. Moreover, providing opportunities of employment and security within the community in collaboration with local government, NGOs and police is the need of the hour.

The jury comprising Lushin Dubey, Siddharth Luthra and Om Thanvi said the next stage is of community response which must be calibrated with necessary and relevant education and training to act both as a preventive measure, and to enable adequate rehabilitation measures and acceptance of children as victims of crime needing special care within the community. This requires proactive change at both the government and social level.

Importantly, the jury felt that the all the concerned stakeholders, including NGOs and particularly survivors, should be properly consulted before the Trafficking of Persons (Prevention, Protection and Rehabilitation) Bill 2016, which has been put out by the Ministry of Women and Child Development for inviting suggestions, is given a final shape.

There are different categories of trafficking — whether through coercion, kidnapping or with the consent of parents– all of which need to be dealt with in their distinct forms. The legal framework also needs to be reviewed to ensure complete coverage. This review must happen on a 5/10 yearly basis by viewing the impact on the menace, it said.

Reporting of crime is an issue which has to be dealt with by the law enforcement agencies and perhaps units akin to economic crime/ crime against women (CAW) and children cell which carry out pre-investigative enquiries. This would ensure that from the time of reporting, even if an FIR is to be deferred, the police machinery begins their work immediately.

Lack of coordination between state police agencies, anti-human trafficking units (AHTUs) and other agencies tasked with child care has to be legislatively and administratively streamlined, and the investigation has to be specialized, made efficacious and standardized procedures need to be adopted put throughout the country to avoid state-wise variations in procedure which despite the presence of central substantive and procedural laws, the jury said.

Recommending special prosecution efforts to be taken keeping in view the nature of crime, the jury said the process needs to be expedited and there should be timely review by the High Court.Investigation must be comprehensive as it often has inter-state ramifications and cannot be limited to one or the other aspect alone merely because of the convenience of the police. Integrity of police investigation and efforts need to be provided for and improved. A review mechanism should be created within each state since police is a state subject, the jury members said.

On post investigation and prosecution, the jury said there have to adequate standardized measures for rehabilitation and compensation, including medical treatment, to ensure that all victims are provided proper relief and assistance at state cost for their rehabilitation first within the community and then in the society at large. The victims should also be able to access their right to education, including vocational training, as part of the rehabilitation programme.”

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The Ministry of Women and Child Development has announced several facilities and incentives to the Anganwadi Workers to improve their conditions of service. The government has waived off the Anganwadi Workers share of Rs 80 for Anganwadi Karyakartri Bima Yojana. The Anganwadi Workers have been provided an insurance cover under Anganwadi Karyakartri Bima Yojana. The annual premium for this is Rs.280 out of which Rs.100 is paid by the Central Government, Rs.100 is paid by the Ministry of Finance and Rs.80 which is supposed to be paid by the Anganwadi Workers. This has been waived off.

The Anganwadi Worker is also provided 180 days of maternity leave. She is also sanctioned two saris as uniform every year. Scholarship benefit is also provided to the Anganwadi Workers @ Rs. 300 per quarter for their children studying in classes 9th to 12th. In order to improve their career prospects, the Ministry of Women and Child Development has ordered that 50% of the posts of Supervisors should be reserved for the Anganwadi Workers. Anganwadi Workers with 10 years of experience are eligible for appointment as Supervisor against this 50% quota.”