Ger to Ger – A Social Venture in Mongolia

‘Ger to Ger’ is a social enterprise started in Mongolia that aims at improving the lives of the nomadic people.

Half of Mongolia’s population are herders of which 65% are living at or below the poverty line. Rural poverty has been exacerbated by  extreme winters, that caused the death of nearly 10 million livestock.  In addition, inadequate pasture management has resulted in advance desertification and water shortages that will require many years for the environment to recover.

To address this need, Ger to Ger was started. The concept of community tourism was re-designed to ensure its

Ger to Ger community tourism. Image Source: www.changemakers.com

implementation was within the boundaries of  social  and cultural networks of Mongolia’s nomadic tribes.

To alleviate rural poverty and prevent others from slipping into poverty, it is critical that there is a mobilization of the industry to develop an interlacing rural tourism infrastructure that responsibly fulfills private sector needs, while addressing the needs of sustainable community growth. Furthermore by cultivating Mongolia’s natural and herder resources, rural communities are engaging in income generating activities that is generating towards enhance public-private partnerships towards economic development, health and education development, and natural resource management in rural areas where Ger to Ger operates.

Today, Ger to Ger is generating income to the nomadic people of Mongolia. As one of them, Mr. Chuluuunhuu, a Nomadic Herder attests

“Before we involve in Ger to Ger project we did not have own animals and we used to herd other people’s animals to feed our four daughters. We are very happy now to became member of Ger to Ger. We bought sheep, few cows and horses. Even we could send our two daughters to Universities.”

For the inquisitive, ‘Ger’ is the traditional dwelling of nomads in Mongolia. Visit http://www.gertoger.org to learn more about this social venture.

Drug control squad seizes fake medicine shops in Orissa

I had read about many incidents involving medicine shops selling fake drugs at the original cost to the consumers, and this was the first time saw some action being taken against the shops.

Unlicensed medicine shops have been mushrooming in rural areas of Orissa’s Jagatsinghpur district in which they have been selling duplicate and substandard medicines without the knowledge of drug control officials. One racket was actively supplying substandard medicines and charging the original rate from  patients.

According to this news report,

Drug Control Squad led by drug inspector Mr Anjan Kumar Sahoo raided  different medicine shops of Orissa’s Jagatsinghpur district and seized 6 illegal medicine shops in Balikuda and Jagatsinghpur areas. Five medicine shops were opened in front of Dasbatia primary hospital under Balikuda police station in which these shop owners have been selling substandard and fake medicines to the patients.

This raises so many questions…Though the practice of selling fake medicines is rampant all over the country, why don’t we hear much about the action taken on these medicine shops? Should we assume that no action is taken at all? How can we justify the plight of the patients? It is already difficult to suffer from poor health. Add to it that the medicines taken are fake and adulterated. And we are not even discussing the potential harmful effects of these fake medicines…

Researching this more, I found out that every state and union territory in India  has been assigned a Drugs Controller by the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization. Their responsibilities include

Monitoring of quality of Drugs & Cosmetics, manufactured by respective state units and those marketed in the state.  Investigation and prosecution in respect of contravention of legal provisions.

When will this division of the government take more responsibility in discharging its duties?

Villagers launch campaign against liquor shops

Villagers across eight districts of Punjab  have urged the state excise department to prohibit allotment of liquor vends in their villages.

“The government should help us by discouraging availability of liquor. We do not want that the village youth spoil their life by falling prey to alcohol,” said Jarnail Singh, a sarpanch from Sangrur district. 

The excise department generates a lot of revenue through liquor distribution, which has resulted in availability of liquor even in remote villages. Villagers are concerned that this is affecting their youth in a detrimental way.

“We are ready to take legal recourse if the department does not heed to our plea”, said Gurnam Singh, a sarpanch from Patiala district. Villagers argue that easy availability of liquor had led to the village youth getting addicted to alcohol from early age.

While the action of the excise department remains to be seen, closing liquor shops cannot altogether curb the menace. In many parts of our rural areas, despite many anti-liquor agitations and movements, liquor is sold illegally. But in some areas, community policing, has helped make a difference.

Puntius Denisonii – an endangered fish

Puntius Denisonii. Image Source: www.thehindu.com

India seems to be adding to its list of endangered and vulnerable animal species. The latest to join this list is Puntius Denisonii, a fish species endemic to the Kerala waters.

This species is endemic to four rivers – the Cheenkannipuzha (a major tributary of the Valapattanam river), Achankovil, Chaliyar, and near Mundakayam town) in Kerala.

Though the state government has banned fishing for this species, its habitat is declining. (It is also interesting that the fish is yet to be listed as per the National Wildlife Protection Act.)

The biodiversity of the Western Ghats is under threat owing to deforestation, agriculture, mining, hydroelectric projects, and urban expansion, all of which has a severe environmental impact on soil and water quality.

‘Bleeding Eyes’ , an ornamental fish, was a major revenue earner for the state, with each of them valued at Rs.1500 . Of late, these fish have been bred in captivity. Credit goes to the Chester Zoo and to two amateur Chennai-based individual fish lovers, Rabi Venkatesh and Murali, a success reported in The Hindu on October 16, 2008

Source: IUCN Red List

Child undernutrition in India

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights  states “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.” With regards to nutrition however, all of India’s children are not equal.

According to India’s third National Family Health Survey (NFHS-3) of 2005-06, 20 per cent of Indian children under five-years-old are wasted due to acute undernutrition and 48 per cent are stunted due to chronic undernutrition. Seventy per cent of children between six months and 59 months are anaemic. Despite a booming economy, nutrition deprivation among India’s children remains widespread.

UNICEF India notes that Child undernutrition in India is a human rights issue.

In absolute numbers, an average 61 million are stunted.

Can we combine the existing technical knowledge with the political will to change the lives of millions of India’s children? 61 million of them are waiting…

Read more  here.

Child Labour

Child Labour. Image source: www.inewsindia.com

Child Welder. Image source: www.childlaborphotographs.com

The child labor problem in India is of a scale that is often not even acknowledged, because it is so invisible. We can look at factories where children work, but we don’t look at agricultural labor. We don’t look at domestic labor to the extent that India should be looking at. “There’s a sense of almost justifying it by saying that these children would otherwise be starving and therefore it’s fine to employ them – except that the conditions of that employment are dangerous.”Meenakshi Ganguly, Senior Researcher from Human Rights Watch.

I sincerely hope that we can enforce the existing laws in our country related to child labour.

Basketball for Kashmiri kids

Kashmir has been ravaged by war for nearly 2 decades and has lost an entire generation to violence. The mental trauma experienced by children and elders  is difficult to comprehend.

J.D.Walsh was well aware of the toll the war had taken on the Kashmir residents.

Quite improbably, Walsh felt right at home and was immediately convinced of two things: that this “was a time for peace” and that it could be achieved through a game unknown to the Kashmiris: basketball. Walsh’s mission in Kashmir was to bring the sport of basketball to kids who had been orphaned by Kashmir’s violence. This curious notion attracted all kinds of youngsters, who had never played basketball, to JD’s two-day workshop.

Sports, has the power to transcend conflict.  Walsh came to Kashmir through Child Nurture and Relief (CHINAR), a non profit working toward ‘psychosocial rehabilitation’ of  children in conflict areas.

“These kids had “gone through various traumatic conditions, maybe seen something bad happen,” said Chinar’s president Nazir Ahmed Qureshi. “These children become easy recruits for all sorts of violent causes,” Qureshi said. “Chinar seeks to end that cycle.” Chinar’s young people live in a building in Srinagar that Chinar rents and attend local schools.

As it is with all over India, in Kashmir too, cricket is extremely popular. None of the kids had played basketball before. The first day of the training session, kids couldn’t focus. But, second day onwards, they took more interest and learned the basics.

One of Walsh’s fundamental themes is that “everything in life is a dance,” and if you watch a basketball game, you can “put it to music, pretty much.” There’s a spatial relationship between the players and the lines on the court. Bring together body and movement and the free flow of the game, and that’s the core of basketball. Walsh gets kids to think that way on court.

All this, according to Chinar,  has aided in the psychosocial rehabilitation of the children. Nazir says the workshop brought “the positives out of the kids,” where earlier they had “no avenues to express themselves.” That’s groundwork solid enough that not only will Walsh return to Srinagar for more workshops, he and Chinar plan to hire a local coach and build a “sustainable” program for the game.

Royal Place for Royal Library in Agartala

Books are  knowledge treasures. Unfortunately, reading books  and visiting libraries is neglected in India. Part of the problem is the library conditions.

In India, library conditions are pathetic. Most of the funds allocated to libraries are used to fill administrator’s pockets. There is little reading space, and poor lighting.  But this news, gave me a ray of hope.

Maharaja Bir Chandra Manikhya Bahadur established the first library in Tripura in 1888. His successor and son named the library Bir Chandra State Central Library in memory of his father.

Four years after the merger of royal Tripura with the Indian Union, Govt. of Tripura took over the library in 1953 and declared it a public library.

On the statehood day of Tripura (Jan 21) this year, Bir Chandra State Central Library was  transferred to a big, royal heritage building at the old secretariat complex in the heart of the capital city Agartala.

The Library currently holds  1,69,081 books and has members numbering 17,034. It subscribes regularly to 24 journals and 34 newspapers. In its present palace like home, separate modern reading services will be provided to children, women, senior citizens, researchers and general visitors. The two new facilities of career guidance and reprography are to be added shortly.

While I do not expect every library in the country to be moved to a royal place, the least the government can do is provide good facilities, and encourage the habit of reading books and using libraries.

The endangered Sangai deer of Manipur

Sangai deer (Brow-antlered Deer)Image Source: www.indianwildlife.org

The brow-antlered deer (scientific name, Cervus eldi eldi) once believed to be extinct, was rediscovered in the year 1953. It is found only in Manipur and is also called Sangai. The wetland habitat of the Sangai is protected as the Keibul Lamjao National Park. Despite being protected, the Sangai deer is an endangered species.

A fully-grown dark brown male Sangai has a crown of arc shaped antlers. Antlers are annually shed during June-July and within 20 to 30 days they start growing back and attain their full size in about six months. Antlers are absent in the female. The Sangai has a peculiar habit — of breaking its run to turn and wait for any onlooker. In Manipuri, Sangai translates to sa meaning animal and ngai meaning waiting for you.

The Sangai habitat is under threat from the Loktak Hydroelectric Power Project.

The former seasonal cycle of sinking and floating of dense aquatic grass (phumdis) has been disturbed. The phumdis would be at the bed of the lake during the dry season drawing nutrients from the earth and float during the rainy season. With enhanced nutrients, the plants, which included the Sangai’s food plants, would grow luxuriantly. But now the phumdis float all year round.  A constant high water level is maintained in the lake and this has led to many changes, one of which is the rise in the water level in the Keibul Lamjao National Park during the rainy season. Manipur experiences heavy rains during the monsoon season. So, the Sangai’s home is constantly threatened. What happens during the rainy season is that the deer seeks shelter in isolated dry patches in the National Park and poachers lie in wait for such opportunity. Many times the deer drown.

People living around the Keibul Lamjao National Park along with NGOs have formed the Environmental Social Reformation and Sangai Protection Forum, in short called as ESRSPF.

In order to protect the animal from poachers, people living around the Keibul Lamjao National Park have formed local clubs and non-governmental organisations and together they form a collective body known as the Units of the ESRSPF are spread out all across the lake area. Volunteers organise awareness campaigns in surrounding villages focusing on the need to save the Sangai. They also work with forest officers to lookout for poachers and protect the deer.

An initiative the combines the efforts of villagers, forest officials, NGOs, and the state government will help the Sangai see brighter days.

Animal Welfare Fortnight 2010

Animal Welfare Fortnight is celebrated across India from Jan 14 to 31 to generate awareness about animal protection laws. The first Animal Welfare Fortnight was started in 1964 by Late Mrs.Rukmini Devi Arundale, the founder and chairperson of Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI).

Source: www.vegaresearch.org

Animal Laws in India are comprehensive and contain details governing the use and treatment of domestic and wild animals. We need to understand these laws and help create awareness. The Indian Constitution asks us to show compassion towards animals. “It shall be the fundamental duty of every citizen of India to protect and improve the Natural Environment including forests, lakes, rivers and wildlife, and to have compassion for all living creatures.”

India has animal laws built into our culture. People do respect animals. A vast majority of the ill-treatment mostly stems from poverty, and not necessarily a lack of respect for the animal. Cattle owners for example, do respect their cattle, but subject it to harsh conditions for the monetary factor. From their perspective the entire existence and economic survival of the family revolves around the cattle.

However, this alone does not justify all the cruelty inflicted on our animals. While poverty plays an important role, the horrific acts of cruelty done by poachers, and people involved in illegal animal trade cannot be justified.

Often, animals are in the news during conservation efforts and not much attention is paid to their welfare issues. A glimpse at the animal welfare scenario in India gives rise to numerous questions.

While various NGOs and environment groups remain at the core of the animal welfare campaign, why isn’t the government enforcing the existing laws?

Nearly 70% of Indians are dependent on agriculture and animals for their livelihood and yet why does our country not practice the most basic veterinary care?

Wildlife population in India is dwindling today due to various reasons including lack of well trained forest officers, and wildlife veterinarians. Why is the government being lax?

Beyond ‘flagging the animal-welfare awareness fortnight’ we need in-depth involvement and responsibility from our government at all levels.

In a hugely populated, predominantly poor country such as India, many would argue that complying with animal laws is a choice. When we have so many other pressing issues such as poverty, illiteracy, and poor health care for humans, why care about animals?  It is important to realize that the way we treat animals is directly connected to our livelihoods and creating a sustainable environment.

Given the changing nature of the world around us, if we intend to create a sustainable environment (which is critical to our survival), showing compassion, and treating animals fairly becomes a priority.