HAJJ AND STAMPEDE

    The unfortunate and horrible disaster which have occurred in the form of stampede at Islam’s most holy pilgrimage place at Mecca, have raised the questions about management of security personals. More than 700 people have died and also injured. There were more than 2 million people attending hajj from all over the world including 0.15 million Indian. It is a dream of every Islamic to attain hajj. It is the fifth pillar of Islam. The people gather here to assert focus, regain consciousness and for the feeling of oneness i.e. unity. Hence it the responsibility of security officers to make their journey safe and peaceful.

     Initially I would like to tell that how hajj is conducted. The process of hajj starts from mina where one has to begin early after prayer. Followed by a circumambulation of holy mosque kaaba. At last the pilgrimage ends at mina following the ritual of “stoning the shaitan”. This last ritual of mina should be completed before sunset. Hence people usually in hurry to reach mina create tremendous risk.

    So, here I would like to state the reason for stampede. The road of mina where stampede often happens is very risky as it is only single way to mina and for return journey to Mecca. Even though the Saudi government have build new road for return journey, people prefer the same route bcoz new route is long. The another reason is security personals and officers instruct in Arabic language, which is difficult to understand for people from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, etc. there is segregation of people . The men and women are separated which leads to the separation of families. The individual who have went for the first time ho hajj may face heavy hurdles due to stampede. Also it is difficult for new person to understand arrangements and processes.

     At last I would like to say that stampede at pilgrimage sites can be avoided by proper management and co-ordination between people. In India also large scale deaths have took place in the past during stampede for various pilgrimage rituals. Kumbhmela, Hampi Utsav, etc. gather huge population from whole country. There is misconduct at this places but every year the toll of deaths in India due to stampede is reducing, becoz we have learned from past mistakes and brought reform in conduct. The Saudi Arabia should take the responsibility of 717 deaths and should stop blaming mob.  

INDIA AT UN

''I REPRESENT THE CULTURE WHERE EARTH IS CALLED AND BELIEVED AS MOTHER''

  These were the words said  by our Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi at United Nation General Assembly (UNGA).UN the consolidated body of 193 nations formed after World War 2 to maintain and ensure peace in world. It created the platform for each member to represent their own nation and share development goal. It also created the platform to encourage development, eradication of poverty and maintain ecological balance. Every year at the end of September it provides the opportunity for all nations to gather and strengthen bilateral relations. Here I would like to mention the vision of INDIA as stated by PM in UNGA.

 We appreciate the agenda for vision 2030 and also think as important. There are more than 1.3 billion poor people in world. We have to work for the eradication of poverty. We want the Peace, Justice and Sustainable development in the world and with poverty it is not possible to achieve. The importance should be given to Climate and Sustainable Consumption. India emphasize on Blue revolution under which importance is given to Islands, Marine Ecosystem and Sky. Development is given priority In India the Education and Skilled. To increase financial inclusion 180 million bank accounts are opened. Under which the poor people will get the direct benefit of government schemes and the money will be directly transferred to their accounts. Poor people in India did not have the pension and insurance, government has worked towards implementing the pension and insurance schemes to poor people.

    The world today have development constrains up to 2 sectors only India is also working on 3rd sector that is ''personal sector''. Under which the importance is given to Individual enterprise, micro finance, innovation, infrastructure for everyone (Housing, electricity, water supply, etc.), education, health and Cleanliness which is important in life. We are also working for women empowerment, save and educate girl child. We are bound to bring changes to agriculture sector and working on boosting the productivity. The agricultural production will also be properly linked with the market. We are also given priority for manufacturing (Make in India), improvement in service, investment in infrastructure and Smart cities. The vision is set up to 2022 under which 175 GW renewable energy production; work on energy efficiency, cleaning of river and city and waste wealth movement.

       Sustainable development is the responsibility of every nation. Climate change is the biggest problem faced by world today and everyone should take the responsibility to manage it. Global education program should be made for saving Nature. Technology and innovations should be used for the welfare of nation and not for self. All nations are connected and interdependent. There is need to bring reform in UN along with Security Council. We should build up the world where every living creature will feel safe and get equal opportunities with dignity.

     At last I would like to say that I feel proud to be part of nation which prey for welfareness of mankind, also for peaceful and healthy world. The above speech shows the importance for Sustainable development, climate change, eradication of poverty, infrastructure, women empowerment and peace. There is need to maintain stability in the world along with Middle East. There is also need to face the challenges created by human intervention in nature such as global warming, greenhouse effect etc. The developed nations should take initiative to reduce pollution and work for cleaning environment. The women should be given equal status in society across all nations. There is need to increase fraternity across the whole world. Well cooperation in education, trade, innovation, space and technology. India can guide and lead world in spirituality. There is also need to get representation for democratic powers of world in Security Council.

Reform in fertilizer subsidy in India

India the country whose main occupation is agriculture and more than 60% population engage in this primary sector. The interest of farmers should be conserved and for that various reforms are necessary. After 68 years of independence still agriculture here is not developed. Still Indian government spends huge money on subsidies for farmers. The ideology of Intensive growth is still difficult to achieve and for that there are natural as well as manmade problems. There is need to reform the plan of subsidy and the fertilizer market should be made free as diesel. There should be less interference of government which could save $1.8 billion of government. As due to fall in prices of crude oil at international market the subsidy for fertilizers assume to get lowered to Rs. 600 billion ($9.1 billion). This savings in fertilizer will help India to reduce its fiscal deficit by 3.9%. The spending on infrastructure can be enhanced by diverting some money and development projects can be speeded up.

  Today the industry spends $375 on production of 1 metric ton urea. But considering government subsidy the farmers purchase it at $81 per MT. There is huge load on government chest. The huge import of chemical fertilizers and influence of Chinese fertilizers on Indian market can be havoc. The different fertilizers are encouraging farmers to utilize fertilizers on large scale to increase production. This has led to reduction of productivity of soil and also soil pollution. One the other hand this puts more burden on Indian government financially. The subsidized urea is also exported to neighboring nations by large a trader which earns them huge profit and on the other hand fiscal deficit of India increases.

  There are some ways to reduce this and move towards reformation in various policies. The one of freeing of fertilizer market is stated above. Another way I find is to utilize jan dhan yojna and transfer subsidy on fertilizer direct to accounts of farmers. This will avoid smuggling of urea across national border. The subsidy should be based on availability of land with farmers. This will help to regulate fertilizer flow and help farmer to optimize the use of it.