Group Discussion Topics 2016

What has Swacch Bharat (Clean India) campaign

Most answers to this question focus entirely on how the campaign has increased awareness and changed the mindset of the Indian citizen. How everybody is now motivated to pick up the broom and clean the streets. However, I’d like to draw your attention to the main aim of the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) which was flagged off by PM Narendra Modi on October 2 last year. The following aspects are what it seeks to tackle by 2019, to mark the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi:
1.    Complete eradication of open defecation in rural India
2.    100% sanitation coverage

Open Defecation
According to the 69th round of the National Sample Survey (NSS), 62.3% of rural India had no separate bathrooms. Also, 49.9% of households in rural India did not have any drainage system. You see the average floor area of these household dwellings does not go beyond 40 square meters and hence it is impossible to have a latrine in the same space where they cook, clean and wash. Community toilets near slum settlements, which are almost always owned and maintained by private agencies, are filthy and unviable and even charge exorbitant rates for their use. So the residents are forced to squat by the roadsides and into open drains to relieve themselves. NSS surveyed people in various parts of the country to understand why they practiced open defecation and more than 60% of the respondents blamed it on insufficient water supply and malfunctioning toilets. So, I think it is sufficiently clear that changing the mindset is not the motivating factor towards abolishing the practice of open defecation. Nevertheless, our ministers claim that “innovative thinking” will put an end to open defecation and the Swachh Bharat Mission website https://swachhbharaturban.gov.inproudly scrolls the following quote by the Union Minister for Urban Development and Planning: “Swachh Bharat was less about building toilets and more about changing the mindsets and acknowledging the right of everyone to a clean and healthy environment.”

According to the official progress report, of the 1,06,543 community toilets sanctioned only 27,134 had been completed. Of the aim to achieve the solid waste processing figure of 50% of the 1,45,085 tonnes of waste collected, only 17.8% has been achieved with Maharashtra, which generates the highest amount of waste in a day, achieving as low as 10%. The target of 2014-15 was making 42,828 gram panchayats open defecation free, but only 12,216 has reached the status so far.

Manual Scavengers and Safai Karamcharis
Mahatma Gandhi said: “I may not be born again, but if it happens, I will like to be born into a family of scavengers, so that I may relieve them of the inhuman, unhealthy and hateful practice of carrying night soil”. The Employment of Manual Scavengers and Construction of Dry Latrine (Prohibition) Act was passed in 1993. It took another decade for most states to adopt it but, even after 23 years, the practice is still rampant even though some states do not acknowledge the fact that it even exists, despite evidence to the contrary. Sadly, the Swachh Bharat Mission has failed to mention any action against this social evil that even The Mahatma so dreaded.

A group of people employed by the government to clear out and clean sewer lines are the safai karamcharis. In the 1990s there were about 30,000 employees and now the figure is almost half of that. In Delhi, the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) and the municipal corporations have not hired a single permanent worker since 1999. Temporary workers and substitute workers are employed from private labour contractors who neither hire enough people nor give them timely payment which is less than a meager Rs.5000 per month. You see, cleaning a sewer pipe or a drain is a highly technical work that requires assessing the level of toxic gases like Methane, Hydrogen Sulphide and Carbon Monoxide and also the presence of glass pieces and sharp metals. For this, various safety equipment such as safety suits, gloves, helmets and essential suction equipment are required. But how many of us have seen shirtless men knee deep in the gutter sifting through it with a bamboo stick which is apparently the only tool given to a safai karamchari. NGOs estimate over 1000 deaths of manhole workers in a year from asphyxiation and other work hazards. Yet, these people are provided no proper compensation or medical and risk allowances. There’s an even greater social evil at play in the form of casteism. It is a known fact that only Dalits are engaged in this work and are not even provided any technical training for the job since apparently they have been doing it for generations. The system is rotten to the core.

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So, with the recent ostensible 0.5% cess that has been added for the Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan, the questions that need to be asked to the government are these:
·        Will the government make public how much is spent on advertising the SBM with the PM’s photographs?
·        Will the cess benefit the permanent sanitation workers who have been on strike for the past one month?
·        Will it help clean up the act and employ safai karamcharis on permanent basis and provide them justice?
·        Will it address the plight of the manual scavengers?
Instead of picking up brooms and cleaning up the streets the government needs to clean up the system and thoroughly introspect their narrow minded approach to sanitation focusing on changing the mindset as clearly that is not enough!

Should Yoga be made compulsory in schools?

Take a look around you, and you will find that whether it is adults or the children, they are busy with their tech devices. Children keep on playing games on their personal computer or mobiles whenever they get time. Adults are busy with other entertainment stuff on their tech devices. In a tech savvy world, children are getting lazier. They are suffering from health problems at a very early age. Seeing the present conditions, should Yoga be made compulsory in schools?

For

Children are more loaded with the burden of study in the present day competitive world where parents wants them to come at top slot at any cost.

Yoga will provide the children with much needed break from their hectic lifestyle of studies and other activities.

It is one of the ways that can make children realize the difference between the active life and the passive life.

The present generation is suffering from posture problems as most of the time they work on laptops or are busy with mobiles. Yoga helps them to maintain right posture.

In the age where everything is open on the internet, yoga helps the children to gain control over their mind and body in all the aspects.

One of the most important things is the cost factor. Schools don’t need to spend huge amount of money to impart yoga education to students.

Against :

Children are already occupied with lots of work, and they hardly get any time to spend on themselves.

The cost of Yoga classes will be ultimately passed to the students creating an extra financial burden on parents.

The most important problem that cannot be ignored is the untrained instructor. It is necessary to have a well trained Yoga instructor that is rarely found in society.

Yoga should be done in proper guidance otherwise it can also lead to injuries if performed in unsystematic way.

Making yoga classes is like forcing something unwanted on the students. Instead of Yoga, school can opt for the other activities like games or aerobics.

Women Empowerment

SOME KEY POINT

A. Women Empowerment is a burning issue, which has not lost its relevance in any age and time. The need for women empowerment, much like other marginalised sections arise from the premise that history has not been kind to them. In a patriarchal society, women play second fiddle to their fathers, brothers, husbands and sons. They occupy the domestic space and are expected to look after the house whereas the men of the house are free to explore.

B. One of the major reasons for lack of women empowerment is lack of financial independence. The society has conventionally been closed to the idea of women earning their livelihood, as this has been considered the domain of men. This marginalises them and ensures the hold of men over them. This dependence on men feeds into maintain the patriarchal order.

C. Talking about women empowerment has become a fashionable thing for the society. It is something that people want to be seen talking about, lest they be considered ‘orthodox’ and ‘conservative’. This, however, does not necessarily translate into concrete action to change the lives of women even in the personal lives of people talking about women issues. The issue is one which is hotly debated but remains unfulfilled.

D. True. Even with a rise in the number of women who have broken from the mould to become successful, such as Kalpana Chawla, Saina Nehwal, Kiran Bedi, Anoushka Shankar and others, and steps being taken by the government to empower women, such as ‘The Rashtriya Mahila Kosh’ to make credit available to women among others, we are far from realising absolute empowerment for women. Thus, it remains a topic more debated than acted upon.

E. The issue of Women Empowerment has always been around yet steps taken for the same have been unable to ensure an improvement in the situation of women. In the Indian context, inspite of the passions aroused whenever women rights are discussed, the Indian Parliament has found ways to stall the proposal for reserving seats for women in the Parliament. There is a huge gap in what we say and what we do as far as women rights are concerned.

F. The situation is gradually changing though. Women are becoming aware of their rights and are asserting themselves like never before. Parents are beginning to view their daughters not as liabilities but important contributors to the house. Women are asserting themselves like never before and creating a new space for themselves, challenging the patriarchal order in the process.

Mobile phones / Internet – a boon or nuisance

FOR
Everyone is available to others for 24x7.
People say mobiles made life miserable by providing unlimited connectivity but they don't understand the fact it also provide limited connectivity options like you can switch of the mobiles.
Mobile proved life saver for human beings in many areas related with human health.
Mobile proved boon for businesses as well where crucial information is at reach for corporate decisions.
Mobile phones made life easy for people who are going to distant areas for expeditions to be in touch with rest of world.
Same mobile phone helps in communicating to their relatives quickly During Emergency situation, getting an ambulance is a call away.
Signals offer plenty of opportunity to quickly type an sms
Parents gift mobile phone to their children, to enable them to contact during emergencies. Parents get update from school on their safe arrival.



AGAINST

Mobile phone is hazard for human life as due to electromagnetic waves many people are suffering health problems of cancer etc.
Mobile phones give unlimited connectivity for human life which made the life miserable for people who have been over using the mobile phones.
Few people claim that user can control mobile usage but in many cases switching of mobile phones considered as unprofessional so people not able to cope up with this requirement and over utilizing the mobiles.
Over utilizing of mobile is ruining social life of people by communicating on phones rather be in touch personally with friends and relatives.
Mobile phones also deterring the traditions because people are more busy on talking on phones on various ceremonies and rituals.
Mobile phones also deterring the office atmosphere as many employees spending more time on mobiles rather on work.
Mobile phones causing accidents because people are using them while driving.
Younger generation waste lot of money on endless cell phone conversation which can be avoided

Impact Of Television Channels In Cross Cultural Tolerance

Majority i.e. 99% of the respondent’s watches T.V. regularly; this shows the popularity of T.V. still as a important medium of communication. Whereas, only 22% of the respondents listen to Radio. The study finds out that all classes of viewers is respective of whatever educational backgrounds watchers T.V. for 2 hrs in a day.


1. Television is still the most strongest and important medium of communication among all sections of the society irrespective of age, class and education about 99% of the respondents watches T.V regularly.
2. Mostly entertainment based programmes are being watched of the respondent. Around 43% of respondents watches entertainment programmes on T.V. among all kinds of entertainment programmes KBC have highest      percentage of viewership.
3. Star plus is most preferred channel on T.V with about 36.4% of viewership. But inspite of being the preferred channel, the viewers does not watch any kind of social and environmental programmes on it although there are   couple of these programmes on star plus.
4. Among the lower rungs of society Doordarshan is mot popular channel while Doordarshan has less viewership when it comes to other TV channels, which is preferred by higher & middle strata of society. Even for the    lower class to watch DD is an obligation as they can’t afford to pay for cable connection.
5. Among the lower class awareness about social and environmental issues is the least. About 93 percentage of respondent belonging to lower class do not have knowledge about any of these issues. T.V is the only source of awareness for them. Inspite of regular viewership they are not well informed so it might be concluded that Doordarshan do not have good quality programmes, which can capture people’s interest.
6. Among the viewers who have access to other TV channels situation are nothing better. Awareness about various developmental issues is not appreciative among them as well. The viewership of Discovery and National Geographic channel is only 5% and 6% respectively.
7. Frequency of watching environmental and social programme are class dependent. Viewers who belong to the lower rungs of the society watch these programmes very occasionally.
8. Inspite of regular watching of social and environmental programmes some respondents aren’t fully aware of various issues the programmes highlights. According to the respondents the programme informs the viewers about the issues without offering any practical solutions and ways to deal with the issues.Majority of the respondents are of the view that all the social & environmental programmes should be more public opinion and reality based.
9. The viewers from all sections of society have emphasized the need for more social and environmental programmes on T.V highlighting varied issues concerning day to day problem. It should also cater the need of different target groups. All throughout the study the respondents felt the need different kinds and quality of the programmes on T.V channels.
10.According to the findings of the study the viewers wants information about the income generation programmes government initiatives, health related issues various natural calamities such as earth quake and government intervention, minimum use of petrol, electricity, water and other problems concerning day to day living.