Government plans more cancer centres, three in MP

Dr Harsh Vardhan opens linear accelerator at Indore Cancer Foundation

The government has planned 20 new advanced cancer treatment facilities across the country (one in each state) over the next few years to meet the rising burden of the disease. For Madhya Pradesh, the Centre has planned a new State Cancer Institute (SCI), along with two Tertiary Care Cancer Centres (TCCC). Announcing this at a press conference at Indore today, Dr Harsh Vardhan, Union Health Minister, said that annually 11 lakh new cases of cancer are detected in India. Of the 2.9 million cancer patients at present in the country, about 6.06 percent are in Madhya Pradesh. The three facilities planned for MP are: Vidisha district hospital, GR Medical College, Gwalior, and Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Medical College, Jabalpur. The first two are to be TCCCs while the one at Jabalpur would be a SCI. Each 50-bedded TCCC will be part of an existing government hospital with well equipped and functional departments of Medicine, Surgery, Gynaecology, ENT, Pathology and Radiology. The Union Health Ministry will provide one-time support of up to Rs 45 crore to each TCCC, including up to 30 percent for construction and renovation, The Health Minister said that the government will also set up 20 SCIs across the country in the short term future, one of which will come up in Jabalpur. The total cost of each will be Rs 120 crore, of which the Centre will contribute 75 percent. In all, 50 such institutes are planned in the country over the long term. “Each SCI will be the apex institution in the state for cancer related activities. It will provide outreach services, diagnosis and referral treatment, develop treatment protocols and increase the human resource availability”, Dr Harsh Vardhan said. In the morning, Dr Harsh Vardhan inaugurated a brand new, indigenously developed Linear Accelerator at the Indian Institute of Head and Neck Oncology, a project of the Indore Cancer Foundation Charitable Trust. Named the “Siddharth-3 Linear Accelerator”, it has been gifted by the Department of Electronics and Information Technology. “This is in tune with our determination to deal with the rising incidence of non-communicable diseases,” the Minister said. He said that the government is planning a massive, nation-wide cancer screening programme on the occasion of National Cancer Awareness Day which falls on November 7 annually. “Our government has already launched a massive consciousness drive against tobacco which is a known carcinogen. There are many others left to be identified and for this intensive research is necessary”, the Minister said. The inauguration programme was attended by the Lok Sabha Speaker, Smt Sumitra Mahajan, the Health Minister of MP, Dr Narottam Mishra, the MP of Indore, Ms Savitri Thakur, the Collector of Indore, Shri Aakash Tripathi, and others. Dr Harsh Vardhan praised the work of Dr Digpal Dharkar, the Honorary Secretary of the Indore Cancer Foundation. “He has organised more than 200 free camps for cancer detection in and around Indore and performed over 2,500 operations. Dr Dharkar stands out as an exception to the trend of doctors leaving villages for the glamour of big city hospitals,” he said.

Govt to pump extra money for rural toilets for Swachh Bharat by 2019

Union Minister for Rural Development and Drinking Water and Sanitation, Shri Nitin Gadkari has said that he has prepared a Cabinet note for considerable enhancement of monetary support for building different categories of rural toilets in the country to achieve the goal of sanitation for all by 2019. Speaking at a National Workshop on Sanitation and Drinking Water here, the Minister said, for individual household latrines the amount will be raised from Rs 10,000 to Rs 15,000, for school toilets Rs 54,000 will be given instead of Rs 35,000. Similarly for Anganwadi toilets, the amount will be now Rs 20,000 in place of Rs 8,000 and for Community Sanitary complexes, the amount proposed is Rs 6 lakh from the existing Rs 2 lakh. Shri Gadkari also said that construction of toilets in rural areas will be delinked from MGNREGA. He called for fast decisions and sought support of all sections of society to achieve the goal of open defecation free India in the next four and half years. He also urged the State Ministers and Senior officials attending the workshop to work in the spirit of cooperative federalism to achieve the dream project of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi to build Swachh Bharat by 2019. Shri Gadkari underlined the need for quality works and suitable low cost effective technologies for toilets to last upto thirty to forty years. To address the problem of drinking water especially in those 17,000 habitations having problems like arsenic, excessive fluoride, heavy metals and other pollutants, the Minister said that a new scheme will be launched in the next two months to address this issue and it will be resolved on a war footing level. Speaking on the occasion, the Secretary. Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, Shri Pankaj Jain said that Prime Minister Shri Modi has personally expressed anguish in his Independence Day speech and expressed the commitment of his Government to achieve ‘Swachh Bharat’ by 2019 as a tribute to the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, by eliminating the unhealthy practice of Open Defecation. He said, by 15th of August 2015 every school in India will have separate toilets for boys and girls. Shri Jain said that IEC can play an important role in spreading the message of toilets in every rural habitation and appealed to the Corporate to chip in a big way for this purpose. In his address, the noted scientist Dr R.A.Mashelkar said, the innovative ideas should not remain only ideas, but must be put into practical use for rejuvenation of India. He said, speed, scale and sustainability are three key factors of innovations and by translating them into usable products, the face of rural India will be changed. Dr Mashelkar said, Innovation and not Imitation should be the buzzword and he added that Indian problems need India specific solutions and not western imitations.

Rajiv Gandhi National Quality Awards Announced

Shri Ram Vilas Paswan, Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution has announced the annual awards and commendation certificates for the nineteenth prestigious Rajiv Gandhi National Quality Awards for the year 2012. The Best of All Award has been won by Rail Wheel factory (Ministry of Railways), Bangalore. The other category award winners include Sakthi Masala P. Ltd., Erode, Tamil Nadu (Large Scale Manufacturing Industry); Tata Business Support Services Limited, Hyderabad (Large Scale Service Industry) and Elin Appliances Pvt. Ltd., Solan, Himachal Pradesh (Small Scale Manufacturing Industry); In addition to these awards, nine organizations have been selected for commendation certificates under various categories. The award winners and recipients of commendation certificates were selected from a total of 63 applicants from various sectors following vigorous evaluation by a group of qualified and trained professionals from different spheres of intellectual activity. Awards would be presented by Shri Ram Vilas Paswan, Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution in a ceremony scheduled to be held later on. The awards, given annually, were instituted by the Bureau of Indian Standards in the year 1991 with a view to encouraging Indian manufacturing and service organizations to strive for excellence and giving special recognition to those, who are considered to be the leaders of quality movement in India.

Modi’s dream project of Swachh Bharat by 2019 will be executed in a mission mode,

Union Minister for Rural Development and Drinking Water and Sanitation Shri Nitin Gadkari today called for practical approach to achieve the goal of sanitation for all by 2019. Speaking at a National Conference on Sanitation and Drinking Water here, the Minister said, the current allocation of Rs10,000 per toilet in rural areas is insufficient and soon the amount will be increased to achieve the real target. Lamenting that even after 67 years of Independence, 60 percent people in India defecate in open, Shri Gadkari said that the dream project of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi to build Swachh Bharat by 2019 will be executed in a mission mode. He also emphasized that massive funds will be mobilized for this purpose under the leadership of the Prime Minister. Shri Gadkari asked the State Ministers of Drinking water and Sanitation attending the conference to come up with practical and area specific approach to toilets and assured them that funds will not be a constraint. He called for quality works so that toilets could last upto thirty to forty years and laid emphasis on suitable low cost technology for that purpose. To address the problem of drinking water and especially in 17,000 those villages having problems like arsenic, excessive fluoride, heavy metals and other pollutants, the Minister said that a new scheme will be launched in the next two months to address this issue. The Minister also called for timely flow of funds and e-transfer of money for speedy execution of projects. Speaking on the occasion, the Minister of State for Drinking Water and Sanitation, Shri Upendra Kushwaha said that Prime Minister Shri Modi has personally expressed anguish in his Independence Day speech and expressed the commitment of his Government to achieve ‘Swachh Bharat’ by 2019 as a tribute on the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, by eliminating the unhealthy practice of Open Defecation. He also reminded the State Ministers that Shri Modi also directed that by 15th August 2015, every school should have separate toilets for boys and girls. He said that, in the last 60 years only 32% rural families in 2011 (as per census figures) and 40 %.( NSSO figures of 2013) have rural toilets. Shri Kushwaha informed that more than 2 crore families who were given subsidy under the Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan do not have functional toilets today. Later the Union Ministers heard specific complaints and suggestions from the State Ministers and senior officials of the states attending the conference.

Indo Russian Air Force Exercise (Avia Indra-2014) Commences at Astrakhan

With the aim to bolster ties between the Indian Air Force and Russian Federation Air Force (RFAF), Ex Avia Indra-2014 commenced today at Astrakhan region, near the Caspian Sea in Russia. The Exercise which has begun today will go on till 05 September 2014. Ex Avia Indra-2014 which has commenced today is the first exercise of its kind between the two Air Forces and is seen as a major mile stone in military relations. This involves participation of fighter pilots, helicopter pilots, missile combat crew, as well as engineers from the Indian Air Force (IAF) along with their counterparts of the RFAF. During the exercise, fighter and helicopter pilots of Indian Air Force (IAF) will participate in missions alongside Russian pilots in aircraft of the Russian Federation Air Force (Su-30SM fighter aircraft, Mi-17 and Mi-35 helicopters), while missile combat crew will interact with their counterparts from the Russian Air Force and participate in Air Defence exercises. It will also provide an opportunity to both the forces for exchange of best practices and will cement the foundation for a more professional interaction and growth in the future.

Use of Bio-Technology in Agriculture can Yield Revolutionary Results – Agriculture Minister

There is an urgent need to change the traditional methods of agriculture so as to produce quality foodgrains, improve the quality of soil, fight the increasing threats of diseases in crops and counter scarcity of agricultural land because of increasing population. Laying foundation stone of Indian Institute of Agricultural Bio-Technology at Garh Khatanga near Ranchi (Jharkhand) today, the Union Agriculture Minister, Shri Radha Mohan Singh stated that there is a need of bringing second green revolution, particularly, in eastern states of the country which were not covered earlier during first green revolution. He mentioned that development can be accelerated in these states because of adequate and human resource and suitability of the States for organic farming as use of pesticides and chemicals and fertilizers here is almost nil. As such agricultural biotechnology will play a significant role in increasing quality production in these states. Shri Radha Mohan Singh said that with the opening of this institute the provisions made for biotechnological education will pave a way for preparing trained human resource who will create awareness among farmers about the advanced agriculture by use of bio-technology technique along with traditional methods of farming. Shri Singh mentioned that in the past due to climatic changes and fluctuations in temperature agriculture has been adversely affected. This has led to not only reduction in production but also affected the quality of crops. He further added that with the use of biotechnology the crops can be made climate- resilient and reduction in production can be checked. The Minister said that there was an urgent need for setting up such type of institute in this region. The Central Government has taken a decision to open this Indian institute of Agricultural Biotechnology in Jharkhand state keeping in view the importance of agricultural biotechnology. The mission of this institute will be to strengthen ongoing research work, fundamental research in the field of biotechnology, as also building capacity for human resource. This institute will generate technology to enhance agricultural production, give postgraduate and Ph.D degrees to students, he said. This will be helpful in development of quality human resource and employment generation. This institute will be helpful in strengthening employment security and food security for tribal population and farmers of this state and the entire country. The Government proposes to confer the deemed university status to this institute, he added.

Commissioning a new Plan

New entity will bring long-term perspectives missing in operating ministries

With the announcement of the demise of the Planning Commission by the Prime Minister, many obituaries of the Commission are being written. However, it is worth remembering that the East Asian superstars of development all had planning as a key part of their development programme. South Korea had a powerful Economic Planning Board (EPB) which guided development programmes in three decades since 1962. China has had a continuum of plans with the XII Five Year Plan going up to 2015. India too simply cannot achieve its development objectives without some sort of planning.

It should be clearly understood that a pure market economy is inconsistent with BJP’s much admired vision: Sabka Vikas, Sabke Sath. It is also inconsistent with the Prime Minister’s call in his Independence Day speech to rise above “me-ism”. Votaries of pure market economy emphasize, as the father of modern market economics Adam Smith did, that markets ensure that individuals taking care of their own interests lead to social good. In that philosophy, there is no need to think of the country or of its development or of the welfare of all. But markets by themselves will not ensure Swachha Bharat or shauchalaya for women in rural areas. In general, ‘development’ is not market’s business just as business may not be government’s business. If we want development, we need the government’s help and that needs planning of some sort or other. The only question is what the new avatar of planning will look like. Let me suggest some features of that new avatar.

Suggested name

Let us begin with the name. I suggest National Development Commission (NDC), which, while simple, includes all development-related activities such as policy reforms, investment programmes, regulations, social marketing, consensus-building and the like. The alternative that is being bandied about (‘National Development and Reforms Commission’) makes an unnatural distinction between development and reforms. Development is the objective; reforms are but one instrument.

Blueprint

The objective of NDC will be to prepare blueprints, help design action programmes, and monitor and evaluate outcomes to achieve the goal of “Sabka Vikas, Sabke Sath”. NDC will define what ‘Vikas’ will mean for India of the 21st Century. One possible definition could be that India would become a high-income country by 2050 when it celebrates the centenary of the Republic. But prosperity will be not just in economic dimension but also social, cultural and spiritual dimensions. In short, the goal will be that India, with the largest number of people in the world in 2050, will also be number one country in the world.

In preparing the blueprint for India as No.1, NDC will bring long-term perspectives which are generally missing in operating ministries fighting day-to-day battles. Such long-term perspectives are important because in many areas (such as human capital formation) gestation lag is long. Similarly, in many areas (such as infrastructure) what we do today will bind us for the next 40-50 years. Climate change issues will become serious over a long period but mitigation and adaptation measures have to start now. If we wait for the consequences of climate change to become evident, it will be too late. The second area where NDC will contribute is to take fully into account the connectivity between sectoral programmes. It is well-known that different operating ministries operate as silos (and even jagirs as the Prime Minister mentioned in his Independence Day speech) while in real life their operations are connected. For highlighting these links and achieve “optimum utilisation of resources” a central economic agency is needed.

Co-ordination

NDC will be the agency to co-ordinate policy issues where different ministries are working with their own imperatives and mindsets. Energy policy, transport policy, urbanisation policy, water policy, land policy all require inter-ministerial co-ordination which only a central agency such as NDC can provide. In addition to preparing national long-term blueprint, NDC will help each State and Union Territory to prepare its own long-term blueprints. The task will be managed by States and UTs but NDC will provide financial and intellectual support as needed.

By producing blueprints on which there can be a national consensus, NDC will help in making development a mass movement similar to what was done at the time of freedom struggle. All individuals at different levels will understand what the nation is trying to achieve and how it is in the interest of all and requires support of all. This will help in ensuring that steps of 1.25 billion people are in the same direction and not cancelling each other’s efforts. In the light of nationally agreed long-term blueprints, operating ministries will prepare detailed annual action programmes/budgets in consultation with the Ministry of Finance and with right to comment by NDC. The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) will decide in cases of conflicting views.

Allocation of resources

The allocation of financial resources between States and the Centre will be the function of the Finance Commission. However, there would be many central projects (for example, in Railways, Ports, Shipping, Education and Health) where the allocation of resources by the Centre will have an obvious spatial pattern and thus impinge on States’ development. For these expenditure by the Centre, NDC will be a forum for ensuring inter-State balance with full participation of the States.

Monitoring and evaluation of the programmes will be an important function of NDC. This will focus not on auditing functions but on effectiveness and efficiency of the operations in achieving the objectives. NDC will report to PMO for follow-up and necessary actions.

NDC will also prepare the Annual Economic Survey which is now done by the Ministry of Finance. NDC will be in a more objective position to monitor annual outcomes of all ministries, including the Ministry of Finance and submit its report to the PMO and Parliament.

It is desirable that NDC reflects the views of all partners in development, people, private sector, public sector and workers. In choosing the members of NDC, the Prime Minister will select persons with domain knowledge of the various segments of the economy and society but not beholden to these segments. Creativity and readiness to think ‘out of the box’ will be an important criterion in selecting the members of the NDC With these characteristics, NDC will be an important agency for India’s Vikas in the new avatar of planning.