Why You Shouldnt #dontMANcrimate

       I recently came across a trending post “#dontMANcrimate in which certain men feel that just because they aren’t entitled to "free drinks or free entry to pubs or sympathy or other privileges general given to women" (no idea what people even mean by that) thus feel discriminated against and hence claim it isn’t exactly a mans world.

Reading such a post pisses me off. I mean don’t get me wrong, I’m not claiming to be holier than thou with respect to recognizing females as equals. I’ve been guilty of many past indiscretions against women which I’m clearly not proud of. However I’ve learnt my lesson. Swallowed my huge bloated ego, which in this country is something that is stroked in a male since childbirth. A male child is the preferred sex for whatever reason it may be. One just needs to look at the skewed gender ratio of the respective States in the Country to understand how bad the situation actually is. Yet we as men dare say we feel underprivileged? Sure last time I checked the nation suffers from a social evil known as “female infanticide” and not “male infanticide”. Women traveling alone at night fear getting raped. Not men. Yet men in the country feel discriminated against? A child, who firstly wasn’t even asked to be born, is murdered just because that child happens to be a girl and if she somehow survives that, she has to live her entire life being treated as the 'weaker sex'. Granted there are instances of domestic violence against men, men getting raped or urban educated women misusing domestic violence provisions against men. But that does not mean women around don't suffer any more. These rare instances happen in the most developed parts of India. In the majority of the country women are still suffering in the 21st century.  

Leave alone the concept of female infanticide, right a girl while growing atleast in our country faces immense restrictions. Indian parents’ sole purpose for educating a girl child (kindly refer the literacy rate among men and women) is not so that she can lead a better or independent life but rather ensure that she’s perfect marriage material for some snobbish man. The notion of a women being independent is laughed at by most men.  It’s expected of a girl to give up her career, which in this country is viewed by many as just a hobby, after marriage (considered as the only suitable career of a girl). She is supposed to sit at home slog her ass of doing mundane house chores, basically her status is nothing short of a slave(pardon me being blunt here). Meanwhile the man gets to work, pursue his dreams and aspirations, best part is after a hard day in the office a man gets to go back home and exercise his “right” over his wife in bed, to which if the poor wife objects, she is either forced or physically abused. Legally speaking a man's actions are valid since marital rape, is something our legislature refuses to legalize. Inspite of the existing situations like these, men in this country feel discriminated against.

Indians love Bollywood, so to rest my case I’d only ask people to look at Priyanka Chopra's character in Dil Dhadakne Do. The exact situation pans out. But being a movie, the character enjoyed a happy ending. In reality I highly doubt that is the case.

Talking about religion, this is what I love the most about our country. Ours is a nation with multiple gods, we pray to countless Goddesses, including Durga, Lakshmi, Saraswati and so on and all of us humbly bow down to them at our time of need and seek their blessings. So basically when it comes to showing a goddess respect for our selfish interest, we have no problems in doing so. But showing the same respect towards to a wife or a daughter or a colleague or even a stranger is viewed as a joke. But yet men feel discriminated. How could they be wrong, I mean the freedom of doing practically whatever they want is a lot of pressure. 

If by living in a country where a rape victim is blamed for her own situation isn’t thought provoking, then I have no idea what is. A rape victim is forced to live (if she’s lucky enough to survive) with social stigma for the rest of her life, just because some pervert couldn’t keep his dick in his pants (again pardon my french, but I need to call a spade a spade). I’ve never come across an incident where a man was raped, had foreign objects inserted into his body and left on the road to die. Yet, Delhi isnt the only place where a women was sexually brutalized and left for dead or killed. But yet men in our country feel discriminated against.

We expect the Government to actually do something about the situation, pretty sure some Article in the Indian Constitution speaks about the State having a duty of care towards its citizens, doesn't it? But lets just be honest, does the Government give a damn? In my opinion, NO. Each Government is more concerned about filling their coffers with public money before the handing over the task to another equally corrupt government. Our Politicians consider women to be useful only in the kitchens, atleast that’s what I could gather from the uproar in parliament over the Womens’ Reservation Bill. So expecting something as simple as reforms to ensure the plight of women improves in our country is a mirage. For the love of God, a women doesnt even get paid the same amount of money for doing the same work a man does in most industries!

There is a philosophy in life, be the change you wish to see in the world. If we are to change the existing situation and improve the plight of women in the Country, all of us would firstly have to change our mindset. Each and every one of us is aware of what happens in the country. Yet no one really does anything about it. Everyone thinks the issue isn’t their problem. But it is. Any ones mother, sister, relative, spouse or even a friend can be target of discrimination. So start treating rather respecting women, it isn’t that difficult. They aren’t objects of possession that are to be taken for granted. Women don’t need reforms to improve their situation, women are equally good, if not better than men. Thus it is just a matter of giving credit where it is due. The moment someone seeks special attention in order to uplift themselves they consider themselves weak, women aren’t weak. They just deserve the respect that is due to them.  So to all the men who consider “Men's rights” under threat please get your head out of wherever you have stuck it and look at reality. Fads such as #dontMANcrimate are at the end of the day utter nonsense, unless and until they’re in reference to certain questionable sections of the Indian Penal Code. So don’t follow a trend blindly just because it makes one look cool. Use your intellect, be logical, be practical, have a conscious before blindly giving your ascent to some nonsense. If each and every one of us can change our way of thinking, the situation will improve drastically. It’s about standing up for what is right. 

In the given situation, no needs to be told what to do. Each and every single individual knows what is to be down but for some reason just doesn’t think such an action to be worth their time. All of us need to open our minds to the fact that women are as good as men in any field of work and not be threatened by their intellect. 

[Guest Post By: Abhijeet Andrews (Edited by Team FSA)]

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IPL Scandal Time Line & Overview: Mudgal & Lodha Committee Reports

        Controversy thy name is Indian Premier League. The Indian Premier League since its inception has been the centre of controversies which seems to be a part and parcel of the IPL. It not only attracted a nationwide hype when the former Commissioner of IPL, Lalit Modi, faced as many as 22 charges of money laundering, but another reason for its being in the news is the 2013 scandal whose scores were  finally settled by the ‘Justice Lodha Committee’ this year. The IPL scandal of 2013, involved charges of betting and match fixing certain IPL matches, where the officials from Chennai SuperKings and Rajasthan Royals were found guilty. The IPL scandal dates back to May 16, 2013 when the Delhi Police arrested Rajasthan Royals players Srisanth, Ankit Chavan and Ajit Chandila in Mumbai for spot fixing. It also involved Vindoo Dara Singh who revealed that Gurunath Meiyappan’s and Raj Kundra's involvement in the same. 

Left: Gurunath; Right: Kundra

Gurunath Meiyappan is a member of the AVM family and is the son-in-law of Indian industrialist, former president of the BCCI, and Chairman of the ICC, N. Srinivasan. Coincidentally, Mr. Srinivasan is also the owner of Chennai SuperKings. Raj Kundra is a British businessman, who also has interests in both cricket and mixed martial arts. He is married to Shilpa Shetty, the Bollywood actress.On May 25, 2013 Gurunath Meiyappan was arrested on the charges of betting, cheating and conspiracy and on 26 May, 2013 he was suspended by the BCCI. On the very same day the BCCI appointed a three member commissionto look into the case against Gurunath and Kundra. However, the Commission gave a verdict of ‘not guilty’ to Gurunath as well as Raj Kundra issuing a statement saying that there were no evidence against them that could prove any wrong doing on their part.The BCCI panel's decision to let off Meiyappan and Kundra was challenged by the Cricket Association of Bihar secretary Aditya Verma in Bombay High Court and on July 28, Bombay High Court judges found the BCCI probe panel illegal and the report was declared null and void. On August 5, a Special Leave Petition was filed in Supreme Court challenging the Bombay High Court order by BCCI and on October 7, the apex court appointed a three-member committee, headed by former High Court Judge Mukul Mudgal. The panel was mandated to investigate but not impose any punishment. The Mudgal panel submitted its report to the Supreme Court on February 10, 2014 which said that Meiyappan was involved in betting and sharing team information and Kundra also participated in betting. The Supreme Court on January 22, 2015 set up the Lodha Committee, headed by the Ex Chief Justice of India, R M Lodha, to determine amount of punishment for Meiyappan, Kundra and their respective teams. The Lodha Committee was formed on January 22, 2015 comprising of retired Chief Justice of India R.M. Lodha and retired Supreme Court judges Ashok Bhan and R Raveendran to determine:

(i). Punishments for Gurunath, Kundra and their respective franchises Chennai SuperKings and Rajasthan Royals

(ii.) Suggest amendments to the process followed by the BCCI in order to prevent frauds and conflict of interests.

The Supreme Court committee proposed a two year ban on each Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals. Raj Kundra as well as Gurunath were banned for life from any cricketing activity. However, the players of both the franchises are not banned for the respective term and can play for any other team. The Committee gave the judgment on 22 July, 2015.

Following the judgment of the Lodha Committee, BCCI has constituted an IPL Working Group to study the verdict of the committee. The working group shall consist of four members including the IPL chairman Rajiv Shukla, BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur, BCCI treasurer Anirudh Choudhary and former Indian Cricket Team captain Saurav Ganguly. According to the twitter posts of the BCCI, the group will work within a time bound period of 6 weeks and report their recommendations.

References:NDTV

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Raising Standards: Interview with Keshav Gupta, Co-Founder of The Dais.

For the Sake of Argument catches up with Keshav Gupta, Alumni of Campus Law Centre, Delhi University, Hans Raj College, Delhi University and Co-Founder of The Dais

Sourya (S): Tell us something about your early college life?

Keshav (K): Well, I’d like to answer this in two parts, since I have attended two colleges. I went to Hans Raj College, University of Delhi to study Economics and later to Campus Law Centre, Faculty of Law, also at University of Delhi. Before my college had started, I was in touch with a few school seniors who involved me in co-curricular activities and introduced me to Model UN at college level. I spent a lot of time traveling and attending these conferences, in retrospect, that laid a foundation to the amount of work and travel I am not involved in.

At law school, I was quite clear that I had done ample amount of debating and needed a real court room experience and therefore actively stayed away from the more enticing mooting activities. I had started with internships at the court right from the second month at law school, while carrying forward my participation in Model UN in various roles. 

(S): Why choose law?

(K): I always wanted to be a lawyer. Law is the instrument of change in the society. If I were to reiterate the aforementioned statements, they may sound great but they are not true. 

I wanted to be a civil servant when I was in tenth grade and took up humanities, but I was bogged down by the ‘prevalent corruption in the system and the interference by politicians’. It was then I decided to go to law school. I attended a bunch of orientations at LST, one of whom sold the idea of law school, quite well to a sixteen year old school kid (Let’s admit we are quite stupid at that age). During the next few years, I had developed several career interests ranging from a historian, to a scholar in theology, to studying art in Italy. I think I also wanted to preside over the World Bank one day. But at a more realisitic level, I was clear I had to go to law school. I got a really bad five hundred-ish rank at CLAT in 2008 and a decent board result. I decided to join University of Delhi at Hans Raj College to study Economics Hons. SRK went there, what could go wrong. However I was always clear that I had to go to law school one way or the other and was mentally prepared to invest another extra year or however many it took to join law school. It is funny that my law school results just came in yesterday and I am officially done with LL.B., it has been an almost decade long dream which has finally concluded. 

(S): For how long have you been attending Model United Nations?

(K): As mentioned earlier, I had attended my first Model UN Conference in August 2008. I knew about the concept from two year prior as my school, DPS RK Puram used to host the prestigious DPSMUN at IHC in Delhi, but was never took part in the same. I just counted those years on my finger and the same indicates, this as the eighth year of my association with Model UN. Having said that I could be wrong, after all we need a case law to substantiate everything in our fraternity.

(S): What is, “The Dais”?

(K): The Dais is an education management organization which facilitates learning in educational institutions through soft skill building workshops in Public Speaking, Model UN, Youth Parliament, English Theatre, Leadership and Law themed activities. But then you can find all this on google and the mentioning this here would be rather moot. (If you get the joke). 

Education system in our country is fairly complex. The idea of education as I see it is to bridge the knowledge deficit between the haves and the have-nots. Somehow the system does the exact opposite. We create a debating society, which only accepts great debaters. We create a moot society, which only sends stunning speakers. This creates a gap between excellent debaters on one hand and hesitant speakers on the other. The Dais is an endeavor to bridge this gap. We provide workshops, wherein we take in all the people who are willing to improve themselves and then work with them. We also have a social outreach program where we do the same things without charges to help the sections which can’t afford such workshops. I am in Bhagalpur, Bihar writing to you, as my team is conducting the sessions here with kids at a local school here. The kind of services we offer etcetera is just semantics and can evolve in time.

(S): How did this idea come about?

(K): I have been training at schools and colleges for a long time now, maybe five years. In this capitalist era, there are two parallel tendencies at work. If you charge for something you have a greater incentive for accountability and quality and if someone is paying you, they value the learnings a lot more. So, charging a fee is a part of the system. (and additional pocket money never hurts, does it). However over a period in time I realised that the process became a lot more commercialized at a widespread level. The focus on quality and comfort of whether the child is understanding what we are offering them was completely being shifted to what is the paper quality of the placard at an MUN Conference, which is so absurd, if you think of the larger purpose of co-curricular activities. We decided to formally initiate an organization where the learnings are child oriented. Not everyone can quote a UN Charter in an MUN Conference and it would be like the Chinese train their kids from their early age for Olympics, disregarding the comfort level of kids. Our idea is to work with students and understand where co-curricular fits into their life and treat it as a tool of learning rather than the very end, as misunderstood by many people. It is called ‘co’-curricular for a reason. 

(S): Was it difficult during the initial days of starting up?

(K): Not really, it was fairly simple actually. The tougher parts included deciding our name, what we wanted to do and how to go about it. Dikshant Malik is a dear friend and fellow co-founder, one of the most jovial individuals you will come across. We had started discussing the idea in November and met in between my fifth semester exams to finalise that we were doing this full time. That’s when we started brainstorming about the name, logo, scope etc. That seemed like the most difficult thing back then. Setting up our office in May, however turned out to be extremely challenging. I am not the most physically imposing person you will meet. Imagine lifting all the furniture, refrigerator and other heavy items to second floor, that was a lot more taxing than anything else. Here our team including Ravish, Shaurya, Aditya, Devesh, Yashasvini, Ankur, Kartikeya (who came from Ajmer) and Himavat (who came from Indore) did a fantastic job along with immense support extended to us by our parents. It is their confidence in us and relentless support that has kept us idiots going so far. Our team is our biggest strength, each and every person in our team is so vital and loved. Each day, however challenging for us is so much fun just because of the brilliant family of The Dais.

(S): Tell us some of the milestones The Dais has achieved till now?

(K): I can tell you about how we have progressed in the last six months. We have worked with many prestigious institutions across Delhi, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana while collaborating on projects in Hyderabad, with teams working in Maharashtra, Gujarat and West Bengal.

Keshav at Mount Assisi School Conducting
MUN Workshop

I can tell you about the policy work we are doing with the Government of Delhi and through statistics at you to show our work but our biggest milestones have been to incorporate from the beginning and after much brainstorming, Youth Parliament, Public Speaking, English Theatre, Legal Affairs, Leadership and Public Policy, Youth Activism Departments in our organization. We are not very far from formally incorporating Quizzing also in our work. I can talk about our potential partnerships in Pakistan, Nepal, Italy among other places. Our milestones include induction of each and every stunning individuals who works with us today. Our milestone include each day when the trust and faith of our team in each other grows. More details regarding our already concluded projects can be seen at our website or social media. 

(S): What plans next? Would Dais hold its own MUN/Conference someday?

(K): There are many projects in the pipeline. I am travelling to Norway in the mid August and further to Nepal from September to November to understand community development, peace advocacy. We may incorporate that in the coming time. We are already working hard on evolving the kind of work we are already doing in the respective fields. The Dais believes in growing organically based on ideas and we move towards whatever excites us within our organization’s vision and scope. Will Dais hold its own MUN/Conferences someday? We do plan to host policy workshops, leadership summits to facilitate learnings but not sure about Model UN. We are open to the idea of it, give the right time and willing individuals to take the responsibility. We however support MUN Conferences, Debates in any way we can as knowledge partners, sometimes sponsors but we remain a skill building organization. 

(S): Do you think the introduction of so many new Model United Nations each year, is actually harming the quality of MUNners in India?

(K): This is fairly interesting and complex question. While nobody can claim a monopoly or qualitative superiority in understanding of the Model UN system, there are certain quality standards one needs to adhere to. Our organisation’s goal is to facilitate the bridging of the knowledge deficit, as I had previously mentioned and we would like to promote institutions to host conferences but with proper guidance. It doesn’t have to come from us only. Many organisations, individuals have emerged today, who are willing to help out. One problem I have noticed is that certain individuals who are driven to organize or start new conferences also suffer from some insecurity when it comes to taking credit for ‘founding’ the conference and ‘autonomy’ of functioning. This needs to be left at home and the greater good of the conference and the host institution in the long run must be kept in mind, and help should be sought from anyone who is known for quality work.

(S): Is Dais planning to branch out to other zones soon?

(K): The Dais has plans to work in each and every part of the country. As you may have realised that we love and value each and everyone who is associated with us, we tread slowly and carefully in uncharted territories and only once we have trusted individuals, do we move forward. We are scouting for talented, passionate individuals who would love to work with us and who are not merely driven by the monetary aspects but the vision of our organization. We emphasize on the importance of pro bono work and put it as an essential requirement for working with us as well. However watch our page, we are making a few announcements which will answer this question. 

(S): Any word of advice to budding MUNners? 

(K): Start believing that change is possible. Look beyond the three days of MUN and look at the real change you can facilitate with the networks you build in MUNs and the skills you acquire in the process. I met Dikshant Malik, fellow co-founder, Ravish Rana, our National Outreach Coordinator, Aditya and Alpna ma’am, our Leadership Coordinators, Krish, Head of Theatre, during Model UN Conferences. I met Shaurya Upadhyay, Head of Public Speaking Team at Model UN Trainings at a school, where he was conducting Debating Sessions. At a personal level, I have met an individual at an MUN who completely changed my life during our association and even today I transform each day with each person I meet. 

We often attend Model UN Conferences, Debates, Moots with our focus on awards, being stuck up on the UN Charter and Point of Order and feel like the most intellectually superior because we have done a hundred MUNs and won a lot of them, but what we forget is that the real world is outside the conference venue and Model UN is only a training ground where you must excel in order to make a real difference in your life and that of others. A best delegate award has never won anyone anything besides an ego boost and some money. The focus needs to shift away from how well versed we are on the UN Charter and International Law and why something is outside the mandate of the committee. The focus must be on how to gather consensus, how to solve the problem and if possible, how to take the solution forward at our own level. Real life begins outside the conference and it is your performance there, that matters not the MUN.

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Building A Foundation: Interview with Aditya Singh, Chairman of Alexis Group

For the Sake of Argument catches up with Mr. Aditya Singh, Founder, Chairman & Managing Director of The Alexis Group. 

Sourya (S): You studied B.Com (Hons.) from University of Delhi. Tell us sometime about life at DU?

Aditya (A): My undergraduate academic experience at University of Delhi was very enriching and I have enjoyed every part of it. Itenabled me to become an independent person, interact with diverse set of people, understand multiple perspectives, think out of box and widen my horizon.

I was primarily exposed to various types of Accounting - financial, corporate and cost & management, Economics - micro & macro, Statistics and Law. I also chose to study electives such as Political Science, Ethics & Values, Information Technology, Business Communication, Auditing and Marketing which have equipped me both personally and professionally to create value for the society.

My most preferred subject was Law. Law is a subject where you can develop a range of skills and explore many aspects of human life. I studied four papers related to law during my undergraduate studies - Business Law, Corporate Law, Income Tax Law & Practice and Auditing. It helped me to understand the basics of contract and also the complexities of company management. Studying Law as an undergraduate student gave me the chance to strengthen my understanding, deepen my experience and develop my critical thinking.

Alongside with studies, I have also been involved with the National Service Scheme throughout the three years in college. During these years, I held several leadership and advisory committee positions. I was instrumental in organizing Blood Donations camps, Cleanliness Campaign, Each One, Teach One Campaign, CWG Games 2010 Volunteer Induction Campaign, Career Counseling and Personality Development programs. The main challenge I faced during this time was investing people in the idea of social service as mostly students wanted focused only on their studies.

However, I overcame this challenge through one on one conversations and motivating fellow students by introducing incentives and recognition system. The system worked and college NSS unit enrolled 60% students of the college thereby creating significant impact on projects we undertook and communities we engaged with. This was an immense fulfilling and great learning experience for me.

(S): You followed that up with MSc in International Management from University of Strathclyde. Was Management something you had always been interested in from childhood, or did it just come along the way?

(A): My postgraduate learning experience was more about reflective learning, learning from peers and putting critical thinking into action in different projects I took up. Studying with peers from 25 nationalities was indeed a great learning experience. International Management also taught me a lot about, people, culture, leadership and diversity apart from different functional areas of management such as Finance, Marketing, Human Resource Management, Entrepreneurship, and Strategy with the International component in all of them.

Both my parents are Professors and I grew up in IIM Lucknow Campus, so Management was something very natural I got attracted to. Though I have vast  and varied interests in Art and Culture, Architecture, Cinema History, Music and Philosophy.

(S): Tell us something about the Alexis Foundation.

(A): Alexis Foundation is currently India’s leading and most diversified youth-led think tank. It conducts research and provides consultancy in areas such as economics, information technology, law, management, public policy and strategy.From March 2015 onwards, we have started accepting foreign interns as well. Our aim is to expand globally in next 2 years and become one of world’s leading youth led think tanks. With the team I have currently, I can say with confidence that we are on the right track.

Q) Did some particular incident motivate you to start the Alexis Foundation?

(A): My team at Alexis Society was very much focused on ground level work and events. Furthermore, I thought that it would be right to separate the do-tank and think-tank so that they can have separate organization level strategy in terms of key decisions. In the hindsight, I think I took the right decision because both the organizations have different focus areas, approach towards work, leadership team and strategic direction now. It has provided growth and expansion opportunities to both organizations and individuals associated with them.

(S): You are a Hesselbein Fellow. Kindly share some of your experiences regarding the same.

(A): Every year, Hesselbein Global Academy for Student Leadership and Civic Engagement at University of Pittsburgh, USA selects 50 top student leaders from across the world and mentors them to be effective, ethical, and innovative leaders at the Summit. I was selected as a Hesselbein Fellow in 2013. At the annual summit, I met student leaders from more than 25 States from USA and 15 Countries around the world. This experience has helped me understand the concepts of leadership, entrepreneurship and diversity practically.

(S): What was your proudest moment regarding Alexis Group till date?

(A): It has been a long and adventurous journey of 6 years till now, therefore, very difficult to choose one moment. During this journey, I have witnessed transformational changes in lives of some people, few people have achieved remarkable feats academically, and few people have developed themselves as leaders. All these moments fill me with pride and remind me to work harder.

(S): Being a dynamic student leader, mentor and entrepreneur, do you aspire to enter into politics as such to serve the society better?

(A): Yes, I am very much keen to join active politics at the appropriate time. For me, Politics is an instrument to bring about socio-economic change and inclusive development.

(S): What do you think about the current class of politicians and politics in India?

(A): Currently, the situation is not ideal. However, I can see some positive changes emerging in our political system. Having said that, we still have personality driven politics rather than ideology/policy driven and this needs to change. Media, Youth and Civil Society are willing to be part of the Policy formulation process and Government must try to encourage their participation. In this regard, I would like to commend the efforts of honourable Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi ji.

(S): Any word of advice for potential future leaders reading this?

(A): If you wish to be in public life, always uphold a very high moral character, be humble, never sacrifice with your principles, and always be honest with yourself. Different people may perceive you differently based on their life experiences. You may or may not have a good reputation or image at a particular period of time, but these things are temporary. Your character is permanent, once that is lost, everything is lost. You may still become successful, but you will never attain satisfaction and self-respect that way. 

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Fur Die Freiheit Essay Writing Competition in Co-Operation with Centre for Civil Society & Students For Liberty South Asia (Submit By 15th September)

Think. Write. Win. 

Friedrich Naumann Foundation, Center For Civil Society and South Asia Students For Liberty, are organizing an essay writing competition. 

The Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom is the foundation for liberal politics in the Federal Republic of Germany. It aims to promote the goal of making the principle of freedom valid for the dignity of all people and in all areas of society, both in Germany and abroad. With the safeguarding and the development of its statutory projects (civic education and dialogue, sponsorship of the talented, research and political consultation, archive-work), the Friedrich Naumann Foundation wants to contribute to shaping the future.

Centre for Civil Society (CCS) is a non-profit think tank based in New Delhi. The Centre was founded in 1997 by Parth Shah, former Professor of Economics at the University of Michigan. It operates as an independent research and educational organisation. According to the 2014 Global Go To Think Tank Index Report (Think Tanks and Civil Societies Program, University of Pennsylvania), CCS is rated number 5 (of 100) in the "Top Think Tanks Worldwide (non-U.S.)", number 50 (of 150) of "Top Think Tanks Worldwide (U.S. and non-U.S.) and number 14 (of 50) in the "Top Think Tanks in China, India, Japan, and the Republic of Korea".

Students For Liberty South Asia stands for the cause of greater freedom in one’s economic, personal and intellectual life. Our aim is to identify and support pro-liberty students in Asia and empower the first generation of student leaders who will lead the liberty movement in the region. SFL South Asia supports pro-liberty student groups by providing resources, advising students on effective leadership strategies, and connecting students from across Asia with both like-minded peers and important leaders and organizations in the pro-liberty movement. SFL South Asia’s activities help students generate the skills, momentum, and connections necessary to effectively advance the pro-liberty movement within Asia and abroad.

Topic: We want to know what it means to YOU to be a liberal in India!

Seeking original texts in English—authors of the 20 best essays will receive cash prizes and their essays will be published in a book!

The winner of the best essay will also be invited to join an education activity hosted by FNF in Germany.

For guidelines, eligibility and more information, click here. The deadline for submission is 15 September 2015.

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Call for Campus Ambassadors: LexQuest

About: LexQuest is an Online Portal for Law Students, across the Globe. We seek to not only provide you with information regarding all the opportunities out there but we go a step further and seek to engage with you by creating such opportunities for you!

LexQuest calls for Campus Ambassadors: Interested in writing about the ongoing events at your campus? Interested in helping us increase our outreach? Interested in helping us organise events in your college? Interested in conducting interviews? Interested in getting published? Interested in earning while doing there tasks? Then send in your CV and a Statement of Purpose to info.lexquest@gmail.com.

Duration: One month from the date of your joining.We will consider extending your tenure on the basis of your work.

Nature of Work and Remunaration: Online. This is a voluntary post, however, we will give rewards to the two best performers at the end of their internship. There is also an opportunity to generate your own income through ‘Paid Tasks’.

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Vyapam Scam: All You Need To Know

India has been associated with large scale scams since a considerable amount of time. Every now and then the media is flooded with the news on one or the scam that has been exposed. Another name that is added to the long history of Indian scams is the ‘Vyapam Scam’. Vyapam (Vyasayik Pariksha Mandal) is the Hindi acronym of Madhya Pradesh Professional Examination Board (MPPEB). MPPEB is a government body which is endowed with the responsibility of conducting entrance examinations which are used for recruitment to the government offices and admissions to educational institutions in the State. The scam was collusion between candidates, politicians, bureaucrats, government officers and middleman. The undeserving candidates bribed the politicians and other officers through middlemen who in return gave them a high rank in the examination which in ordinary circumstance they could never qualify.

What is Vyapam?

Madhya Pradesh Professional Examination Board popularly known as Vyapam was established in 1982 in the state’s capital Bhopal. It is a professional examination conducting body responsible for conducting MP-PMT, Pre-Polytechnic test, Pre-Agriculture Test, Pre-P.C. Entrance Test, Police Recruitment test etc.

The math of Vyapam Scam:

An undeserving student bribes government officials and middleman who in return offer them high percentage of marks in the qualifying exams. The math is very simple and before the whole thing came into light, the people involved in the same got out of it scot free. Various tricks are used by such people operating the scam. It works in the following manner –

1. Impersonation : Students who are previous years’ toppers or practicing doctors are paid high amounts to impersonate the undeserving exam candidate by replacing their photograph in the admit by the impersonator’s photograph; which was after the exam changed back to the original. All the details in the admit card remained the same except the photograph. This was done by the help and support of the already bribed corrupt government officers.
2. Leaking the answer key: in order to help the undeserving candidate often the answer key was leaked so that the candidate could qualify the exam.
3. Manipulation of records and answer sheet : the undeserving candidates left the OMR sheet unanswered or fill up the answers they were sure about and rest was the duty of the corrupt board officials gave them high ranking and marks. The candidates in order to avoid being caught often filed an RTI and asked for the answer sheet so that they could simply fill the answers according to their marks. Sometimes they were supplied with solved OMR sheets before they took the exam.
4. Copying / Engine Bogie system: the copying of answers in the Vyapam scam is not like how a student normally cheats and copies in exams. Here the whole cheating system was a step ahead because the undeserving candidates were made to sit strategically next to a brilliant dummy candidate who would either exchange answer sheet in the end of the exam or let the candidate copy his answers. Each and every one involved was bribed to do so.

Unearthing of the scam- Timeline of the unfolding of the scam

Complaints of irregularities and malpractices in Vyapam had been reported since 2000, when the. However, it was in 2013 that the cover was blown and the naked truth came in front of the world. The following is how it all began:

2000 - First FIR was filed of malpractice and irregularities in Chattarpur District.

2004- Seven cases were registered in Khandawa district. [1]

2007- Before 2007, all the cases of irregularities were seen as isolated cases but after 2007, the Vyapam scam started to come in light. The MP Local Fund Audit office found financial and administrative irregularities in Vyapam including unauthorized disposal of application forms. [1]

2009- Fresh complaints of irregularities in the Pre- Medical Test surfaced.[2] A Public Interest Litigation was filed in the MP High Court by activist Anand Rai in which he claimed malpractice and fraudulent ways being adopted in admissions and recruitments. [3] In the same year a Committee was formed by the then Chief Minister Shivraj Chouhan which was headed by State Joint Director of Medical Education to inquire in the matter. [4]

2011- In July, MPPEB monitored 145 suspects during the Pre- Medical Test in which 8 were caught impersonating others. Biometric technology was used for the first time and all students who took the examination were made to give their thumb impressions, and their photographs were taken. The inputs were then matched at the time of counseling [5]

In November 2011, the Committee formed by Shivraj Chauhan submitted its report and it was stated in the report that as much as 114 candidates passed the PMT due to impersonating and the middlemen charged up to Rs 4 million. State Minister for medical education Mr. Mahendra Hardia confirmed that 114 people gained admissions to MBBS courses through fraudulent means and many of them have passed the institution and are practicing medicine. FIRs were registered against 56 students [6]

2013- Special Task Force investigating the pre-Medical test scam produced a supplementary charge sheet of 23,000 pages against 34 accused of which 30 are students and their guardians who got admissions in the medical college through fraudulent means. [7]

2014- In March 2014, the government announced that the STF arrested 127 people. Identified accused number rose from 8 to 865. [8]

According to the STF report for 21012 – 2013 the MPPEB scam is said to be worth over Rs 10,000 crore and more than 2.5 million young people have been affected by the scandal. [9]

Notable Arrests:

More than 2000 people have been arrested till date and the following are the notable arrests.

1. Lakshmikant Sharma, ex- education Minister of M.P.
2. OP Shukla
3. Sudhir Sharma
4. R.K. Shivhare, Suspended IPS Officer
5. Ravikant Dwivedi, Suspended Joint Commissioner (Revenue)
6. Dr Jagdish Sagar
7. Dr Sanjeev Shilpakar
8. Pankaj Trivedi, MPPEB Examination Controller
9. C.K. Mishra, Officer, Vyapam
10. Nitin Mahendra, Principal System Analyst
11. Ajay Sen, Senior System Analyst

CBI probe in the scam:

The Indian National Congress demanded a CBI probe in the Vyapam scam under the supervision of the Supreme Court after ridiculing the Chief Minister Shivraj Chauhan’s demand of CBI under the supervision of the High Court calling it a ‘hogwash’ and said that the government seems to lack sensitivity and interest in the issue. The opposition also demanded the removal of Chauhan as the C.M. [10]

The Supreme Court on July 9, 2015 ordered a CBI probe in all the Vyapam related matters. The Supreme Court also issues a notice to the Centre, M.P government and to the Governor Ram Naresh Yadav on a plea seeking his removal for his alleged role and involvement in the Vyapam scam. The Supreme Court’s order came after the M.P government gave its consent to shifting from the High Court monitored special investigation team (SIT) and the Special Task Force (STF), which was accused of showing a slack approach in their investigation. The Court said that all the Vyapam related cases shall be transferred to the CBI from July 12, 2015 and the agency shall file its report on July 24, 2015. The decision of the apex court has been welcomed by the whistleblowers and the petitioners. [11]

The timeline of death counts-

The Vyapam scam has another reason to be in the news since its cover was blown off and that reason is the bloodshed that followed after its exposure.  It’s the bloodiest scam in the Indian history and is covered in blood and gore from every angle. The reason I say this is because of the fact that more than 40 people have died in mysterious circumstances since 2009 when the incident came in light. However, the activist firmly believe that the death count mat be as much as more than 150 people. The following is the list of the most talked about and mysterious deaths:

1. Namrata Damodar: 19 year Medical student died in January 2012 and the autopsy revealed the reason to be strangulation.
2. Dr D.K. Sakalle: The dean of Netaji Subash Chandra Bose Medical College, Jabalpur was found dead I his home burn on July 4, 2015.
3. Akshay Singh: a journalist of AAJ tak channel died mysteriously while he was investigating the death case of Namrata Damodar and the reason of his sudden death is still not clear.
4. Sanjay Kumar: Yadav was a police constable in Madhya Pradesh who was supposed to appear as one of the witness in the Vyapam case.
   
5. Narendra Singh Tomar – This death was what brought the Vyapam scam back in the limelight in June 2015 after another accused in the high-profile MPPEB scam died under mysterious circumstances in an Indore jail.
6. Sharma - Sharma was the dean of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Medical College in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh. He was suspected of having links to some accused in the Vyapam scam, was found dead under mysterious circumstances at a hotel in south-west Delhi's Dwarka on 6 July. The body of Sharma was found in his room at the hotel.
7. Dr Rajendra Arya – The 40-year old died within 24 hours of Tomar's death at Birla Hospital in Gwalior. He had been on bail for one year, had gone to Kota and was returning when his condition turned critical.
8. Shailesh Yadav – He was the son of MP Governor Ram Naresh Yadav and was one of the accused in the Vyapam scam. He was found dead at his residence, the Governor's bungalow in Lucknow in March 2015.
9. Vijay Singh – Another accused, Singh was found dead under mysterious circumstances at a lodge in Chhattisgarh's Kanker district in April 2015.
10. Ramendra Singh Bhadoria – The 30-year old was found hanging at his home in Gwalior a few days after an FIR was registered in January 2015. His family members claimed he was being mentally tortured by those involved in the MPPEB scam to keep quiet.[12]

About the Author: 

Anjali Bisht, is a current final year student of Law College Dehradun, who is Interning with For the Sake of Argument. She considers herself a zealous person with a serious case of curious bone. With reading as her best friend, she like to write because,that is the best way of expression.

References:

1. The News Minute , 2015-07-06
2. The Indian Express , March 15, 2015
3. Outlook, June 1, 2015
4. Catch News, 2015-06-30
5. The Indian Express, 2011-07-26
6. The Times of India,2011-12-29
7. DNA, December 27, 2013
8. The Free Press Journal, March 4, 2014
9. Hindustan Times, July 10, 2015
10. The Indian Express, 8 July 2015
11. Hindustan Times, July 10, 2015
12. First Post, July 9, 2015

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