Letters

Not quite correct

I have noticed that several items of news published in Down To Earth, otherwise a very stimulating magazine, are misleading if not wrong. In a news-piece entitled 'Warming up to the sun' (Vol 4, No 5), the last item maybe termed a 'pseudo-improvement'. Gallium arsenide-gallium aluminium arsenide solar cells with efficiencies of 23.3 per cent were fabricated by Van der Plas et al in 1978. So what is the significance of upgrading 9 per cent efficiency cells in 1995 to 14 per cent by introducing 50 quantum wells? Van der Plas used liquid phase epitaxy, a cheap and rugged fabrication technology compared to molecular beam epitaxy (which is at least 10 times more expensive) used by the Imperial College group for making quantum wells.

In another issue (Vol 4, No 9), an item titled 'Hot wires' suggests using photovoltaic electricity for producing hot water. Since photovoltaic conversion efficiency is currently around 15 per cent - the rest of the energy being dissipated as heat - does it make sense to use this costly electricity for heating, entailing further losses?

Many research groups sometimes make tall claims of so-called break- throughs. These should be examined critically before acceptance at face value. If that is not done, the readers could be led astray and wrong notions would be perpetuated....

Dissecting development

Rahul in his 'Freedom of two different worlds' (Vol 4, No 10) has not analysed the 'human development'work that has been done in Jhabua district by the bureaucracy and the excellent interface that exists at present between tribals and the administration. An average tribal in jhabua is not bothered about the romantic aspects of tribal governance or the panchayati raj as long as he/she is happy about the benefits he/she gets from the administration.

Jhabua has pioneered water conservation activities in the last few years, aL and the community lift irrigation pro gramme promoted by the tribals bear testimony to the tribal -government relationship for development action. This water conservation has helped reduce the outmigration of tribals from jhabua in the last few years and has also increased the area under rabi.

The district collector, Manoj jhalani, has pioneered effective child survival and protection strategies through mass child immunisation and child health, nutrition and early childhood education services by setting up child care centres in accessible tiny hamlets (phalias). Under the Sbikshak Samakhya programme, primary schools are turning out to be the centres of effective education. Tribal songs are being used to teach kids to learn alphabets and words; the process of universalising primary education has set in. Children are no longer leaving the villages for greener pastures and the number of school dropouts are gradually coming down in Jhabua. Tribals are a part of this gradual transformation. They alone, and not anyone else, are responsible for generating it.

Rahul puts up a picture of the panchayati raj - as per the 73rd Amendment - having ruined the existing tribal ethos and culture of governance in jhabu-a. I do not know the merits of the Bhuria Committee report. But the existing mp Panchayati Raj Adhiniyam (73rd Amendment) has bestowed many powers on the gram, janpad and zilla panchayats. There are some teething troubles, but with bette training and awareness-building, trib) could become part of the mainstream development.

The UNICEF- supported training is far from being urban-biased. In mp, 60 NGOS from different districts, who are aware of the local problems and issues,4 are spread over in 60 development blocks trying to train 20,000 4 pancheslsarpanches (heads of panchayats) - many of whom are women - on an experimental basis. In jhabua's Sondwa block, the Indore- based Bahai Institute of Vocational Training for Women has trained 150 pancheslsarpanches in the Bhilali language. Many panchayat members are craving for knowledge and information which can help them in supervising I ongoing development work effectively. Both tribals as well as non-tribals nee@ to be involved and benefitted by this. For the sake of development, one has 11 ignore issues like tribal-versus-non- tribals or tribals -versus -bureaucracy ill favour of larger precepts such as that ot "people as a whole"....

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