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Mumbai, October, 2014: Diversity Index, social audit, clear policy guidelines, better social and physical infrastructure in Muslim concentrated areas, monitoring and evaluation of programmes at regular intervals, similar policy provisions for the persons engaged in similar occupational activities across the religious groups, and fixed accountabilities on officers implementing the programmes are some of the major recommendations of the Post-Sachar Evaluation Committee (PSEC) or Kundu Committee.

This Committee, which was formed by the UPA Government and continued by the Modi government, to assess the implementation of Sachar Committee recommendations and Prime Minister’s 15 Point Programme, submitted its final report on 9th October.

Diversity Index and Reservation

Although Kundu Committee did not recommend politically controversial reservations, it proposed a Diversity Index (DI) based on caste, religion, gender. A person close to the committee working said, “Diversity Index is more than a reservation”. It can be applied not only to the Shrinking Public Sector but also to the private sector. Indirect government incentives like tax rebates and other encouragements must be provided to the companies ranking high on the DI.

The index can be applied to Educational Institutions, Hospitals and to all government department and schemes. The government incentives should be in proportion to the yearly Diversity Index scores that they achieve. Allocation of budget based on DI should be a new mantra of development for all sections of the society. “Unity in diversity is the strength of India and the socio-cultural diversity is the biggest asset of the nation.

The ‘homogeneity’ and ‘de-customised’ approach to development runs its own risk of leaving people out of ambit of developmental programmes and it should be avoided in a diverse society like India.

“Indian diversity and people are like sand in hand. In a tightened fist there is all possibility that many of them will spill out”, said Professor Abdul Shaban, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, who was also a member of the Kundu Committee.

The committee has recommended the SC status to Muslims who are practicing the same professions as of their Hindu counterparts. The committee believes that the Constitution has a scope for reservations for Muslims and all the socially and economically deprived communities. The Presidential Order of 1950 allowed SC status only to Hindus, but in 1956 lower castes among Sikhs and latter, in 1990, by VP Singh government, Neo-Buddhists were included in this SC list. Arguing in favour of his decision, VP Singh then had said that this change of religion, from Hinduism to Buddhism, had not altered their social, economic or educational conditions.

Social Audit of Welfare Schemes

Casual approach in framing policy and programme guidelines for development of minorities, inefficiency in administration, lack of convergence and coordination among different departments and ministries, and paucity of funds for the schemes are the major problems noted by the Kundu Committee.

Prof. Shaban said, “Ad hoc approach in framing the policies created confusions among the administrative staff that led to failure in effective implementation of Welfare Schemes. For example, PMs 15 points Programme states that ‘certain portion’ of budget under the scheme to be allocated for minorities and ‘preference’ would be given to minorities in the appointment of police and other services. However, neither does it specify the percentages, nor clarifies what is meant by the ‘priorities’ in the recruitment of minorities without any legal provisions for the same.”

Among others, the Kundu Committee has recommended proper financial provisions for hiring consulting agencies for need assessment and preparation of Detailed Project Reports for MsDP, careful selection of members of District and State Level Committees for effective and timely delivery of the programmes, sources said.

One of the major achievements in Post-Sachar years has been that minorities have emerged as developmental subjects of the state rather than just ‘ethnic and religious groups’. Institutional building for development of minorities has been major hallmark of this period through establishment of Ministry of Minority Affairs, Minorities Commissions, National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions Act, establishment of Wakf Development Corporation and launch of specific welfare schemes for minorities, etc.

Professor Shaban says, “In this period, the country has moved towards deepening the multicultural model of development as envisaged in the Constitution which in a sense heralds a new beginning”.

- tcn

Rs 50 lakh to ‘bring back home’ converted Hindus

Lucknow, October, 2014: Claiming that on an average 1,000 families are re-converted, mostly in western UP region in a month, the cost incurred on such programmes comes to around Rs 50 lakh per month. The average cost incurred on each family comes to around Rs 5,000, Dharm Jagran’s western UP in charge Rajeshwar Singh told TOI.

The fuel cost incurred is meant for the outfit’s about 100 full-time volunteers, whose job is to identify people, who converted to other religions from Hinduism, make them aware about what good they are missing by not being a Hindu and convince them to re-convert. ‘Ghar wapsi’ is what Rajeshwar Singh called this re-conversion as.

Interestingly, this is not the only expenditure incurred by the Dharm Jagran. Since most of these volunteers are full-timers, they have a task in hand to carry on such awareness campaigns in the region throughout the year. On most of the occasions, once a family gets convinced to re-convert, volunteers have to pay for the affidavit on behalf of the family head, Ajay Sinha, a full-timer (as they are called within the organization) from Shahjahanpur told TOI. Interestingly, the requirement of affidavits is mandatory only in case of certified Christian converts, Rajeshwar told TOI, added that while for the ghar wapsi of those whom he refers to as “crypto-Christians”, there is no need for certificate as such people are not converted on papers but have adopted the tradition and culture associated with Christianity.

Since the number of certified Christians is far less as compared to the ‘crypto’ category, the expenditure on affidavits hardly comes to Rs 2,000 per month, he said. According to a rough estimate, ghar wapsi of around 1,000 families is done on an average every month in the western UP area, Rajeshwar claimed.

Though not every time, the organization also spents money for holding ‘shuddhi yagya’ (purification ritual), a must for those who are reconverting. Since most of the times such yagyas are held with the contribution from either the family re-converting or through voluntary contribution by like-minded people, the average expenditure on such yagyas comes to Rs 20,000 per month per district, Rajeshwar said.

But holding shuddhi yagyas or submitting affidavits is not end the job for the Hindu outfit. The fact that the re-conversion holds no meaning if the members of the caste they belong to don’t accept them back into their fold, he said and added that it is to ensure that the re-converted families aren’t discouraged. The cost on an average the outfit has to bear on community feasting comes to around Rs 40,000 to 50,000 per month.

A full-time volunteer from Meerut praant requesting anonymity said on an average RSS provides Rs 12 to 15 lakh as annual budget to each of Dharm Jagran’s praants and rest is through contributions from the respective districts. This funding by the RSS is reviewed annually, he said.

Such expenditure is nothing in view of the impact of such efforts, said Ajay from Shahjahanpur. Rajeshwar claims members from other communities claim to spend at least Rs 3 crore on one family that converts to their religion from Hinduism. Rajeshwar claimed he was busy with his aim of ‘ghar wapsi’ of around 20,000 families or 1.25 lakh individuals in December.

- times of india

MP: Protests after Christian weds Hindu. Police declare marriage ‘invalid’

MP, October, 2014: The police in Madhya Pradesh have declared a marriage between a Christian man and a Hindu woman invalid, after protests by right-wing groups.

Joseph Pawar, who is in his 20s, and Ayushi Wani, 19, reportedly eloped and married at an Arya Samaj temple in Bhopal on September 28. They were traced by the police to Pavagadh in Gujarat after the girl’s parents filed a complaint and the Hindu Jagran Manch and other right-wing organisations threatened to launch an agitation. The two hail from Jobat town in tribal-dominated Alirajpur district.

The town observed a bandh on Wednesday as the superintendent of police met the two families separately in his office. Meanwhile, hundreds of right-wing activists gathered outside the premises.

Ayushi reportedly told Alirajpur SP Akhilesh Jha that she was in love with Joseph, a nursing college student, and that she went with him of her own accord. She also refused to return to her parents, following which she was sent to Nari Niketan in Ujjain.

The activists said they wanted Joseph booked for allegedly luring Ayushi into marrying him, but the police said no case could be made against him since she was not a minor. Joseph was escorted to Indore under police protection to ensure his safety.

Police, however, declared the marriage invalid, saying that Joseph is not a Hindu and that in order to marry Ayushi, he would have to convert to Hinduism by following a procedure laid down under the Freedom of Religion Act.

According to the Act, a person who wants to convert as well as those who would preside over the ceremony are supposed to notify the district magistrate a month in advance.

Jha told The Indian Express that he took the decision to declare the marriage invalid because it seemed like the best option at the time, given that 300-400 activists had surrounded his office and the threat of arson and damage to government property loomed large. “There are both plus and minus points when an administrator takes a decision in such matters,” he said.

Joseph, meanwhile, said that the marriage in the Arya Samaj temple was carried out according to Hindu rituals.

Ayushi’s family had filed a complaint on September 26 when she did not return home from college. Right-wing activists threatened to take to the streets when it was revealed that she had eloped with a Christian man, and gave the police till September 30 to bring the couple back to Jobat.

The police discovered that after the marriage on September 28, the couple went to Pavagadh, from where the two were brought to Jobat on October 1.

The SP said the situation had returned to normal on Thursday, but added that it was not safe for Joseph to return. “It’s possible that he could apply to convert his faith,” he said.

- indian express

Pastor Rick Warren: Is the focus on growth over quality?

US, October, 2014: In order to last in ministry, church planters need to adhere by certain guidelines that change the mold of how they build their church structure, said Pastor Rick Warren during the Exponential West conference this past week.

Warren addressed conference goers to utilize his experience as a leader in ministry of over 40 years. He told church planters that about half of them were not going to make it, according to statistics, unless they started doing something radical.

“You must be very careful how you build. Some build with gold, silver, precious stones even wood, hay and straw but the day will come when fire will reveal the quality of your work and if what you build survives, you will receive a reward,” Warren said on Thursday of the three-day conference.

He added, “The success of your ministry isn’t about size or speed, regardless of those ‘large church lists.’ God isn’t going to judge you based on those things because those are human measurements.”

In speaking about his success and how his ministry has lasted four decades, Warren noted that many church planters are preoccupied with the latest church trends or with what is “currently in or hip.” He advised that instead of worrying about such things, planters need to focus on implementing strategies that will last, not just bring in large crowds.

“I could show you how to get a crowd but a crowd isn’t a church. Most church planters spend an entire year planning the first service and none planning the second,” Warren said.

While he acknowledges that much of his ministerial success is because of God’s help, Warren also said he has lasted in ministry because of the “work smarter not harder” concept.

“I know some pastors who pray more than I do and their churches aren’t growing,” Warren said. “I work hard but I know some churches that work much harder than I do. Dedication doesn’t grow a church, skill does.”

He added, “You can spend a lot of money to attend a top-notch bible school and seminary education but if you don’t continually sharpen your skills, you’re as dull as a guy that didn’t go to college.”

Furthermore, he said that he is not proud enough to say that he has never copied other church models regarding his ministry’s work, which he also credits for keeping him in ministry up until now.

“Humans grow by observation, imitation and repetition and yet none of us wants to be imitators, everyone wants to be an innovator and that’s why we all suck,” Warren said. “I’d rather be an effective imitator than a stupid innovator. I learned a long time ago that I don’t have to invent something for it to work … practically everything that we’re doing at Saddleback was copied from someone else. “

To conclude his message, Warren advised church planters that more than anything, they need to maintain a pure heart and a clear purpose and process.

“If you want a church that lasts, you have to build it on purpose, integrity, humility and generosity, not on people, personalities or style because the only things that will last forever are eternal purposes of God. This may be a shock coming from me but purpose is not enough.”

- christian post