GIRL CHILD

““I am the child, All the world waits for my coming

All the earth watches with interest to see what

I shall become. Civilization hangs in the balance

For, What I am, the world of tomorrow will be.

I am the Child, you hold in your hand, my destiny

You determine largely whether I shall succeed or fail

Give me, I pray you, these things that make for happiness

Train me. I beg you, that I may be a blessing

in the World””

DISABILITY

                                                                                  

We have come a long way in recognizing rights of various groups, in this aspect Human Rights stands as a tabernacle including every ones rights but the society and the policy makers often overlook the issues regarding the Persons With Disabilities(PWD).It is hard to believe we didn’t had a National Policy for PWD  for decades since Independence! It was only in 2006 A National Policy For Disabled was announced that too only after our neighboring country Pakistan.

The Salient features of national policy are:

1. Physical Rehabilitation

2. Educational Rehabilitation

3. Economic Rehabilitation.

Rehabilitation council of India (RCI) has been set up to enforce uniform standards in training of professionals in the field of rehabilitation for the handicapped, inspection and recognition of the institutes running such courses.

Physically Handicapped, Physically Challenged, Persons with Disability to the new term Differently Abled people. All the more, children with disability should be mentioned by the term Children with Special Needs (CWSN).  These are not just different names but the sensitization towards the disability. In This Regard the print and Electronic media should be appreciated for showing great concern and projecting a sensitive out look to this problem for the society. No matter what ever be the degree of sensitization, will not bring any sense to our politicians to heed in to the problems of PWD. 

As per the Census 2001, there were a total of 21.9 million persons with disabilities in the country, out of which 10.8 million nearly 50% were reported to be literate. 6.5 million Persons with disabilities were in the age group of 5-19 years, out of which 3.3 million which is also nearly 50% persons with disabilities were attending educational institutions. The Register General of India’s decadal census data conducted neither included data on disabled persons who have never been to school nor data on children with disabilities attending schools regularly.

Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) ensures that every child with Special Needs (CWSN), irrespective of the kind, category and degree of disability, is provided meaningful and quality education. Hence, SSA has adopted a zero rejection policy. This means that no child having special needs should be deprived of the right to education and they should be taught in an environment, which is best suited to his/her learning needs.

Under SSA, out of the total of 31.49 lakhs CWSN identified, 26.93 lakhs CWSN are enrolled in schools.

We should learn from our Neighboring countries in protecting and promoting the Rights of PWD.

A.H.M.Noman Khan from Bangladesh developed a Twin Strategy program COMMUNITY APPROACHES TO HANDICAP IN DEVELOPMENT (CAHD) for which he has been awarded Ramon Magsaysay the Asian Noble in 2010.

Strategy1: Strengthening the capacities of communities to serve the needs of their disabled members

Strategy 2: Mainstream disability as an integral part of development work of government and NGOs so that the disability issues would no longer be addressed in a piece meal, small scale and isolated way.

AP GOVT INITATIVEES:

Software for Assessment of Disability for Access Rehabilitation and

Empowerment (SADAREM):

All the Persons with Disabilities shall be assessed a fresh recording percentage of disability and all the existing Disability Certificates shall be replaced by reassessing the persons with disabilities by concerned District Medical Boards. So far 8.09 lakh PWDs are assessed against the target of 10.49 lakhs. UnderJansree Bheema Yojana (JBY) 47,276 were covered. 2907 Srama Shakti Sanghams are formed, exclusively for PWDs underMGNREGS. Center for Person with Disability Livelihoods (CPDL) provided 905 placements in the Public Sector as against 1434 trained.

Disability and the World:

Comparative public administration (CPA) is the apt tool for effective implementation of various publics polices to reach the targeted sections and to refine, restructure the polices to suit the local conditions. In this regard the state government has to look not only in to the policies implemented by the neighboring states but also should have glimpses on world panorama.

Australian Disability Discrimination act-1992

Pakistan- national policy for persons with disability, 2002

UK Disability plan 2010-2015

SPORTS:

The importance of sports for disabled persons is becoming increasingly recognized. The State should therefore encourage all forms of sports activities of disabled persons, inter alia, through the provision of adequate facilities and the proper organization of these activities.

COMMUNITY ACTION:

State should give high priority to the provision of information, training and financial assistance to local communities for the developmental programmes

It is important to enlist the active participation of local government bodies, agencies and community organizations, such as citizen's groups, trade unions, women's organizations, consumer organizations, service clubs, religious bodies, political parties and parents’ associations. Each community could designate an appropriate body, where organizations of disabled persons could have an influence, to serve as a focal point of communication and coordination to mobilize resources and initiate action.

EMPLOYMENT:

States should adopt a policy and supporting structure of services to ensure that disabled persons in both urban and rural areas have equal opportunities for productive and gainful employment in the open labour market. Rural employment and the development of appropriate tools and equipment should be given particular attention.

Integration of disabled children into the general educational system requires planning by all parties concerned.

EDUCATION AND TRAINING:

The education of disabled persons should as far as possible take place in the general school system. If, for some reason, the facilities of the general school system are inadequate for some disabled children, schooling for these children should then be provided for an appropriate period of time in special facilities. The quality of this special schooling should be equal to that of the general school system and closely linked to it.

The involvement of parents at all levels of the educational process is vital. Parents should be given the necessary support to provide as normal a family environment for the disabled child as is possible. Personnel should be trained to work with the parents of disabled children

“Let’s open doors and minds. Let’s throw a spotlight on richness on the people who are different bring them to the mainstream society. Let’s talk about assets instead of liability. Inclusion creates a relationship and cultural context where people can flourish”.

 

TILLAGE SYSTEMS

Technical Description

Conservation tillage is used to described a number of technologies that are utilized in agriculture to conserve water and soil. Conservation tillage practices include, amongst others, strip, cropping, contour farming, zero or chemical tillage, mulch tilling, and reduced tillage.

• Strip Cropping

Strip cropping is the farming of sloping land in alternate, contoured strips of inter-tilled row crops and close growing grasses (or other ground cover crop), aligned at right angles to the direction of natural flow of runoff. The close-growing strips slow down runoff and filter out soil washed from the land in the inter-tilled row. This control of runoff also allows increased opportunity for infiltration of the runoff and, thus, increased moisture in the soil. The strip widths can be varied depending on the soil type and slope.

• Contour Farming

Contour farming involves aligning plant rows and tillage lines at right angles to the normal flow of runoff. It creates detention storage within the soil surface horizon and slows down the rate of runoff, thus giving the water the time to infiltrate into the soil. The contour bunds are earth banks 1.5 to 2.0 m wide, forming buffer strips at 10 to 20 m intervals, and are important for the functioning of the technology. The effectiveness of contour farming for water and soil conservation depends on the design of the systems, but also on soil, climate, slope aspect and land use of the individual fields.

• Zero or Chemical Tillage

In this approach, the land is not tilled at all. Chemical tillage uses herbicides to control weeds, avoiding the need to till the soil. This tillage technique conserves water in the soil profile since the soil is not tilled and exposed to the drying (evaporative) elements of the atmosphere. The moisture is retained within the soil profile. The new crop is generally planted directly into the stubble of the previous crop

• Mulch Tillage

Mulch tilling involves covering bare soil with mulch or plant litter to prevent or reduce the evaporation of soil moisture and minimise the erosive energies of rain falling directly onto soil particles. The mulch is usually crop residue such as maize stover, sorghum trash and wheat straw. In cases where these are not available, or are eaten up by animals, gravel can be used as a mulch.

• Reduced or Minimum Tillage

Reduced tillage is a practise in which the soil is tilled to some extent but not completely inverted. There are several ways of achieving reduced tillage. For example, the plough can be supplemented with discs or a chisel harrow, and the land ploughed in narrow strips, coinciding with the spacing of the row crops, leaving the intervening space untilled. Reduced tillage means a smaller volume of soil is exposed to erosion and moisture loss by evaporation; hence, conserving moisture.

Extent of Use

Conservation tillage is widely practised in Eastern and Southern Africa (Kenya, Malawi and Zimbabwe) and has gained momentum because of the current heightened level of environmental awareness. Conservation tillage is part of extension training in most countries in these regions and is likely to remain so for some time to come.

Operation and Maintenance

There are limited operation and maintenance needs associated with these technologies. Maintenance involves keeping the structures in a functional state, e.g., maintaining the contour bunds to prevent erosive runoff of stormwaters, or maintaining the grass strips to retain their functionality. When mechanised ploughing is carried out, equipment maintenance is important in order to ensure the correct depth of penetration of the ploughs, seed injecting devices and other cultivating equipment. Generally, conservation farming requires equipment modifications relative to conventional farming techniques, and may require some initial capital investment to replace unsuitable machinery, although conservation tillage may be done using more traditional, manual farming methods.

Level of Involvement

The level of involvement includes the participation of extension workers from governmental agencies and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) working with local communities. There is a need to build trust between these two parties for the successful implementation of these technologies. Extension agents need to run demonstration plots to prove that this suite of technologies actually works. Zero tillage, which requires the use of chemical herbicides, requires a higher level of education amongst the farmers to prevent undesirable human consequences and environmental damage.

Costs

For minimum tillage, labour and operation cost are about $40/ha. For zero tillage, the costs are a function of the cost of chemicals and work out at about $120/ha. (Zimbabwe). In general terms, the methods are cheaper than conventional tillage due to the reduced demand for ploughing, but are subject to some opportunity costs at the time of conversion from conventional tillage.

Effectiveness of Technology

These technologies are very effective in minimising soil disturbance and in controlling erosion losses. However, the different variations discussed above have varying degrees of effectiveness:

• Contour farming limits soil loss to about 18 t/ha/year, compared to 46 t/ha/year using conventional tillage (FAO, 1993)
• Zero tillage limits runoff to 3.4% and soil loss to about 2 t/ha/year
  
• Mulch tilling decreases erosion losses to a "trace" compared to 40 t/ha for bare check land (Finkel, 1986)
• Minimum tillage reduces soil losses to about a tenth of that of tilled lands (Finkel, 1986).

Suitability

The suitability of conservation tillage techniques also varies with each particular practise, although all are generally suited to agricultural operations throughout the continent.

• Strip cropping is effective on well-drained soils on slopes of 6 to 15%
• Contour farming is suitable on slopes of between 3% and 8%
• Zero tillage is suitable on most soils and slopes, and is especially suitable for use on hydromorphic soils with poor internal drainage
• Mulch tilling is also suitable under most conditions
• Reduced tillage is suitable under most conditions, provided other factors, like slope and rainfall intensity, are taken into account in the practices.

Environmental Benefits

These methods help to conserve soil moisture and reduce soil erosion. The grass strips and mulching also enhance soil structure and nutrient status. Unfortunately, the grass strips and mulching, if not properly applied, can harbour pests and vermin that can destroy crops; hence, conservation tillage is usually implement as part of an integrated nutrient and pest management strategy. Chemicals used under zero tillage can be harmful to the environment.

Advantages

The advantages of conservation farming are numerous, but varied, depending on the particular practise employed:

Strip cropping is effective for erosion and runoff control. Strip widths and spacings can be designed to suit machinery and farm operations, while the grass strips can help provide grazing for farm animals during winter, depending on conditions. Grass strips can also enhance soil structure and nutrient status (depending on strip crop; e.g., legumes).

• Contour farming is effective in soil loss control, yielding up to a 50% reduction in erosion.
• Contour farming also conserves soil moisture.
• Zero tillage is saves energy and time, although the cost of herbicides may offset the savings in time and energy. Zero tillage is effective in reducing erosion and conserving moisture, compared to conventional tillage.
• Mulch tillage has substantial moisture conservation benefits. The mulch improves soil structure and nutrient status, especially if there is earthworm activity, which is promoted by mulching. There is reduced runoff loss and improved infiltration of runoff water into the soil. Weed growth is suppressed and accomplished in a completely environmentally-friendly manner, and the mulch can provide fodder for animals (depending on circumstances).
• Reduced tillage conserves soil moisture compared to conventional tillage methods. There are lower land preparation costs, soil compaction and aggregate breakdown is reduced, and less area of ploughed surface is exposed to erosive rains.

Disadvantages

Each conservation tillage technique also has a number of disadvantages:

• Strip cropping leaves grass strips which can harbour pests and vermin that can destroy crops if not managed correctly. Maintenance of the grass strips during winter can be a problem especially if the grasses are not hardy. Also, a poor choice of strip crop can lead to use of a crop that competes with the main crop.
• Contour farming results in less benefit to compacted or poorly permeable soils because these soils become saturated quickly. This can prove harmful to certain crops. Also, special skills may be required to construct effective contour lay outs. Ineffective lay outs can give rise to difficulties in tillage and crop management, and, on steep slopes, contouring alone can be deleterious, since water concentrating in the furrows may breach the bunds and cause even more erosion. The effectiveness of contouring has to be enhanced by combining it with other practices such as strip cropping or terracing.
• Zero tillage requires significant inputs of chemical herbicides. The cost of these chemicals can be quite high, rendering the whole technique unviable. Further, the chemicals used can cause considerable harm the environment. Zero tillage needs to be used in rotation with other techniques, such conventional farming techniques, every so often.
• Mulch tillage, by leaving plant residues in the field, can create conditions which harbour pests and diseases (e.g., cotton stalks). In poor farming regions of the world, there are many alternative uses for the mulch (e.g., animal feed, thatching materials and fuel) which would reduce its availability for use in mulch tilling.
• Reduced tillage can result in the deterioration of soil condition over time, if the technique is not used in conjunction with other rotational practices.

Cultural Acceptability

There are no cultural norms against any of these conservation tillage techniques. Indeed, minimum tillage techniques mimic traditional agricultural practises in many countries.

Further Development of the Technology

A concerted extension programme is required to push forward the adoption of these technologies.