BANK P.O.

SPECIAL
815 I APRIL 2002 I THE COMPETITION MASTER
Descriptive Questions
Water Management/
Conservation
Q. Suggest three effective
measures to ensure water conservation
and its proper management. Elucidate/
explain how the steps suggested by
you would be pragmatic and
practicable.
Ans. Water is Life. This three-word
axiom applies to and affects all species
that exist on the planet earth. Gone are
the days when people could afford to
be indifferent or excessively liberal with
the use of water. Since the sources of
water are fast depleting, especially in
India, it is time that we sit up and
seriously ponder over the issue of water
conservation and its most judicious
management, now and hereafter. There
is no denying the fact that both natural
and human systems are desperately
dependent on water. Access to water
plays a critical role in the survival and
development of socio-economic health
and robust eco-system. The following
measures need to be taken in the right
earnest:
First, people ought to be warned
against wasting water under the wrong
notion that its sources are inexhaustible
and hence endless.
Water, like other infrastructure,
has to be managed and promoted.
The conservation of water, (both
avai l abl e over surf ace and
underground as also rain water that
goes waste most of the time) means
put t i ng wat er resources of t he
country for the best beneficial use,
with all technologies at command. In
other words, i t means matchi ng
demand and supply.
In order to overcome the problem
of depleting ground water table
groundwater recharge projects need to
be undertaken. Under the project,
awareness camps should be held to
educate students, farmers and others
regarding the proper use of water. Rain
water harvesting and management can
be done through Municipal
Corporations in major cities. Installation
of plants on various building and
storage tanks underground, to collect
rain water for re-charging the ground
water table, are practical steps that can
be taken in hand. Internationally, the
trend is to involve private participation
in the treatment and distribution of
water. We can also evaluate such an
option in India. In fact, rainwater
harvesting is an ideal method for water
conservation and its equitable
distribution.
Dual Citizenship and NRIs
Q. The proposal to grant dual
citizenship to Non-Resident Indians
(NRIs) is a step in the right direction.
In the light of the statement express
your views based on knowledge,
experience and ground realities.
Ans. In recognition of the credible
contribution that NRIs have made
towards enri chi ng the Forei gn
Exchange Reserves, through unabated
remittances, along with their robust
rol e i n devel opmental and
infrastructural activities in different
States of India, the grant of dual
citizenship should be viewed as most
timely and telling acknowledgement
of our gratitude. An old promise on
the threshold of being honoured, the
proposal would not only bring the
NRIs closer to the soil of their birth,
but also strengthen their emotional
bondage to the country. The urgency
to go in for the proposal and give it a
practical shape has become all the
more pressing with our option for
gl obal i sati on and percepti bl e
preference for private investment in
the many areas of economi c
devel opment, hi therto excl usi ve
reserved for State enterprise. The
move would give the Indian Diaspora
both an opportuni ty i n Indi a s
development, as also a sense of pride.
The proposal , when
implemented, would confer dual
citizenship to Indians settled in the
US, UK, Canada, t he European
mainland, Australia, New Zealand
and Singapore, countries that have a
system of dual citizenship. The
proposal envisages that the NRIs
would have the fullest opportunity
to participate in national economic
resurgence, without being a pressure
group on its political set-up.
Since no extraordinary step or
decision is free of pros and cons, the
question of granting dual citizenship to
the Indian Diaspora may create a few
hiccups too. The way NRIs have evinced
interest and displayed their money
power in the recently-held elections to
the Punjab Assembly, is a pointer to the
shape of things to come. Already, our
electoral system suffers from unequal
playing field and with more and more
money pumped into it, the political
climate is likely to be vitiated further.
This likely distortion needs to be taken
into account.
India cant disown people of its
origin, particularly in the age of
globalisation, where the distance
between national identity of the
i ndi vi dual and t he t erri t ori al
i denti ty of the nati on i s getti ng
shorter. With nearly 15-20 million
Indians living outside the country,
and their annual remittances around
$ 10 billion (Rs 48,000 crore), there
is every justification that they be
provided the privilege of Indian
citizenship.
BANK P.O. SPECIAL
816 I APRIL 2002 I THE COMPETITION MASTER
Flying National Flag on
houses, etc.
Q. The decision of the Central
Government to allow all Indian
citizens to fly/hoist the National Flag
on their houses/business
establishments is both timely and
logical. Express your views in favour
or against the move/measure.
Ans. The New and liberalised flag
code that come into force from this
years Republic Day is a step in the right
direction, provided the people at large
take the Central Governments decision
in the right spirit. Under the new code,
citizens are free to hoist and fly the
tricolour on all days of the year. However,
certain restrictions do remain, lest the right
does not degenerate into disrespect or
indiscretion on the part of some who are
prone to reating serious matters in a
cavalier manner. Caution and concern for
the flag is as imperative as the exercise of
a right hitherto denied or withheld for
reasons best known to those who sit in the
ivory towers of State power. There can be
no two arguments on the restriction that
the flag cannot be used for commercial
gain or as a drapery. It cannot form part of
a dress and shall not be damaged or
dispelled. It will be flown from sunrise to
sunset and should be displayed with no
other flag in the masthead.
While the Supreme Court had
observed that restriction on flying the
national flag appeared prima facie
unsustainable, the Delhi High Court had
ruled that the display of the tricolour
was part of the fundamental right to
freedom of expression. Hats off to the
relentless efforts of a proud Indian who
wanted to fly the flag on his house/
business establishment, but, on being
prevented or denied to exercise the right,
sought the Courts help and finally
received the much desired and deserved
nod from the highest edifice of judiciary.
Perhaps, the restriction (now removed)
to ban the flying/hoisting of national
flag on homes and elsewhere was the
result of casualness or non-seriousness
or even unintended disrespect shown
to the flag by people in cinema halls and
at other public functions when the
national anthem is being sung.
All said and done, the decision is in
tune and temper of the times and it is
hoped that the people would display
due honour and respect to the national
flag whenever they fly or hoist it on their
homes and other business
establishments.
Violence among children/
adolescents
Q. The increasing tendency
among children and adolescents to go
violent is a cause for worry, both for
parents and society. Suggest some
ways or steps to curb the growing
maladyrather menace. Elucidate
how the measures suggested would be
effective.
Ans. The contrast is too clear to be
brushed aside as only some aberration.
With the state of art technology at our
command, we can make or mould things
to order. In fact, we are living both in
the best of times as well as in the worst
of time. If we cast a glance at the social
spectrum of developed or developing
societies, we find both comforting and
confusing currents sweeping across the
contours of almost all societies. Since the
children, of today are the youth of
tomorrow, it is this segment that needs
utmost attention, lest it goes astray
because of too much confidence or
complacency or both on the part of
parents and society.
The highly disturbing news of a
child committing suicide for being
forced to go to a boarding school; a
teenager murdering his mother for being
reprimanded repeatedly over his poor
performance in an entrance test; some
children/adolescents carrying guns or
lethal weapons, openly defying
authorities at home and school etc are
indications too alarming to be ignored.
If there are children who excel as Quiz
Masters, Science Talents, Shorts Buds
and the like, and bring hope and cheer,
there may be a host of others in the same
age-group who nurse some grudge and
feel more sinned than their fault or acts
of omission.
If the tendency to become violent is
due to over pampering or neglect by
parents, broken/shattered homes,
excessive abuse or exploitation in early
childhood, there is a hope that any
perversion on this account can be
arrested with the help of parents and
psycho-analysts. Care should be taken
well in time that such children, as are
likely to fall into the trap of despair and
depression and then slide into the cess-
pool of drug addiction and crime, are
treated well, both by parents and the
society. The sense of injured innocence,
and the feeling of being lonely or
unwanted should not be allowed to
grow to unmanageable dimensions.
Though the universe of the mind
still defies understanding, the parents/
society should work harder than usual
at making the lives of children genuinely
happy and purposeful. Parents, the
school system, and all others in the
childs world, have a common
responsibility in controlling the malady
that overtakes some children.
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