Putting people first, the M.S. Swaminathan way
The Hindu
M.S. Swaminathan: Put people first, empower women, pass on scientific know-how, promote sustainable agriculture, ensure economic & psychological rehabilitation. Result: Improved lives of 6 lakh families in 4,000 villages.
“Putting people first - A key principle for MSS is not to see people instrumentally, but as human beings, with strengths and weaknesses, each having something to contribute to the collective good.” - From the book M.S. Swaminathan: In Conversation with Nitya Rao.
On the day that their ‘Professor’ passed away, the six lakh families of 4,000 villages in 14 districts mourned the loss of a colossus, who changed their lives with his pro-poor, pro-women, pro-nature approach. He had passed scientific know-how to the farmer, the fisherman, and even the artisan.
For D. Usharani of Embalam, the ‘Professor’ was someone who took her “from being a coolie to the person who spoke in Switzerland”. “I was an ordinary woman who would have just existed as a coolie. Now I have made a name in my village. I would have remained a silent housewife letting my husband bring the money. But he taught me to operate computers. He taught us women to cultivate crops, use the power-tiller, and teach others to farm too. There are more women farmers than men on the fields these days. He took me abroad and I got to speak in Switzerland.”
Pakistan coach Gary Kirsten stated that “not so great decision making” contributed to his side’s defeat to India in the Group-A T20 World Cup clash here on Sunday. The batting unit came apart in the chase, after being well placed at 72 for two. With 48 runs needed from eight overs, Pakistan found a way to panic and lose. “Maybe not so great decision making,” Kirsten said at the post-match press conference, when asked to explain the loss.
“We are judges and therefore, cannot act like Mughals of a bygone era ... the writ courts in the guise of doing justice cannot transcend the barriers of law,” the High Court of Karnataka observed while setting aside an order of a single judge, who in 2016 had extended the lease of a public premises allotted to a physically challenged person to 20 years contrary to 12-year period stipulated in the law.