The Investigative Report that won me the best IP award at ACJ

Yes yes, I completely agree. It's been ages, but you know.. :D

Anyways am posting a link to my Investigative Report that I did at ACJ. I've looked at the different aspects of recruitment by IT companies across engineering colleges in Chennai. Your comments/feedback are most welcome

Investigative Report
P.S: The site has been designed by yours truly :)

Samiyarpettai’s fishing woes

Fishy tale: (From left) Rajendra, Subramani, Narayana and Vella, fishermen in Samiyar Pettai, removing their day's catch of Sardines from the fishing nets. Rajendra's mother Kasima (sitting in the centre) sorts the fishes for sale.

Samiyar Pettai: “I want my son to study and earn a better living than me, but I have no money. The banks refuse to give us loans, as we do not have any collateral. We are helpless,” said Subramani, a 55-year-old fisherman. Lack of money for education coupled with the problem of dwindling fish catch is cause of concern for the fishing community in Samiyar Pettai. Many of the fishermen are in debt.

Samiyar Pettai is a small fishing hamlet in the Portonovo block in Cuddalore, with a population of 2215. During the tsunami 24 lives were lost along with boats, motors and fishing nets. The fishermen were given token amounts of Rs 2000 to Rs 4000 by the government, but this was not enough to piece their lives back together. It’s been three years since the tsunami struck this village but the government refuses to pay heed to the villagers’ problems.

Rajendra, a 54-year-old fisherman said, “I lost my boat and nets during the tsunami. The government gave us boats but no motors. I am using my old motor. The amount given for our nets were not sufficient. We had to pay from our own pockets.” A new engine would approximately cost him Rs 40,000, which he said was unaffordable. He added, “We do not catch enough fish to even pay for our diesel. We earn Rs 50 per day and our monthly income is Rs 2000. We are in debt to meet our diesel costs.” Due to this a few fishermen prefer taking their thoni (small wooden boats traditionally used by fishermen) as it means lesser fuel costs.

Nahgayam is 50-years-old and she sells her husband’s catch in the market. She said, “The last two days we got good catch and we earned Rs 100 a day. But during the storms, when the sea is rough, the men cannot venture out and hence we do not earn for days.” She also added that during the 45-day ban imposed by the government between March and April, the fishermen are deprived of their livelihood. They do not have any alternative work during this period. The fisher folk are left with no choice but to dry the fish caught previously and sell the dried fish. Some of them make fish pickle, but the market for this is not very good.

The fishermen do not want their children to take up their profession, as they see no future in it. They are doing all they can to ensure that their children get good education. Even this is a burden for many, as they do not have the money to educate their children beyond the XII Std. Subramani, who took over his father’s thoni at the age of 15 said, “My son is studying in the XII Std. I want him to do engineering, but colleges are demanding Rs. 5 lakh just for reserving a seat. Other fees are additional.” He lamented that he could not get any loans from banks, as he had no collateral.

Four hundred fisher folk like Nahgayam have registered under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005 (NREGA). But this too has its own problems, as the fisher folk are allotted work irregularly. They work in the mornings at the NREGA site and come back by three in the afternoon. After which they eat and go fishing in the sea by six in the evening. But there are also fishermen like Rajendra and Vella who say that digging up roads and desilting ponds was not what their forefathers did and hence neither would they. Despite the problems faced by them while fishing, they are adamant about not doing any onshore work like digging. Rajendra emphasised, “We are not educated and hence there is no chance of us getting another job. But we will not do manual work.”

IS IT REALLY HELPING?

The Education Department of Chennai has a list of objectives set for its corporation schools. Some are being implemented partially and most are just ignored altogether. Books are a source of knowledge. The absence of a library in a primary corporation school is one in a long list of missing educational basics in the corporation schools. The government has said that a library facility is a must, then why has it not been implemented? Are the funds allotted for this being siphoned off for ‘other’ purposes? Does the government have the soul to look into these fine flaws and take corrective action? We are talking about the future of young children who are the tomorrow of India. There are many other flaws in the system.

All students are promised free uniforms for all but only the ‘white’ uniform is provided by the government, which is worn only once a week. The students buy the ‘blue’ uniform which is worn more often and two sets of the same are bought by the students. Is it really necessary to have two uniforms? Why doesn’t the government supply these too? No footwear is provided by the government. There are children who walk bare feet to school over long distances. Bus passes which also come under the government scheme for corporation students are also not implemented by all schools. A lot of these students walk a few kilometers everyday to get what is rightfully theirs – education.

The government promised free textbooks and notebooks to all the students but then ONLY the SC students are given free note books, the others are asked to buy their notebooks. Why this caste rift? Do these children understand what a SC is? When they make friends they don’t ask what and who you are, but it does get them thinking ‘Why am I not given free books, why only them?’ Is it right to embed such caste issues in children at such a young age? Why can’t free notebooks be provided to all children? After all they too come from a poor background and their parents are also working like the rest.

Most corporation schools don’t have a first aid box, so where is all the free medicine meant for the children under the Health and Hygiene scheme promised by the government? These schools have poor or no laboratory facilities at all. No step is being taken by the government to change this. An empty classroom for a lab exists collecting dust and cobwebs.

The mid-day meals scheme is the only scheme of the government that is carried out impeccably in most places. It is heartening to know that the children are fed well at least once a day, but then again not all children benefit. What happens to the many children who sleep on pavements and die of malnourishment?