New Delhi, July 13 (IANS) The virginity tests conducted on brides before a mass wedding in Madhya Pradesh generated much heat in the Rajya Sabha Monday - not so much because they were conducted at all but for the manner in which the issue was being raised in the house.
As Santosh Bagrodia (Congress) raised the issue during zero hour by reading out from a newspaper report, opposition members were immediately on their feet, saying he was being selective in giving details of the incident.
“Why is he reading selectively? Why doesn’t he read out the government version?” shouted S.S. Ahluwalia of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) while Bagrodia pleaded that he be allowed to continue.
Other members wondered why newspaper reports were being quoted, prompting Deputy Chairman K. Rahman Khan to retort: “Fifty percent of the issues raised during zero hour are based on newspaper reports.”
This didn’t satisfy Najma Heptullah, also of the BJP and herself a former deputy chairperson of the Rajya Sabha.
“(On another issue) Pranab babu (Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee) said ‘don’t go by newspaper reports’. Now he (Bagrodia) is going by newspaper reports,” she maintained.
After finally managing to restore order in the house, Khan called on Bagrodia to make his statement. On Bagrodia concluding it, the deputy chairman called on Brinda Karat of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) to associate with it but she refused to do so.
“I cannot associate with it in the manner in which it has been raised. It is a sensitive issue. It has been reduced to politics,” Karat contended.
At issue was the virginity and pregnancy tests ordered on 152 brides at a mass wedding in Madhya Pradesh last month. This happened when just before the ceremony was to begin, a would-be bride went into labour pains, shocking those present.
After the tests were over, 14 of the brides were found to be pregnant.
Later, 138 couples belonging to different religions tied the knot.
The incident occurred June 30 when the brides had assembled for a mass marriage at Madhya Pradesh’s Shahdol district, 350 km from state capital Bhopal.
The function was held under the “Mukhyamantri Kanyadan Yojna”, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s pet scheme aimed at helping girls from poor families tie the knot at government expense.
Marriages under the scheme are solemnised free of cost and all arrangements are made by the district administration. Every couple is also provided assistance in the form of household items worth Rs.5,000.
The state government has allotted Rs.25 crore in the budget for the Mukhyamantri Kanyadan Yojana. The government has also increased the scheme’s grant amount from Rs.5,000 to Rs.6,500 from January 2009 payable to a girl after marriage.
According to the state’s Economic Survey (2008-09), 88,460 marriages were solemnised from April 2006 to March 2009 under the government scheme.

By Sanjay Sharma

Bhopal, May 4 - It was not even an election issue in a state that ruling Bharatiya Janata Party - leader L.K. Advani touts as a model of governance. Madhya Pradesh's large tribal community is severely hit by child mortality with malnutrition haunting a majority of children, but it's barely a blip on the nation's radar.

For every 1,000 live births among tribals, as many as 140 do not live to see their fifth birthday, says an official report painting a grim picture of the health of the state, which went to the polls on April 23 and 30.

Of the 140 deaths, 95 occur at infancy - before the child reaches the first birthday, and of this 56 die before even a month is out, says the National Family Health Survey --3 report.

Child mortality among tribals is much higher than the state average of Under Five Mortality of 94.2 per 1,000 live births, says the report.

For the non-tribal children, the mortality is 44.9 child deaths within 28 days of birth and 69.5 before celebrating their first birthday, the report states.

Malnutrition in tribal children is found to be higher. It is 71.4 percent against 60 percent for the children of non-tribals.

'The state of Madhya Pradesh is one of the biggest contributors to the total neo-natal and child mortality in the country. The data on caste-based classification of child fatality in Madhya Pradesh by the latest state report of NFHS-3 paints a dismal state of affairs of efforts made to protect the right of survival of every child,' Rolly Shivhare, of Vikas Samvad, a rights-based advocacy organisation, told IANS.

'The Scheduled Caste - and Scheduled Tribe - together form 34.44 percent of the total population in Madhya Pradesh, but it is unfortunate that this section of society is not assured whether their child will survive or not till the next day,' she said.

'In comparison to the 94.2 per 1,000 live births under 5 mortality among non-tribals, the chance of survival among SC & ST child population respectively is 110 and 140 per thousand live births,' Shivhare lamented.

Ajay Khar, co-coordinator of Jan Swasthya Abhiyan, said: 'The situation of children belonging to SC, ST and OBC - in terms of all basic indicators of health is defenceless. Merely 11.7 percent tribal children born in the last five year preceding the survey are breastfed within an hour of birth in comparison to 15.9 percent total children given breastfeeding, and merely 22.3 percent children of ST get all basic vaccination.'

'Children belonging to Other Backward Classes have little advantage over the Scheduled Caste kids in terms of anaemia among children, breastfeeding practices and status of malnourishment. As high as 57.4 percent of the OBC community is malnourished, while 62.6 percent of ST children are malnourished - compared to the state average of 60.3 percent. But on the whole - all three SC, ST and OBC children are at risk,' he said.

Sachin Jain of Vikas Samvad said the state lacks a 'holistic approach' to solve the problem.

'There is no holistic approach to the problem, a piecemeal approach will not work. The tribal communities are in a very bad position. People in rural and forest areas are not getting proper health facilities,' Jain told IANS.

Bhopal, April 2 : Infighting is posing a big problem for the Congress in Madhya Pradesh, with its official candidates in at least 12 parliamentary seats facing stiff opposition from local party leaders, sources say.

The Congress has so far declared nominations for 27 seats while it is yet to announce candidates for two remaining Lok Sabha constituencies - Hoshangabad and Satna.

Party sources claim at least 12 candidates fear sabotage by local party leaders who had been demanding tickets but were not obliged.

Prominent among those facing opposition on account of being outsiders are Raja Pateria from Khajuraho, Aslam Sher Khan from Sagar, Minakshi Natrajan from Mandsaur, Bhagirath Prasad from Bhind, Ojharam from Betul and Ramnivas Rawat from Morena.

"Though the so called outsiders are putting up a brave front, as many as 10 of them have already spoken out about lack of cooperation in their constituencies to the party leadership," a senior party leader told IANS.

"At least a dozen candidates have written to the party leadership about non-cooperation of workers in their respective constituencies," he added.

All is not well even in state capital Bhopal from where Surendra Singh has been declared the official nominee of the Congress despite the presence of party leader P.C. Sharma.

Sharma had apparently assured a Lok Sabha ticket from Bhopal when he was denied a nomination for the assembly polls in November last year. Only a few days ago his supporters burst crackers and distributed sweets when Sharma was assured of a nomination by the central leadership. But it was all in vain.

"Resentment against Surendra Singh's candidature from the Bhopal seat came to the fore Wednesday when no senior party leader worth his name was present at the opening of his first election office," a Congress member pointed out.

Singh, however, believes the opposition is temporary and will fade out soon.

Another senior party leader facing the same problem is Aslam Sher Khan, the candidate from Sagar constituency.

Local leaders and workers, after registering their opposition to his nomination in Sagar, have been camping in New Delhi with a demand that the candidature of outsiders be reconsidered.

Party candidate Ramnivas Rawat is facing internal opposition in Morena because another leader, Edal Singh Kansana, had been demanding a ticket from there.

Political analysts believe the party needs to crack the whip on workers and leaders opposing official nominees, otherwise the Congress party will face problems in increasing its tally in Madhya Pradesh from four - the number of seats it won in the last Lok Sabha elections.

Infighting is also said to be the reason for the Congress not yet fielding state party president Suresh Pachouri from the Hoshangabad constituency even though he is keen to contest from there, sources say.

Bhopal, In the Indian heartland state of Madhya Pradesh, known for its bipolar politics, traditional arch-rivals the ruling BJP and main opposition Congress stand arrayed in battle order against each other for the general elections.
However, the presence of BSP and SP candidates in some areas adjoining Uttar Pradesh holds promise of making contests engrossing.
In 2004, the BJP won 25 of Madhya Pradesh’s 29 seats and the rest went to the Congress.
The saffron party’s national issues are internal security and the UPA regime’s ”failures” while it will be publicising the state government’s ”achievements”.
Adopting a well-considered strategy, the BJP has thus far announced nominees for 28 of a total 29 constituencies. The BJP campaign has got underway in almost all these constituencies.
Former Union Minister Sushma Swaraj — the BJP’s election in-charge for Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand — is in the fray from this state’s Vidisha from where Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan emerged victorious no less than four times. She is on the campaign trail in her constituency for more than a week now.
BJP state President Narendra Singh Tomar is trying his electoral fortune from Morena.
The Congress, which suffered a humiliating rout in the Assembly polls four months back but definitely improved on its abysmal score in 2003, was yet to announce candidates for seven remaining seats Hoshangabad, Rajgarh, Indore, Bhopal, Dewas, Sidhi and Satna — as per the position until last evening.

Bhopal , Mar 21 The CPI(M) in Madhya Pradesh has lodged complaints with the Election Commission against the ruling BJP in the state for allegedly violating the model code of conduct for Lok Sabha elections.

In its first complaint lodged with the EC, the CPI(M) alleged that state government employees had distributed the pamphlets bearing pictures of Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan at a health check-up camp in Anuppur District Hospital which was clear violation of the model code, the party sources said.

The Communist party has also lodged a complaint regarding appearance of an advertisement of Sagar District Panchayat in a daily newspaper here which allegedly carried a picture of Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Panchayat and Rural Development Minister Gopal Bhargava, the sources said.