Guadalcanal Battle Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Guadalcanal Battle - Essay Example After the victory at ‘Battle of Midway’ American forces started planning for recapturing of Pacific Islands from Japanese. The first event in this direction was the Guadalcanal battle. The use of islands, like Guadalcanal, Tulagi and Florida in Southern Solomon by Japanese forces was proving a major threat to supply routes between USA, Australia and New Zealand. The battle began for the sole purpose of ensuring safety for these routes.There was difference of opinion in Japan over the importance of this island. While many army officers thought it better to manage the existing and over-stretched empire, the other faction wanted further territorial expansion. This could be a reason for the Japanese lacking the will to counter allied attacks at Guadalcanal. Leading the attack on August 07, 1942, allied forces expected stiff resistance from Japanese army, but the tactical combined approach by allied forces took the other side by complete surprise and they did not find any res istance from Japanese. This boosted the will of allied forces to head for all-out victory. Although the rough climate and weather caused communication and operational problems for Americans, there was no fighting on the island for almost 24 hours, after the attack. However, the following days   witnessed severe fighting as Japanese cruiser force attack eventually threw the Allied forces out of the reach of the crucial Guadalcanal airfield.Such disarray within Japanese forces was the major element for American victory.... The rough terrain faced by Japanese was another factor for the American victory, as Japanese forces were down with fatigue and could not prove their mettle in counter-offensive attacks. Such disarray within Japanese forces was the major element for American victory. (The Battle of Guadalcanal) Lessons learnt The lessons from this battle have relevance to current defense preparations by the US. Various defense studies have reinforced the fact that America cannot afford to neglect events in the Pacific region, if the country has to safeguard its economic and security interests. With China increasing its military might and economic hold on world trade, the importance of Pacific region is still high on the American defense agenda. The challenges posed by many nations towards ‘anti-access’ or ‘area –denial’ strategies for Americans still pose threats to the country’s security. These causes lead to the battle of Guadalcanal, forcing Americans to reca pture strategic Pacific islands from Japan, during world war. They are important even today. (Holzer) Logistics of the area remains a challenge, irrespective of the development of modern weaponry with latest technology. Supply routes are vulnerable even today. The time and distance involved with any military operations in the area has relevance even today, as the forces need to access the rough vast terrain of the region. The lessons learnt by marines and sailors during Guadalcanal battle have been relevant for all the following campaigns in Pacific region. The policy changes for Asia-pacific, including military strategies have been influenced by such lessons, being relevant for Marine and Naval Corps in 2012, as well. (Holzer) Examples of intelligence failures Command and control

Managing a Telecom Project Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Managing a Telecom Project - Term Paper Example The company requires updating the cloud systems, integrating billing operations to the existing financial systems and provision of training to the staff of the company in a way that the new services can be utilized successfully and proficiently (IBM, 2014). There are certain requirements of the company regarding the completion of the project i-e the project should be completed within six (6) months of its inception. Moreover, the project has to be managed by a team of seven (7) members. The document presents a project management methodology to be adopted in order to achieve the project objectives along with its selection rationale. The document further discusses utilization of the agile project management for project deliverables. The document contains a description of the human resources required to complete the project, along with their qualifications and experience. In order to identify the scope of the project, a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) is developed in the document. The document provides details of the WBS in which each activity / task identified in the WBS for the project is assigned human resources, cost and time. Moreover, in order to monitor the progress of the project, the monitoring and controlling processes of the project management are utilized and the same is presented in the document. In order to deliver a defect free project, an appropriate quality plan is included in the document – a project management report of managing the new teleco m service based on the cloud technology. It is pertinent to specify that a project plan containing the Gantt chart is developed to support the theories presented in this document. Currently, there are two (2) major project management standards include: the Project in Controlled Environment (PRINCE2) and Project Management for Professionals (PMP), Project Management Institute (PMI). However, in

Analysing Youth Voters in the Mauritius

Analysing Youth Voters in the Mauritius Introduction STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM The absence of youth in the Mauritian political system is quite alarming but still no statement is being made about it. The total number of electors registered for the year 2009 is 879,897 and among them 222, 060, i.e. 25.2% are aged from 18-29 years old (estimates from the Electoral Commission Office). However, at present our National Assembly does not have a single member in the above age group (p.10 ). There is no available data about the voting frequency of the different age groups of the registered electors nor are there disaggregated statistics about the voting behaviour of males and females. Data on neither the formal nor informal political engagement of youth could be obtained at the Ministry of Youth and Sports. It becomes hence clear that there is a lack of research on this issue either because of an unrealised phenomenon or a taken for granted phenomenon or most probably the issue is considered to be an unimportant one. However, as highlighted by the Secretary-General of t he UN 1997-2007 Kofi Annan, World Youth Report 2003, p. 271): â€Å"No one is born a good citizen; no nation is born a democracy. Rather, both are processes that continue to evolve over a lifetime. Young people must be included from birth. A society that cuts itself off from its youth severs its lifetime; it is condemned to bleed to death.† The only hint that could be obtained about the topic in the Mauritian Context is a mini research which appeared as an article on one page (p.9) in L Express Newspaper 04th August 2009 entitled: â€Å"Jeune et Politique: LImpossible Alliance†. The mini-research was carried out by Dr. Catherine Boudet from Reunion Island. â€Å"En labsence dà ©tudes sur la culture politique des jeunes mauriciens†, she has conducted a mini-research using a focus group of 10 youth at UoM and she has distributed 30 questionnaires among youngsters (15- 27 years old). However, she adds that â€Å"cette à ©tude empirique ne fait pas office de sondage, mais elle a le mà ©rite de constituer un petit barometre de là ©tat desprit de la jeunesse.† At this stage, following the ontological assumptions are made: Why are these young people absent from politics? Is it because of a change in lifecycle? Have they become disengaged? If, so to what extent are they disengaged? Why have they become disengaged? Have they found other forms of political participation with social change? Are they not being given adequate political space? On taking the epistemological dimension, suggested answers which form the hypotheses of the research are given to these questions. (Source: G. M. du Ploy, 2001, p.20) HYPOTHESES OF THE RESEARCH Young people do not have time for politics because of a change in lifecycle. Young people have found some other forms of political participation. Young people have negative attitudes towards politics and politicians. Young people are disengaged because politicians do not care about their needs and demands. Politicians/elders are not giving political space to young people. At this point, the aims and objectives become clearer. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE RESEARCH The double objectives of the research are to: To know young peoples desires and needs concerning society. Identify measures to introduce some changes in youth towards politics and vice versa. In order to reach these main objectives, the research aims to: Explore the level of formal political participation among young people. Explore the level of informal political participation among young people. Find out if todays youth will or will not reach the levels of political participation currently displayed by the elderly. Find out and verify the reasons/explanations of the disengagement of the young people about politics and try to find convenient actions to apply. ORGANISATION OF CHAPTERS The next step which follows as can be seen in the diagram is the theoretical assumptions which help in verifying the hypotheses and achieve the aims and objectives of the research. The theoretical framework is also the base of the research which establishes working definitions for fieldwork. All these are dealt in Chapter 2. Hints of the methodology can be found throughout the whole dissertation while Chapter 3 has been devoted mainly to the methods used to extract information. Chapter 4 analyses and discusses the discoveries of the fieldwork and the dissertation concludes with the Chapter 5 where I also come up with some recommendations. A CONTEMPORARY GLOBAL OVERVIEW OF YOUTH AND POLITICS IN DEMOCRATIC COUNTRIES The vast majority of reading on youth participation in politics shows that there has been a steady decline in youth political participation in many democratic (Pammett and Leduc 2003; ONeill 2007). In almost every election young people are the least likely to vote and these participation rates are continuously declining(Putnam 2000; Kimberlee 2002; Gauthier 2003; Pammett and Leduc 2003). Youth membership of political parties is also dropping (Hooghes et al. 2004). Although mostAfrican countries have a majority of youth population, African parliaments have less than 1% youth participation as MPs (Sigudhla 2004). In fact, research such as Putnam (2000), Kimberlee (2002), Blais et al. (2002), Blais et al. (2004), Clarke et al. (2004), Zukin et al. (2006) and Dalton (2007)provide clear indication that the more recent generations are less likely to engage in politics than were previous generations of the same age. The ‘generational effects suggests that todays young people are less active in politics, and they will never reach the levels of political participation currently displayed by the elderly (Martikainen et al. 2005). Studies indicate that the present younger generations will retain these differences as they grow older, and that consequently the present electorate will be replaced by a more passive generation of political participants (Quintelier 2007). As for youth in democratic Mauritius, all these have to be tested. Hence, most important is to identify working definitions of terms on which the project is based. Obviously, the parameters of the terms ‘Youth and ‘Politics have to be established. PARAMETER OF THE TERM ‘YOUTH USED Both the first and second Mauritian National Youth Policy (2000 2004) and (2010 2014) define youth as persons aged â€Å"between 14 and 29 living in the Republic of Mauritius†. Thus for the purpose of this dissertation, the age of youth considered does not exceed 29 years old. ESTABLISHING THE WORKING DEFINITION OF POLITICS The definition of politics is confined to what Randall (1987) identified as forms of political participation which are as follows: → Voting Voting is sometimes understood as the first step in a succession of increasing demanding political acts. Marsh and Kaase (1979) (cited in Randall 1987) find it as a unique type of political participation in the sense that it does not occur very often and is very much biased. Randall (1987) notes that in most countries women are more inclined to cast their vote than men. → Other Conventional Forms Of Participation According to Welch (1977) (cited in Randall 1987), this form of participation include campaigning for political parties or their candidates, membership of a political party or organization or attendance at a political meeting. Dowse and Hughes (1972) (cited in Randall 1987) find that women participate less men when it comes to this form of participation. → Less Conventional Politics Randall (1987) refers to this form of participation as ad hoc politics which means participation in political campaigns that are relatively short-lived, throwing up makeshift organizations and tending to rely on direct tactics such as pickets, squats and self-help projects. In this form of participation, Randall (1987) notes that women ‘come into their own and their participation is as significant as that of men. These 3 forms of political participation have been used as indicators to serve the exploratory purpose of the research. While Levine (2007), ONeill (2007), Braud (2004) and many others have spoken about the forms of political engagement, the theory of Randall (1987) was purposely chosen since it also deals about womens participation for each form. Hence with the ‘gender variable, the research also tests the relevance of the theory among young Mauritian. To explain the identified disengagement of youth from politics, it is important to find out what other research say and what are their theories. Hence the following theories which I have classified under 3 headings served the explanatory purpose of the research: Social change; Adults attitudes and actions and the Attitudes and lifecycle of young people. EXPLANATORY THEORIES ABOUT THE DISENGAGEMENT OF YOUTH FROM POLITICS A. Social Change ONeill (2007) notes that cell phones have been identified as a new form of political activism especially for young people. She also stresses the use on new Internet-based sites such as MySpace and Facebook which provide forums for communicating, organising and socialising and they are unlike traditional social networks that require face-to-face contact. Quintelier (2007), Hoskins et al. (2003) and O Toole et al. (2003) notice the attractiveness of these new forms of participation has caused younger people to divert from traditional forms of political participation as practiced by the older generation. Moreover, according to findings of Levine (2007), Dalton (2007) and Zukin et al. although members of this generation are less engaged in traditional political activities, many are willing to provide direct voluntary services. However in a study conducted by Blais (n.d)among young people on the island of Montreal, he finds out that non-conventional participation has not replaced conventional participation. In fact, most of the respondents either do both or do neither. As for the case of young Mauritians, this has to be tested. B. Adults attitudes and actions Conventional ‘wisdom dictates that young people are ‘less knowledgeable, ‘ignorant, ‘apathetic, ‘indifferent, ‘alienated, ‘disaffected and ‘disinterested when it comes to politics (Eden et al. 2002; OToole et al. 2003; Henn et al. 2003). ONeill (2001) add to the view that youth are also more likely to find politics uninteresting and even boring. Moreover, in a case study carried out by Golumbek (2002), adults explain the political disengagement of youth by the fact that youth only want to have fun and politics appear dull to them. Moreover,Bessant (2004) and Eden et al. (2002) notice some restrictions, namely, in the patronizing of youth by parents and educators. This is displayed in that politicians, parents and teachers frequently deny their children or students the right to participate in protest marches when such activities take place during class hours. C. The Attitudes And Lifecycle Of Young People Pammett and LeDucs (2003) study clearly indicate that young people have negative attitudes towards political parties. Young people perceive politicians as ‘out of touch, ‘untrustworthy, ‘self-interested, ‘irrelevant and ‘power-hungry (O Toole et al. 2003; Quintelier 2007). Young people do not trust politicians believing they are corrupt and self-serving (Bennett, 1997). They are very critical and quickly recognize when politicians lie or when they try to speak on their behalf (Henn et al. 2002). More so, youth find that conventional politics carries an image problem (Edwards, 2001). Many young people feel that they are not heard by politicians and that they ultimately cannot influence politics (Henn et al. 2002; Kimberlee 2002). Henn et al. 2002; O Toole et al. 2003; Keeter 2003; Quintelier 2007 find that the non-participation of young people is due to the failure of the politicians to address the issues that concern them, or to make the issues relevant to their daily lives. Youth have the impression that politicians do not truly care about their needs and large percentage of young people believe that the government is unresponsive to people like them (Bennett, 1997). Youth have fewer resources for political participation because of ‘lifecycle effects (Quintelier 2007 and Verba et al. 1995). According to these authors, political participation requires time and money and young people do not yet have a stable basis for concern with politics. Hence, they are more preoccupied with short-term projects (Verba et al. 1974; Iyengar and Jackman 2004). According to Kimberlee (1998), the decline in political interest and behaviour of young people should be attributed to the changing of social and economic environment in which young people now live. After having established the body of theories, it is important to have an idea of the variables of the research which could at the same time be presented as some ‘unique traits of the Mauritian Politics. TRAITS OF THE MAURITIAN POLITICS/ VARIABLES OF THE RESEARCH A. Gender Imbalance From Appendices 2 and 3, it can be observed that before 2005, the number of female MPs had never exceeded six. One would find that in many constituencies in Mauritius, women have never been elected while in most constituencies the number of nominated women is very low or women are not fielded at all. In 2005, 61 of the 645 candidates who stood for the General Elections were women (9.5%). The two major parties (MLP and MMM) which were capable of electing candidates, together fielded only 16 women. Of those 16, 11 were elected as constituency seat MPs and 1 as best-loser seat MP. The number of women in the legislature from the year 2000 to 2005 has increased from 4 to 12 (5.7% 17%). Nonetheless, this number is nowhere near the 30% goal set in the SADC declaration on Gender and Development of which Mauritius is a signatory. Phillipss (1991, 1995) arguments for democracy are based on mirror representation, group representation and interest representation and Chiroro (2005) highlighted t hat Mauritius totally fails in terms of mirror representation. What awaits us for this years 2010 General Elections is yet to be known. B. Ethinicised Politics In Mauritius, the 70 member National Assembly consists of 62 elected representatives of constituencies and 8 additional seats allocated to the Best Losers among the non-elected. The latter seats are allocated on the basis of ethnic membership (the first four) and a combination of ethnicity and party membership (the remaining four) (Lau Thai Keng 1999, Eriksen 1998). The main purpose of this system is to ensure an adequate representation of the minority groups (Addison et al 1993). Eriksen (1998) notes that most political parties in Mauritius have overtly or covertly represented ethnic / communal interests. Dinan, Nababsing and Mathur (cited in Crawford Young, 1999) add that political parties in Mauritius field their candidates in constituencies not only according to ethnic configurations of the constituency but sub groups (caste, cultural and linguistic) of the voters are also considered. This might be because communalism is an important variable for voting behaviour of the population (Mathur 1991). Thus, considering the ethnic group of respondents as a variable when one does a research on politics becomes significant. C. Youth Political Engagement/Disengagement TABLE 1: CALCULATED AVERAGE AGE OF MPs IN MAURITIUS ELECTION 11TH SEPTEMBER 2000 ELECTION 03RD JULY 2005 MPs 2005 BY 28th FEBRUARY 2010 MEAN AGE 47 49 Logically, the mean, mode and median at 28th February 2010 would be that of the year 2005 + 5 since the MPs are the same apart from few modifications (see appendix 5). MODAL AGE 39 51 MEDIAN AGE 47 51 % OF YOUTH AS DEFINED AS PER THE NATIONAL YOUTH POLICY (2 à · 66) ÃŽ § 100 = 3.03% (2 d.p) 0% To be able to acquire this data, I have gathered and compiled the date of birth and calculated the age of MPs for the year 2000 and 2005 (SEE APPENDICES 4 AND 5). From these, the average age of MPs and the percentage of MPs which fall into the youth category for the last 2 General Elections could be obtained. While the age at which a candidate can stand for Elections is 18 and the maximum age a person is considered to be young in Mauritius is 29, the data in the above table brings us back to the ontological assumptions made in Chapter 1 where it becomes necessary to gather primary data. Before presenting to you, the procedures and methods adopted for the collection of primary data, I wish to recapitulate what the basic research which has an exploratory and explanatory purpose aims to. The research tries to: → Explore the extent of engagement/disengagement of youth in/from politics in Mauritius. → Determine which explanation classified under 3 headings best explains the absence of youth from formal politics. → Find out if todays youth will or will not reach the levels of political participation currently displayed by the elderly. → Explore and organize primary data so as to create a picture of the current situation of the topic in the Mauritian context. → Develop new hypotheses which will be matter of further testing in future research. → To fill in the gap of unavailable data in Mauritius and thus contribute to epistemology. A MODEL OF THE RESEARCH PROCESS STAGE 1: OBSERVATION It is well known that in Mauritius the SU is much linked to political parties. Hence, observation was carried out during the campaign of the Students Union (SU) Elections at the UoM. Both the campaign and the observation lasted for 2 weeks (started on 19th October 2009 and ended on the 30th October 2009). The observation was an opportunity to have an overview of the relationship between youth and politics. PLANNING THE OBSERVATION A. Type of Observation TYPE OF OBSERVATION WHAT WERE UNDER OBSERVATION REASON Non participant Everything that could be seen, heard and felt. Not being a candidate for the SU Elections myself, some information was not easily disclosed to me. Thus everything that could be seen, heard and felt was noted down. Moreover, 2 interviews were carried out with people involved in the campaign. B. Instruments Used For Observation INSTRUMENTS USED PURPOSE/S Diary To write fresh, valid, reliable and vivid data on the spot. Camera Photographs were taken in case particular aspects of the campaign went unnoticed during the observation. Hence they could be re-analysed in the photographs. However, for ethical reasons the photographs were taken from quite afar so that the people are not totally visible. Myself Human Intrument Since the senses have to be used in observation and the researcher exerts some sort of power over the other instruments he/she is using, the latter becomes the main instrument in the observation process. STAGE 2: INTERVIEWS AND ITS OBJECTIVES For the purpose of this dissertation, 4 interviews were carried out in all. It is to be noted that interviewees did not find the need to remain anonymous. INTERVIEWEES OBJECTIVES 1 Soobeersingh Dhunoo alias Kenny (male) ex student at the UoM and ex president of the SU (present during the SU Election Campaign and thus was interviewed). In order, not to be gender biased, a boy and a girl were determinedly selected and at the same time a gender comparison of youths political engagement could be made since gender is the only relevant variable between them in this particular setting. Unstructured interview was used for both respondents so as to grasp maximum information about how youth conduct their political activities. 2 Khirtee Ruchpaul (female) -candidate at the SU Elections (interviewed during the SU Election campaign). 3 Naveena Ramyad (female) former member in the MMM Youth Wing[5] and potential candidate of the MMM party for General Elections 2010. Since the MMM party does not have any archival information, Naveena acted like a ‘key informant. It was also an opportunity to ask her about her transition from the Youth Wing to the Party itself. A semi-structured interview was found to be most convenient. 4 Devanand Ritoo the current Minister of Youth and Sports. Structured questions were prepared and he was interviewed in his capacity as: 1. An senior politician, 2. The current president of the Youth Wing of Mauritian Labour Party, 3. The current Minister of Youth and Sports. PLANNING THE INTERVIEWS The interviewees were the ones to decide about the place, time and day on which the interview would take place. Face-to-face interviews were carried out and a tape recorder was used to record everything with the permission of the interviewee. The use of tape recorder enabled me to maintain the eye contact with my interviewees and much attention could be given to their expressions, body languages and tones. Hence face validity could be checked out on the spot. Although all the interviewees could speak English, interviews were conducted in Creole which is the mother tongue of mostly all Mauritians. This was done with the purpose of allowing interviewees to be more at ease so that they could provide more information. Once questions were asked, interviewees were given the opportunity to talk as much as they wished without being interrupted by me. My role as an interviewer was only to ask questions. It was not like a sort of conversation. In this way, value-free information could be gathered. However, no research is without lacuna, mine being no exception. The lacunas are: It was quite difficult to carry out such an observation (where the researcher is the main instrument) during 2 weeks on a large scale. Many things should have gone unnoticed, unheard and unfelt not only in my absence but in my presence as well. Moreover, many of the research questions have remained unanswered. I could picture the extent of engagement and disengagement of youth but I did not get the many explanations what is/ are causing this political disengagement through the observation method. Interviewees were those engaged in politics in some way or another but why the other youngsters are disengaged from politics remains a research question among so many. This led me to the stage 3 where the questionnaire came into use. STAGE 3: QUESTIONNAIRE METHOD AND ITS OBJECTIVES Concepts / hypotheses were developed into indicators through questions and statements in the form of questionnaire to mainly test why there is this ‘disengagement of youth from politics. At the same time, some questions related to the qualitative part of the research conducted were set to translate the information from subjective to objective, cross check the findings and make it generalisable. As according to Bryman (2004), the main advantage of triangulation is that it increases confidence in research findings. For some concepts, multiple indicators were used (multiple measure of a concept) A better explanation of this is given in the next chapter. A copy of the questionnaire distributed to respondents can be scrutinized in APPENDIX 6. THE TYPES OF QUESTION USED Since each question/ statement set serves a purpose, the type of question found to be most suitable was attributed to each. Finally, I end up with the use of the following types of questions: OPEN-ENDED QUESTION CLOSED-ENDED QUESTION Likert-type Dichotomous Partially closed question Multiple choice Ranking THE VARIABLES OF THE RESEARCH Only concepts which are relevant to the topic are used as variables. Thus ‘gender was used as variable for all questions while the ‘ethnic origin was used as variable only for question 2, 3, 4, 6, 7 (g), 7 (h).These variables are independent and discrete in nature. The extent of youths engagement/disengagement in/from politics is the dependent variable considered and this variable is also continuous in nature. The survey does not intend to compare younger and mature youths political engagement or disengagement since youth (as from 18 years old) as one body is absent in the Mauritian parliament. Hence youth is used as a constant as per the definition of National Youth Policy which has already been established in the previous chapter. DECIDING ABOUT SAMPLE AND SAMPLING METHODS: A. What does this Sample Frame represent? Only students of the University of Mauritius were chosen to be included in the sample. The reasons for this were that: → All the students are above 18 years old and hence have the voting right as well as the right to stand as candidates for the General Elections. → The students also come from all over the island and thus the sample englobes the subgroups as per the National Youth Policy â€Å"residence, religion, community, socio-cultural and educational backgrounds† but this should not be confused with the variable being used. → Since the students of UoM were observed during the campaign of the SU Elections, it was found most convenient to make them the sample, test the hypotheses on them and make generalizations. The sampling frame was defined in terms of the 5 faculties of the UoM. To strike the balance of students in the 5 faculties, equal number of boys and equal number of girls were asked to fill in questionnaires in each faculty. B. Sample Size The sample size set for the survey was as follows: MALE FEMALE FOE 35 35 FOA 35 35 FSSH 35 35 FLM 35 35 FOS 35 35 TOTAL 175 175 350 Since some questionnaires were rejected due to inadequate filling by respondents, the sample size is reduced to the following: MALE FEMALE FOE 31 34 FOA 35 33 FSSH 33 35 FLM 35 34 FOS 34 35 TOTAL 168 171 339 Hence the sample size considered for the purpose of analysis is 339. This sample size was decided for the purpose of accuracy and representativeness which are the aims of quantitative research. It also creates representativeness of all students in different fields of study and this enables generalization of findings. C. Sampling Methods A combination of probability sampling (cluster sampling) and non-probability sampling (quota sampling) was used for particular reasons. 1) Quota Sampling Quota sampling was the main sampling method used. 213 questionnaires were filled through this sampling method. The criteria for choosing respondents through quota sampling were as follows: → Whether they seemed to be in the youth category, → The faculty to which they belong, → Sex, → Whether they have already filled in the questionnaires, → If no, whether they were free and would accept to fill in the questionnaire adequately. Questionnaires were filled by respondents on the spot and collected by myself. This exercise was done with several objectives: → It avoids the loss of questionnaires by respondents. → Data collected are more reliable and questionnaires are filled adequately. → A rapport could be established with respondents and if they had any difficulty, clarity could be made (This exercise was done by maintaining value-free research). → Feelings and attitudes about the topic could be observed on the site of research. → It brings originality to the research method being used as well as the research since it seems like doing a qualitative research through a quantitative one. 2) Cluster/ Area Sampling: With a large representative sample size, doing quota sampling by waiting for respondents to fill in questionnaires on the spot was predicted to be tiresome and time-consuming. This is why cluster sampling was used before I started undertaking the quota sampling Cluster sampling could be used since the population of each faculty at the UoM consisted of units rather than individuals according to the type sample frame I set. 137 questionnaires were filled through cluster sampling in 3 classes of different faculties. Permission was obtained from lecturers to carry out this exercise in their class and the questionnaires were returned by respondents on the spot. PILOT TESTING OF THE QUESTIONNAI Analysing Youth Voters in the Mauritius Analysing Youth Voters in the Mauritius Introduction STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM The absence of youth in the Mauritian political system is quite alarming but still no statement is being made about it. The total number of electors registered for the year 2009 is 879,897 and among them 222, 060, i.e. 25.2% are aged from 18-29 years old (estimates from the Electoral Commission Office). However, at present our National Assembly does not have a single member in the above age group (p.10 ). There is no available data about the voting frequency of the different age groups of the registered electors nor are there disaggregated statistics about the voting behaviour of males and females. Data on neither the formal nor informal political engagement of youth could be obtained at the Ministry of Youth and Sports. It becomes hence clear that there is a lack of research on this issue either because of an unrealised phenomenon or a taken for granted phenomenon or most probably the issue is considered to be an unimportant one. However, as highlighted by the Secretary-General of t he UN 1997-2007 Kofi Annan, World Youth Report 2003, p. 271): â€Å"No one is born a good citizen; no nation is born a democracy. Rather, both are processes that continue to evolve over a lifetime. Young people must be included from birth. A society that cuts itself off from its youth severs its lifetime; it is condemned to bleed to death.† The only hint that could be obtained about the topic in the Mauritian Context is a mini research which appeared as an article on one page (p.9) in L Express Newspaper 04th August 2009 entitled: â€Å"Jeune et Politique: LImpossible Alliance†. The mini-research was carried out by Dr. Catherine Boudet from Reunion Island. â€Å"En labsence dà ©tudes sur la culture politique des jeunes mauriciens†, she has conducted a mini-research using a focus group of 10 youth at UoM and she has distributed 30 questionnaires among youngsters (15- 27 years old). However, she adds that â€Å"cette à ©tude empirique ne fait pas office de sondage, mais elle a le mà ©rite de constituer un petit barometre de là ©tat desprit de la jeunesse.† At this stage, following the ontological assumptions are made: Why are these young people absent from politics? Is it because of a change in lifecycle? Have they become disengaged? If, so to what extent are they disengaged? Why have they become disengaged? Have they found other forms of political participation with social change? Are they not being given adequate political space? On taking the epistemological dimension, suggested answers which form the hypotheses of the research are given to these questions. (Source: G. M. du Ploy, 2001, p.20) HYPOTHESES OF THE RESEARCH Young people do not have time for politics because of a change in lifecycle. Young people have found some other forms of political participation. Young people have negative attitudes towards politics and politicians. Young people are disengaged because politicians do not care about their needs and demands. Politicians/elders are not giving political space to young people. At this point, the aims and objectives become clearer. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE RESEARCH The double objectives of the research are to: To know young peoples desires and needs concerning society. Identify measures to introduce some changes in youth towards politics and vice versa. In order to reach these main objectives, the research aims to: Explore the level of formal political participation among young people. Explore the level of informal political participation among young people. Find out if todays youth will or will not reach the levels of political participation currently displayed by the elderly. Find out and verify the reasons/explanations of the disengagement of the young people about politics and try to find convenient actions to apply. ORGANISATION OF CHAPTERS The next step which follows as can be seen in the diagram is the theoretical assumptions which help in verifying the hypotheses and achieve the aims and objectives of the research. The theoretical framework is also the base of the research which establishes working definitions for fieldwork. All these are dealt in Chapter 2. Hints of the methodology can be found throughout the whole dissertation while Chapter 3 has been devoted mainly to the methods used to extract information. Chapter 4 analyses and discusses the discoveries of the fieldwork and the dissertation concludes with the Chapter 5 where I also come up with some recommendations. A CONTEMPORARY GLOBAL OVERVIEW OF YOUTH AND POLITICS IN DEMOCRATIC COUNTRIES The vast majority of reading on youth participation in politics shows that there has been a steady decline in youth political participation in many democratic (Pammett and Leduc 2003; ONeill 2007). In almost every election young people are the least likely to vote and these participation rates are continuously declining(Putnam 2000; Kimberlee 2002; Gauthier 2003; Pammett and Leduc 2003). Youth membership of political parties is also dropping (Hooghes et al. 2004). Although mostAfrican countries have a majority of youth population, African parliaments have less than 1% youth participation as MPs (Sigudhla 2004). In fact, research such as Putnam (2000), Kimberlee (2002), Blais et al. (2002), Blais et al. (2004), Clarke et al. (2004), Zukin et al. (2006) and Dalton (2007)provide clear indication that the more recent generations are less likely to engage in politics than were previous generations of the same age. The ‘generational effects suggests that todays young people are less active in politics, and they will never reach the levels of political participation currently displayed by the elderly (Martikainen et al. 2005). Studies indicate that the present younger generations will retain these differences as they grow older, and that consequently the present electorate will be replaced by a more passive generation of political participants (Quintelier 2007). As for youth in democratic Mauritius, all these have to be tested. Hence, most important is to identify working definitions of terms on which the project is based. Obviously, the parameters of the terms ‘Youth and ‘Politics have to be established. PARAMETER OF THE TERM ‘YOUTH USED Both the first and second Mauritian National Youth Policy (2000 2004) and (2010 2014) define youth as persons aged â€Å"between 14 and 29 living in the Republic of Mauritius†. Thus for the purpose of this dissertation, the age of youth considered does not exceed 29 years old. ESTABLISHING THE WORKING DEFINITION OF POLITICS The definition of politics is confined to what Randall (1987) identified as forms of political participation which are as follows: → Voting Voting is sometimes understood as the first step in a succession of increasing demanding political acts. Marsh and Kaase (1979) (cited in Randall 1987) find it as a unique type of political participation in the sense that it does not occur very often and is very much biased. Randall (1987) notes that in most countries women are more inclined to cast their vote than men. → Other Conventional Forms Of Participation According to Welch (1977) (cited in Randall 1987), this form of participation include campaigning for political parties or their candidates, membership of a political party or organization or attendance at a political meeting. Dowse and Hughes (1972) (cited in Randall 1987) find that women participate less men when it comes to this form of participation. → Less Conventional Politics Randall (1987) refers to this form of participation as ad hoc politics which means participation in political campaigns that are relatively short-lived, throwing up makeshift organizations and tending to rely on direct tactics such as pickets, squats and self-help projects. In this form of participation, Randall (1987) notes that women ‘come into their own and their participation is as significant as that of men. These 3 forms of political participation have been used as indicators to serve the exploratory purpose of the research. While Levine (2007), ONeill (2007), Braud (2004) and many others have spoken about the forms of political engagement, the theory of Randall (1987) was purposely chosen since it also deals about womens participation for each form. Hence with the ‘gender variable, the research also tests the relevance of the theory among young Mauritian. To explain the identified disengagement of youth from politics, it is important to find out what other research say and what are their theories. Hence the following theories which I have classified under 3 headings served the explanatory purpose of the research: Social change; Adults attitudes and actions and the Attitudes and lifecycle of young people. EXPLANATORY THEORIES ABOUT THE DISENGAGEMENT OF YOUTH FROM POLITICS A. Social Change ONeill (2007) notes that cell phones have been identified as a new form of political activism especially for young people. She also stresses the use on new Internet-based sites such as MySpace and Facebook which provide forums for communicating, organising and socialising and they are unlike traditional social networks that require face-to-face contact. Quintelier (2007), Hoskins et al. (2003) and O Toole et al. (2003) notice the attractiveness of these new forms of participation has caused younger people to divert from traditional forms of political participation as practiced by the older generation. Moreover, according to findings of Levine (2007), Dalton (2007) and Zukin et al. although members of this generation are less engaged in traditional political activities, many are willing to provide direct voluntary services. However in a study conducted by Blais (n.d)among young people on the island of Montreal, he finds out that non-conventional participation has not replaced conventional participation. In fact, most of the respondents either do both or do neither. As for the case of young Mauritians, this has to be tested. B. Adults attitudes and actions Conventional ‘wisdom dictates that young people are ‘less knowledgeable, ‘ignorant, ‘apathetic, ‘indifferent, ‘alienated, ‘disaffected and ‘disinterested when it comes to politics (Eden et al. 2002; OToole et al. 2003; Henn et al. 2003). ONeill (2001) add to the view that youth are also more likely to find politics uninteresting and even boring. Moreover, in a case study carried out by Golumbek (2002), adults explain the political disengagement of youth by the fact that youth only want to have fun and politics appear dull to them. Moreover,Bessant (2004) and Eden et al. (2002) notice some restrictions, namely, in the patronizing of youth by parents and educators. This is displayed in that politicians, parents and teachers frequently deny their children or students the right to participate in protest marches when such activities take place during class hours. C. The Attitudes And Lifecycle Of Young People Pammett and LeDucs (2003) study clearly indicate that young people have negative attitudes towards political parties. Young people perceive politicians as ‘out of touch, ‘untrustworthy, ‘self-interested, ‘irrelevant and ‘power-hungry (O Toole et al. 2003; Quintelier 2007). Young people do not trust politicians believing they are corrupt and self-serving (Bennett, 1997). They are very critical and quickly recognize when politicians lie or when they try to speak on their behalf (Henn et al. 2002). More so, youth find that conventional politics carries an image problem (Edwards, 2001). Many young people feel that they are not heard by politicians and that they ultimately cannot influence politics (Henn et al. 2002; Kimberlee 2002). Henn et al. 2002; O Toole et al. 2003; Keeter 2003; Quintelier 2007 find that the non-participation of young people is due to the failure of the politicians to address the issues that concern them, or to make the issues relevant to their daily lives. Youth have the impression that politicians do not truly care about their needs and large percentage of young people believe that the government is unresponsive to people like them (Bennett, 1997). Youth have fewer resources for political participation because of ‘lifecycle effects (Quintelier 2007 and Verba et al. 1995). According to these authors, political participation requires time and money and young people do not yet have a stable basis for concern with politics. Hence, they are more preoccupied with short-term projects (Verba et al. 1974; Iyengar and Jackman 2004). According to Kimberlee (1998), the decline in political interest and behaviour of young people should be attributed to the changing of social and economic environment in which young people now live. After having established the body of theories, it is important to have an idea of the variables of the research which could at the same time be presented as some ‘unique traits of the Mauritian Politics. TRAITS OF THE MAURITIAN POLITICS/ VARIABLES OF THE RESEARCH A. Gender Imbalance From Appendices 2 and 3, it can be observed that before 2005, the number of female MPs had never exceeded six. One would find that in many constituencies in Mauritius, women have never been elected while in most constituencies the number of nominated women is very low or women are not fielded at all. In 2005, 61 of the 645 candidates who stood for the General Elections were women (9.5%). The two major parties (MLP and MMM) which were capable of electing candidates, together fielded only 16 women. Of those 16, 11 were elected as constituency seat MPs and 1 as best-loser seat MP. The number of women in the legislature from the year 2000 to 2005 has increased from 4 to 12 (5.7% 17%). Nonetheless, this number is nowhere near the 30% goal set in the SADC declaration on Gender and Development of which Mauritius is a signatory. Phillipss (1991, 1995) arguments for democracy are based on mirror representation, group representation and interest representation and Chiroro (2005) highlighted t hat Mauritius totally fails in terms of mirror representation. What awaits us for this years 2010 General Elections is yet to be known. B. Ethinicised Politics In Mauritius, the 70 member National Assembly consists of 62 elected representatives of constituencies and 8 additional seats allocated to the Best Losers among the non-elected. The latter seats are allocated on the basis of ethnic membership (the first four) and a combination of ethnicity and party membership (the remaining four) (Lau Thai Keng 1999, Eriksen 1998). The main purpose of this system is to ensure an adequate representation of the minority groups (Addison et al 1993). Eriksen (1998) notes that most political parties in Mauritius have overtly or covertly represented ethnic / communal interests. Dinan, Nababsing and Mathur (cited in Crawford Young, 1999) add that political parties in Mauritius field their candidates in constituencies not only according to ethnic configurations of the constituency but sub groups (caste, cultural and linguistic) of the voters are also considered. This might be because communalism is an important variable for voting behaviour of the population (Mathur 1991). Thus, considering the ethnic group of respondents as a variable when one does a research on politics becomes significant. C. Youth Political Engagement/Disengagement TABLE 1: CALCULATED AVERAGE AGE OF MPs IN MAURITIUS ELECTION 11TH SEPTEMBER 2000 ELECTION 03RD JULY 2005 MPs 2005 BY 28th FEBRUARY 2010 MEAN AGE 47 49 Logically, the mean, mode and median at 28th February 2010 would be that of the year 2005 + 5 since the MPs are the same apart from few modifications (see appendix 5). MODAL AGE 39 51 MEDIAN AGE 47 51 % OF YOUTH AS DEFINED AS PER THE NATIONAL YOUTH POLICY (2 à · 66) ÃŽ § 100 = 3.03% (2 d.p) 0% To be able to acquire this data, I have gathered and compiled the date of birth and calculated the age of MPs for the year 2000 and 2005 (SEE APPENDICES 4 AND 5). From these, the average age of MPs and the percentage of MPs which fall into the youth category for the last 2 General Elections could be obtained. While the age at which a candidate can stand for Elections is 18 and the maximum age a person is considered to be young in Mauritius is 29, the data in the above table brings us back to the ontological assumptions made in Chapter 1 where it becomes necessary to gather primary data. Before presenting to you, the procedures and methods adopted for the collection of primary data, I wish to recapitulate what the basic research which has an exploratory and explanatory purpose aims to. The research tries to: → Explore the extent of engagement/disengagement of youth in/from politics in Mauritius. → Determine which explanation classified under 3 headings best explains the absence of youth from formal politics. → Find out if todays youth will or will not reach the levels of political participation currently displayed by the elderly. → Explore and organize primary data so as to create a picture of the current situation of the topic in the Mauritian context. → Develop new hypotheses which will be matter of further testing in future research. → To fill in the gap of unavailable data in Mauritius and thus contribute to epistemology. A MODEL OF THE RESEARCH PROCESS STAGE 1: OBSERVATION It is well known that in Mauritius the SU is much linked to political parties. Hence, observation was carried out during the campaign of the Students Union (SU) Elections at the UoM. Both the campaign and the observation lasted for 2 weeks (started on 19th October 2009 and ended on the 30th October 2009). The observation was an opportunity to have an overview of the relationship between youth and politics. PLANNING THE OBSERVATION A. Type of Observation TYPE OF OBSERVATION WHAT WERE UNDER OBSERVATION REASON Non participant Everything that could be seen, heard and felt. Not being a candidate for the SU Elections myself, some information was not easily disclosed to me. Thus everything that could be seen, heard and felt was noted down. Moreover, 2 interviews were carried out with people involved in the campaign. B. Instruments Used For Observation INSTRUMENTS USED PURPOSE/S Diary To write fresh, valid, reliable and vivid data on the spot. Camera Photographs were taken in case particular aspects of the campaign went unnoticed during the observation. Hence they could be re-analysed in the photographs. However, for ethical reasons the photographs were taken from quite afar so that the people are not totally visible. Myself Human Intrument Since the senses have to be used in observation and the researcher exerts some sort of power over the other instruments he/she is using, the latter becomes the main instrument in the observation process. STAGE 2: INTERVIEWS AND ITS OBJECTIVES For the purpose of this dissertation, 4 interviews were carried out in all. It is to be noted that interviewees did not find the need to remain anonymous. INTERVIEWEES OBJECTIVES 1 Soobeersingh Dhunoo alias Kenny (male) ex student at the UoM and ex president of the SU (present during the SU Election Campaign and thus was interviewed). In order, not to be gender biased, a boy and a girl were determinedly selected and at the same time a gender comparison of youths political engagement could be made since gender is the only relevant variable between them in this particular setting. Unstructured interview was used for both respondents so as to grasp maximum information about how youth conduct their political activities. 2 Khirtee Ruchpaul (female) -candidate at the SU Elections (interviewed during the SU Election campaign). 3 Naveena Ramyad (female) former member in the MMM Youth Wing[5] and potential candidate of the MMM party for General Elections 2010. Since the MMM party does not have any archival information, Naveena acted like a ‘key informant. It was also an opportunity to ask her about her transition from the Youth Wing to the Party itself. A semi-structured interview was found to be most convenient. 4 Devanand Ritoo the current Minister of Youth and Sports. Structured questions were prepared and he was interviewed in his capacity as: 1. An senior politician, 2. The current president of the Youth Wing of Mauritian Labour Party, 3. The current Minister of Youth and Sports. PLANNING THE INTERVIEWS The interviewees were the ones to decide about the place, time and day on which the interview would take place. Face-to-face interviews were carried out and a tape recorder was used to record everything with the permission of the interviewee. The use of tape recorder enabled me to maintain the eye contact with my interviewees and much attention could be given to their expressions, body languages and tones. Hence face validity could be checked out on the spot. Although all the interviewees could speak English, interviews were conducted in Creole which is the mother tongue of mostly all Mauritians. This was done with the purpose of allowing interviewees to be more at ease so that they could provide more information. Once questions were asked, interviewees were given the opportunity to talk as much as they wished without being interrupted by me. My role as an interviewer was only to ask questions. It was not like a sort of conversation. In this way, value-free information could be gathered. However, no research is without lacuna, mine being no exception. The lacunas are: It was quite difficult to carry out such an observation (where the researcher is the main instrument) during 2 weeks on a large scale. Many things should have gone unnoticed, unheard and unfelt not only in my absence but in my presence as well. Moreover, many of the research questions have remained unanswered. I could picture the extent of engagement and disengagement of youth but I did not get the many explanations what is/ are causing this political disengagement through the observation method. Interviewees were those engaged in politics in some way or another but why the other youngsters are disengaged from politics remains a research question among so many. This led me to the stage 3 where the questionnaire came into use. STAGE 3: QUESTIONNAIRE METHOD AND ITS OBJECTIVES Concepts / hypotheses were developed into indicators through questions and statements in the form of questionnaire to mainly test why there is this ‘disengagement of youth from politics. At the same time, some questions related to the qualitative part of the research conducted were set to translate the information from subjective to objective, cross check the findings and make it generalisable. As according to Bryman (2004), the main advantage of triangulation is that it increases confidence in research findings. For some concepts, multiple indicators were used (multiple measure of a concept) A better explanation of this is given in the next chapter. A copy of the questionnaire distributed to respondents can be scrutinized in APPENDIX 6. THE TYPES OF QUESTION USED Since each question/ statement set serves a purpose, the type of question found to be most suitable was attributed to each. Finally, I end up with the use of the following types of questions: OPEN-ENDED QUESTION CLOSED-ENDED QUESTION Likert-type Dichotomous Partially closed question Multiple choice Ranking THE VARIABLES OF THE RESEARCH Only concepts which are relevant to the topic are used as variables. Thus ‘gender was used as variable for all questions while the ‘ethnic origin was used as variable only for question 2, 3, 4, 6, 7 (g), 7 (h).These variables are independent and discrete in nature. The extent of youths engagement/disengagement in/from politics is the dependent variable considered and this variable is also continuous in nature. The survey does not intend to compare younger and mature youths political engagement or disengagement since youth (as from 18 years old) as one body is absent in the Mauritian parliament. Hence youth is used as a constant as per the definition of National Youth Policy which has already been established in the previous chapter. DECIDING ABOUT SAMPLE AND SAMPLING METHODS: A. What does this Sample Frame represent? Only students of the University of Mauritius were chosen to be included in the sample. The reasons for this were that: → All the students are above 18 years old and hence have the voting right as well as the right to stand as candidates for the General Elections. → The students also come from all over the island and thus the sample englobes the subgroups as per the National Youth Policy â€Å"residence, religion, community, socio-cultural and educational backgrounds† but this should not be confused with the variable being used. → Since the students of UoM were observed during the campaign of the SU Elections, it was found most convenient to make them the sample, test the hypotheses on them and make generalizations. The sampling frame was defined in terms of the 5 faculties of the UoM. To strike the balance of students in the 5 faculties, equal number of boys and equal number of girls were asked to fill in questionnaires in each faculty. B. Sample Size The sample size set for the survey was as follows: MALE FEMALE FOE 35 35 FOA 35 35 FSSH 35 35 FLM 35 35 FOS 35 35 TOTAL 175 175 350 Since some questionnaires were rejected due to inadequate filling by respondents, the sample size is reduced to the following: MALE FEMALE FOE 31 34 FOA 35 33 FSSH 33 35 FLM 35 34 FOS 34 35 TOTAL 168 171 339 Hence the sample size considered for the purpose of analysis is 339. This sample size was decided for the purpose of accuracy and representativeness which are the aims of quantitative research. It also creates representativeness of all students in different fields of study and this enables generalization of findings. C. Sampling Methods A combination of probability sampling (cluster sampling) and non-probability sampling (quota sampling) was used for particular reasons. 1) Quota Sampling Quota sampling was the main sampling method used. 213 questionnaires were filled through this sampling method. The criteria for choosing respondents through quota sampling were as follows: → Whether they seemed to be in the youth category, → The faculty to which they belong, → Sex, → Whether they have already filled in the questionnaires, → If no, whether they were free and would accept to fill in the questionnaire adequately. Questionnaires were filled by respondents on the spot and collected by myself. This exercise was done with several objectives: → It avoids the loss of questionnaires by respondents. → Data collected are more reliable and questionnaires are filled adequately. → A rapport could be established with respondents and if they had any difficulty, clarity could be made (This exercise was done by maintaining value-free research). → Feelings and attitudes about the topic could be observed on the site of research. → It brings originality to the research method being used as well as the research since it seems like doing a qualitative research through a quantitative one. 2) Cluster/ Area Sampling: With a large representative sample size, doing quota sampling by waiting for respondents to fill in questionnaires on the spot was predicted to be tiresome and time-consuming. This is why cluster sampling was used before I started undertaking the quota sampling Cluster sampling could be used since the population of each faculty at the UoM consisted of units rather than individuals according to the type sample frame I set. 137 questionnaires were filled through cluster sampling in 3 classes of different faculties. Permission was obtained from lecturers to carry out this exercise in their class and the questionnaires were returned by respondents on the spot. PILOT TESTING OF THE QUESTIONNAI

A Thematic Unity for Heideggers Was Heisst Denken? :: Heidegger Was Heisst Denken Essays

A Thematic Unity for Heidegger's Was Heisst Denken? ABSTRACT: This essay is primarily an analysis of Heidegger's Was Heisst Denken? I aim to provide a thematic unity for this enigmatic text, thereby rendering Heidegger's thoughts on thinking more available to those investigating the nature of human rationality and thinking. The procedure is to gather together some of the sundry themes and puzzling features resolved by unpacking this sentence: 'Most thought-provoking in our thought-provoking time is that we are still not thinking.' The chief results of this study include the establishment of a global logic to the text, the identification of 'being-thoughtful' as the proper phenomenon to be studied, and receptivity ('listening for what calls for thinking') as the distinguishing mark of the thoughtful. Perhaps it is a sign of the times that precisely this work, of all my publications, is the least read. (1) This remark by Martin Heidegger about Was Heisst Denken? is puzzling given that in the same interview he suggests that the most important issue facing us is the confrontation with what thinking is. If Heidegger is correct, then why does Was Heisst Denken? not rank among the most read of his works? Is it because we are unaware of the importance of encountering thinking? Because we believe already to understand thinking (e.g., thinking is "having thoughts")? (2) Either of these proposed explanations, it should be noted, would not startle Heidegger; he anticipated them in Was Heisst Denken? An explanation that he does not consider, however, is that Was Heisst Denken? is itself puzzling and stands in some need of critical clarification. In this essay I present an analysis of Heidegger's Was Heisst Denken? The aim is to provide a thematic unity for this enigmatic text, and thereby to render Heidegger's thoughts on thinking more available to those investigating the nature of human rationality and thinking. I proceed by enumerating some of the puzzling features of the text, and included among them are the ambiguity intentionally built into the German title and the odd fact that Nietzsche and Parmenides take center stage in a series of lectures--which collected form the text--on thinking. The main thesis of my analysis is that one particularly promising way of showing how the twenty-one lectures hang together is by unpacking this sentence: Most thought-provoking in our thought-provoking time is that we are still not thinking. (3) This essay, then, is literally an analysis,

The Need for Information Security Management to Medium Size

The Need for Information Security Management for Small to Medium Size Enterprises ICT 357 Information Security Management Leong Yuan Zhang 31741147 Trimester 1 Murdoch University Contents Abstract2 Introduction2 Justifying The Need for Sound Information Security in Any Organisation2 Linking Business Objectives with Security3 Incident Response Management and Disaster Recovery4 Mobile Device Security Managment5 Biometric Security Devices and Their Use6 Ethical Issues in Information Security Management7 Security Training and Education7Defending Against Internet-Based Attacks8 Industrial Espionage and Business Intelligence Gathering9 Personnel Issues in Information Security9 Physical Security Issues in Information Security10 Cyber Forensic Incident Response10 Conclusion11 References11 Abstract Small to Medium Size Enterprises (SMEs) contribute greatly to the economy in many countries despite the many challenges that they face. Lesser budgeting, resource planning and time management are j ust some of the limitations that they might encounter.Comparing this to a larger enterprise or government body, SMEs seems to have different approaches with regards to information security, sometimes understating the importance due to the constraint mentioned. This paper aims to study the issues relating to introduction and implementation of info security regimes in SMEs compared to larger organisations. Introduction Small and medium enterprise are defined by the number of personnel working for the company, around the upper limit of 250 to the lower of 50. They usually lack resources, competencies and management to implement strategies externally and internally for their operations.This paper will focus on the implementation of information security regimes of SMEs and provide a comparison to large enterprises. The paper explores the multiple categories of information security, attempt to list the disadvantages faced by SMEs and how sometime large enterprises are unable to match a SM E in the capability to respond to security threats Justifying The Need for Sound Information Security in Any Organisation The internet age brought upon new challenges to the business world, both SMEs and large organisation are continuously investing substantial resources to secure their presence on the internet.With increasingly virtualized business networks and expanding corporate ecosystem, more information have been created or converted into digital format. Digitalized information can be saved in different storage devices and transmitted over a plethora of interconnected network both internally and externally (Radding, 2012). Understandably, crime and security threats to information are becoming more commonplace as the reliance on Internet in business activities increase .Threats such as hackers, business competitors or even foreign governments can employ a host of different methods to obtain information from any organisation (Symantec). Yet no effective business would totally is olate themselves from using digitalized info to prevent such incidents; competitiveness or success of these organisations is linked to right information delivered on time. At its worst erroneous info may result in serious loss of potential earnings and damage to the organisation's â€Å"brand†(Juhani Anttila, 2005).A significant element of information security are the cost and personnel expertise required with the designing, development and implementation of an effective security system. There is a need for major investment to be invested to build and maintain reliable, trustworthy and responsive security system (Anderson, 2001). Since most SMEs tend to have to operate under tight budgeting, extreme limited manpower and many different needs competing for limited supply of resources, thus placing information security down the priorities list (Tawileh, Hilton, ; Stephen, 2007).Additionally, the lack of awareness to the negative consequences of info security issues and threats a nd the perception of less strict regulatory compliance requirements, information and communications infrastructure within these SMEs remain highly unsecured. Despite that, most organisations do at least have some form of basic security in the form of anti-virus softwares. Other types of security software like firewall or authentication software/hardware are considerably less popular; perhaps due to the additional complexity of having to install and configure them for the organisation usage (ABS, 2003).Linking Business Objectives with Security Security can impact a company's profitability in both positive or negative ways. It fully depends on how it is being controlled, too little will not be enough while too much may cause bottlenecks within the company internal processes. One example would be background checks on possible new employees. At times, the duration of the check may take longer than the period of employment, especially when hiring temp staff to cover short term. In their book, Christian Byrnes and Paul E.Proctor argues that to eliminate the last 20% of risk that might occur would inversely required 80% more money to implement which can be seen in Figure 1. Figure 1 It is common practice in large organisations to organise computer security around technologies, with a dedicated department running the show alongside the IT department. However computer security should be more business oriented as it is easier to achieve the security targets if good business practices are being followed. For SMEs, it is also far easier to utilise xisting employees who specialize in specific business roles to take up security positions. In the same book, Christian Byrnes and Paul E. Proctor also provided a table which list down the common security roles and the ideal personnel to handle it: Table 1 Linking security with business visions is also important as it would allow for better persuasion to the top managements to approve or push through with security purchases, mast er plans or policy changes. To achieve this, the motion put forth must undergo a 5 step structured framework – assess, analyse, strategize, align and communicate.Assess the company's current and future security role so as to achieve a good understanding of the current security model. Details on the security capabilities within the employees, processes and current technologies should be documented properly for the next step to be carried out with more accuracy. After collecting the raw data, using analytical tools and method to conduct a security gap analysis will show the differences between the current security model and the preempted requirements. With a clear overview of what needs to be do, next phase planning can be done to piece together to form a viable and strong strategy.Executives and managers at all levels must understand the new steps that are to be undertaken for the new strategy. Such communications may be more effective in SMEs than larger organisations as the members of the security planning may be key personnel that are required to participate rather than a separate IT security team (PricewaterhouseCooper). Incident Response Management and Disaster Recovery Incident response management is the process of managing and responding to security incidents. As organisations may encounter plenty of incidents throughout the day, it is important that incident responses are carefully anaged to reduce wastage of manpower and resources. The most appropriate level of response should be assigned to on any security incident to maximize efficiency; there is no merit in involving senior management in a response to an incident that has minimal impact on business (BH Consulting, 2006) Disaster recovery is the process used to recover access to an organisation's software, data and hardware that are required to resume the performance of normal, critical business functions. Typically this will happen after either a natural disaster or manmade disaster. (Disaste r Recovery)Incident response management used to be separated into different entities, natural disasters , security breaches and privacy breaches were handled by risk management, information security department and legal department. This increased the cost of incident management and reduce utilization of existing resources and capabilities. By merging the 3 into one overarching incident management methodology specified with an incident response team and a charter, reduced cost and efficient usage of resource can be achieved (Miora, 2010) In larger organizations, incident response team may contain both employees and third party observers from vendors.External vendors may provide the expertise to manage an incident that could be overwhelming to the current employees. This however may not be feasible for SMEs due the financial constraints. Most likely, the incident response management team would be formed using current employees and a senior management personnel would lead the team. The response team would be the ones who do the planning scenario for each different types of incident and the type of responses required, ensure that clear processes and procedures are in place so that responses to incident are coherent.Communications between members are typically standardized be it for large organisations or SMEs; method of contact such as emails and non-email like phone calls or messages are used to inform team members (BH Consulting, 2006). Disaster recovery extremely important as well, more so for SMEs. A survey from US Department of Labor provided an estimation that around 40% of business never reopen after a disaster and of the remaining around 25% will close down within 2 years (Zahorsky). Unfortunately, not many SMEs have a disaster recovery plan in place to protect themselves.This is due to the idea that disaster recovery is costly and requires alot of resources and expertise to put in place one. This is true to a certain extend as large organisations normally spend amounts to put in place backup servers and remote hot recovery sites. However with increasing cloud-based technologies and availability of server virtualization, disaster recovery can become affordable even for SMEs. Up and coming cloud solution and renting space in secure data center via colocation are some of the solutions that SMEs can consider.Even without any or little IT staff, by paying the colocation provider they can assist to manage the setup and maintenance services (Blackwell, 2010). Mobile Device Security Managment The increasing sophisticated mobile devices together with high bandwidth network is creating a tremendous security management challenge for CIOs and other IT professionals. Proprietary and confidential data can now be moved outside of the secure perimeter of the enterprise and onto mobile devices that can be brought anywhere in the world by employees.These devices have a variety of data communication and storage technologies, such as email/PIM synchron ization software, infrared data transmission, Bluetooth ® and removable data storage. As a result, it is easy for mobile devices to become strongholds of enterprise information (Good Technology, 2009). Of course with that brings additional threats to an organisation as mobile devices are susceptible to attacks as well. In both SMEs and large organisations, there is a definite need to regulate the use of mobile devices to prevent information leakage.As they can used in a variety of locations outside the organization’s control, such as employees’ homes, coffee shops, hotels, and conferences, this makes them much more likely to be lost or stolen than other devices, so their data is at increased risk of compromise (Souppaya & Scarfone, 2012). The most extreme application of mobile device management can be see within government bodies, specifically in the defense sector where secondary functions of such devices such as cameras are to be disable. However, this method would not be easily applied to SMEs as employees may find it to be too restrictive.Rather, having a clear policy on the usage of mobile devices and prohibiting employees from attaching their devices to the workstations would be a better option to enforce. Biometric Security Devices and Their Use Biometric devices identifies an individual through physical or behavioral characteristics such as fingerprints, palm geometry or retina. It is extremely secure as it cannot be borrowed, stolen or forgotten (Liu & Silverman, 2001). The table below shows the various type of biometric devices and their advantages/disadvantages:The table, as seen in the report from Dell explains clearly some of the limitations of biometric devices. Size for example must be taken into consideration as well, hand geometry scanning devices are bulky and therefore not suited for say unlocking your workstation as compared to using it to unlock a door. However, not many organisations are adopting biometric as part of their security plan. Those that do use biometric are mostly geared towards physical security of secure areas where access are to be restricted.Conventional authentication methods are still much preferred with regards to virtual access like emails, workstations and applications. The higher cost of using biometric devices as a security solution is also another concern for SMEs that wishes to utilise them. They would need to evaluate their nature of business, how and where biometric would fit in to maximize value for money. Ultimately, aligning the need for biometric security devices as a security solution to business objectives is a must, else cheaper alternatives would have to be examine and evaluated instead.Ethical Issues in Information Security Management Some professions such as law and medicine have in place a codified set of ethics that its practitioners are required to honor to protect the privacy of their clients. Violations are dealt with in the harshest possible terms, and even minor lapses can result in significant penalties. For IT however, there are no such codification. Technology professionals generally abide by personal codes of conduct and are essentially self-policing. Additionally, technology raises complexities that go beyond typical questions of what’s right or what’s fair.Areas such as data access and capture, processing speed, tracking and monitoring, and job redesign are just a few examples of IT capabilities with ethical considerations. (Relkin, 2006) Both SMEs and large organisations have to be able to cope with ethical issues such as privacy of personal information, intellectual property and cyber crime. In an effort to safeguard company secrets, many employees can be exposed to electronic or other forms of surveillance. Email screenings and monitoring internet usages are just some of the methods that can be employed.There is a need to clearly define policies that involve such practices and the boundary must be draw and commu nicated to all employees so as to safeguard the organisation from breaching privacy laws and from being sued by employees. (Tiwary, 2011) Security Training and Education Security training and education is becoming increasing important for employees due to emergence of end-user computing as an critical component of information security. A typical end-user has access to most vital information that an organisation has in its possession.They have knowledge of how protection systems put in place to secure information work and a small amount of more ingenious users may even know how to circumvent those systems. Most users however lack the knowledge that is required to help protect the organisation information and it is in this area that they should be educated in order to make better decisions when facing with threats and vulnerabilities that can be discovered during the course of work. (Hight, 2005) Security Education, Training and Awareness program otherwise known as SETA is designed to set the security tone to the employees of an organisation.Making it part of a new employee's orientation will ensure that all employees know and understand the reasons of the security policies that are in place at any organisation. Implementation of such a program can be done at any organisation, requiring only properly written security policies and outlining guidelines that have to be followed. A good security program ensures that end user mistakes can be reduced and that employees understand the consequences of their actions when using their work stations or insert unauthorised USB devices into them. Defending Against Internet-Based AttacksWith an increasing reliant upon the internet, internet based attacks have been slowly increasing. Organsations that has a presence over the internet or utilizes web based technologies are more prone to such as attacks. Internet worms, viruses, malware and distributed denial of service are just some of the types of threats that could occur. Orga nisations should look to prevent such incidents from occurring by securing applications that are made available over the internet and securing organisation infrastructures exposed over the internet (Klein, 1999).To carry out an attack, the attacker must first obtain sufficient control over a target system. They would most likely do some reconnaissance on the target, performing a number of scans to looked for weaknesses. Areas like remote accessible network services in default OS configurations, sendmail, sshd, RPC and Windows file sharing are some of the services exploited. Ports that are unsecured, memory handling, targeting applications like web browsers and plug ins are also some of the methods that attackers can use.The web browsers in particular are seeing a rising trend of being targeted as browsers are extremely prone to having exploitable vulnerabilities. The internet distribution model also allows attackers to attack a user's web browser without even directly connecting to the cilent; planting malicious coding at specific websites where the user normally visits will achieve the aim as well (Moshchuk, 2000). Prevention of such attacks are extremely important, firewall and anti viruses are just the tip of an iceberg when it comes to methods that can protect an organisation's information.Many firewalls being sold today are considered application aware and can understand protocols and commands that are being used. This allows them to determine whether or not incoming traffic to any applications or network services are malicious or not. Properly configured application aware firewall would be able to prevent common attacks thru telnet, SSH, HTTP, FTP, SMTP, SIP and applications which can be vulnerable. Additionally Intrusion Detection systems (IDS) and Intrusion Prevention systems (IPS) can also be used against application or network based attacks.When paired together with an application aware firewall, some intrusion detection systems have the ability to t hwart off attackers by talking directly to the firewall to block the source IP address. There are no right or wrong solutions to defending an organisation's network, it all boils down to which products would be suited to the organisation's needs. SMEs typically would use more of off the shelf type of applications and intrusion detection prevention system (IDP) would be a better fit for such applications.Off the shelves applications uses alot of common protocols such as FTP, HTTP etc that should adhere to RFC standards and IDP is configured to block malicious or traffic that does not comply with RFC standards automatically. For larger organisations, they tend to have third party or home grown applications which developers may or may not have complied with RFC standards, IDP solutions may not have much of an effect for them. Industrial Espionage and Business Intelligence GatheringEvery organisation in the world will have collected some form of information regarding their competitors, through market scanning, industrial profiling or even direct hire of employees from their competitors. Such intelligence gathering are definitely part and parcel activities used for market research and benchmarking. However, there are uncertain boundaries separating competitive intelligence gathering and industrial espionage. The laws in place at times are unable to set such limits and it would seem reasonable to define industrial espionage as intelligence practices of questionable ethics instead (Crane, 2005).Be that as it may, industrial espionage is a very critical threat against SMEs. A succesfully SME breaking in saturated markets would have attained some form of breakthrough in order to stand out. Regardless of whether it is a formulae or business process, competitors would wish to obtain such knowledge in order to raise their own profiles. To safeguard their secrets, SMEs would have to ensure that their security system in place are adequate and their employees educated on the topic. SMEs have to identify that information that would critically harm the company and the value of such information to the company and its competitors.Access to such â€Å"crown jewels† must be controlled and employees must be educated on security awareness programs. Despite that, employees are still the strongest and weakest link. Humans tend to react better to carrots than sticks and most of the time competitors would aim for that. Hiring professionals to perform social engineering, blackmailing, lure of monetary gains are hard to prevent. (Podszywalow, 2011) Personnel Issues in Information Security Human related security issues are extremely problematic and complex in organizations.They involve all the individuals who make up the organization, from top-level managers to clerical staff. It is crucial that the top management recognize that for security management to ultimately succeed, not only the technical dimension must be taken into account, the human aspect of secur ity must not be ignored as well. People issues within an organisation can have an impact on it's ability to effectively manage security. Uncommitted and uninvolved senior managers; unqualified, untrained and careless employees; former disgruntled employees and organizational members’ resistance to change are just some of the potential issues ertaining to human resource that might occur. Hence, to achieve security effectiveness, these issues must be addressed as a whole (Goh, 2003) For SMEs, when hiring an new employee, the employment contract should expressly emphasize the employee's duty to keep certain types of information confidential both during and after the employee's tenure. The language and structure of the contract should be made clear so as to prevent any potential misunderstanding or any loopholes that can be exploited. The employee must sign the agreement before he or she begins to work.The contract can also be included with an employee's personal file to keep tra ck. Even when exiting, care must be taken to ensure that documents, records and other information concerning the company proprietary assets in the possession of the leaver must be surrendered and returned to the company. Conducting a exit interview will help to refresh the terms of employment agreement and trade secret law with the leaver. The employee should be acknowledge in writing that he or she is aware of the obligations and will not disclose any trade secrets of the former employer.Physical Security Issues in Information Security Physical security breaches can sometimes be more devastating than technical breaches like worm attacks. The loss of data, loss of availability either from systems being shut down or by bomb or arson must be considered when dealing with physical security. With the invention of easily concealable USB drives or bombs, coupled with unauthorized access is makes physical security becoming more important. Data transfer speeds have increased as when, allowin g for transferring of a large amount of data in a relativity short period of time.As with any other security planning, physical security must be included to ensure that the risk of above mentioned are reduced. Access to areas such as server rooms or routers or where documents are kept and archived must be control, just locking the doors doesn't seems to be enough now. Access control cards, biometrics system can ensure that only authorised personnel be allowed in. Securing the personal computer of employees, especially if they are using laptop is equally important. Laptop locks and OS hardening to prevent unauthorized usage of USB devices are not allow (Giannoulis & Northcutt, 2007).Cyber Forensic Incident Response Computer forensics is the science of acquiring, retrieving, preserving, and presenting data that has been processed electronically and stored on computer media. When paired with incident response, their job becomes more challenging. They would have to find where a breach o ccurred, plug the hole, then proceed to get the affected server or servers back into service, and then if possible, gather evidence on the intruder for further action and analysis (Daniel & Daniel, 2009)SMEs unfortunately with their limited resources may have to compromise. instead of having a dedicated team to deal with incident response, they might consider getting current employees involved within IT such as server, networking or on site support engineers to carry out such a role. If they have extra budget however, it would work to their benefit if they send their resposne team for courses pertainning to cyber forensic. The additional knowledge will allow the response team to perform more effectively should a threat occur ConclusionSmall and medium enterprises typically faces the same the type of threats that will happen to larger organisations, however their approach and response to the same threat may differ greatly due to the limited resources; human, technical, physical avail able to them. SMEs will have to sometimes think out of the box and be very careful in planning resources for security within the company. The type of hardware, software used for security may be similar to larger organisations however, the setup and configuration may be miles apart as well. SMEs, will have be extra vigilant against information security threats.References (n. d. ). Retrieved March 10, 2013, from Symantec: http://securityresponse. symantec. com/avcenter/security/Content/security. articles/corp. security. policy. html ABS. (2003). Business Use of Information Technology (2001 – 02). Canberra: Australian Bureau of Statistics. Anderson, R. J. (2001). Why Information Security is Hard – An Economic Perspective. in Proceedings of the Seventeenth Computer Security Applications Conference (pp. 358-365). IEEE Computer Society Press. BH Consulting. (2006). Incident Response White Paper. Dublin: BH Consulting. Blackwell, G. 2010, May 25). Disaster Recovery For Small Business. Retrieved March 13, 2013, from Small Business Computing: http://www. smallbusinesscomputing. com/biztools/article. php/10730_3884076_2/Disaster-Recovery-For-Small-Business. htm Crane, A. (2005). In the company of spies: When competitive intelligence gathering becomes industrial espionage. Nottingham: International Centre for Corporate Social Responsibility. Crist, J. (2007). Web Based Attacks. SANS Institute. Daniel, L. E. , & Daniel, L. (2009, September 30). How Is Computer Forensics Different from Incident Response?Retrieved March 13, 2012, from ExForensic: http://webcache. googleusercontent. com/search? q=cache:http://exforensis. blogspot. com/2009/09/how-is-computer-forensics-different. html Disaster Recovery. (n. d. ). Disaster Recovery. Retrieved March 13, 2013, from Disaster Recovery: http://www. disasterrecovery. org/ Giannoulis, P. , & Northcutt, S. (2007). Physical Security. Washington: Security Laboratory: IT Managers – Safety Series. Goh, R. (2003). Info rmation Security: The Importance of the Human Element. Singapore: Preston University. Good Technology. (2009). Mobile Device Security. Good Technology.Hight, S. D. (2005). The importance of a security, education, training and awareness program. Householder, A. , Houle, K. , & Dougherty, C. (2002). Computer attack trends challenge Internet security. IEEE Computer , 35 (4), 5-7. Juhani Anttila. (2005, March). Retrieved March 13, 2013, from QualityIntegration: http://www. qualityintegration. biz/InformationSecurityManagement. html Kelly, L. (2011, November). The top five SME security challenges. Retrieved March 13, 2013, from ComputerWeekly. com: http://www. computerweekly. com/feature/The-top-five-SME-security-challenges Klein, D. V. (1999).Defending against the wily surfer – Web based attacks and defense. California: The USENIX Association. Liu, S. , & Silverman, M. (2001). A Practical Guide to Biometric. IT Pro. Miora, M. (2010). Business Continuity. Los Angeles, California, USA. Moshchuk, A. N. (2000). Understanding and Defending Against Web-borne Security Threats. Washington: University of Washington. Podszywalow, M. (2011, November 29). How to Detect and Stop Corporate Cyber Espionage. Retrieved March 13, 2013, from The Data Chain: http://www. thedatachain. com/articles/2011/11/how_to_detect_and_stop_corporate_cyber_espionagePricewaterhouseCooper. How to align security with your strategic business objectives. PricewaterhouseCooper. Proctor, P. E. , & Byrnes, F. C. (2002). The Secured Enterprise: Protecting Your Information Assets. New Jersey: Prentice Hall. Radding, A. (2012, January 04). Retrieved March 10, 2013, from Brainloop: http://www. brainloop. com/fileadmin/assets/PDFs/White_Papers/brainloop_white_paper_info_sec_options. pdf Relkin, J. (2006). 10 ethical issues raised by IT capabilities. CNET Networks Inc. Souppaya, M. , & Scarfone, K. (2012). Guidelines for Managing and Securing Mobile Devices in the Enterprise.National Institute of Standar ds and Technology. Tawileh, A. , Hilton, J. , & Stephen, M. (2007). Managing Information Security in Small and Medium Sized Enterprises: A Holistic Approach. Information Security Solutions Europe Conference, (p. 11). Warsaw. Tiwary, K. D. (2011). Security and ethical issues in it: An organisation perspective. International Journal of Enterprise Computing and Business . Zahorsky, D. (n. d. ). About. com. Retrieved March 13, 2013, from Disaster Recovery Decision Making for Small Business: http://sbinformation. about. com/od/disastermanagement/a/disasterrecover. htm

The Marginal Population Of Mumbai Health And Social Care Essay

The paper tries to give an penetration about the exclusion of the unseeable population in Mumbai by a peculiar wellness strategy implemented in the province of Maharashtra. The paper besides highlights some of the issues faced by this peculiar group from the experience of the field as a pupil societal worker The chief statement of this paper is the usage of specific standards in placing donees for the strategy which is already debatable and has been contested by many intellectuals in India thereby excepting meriting donees which is beyond the purpose a public assistance province.Introductionâ€Å" Welfare province is a construct of authorities in which the province plays a cardinal function in the protection and publicity of the economic and societal wellbeing of its citizens. It is based on the rules of equality of chance, just distribution of wealth, and public duty for those unable to avail themselves of the minimum commissariats for a good life † ( Beginnings: hypertext tr ansfer protocol: //www.britannica.com ) . â€Å" The Encyclopaedia of Social Sciences describes a public assistance province as a province which takes up the duty to supply a minimal criterion of subsistence to its citizens. Therefore, in a public assistance province, the disposal enters into economic, political, societal and educational life of persons. And it provides services to persons, right from an person ‘s birth to decease † ( Social Welfare Administration: Concept, Nature and Scope, moodle.tiss.edu ) . In a public assistance province, the province takes the duty to function the aged, ill, orphans, widows, helpless, oppressed and the handicapped people whenever they are in demand of services. As a public assistance province the province implements assorted public assistance strategies for the citizens at big. The public assistance province typically includes proviso of wellness services, basic instruction, and lodging ( in some instances at low cost or free of c harge ) etc. for the populace at big. When we talk about a public assistance province, the policies are inclusive of Torahs, directive, and planning in the Fieldss of employment, revenue enhancement, societal insurance and societal aid and population policy etc. The modern usage of the term public assistance province is coupled with the wide-ranging steps of societal insurance adopted in 1948 by Britain on the footing of the study on Social Insurance and Allied ServicesA ( 1942 ) . In the twentieth century, as the earlier construct of the inert individualistic province was steadily abandoned, about all provinces ( in the western states ) sought to supply at least some of the steps of societal insurance associated with the rules of public assistance province. Therefore, in the United States came up with theA † New Deal † A of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, and theA † Fair Deal † A of President Harry S. Truman, and a big portion of the domestic plans of ulterior presidents were based on the rules of the public assistance province ( Beginnings: hypertext transfer protocol: //www.britannica.com ) . During the clip of British regulation in India, from the early nineteenth century till India ‘s independency, the welfare-political sphere of India has witnessed the formation of a great trade of societal motions, rooted from distinguishable, and aggressively divided societal categories like the dramatis personae and, subsequently on, spiritual communities of that clip who resentfully opposed the active badgering province of societal personal businesss ( Aspalter 2003 ) . Though it was excessively early to believe about societal security programs and other meaningful societal policy steps, during the British regulation in India, the Government did establish a series of societal policy statute law which focused chiefly on the decrease of societal diswelfare instead than the construct of new signifiers of public assistance plans and ordinances ( Aspalter 2003 ) . During that clip Social statute law, aimed at the stoping of harmful societal patterns and societal inequalities, patt erns like kid matrimony, limitation on widow rhenium matrimony, cast based favoritism etc. By presenting the first societal security statute law of modern India, Workmen ‘s Compensation Act 1923 the Indian societal security system made the first of import measure in way of a notable public assistance system. The act has proviso for compensation for accidents taking to decease, or entire or partial disability for more than three yearss, if the accident occurred in the class of employment, compensation for occupational disease etc ( Chowdhry 1985, Cited in Aspalter 2003, pp. 156-157 ) . The period following the divider, the Indian authorities passed a series of new Torahs with respect to labour and societal public assistance, even before the operation of the new fundamental law in 1950 ( Goel and Jain 1988, Cited in Aspalter 2003, pp 169-160 ) . After 1950, the Indian authorities of India undertook many attempts in the field of societal security ( Aspalter 2003 ) , â€Å" Over the old ages the authorities established, in add-on, illness insurance, a pension program, p regnancy benefits, particular disablement benefits, infirmary leave, a productivity-linked fillip strategy, assorted decreases of lodging, electricity, and H2O rates, a deposit-linked insurance strategy ( which functions similar to a life insurance ) , and death-cum-retirement tip for Cardinal Government employees. Employees of public sector projects and other independent organisations may gain from Employees State Insurance, Employees Family Pension Scheme, lodging benefits, particular societal aid strategies for handicapped individuals, widows, dependent kids, etc † ( Aspalter 2003 ) . Till now India has witnessed assorted strategies, policies, ordinances and statute laws etc aimed at the public assistance of its citizens, the lone inquiry remains is that how the province has been able to turn this policies into world, inclusive of all citizens of the state particularly the marginal ‘s. The ulterior portion of this paper will seek to critically see a wellness strategy launched in the State of Maharashtra meant of the poorer subdivision of the society which aims at supplying free wellness strategies to BPL households. It will be chiefly based on unrecorded experience from the Fieldss as a pupil Social Worker.Rajiv Gandhi Jeevandayee Arogya Yojana ( RGJAY )The Maharashtra authorities launched the Rajiv Gandhi Jeevandayi Arogya Yojana on 18th December 2011 with the purpose to enable households with one-year income of less than Rs. 1 million rupees to avail free medical installations deserving Rs. 1.5 million. The Maharashtra province Health Minister Suresh Shett y announced that said strategy, when to the full implemented, would profit close to 2.5 billion households ( The Hindu, 19 Dec. 2011 ) . The strategy will be implemented throughout the province of Maharashtra in phased mode for a period of 3 old ages. The strategy covers eight territory of the province boulder clay now ( Gadchiroli, Amravati, Nanded, Sholapur, Dhule, Raigad, Mumbai and Suburbs ) . The strategy is aimed at bettering medical entree installation for both BPL and APL households which will in bend enhance the quality of medical attention to BPL and APL households. The donees will each acquire a wellness insurance policy and the EMIs of which will be paid by the State authorities. The strategy will widen quality medical attention for identified forte services, necessitating hospitalization for surgeries and therapies or audiences, through an identified web of wellness attention suppliers. The Scheme will supply coverage for run intoing all disbursals associating to hospitalization of the beneficiary up to Rs. 1, 50,000/- per household per twelvemonth in any of the Empanelled Hospital topic to Box Ratess on cashless footing through Health cards or valid Orange/Yellow Ration Card. The benefit shall be available to each and every member of the household on floater footing i.e. the entire one-year coverage of 1.5 million rupees can be availed by one person or jointly by all members of the household. The Scheme will cover the full cost of intervention of the patient from day of the month of describing to his discharge from infirmary including complications if any, doing the dealing genuinely cashless to the patient. In case of decease, the passenger car of dead organic structure from web infirmary to the village/township would besides be portion of bundle. The Network Hospitals will besides supply free follow-up audience, nosologies, and medical specialties under the strategy up to 10 yearss from the day of the month of discharge. A When the beneficiary visits the selected web infirmary and services of selected web infirmary, harmonizing to the strategy shall be made available ( Capable to handiness of beds ) . In case of non- handiness of beds at web infirmary, the installation of cross referral to nearest another Network infirmary is to be made available and Arogyamitra ( the staff covering with the said strategy in a web infirmary ) will besides supply the donee with the list of nearby web infirmaries. All eligible households in the enforced territories will be provided with Rajiv Gandhi Jeevandayee Arogya Yojana Health Cards though this has non implemented wholly till now. For the clip being till the issue of wellness cards, the valid Orange/Yellow Ration Card with Aadhaar figure or, any Photo ID card of beneficiary ( if Aadhaar figure is non available ) issued by Government bureaus ( Driving License, Election ID, ) to correlate the patient name and exposure is accepted in stead of wellness card to avail the benefits by a donee. The Health Cards to be issued will be used for the intent of placing beneficiary households in the household under the said Scheme. The Family Health Cards will be issued by utilizing informations from valid Yellow or Orange ration cards coupled with Aadhaar Numberss issued by UID governments. Till now from July 2nd 2012 there is 78919 households have been registered under this strategy and 154571 patients have been benefited. Total of 43503 surgeries/therapies has been performed including both authorities and private infirmaries. ( Beginnings: hypertext transfer protocol: //www.jeevandayee.gov.in )The fringy population of Mumbai and the RGJAYOne-half of the population in Mumbai is either homeless or lives in informal or semi lasting lodging. Harmonizing to the 2001 nose count of India, out of 11.9 million people populating in the metropolis, 5.8 million people lives in shanty towns or slums or on pavings ( Levinson, 2004 ) . A turning figure ofA migrantsA looking for employment and better life criterions are rapidly fall ining Mumbai ‘s stateless population. NGO'sA are assisting to alleviate the homelessness crisis in Mumbai, but these organisations are non plenty to work out the full job. And there are less figure of NGO ‘s working with this population with respect to wellness issues of this peculiar population. As I have been working with this population since the beginning of the MA class in TISS, I have some basic apprehension of this peculiar population and their issues with wellness and entr ee to wellness attention. Health attention for stateless people or people in destitution is a major public wellness challenge in Mumbai. They are more likely to endure hurts and medical jobs because their life style on the street, which besides includes hapless nutrition, exposure to extreme conditions conditions, and a higher opportunity of indulging in force and dependence to chemical substance and alcohol addiction. Yet at the same clip, they have small or no entree to public medical services. Many a times working as a pupil societal worker at the bureau where I have been placed, had to reason with hospital governments to acquire a street patient admitted. Unless they are non accompanied by any 3rd party ( NGO or the Police ) the infirmaries barely admits them. They are denied of basic installations of wellness attention. This peculiar population frequently finds troubles in keeping their paperss like individuality cogent evidence paperss, Because stateless people normally have no topographic point at all to hive away their ownerships, they often lose their ownerships, including their designation and other paperss, or happen them destroyed by constabulary or BMC which is really common in Mumbai. One a young person from Murti Galli, Khar route narrated me how he lost his paperss in Mumbai inundations, 2006. Many times they are chased off from the railroad platforms, foot waies etc. Without an ID cogent evidence, they are denied to entree many societal services schemes. Many do non possess basic citizenship cards, like elector ‘s ID, ration cards etc. Sing at the scope of exposures that this peculiar population faces and their issues with wellness, I have the sentiment that they should be the precedence as a mark group in any public assistance strategies. As a typical societal public assistance strategy RGJAY has neglected this peculiar unseeable population by utilizing a debatable standard to aim population ‘Within India, there has been turning controversy around the appraisal of poorness, peculiarly in the period of economic reforms. First, there are relentless dissensions among economic experts on whether the rate of poorness diminution after economic reforms was slower than in the preceding period. Second, the displacement to targeted, instead than universal, public assistance strategies has witnessed the usage of poorness estimations to make up one's mind on the figure of families eligible to entree these strategies ‘ ( Ramakumar 2010 ) . The appraisal of poorness in India is controversial, with many committees coming up with different poorness lines. ‘Errors of â€Å" incorrect exclusion † in targeted programmes in India are due to the separation of the procedures of ( a ) the appraisal of the figure of hapless and ( B ) the designation of the hapless. It is for the absence of a dependable and executable method of uniting appraisal and designation that political and societal motions have been demanding the universalisation of public assistance strategies like the PDS ‘ ( Ramakumar 2010 ) . The RGJAY has besides used the undependable BPL/APL cards to place the donees excepting many of the population who needs such strategy the most. It ‘s high clip the authorities as a public assistance province device new aiming system for public assistance strategies which is inclusive of all the fringy and unseeable population, they are the 1 who needs such intercession the most, or universalise basic public assistance strategies with respect to wellness, nutrients and support etc.