Petition Tag - equality

Age discrimination has at last been recognised and considered an illegal practice in Britain today and it is time a similar measure was taken against gender preference, the discrimination unrecognised.

While women have fought for the right to go out to work and become equal citizens with equal pay, the emphasis has shifted away from men who can no longer even get accepted into admin roles so long as there are young women applying. Despite being equally qualified, it’s a multiplied task for male applicants to get accepted into positions such as secretarial, PA, human resources or even receptionists and offices across the land are still 80% female.

Young females are the ones selected who go onto promotion breaking through the glass ceiling never thought possible. Where does this leave men, particularly the older ones?

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July 26, 2006

Cheshire is the only county in England that does not have its own dedicated news page on the BBC.

Surfers seeking news from Chester, Nantwich, Wilmslow, Vale Royal, Macclesfield, Crewe, Congleton etc, are forced to search for local news on the news pages for Merseyside, Manchester and Staffordshire.

Even then, coverage is very sparse, compared to news reporting from the major towns in the adjoining regions. Cheshire is a very large county and deserves its own coverage as much as the other English counties. Local news for local people!

Complaining individually to the BBC produces one of the following responses:
- we don't know why there is there no Cheshire coverage, we'll look into it.
- please look on the news pages for adjacent counties.
- it's not viable.

Why is it not viable? We are licence payers - we deserve equality of coverage. The BBC's attitude is disgraceful at best.

The BBC website also does not provide coverage for Cheshire regarding non-news, such as its "What's On" pages - typing in your postcode directs you to the nearest major town in an adjacent county.

Furthermore, there is no BBC Cheshire radio station and searching the BBC website for information on Cheshire weather displays weather maps for Liverpool to Glasgow, North Wales or Staffordshire, none of which show any Cheshire towns.

For the latest updates on the campaign, we invite you to read the campaign blog at http://newsforcheshire.blogspot.com/

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May 30, 2006

Gradually over the years we have found that the judiciary's teeth have been blunted by politicians in parliament.

It's just a matter of time before we can talk in the past tense, of the judiciary as a pillar of democracy. The Supreme Court it seems has taken note of the situation arising out of Anti Reservation protests and asked the Centre for details on how the implementation is to be carried out.

But it will be very naive to expect that the SC can really give the meritorious future of India any justice. This is no pessimism, at one point of time the Chief Justice has made a comment to the effect let the government shut down the courts. The immediate recent examples of mockery that come to mind is that of illegal constructions in Delhi and of course our own Surupsinh Naik in Mumbai who has been sentenced to Jail for contempt but is partying at a government hospital entertaining guests, ordering pizza's and samosa's, we are told he suffers from a heart ailment. The SC may consider sending him a get well soon card.

I request the SC to force a review of the reservation policy which is, as being implemented and practised today, biased and contrary to the principles of equality and justice as enshrined in the constitution.

If at all there have to be reservations (whatever be the criteria), before being implemented let there first be a census as to what castes/class? in what numbers? and where? are in need of reservation in the India of today. There should also be a comprehensive plan, to periodically say every FOUR years, review whether the implementation is in the right direction and if not-why??? which caste/class now does not need the crutches anymore?

Also the likes of Lallu's, Paswan's, Bhujbal's and others should be struck off the list of BC/SC/ST or whatever other class that the politicians may ingeniously create as they now form the ruling elite.

Let there be no politics with the future.

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This petition is in response to the proposal for 27% reservation quota in favor of the backward classes by HRD Minister Arjun Singh.

This letter voices the strong opposition to this recent proposal, and is not by any means, must be seen as an evidence of contempt towards the SC/ST/OBC. In the form of this letter, we attempt to initiate the realization of the major flaws in the whole system.

To do so, we require to carefully examine the legal, economical and the logical aspects as to why these quota reservations could pose a major threat to the well being of our country.

Need for Reservation- Reality or Myth?
The basic motive was to give the students belonging to the SC/ST/OBC equal opportunities because of their social disadvantages and lack of resources & exposure.

We need to ask ourselves: Has this motive been accomplished by the said reservation quotas?? Ask any doctor or engineer who has graduated with the tag of 'quota' and it will be clear that the procedure has failed to achieve genuine equality, depriving us from the Fundamental Right to Equality.

Constitution and Reservation:
Where articles 15 and 16 ensure every citizen freedom and equality before law, the unpractical provisions for reservation only highlight the contradictions in the machinery of the government.

Reservations were a part of the constitution when it was released in 1950. However, that was supposed to be a temporary measure and was to last for 10 years.

Part XVI of the Constitution makes certain reservations for the SC/ ST/ OBC for their election in the Legislative Assemblies and the House of People. Article 334 expressly provides that the reservations and special representations will cease after a period of fifty years. An Amendment (79th amendment w.e.f. 25-1-2000) to the Constitution in 1999 extended this time frame of fifty years to sixty years. Is this justified? Isn't this detrimental to the interests of the general members of the country who will now consider themselves unfortunate for not being tagged as "depressed" classes.

More than 50 years later the reservations continue to exist and have only become higher with passing years. The politicians, in an attempt to woo more votes from the public, continue to reserve more and more seats for SCs/ STs/ OBCs. This makes us feel as if the government covers its vested interests and political peripherals in the large cloak of democracy.

Certain Consequence of Reservation Regime:
The following are the sure consequences in case if the reservation regime is passed inspite of major oppositions by the IITs, and IIMs:

• The caste-hatred in the country will increase, leading to aggravated tensions in the IIT and IIM class rooms.

• Youngsters will lose faith in the democratic system of the country. If vote banks are so important to our politicians then we assure them that they'd lose a considerable part of it. We will not stay unplugged.

• The benefit of reservation is always lapped up by the quota-students coming into the creamy layer, not being entitled for reservation, while candidates who may be more meritorious miss out on those seats. Such candidates might decide to go abroad, considering their encroachment of opportunities, to accomplish their further studies. This results in India losing talented people, who could have been the country's future.

• The quota system, created to facilitate the poor, ends up wrongly being utilized by children of rich people, ministers and IAS officers belonging to SC/ST/OBC. The government and the ministers need to sit and carefully analyze the possible effects on their moves.

• Quota helps students secure seat, not degree. This is a hard truth.

• Brain Drain- With the reservation regime being proposed with ease and pomp, most of the parents are pushing their children to pursue their academics from institutions abroad sans the inequality and the so called privileged treatment confined only to the "depressed" classes. This will result in a major brain drain. There will be a time when we'll have to have reservation.

• It is a well known fact that Where there is a Will, there is a way. If a certain member of the so called SC/ ST/ OBCs is really deserving and hard working then he/ she will surely rise through the ranks. There are already a lot of opportunities. People don't ask you now whether or not you are a member of SC/ ST/ OBCs if you're hard working enough. Then why should the SC/ ST/ OBCs come out and expressly mention their caste details in order to be treated in a privileged manner? Dr. Ambedkar, too, worked his way to the top in an era that was plagued with inequality and untouchability sans the reservation and quota policy. It is surprising to not to know any famous person who has reached the heights that Dr. Ambedkar himself has reached inspite of the quota tainted five decades. This is the biggest failure of the concept of Reservation.

• Most quota students are not able to meet the standards of IITs, IIMs or other Indian institutes which are now globally acknowledged. These places of learning will have to bring down their standards and compromise on quality, which will, as an end-result affect the efficient development of the nation. It remains to be seen if the politicians consider their vote banks as important or the economic development of their country and the integrity of the constitution.

• The placements of these revered institutes too bear the brunt.

Some statistics that highlight that Reservation Regime will lead nowhere:

• The majority of quota students have failed to achieve even average performance:
o At IIM-Lucknow in 2004-05, large number of quota students failed to clear PG prog-I
o At GSVM Medical College, Kanpur, 50%admitted under quota flunk this year,35% get grace marks.
o 60% students fail to clear BSc exam,50% BCom and 40% BA under Allahabad University.

• The government might be pushing for reservations for OBCs, but as things stand on the ground, even the 22.5% quota (SC/ST) in higher educations remains unfilled.

• DATA collected by HRD Ministry for 2003-04 (latest figures available) show that the total number of students in higher educational institutes-a little over one crore-only 16% are SCs/ST. Which clearly means even with the existing quota, 6.5% of reserved seats are going vacant.

• The ministry's data on admission says:
o In classes 1 to 5, as many as 27% of students are from SC/ST category.
o In higher classes, heir number reduces - so that only 24% SC/ST students remain in class 5 to 8, and just 19.1% in class 12.
o Of the 1489 seats in IIMs, 16.4% are filled up by SC/ST students.
o In IITs,it is about 18%.

• Even now more than 60% of the students, whose performance are discussed in the Student Review Committee meetings of IIT Delhi, belong to the reserved categories.

o The cumulative grade point average of these students hovers in 5-6.5 range.
o This despite the fact that a one year preparatory course in Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics is conducted for them.

• Moreover, its not just academics that suffer in the hands of reservation. We feel that government is dragging down the level of premier institutions instead of trying to bring them up to international levels.

Alternative solutions to the hike in quota:

• The number of seats in premier institutes may be increased, but then the quality of education should not be hampered, to attain which, it will be necessary to increase the teaching faculty as well along with the infrastructure.

• The unavailability of seats is not as big a problem to the SC/ST/OBC as their financial crunch is. Assistance may be provided in the forms of scholarships.

• The expenditure on higher and technical education is 0.4% and 0.1% of GDP, respectively. This should be raised.

• Progeny of those who have got a position through quota should be denied the same privilege. One 'quota-case' in every family is sufficient.

• The misuse of the quota by the powerful and the rich should be taken care of. Proper investigations and checks must be undertaken by the ministers who so loudly advocate the reservation regime.

• The level of primary and secondary education must be boosted. All the problems start from primary level itself, if a student does not have a strong base, then he cannot complete higher education successfully.

• The government should make efforts to uplift backward classes by strengthening the educational base of these classes at the primary level. Caste does not define how intelligent a person is. Rather it is differences in resources and exposure.

• The government should start some campaigns to ensure that students from all sections of society are encouraged to pursue studies atleast till 12th standard.

• Reservations in premier institutes are of no use unless creamy layer of students is kept out of it.

Merit V/s Quota
* FICCI president Y K Modi on September 4, 2004: "No where in the world is there reservation in the private sector".

* CII president Anand Mahindra on May 31, 2004: "The concept of reservation without reference to merit could have a distorting effect on the operations of the private sector".

* Ratan Tata: "Though I do not want to comment on it (reservation), it is bad in some way, it will tend to divide the country into different groups." " While uplift of socially backward classes is important, merit is an important aspect and should not be compromised"

* Assocham president K Sanghi on June 14, 2004: "It will have a far reaching impact on the industry as it may completely destroy the meritocracy in such units and bring inefficiency".

* FICCI president Y K Modi on September 04, 2004: "We oppose it as the move is against industrialisation and will lead to job reduction".

* NASSCOM president Kiran Karnik on May 31, 2004: "It will completely destroy the meritocracy in the private sector".

* Pune-based Alfa Laval India's MD Satish Tondon on August 08, 2004: "If I employ 1,000 staff, 5 per cent reservation would mean I have to recruit 50 people I may not need".

In the end we'd like to mention that the upliftment of socially backward classes is important, merit is an important aspect and should not be compromised. If the quota system has failed to serve the purpose till now, how is it going to help by increasing it?

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March 15, 2006

• In 1987, the Center for Creative Leadership concluded that women as a group are kept from advancing not because of their individual abilities but because they are women.

• Some people think the glass ceiling from 1987 still exists, others think it has been shattered, and yet others think it is more a plastic ceiling; that you can never really break through, as in being taken seriously, but you can advance.

• Female athletes don't sign the multi-million dollar contracts men do,

• In American factories in the 19th century, men got paid $3 and women got paid $1 a week for the same hours.

• On March 7th, 1860, women workers at a shoe factory in Lynn, Massachusetts, went on strike, and wages rose that April.

• NOW (National Organization of Women) was formed in 1960, one of its goals being equal pay for the same job.

• In 1964, congress passed a civil rights amendment originally intended to gain the equality of black people.

o A senator from Virginia added "sex" to race, color and religion so it would look ridiculous and not pass.

o This addition was what made it pass, and under the amendment came the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

• Many employers exercise "tokenism." This is when an employer will hire women (etc.), in a number that the hiring of them is merely symbolic. This creates on-the-surface, but not true, integration.

• Where tokenism or integration isn't present, women mainly work in pink-collar ghettos.

o In service occupations, 7 million men and 10 million women.

o In elementary and high schools, 1.5 million men and 3.5 million women.
o As doctors, 715,000 men and 245,000 women, yet as nurses and lab technicians, 403,000 men and 2.4 million women.

• In 1997, Patty Abramson founded the Women's Growth Capital Fund to help women start their own business. However, out of 1,200 high risk business loans, only 30 were owned by women.

• Women seeking executive jobs know that companies like Reebok (executives are 44% women) will be the best to join.

• Out of 830 executives in the fortune 500 companies, 5 are women.

• The glass ceiling keeps women in pink-collar ghettos too. It affects women in non-traditional unskilled labor jobs.

• According to the U.S. Department of Labor, full-time working women receive 75-77 cents for every $1 earned by a full-time working man.

• Female university professors earn $6,500 less a year than male university professors.

• According to a worker at a consulting firm named "Pam," women are usually hired as assistants while males are usually hired as associates. Associates generally earn more money that assistants, which makes it seem fair.

• In the WNBA, stars earn $50,000 a year, while in the NBA stars can earn $20 million a year.

• Three quarters of women work in pick-collar ghettos with lower pay. These women are "firmly entrenched;" not receiving pension or life insurance in addition to being paid lower or being hired part-time or temporarily and being paid minimum wage.

o Good News for Working Women: More and better jobs in nearly every employment field; less discrimination in the mere hiring.

o Bad News for Working Women: What they find after being hired and while working. Fewer benefits, lower pay and slower promotions as compared to men.

• The toughest challenge can be balancing work and family. Women, stereotypically, have more family responsibility than men, so pursuing a career while having children can be seen as greedy for the woman, but not the man. Some women even quit their jobs to spend more time with their children.

• Many women face prejudice in jobs that require physical strength. Women may also face prejudice because they are assumed to be mentally weak, due to the assumptions that they are caring, kind and loving.

• There is just overall negativity against women that carries its way into the workplace. Men are called leaders, women are called bossy. While women are no less likely to get angry than men, the way women express anger is seen as too emotional, while the same behavior is perfectly acceptable for a man. (Banging a fist on the table while screaming).

• The glass ceiling has not become a cement ceiling. More women are breaking into traditionally male dominated jobs. Women receive perks and promotions and in some cases, in record numbers.

• The glass ceiling has not been shattered either. Tokenism is prominent in the hiring of women in traditionally male dominated fields. They are promoted slowly and seldom, they struggle to balance home and family, they do not receive equal pay for equal work, they are stuck in pink collar ghettos, they earn three quarters of what men earn.

• Thirty or forty years ago, the wage gap was excused as being a result of equal merit. Now, women have all but caught up with men in education and the Equal Pay Act of 1963 and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act have only helped them, but the pay gap has persisted. The reason for this is sex based discrimination.

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Feb 08, 2006

I think that the UK education system which Tony Blair and his MPs run is a discrace!!

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Upon the end of a female freshman basketball's season only a select few make it to the next level--Junior Varsity. However that is not the case for the male freshman basketball players. They have a whole team designated for them: the sophomore team. While the boys have the priveledge of a sophmore team, girls have no such thing. Lady basketball players who may be a little late blooming have no chance. They have no opportunity to fine-tune their skills before the varsity level. A lady sophmore team would in turn help the lady basketball program because it would give them more time to develop and expose the girls to the high school competition level. Opponents in our district would not be hard to find because Plano ISD school have sophmore teams for their boys as well as their girls. Equality among the genders is there…..shouldn't it be here too?

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In 1998, the United Nations finalized the Rome Statute for the International Criminal Court. The statute guarantees a court to deal with the most atrocious criminals on the planet: those who commit war crimes and crimes against humanity. Even recent events, such as the genocide killings in Rwanda, remind us of the importance of a standard, objective Court of Law. The International Court intends to assume jurisdiction only in countries that have ratified the treaty, and only for the most monstrous crimes. The Criminal Court is potentially the most important institution for human rights in half a century.

However, the United States of America have made it clear that they will not ratify the Rome Statute. In 2002, the United States government informed the United Nations that "the United States does not intend to become a party to the treaty." In fact, they are on a diplomatic mission to create impunity agreements for its nationals from the Criminal Court. Basically, these impunity agreements would prevent any United States national from facing the Criminal Court. It is unfair to give one nationality exemption from law which should be standard all over the world. It is neither the intention of the Court, nor the writers of this petition, to take away power or basic rights from United States citizens. Simply, the court was formed to provide equality under the law and this is impossible with the existence of impunity agreements.

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The attacks on pro-mia and pro-ana websites and lifestyles have become out of control. This petition is not to bash fat/obese people, but to seek equality. Pro-ana and pro-mia lifestyles and websites are constantly being criticized and shut down. This is a violation to our First Amendment under the Constitution of the United States. Obesity is not a healthy lifestyle, yet it is widely accepted. Why aren't pro-mias and pro-anas allowed equal treatment? If you would like to help accomplish equality, please sign this petition. Thank you for your signatures.

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In the state of California and other places in the United States, the term "white" is almost entirely used on every standardized and state-issued test. This wouldn't be a problem if all ethnicities were refered to by color (examples: black instead of African-American, yellow instead of Asian-American, brown instead of Hispanic/Latino) however, every ethnicity is given the proper title except for European-Americans. This is a common occourance, especially on the Stanford 9 and other such tests.

Please, people of every ethnicity and State in the United States, sign this in the name of human rights, equality, and freedom.

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Think women have equal rights? Think again. There are still police that will let wives get beaten, saying it is a "Domestic Affair." Discrimination runs rampant in the workplace - espescially male dominated professions. Those of you going into those may have already experienced it in classrooms.

Arguments for why not to pass this amendment go as silly as to say that it will cause the elimination of men's and women's sex-segregated bathrooms. Even if that were true, who would care? It's just a bathroom - why does everybody have to attach a sexual meaning to everything? I really could care less who I am doing my business next to. This legislation needs to get passed and it needs to get passed now.

Those who say a simple amendment cannot change anything are wrong. The 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments to the Consititution form the basis from which the races are guaranteed equality today. We can change society.

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