VOL. XXXVII NO.

48 PAGES 40

NEW DELHI 2-8 March 2013

` 8.00

DEATH PENALTY : VIEW POINTS

[ Md. Afzal Guru was executed in February 2013 within three months of 26/11 attacker Ajmal Kasab being hanged. Justice Verma Committee did not recommend death penalty as it got overwhelming suggestion against it. The Union Government recently promulgated an ordinance prescribing death penalty in case of rape leading to the victim's death or victims slipping into persistent vegetative state. These recent events have brought into limelight the issue of death penalty. Employment News presents below some of the view points regarding the issue of death penalty. Justice (Retd.) VR Krishna Iyer spoke to A.M Thomas, Dy. Director, Press Information Bureau in Cochin. Chief Justice (Retd.) VN Khare gave his views in an interview to Anurag Misra Chief Editor and Irshad Ali Editor, Employment News. "Death penalty should be abolished even for terrorists" views Justice (Retd.) Krishna Iyer while, Justice (Retd.) VN Khare says that "death penalty is justified for terrorists activities and no to total abolition of death penalty"].

Excerpts
1) The mercy plea of Md. Afzal Guru was rejected after Supreme Court ordered death penalty. His case was seen as rarest of rare. Is death penalty justified? Your views. Justice VR Krishna Iyer (VRK): I have taken the view consistently for a long time as judge of High Court and of the Supreme Court that death penalty should be totally abolished. The trend in the world appears to be for an abolition of capital sentence altogether. If at all, it can be given only in the rarest of rare cases. Being a larger bench this view prevails. I still maintain that as far as possible wholesale abolition should be the trend. Even the WHO and a huge majority of nations have taken the view that death penalty, without exception, must go. Justice VN Khare(VNK): In my opinion, the principle of death penalty in rarest of rare cases shall be maintained. My view is that the stage has still not come in India to completely abolish the death penalty like countries in the European Union or the UK have done. For heinous crimes, when there is inside sabotage or inside revolt or outside attacks and given India's geographical situation and sensitive neighborhood, death penalty for terrorists and their activities must be on the statue books. Regarding sex crimes including rapes, based on my long tenure as a judge and as a lawyer, I am strictly not in favour of

death penalty. Incidents like rapes happen in lonely places which are outside public view and there is no witness. In such cases victim's statements and physical examination are very vital. If there is death penalty in every rape case, then accused will commit two offences, first he has committed rape and secondly he will try to wipe out evidence and will try to finish the victim to escape. So in my view, there should be penalty of 50 years of jail or something like that. In case, rape is followed by murder of course there is death penalty. 2) Is capital punishment a deterrent? VRK: In my view, it is not a deterrent. In spite of the fact of continuation of death penalty for centuries, murders continued as ever before because the gallows are no deterrent at all. Murders are committed by emotion of the moment. VNK: How many murder cases have been stopped even after death penalty? Everyday such acts take place in every district. Have these been stopped? The human nature is such to try to escape. In ordered to stop further crime including rapes, in cases crimes are followed by murder, the death penalty principle of rarest of rare cases shall continue. 3) If government does not handle such cases with tough measures including execution, India would be seen as soft state. In the United States of America death penalty has not been obliged and USA has sent

many terrorists to the gallows. VRK: What the USA has done need not be followed by the rest of the world. Even in America several states have abolished the death penalty. So too in Great Britain. For instance, the great Mountbatten was killed and the killer was awarded death penalty. Meanwhile Britain has abolished death penalty and so the murderers of Mountbatten was not executed. It is surprising that an inconsistent view was taken. VNK: No. Are western countries branded as soft state? In fact, in pardon cases there shall be objective criteria. Death penalty should be converted into remission. There should be exception to this. In those acts where the country's integrity is being destroyed there shall be no relaxation at all as in the case of Afzal Guru. For such acts death penalty should be awarded. But in other cases, you have to see objectively, first what are the motives for committing crime and secondly you should observe whether the accused has remorse for the crime that has been committed. If the accused has remorse, such a person can be reformed and also the efforts shall be to reform a person and not to destroy human life. There are many crimes which are committed and accused after the incidents may feel that he has committed the wrong. These crimes including rapes are result of instant emotions.

In terrorist activity, there is no remorse. The mind set of terrorists and everything is so fixed up and planned, there is no remorse. In such cases, death penalty is the answer. 4) If death penalty is abolished what is the alternative to bring terrorists to justice? VRK: As far as terrorists are concerned, they may be confined to jail for life or in solitary confinement. That will be a better remedy. So far as India is concerned, the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi's vision and mission were wholly against death penalty. The absolute impotence of death penalty as a deterrent is obvious from three instances: inspite of the existence of a provision of death penalty, Mahatma Gandhi, one of the noblest members of our country was murdered brutally, likewise Abraham Lincoln, one of the sons of the United States was shot point blank although there was death penalty in the book and Jesus Christ the like of whom mankind has not produced another was sentenced to death judicially. Alas! capital sentence rarely says no to the murderer. VNK: I do not subscribe to the total abolition of death penalty. There should be death penalty on the principles of rarest of rare cases. Where India is attacked all over the borders, where terrorists are active you cannot abolish death penalty.

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Direct Benefit Transfer : Seeds of a Revolution

-- N.Nawin Sona
It has been called a game-changer, a nation wide technology backed initiative that promises to change the way government delivers entitlement to citizens. In its first phase, the Direct Benefit Transfer Scheme was rolled out across 20 districts and the second phase began in February. The following article looks at the launch of DBT in Wardha (Maharashtra)
ardha district's brush with history started with none other than Mahatma Gandhi deciding to establish Sevagram Ashram in a small village. It may be difficult to fathom that Quit India Movement decision were taken here in amongst serene grove of Sewagram - in a bamboo hut started the small and humble beginnings of a revolution that shook the world , taught humility to the empire and granted dignity and freedom to a whole nation. These seeds of revolution are once again growing root in Wardha. The revolution is in the form of Aadhar based Direct Benefit Transfers (DBT), which has been successfully launched from 1st January, 2013. For a nation the size of India, to call DBT as a paradigm shift would be only part of the truth - indeed it is a confluence of three different paradigms 1) Financial Inclusion 2) Direct Cash/Benefit/ Subsidy transfer and 3) UID.

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BSP
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WCL
Western Coalfields Limited requires 242 Mining Sirdar and Surveyor (Mining)

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CSL
Cochin Shipyard Limited invites applications for 213 Supervisory and Workmen posts.

with rainfed Cotton, soya and tur as main crops. The district has 8 talukas, includes Sewagram, Bor Tiger reserve as prominently. Wardha is on the Pilot for DCT/DBT , one of the 43 districts selected by the Prime Minister and the Planning Commission. But it is notable that prior to the announcement of the DBT Wardha was already in the pioneering pilots for many schemes namely i) one of the 10 districts in National Pilot for DCT in fertilizer "mFMS" mobile Fertilizer Monitoring System , implemented by the Department of Fertilizer , ii) initially called Direct Transfer of Cash for Kerosene ( DTCK ) , from the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas iii) NSAP National Social Assistance Program of the Ministry of Rural Development and by own initiative in other Aadhar based schemes

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Aadhar
The district has more than 87% UID coverage. The District administration through the State Registrar Agencies enrolled in Phase I and Phase II ,

including special camps. The enthusiasm generated by the public resulted in going ahead with the Aadhar seeding of various databases in the district. First to begin was the PDS Ration Card digitization through the NIC developed ERCMS software. As part of the deduplication drive the Aadhar numbers were Seeded into the database. The pioneering effort came in the form of "Inorganic Seeding" through a special software. Through this rapid probability matching was possible with great accuracy. Other databases followed : NSAP ( Sanjay Gandhi Niradhar Yojana - A Govt. of Maharashtra pension scheme 22 thousand beneficiary with UID ), MGNREGA job card holders, LPG connection holders database . With these digitized lists were generated and Seeded with field verification as necessary.

Wardha - an introduction
Wardha district 75 km away from Nagpur has a population of 12.99 Lakhs, primarily agro economic region

Financial Inclusion
Wardha is also a leading Financial Inclusion ( FI ) district , which was initiated by the RBI, and later institutionalized by
Continued on page 40

www.employmentnews.gov.in

Employment News 2-8 March 2013

GEOLOGY AS A CAREER
G
eology is the study of the origin, evolution, structure and behaviour of the Earth. It includes the study of constituents of Earth-organisms, natural resources and environment, and extends to explore the solar system and its planets. It finds application in several fields like agriculture, mining, civil engineering, etc. The study of geology paves the way to a better life. It helps discover the rich resources of the Earth while highlighting the importance of using them judiciously. It throws light on impending natural disasters that threaten the survival of living beings and leads to disaster control solutions. As an academic discipline, Geology is vast field of an applied science. The knowledge, skills and research of professionals in this field, directly affect human life in a variety of ways. Some of the activities taken up by geologists include: Studying the origin and transformation of the planet and computing its physical properties Predicting its behaviour like movements of continents, rise/fall in sea level and rock formations Analysing the past and current climates, understanding global climate patterns and forecasting the weather Reducing human suffering and loss of property due to natural disasters like volcano eruptions, earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, landslides and tsunamis Exploring for precious natural resources like oil, natural gas, fuels, metals, minerals and ground water Determining environmental impact and sustaining the balance of ecosystems Maintaining agricultural productivity Providing technology support like resource mapping, remote sensing, recycling technology and computer simulations Devising solutions for global warming, climate change, pollution, waste disposal, contaminated lands Developing land usage plans Academics Geology is offered at Bachelor's, Master's and Ph.D levels. Various colleges across the country offer B.Sc programmes with Geology or Applied Geology as an honours subject or one of the subjects in the group. The Master's programme, M.Sc Geology, comes with specialisations like Structural Geology, Mineralogy, Petrology, Hydrology, Oceanography, Volcanology, Sedimentology, Planetology, Meteorology, Geomorphology, Atmospheric Science, Environmental Science, Soil Science, Geological Engineering, etc. Apart from strong technical skills, commitment to protect the planet, unbridled curiosity, problem solving attitude, sense of exploration and perseverance are extremely vital to succeed in the field of geology. Career Geology presents diverse career options. Based on the area of specialisation, geologists can don a variety of roles of diverse work nature. Some of the roles they can assume include Structural Geologists, Stratigraphers, Geomorphologists, Petrologists, Geophysicists, Geochemists, Geographers, Geohydrologists, Oceanographers, Atmospheric Scientists, Engineering Geologists, Meteorologists, Palaeontologists, Paleoe -cologists, Mineralogists, Petroleum Geol- ogists, Soil Scientists, Sedimentologists, Seismologists, Volcanologists and Geochronologists. Job opportunities are innumerable for geologists. Declining natural resources, rising environmental concerns and repeated natural calamities have increased the demand for these professionals. Government organisations, NGOs, research organisations and educational institutions actively hire geologists. Defence and para-military forces, transportation departments and municipal corporations also avail the services of geologists. The Union Public Service Commission conducts tests for employment of geologists in central government agencies like Geological Survey of India (GSI) and Central Ground Water Board. In the private sector, cement manufacturing, mineral exploration, mining, oil, gas and petrol exploration, natural resources, waste disposal, environmental consulting and civil engineering companies provide jobs for geologists. Top companies that hire geologists are GSI, ONGC, Coal India, BPRL, GSPC, Oil India Limited, Central Ground Water Board, Mineral Exploration Authority, Hindustan Zinc, NMDC, Cairn India Limited, Reliance Industries Limited and Essar Oil Limited. Coming to research prospects, most universities, IITs, research institutes like National Institute of Oceanography, National Geophysical Research Institute, Physical Research Laboratory and Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology provide research facilities. Challenges A job in the field of geology usually involves a lot of adventure and fieldwork. So, it can be strenuous both in terms of physical and mental strength. Geologists should be willing to be away from home for long periods of time and live in hospitable places like deserts, mountains and mining locations. In the endeavour to collect information, they often witness natural occurrences like volcanic eruptions, avalanches and earthquakes first-hand. Geologists are the custodians of the Earth and life on it. They are protectors of its resources and environment for sustainability.

Colleges and Courses

College Indian Institute of Education and Research, Kolkata Course Five years Integrated BS- MS programme in Earth Science. Eligibility 10+2 Admission Performance at Kishore Vaigyanic Protsahan Yojna (KVPY) SX, SB, SA and SP streams/Kishore Vaigyanic Protsahan Yojna (KVPY) SX, SB, SA and SP streams or marks obtained in qualifying examination and IISER science aptitude test Performance at IIT JEE/marks obtained in qualifying examination Website www.iiserkol.ac.in

DIARY OF EVENTS
(15.02.2013 to 22.02.2013)
The British Prime Minister Mr. David Cameron during his recent visit to India held bilateral talks with the Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh. The highlights of the bilateral talks included UK's assistance on the Augusta Westland helicopter deal, for launching negotiations for a civil nuke cooperation pact, for stronger cyber security laws, sharing its data to fight against tax avoidance and tax evasion, to remove barriers to investment and for more relaxed visa regime for Indian businessmen, students and both sides agreeing to double bilateral merchandise trade by 2015. France Presidents first India trip. India and France concluded negotiations for co-developing a short-range air defence system worth around ` 30,000 crore.

University of Delhi, Delhi

Five years Integrated M.Sc. Earth Science Two-year M.Sc in Earth Science Two-year M.Sc in Geology and Applied Geochemistry Two-year M.Sc in Geology Two-year M.Sc in Geology Two-year ME in Geoinformatics

10+2

www.du.ac.in

University of Goa, Goa Osmania Univesity, Hyderabad Sri Venkateswara University, Tirupathi Andhra University, Visakhapatnam Anna University, Chennai Jawaharlal Nehru Technological Institute, Hyderabad Guru Jambheshwar University of Science and Technology, Hisar, Haryana

Graduation in relevant discipline B.Sc Geology or B.Sc (Geoexploration and Drilling Technology) B.Sc with Geology

www.unigoa.ac.in

Performance at entrance test

www.osmania.ac.in

The International Court of Arbitration at Hague upheld India's right to divert water from the Kishanganga hydro-electric project (KHEP) in Kashmir. The court rejected Pakistan's contention that India was violating the project in Gurz valley near Bandipura in north Kashmir. UAE to invest $ 2 b in Indian Infrastruture to assist in the construction of strategic oil reserves. Centre notifies final cauvery award. The notification, which was issued as per the Supreme Court direction will come into effect within 90 days. A record 92% of Tripuras 2,358,493 voters exercised their franchise. Polling was mostly peaceful for the 60 member assembly. New thermal plant for Jharkhand. The Cabinet Committee on investment approved the setting up of 1980 MW North Karanpura Super Thermal Power Plant in Jharkhand by the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC). The government placed an ordinance promulgated by the President on February 3 bringing provisions of stringent punishment for offenders of sexual crimes in the Rajya Sabha. A Bill to replace the ordinance will be brought in Parliament soon. B. Surender Mohan, CMD, NLC, was presented with CEO with HR Orientation Award at the World HRD Congress 2013 held at Mumbai. Ela Bhatt gets Indira Peace prize for the year 2011. The Hindu Literary prize goes to Jerry Pinto Child's Pose, a Romanian drama about a domineering mother using her social position to try to save her son from jail, won the Golden Bear for best picture at the Berlin film festival. Sanskrit Heritage Caravan launched. The Sanskrit Caravan is part of Indian Heritage Caravan, an initiative of Press Council of India and former Supreme Court Judge aimed to promote, preserve and propagate Indian languages like Sanskrit and Urdu. Australia pulled off a 114-run victory against West Indies to win the Women's World Cup (Cricket) for a record sixth time. World champion Viswanathan Anand notched up his first title of the year when he scored an emphatic victory over German Arkadij Naiditsch to lift the Grenke Chess Classic trophy.

Performance at entrance test

www.svuniversity.in

B.Sc with Geology BE/ B.Tech (Civil/ Geoinformatics) or M.Sc Applied Geology BE/ B.Tech in relevant discipline

Performance at entrance test Performance at TANCET or GATE

www.andhrauniversity.info www.annauniv.edu

Two-year Performance at www.jntu.ac.in M.Tech in entrance test or GeoinformGATE atics and Surveying Technology Two-year M.Sc in Earth Science/ Performance at www.gjust.ac.in M.Tech in Environmental GATE or Geoinformatics Sciences/Agromete- performance at orology/ Agronomy/ entrance test and Soil/Physics/Geomarks obtained in physics/ Applied qualifying Geology/Mathematics/ examination Remote Sensing/ Computer Sciences/ IT/ Software/Geology/ Oceanography/ Urban and Regional Planning/ Geography/ MCA/ or BE/B.Tech in Civil/ IT/ Electronic and Communication/Computer/ Mechanical Engineering/ Agricultural Engineering/ Electrical Engineering/ Electronic and Electric Engineering with at least 55 per cent marks in the qualifying examination (The write up is contributed by TMIE2E Academy Career Centre Based in Secunderabad e-mail : faqs@tmie2e.com)

DELHI POSTAL REGD. NO. DL-SW-1/4101/2012-14U(C)-108/2012-14 Licensed to Post without prepayment RNI 28728/76 N.D.P.S.O. New Delhi 1/2.03.2013. Date of Publishing : 25.02.2013 (` 8.00)

40

www.employmentnews.gov.in

Employment News 2-8 March 2013

Direct Benefit ....

Continued from page 1 the 2011 Swabhimaan scheme implemented by the Ministry of Finance and the Indian Banking Association ( IBA ). The initiative is to bring "the bottom of the pyramid" into the Banking ambit and proactively provide "branchless banking services" through Kiosk Banking, Ultra Small Branches ( USB ) and importantly through the doorstep delivery of Banking Correspondents ( BC ). This is in addition to expanding the footprint and density of the Brick and Mortar Branches ( B&M ) and ATMs ( both on site, within Bank and offsite , independent of Bank ). The FI initiative brings together efforts to 2000-5000 population villages where BCs are deployed by the banks,who open bank accounts, credit and debit at the doorstep, and also serve as loan recovery agents , working on salary with performance based incentives. In Wardha lot of effort had been put into the FI activities, resulting in more than 10 Lakh Bank Accounts out of 13 lakh population, making it a truly Financially inclusive district. The BCs include enterprising women, some of whom have opened more than 2000 accounts in 6 months single handedly. In November - December 2012 alone nearly 40,000 new zero balance savings accounts were opened . This was possible through the innovation of inclusive methods of account opening - by involving the ANMs, ASHA workers, all the field staff of various departments and by giving them incentives of Rs10/account by the bank . Hence the lead bank, Bank of India and 16 other banks , by there proactive steps, and by an active service area approach made the district more Financially inclusive. Wardha was choosen because of the strong FI base, extensive UID coverage, digitised databases and tech savvy

administration who forged support of banks and IT sector together on a war footing in the district. Hence when DBT was announced by the Planning Commission , Wardha district had already done the Direct Cash Transfer through the Aadhar Payment Bridge into the Aardhar Enabled Bank Accounts of 369 beneficiaries in Sanjay Gandhi Niradhaar Yojana. Challenges were enormous 1) the first step being digitizing the beneficiary data 2) data cleaning 3) standardizing of data 4) UID enrolment drives for target group 5) bank account seeding to get Aadhar Enabled Bank Accounts ( AEBAs ) 6 ) establishing BC network 7) getting the Aadhar Based Micro ATM machines. Initially in November Seloo Tahsil became the first where Aadhar based transfers were done in the NSAP- Sanjay Gandhi Pension scheme of Maharashtra Govt. It was a great leap forward in reaching out to the beneficiaries - old women, men , living alone and truly on government pensions alone. Special drives were taken to open their accounts and give benefits right at the door step. Meanwhile the important decision of DBT was announced and 6 schemes were launched by the district.

JSY beneficiary to withdraw the benefit on same day. Now Wardha has already launched 6 schemes including Scholarships for SC, ST, OBC students and pre matric Scholarship for children JSY and National Means cum Merit Scheme of Ministry of HRD. Also Wardha is in the process of implementing mFMS , the fertilizer sub-

will be possible for farmers. On the LPG front, the OMC dealers databases are being seeded with the UID numbers. Other innovation is that IT Department authorized Citizen Service Centers in villages offering online services will be operating as BCs for Aadhar based services. Wardha by its seeding exercise of UID

First end to end DBT in India

As a result, on 28th November 2012, Wardha did the first end to end CPSMS based DBT in the country , wherein in the same day the beneficiary payment order was uploaded into the CPSMS ( Central Plan Scheme Monitoring System portal of the Planning Commission and CGA , Ministry of Finance ), and transferred to the beneficiaries account by afternoon and subsequently and most importantly the money was withdrawn on the same day by the beneficiary through a BC Micro ATM at the bed of the Civil Hospital, Wardha. Smt.Farzana Pathan become India's first

sidy pilot , to be launched shortly after which the fertilizers will be available in Wardha only at market price, and on logging of the transaction through as PoS device , the AEBA will receive the subsidy. 2 lakh farmers accounts are being Aadhar seeded now and more than 80 thousand KCC Rupay Cards are being issued, where cashless credit transaction

numbers into beneficiaries has opened the way to innovation in IT and in FI. In all more than 3 lakh beneficiaries will come under DBT by April 2013. (The author is an IAS officer and is Collector and DM, Wardha, Maharashtra. e-mail: collector_wardha@maharashtra.nic.in)

WHY DEATH PENALTY CAN NEVER BE THE ANSWER?

-- Vrinda Grover

apital punishment entails the termination of the life of a person who is convicted of certain offences. The penal laws of different countries vary in the nature of the offence that would attract the punishment of death. The Justice Verma Committee in its report on Amendments to the Criminal Law submitted on 23rd January 2013, has recognized that the death penalty is an irrevocable form of punishment, and that awarding the death penalty even in cases of aggravated sexual assault might be against Indias international obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The Committee had concluded, The seeking of death penalty would be a regressive step in the field of sentencing and reformation. It is generally recognized that the punishment of a crime ought to be proportional to the extent of harm that has been caused by the act in question. It has been noted in many jurisdictions that the granting of death penalty can never be proportional. This stems from the fact that as a society we grant a high inherent value to life. Therefore, an extremely high threshold should be used to determine those circumstances in which life can be taken away. In fact, over 150 States in the world have abolished the death penalty entirely. It is in this background that we need to examine whether India ought to be looking towards expanding the number of offences in which the death penalty is awarded. The Supreme Court in Bachan Singh v Union of India and other subsequent cases have tried to lay down guidelines for awarding the death penalty, stating that it is to be awarded in the rarest of the rare cases only. This doctrine in itself is vague and has problems as it does not clearly define what is meant by the rarest of the rare. However, even these attempts have failed to ensure that a con-

sistency in the cases where the death penalty has been awarded as stated by the Supreme Court recently in Sangeet and Anr v State of Haryana that even though Bachan Singh intended principled sentencing, sentencing has now really become judge- centric. The report titled Lethal Lottery: The Death Penalty in India, (A Joint report presented by The Peoples Union for Civil Liberties and Amnesty International) demonstrated that the administration of death penalty has been arbitrary and erratic. In fact, it can be seen that the majority of people who have received the death sentence are from the weaker sections of the society, lower castes and religious minorities. Recently, 14 former judges wrote to the President of India asking him to commute the sentence of death penalty that was granted to 13 convicts. The letter states that the Supreme Court has admitted to the wrongful administration of death penalty in the case of these 13 convicts. This shows that it is extremely difficult to ensure that the death penalty is consistently enforced or that the judicial process is infallible. This is a strong argument for abolition of the the death penalty. Capital punishment is generally given for the purpose of deterrence and/or retribution. However, research has shown that neither of the mentioned objectives is achieved in upholding the sentence of death for a criminal. The fact that cases of rape have a conviction rate as low as 26% shows that perpetrators of sexual violence enjoy a high degree of impunity, and are usually acquitted. The most important factor that would act as a deterrent in cases of sexual assault would be the certainty of punishment, and not the severity of it. According to the UN Working Group on Human Rights in India, the murder rate has declined consistently in India over the last 20 years

despite the slowdown in the execution of death sentences since 1980. This shows that awarding the death penalty might not have the deterrent effect envisaged. Another important aspect that has to be considered is that if the death sentence is awarded in rape cases, it provides an incentive to the rapist to murder the victim. If death is the consequence of both rape and rape followed by murder, the rapist is given an impetus to murder the victim in an attempt to destroy the evidence of his heinous crime. Furthermore, it is necessary that there are no hindrances in the reporting of the crime itself. As it stands, sexual offences are reported less than other crimes. The already low rate of reporting coupled with the fact that in most cases of sexual assault, the victim knows the perpetrator is another reason that the death sentence should not be given. The granting of death penalty in cases of sexual offences where the victim and the perpetrator are known to each other would actually prove to be a deterrent in their reporting. Moreover, in cases of sexual assault where the perpetrator is in a position of power (such as in cases of custodial rape or caste and communal violence), conviction is notoriously difficult. If the death penalty is at stake, there is a greater incentive to law enforcement agencies to ensure that the complaints do not get registered, and justice is not achieved. Thus, introduction of the death penalty would make obtaining convictions even more difficult. In this light, we need to recognize that every human being has a right to life, and thus, be extremely hesitant in awarding the death penalty, even in the rarest of the rare cases. Awarding death penalty is not the answer, but rather, a wide set of systemic changes in the law, its strict and professional enforcement and reforms in the judicial process are imperative. To

end the culture of rape and sexual assault we need to address the entrenched inequality, prejudice and discrimination against women in society. The brutality of the gang rape suffered by the young woman on 16th December 2013, and which caused to her death, led to outrage in our society. Surely there are other ways of responding to the aggressive and brutal criminal conduct. Hanging a few will not make secure womens right to life and personal liberty. It is a moment for us to reflect collectively. It may only serve to give the State greater control over our lives even as we all drown in the whirlpool of violence and despair. (The author is a well known lawyer who works on human rights. e-mail : vrindagrover@gmail.com)

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Printed & Published by Ira Joshi, Additional Director General, on behalf of Publications Division, Ministry of I & B, Govt. of India, New Delhi and Printed at Press Amar Ujala Publication Ltd., C-21 & 22, Sector-59, Noida-201301. Published from Employment News (Ministry of I. & B.) East Block-IV, Level-5, R.K. Puram, New Delhi-110066. Editor, Nalini Rani