Counterview

By A Representative Gujarat government has refused to accept the main demand of the Jameen Adhikar Andolan Gujarat (JAAG) for cancellation of the special investment region (SIR) notification for the Bhechraji-Mandal SIR, proposed as an industrial hub spread over 44 villages encompassing 530 sq km. A JAAG communique, following a meeting between JAAG representatives in Gandhinagar with a ministerial committee appointed by Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi to look into JAAG demands, said, "The ministers categorically refused to entertain the demand for withdrawal of the SIR notification."

By Ashok Shrimali* Warning bells are ringing for India. Even as news drops in from Odisha that Adivasi villages, one after another, are rejecting the top UK-based MNC Vedanta's plea for mining, a recent move by two senior scholars Felix Padel and Samarendra Das suggests the way tribals are being exploited in India by powerful international and national business interests may become an international issue. In fact, one has only to count days when things may be taken up at the United Nations level, with India being pushed to the corner. Padel, it may be recalled, is a major British authority on indigenous peoples across the world, with several scholarly books to his credit. 

By A Representative In a new analysis, Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and National Election Watch (NEW) have found that out of 62,847 candidates who contested either Parliamentary or State Assembly Elections since 2004, as many as 11,063 18% had declared that they had criminal cases against themselves. Further, of the 8,790 candidates (8%) candidates had declared that they had serious criminal cases against themselves.

By A Representative Ahead of the crucial environmental public hearing (EPH) of the Adani Port and Special Economic Zone Ltd. for the proposed ship recycling facility at village Tunda, taluka Mundra, district Kutch, scheduled for July 30, 2013, top environmental NGO Toxics Watch Alliance (TWA) has in a strongly-worded letter to the chairman of the inter-ministerial committee (IMC) on ship breaking, Union Ministry of Steel, asked for not allowing the proposed project.The TWA has made its conclusions on the basis of the what it calls "lessons learnt from the destruction of coastal environment at Alang beach", which allegedly "create a compelling logic against yet another ship breaking beach in India."

By A Representative Mental Healthcare Bill 2012, a considered a path-breaking law, is learnt to have received approval from the Indian Cabinet and is now awaiting parliamentary nod away from being enacted. Reliable sources close to the development say, after ratifying the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) in 2008, India was "under obligation to amend its disability laws to meet CRPD norms".

De-commanded By A Representative A right to information (RTI) application has revealed that the Gujarat government has acquired and handed over a whopping 81.95 crore square metres of land to top industrial houses, most of it dirt cheap, over the last one decade. It also revealed that the price at which the land -- which belonged to farmers, or was common village gochal land meant for cattle -- varied between a mere Re 1 to Rs 900, depending on the area, but in every case much less than the prevailing market rate.

By A Representative A people's charter on nuclear energy was adopted at a convention of prominent intellectuals and activists in Ahmedabad which voiced concern of the people of Mithi Virdi (Gujarat), along with other places where nuclear power plants are being put up -- such as Koodankulam (Tamil Nadu), Jaitapur (Maharashtra), Kovvada (Andhra Pradesh), Gorakhpur (Haryana), Chutka (Madhya Pradesh) and Haripur (West Bengal). It supported what it called "relentless struggles against these anti-people and unsafe nuclear power projects being promoted by the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL)".

By Rajiv Shah  The Planning Commission of India’s new report put out in July 2013, “Poverty Estimates 2011-12”, which based on the National Sample Survey’s “Key Indicators of Employment and Unemployment in India, 2011-12”, published in spring 2013, has gone a long way to disprove state government propaganda that Gujarat’s gharib kalyan melas, held last year ahead of the state assembly elections, suggested a “model for other states to follow for reducing poverty”. A counterview.org analysis of comparison between 20 major states suggests that things have not been as rosy in Gujarat, as has been suggested. There is no doubt that, as data suggest, after 2004-05, there has been acceleration in the rate of poverty reduction. But this is true of the entire country, and not special to Gujarat.

By Ashok Shrimali* The Jharkhand Human Rights Movement has asked Satyabrata Pal, member, National Human Rights Commission, to urgently investigate and take "necessary legal action" on police firing, took place at Pagar village comes under Keredari police station of Hazaribagh district in Jharkhand at 1 pm on July 23, 2013, which led to death of Mr. Kesar Mahato and caused several injuries. 

By Rajiv Shah Latest Planning Commission estimates suggest a major setback to Gujarat as far as poverty reduction is concerned. If between 2004 and 2010, Gujarat witnessed 8.6 per cent reduction in poverty, which was higher than the national average of 7.4 per cent, between 2010 and 2012 not only the percentage of poverty reduction come down to 6.4 per cent, it was below the national average of 7.9 per cent, too. Worse, if during 2004-10 Gujarat’s poverty reduction rate was higher than in as many as eight states, the number of states which saw a higher poverty reduction in the 2010-12 phase went up to 10 out of 20 major states.

By Rajiv Shah  Top Gujarat-based social scientist, Prof Ghanshyam Shah, has accused the Gujarat government of "overtly and covertly undermined the existing labour laws which provide some protection to workers" in order to invite investments in Gujarat. "The state government has amended labour legislations to provide freedom to industry to employ labour on contract basis", he said, adding, the result is, "Ahmedabad has the lowest labour costs among the major cities in India, with labour costs less than 50 per cent of those in Delhi and 40 per cent below those in Pune."

Counterview Desk A study by Samerth, a non-government organisation working among the backward sections of Muslim population in Ahmedabad, has found that there is not just a tremendous shortage of anganvadis among the minority pockets, especially in the Juhapura area, but also whatever anganvadis operate they are extremely poorly equipped to take care of small children. Part of the Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) launched by the Government of India, the areas where the study was carried out had a very high percentage of children, forming about 39.5 per cent of the population.

By A Representative In major environmental disaster in Central Gujarat, the Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation (GIDC) estate in Penoli has been found illegally filling up a huge village pond nearby with untreated effluents flowing out of the industrial units. Top environmentalists belonging to the Paryavaran Suraksha Samiti, Vadodara, Rohit Prajapati, Kantibhai Mistry, Ziya Pathan and Trupti Shah, backed by villagers under deputy sarpanch Salim Patel, have claimed that thanks to their intervention Gujarat Pollution Control Board (GPCB) officials were forced to visit Sanjali village, whose pond was polluted like this.

Officials at the public hearing By A Representative Gujarat government-sponsored environmental public hearing for the proposed Rs 4,000 crore Bharbhut barrage project on river Narmada’s mouth in Bharuch district has proved to a non-starter. While as many as 1,500 farmers and fisherfolk turned up to attend the hearing on July 19, they all walked out, en mass, soon after sharply registering their protest against the proposed project as “anti-people”. The walkout took place immediately after Pravin Tandel, the fisherfolks’ local leader, spoke saying the project would “adversely affect the fish catch, especially Hisla, once the it is implemented.”

By A Representative In an order which can adversely affect further construction of the Narmada dam, the Madhya Pradesh High Court has given its accent to the right to land-based rehabilitation of thousands of Sardar Sarovar Project affected families (PAFs), directing the Government of Madhya Pradesh (GoMP) and the Narmada Valley Development Authority (NVDA) to stop all cash payments in lieu of land entitlements. Recently, a high-level inter-state meeting in New Delhi cleared the proposal to raise the dam height to full reservoir level, 138.64 metres from the present 121.92 metres.

In Bt cotton field By A Representative A high-level consultation in Ahmedabad by the National Commission for the Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), New Delhi, a statutory body under the ministry of woman and child, Government of India, is said to have left several state non-government organisations (NGOs) dissatisfied over the top body's refusal to show transparency. Chaired by Nina Nayak, member, NCPCR, with consultant Swati Chavla sitting next to her, a statement by Dalit Hak Rakshak Manch (DHRM), one of the participating organisations, said, while the meeting was meant for discussing issues on child rights, the media was not invited. On the other hand, state intelligence bureau (IB) persons sat through to note what all Gujarat activists had to say.

By A Representative The Jameen Adhikar Andolan Gujarat (JAAG) and the Azad Vikas Sangathan, the two main organisations campaigning against the Mandal-Bhecharaji special investment region (SIR) in North Gujarat, have sharply criticised certain unnamed "individual in the business of land dealings" for "raising a pro-SIR voice." A joint statement issued by them said, they have "gone to Gandhinagar with their demand", adding, "We need to remain alert and continue our efforts to strengthen the local organisation, the Azad Vikas Sangathan, and the movement against the SIR."

By A Representative Two senior leader of of Jameen Adhikar Aandolan Gujarat (JAAG), which is behind the campaign against the Mandal-Bhechraji special investment region (SIR), Lalji Desai and Sagar Rabari, have finally admitted that the movement they were leading today stands divided in the face of the powerful offensive launched by the Gandhinagar rulers. In a statement, they have explained how this happened starting with July 9.

By A Representative Over 700 non-resident Indians and citizens have signed onto an online petition addressed to the President of India, expressing their support for the decision of the Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) on June 3, 2013, to bring six national political parties of India under the purview of the Right to Information (RTI) Act. Since the national political parties receive substantial funding from the government for their functioning, they were deemed by the CIC as public authorities, under Sections 2(a) and 2(h)(d) of the RTI Act.

By A Representative   Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) leader Medha Patkar has refused any compromise with Ahmedabad-based businessman-cum-activist VK Saxena of the National Council for Civil Liberties in the Sabarmati Ashram case, in  which she and other activists were attacked during participation in a protest meeting against the Gujarat riots in 2002. The refusal came in the wake of a suggestion from the judicial magistrate at Saket Court, New Delhi, who  was hearing defamation case filed by her against Saxena, and vice versa.

A manual scavenger at work in “posh” Navrangpura area of Ahmedabad By Jitendra Rathod* Despite strong denials from the Gujarat government, the heinous practice of manual scavenging remains prevalent in Ahmedabad city, the business capital of the state. Manual scavenging is manual removal of excreta (night soil) from “dry toilets”, which are toilets without modern flush system or adequate water supply. A just-completed survey by Manav Garima, a community-based organization, fighting for the rights of the scavenging community, Valmikis, in Ahmedabad, has found that there are 126 spots where manual scavenging is practiced under the aegis of the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC). More, the survey suggests, 188 dry latrines still continue to operate in the city. The practice continues in violation of the Employment of Manual Scavengers and Construction of Dry Latrines (Prohibition) Act, 1993, which provides for punishment to those employing manual scavengers or those who order construct...

By Rajiv Shah Close on the heels of the latest National Sample Survey Organization (NSSO) data having revealed that average wages paid both in organized and unorganized sectors in Gujarat are one of the lowest in the country (click HERE for the report), a new study has found that the rise wages in the state has remained dormant for nearly a decade. Carried out by AV Jose, formerly with the International Labour Organisation's permanent secretariat in Geneva, and now associated with the Centre for Development Studies, Thiruvananthapuram, the study, titled “Changes in Wages and Earnings of Rural Labourers” has found that an average male worker in Gujarat who earned Rs 100 in 2001, earned Rs 114 in 2010, while the average female worker who earned Rs 100 in 2001, earned Rs 119 in 2010.

By A Representative The Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation (GSPC), the premier state public sector undertaking (PSU), has again failed to get environmental and coastal regulatory zone (CRZ) clearance for its proposed onshore gas terminal, a 20 MW captive power plant, 20 underground gas pipelines along with optical fibre cable (OFC), and 10 inches effluent disposal pipeline -- of which it badly needs for commercial production of KG basin gas it struck several years ago. Some of these facilities were to pass through CRZ area of Yanam-Puducherry along the Andhra Pradesh coast. It simultaneously  failed to get clearance for its offshore process-cum-living quarter platform in KG Basin in Andhra sea, where the top PSU had claimed in 2005 to have found 20 trillion cubic metres (tcf) of gas -- a claim which has been questioned.

Protest against administrative apathy towards IDP colony in Vatwa By Hofeza Ujjaini and K Mohan Krishna* The communal carnage in Gujarat, which took place in 2002, not only saw the death of nearly 2,000 persons, mainly Muslims, but it also forced thousands of people to flee from their residence, whether it was an urban township or a village. They fled in search of security and safety. The Gujarat government did set up 102 relief camps to cater to the immediate need of the security and shelter of those who were forced to flee. By the first week of April 2002, an estimated 1,13,697 people from the minority community were living in these camps. All these persons fitted well into the United Nations Guiding Principles on Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), which say that IDPs are “persons or groups of persons who have been forced or obliged to flee or to leave their homes or places of habitual residence, in particular as a result of or in order to avoid the effects of armed conflict, situ...

By A Representative No sooner the Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) constituted a committee to "investigate" if there was  negligence on part of the contractor, Enviro Control Associates, operating the sewage treatment plant (STP) at Singanpore, where three contract labourers died on July 9 because of suffocation in a chamber of the plant, voluntary organisations fighting for the cause of manual scavengers in Gujarat have declared it is an "eye-wash." The committee consists of three members -- city engineer Jatin Shah, former city engineer V D Patel and associate professor of L D Engineer College, C G Bhagchandan.

By Teesta Setalvad* Seven days before Reuters published its exclusive, a privilege denied by PM aspirant to an Indian news agency or channel, we had been contacted persistently by a Reuters correspondent while I was in New Delhi (July 5). Not Ross Colvin or Sruthi Gottipati who now carry the journalistic honour of grabbing moments with a man who rarely likes to be questioned, especially if the questions are persistent like say those of Karan Thapar in 2007.

By Rajiv Shah Is the Gujarat government hiding a high dropout rate at the primary level in the state, especially at the lower level (grades 1 to 5)? It would seem so, considering that the latest data, provided by the Gujarat government to the Union ministry of human resources suggest a very high "repetition rate" at the lower primary level, 6.67 per cent, as against the national average of half as much, 3.17 per cent. In fact, it is the the second highest in the country -- next to West Bengal's 10.90 per cent and equal to Bihar. The data are reflected in the latest "Flash Statistics" of "Elementary Education in India: Towards Universal Elementary Education", put out by the Government of India, put out this month.

Medha Patkar By A Representative The National Green Tribunal (NTG) has admitted application against the Adani Pench Power Project, filed by Medha Patkar, Aradhana Bhargava and farmers of the Kisan Sangharsh Samiti, Chhindwada. The National Allianace for People's Movements (NAPM), the apex body of several people's organisations across India,  has said, "In a significant order dated on July 11, 2013, the Principal Bench of the National Green Tribunal, New Delhi, permitted Medha Patkar, Aradhana Bhargava, Sajje Rao and other project affected villagers to go ahead with the petition filed by them, challenging the environmental clearance (EC) granted to the Adani Pench Thermal Power Project in Chhindwara, Madhya Pradesh."

By Rajiv Shah  Latest data released by the Government of India’s District Information System for Education (DISE), which claims to be the basis for assessing the progress under Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) and the status of implementation of the Right to Education (RTE) Act, suggest that primary education remains an area of much concern in Gujarat, despite wide-scale efforts made by the Gujarat government through its Kanya Kelavni school enrolment drive. Provisional flash statistics published in the just-released book, “Elementary Education in India: Progress towards Universal Elementary Education (UEE)”, go to show that Gujarat is strong in education-related infrastructure and can claim to doing much better than most states on this score, but when it comes to human resource development, which is the primary aim of education, it is one of the worst performers. Indeed, whether it is number of classrooms, number of kitchen sheds for midday meal scheme, number of computers in schools, ...

Anti-SIR stir... led by rich farmers By A Representative Lalji Desai and Sagar Rabari, main leaders of the Jameen Adhikar Andolan Gujarat (JAAG), have claimed "victory of the people’s movement" against the Mandal-Bechraji special investment region (SIR). A statement issued by them suggests that they were "convinced" by Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi, who met them in Gandhinagar on Thursday. The meeting came amidst apprehensions among a section of activists fighting against the SIR that the movement would fizzle out, as it is mainly led by rich and propertied land owners, who had limited interest in ensuring that their landed interests were taken care of. Only one demand appeared to have been satisfied, that the Narmada command would not be de-commanded.

Ballot box on RTI amendment By A Representative Gujarat is witnessing a unique movement against the proposed amendment to the right to information (RTI) Act, which seeks to keep political parties out of the RTI ambit. While all political parties are supporting the amendment, a campaign by the Mahiiti Adhikar Gujarat Pahel (MAGP) has shown people are against it. The campaign -- which is spread to major cities, towns and villages -- last reached Surat, where awareness meetings were held in City Light Area, Maharana Pratap Garden and SVR college, Udhna-Magdalla road and Varachha road.

Counterview Desk The new state-sponsored report, “Environmental Impact and Risk Assessment for the Proposed Barrage across River Narmada near Bhadbhut, Dist. Bharuch”, by Government of India consultants National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI), has insisted on a “study of catastrophic flooding that may occur in the event of barrage … failure is of great concern and importance because of the risk of life and property in the down stream of the structure.” The report has been prepared for discussion at the environmental pubic hearing on the Rs 4,000 crore Bharbhut project, to take place on July 19 near Bharbhut.

Narmada river By Rajiv Shah It is finally official. The proposed barrage at Bharbhut, which is to be built for Rs 4,000 crore on the mouth of Narmada river, and for whom an environmental public hearing is expected to take place on July 19 in Bharuch district, is slated to serve the corporate houses, who have heavily invested in the Bharuch-Dahej region. This is clear from the data provided by the state-sponsored report, "Environmental Impact and Risk Assessment for the Proposed Barrage Across River Narmada near Bhadbhut, Dist. Bharuch", by top consulting firm National Environmental Engineering Research Institute.

Narmada river at merging into sea Counterview Desk In a major admission, a state-sponsored study, “Environmental Impact and Risk Assessment for the Proposed Barrage Across River Narmada near Bhadbhut, Dist. Bharuch”, by top consultants National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI), has said that “in the event of construction of the barrage and the creation of the fresh water reservoir at the barrage, the concern of the fishermen regarding deprivation of the presently available fishing advantage is quite genuine that deserves very careful consideration for policy-level action.”

By A Representative The movement against the plan to convert the Mandal-Bhecharji region into a special investment region (SIR) is fast acquiring a spontaneous character. Even as leaders of the Jamin Adhikar Andolan Gujarat (JAAG), who spearheaded the movement against SIR a year ago, were busy working out a new strategy in Gandhinagar's Ambedkar Hall, nearly 10,000 women met in village Dalod to on Monday to protest against the proposed Mandal-Bechraji SIR. "They had done so on their own, right from the planning to the logistics management", said Persis Ginwall, a senior activist involved in the movement.

By A Representative The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has served a notice on the Gujarat government over the latter’s failure to pay compensation payable against the death of gutter workers in the state. The notice has asked Gujarat chief secretary Varesh Sinha to provide “complete details” on why compensation has still not been paid to the kin of as many as 29 safai kamdars. Under an August 2009 notification, the Gujarat government is obliged to pay Rs 2 lakh to the kin of those gutter workers who die on duty.

A new study, “Homeless in Homeland: A Study on Internally Displaced Persons in India”, prepared by the Centre for Social Justice, Ahmedabad, has identified the urgent need for a major policy intervention to take care of the internally displaced persons (IPDs) who are forced to leave their habitat because of violent conflicts. Based on a survey of five states, it wants a law to protect the IDPs and calls for action to protect them in the intervening period. A report: *** While conflict-induced internally displaced persons (IDPs) are increasingly being recognized internationally as an important category who need urgent attention in the countries where such displacement takes place due to violence, pitifully, in India, so far, no police framework, let alone a legal framework, exists which can take care of them. The UN Guiding Principles on IDPs describes IDPS as “persons or groups of persons who have been forced or obliged to flee or to leave their homes or places of habitual residence,...