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Showing posts from July, 2013

Fresh danger to democracy: Candidates with criminal records have better chances to win, says ADR-NEW

  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.

RTI application reveals in a decade Gujarat govt handed over 81.95 crore sq m farm land to industrial houses

Narmada command decommanded 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.

Govt of India finally decides to bring in new mental healthcare bill to address "inadequacies" in the system

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".

Environmental group Toxics Watch Alliance opposes shipbreaking yard at Mundra, asks GoI to scrap project

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."

Gujarat’s gharib kalyan melas failed to reduce poverty: Planning Commission

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”. An 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. In fact, an analysis of poverty line data of different states over the years suggests that the rate of poverty reduction in Gujarat between 2004-05 and 2011-12 was 15.2 per cent. This was worse than as many as eight out of 20 major s...

"People's charter" opposes nuclear plant for Mithi Virdi in Gujarat, says India is on "suicidal path"

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)".

Good governance in Gujarat? Labour has "no value", industry's wage bill is less than most states

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."

Samerth study points towards poor state of Integrated Child Development Scheme in Gujarat's minority area

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.

Go tough against industrial estate units in Central Gujarat dumping effluents in village pond: Environmentalists

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.

Fisherfolk walk of out public hearing on Bhadbhut project, say it would adversely affect their livelihood

Officials at the public hearing 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.”

Lack of transparency, casual attitude on the part of Central child rights body baffle activists

In a Bt cotton  field... 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.

Medha Patkar refuses any out-of-court settlement in the infamous attack on her at Sabarmati Ashram in 2002

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.

Rate of growth of real wages of rural workers in Gujarat slower than most states, suggests study by ex-ILO scholar

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.

Death of three workers in Surat sewerage plant: What's there to investigate now, wonder NGOs

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.

Is Gujarat govt camouflaging dropout data of lower primary? Flash data show very high repeaters

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.

Untouchability and Modi's babus

R Parthasarathy Recently, a prominent Gujarat-based activist handed me over a Gujarat government-sponsored report, "Impact of Caste Discrimination and Distinctions on Equal Opportunities: A Study of Gujarat", drafted in May 2013. Authored by a few CEPT University, Ahmedabad, scholars led by Prof R Parthasarathy, whom I know as a fine academic, I scanned through the report but was not shocked, as I knew it would simply reflect the mindset of the Gujarat government, especially when the issue involved is rather ticklish - untouchability. It calls caste discrimination a matter of "perceptions", but so what? What does one expect from a government headed by Narendra Modi? Let me recall, in 2007 Modi got published some of his speeches he had delivered at the annual bureaucratic conclave, Chintan Shibir, in a book, "Karmayog", where he said, Valmikis cleaning up others' dirt was nothing but "an internal spiritual activity" which has "continued g...

Poor performance in teaching children a major roadblock in Gujarat: DISE data

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, drinking water faci...

Medha Patkar vs Gautam Adani in MP? Green tribunal admits petition against Adanis' Chhindwada power project

Medha Patkar 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."

Gujarat campaign suggests people want political parties to be under RTI ambit

Ballot box on RTI amendment 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.

It's official, Bharbhut barrage is for corporate sector: Industry to get lion's share from stored water

Narmada river 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.

Proposed Bharbhut barrage across Narmada mouth has made fishermen uneasy, admits state-sponsored study

Narmada river at merging into sea 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.”

Need for policy intervention for conflict-induced internally displaced persons

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,...

83 gutter workers died of suffocation since 2005; kin of 32 have not received government compensation

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.

UNICEF comes down heavily on Gujarat's social indicators, says they do not keep pace with economic growth

In a major criticism of Gujarat's social sector, United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), has said that "from an ancient shipping power to modern-day industrial state, Gujarat is known for its vibrant economy", and "located on India’s west coast, the state has a bustling economy that offers families a per capita income which is higher than the national average" -- but as for "social development indicators" these "have not been able to keep pace with economic development in this state of over 60 million people."

Average per capita expenditure on education much lower in Gujarat: NSSO

The latest National Sample Survey Organization (NSSO) report, “Key Indicators of Household Consumer Expenditure in India” , released in June 2013 and based on sample survey in 2011 and 2012, does not just suggest that the average Gujarati both in rural and urban areas is forced to spend a higher proportion on food items compared to non-food items, which include anything ranging from paan and tobacco to clothing, footwear, fuel and light, transportation, education, health and entertainment . The NSSO data also suggest that while the average Gujarati would like to “save” on education and healthcare, thereby spending a relatively smaller amount than most other states on the items under the two categories, he diverts his attention towards spending a much higher sum on edible oil, milk and milk products and paan, tobacco and intoxicants. At the same time, the survey finds out that the average Gujarati spends less on cereals, a major source of nutrition in a state where consumption of eggs, ...

Economic discrimination of lower castes remains intact: CEPT varsity study

The latest Gujarat government-sponsored and CEPT University-prepared study, “Impact of Caste Discrimination and Distinctions on Equal Opportunities: A Study of Gujarat” — whose declared effort is to “review” the 2010 report prepared by the John F Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights and Navsarjan Trust, “Understanding Untouchability” — may have undermined untouchability as some kind of a “perception” issue. However, its second effort, to “prove” how scheduled castes (SCs) have improved their economic status over the years falls flat the moment one scans through the main part of the report, which consists of a plethora of data collected by scholars on economic profile of SCs, other backward classes (OBCs) and other castes and communities (OCCs). In fact, of the nearly 230 pages of the functional part of the study, the scholars, led by Prof R Parthasarathy, devote nearly 200 pages on economic profile, educational, health and other facilities, and how the three groups have been get...