Why can't you grant amount equivalent to Sardar Statue for Kerala flood rehab? Medha Patkar asks Modi

Medha Patkar addressing a gathering Kerala

Counterview Desk
In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Kerala floods following her visit to the affected areas, top social activist Medha Patkar has wondered as to why is there shirking of responsibility on the part of his government and hesitation to declare it as a national disaster.

Text of the letter:

Who doesn't know about the heavy rainfall as well as formidable flooding in Kerala, resulted out of water released from number of dams? It is a natural calamity faced by this small yet bountiful state following Tsunami and Ockhi type of cyclone.
On seeking information from all our colleagues in the field we have confirmed that till date water have not receded from all areas and at places where people who are struck, there is dearth of transportation such as helicopters and others for rescuing the people and for ensuring that the materials reach the dam affected families and communities.
Whatever we had experienced during Kosi floods of Bihar is likely to be repeated in Kerala as well. However Kerala is a small state and country is large enough to take care. It should be a priority, therefore to bring together vehicles and all kinds of transportation at national level for the state of Kerala.
The sensitivity and empathy needed for this huge task should be aroused, while the same seems to be lacking as witnessed not only by people of Kerala but across the country. It was also noticed and realized from our meetings and dialogue with the Ockhi cyclone-affected fish workers that Minister for Defence Nirmala Sitharaman had not taken prompt and proper steps for bringing military and lift t and save their life.
Will the same insensitivity be shown this time too in the case of Kerala? Will the members of your cabinet including water resource minister, finance minister, defence minister will take this issue with utmost urgency? You, Mr Prime Minister, know when a small state like Kerala faces such a big calamity; will you require any proof to understand the gravity of the situation? Vinash ka Darshan in the exhibit of development?
The citizens of this country fail to understand as to why is there shirking the responsibility on the part of your government and hesitation to declare it as a national disaster. After having been compelled to release water from 35 dams not only the property destroyed in the flood but the livelihood, natural resources, the main source, will have to be regenerated without wasting time. The state government has requested all Rs 8000 crore when the losses are huge and much higher.
Why give them just a relief fund of about Rs 500 crore? After all when in Kerala an extravagant infrastructure projects including the dams on the rivers are pushed and the nature has caused a formidable impact as the reversal, the budget for some upcoming large projects is certainly going to be saved. Your government therefore certainly has the capacity to fulfill the requisition of the state government. But is there a will, May we ask?
You, Mr Prime Minister, sir, is to be tested on both the issues of national disaster and the funds to be granted by the central government. If you cannot even grant or gift the amount equivalent to the huge amount being spent on Sardar Patel statue, then the common people will certainly watch and weigh. Sardar Patel also will mourn in his coffins, no doubt.
Please do think and respond.

Comments

Urgent need to study cause of large number of natural deaths in Gulf countries

By Venkatesh Nayak* According to data tabled in Parliament in April 2018, there are 87.76 lakh (8.77 million) Indians in six Gulf countries, namely Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). While replying to an Unstarred Question (#6091) raised in the Lok Sabha, the Union Minister of State for External Affairs said, during the first half of this financial year alone (between April-September 2018), blue-collared Indian workers in these countries had remitted USD 33.47 Billion back home. Not much is known about the human cost of such earnings which swell up the country’s forex reserves quietly. My recent RTI intervention and research of proceedings in Parliament has revealed that between 2012 and mid-2018 more than 24,570 Indian Workers died in these Gulf countries. This works out to an average of more than 10 deaths per day. For every US$ 1 Billion they remitted to India during the same period there were at least 117 deaths of Indian Workers in Gulf ...

A comrade in culture and controversy: Yao Wenyuan’s revolutionary legacy

By Harsh Thakor* This year marks two important anniversaries in Chinese revolutionary history—the 20th death anniversary of Yao Wenyuan, and the 50th anniversary of his seminal essay "On the Social Basis of the Lin Biao Anti-Party Clique". These milestones invite reflection on the man whose pen ignited the first sparks of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution and whose sharp ideological interventions left an indelible imprint on the political and cultural landscape of socialist China.

India's health workers have no legal right for their protection, regrets NGO network

Counterview Desk In a letter to Union labour and employment minister Santosh Gangwar, the civil rights group Occupational and Environmental Health Network of India (OEHNI), writing against the backdrop of strike by Bhabha hospital heath care workers, has insisted that they should be given “clear legal right for their protection”.

Uttarakhand tunnel disaster: 'Question mark' on rescue plan, appraisal, construction

By Bhim Singh Rawat* As many as 40 workers were trapped inside Barkot-Silkyara tunnel in Uttarkashi after a portion of the 4.5 km long, supposedly completed portion of the tunnel, collapsed early morning on Sunday, Nov 12, 2023. The incident has once again raised several questions over negligence in planning, appraisal and construction, absence of emergency rescue plan, violations of labour laws and environmental norms resulting in this avoidable accident.

History, culture and literature of Fatehpur, UP, from where Maulana Hasrat Mohani hailed

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat* Maulana Hasrat Mohani was a member of the Constituent Assembly and an extremely important leader of our freedom movement. Born in Unnao district of Uttar Pradesh, Hasrat Mohani's relationship with nearby district of Fatehpur is interesting and not explored much by biographers and historians. Dr Mohammad Ismail Azad Fatehpuri has written a book on Maulana Hasrat Mohani and Fatehpur. The book is in Urdu. He has just come out with another important book, 'Hindi kee Pratham Rachna: Chandayan' authored by Mulla Daud Dalmai.' During my recent visit to Fatehpur town, I had an opportunity to meet Dr Mohammad Ismail Azad Fatehpuri and recorded a conversation with him on issues of history, culture and literature of Fatehpur. Sharing this conversation here with you. Kindly click this link. --- *Human rights defender. Facebook https://www.facebook.com/vbrawat , X @freetohumanity, Skype @vbrawat

Job opportunities decreasing, wages remain low: Delhi construction workers' plight

By Bharat Dogra* It was about 32 years back that a hut colony in posh Prashant Vihar area of Delhi was demolished. It was after a great struggle that the people evicted from here could get alternative plots that were not too far away from their earlier colony. Nirmana, an organization of construction workers, played an important role in helping the evicted people to get this alternative land. At that time it was a big relief to get this alternative land, even though the plots given to them were very small ones of 10X8 feet size. The people worked hard to construct new houses, often constructing two floors so that the family could be accommodated in the small plots. However a recent visit revealed that people are rather disheartened now by a number of adverse factors. They have not been given the proper allotment papers yet. There is still no sewer system here. They have to use public toilets constructed some distance away which can sometimes be quite messy. There is still no...

Women's rights leaders told to negotiate with Muslimness, as India's donor agencies shun the word Muslim

By A Representative Former vice-president Hamid Ansari has sharply criticized donor agencies engaged in nongovernmental development work, saying that they seek to "help out" marginalizes communities with their funds, but shy away from naming Muslims as the target group, something, he insisted, needs to change. Speaking at a book release function in Delhi, he said, since large sections of Muslims are poor, they need political as also social outreach.

Warning bells for India: Tribal exploitation by powerful corporate interests may turn into international issue

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.

Gujarat Bitcoin scam worth Rs 5,000 crore "linked" with BJP leaders: Need for Supreme Court monitored probe

By Shaktisinh Gohil* BJP hit a jackpot in the form of demonetisation, which it used as an alibi to convert black money into white in Gujarat. Even as party scrambles for answers of how the Ahmedabad District Cooperative Bank (ADCB), whose director is BJP president Amit Shah, received old currency worth Rs 745.58 crore in just five days, and how Rs 3118.51 crore was deposited in 11 district cooperative banks linked with Gujarat BJP leaders, a new mega Bitcoin scam, worth more than Rs 5,000 crore has been unraveled.

Counterview

Search This Blog