Gujarat Human Rights Commission seeks report on workers entering gutters sans mask

By Our Representative
The Gujarat State Human Rights Commission has asked the Patan district collector and the chief officer, Patan municipality, to respond detail within 20 days on what action have they taken regarding a complaint it received on gutter workers being forced to enter into manholes without necessary safety equipment, including oxygen masks, putting at risk their life.
Pointing out that this happened on July 28, 2017, the complaint, by Pankaj Buch of the Ground Reality Foundation, forwarded to Kamal Dayani, social justice and empowerment secretary, and Mukesh Purie, urban development secretary, says that this state of affairs suggests that the contractors acted without caring for the life of the sanitary workers.
Noting that the Prohibition of Employement as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013, bars any worker to enter into underground gutters, the complaint further said, the is work usually handed over to a contractor, who illegally sub-contracts, which is against Supreme Court and High Court rulings.
Wondering whether Patan municipality officials checked things, Buch said, there have been several deaths as a result of such negligence on the part of the officials and contractors across. Asking the Gujarat government to cancel all such contracts, he added, concerned officials' responsibility should also be fixed.

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India under Modi among top 10 autocratizing nations, on verge of 'losing' democracy status

By Rajiv Shah
A new report, prepared by a top Swedish institute studying liberal democracy, has observed that there has been a sharp “dive in press freedom along with increasing repression of civil society in India associated with the current Hindu-nationalist regime of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.” The report places India among the top 10 countries that “have autocratized the most”. Other countries that have been identified for rolling towards autocracy are -- Hungary, Turkey, Poland, Serbia, Brazil, Mali, Thailand, Nicaragua and Zambia.

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By Shamsul Islam*
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Border conflict? RBI nod India's 'brotherly' help to China internationalise its currency

By Bhabani Shankar Nayak*
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By Shamsul Islam*
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By Shamsul Islam*
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Hurried nod to Western Ghat projects: 16 lakh Goans' water security 'jeopardised'

Counterview Desk
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Letter to friends, mentors: Coming together of class, communal, corona viruses 'scary'

By Prof (Dr) Mansee Bal Bhargava*
COVID greetings from Ahmedabad to dear mentors and friends from around the world…
I hope you are keeping well and taking care of yourself besides caring for the people around you. I’m writing to learn how is the science and the society coping with the prevention and cure of the pandemic. I’m also writing to share the state of the corona virus that is further complicated with the long-standing class and communal viruses.

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By NS Venkataraman*
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Case for nationalising India's healthcare system amidst 'strong' private control

Counterview Desk
A draft discussion note, prepared by Dr Maya Valecha, a Gujarat-based gynecologist and activist, sent to the People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) as also a large number of activists, academics and professionals as an email alert, is all set to create a flutter among policy experts for its strong insistence on nationalizing India’s healthcare system.

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