By Bharat Dogra*  In 2023 the 50th anniversary of the famous Chipko Movement  will be observed. This name (which translated from Hindi means hug the trees) and the movement it represents has caught popular imagination and become almost a household name in India. This refers loosely to a series of efforts, starting about 50 years back in India’s state of Uttarakhand, in West Himalayan region, in which people of these Himalayan villages were involved in protecting trees in natural forests from being axed by contractors or government agencies, as well in asserting more local rights over forests. In Uttarakhand region (then a part of Uttar Pradesh, now a state), forests play a very important role in the life and livelihood of villagers. This socio-economic reality is celebrated in culture, reflected in festivals and folk-songs. Hence it is not difficult to understand that people and communities here have a history of resisting anti-people forestry policies. In an agitation in Rawai area of

By Anjali Bhardwaj, Amrita Johri*  The Satark Nagrik Sangathan (SNS) has compiled a Report Card on the performance of the 29 information commissions (ICs) set up under the Right to Information (RTI) Act across the country. The report can be accessed by clicking here . Highlights of the report: There is lack of diversity in the composition of information commissions, nearly 60% commissioners being retired government officials. Merely 10% of all commissioners across the country have been women. Currently no commission is headed by a woman. Large number of cases being returned by ICs - Several ICs were found to be returning a very large number of cases without passing any orders. The CIC, Uttar Pradesh SIC and Andhra Pradesh SIC returned around 40% of the appeals/complaints received by them. Tardy disposal rate - Several commissions have an extremely low rate of disposal per commissioner. For instance, the SIC of West Bengal had an annual average disposal rate of 222 cases per commission

Counterview Desk  Well-known academic and Magsaysay award winning social activist Sandeep Pandey in an open letter to Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath, alluding to a recent protest padyatra he and his colleagues had planned in support of the Azamgarh farmers' opposition to the international airport, has wondered: why, when their contingent was as small as about a dozen persons, his government was feeling so insecure as to send a huge police force to block it? Accusing the UP police of resorting to illegal ways of violating the fundamental rights of freedom of speech and expression, assemble peaceably, form associations or unions, and move freely, Pandy, who is, general secretary, Socialist Party (India), said, "It is unclear why they have to resort to illegal ways of detaining people, snatching their mobile phones, not allowing pictures to be taken or talk to media while they are in detention without any case being lodged against the detainees." Text:

By Thomas Franco*  Contrary to the claims of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, India is in recession. Even the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) agrees. Inequality is on the rise. From jobless growth, we are in ‘job loss’ growth. Study after study confirms it. Oxfam India Report 2022 on inequality stated that 84% of households suffered a decline in income, whereas the number of billionaires increased from 102 to 142.  While 4.6 crore Indians fell into extreme poverty, the wealth of the billionaires rose from Rs. 23.14 lakh crores to Rs. 53.16 lakh crores. The report suggested that a 1% surcharge on the richest 10% amounting to Rs.7.6 lakh crores will be enough for investments in school education, universal healthcare and social security benefits like maternity leaves, paid leaves and pension for all Indians. That will ease the worsening inequality to some extent. The Credit Suisse report stated that median wealth in India was 50% of the global median in 2000 which has fallen by 41% in 202

By Parineeta Dandekar  In the leaning golden sun, 65 year old Hari Ganpat Nikam dived like dolphin under a wooden contraption in the Vashishti River. He emerged a whole minute later bearing a beautiful woven basket, his right hand placed firmly on its mouth. As he brought the basket closer, he gradually removed his hand. Inside, tens of small fish and crabs shimmered in the evening light. Tonight’s fish curry was sorted. In Chiplun and throughout Western Ghats, tribal Katkari communities have devised an ingenious way of catching riverine fish. This is through what is called as Bandhan. Bandhan is a fishing dam made from wood and vines from riparian trees. It involves laying a strong wooden log (called Vila made of Ain wood, Terminalia elliptica) across the stream, supported by wooden branches in the upstream parallel to the stream. The river is excavated below the horizontal log and woven baskets (called Toke) made of a riparian plant (Sherni, Homonoia riparia) are placed under the dam

By Rosamma Thomas*  In September 2022, in an accident at Palghar near Mumbai, Cyrus Mistry, former chairman of the Tata Group, died in a road accident . On December 28, 2022, a road accident in Mysore left one of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s brothers injured. What is common in these accidents? The car that crashed into the divider on the road, in both these cases, was manufactured by “prestigious” German manufacturer Mercedes Benz. One former dealer of Mercedes Benz cars in India has been raising issues of the threat to the lives of those riding these cars for many years now. Cama Motors, among the oldest dealers of foreign cars, having started business in pre-independence India, noted over 10 years ago that Mercedes Benz was indulging in corrupt practices . The cars are currently priced between Rs 41 lakh and Rs 2.92 crore in India; few people realize that the pride of owning a Merc comes at considerable risk to life. Cama Motors carefully documented several of the flaws on a websi

Counterview Desk  Marking one year of the Government of India withholding the release of over Rs 7,500 crore MGNREGA funds to West Bengal, the civil rights network NREGA Sangarsh Morcha, in alliance with the Paschim Banga Khet Majoor Samity (PBKMS), held Black Day on December 27, with workers holding black flag demonstrations, thaala bajao, road blockade and public meetings. Releasing a note on the occasion along with Status of MGNREGA Employment & Wages in West Bengal by Libtech, India and Fact Finding Investigating the Stoppage of MGNREGA Work and Wages , senior activists Anuradha Talwar, Jean Dreze, Nikhil Dey, Parul Saboo and Sanjay Sahni called it “one year of Injustice: one year of NREGA workers wage theft in West Bengal”. Text : MGNREGA workers in West Bengal have not been paid wages since 26th December 2021 . Today, we mark one year of centre withholding the release of over Rs 7,500 crore MGNREGA funds to the state for ‘non-compliance of central government directi

Counterview Desk  The civil rights group, Dalit Adivasi Shakti Adhikar Manch (DASAM), has complained that the Government of India is not taking cognizance of lives and dignities of the waste collectors on the ground, it is only on paper. "About four million waste collectors in India are suffering to government’s disability to implement its own rules and laws", it said. Stating that most of them belong to Dalit, Adivasi and minority community, it noted, "They moved into big cities in search of livelihood and get entangled in the web of extortion and exploitation by civic bodies. This clearly shows that law in the capital is being mocked by the government’s implementing agencies."  An account of waste picker community's meeting... Text: A meeting of more than 80 families of waste pickers was organized by Dalit Adivasi Shakti Adhikar Manch (DASAM) and other organisations* at the Basti Vikas Kendra, New Seemapuri, Delhi. The Central government launched Solid Waste

By Shamsul Islam*  The following quote is from the first paragraph of Lenin’s “The State and Revolution: The Marxist Theory of the State and the Tasks of the Proletariat in the Revolution” (1917) underlining a cardinal truth: how rulers and their henchmen/women repress those ideologies and individuals who strive to emancipate masses from the exploitative rules. This chameleon like lot uses every trick in their criminal armoury. “What is now happening to Marx's theory has, in the course of history, happened repeatedly to the theories of revolutionary thinkers and leaders of oppressed classes fighting for emancipation. During the lifetime of great revolutionaries, the oppressing classes constantly hounded them, received their theories with the most savage malice, the most furious hatred and the most unscrupulous campaigns of lies and slander. After their death, attempts are made to convert them into harmless icons, to canonize them, so to say, and to hallow their names to a certain e

By Mansee Bal Bhargava*  “Good governance never depends upon laws, but on the personal qualities of those who govern. The machinery of government is always subordinate to the will of those who administer that machinery.” -- Frank Herbert The film "Well Done Abba", released in 2009, is a 2 hour and 24 minutes long film. It is directed by the legend, Shyam Benegal, who is known for articulating various social issues through his films. The film is produced by Raj Pius and Mahesh Ramanathan and published by the Reliance Big Pictures. The casts of the film include, Boman Irani, Ravi Kishan, Minissha Lamba, Sameer Dattani, Ila Arun, Rajendra Gupta, Meena Nathani, etc. The film may not have made much noise in the box office, it is well classified in the genres of the films that are cross connecting social and commercial besides getting well into the classrooms of social science where courses like water governance are taught. The MSc and MTech students** of the TERI-SAS Delhi studyi