Counterview

Shabnam Hashmi By A Representative There is no end to controversy surrounding well-known human rights organization, People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), in Gujarat. If earlier it drew attention from top Gujarat activists for praising RSS mouthpiece in Gujarat, “Sadhana” for its “fearless” journalism (click HERE to read), now it has invited disapproval over a recent plea it made to NGOs, individuals and mediapersons to be present in a programme to "celebrate" Prophet Mohammad’s birthday on January 4 in Ahmedabad in the name of communal harmony.

By Gagan Sethi*   In Golana village of Central Gujarat, the Dalit hamlet, known as Vankar Vas, was getting overcrowded. Families were growing, and the 100-odd households in the Vas now had grown up children, some of whom had married. Almost every household had two families living in one room plus the outer courtyard. Blame it on overcrowding; family quarrels had become pretty common. The year was 1984. With the cooperative now generating regular income for the Vankars who were its members, the young Turks of the Vas began pressuring the elders, called mahetars, to negotiate with upper caste Darbars, who controlled the panchayat, to allocate some common village land for housing. However, Dalit’s claiming such a right, especially when elders knew that a big portion of the panchayat controlled common village land was encroached upon by few powerful Darbar families, was blasphemy. The matter came up for discussion at a cooperative meeting, and those of us from the NGO who were wor...

Aloria, Pandian By A Representative While it is still five months to go for incumbent chief secretary of Gujarat, D Jagatheesa Pandian, a 1981 batch IAS bureaucrat, to retire from services, doubts have strangely crept in among top Sachivalaya babus that the top state bureaucrat, known for his closeness to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, may not be allowed an extension. While officials say nothing can be said about this at this stage with complete finality, already, the name of Ganga Ram Aloria of his batch is being widely quoted as the front-runner as next chief secretary.

By A Representative A high level panel of the Government of India, set up to take a stock of the socio-economic status of the tribals in the country, has strongly taken exception to “pauperisation” of oustees affected by the Narmada dam. Pointing out that there was complete failure to provide oustees “alternative land and sustainable livelihood”, leading to their “pauperisation”, the panel, which submitted its report in mid-2014, talks of “examples of tardy implementation, unfulfilled promises and violation of laws and rules by the very machinery expected to protect the interest of marginalised displaced tribals.”

By A Representative In a sharp interview, well-known Gujarat-based academic, Prof Ghanshyam Shah, has said that as liberals, he and others, should learn something from the BJP and the RSS. Talking with news portal scroll.in , the veteran academic, who is also a known critic of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said, “We liberals have to learn a lot from the BJP and RSS – their organisation, ideological clarity, commitment to working for a cause rather than political positions.” He adds, “The BJP connects with people at an emotional level because it is seen as a movement to transform society, not a party trying to win seats in an election.”

Counterview Desk The Gujarat government has acknowledged its complete failure in ameliorating the plight of the women involved in cultivating salt in hundreds of agariyas (saltpans) in the Little Rann of Kutch in Gujarat. A still unreleased “research” study, running into 40-odd pages, the Gender Resource Centre, operating directly under the department of women and child, Gujarat government, has said that, despite existence of large number of government schemes, “there is no change in the economic, social and health related problems of the women working in agariyas.”

Prof Virginius Xaxa By A Representative The Government of India (GoI), in a Cabinet decision, may have moved to come up with an ordinance to amend the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (LARR) Act, 2013, in order to clear “hurdles” on way to land acquisition for industrial and infrastructural projects. However, a still unreleased report by the High Level Committee, set up under the chairmanship of Prof Virginius Xaxa, submitted to it in May 2014 had required the GoI to further strengthen the Act by giving the right to tribal communities to say ‘no’ to acquisition of their land and to access and manage forests.

By A Representative In an year-end commentary, premier British business daily, “Financial Times”, has termed prime minister Narendra Modi's dream to redouble “India’s efforts to rival China by turning into a global manufacturing hub” as “important to his country’s future” but insists, it is “difficult to achieve”. Written by James Crabtree in the column “Inside Business” and titled “Modi faces uphill battle in mission to see India rival China”, the commentary arrives at this conclusion by saying that “India’s manufacturing frailty is well documented.”

Participants at the conference on single women in Ahmedabad Counterview Desk Representing single women, mainly widows and divorced poor women, Ekal Nari Shakti Manch (ENSM), a Gujarat-based non-government organization (NGO), has said that despite its decade-old campaign, just about 27 per cent eligible widows are able to get pension they are eligible to get. Results of a survey of single women in Gujarat by the ENMS – which is supported by high-profile NGO Action Act that has its head office in Johannesburg and branches all over the world – say that of the 1,714 widows it interviewed just 465 get pension.

Saurashtra farmers' leaders discussion action plan By A Representative Three non-political farmers’ organizations, Saurashtra Khedut Ladat Samiti, Khedut Samaj Gujarat, and Akhil Bharatiya Kisan Sabha, have come together to ask the Gujarat government to add “bonus package” to the minimum support price (MSP) being offered to farmers by the Government of India for different farmers’ products, especially cotton, in order to protect them from being ruined. They have declared, if this is not done, they would be forced to "disrupt" the Vibrant Gujarat Business Summit, to take place on January 11-12 in Gandhinagar to attract foreign investment.