Counterview

Counterview Desk In a letter Chief Minister of Kerala Pinarayi Vijayan, senior activists and politicians have insisted that the Kerala government should not agree to "inhuman displacement and buid-operate-transfer (BOT) Toll system", imposed by the Government of India and the National Highway Authority of India, for widening the current National Highway (NH) 66.

By  A  Representative A Roundtable Meeting with Parliamentarians and political parties, organised by the Right to Education Forum (RTE Forum), along with the Campaign against Child Labour (CACL) and Alliance for the Right to Early Childhood Development, saw participants demand a “Mahagathbandhan” among political parties on education. Held at the Constitution Club of India, the meeting put forward the demands listed in the RTE Education Manifesto, collaboratively developed by these three networks, for their inclusion into the probable election manifestos of various political parties for the forthcoming general elections in 2019. Speaking on the occasion, Congress Rajya Sabha MP Madhusudan Mistry said, “It’s imperative to pay more attention towards education. For this, a firm and honest political will is required." Samajwadi Party Rajya Sabha MP Ravi Prakash Verma observed, “This government is deliberately diluting the provisions of RTE Act and Child Labour (Prevention) Act, thu...

Senior social activist Medha Patkar addressing Mahul residents By  A  Representative Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) president Uday Samant, a Shiv Sena MLA, has sanctioned the proposal to allot 300 houses to the residents of Mahul, Mumbai's toxic hell. The allotment of houses by MHADA "disapproves" the Maharashtra government stand in the Court about non availability of alternative houses, Mumbai's civil rights organization, Ghar Bachao, Ghar Banao Andolan (GBGBA) has said. However, GBGBA points out in a statement, the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) and the Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA), falling directly under Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, have "still not found out time to take decision on the matter involving the lives of thousands of residents." High level of toxicity in Mahul has reportedly caused the death of 150 people since 2015. Two people died this week -- one of cancer and the other due t...

By Ashalatha, Usha Seethalakshmi, Seema Kulkarni* The recent kisan rally, held on November 29-30 at Delhi, saw sizable number of women representing various organizations, and also various sections such as women cultivators, who owned land in their name and who farm on their family land, tenant farmers, landless agriculture labourers, adivasi women, wives and daughters of farmers who have committed suicide etc.

By  A  Representative In spite of the Mines Minerals Development and Regulation (MMDR) Act, 2015, giving instructions to respective state governments to form District Mineral Fund (DMF) Trust, it has taken almost 3 years for most of the states to set it up and frame rules. Worse, its implementation is still lagging, and most people still do not have any clue about what is DMF and that it exists. Highlighting this at a state-level consultation on Children in Mining Area, Illegal Mining and District Mineral Fund (DMF), organized on December 16 by civil rights organizations, Samata, and mines minerals and people (mm&P), and collaborated by local organizations Jan Sangram Parishat and Sakhi Trust at Ballari, Karnataka, secretary-general mm&P Ashok Shrimali appealed to the Union and State Governments to create awareness among the people about DMF, its process and implementation.  Shirmali urged state governments to involve the affected people in the process of pla...

By Anand K Sahay* Suddenly, the expectation has been given birth in the minds of the people -- not just the political class -- that a credible challenge to the Modi-Shah BJP has sprouted. There is a sense of loosening up in the country, a feeling of normal breathing, a dispelling of the suffocation produced by overt and persistent majoritarian actions of Sangh parivar elements generated through their foul and violent methods which appeared to enjoy the indulgence of those who matter.

Counterview Desk In what is being interpreted as a "clear example" of how the Forest Rights Act (FRA), 2006, is being flouted despite political assurances, official members of a district level committee under FRA have rejected claims of tribals of Lippa Village, Himachal Pradesh.

Counterview Desk Board members of the Vadilal Sarabhai General and Chinai Maternity Hospitals, Ahmedabad, Rupa Chinai, Brijesh Chinai, Jay Sheth and Dr Nishith Shah, who represent the original donor families, have denied reports appearing in the Ahmedabad media of December 17-18, quoting the VSH Board Chairperson and Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) Commissioner, who reportedly claim that we have “amicably” agreed to reduce the beds in the VSH to 500 from the original 1,160. “If indeed they said this, then it is a deliberate and gross misinterpretation of facts and truth. The AMC Commissioner and Board Chairperson then stand accused of abusing the dignity of their office in their determined effort to get their way. In order to cover up for their outrageous behavior, they have sought to then issue a Caveat to us, preventing us from obtaining a restraining Court order”, they said in a statement. Text of the statement: At the VSH Board meeting on December 14, Friday, the Cha...

By Rajiv Shah Has unease finally begun creeping into the majoritarian psyche, which got swayed under the powerful Hindutva wave that followed the 2002 Gujarat riots? It would seem so, if journalist and film-maker Revati Laul’s just released book, “The Anatomy of Hate”, is any indication. The book does not say so in so many words, yet suggests that disconcerting traits for the Sangh Parivar have even sneaked into those who directly or indirectly participated in the violence which engulfed the state 16 years ago.

By  A  Representative The civil rights organization, Minority Coordination Committee (MCC), organized a mass rally in Gandhinagar on December 18, which happens to be the International Minority Rights Day, in order to press for the “basic demands” of the minorities, who form 11.5% of Gujarat’s population. Organized at what has informally come to be known as Satyagrah Chhavani (cantonment) in the state capital, the rally sough to highlight the fact that there is no separate allocation for minorities’ welfare, nor is there any minority affairs department or state minority commission to take care of their rights. Addressing the gathering, MCC convener Mujahid Nafees said that in Gujarat, the minority community is living in fear. Even those transport buffaloes are lynched by cow vigilantes. Calling the government’s slogan of Beti Padhao, Beti Bachao “fake”, Nafees informed the gathering, “In Gujarat, the Muslim girls’ dropout rate at the junior primary level (classes 1 to 5) is 10....