Counterview

By Shivangini Piplani, Sandeep Pandey* 'Madam, Jhooth nahi bolenge, 1500 pada hai, hum 75 aadmi ek truck me aae the (Madam, I'll not lie, we came back in Rs. 1,500 per head, 75 of us packed in one truck),' Ram Kishore confessed to the first writer when she called him up in his village Dalkheda in Unnao District to verify some information related to migrant labourers who've returned. Ram Kishore is a Dalit like most workers from his village who had migrated in search of livelihood.

By Shabir Ahmad* In a major foreign policy setback for India, Iran has decided to drop India from the strategic Chabahar rail project by citing a delayed funding from Indian side. This strategic railway project in Iran was supposed to be executed by Ircon International Limited, formerly Indian Railway Construction Limited, in association with the Iranian railways.

Counterview Desk Students of Gujarat’s top private institute, Nirma University, situated in the outskirts of Ahmedabad, in a letter to the Chief Justice the state High Court, have complained that the authorities are demanding “full fees” from students, without taking into account the “disproportionate impact” the lockdown has on the livelihood of students and families.

By Dr Palla Trinadha Rao The Government of Andhra Pradesh has taken a decision in a recent cabinet meeting to constitute a committee to study the reorganization of the existing 13 districts into 25 based on the number of Parliament constituencies. Instead of considering the Parliamentary constituency as a unit for forming a new district, the Araku (ST) Parliament Constituency may be trifurcated for the creation of new tribal districts keeping in view its diversity in the terms of topography, people living there in and their cultural context. The Andhra Pradesh Districts (Formation) Act 7 of 1974 provides for the formation of districts in the state of Andhra Pradesh and for alteration of areas or boundaries of the districts in the interests of better administration and development of the areas comprised therein and for matters connected therewith. Unlike in plain areas, in the context of tribal areas, geographical contiguity, match in identities, histories and cultural practices of trib...

Anganwadi workers with demands at Unnao district magistrate's office By  A  Representative Citing the recent death of an anganwadi worker, Kamini Nigam, working in Unnao district due to coronavirus infection and lack of treatment facility, Workers’ Front, an Uttar Pradesh-based civil rights organization, has demanded that the state government should immediately stop asking the anganwadi workers to carry out survey work for detecting Covid-19 patients. In a letter to chief minister Yogi Adityanath, Workers’ Front president Dinkar Kapoor, even as demanding compensation to the tune of Rs 50 lakh to the kin of Kamini Nigam, said, anganwadis’ main job is to mainly serve nutritional and health needs of pregnant and lactating women, children under xsic and teenager girls under 18. These groups have to be kept safe as per Government of India guidelines. By putting anganwadi workers in survey work, the state government is putting the life these sections in danger. Kamini Nigam was carr...

Mahesh Pandya (right) By  A  Representative Gujarat’s top environmental NGO Paryavaran Mitra has claimed success for forcing the Gujarat government to postpone environmental public hearings (EPHs), which were scheduled for July 28-29 in Jamnagar and Devbhoomi Dwarka district, for Nayara Energy Ltd. The Gujarat Pollution Control Board (GPCB) had announced the dates for the hearings for the expansion of Nayara Energy’s plant, located between the two districts, last month. Paryavaran Mitra director Mahesh Pandya said, he had made the representation against the backdrop of the spread of Covid-19 pandemic, which has now become an all-Gujarat phenomenon, and Saurashtra regions, which include the two districts in question. Citing the Unlock 2.0 guidelines under the Disaster Management Act, Pandya insisted, they clearly prohibit public gatherings, adding, thousands are known to gather in such hearings. In a letter to Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani, Pandya had said, on Ju...

Counterview Desk The national platform of Central Trade Unions (CTUs)*, even as calling upon working class to observe the Quit India day August 9 as Save India day, and observe solidarity actions on August 18, when the coalmine workers across India go in for strike, has said that the Government of India has “failed” to implement its own order regarding payment of lockdown period wages and no retrenchments and no cut in wages, leading to sharp rise of joblessness.