Movement Indi: News Magazine of National Alliance of People's Movements

The
Movement of INDIA
NAPM SUPPORTS
Jan Lokpal Bill but Anna Hazare's Appreciation of Modi-Raj
REJECTS
Vol. 5, Issue 5-6 May - 2011
` 20/-
News Magazine of National Alliance of Peoples Movements
The Future of Egypt after the Revolution Fukushima Nuclear Accident Sobering reflections Japan's Nuclear Crisis is a Wake-Up Call for India Ensuring Food for All Are we Nero's Guests?
Jungle Adhikar Sangharsh Yatra Rethinking Sexual and Reproductive Choice from a Social Feminist Perspective The Silent Tsunami : Globalisation and its Impact on Women Tackling Corruption Social Audit Shows the Way in Bihar Jan Sansad : Lok Sabha se Upar Gram Sabha
The Movement of India
January - April 2011
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Editorial Team
S.R. Darapuri Joe Athialy Madhuresh Kumar Mukta Srivastava C. Balakrishnan Clifton DRozario Siddharth Narrain Rahul Pandey Adithya
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 8. 9. 10. 11.
Editorial The Future of Egypt after the Revolution Fukushima Nuclear Accident Sobering reflections Japan's Nuclear Crisis is a Wake-Up Call for India Japan's Nuclear Plant Explosion Raises Questions of Nuclear Safety in India Ensuring Food for All Are we Nero's Guests? Jungle Adhikar Sangharsh Yatra Rethinking Sexual and Reproductive Choice from a Social Feminist Perspective The Silent Tsunami : Globalisation and its Impact on Women
4 5 8 10 11 12 15 17 20
Advisory Team
Medha Patkar Aruna Roy Sister Celia S.G. Vombatkere Gabriele Dietrich S.R. Suniti Sandeep Pandey U.R. Ananthamurthy Trilochan Sastry Ajit Sahi Neelabh Mishra
22
12.
Tackling Corruption Social Audit Shows the Way in Bihar 25 27 28 32 36
13. 14. 15. 16.
Shillong Declaration on the Right to Information Jan Sansad : Lok Sabha se Upar Gram Sabha NAPM Supports Jan Lokpal Bill but Rejects Anna Hazares Appreciation of Modi-Raj News and Notes from the Peoples Movements
Magazine Design
V. Vinodh Raj
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EDITORIAL
s we write this editorial Supreme Court has granted bail to Dr. Binayak Sen and dropped sedition charges bringing cheer to many of us who have campaigned for his release all this while across the world. NAPM welcomes this and hope the case would be finally quashed since from beginning, as established, the case has too many loop holes. It has only been due to the persistence of the Chattisgarh government that Dr. Sen has been kept in jail all this long. Supreme Court by its order has restored the faith in the due process of law for many in this country once again. The observation by the Court that mere possession of Naxal literature does not make a person a Naxalite, guilty of sedition, as one who possesses Mahatma Gandhi's autobiography can not call himself a Gandhian, hopefully will provide relief to many of the human rights activists, journalists, adivasis and others lodged in different jails across the country under UAPA, CSPSA, MCOCA and other draconian acts. Our hope is that this will also deter Chattisgarh government from further mobilising attacks on the journalists and rights activists who have tried to reach out to the adivasis in Bastar and Dantewada and not brand them as 'Maoists' and stop perpetrating violence on Adivasis in the name of Operation Green Hunt.
We are bringing to you a combined issue for January April due to various problems at our end. However, these four months have been witness to extremely crucial and siginificant events from the disastrous tsunami and earthquake in Japan leading to nuclear crisis to the movement against corruption across the country and now the subsequent controversies around it. The controversies range from the content of Lokpal Bill, composition of campaign, role of media, political parties, right wing presence, Anna's method of work and finally who stands to gain from all this. There are as many questions and as many answers depending on who stands where on the political spectrum. There are shades of grey in all this and recognising that one needs to understand the events unfolding in front of our eyes. Only time will tell what will be the shape of Lokpal Bill but on the other hand the issue of corruption raised by the movement is crucial. Everyone has a found right note in this and joined with their own interprestations of the corruption from economic to social to ecological. We present to you a brief on the Jan Lokpal Bill and our stand on the agitation in form It has only been due to the persistence of the the statements to press. Chattisgarh government that Dr. Sen has been In addition, the Fukushima Nuclear crisis has raised question for all of us and given an opportunity to presssurise the government on this issue. There are various ongoing initiaives opposing the nuclear projects, mining and enrichment facilities and the myth around nuclear energy being clean and safe seems to have been shaken by Fukushima.
kept in jail all this long. Supreme Court by its order has restored the faith in the due process of law for many in this country once again. The observation by the Court that mere possession of Naxal literature does not make a person a Naxalite, guilty of sedition, as one who possesses Mahatma Gandhi's autobiography can not call himself a Gandhian, hopefully will provide relief to many of the human rights activists, journalists, adivasis and others lodged in different jails across the country under UAPA, CSPSA, MCOCA and other draconian acts.
We also bring to you a report on the Jangal Sangharsh Yatra taken by the different movements Editorial Team of Maharashtra demanding implementation of the Forest Rights Act and handing over the control of natural resources to the communities. The third session of Jan Sansad was held in Mumbai and there is a short report printed here which highlights the problems of urbanisation and the plight of people who actually run the city and give a character to it. Our constant effort is to bring to you debates, discussions and developments around the people's movements and would like to have your views on this. Also do let us know if you are receiving the magazine from time to time and if your subscription has ended then do renew it.
The Future of EGYPT A F T E R T H E R E V O L U T I O N

Ajit Sahi o, on the weekend of March 19, 2011, three out of four adult Egyptians voted in favour of an amended Constitution in a much awaited referendum. What does it mean for the Arab world's most populated nation, which witnessed a historic people's Revolution from January 25 to February 11 this year? For many of the young secular Revolutionaries, who joined millions of their fellow Egyptians to end the 29-year presidency of Hosni Mubarak on February 11, the 'yes' vote is a setback. Many of these young people had been campaigning for a brand new Constitution instead of a modified one.
The Revolution was for a totally new Constitution, so this one must be scrapped, Amina Khairat, a young opera singer from Cairo, who I befriended during my stay in Cairo for the Revolution, told me over instant messaging on my phone. We were chatting three days before the referendum vote, while she stood outside Egypt's Supreme Court, waiting for a decision on over a dozen law suits that wanted the referendum scrapped. According to Egypt's main E n g l i s h l a n g u a ge we e k ly newspaper, Al Ahram, two of the leading Egyptian personalities with political ambitions Secretary General of the Arab
The contrast between these determined protesters and the world at large was striking. While the protesters were convinced that they would send Mubarak packing, Western commentators and governments simply refused to believe that Mubarak, who had ruled like a despot, would actually be forced out. US Vice-President Joe Biden said Mubarak was "not a dictator". Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that Mubarak's was a stableregime. (The same Clinton shamelessly walked around Tahrir Square in mid-March and sang paeans to the Revolution.)

League, Amr Moussa, and former International Atomic Energy Agency chief, Mohammed el Baradei backed the demand for a wholly new Constitution. On the other hand, the Islamist group of Muslim Brotherhood, which has been banned for thirty years until now, and which the West fears for its alleged fundamentalist ideas, was championing the cause of the amended Constitution. So is this 'yes' vote a setback for the secularists and modernists? Will the amended Constitution put the secularists and the modernists at a disadvantage? Will it mean that the politicians of the establishment mostly corrupt former military men will find it easy to continue their stranglehold over the nation's politics, and hence its administration? Let's first take a quick look at what the amendments to the Constitution are. In all, there are 11 amendments. The first and major one is that the presidential term is limited to only four years, after which he (or she) must stand for reelection. And then, he (or she) can only be president for two terms. This is a major change from the sham Constitution of the past, which allowed Mubarak to r ule unbroken as president for nearly 30 years since the assassination of his predecessor, Anwar Sadat, in October 1981. Of course, the new qualifications for a presidential candidate, although no more a sham, are still rather complex and make it very difficult for just Egyptian to contest the presidency. Most criteria are biased in favour of people already in politics, such as that a candidate must have a backing of a number of members of Parliament. However, the new rules also allow anyone to contest for the president's job if he (or she) can secure 30,000 signatures from Egyptian voters across a number of provinces. Interestingly, the minimum age to become president is set at 40, which automatically rules out a vast majority of people in a nation where three-fourth of the population of 85 million is said to be under the age of 30. The other new rules also allow the formation of political parties in the country. But the best way to understand what is happening in Egypt is not through the prism of Constitutional rewrites but by understanding the tectonic changes in the psyche of its people that have occurred thanks to the 18-day Revolution in January-February this year. If you go back and read the new reports and commentary in the world media since the Revolution began on January 25, you will find in them a deep reluctance to believe that the uprising would bring significant changes. But, like me, if you visited Cairo's Tahrir Square -the sprawling central vista in the Egyptian capital where tens of millions camped for 18 days with their maniacal chant to create a new Egypt - during t h i s perio d ,

you, too, would instinctively know that no power on earth can stop irreversible democratic change from coming to Egypt. I reached Egypt on February 4, the second Friday since the beginning of the uprising. On the first Friday, January 28, Egyptian police had shockingly attacked the peaceful protesters and killed many on the spot. Two days before I arrived, an even more stunning attack by plainclothes militias riding camels and horses had been made to break up the uprising. If anything, the attacks made the Revolutionaries more determined. I met countless people at Tahrir Square where I spent days and some nights determined as a hungry tiger looking for food to stay the course until they see the back of Hosni Mubarak, their president for 29 years. The contrast between these determined protesters and the world at large was striking. While the protesters were convinced that they would send Mubarak packing, Western commentators and governments simply refused to believe that Mubarak, who had ruled like a despot, would actually be forced out. US Vice-President Joe Biden said Mubarak was "not a dictator". Secretary of State Hillary Clinton s a i d t h a t

M u b a r a k ' s w a s a s t ableregime. (The same Clinton shamelessly walked around Tahrir Square in mid-March and sang paeans to the Revolution.) What we, the rest of the world, need to understand is that Egypt's future does not lie in a Constitution: an amended one or a new one. It lies in the new consciousness of its people, who have clearly lost all fear of repression from their hearts for generations to come. For decades, these people walked around with their heads bowed, fearing arrest, intimidation, torture, jailing, and much more. The Emergency Laws that Mubarak installed in Egypt soon after taking power in 1981 are only in the process of being ended. During these years, if five people were even found walking together on the street, they could be arrested for illegal assembly. Not anymore. We have found the way to Tahrir Square, Ashraf Tamanz, a 30-year-old former national basketball player and now a Revolutionary, told me after Mubarak's departure. Cer tainly, the road to democracy is rocky, and the protest gatherings will only grow hereon. For several decades going farther back from Mubarak the Western powers have ruled the Middle East, most notably for its oil. In the case of Egypt, the US is deeply troubled because it fears a democratic and more nationalist government in Egypt would exercise greater control over the Suez Canal in the north, which links the Red Sea with the Mediterranean Sea, the southern entry point into Europe. Europe and the North America have saved billions of dollars over a century by using Suez Canal, which saves them the trip round the continent of Africa. Similarly, the US and its satellite nation in the Middle East, Israel, immensely fear the formation of a nationalist and independentminded government in Egypt. For more than 30 years, Egypt has catered to US-Israel interests, much to the chagrin of the Arab world, which feels that Eg ypt has betrayed the Palestinian cause. Of course, it would be silly to

continue to want to meddle in Egyptian affairs. But what the world, and especially the West, needs to understand is that the rules of the game have changed forever in Egypt. As Tamanz said, the people of Egypt now know the road to Tahrir Square. People power is now going to forever keep a watch on every government in Egypt. That is why, despite wide apprehensions outside Egypt, the military could not but keep to the straight and the narrow and is well on the way to hold elections and hand power to civilian authority. Democracy isn't built overnight, and certainly not in 18 days. But, as I am increasingly inclined to believe, what we saw in Egypt were the first 18 days of what must be a 20-year Revolution. The many people I spoke with during my stay in Cairo, I found them with very little understanding of what democracy would bring them. Nearly all of them were certain that once elections take place, and a nationalist government is in place, everything would turn out just fine. One of them said: We want to be like your India. I shot back: I hope not. But this is a learning that the people of Egypt would do on their own, at their own time, making more sacrifices, fighting more battles to preserve and protect the gains of the January 2011 Revolution, over the years. And in this, now and ever, they would be unstoppable.
Ajit Sahi New Delhi-based journalist who has reported on the flaws in counterterrorism initiatives of the State vis-a-vis Islamic terrorism and Maoist threat. ajitsahi@gmail.com
Of course, it would be silly to assume that the US-Israel and the Europeans would just walk away defeated. Look at what they are trying to do in Libya, by first supplying arms to the rebels, and then creating conditions to jump in militarily so they can control Eg ypt's we s t e r n n e i g h b o u r, which has immense oil reserves and is a key supplier of the black gold to Europe, especially Italy. Quite clearly, US and Europe will continue to want to meddle in Egyptian affairs.
assume that the US-Israel and the Europeans would just walk away defeated. Look at what they are trying to do in Libya, by first supplying arms to the rebels, and then creating conditions to jump in militarily so they can control Egypt's western neighbour, which has immense oil reserves and is a key supplier of the black gold to Europe, especially Italy. Quite clearly, US and Europe will

he tsunami-triggered a c c i d e n t i n Fukushima (Japan) Daiichi plant's Unit 1 (operated by the Tokyo Electric Power Company, TEPCO) brings safety issues into question regarding the operation of nuclear power plants (NPPs). In the Daiichi NPP, the automatic shutting down of the reactor by stopping the controlled nuclear fission process, did occur as designed. However, the reactor did not cool down as fast as it was expected and required to do, and called for activating the emergency coolant pumps according to design. But there was no grid power due to a combination of earthquake and subsequent tsunami to operate the pumps. Also, because of However, the reactor did not cool down as fast as i t wa s e x p e c t e d a n d required to do, and called for activating the emerge n c y c o o l a n t p u m p s according to design. But there was no grid power due to a combination of earthquake and subsequent tsunami to operate the pumps. Also, because of flooding due to the tsunami, the dedicated standby generators could not provide power.

authorities as correct, due to official secrecy conditions. Thus, how much of nuclear radiation has already been discharged into the atmosphere and sea water from the Daiichi NPP and how much more will escape in the hours and days to come will never be known. Also, how much is being discharged from the other four affected NPPs is anybody's guess; Three, unlike hydel or thermal power plants which can be shut down practically instantaneously, the nuclear fuel in NPPs requires cooling to prevent overheating even in normal conditions. Thus, NPPs always need independent power supply (from the grid or their own standby generators) in an emergency. That is, NPPs are not autonomous in respect of safety.
flooding due to the tsunami, the dedicated standby generators could not provide power. The standby battery power (standby to the standby generator) was insufficient to operate the pumps at sufficient rate and duration, and so the (radioactive) steam generated due to overheating had to be vented to relieve the increasing pressure. This has put an unmeasured quantum of radioactive elements (radionucleides) into the atmosphere. But that too did not cool down the reactor sufficiently. It was then reported that sea water was being let into the reactor to cool it to prevent a meltdown. By this a further unmeasured amount of radioactive material would be discharged into the environment. T h e T E P C O we b s i t e <http://www.tepco.co.jp/nu /pamp/index-j.html> claims that monitoring goes on around the clock year round but at the bottom it says in red: THIS SYSTEM IS C U R R E N T L Y SHUTDOWN". All this detail is provided to show three things: One, that accidents in NPPs can and do occur for one or more of several reasons; Two, monitoring can fail, and even when it operates, the public is expected to unquestioningly accept the data provided by the NPP
Fukushima Nuclear
SOBERING
SGVombatkere
Accident
5

T h e Ja p a n e s e nu c l e a r engineers are making heroic efforts at immense personal risk to prevent a steam explosion (not a nuclear explosion) in the NPP. This is the point at which the design and construction standards of the concrete double containment structure of the nuclear reactor will have to withstand the explosion. This could trigger a partial or total meltdown of the reactor core, similar to what happened in USA in 1971 in the Three Mile Island NPP. (This put the US nuclear power industry into the doldrums until USA revived it by negotiating the nuclear deal with India in 2009). Japan has a reputation for good design and safety standards and good quality control and quality assurance in execution. It would be the fervent wish of every thinking person on the planet that the double containment will not fail and that the engineers will control the desperately delicate situation in the Daiichi NPP. Nobody is as yet even thinking of the costs of containing the accident and the subsequent nuclear clean-up. But let us now cut to the nuclear situation in India. The issue of Indian design and construction quality standards stands naked when we note that the concrete containment dome of the Kaiga (Karnataka) NPP collapsed when under construction, and had to be rebuilt. It has not been revealed whether it was a failure of design or execution quality. It is not possible to obtain reliable information regarding the operation, safety standards and performance or other cost, constructional or operational aspects of any NPP Indian nuclear engineers are second to none, thus the issue of safety in India's nuclear establishment is institutional. The secrecy, intransparency, unaccountability and selfcertification of the nuclear industry makes one doubt whether we will be able to prevent serious emergency or handle it effectively should it happen. because of the following reasons: One, Section 18 (Restriction on disclosure of information) and Section 24 (Offences and penalties) of the draconian Indian Atomic Energy Act 1962, do not permit anybody to even ask questions about NPPs, Two, nobody except the nuclear industry is permitted to conduct tests for radioactivity even outside the perimeter of any NPP, Three, the Environment Protection Act 1986, does not apply to NPPs, Four, the safety and monitoring agency (AERB) is not an independent agency and the public has to accept whatever health and safety information is released by the NPP or the AERB, Five, the budget of the DAE is not placed even before Parliament and the power generation and efficiency figures are not available even to the Central Electricity Authority (CEA). In short, the Indian nuclear industry is a closed door to the rest of India, and this can be at the cost of public safety and health. Further, in the event of a nuclear accident, Government of India (GoI) has sought to cap or limit the liability of operators or suppliers of nuclear hardware

and technology to assure profits to the US nuclear industry. In simpler language, this means that the real financial cost of post-accident nuclear clean-up and repair would be borne by India, as the liability of the suppliers would be limited to the cap amount, while the real costs of health and livelihood would be borne by the people. In view of the secrecy and the poor standards of construction even in the nuclear industry, the conflicting parameters of safety, operational cost and radioactive emissions of any NPP leave the public to guess when one of India's NPPs may suffer a serious accident, and whether we will be able to handle the disaster effectively and efficiently. Indian nuclear engineers are second to none, thus the issue of safety in India's nuclear establishment is institutional. The secrecy, intransparency, unaccountability and selfcertification of the nuclear industry makes one doubt whether we will be able to prevent serious emergency or handle it effectively should it happen. This also raises questions about the advisability of going for mega NPPs such as planned in Jaitapur, Maharashtra. This is quite apart from the fact of enormous resistance to its construction from local people on the grounds of livelihood and environment. Let us hope that the Indian nuclear establishment would never need to handle a serious accident of the type of Three Mile Island or Chernobyl or Fukushima.
S.G.Vombatkere holds a PhD from IIT Madras and is a member of PUCL
Japan's Nuclear Crisis is a

transparent safety audit of all its nuclear facilities, which involves non-DAE experts and civil society organisations. Pending the review, there should be a moratorium on all further nuclear activity, and revocation of recent clearances for nuclear projects. Top Scientist Seeks Nuclear Moratorium
Extracts from the mainstream media..
Wake-Up
Call for
INDIA
An appeal by Romila Thapar, Praful Bidwai and other concerned citizens.. e deeply regret the death and devastation caused by the earthquake and tsunami in Japan and are gravely concerned at the disaster at the Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear power station, where reactors suffered serious accidents damaging their cores, and released harmful radiation, resulting in radiation burns and other injuries. Fukushima's radiation releases have contaminated drinking water in Tokyo, 220 kilometres away. According to preliminary estimates based on data from a United Nations agency, Fukushima has already released about one-fifth as much iodine-131 as the 1986 Chernobyl catastrophe, and half as much caesium-137; both cause cancer. The crisis shows that even in a n i n d u s t r i a l ly a dva n c e d country, nuclear reactors are vulnerable to catastrophes
irrespective of precautions and safety measures. Small individual incidents in them can spiral into serious mishaps. The earthquake cut off primary power supply to the reactors. The backup power failed with the tsunami. Loss of cooling water precipitated the crisis. Two weeks on, Fukushima remains a threat to the public. The Japanese nuclear crisis is a wake-up call for India, which has launched a huge nuclear expansion programme. Yet, instead of acknowledging the gravity of the crisis, our Department of Atomic Energy has cavalierly minimised it, described it a purely chemical reaction, and declared that Indian reactors cannot undergo serious accidents. We strongly believe that India must radically review its nuclear power policy for appropriateness, safety, costs, and public acceptance, and undertake an independent,
A day after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh sought more transparency, accountability and transparency from the Indian nuclear establishment, top Indian scientist Dr. P Balram has called for a moratorium on nuclear development. Dr. Balram, who is also the Director of the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore, has been backed by 60 other signatories. "We strongly believe that India must radically review its nuclear power policy for appropriateness, safety, costs, and public acceptance, and undertake an independent, transparent safety audit of all its nuclear facilities, which involves non-DAE experts and civil society organisations. Pending the review, there should be a moratorium on all further nuclear activity, and revocation of recent clearances for nuclear projects", said Dr. Balram. Some prominent signatories include noted economist and member of the National Advisory Council (NAC) Jean Dreze and famous historian Romila Thapar.
Courtesy:http://www.ndtv.com/a rticle/india/top-scientist-seeks-nuclearmoratorium-95553
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Japan's Nuclear Plant Explosion Raises

of
Nuclear Safety in India
Questions

analysis. It is very unlikely that the huge risks involved in such vast nuclear power parks can be acceptable to a densely populated and poor country like ours. The other question that needs to be answered honestly is that in the backdrop of all the associated high risks, are nuclear power plants essential to our society? Can we not manage the legitimate demand for electricity from so many other benign options? It is very relevant here to note that our society will not need many more conventional power plants such as nuclear, coal based or dam based hydro power plants to meet the true demand for electricity of all sections. In this regard the minimum the Union government should do is to effectively involve all the stakeholders in each of the relevant decision making process. Without an objective and transparent process of diligent approval mechanism for such high impact power projects, it is not inconceivable that the present and future generations are likely to blame the MoEF and the present Union Government for all the dire consequences of nuclear emergencies in this country. In this context I request MoEF and the Union Government to take serious note of the nuclear emergencies in Japan, objectively learn from the situation there, and take people friendly and environment friendly decisions towards the welfare of the masses. Since our country has not committed itself yet to rely on nuclear power technology to meet substantial percentage of its electrical energy (unlike the case of Japan), there is a huge scope for our society to correct the past mistake of investing massively in the nuclear power sector. I sincerely hope that the government will not miss this opportunity to set right some of the recent past decisions, which are not being viewed as people friendly. Regards, Shankar Sharma shankar.sharma2005@gmail.com
Power policy analyst Shankar Sharma raises serious questions about the safety preparedness of India's nuclear power plants in the wake of Japan's nuclear plant explosion.
To: Sri. Jairam Ramesh Minister for Environment and Forests INDIA. Dear Sri. Ramesh , his has reference to the editorial in Deccan Herald, Bangalore today: "Edge of Disaster" on the topic of nuclear emergencies in Japan. The editorial was timely, apt and has rightly pointed to the folly of the misconception that the increasing reliance on modern technology alone will ensure safety, security and welfare of the masses even in a developed country. While it is very unfortunate that the latest earthquake/tsunami has hugely impacted the people of Japan, the lessons from the consequent impact on its nuclear power industry should be very important for our country. This tsunami/earthquake incident has thrown up many critical issues even in a safety and quality conscious country like Japan. It is very hard to imagine that the powerful and secretive nuclear power sector in our country (a country generally associated with corrupt and poor quality practices) has taken all the essential and adequate precautions to avoid such nuclear emergencies. It is even more critical to ask ourselves whether a densely populated and resource constrained country like ours can afford such a nuclear emergency?
14th March, 2011
If an educated and disciplined society like Japan has so many concerns on its operating nuclear power plants, as reported by the media worldwide, can our society be assured of better or even the same level of safety precautions? Has our densely populated and ill-prepared society ever considered the possible human catastrophe from a nuclear mishap? While it is clear as to why Japan has put so much importance for the safety and reliability of its nuclear power plants (it is relying on its nuclear power industry for about 30% of its total electricity supply), can we assume similar checks and balances in India where the installed capacity of nuclear power is only about 4.5%? In this background and with the potential for nuclear catastrophe our society has to seek answer to a credible question: whether the planned addition of more than 60,000 MW of nuclear power by 2031-32 (as per Integrated Energy Policy) is in the interest of our society? It is also the high time that the proposed Jaitapur nuclear power park in Maharastra, and similar nuclear power parks in West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat are put to such a critical and objective
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Ensuring Food
for
n spite of all the rhetoric about the Indian economy's high growth path over the last two decades, the fruit of this growth has reached only a few, with India appearing in the bottom of the list in almost all international indices related to human development, especially nutrition. India ranks 67th in the Global Hunger Index, worse than neighbours like Sri Lanka, Nepal and China. We have the highest number of malnourished children in the world with the rate of child malnutrition in India being higher than some of the poorest counties of subSaharan Africa. A large number of people live at very low levels of income with about 77% of the population spending less than Rs. 20 per day (identified as being 'vulnerable' by the Arjun
All I
Dipa Sinha
Sengupta committee report). It is a further cause for concern that the average calorie consumption among people is consistently falling. People's livelihoods are being increasingly threatened by 'development'-related displacement and loss of access to natural resources such as land, water and forests. Further, real public investment in agriculture has been decreasing since the beginning of the 1980s (only to revive slightly since 2004). However, the share of agriculture in total public investment currently is only half of what it wa s i n t h e e a r ly 1 9 8 0 s. Agriculture is in crisis with thousands of farmers committing suicides unable to bear the burden of debt, in many parts of the country. A declining trend is also seen in the per capita
availability of foodgrains, and we are dependent on imports as far as other essentials such as pulses and oils are concerned. There is therefore an urgent need both from the point of view of livelihoods of people working in agriculture and ensuring food security for all, to revive agriculture by increasing public i nve s t m e n t , i n c e n t iv i s i n g production of food and taking steps towards making agriculture more profitable. While the present note does not go into this further, it is important to keep in mind that it is in this context that the proposed food security bill is being debated. The UPA-II government announced that it would introduce a National Food Security Bill (NFSB) in parliament to ensure food security for all. The National Advisory
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Council (NAC) has finalised a framework for the NFSB which has to now be taken forward by the government. Over the last two years there have been many debates around this bill with positions being taken by government bodies, civil society organisations, academics and campaigns. There is also a framework of entitlements related to the right to food that has been laid out by the Supreme Court in the 'Right to Food' case (PUCL vs. Union of India, CWP 196/2001). The Right to Food campaign has also prepared a draft Bill. The Right to Food campaign has been demanding for a comprehensive food security bill that takes into consideration production, procurement and distribution issues. However, the various drafts put forward by the government have only been concerned with distribution related issues. Even the NAC draft is primarily focussed on food entitlements but not on the larger issue of agrarian crisis and access to resources and livelihoods. For a universal PDS The debates in the media have also largely been restricted to discussions around the PDS. Even with regard to the PDS, it is seen that the government is restricted to thinking within the framework of dividing the population into APL and BPL. Experience with a targeted PDS has shown that there are largescale exclusion errors in the targeted system with the deserving poor being left out of the PDS net. Identification of the poor still remains a problem. So does the vulnerability of the huge proportion of people who are living at the margins, just above the poverty line. In the Indian Even the NAC in its initial recommendations stated that time-bound universalisation of foodg rain entitlements across the country may be desirable... However, the NAC in its final recommendations moves away from this vision, while proposing to divide the population into three groups 'priority' ( b a s e d o n Te n d u l k a r committee's estimates), 'general', and the 'excluded' (top 10% in rural areas and top 50% in urban areas). context of very low incomes, widespread poverty and food insecurity, universalisation is required for the PDS. Even the NAC in its initial recommendations stated that time-bound universalisation of foodgrain entitlements across the country may be desirable... However, the NAC in its final recommendations moves away from this vision, while proposing to divide the population into three groups 'priority' (based on Tendulkar committee's estimates), 'general', and the 'excluded' (top 10% in rural areas and top 50% in urban areas). Based on Tendulkar estimates (plus accounting for 10% t r a n s i e n t p o o r ) t h e NAC proposes to include 46% of rural population and 28% of urban population to get an entitlement of 35kgs (7kgs per head) per month at Rs.3 per kg for rice, Rs. 2 per kg for wheat and Rs. 1 per kg for millets. This would result in about 9.8 crore households being included under this category. Further, the prices which are being proposed are lower than the current prices for the BPL category. Finally, those in the 'general' category are

guaranteed 20kgs per month as an entitlement at prices which are not more than 50% of the MSP (which is close to current APL prices). The NAC recommendations are disappointing because while they do move one step forward they have missed the opportunity of providing a radical vision for the food security in the country. The central problem of identification of poor households remains. Having a targeted PDS in legislation will make it even more difficult to fight the division of the population into categories of those below the poverty line and those above (even though the groups have been called 'general' and 'priority' the idea essentially remains the same). It seems as if the NAC's primary concerns were of unavailability of foodgrains and resources required for a universal PDS. In fact, the Exper t Committee set up by the Prime Minister (Rangarajan Committee) to examine the NAC proposals, has argued that even the NAC's framework is not feasible because of problems of procurement of foodgrains. They therefore suggest that the legal entitlement be restricted only to those below the poverty line, while foodgrains be made available to the rest based on availability. In making this argument, it is assumed that procurement as a proportion of production cannot be raised beyond current levels. What is currently procured is only about 33% of production and this can be increased by reforms in procurement such as encouraging decentralised procurement, timely payments, including millets in PDS and so on. Further, there is no reason to assume that agriculture production will remain stagnant. This is
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precisely the reason why the Right to Food campaign has been arguing that while discussing the food security bill, issues related to production, procurement and distribution must be simultaneously dealt with. The food security bill can in fact be seen as an opportunity for the much needed reforms and investment in agriculture to take off (See draft bill of right to food campain at www.righttofoodindia.org). Non-PDS entitlements are important Most of the discussion surrounding the NFSB has been around the PDS and even within this, on how many people should be covered and at what prices. However, to address food (and nutrition) security issues of people, along with the PDS other very important entitlements are also required. For instance, it is widely recognised that malnutrition sets in during the first two years of life and it is necessary that women and children are supported during this period with special interventions. Reducing child malnutrition requires a range of services including maternity entitlements, crches, breastfeeding support, supplementary nutrition and counselling towards appropriate infant and young child feeding practices. This would at the very least require universalisation with quality of the ICDS, introduction of universal and unconditional maternity entitlements and diverse and flexible models of child care based on the need of working mothers. Given the widespread nature of malnutrition in the country, it is imperative that all these programmes are designed for universal coverage. While the initial drafts of the Government of India did not mention child malnutrition at all, the NAC's note does specify that maternal and child nutrition entitlements will be included in the Food Security Bill. While adolescent girls have been left out and maternity entitlements have not been linked to wages, the NAC does argue for a universal ICDS with entitlements for pregnant and lactating women and children under six years of age. Further, special programmes for the vulnerable such as the homeless, aged, single women, disabled, migrants etc are also required. The NAC moves a step forward in this direction by including within the framework of the NFSB a destitute feeding programme, community kitchens in urban areas and entitlements for m i g r a n t s. H e r e again, social security pensions for the aged, single women and disabled (for which national programmes already exist and these are also covered by Supreme Court orders) have not been included within the NFSB

framework. It is noteworthy that the Rangarajan committee report does not even mention these nonPDS entitlements indicating that the government has still not internalised the comprehensive nature of the NFSB. A Comprehensive Bill must not be compromised The government's arguments that such a comprehensive bill would be very expensive cannot be expected. One estimate of the cost of a bill that includes universal PDS, ICDS, mid day meals, social security pensions, community feeding and destitute feeding centres and maternity entitlements is Rs. 2 lakh crores per annum. While this looks like a large sum of money it must be remembered that many of these programmes are already being implemented and so the additional cost is expected to be lower. Further, if we can afford to forgo taxes to the tune of Rs. 5 lakh crores year after year, as the budget documents show, we can surely spend this lower amount to ensure basic access to food and nutrition for all. The delivery of entitlements can be implemented in a phased manner over the next three to five years, but the lack of resources cannot be an excuse for a diluted legislation.
Dipa Sinha is a Ph.D. research scholar at Jawaharlal Nehru University. She has been actively associated with the Right to Food campaign. The views expressed in this article are personal. dipasinha@gmail.com
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hat do farmers' suicides remind us of ? Cotton growers in Vidharbha region of Maharastra? Or lack of sufficient institutional credit? Small agriculturists from Andhra Pradesh, Chattisgarh, West Bengal, Assam, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Punjab will also figure in a list of states where farmers have been taking their lives. It is ironical that the last among these was touted to be among the success stories of India's Green Revolution. Various news reports that refer to the statistics released by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) say that over 2 lakh farmers have committed suicide since 1997. This is primarily due to crop failure resulting in heavy debts. Many of them were men aged between thirty and forty. Their wives

Various news reports that refer to the statistics released by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) say that over 2 lakh farmers have committed suicide since 1997. This is primarily due to crop failure resulting in heavy debts. Many of them were men aged between thirty and forty. Their wives often have to fend for themselves, their young children and old parents-in-law. But as most of these women do not possess pattas (titles) to the land, there have been cases where the women are thrown out of their marital home by the relatives of the husband. Unfortunately, some of these surviving women are unwelcome in their maternal households too!
often have to fend for themselves, their young children and old parents-in-law. But as most of these women do not possess pattas (titles) to the land, there have been cases where the women are thrown out of their marital home by the relatives of the husband. Unfortunately, some of these surviving women are unwelcome in their maternal households too! One person who has been highlighting these heart rending facts for a long time is P. Sainath, a renowned journalist and Rural Affairs Editor, The Hindu, at present. His work inspired film maker Deepa Bhatia to capture the agrarian crisis in a poignant manner in the film Nero's Guests. After a screening of the documentary by Maraa (a Bangalore based community media collective), Vikalp (a nonprofit organization creating
Are we Nero's Guests ?
films on human rights and social justice issues) and Concern (a volunteer group) at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore on 3rd March 2011, the Magsaysay award winner interacted with the overflowing audience. Reiterating that "Inequality is the fastest growing sector in India", Sainath expressed his disappointment that the union budget for 2011'12 benefited the rich at the expense of the poor. In his opinion, the reduction or removal of various subsidies for small agriculturists and the economically marginalized while increasing the benefits for the corporate sector and the wealthy is bound to have a drastic cascading effect on the lives of the latter.
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educational and employment assistance to the children 2. Revert the status quo on the import duty for raw silk by reinstanting the 30.66% import tax 3. Strengthen Karnataka Marketing Board Silk (KSMB) and Karnataka Silk Industries Corporation (KSIC) through adequate financial support to intervene in the market at the time of such price crash Some employees of the IT industry and volunteers with some non-profit organizations such as AID-India in Bangalore felt agitated after reading a brief report about this tragedy in a couple of mainstream newspapers Three of them namely, Hari Shankar of Pedestrian Pictures, Nidhin Sasi and the latter's friend visited the bereaved family in Valagere to understand the facts and prepared an insightful report. They and others are doing their utmost to raise awareness about the plight of the kids of Vasantha and Swami Gowda and the root cause of the problem. These people hope that it would pressurize the state government to act. "We are not like Nero's Guests", they say with the conviction that policies which favour the private industry are driving the financially backward to their death. Nidhin Sasi and Senthil Sundaram provided valuable inputs to this story.
Pushpa Achanta is a freelance writer and in involved in several voluntary activities in Bangalore. apushpa@gmail.com
Issues of Karnataka's sericulturists Many of the dead farmers grew cotton, coffee, pepper and some food grains. However, silk may join this variety based on a recent incident in Valagere doddi, a village in Mandya district (located between Bangalore and Mysore) of Karnataka. On February 28 2011, the union finance minister announced a decrease in the duty from 30% to 5% on raw silk imported by India. This lowered the price of this perishable commodity by almost a third. As a consequence, a young silk farmer named Swami Gowda and his wife Vasantha ended their lives as they feared that they would be unable to sell enough to pay off loans amounting to 1,20,000 rupees obtained at high interest rates. They left behind 3 little children
Chandrika (5 years), Kirtana (3 1/2) and Sharath (2) among whom only the oldest understands that her parents are no more. Their maternal grandmother Chowdamma and paternal grandfather Bore Gowda (who owns the land) are weighed down with the responsibility of their grandchildren in addition to the burden of age and poverty. Further, the family has not heard from the government about any compensation. Members of the Karnataka Prantha Raitha Sangha (KPRS), Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha (KRRS) and other farmers' organizations have held protests against this injustice. According to Krishna Gowda of KPRS, the demands of the group include: 1. The government must provide Rs.10 lakhs compensation to the victims' family and take responsibility for providing
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Jungle Adhikar
Sangharsh Yatra
Marching to re-claim one's rights
Brian Lobo hile lakhs of devotees wound their way to Shirdi, Pandharpur and other pilgrimage centres, thousands of a d i va s i s i n M a h a r a s h t r a marched on foot from their homes in remote villages to the capital city of Mumbai from the 1st of March to the 14th of March. This Yatra was not about asking any favours from the Lord. It was about asking for one's rights. It was about asking the government of Maharashtra whether it is serious about protection of adivasis and other weaker sections. Whether it would ensure that the Forest Rights Act is implemented both in letter and spirit. This journey began more than two hundred years ago, when the adivasis rose up in revolt against the appropriation of their common property resources by the British. They
were brutally suppressed, but their legacy continues. Postindependence, the adivasis continued their struggle. In 2006, in response to a demand for an enactment on the rights of forest dwellers, the Central Gover nment passed the Scheduled Tribes and other Traditional Forest Dwellers Act (Forest Rights Act) to undo the historical injustice that had been perpetrated on them for centuries. But as there is no political will to undo this injustice, their legitimate rights to land and forests are not being recognized under the Act. In Maharasthra, about 3.44 lakh claims have been filed. Of these, 2.88 lakh claims have reached the Sub-Divisional Level Committees. However, a whopping 1.70 lakh claims (59%) have been rejected. Only 1.09 lakh (32%) of the total number of claims that have been
filed have received final approval. Further, the average area of approved claims (0.63 hectares) is not even 50% of an economic holding. The Jungle Adhikar Sangharsh Yatra organised under the banner of the Kar maveer Dadasaheb Gaekwad Jungle Adhikar Sangharsh Samiti included organisations such as Sarvahara Jan Andolan, Bhumisena, Adivasi Ekta Parishad, Kastkari Sanghtana, Shramik Kranti Sanghtana, Jagrut Kastkari Sanghtana, Shetmajoor Shetkari P a n c h ya t , L o k s a n g h a r s h Morcha, Shramik Mukti Dal, Satyashodhak Gramin Kastkari Sanghatana, Bhumi Mukti Morcha, Narmada Bachao Andolan, Koknipada Hakk Samiti, Adimjati Seva Mandal , Bharat Jan Andolan. Kastkari Jan Andolan, Shetkari M a h a s a b h a , S h o s h i t Ja n
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Andolan, EkJut Sanghtana, SJP, Shramik Mukti Dal, , National Alliance of People's Movements, Rashtra Seva Dal , Brastachar Virodhi Vyaspeeth and others. The yatra began from three places : Nandurbar /Jalgaon districts (1st March onwards); Thane district (10th March onwards); and Panvel (13th March onwards). Instead the SDLC should review its own orders. The Samiti also demanded that it was necessary to lay down guidelines regarding eligibility criteria and evidence to be followed during the review process. F u r t h e r, t h e S a m i t i demanded that the Act be strictly enforced whereby the total area under occupation for selfcultivation and not only area under cultivation be approved while finalising claims. Further, rejection of previously granted leases is clearly illegal. the traffic was brought to a standstill. The Yatra received wide support from various political parties including the Communist Party of India, Communist Party of India(Marxist), Janata Dal (Secular), Peasants and Workers Pa r t y, L a l N i s h a n Pa r t y (Leninwadi), Samajwadi Jan Parishad, Samajwadi Party, Republican Party of India(A), R a s h t r i ya S a m a j P a k s h , Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, and others. Individual members from the ruling coalition have also expressed support. Ganpatrao Deshmukh of the PWP and other members raised the matter in the Assembly. The Chief Minister met a delegation of the Samiti at 3.30 p.m. The Deputy Chief Minister, Adivasi Welfare Minister, Forest Minister, other Ministers, Chief Secretary and other Secretaries were present. Earlier on the 10th of March, the Chief Minister had also invited the Samiti for talks which the Samiti attended. On the 10th of March, the Chief Minsiter had

agreed to review the cases (totalling approx 1.8 lakhs) that had been rejected at the SDLC level. He also mentioned that the issue of partially approved/ rejected claims (i.e. where area approved is much less that which has been claimed) will also be considered, but at a later date. He also sent the Minister of State for Adivasi Welfare on 11th March to meet the yatris at Kasara (where the Lok Sangharsh Morcha yatris had camped) and Bharol (where the Thane district yatris had camped). The Minister brought a written letter written by the Chief Secretary stating amongst other things that : a. There will be widespread publicity on Gram Panchayat notice board of claims that have been rejected at SDLC level. b. The talathi and gram sevak will inquire into the eligibility of the claimants and the area of the land, by visiting the village/site and prepare a report which will be considered at the time of disposal of the petition.
All three Yatras reached Dadar (Mumbai) by 14th night, where they were joined by participants from other parts of Maharashtra including Ko l h a p u r, G a d c h i r o l i , Aurangabad, Buldhana, Pune etc.). Some (eg. Koknipada Van Hakk Samiti) had joined the Yatris from Thane. The Yatra consisting of about 10,000 persons (mainly adivasis) marched from Dadar on 15th morning and reached Azad Maidan by 2.30 p.m. The energetic dancers in their traditional costumes were the cynosure of all the bystanders, as
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c. Aggrieved claimants may file petitions at a special SETU centre (at the taluka level), where they will be assisted in filing the petition. The SETU centre will collect all the petitions and send them to the office of the District Collector. d. All petitions to be disposed off within 6 months. e. The Land Records Department will measure the lands in all cases that have been approved by the DLC. If as per the situation on 13/12/2005 a difference in the area is seen, then a rectification will take place in the original order. On 15th March, during the meeting with the Chief Minister, the Samiti demanded that since there were blatant illegalities committed by the SDLC, the burden of filing the application/petition be not placed on the aggrieved party. Instead the SDLC should review its own o r d e r s. T h e S a m i t i a l s o demanded that it was necessary to lay down guidelines regarding eligibility criteria and evidence to be followed during the review process. Further, the Samiti demanded that the Act be strictly enforced whereby the total area under occupation for self-cultivation and not only area under cultivation be approved while finalising claims. Further, rejection of previously granted leases is clearly illegal. While the Chief Minister agreed that there should be no problem with issuing such guidelines, permitted that they are as per the Rules, however, no such written orders were passed. The agitation was withdrawn on 15th evening. However, on 16th and 17th, representatives of the Samiti met the Chief Secretary, and submitted to him
another memorandum listing out issues with respect to which orders needed to be issued. The Chief Secretary was positive in his approach and informed the Samiti that : a. Three members of the Dadasaheb Gaekwad Jungle Adhikar Sangharsh Samiti will be invited on to the State Monitoring Committee. b. District level mentoring committees will be formed, to oversee the entire process on which three members of the mass organisations will be included. c. All statistics created and issued by the govt. will henceforth, include information on area of land claimed, area of land approved, area of land rejected. d. No claim with respect to land previously leased will be rejected. e. As of now, in the review process, no claim will be rejected. A claim will either be approved or kept pending, and further opportunities will be given to the claimant to prove his claim. The organisations of the Samiti will be taken into confidence before rejection
of any claim. f. Regarding, cases rejected at the DLC level, he opined that correctives would be applied such that rights of claimants are protected. g. H e n c e f o r t h , n o measurement to be done by Forest department. The Sangharsh Yatra has forced the government to sit up and take cognizance of the legitimate demands of the adivasis. It appears that it has realised that it cannot ride roughshod over them. Despite the dominance of 'scams', the Yatra has been able to bring the issue of the adivasis on the political agenda. Yet, in concrete terms, there is much more that is to be achieved. For one, how the assurances get converted into reality at the ground level is a big question. And more importantly, the issue of community rights over forests has yet to be even remotely addressed. The struggle that began more than two hundred years ago must continue.
Brian Lobo is an activist with Kashtakari Sangathan.
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or a variety of reasons I h ave q u i t p a i d research/paid development work and become an independent writer of ground realities and activist over the last 8 months. One amongst the reasons is the Cindrella syndrome of having pre-designed 'shoes' and searching for evidence and recommendations to fit these. Liberal discourses of choice are imposed on us by international development and sexual and reproductive rights lobby, when our realities are discrimination and inequities based on caste, class, ethnicity, religion, location, migrant status, differential ability, sexual orientation/gender identity, etc. Agendas of neoliberal donors like World Bank and Asian Development Bank also shape choices. One needs to distinguish between decriminalizing same sex relations (repeal of Section 377 IPC) and decriminalizing women/men compelled into prostitution which is JUST from

slum dwellers, women headed households and adolescent girls from marginalized communities in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka reveals that they do not want sex work to be legalised. Their position "as it is we are worried about leaving our girls and going to work and liqour shops in every corner, what will happen if 'sex work' is legalized. We live in one room houses, our husbands come drunk and demand sexual relations. If brothels come up what will happen to our families. We want families, but non patriarchal families. We want remunerative work, property rights, equal wages, full employment, access to markets etc." G o i n g b y ( Pa u l o Fr i e r e ) Pedagogy of the Oppressed, do we impose views that 'sex work' is work and legalize it or articulate the views of the oppressed in international forums? I do feel the latter is the way forward. However, it is our responsibility to say do not discriminate against those pushed into prostitution or trafficked and ensure that their rights are protected. Similarly, recently there has been a debate on consensual non penetrative sex amongst adolescents in India, with a move to pass a bill. I have just accompanied a fact finding mission of NAPM as an independent researcher where daughters of a man who disappeared in the hands of Sri Lankan Navy in Ve l l a p a l l a m v i l l a ge, Nagapattinam district complained that they were more vulnerable to sexual harassment because they did not have a father and hence dropped out of school after attaining puberty. Another fact finding mission wherein I accompanied Tamil Nadu Dalit Wo m e n ' s M o v e m e n t t o Chengelpet district revealed that
liberal notions of choice reflected in demand to legalize so called 'sex work' for adults, consensusal non penetrative sex amongst adolescents, right to choose surrogate motherhood, right to choose male child or balance sex of children. On the issue of debates on legalising so called 'sex work', there is confusion between women 'compelled into prostitution' because of poverty, discriminatory cultural practices and p a t r i a r c h y, w o m e n / g i r l s 'trafficked for sex work' and women who 'choose' sex work. Investigations that I have done in Chennai, Karnataka and parts of Bangladesh reveal that a minority of women choose sex work, a majority are compelled into prostitution or are trafficked. Even the minority who choose sex work do it to get consumer gadgets or go for a holiday abroad in an era of globalization. While one is not upholding Brahmanical notions of morality, discussions with dalit women, poor Muslim women,
Ranjani K Murthy
R E T H I N K I N Sexual and Reproductive G Choice from a Social Feminist Perspective

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Dalit girls are routinely sexually harassed by Reddiar men, and they and their parents are dependent on the latter for work. Again the issue is not one of morality, but locating our positions based on realities of caste, class, ethnic, religion (and so on) based inequalities. When I asked adolescent girls in slums in Chennai whether they were for consensual non penetrative sex they were shocked. Yes, some wanted love marriages and non dowry free marriages, but they felt 13-18 is not the age for non penetrative sex. The debate on sex selective abortion/female feticide vs right to abortion is equally complex. One argument - on request of anonymity - goes that there is not enough evidence that sex selection of males is a public good (that is, the evidence is mixed whether girls/women purchased without dowry from states/districts where sex ratio is normal by men from states where sex ratio is masculine) and women who are not allowed to select males are harassed by husbands and in-laws. Further, it is argued that it is difficult for doctors to find out if the woman who wants to come for abortion is coming for sex selective abortion of females or for abortion for other reasons. It is also argued that campaigns against sex selective abortion use the term female foeticide and are against any kind of abortion. It has even been argued that only prenatal sex selection is illegal in India, and sex selective abortion is legal. Further, that juvenile sex ratio will improve if sex selective abortion of females is allowed. With mushrooming of technologies, it is argued, it is difficult to stop sex selection, when blood sampling and other methods can be used for sex selection. Hence, it is argued, that PCPNDT act is not implementable, and only deep rooted causes of son preference should be addressed. Rural poor women, women in informal sector and adolescent girls whom I met believed that fetus does have life, and abortion should be allowed only on certain grounds: love failure, husband's death, husband abandoning them, forced sex by husband, if one finds one is HIV positive, if the fetus is abnormal or if contraceptive methods fail. One may debate about whether a fetus which is HIV positive or abnormal has a right to live or not - after all we want inclusive society - but does one have a right to educate these women and adolescent girls that fetus does not have a life if they do not prevent another w o m e n / g i r l f r o m h av i n g abortion? If sex selection of males is a private good, so is abortion. It can only be a public good if it is a population control agenda. Is this a donor driven agenda to control our population? It is rarely one off clinics that do sex selective abortion, but it is a money making racket. Further, one does not turn around a patient coming for cholera, saying that we must address social deter minants. Both symptoms and causes of sex selection of males have to be addressed, while at the same time ensuring that women and adolescent girls have a right to abortion for the reason that marginalised women/girls want. Coming to sex balancing, after all we want a society where gender should not make a difference. In a context where 56% of women are anaemic (more amongst dalits) should couples have a right to do sex balancing? My answer is no. A good way, in the short run, of ensuring adolescent

girls/women's rights to abortion and preventing sex selection of males and sex balancing is ensuring that all technologies that can be abused for these purposes are available only in public health sector, and upgrading capacity of public facilities to provide safe abortion services. In the long run, one has to address inequalities, power relations, absence of sexuality education in schools, media portrayal of success of teenage romances, absence of temporary methods of contraception, and state/neoliberal financial institutions/donor policies which underpin inequalities and discriminate against women. Sex selection of males, poor women being compelled into prostitution, sexual exploitation of poor girls/boys, poor women so called choosing surrogate motherhood has to be seen in the context of growing inequalities and injustices and use of dowry, poor women's/girls bodies and poor women's womb as a method of equalization. This is violence against poor women and girls. One has to question the neoliberal paradigm of development. We need to shift from sexual and reproductive rights to sexual and reproductive justice, located within a broader p a r a d i g m o f e c onomic/social/gender/democrat ic justice. Let us relook at development paradigms from Paulo Friere, Andre Gunder Frank, Gandhi, Phule, Pandita Ramabhai, Ambedkar and Periyar Lens and reclaim paradigms from the perspective of marginalised.
Ranjani K Murthy is a researcher and an activist. rk_km2000@yahoo.com
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Cynthia Stephen
enukamma stood at the edge of the s e a s h o r e, c a r r y i n g a pitifully small catch of fish of about 3 kilos in a large basket, and she would be lucky if she got 80 rupees for it. Her son had just brought his share to her, returning after 10 hours with his fishing team which went out to sea in a catamaran. We have to sell all we catch and have not eaten much fish these past few days, she rues. But by the time my children all grow up, who knows whether there will be still fish to catch in the sea? Gangamma, a domestic worker, washes clothes and dishes in a number of homes in a lower-middleclass area of Bangalore, but last week suffered a fracture on her right hand. Her unemployed husband assaulted her when she did not give him money for his daily dose of alcohol. She and her family will go through rough times till her arm heals over the next 6-8 weeks. Rekha, 23, mother of an 18-month old, works in a BPO. She and her husband decided to move in with her parents, brother and grandmother to save on household expenses. Neela works in a small rural NGO, and travels alone by bus to distant villages, organizing
The Silent Tsunami Globalisation and its Impact on Women

women from the Dalit community. Her work often puts her on the wrong side of caste elites in the village and petty government officials, and she has received threats. But she continues her work, travelling weekly to the NGO head office in the district town 40 kms away to submit reports and follow up with district officials. She is trying to get a government scheme for the Dalit women's SHG and for a
loan from the bank. But officials do not respond to her, sometimes making her wait for hours only to be told the officer is on leave. She is on a contract with the NGO and the project - building CBOs for Dalit women - ends in 20 months. The NGO is dependent on shorttem funding of about 3 years, and there is no guarantee of extension. Several of the women in her SHGs used to raise their own foodgrains but lost their tiny family farms to the four-laning of the highway. They received a pittance due to the size of their farms and are agitating for a higher price as land values shot up after the road was built. All these women, hardworking and the economic mainstay of their families, face the impact of globalisation in different ways. But as the economic juggernaut of liberalization rolls on, younger generations are coming into a world where everything is a commodity, and has a price land, water, healthcare, education. And women, who still do nine-tenths of the worlds work and earn one-tenth of the world's income, will continue to bear an unfair part of the impact. Cotton and sugarcane farmers, unable to face economic and social ruin due to the failure of their highinput, high-risk agriculture
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continue to commit suicide. Their families led by their widows continue to struggle. World-bank funded water supply and sanitation schemes charge user fees for the water and sanitation services in villages, towns and cities while water is sold by the tankerful in cities, by 'entrepreneurs' who drill deep borewells and sell underground water. Globalisation in the newly industrializing countries, with focus on India The countries of the industrialized world have robust state and judicial machinery, accountability and maturity in democratic institutions and also the technical knowhow to deal with the outcome of industrial pollution and capitalistic production practices. Being aware of the profound irreversible changes in the environment brought about by industrial complexes, and to ensure their high standard of living they engineered a process through GATT and WTO, imposing an unfairly loaded system on the newly industrializing countries a system which basically provided a blueprint to facilitate an unprincipled loot of the commons of the traditional agricultural societies, which have a large section of the population in the primary economy. In these countries, common people depend upon and are productive in making a livelihood out of the rivers, forests, water sources, mineral wealth, land, sea fronts and marine resources. Many are also dictatorships or newly democratic nations, without the decades of experience, literacy levels and social safety net enjoyed in the industrialized world. Hence the impact was felt directly on the governance

A n o t h e r s t r a t e g i c a l ly important commons the electromagnetic spectrum gained huge economic importance owing to the development of technology which used the airwaves to facilitate information and communications. This nontraditional sector has seen a massive growth due to demand for improved communications. The largest ever scams - the 2G spectrum scam and the AntrixDevas S-band spectrum scam totaling about 200,000 lakh crore - in our already notoriously corrupt system, is in this sector. Only some principled whistleblowers, upright auditors and the media, perhaps driven by equal parts of business rivalry and indignance, caused these scams to be exposed. Who knows how many more such big and smaller scams lurk unexposed. Issues of governance and accountability Globalisation causes the same state which confers rights and citizenship on the people to act against their interests in welcoming the wealthy by taking the resources of the poor and giving it practically free to the wealthy. And as the women in this context do not even have traditional rights to title of land or property, their exploitation is total. Thus they have been profoundly dehumanized, their roots and agency taken from them by the same state which is bound by a sovereign duty to protect and nurture those very rights. Further, they have also been kept out of the processes of decision-making on issues which profoundly affect their lives by gender, class and caste, a serious violation of their democratic rights. Moreover, the state also uses its forces police, paramilitary and intelligence to protect
systems and the economy of the underdog countries who were forced to open their markets for the goods and services produced in the powerful nations, ironically, in the name of a level playing field, while their own fledgling industries and services were crushed under the competition. But a far greater impact was felt in the lives of the Indian poor whose livelihoods were the most affected those who produced and lived at subsistence levels: landless agricultural labourers, almost completely Dalit, Most Backward Castes or Minority who are also village artisanal castes; adivasis and other forest dwellers; small and marginal farmers, eking out a living based on rain-fed crops and seasonal migration; and fisherfolk. Their livelihood resources and places of living were coveted by the powerful both from their own country as well as the capitalists from abroad for constructing p r e m i u m h o u s i n g , S E Z s, industries and mines, and for resorts and hotels, 4-lane highways and airports.
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the rights of the capitalists against its own citizens when they exercise their democratic rights to protest the action of the states. Women from the affected communities are beset on all sides the state machinery on the one hand, their gender roles of nurturing their children and families on the other, and the unequal battle for livelihood resources and gender violence within the family and community. In recent years the government has introduced some poverty alleviation measures such as NREGA, which have benefitted some sections of the poor in several parts of the country. The RTI Act is another important example of enabling some accountability on the part of government. It has also attempted to strengthen women's participation in grassroots governance by reserving onethird of the seats for women from different categories. But it takes away t h e p owe r o f t h e p a n c h aya t s u s i n g va r i o u s strategies such as ordinances, local area development boards, and notifications. Thus the government gives with one hand and takes away with the other. Media: Manufacturing consent and managing dissent The globalization strategy includes the use of mass media to project images which promote consumption and alienate the people from their cultural roots and local milieu, thus opening up a huge potential market for goods and ser vices produced in industrialized consumerist societies, and introducing a globalised culture popular movies, focus on cosmetics termed personal care products, and clothes and a commodification of the human, and especially the female body. Thus cultural/racial stereotypes fair skin, tinted rather than naturalcoloured hair, slim body type are imposed on and consumed by a huge paying public with hardly any challenge. The public service broadcasters like Doordarshan and BBC (recently closed its Hindi shortwave radio services) which have a mandate of social responsibility and public accountability have practically been overrun by corporate media houses with interests in print, TV and FM, linked to huge business c o n g l o m e r a t e s. T h e n ew s coverage in these channels is a travesty of the realities of life of the masses. Education Means or End? Education, an important social good for the enhancement of the individual and society, becomes but a means to get a good-paying job, even if it is a dead-end job of a shop assistant or a cyber coolie. The state has withdrawn massively from tertiary education and left the field open to private players who charge heavy fees for professional courses which are increasingly market-driven and specialised. This also pushes higher education out of the reach of the lower economic strata. Thus education becomes a commodity, rather than an opportunity for contributing to the knowledge pool for the good of society. And as in other social goods, increasing numbers of women have less access to education, even as more women join the ranks of the unorganized sector in poorly paid dead-end jobs in the emerging economies. Health: Not well-being Healthcare Services were among the first to feel the impact of globalization. The World

Bank gave millions in soft loans for India Population Project basically targeting contraceptive services at women of reproductive age groups, instead of tackling the fundamental problem of malnutrition and anaemia which dogs women's health in India basically of food insecurity and gender practices which cause women's unequal access to the household food basket. Super specialization rather than public health became the preferred route for medicare institutions and professionals, with government again withdrawing in favour of a huge number of private institutions. Pharma companies, diagnostic centres and drugstores abound but basic healthcare still evades the rural poor, leaving the underaged and underweight mothers to the care of untrained or poorly motivated midwives during and after pregnancy and delivery. The need for special care and nutrition of children, young women, and the aged women are totally inadequately addressed by the health system. Overall, the impact of globalization on the lives of women, especially the dispossessed rural poor women of India, and their children, can be termed a silent tsunami. But what has happened concerns people, not inanimate natural elements. And if the people gather, just as the tidal wave gathers momentum and returns to clash against the land, the backlash can be devastating.
Cynthia Stephen is a Bangalore-based activist and researcher. She works on issues of poverty, women, dalit, and children. cynstepin@gmail.com
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orruption is a hot topic today with multiple scams surfacing in the recent months starting with the Common Wealth Games Scam. There is nothing new in the topic except that its enormity is growing and people want something to be done about it. Mr. Nitish Kumar made corruption an important agenda in the recently held assembly elections and rode back to power. Even if we assume for a moment that he means business the weapon he has chosen, The Bihar Special Court Bill, 2009, falls short of expectations. The Bihar Special Court Bill, 2009 will enable the state to confiscate assets of public servants against whom cases of possessing disproportionate assets have been filed and charge sheets have been submitted in the court of law. It may be a welcome start but hardly enough to tackle the kind

difficult to track. The natural question now is: do we have any mechanism to effectively counter corruption? Fortunately the answer is yes. The experience of Social Audit (SA) of NREGA works in Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Bihar and other parts of the country where it has been conducted, shows a way forward. Social Audit basically means, Audit by the people. In a SA, government records regarding expenditure on a particular scheme are brought out in the open before the people of the panchayat or the locality, and the people are given a chance to raise objections and point out corruption in front of the whole samaj and in front of the government officials. The process starts by bringing out the official records. Thereafter documents are collated and put in a form, which can be easily understood by common people. Then verification is done based on the nature of the expenditure. A public meeting called 'Jan sunwai' is organized. People assemble at a pre-publicized venue in which the summary and findings of the audit are presented before them. Provision for SA is built in NREGA and has been tried successfully in several states. In A n d h r a Pradesh, for example, the state gover nment has institutionalized the SA process. It is being done at a large-scale there. The result of audits has been ve r y e n c o u r a g i n g . 3 8 4 2
Social Audit basically means, Audit by the people. In a SA, government records regarding expenditure on a particular scheme are brought out in the open before the people of the panchayat or the locality, and the people are given a chance to raise objections and point out corruption in front of the whole samaj and in front of the government officials.
of corruption we are living with. Disproportionate asset is hard to track as money can be kept in foreign accounts, used for 'benami' property, for buying large tracts of land/other properties that are undervalued on paper, etc. Moreover, petty corruption that exists at the grass root level with multiple players sharing the illegal money is
TACKLING CORRUPTION
Kamayani Swami and Ashish Ranjan
Social Audit Shows the Way in Bihar
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personnel have been removed from service and 1430 have been suspended. 150 million rupees have been recovered out of the misappropriated amount. The foot soldiers of audit are nearly 60,000 volunteers who have been trained for this specific purpose. In Rajasthan, corruption in wage part of NREGA is not widespread due to large-scale audits conducted by the government with the support of Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan and other constituent organizations of the Soochna Avum Rozgar Abhiyan. In Bihar, the Araria district administration and a growing people's organization named Jan Jagaran Shakti Sangathan recently conducted a series of SAs in each of the nine blocks in the district. Large scale corruption has surfaced which otherwise could have gone unnoticed. For example in Chaukta Panchayat of Jokihat Block it was found that wages were paid to workers who lived not in the same Panchayat but several kilometers away in a different panchayat of the neighboring block. When contacted these workers denied getting any work or money. Further investigation revealed that more than five lakhs rupees was swindled in connivance with the Post Office (PO) of a distant Panchayat. The PO had opened accounts of these workers without their knowledge and was illegally withdrawing money and sharing it with the Zila Parishad (executing agency of the work) and other middlemen. In Halhaliya Panchayat out of six works done in 2009-10, four works worth Rs seven lakh eighty four thousand were done only on paper. This kind of corruption surfaced because the SA involves the community, is conducted in the presence of the community and it is the community which does the investigation ('Jaanch'). Local organizations such as JJSS have a vital role to play in it as they facilitate the process of compilation, simplification and verification. As expected, SA has its own set of challenges. Some of the It is time for the Bihar Government to take the bold step of conducting wide scale social audits of not only NREGA works but of all developmental schemes and possibly of all government schemes. Will Mr Nitish Kumar comply?

biggest challenges come from the state itself. For example, the administration in Araria has not been able to take speedy action on the wrongdoers. In fact some of senior officials of DRDA, Araria, when directed to act on SA findings, wrote false reports negating the claims of the SA. JJSS took up the matter to the highest level and a secretary level investigation was conducted. The Principal Secretary, Rural Development, recommended the suspension of the DRDA official for subverting the process and for filing false repots. His request unfortunately was turned down by the Minister, Rural Development, who recommended departmental action only. Even after three months of the audit not even a single person has gone to jail. Bihar is not an exception when it comes to state ineffectiveness. The Sarpanches in Rajasthan have come out openly against SA in NREGA and they have been able to stall the process of SA with the connivance of the state authorities. The resistance against SA itself proves its utility and speaks of its power to hit on corruption. The challenges are not insurmountable. It needs political will and willingness to act tough on corruption. It is time for the Bihar Government to take the bold step of conducting wide scale social audits of not only NREGA works but of all developmental schemes and possibly of all government schemes. Will Mr Nitish Kumar comply?
Kamayani Swami and Ashish Ranjan are members of NAPM Bihar. ashish.ranjanjha@gmail.com
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Shillong Declaration on the
RIGHT TO INFORMATION
Declaration made by the participants of the
Third National RTI Convention, held in Shillong, between March 10-12, 2011.. WE, THE PARTICIPANTS OF THE THIRD NATIONAL RTI CONVENTION, HEREBY DECLARE THAT:
responsibility of the government to properly implement proactive disclosures under It is the Section 4 of the RTI Act. We therefore demand that they urgently fulfil this responsibility. We urgently need an anti-corruption commission or body, like the Lokpal/Lokayukta, which can ensure that information accessed through the RTI Act that exposes corruption is acted upon and the guilty are held accountable. moral responsibility of the government to protect RTI activists and users, and take It is the swift legal action against the attackers. It is also the moral obligation of governments and information commissions to ensure that, if an activist is attacked, the information that was being sought by the assaulted activist is urgently and on a priority basis, put in the public domain and followed up. must be a process by which all draft legislations, before they are introduced in There Parliament or in legislative assemblies, are put in the public domain and there are public consultations before their enactment. The constitution and functioning of information commissions requires overhauling. The process of selecting commissioners must be transparent and participatory, and commissions must ensure that the promotion of transparency is their sole focus. the Government of India to set up a National RTI Council (similar to the Central We want Employment Guarantee Council) which has, as members, people from various states, so that problems in implementing the RTI Act can be monitored regularly. private partnerships, the private sector, political parties, trade unions, NGOs, and Public cooperative societies are all under the purview of the RTI Act. Rules and procedures need to be defined to ensure that information from them can be easily accessed. Exemption given under Section 24 to security and intelligence agencies are irrational and contrary to national interest, and this needs to be removed not by amendment of the Act but by withdrawing the list of notified agencies in the second schedule of the RTI Act. areas in North Eastern India, where there are no local governments (panchayati raj For those institutions), rules and procedures need to be defined to facilitate the access of local level information under the RTI Act. There must be transparency in religious institutions and about the use of public funds for religious purpose. All government expenditure must be subject to social/public audits.
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Jan Sansad : Lok Sabha se Upar Gram Sabha

A first hand report from the recently concluded Jan Sansad in Mumbai.. Jan Sansad is a People's Parliament meant to rise above electoral politics for the development of real peoples' power and a society based on truth, equality and justice. It is a People's Participatory Process to fight against injustice and human rights violations through alternative politics and planning development from below. an Sansad is a People's Parliament meant to rise above electoral politics for the development of real peoples' power and a society based on truth, equality and j u s t i c e. I t i s a Pe o p l e ' s Participatory Process to fight against injustice and human rights violations through alternative politics and planning development from below. Amidst the numerous scams, rampant corruption in all walks of public life, high inflation and an unholy alliance of politicians, business tycoons and bureaucracy, the Mumbai City's first Jan Sansad organized by Ghar Bachao Ghar Banao Andolan and National Alliance of People's Movements was held at Govandi on March 4th and 5th 2011 at Aangan Lawns, Near Deonar Bus Stand, Mumbai and ended with the call for Azadi, emphasizing on the fact that the political independence achieved
in 1947 was meant for everyone, but still even after 61 years, social and economic freedom eludes the vast majority of Indians who are becoming poorer by the day, while the influence of corporate power on all aspects of life grows and governments act as the subsidiaries of big capital. About 3000-5000 struggling and marginalized city dwellers who are Mumbai's lifeline joined this Jan Sansad including those affected by policies of anti-people development, demolition drives and displacement. In this Jan Sansad people had also nominated persons from various fields such as media, judiciary, people's movements, artists, academics who have been fighting against injustice, corruption, human rights violations and working towards pro-people development and human rights in various states of India.
The Jan Sansad was the third in the Series of Jan Sansads held earlier. First was held in Almora organized by Uttarakhand Lok Vahini and the second in Chandrapur organised by Sarva Seva Sangh. In the midst of revolutionary slogans and songs by Cultural Activists Sambhaji Bhagat which created enthusiasm and renewed energy in the ambience, the Jan sansad was inaugurated with lighting of Mashals as well as extending a warm welcome by Madhuresh Kumar and Suniti S R to all, while facilitating people's representatives (Jan Paratinidhis) present. The inaugural session was presided over by Justice Rajinder Sachar (Retd), Justice Suresh, Nasreen Bano, Swami Agnivesh and Sister Celia. In addition, there were Medha Patkar, NAPM; Dr. Banwari Lal Sharma, Azadi Bachao Andolan; Dr. Shamsher Singh Bisht, Uttarakhand
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Vahini; Gautam Bandopadhyay, Chattisgarh; Amarnath Bhai, Sarva Seva Sangh; Prafulla Samantara, Orissa; Ashok Choudhary, NFFPFW Uttar Pradesh; Vivekanand Mathne, Maharahstra; Gabriele Dietrich, NAPM Tamilnadu; Vijoykant, Vijay Kumar, Bihar; Maj Gen. Sudhir Vombatkere, Karnataka; Bharat, Andhra Pradesh; Rakesh Rafiq, J P Singh, Uttar Pradesh; Bhupender Rawat, Rajendra Ravi, Karan Singh, Ajit Jha, Delhi; Harpal Singh Rana, Haryana, Justice Suresh Hosbet, Mumbai. From Mumbai and Pune many prominent citizens and activists joined the two days Jan Sansad including Bhai Vaidya, Y P Singh, Anand Patwardhan, Pratima Joshi, Vidya Bal, S Parasuraman, Pushpa Bhave, Nandita Shah, Neera Adarker, Chandrashekhar Deshpande, Maruti Bhapkar. The Context: While setting the tone, content and context of the meet, Medha Patkar said, that in Mumbai, the country's financial capital, about 60 % of people live under inhuman conditions and continuous threat to their huts being razed as a result of which being displaced, despite the fact that it is Mumbai's poor who are sustaining and running the very city, giving her (Mumbai) ethos. Due to the anti-people and imperialist development and housing policies of the government the situation of the people is going from bad to worse with large population being deprived of the very essential and basic services such as food, shelter, water and medical relief. The City's so called development policies of the government have become synonymous with Despite the 60 years of independence the problem relating to urbanization, infor mal workers, marginalized slum dwellers and their right to life and livelihoods in the city not only remains unsolved but got more complicated day by day. This view was expressed by Simpreet Singh, the activist from Ghar Banao Ghar Bachao Andolan. After independence, contrary to the ideas of Gandhi, focusing on rural development, the idea o f u r b a n i z a t i o n wa s adopted, leading to massive displacement of people from rural areas to urban setting, where the situation of the working class people went from bad to worse.

country. Various issues raised during the urban specific Jan sansad were: Urbanization Today: Despite the 60 years of independence the problem relating to urbanization, informal workers, marginalized slum dwellers and their right to life and livelihoods in the city not only remains unsolved but got more complicated day by day. This view was expressed by Simpreet Singh, the activist from Ghar Banao Ghar Bachao Andolan. After independence, contrary to the ideas of Gandhi, focusing on rural development, the idea of urbanization was adopted, leading to massive displacement of people from rural areas to urban setting, where the situation of the working class people went from bad to worse. The gap between the rich and poor became many fold and the greed of land which is treated not as land, our mother, but a commercial commodity, as a goldmine, which has led to real estate scams and corruption all over, including the legislature, bureaucracy, and even judiciary and as a result massive demolition of 70-80 thousand houses of slum dwellers in Mumbai city alone since 2005. Adding to what Simpreet said, Rajendra Ravi emphasized that instead of thinking that whether we should have cities or not today the pertinent issue was how and what kind of cities we plan that can provide basic amenities like transport, health, school, water electricity and housing for all. This requires a political will on part of the state and a policy of decentralization, transfer of power to basti-sabha
exploitation, deprivation and threat to the right to life and livelihoods for all those who are poor and marginalized. However, expressing hope that the spirit of slum people will never slacken, she informed how they are joining hands together to fight against such corrupt and ani-people policies and programmes and building a huge movement in which women are taking a leading role. Looking at the large number of people, especially women not only merely attending the Jan Sansad but actively participating in it, Justice Rajendra Sachar said that this reminded him of those days when a surge of people came out on the street to fight Emergency imposed in the country and he said that now people are again coming out to fight the present corrupt system which is a big hope for the
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and reinstallation of land ceiling act. Demolition Demolition is the everyday ghost that haunts the life of urban slum dwellers and therefore we pledge that as people fought for the freedom of the country we will also fight and struggle till our rights are restored, said the slum activist Jamila, a young woman and mother of two children, who came all the way from A n n a b h a u S a t h e N a g a r, Mankhurd, Jamila said that her life was under threat from the agent of the builders and she was living under threat of demolition yet, she expressed bravely that she would not allow such situation to deter her from her struggle for the life and livelihood rights of the slum dwellers and against the builder's conspiracy of land grab. She added that it was not the case alone but the slum dwellers of the entire city have faced not one but multiple demolitions and living constantly under the threats of demolitions and displacement. Misuse of 3K Section of SRA M e d h a p a t k a r, P r e r n a Gaikwad from Golibar, and Satish Prabhu unequivocally pointed out to the section 3k of the 'Slum Rehabilitation Act' in Maharashtra, which is the biggest loophole in the act and is often misused in favour of builders by the government officials. This Act allows government official to overrule the condition in the Act that unless over 70% people agree for the slum development scheme offered by builder in the area no development could take place. This has paved an easy way for land grabbing by builders like Shivalik in Golibar. Shakil Ahmed focused on the other issue of SRA and emphasized that Annexure-I should include women's names too. Vivek Pandit from Powai said that, how come Hiranadani builders got 250 acres of land at the dirt cheap rate of 40 paisa per acre under the guise of making houses for dis-housed but very blatantly used it to make luxury

flat of crores of rupees. Most of the people present agreed that the SRA scheme was a scheme to take over the land of the people in Basti. The JNNURM Racket According to Maruti Bhapkar, a Corporator of the richest municipal corporation in PUNE, JNNURM is nothing but a racket of central government, State Government and corporation and IAS lobby and therefore, a lot of funds get siphoned. For Medha Patkar the JNNURM scheme, which brings in huge World Bank funds is not only used to destroy the homes of the slum dwellers and deny resources to them but also forms the source for corruption and generation of black money that funds elections at all levels. Lack of Basic Services: L e e n a Jo s h i , S i t a r a m Shellar, Santosh Thorat, Simantani Dhuru brought to the present the fact that how children, men and women living in the slums have been subjected to subhuman conditions as the government has denied their basic rights and basic services such as health, rations, water, sanitation, electricity, and education. Speaking about the New Right to Education Act, Simantini Dhuru spoke about the bill being passed in the parliament without much of debate and discussion. The Act is actually not to provide education to all but to maintain the status quo and inequality in education. The government's intention is to create multi layered education system with poor getting the poorest of the facilities both physical and
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? Jan Sansad resolves that everybody has an equal right to the resources available in the city and they have to be won and fought for. The JNNURM scheme, which brings in huge World Bank funds is not only used to destroy the homes of the slum dwellers and deny resources to them but also forms the source of corruption and generation of black money that funds elections at all levels.

achieve azadi from corruption and also to commit itself to bring the Jan Lokpal Bill, Jan Bhagidari Bill and Development Planning Act which will pave the way for greater political participation of the common people. ?n S a n s a d The Ja reiterated its resolve to continue the struggle to establish equity in supply of basic services like housing, water, electricity, education and health to all the citizens in a city. ? Jan Sansad resolves that everybody has an equal right to the resources available in the city and they have to be won and fought for. The JNNURM scheme, which brings in huge World Bank funds is not only used to destroy the homes of the s l u m dwe l l e r s a n d d e n y resources to them but also forms the source of corruption and generation of black money that funds elections at all levels. ?a n d G h a r NA P M Bachao Ghar Banao Andolan, the two associates of the Jan Sansad resolve to hold morchas all over the Mumbai city and stop any demolition. ? to extend It also decides support to the ongoing democratic movements across the country and those in Arab World and Latin America. It is of the view that the Indian military can't be used anywhere in the world to suppress such democratic movements.
The Jan Sansad ended with a public meeting in Mandala Mankhurd where they declared it as a liberated zone from oppression, from exploitation and any evictions and demolitions, and resolved to fight for its existence. [Repor t prepared by Mukta Srivastava and assisted by Chandni Chawla, Madhuri Varyath and others]
personnel and in the process perpetuating the inequality, injustice, poverty and deprivation. Leena Joshi brought to the notice of those present, the severe case of malnutrition in Gowandi and recent deaths of 18 children due to primary and secondary malnutrition. Lack of public health facilities and i n a b i l i t y t o p ay m e d i c a l expenses has lead to death and serious health problems in the slums. Slum not being declared legal has deprived them from all basic facilities to ensure proper health such as toilets, sanitation ad water. Sitaram Shellar brought out the plight of thirst and unhygienic conditions among the poor due to the privatization of water. Now it was not people over profit but profit over people in a so-called democratic state. Whereas people living in buildings consume 150 liters per day, the poor were not even able to get 40 liters a day. Problem of people's control over resources, Policies, government and bureaucracies According to Swati Maliwal
the basic problem was the three major lacunas in the entire system of governance: 1. People have no control over public funds and resources 2. People also have no control o ve r t h e G o ve r n m e n t Policies 3. People have no control over the bureaucracy, and the government itself She pointed out that there is no law in India to bring back the scam money.Therefore, there was a need to get two bills passed. The Nagar Raj Billwhich empowers the Basti Sabha and the Jan Lok Pal Bill which takes on the corrupt. Swami Agnivesh gave a call to people to fight corruption with tooth and nail, and give strength to the Lokpal Bill not of the diluted version of the government Bill but the people's bill which is much more stringent against the corrupt. The two day deliberation led to a March to the Mandala Basti, no-nonsense Slogans, determined Pledges, passing of Resolution, and Plan of Action.
? The resolutions: ? scheme is a The SRA

scheme to take over the land of the people in Basti and Jan Sansad resolves to fight it and not allow any of these schemes to be implemented. ? Gandhi The Rajiv Awas Yojana offers some hope but any attempt at fraud by the state authorities in the name of slum development will not be tolerated. The cut off mark of 1995 is completely arbitrary and the Jan Sansad refuses to accept such distinction. ? resolves to Jan Sansad start a renewed Struggle to
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NAPM SUPPORTS
Jan Lokpal Bill but Anna Hazare's Appreciation of Modi-Raj
REJECTS
A MOVEMENT FOR JAN LOKPAL BILL

On Saturday morning (9th April 2010), Veteran social activist Anna Hazare broke his fast after over 90 hours of spearheading the campaign against corruption after government issued a gazette notification constituting a 10-member joint committee of ministers and civil society activists, including him, to draft an effective Lokpal Bill. He was sitting on an inddefinite fast from April 5th. This raised a lot of media and public attention for the campaign led by India Against Corruption. We are presenting here a comparative summary of theexisting systems to fight corruption and the one propsed by Jan Lokpal Bill. NAPM supported the campaign with certain reservations as mentioned in its press statements and also plans to organise consulations on the Bill across the country.
Existing System No politician or senior officer ever goes to jail despite huge evidence because Anti Corruption Branch (ACB) and CBI directly come under the government. Before starting investigation or initiating prosecution in any case, they have to take permission from the same bosses, against whom the case has to be investigated. System Proposed by civil society Lokpal at centre and Lokayukta at state level will be independent bodies. ACB and CBI will be merged into these bodies. They will have power to initiate investigations and prosecution against any officer or politician without needing anyone's permission. Investigation should be completed within 1 year and trial to get over in next 1 year. Within two years, the corrupt should go to jail. Lokpal and Lokayukta will have complete powers to order dismissal of a corrupt officer. CVC and all departmental vigilance will be merged into Lokpal and state vigilance will be merged into Lokayukta.
No corrupt officer is dismissed from the job because Central Vigilance Commission, which is supposed to dismiss corrupt officers, is only an advisory body. Whenever it advises government to dismiss any senior corrupt officer, its advice is never implemented. No action is taken against corrupt judges because permission is required from the Chief Justice of India to even register an FIR against corrupt judges. Nowhere to go - People expose corruption but no action is taken on their complaints.
Lokpal & Lokayukta shall have powers to investigate and prosecute any judge without needing anyone's permission. Lokpal & Lokayukta will have to enquire into and hear every complaint.
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Existing System There is so much corruption within CBI and vigilance departments. Their functioning is so secret that it encourages corruption within these agencies.

System Proposed by civil society
All investigations in Lokpal & Lokayukta shall be transparent. After completion of investigation, all case records shall be open to public. Complaint against any staff of Lokpal & Lokayukta shall be enquired and punishment announced within two months. Politicians will have absolutely no say in selections of Chairperson and members of Lokpal & Lokayukta. Selections will take place through a transparent and public participatory process. Lokpal & Lokayukta will get public grievances resolved in time bound manner, impose a penalty of Rs 250 per day of delay to be deducted from the salary of guilty officer and award that amount as compensation to the aggrieved citizen. Loss caused to the government due to corruption will be recovered from all accused. Enhanced punishment - The punishment would be minimum 5 years and maximum of life imprisonment.
Weak and corrupt people are appointed as heads of anticorruption agencies.
Citizens face harassment in government offices. Sometimes they are forced to pay bribes. One can only complaint to senior officers. No action is taken on complaints because senior officers also get their cut. Nothing in law to recover ill gotten wealth. A corrupt person can come out of jail and enjoy that money. Small punishment for corruption- Punishment for corruption is minimum 6 months and maximum 7 years.
NAPM's Support to Anna Hazare and stand on ongoing Corruption Agitation New Delhi, April 7 : Shri Anna Hazare's indefinite fast and thousands others fasting across the country with a demand for enactment of an independent and stronger Jan Lokpal and Jan Lokayukta enters third day today. NAPM has extended its support to the demand since beginning of the movement and from 5th April organised rallies, morchas, solidarity fasts, public meetings and other such programmes in Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Lucknow, Unao, Itawah, Muzaffarnagar, Delhi and many other places across the country. NAPM reiterate its support, and even as the movement gains steam, pledges to intensify our agitation. Even as we struggle to demand for a stronger Lokpal and Lokayukta to root out the financial corruption and irregularities in different government schemes, NAPM would like to point out that there are far larger issues at stake for our movement. 1. The scale of corruption involved in Common Wealth Games and 2-G Spectrum has shocked the nation and UPA government has to answer for it and take action but at the same time we are concerned about the inaction from all the political parties on ecological corruption and the naked loot of our natural resources rivers, forests, land, minerals etc. 2. Different political Parties across the political spectrum illegal mining in Bellary, Karnataka (BJP Government); Vedanata mining, POSCO Steel plant, Tata Power and Steel Plants, Jindals and others in Orissa (BJD Government); mining and steel companies in Jharkhand (BJP led government), massive corruption in PDS and others in Assam (Congress led Government); Adarsh Housing Society, Lavasa, Shivalik Ventures and other builders corruption in Maharashtra (Congress led government) and othes are guilty of inaction and facilitating the process of irregularities, gross violation and miscarriage of justice and violence against those struggling against these. None of these parties have shown political will in taking action against them. 3. The amount of black money stashed in the different foreign banks need to be brought in and those responsible for it punished but at the same time there is a need to stop the ongoing privatisation of various
33
basic services - transport, water and electricity supply, health, food, PDS and many more. Privatisation is encouraging the big Corporations like Tata, Reliance, Jindals, Pricewater House Coopers, Essar, Mittal's, Vedanata and many others to engage in the loot and go to any extent in buying undue favours from the politicians and government machinery. We strongly oppose privatisation of the basis services in the name of efficiency and better services. Government can't shun its responsibility towards the aam aadmi and provide them affordable and quality food, water, education, health, and transport. It can't just remain the privilege of 25% of the Indians - the middle and upper middle classes alone. 4. We as a nation has to ask for the accountability, transparency and the probity ar large in public life and not only in the government institutions. The corruption and violence unleashed by the State using its machinery including armed forces in parts of North East, Jammu and Kashmir and in Central India in the name of Operation Green Hunt has come to an end. The dangerous trend has been the unholy nexus between the corporations, politicians and bureaucrats who have got together to facilitate the 'Great Indian Loot'. We are concerned by this and urge every one to target the systemic and institutionalised corruption. Jan Lokpal is the beginning alone and the movement will have to join hands with the millions fighting against the neo-liberal reforms which is facilitating a greater role and intervention for the Capital forces in the governance and thereby facilitating the corruption and undermining the democratic institutions of the country. A check on the elected government's is what we need, but the inclusion of the Private Companies acting in the name of larger public purpose within the fold of Accountability and Transparency has to be ensured too. WE CAN NO MORE REMAIN MUTE SPECTATORS TO THIS LOOT OF OUR RESOURCES WHICH IS PERPETUATING THE IMPENDING CIVILISATIONAL CRISIS. We exhort everyone to join the struggle of millions of working class people, adivasis, dalits, women, forest workers, fisherfolks in their quest for a dignified livelihood and justice. Our movement against corruption has to go beyond the visible symbols of corruption and reach out for a wider systemic transformation in the country today. Let us all join this struggle ! The process of Jan Lokpal Bill mandates that in general the legislative processes has to be much more democratic and government must come out in public and hold nation-wide consultations on important legislations apart from Jan Lokpal, such as Land Acquisition Amendment Bill, UID Bill and others. Lastly, we would also like to reiterate that in this fight against corruption we have to choose our allies with care and take those along who have the moral authority to stand with the masses and have struggled for peace, justice and democracy in the society rather than pushing for a communal, casteist, patriarchal and divisive agenda and facilitated ecological corruption. MKSS Statement on Anna Hazare's fast for the Lok Pal Bill The MKSS welcomes the demand for a strong Lok Pal Bill. We believe that a strong and effective Lok Pal Act will help bring to book those who have become more and more brazen with their acts of corruption, and provide a strong deterrent to malpractice in governance and arbitrary use of power. We support the concern expressed by people all over the country against growing corruption and the impunity of those who are guilty of indulging in corrupt practices. We therefore appreciate the efforts of Anna Hazare and his campaign in highlighting this issue, and creating a groundswell of support for a strong Jan Lok Pal Bill. However bypassing democratic processes for political expediency however desirable the outcome, may be detrimental to democracy itself. Thus our focus is not on ensuring that there is 50% representation for civil society with members of the GOM who are entrusted with drafting the Bill, but to demand that the Government immediately announce its intention to pass a strong Lok Pal Legislation based on wide public consultations. We will continue to push for legislation that promote essential principles of transparency and accountability, and participate in processes that move in that direction. The
34
MKSS will network with the National Campaign for the Peoples Right to Information (NCPRI) and other like minded campaigns to take the peoples' demands for an independent, accountable and effective Lokpal to the Government. Shankar Singh, Nikhil Dey and Aruna Roy on behalf of the MKSS Collective. April 6, 2011 [MKSS is a constitune of NAPM and Aruna Roy is National Convener, NAPM]
Anna Hazare's statement endorsing and appreciating the 'Modi-Raj' is unfortunate and unacceptable
New Delhi, April12 : It was shocking to find that Anna Hazareji after receiving support by all of us, with millions, publicly appreciated the rule as well rural development work by the Chief Minister of Gujarat, Mr. Narendra Modi. The entire world knows the role played by him and his administration in the Gujarat's communal riots. His government has only indicated callousness and contempt for the farmers and other natural resource based communities in Gujarat, including those fighting against displacement from their land and livelihood or for rehabilitation. On the issue of corruption, Modi's response to the initiative to bring in a strong enactment or to wipe out corruption is, to say the least, only politically motivated. If only he was committed to an institution like the Jan Lokpal, how could the Lokpal's post be vacant in Gujarat since 2005? His government has suppressed massive corruption in the land purchases while submitted exaggerated data on benefits to the drought areas of Kutch and Saurashtra and the rural population. In Narmada, we have seen how the adivasis in Gujarat, screaming against the legal violations and deprivation in the rehabilitation work do not receive any response and the Modi Government is ready to submerge the best of agricultural land and generations old villages and township in the dam reservoir in three states. As a shrewd politician, Mr. Modi knows how to divide the secular force and seek advantage for himself and his party. We shouldn't however fall prey to this. Anna too must hear and heed to the serious grievances and charges coming from the activists and people in Gujarat against Mr. Modi and his government. Gujarat is growing only for and with the industrialists at the cost of those contributing their land or human labour and now the local communities in Gujarat have also stood up to the challenge the injustices. All of this clearly indicate a betrayal of rural needy population for his corporate vision. We surely would join many of Gujarat's progressive activists who know the ground reality and the atrocities against the dalits, adivasis, minorities and other downtrodden population to tell Anna that he should stay away from supporting politicians until and unless they prove their mettle and commitment to people's causes. We agree with the letters written by activists Rohit Prajapati and Trupti Shah to Anna, seeking an explanation. The common people of India have supported the battle against corruption with faith in our campaign and credibility as people's movements based on the core values of equity, justice, democracy, secularism and plurality. This should not be compromised at any cost. WE SHALL FIGHT ! Endorsed by: Medha Patkar, Sandeep Pandey, Gabriele Dietrich, Sister Celia, Maj Gen (Retd.) S.G.Vombatkere (Retd), Thomas Kocherrey, Prafulla Samantara, Suniti S R, Roma, P Chennaiah, Dayamani Barla, Arundhati Dhuru, Ramakrishna Raju, Anand mazgaonkar, Rajendra Ravi, Bhupendera Singh Rawat, Geo Jose, Mukta Srivastava, Simpreet Singh, Pervin Jehangir, Kamayani Swami, Madhuresh Kumar Contact : 9818905316 | napmindia@napm-india.org WE SHALL WIN !
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March 9, New Delhi : The Supreme Court quashes the acquisition of land by Uttar Pradesh government to set up a jail in Shahjahanpur. It said that it will subject the government's land acquisition drives to strict scrutiny. March 6, Mumbai : NAPM National Conveners Meeting at Tata Institute of Social Sciences. March 5, Mumbai : Medha Patkar demands an inquiry into the cause of fire in a slum in Bandra which rendered at least 2000 people homeless. She also demands compensation for the families. March 4 5, Mumbai : NAPM and GBGB host the third session of Jan Sansad focusing on the issue of urban development in India. March 4, New Delhi : To oppose the introduction of cash transfer / smart card system in place of the PDS in Delhi, the Rozi Roti Adhikar Abhiyan - Delhi holdsd a dharna near the Police Head Quarters at ITO in Delhi. March 3, Hyderabad : NAPM APwrites to Chairperson, Andhra Pradesh Human Rights Commission regarding the suppression of facts about the Naupada Wetlands in Srikakulam District being wrongly called Wastelands. March 2, New Delhi : The Ministry of Environment and Forests directs East Coast Energy to stop construction at its 2,640-Mw thermal power project in Srikakulam, Andhra Pradesh, owing to protests by farmers. March 1, Vishakhapatnam / Hyderabad : The NAPM strongly condemns the police firing on villagers opposing the Kakarapalli thermal power plant, and burning of houses at Vaddithandra which led to the killing of 3 people and holds a day long dharna in Hyderabad. February 28, New Delhi : The police opens fire on the peacefully protesting villagers in Vadditandra village and kills three villagers and critically injures at least 25 people in Srikakulam District, Andhra Pradesh. The police fired tear gas shells causing fire to nearly 100 huts of fisherfolks in the Vadditandra village inciting people's anger. Police provoked the villagers and then opened fire with live munitions killing and injuring in the process. It is also alleged that police set fire to their own vehicles in order to justify their action and implicate villagers in burning of the vehicles. The opposition to the thermal power plants, one of them being the Bhavanapadu Thermal Power Project in the area is an indication of the people's resistance to the 'development' (destruction) being thrust upon them from above. February 28, New Delhi : Protest held at the TV9 office near Gole market against a report by them which
March 15, New Delhi : Commerzbank, a German bank, pulls out of the proposed Jaitapur nuclear power project in Maharashtra citing ''sustainability and reputational risk''. The decision was made prior to the Japan disaster. The villagers in Jaitapur have been protesting against this project as there is no planned storage and disposal of the nuclear waste. March 14, Mumbai : NAPM and Ghar Bachao Ghar Banao Andolan demands the implementation of Rajiv Awas Yojana (RAY), a redevelopment scheme instituted in 2009 that gives slums the right to self-development. March 11-13, Golaghat : Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti holds it annual assembly in district Golaghat, Assam and elects the new executive committee and finalises its year ahead stratgeies. March 10-11, New Delhi : A convention in support of Telangana is held on the 10th of March followed by a Students' March. March 10-12, Shillong : National RTI Convention is organised by NCPRI and Meghalaya RTI Movement. Nearly 1000 people participated from different parts of the country. March 10, New Delhi : After threats of a massive planned siege, the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh met with representatives of the Indian farmers led by Bhartiya Kisan Union. He committed to organize a formal hearing with the farmers on the Land Acquisition Act, to frame policies to increase farm incomes and to organize a farmers meeting with the Finance and the Agriculture ministers to specifically discuss the issues raised by the farmers. March 10, Guwahati : Akhil Gogoi, RTI activist and peasant leader with Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti and NAPM launches a comprehensive pre-poll campaign across the state to sensitize voters against the massive corruption by the government. March 10, New Delhi : Various activists, farmer's unions and consumer groups strongly oppose the proposed Biotechnology Regulatory Authority of India (BRAI) Bill in an open letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
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violated the basic rights and dignity of the LGBTQI community. Using private pictures, hidden-camera footage, and phone conversations, this broadcast made public the identities of some gay men without their consent. Furthermore, News9, the TV9 English news channel in Bangalore, continued to telecast a slightly edited version even after numerous protests against this news story. February 25, Guwahati : The family of Anjan Baruah, a resident of Tengani Dighali Majgaon under Barpathar Police Station in Golaghat district alleged that Anjan was compelled to end his life following 'continued physical and mental torture' by the police after his arrest in a 'fabricated' case. In a letter to the Subdivisional Police Officer, Dhansiri, the deceased's father Himendra Baruah stated that the police pressurized Anjan arrested a few months back -into making public statements before the electronic media linking some organisations with Maoists. The police also tried to brand him as a Maoist on false charges, with the Barpathar Police Station in-charge giving bites before the media to that effect, he saidFebruary 25, Mumbai: Activist Simpreet Singh received the National RTI Council Award instituted by Arvind Kejriwal's Public Cause Research Foundation on behalf of the National Alliance for Peoples Movement (NAPM) which uses the RTI Act to expose fraud and misappropriation of public assets. February 25, Mundra : senior NDTV reporters Sikta Dev, Sarah Jacob, cameraman Davedeep Kunvar, wellknown environmental activist Bharat Patel of MASS and their driver Manish Thakker are threatened, illegally detained and manhandled by Police and Adani goons in the Mundra SEZ area in Gujarat. The TV crew and environment activist were trying to study the impact of the Mundra SEZ (for which 6,00,000 trees were cut) on the Mangrove trees in the region. February 24, Berhampur : Convener of NAPM, Prafulla Samantra, at a press conference ask the Orissa government to initiate direct dialogue with the Maoist leaders. February 24, Plachimada : The Kerala Legslative Assembly unanimously pass a bill to constitute a tribunal to decide on compensation claims of the inhabitants of Plachimada and neighbourhood. The claims arose on account of overexploitation of ground water, polluting the environment by distributing contaminated sludge as manure etc. A high powered committee constituted in 2009 headed by K Jayakumar, IAS, had recommended the constitution of this committee in Mar 2010. The Government got the bill for constituting the tribunal passed unanimously today, the last day of the last session of this Assembly. February 23, Mumbai : Some 50 residents of the
Ganesh Krupa Society in the Golibar slums, led by social activist Medha Patkar, stormed the controversial Adarsh building in south Mumbai demanding its demolition as per MoEF's order. February 20, Nandigram : A lesbian couple commit suicide at Sonachura in Nandigram. Cousins Sucheta, 18, and Swapna Mondol, 22, after consuming poison and are found lying dead on a field near their home. A suicide note said that they were in love and they couldn't live without each other. Sucheta had come to visit her parents with her husband on Saturday. She went missing with Swapna after dinner. An activist for homosexuality lamented that such people were being hounded and killed. February 24, Bhojpar : Campaign Launched for Ban on Asbestos Factories in Bhojpur's Giddha & Bihiya by BANI (Ban Asbestos Network of India). February 21, New Delhi : Aiming at making cities slum-free across the country, the Centre announcs a Rs 6,000-crore grant for construction of over 200,000 houses under the Rajiv Awas Yojna, as a pilot project. The project envisages construction of over 200,000 housing units with basic infrastructure across the country. Each unit, estimated to cost about Rs 3 lakh, would consist of two rooms, kitchen, bathroom and a lavatory, along with electricity and water facilities. February 19, Ranchi : Several lakh people loose their livelihood due to removal of shops and shelters for organising 34th National Games in Jharkhand. At least one lakh people lost their livelihood in Dhanbadthe coal Capital of Jharkhand, alleges Shaktiman Ghosh, national general secretary of the National Hawkers Federation, in Dhanbad. February 19, Lucknow : In a major victory for tribals of Lakhimpur Kheri living in 46 villages in and around the Dudhwa forest range, the state government allowsthem to collect forest produce required for their survival as per FRA 2006. It also approved in principle the proposal to convert two forest villages Surma and Golbojhi situated in Dudhwa range into revenue villages. February 18, New Delhi : NAPM urges the Centre to dissuade the Madhya Pradesh government from excavating huge canals for the Indira Sagar and Omkareshwar dams through the very villages that fall in the submergence zone of the Sardar Sarovar Project. February 17, New Delhi : Social activist Swami Agnivesh establishes contact with the Maoists after the Orissa government requested him to negotiate the release of abducted Malkangiri district collector RV Krishna. Based on their conversation with Agnivesh, the Maoists extended the deadline for the release of the officer. February 17, Chennai: Eighteen students, past and
37

present inmates of the Adi Dravidar hostels, depose at a Consultation and Public Hearing on Discrimination and violation of Human Rights standards in Government (Adi-Dravidar) Hostels for College Students in Tamil Nadu. All of them spoke of poor conditions in these Adi Dravidar hostels. The State has been granted over Rs 3,000 crore under the Special Component Plan for Dalit welfare. Can anyone tell us where the money is going? It is used for bridges and roads. There is not even a booklet on the funds spent under the plans, said K. Prem Kumar, setting the tone. There are 62 IAS officers from the Dalit community in service but still no hope for us, he said. February 17, New Delhi : Seeking a CBI probe into permission given by the Maharashtra government to a developer under the Slum Rehabilitation Scheme on prime land, NAPM convener Medha Patkar said that thousands of families had been cheated and were facing demolition of their 70-100 yearold houses at Khar-Santa Cruz. February 17, New Delhi : The Union Ministry of Environment and forests held a meeting of the Expert Appraisal Committee of River Valley and Hydroelectric Projects to consider the Final Report by Dr. Devender Pandey Committee of Experts on Assessment of Command Area Development Plans for ISP and OSP Canals in Madhya Pradesh. February 16, Orissa : The District Collector of Malkangiri, Orissa, Mr. R.Vineel Krishna is abducted while returning from a visit to K Gumma block in the tribal-dominated district by an armed group suspected to belong to the Maoists. February 16, Mumbai : A day long consultation is organised by NAPM Maharashtra on the proposed Land Acquisition Act (Amendments) and R & R Bills. February 15, Thiruvallur : 8 dalit villagers from Thervoy Kandigai, a predominantly Scheduled Caste village in Thiruvallur District of Tamilnadu, are arrested on false charges filed by the State Industries Promotion Corporation of Tamilnadu (SIPCOT). The arrested villagers are small farmers and cattle grazers who were leading their village in struggle against the forcible transfer of 250 hectares of community forests and grazing lands to SIPCOT for handover to French tyre multinational Michelin. February 14, Paralipudur : A caste clash erupts at Paralipudur in Dindigul district, 33 km from Madurai, on Sunday night in which scores of houses and twowheelers in the dalit colony were destroyed by an irate caste Hindu mob. The clash erupted following a dispute over the erection of flag masts of dalit leader Thirumavalavan's Viduthalai Chiruthiagal Katchi (VCK) and the Mutharayar caste.
February 6, Bangalore : A day long consultation is organised by NAPM Karnataka on the proposed Land Acquisition Act (Amendments) and R & R Bills. February 9, Mumbai : Residents of Ganesh Kripa society in Khar, along with social activist Medha Patkar, barge into the controversial Adarsh building premises on Tuesday for an indefinite period of time, saying they will not leave till there is a stay order on the demolition of their houses. February 6, Chennai : A day long consultation is organised by NAPM TN on the proposed Land Acquisition Act (Amendments) and R & R Bills. February 6, Hyderabad : A day long consultation is organised by NAPM AP on the proposed Land Acquisition Act (Amendments) and R & R Bills. February 2, Mumbai : The Mumbai High Court hears the criminal case against the Shivalik Ventures based on the FIR filed by the Ghar Bachao Ghar Banao Andolan and orderes that the persons responsible for the fraud and irregularities in the slum rehabilitation process should be arrested within 15 days. February 2, Kumimari : The frist public meeting of SBSC (Sundarban Sangharsh Committee) is held at Kumirmari island on Wednesday, February 2, 2011. There is regular harassment from the forest department without settling peoples' rights under Forest Rights Act 2006(FRA). February 2, New Delhi : Protest at Egyptian embassy by AISA to show solidarity with the Egyptian citizens who were opposing the dictatorship of Mubarak. February 1, Haryana : The Supreme Court slammed the Haryana government for failing to act against those who disrupted rail and road traffic in protest against the arrest of 98 members from the upper caste community in the Mirchpur Dalit killings. February 1, Muzaffarpur : A big demonstration and massive dharna at Jiladhikari, Muzaffarpur, Bihar against setting up of an asbestos plant in Marwan. A large number of women were among the villagers who participated in this dharna. January 31, Jagatsinghpur : the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF), Govt of India gives its conditional approval to POSCO- the South Korean Company for the construction of a steel plant and captive port in Jagatsinghpur district. The MOEF outrightly rejected the recommendations of two expert committees, one headed by N.C.Saxena and the other by Ms Meena Gupta. Both the committees were, instituted by MoEF itself. The N.C. Saxena Committee and three members of the Meena Gupta Committee had recommended the revocation of the existing environment and forest clearances to the project. It was pointed out there
38

are gross violations of laws and rules such as Forest Rights Act, the Coastal Zone Notification Act and the Environmental Impact Assessment guideline . In addition, two of the three statutory committees also made recommendations against the coastal and forest clearances given to the POSCO project. January 31, New Delhi : NAPM disapprove the granting of the Environmental Clearance to POSCO on the grounds that the conditions only try to legalise the violations. January 30, Mumbai : NAPM welcomes the registration of FIR against the 13 bureaucrats and officials who were involved in the Adarsh Building scam. January 30, New Delhi : PIPFD Delhi holds its stte convention in an attempt to revive its activities. January 27, New Delhi : The Supreme Court directes the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests to file an affidavit before it by the February 15th, informing the Court of its decision on the Reports of its own Expert Committee which fully rejected the Command Area Development (CAD) Plans of the Madhya Pradesh Government with regard to the massive canal network of the Indira Sagar and Omkareshwar canals. January 27, Pune : Mumbai High Court maintains the 'Stop Work' order for another one and a half months while hearing the petition against MoEF filed by Lavasa. January 26, patna : NAPM Bihar holds a public discussion on the problems and challenges of development in Bihar in wake of the agitations against the Asbestos factory in Muzaffarpur. January 23rd Muzaffarpur : NAPM Bihar conducts a fact finding mission in to the alleged police atrocities on the villagers protesting against the construction of asbestos factory in their villages. January 21 24, Wardha : Indian Association for Women's Studies (IAWS) holds its 13th National Conference onthe theme Resisting Marginalizations, Challenging Hegemonies: Re-visioning Gender Politics in collaboration with Department of Women's Studies Mahatma Gandhi Antarrashtriya Hindi ishwavidyalaya (MGAHV), Wardha. January 20, Mumbai : Hundreds of slum activists along with Medha Tai Patkar are detained by the Nirmal Nagar Police Station while they were protesting the illegal and the unjust demolition of their homes at Golibar. January 18, Mumbai : The Bombay High Court division bench of justices B H Marlapalle and U D Salvi hearing the NAPM petition on Adarsh Scam asked the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to complete its inquiry into Mumbai's Adarsh Housing Society scam in two weeks.
January 17, New Delhi : Activists welcome the Union environment ministry's order to demolish Adarsh society and said the ministry should look at other violations too. January 16, New Delhi : The Right to Food Campaign charged the Central government with lack of commitment in providing food and nutrition security to citizens. Demanding a comprehensive National Food Security Act with a universal PDS, the Campaign said the artificial divide between the APL and the BPL be removed, as more than 50 per cent of the deserving people were excluded due to inaccurate targeting. Upcoming Events April 5, Mumbai : Long March of slum dwellers demanding right to decent housing to be organised by Ghar Bachao Ghar Banao Andolan National Alliance of People's Movements. April 5, New Delhi : Anna Hazare to go on an indefinite fast against corruption and demanding the enactment of Jan Lokpal Bill. There will be simultaneous fasts organised all across the country. April 2, Lucknow : National Forum of Forest People and Forest workers to hold a public hearing in Lucknow, UP on the atrocities inflicted on forest people, tribal, dalits and other poor classes in the past decades. March 29 30, Ranchi : National Conference of the National Forum of Forest People and Forest Workers. March 26 27, Bhubaneshwar : National Conclave on Energy to deliberate on major issues relating to the energy scenario in India, and to build a pressure group with grass-roots backing to bring about the necessary change in government policy in formulating an integrated energy policy which is people centric and inclusive, environmentally sustainable and economically viable. March 24, Bangalore : State Level Consultation on the proposed Land Acquisition Act (Amendments) and R & R Bills to be organised by NAPM Karnataka and others. [Compilation by Sumit Mandhawani, Nikita Agarwal, Sherebanu Frosh and Madhuresh Kumar]
NAPM
39
THE MOVEMENT OF INDIA POETRY

by KAMAYANI BALI MAHABAL
RNI No: MAHENG/2006/18083
Today every pore of my body is screaming For you Irom The screams were suppressed since when..... anger was coming out in my screams and protests As I was screaming and shouting for your release at VT station My being had shaken within To tell people about you, what you stand for To tell people about draconian law AFPSA I felt lighter For the past few days the country has been screaming I am happy to see All the love being doled out to Anna Hazare To hear voice against corruption From nook and corner of each city I am happy to see But my heart is crying, My brain is happy thinking about this Anna revolution But my heart is not with me My heart is with you Irom It is crying for you And it is unable to understand the sentiments of this country After all its a HEART You have been on hunger strike for more than a decade But not a single Indian came with you You were against the black law of AFPSA But no one owned you Do not tell anyone irom This is a riddle Whose answer changes with people If we are with Anna Hazare We are true patriots If we are with Anna Hazare We are with the common people When we are with you We are traitors When we are with you We are against our army , our soldiers We are against the national security Corruption has been embedded as a bad trait Since our childhood in our text books But Irom, patriotism Only teaches us to defend our country Nation, army, police are inherent features of patriotism They have become enemies in our fight for freedom There have been many scams of crores under the banner of corruption
Because of AFSPA, BECAUSE OF THIS PATRIOTISM Lakhs and crores of Indians have been killed , Their families have also died eventually And we have given them the certificate of terrorists Very conveniently and gone to sleep in the bed of patriotism Irom, we are unable to see the human rights violations of government Under the garb of patriotism When will my countrymen awaken, to the fact that We are humans first, and Indians later When Irom when Lakhs of people will join you in your hunger strike When Irom when Will our people remove the Mask of patriotism Anan Hazare you have won After 85 hours of your FAST The Lokpal bill will be implemented After a decade of your fast Still the AFPSA has not been repealed Anna will you sit with Irom? Will you be able to stop the bloodshed In the name of law
Post
Printed matter
To,
From :
The Movement of India c/o Clifton DRozario, 122/4, Infantry Road Opp. Infantry Wedding Hall, Bangalore - 560 001 Karnataka (India)
To subscribe to MoI, please write to movementofindia@gmail.com or call 011-24374535. Visit NAPMs website at http://napm-india.org/
The Movement of India c/o Clifton DRozario, 122/4, Infantry Road, Opp. Infantry Wedding Hall, Bangalore - 560 001, Karnataka (India) Email: movementofindia@gmail.com, Phone: +91 97317 38131

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Movement Indi: News Magazine of National Alliance of People's Movements

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The

Jan Lokpal Bill but Anna Hazare's Appreciation of Modi-Raj

Vol. 5, Issue 5-6 May - 2011

News Magazine of National Alliance of Peoples Movements

The Movement of India

January - April 2011

The Movement of India

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Tackling Corruption Social Audit Shows the Way in Bihar 25 27 28 32 36

13. 14. 15. 16.

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The Future of EGYPT A F T E R T H E R E V O L U T I O N

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Japan's Nuclear Crisis is a

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Japan's Nuclear Plant Explosion Raises

Nuclear Safety in India

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14th March, 2011

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Are we Nero's Guests ?

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The Movement of India

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The Movement of India

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The Movement of India

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R E T H I N K I N Sexual and Reproductive G Choice from a Social Feminist Perspective

The Movement of India

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The Silent Tsunami Globalisation and its Impact on Women

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Shillong Declaration on the

The Movement of India

January - April 2011