the movement of india: june-july 2012

THE MOVEMENT OF INDIA June –July 2012

Volume: 7 Issue: 2 Rs.20

News magazine of the National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM)

With basic right to living

denied to them, citizens of

Kudankulam surrender their

right to vote

2 | T H E M O V E M E N T O F I N D I A w w w . n a p m - i n d i a . o r g J u n e – J u l y 2 0 1 2

Will the

government

of India

listen to the

voices of

the fisher-

communities

and people

in

Kudankulam?


TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Editorial: The Kudankulam struggle…………………………………. 4 2. Spotlight: Hasty Commissioning of Koodankulam Nuclear Power Plant is Against People's Interest…………………………………………… 9 3. Agriculture and Climate Change – an Organic Farmer’s Perspective………………………………………………………………………….. 11 4. Strengthening Local Economy in view of Economic Crisis 14 5. Report: Witnessing the Mazdoor Mela in Katihar, Bihar…… 16 6. Understanding Cartoon Liberalism?............................ 19 7. News and Notes from the frontlines…………………………………. 21 * Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (UK) withdraws Safety Award to Vedanta Aluminum Limited: Pending Investigation……… 21 * Travesty of Justice in Bathanitola Massacre, Bihar Judgement…. 22 * No Acquisition for Profiteering is Welcome but National Development Planning, Resettlement and Rehabilitation Act is needed……………. 22 * Reports of Comptroller and Auditor General of India vindicates NAPM’s stand on discrepancies in the working of the Slum Rehabilitation

Authority, Mumbai………………………………….………………………………. 23 * 15,000 oustees of Maheshwar dam march in Mandleshwar against the MOEF Order of submergence which may cause death of thousands of

people………………………………….………………………………….……………. 25 * Update from Anti POSCO struggle, Jagatsinghpur……………………. 26 * Update from Struggle Against the Lower Subansiri Dam Project in

North East India: Akhil Gogoi starts indefinite fast……………………. 26

* NAPM UP State Convention, April 27, Lucknow………………………. 28 * ‘Narmada: Meeting of Young Minds’, May 19-20, Badwani, Madhya

Pradesh………………………………….………………………………………………. 28 * ‘January 30,1948’ Film screening and discussion with Dr Ram Puniyani

in Lucknow, May 8-10, Lucknow………………………………….…………… 28 * 4th National Conference of National Forum of Forest People and Forest

Workers, May 26-28, Dehradun, Uttarakhand……………………………. 28

8. Film review: Jai Bhim Comrade - A bold reality………………… 29 9. Forthcoming events………………………………….………………………… 31 10. Obituary (Shri Kantilal Shah)……………………………………………. 31

EDITORIAL TEAM SR Darapuri Joe Athialy

Madhuresh Kumar Mukta Srivastava Clifton D’Rozario

Rahul Pandey

ADVISORY TEAM Medha Patkar

Aruna Roy Sister Celia

SG Vombatkere Garbriele Dietrich

SR Suniti Sandeep Pandey Trilochan Sastry

Ajit Sahi

Neelabh Mishra

PUBLISHER Sanjay Mangala Gopal

NAPM, Haji Habib Building, A-Wing, Naigaon Cross Road, Dadar (E), Mumbai – 400014.

Maharashtra

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THE MOVEMENT OF INDIA

Layout, design: CNS, www.citizen-news.org

Photo credit: Amirtharaj Stephen


EDITORIAL

The Koodankulam Struggle

e have been fighting against the WKoodankulam Nuclear power Project (KKNPP) since the late 1980s. This Russian project was shelved right after the Soviet Union’s collapse and taken up again in 1997. The Indian government and Russians have constructed two huge reactors of 1000 MW each without any consent of or consultation with the local people. We have just obtained the outdated Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report after 23 years of long and hard struggle. The Indian nuclear authorities have not shared any basic information about the project with the public. They do not give complete and truthful answers for our questions on the ‘daily routine emissions’ from these reactors, the amount and management of nuclear waste, fresh water needs, impact of the coolant water

on our sea and seafood, decommissioning costs and effects, Russian liability and so forth. We are deeply disturbed by all this. Our people watched the Fukushima accident of March 11, 2011 on TV at their homes and understood the magnitude and repercussions of a nuclear accident. Right after that on July 1, 2011, the KKNPP announced the ‘hot run’ of the first reactor that made so much noise and smoke. Furthermore, the authorities asked the people, in a mock drill notice, to cover their nose and mouth and run for their life in case of an emergency. As a result of all these, our people in Koodankulam and Idinthakarai villages made up their minds and took to the streets on their own on August 11, 2011. Then we all together decided to host a day-long hunger strike on August 16 at Idinthakarai and a three-day


fast on August 17-19 at Koodankulam. On the 17th itself authorities invited us for talks and asked us to postpone our struggle to the first week of September because of the upcoming Hindu and Muslim festivals. In a few days’ time, the chief of the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) announced that the first reactor would go critical in September 2011. So we embarked upon an indefinite hunger strike on September 11, 2011 and our women blocked a state road on September 13 for a few hours when the state and central governments continued to ignore us. The state Chief Minister invited us for talks on September 21 and passed a cabinet resolution the next day asking the central

government to halt all the work until the fears and concerns of the local people were allayed. We ended our hunger strike on the 22nd but went on another round of indefinite hunger strike from October 9 to 16 when the talks with the Indian Prime Minister failed. We laid siege in front of the

KKNPP on October 13-16, 2011 when the

KKNPP authorities

did not halt work at the site as per the Tamil Nadu state

cabinet resolution.

We ended both the

indefinite hunger strike and the siege on October 16 in order for our people to participate in the local body elections on the 17th. From October 18

, 2011, we have been on a relay hunger strike continuously. We have been carrying out massive rallies, village campaigns, public meetings, seminars, conferences, and other demonstrations such as shaving our heads, cooking on the street, burning the models of the nuclear plants etc. When the state government of Tamil Nadu arrested some 200 of our comrades on March 19, 2012, 15 of us embarked on an indefinite hunger strike until March 27. This struggle has been going on for more than 260 days and the morale of the people is still very high. There is no foreign country or agency or money involved in this classic people’s struggle to defend our right to life and livelihood. Our fishermen, farmers, workers and women make small voluntary donations in cash and kind to sustain our simple

Gandhian struggle. Our needs are very few and expenses much less. We only provide safe drinking water to the hunger strikers and visitors. People from all over Tamil Nadu (and sometimes from other parts of India) come on their own, arranging their own transportation. For our own occasional travel, we hire local taxis. Instead of understanding the people’s genuine feelings and fulfilling our demands, the government has foisted serious cases of ‘sedition’ and ‘waging war on the Indian state’ on the leaders of our movement. There are more than 200 criminal cases against us. There has been police harassment, intelligence officers’ stalking, concocted news reports in the pro-government media, abuse of our family members, hate mail, death threats and even physical attacks.


Although India is a democracy, our

Delhi government has been keen on safeguarding the interests of the MNCs and pleasing some powerful countries such as the United States, Russia, France etc. The welfare of the ‘ordinary citizens’ of India does not figure on their list of priorities. The central government and the ruling Congress party stand by the secretive nuclear agreements they have made with all different countries and consider us as stumbling blocks on their road to development. The main opposition party, Bharatiya Janata Party (Hindu nationalist party), is interested in the nuclear weapons program and making India a superpower and hence loves everything nuclear. It is ironic that these two corrupt and communal forces join hands with each other against their own people. They bend backwards to please their American and other bosses but question our integrity and nationalist credentials.

Our leaders and the group of 15 women were physically attacked on January 31, 2012 at Tirunelveli by the Congress thugs and Hindutva Fascists when we had gone for talks with the central government expert team. Now the government cuts electricity supply so often and so indiscriminately in order to drive home the message that nuclear power plant is needed for additional power. They try to create resentment and opposition among the public against our anti-nuclear struggle. To put it all in a nutshell, this is a classic David-Goliath fight between the ‘ordinary citizens’ of India and the powerful Indian government supported by the rich Indian capitalists, MNCs, imperial powers and the global nuclear mafia. They promise FDI, nuclear power, development, atom bombs, security and superpower status. We demand risk-free electricity which doesn’t


jeopardise our health, unpolluted natural resources, sustainable development and a future free from harm. They say the Russian nuclear power plants are safe and can withstand earthquakes and tsunamis. But we worry about their side-effects and after-effects. They speak for their scientist friends and business partners and have their eyes on commissions and kickbacks. But we fight for our children and grandchildren, our progeny, our animals and birds, our land, water, sea, air and the skies. Right now, the Indian government is trying to commission the KKNPP reactors without conducting the mandatory disaster training and evacuation exercises with the people in the 30-km radius. The government and the Department of Atomic Energy have not told the people anything about the

Koodankulam nuclear waste and its management, the secretive liability agreement between New Delhi and Moscow, or the geology, hydrology, oceanography and seismology issues with regards to the Koodankulam reactors. Since May 1, some 300 women and 25 men were on an indefinite hunger strike with 11 demands. The Indian government or the state government has not come forward to talk to the people about our demands. Instead, they have embarked upon an intimidating campaign. And the struggle continues.

SP Udayakumar The author leads People's Movement

Against Nuclear Energy (PMANE), National Alliance of Anti-nuclear

Movements (NAAM)


Spotlight

Hasty Commissioning of

Koodankulam Nuclear

Power Plant is Against

People's Interest Indo-US Nuclear Deal was the first attempt by the Indian government to open up its nuclear establishment to the outside world. It was only after approval of International Atomic Energy Agency that India was officially allowed to do business with the Nuclear Suppliers Group countries in nuclear materials and technology. But the agreement to set up a nuclear power plant in Kudankulam with Russia predates Indo-US Nuclear Deal and hence was done outside the internationally accepted non-proliferation regime in an undemocratic manner. Essentially Russia, secretly and without any fuss, did what the US took one and a half years and much trouble to convince its Congress to do. This is also the first time the scientists of Department of Atomic Energy of India are dealing with an untested technology and hence they have to rely on Croatian experts to carry out the inspections after the test run with dummy fuel assemblies and before loading the enriched Uranium fuel assemblies. The only nuclear power experience Croatia has is in running a plant jointly with Slovenia, which is a Westinghouse design and not the VVER type being built at Kudankulam. One wonders where the Croatian experts earned their expertise except if they were working at some nuclear power plant in Russia. In that case why are the Russians themselves not coming? Either the DAE is misleading the

people or their own scientists are incompetent. In any case, it raises the question about what would happen in the case of some accident. Would we have to wait for Russian or Croatian scientists to come and tell us how to handle the calamity? Ms. Jayalalitha must show the same kind of sensitivity towards her own people as she is presently demonstrating towards the Tamils of Sri Lanka. She is willing to approach the United Nations to raise this issue and has accorded the same status to Tamil refugees from Sri Lanka as her own citizens except for the voting right in her state. For the roughly fifty thousand people living in Idinthakarai, East and West Vijaypathi, Thillaivanamthoppu, Avoavaioapuram, Kuttapanai, Kuttankali, Ovari, Periyatalai, Koodtalai, Perumanal, Kuttapulli, Kudankulam, Vairavikinaru, Chittikulam and Thommyarpuram it is a human rights violation when they are kept in the dark about the implications of setting up a nuclear power plant in their neighbourhood. The government must ensure that people receive the Site Evaluation Study, Safety Analysis Report, a fresh Environment Impact Assessment report, Inter Governmental Agreement on liability with the Russian government, etc. The people also want training in disaster management and evacuation exercise to be prepared for the worst. They also want to


know how the radioactive waste is going to be disposed. The PM will appreciate that any ‘thinking’ people would like to have this information. If a nuclear power plant was going to builtbe in his neighbourhood the PMwould like to be informed of all the consequences of such a plant for the health of his family members. The people need to be assured about the hydrological, geological, oceanographical and seismological issues which might impact their lives and livelihood, which for most of the people here is fishing. The Kudankulam plant is also going to devour the only lobster and prawn breeding spot at Chenkulaneerodai. But instead of treating people with respect which they deserve in a democracy they have been slapped with cases of sedition and waging war against state. About five thousand people face legal cases in a total of 197 FIRs. From these figures it would appear to be a very violent movement. On the contrary the movement has remained so peaceful till date that even police have not been able to provoke the protestors like in some of the other peaceful movements around the country. That there has been no violence in this movement so far which is a unique feature of this movement and the credit goes to the fisherfolk of Tirunelveli. The government must withdraw all the false cases and release two of the activists still in jail, Sathish Kumar and Muhilan. The PM has also claimed that the Indian nuclear plants are safe because none of them had had any accident so far. The truth is quite the opposite. Almost, all nuclear power plants run by DAE, like Kalpakkam, Narora, Kaiga, Kakrapar, Tarapur have had some accident. Can we forget the fire in Narora in 1993, or the collapse of containment dome under construction at Kaiga in 1994, or the heavy water leak at Kakrapar in 1997, or the valve failure leading to massive radiation doses to workers at Kalpakkam in 2003? It has been just our sheer luck that things have remained under control so far. But it

is quite obvious that PM has not been informed about the facts. The PM says that when it comes to safety there will be no compromise. On one occasion earlier he said with respect to corruption he will follow a policy of zero tolerance. Mega scams in the country have proved how hollow his words are. He must realise that his words will not provide safety. When a technologically much superior country like Japan with a highly conscientious citizenry could not handle the Fukushima disaster does he expect his half prepared and reason blind DAE scientists and ill-informed people to do the job? Finally, the attack on school run by Meera Udayakumar needs condemnation as well as attempts by some Hindutva fundamentalist groups to give the anti-Kudankulam struggle a communal colour. The nuclear radiation will not distinguish between a Christian and a Hindu. Rather than be motivated by some obscure national interest people’s interest must be considered sovereign. The impounding of S.P. Udayakumar's passport and filing of false case against him of beating Panchayat President’s husband are examples of desperate and unethical attempts to browbeat the activist. The government should demonstrate the same dignity with which the movement has been carried out and respect the democratic right of people to protest peacefully.

Dr Sandeep Pandey The author is a Ramon Magsaysay Awardee

and a National Convener, NAPM

Agriculture and Climate Change –

an Organic Farmer’s Perspective This year, (crop year – June to March), as it is happening for some time now, we are faced with erratic climates – drought in some parts resulted in crop failure, while flash floods in some parts resulted in crop losses. In this context, I would like to present some arguments about our agricultural practices and climate change. A few decades ago, with the advent of Green Revolution, we started using chemicals in our agriculture. And also we started to use more Hybrids and our food patterns were changed from millet eating cultures to Rice and Wheat eating cultures. Thus, we started demanding more and more water for growing our paddy and wheat; since paddy and wheat were the crops that were more ‘fetching’ than millets. Thus, we started to demand irrigation projects. Therefore, we cut down our valuable forests and sunk them under mighty rivers, so as to provide irrigation to hitherto unirrigated lands. The forests under the mighty reservoirs release methane increasing the greenhouse gases and global warming. The new hybrids and chemicals used on unpolluted, fertile soils, with the sudden outburst of excess water from newly constructed irrigation projects, gave excellent results for the first few years when chemical fertilisers were used. As farmers started to use tractors for tilling and chemical fertilisers for the soil, they stopped the culture of cattle rearing. Soon, the organic matter in the soil reduced and the beneficial organisms in the soil like earthworms and bacteria that convert the organic matter into nutrients also got killed with the chemicals used. While on the other hand, the clamour for more and yet more expansion of irrigation has resulted in the salination of the soil and depletion of micro-nutrients. (We must remember that the reckless expansion of irrigation in the

dry tropical zone of Mesopotamia - present day Iraq rendered it saline and barren for 5000 years). Thus the soil lost its fertility and farmers started to use more and more chemical fertilisers to match to the “yields” they got earlier. Crops grown in these unfertile, weak soils required higher use of pesticides to withstand the pest attacks as the plants did not have their inherent immunity, unlike the traditional variety crops which we abandoned with the Green Revolution. The use of pesticides killed farmer friendly insects and birds that naturally fed on these pests. This increased the population of pests. So, they needed more and more pesticides. The Pesticides and the Chemical fertilisers use petroleum products in their manufacture and their increased use meant an increase in Green House Gases. The Green Revolution increased the energy flow to agriculture by an average of 50 times the energy input of traditional agriculture. In the most extreme cases, energy consumption by agriculture has increased 100 fold or more. To give the reader an idea of the energy intensiveness of modern agriculture, production of one kilogram of nitrogen for fertiliser requires the energy equivalent of from 1.4 to 1.8 liters of diesel fuel. Even at the minimum levels one single farmer uses at least 1-2 bags of nitrogenous fertilisers per acre, every year, which translates to at least 50-100 kg of chemical fertilisers (One bag contains 50kg). Can we imagine the amount of burning of fossil fuels and the resultant impact on the climate with millions of farmers using these chemical fertilisers even at the barest minimum levels and the cost to the exchequer of the country – by way of petroleum / fertiliser bill? (There are farmers who use even 10-20 bags of fertilisers per acre).


In addition, the Pesticides entered our soil, water, the food we ate and finally landed in our blood stream. So, we became weaker and got more diseases. So, we had to treat them with more medicines. Now these medicine companies, called Pharmaceutical companies, which as we see around Hyderabad, release their chemicals into everything around them, polluting rivers, seas, and most importantly destroying our agriculture, and killing the people who live around these factories. Not to speak of the pollution they release into the atmosphere. Now an increase in disease would mean, an increase in Hospitals too, and also in bio-medical equipment. Therefore, more construction needed, more air-conditioning needed, thus more cement factories, more mining for limestone, more digging up the sand in the rivers (illegally mostly), thus less water in our rivers and more pollution in our air and a bigger hole in the Ozone layer. And all this construction and the manufacturing factories would also require more electricity. Oh, and the demand for more paddy and commercial crops, means more borewells (meaning also more bankruptcy of farmers and pollution of ground water) and need for lift irrigation projects in the dry land regions (like the Krishna Water scheme), meaning more demand for electricity, meaning more coal mines, thermal power plants resulting in higher temperatures at global levels and even at local levels, meaning an impact on Agricultural Production, which we try to solve by using more fertilisers. And of course, more cancers in people, from the chemicals in our food, fish, water, from the pollution from the factories and from the radiation from mining and the fly ash of thermal plants - needing more chemo therapy. Thus the need for nuclear plants, meaning more trouble for people by way of nuclear radiation and of course more loss in agricultural and forest land, for all these various projects and less trees available for absorbing the greenhouse gases they release. Thus, an increase in

global warming, resulting in erratic climates, which means either a drop in production levels or loss of standing crops to flash floods and the further impoverishment of the farmers. People – mostly industry people and scientists say, we cannot do away with the chemicals in agriculture. We need them, for the yields they give us. They forget to mention that in order to maintain the same yields; farmers have to use more chemicals. They also do not mention that we have paid an extremely high price

Crops grown in these unfertile, weak soils

required higher use of pesticides to withstand the

pest attacks as the plants did not have their inherent

immunity, unlike the traditional variety crops

which we abandoned with the Green Revolution. The

use of pesticides killed farmer friendly insects and birds that naturally fed on these pests. This increased

the population of pests. So, they needed more and more pesticides. The Pesticides and the

Chemical fertilisers use petroleum products in their manufacture and

their increased use meant an increase in Green

House Gases.


(social and environmental) for these yields. And also seem to forget that despite these huge yields millions of Indians go hungry to bed, while food grains rot in the godowns. It’s another matter, that the food we get out of this “high yielding” chemical agriculture is not food, but Poison, since it comes with the residue of the Poison it is supposed to kill the insects with, (which are supposed to reduce the yield). But of course, a big lobby of industry supported agricultural scientists and certain people claiming to be “farmers’ leaders” will continue to argue that organic agriculture is a utopian idea, whereas, in real terms farmers cannot make two ends meet unless they use this “conventional agriculture” and keep demanding more technology. Somehow, they simply forget that the increase in the cost of agriculture from all these “new technologies” and increase of chemicals is impoverishing our farmers pushing them to suicides – no, we should call them murders – nearly 250,000 farmers are said to have been pushed to death in 15 years in this country – and yet we are told by certain “farmer leaders” and “agricultural scientists” (who would never do any agriculture themselves), that a farmer needs this type of agriculture for his survival! (Somehow they cannot see the success stories of more and more organic farmers across the country). And now we are being told that in order to reduce the pesticides in agriculture, (which are failing leading to crop losses and farmers’ suicides) we need to use Genetically Modified crops – that is create plants that can produce their own poisons; there is no need to spray the poison from outside. So, earlier, we thought we were able to wash away the poison with water, before cooking, now the poison comes with the plant, so whether we like it or not, the plants that are supposed to feed us, and give us nutrition, so that we may have the necessary strength to fight the bacteria, will now come with the bacterial gene. God knows what this will result in.

But, I, as a farmer, chose to grow food that nourishes the body, not give poison to people. That was the essence of the Indian Farmer, the Anna Daata. Today, scientists and corporations are “engineering” plants that grow poison and are telling us that this

is food and this is good for us. They say if we don’t use these poisonous crops, we will not be able to feed the 9 billion populations which we are supposed to become by 2050! I wonder with all this disease, and global warming, will we be 9 billion or 9 million by then? Perhaps, it’s better to die of hunger than be ridden with strange diseases! I, as a farmer want my independence to grow what I chose to, which will be taken away by these Genetically Modified crops, which contaminate every other seed, taking away the independence of the farmer. Taking away my choice to eat food and not poison. Eating these poisons since the green revolution, people have become diseased both in body and mind. It’s no wonder then that they wish to forget that we are a part of nature and we need to follow certain rules stipulated by nature. Our greed and arrogance has brought us to a state which fails to recognise that come what may, human beings have to be subordinate to nature, and we cannot control nature. There is a solution: that is to respect the natural laws and do agriculture according to them. But we don’t see the writing on the wall. We continue to see farming as a trade, an enterprise, it’s like wanting to trade in blood, sucking everything beyond the capacity of the body and expecting the body to survive. Agriculture is surely and has to be a way of life, it cannot be a trade. We have already wrecked havoc across the globe by making agriculture into an enterprise. It’s not like you control nature with the switch of a button. Hence, you cannot control agriculture too with a switch of a button – because crops and food still are a part of nature. The sooner we understand this, the better it is for us.

Sarasvathy Kavula The author is a State Co-convener (Andhra

Pradesh) of NAPM

Strengthening Local Economy in

view of Global Economic Crisis In the context of the current Global Economic Crisis we are faced with new challenges. The mainstream economists continue to harp on about free markets, integrated globalised economic models as the answer and seek more liberalisation, reforms and access to markets; which are in reality leading to increased price inflation, increased volatility and vulnerability of local markets due to global / external events. This is also leading to the impoverishment of people in sectors like small trade, agriculture, handloom and all other people employed in various traditional, rural livelihoods. The thrust of the free market enterprise was to strengthen the hands of large investors, while weakening the support systems to the small scale sectors and agriculture, which is leading to wealth accumulation in the hands of a few corporations. The Current Global Economic Crisis has demonstrated that this is a failed model and there is a need to rethink the way forward. Gandhiji had time and again stressed the democratic nature of Indian Economic model which was basically a localised economic model where the production was oriented towards local markets. Even to this day, the strength of the Indian Economy lies in the strong local market which however, has been weakened over the last 20 years to become dependent on external markets in the name of liberalisation. While all this was being done in the name of increasing foreign exchange via access to export markets, in reality this integration has led to increased influx of foreign goods into the country leading to a ballooning trade deficit and the devaluation of the rupee.

The fall of the rupee is translating into higher petroleum costs, higher transportation costs, and higher agricultural input costs and thus having a cascading effect on the entire economy and making the cost of sustenance of the common people sky rocket. We, at NAPM, believe that the way out of this crisis is to fall back on the Indian model of localised economies which had existed since millennia. Does this mean, going back in time? No. But, it means to base our modern systems on the wisdom of our earlier generations whereby we have production – consumption – market systems which are totally localied – which will translate into lesser transportation, decreased energy consumption, reduced costs and decreased volatility of prices from external causes. This will also translate to greater food and energy security. We propose: 1. Decentralised production of energy using locally available renewable resources like Bio Gas, Bio Mass, Solar, and Wind; wherein each village / habitation / small town / colony of a city produces its own energy for its own basic requirement. 2. Decentralised production and consumption of food – wherein farmers use locally available natural materials for fertilisers and pest control systems – so that we can avoid the dependency on petroleum based chemical fertilisers and pesticides; which are also creating huge health impacts. Thus, not only do we have health improvement, but we also reduce our dependency on expensive imported fuel and also reduced input costs for farmers. This must be coupled with food production catering to local markets, thus reducing the


transportation and warehousing costs – all of which will translate to availability of better quality of food at reduced food prices. 3. House construction using locally available materials suitable to local environment – many modern innovations like compressed mud blocks using locally available mud and masonry skills have been developed by institutes like Indian Institute of Sciences. This shall bring more work to local artisans and masons while reducing the high transportation costs and the High Carbon Foot prints, which we find in House Construction. 4. Rain water harvesting, water conservation and improving local water structures like ponds and lakes which will remove the need for huge lift irrigation schemes, dams and transportation / fuel costs involved in water transportation. 5. Localised cloth production using locally available materials reduces energy usage, increases local employment opportunities. 6. Locally managed sanitation, waste management systems, which will ensure cleaner rivers, better health and reduced costs of cleaning our environment. 7. Strengthening local markets like mandis increases small enterprises and reduces transportation/ fuel costs. 8. Strengthening of essential public services like Health care and education locally to reduce the emigration of people in search of these facilities thus reducing the impacts of urbanisation. These facilities must be under local governments for responsible delivery of services. The above proposed initiatives will strengthen our local economies reducing

our vulnerability due to global events, while also ensuring a better quality of life with a healthier sustainable environment.

Andhra Pradesh

State Chapter of NAPM

The fall of the rupee is translating into

higher petroleum costs, higher

transportation costs, and higher

agricultural input

costs and thus having a cascading effect on the entire

economy and making

the cost of sustenance of the

common people sky rocket. We, at NAPM,

believe that the way out of this crisis is to

fall back on the Indian model of

localised

economies…


Report

Witnessing the Mazdoor

Mela in Katihar, Bihar May 1st, 2012: It's an amazing feeling when a rather meek Zindabad spoken by you on the Dice addressing some thousands of workers is met with a fierce and firm one by the crowd! Such was the enthusiasm of our Mazdoor brothers and sisters who gathered for the first ever Mazdoor Mela in Katihar's Mansahi block on the event of Labour Day ,1st May 2012. On my quest for a a further peep into Indian rurality after the last year's audit in Araria, the Mazdoor mela seemed like the perfect opportunity to enhance my perception! Jan Jagran Shakti Sangathan has been organising the Mazdoor mela or Labour Day fair in Araria for the past couple of years and both have been huge successes. But this year, due to the demand from our Sathis from Katihar it was decided to celebrate it in Katihar. It was a big risk considering the logistics challenges and lesser awareness in Katihar but at the same time it would be a new experience to mobilise the locales of Katihar in a way one had not imagined! After a couple of sleepless nights spent setting up the stage and sweaty acrid days spent in negotiations over the food, the logistics, follows ups on cleaning of the huge ground, we arrived at the D day. Pangs of anticipation had gripped us as the final touches were still left but the presence of our very capable sathis Ranjit Ji, Shibu Ji, Jiten Ji and Arvind Ji assured

us that the end would be perfect . By 9 am more sathis Ashish Ji, Kamayani Ji, some student volunteers and people from Araria had arrived, which gave a new vigor to the team! We had managed to make the crowd sufficiently curious the previous day during the stage set up activities at the Mansahi Hatiya ( local market held weekly ) and miking around various Panchayats, so it wasn't a surprise when people started flowing in at as early as 10.30 am. We started at 11 am with the captivating words of Ashish Ji on the significance of Labour Day around the world and the exploitation of the labourers still very prevalent in these areas of the country. Ashish Ji also called for the Mazdoor brothers and sisters to become one, speak up as one and demand their rights as one! The crowd became overwhelmed with slogans like "Duniya Ke Mazdoor Ek Hon" and "Har Haath Ko Kaam Do, Kaam Ka Poora Daam Do"


The day progressed with Kamayani Ji taking over the stage and letting the crowd know about the structure of the programme. She also discussed how NREGA was marred by corruption and the experiences from Araria as well. Her words provoked the crowd to think how Sixth Pay Commission allocated wages for one principal secretary of over 1,00,000 rupees a month, about 3300 rupees a day, as against the wage of 144 for unskilled manual labour and what were the reasons for such differences even though physical labour was more challenging and hazardous. Different sections of the society showed up at the Mela in solidarity. These included College Professors Chandana Jha and Pawan Kumar Jha who talked to the masses at length about their problems and gave their insight on various issues related to inequality as

well as local MLA Manohar Prasad Singh from Manihari, who tried to convince people that he will be supportive of all the development schemes in the region. Never before had Mansahi witnessed such gathering of Mazdoor brothers and sisters at such a massive scale! The willingness to share and discuss problems on such a forum, whether it be a Sathi from JJSS, a student volunteer, an MLA or someone from the audience was very strong. People were willing to share and understand each other’s problems and looked for ways to find a solution. Many workers were found getting their queries resolved from our Sathis like ' Job card milne par kitna wage milega ( How much wage should we get merely by getting the job card ) ', ' What is the role of the nominee',' Requests that the


post office should be able to serve more than 25-30 labourers in day, which it usually does since the number of labourers was more than 250 in the area. Meanwhile the crowd at the stalls was growing at an untellable rate! Stalls for labour equipments like Hasua ( Used to cut grass etc. ), Tasla ( Used to mix sand ), Ploughs etc. were put up which made these equipments available at a lower price than the market and also at a distance much nearer than the market. Other stalls were put up for clothes, toys and books. A stall by Pratham showcased innovative learning methods and invited children who were having difficulty understanding any particular subjects to come forward and discuss their queries. Even the administration had put up a health camp to provide primary health care facilities to these villagers. Many people got their check ups done here. The primary focus for each of these stalls was to provide the basic necessities of a labourer at the cheapest and most affordable rate. A happy surprise was on being announced that the stalls would close for sometime during a particular programme, the people actually came forward and requested not to close the stalls! The JJSS sathis presented songs on the problems of corruption, poverty, the struggle for food etc. These revolutionary songs sung by the union members and lead by Shivnarayan Ji and Jiten Ji were written and composed by them in the local dialect! Slogans like ' Jab tak Bhookha Insan Rahega, Dharti Par Toofan rahega', ' Naya Zamana Ayega, Kaun Layega. Hum Layenge', ' Har Haath Ko Kaam Do, Kaam Ka Poora Daam Do' floated and cut straight through the hearts of those present! Later there was an interesting play by a Theatre group, Modern Theatre, from Begusarai which came specifically for the Mela. The play captured the problem of distress migration in an interesting way. It depicted how labourers flee to cities every year in search of better employment opportunities

and how, due to this the women folk are left behind taking care of the entire house hold. The crowd seemed to be thrilled by the play and was forced to think if at all such migration was needed and whether the available resources could be utilised in a better way to provide employment opportunities in native areas only. The mela was an innovative and engaging way to connect with the rural population of these areas of Bihar. Apart from the entertainment, it demanded and received involvement in a completely different way! The people could be seen discussing their specific problems related to NREGA, Anganwadi and Pension schemes. It spread awareness in an indescribable manner. The curious gazes and looks of acknowledgment were worth all the efforts that JJSS had put in for arranging an event of this size! The most beautiful sight was when on our way back from the Mansahi Hatiya to the Katihar railway station every second person, whether on a two wheeler, or rickshaw or foot, could be seen carrying a Tasla for sure! It was indicative of the fact that the imprints of the Mela would not just stay as these equipments but also as the awareness that we could bring in these areas which have stayed in the dark for too long!

Sushmita Verma (The author is a volunteer with Jan Jagran

Shakti Sangathan - JJSS)

Understanding Cartoon Liberalism? A Cartoon made by legendary cartoonist Shankar Pillai in the 1940s and reproduced by the NCERT school books for the secondary classes about six years ago has become so popular that were he alive today, he would have been thrashed by the war mongering ‘followers’. NCERT’s current curriculum is a great contribution of former Human Resource Development Minister Arjun Singh’s strong secular approach and commitment to the restructuring of these text books under a committee of some of these prestigious scholars which became a bone of contention for a number of others who felt Arjun Singh’s secular agenda would hurt their political interest. Education has always been on the radar of the communal minds who want to penetrate in the young minds through promoting their superficial ideas and beliefs. We all know how these text books were changed under the aegis of former HRD Minister under NDA regime, Dr Murli Manohar Joshi, whose agenda was to push primitive religious ideals in these text books under the pretext of promoting Indian nationalism and Indian culture. The cartoon under discussion does not send any clear signal. Rather it is confusing and free to interpretation by everyone and therefore much beyond the understanding capacity of the students in secondary classes. Arguments are given that Dr Ambedkar has not opposed it during his time. Now, it is too small for Ambedkar as a political leader to speak to a cartoonist asking him not to make a cartoon on him or comment on him. Bias against him existed in our system and government. Media and mainstream writers systematically tried to deny him space and carried false propaganda against him. One is not sure how much respect Shankar Pillai had for the struggle that Ambedkar had to go through in his life including the making of the constitution and its difficult processes. It is also true that there is a big difference between a cartoon in the newspaper and cartoon which is meant to educate your children through text books. Can we find cartoons mocking Gandhi, Nehru or our

different Gods in our text books? Why not mock them in our text books? Why not mock different festivals which are anti women and anti girl child, promote superstition and irrationality among our children? Rather than doing so, our text books convert all these into our ‘great culture’. Many of the cartoonists really became a voice of the common man and people would wait for the cartoon in the newspaper. But it is also not true that all the cartoonists are free from any bias. However, as people living in a free world, we do understand their right to express themselves as much as we respect our right to respond to them and reject their falsifications of history. Cartoons cannot be holier than thou as if cartoonists do not suffer from any biases and have been impartial. We know cartoons are used politically to make fun of the opponents. Ambedkar might have been a political leader but today he is ‘guide’ of an entire generation who consider him as liberator. The Indian elite have attempted to deny everything to Ambedkar and Dalits but today they have become political force and can counter anything that appears in the so called mainstream press. Therefore, any effort to deny Ambedkar his rightful space in India’s social life would be aggressively opposed by millions of people across the country. Therefore, the authors of the book really cannot take shelter in the argument that since Dr Ambedkar has not taken any note of the cartoon and therefore they were free to carry that in the school text book. A cartoon published in a newspaper has a big difference with that being published in a school textbook. We must make a difference in that. The post independent India’s historians, political commentators as well as cartoonists have never been free from their prejudices and undoubtedly denied the leaders like Dr Ambedkar a space in their platforms. In fact, they made every effort to denigrate him terming him a person ‘collaborated’ with British and the man who ‘opposed’ Gandhi and mocked his ‘ fasting’. Will our text books and those who claim to have free thought educate


our children as why Ambedkar questioned Gandhi and that Gandhi was supporting the caste system while Ambedkar wanted to annihilate it. One agrees with Yogendra Yadav and his friends that they tried to give Dr Ambedkar a space in the school text books. How ironic and sad is this comment that a person who is one of the most iconic figures of our times is denied space in the text books. If our social scientists are true to their convictions why don’t they put ‘annihilation of castes’ in our school curriculum as compulsory text so that people will understand who stood for what. Don’t we know that it is one of the most outstanding essays of our time which is needed to be promoted in our entire text book to make India a nation who really want to eliminate caste system? However, we do understand the pulls and pressures of educational system. It is a well known fact how our academia behave in the issues particularly that of the people who have challenged the hegemony of the caste Hindus. The outcome is the denial of space to icons of the historically marginalised communities in our text books as well as Universities. There is nothing if we claim that we have attempted to give Ambedkar space in the school text book as we must realise that Ambedkar deserves much more than that as it is not the loss of Ambedkar if his writings are not in our text books in schools and Universities. It is the loss of India and its children as they grow up and qualify in social sciences without understanding India’s caste system and social inequality. It is in this context that each one of us who follow Ambedkar felt betrayed. It is also important to understand that by and large reaction against the publication of the cartoons has been more than mature. Except for a few on the fringe who

claim to represent political parties, most of the people felt that the cartoons really hurt and rightfully expressed their view points in various forms. It is democratic rights of the people to express their opinion about a piece of writing which offend and there is nothing wrong if Parliament takes up this matter and resolved it. The attempt to assault Prof Suhas Parliskar in Pune is the most condemnable. It is important to acknowledge the work done by him as well as Yogendra Yadav remains extraordinary in many cases. There is no issue in differences of opinion but branding them as people who deliberately try to defame Ambedkar is absolutely wrong and must be countered. Historical figures will always be critically analysed and there will be many things which we may not like and hence we must be prepared for that. Ambedkar will not become small with these critical writings and his followers will always believe in him as the work done by him is so vast and so important for the growth of a liberal democratic society that it would be difficult for people to ignore him. Ignoring Ambedkar was the Brahmanical manipulation of controlling information as he exposed the entire system of injustice build up by them. We do not support withdrawal of cartoons but we want a complete and impartial history in our textbooks. Therefore let HRD minister introduce ‘annihilation of caste’ and Gandhi- Ambedkar debate on caste system in our schools and University curriculum so that our students can develop a ‘spirit of inquiry’ and question everything. Such essays would make our minds more rational so that we are not swept in the war cry of emotions and rhetoric. Let us taste the tolerance of the nation by introducing those who questioned the mainstream, its culture and values.

VB Rawat


News and Notes

from the frontlines

Royal Society for the

Prevention of Accidents

(UK) withdraws Safety

Award to Vedanta

Aluminum Limited:

Pending Investigation On 12 May the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents announced that it would withhold its 2012 Silver award for safety to Vedanta Aluminium Limited (VAL), for its operations at the Lanjigarh bauxite refinery in the state of Orissa, India, pending further investigation into the safety standards at the plant. RoSPA’s decision came after complaints by environmental and human rights groups in India that VAL had omitted to mention that there were two serious safety breaches during 2011 when the red mud pond at this plant burst its banks, spilling caustic residue into the local environment. While these incidents are denied by president of VAL, Dr Mukesh Kumar, they have been documented using local peoples’ mobile phones and can be watched on YouTube. The company received notification from the Orissa Pollution Control Board as early as 2009 that the retaining walls of its red mud pond had not been built according to the approved design criteria. “We are deeply concerned that RoSPA can present any award to a company which admits in its latest shareholder report for the year 2010-2011 [p22], that 2 employees and 24 contractors died across the company’s operations”, says Prafulla Samantra, an activist based in Orissa.

It is unclear whether any of these deaths occurred at the VAL refinery which was up for the award. However as recently as 30 April 2012, according to a report in India’s Business Standard [30 April 2012]: “At least one person was killed and four others received minor injuries during a fire accident in Vedanta Alumina’s refinery at Lanjigarh” on 28 April 2012. Vedanta Aluminium president, Mukesh Kumar, issued a statement confirming that, “The project manager of our red mud refining agency, S Ganeshan, died during the fire accident” , which Mr Kumar blamed “on a possible electrical fault and heavy rains” (sic). “We feel it would be extremely insensitive to the family of the dead man if VAL were now honoured with any kind of safety award”. Back in August 2010 the British Safety Council withdrew two international safety awards made to BALCO – another Indian subsidiary of the London listed Vedanta Resources mining company which owns VAL. This step was taken in response to information provided by The Observer newspaper which revealed that BALCO had failed to mention the deaths of 43 employees after a 2009 chimney collapse, when it applied for the award. Vedanta/Balco manifestly omitted to divulge vital information when making its application for the 2010 British Safety Council awards. The BSC’s delayed withdrawal of these awards created unwelcome publicity for them, and revealed an organisational failure to adequately assess information supplied by Vedanta. At the Lanjigarh refinery, which is subject to the current awards, VAL has also acted in contravention of environmental and planning laws, by continuing to expand the Lanjigarh refinery, despite an order to stop by


the government’s Ministry of Environment and Forests.

Travesty of Justice in

Bathanitola Massacre,

Bihar Judgement We are deeply distressed and shocked at the judgment of Patna High Court (Bihar) on 16th April 2012 acquitting the upper caste / feudal murderers of the ghastly Bathanitola Massacre in 1996. This is not only a severe miscarriage of justice but a massacre of the very notion of justice. Thus it is akin to the judicial massacre of the poor Dalits and Muslims of Bathanitola. This Patna High Court judgment not only makes a mockery of the lofty slogans of the Indian ruling classes like dignity, democracy, human rights, justice, right to life and dignity but also shamelessly exposes the class / caste bias ness of various organs of the Indian State including the judiciary. The upper caste landlord, contractor, mafia, bureaucracy, police, and political executive nexus is quite evident. On 11th April 1996 Ranveer Sena, the private army of the upper caste landlords cold bloodily murdered 21 people poor dalits and muslims in Bathanitola in Bhojpur distict, Bihar. 3 toddlers (one of them only 3 months old), 6 children, 11 women were cruelly butchered by the Ranvir Sena . This barbaric massacre was done in broad daylights in the presence of a large contingent of police; this clearly indicates the nexus between police and upper caste landlords in Bihar. The day after this ghastly massacre Kisun Choudhary registered a FIR in Sahar Police Station against 33 people involved in the massacre. In 2010, the Ara Sessions Court convicted 23 people for this massacre sentencing three to death and 20 to life imprisonment. But the Patna High Court has overturned the conviction and acquitted all the accused. The fact that, 16 years after this massacre not a single person stands convicted for the brutal and barbaric slaughter of innocents, raises disturbing questions about whether the oppressed and the poor victims of massacres can expect justice in our courts.

No Acquisition for

Profiteering is Welcome

but National

Development Planning,

Resettlement and

Rehabilitation Act is the

Need of the Hour The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Rural Development tabled its report to the Parliament on the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2011, on 17 May 2012. The report makes some positive recommendations as put forward by National Alliance of People's Movements (NAPM) and other movements, who deposed before the Committee under the banner of Sangharsh but it falls short of fulfilling the overall aspirations of the people protesting against the brazen land acquisitions and those struggling for adequate resettlement and rehabilitation for many years. We had demanded that the Bill be titled as National Development Planning, Resettlement and Rehabilitation Act and the whole framework of the land acquisition should change. It should be based on the people’s right to land and resources, and thereby the right to approve or disapprove a development project / plan by Gram Sabha (in rural areas) and Basti Sabha (in urban areas) and on the principle of ‘ Free Prior Informed Consent’. Even though the Committee recommendations don't fully comply with this demand there is a significant recognition of the role of the Panchayati Raj Insitutions at every level. We welcome the emphasis of the Committee on the “consent” as opposed to proposed farcical “consultations” with these bodies in the proposed Bill. The suggested Model Activity Map relating to the devolution of LARR powers to the three levels of Panchayats in rural areas and municipalities in urban areas for consideration by the State Assemblies under Articles 243G and 243W, as well as suggest statutory powers for the empowerment by State legislatures of 'local institutions of self-government' and, most importantly, Gram Sabhas in rural areas and equivalent bodies in urban areas is a step in the right direction.


The questioning of the power of the eminent domain of the state by the Committee and taking strong exception to the fact that if land acquisition for profiteering is not done anywhere else in the world then why should India do it is an important recognition of our demands? In recommending deletion of the clauses for private acquisition, it has vindicated our stand that the core public functions of the state can't be handed over to the private corporations, even though the Ministry of Rural Development and many state governments argued that “the distinction between private and the Government sector is blurring in the Country as we proceed on the path of development. So, putting conditions of minimum share of the Government in the projects or ownership of the projects may delay such developmental activities." It is unfortunate that in the name of the PPP, the loot of the scarce natural resources and public property is handed over to the corporations for the sole motive of profit. This has to stop. We hope the Ministry of Rural Development will take note of this important recommendation. However, we still feel that adequate safeguard to private purchase of land is necessary and state can't leave vulnerable communities to negotiate with the land sharks, middle men, and big forces of capital. Unregulated land market will facilitate large scale unemployment and a bigger attack on the agrarian economy. The recommendations within the ambit of the proposed framework intends to make the acquisitions more participatory for public purpose and provide for R&R measures however falls short of addressing the key demands arising out of the ongoing struggles against big dams in the Narmada and other river Valleys, Thermal power Plants in Andhra, Orissa and other States, Big infrastructure projects like POSCO in Orissa and antinuclear struggles in Koodankulam, Fatehabaad and Jaitapur. The demand of the people's movements to have a direct say in planning of the projects at its inception itself which originates from the challenge to the overall development paradigm has failed to find recognition in the recommendations. We feel unless the government takes note of this and gives adequate power to the people in development planning and not leave the job to experts and Planning Commission of the Country, the

conflicts and protests against illegal acquisitions be it for the private or public corporations will continue. As demanded by us the Committee didn't hold regional hearings and conduct site visits, but it did express dissatisfaction at the failure of the Ministry of Rural Development for not holding consultations with the affected families prior to its introduction in the Parliament. We do hope the Ministry of Rural Development will take due notice of the recommendations of the Committee, hold regional consultations with the affected parties and then bring the revised legislation soon in the parliament. We demand and urge the government to take note of the plight of the nearly six million development induced displaced people who have received no R&R till date and undo the historical injustice and violence unleashed in the name of development by taking appropriate step and setting up of the National Resettlement and Rehabilitation Commission. Until and unless they get justice and a complete assessment of the unutilised land with the various state and non-state actors is done and a white paper released on that, till then let there be moratorium on any further acquisitions. We will continue to struggle for enactment of the National Development Planning, Resettlement and Rehabilitation Act, which will stop the ongoing conflicts and large scale acquisitions in the name of the public purpose and development and facilitate the agenda of the land rights and agrarian reforms.

Reports of Comptroller

and Auditor General of

India vindicates NAPM’s

stand on discrepancies in

the working of the Slum

Rehabilitation Authority,

Mumbai

Brief Background on SRA Slum Rehabilitation Authority [SRA] was established in December 1995, in pursuance of Section 3A of the Maharashtra Slum Areas


(Improvement, Clearance and Redevelopment) Act, 1971 to tackle the issue of the growing number of urban slum settlements in Mumbai. Though the SRA was to rehabilitate all the slum dwellers whose names appeared on the electoral role as on January 1st 1995, the extension of the aforementioned date, [to January 1st, 2000] is pending in the Supreme Court for certain vital public projects like the Dharavi Development Project, the Mithi Development Project etc. The SRA was to design slum rehabilitation schemes under the Slum Act and the Development Control Regulations [DCR] of Greater Mumbai for rehabilitating slum dwellers. Each family in the slum is to be given a self contained tenement of 269 sq ft free of cost. An incentive Floor Space Index [FSI] was provided to developers through which they could construct buildings for sale in the open market to recover the cost incurred for the rehabilitation scheme. The SRA is headed by the Chief Minister under the Slum Act who monitors the implementation of the schemes. Ministers for Housing and Urban Development, the Chief Secretary, the Mumbai Municipal Commissioner and Principal Secretaries of Housing, Urban Development and Law and Judiciary Departments and the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of SRA are the members of the authority.

Discrepancies in evaluation of developer The performance and audit reports of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India reveals some startling facts about major lapses on the part of the SRA in some very preliminary and pre-conditional areas such as evaluation of the technical capability of developers to be entrusted with the projects was not followed. Instead of insisting on credit ratings of the developers, the SRA, blatantly flouting the norms under the housing policy introduced in 2007, has been obtaining bank guarantees from them! SRA had also not laid down norms for minimizing time overruns and though a period of three years was fixed in all agreements between the societies and developers, this was not adhered to, in a single project thereby causing more trauma to the slum dwellers who were waiting for an unsure future through an unstipulated period of time.

Non issue of photo identity cards to beneficiaries The tenement granted to the rehabilitated slum dwellers was not to be transferred for the

first 10 years from the date of allotment and for the same reason, the beneficiaries were to be given photo identity cards. Seven years after the inception of SRA, the authority outsourced the work of issuing identity cards to a private company who pulled out mid way. The transfer of the job from one private company to the other and the subsequent lack of accountability resulted in only 9,547 slum dwellers being allotted photo identity cards as against 1.27 lakh slum dwellers to whom tenements were allotted. This has made the clause of non transference of tenement by the beneficiaries for the first 10 years redundant and provides a situation that is conducive to corruption and other malpractices.

Unauthorised Occupancy If the certified number of tenements for slum dwellers in a project being executed by a developer falls short of the stipulated 500 tenements per hectare, the shortfall was to be originally added to the project and pavement dwellers were to be accommodated. The report states that out of 20 projects of SRS wherein additional tenements has been constructed, they were not handed over to the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai [MCGM] but that 318 tenements were found to be occupied by illegal tenements against who no eviction action was taken! For example, in the case of slum dwellers being relocated from Sanjay Gandhi National Park, Borivili to Chandivili in Powai, it was found shockingly, that of the 3,198 rehabilitation tenements of the first phase of the project, 531 tenements were locked, 329 sublet, 48 were being used for commercial purposes and 34 tenements were sold!

Lack of surveys on eligible slum dwellers The performance audit reports of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India clearly points out the lack of any survey on the number of slums and their population, inspite of several complaints about the list of eligible slum dwellers. As a result of the laxity on the part of the SRA in conducting these surveys to draw baseline datas of slums on high value land, contiguous slum areas, slums on non viable areas etc, proper linking of schemes and development on township model has not been possible.


Non compliance of provisions of recreation grounds and open spaces As per the provisions of the Development Control Regulations [DCR] for plots of over 10,000 sqm and in cases where the land use was changed from industrial to residential, open space of 25% the plot area was to be provided for recreation grounds. For plots having less than 10,000 sq m, open space of 20% of the plot area was to be provided. These provisions were made to prevent overcrowding, high density and unhygienic conditions in the tenements. In most cases unexplainable and unexplained relaxations were granted to the developers thereby violating the guidelines set for rehabilitation tenement for the SRA. The report of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India specifically names Mumbai International Airport Limited [MIAL] as having incurred undue benefits after being awarded the work of slum rehabilitation on airport land for the Housing Development and Infrastructure Development [HDIL]. The report also notes that a conservative estimate of Rs 4 lakh per tenement amounting to a total of Rs 1120 crore was recoverable from MIAL, which was also not done! A minimum additional infrastructural charge of Rs 84 crore was recoverable in addition to the normal infrastructural charge which was also not done by SRA! Initially, a rehabilitation scheme to rehabilitate slum dwellers on 18 acres of MHADA land in Golibar, Santa Cruz was sanctioned in 2006 and 2007 to be executed by Shivalik Ventures, Mumbai. While the project was ongoing, Shivalik Ventures submitted a proposal for integrated redevelopment [Special Township Plan] of 125 acres for rehabilitating 26,000 families which was approved by the Chief Minister in 2008 by issuing orders under clause 3 [K] of the Slum Act. The CAG report however, reveals that the claim of Shivalik Ventures to have acquired 22 of the 52 acres land by consent was not verified by the government / SRA before issuing an order! Moreover, there was absolutely no process of transparent bidding before selecting Shivalik Ventures as the developer. It is clearly stated in the housing policy of 2007 that the selection process should be based on a free and transparent bidding process. 43 acres of land belonging to the Defence Ministry and 2 acres of land owned by the Central Excise Department was included in this project, for

which no objection certificates that had to be obtained from the respective bodies was also not got! The Special Township plan effectively helped the developer to take up a large township scheme with basically no opposition through a non transparent process where Shivalik Ventures had the sole monopoly. What is really shocking is that, Shivalik Ventures, which operated as a partnership firm when it proposed the STP in 2008, was later converted to a limited company in which Unitech Limited, held a substantial 50% in the company share! We demand that the government should-

Review the working of the SRA and take stringent action against the offenders found to be involved in corruption and other malpractices.

Revive the two fact finding committees set up during the last year’s fast.

Implement Rajiv Awas Yojna immediately and effectively to provide proper housing to the urban poor.

15,000 oustees of

Maheshwar dam march in

Mandleshwar against the

MOEF Order of

submergence which may

cause death of thousands

of people Thousands of oustees affected by the Maheshwar dam marched in Mandleshwar against the destructive Maheshwar dam in the Narmada valley. The voices of the oustees were somber and angry, as they flayed the State and Central governments for giving permission allowing submergence up to 154 meters in the Maheshwar dam, and for concealing the illegal submergence of the houses and lands of affected villages caused by the illegal closure of the gates of the dam, by the private dam builders Shree Maheshwar Hydel Power Corporation Limited, on 27th of August 2011, last year. The oustees warned the State and Central Governments not to serve the vested interests of private companies and work in public interest.


The people of the area and the Narmada Bachao Andolan called on the MOEF to immediately withdraw the order which permits the S.Kumars to close the gates of the dam and which is likely to cause the submergence and death of thousands of people. They warned that if the MOEF does not withdraw its order, the people would not leave their lands without any rehabilitation and resettlement as desired by the private company. Instead they would face the illegal submergence being brought without the rehabilitation and resettlement of the affected people by the project authorities through “Jal Satyagraha”. Shri Alok Agarwal, senior activist of the Narmada Bachao Andolan and leader of the movement in the area, stated that it is shocking that the Ministry of Environment and Forests has permitted the S.Kumars to close the gates of the Maheshwar dam on the ground that there is no submergence up to 154 meters, ignoring Government revenue records showing submergence of lands and houses in many villages on the 27th of August 2011, when the dam gates were illegally closed by the Shree Maheshwar Hydel Power Corporation Limited and the water level was 154 meters at dam site. He said that the decision of the MOEF on the basis of the false statement of the State Government that there was no submergence last year, may lead to the death of thousands of people. He also said if the dam is filled to 154 meters, over 1500 electric pumps and pipe-lines which supply the irrigation and drinking water needs of the people of the 61 villages affected by the Maheshwar dam who are yet to be rehabilitated and resettled will be submerged, thus denying them essential drinking water and water for their fields, which is a criminal action. The people are resolved that they will oppose this illegal and inhuman submergence and if this order is not withdrawn, the oustees will undertake Jal Satyagraha.

Update from Anti POSCO

struggle, Jagatsinghpur On May 16th 2012, Odisha government and POSCO India agreed to downsize the plant size from 12 MTPA to 8 MTPA Greenfield steel plant. On the same day nearly, 2000 people took a protest rally at Govindpur village opposing the undemocratic, unjust and uncalled for move of

the Chief Minister to entertain POSCO India CMD Yong Won Yoon. Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti (PPSS) said, “this reflects the Patnaik government’s total contempt for democracy and democratic dissent by masses on a crucial issue affecting their land, life and livelihood. The Chief Minster does not have time to discuss with his own people who are in distress but can afford the luxury of entertaining foreign representatives to give away rich land and resources at the cost of the peace and prosperity of people of the land. He is yet to visit the area ever since the black MOU was signed with POSCO on 22nd June 2005.” Even while they are making deals the mining issue has not been resolved in the Apex Court and the National Green Tribunal has stopped the environmental clearance granted to POSCO on flimsy ground. It also needs to be noted that the Captive Port(Jatadhari) of POSCO which was accorded Environmental Clearance on dated 15th May 2007 under EIA Notification 2006 has no validity now, since the validity of the clearance is only for five years. In this context, since no work has started till date the environmental clearance of POSCO Port stands expired as on 14th May 2012 and further work can be started only after fresh clerance is granted by the MoEF. Meanwhile, PPSS got a major boost when Com Narayan Reddy, one of senior activists got bail on 18th May 2012. Earlier on March 14th Abhay Sahoo was granted bail by the High Court of Orissa in an false case of alleged dowry death in Dhinkia Panchayat. PPSS is continuing its Dharana near Govindpur village and vows to continue their peaceful demonstration till the project is scrapped.

Update from Struggle

Against the Lower

Subansiri Dam Project in

North East India: Akhil

Gogoi starts indefinite

fast On May 13th after the elections in 2011 NAPM had issued a statement on the election results in Assam and said: We are aware that the victory of the same government means difficult times ahead for people's movements but we


will continue to challenge the ineptness and corruption in the governance and fight for communities control of natural resources and their means of livelihood. We do hope the new dispensation will use this opportunity to put its house in order and effectively work on the issues raised by the movements for true development of people of Assam. The current government completed a year on May 18th amidst much fanfare but unfortunate it is our words seems to be coming true. Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti, an affiliate of NAPM, has been at the receiving end of the police atrocities from time to time. KMSS, a mass organisation with support base in urban and rural areas both led by Akhil Gogoi has been at the forefront of the struggle for people's democratic rights and a people-centred development model. They have exposed corruption at every level of governance and emphasised for the better utilisation of the public resources, for which they have constantly faced government's ire. Attack on the KMSS cadres is nothing new it seems on March 29th 2010, when they had gone to submit a memorandum on the issues of mega dams, PDS anomalies and NREGA implementation at Dhemaji District Commissioner's office they were tear-gassed, lathi charged and arrested; in June 2011, Akhil Gogoi was arrested by the government; in December 2011 they were attacked many times when KMSS and others led seize to the highway and stopped trucks to the Lower Subansiri Dams; earlier they have been labelled as Maoists and Chinese supported and so on. Inspite of all the opposition from the state machinery and oppression from security forces KMSS has carried the struggle against corporate driven, anti-people development and corrupt practices of the Assam government. It is extremely unfortunate that our letters of appeal and condemnation in past to the Assam Government against the attack on non-violent people's movements seems to have no impact. On May 11, the government unleashed attack on KMSS activists who were demonstrating peacefully at Ghagar in Lakhimpur district by blockading transportation of goods to Lower Subansiri Hydro-Electric Project site. The blockade was forcefully removed and all efforts are being made to carry goods to project site by the state government. As of now there is

complete regime of 'terror' in the district of Lakhimpur. 30 KMSS activists had been arrested and sent to jail for either supporting the movement and being part of the movement. They include women, children and others. Police personnel have been posted in every road, street, locality in the most unprecedented manner. The government has also deployed around 300 special police officers to prevent activists from staging any protest. We fail to understand that when the blockade has been going on since mid December and many rounds of dialogue has happened between the people's movements and the government then why is government shying away from implementing the recommendations of the Expert Committee which advised against construction of Mega Dams? Why the Group of Ministers report, which was constituted to discuss these matters, has not been made public? Why is Assam Government in collusion with the Central Government hell bent on building these dams at such great human cost ? Today we are witness to one of the biggest peaceful, non-violent anti dam sustained agitation in Assam led by peasants, tribals and othres but even then the government is not listening. The danger to the border state of Arunachal Pradesh and Assam is not from outside forces but from proposed construction of 168 dams for 68000 MW on various rivers of Arunachal Pradesh. The NHPC constructed Lower Subansiri Hydel Project for 2000 MW situated in a highly earthquake prone location is one of this upcoming project. Citizens of this nation have a right to know that why our lives are being mortgaged in the name of development and for profiteering of some private and public corporations who are there only for profit. We vehemently oppose this and support the peaceful struggle of the people and those of the KMSS and other organisations in Assam and Arunachal Pradesh. Akhil Gogoi is on his third day of the indefinite hunger strike against the atrocities of the government against the peacefully protesting people, many of whom are injured and are languishing in hospital. NAPM supports KMSS's and Akhil's brave struggle for life with dignity and against unjust destructive capitalist development thrust upon people against their will. We support the demand made by the people's movements and urge the government


of India and Assam to immediately intervene and listen to people's voices. We support the demand of KMSS that:

The government release all the detained activists unconditionally

All police atrocities be stopped immediately.

The protesters should be allowed to set up our makeshift camps which will monitor any goods going to LSHP

The construction of the lower Subansiri project be stopped till there is a reasonable agreement agreed by the downstream people.

NAPM UP State Convention,

April 27, Lucknow

UP State Convention of NAPM was held at Library, Gandhi Bhawan which was attended by nearly 120 people from different constituent organisations. In the first half updates from the struggles of different regions was presented and later in the second half a new coordinating team was formed for the State. Shanta Bhattacharya, Richa Singh, Manish Gupta, Nandlala Master, Prem, S R Darapuri, C M Yadav, Pradeep Gupta, Anil Misra, Pradeep Shukla, Shahnawaz, Rajeev Yadav, Rajpal Mishra and Govardhan Gaud are the new members of the State Committee. Arundhati Dhuru's name was unanimously nominated for representing UP in the next National Conveners team to be constituted in Thrissur, Kerala National Convention of NAPM.

‘January 30,1948’ Film

screening and discussion

with Dr Ram Puniyani in

Lucknow, May 8-10,

Lucknow During 8-10 May 2012, UP chapter of NAPM and Asha Parivar had organized the screening of the film ‘January 30, 1948’ and interaction with Dr Ram Puniyani in two locations: UP Press Club, Lucknow; and Lohia Mazdoor Bhawan, Socialist Party office, Lucknow. This is a film by Ekta Collective. Indian national movement succeeded in throwing away the yoke of colonialism on 15th August 1947. The leader of

this movement Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was murdered by Nathuram Godse on 30th January 1948. This film elaborates that the murder of Father of the Nation was a clash between two types of political ideologies. On one side was the National movement, struggling for Independence of the country from the clutches of British colonialist. It was based on the all inclusive plural values and upheld the diversity of the country. People of all religions participated in this movement. On other side were the communal streams, Muslim League, and Hindu Mahasabha-RSS, which based their nationalism on Islam (Islamic Nation) or Hinduism (Hindu Rashtra) respectively.

‘Narmada: Meeting of Young

Minds’, May 19-20, Badwani,

Madhya Pradesh In memory of Ashish Mandloi, a young activist of NBA who passed away two years ago Narmada Bachao Andolan organised a two day meeting of young activists at their office in Badwani. The meeting was called with an aim to discuss ideas, aspirations and strategies; lives and future, individual and collective; to think of the struggles young activists are a part of and want to be a part of; to understand Constitution, basic laws, roles of citizens, rights and responsibilities. It was attended by activists from Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Gujarat .

4th National Conference of

National Forum of Forest

People and Forest Workers,

May 26-28, Dehradun,

Uttarakhand 4th National conference of National Forum of Forest People and Forest Workers was held on 26-28 May 2012 in Dehradun Uttarakhand. Delegates from constituent groups/ organizations and fraternal organizations from 20 states, representing more than 50 forest regions participated in the conference. Delegates from Pakistan, Nepal and France also participated in the conference. On 26th May, a one day public hearing was organized on the issue of "National Parks and Forest Rights Act”.

Film review

Jai Bhim Comrade - A bold reality

Anand Patwardhan after a long wait

gave us a bold documentary film, Jai Bhim Comrade, a film on Dalit issues. His films in the past were a true mirror of the society and they reflected hard and harsh images of the state and society, nad made bold political statements which he believes as a film maker and an activist., His past films, Bombay our City (1985), Raam ke Naam (1992), Father, Son and Holy War (1985), War and Peace (2002), were contemporary films which dealt with burning issues where he takes on saffron forces, the state and an uneven social system, boldly using his artistic freedom to deliver political statements which very few film makers could do successfully till date. Jai Bhim Comrade deals with Dalit atrocities while also dealing with the issues including Ramabai Ambedkar Nagar police firing on innocent Dalits, Khairlanji killing of dalits, scavengers’ pathetic living conditions, deep frustration and anguish which Dalit poet Vilas Ghogare went through and commited sucide, how Ambedakar became a semi God worshipped by all political parties. The film successfully portrays the ideological bankruptcy of saffron political forces when they adopt Ambedkar as their idol. It shows Congress, BJP, Shiv Sena, NCP all trying to bring Ambedakar into their fold., The great tragedy is that Ambedkar fought these forces and their ideology throughout his life even disowning Hinduism and taking to Bhuddismas his religion for salvation, same forces trying to own him is a shameful reality. After this film many self styled Republican Party leaders will start hating Anand as he manages to put a mirror in front of them. In the film, one Republican leader tries to defend Bhim Shakti going with Shiv Sena as

part of social engineering and then fumbles, the gathering bursts into laughter. Anand manages to take us on the side of Kabir Kala Manch and we smile when Sambhaji Bhagat in the film raises his voice. In the process of this film Anand has become more focused on his vision and his belief and takes a side and asks us for self introspection. It is a reality that justice was not done in Khairalanji or Ramabai Nagar a serving police officer boldly states in Khairalanji court trial that money has played a role and a retired police officer states that the investigation in Ramabai Ambedkar Nagar firing was faulty and covered up. It leaves us aghast. We feel ashamed when during the Ambedkar Jayanti cheap film songs are played and yougsters dance in numbers, while in contrast young boys and girls from Dalit families are trying to raise their voice through Kabir Kala Manch.When this is told then they are branded as Naxalites for singing songs on the suffering of the Dalit community or self empowerment struggle. We feel cheated by the state and system, how come theses girls can be Naxalites when police has no case against them., Their only crime is to raise their voice through songs. Is it a crime? This is the fundamental question Anand raises through his film, it reminds us of a sad story of human rights activist Dr Binayak Sen and his trial and tribulation. The degeneration of Dalit Panther and Republican movement has been successfully told in the film and as it ends the film asks us to take a side and not just watch . It shows successfully that still today upper castes are biased against Dalits., 6th December becomes a hell day for upper middle class families in Dadar but when someone asks how we tolerate 10 days of Ganesh festival as it is equally noisy and creates an equal amount of dirt- there


is no answer to it.We hang our heads in shame that still upper castes think on caste lines or speak about caste superiority, the case of Chitpawan Brahimin sub caste has been effectively told in the film. The genetic theory that Parshuram was their originator and genetically, how they are superior and how lower castes are inferior and should remain as slaves. The film has successfully interacted with younger generation of today’s Dalits and their dilemma and questions they have in mind. They do not know which side they should take. Probably they wish to change the caste and become upper caste, which is not possible. They have to carry the stigma of caste. When we are told that a Dalit engineer lands a job of fitter or turner in the factory, is self explanatory of the caste

prejudices prevailing todayand the rise of Marathas to crush the aspiration of Dalits.Issues around reservation and reservation which the Maratha community is asking while condemning the reservation makes us angry. The film could have been trimmed down by an hour as the film is too long at 198 mins. It is shot brilliantly and covers almost 30 years of political journey of Dalit movement in Maharashtra, particularly Mumbai/Bombay. Anand Patwardhan and his team have done a great job. We must watch this film. Lastly this film has got U censor certificate, so this is possibly the first time the state has decided to keep quiet over the film though it is provocative and bold.

Ramesh Pimple

FORTHCOMING EVENTS

Maharashtra NAPM State Convention 2–3 June 2012 | Pune, Maharashtra | Contact: Suniti SR – 020-24251404

NAPM National Conveners Meeting 8-9 June 2012 | Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh | Contact: Madhuresh – 011-24374535

Andhra Pradesh NAPM State Convention 10 June 2012 | Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh | Contact: Ramakrishna Raju – 9866887299

Indefinite dharna related to demands of labourers and farmers

Begins on 28 May 2012 | Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh Contact: Dr Sandeep Pandey/ Arundhati Dhuru - 9415022772

About the dharna: Socialist Party, Lok Rajniti Manch, Hind Mazdoor Sabha and National Alliance of People’s Movements are going to organize an indefinite dharna from 28th May, 2012, in front of Vidhan Sabha with the following demands:

Raise the minimum wages in unorganized sector to Rs. 11,000 per month or Rs. 440 per day. The minimum wages should be linked to Consumer Price Index.

The farmers must get a profitable income on their produce. The prices of petrol, diesel, fertilizer and pesticides must be kept under control. Subsidies of these things as well as on electricity and water must continue. There should be a guarantee of purchase for agricultural produce and they should not be left to the mercy of market forces.

The additional production of foodgrains should not be exported. Instead it should be distributed within the country after universalisation of Public Distribution System. There should be adequate and decentralized arrangement for storage of agricultural produce.

OBITUARY Shri Kantilal Shah - editor Bhumiputra, the

Bhoodan/Sarvodaya movement journal in Gujarati language and one of the few down to earth thinkers, is no more.

the movement of india: june-july 2012

Documents