RIGHT TO INFORMATION
1. Cong attacks MP CM over RTI information issue (1)
Bhopal: Opposition Congress today alleged that state Public Works Department officials were refusing to divulge information under RTI Act pertaining to Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and his kin as they had been directed against doing so. In a statement here, Congress’s leader of Opposition in MP Assembly, Ajay Singh, also alleged that Chouhan had caused a file to disappear which was related to Aditya Construction company, reportedly registered under the name of Chouhan’s brother, Rohit Singh Chouhan. Singh said that when an applicant sought information about Aditya Construction under RTI Act, the PWD department, in a written reply dated May 31, 2013, told him that no such contractor was registered with them. But when the same information was sought earlier by Congress MLA Purshottam Dangi, PWD had in a reply dated March 17, 2012, said that Aditya Construction was owned by Rohit Singh Chouhan and registered with the department as an ‘A-3′ category contractor. The category was later changed to ‘A-4′ and then to ‘A-5′, Singh added. Singh said that the inconsistency in information provided by PWD about the same entity needed an explanation. Singh demanded action against those involved in the file’s disappearance and also asked the CM to provide correct information under the RTI Act, failing which he threatened to take legal action. (Zee News 16/6/13)
2. RTI activists to stage protest on June 18 (1)
Right to Information (RTI) activists under the banner of the Goa RTI Forum will stage a protest at Azad Maidan on June 18, observed as Goa Revolution Day, against the State government’s failure to appoint officials to the State Information Commission (SIC). At a meeting on Saturday, forum secretary Srikant Barve pointed out that after Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar’s announcement on April 23 regarding the appointment of the Chief Information Commissioner and the State Information Commissioner, forum member Rajan Ghate had withdrawn his plan to go on an indefinite hunger strike. The non-appointment of commissioners had deprived RTI activists of an appellate authority and a large number of appeals were gathering dust at the State Commission, he said. Mr. Barve said that while the appointment process had been initiated and applications had been received for both posts, there had been no action thereafter. RTI activist Aires Rodrigues said that certain government circulars issued for monitoring RTI information delivery were intended for keeping tabs on RTI activists. For instance, a May 29 circular from the Director of Information Swapnil Naik addressed to Public Information Officers asked for details regarding all the RTI applications submitted to government departments, along with the names and addresses of applicants. The activists demanded that such circulars be withdrawn immediately. They alleged that instead of appointing the SIC to aid the implementation of the RTI Act, the Chief Minister was pressurising officials to divulge information. (The Hindu 16/6/13)
3. Govt extends online RTI facility to Prez Secretariat, MEA (1)
New Delhi,Moving further towards greater transparency in governance, the government has extended the facility of e-filing of RTI applications to President and Vice President’s secretariat, and Foreign Ministry among others. Citizens will also be able to seek information online from ministries of Food Processing Industries, Health & Family Welfare, Home Affairs, Information & Broadcasting and Road Transport & Highways by exercising their Right to Information. The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), which acts as nodal ministry for implementation of Right to Information Act, has launched a website– www.rtionline.gov.in –to facilitate e-filing of applications and payment of fees. As a pilot project, the facility was restricted to DoPT only but late last month it was extended to Ministry of Home Affairs, Department of Agriculture and Cooperation, Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries and Department of Consumer Affairs and Department of Food and Public Distribution. Now it has been extended to other public authorities like Department of Agricultural Research & Education, Department of Chemicals & Petrochemicals, Department of Commerce, Department of Disinvestment, Department of Public Enterprises and Ministry of Culture also, a DoPT official said. The Centre’s flagship Right to Information Act, which was enacted in 2005, mandates timely response– within 30 days– to citizen requests for government information. One has to pay a fee of Rs 10 for seeking information. The government plans to extend e-filing of RTI applications to all central ministries or departments through the website. At present, the text of an application that can be uploaded at the prescribed column (on the website while filing application) is limited to 500 words only. In case, an application contains more than 500 words, then it can be uploaded as an attachment. The initiative for filing of RTI pleas through electronic mode is getting good response from information seekers. However, the department has asked people not to file information related to state governments. “Please do not file RTI applications through this portal for the public authorities under the state governments, including government of National Capital territory of Delhi. If filed, the application would be returned, without refund of amount,” said a note put up on the website. (Deccan Herald 17/6/13)
4. File on replacing additional solicitor general untraceable, oil ministry tells CIC (1)
NEW DELHI: Three months after the Central Information Commission asked the government to disclose information related to replacing the then additional solicitor general A S Chandiok from an Essar Steel case, it has said that the letter is “untraceable”.According to reports, the petroleum ministry had written to the law ministry to replace Chandiok from a crucial case against Essar Steel claiming that he took a stand against its instructions. The reply was in response to an RTI application filed by Subhash Agrawal seeking a copy of file notings and letter written by the petroleum ministry to the law ministry seeking Chandiok’s replacement. The transparency panel allowed disclosure of communication and file notings. The commission rejected the contention of the petroleum ministry that the letter was “confidential” and related to a “sensitive issue”, so it should not be disclosed. The law ministry in a letter dated June 12 said the letter was untraceable. “It is a well settled law that the public authority can claim exemption from disclosure only as per the section 8 (1) of the RTI Act. In the present appeal before the commission, the respondent has not claimed any exemption as per the RTI Act nor been able to explain how the information if revealed would attract any of the exemption as per the Act,” information commissioner Sushma Singh said. Essar Steel had approached the Delhi High Court challenging the petroleum ministry’s move to reduce the supply of natural gas from the Reliance KG-D6 fields to non-core sectors. It had maintained that if gas supply was reduced, the company would face hardship. While the court had passed orders on June 3, 2011, the ASG reportedly intimated it to the petroleum ministry on July 1. (Times of India 19/6/13)
MEDIA/ FREEDOM OF PRESS
5. Scribe’s book unveils facts on Telangana stir (1)
HYDERABAD: TRS MLA T Harish Rao on Tuesday took the responsibility of distributing around 500 copies of a book written by senior journalist N Venugopal, in an attempt to spread facts about the Telangana movement. The book, Vidveshame Dhyeyamga Visalandhra Maha Rabhasa, was released by Telangana Jouranlists Forum general secretary Ch Kranti Kiran at a function here on Tuesday. It seeks to counter the book released by Visalandhra Maha Sabha leader Parakala Prabhakar. Speaking on the occasion, Harish Rao lauded the efforts of Venugopal for his research to bring out facts about the Telangana movement. Describing Venugopal as an intellectual like the late Prof Jaya Shankar, he said the book speaks facts based on research and with documentary evidence culled from various newspapers and books. Harish Rao said he would take 500 copies and distribute them among TRS executive members, MLAs, MLCs and ministers of both Seemandhra and Telangana regions. Every person participating in the Telangana movement should read the book in order to know several crucial points in the history of the movement, he said. Harish Rao alleged that Kiran Reddy government is proposing to sell 202 acres near the Hi-tec City at Rs 12 crore per acre. An estimated Rs 2,400 crore earned through the sale would be spent on acquiring 2,000 acres in the chief minister’s native Chittoor district to set up the National Investment and Manufacturing Zone (NIMZ). When Telangana lands are sold, people would be happy if the amount is spent on establishing a NIMZ in the Telangana region, he said. On the propaganda spread by Parakala Prabhakar, Harish Rao alleged that Prabhakar has become a tool in the hands of Andhra capitalists. Venugopal, introducing his book, said he penned it to spread facts and. He termed Parakala’s book as ‘childish’. Parakala, as a BJP spokesperson, supported the party’s “one vote, two states” slogan and is now contradicting himself, he pointed out. Telangana History Society president Tadakamall Vivek, journalist Allam Narayana, TNGO leader Deviprasad and others spoke. (New Indian Express 12/6/13)
6. It’s time for action to restore media’s credibility, says Ansari (1)
LUCKNOW: Expressing concern over paid news, cross-media ownership and the declining role of editors and their editorial freedom, Vice-President Hamid Ansari on Saturday stressed the need for corrective action to restore the credibility of the media. “The corrective action should be undertaken without delay as failure to do so would lend credence to widely expressed apprehensions about special interests,” he said. Pointing out some developments which “have raised questions about the media’s objectivity and credibility,” Mr. Ansari said a free, fair, honest and objective press is a potent instrument for enhancing transparency and accountability. “Freedom of the Press is one of the most important ingredients of democracy and reflects the character of the state.” In his inaugural address at the biennial session of the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) at Hathras in Uttar Pradesh, the Vice-President mentioned the findings of the Administrative Staff College of India, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India and the parliamentary standing committee on information technology. He said their findings presented a disturbing picture. He said most of the 300-odd news channels in the country were “loss making” and dependent on “dubious cross-holding, black money infusion and dodgy private equity investors.” In this scenario, the media was inclined or forced to adopt unethical methods, the Vice-President observed. Referring to the TRAI document, Mr. Ansari said it had drawn a direct link between “uncontrolled ownership” and “paid news,” corporate and political lobbying by television channels, “propagation of biased analysis and forecast, both in the political arena as well as the corporate sector, and irresponsible reporting to create sensationalism.” The paper had mentioned that “it is even more lethal where the ownership or control rests with entities which have both business and political interests.” The standing committee had asked the TRAI and the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to consider the paid news issue on a priority basis. It had proposed “urgent attention” on the issue of cross-media ownership. To curb the twin problems of cross-media ownership and paid news, the Vice-President suggested a statutory Media Council or a revamped Press Council of India functioning as a regulatory body for the print media and a similar body for the electronic media. Media owners and interested parties should not be on the regulatory body. Mr. Ansari said the standing committee had also stressed the improving of the working conditions of journalists, including contractual employment and wage scenario, and to “ensure that the autonomy of the editorial staff was upheld.” (The Hindu 15/6/13)
7. Doctors abduct, confine and beat scribes (1)
CUTTACK: Doctors might be enjoying protection under the Orissa Medicare Service Persons and Medicare Service Institutions (prevention of violence and damage to property) Act 2008, but what about protecting innocent patients and their attendants from the delinquent ones who perpetrate atrocities on them? In a blatant incident of hooliganism by the medical professionals, junior doctors of the SCB Medical College and Hospital here abducted two scribes and forcibly confined them in their hostel, abusing and beating them up, on Saturday evening. The only fault of the victims was to seek information on the condition of a patient, who was admitted to the Medicine Department of the hospital. According to reports, Sobhakar Samantray, the father of reporter of a local TV channel Chittaranjan Samantray, had been admitted to the ward a few days back. Even as he was undergoing treatment, the junior doctors had reportedly been pestering his attendants to take him away without citing any valid reason and had gone to the extent of misbehaving with them and Chittaranjan too. On Saturday evening, when Chittaranjan and his colleague Debasish Mohanty were at the bedside of his father, a mob of junior doctors swooped on them and dragged them to the PG hostel. The duo was confined in a room for more than two hours and subjected to abuse and beating. Intriguingly, the Mangalabag police had reached the spot when the doctors were taking the victims to the hostel but preferred to be a mute spectator. The action finally came after senior police officials and media personnel rushed to the scene and rescued the duo. What is more galling is even though the victim Chittaranjan and his mother Charulata filed two complaints, the police registered cases only late on Sunday afternoon but not before accepting belated counter FIRs from the doctors. The issue raises several questions on the functioning of the premier health institution where neglect of patients and misbehaviour of the attendants, particularly by junior doctors, has become common place in recent times. “If the patient attendant misbehaved or assaulted the doctor on duty, he should have informed the authorities or the police. They just cannot take law on to their own hands,” said a senior doctor. Clearly on the back foot, the SCBMCH authorities have gone on a damage control mode. “We do not approve of the incident and will not tolerate it. The College Council will meet on Monday to discuss the situation and take appropriate action in the connection,” said Dean Prof PC Mohapatra. (New Indian Express 17/6/13)
8. ‘New Anti-Terrorism Act gags freedom of expression’ (1)
The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and its member organisation in Bangladesh, Odhikar, expressed deep concerns Monday over the amendment of anti-terrorism bill 2013, which states that the court will accept videos, still photographs and audio clips used in Facebook, twitter, Skype and other social media as evidence. The amendment bill passed by parliament on June 11 widens the scope of sanctions provided in the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2009. Earlier in 2012, the amendment to this act introduced death penalty as the highest penalty for terrorist activities. It also provided scope to prohibit the use of Bangladeshi land for any terrorist activities against other countries and all types of illegal arms. The rights bodies say the bill was passed despite strong resistance from the opposition and without holding talks with civil society organisations. Earlier in a joint report in October 2010 FIDH and Odhikar expressed their concerns that the vague definitions of terrorist activities under the act had “opened the legislation to potential abuse.” The act was incompatible with the principle of legality requiring that criminal liability and punishment be limited to clear and precise provisions enshrined in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights which Bangladesh has ratified, the report had said. By creating a broadly applicable definition of terrorist activities and reducing terrorism to merely a question of crime punishable by death, the amendment bill makes the act even more vulnerable to the worst kind of abuses, said FIDH and Odhikar. The widening of the scope of crimes punishable by death thus carries the tremendous risk of irreversible injustice, they said, claiming that the act has already been abused by the government to repress political opponents, journalists and other dissenting voices. Odhikar secretary Adilur Rahman Khan said: “The amended bill as it stands now will be more repressive and by its very nature most likely will turn into a nightmare of abuse and violence jeopardising social and political stability, instead of strengthening human security. We also raised concerns about the act when it was first promulgated by the military-backed caretaker government.” “Experiences in several countries shows that the criminalisation of opinions expressed online through social media or blogs is not only a violation of freedom of expression and the right to privacy, it also represents a new pattern of persecution of any voice of dissent, as well as human rights defenders,” said Karim Lahidji, FIDH president. Dhaka Tribune 18/6/13)
DALITS/SCHEDULED CASTES
9. Dalit discrimination takes different forms in Vadugapatti (2)
MADURAI: Dalits can neither walk on the streets of caste Hindus with their footwear on nor can they enter common pathways on bicycles. If they violated the rule they had to face the wrath of the dominant caste in the village, the Piramalai Kallars. Twenty-nine-year-old Nagammal, the boy’s mother, was courageous enough to have taken up the issue with the police in a place where caste panchayats rule the roost. Their two-room house in the colony has images of B.R.Ambedkar. Dalits in the village cannot enter the Santhana Mariamman temple in the village; nor are they allowed to use the village square space. They have no access to common property resources. Even at ration shops, Dalits are abused by caste Hindus if they get close to them, said Vairupandy (25) a Dalit youth. Dalits cannot sit in front of caste Hindus at bus shelters; there is no pathway for them to approach the graveyard and even during an emergency they have to use a circuitous route. The law of the land is that all issues pertaining to the villages should be dealt within the caste panchayats (kangaroo courts). Maayakkal (60) and other Kallar women in the village square said that they don’t eat food or drink tea in Dalit houses . When asked why they said it has been the tradition for centuries. The village school has portraits of all leaders such as Kamaraj and Muthuramalinga Thevar, but none of B.R.Ambedkar. When the Dalits tried to have one, their efforts were prevented by the Kallars. The village has a good number of Dalit youth who wish to see social change during their lifetime and want to put an end to such forms of discrimination. Both the Kallars and Dalits in the village are economically dependent on agriculture and brick kilns, but a few among the former have used their snack-making skills in northern states and have earned quick money to return and build concrete roof houses and buy land. The Dalits were angry that the District Collector had not visited the village to enquire about the incident. (The Hindu 13/6/13)
10. Dalit moves NCSC against casteist remark allegedly by minority (2)
JAJPUR (ODISHA): Unable to get justice from the local police, a dalit man from Odisha’s Jajpur district has moved the National Commission for Scheduled Caste (NCSC) seeking “justice”.Maheswar Bhoi (55), in a letter to NCSC, said that though he was abused in filthy language and castiest remarks by two members of minority community, the police ignored his complaints. Bhoi in his complaint said that he was cultivating a piece of land of Shaik Zuman (landlord) located in Saroi mouza as a Bhagachasi for the last couple of years. However, on May 9 when he objected Shaik Farastulla and Shaik Sarafatullah of local Neulpur village of pulling down the boundary line, they abused him in filthy language. “They also threatened to kill me if I opposed them further,” Bhoi said in his complaint. Bhoi said he brought the matter to the notice of the landlord and subsequently filed a written complaint against the accused persons at the local Dharmasala police station. Dharmasala police neither registered a case in this connection nor took any action against the accused persons, Bhoi said adding that he moved the Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC), Chandikhole and sought its intervention to get justice. The JMFC directed the Inspector-in-charge (IIC) of Dharmasala police station to register a case and take investigation. Though the police registered a case basing on his complaint, it did not take any action against accused, Bhoi said: ” the duo was roaming freely and threatening me with dire consequence.” “I have no other option but to approach the NCSC to get justice as police are showing indifference. Even after 36 days have passed since filing of my FIR no action has so far been taken in this regard.” When contacted, Jajpur SP Deepak Kumar said the matter had not not been brought to his notice. (Times of India 15/6/13)
11. “Uthapuram Dalit women are real heroes’’ (2)
MADURAI: The brave Dalit women of Uthapuram are the real heroes who have fought a valiant battle. They have showed the world that if the oppressed and exploited along with the Left and pro-democratic forces stood up, they could beat any form of discrimination, said Communist Party of India (Marxist) Polit Buro member Brinda Karat. She was delivering a special address at a function held here on Saturday to honour the advocates and social activists who fought for social justice in Uthapuram village near Madurai where portion of a long wall that separated Dalits from caste Hindu locality was razed to enable access to the common pathway of Dalits. Ms. Karat said that radical social change would happen only when annihilation of deep-rooted caste prejudices and discriminatory practices against Dalits was undertaken.
The National Crime Records Bureau shows that in 2012, there were 33,655 cases of atrocities perpetrated on Dalits. This gives us an idea that on an average, every day 93 members of the Dalit community were victims of one form of atrocity or the other. It is a shame that even after 66 years of Independence such a situation exists in the country, she remarked. The NCRB data suggests that 1,10,000 cases of atrocities are pending in courts, but only 3.6 per cent have ended in conviction. Among the 35,655 cases sent to court, conviction in cases of atrocities on Dalits was a mere 23 per cent and in 77 per cent of the cases, the perpetrators go scot-free. “It is a shame on the judiciary system and on the process of legal justice,” she said. “When the wall was demolished in Uthapuram, it was not just brick and mortar. The wall represented the edifice of discrimination and denial of minimal human dignity.” Earlier denied rights like worshipping rights and access to common property resources have been won after a long struggle. Still there were unfinished tasks like proper access to the common pathway that was created after the demolition of the wall. The Madras High Court ordered that full compensation be given to each and every family that was affected in the police excesses. The order further said that district monitoring committees should be vigilant in maintaining peace and it is our duty to mount pressure on the monitoring committee to implement the court order fully, Ms. Karat pointed out. The 92- year-old veteran Marxist leader, R. Umanath, was present at the function in which a lot of Dalit women participated. (The Hindu 16/6/13)
12. State bans book claiming Scheduled Caste as original rulers of Tamil land (2)
MADURAI: A book written by an author belonging to the Pallar community, one of the Scheduled Castes in Tamil Nadu, claiming that Pallars are the original settlers of fertile river tracts in Tamil land, and southern Tamil Nadu’s rulers, has been banned by the State government. Written by K.Senthil Mallar, the 624-page yet to be released book titled Meendezhum Pandiyar Varalaru (Resurgence of Pandiyar History) is an attempt towards caste identity construction and antiquity that the Pallars were rulers of Tamil land but enslaved by invaders during the 17 century. The book (a copy of which is with The Hindu) contains photographs of inscriptions, scanned copies of documents, community certificates and other related documents claiming that they are the descendants of Pandyas. The State government, in its ban order issued by Jatindra Nath Swain, Principal Secretary (Public) to the State government late last month, said that the presentation of the author carried demeaning description and disparaging remarks against certain communities. Moreover, the order said that the contents of the book had defamatory statements and distorted history about leaders such as Pasumpon Muthuramalinga Thevar and Kamaraj, besides historical figures — Azhagumuthu Kone and Veerapandiya Kattabomman — which were likely to cause disharmony, feeling of enmity, hatred and ill will between different communities. “The book under section 95 (1) (a) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (Central Act 2 of 1974), including its prints, copies, reprints, translation and such other documents containing extracts, be forfeited to the Government.” The author of the book, Senthil Mallar, told The Hindu here on Sunday that he was yet to receive a copy of the order. “The book was originally planned to be released in Sattur on April 25, 2013 but we suspended the event following a ban by the Virudhunagar police department stating that it would trigger caste violence. Later, we planned to hold it in Madurai, but this ban [by the State government] was unexpected.” The author contended that the government was trying to suppress the history of “original inhabitants” of Tamil land. “The ban is an effort to muzzle the re-construction of history by a caste which has a long history since the Sangam Age. We will face it legally.” ..(The Hindu 18/6/13)
HEALTH/ EPIDEMICS/NRHM
13. NRHM scam: SC notice to CBI on Pradeep Shukla’s bail plea (3)
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court today sought the CBI’s response on an interim bail plea of senior IAS officer Pradeep Shukla, who has been named by the agency as a key accused in the multi-crore NRHM scam of Uttar Pradesh. A vacation bench of justices Gyan Sudha Misra and Madan B Lokur gave the probe agency one week to respond to Shukla’s plea for bail on medical grounds. Shukla, who was formerly a principal secretary (Health and Family Welfare) in Uttar Pradesh, has been accused of committing irregularities in the implementation of the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) scheme in the state. In his petition, Shukla has sought bail on account of some spinal problem he is suffering from. The CBI is investigating the over Rs 500 crore scam and the trial in the case is being held on day-to-day basis. The Allahabad High Court earlier on May 31 had rejected the bail plea of Shukla after the probe agency contended that he could influence the witnesses. (Economic Times 13/6/13)
14. Literacy can improve public health in India more than income (3)
Washington, June 14 : Researchers have claimed that literacy has a greater impact on public health in India than income. The researchers from Cambridge’s Department of Sociology, accepted that it is mostly true that “wealthier is healthier” across the roughly 500 districts in India’s ‘major states,’ accounting for 95 percent of the total population, but found that poverty and, more crucially, illiteracy are much stronger indicators of poor public health than low average income. Researchers said that a poor district can nonetheless enjoy relatively good public health if it has a high literacy rate. Literacy acts as a base, enabling populations to understand medicine labeling, access healthcare, and engage with public health programmes. Using data on income, education, and under-five and infant mortality, the researchers suggested that policymakers concerned with public health should focus on literacy levels rather than average income. Models estimate that for the “typical” Indian district in the early 2000s, the poverty gap would have had to be reduced by 25 percent to save one child per thousand live births, whereas a mere 4 percent increase in literacy rate would have had the same effect. And at the level of India’s 35 states and Union Territories, literacy is the only significant predictor of public health – even poverty gap is not a reliable predictor. “Economic policies narrowly focused on growth are insufficient when it comes to public health in less developed countries,” Lawrence King, Professor of Sociology and Political Economy and co-author of the study with Cambridge colleagues Keertichandra Rajan and Jonathan Kennedy, said. “Higher average income is a statistical red herring: it contributes to better public health mainly to the extent that it reflects high literacy and low poverty,” he said. The new research has been published in the journal Social Science and Medicine. (New Kerala 14/6/13)
15. Maternal deaths on the rise in Belgaum (3)
BELGAUM: Maternal deaths are on a rise in Belgaum district; in 2011-12, there were 83 deaths while in 2012-13, it increased to 98. One among the reason is said to be lack of experts in the general hospital and Community Health Centres. According to health officials, the deaths are due to negligence on part of women. Despite expansion of private and public healthcare services in the district, the number of maternal deaths seems to be on rise. There could be various factors for the increasing trend in maternal deaths. This number might include patients who come from outside the city for treatment. In addition, pregnant women are highly prone and succumb to diseases such as cardiac problem and hepatitis, which are on rise. Lack of appropriate healthcare and low availability of nutritious food for expectant mothers living in villages have also led to the increase in maternal mortality rates in the district. Many women suffer from hepatitis E, owing to bleeding during pregnancy and post childbirth and iron deficiency. Apart from this, poor diet is also the major cause for maternal mortality. The doctors also call upon the women to be screened before deciding to conceive. The district health authorities have now swung into action to reduce pregnancy and delivery related deaths by instructing the medical officers to take precautionary steps and create awareness among women. “Nearly 81 specialist posts are vacant in the district, which also includes gynaecologist and paediatricians; we have also brought to the notice of government. Once we get specialists, many such deaths can also be minimised,” added Dr Dileep Kumar Munoli, district health officer. Deputy commissioner N Jayaram also instructed DHO to create more awareness and appoint the related experts at the earliest. (Times of India 15/6/13)
16. New Mental Health Bill bans electric shocks, gives right to treatment (3)
NEW DELHI: The right of mentally-ill patients to decide their mode of treatment, decriminalising suicide for them and a ban on electric shock treatment without anaesthesia are some of the progressive provisions of the new mental health bill proposed by the Indian government. “The bill was passed by the union cabinet last week,” Health Secretary K. Desiraju told IANS. Once passed by parliament, the bill will repeal the Mental Health Act, 1987. If passed, it will make access to mental healthcare a right for all. Also, such services would be affordable, of good quality and available without discrimination. An estimated 10-12 million or one to two per cent of the population suffers from severe mental disorders such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder and nearly 50 million or five percent from common mental disorders such as depression and anxiety, yielding an overall estimate of 6.5 percent of the population. Keeping in mind the rising number of people suffering from mental ailments, the new bill aims at introducing progressive and far-sighted steps for patients, a senior health official told IANS. “If a person has given an advance directive to the state that he or she should not be admitted to a facility without consent, it will be heeded to,” the official said. This was proposed keeping in mind that a person can be branded mentally ill by family members in property or marital disputes. The official said the 1987 Act had vested extraordinary powers in treating psychiatrists. The bill now states that an individual can himself or herself take a call on the treatment. Psychiatrists, however, feel that by giving powers to a mentally-ill patient to decide on the course of treatment would put him at risk. “A patient in a psychotic phase or a mentally-ill person doesn’t have the judgemental capacity to decide what is good or bad for him or her. So trusting that person to make the correct choice in such circumstances might be risky,” Samir Malhotra, head of the Department of Psychiatry at the Max hospitals, told IANS. He further said that the bill would significantly reduce the powers of the doctors in deciding the patients’ well-being. The bill also provides the right to confidentiality and protection from cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, in addition to the right to live in a community. Legal aid will also be extended to them. It bans the electric-convulsive therapy or the electric shock treatment without anaesthesia and restricts psychosurgery. Under the provisions of the bill, the government has an obligation to provide half-way homes, community caring centres and other shelters for mentally-ill people. Half-way homes, common in the western world, are for those patients who have recovered but need 24-hour monitoring and rehabilitation. It also envisages a mental health review commission, which will review all admissions in mental health institutions beyond 30 days. The commission would be a quasi-judicial body to oversee the functioning of mental health facilities and protect the rights of persons with mental illness in these facilities. The bill also proposes to provide free care to all homeless, destitute and poor people suffering from mental disorders. Trying to address the needs of the families, caregivers and those of homeless mentally ill people, the new legislation provides for setting up central and state mental health authorities, which would act as administrative bodies. The bill decriminalises suicide for mentally ill patients. Reacting to this provision, Malhotra said: “In certain circumstances it can help, as police action is sometimes cumbersome, but it can also not be denied that criminalising suicide had acted as a deterrant in some cases”.Under the Indian Penal Code, suicide is a criminal act and a person can be jailed for at least one to three years. The Indian government had launched the National Mental Health Programme (NMHP) in 1982, keeping in view the heavy burden of mental illness in the community, and the absolute inadequacy of mental health care infrastructure in the country to deal with it. According to eminent psychologist Aruna Broota, many Indian mental facilities and institutions are in a pathetic state and need to show a sympathic attitude towards these people. “The situation is slightly better in south India than in north India, but generally the condition of these facilities is very bad,” she told IANS. “One can have as many fancy bills and laws you want. But ultimately, it is us the society that has to accept that mental disorder is like any disease and we need to accept this,” she added. (New Indian Express 17/6/13)
TRIBALS
17. Salwa Judum rape accused acquitted as victims turn hostile (6)
RAIPUR: Six of the fifteen men — including former Special Police Officers Kicche Nanda and Kawasi Mangalram — accused of raping six tribal women during the controversial Salwa Judum campaign in south Chhattisgarh have been acquitted by a sessions court in Dantewada after the women turned hostile and refused to recognise their alleged rapists. As the Dantewada Judge, A.K. Beck, recorded, the complainants, all women from Samsetti, told the court that they “…do not know the accused Kicche Nanda or Kawasi Mangalram. The witness clearly stated that no incident (of rape) took place with them. They have not filed any complaints in the police station” or “in the court of Konta.” In June 2009, exactly four years ago, six girls from Samsetti and other villages had filed rape charges against nine special police officers and 3 Salwa Judum leaders. The SP Dantewada refused to register a case; in an affidavit to the Supreme Court later, the Chhattisgarh government would say this was because the police had enquired with the accused, Salwa Judum leaders Boddu Raja, Soyam Mooka, and Dinesh, who denied any such charges. Since the word of the accused was what counted with the police, the girls were forced to file their complaints directly with the trial court. On December 10, 2009, the trial court issued arrest warrants in all the cases, but noted that according to the police, the accused were all untraceable. For example, “In this case, accused Kartam Surya, Kovasi Mangal Ram, Kichche Nanda are absconding. There is no chance of finding them in near future. So, accused Kartam Surya, Kovasi Mangal Ram, Kichche Nanda are declared absconding. There is a permanent arrest warrant committal against them by the court.’ However, Judum leaders Soyam Mooka, Kartam Surya and the others who were allegedly “absconding” continued to be active as SPOs and members of the district force. Kartam Surya was later also accused of being involved in the burning of Tadmetla, Morpalli and Timapuram in 2011, on which the Supreme Court ordered the CBI to investigate. The police refusal to arrest the Samsetti rape accused was repeatedly brought up before the Supreme Court, and on 25th April 2011, Harish Salve appearing for Chhattisgarh promised to have this looked into. No action was taken. Kartam Surya, who was killed by the Maoists in February 2012, was given a guard of honour by the police. This correspondent was in court when Era (name changed), the primary witness, retracted her statement. The adivasi woman, who could not speak or understand Hindi, was clearly confused and perhaps scared as the accused were sitting outside the court room. One of the women who brought the allegations against the SPOs, Mira (name changed) said that she is “sick of outsiders.” “You do not come when we are in trouble, go away now,” she told this correspondent a few days after retracting the charges in the court. She even denied her existence. “I am not Mira,” she said. With the men acquitted, the complainants and the accused will now return to the same villages or panchayats where they will live with each other as neighbours. The women of Samsetti, on their way to the market, will meet the men, who “did not rape” them. May be the men will get transferred after a point but the women will still have to meet one of the accused – Kartam Surya, the most feared policeman of Sukma. Mr. Surya was killed last year but his statue adorns the village market in Sukma. A hundred kilometres north, in Dantewada, a court reader still shouts, ‘Kartam Surya hazir ho?’ (Kartam Surya, present yourself), before every Samsetti hearing. In the judgment, however, he is described as “absconding”. The call for Kartam Surya will be heard for a few more months till the case concludes, a court clerk said, as he handed over the order sheets. (The Hindu 15/6/13)
18. Caste curses Dalit, tribal children to life of slavery beyond borders (6)
CHENNAI: Caste discrimination and exploitation of Dalit children are not confined to villages alone as some members of the dominant communities force them into bonded labour in savory and confectionary units run by them in many parts of north India. Recently, Vadugapatti village near Usilampatti was in the news when a Class VI Dalit boy was forced to carry footwear on his head through a caste Hindu street. But the same village has another story of a 17-year-old Dalit, who has become mentally ill due to physical and psychological torture he had faced at a savory factory in Gujarat, owned by a local businessman settled there. Confined within a room for the last two years, the victim, T Vairamani, was rescued by his father, Thevamani, from a village in Gujarat. Owner Rohan, a caste Hindu of Usilampatti, had paid `2,000 as advance to Thevamani, a tender coconut vendor, while taking the boy for work at his savory unit. “Vairmani was forced to work for nearly 20 hours a day. If he asks for rest, Rohan would abuse him in filthy language denoting his caste,” says S Muthu, a social worker attached to Madurai-based NGO Evidence. These days, Muthu takes the boy for regular medical check up at the Government Rajaji Hospital. Rohan gave spoilt or poor quality food and that too only twice a day, and forced Vairmani to sleep in the kitchen. He also prevented his father from communicating with his son for two years. A restless Thevamani went in search of his son and spent more than a fortnight in Gujarat. Only after he filed a complaint with the Keraloor police, Ravikumar, a relative of Rohan, informed that the boy was safe at his house. “But when Thevamani spotted his son, he had injuries all over the body and was lying unconscious. With the help of then Madurai district collector Sagayam, we treated him for two months in the hospital,” says Muthu. While Thevamani got back his son, albeit with mental illness, Parvathy of Uthampalyam in Theni district lost her son Surlimuthu within a few months after he was rescued from a confectionary unit in Uttar Pradesh. Incidentally Surlimuthu, a Dalit, had lost his dad Periyasuruli, as an eight-year-old. On seeing Parvathy struggling to run the family, Sonaikalai, a caste Hindu of nearby Meikilarpatti convinced her to send her son to the factory promising good returns. “The boy was working for 17 years at the savory unit of one Mahendran, who treated him like a slave,” says Ilayaraja, a social worker with Evidence. While forcing him to work for 20 hours a day, Mahendran at times scalded him by pouring hot oil on his skin and branded him with a hot iron. When Surlimuthu returned home in 2008, his body was full of injuries. “Though we provided medical treatment, he died within a few months,” says A Kathir, executive director of Evidence. A study of 111 bonded labourers in Madurai, Theni, Dindigul and Virudhunagar districts, revealed that most of the children were Dalits. In northern Tamil Nadu, particularly in Villupuram, Cuddalore, Kancheepuram, Tiruvallur and Tiruvannamalai districts, tribal children were forced to work in brick kilns as bonded labourers, the study showed. “It is distressing that the relief and rehabilitation promised in the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976 doesn’t reach the rescued children,” says former south-zone convener, Campaign Against Child Labour, B S Vanarajan. “If the rescued boy/girl is a Dalit, he/she is eligible for addition relief amount of `60,000 under the SC/ST prevention of atrocities Act, 1989 (section 3 (1) (6), but the government is not taking steps to provide relief invoking this Act,” he says. (New Indian Express 17/6/13)
19. Displaced tribals want land back, demand compensation (6)
RAMGARH: Demanding the return of surplus land acquired for coal mining and adequate compensation for displacement from Coal India Limited (CIL), thousands of men and women under the aegis of the Raiyat Visthapit Morcha on Monday paralyzed mining activity as well as dispatch of coal by road and rail in four areas of Central Coalfields Limited (CCL) in Ramgarh. This led to the company incurring huge financial losses. Armed with traditional weapons, the agitators blocked almost all roads leading to the coal mines and other company sites in Barka-Sayal, Argada, Rajrappa and Kuju areas of CCL. The blockade continued till late in the day paralyzing coal production in all major collieries of CCL in the district. Transportation of coal to various industrial destinations by road and rail was also hit. No truck or dumper carrying coal to coal washeries and industries including Tenughat Thermal Power Station (TTPS) of Jharkhand Vidyut Nigam Limited could transport coal. Fagu Besara, president of Raiyat Visthapit Morcha said, “We have already given several reminders to CIL and it’s subsidiary CCL about our demands but all in vain. This forced the displaced people to stop mining and dispatch of coal for an indefinite period. The coal companies are themselves responsible for financial losses thus created. The demands include return of surplus land to the tribes and other local villagers and proper displacement.” He added that huge tracts of land owned by villagers were acquired by the Centre for mining in the 70′s, which are still lying unused. The displaced were not given either employment or compensation in lieu of the land acquired. Besara said, “Villagers want their land back so that they can grow crops for their families as they have no means of income generation now. Their agitation will continue till their demands are accepted in writing by CIL and CCL.” Sumit Ghosh, chief general manger, Barka-Sayal area, the biggest area of CCL in Ramgarh district said, “Coal production and dispatch of coal to various industries including coal washeries has been paralyzed following agitation called by Raiyat Visthapith Morcha as hundreds of villagers have blocked the roads connecting coal mines.” (Times of India 18/6/13)
20. Letters from Attappadi tribals: HC initiates suo motu action (6)
KOCHI: Kerala High Court on Monday initiated suo motu proceedings based on a batch of letters sent by tribal women on various issues, including infant deaths in the Attappadi region. A division bench comprising Chief Justice Manjula Chellur and Justice K Vinod Chandran took up the case after considering the letters sent by women from the Attappadi region. The court opined that the conditions in Attappadi are pathetic and observed that large-scale land fraud is also marring the tribal area. The letters pointed out that the distillation and availability of illicit ‘arrack’ is a major problem faced by the tribals. Despite the action taken by the authorities, the distillation of illicit arrack has been continuing unabated. This is being done with the active support of outsiders, who are using the tribal people for the purpose. It also pointed out the unnatural deaths of tribal people and atrocities against tribal women of the region. According to them, the plots stated to have been allotted to the tribals were unfit for cultivation. Besides, smaller plots of land over which the title deeds were given to tribal people are now being grabbed by the outsiders. If a Judicial Magistrate court is set up in the area, the tribal people could derive immense benefits from it, the letters said. (New Indian Express 18/6/13)
WOMEN
21. Naval officers approach HC to quash proceedings (8)
Kochi: At least three Naval officers today approached the Kerala High Court seeking to quash proceedings against them in the complaint filed by the estranged wife of a naval officer who levelled charges of sexual harassment against her husband and his superior officers. In the petition, the officers also sought records leading up to the police FIR and to quash it and further proceedings against them. The complainant has refused to come before the Board of Inquiry despite Magistrate’s notice, it was pointed out. The petitioners also pointed that there were inconsistencies in the locations and time of various incidents which she had mentioned. Filing of complaint by the woman against senior officers who are innocent is utterly malafide and intended to bring a bad name to the entire navy, it was submitted. The High Court had criticised police last week for ‘protecting’ the higher officials in the Navy in the case while dismissing the anticipatory bail application filed by Lt Ravi Kiran, whose wife had filed the complaint. Justice Kemal Pasha observed that it was a ‘serious matter’ to be dealt with severely by police and a thorough investigation has to be carried out. Navy had already started an internal probe based on the complaint she submitted to the Navy Chief recently. On a complaint from the woman that she had allegedly been tortured for dowry and senior colleagues of her husband had tried to molest her, police here had registered a case against 10 people, including her husband, under IPC section 498. The charges of torture related to dowry issues were against her husband and his close relatives. The Navy had denied her charges and said the complaint was the result of “a marital discord” and the allegations raised by the woman against “superior officers” were “unfair.” (Deccan Herald 14/6/13)
22. Legal group launches website for women’s rights (8)
The legal resource group recently re-launched its website to advance “social justice and women’s rights through law.” The resource packed website keeps the web visitors in the loop of general developments on women’s rights, PLD’s activities and shares information on programmes, workshops and trainings on women and the law. Moreover, the website houses a repository of Feminist Law Archives, to make accessible a collection of memorandums, reports and petitions that reflect women’s movements’ engagements with the law. Recognising the rich contribution by the women’s movements and its impact on legal developments, this section aims to make accessible advocacy materials and reports that are either unpublished or not easily accessible. “Over the last two years of activism on criminal law amendment bill, many of us felt the need to refer to older memorandums and bills, petitions and critiques which were sometimes hard to retrieve. Realising that the past must inform the present and future contestations, we began to collect material. Download for instance, the soft version of Towards Equality (1974) on a click of the mouse!” states the release. PLD is also a part of national level campaigns protesting against all forms of discrimination against minorities and marginalized groups as well as advocacy for law reform. They have been a part of voices against section 377, working group on human rights, resisting communal violence and sexual violence. “This is a start – we’re looking to build this repository and need you to share your collection,” states the website, inviting others to send similar materials for uploading to make collective struggles with the law widely available. (The Hindu 17/6/13)
23. Delhi women too scared of city to step out and work (8)
New Delhi: The latest findings of Census 2011, a decadal count of people and their quality of life, have thrown up some paradoxical trends on Delhi. The report, released last week, showed that Delhi’s sex ratio has improved from 821 women per 1,000 men in 2001 to 868 in 2011. It is the best we have had since 1901. Women are more literate —from 74.7% in 2001 to 80.8 % in 2011. They are also having fewer children. The total fertility rate — the average number of children born to a woman over her lifetime — has declined from 2.2 in 1999 to 1.8 in 2011. But all this does not add up when it comes to women’s participation in the city’s workforce. Only one in 10 women in Delhi is employed. The city has 78 lakh women but only 10.58% of them go out to work. This is way below the national average of 25.5%. Even Jharkhand (29.1%) and Bihar (19.1%)—perceived as backward in comparison —have higher figures to show. So why would Delhi’s women, who now have a better literacy record and fewer children, not chose to work? There could be something in the way we perceive women employment in our society. Her contribution to the family income is often undervalued and undercounted. For instance, a street vendor who works at her husband’s food stall is often seen as a helping hand and not a worker who gets paid for her labour. In many families, even economically affluent ones, a woman going out to work is considered an admission that the male members are not earning enough. These are true for most Indian societies. The most common refrain we hear from young women (and their families) in Delhi is that they don’t go out to work because the city is too unsafe to negotiate on their own. The experience of many thousands who do venture out does little to change that perception. A 2010 survey by Jagori as part of United Nations Safe Cities Initiative found roads (50%) and public transport (39%) the most unsafe public spaces for women in Delhi. “A common strategy against harassment (in Delhi) was to simply keep girls and women at home,” Michelle Bachelet, the executive director of UN Women and former president of Chile, said quoting the report. Harassment and violence in public places has remained a neglected issue despite the furore over security of women in Delhi following the gang rape of a physiotherapy student last December. Following protests, the government was forced to announce safety measures. But on the ground, Delhi still remains a hostile terrain. Cops have put up barriers on prime roads, but long, dark stretches still remain unpatrolled. There may be more night buses, but their frequency is still irregular. The government insists that employers must offer women who work after 8 pm a drop-home facility but only a handful of organisations oblige. The majority of Delhi’s working women, employed in malls, restaurants, beauty parlours, small establishments and our homes, do not even know that such a rule exists. In the absence of any support system, they risk their security every day, waiting for buses that never arrive on time or sharing a ride in an eight-seater Grameen Seva with drunkards and ruffians, or just walking home in dark alleys since the administration never bothered to install a streetlight in their working class neighbourhood. It is not surprising that many choose to drop out from the employment map. By not addressing the woman’s security concern, our policymakers are restricting her rights to movement, education and work. No amount of infrastructure will ever make Delhi a world-class city as long as nearly half its population remains too scared to step out. (Hindustan Times 17/6/13)
24. Top cop offers office premises to train women in self defence (8)
New Delhi: In a step towards ensuring safety of women in the city, the police have partnered with WESS (Women Empowerment Safety Security-Foundation) Foundation, an all-women NGO, to initiate crash courses in self defence training. The NGO works towards imparting training and spreading awareness on self-defence techniques for the women. The training classes are likely to take off from this weekend and the Gurgaon police have agreed to offer a place at the Assistant Commissioner of Police (HQ) office at the Police Lines in Gurgaon. Commissioner of police Alok Mittal held a meeting with members of WESS and organised a self defence workshop at the commissioner’s office recently. Top women cops of the city attended the workshop. The CP offered to initiate regular workshops and crash courses on the office premises to prevent crime against women in the city. Hindustan Times has vowed to support the initiative. WESS is an association formed by 14 independent and successful women, who have achieved substantial success in their professional lives. The group has organised several workshops in the past and trained over 10,000 women in various martial arts. Their vision is to build a safe society where there is respect for all. (Hindustan Times 18/6/13)
ENVIRONMENT/ CLIMATE CHANGE
25. Rapacious encroachment of green cover (9)
The rapacious encroachment of green cover, at 333 acres a day, to non-forest activity shows the country is sitting on an ecological time bomb. That the figures have come from the ministry of environment and forests brings to rest claims that the depletion figures are exaggerated. It also shows the laws framed to protect our green reserves lack teeth. The alarming deforestation rate should act as a wakeup call to all concerned. Forests are carbon warehouses that offset greenhouse emissions. Their depletion impacts the climate, biodiversity and water resources , among others. Development at the cost of environment only leads to greater pitfalls. (Times of India 11/6/13)
26. Excessive mining leads to declining coral reefs in Lakshadweep (9)
CHENNAI: A drastic decline in the live coral cover in Lakshadweep has been reported, causing serious concern among researchers and naturalists. K. Venkataraman, Director, Zoological Survey of India (ZSI), told The Hindu that the development came to light recently during a study. In the summer of 2010, bleaching took place in coral reefs areas in the country. But, those in the Kavaratti islands in Lakshadweep were badly affected by bleaching. This could be due to increased heat conditions, which was an indication of climate change, he said. Till 2010, the live coral reef cover in the island was recorded at 27 per cent, which dropped to 11 per cent in the subsequent year because of the May 2010 bleaching. Similarly, the dead coral rock population was estimated to be 21 per cent before the bleaching, which rose to 67 per cent after the incident, he said. Dr. Venkataraman said: “Declining coral reef will result in fishermen’s catch going down drastically. In India, 5 million tonnes of fish catch was reported annually, of which 3.75 tonnes were from marine ecosystems. About a quarter of the total population lives along the coast and is dependent on the marine wealth, which provides the required protein for them.” R. Rajkumar, Scientist, ZSI, said bleaching in coral reef areas across the world has become a common phenomenon after 1998. However, this time in Kavaratti island in Lakshadweep, an unprecedented bleaching took place, which led to the negative growth of coral colonies there. Apart from climate change, overexploitation and mindless mining of coral reef colonies led to degrading of coral reef. This will directly affect the fishes and other organisms found in there. Increased bleaching will further deteriorate the coral reef colonies, he said. When asked about the mitigation and ameliorative measures by the local authorities in Lakshadweep, ZSI sources said so far no full-fledged restoration measures were taken. Another ZSI official pointed out that the local administration may not have the capacity to take up the ameliorative measures to restore the ecosystem in Kavaratti. (The Hindu 14/6/13)
27. Environment ministry wants to outsource clearance job (9)
NEW DELHI: The environment ministry has proposed to partially outsource monitoring of clearances — given for millions of hectares of forests for industrial and other development activities — to private entities. It has also pushed for self-reporting by the industries of their compliance, or lack of it, with the norms stipulated while handing over forest land to projects. The controversial move comes against the backdrop of massive tracts of forests being cleared during the UPA rule, while the monitoring ability of the ministry and its regional offices has remained stymied. The proposal is somewhat similar to what was once proposed by the ministry for green clearances during the erstwhile minister Jairam Ramesh’s tenure, but later put on the backburner. The ministry has proposed that project developers shall put out annual self-monitoring reports. The projects shall also be monitored by state forest officials at fixed frequencies. For example, a mining project would be checked only once a year, a hydel project checked once only during its construction phase, and then onwards once in two years. The Centre will monitor the status of compliance to conditions stated in approvals through its regional offices as well as a panel of accredited institutions/individual experts’ remote-sensing satellite based on real-time mechanism. But with the regional offices suffering from a severe staff crunch, it implies that the burden could be largely shifted to private entities. The ministry has not made it clear who shall pay these private contractors to review the project developers’ activities. It has been proposed that they would be engaged to conduct checks based on random samples drawn by the ministry. Since the Forest Conservation Act, 1980, was passed forests have been given over to industry at the rate of 35,554 hectares every year, but since 2004 the ministry has given an unprecedented number of clearances adding up to about 6 lakh hectares — more than 65,000 hectares annually on an average. (Times of India 15/6/13)
28. Global warming sees Bangladesh river destroying villages (9)
DHAKA: It is time for Mohammed Qader of Bahuka village in Sirajganj district to move again. For the seventh time in the last 20 years that he has been residing in Bahuka, Qader will be forced to rebuild his life from scratch as the mighty Jamuna river continues to erode its banks and destroy everything in its wake – all thanks to global warming. According to inhabitants of Bahuka, 110 km northwest of Bangladesh capital Dhaka, the Jamuna has swallowed 10 embankments – artificial banks built above the level of the original banks to hold back excess water – and with it all buildings built on the banks, since 1968. “This has been going on for years. The Jamuna breaches the banks throughout the year and this has accelerated in recent times,” the 56-year-old Qader told a visiting IANS correspondent. Mashfiqus Salehin, professor at the Institute of Water and Flood Management in the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, Dhaka, said the constant shifting of Bahuka’s residents is not uncommon since erosion is a “very big” issue in the region. “Because of the flood and erosion problems, they have to shift to a higher elevation. For an adult to shift 6 to 10 times in his lifetime is not very unusual,” Salehin said. The Jamuna, one of the main rivers of Bangladesh, has numerous criss-crossing channels. It is the main distributory of the Brahmaputra as it flows down from India to Bangladesh. Flowing south, it joins the Padma river and then merges into the Bay of Bengal as the Meghna. Experts attribute the worsening erosion to the widening of the river – a phenomenon which could be a result of global warming. “If you stand here for a while you will see more and more chunks of earth falling into the river…this was not so frequent… the bigger the Jamuna gets, the more it erodes. Our school was at Chandnogor village.. now that has disappeared and the current building is at east Bahuka. Soon that will perish too,” Abdus Salam, headmaster of the primary school, told IANS. “It had an average width of 8.2 km in 1975 and in 2000, that was close to 11.7 km. The Jamuna has been widening and the same thing has been happening in the upper Brahmaputra valley,” Salehin noted. Atiq Rahman, executive director of the Bangladesh Center for Advanced Studies (BCAS), said it was possible global warming may be playing a role in the havoc the river is causing. “There is no doubt that temperature has increased in South Asia. Somewhere it has increased by 0.8 degrees or 0.7 degrees. Due to this, an ecosystem shift has been observed too. The increase in temperature has led to glacial melting ..it may have increased the river’s volume..all these factors have contributed to the erosion caused by the river,” Rahman said. According to Sabber Ahmed of the BCAS, who works on tectonic evolution of the Jamuna since the river downstream in Bangladesh is comparatively flatter than that in upstream India, the slope lowers the velocity and results in sedimentation. (Times of India 16/6/13)
EDUCATION/ RIGHT TO EDUCATION
29. Major gains for SCs, STs in education sector: Govt (11)
NEW DELHI: The government on Wednesday said there has been major gains in the education sector for scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and people with disabilities since the implementation of Right to Education Act. There has been a significant drop in the number of out-of-school SC children from 8.2 per cent in 2005 to 5.9 per cent in 2009. Similarly there has been a reduction in the percentage of out-of-school ST children from 9.5 per cent in 2005 to 5.2 per cent in 2009, HRD minister MM Pallam Raju said. Addressing the national monitoring committee for education of SCs, STs and persons with disabilities, he said his ministry has earmarked over Rs 12,000 crore under SC sub plan and over Rs 6,000 crore under tribal sub plan for 2013-14. Over 93 per cent of the identified children with special needs have been covered through various strategies under RTE, he said. (Times of India 12/6/13)
30. HC seeks report on steps taken to bring back dropouts (11)
Bangalore: The High Court on Wednesday directed the State government to submit a report in one week, in compliance with the court’s earlier orders, on the steps it has taken to bring back the children who have dropped out of schools. Taking suo motu cognisance of the issue, based on a news item published in a daily, a Division Bench comprising Chief Justice D H Waghela and Justice B V Nagarathna directed the government to submit a list of incentive schemes available for dropout children and their parents. The news report stated that 54,000 students are still out of school despite government implementing the RTE Act. During the hearing, the bench observed that government should first ensure attendance of the children who had dropped out of school and then focus on the school infrastructure such as buildings, drinking water and separate toilets for girls and boys and, finally ensure quality education to children. The bench also observed that children who have finished Anganwadi term should be able to get admissions immediately into the nearby school and the government should ensure that the parents are not forcing them into child labour. The government counsel submitted that the there is no dearth of funds to implement the RTE Act and to bring back these children to schools. He said that a meeting of representatives of the Education Department, private institutions, parents and NGOs should be held to find a solution on how to bring such children back to schools. When the government’s counsel sought a week’s time to submit a report, the bench agreed and adjourned the case to June 20. Accepting an activist’s request to implead in the case, the bench appointed advocate Clifton D’Rozario as the amicus curiae. The High Court on Wednesday quashed the government order reinstating Dr S C Sharma as the principal of R V Engineering College, Bangalore. Justice Hulavadi G Ramesh, ordered quashing of government order of June 26, 2009 which had directed Rashtreeya Shikshana Samithi Trust to reinstate Dr Sharma as the principal of the said college. Challenging the order, the Trust had approached the High Court. Dr Sharma said that the Trust had promised him that he would be reinstate as the college principal after his term as Tumkur University vice-chancellor ends, but it had failed to keep the promise. The Trust’s counsel argued that the members of the Trust and the administration council members had decided not to reinstate Dr Sharma as the principal. The Bench directed that Dr Sharma cannot be re-appointed as the principal, but he could be taken as a professor in the college. (Deccan Herald 12/6/13)
31. Schoolchildren insist on right to education for child labourers (11)
TIRUCHI: It is not just the need to make ends meet but multiple factors like alcoholic or ailing fathers, single and struggling mothers, and siblings who need to be taken care of, that keep some children outside the school gates. Many such erstwhile child labourers joined students from various city schools in insisting the right to education for all children, through an awareness march on Wednesday. Observing Anti-child Labour Day on June 12, around 800 students from various schools lent their voice in favour of their peers outside school, labouring at homes, factories and petty shops. The awareness march was flagged off at Khadi Kraft near Tiruchi Junction by Collector Jayashree Muralidharan and Deputy Mayor Ashik Meera who walked with the children till the collectorate. Government officials joined in the pledge taken there, to eradicate child labour in all forms, respect and recognise child rights and affirm that no child below 14 would be sent to work. Child labourers and dropouts rescued by CHEERS that runs the National Child Labour Elimination Project (NCLEP), are enrolled in special schools for a particular period till they are admitted in regular schools under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan programme. Nineteen students who passed out of these special schools were given Rs. 6,000 each to continue their education. Three students were given medical assistance. High-scorers in class 10 and plus two exams were feted. Chief educational officer Selvakumar and Jayakumar, chief educational officer, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan; and Pearline, project director, CHEERS, participated. Students from St. John’s Vestry, Seva Sangam, St. Anne’s, St. Philomena, Government Adidravidar School and R.C. Higher Secondary School participated in the rally. (The Hindu 13/6/13)
32. Private schools scout for right to education recruits (11)
MADURAI: The intensive efforts of the Madurai district administration to enforce the Right To Education (RTE Act) has forced the management of private schools, especially medium-sized private matriculation schools, to look around for students. A few schools have already started door-to-door campaign in their locality searching for students for the entry-level classes. However, it is not easy to spot the right candidates, meeting the parameters of the RTE Act. Efforts of several schools in Madurai are yet to pay off. “It is a good thing that district administration is enforcing the Act. But schools like us do not find parents seeking admission under the Act. We have even sent our teachers to conduct door-to-door campaign. They could manage to bring only four students. Although, we are ready to provide admission to the students we do not find the right students,” said Sidharth Jaganathan, correspondent of Sidhu Matriculation School, Madurai. “We are caught in between the enforcement from the authorities and poor number of students seeking admission under the Act. We have sent our teachers in search of students by explaining the features of act. But we could not find the required number of students,” said correspondent of another school requesting anonymity. Although awareness among the parents on RTE Act, is high they are not willing to admit their children in private matriculation schools. They fear that their children may develop inferiority complex while studying with students from better-off families. Although, the school fees would be paid by the government, the parents have no clarity on the other fees including transport, stationery and uniforms. This may discourage the parents from approaching the private schools,” said C Abilash, secretary, private school association, Madurai. Ironically, corporation schools in Madurai are at an advantage. The infrastructure facility in civic schools is better than what some small private schools offer. Moreover, the government provides uniform, textbook, stationery, school bag, lunch, cycle and laptop for free for students attending civic schools. Parents, who are attracted towards such freebies, hesitate to admit their children in private matriculation schools, the private school correspondents say. (Times of India 19/6/13)
POVERTY/ HUNGER
33. Govt defers promulgation of ordinance on Food Security Bill (21)
NEW DELHI: The government plans to convene a special session of Parliament for passage of the Food Security Bill as a divided Cabinet on Thursday shunned the idea of promulgating an ordinance to implement the watershed legislation. A meeting of the Cabinet could not arrive at a decision on bringing an ordinance to implement the UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi’s pet programme and instead decided to court opposition parties for passage of the bill in a special Parliament session. Home minister and leader of the Lok Sabha Sushil Kumar Shinde, parliamentary affairs minister Kamal Nath and food minister K V Thomas will meet opposition leaders to elicit their support for passage of the key legislation, finance minister P Chidambaram said after the Cabinet meeting. “The Food Security Bill is ready. We would like to pass it as a bill but ordinance version of bill is also ready. We decided today that we would like to make one more effort to ask the opposition parties whether they will cooperate in passing the bill in a special session of Parliament,” he said. Thomas said the ordinance route has not been completely shelved and remains an option available to the government. The Food Security Bill was tabled in the Budget session of Parliament but could not be taken up for discussion due to pandemonium in the Lok Sabha over various scams. The bill aims to give legal rights to 67 per cent of the population over a uniform quantity of 5 kg foodgrains at a fixed price of Rs 1-3 per kg through ration shops. (Times of India 13/6/13)
34. Yavatmal tribals starving for 4 months without supplies (21)
While Hivra, Katli, Borgaon, Botuni, Mahadpur, Bhimnaala villages have been forced to buy food from outside or go hungry for the past four months, the same problem afflicts Shiba, Rajani, Pardi, Rampur, Kundi, Ambezhari and Pachpor villages since the last two months. Following the stalemate over the food security bill, at a time when the Centre is shouting from roof tops about its food security concerns for the poor, it has emerged that in the Naxal-affected tribal interiors of Zari tehsil in Yavatmal district, none of the villages have been getting any supplies at the PDS ration shops. This has led to widespread starvation and fears that this could lead to hunger deaths among the Kolam adivasis in a cruel repeat of 2002 when 42 tribals had died of starvation. While Hivra, Katli, Borgaon, Botuni, Mahadpur, Bhimnaala villages have been forced to buy food from outside or go hungry for the past four months, the same problem afflicts Shiba, Rajani, Pardi, Rampur, Kundi, Ambezhari and Pachpor villages since the last two months. “We do not get any work till the last week of June when the rains begin here. Since I cannot afford the expensive foodgrain in the open market rates, I have been digging out wild tubers to feed my family,” said Janga Meshram, 39, a resident of Hivra village, one of the worst-hit told dna. Given that his father was among the 42 who died in 2002 he should know the fear of going hungry. Activists working for food security in the region are baffled that this is being done by a government, which used targeted public distribution system for all poor, as a major plank in its 2009 campaign to come into power. Many like Kishor Tiwari of the Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti (VJAS) point out, “The Yavatmal collectorate had assured the Nagpur bench of the Bombay HC in an affidavit that it would assume responsibility for food security of the Kolam tribals in 2002 when the court had pulled it up following the starvation deaths. But clearly that assurance has remained only on paper.” In fact in a violation of Supreme Court (SC 2001 order (in a PIL by People’s Union for Civil Liberties) asking states to update BPL lists in keeping with local civic bodies’ lists, the government submitted an affidavit to the Nagpur bench of Bombay High Court following 42 deaths among Kolam tribals in Yavatmal. On one hand the local collector told the court that the state strictly follows the SC 2001 order and updates BPL lists annually. On the other, he admitted that on the ground a 2002 BPL survey is considered for selecting families for food security under the PDS. Tiwari wonders how the governments at the state and Centre can call themselves pro-poor. “First Maharashtra continues to use a 2002 list denying lakhs of below poverty line (BPL) people who barely earn enough for one meal a day access to food, despite the fact that local bodies have sent lists for 2012 to the state and now even those entitled under the older lists have been going without supplies for over four months.” He adds, “If this is the government’s approach in the heart of farmer suicide belt where starvation deaths have already occurred and Naxals already wield clout, one shudders to think of conditions elsewhere.”…. (DNA 14/6/13)
35. 38 countries beat UN targets to reduce hunger (21)
ROME: Thirty eight countries have beaten a UN-imposed deadline of 2015 to cut in half the proportion of hungry people. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization on Saturday recognized the 38 countries and urged those still working to meet the UN target to redouble efforts. The UN General Assembly in 2000 established a set of ” Millennium Development Goals” for countries. The No. 1 target was to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger, including halving the proportion of hungry people by 2015. The 38 countries include: Algeria, Angola, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Benin, Brazil, Cambodia, Cameroon, Chile, Cuba, Djibouti, Dominican Republic, Fiji, Georgia, Ghana, Guyana, Honduras, Indonesia, Jordan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Malawi, Maldives, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Panama, Peru, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Sao Tome and Principe, Thailand, Togo, Turkmenistan, Uruguay, Venezuela and Vietnam. (Times Of India 16/6/13)
36. Government urged to universalise PDS (21)
BANGALORE: Even as the State government is gearing up to launch the subsidised rice scheme for families living below the poverty line on July 1, activists from the Akhila Bharata Janawadi Mahila Sanghatane (ABJMS) and the Bharatha Prajasathatmaka Yuvajana Federation (BPYF) staged a protest here on Monday urging the government to universalise the public distribution system (PDS). The protesters demanded that the government provide rice to both below the poverty line (BPL) and above the poverty line (APL) cardholders at subsidised rates. Stating that a large number of families were living on the edge of the poverty line, Gowramma M., president of the ABJMS, said, “About 50 per cent of the 34 lakh APL cardholders are extremely poor. With the government withholding their fair price provisions, they cannot afford to spend Rs. 50 everyday on rice.” She added that several of them were suffering from anaemia as they were unable to afford essential food commodities due to rise in prices. Explaining her plight, one of the protesters Nandishwari M., a homemaker who was raising slogans seeking subsidise prices for APL card holders, said, “My family consists of five people. For one day, we spend close to Rs. 50 on just rice. The State government must look into our problems.” The State Cabinet recently approved that a scheme under which a one-member family will be eligible for 10 kg of rice, two members for 20 kg and families with more than two members not more than 30 kg. Minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs T.B. Jayachandra had said that the shortfall of one lakh tonnes of rice would be made by making purchases from the open market, particularly the government-run corporations in Oidhsa and Chhattisgarh. (The Hindu 19/6/13)
HINDUTVA
37. Hindutva politics: VHP to initiate padyatra for Ram Mandir (26)
Haridwar: The VHP will undertake a 19-day march from August 25 in Uttar Pradesh to pressure the UPA govt into passing a bill in Parliament for the construction of a Ram mandir in Ayodhya. The padyatra will begin from UP’s Basti district on August 25 and conclude in Ayodhya on September 13, VHP sources said here. If the Centre fails to enact a law paving the way for the construction of a Ram temple in Ayodhya, the organisation will hold a Mahakumbh (huge congregation) of sadhus and seers in Ayodhya on October 18 to take a final call on the resolution of the vexed issue, top VHP sources here said. A resolution to this effect was adopted by the core committee of the VHP known as Kendriya Margdarshak Mandal at its two-day conference here yesterday which was presided by its chief Ashok Singhal. They said the decision was an attempt by the organisationto revive the Ram Mandir issue ahead of 2014 general elections. The conference was attended by over 200 VHP office bearers from across the Swami Chinmayanand and Swami Ram Vilas Vedanti. (Indian Express 13/6/13)
38. Amit Shah to peg BJP campaign on Hindutva (26)
LUCKNOW: With Gujarat chief minister NarendraModi’s close aide and BJP general secretary Amit Shah taking charge of the party’s affairs in Uttar Pradesh, Hindutva seems all set to be the BJP’s main plank in the 2014 LokSabha elections. “The construction of a Ram temple in Ayodhya was never out of the BJP’s agenda,” Shah told reporters. Asked about the VHP resolution in Hardwar demanding a law for the construction of a temple in Ayodhya, Shah said since the resolution was passed only on Wednesday, the BJP leadership would go through it before taking a decision. Shah said the BJP would also raise the issue of cow slaughter and other issues close to Hindu religion and assured that no person with criminal background would be given BJP ticket in the Lok Sabha elections. On the Sohrabuddin fake encounter case against him, Shah said it was politically motivated. “I would like to tell you all that I was granted bail by Supreme Court Justice Aftab Alam in this case,” he said. On communal overtone to his promotion as UP in-charge, Shah said, “My appointment shouldn’t be seen as communal. However, what the Samajwadi Party government is doing, trying to withdraw cases against suspected terrorists, is communal.” Shah’s entry is said to give weight to polarisation politics coming into play in the near future, said political experts. Taking further potshots at Akhilesh-led SP government in the state, Shah said that votebank politics had taken over the interest of the common man and the SP government was only into appeasing Muslims. “Law and order in the state is not a secret,” Shah said. “The Congress-led UPA government has lost the moral right to stay in power,” Shah said. “Price rise has affected the common man and corruption has cost the people Rs 12 lakh crore,” he added, pointing out that the amount was sufficient to run UP for six years. On the likely formation of third front, Shah said in the present democratic set up, a bipolar system is the order of the day. There’s no question of any third front working out, he said. (Times of India 14/6/13)
39. Modi likely to visit Ayodhya, claims UP VHP leader (26)
Ayodya: In a move having big political significance, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi is likely to visit Ayodhya this week and will offer prayer at the disputed site. Sangh leaders Ashok Singhal, Praveen Togadia, Gorakhpur MP Yogi Adityanath and yoga guru Ramdev will reach the town on Tuesday to welcome Modi, said Sharad Sharma, UP spokesperson of the VHP. Sharma said that Modi, who is expected to visit Ayodhya on Wednesday or Friday, will also visit the makeshift Ram temple. “Modi’s message to his partymen and electorate from Ayodhya will be important in the coming elections,” he said. Modi will also meet top VHP saints in Ayodhya, including president of Ram Janam Bhumi Nyas Trust Mahant Nritya Gopal Das. This will be Modi’s first visit to the makeshift temple after demolition of the disputed structure. According to sources, he had visited Ayodhya in 1998 with L K Advani, but did not visit the shrine. “Modi’s move towards Ayodhya is also an indication that the Hindutva forces are seriously considering him as the prime ministerial candidate for general elections,” the VHP leader said. (Indian Express 18/6/13)
40. Narendra Modi, Hindutva can transform India into superpower: RSS chief (26)
Meerut: Backing Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi’s elevation in the BJP, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat today said that Hindutva was the only way to bring about change in the country. In a veiled reference to senior BJP leader L K Advani and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s opposition to Modi, Bhagwat said, “Whether somebody likes it or not, Hindutva is the only way to bring about change in the country. It is where the country’s respect lies.” “We have changed leaders and agendas, nothing has worked. Politics is not the way to make India a superpower, it is only Hindutva that can do it,” the RSS chief said while speaking at a Sangh’s programme here. Accusing the central government of failing on the diplomatic front, Bhagwat said, “the Country’s borders are not safe. China entered into our territory and left on its own conditions, but we could not teach them a lesson.” “Pakistan is moving around scot-free after murdering Sarabjit Singh (Indian prisoner),” he said. Advocating strict action against Naxalites, the RSS chief said “they should be dealt with bullets and not through talks.” PTI CORR SRS RBL 06181339 (Indian Express 18/6/13)
41. VHP trashes media report on Modi’s Ayodhya visit (26)
LUCKNOW: The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) Tuesday refuted a media report that Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to visit the disputed Ram Janma Bhoomi site in Uttar Pradesh’s Ayodhya town later this month. “I have been quoted as commenting on the visit of Narendra Modi. But I am hereby officially refuting any such comment being attributed to me,” Sharad Sharma, regional media in-charge of the VHP in Ayodhya, said in a statement. Saying that a news agency quoted him out of context regarding the Ayodhya visit of Modi, Sharma added that he did not receive such intimation from the head of Bharatiya Janata Party’s poll campaign panel for the 2014 general elections. The 75th birthday of Mahant Nritya Gopal Das, seer and chairman of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas, is being celebrated in the temple town from June 19 to 22. VHP sources said that invites have been sent to many politicians and VIPs across the country. The invitees include the Gujarat chief minister, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan and several central leaders of the BJP. A close aide of Nritya Gopal Das, however, told IANS that Modi has already apologised to the seer for not being able to make it on June 19 for the celebrations. “Modi ji called up Mahant ji two days back and expressed his inability to come to Ayodhya citing preoccupations,” the aide said. Earlier, the news of Modi’s Ayodhya visit sent the media and political establishment in a tizzy with many pointing out that the Janata Dal-United was correct in parting ways with the BJP, as the saffron outfit was trying to reignite the Ayodhya brand of politics. Although officially remaining silent on the issue, the state BJP leaders termed as contradictory the media report quoting Sharma and other people on Modi’s Ayodhya visit. (New Indian Express 19/6/13)