Gandhian saint of Bharawan - Surya Prakash Srivastava ' babaji'

Gandhian saint of Bharawan - Surya Prakash Srivastava ' babaji'

He was merely a youth of 17-18 years, fresh out of college, when he first got a chance to see Mahatma Gandhi. He had heard of Gandhi ji as a brave man fighting the British. He had imagined him to be in the mould of a warrior like Chattrapati Shivaji or Maharana Pratap. But he was awe stuck when he saw a dhoti clad man coming. The nature of Gandhi’s bravery dawned on him and the mesmerisation continues even today after about seven decades. Surya Prakash Srivastava, popularly known as Baba ji in his work area Bharawan, about 60 kms. from Lucknow has lived the message of Gandhiji at the time of independence that educated youth should go and work in rural areas.

Surya Prakash Srivastava was attracted towards the freedom movement and the Congress as a youth. Once in an exhibition being organized in his college he wanted to slip in a portrait of Mahatma Gandhi. He came up with the idea of putting up pictures on the theme of rural economy. He titled it ‘Help your poor country by using Khadi.’ To depict the spinning process he used Gandhi’s picture working on a charkha. However, since any association with the Congress was considered treason and it was a government college, the picture was promptly removed the very day by the college authorities. Upon enquiry his economics teacher expressed helplessness. For the same reason on another occasion Surya Prakash was disappointed that there was a very poor attendance in a lecture delivered by the Noble prize winner Rabindra Nath Tagore in his college. The Principal and all teachers abstained from this lecture.

Surya Prakash also went to jail in 1941 while participating in the freedom movement but decided to become a teacher as he saw the freedom approaching even though he had become a very dedicated worker of the Congress and knew some of its top leaders from UP like Lal Bahadur Shastri, Keshav Dev Malviya and Krishna Dutt Paliwal personally. He became the Principal of a Higher Secondary School in Lucknow in 1947. This school located in Lalbag is known as Lucknow Inter College today.

After a stint at this school he decided to go to Bharawan upon invitation from people there who were looking for a suitable candidate for the post of Principal to run a High School. At that time there was no High School in a radius of 25 kms. from Bharawan. It was a backward area and criminally infested too. He faced a number of difficulties in acclimatizing himself to a rural area.

The educational institutions established by Surya Prakash include Vidya Mandir Intermediate College , Janata Intermediate College , Raja Dev Singh Junior High School , and Rani Lakshmi Bai Balika Vidya Niketan. His disciple and Principal of Janata College later started a Surya Prakash Girls’ Intermediate College next to his college naming it after Baba ji. Baba ji also helped establish Vishala Devi Intermediate College , Junior High School in Ismailganj, Sitapur, Junior High School in Janigawan and Junior High School in Usraha near Nevada Pipargaon. The manner of his working was he would establish an institution, head it for sometime, transfer the management to a committee after a while when the institution was recognized by the government or started receiving funds and then move on to his next school. It was amazing that he didn’t attach himself with any educational institution permanently. It was because of this quality of his that he was called the ‘Saint of Bharawan’ or Baba ji with affection.

Baba ji was also convinced by local people to contest an election for the head post of a Village Panchayat. He won the election easily but didn’t enjoy his position. Rather he felt suffocated and never contested an election again in his life. He is a very simple person and was not comfortable with the rough and tumble world of politics. It shows that his involvement in freedom struggle was genuine and selfless. He didn’t remain with the Congress to derive any benefits from it after independence. If he had decided to pursue the political path, like many did in the Congress, he could have benefited a lot personally. But he did not even take the credit for all the important work he did in establishing at least half a dozen educational institutions in a backward area.

Baba ji was a religious person in the true sense. The upper caste people appreciated his religiosity but didn’t like his stand against untouchability. In fact, they were shocked when he accepted a glass of water from a dalit for the first time in Bharawan. Similarly, Baba ji took a stand against communalism and always encouraged programmes meant to promote communal harmony between the Hindus and Muslims. He proved by his behaviour that a true believer is always a humanitarian.

Baba ji also believed that dying for one’s country was easier than living for it. He believed that whereas dying was a matter of short term sacrifice, getting involved in social transformation work required life long commitment. It is amazing that he has carried his commitment in a down to earth manner and continues to lead a very simple life. Today he is not physically active. He is spending his last years of life in a small rented house in Lucknow with his only daughter. But he is mentally as active as ever. He can recognize every visitor and can engage in simple conversation in spite of hearing problem.

Surya Prakash Srivastava should be a model for public life if we have to restore respect for public service in India . His life is a message which must be imbibed if we are to remain a humane society. As he spends his last days peacefully, away from any publicity or glamour but free from any kind of disease - mental or physical, we must think about the purpose of life and how it should be lived. When Baba ji leaves this world we’ll be satisfied that he didn’t leave behind any problem or any unresolved disputes. He tried his best to make this world more humane in whatever little capacity that he could. He always tried to give to the world, not take away from it.

Dr Sandeep Pandey

(The author is a Ramon Magsaysay Awardee (2002) for emergent leadership, heads the National Alliance of People's Movements (NAPM) and did his PhD from University of California, Berkeley in control theory which is applicable in missile technology. He taught at Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur before devoting his life to strengthening people's movements in early 1990s. He can be contacted at: ashaashram@yahoo.com, www.ashaparivar.org)

Baby boom by miracle missions

Baby boom by miracle missions
Anjali Singh

Lalitpur UP: The only emotion one feels standing in the neonatal care centre in Lalitpur is of disbelief, as doctors prepare to discharge a newly born baby weighing no less than 750 gms. Barely fitting the size of the doctor's palm, the little girl child is hale and hearty as she is handed over to her mother.

As one happy mother leaves the Special Care Neonatal Unit another waits as doctors fight to save her new born son with no heart beat. The joy on the woman's face as the baby starts breathing again with the monitors registering a tiny heart beat bears witness to the hope this neonatal unit is capable of giving parents of such children.

But then these are the miracles that one can witness at the Special Care Neonatal Unit (SCNU) which has been established and is functioning at District Hospital, Lalitpur in Uttar Pradesh by UNICEF.

A neonatal facility completed and funded by UNICEF in collaboration with Department of Health, Govt. of UP and National Rural Health Mission (NRHM), the SCNU all set to be an much needed answer to prevent rising neonatal complications and deaths at birth .

With technical support for the establishment of the unit provided by the National Neonatology Forum (NNF) the facility is equipped with state of the art lifesaving machines and which helps immediately provide emergency care right after birth if required.

Informs Dr HK Paliwal, District Health Nutrition Techinical Care Co-ordinator,"A 12 bedded facility the SCNU has 2 dedicated pediatricians who has been trained in essential newborn care including management of the feotus at birth and neonatal resuscitation. We also have 12 nurses provided exclusively for this unit, by GoUP and trained on Facility Based Newborn Care for handling and managing the neonates admitted in the unit."
The unit also has separate rooms for sterilization, washing and neonatal procedures and is equipped with essential machines for neonatal stabilization, management and resuscitation.

Explains Dr Raj Narayan, Senior Pediatrician, Distict Women's Hospital Lalitpur, under whose supervision the SCNU functions, "Most of these cases are classified as abortion cases but now they have a chance to survive thanks to the SCNU. Earlier the survival rate was zero but now out of ten cases almost 9 survive, which is an worthwhile effort."

Complicating matters were the poor health of the mother most of whom being underage and malnutrised could not carry the feotus full term. As a result most ended up delivering the child premature, underweight and severely affected by malnutrition. Clocking statistics placing Lalitpur as a district with the highest infant mortality rate.

But not anymore adds Dr Narayan, who was handpicked for the facility along with 12 staff nurses and 2 doctors,"These women also suffer from viral infections which remain undetected and affect the immune system making the mother weaker and unfit to carry a feotus full term. In addition to that most refuse to under go C-sections and insist on normal delivery even when it is dangerous for the child. All these factors had been contributing to the low infant mortality rate here in Lalitpur. But now with the SCNU right next to the labour room such babies can be stablised and helped immediately improving their chance of survival."

But can these children lead a normal life? "Of course," says, Dr Vikas Jain, Paedtrician, at the SCNU who was picked for this facility due to his rich experience in working with neonats in Indore,"If the feotus suffers from birth axsphysia and does not cry at birth being a forced delivery instead of a c-section, some quality of life is affected. But majority of the babies lead a healthy and normal life inspite of low birth weight and complications."

No doubt a successful project, this timely intervention to improve neonatal care and survival is now being looked at as much needed facility in other districts of UP as well.

Says Dr Gaurav Arya, "Based on the positive difference the SCNU at Lalitpur has been able to make UNICEF has been able to advocate for scaling up these facilities in 8 more districts immediately, through NRHM resources. These will then be scaled up all across the state in a phased manner, by the Government of Uttar Pradesh (GoUP). These units will go a long way in reducing the neonatal and infant mortality in the state. "

Anjali Singh

Published in
Two Circles
Citizen News Service (CNS)
The Morung Express, Imphal, Manipur, India
The Seoul Times, Seoul, South Korea
Media for Freedom, Kathmandu, Nepal

Manish gives hope for those in need of healthcare

Manish gives hope for those in need of healthcare

If he was not attending to needy patients in Lucknow today he would most likely have been a washerman in his birth place, Ballia district of eastern Uttar Pradesh.

Hailing from the ‘dhobi’ caste, which is one of the Scheduled Castes, Manish, as a student of Standard IX in Ballia was not very comfortable going to the homes of his classmates to collect clothes for washing or for delivering them after they were washed. The equality he felt in the class with his classmates seemed to no longer stand when he went to their homes as the son of a washerman and washerwoman. He was treated as an inferior. He did not like it. He became acutely aware of the gap between the rich and the poor. He used to ponder why the poor, in spite of putting in more labour than the rich, continued to remain poor while the rich rose up the ladder. He detested the ill treatment that was meted out to his father whenever he was found at some fault, like delay in delivery of clothes. He pledged that he would not continue in the family profession and would do something more honourable. But in spite of four attempts he could not clear the High School examination. There was very little chance of a salaried job because of poor academic performance. He decided to try his hands at business. He would buy electrical parts in bulk and would sell them to earn a living. Slowly he picked up repairing skills too. But he did not continue in this for long.

Inadvertently he landed in Lucknow in 2000. He joined a social organization and became part of their rural centre, Asha Ashram, 60 kms. outside Lucknow in rural Hardoi. Because of his honesty he was asked to look after the accounts of the Ashram. Among other responsibilities he also used to accompany patients for treatment to hospitals in Lucknow sometimes. In 2004 he devoted a complete week to save his colleague and resident of Lalpur village, Lakshmi Narayan who was affected by Pyogenic Meningitis. Lakshmi Narayan was in a state of unconsciousness for almost a week, first in Shifa Hospital on the outskirts of Lucknow and then brought to Medical College in Lucknow on Manish’s advice, before he recovered. Even his family had given up hopes. If it was not for Manish, Lakshmi Narayan would not have been saved. It was this incident which made everybody around him realize the great hidden potential in Manish. Otherwise, he was labeled as a misfit in the social organization as he could not get along with most of the people associated with the organization. His idiosyncrasies and extremely frugal nature made it difficult for him to work with the rest of the team. But on his own he proved to be a man of worth when it came to providing medical care.

Thus Manish became a health volunteer with Asha Parivar. He stationed himself in Lucknow as the most serious cases used to come here from the nearby rural areas. He decided to concentrate on the Chatrapati Sahuji Maharaj Medical Univeristy (CSMMU), previously known as King George’s Medical College (KGMC) , and started attending to poor patients. He found that a number of people in rural areas would try all sorts of traditional methods, some of which were not scientific. This used to bother him. He felt that with a little bit of knowledge the patients could be cured better and faster. Hence he decided to play to role of a facilitator. He now helps poor patients access the benefits free of cost or at reasonable cost from the various government hospitals. He finds it quite disturbing that private pathological laboratories take more time than they should for providing reports to the patients and at an exaggerated cost. There are touts even in government hospitals who trap innocent patients, especially the poor coming from rural areas, and make them the victims of private medical care, which has become a roving business in the country. Manish is quite pained that health care is no longer treated as a service and there are hardly 5% doctors and staff in the hospitals who are sensitive to the patients.

Among his other achievements he helped a homeless man Lachchu, who was picked by a team under the leadership of humanitarian police officer Shailaja Kant Mishra, obtain treatment at the Psychiatric Department of CSMMU and then stay at the Asha Ashram for several months. Lachchu was not in a position to describe much about himself as he was speaking a different language which people thought resembled Oriya. With the help of then DIG Satya Narayan Sabat, who hailed from Orissa, it was ascertained that Lachchu was from a village in Jharkhand. His family was traced and asked to come and take him back. Manish is happy that Lachchu was reunited with his family. In another case Manish helped a homeless starving on street admitted to CSMMU and provided him food. This man walked out of the hospital unnoticed after three days. Manish helped a rickshaw puller receive treatment as his sons were not in a position to provide him the treatment. An operation for removing stone from the liver had to be performed. Manish covered the cost of his treatment until he recovered. In a similar manner now he has helped hundreds of patients receive treatment from various hospitals in Lucknow . He also visits Balrampur hospital, Shyama Prasad Mukerjee Civil hospital and Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences whenever his work takes him there.

Manish today enjoys such a reputation among the doctors, residents and students of CSMMU that a number of them also provide financial assistance to him for treatment of underprivileged patients. Recently, a group has been formally formed within CSMMU by the name of ‘Georgian’s Hope,’ which among other things will work with Manish to provide support for his work in a more organized fashion. Manish’s work definitely inspires hope and confidence.

He cleared his High School examination in the fifth attempt from Kanpur . He intends to complete his Intermediate too. But the dream of this 27 year old rustic youth is to build a hospital of his own for the poor where honest health care will be provided at affordable cost or for free. Considering his performance at the CSMMU over the last four years this may not be described as too ambitious for him.

Dr Sandeep Pandey

(The author is a Ramon Magsaysay Awardee (2002) for emergent leadership, heads the National Alliance of People's Movements (NAPM) and did his PhD from University of California, Berkeley in control theory which is applicable in missile technology. He taught at Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur before devoting his life to strengthening people's movements in early 1990s. He can be contacted at: ashaashram@yahoo.com, www.ashaparivar.org)

Published in
Op-Ed News (OEN), USA
The Seoul Times, Seoul, South Korea
Pakistan Christian Post, Karachi, Pakistan
Media for Freedom, Kathmandu, Nepal

High Court stays workers' right of unemployment allowance

High Court stays workers' right of unemployment allowance

The affirmative and bold step taken by the Department of Rural Development in Uttar Pradesh to pay unemployment allowance to laborers of district Sitapur under the NREGA Act was challenged by the BDOs in the Lucknow bench of Allahabad High Court.

The Hon High Court has reaffirmed and upheld the jurisdiction and authority of the Commissioner Rural Development and has directed the Commissioner to give a hearing to the petitioners and ensure that payment is made to deserving persons only.

The Dept of Rural Development had indeed taken a very commendable step by upholding the Constitutional right of workers for unemployment allowance which is a right guaranteed to them if they do not get employment within the stipulated time period. (Schedule III Para 7 of the Act)

The amount has to be paid from the state treasury and not from the wages made available by central funds.

Incidentally, under the NREGA no laborer is prevented from working elsewhere. The state is bound to provide 100 days of labour failing which it has to give unemployment allowance if demanded.

The committee which was constituted at the district level to look into the whole issue of unemployment allowance in Sitapur was chaired by an SDM rank officer along with two more government officers along with representatives of the organization which raised the issue. The beneficiaries were part of the committee as NREGA itself gives power of social audit to the workers whose participation is in keeping with the basic spirit of the act.

I would like to underline that NREGA completes three years on February 2. However, in UP it has made commendable progress only during the last one year. The present administration has sensitively implemented the Act in its true spirit. This has been in terms of developing effective grievance redressal mechanism and introducing worker and gender friendly Schedule of Rate (SOR) to measure the workers’ output.

NREGA however, is not in the pink of health in the state. There are issues which still need to be addressed such as checking corruption and pilferage, increasing coverage and ensuring work to the needy and facilitating smooth payment.

It needs to be seen if the state government manages to check incidents like the one which recently occurred in Hardoi. Here an influential pradhan under patronage of a ruling party minister physically manhandled workers demanding their right to work. The acid test for the state government lies in rising above political pressure to ensure the right of workers as guaranteed under the Act.

Arundhati Dhuru
Advisor to the Supreme Court Commissioners in the Right to Food case
Phone: 94150 22772

Published in: The Times of India

BSP's Abdul Mannan urged not to shield those who beat dalit workers

BSP's Abdul Mannan urged not to shield those who beat dalit workers

A Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) office-bearer Ghanshyam rained baton rods on dalit workers on 14 January 2009. Ghanshaym is the husband of Urmila Devi, who is the Gram Pradhan of Gram Panchayat Aira Kake Mau, Block Bharawan, District Hardoi, UP. Ghanshyam is also the BSP Treasurer from the Vidhan Sabha constituency of Minister for Science and Technology in UP Government, Abdul Mannan.

The main grievances of these dalit workers was that they had been paid less than what was due to them under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) and their Job Cards were either not given to them or contained arbitrary entries. The dalit workers had come to inspect the NREGS documents in accordance with the right of social audit given under the NREG Act, when they were beaten mercilessly by BSP office-bearer Ghanshyam.

The BSP cabinet minister Abdul Mannan is scheduled to visit the same Gram Panchayat of Aira Kake Mau in Bharawan block (Hardoi district, UP) on Saturday, 31 January 2009. "If a senior BSP cabinet minister Abdul Mannan will support a person like Ghanshyam who has mercilessly beaten up the dalit workers, then activists will believe that BSP is supporting and protecting the human rights abusers of dalit workers" said Neelkamal, who is the people's nominee for the 2009 elections from this region.

The people of this region have strongly condemned the increasing criminalization and corruption in politics. Hundreds of them descended in the state capital of Lucknow to stage a massive demonstration to press their demand that Abdul Mannan should not shield those who beat dalit people.

Ironically BSP has been claiming to be championing the cause of dalits. This is a blatant example where a BSP office bearer had been exploiting dalit workers, denying them their due and manhandling them in broad daylight as well. Instead of supporting the cause of dalit welfare and advocating for strict action against Ghanshyam, BSP’s cabinet minister Abdul Mannan is likely to support Ghanshyam by going to the same gram panchayat and participating in his programmes. "Is this the manner in which BSP is going to protect dalit people?" asks Neelkamal.

The activists of National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM) and Asha Parivar are resolute to challenge this rampant corruption and criminalization of politics from now on.

"In her past stints as Chief Minister, Mayawati has given little attention to the well being of dalits. Dalits found it as tough to get cases registered under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act as ever and state SC/ST Commission provided no relief either. Matters related to violence against women also suffered a casualty in her regime. Neither did the situation of landless dalits, hoping to take possession of their legitimate pieces of land allotted to them by the panchayats, improved. All the other benefits through the panchayats continued to be siphoned-off by the unscrupulous elements. There was no clamp on corruption in the various schemes which could have possibly resulted in more benefits flowing to the dalits. With the possible exception of Ambedkar villages there was no overall improvement in delivery efficiency of the administrative system or justice to the poor" had said Dr Sandeep Pandey, Ramon Magsaysay Awardee (2002) in an article published years ago. The situation hasn't changed much since then, as BSP Supremo Mayawati's regime continues.

[Photo caption: top - the dalit workers from Hardoi village who were beaten by BSP office bearer Ghyanshyam are staging a dharna opposite Vidhan Sabha in state capital of Lucknow; middle - senior Narmada Bachao Andolan social activist and Advisor to Supreme Court Commissioner on Right to Food Arundhati Dhuru; bottom - Neelkamal - the native of Bharawan block in Hardoi who is a nominated candidate for Member of Parliament elections 2009 from the same constituency this year]

Published in
The Seoul Times, Seoul, South Korea
Pakistan Christian Post, Karachi, Pakistan
Citizen News Service (CNS)

Shankar Singh: From a tout to an activist

Shankar Singh: From a tout to an activist

Shankar Singh was a tout at the Road Transport Office earlier and used to get people’s work done by paying bribes to the officials and take his own cut. Today he is a right to information activist working with a team in Kanpur to check corruption not just at the road transport office but also at other offices.

Born to a family of JK Jute Mill worker, his early days were tough. His father met with an accident and had to leave the job. He became an associate of communist leader S.N. Banerji and started a restaurant named Raja Tea Stall which was managed by eight of the twelve children who survived in the family. As Shankar grew up he managed to get a job with the Roshan Transport Company. He was paid Rs. 2000 a month to be stationed at the RTO to take care of the company’s work there. He used to get the roads and goods tax deposited. He used to take care of license, fitness, permit and registration of new vehicles. In 2006 he was unknowingly involved in the illegal sale of a Maruti van which was bought with loan from a company. When the new owner sought loan from another company, the first company objected as its payments were still pending and a complaint was filed. Shankar Singh was beaten by a clerk on the directions of the officer. This provoked his conscience. He decided to take on the system. He lodged complaints with the Chief Minister and the Commissioner about irregularities in the RTO. The Commissioner and the officer at RTO worked out a compromise for him and the clerk was made to apologize to him. That is how his file was closed.

But now he did not want to go back to the rotten system. He saw news about right to information campaign in the newspapers. He was attracted by it. He decided to go to the camp. Before he realized, he became a volunteer with the right to information campaign in Kanpur city. At the RTO where a learning license which costs Rs. 60 but is made for Rs. 200 and the regular license which costs Rs. 140 but is made for Rs. 350, when Shankar and his friends decided to organize a RTI camp, the licenses were made for the actual fees. His role was reversed. He was no longer facilitating corruption. He was there to check it. The staff of the office was terrorized by his presence.

Shankar now finds himself in a piquant situation. 1200 of his old colleagues, who prefer to call themselves as ‘transport advisors’ and are formally registered as ‘Parivahan Salahkar Samiti’ since 1982 as a society, want their profession to be legitimized. They claim that if their role is officially recognized and they are authorized to charge a legitimate fees for the service they render, they would stop facilitating corruption at the RTO. They have told Shankar that if he wants a corruption free system then he must lead the struggle for their livelihood rights. On the other hand Shankar has vowed that he would not allow any corruption to take place at the RTO even if it means going against his own former colleagues.

Shankar Singh joined the first RTI camp in Kanpur city on 15th November, 2006, the conclusion of which was attended by Central Government Minister Shriprakash Jaiswal, also the MP from Kanpur . Since then over the last two years Shankar Singh must have been present as a volunteer in hundreds of camps. There are about ten camps organized every month with two to three averaging per week. Anywhere from 50 to 200 applications are prepared in these camps which are filed in different government offices. Most of the applications are concerned with Kanpur Development Authority, Nagar Nigam, Kanpur Electricity Supply Corporation, Water Board, Police, RTO, Social Welfare Department, District Supply Office, Basic Shiksha Adhikari, Kanpur University , Awas-Vikas, Banks, Passport, District Magistrate’s office, etc. Recently after results for the High School were announced there was a huge number of students wanting to know whether they could see their answer books. The Kanpur Right to Information Campaign Committee, of which Shanker Singh is now a permanent and important part, immediately organized a six day camp in which 1200 students filed applications seeking photocopies of their answer books for various subjects. They suspect that they have not been fairly evaluated and would like to verify this. The RTI campaign has generated an empowering awareness among people as a result of which people feel that they can ask legitimate questions as their democratic right.

In May 2008 Shankar Singh also participated in a social audit of National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme in the Miyaganj Block of neighbouring Unnao District. He now feels that his responsibility as a concerned citizen are not just limited to Kanpur city. As his horizon of understanding broadens he feels a growing commitment within him for other social issues too. He spent nine days in rural areas of Unnao trying to understand the way the village panchayats and the Block Development Office functions and how the vested interests are responsible for siphoning off huge sums of money from government schemes and how the papers are fudged. He proved to be an important member of his social audit team too which visited various villagers and interacted with ordinary village labourers and interviewed them to find deficiencies in the implementation of NREGS.

Shankar Singh’s life has taken an about turn. From slipping into the ever deadly world of corruption and crime he has dragged himself out with some effort and placed himself in a position from where he is rising everyday as a shining star. He has become synonymous for hope for many a people who have been victimized in some way. And Shankar is full of optimism. He always encourages people to stand up and fight for their rights. His exuberance inspires confidence in others.

Shankar Singh’s dream is now to serve the people from even bigger platforms. He wishes to contest an election some day. He has realized that the small battles that he is now fighting every day would become a little bit easier if he acquires a legitimate constitutional position. He wishes to serve more people and at a faster rate.

Dr Sandeep Pandey

(The author is a Ramon Magsaysay Awardee (2002) for emergent leadership, heads the National Alliance of People's Movements (NAPM) and did his PhD from University of California, Berkeley in control theory which is applicable in missile technology. He taught at Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur before devoting his life to strengthening people's movements in early 1990s. He can be contacted at: ashaashram@yahoo.com, www.ashaparivar.org)

Published in
The Morung Express, Imphal, Manipur
Scoop Independent News, New Zealand
Pakistan Christian Post, Karachi, Pakistan
The Seoul Times, Seoul, South Korea
Media for Freedom, Kathmandu, Nepal
Citizen News Service (CNS)

Ideal of tribal self-rule degenerates into a police state

Ideal of tribal self-rule degenerates into a police state

On 6th December, 2008, the Jharkhand Police opened fire on a procession of tribals, numbering between eight to ten thousands, 3 m from Kathikund in Dumka district. The tribals were protesting against the setting up of a 1000 MW coal based power plant in Aamgachhi-Pokhariya villages of the area as well the earlier arrest of their colleagues Munni Hansda, Charan Kumar, Hopna Baski and Rajcharan Murmu. One tribal Lakhiram Tudu was killed, 7 suffered bullet injuries, 15 people, including women, were severely beaten. 9 people, including a rickshaw puller and a driver, were arrested. People who suffered bullet injuries were also arrested and when in hospital they were shackled to the bed. 2 people who have suffered bullet injuries are not coming out to get treatment from the government hospital for the fear of being arrested. The district administration and the government has branded the organizations leading the protests, Jharkhand Ulgulan Manch and Jharkhand Hulgulan Mahila Manch as Maoists.

The fact of the matter is that in October about four to five thousands strong gathering of tribals under the leadership of Munni Hansda had gheraoed the SP for three days continuously. This blockade was so peaceful and disciplined that the administration couldn't get a chance to take any action against it. But the administration, whose authority was seriously challenged, was waiting for an opportunity to get back at the people. First they filed a case against Munni and colleagues for having stolen a motorcycle belonging to her husband from the police station and arrested her on 26th November, 2008. The motorcycle was earlier confiscated by the police.

The Deputy Commissioner Prashant Kumar of Dumka claimed that the 6th December procession had nothing to do with the power plant issue but the people had come to secure the release of Munni and her colleagues, However, if Munni was arrested only because of the motorcycle theft issue, people would not have come out in such large numbers in her support.

An earlier DC Mastram Meena had come to the Gram Sabha meeting and endorsed a resolution opposing the land acquisition for the power plant project by putting his signature on the minutes of the Gram Sabha meeting, He respected the people's opinion but was transferred within a week of this incident.

According to the Santhal Paraganas Tenancy Act, The Provisions of Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996, Schedule V and Article 243 of the Constitution (73rd Amendment) the Gram Sabha has the right to determine how it would use its natural resources. The ideal of tribal self rule is enshrined in the abovementioned constitutional-legal provisions. The State government cannot take an action which violates this spirit.

When the district administration imposed section 144 in Dumka on 2nd December, the people declared a Janata Curfew in the area forbidding any police from entering their villages without the permission of the Gram Sabha. After the firing on 6th December, they decided to organize black day for 7 days in their villages by being in the open. In spite of the cold, children, women, old and youth-all stay put in their fields for a week to protest against the killing.

I went to Dumka along with activists of JUM on 27th December, 2008, and tried to meet Munni and Charan Kumar in the Jail. However, we were not allowed to meet them on the pretext that the meeting day is Tuesdays and that some people had met them on 23rd and 25th December and hence nobody could meet them now for the next 8 days.

We proceeded towards, Aamgachhi-Pokhariya to meet the villagers. However, we were stopped by a police vehicle coming from the front after having gone about 20 km from Dumka in the direction of Kathikun. Our identity cards were checked. We were neither asked about our destination nor the purpose of visit. The police asked Baijnath Prasad Beju, a JUM activist accompanying us to go into their jeep and told us to turn our vehicle and come to the Town Police Station. Two policemen accompanied us in our jeep.

After reaching the Town PS in Dumka the Deputy S.P. informed us that since Baijnath's name also figured in the FIR filed after the 6th December incident, he had to be arrested. He obviously didn't tell us why the remaining of us were asked to come to the PS.

The Jharkhand Police is obviously trying to create an atmosphere of terror in the region. The administration is restricting visitors to meet the jailed activists and the free movement of people. One doesn't find such restrictions in even troubled areas like J&K and the Northeast.

Jharkhand was created with the ideal of tribal self rule. However, the administration and the government, ironically till recently headed by a man who was the leader of the tribal autonomy movement, but is now finding hard to even win an election, has for the time being decided to convert in into a police state. The government, like the governments at the Centre as well as other States, has decided to collude with the private corporations to exploit the natural resources for profit without giving any consideration to the interests of the people. In spite of the lofty ideals of tribal movement that preceded the creation of the state, now the government, ignoring all the constitutional-legal provisions safeguarding the interests of the tribals, has chosen to use the anachronistic Land Acquisition Act of 1894 and anti-people authoritarian ways to dispossess people of their land - the only source of their livelihood. When encountered with a strong people's resistance it has chosen to defame and discredit the movement. The government doesn't want the political power to flow to the people in accordance with the self rule concept but considers it its prerogative to thrust decisions from top. It has left the tribals wondering about the purpose of the movement that they had been part of for so long for the creation of the state. Interestingly, some of the activists in the movement today against the government, who are being branded as Maoists, were fighting along with the Shibu Soren in the earlier movement.

Dr Sandeep Pandey

(The author is a Ramon Magsaysay Awardee (2002) for emergent leadership, heads the National Alliance of People's Movements (NAPM) and did his PhD from University of California, Berkeley in control theory which is applicable in missile technology. He taught at Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur before devoting his life to strengthening people's movements in early 1990s. He can be contacted at: ashaashram@yahoo.com, www.ashaparivar.org)

Published in
Two Circles
Bihar and Jharkhand News Service (BJNS)
Media for Freedom, Kathmandu, Nepal
The Seoul Times, Seoul, South Korea
Citizen News Service (CNS)

Farmer Field Schools - a unique way to teach farmers

Farmer Field Schools - a unique way to teach farmers

Farmer Field Schools (FFS) is a unique way to educate farmers and is an effective platform for sharing of experiences and collectively solving agriculture related problems. The first FFS were designed and managed by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization in Indonesia in 1989. Since then more than two million farmers across Asia have participated in this type of learning. During the 1970s it became increasingly apparent that pest resistance and resurgence caused by the indiscriminate use of insecticides posed an immediate threat to the gains of the Green Revolution. At the same time, new researches demonstrated the viability of biological control of major rice pests.

However, gaps still existed between the science generated in research institutions and common farmer practices, conditioned by years of aggressive promotion of pesticide use. Over the ensuing years, a number of approaches were tried to bring integrated pest management (IPM) to small farmers - particularly rice farmers - in Asia, with mixed results. Some experts claimed that the principles of IPM were too complex for small farmers to master, and that centrally-designed messages were still the only way to convince farmers to change their practices. By the end of the 1980s, a new approach to farmer training emerged in Indonesia called the 'Farmer Field School' (FFS). These field schools were designed basically to address the problem of lack of knowledge among Asian farmers relating to agro ecology, particularly the relationship between insect pests and beneficial insects.

The Farmer Field School brings together concepts and methods from agro ecology, experiential education and community development. These FFS were initiated based on two premises. Firstly, although farming itself is done mainly on individual farms, the rural community plays an essential role in farmer's strategies for survival and development. Farmers like to get together to share information and other forms of mutual support with others whom they trust. Secondly, farmers have a tradition of developing and applying technologies and refining it through experiences. They learn tacitly – learning by doing.

In this regard Dr. Shiraj A Wajih, President of Gorakhpur Environmental Action Group and member of State Agriculture Committee of Uttar Pradesh said, "The FFS approach is built around these two premises. It responds directly to the information needs of the small marginal woman farmers who have been largely neglected in conventional extension systems. The FFS offers farmers the opportunity to learn by sharing, by being involved in experimentation, discussion and decision-making. This strengthens the sense of ownership of rural communities in technological packages and evolving new knowledge and skills."

In the FFS process, village meetings are conducted and a seasonal action plan is prepared at the beginning of the year. A fortnight before the FFS day, problem cards are distributed to the farmers wherein they enter the problems encountered by them in their fields. The problem cards are collected and distributed to the Master Trainers, who are specialists in their fields, for providing remedial solutions to the problem and for identifying appropriate resource persons. Very often, farmers also invite resource persons and experts from agriculture universities, government departments, etc. to provide valuable inputs and remedial solutions to problems. On the FFS day, participants gather at a common place and the session continues for 4-6 hours. Follow-up session of preceding month's FFS day is also conducted. Participants visit demonstration farm site to observe encouraging changes brought on by the application of suggested remedies. The Gorakhpur Environmental Action Group has been running 12 such farmer schools in two blocks of Gorakhpur district since the last five years.

Amit Dwivedi

(The author is a Special Correspondent to Citizen News Service (CNS). Website: www.citizen-news.org, email: amit@citizen-news.org)

Published in
Central Chronicle, Madhya PRadesh and Chhattisgarh
Bihar and Jharkhand News Service (BJNS)
Citizen News Service (CNS)
The Seoul Times, Seoul, South Korea
Media for Freedom, Kathmandu, Nepal
Op-Ed News (OEN), USA

Engaging philanthropists: This time it's personal

Engaging philanthropists: This time it's personal

"…I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life giving my time, money and skills to worthwhile endeavours where I could make a difference. I didn’t know exactly what I would do, but I wanted to help save lives, solve important problems, and give more young people the chance to live their dreams" (1)

While personal philanthropy has always played a role in the non-profit and development world, the tide has been quietly turning in ways that have increased its relative importance to the fundraising efforts of many organizations:

* Institutional donors have come under increasing pressure to reduce their transaction costs – preferring to administer larger grants to fewer organizations.
* The current climate of economic decline and uncertainty in many countries is bringing into question the sustainability of overseas development assistance programmes of industrialized countries and undermining the capital reserves of established foundations.
* Recent foreign exchange rate fluctuations have made the spending value of some secured grants unpredictable.
* Corporate and personal fortunes, combined with an increasing awareness of widespread equity challenges in many nations and communities, are fuelling a new era in philanthropy.

Engaging individual or corporate philanthropists is not simply a matter of sending the same fundraising proposal to a different contact. In many instances, new family foundations and corporate giving programmes reflect a personal motivation to make a difference in the world. In addition to being more ‘business-like’ than institutional donors (e.g. requiring higher levels of clarity and accountability), individual founders are often actively involved in their foundations. This means that understanding the underlying motivation of personal giving is vital to designing a sustainable philanthropy outreach and engagement programme.

Philanthropists are often driven by more personal needs and wants than other donors. They give, at least in part, based on an exchange of values that allows them to:

* enhance their own sense of self-worth
* see themselves in the beneficiaries being served
* do the ‘right’ thing
* create a return (or benefit) on their investment.

Loyalty and trust are key ingredients of philanthropist engagement. They are each commanded by organizations that:

* are seen as leaders in their field
* connect with supporters emotionally
* provide relevance and meaning
* help supporters to make a statement about what they value
* help supporters meet their own vision for the world
* provide them with a sense of belonging to something greater than themselves.

Engaging philanthropists should first be about building relationships based on the assumption that they are interested in the success of your organization, and as a means to mobilize resources second.

"Yesterday, the most successful non-profits were those that donors knew best. Today, the most successful non-profits are those that know their donors best" (2)

References:
1. Former US President Bill Clinton in his book Giving: How each of us can change the world.
2. From: Hart et al (2005): Nonprofit internet strategies: Best practices for marketing, communications and fundraising.

Dr Tim France
(The author is the Managing Director, Inís. Website: www.inis.ie)

Published in
The Gautemala Times, Guatemala
Asian Tribune, Thailand/ Sri Lanka
Ghana News, Accra, Ghana
The Morung Express, Manipur, India
The Seoul Times, Seoul, South Korea
The Standard Times, Sierra Leone
Pakistan Post, Karachi, Pakistan
Media for Freedom, Kathmandu, Nepal
News Track India, Delhi
Bihar Times, Patna, Bihar
Citizen News Service (CNS)
Bihar and Jharkhand News Service (BJNS)

In the online world, non-profits are what they do

In the online world, non-profits are what they do

As we start the year of 'social aggregation and syndication' (as 2009 has already been dubbed) Web 2.0 gurus Seth Godin and Brian Solis are talking up how your ‘digital identity’ defines who you are in the online world.

Godin asserts that two major factors influence the way we perceive people through their online incarnations:

* On the web, people are judged almost entirely by their actions – usually by what they write.
* Online interactions are largely expected to be intentional. On purpose. Planned. People assume you did stuff for a reason.

I don’t doubt that both those points are true. What they make me wonder though is whether non-profit organizations and international development agencies are taking too long to see that these new accountability rules apply to them too. I am convinced they are.

If you are what you do online, then the option for organizations to just rely on the reputation their logo carries is disappearing fast. Under the new rules, only organizations that are truly impartial, transparent and that provide reliable information about their work will pass the accountability test – and that does not apply to many health- and development-focused organizations at present.

The sooner individual organizations recognize this reality, and enter the online space in a genuine and open way, the better. Quick start entry options include:

* Introduce some simple and clear organizational policies for staff at all levels participating in online discussions and social networks.
* Develop guidelines encouraging senior managers in particular to start writing their own blogs.
* Keep track of what is being said about you by setting up Google Alerts on your organization, on specific technical priorities and high-profile people in your team.
* Set up a news/RSS feed aggregator that tracks web site content from your closest partner organizations.
* Find out who in your team has a real interest in Web 2.0. Task them with updating the team on significant new trends/tools in social networking. If nobody fits the bill, ask for independent advice from outside. Now.

Some of the most important players are stalled on the start line. The political realities and bureaucratic control that are central to some international organizations – such as those of many UN agencies – are incompatible with the openness and freedom of the online world. The paralysis resulting from that oil-and-water practicality will, unfortunately, not stop them from being judged by their online actions along with everyone else.

The good news is that this may present a window of opportunity for some smaller organizations and their flexible, forward-looking leaders, who can make the health and development sector's online space their own before the sumos eventually arrive on the scene.

Dr Tim France

(The author is the Managing Director, Inís. Website: www.inis.ie)

Published in
Central Chronicle, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh states (India)
Thai Indian News, Bangkok, Thailand
Citizen News Service (CNS)
The Guatemala Times, Guatemala
Bangladesh News, Dhaka, Bangladesh
The Darjeeling Times, Darjeeling, West Bengal (India)
In.Com
Assam Times, Guwahati, Assam (India)
Northern Voices, Chandigarh/ Himachal Pradesh
Media for Freedom, Kathmandu, Nepal
Hindi version on Northern Voices
News Track India, Delhi
Bihar Times, Patna, Bihar (India)
Twitter
Reddit
Digg.com
YouNews
Bihar and Jharkhand News Service (BJNS), India
The Seoul Times, Seoul, South Korea
eCoComa web consultancy

Indian faces humiliation in Bangladesh

Indian faces humiliation in Bangladesh

I introduce myself as the chairman of the Group called 'Goldenagro'. We have two companies at Mongla EPZ (Export Processing Zone). Recently, on 25th August 2008, one of the factories suffered big damage due to a fire and I had to travel to Dhaka for a meeting with the MD of our insurance company. Below I will describe first hand of what I had to go through at Dhaka and the kinds of racism by Biman Bangladesh staff which left me very very bitter.


The incident I am referring is the incident which occurred on 14th-15th Jan 2009. I took boarding pass for BG 088 from Dhaka to Bangkok. The flight was shown to be delayed by one hour first. At this time they announced that they will give dinner at the restaurant in the lobby.

When I saw the food they were serving, I did not feel to eat. The rice is double full plate and one tiny bit of chicken in a cup with yellow water (can't really say this as curry). Looking to the standard of the food, I was came out from the restaurant without eating. The restaurant staff asked me why I am going without eating?, I replied I did not like the food, so he gave me one chicken sandwich. After eating I checked the flight status, it showed it is delayed by another hour, and again one hour.

Finally we were asked to proceed for security check at about 11.30 pm.

After security we were send by bus to the aircraft. The pilot then refused to accept the passengers so we again sit in the bus and back to terminal. At 1 am on 15.01.2009 some person came and asked me to go out from security area and sat and waited in the lobby.

At 1.30 am we all passengers were asked to go out side the airport for go to hotel. I did request that I don't want to go out without my luggage. Out side is very very cold and all my warm clothes were in the baggage which was checked in at the time of taking the boarding pass.

Since the Biman staff said I cant remain at airport as a rule so I came out with my passport, no one asked for canceling the stamp or no one kept the passport at the immigration at the time of coming out. (In fact as per stamp in my passport I am out of Bangladesh, but physically I am still inside the country of Bangladesh).

There was no person to guide which bus I have to board, no queue system.

All passengers were jumping to get first in the bus, once a bus is full another comes and again the same chaos. No system for boarding the bus.

Finally I along with few other passengers got a bus at about 1.45 am. We were drop by the bus at a hotel called 'Hotel Black Rose Int. Ltd.'.

After about fifteen minutes the receptionist starts the process to give us rooms. The moment he realized we all were the passengers of Biman, the receptionist asks us to wait and get out of the hotel. He returned after another 15 minute to say that the hotel has no rooms available, so we had to go to some other hotel. He then arranged a bus at 2.30am, and sends us to another hotel. We were all together 12 people in this bus (3 sardars Indian (Bangkok) + 3 aged sikh couples (Singapore) + 2 Bangladeshi men (Bangkok) + myself Indian (Bangkok).

The bus then brought us back to the airport, instead of another hotel.

The passengers who were turban wearing sardar Indians (Bangkok), were sitting near the gate of the bus, after reaching the airport, they refused to get down from the bus. They asked the bus to take them to some hotel. Now, a staff of Biman come and started to pull the Indian man by his hands. This man pushed the Biman man and did not wanted to get down from the bus. Now, another Biman staff came from behind and started shouting 'YOU BLOODY INDIAN', 'YOU BLOODY IDIOTS', 'BLOODY WE WILL KILL YOU'. At this point I thought it to be proper to get down from the bus, so I make my way and get down from bus and go to arrival hall and ask to go to the departure lounge. The security asked me to go to the departure from outside and follow the road which is used by cars.

I finally reach departure hall, there the security would not allow me to go inside the immigration area. They ask me to come back at 7am for to be let inside. In the mean time the same person of Biman comes there and he asks me what my problem is? He informs me that he will send me to some hotel. I refused to go to hotel as by that time it is already 3am and who know which hotel he is talking about again? I told that if I can go inside the lobby after immigration I want to rest inside and really feel to eat some food as I was very hungry by now. The man took me to immigration officer and requested him to allow me to go inside. Finally I was let inside and felt secure. I also brought some sweet curd to eat and tried sleep on the bench. The mosquitoes bit me whole night. The cold was beyond my bearing as I had no warm clothes.

Whole night and till I reached Bangkok, I felt that at any time I may be killed by these unruly Biman Bangladesh Staff. I never came across this type of incidents in my life, where I thought I was so close to death. I still think if those Biman people start a riot and start beating us in the name of 'BLOODY INDIANS' how many people would have joined to beat us? And what would have the consequences?

Due to the incident above, I have taken a decision to close both the factories at EPZ Mongla. This decision will result in loss of money for me, but to live with grace and peace is more important for me.

God bless to the people to have love in their hearts and not hate.

Bal Kishan Kayan

(The author is the chairman of the Goldenagro group and can be contacted at: kayan@goldenagro.com )

[Image: Scanned copy of the E-Ticket, Boarding pass, Baggage tags and the name card of the hotel 'Hotel Black Rose Int. Ltd']

Published in
Bangladesh News, Dhaka, Bangladesh
Northern Voices, Chandigarh and Himachal Pradesh (India)
Ghana News, Accra, Ghana
Pakistan Post, Karachi, Pakistan
The Seoul Times, Seoul, South Korea
Citizen News Service (CNS)
News Tin
Bihar Times, Patna, Bihar (India)
News Track India, Delhi
Bangladesh News Network, Dhaka, Bangladesh
Bihar and Jharkhand News Service (BJNS)

Further dilution of pictorial tobacco warnings feared

Further dilution of pictorial tobacco warnings feared

On 23 January 2009, the Group of Ministers (GoM) in India will again meet to assuage concerns of tobacco lobby on pictorial warnings, health activists apprehend.

This group of ministers (GoM) consists of: Pranab Mukherjee (External Affairs Minister), Kamal Nath (Commerce and Industry Minister), Priyaranjan Dasmunsi (former Information and Broadcasting Minister), S Jaipal Reddy (Urban Development Minister), Dr Anbumani Ramadoss (Health and family welfare Minister), and Oscar Fernandes (labour and employment Minister for state).

The pictorial warnings on tobacco products are proven to reduce tobacco consumption. Particularly in countries like India, where literacy rates are alarmingly low, it is vital to implement the pictorial warnings on tobacco products stringently without delay.

Pictorial health warnings on tobacco products were supposed to be implemented on all tobacco products from November 30, 2008 after being deferred and diluted several times since the first notification which came in July 2006. However, the GoM met again and further delayed the implementation of pictorial warnings to May 31, 2009.

"It is a matter of great disappointment that every time the GoM meet, the decision on implementation of pictorial warnings on tobacco products gets either delayed or diluted. The GoM has repeatedly put aside the critical health concerns of millions of Indian citizens. It seems that the people's representatives of the largest democracy in the world are more interested to boost the health and profits of the tobacco industry, particularly the bidi sector" said Alok Mukhopadhyay, Chief Executive, Voluntary Health Association of India (VHAI).

The timing of the meeting on the eve of election announcement and the purpose of the meeting are feared to once again derail the already diluted pictorial warnings on tobacco products.

The GoM is apparently concerned about the global economic meltdown, giving unfounded arguments that the tobacco industry will be hard hit by it. However, the Prime Minister of India, a veteran economist and the former Finance Minister Mr. P Chidambaram have given statements time and again that the Indian economy is least affected by the global economic crisis. The tobacco major ITC has reported more than expected net growth in profit for the third quarter which ended in December 2008. Net sales during this period grew 11%, which was driven by the sales increase in stationary products and cigarettes.

"2500 people die every day due to tobacco related diseases in India, with about 10 lakhs people deaths attributed to tobacco use every year in India" said Professor (Dr) Rama Kant, who heads the Tobacco Cessation Clinic at CSM Medical University and was awarded by the World Health Organization's Director General in 2005 for his contribution to tobacco control.

Whereas, the cost to the government in treating tobacco related diseases is exorbitantly high. Economic costs related to treatment of tobacco related ailments are 16% higher than annual tax generated from tobacco. A recent paper on Economic Cost of Tobacco Use in India, 2004 reveals that the "direct medical costs of treating tobacco related diseases in India amounted to Rs.4125 crore for smoked tobacco and Rs. 1296 crore for smokeless tobacco. The indirect morbidity costs of tobacco use, which includes the cost of caregivers and value of work loss due to illness, amounted to Rs. 1810 crore for smoked tobacco and Rs. 473 crore for smokeless tobacco. The total economic cost of tobacco use amounted to Rs 7731 crore."

"Recession is no excuse for the current government to back off on protecting and promoting public health. India has been least hit by the current global economic crisis, no where in the world did any government compromise the health of its citizens due to these economic crisis as has been done by the India government" said Monika Arora, Director, HRIDAY (www.hriday-shan.org).

In the case of pictorial warnings, India also has time bound international mandate under Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (Article 11) requiring display of pictorial warnings on all tobacco products, besides, Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution) Act, 2003 (COTPA) under section 7 echoes the same principles. It is ironical that the very same Government that has vehemently supported the guidelines on Article 11 of the FCTC (pack warnings) for the global community at the Conference of Parties in November 2008 at Durban, South Africa has backtracked on the same at its home ground. The Government in deferring the pack warnings has not only dishonoured its international commitment but also undermined the health of its 1 billion citizens.

"The rehabilitation of Bidi Industry workers in an alternative vocation along with its phasing out should be prioritized. We consider that is the only way forward to eliminate their misery, ill-health and exploitation by all direct and indirect beneficiaries of this highly unregulated industry blatantly flouting laws, in particular those related to Women and Child welfare. The Political Leadership can make the difference, but only if it decides to do so" said Dr Rakesh Gupta, Honorary Chairman, Rajasthan Cancer Foundation.

Advocacy Forum for Tobacco Control (AFTC) is a coalition of 51 pan Indian organizations (from 23 states and 1 Union Territory of India), working in the area of advocacy, awareness promotion and research related to tobacco control in India.

AFTC members demanded that the GoM meeting should not weaken, dilute or delay the pictorial warnings on tobacco products provision by any means and give precedence to health over profits.

Bobby Ramakant

- The author is a World Health Organization (WHO)'s WNTD Awardee (2008) and can be contacted at: bobbyramakant@yahoo.com

Published in
Bihar and Jharkhand News Service (BJNS)
Media for Freedom, Kathmandu, Nepal
Two Circles
Pakistan Christian Post, Pakistan
The Seoul Times, Seoul, South Korea
Citizen News Service (CNS)

Indian agriculture is bouncing back

Indian agriculture is bouncing back

Agriculture is facing several problems in India. On the one hand natural calamities adversely affect agriculture production ,while on the other hand policy makers make agriculture policies which benefit industries more than agriculture.

According to the National Crime Record Bureau, Government of India, more than 1 lakh 50 thousand farmers committed suicide during the period 1997 to 2005. Two thirds of these belonged to Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. According to Dr. Shiraj A Wajih, President of Gorakhpur Environmental Action Group and member of State Agriculture Committee of Uttar Pradesh said, ''Increasing cost of agricultural production material, climatic changes, chemical farming, poor management of agriculture system, lack of government interest and low market value of agriculture produce-- all these factors tend to worsen the situation for small and marginal farmers."

He further said that suicides by farmers seem to be more common in relatively well-off states where they attempt to move up the value chain by going for risky cash crops, while farmers in poorer states stick to cereal cultivation and are averse to switching over to commercial crops.

In the years 2007-2008 and 2008-2009, the government disbursed agricultural loans to the tune of Rs. 225 thousand crores and 280 thousand crores respectively. Thus during this two year period the farmers received 505 thousand crores rupees as loans, the annual interest on which amounts to around 45 thousands crores rupees. This means that the central government is collecting a huge amount of interest from the farmers. Yet it allocates very little budget for the welfare of farmers.

The development of Indian agriculture has always been inextricably linked with effective water-management practices that have been taken up by the state and/or local village communities. Water management has necessitated a certain degree of cooperation and collective spirit in the Indian countryside.

Only a small percentage of Indian farmers have enjoyed the luxury of natural irrigation, although in the past, in certain parts of the country, the soil used to retain enough moisture well beyond the monsoon months. However, it is equally true that the drying up of wells led to mass migrations, and sudden depopulation of old towns and villages.

Dr. Shiraj says, "Sustainable agriculture literacy can alleviate the problem of agriculture in India. We need to educate the farmers. Farmer schools can be a good measure of sustainable agriculture literacy. This school should be run by the community members and local farmers can be the best teachers and trainers of such schools." Gorakhpur Environmental Action Group is currently running 12 farmer schools in two districts of Uttar Pradesh. All these schools have proved to be a unique platform to resolve the problems of agricultural production faced by small and marginal farmers."

Thus there are signs of Indian agriculture bouncing back. It is scripting its own success story in spite of poor productivity, falling water levels, expensive credit, a distorted market, laws that stifle private investment, controlled prices, poor infrastructure, produce that does not meet international standards, inappropriate research, tax evasion by unorganized sector leading to the lack of a level playing field. We need to reshape our ideas and thoughts for the betterment of India's agriculture system only then we can be the food factory of the world.

Amit Dwivedi

(The author is a Special Correspondent to Citizen News Service (CNS). Email: amit@citizen-news.org; Website: www.citizen-news.org)

Published in
Central Chronicle, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh
Bihar and Jharkhand News Service (BJNS)
Asian Tribune, Sri Lanka/ Thailand
The Seoul Times, Seoul, South Korea
Thai Indian News, Bangkok, Thailand
The Bangladesh Today, Dhaka, Bangladesh
Citizen News Service (CNS)
Bihar Times, Patna, Bihar
Ghana News, Accra, Ghana
Truth Feeds
Digg.com
News Trust, USA
Twitter
Media for Freedom, Kathmandu, Nepal
Op-Ed News (OEN), USA
News Track India, Delhi
My News, Delhi
Nhatky News from India, Mohali
Kerala News, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala
The Island, Colombo, Sri Lanka