FOREIGN CONTRIBUTION (REGULATION) AMENDMENT RULES, 2015 The Central Government made some amendments in the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Rules 2011 and introduced the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Rules, 2015 vide Notification dated 14.12.2015 Here we are referring to the amendment in Rule 13 “Declaration of Receipts of Foreign Contribution” I. ANNUAL UPLOADING OF STATEMENT OF ACCOUNTS, Rule 13 clause (a) The organizations who : – Ø are registered under the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 1976/ 2010; o or Ø granted prior permission to receive foreign contribution under the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 1976/ 2010 shall have to upload the audited statement of accounts on receipts and utilization of the foreign contribution as mentioned below :- » Income and Expenditure Statement, » Receipts and Payment Account and » Balance Sheet for every year beginning on the first day of April within nine months of the closure of the financial year on its official website or on the website as specified by the Central Government. II. QUARTERLY REPORTING OF RECEIPTS, Rule 13 clause (b) Any organization receiving foreign contribution in a quarter of the Financial Year i.e. :- Quarter 1- April to June Quarter 2- July to September Quarter 3- October to December Quarter 4- January to March Shall have to upload the details of foreign contribution received on its official website or on the website as specified by the Central Government within fifteen days following the last day of the quarter in which it has been received clearly indicating the details of donors, amount received and date of receipt as mentioned in the below format:- Name of Donor Complete Postal Address Country of Donor Amount Received Date of Receipt For any query please get back over mail. Regards Team S.Sahoo & Co. -- S. Sahoo & Co. (Chartered Accountants) 107, Laxman Singh Complex - I Munirka, New Delhi 110067 (T) 011-02619 12 52,41090039 visit us at www.ssahoo.com http://sahooshares.blogspot.in/

VISION AMBASSDOR PROJECT under 2.5 NVG

VISION AMBASSDOR PROJECT under 2.5 NVG</b> “I have always had excellent eyesight and have never worn glasses or contacts. But in last year six years at the age of 57 I realized I had gradually gotten quite farsighted. I felt I was unable to read the smaller fonts of newspaper and SMS and difficult to see the mile meter of the Scooter. I lived in a remote village of Ormanjhi, Ranchi. Two years back I got an opportunity to consult with an ophthalmologist and he had made a suggestion that I had to wear spectacles, it costs Rs. 2000/. I am an old marginal farmer and means of earning is very limited. Spare rupees 2000 for spectacles was not become easy and I was forced to avoid the spectacle. The moment of truth came one day when I was at a shop and had to hold the price tag of soap try to read it. And I still couldn’t read it – my arms just weren’t long enough! Something had to be done right away. Our neighbor RMP Mr. S. Mandal invited me to this vision screening camp under NVG 2.5 and was surprised to see the process of screening. He asked me my age and give a newspaper to read. I was unable to read or see the smaller fonts of the newspaper and he give me two spectacles to wear consecutively. Wearing second spectacle was like miracle, I was surprised, now I am able to see the smaller fonts clearly, I read the newspaper. I laughed on myself. How foolish I was! A small step, a small initiative and 1/9th of the cost had changed my life. I am feeling confident and proud. I can see and proud to say seeing is believing. I can do my twork and I can read like a normal person. Life is good!” There are many more successful examples generated during the intervention of the Vision Ambassdor Programme under NVG 2.5. (Testimony of Mr. Ramakant Mahto) Progress Report (up to 15th Dec. 2015) 1. Nos. of RMPS identified 115 2. Nos. of Training 2 3. Nos. of Screening Camp 12 4. No. of POS 12 5. No. of new POS open till 31st. Dec. 20

RIGHTS OF THE DISABLED

Implement the UNCRPD, say activists
India has ratified the UN Convention of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, but done very little to protect the rights of the disabled in accordance with it. Freny Manecksha reports.


08 February 2010 - The proposal by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment to introduce 101 amendments to the Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act in the budget session has come under criticism. Several groups of disabled people, with whom the government has been holding consultations, have demanded instead a totally new law that is aligned with the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities (UNCRPD), which India ratified in 2007.

They say the proposed amendments are inadequate, and one must have a new law for the 70 million people with disabilities in India (figures according to civil society organizations) that contains everything in consonance with the Convention.

Prasanna Pincha, who works as an independent disability rights activist, explains why the UNCRPD is so crucial and how in the 21st century it has brought about a paradigm shift in perspective. "UNCRPD adopts a human rights approach instead of the earlier medical approach to disability. This is a shift from viewing people with disabilities (PWD) as objects needing social protection and medical care to seeing them as subjects having human rights, fundamental freedoms," he explains.

Impairments, not disabilities

Currently in India there are four different laws pertaining to the disabled. These are: The Mental Health Act, 1987, the Rehabilitation Council of India Act, (meant to provide minimum standards in training and qualification for rehabilitation professionals) the National Trust for Welfare of Persons with Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Mental Retardation and Multiple Disabilities Act, 1999 and lastly the Persons with Disabilities Act. Much of this legislation is medical oriented and adopts a welfare attitude. It looks at the physical impairments of people and labels these as disabilities.


Present legislation does not include as many as 20 provisions of the UNCRPD, especially those pertaining to civil and political rights. (Above: A poster from a campaign for inclusive education by the NGO Arushi, based in Bhopal.)


• The ability debates


The UNCRPD, on the other hand, defines disability as an evolving concept, says Pincha. The Convention believes disability results from interaction of impairments with various barriers which hinders full and active participation in society on an equal basis with others. Pincha, who is himself visually impaired, illustrates this concept drawing on his own experiences. "If I arrive in a city and check into a hotel where the instructions on how to dial the operator and other information given to the sighted are also available in Braille, if the elevator has Braille signs, if the menu too is in Braille, then my blindness is only an impairment. It is not a disability," he says.

The medical approach, which was the norm for centuries, sought corrections for the individual. The rights-based approach adopted by UNCRPD seeks a society that is designed and structured to help all categories and sections to access facilities and opportunities. This accessibility is not just confined to building roads or constructing buildings that have ramps for wheel-chairs, but it means ensuring that the disabled can access public transportation systems, pedestrian signs (Braille and audio), public facilities like schools, sports auditoriums, clinics, hospitals, malls and so on. Even, perhaps, adding special fitting rooms in department stores for those on wheel-chairs.

A rights-based approach

Whilst the PWD Act has in place a set of concessions and policies for the disabled it does not included the notion of non negotiable rights, says Pincha. The disabled cannot claim accessibility features as a matter of right. Their availability is subject to either formulation of schemes by the government or as per the ''economic capacity and development" of the State. A new law is necessary, says Pincha, because India has ratified the UNCRPD, whereupon it is mandatory for the government to adopt the human rights approach which would necessitate bringing about changes in all other laws like the recent right to education, employment and so on. The changes required would be so numerous and of such substantial, fundamental nature that it is better to draft a new law, he adds.

Saptarshi Mandal, of the Lawyers Collective points out how current legislation is not in tune with human rights obligations or with the advances in medicine and technology. For example, with technical advances available today, it should be possible for the visually impaired to access banks through ATMs and so on, but there is no enabling legislation to ensure the adoption of these technologies to serve the disabled. Likewise, there are laws on the books that have been framed during Colonial days, and have not been updated to reflect current knowledge or sensibilities. The Railway Act, for instance, says that people with leprosy cannot board trains even though it is now known that leprosy is not contagious and that a person with leprosy becomes non-infective within 24 hours of starting treatment.

Rajive Raturi, National Director, Disability Rights Initiative of the Human Rights Law Network, says that present legislation does not include as many as 20 provisions of the UNCRPD especially those pertaining to civil and political rights, such as freedom from cruel and inhuman treatment, freedom of expression and access to information, right to marry and have a family and freedom to participate in political and public life.

For example, according to current provisions of Indian law, those with mental illnesses cannot enter into contracts and have no property rights. The UNCRPD has made it clear that even the most severely affected people and the mentally retarded have rights and that the state must provide support networks to enable them to exercise these rights.

Further, the UNCRPD specifically addresses issues pertaining to women with disabilities and the rights of children with disabilities - something that current Indian legislation lacks. Worse still, certain sections of law are abused in ways that hurt the rights of disabled persons. The Center for Advocacy in Mental Health of the Bapu Trust in Pune has highlighted how Section 19 of the Mental Health Act - dealing with 'admissions to institutions under special circumstances' is often abused by families to dump women in institutions.

Litigation against discrimination

Both Raturi and Pincha have been active in using the law as a tool of social change and have filed Public Interest Litigation Pleas to address the existing discrimination. Raturi, along with others, challenged the government's postal life insurance scheme whereby disabled persons got lesser coverage and had to pay increased premiums. A writ petition was filed before the Delhi High Court citing UNCRPD and equality principles that the Constitution of India guarantees to all its citizens - including the disabled. The Court directed the Solicitor General (SG) to appear in person and respond to the discrimination.

Appearing on behalf of the government, Gopal Subramanium (the SG) assured the court that the government will hold broad consultations with experts and also take advice from the insurance regulators to draft a fresh policy which will have no discriminatory clauses against the disabled. Subsequently the government has notified that the coverage under the scheme will be uniform but orders have yet to be passed.

Raturi has also taken up the cause of deaf persons who are permitted to get driving licenses in many countries, but not in India.

Pincha has challenged banking norms whereby restrictions were placed on blind persons for opening accounts and for issuing cheques. Admitting his writ petition related to access, use and enjoyment of banking services and facilities by blind people on an equal basis the Guwahati High Court passed an interim order directing the concerned bank authorities to open his account in accordance with the normal procedures, giving him cheque facilities and without insisting on any special undertaking as sought by the bank. Subsequently the banking sector has revised its guidelines and become more progressive.

Pincha has also successfully taken up with the Chief Commissioner of Disability the issue of discriminatory treatment of disabled, air passengers who are forcibly seated at the rear end of the plane without consideration of their own preferences. The Director General of Civil Aviation, in consultation with various airlines, has consequently sought more progressive guidelines.

For Pincha these PILs are part of an ongoing crusade against the culture of discrimination and politics of exclusion that disabled persons routinely experience. Activists for the disabled say that rights based efforts to create an enabling environment for the disabled are ultimately all about demonstrating the main premise of the UNCRPD - namely that disability is a part of human diversity, and that the rights of disabled must therefore be at par with those of others.

Reference : http://www.indiatogether.org/2010/feb/hlt-uncrpd.htm

Manipur schools closure: boycott enters third month

25 November 2009 - Imphal - The question, which is more important ‘Right to Education’ or ‘Right to Life’ might sound like seeking an answer to which comes first, the egg or the chicken. Yet, for the past two months the people of Manipur in the northeastern periphery of the world's largest democracy have been entangled without a hope in the clutches of this riddle.

More than 3.59 lakh students from primary to higher secondary levels in 4136 schools in the valley districts of the state have stopped attendance in a mass confrontation with the state government. The non-attendance is a consequence of the conflict situation and counter-insurgency measures such as the impunity granted to security forces under the AFSPA, 1958.

While the academic calendar each year is also often thrown asunder in the state by frequent public agitations against human rights violations and state's imposition of curfew in response, it was the fake encounter killing of a former insurgent and a pregnant housewife in broad daylight in the middle of busiest marketplace in Imphal on July 23 this year that has resulted in the current education deadlock in the state.

The figures are based on 2007-8 numbers from the Planning and Statistics Section of the State Directorate of Education. The actual number of students staying home could be much higher. They do not include students enrolled in 71 colleges listed with the Directorate of Education (U) as well as the Manipur University. Student details for the current academic year are still not available with both the Directorates.



What made the event different from the 'normalcy' defined by the routine of daily killings both by state and non-state forces, was that the killing of former insurgent Chungkham Sanjit was captured on the lens of a photographer who still remains anonymous for obvious reasons of safety. Manipuris claim after seeing the photographs that it was a case of custodial killing. Seven months-pregnant Thokchom Rabina, also killed in the same incident, was shopping for bananas in the crowded market with her two-and-half year old son. Five other civilians were injured in the incident.


The event might have met the same fate and ended after a round of fruitless dharnas and demands as is the case of most conflict related deaths in Manipur, but for the publication of the series of pictures by New Delhi-based magazine Tehelka showing that Sanjit was in police custody when he was killed.

The pictures reproduced in the local papers became new evidence and catalysed the Manipuri fire, made long dormant by continuous killings, denial of justice and systems of reparation. The result was a public movement demanding resignation of Chief Minister Okram Ibobi on moral grounds, punishment to the involved policemen and repeal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, 1958.

For it's part, the government has not adopted measures of dialogues and negotiations. It responded with curfew and by detaining as many as eight public leaders including three women under National Security Act (NSA) which allows for preventive detention without trial for six months but extendable for up to one year. Bandhs, sit-in-protests and torch rallies were met by stern police action in the form of rubber bullets and tear gas shells.

When all efforts were thus brutally subdued, three major student bodies in the state – All Manipur Students Union (AMSU), Manipuri Students Federation (MSF) and Kangleipak Students Association (KSA) joined the public outcry and called an indefinite class boycott in the state starting from September 9 last in an attempt to pressurise the state government.

While announcing the boycott, the All Manipur Students Union (AMSU) emphasised the necessity of joining the agitation in view of the insecurity of life in the state. Adding that many innocent persons including students have fallen victim to frequent cases of fake encounters, it stated, “When death is hanging over the head of all the people including students, it has become a big question whether the student community should continue with their studies or join the people's movement. Rather than waiting to be killed in fake encounters, the student community too will join the mass movement for a secure future.”

Closure widespread in three valley districts

The present boycott has mostly affected the schools and colleges in three valley districts of the state – Imphal East, Imphal West, and Bishnupur. Of the 785 schools recognised by the Board of Secondary Education, Manipur, as on February 2, 2009, Imphal West and Imphal East districts have the highest concentration of 183 and 142 schools respectively. Bishnupur has 71 recognised schools.

Of the 785 schools mentioned above, 224 are government schools, 85 are government aided while 476 are private schools. The BSEM conducts the high school leaving certificate examinations. On the other hand, the Council of Higher Secondary Education, which conducts the higher secondary exams, recognises 138 institutes in the state including colleges and higher secondary schools providing higher secondary courses.

The fourth valley district of Thoubal which has 123 recognised schools remains mostly unaffected perhaps because it is the home district of not only chief Minister Okram Ibobi, but also that of PWD minister K Ranjit who is one of the most influential persons in the state cabinet.

Classes in the five hill districts – which have altogether 266 schools recognised by the BSEM -- are continuing as usual. But there is the fear that if the boycott continues and the state board exams are affected (rescheduled), the hill districts' efforts in keeping schools running might come to nought. This apprehension is fuelled also by the fact that most of the educational institutes in the state are concentrated in the valley districts.

Signs of tiring out, as attempt to end impasse fails

But even while students in Manipur spent the last two months catching up with their games, TV and friends when they should have been preparing for or even giving their final examinations, the government has sat adamantly in a silent vigil waiting for the protestors to tire out.

Indeed, tired out by the impasse, various guardians’ organisations, and private school bodies as another students group Democratic Students Alliance of Manipur (DESAM) started appealing for resumption of classes. What ensued was a debate which became increasingly acidic with each press release and public meeting. The AMSU, MSF and KSA in their defense questioned which one is more important – ‘Right to Life’ or ‘Right to Education’. They asked whether there would be a guarantee for their lives if the class boycott was suspended.


Taking advantage of the developing fracas, on November 7, the Secular Progressive Front (SPF) government led by chief minister Ibobi called for resumption of classes from November 9 onwards with policemen guarding the schools. But as the matter was still unresolved, the boycott continued, and attendance in both government and private schools was minimal. At the time of writing, the boycott stands and schools are still closed.

The Apunba Lup, a conglomerate body of numerous organisations, as well as the three agitating students’ bodies rejected the call for resumption of classes. The body said that main agenda of the SPF government seems to not only confuse the people by pretending to welcome negotiated settlement of the issues at hand but also reflects lack of seriousness and commitment to find solutions.

The government’s decision to prise open educational institutions deploying security personnel was against the spirit of efforts to sort out differences through negotiations, opined the Working Committee of the Apunba Lup, through the local press. This was a clear demonstration that the government would use all its resources to dilute the three months-old movement, said the committee. The All Manipur Recognised Private Schools' Welfare Association (AMRPSWA) has also decried the government's attempt to open educational institutions rather than sorting out and ending the impasse through mutual consultation and amicable settlement.

Parents impacted, school administrators speak out

Both the government’s failure to resolve the issue as well as the continued boycott have irked a sizeable section of the population. Mother of two school-going students, S Tombi Devi of Singjamei in Imphal West district says about the impasse, "When it is hard to cope up when my children does not attend school for even a single day, how will they (parents) ever be able to manage with this boycott for over two months now? We are paying extra for private tuitions now, and above that spending so much time overseeing their studies and their time at home that we can't go about our normal societal and daily duties.”

Dr K Nabachandra, principal of privately-owned Herbert School in Imphal West District states, "We feel that the government has failed to take the initiative they ought to have taken to resolve the current impasse. In all seriousness and sincerity required in dealing with the present imbroglio, they should first create an amicable atmosphere for talks. Only then will this situation be normalised.”

Two lone schoolchildren attending class in a school in Thoubal district. Pic: Sobhapati Samom.

“We are pained by this hardened stand of the government. On the other hand, we don't want the students alone to suffer on a public issue. When all other sections of the society, be it businesspersons, office employees or industrialists are going on with their normal routine, why should only the students who are young, innocent and too immature to understand the pros and cons of the public issue, be penalised," he said, reiterating his appeal for a dialogue between the two parties to speed up resumption of normal classes.

AMRPSWA further appealed to both the government and the agitators to make concerted effort for resolving the crisis within November 19 so as to enable resumption of normal academic activities. The government has ignored this deadline too, and the agitating parties are continuing their protests. One can only wait and see whether both sides will work in sincerity to settle the matter, but it goes without doubt that a stitch in time probably would have saved nine.

If the government had acted firmly and judiciously two months ago by booking those involved in the July 23 case -- one of the most atrocious cases of custodial killing -- perhaps things would not have come to this pass. Young Manipuris are now forced to choose between the ‘Right to Life’ and ‘Right to Education’ -- a choice which probably no one, especially one living in a democratic state like India, should be forced to make.

http://www.indiatogether.org

Kerala mangrove island under threat, cabinet divided

21 November 2009 - The early morning sun emerging from the clouds brightens the narrow strip of land, which suddenly broadens and a house or two appear and then again narrows down to a three feet path. Birdcalls break the silence and different kinds of them flutter around. Surrounded on all sides by water and with estuaries curving into the land mass and mangroves weaving exotic pitch green patterns in the water and on the shores, it is an exhilarating visual experience. This is the island of Valanthakad in the Vembanad backwater, in the suburbs of Kochi, Kerala.

This unique eco-system is now threatened. It may vanish altogether or at least be marred beyond recognition if the project of Sobha Developers to setup a knowledge park, housing and commercial complex, multiplex, star hotels, IT research centre, oceanarium and a ropeway, comes through.

Mangroves weaving exotic green patterns in the water and on the shores in the Vembanad backwaters. Pic: Manilal Padavoor.

The Kerala State Biodiversity Board (KSBB) has strongly objected to the setting up of the High Tech City at Valanthakad and has urged the chief minister - who is also the chairman of the Single Window Clearance Committee constituted for speedy approvals of mega projects - to reject the project. Valanthakad constitutes a mangrove ecosystem comprising of 644 acres, the highest such concentration in the state.

Sobha Developers had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Kerala government in August 2007 to set up the Rs.5,000-crore hi-tech city. As per the MoU, the company was to develop seven million square feet built-up area. The government, in turn agreed to bring the project under single-window clearance and to facilitate land development, limited land acquisition and environmental clearances, as well as provide utilities such as electricity, gas, water, sewage and communications.

The high-tech city is one of the four mega projects (Knowledge City, Kochi, a joint venture programme in Kozhikode with Grasim Industries, and an Integrated Township in Kozhikode are the other three) that have been short listed and submitted to the committee for clearance, following a decision by the state committee of the Communist Party of India, Marxist (CPIM), which leads the coalition, the Left Democratic Front (LDF), to speed up pending developmental projects.

There have been allegations from one faction of the party that Chief Minister V S Achutanandan is sitting on proposals citing environmental and population displacement problems. The CPI(M) has been riven by factionalism during the past years, Achutanadan leading one group and Pinarayi Vijayan, the state party secretary heading the other. Even though mostly personality driven, observers attribute certain ideological differences too. The Achutanandan group supposedly represents the 'conservative', 'ideology bound' Marxism, while the other group is seen to be more 'modern' and 'pragmatic'. The latter has a penchant for 'development' disregarding the human and environmental cost, and it is this group that alleges 'anti-development' trends on the part of the chief minister.

Furthermore, Achutanandan’s relegation from the politburo of the party and the strictures by the top committee to strictly abide by the party decisions is reportedly being used by interested sections of the party to get these mega projects approved. In the meantime, however, Binoy Biswam, Minister for Forests of the Communist Party of India (CPI) too has come out against hasty clearance of mega projects overlooking rules and regulations and shot off a letter to his party’s national secretary asking for intervention in the matter.

The proposed project would violate a series of national and state laws, the note, by KSBB has cautioned the chief minister. These include the Coastal Regulation Zone notification, Kerala Conservation of Paddy Land and Wetland Act 2008, National Environment Policy, 2006, Kerala Forest Policy 2008 and the National Wetland Conservation Programme. The company has apparently acquired 320 acres of land including onetime paddy fields and vast fish farming lakes, according to the KSBB. But it is reported that the purchases have been made in the names of 18 different companies to overcome the Land Reforms Act. Hence the note to the chief minister points out that the project if given the green signal, will be in violation of the Kerala State Land Reforms Act, 1963, apart from going against the Kerala State Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan, and the Ramsar Convention.

“Valanthakad is part of the Vembanad backwater, which is one of the Ramsar sites and any such activities as has been proposed will be a gross violation and would lead to disastrous consequences,” pointed out Purushan Eloor, an environmental activist and a member of the Environmental Protection Group (Paristhithi Samrakshana Koottayma) which had filed a PIL against the project in 2007. The case has hardly made any progress because of prevarication by the government, alleges Eloor, who is in his mid-forties. The court had issued notices to the state government and the state industries department. But the government has been delaying further progress by citing various excuses like ‘the final project report is not yet ready’ etc.

Notwithstanding all the objections raised by the Kerala State Biodiversity Board, Minister of Industries Elamaram Kareem is quite confident that the High Tech City project will be given the nod without much delay.


• AP crisis: fishermen marooned
• Biodiversity: The downward spiral


94 per cent of the mangroves that was there in Kerala till the 1980s have been destroyed, according to the Board. Almost half of the backwater that surrounded Kochi is no more there and Valanthakad is the lone survivor with its rich bio diversity. 77 plant species and 27 water organisms have been identified here.

The report says in no uncertain terms that the destruction will be irreversible. “It is just impossible to recreate the mangrove system elsewhere; biological science has not yet grown for such a feat.” The KSBB notes that “the biodiversity of the area is quite rich and it is a traditional waterfowl area attracting a large number of migratory species.” The report goes on to say that the people of the area would lose the indirect benefits worth Rs. 77.28 crores annually. Dr V S Vijayan, chairman of the KSSB, clarified that this is the gross value of 14 eco-system services, like regulation of groundwater, that are invisible, but very much assessable.

Vembanad backwaters in evening light. Pic: P N Venugopal.

Only 48 families live in the island now. “Initially they had approached us too for buying land,” says Chandran, a local man, who supports his family by fishing in the backwaters. None of the families sold out to the builder. “We cannot even think of a life elsewhere,” he adds. Sahajan, another island dweller confirmed that most of the land/water logged area were purchased from absentee landlords who had given up Pokkali farming (a unique practice of paddy cultivation in saline water) and fish farming. There is a ferry-a country boat- connecting the island with the mainland where many of the younger people study or work.

Notwithstanding all the objections raised by the Board, the Minister of Industries, Elamaram Kareem is quite confident that the Sobha City project will be given the nod without much delay. Responding to the questions on the views of the KSBB, the minister said in a press meet that the project would provide employment for 75000 people. He stressed that none of the existing rules needs be amended for this, instead ‘relaxations in the existing rules’ could be offered.

When confronted with this, Dr Vijayan responded: “If relaxations are made, then there is no point in having acts and laws. And this project is not for any public good. Instead it’s only for the profit of one or few individuals.”

Even though Achutanadan has become less vocal and less forthcoming on various issues after the disciplinary action taken against him by his party, the Sobha City project is seen by many as an acid test of the veteran. It remains to be seen whether these troubled tracts will stay protected. (The Quest Features & Footage) ⊕

The futility of hope

25 November 2009 - If you walk a few minutes along the filthy, open drain skirting Madubhai Machuware's house in Chikhalda village of Madhya Pradesh, it will lead you to the mighty Narmada, his mother goddess. Before the Bargi, Narmada Sagar and Sardar Sarovar dams were built, Madubhai earned his dal-roti by cultivating melons, vegetables and flowers on its riverbed, and fishing in its waters. Now living his life in the shadow of these large dams, he can manage neither.

The reservoir of Sardar Sarovar has submerged the riverbed, and the ensuing siltation along with other factors, ensured that he can never catch enough fish to feed his family of eleven - sons, daughters-in-law and grandchildren included. On days when he returns home without a catch, he doesn't even feel like drinking his cup of chai. And when water begins to flow in the panchayat taps in the neighbourhood, the drain adjoining his house which carries human excrement, fills his nostrils with a repulsive smell. Yet he refuses to move to a resettlement site of the Sardar Sarovar Project at Narmadanagar six kilometres away, where he has been allotted a house plot. Here's why.


Madubhai is one of thousands of fishworkers, riverbed cultivators and boatmen whose livelihood has been snatched away by the Sardar Sarovar dam. The Government has never bothered to conduct a survey of these categories of the displaced, hence no official count is available. The Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) - the movement fighting for the displaced for more than two decades - puts the figure at about 10,000 families pursuing these occupations. Customary usage of land - as in Madubhai's case - has been recognised by the resettlement and rehabilitation policy of the Madhya Pradesh Government, which states that persons with encroachments prior to 1987 will be entitled to agricultural land.

Instead of being allotted agricultural land, Madubhai has to be content with about a lakh of rupees in cash compensation for his house which will also be submerged, and a 500 square metre house plot. This plot was first allotted to him at the Nanakbaydi resettlement site, on saline, black cotton soil unsuitable for construction. When he applied for a change of resettlement site from Nanakbaydi to Narmadanagar - closer to the river - he encountered more hurdles. The road is three to four feet higher than the house plot at his new resettlement site, and the construction of a high enough plinth such that rainwater will not enter his house, will cost him forty thousand rupees. How does the Government expect him to build a house with the sixty thousand he'd have left over, he wonders. But not having a roof over his head in the near future is not the only cause of Madubhai's anxiety.

Since Bargi - the first major dam on the Narmada - was built upstream near Jabalpur in 1990, Madubhai's occupation of cultivating watermelon, muskmelon and vegetables on the sandy banks of the river has been continually disrupted. Watermelon and muskmelon are cultivated exactly at the level of the water table in the sand on the riverbed. These fruits grow on creepers. If the water level increases even by a foot, on the one hand, the creepers are completely submerged. On the other hand, if the water level goes down by a foot, their roots do not penetrate deep enough to be able to draw water.

Since the turbines of the Bargi dam became operational more than a decade and a half ago, the water adjoining Madubhai's riverbed land has been fluctuating by two to four feet in its level. When water would be released to run the turbines, it would enter the land. His saplings would rot. When the water would recede, he would make another attempt - sow again, only to be faced with another failed crop. His livelihood was buffeted in this manner by the capricious release of water from the Bargi dam, till the reservoir of the Sardar Sarovar dam downstream filled up. Now the riverbed was completely submerged, once and for all.

"Hamara to dhanda hi khatam ho gaya," he says matter-of-factly. From now on, he would have to rely solely on fishing to feed his family.

When the gates of the upstream Narmada Sagar dam were closed in 2003, the flow of the river near Madubhai's village reduced greatly. Further downstream, it dried up. Crocodiles, tortoises and fish died. Because this happened during the breeding season for fish, their eggs were destroyed as well. Since then, Madubhai has been unable to find enough fish in the river.

To add to his woes, his small shikari nav - about a foot and a half in height - can't ply the deep waters of the reservoir. With the equipment he owns - small nets, hooks and strings - he can't possibly fish in the dammed river, its nature having changed completely since its natural flow was hindered. This forces him to fish nearer to the riverbank. But when he puts out his strings with hooks in the water, they get stuck in the silt. Besides, fish prefer to stay within the reservoir instead of swimming to its muddy banks. And the few fish that are present at the boundaries can't be spotted.

As a result, Madubhai's income from fishing has plummeted as well. He can't even catch two kilos of fish in a day's work. His eleven member household needs two hundred rupees for their daily expenses. He is unable to procure loans from his contacts to meet these expenses, because without an income, he can't be trusted to repay them. For almost twenty years, his life and livelihood has been caught in the vortex of so-called development in the name of one dam or another. Some people might benefit from these dams, he admits. But for him, there was only loss, and more loss.

A view of the lane adjoining Madubhai's house

In spite of his grave predicament, Madubhai does have a little to be thankful for today, which will soon slip out of his hands too. Today, he is still able to catch some fish which keeps his house running, however unsatisfactorily. But in the near future, he fears that the Government will contract out fishing rights in the reservoir to a big player. Instead of hiring local fishworkers, this new contractor will prefer to bring labour from outside the area. Migrant labourers are easier to exploit, work longer hours and for lesser pay, as they can't form unions, don't have local contacts and can't speak the language of the region.

Such contracting of fishing rights to an outsider will destroy what little is left of Madubhai's earning potential. And despite his repeated requests and protests as a member of the NBA, the Government has so far refused to conduct even a preliminary survey of fishworkers, leave alone rehabilitating them.

When Madubhai first heard that a big dam would control the waters of the river he revered, he didn't believe the news. Navagam, the site of the proposed dam, was about 150 kilometres from his village along the Narmada. How could they build something so big that the river would rise to his doorstep? Only after the dam was built though, did he realize that the impossible was also possible. Besides, all through the years after he first heard about the dam, he never knew that its waters would drown his little world.

Did the Government not tell him anything about the catastrophe he'd have to face? Nothing. Not a word, he replies calmly. If only the Government had told him the truth, he would have joined the NBA many years before he did.

When the riverbed submerged for the first time, Madubhai's musk melons had grown, each weighing from a quarter to about three quarters of a kilo. That's when they had released water from the Bargi dam, he remembers bitterly. Along with other fishworkers, Madubhai had applied for compensation in the tehsil office. He and his co-workers were compensated anywhere between two and five thousand rupees. Since that first time, Madubhai's riverbed land was submerged often, but he never got a rupee in compensation. Nor is he able to find fish in the river now, unlike the time of that first submergence. Now only God can lead him to the other shore, he concludes helplessly.

To meet his expenses in such an extreme situation, Madubhai has had to resort to the last option: selling about a kilo of silver from his savings. Since his riverbed land completely submerged three years ago, the game is over for him. Before the waters of the dam drowned his livelihood, he remembers, his family would eat with joy. He was a carefree man then. But now, he has to borrow for everything from weddings to illnesses. He has a loan of about forty thousand rupees on his head. How will he repay it? Only God can find a way for us, is his only answer.

At the end of the day, does Madubhai have hope?

"What can I hope for?" he asks. "Hope is not of any use. God only shows good days. When the time comes, everything happens for the good. God is giving us dal-roti, life goes on, that is the biggest hope. No one has seen what happens tomorrow. Our children are not educated. We can't hope that our children will get into some service and progress in life. They are all fishermen. They eat whatever they can get by fishing in the Narmada and continue to live."

http://www.indiatogether.org/

Food fight over hunger - Prasenjit Maiti

March 2003 - A few state governments in India have of late waged a war of attrition with the Union Government over the contentious issue of providing cooked mid-day meals to underprivileged primary school children. This is primarily a central government-funded public welfare scheme where the center provides uncooked cereals (and transportation of food grains) free of cost. However, “cash-strapped” state governments plead inability to provide cooked meals to children in the below poverty level category, and seek to provide uncooked cereals instead (that too on an irregular basis), although it costs about Re.1 per child per day to provide cooked meals for the stipulated 200 days a year.

"The Calcutta High Court has ordered the Government of West Bengal to file a criminal law suit against the Inspector of Schools of Midnapore district on charges of selling mid-day meal rice in collusion with a local Block Development Officer"

The Supreme Court of India, the country's apex federal court, in an interim judgment, has recently ordered these state governments to immediately comply with the Union Government's regulations or else the center's aid to the states will be diverted to sponsor the mid-day meals project in primary schools. NGOs like the Right to Food and Work Network, Campaign against Child Labour, West Bengal Education Network and the Calcutta NGO Forum of Street and Working Children organised demonstrations by underprivileged children on 14 November 2002 — Children’s Day — in Calcutta and across West Bengal to protest against the state government’s inability to provide mid-day meals to primary school students.

Children mobilised a symbolic fund-raising drive with banners stating: “Our state government claims it doesn’t have the necessary money to provide us with food in our schools, so we’re begging for money from the common people. We shall send this money to chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee so that he can provide cooked meals to hungry children.” However, the government, citing financial shortages, hasn’t yet sanctioned Rs. 190 crore to provide cooked meals to about 95 lakh students in the state. The West Bengal government, in response to a Supreme Court ruling that states should not compromise with children’s food, had earlier petitioned that it was unable to implement the central government-funded mid-day meals project due to a severe funds crunch. But the apex court rejected the petition and cautioned on 3 September 2002 that Central aid to the states would be diverted for the meals project if cooked meals were not duly provided in schools.

The People’s Union for Civil Liberties (Rajasthan) filed a petition In May 2001 in connection with the “right to food” in the Supreme Court, demanding that the country’s food stock should be used without delay to prevent hunger. The Supreme Court, in its “interim order” passed on 28 November 2001, converted the benefits of eight nutrition-related federal schemes into legal entitlements and directed the state governments to provide cooked mid-day meals for all children in government and government-assisted schools:

“It is the case of the Union of India that there has been full compliance with regard to the Mid-Day Meal Scheme. However, if any of the States gives a specific instance of non-compliance, the Union of India will do the needful within the framework of the Scheme.

“We direct the State Governments to implement the Mid-Day Meal Scheme by providing every child in every Government and Government assisted Primary Schools with a prepared mid-day meal with a minimum content of 300 calories and 8-12 grams of protein each day of school for a minimum of 200 days. Those Governments providing dry rations instead of cooked meals must within three months [28 February 2002] start providing cooked meals in all Government and Government-aided Primary Schools in half of the Districts of the State (in order of poverty) and must within a further period of three months [28 May 2002] extend the provision of cooked meals to the remaining parts of the State

“We direct the Union of India and the Food Corporation of India to ensure provision of fair average quality grain for the Scheme on time.

“The States and the FCI are directed to do joint inspection of food grains. If the food grain is found, on joint inspection, not to be of fair average quality, it will be replaced by the FCI prior to lifting.”

This judgement revised the earlier arrangement under which primary school students were to be provided with 100 gm of wheat or rice for a minimum of 200 days in a year free of cost. However, states like Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand have violated the order of the Supreme Court by not implementing the project. Manipur also plans not to introduce the scheme. It has even submitted an interim application to the Supreme Court to this effect. Both Manipur and Mizoram have argued that mid day meals are not part of the eating habit of the people, and that children do not like to eat in the middle of the day, according to the Voice of the Asia-Pacific Human Rights Network.

The Tribune reported on 29 September 2002 that “The states did not have the money and the Center did not assist. The matter was taken up by the states with the Prime Minister and the Ministry of Human Resource Development leading to delay in filing affidavits by states, including Punjab.” The mid-day meal scheme happens to be one of the most resisted central schemes in federal India. This happens to be a central government scheme, but the states have to bear the costs of implementing it. This is one of the prime reasons for stiff resistance by the states.

The Hindu reported on 13 September 2002 that “Since the start of the new academic session a few months ago, the mid-day meal scheme is not being adequately implemented to nearly nine lakh children studying in 1,800 primary schools of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi. Whatever is being given to the students is unhygienic and sub-standard, the Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party has alleged, a charge denied by the ruling Congress. Further, services of private contractors are being taken for distributing fresh fruits to the students.”

The Jan Swasthya Abhiyan, an NGO, has reported that the Maharashtra government has issued an order to the effect that contributions for the scheme will come "voluntarily" from the villages themselves. Local bodies have even been cautioned that they will not receive the benefits of other central government schemes if they do not contribute to the mid-day meal scheme. The Times of India, a national daily, reported on 8 July 2002 that “The Maharashtra government has decided to wash its hands off the mid-day meal scheme for primary schools, claiming that it has no funds to provide cooked meals to students. The onus of running the scheme has been passed on to the gram panchayats (village-level institutions of decentralised governance).

Jean Dreze, Visiting Professor at the Delhi School of Economics, argues that “60 million tonnes of grain are lying idle in public warehouses. These food mountains have become a resilient national embarrassment. Grain withdrawn from these warehouses is effectively costless, since the procurement expenses have already been borne. In fact, using idle food stocks for school meals would save money, by reducing storage costs” (The Hindu, 21 May 2002).

There is something deeply defective about a democracy where people's basic needs count for so little in electoral politics.

Collective demands for mid-day meals were raised in more than a hundred districts of the country by way of public hearings, protest demonstrations, hunger rallies and the like on 9 April 2002. The unwilling states, however, are yet to comply. Demonstrations were held in each and every district of Bihar. Thousands of children clamored for mid-day meals in Patna, the capital city, with empty plates.

“One might have expected State Governments to welcome the school-meal programme as an opportunity to win votes at relatively low cost. Indeed, the scheme is likely to be quite popular, and it is not very expensive for the State Governments, given that the Central Government is supplying the grain for free. In most States, however, there is no sign of such enthusiasm. There is something deeply defective about a democracy where people's basic needs count for so little in electoral politics,” adds Dreze.