NAPM condemns the brutal killings and lathicharge on Srikakulam villagers

NAPM welcomes quashing of Sompeta Thermal Plant Environmental Clearance by NEEA and SHRC Order calling for withdrawal of police and explanation by Collector

Government must scrap PCPIR Proposal and consult people first

National Alliance of People’s Movements strongly condemns the brutal firing of three villagers and ruthless lathi-charge on hundreds of peaceful protesters in the Sompeta Mandal of Srikakulm district, resisting the Thermal Power Project by the Nagarjuna Construction Company, which is to prove a major threat to the livelihoods of hundreds of farmers, fish workers and rural artisans and also irreversibly destroy the fragile ecology in the region.

It is clear that the act of unjust provocation and violence has been the working of the goons let out by the company and the police administration. With a situation of life and death confronted by them, yet determined to save their lands and livelihoods, the people faced the police, but were subjected to severe lathicharge and many villagers, including women and leading persons of the struggle like Krishnamurthy, were overpowered by the police and thrashed on the road. It is also reported that one woman was molested during the altercation.

Responding to an urgent petition filed before it by S. Jeevan Kumar of Human Rights Forum, Justice B. Subhashan Reddy of the A.P. Human Rights Commission yesterday directed the state administration to immediately (within 10 minutes) withdraw the two-thousand strong police force deployed in the area to silence the people’s voices. It also directed the District Collector to furnish a detailed report on the entire issue by July 16th. After yesterday’s killings and brutality, another petition has been filed before the Human Rights Commission today by NAPM and other groups.

National Convenors of NAPM including Medha Patkar, Sandeep Pandey and others activists like Shankar Sharma have strongly reacted to the brutality unleashed on the nature-based communities and shall visit the area soon to express solidarity with the people and stand by their side in their assertion for participatory development and livelihood with dignity. Due to the SHRC intervention and wide-spread support to the people’s struggle, the police has dared not detain any one in its custody. Along with many democratic organizations, NAPM (A.P.) has called for a Dharna at Indra Park in Hyderabad on 17th July to denounce the indefensible firings and a team including activists Ramakrishnam Raju, Ajay Kumar and Ratnam shall visit the place on the 18th July.

The silver lining amidst this dismal scenario is that the National Environment Appellate Authority (NEAA) today quashed the environment clearance granted to the Sompeta Thermal Power Plant citing “concealment of information and non-disclosure with respect to the nature of the land” as the reasons. The NEAA also directed that “no new power project be approved in the State of Andhra Pradesh till a survey of all wetlands is completed”.

When the case was listed before the NEAA yesterday, the atrocities were immediately brought to its notice, since the firing was on even at the time of the hearing. Mr. ADM Rao, representing NCC stated that the company was only trying to ‘demarcate the boundaries’ and assured that he will immediately direct the company to stop all construction. It is an act of gross misrepresentation that the agro-rich Sompeta Beela and the surrounding villages have been shown as a barren, degraded waste land and without any ecological value.

The people and the locals are deeply anguished by the events, but have expressed their resolve to strengthen their ‘satyagraha’ and not to budge even by an inch to give away their lands, their beela and their eco-rich life system. The statement by the state government that the people should not come in the way of development is ridiculous and highly unacceptable. If development is to flow from the barrel of the gun and be guided by lathis, resulting only in large scale displacement, destruction of livelihoods and ecology, threatening agricultural sustainability and food security, is such development really needed, the people ask? While on the other hand, the State is the main cause of the soaring inflation, putting the ordinary people to intense distress.

It is also unfortunate that leaders of major political parties who did not, for once, respond meaningfully to the peaceful struggle of the people in Sompeta for almost two years are now trying to show sympathy on the dead bodies, which is nothing more than a vote-gathering exercise. It is also a known fact that the NCC itself, as is the case with many corporate majors, has strong political links with some of these parties and it could not have had its way, without political patronage.

We hope the politicians will not play politics in this hour of pain, but will use this as an opportunity to realise how faulty development policies can only lead to social unrest and immediately initiate corrective actions, cutting across party lines. One major concern in the state is the proposal to have hundreds of similar thermal plans and SEZs in the ‘Coastal Corridor’ spread across 9 districts (as part of the PCPIR), which will wreak havoc across the entire Andhra Coast and displace lakhs of farmers, fish workers and create irreversible ecological destruction. NAPM seeks an urgent political consensus on the PCPIR issue and demands that the entire Project be scrapped.

NAPM also demands the State Government to comply with the SHRC Order and immediately withdraw the police force, stop all land acquisition and construction activity for the NCC Plant, compensate the deceased families and the injured, scrap the PCPIR Project and the undertake mandatory consultation with every Gram Sabhas, before planning and embarking on any Project. People affected by hydro and thermal plants in various states across the country are to meet in Bhopal on the 1st and 2nd August and shall plan to discuss, raise and address the issues related to politics of energy vis-a-vis people’s development needs.

Contact for details:

Ramakrishnam Raju: 09866787299 (Hyderabad)
Madhuresh – New Delhi (09818905316)
Ratnam: 9441319996 (Vishakapatnam)
Shrikanth (09179148973)

 (Sanhati)

Environment clearance to thermal power plant cancelled

The Andhra Pradesh government's alleged attempt to ride roughshod over the Environment Protection Act 1986 to allow a massive private thermal power plant on the wetlands of Srikakulam district has failed.
In a major setback to the government and Nagarjuna [ Images ] Construction Company, the National Environmental Appellate Authority has cancelled the environment clearance granted to the project by the Union environment ministry on the ground that it was given without proper and detailed study of the impact the project would have on the fragile ecology of the area.
The order came a day after the violent protests by the local farmers, fishermen and other people led to police firing resulting in the death of at least four people.
On a petition filed by Forum for Better Visakha, Committee for Protection of Environment, Sompeta, and another non-governmental organisation Samata, the tribunal said the clearance could not be given to such a project without proper assessment of the area where the project was being located.
Petitioners alleged that the 2,640 MW thermal power project was being set up in precious wetland areas near a bird sanctuary. The plant was proposed to be built on an area of 1,800 acres with an investment of Rs 12,000 crore.
The tussle over the plant between the locals on one hand and the government and the private company on the other erupted into violence when 3,000 policemen were mobilised in and around Sompeta town to fire at the protestors who had gathered near the plant site.
State Revenue Minister Dharmana Prasad Rao, who is in trouble for allegedly making provocative statements in support of the plant, told the state assembly that only wasteland was allotted for the project and the government was keen to set up such plants as it would give a boost to industrial development and provide employment opportunities to thousands.
The opposition parties and locals have alleged that there was a nexus between ruling Congress party leaders and the private sector company, and that the police was used as a private army to suppress the opposition.
However, Chief Minister K Rosaiah said the state government would go by the orders of the appellate authority on environment and take steps to stop the work on the plant.
Admitting that the mobilisation of policemen had raised suspicion, he said the entire incident would be probed.
The chief minister also announced an ex gratia of Rs 5 lakh to the family of each victim of the police firing.
The cancellation of environmental clearance to Nagarjuna plant was likely to have an adverse impact on six other power plants to be set up in the district with an investment of RS 85,000 crore to generate 10,000 MW power.
Many of them are coming up in wetland areas and the local people fear for their livelihood, fertile land and water resources.
The police firing incident has rocked the state assembly. The opposition, especially the Telugu Desam Party stalled the proceedings of the House on Thursday demanding resignation of Dharmana Prasad Rao.
Opposition parties and environment experts said they were surprised that at a time when thermal power plants are being opposed across the world, the state government wanted to go for so many thermal power plants in a single district.

 

(Rediff)

Different way of Resistance...

by RISHI MAJUMDER in Punjab (Tehelka)

AS SHE looked down at thousands of people below, and at news cameras broadcasting her story through the country, Kiranjit Kaur Attwal, 27, knew she would have to die. She had reached the end of the road.

She, along with 369 other teachers under a Punjab Government’s Education Guarantee Scheme (EGS), had asked the state to allow them to take their Class 12 examinations again, so they could try and qualify for an Elementary Teachers Training (ETT) course that might land them a government teacher’s job. The EGS paid them Rs 1,100 a month. After ETT they might earn Rs 20,000 a month. Their Class 12 marks were below the cut-off required for the ETT. But because they had put in years as EGS teachers, they wanted another shot. The government refused.

So, on February 7, 2010, Kiranjit and three other teachers climbed an 85 feet high water tank tower near Education Minister Upenderjit Kaur’s home at Kapurthala. They threatened to immolate themselves if their demands were not met. The government did not respond. DSP Bahadur Singh, who was in charge of the 100-odd policemen around the water tank, abused them and told them to stop their “naatak” (drama).

Then & now Girls from the AIE Teachers Union on a water tank tower at Bokhra threaten to immolate themselves on June 22 (main picture); Kiranjit Kaur Attwal in flames on February 7, at Kapurthala (inset)

There was no going back now. The teachers doused themselves with petrol. They tried to light a match, but the wind blew it out. So they lit a shawl they would set themselves afire with. As the shawl burst into flames, the teachers jumped back in horror. But Kiranjit was already ablaze. She was holding the bottle of petrol in her hands, and the flames engulfed her.

The next day, Kiranjit died. But in death, she spawned a trend. An inquiry against Bahadur Singh was ordered. Kiranjit’s family was given Rs 10 lakh compensation, and her brother a policeman’s job. Most importantly, 369 EGS teachers were allowed to take their Class 12 examinations again to try and enroll in the ETT course — and move closer to employment.

What employment? Since Kiranjit’s death, there has been, on an average, one water tower suicide attempt every week. “Water tank suicide threats would happen earlier as well,” says Pavan Kumar, Vice-President of the Unemployed ETT Teachers Union, Punjab. “But after the Kiranjit episode, these threats are taken seriously.” Kumar’s union has teachers who have completed the ETT course Kiranjit sought to enter. But they’re still unemployed. They’ve demanded that the government reserve government teacher’s posts for those who have done their ETT from Punjab, not other states.

So, teachers from the ETT Unemployed Teachers Union were next to climb a water tank tower, at Sunam

on February 24 — because the same education minister was visiting a college there. There were three more water tank tower suicide attempts at places where the minister was present. After continuously agreeing to and deferring a decision on the demands for reservation, the government finally agreed to reserve 70 percent seats for those who have done their ETT from Punjab. This came after a water tank tower suicide attempt on May 30.

Family mourning Kiranjit Kaur Attwal’s family — (L to R) father Jangir Singh, younger brother Ramanpreet and mother Charanjeet at their Faridkot home

Three martyrs (L to R) Ramandeep Singh, Sunny Sandhey and Paramvir Singh of the Unemployed ETT Teachers Union, at the Sangrur water tank tower they had climbed

This was at Sangrur, next to the district court. This is where Pavan Kumar and the boys who climbed this tower are talking to us. Seeing them, the constable guarding the tower radios in for reinforcements. The tower is soon surrounded by policemen on motorcycles — some with lathis, some with machine guns. This is how terrified the Punjab Government is today — of unemployed youth climbing water tank towers. Sangrur and some other districts have issued orders for demolishing the open staircases of water towers six feet from the ground. In still other districts this height is up to the level that a local fire engine ladder can reach. Till this is done, some staircases have been walled in from all sides and a locked door put up at their entrance.

SOME HAVE constables guarding them. Even water tanks in rural areas have been temporarily secured with thorny bushes stacked along the staircase. For new water tank towers, the government is planning to pass a law that they will be built with staircases enclosed in a concrete column. Also, safety nets are being procured for keeping near water tanks, to avoid embarrassments like in Sangrur and Bhatinda. In Sangrur, a net was borrowed from a nearby army camp and in Bhatinda, the police had to procure theirs from a visiting circus.

Suicide victims Jagdeep Singh’s family at their home in Gonyana Mandi, Bhatinda — mother Salinder Kaur, father Majar Singh and brother Mandeep Singh

Guarding lives Constables from Punjab Police guard a water tank at Jatoi Mandi , Faridkot, to prevent stray climbers from reaching the top

But why are these suicide threats being made for government jobs? Says Paramvir Singh, who threatened suicide from the water tank at Sangrur: “Private jobs are not available in small towns, and we are not qualified enough for jobs in cities.” He says the courses in small towns and rural areas — like the ETT course — qualify them only for government jobs. Even if there were professional courses like, say, engineering in Sangrur, they are barely recognised in the cities.

On June 15, members of the Veterinary Pharmacists Union climbed a water tank at Bhatinda to procure employment for 400 members. Four have already killed themselves. One of them was Jagdeep Singh, unemployed since 2003. He returned home from a hunger strike on July 22, 2009. The next night, his mother Salinder Kaur remembers having the following conversation.

We are two For Rekha Bains, a government teacher’s job means she can fend for herself and her four-year-old son Armaan

JAGDEEP: I should get a job soon.
SALINDER: You’ve cut your hair very well.
JAGDEEP: We had a hunger strike today. If they still don’t give us jobs, some of us will climb a water tank tower and threaten suicide.
SALINDER: Why risk your life?
JAGDEEP: Don’t worry. I won’t die. The police will bring a net. If I have to jump, I’ll jump on that.

The next afternoon his body was found in a reservoir. There were no wounds. The police registered a case of suicide by drowning. The most recent suicide threat from a water tank tower in Punjab is by members of the AIE (Alternative Innovative Education) Teachers Union on June 21. Like Kiranjit, five teachers climbed a 90 feet tall water tank tower at Bhokhra village, near Bhatinda and threatened to immolate themselves.

And like Kiranjit, they wanted admission into the ETT course so they could be employed as government teachers in future. One of them is Rekha Bains, 25, from Tehuthian Wali village in Mansa district. Separated from her husband, she lives with her parents and fouryear- old son Armaan. “A job is the only security one can hope for a daughter today,” says her father, Balwant Singh. “Not marriage.” But will completing this course guarantee them employment in Punjab? Or will they have to climb a water tank again? Kiranjit did not live to answer this question.

The Injustice

At The Heart Of It with Shoma Chaudhury - June 28, 2010 - The Bhopal Verdict

55% of India's population poor: Report

NEW DELHI: India's abysmal track record at ensuring basic levels of nutrition is the greatest contributor to its poverty as measured by the new international Multi-dimensional Poverty Index (MPI). About 645 million people or 55% of India's population is poor as measured by this composite indicator made up of ten markers of education, health and standard of living achievement levels.
Developed by the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI) for the United Nations Development Programmes (UNDP) forthcoming 2010 Human Development Report, the MPI attempts to capture more than just income poverty at the household level. It is composed of ten indicators: years of schooling and child enrollment (education); child mortality and nutrition (health); and electricity, flooring, drinking water, sanitation, cooking fuel and assets (standard of living). Each education and health indicator has a 1/6 weight, each standard of living indicator a 1/18 weight.
The new data also shows that even in states generally perceived as prosperous such as Haryana, Gujarat and Karnataka, more than 40% of the population is poor by the new composite measure, while Kerala is the only state in which the poor constitute less than 20%. The MPI measures both the incidence of poverty and its intensity. A person is defined as poor if he or she is deprived on at least 3 of the 10 indicators. By this definition, 55% of India was poor, close to double India's much-criticised official poverty figure of 29%. Almost 20% of Indians are deprived on 6 of the 10 indicators.
Nutritional deprivation is overwhelmingly the largest factor in overall poverty, unsurprising given that half of all children in India are under-nourished according to the National Family Health Survey III (2005-06). Close to 40% of those who are defined as poor are also nutritionally deprived. In fact, the contribution of nutrition to the overall MPI is even greater in urban than rural India.
A comparison of the state of Madhya Pradesh and the sub-Saharan nation of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), which have close to the same population and a similar MPI (0.389 and 0.393 respectively), shows that nutritional deprivation, arguably the most fundamental part of poverty, in MP far exceeds that in the DRC. Nutritional deprivation contributes to almost 20% of MP's MPI and only 5% of the DRC's MPI. MP's drinking water, electricity and child mortality levels are better than that of the DRC.
Multi-dimensional poverty is highest (81.4% poor) among Scheduled Tribes within India's Hindu population, followed by Scheduled Castes (65.8%), Other Backward Class (58.3%) and finally the general population (33.3%).
There is significant variation between the poverty incidence in various states as per the MPI and as per the Indian Planning Commission's official figures. Based on the MPI, Bihar has by far the most poor of any state in the country, with 81.4% of its population defined as poor, which is close to 12% more than the next worst state of Uttar Pradesh.
As per the Planning Commission's figures, 41.4% of Bihar and 32.8% of UP is poor. In a possible indication of inadequate access to health and education facilities which do not show up in income poverty, almost 60% of north-east India and close to 50% of Jammu & Kashmir are poor as per the MPI, while the Planning Commission figures are around 16% and 5% respectively.
The findings would provide further ballast to the argument of some economists that India's official poverty estimation methods are too narrowly focused to capture the real extent of deprivation in the country.

(Times of India)