De-commanded A right to information (RTI) application has revealed that the Gujarat government has acquired and handed over a whopping 81.95 crore square metres of land to top industrial houses, most of it dirt cheap, over the last one decade. It also revealed that the price at which the land -- which belonged to farmers, or was common village gochal land meant for cattle -- varied between a mere Re 1 to Rs 900, depending on the area, but in every case much less than the prevailing market rate.

  The Planning Commission of India’s new report put out in July 2013, “Poverty Estimates 2011-12”, which based on the National Sample Survey’s “Key Indicators of Employment and Unemployment in India, 2011-12”, published in spring 2013, has gone a long way to disprove state government propaganda that Gujarat’s gharib kalyan melas, held last year ahead of the state assembly elections, suggested a “model for other states to follow for reducing poverty”. A counterview.org analysis of comparison between 20 major states suggests that things have not been as rosy in Gujarat, as has been suggested. There is no doubt that, as data suggest, after 2004-05, there has been acceleration in the rate of poverty reduction. But this is true of the entire country, and not special to Gujarat.

  Latest Planning Commission estimates suggest a major setback to Gujarat as far as poverty reduction is concerned. If between 2004 and 2010, Gujarat witnessed 8.6 per cent reduction in poverty, which was higher than the national average of 7.4 per cent, between 2010 and 2012 not only the percentage of poverty reduction come down to 6.4 per cent, it was below the national average of 7.9 per cent, too. Worse, if during 2004-10 Gujarat’s poverty reduction rate was higher than in as many as eight states, the number of states which saw a higher poverty reduction in the 2010-12 phase went up to 10 out of 20 major states.

Top Gujarat-based social scientist, Prof Ghanshyam Shah, has accused the Gujarat government of "overtly and covertly undermined the existing labour laws which provide some protection to workers" in order to invite investments in Gujarat. "The state government has amended labour legislations to provide freedom to industry to employ labour on contract basis", he said, adding, the result is, "Ahmedabad has the lowest labour costs among the major cities in India, with labour costs less than 50 per cent of those in Delhi and 40 per cent below those in Pune."

Gujarat government-sponsored environmental public hearing for the proposed Rs 4,000 crore Bharbhut barrage project on river Narmada’s mouth in Bharuch district has proved to a non-starter. While as many as 1,500 farmers and fisherfolk turned up to attend the hearing on July 19, they all walked out, en mass, soon after sharply registering their protest against the proposed project as “anti-people”. The walkout took place immediately after Pravin Tandel, the fisherfolks’ local leader, spoke saying the project would “adversely affect the fish catch, especially Hisla, once the it is implemented.”

In Bt cotton field A high-level consultation in Ahmedabad by the National Commission for the Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), New Delhi, a statutory body under the ministry of woman and child, Government of India, is said to have left several state non-government organisations (NGOs) dissatisfied over the top body's refusal to show transparency. Chaired by Nina Nayak, member, NCPCR, with consultant Swati Chavla sitting next to her, a statement by Dalit Hak Rakshak Manch (DHRM), one of the participating organisations, said, while the meeting was meant for discussing issues on child rights, the media was not invited. On the other hand, state intelligence bureau (IB) persons sat through to note what all Gujarat activists had to say.

Close on the heels of the latest National Sample Survey Organization (NSSO) data having revealed that average wages paid both in organized and unorganized sectors in Gujarat are one of the lowest in the country, a new study has found that the rise wages in the state has remained dormant for nearly a decade. Carried out by AV Jose, formerly with the International Labour Organisation's permanent secretariat in Geneva, and now associated with the Centre for Development Studies, Thiruvananthapuram, the study, titled “Changes in Wages and Earnings of Rural Labourers” has found that an average male worker in Gujarat who earned Rs 100 in 2001, earned Rs 114 in 2010, while the average female worker who earned Rs 100 in 2001, earned Rs 119 in 2010.

The Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation (GSPC), the premier state public sector undertaking (PSU), has again failed to get environmental and coastal regulatory zone (CRZ) clearance for its proposed onshore gas terminal, a 20 MW captive power plant, 20 underground gas pipelines along with optical fibre cable (OFC), and 10 inches effluent disposal pipeline -- of which it badly needs for commercial production of KG basin gas it struck several years ago. Some of these facilities were to pass through CRZ area of Yanam-Puducherry along the Andhra Pradesh coast. It simultaneously  failed to get clearance for its offshore process-cum-living quarter platform in KG Basin in Andhra sea, where the top PSU had claimed in 2005 to have found 20 trillion cubic metres (tcf) of gas -- a claim which has been questioned.

Is the Gujarat government hiding a high dropout rate at the primary level in the state, especially at the lower level (grades 1 to 5)? It would seem so, considering that the latest data, provided by the Gujarat government to the Union ministry of human resources suggest a very high "repetition rate" at the lower primary level, 6.67 per cent, as against the national average of half as much, 3.17 per cent. In fact, it is the the second highest in the country -- next to West Bengal's 10.90 per cent and equal to Bihar. The data are reflected in the latest "Flash Statistics" of "Elementary Education in India: Towards Universal Elementary Education", put out by the Government of India, put out this month.

R Parthasarathy Recently, a prominent Gujarat-based activist handed me over a Gujarat government-sponsored report, "Impact of Caste Discrimination and Distinctions on Equal Opportunities: A Study of Gujarat", drafted in May 2013. Authored by a few CEPT University, Ahmedabad, scholars led by Prof R Parthasarathy, whom I know as a fine academic, I scanned through the report but was not shocked, as I knew it would simply reflect the mindset of the Gujarat government, especially when the issue involved is rather ticklish - untouchability. It calls caste discrimination a matter of "perceptions", but so what? What does one expect from a government headed by Narendra Modi? Let me recall, in 2007 Modi got published some of his speeches he had delivered at the annual bureaucratic conclave, Chintan Shibir, in a book, "Karmayog", where he said, Valmikis cleaning up others' dirt was nothing but "an internal spiritual activity" which has "continued g...

Latest data released by the Government of India’s District Information System for Education (DISE), which claims to be the basis for assessing the progress under Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) and the status of implementation of the Right to Education (RTE) Act, suggest that primary education remains an area of much concern in Gujarat, despite wide-scale efforts made by the Gujarat government through its Kanya Kelavni school enrolment drive. Provisional flash statistics published in the just-released book, “Elementary Education in India: Progress towards Universal Elementary Education (UEE)”, go to show that Gujarat is strong in education-related infrastructure and can claim to doing much better than most states on this score, but when it comes to human resource development, which is the primary aim of education, it is one of the worst performers. Indeed, whether it is number of classrooms, number of kitchen sheds for midday meal scheme, number of computers in schools, drinking water faci...

  Gujarat is witnessing a unique movement against the proposed amendment to the right to information (RTI) Act, which seeks to keep political parties out of the RTI ambit. While all political parties are supporting the amendment, a campaign by the Mahiiti Adhikar Gujarat Pahel (MAGP) has shown people are against it. The campaign -- which is spread to major cities, towns and villages -- last reached Surat, where awareness meetings were held in City Light Area, Maharana Pratap Garden and SVR college, Udhna-Magdalla road and Varachha road.

 Lalji Desai and Sagar Rabari, main leaders of the Jameen Adhikar Andolan Gujarat (JAAG), have claimed "victory of the people’s movement" against the Mandal-Bechraji special investment region (SIR). A statement issued by them suggests that they were "convinced" by Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi, who met them in Gandhinagar on Thursday. The meeting came amidst apprehensions among a section of activists fighting against the SIR that the movement would fizzle out, as it is mainly led by rich and propertied land owners, who had limited interest in ensuring that their landed interests were taken care of. Only one demand appeared to have been satisfied, that the Narmada command would not be de-commanded.

  It is finally official. The proposed barrage at Bharbhut, which is to be built for Rs 4,000 crore on the mouth of Narmada river, and for whom an environmental public hearing is expected to take place on July 19 in Bharuch district, is slated to serve the corporate houses, who have heavily invested in the Bharuch-Dahej region. This is clear from the data provided by the state-sponsored report, "Environmental Impact and Risk Assessment for the Proposed Barrage Across River Narmada near Bhadbhut, Dist. Bharuch", by top consulting firm National Environmental Engineering Research Institute.

  The new state-sponsored report, “Environmental Impact and Risk Assessment for the Proposed Barrage across River Narmada near Bhadbhut, Dist. Bharuch”, by Government of India consultants National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI), has insisted on a “study of catastrophic flooding that may occur in the event of barrage … failure is of great concern and importance because of the risk of life and property in the down stream of the structure.” The report has been prepared for discussion at the environmental pubic hearing on the Rs 4,000 crore Bharbhut project, to take place on July 19 near Bharbhut.

  In a major admission, a state-sponsored study, “Environmental Impact and Risk Assessment for the Proposed Barrage Across River Narmada near Bhadbhut, Dist. Bharuch”, by top consultants National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI), has said that “in the event of construction of the barrage and the creation of the fresh water reservoir at the barrage, the concern of the fishermen regarding deprivation of the presently available fishing advantage is quite genuine that deserves very careful consideration for policy-level action.”

Locked toilet in a Kutch school A high-level National Protection for the Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) team is expected to visit Gujarat in the third week of July this year on the basis of inquiries it made following a recent NGO survey, “Study on Implementation of Right to Education (RTE) Act, 2009”, which found that the Gujarat government has failed to implement the main provisions of the RTE. According to informed sources, the team is likely to particularly focus on Kutch schools, from where it got ground-level reports that the situation with regard to implementation of RTE is the worst, especially in the remote villages.

In a major criticism of Gujarat's social sector, United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), has said that "from an ancient shipping power to modern-day industrial state, Gujarat is known for its vibrant economy", and "located on India’s west coast, the state has a bustling economy that offers families a per capita income which is higher than the national average" -- but as for "social development indicators" these "have not been able to keep pace with economic development in this state of over 60 million people."

The latest National Sample Survey Organization (NSSO) report, “Key Indicators of Household Consumer Expenditure in India” , released in June 2013 and based on sample survey in 2011 and 2012, does not just suggest that the average Gujarati both in rural and urban areas is forced to spend a higher proportion on food items compared to non-food items, which include anything ranging from paan and tobacco to clothing, footwear, fuel and light, transportation, education, health and entertainment.  The NSSO data also suggest that while the average Gujarati would like to “save” on education and healthcare, thereby spending a relatively smaller amount than most other states on the items under the two categories, he diverts his attention towards spending a much higher sum on edible oil, milk and milk products and paan, tobacco and intoxicants. At the same time, the survey finds out that the average Gujarati spends less on cereals, a major source of nutrition in a state where consumption of eg...

The latest Gujarat government-sponsored and CEPT University-prepared study, “Impact of Caste Discrimination and Distinctions on Equal Opportunities: A Study of Gujarat” — whose declared effort is to “review” the 2010 report prepared by the John F Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights and Navsarjan Trust, “Understanding Untouchability” — may have undermined untouchability as some kind of a “perception” issue. 

  The Narendra Modi government is learnt to have worked out a complete plan to reach out to the national media by hiring a top public relations (PR) management firm with headquarters in Delhi. Sources in the Commissionerate of Information, Government of Gujarat, say, the state government "intends to appoint a PR firm to create awareness about brand ‘Gujarat’ across India and the globe." The sources added, the aim is to "position Gujarat as one of India’s leading states across sectors by increasing visibility and enhancing ‘top of mind’ recall so as to make it an ideal destination amongst various stakeholders."

A Gujarat government-sponsored study, “Impact of Caste Discrimination and Distinctions on Equal Opportunities”, put out in May 2013, has sought to give the impression that issues of caste discrimination in Gujarat “are largely related to perceptions”, suggesting these should therefore be taken with a pinch of salt. At best, it underlines, caste discrimination is an issue related with “past practices involving a historically determined context”.