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Showing posts from October, 2017

Secrecy around J&K hydel project breeds suspicion on authorities’ intentions

By Venkatesh Nayak* Earlier this month, the Central Information Commission (CIC) refused to direct NHPC Ltd to open up details of negotiations regarding the return of hydel projects it operates in Jammu and Kashmir. The CIC treated NHPC — the Respondent in my second appeal matter, as a ‘third party’ as well and held that information about the negotiations would fall under the category of “commercial confidence” under Section 8(1)(d) of The Right to Information Act, 2005 (RTI Act). Ordinarily, while disseminating information about my RTI interventions, I only circulate the CIC’s order along with the relevant RTI documents without commenting on the decision, out of respect to the wisdom of the CIC. However, in the latest case, the CIC’s interpretation of Section 8(1)(d) of the RTI Act requires detailed comment. Further, the NHPC’s efforts to maintain secrecy about the negotiations contradict the repeated assertions of the Union Ministry of Power, since March 2015 that the Central Gover

Addressing mental health problem must to tackle farmers’ suicide

By Moin Qazi* "How many deaths will it take ‘til he knows That too many people have died The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind, The answer is blowin’ in the wind." –Bob Dylan, Nobel Laureate India’s economy may be soaring as it glows as the new poster-child of emerging markets, but agriculture remains its Achilles heel. It is the source of livelihood for hundreds of millions of people but a contributor of just a fraction of the nation’s total economy and a symbol of its abiding problems. Large swathes of cotton farms in the central India have been the epicentre of a debt crisis that has gripped the rural population. For years now, it has driven thousands of farmers to commit suicide. These suicides are debilitating scars on a nation’s development canvas. While debates continue to rage on reforming the agricultural sector to improve the economic conditions of the farmer, there has not been any serious attempt to focus on the possible psychological problems arising out

Rural women need to compete more actively in the present political game

By Moin Qazi* Men and women should own the world as a mutual possession. ― Pearl S. Buck Structural barriers and discriminatory social norms continue to constrain women’s decision-making power and political participation in rural households and communities. Women and girls in rural areas lack equal access to productive resources and assets, public services, such as education and health care, and infrastructure, including water and sanitation, while much of their labour remains invisible and unpaid, even as their workloads become increasingly heavy due to the out-migration of men. Globally, with few exceptions, every gender and development indicator for which data are available reveals that rural women fare worse than rural men and urban women, and that they disproportionately experience poverty, exclusion and the effects of climate change. As the world observed International Day of Rural Women on 15th October, India has an envious record for empowering village women in a big way . Ev

Mental healthcare: India faces treatment gap of 50-70%

By Moin Qazi* According to an India Spend report, the number of Indians suffering from mental illness exceeds that of the population of South Africa. At present, the mentally ill account for nearly 6.5 percent of the country’s population and it is estimated that by 2020 this number will increase to a staggering 20 percent. Further, the World Health Organisation estimates that nearly 56 million Indians — or 4.5% of India’s population — suffer from depression . Another 38 million Indians –or 3% of India’s population -suffer from anxiety disorders. Many of these people live with both. . Many of these illnesses can be treated, but access to treatment is often difficult, and stigma continues to scare individuals away from seeking diagnosis and appropriate treatments even when they are available. As the world observed World Mental Health Day on 10th October, it is time India renews its efforts to improve the mental health services. The abysmal state of mental health care in the country is

Order to appoint public authorities for Black Money SIT under RTI a major breakthrough

By Venkatesh Nayak* The Central Information Commission (CIC) has held the Special Investigation Team (SIT) constituted by the Government of India to investigate all matters relating to ‘black money’ (assets stashed away without accounting for tax purposes) to be a public authority under the Right to Information Act, 2005 (RTI Act). The Black Money SIT headed by two retired Justices of the Supreme Court and comprising of senior representatives of various ministries, departments and agencies engaged in ensuring law enforcement and tax compliance was set up within a few days of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) taking over the reins of power in Delhi, in May 2014. Readers will remember that the SIT was constituted in compliance of the directives of the Supreme Court in the matter of Ram Jethmalani & Ors vs Union of India & Ors. (popularly known as the black money case and a landmark judgement in RTI jurisprudence). ( CLICK HERE for the CIC’s detailed order in this case) Bac

What can learnone from Godhra train burning case: Do we need to invest in hi-speed trains?

By Gagan Sethi*  The Gujarat High Court’s decision to commute the death sentence into life imprisonment to 11 of the convicts involved in the gruesome Godhra train burning case of February 27, 2002, even as sharply criticising the Gujarat government and the Indian Railways for miserably failing to maintain the law and order, has opened up fresh possibilities of re-examining the event, which triggered one of the worst anti-minority riots in independent India. While the HC has, at the same time, refused to change the trial court verdict, which acquitted 63 persons, including Maulvi Umarji, accused of being the mastermind behind the fire, there is reason to wonder what led to the incident, which was immediately described by the Gujarat government as a “criminal conspiracy” hatched in Pakistan, without even waiting for the investigators begin doing their job to find out how on that fateful date 58 people, most of them kar sevaks returning from Ayodhya, were burnt alive. While one can never

Sporting moustache: To Dalit women it's symbol of humiliation, exploitation

By Martin Macwan* The father of the boy who was assaulted by sharp razor on October 3 by two assailants riding a motorcycle without number plate and covered faces sports the biggest and twisted moustache I witnessed in village Limbodra of Mansa taluka. His moustache is not new or recent, as I saw his past photographs. He has been working as an agricultural labourer, mostly on the farms of Kshatriya landowners, engaged in specialized job of cross fertilizing the BT cotton flowers. He also has the work award of chopping the wood in the village Panchayat that adds to his income. Never before his moustache has been a problem to the Kshatriya population, which forms the majority in the village. I met about 40 Dalit men in the village, young and old, and most had moustache, although not big and twirled. Everyone had grown moustache and unshaved beards, which is due to the fact that, on account of untouchability, the village barber does not give them a shave or haircut. They have to travel ab

Techniques, resources can't get rid of rural poverty. We need the will

By Moin Qazi* Before I opted for a rural career, I had always imagined that all rural poor wee dimwitted and this was the primary reason of their misery. Most people whom I consulted before embarking on my rural mission admired my aspiration but moderated my enthusiasm with caveats. “They know a lot more than we do. You can at best learn from them.” “Don’t try to supplant their culture; that will be the greatest disservice.” I initially wrote off these responses as an attempt to unnerve me. Later I realized that these advices were not pure banter. My fertile, overheated conscience was further stung by my academic reading of the sufferings of people in Latin American countries. Driven by guilt, buried under the weight of my attractive job and haunted by the sight of excruciating poverty every day, I volunteered to spend the weekends off from my office with villagers, trying to make up for the fact that I had so much while they had so little. In my early days a career in banking truly ap

Why are positive impacts of activists’ movements not reaching ordinary people?

By Rohit Prajapati* We talked, a few years back, about “Occupy Wall Street” and other parallel slogans. But we forget that our battles are not only with the physical occupation, but also with the present capitalist development model pursued by the authoritarian, reactionary, rightist, communal, casteist, fundamentalist, fascist forces, both in the world as also in our country, that now occupy the minds of the masses. The challenges to those involved in peoples’ struggles for a just and fair society in present times in India, as well as in most countries, have increased manifold. As in India, including in many European countries and the United States of America (USA) – considered as bastions of liberal democracies, governments are now headed by right wing figureheads espousing fascism or extreme authoritarianism, often cloaked in nationalism, inequitable capitalistic economic policies and sustainable growth-development model. This is not new and is known to most of us involved in people