National Green Tribunal halts all construction activity in Challakere Amrut Mahal Kavals,

Justice Mr. M. Chockalingam (Judicial Member) and Prof. Dr. R. Nagendran (Expert Member) constituting the National Green Tribunal (Southern Zone Bench), issued a direction on 14th February 2014 halting all construction in the ecologically sensitive Amrut Mahal Kaval grassland ecosystems in Challakere Taluk, Chitradurga district, Karnataka. The direction was issued in response to complaints raised by undersigned Petitioners before the Tribunal that various agencies that had been allocated
lands for their projects in the Kaval had commenced construction without securing permission from the Karnataka Forest Department and Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) for diversion of forest land to non-forest purpose based on ecological assessments.

Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO) which is proposing construction of a massive weaponised drone testing and manufacture project, had already commenced extensive construction operations. In particular referring to this, the Tribunal ordered:

“The counsel for the DRDO on instructions from the official, who is present, would submit that the construction activities are continuing. It is pertinent to point out that whether the construction activities now being carried out by DRDO lies in the reserve forest or not is the subject matter to be decided by the Tribunal. In view of the factual position and circumstances, it would be fit and proper to issue a direction to DRDO to stop further construction until further orders of the Tribunal and accordingly a direction is issued to DRDO to stop construction activities in the subject matter land until further orders.” (Emphasis supplied)

Besides DRDO other agencies allotted these grassland ecosystems that form habitat for critically endangered Great Indian Bustard and Lesser Florican, highly threatened Black Buck, and support livelihoods of thousands of pastoral communities include Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC – nuclear fuel enrichment), Indian Institute of Science (IISc – building a synchrotron), Indian Space
Research Organisation (ISRO – space applications), Sagitaur (private company to build a solar pond), Karnataka Housing Board (KHB – construction of villas), etc. Several of these agencies have begun project activities by building high security walls, undertaken massive project construction and also blocked access of local communities to the Kavals. The 10,000 acres of Amrithmahal Kavals found here form the last contiguous stretch of grasslands left in Karnataka state. At the time of independence, the State had over 450,000 acres of Kavals, and only 30,000 acres are now left. Such systematic and reckless diversion of ecological commons has caused agony to thousands of pastoral and farming families dependent on these Kavals for their livelihoods.

Challenging this diversion before the National Green Tribunal (Southern Zone), the Petitioners have said that the entire exercise was illegal as no assessment of the ecological and social impacts was ever conducted, no proper assessment was carried out to assess the appropriateness of siting such dangerous and highly sensitive facilities all in one location, nor was there any compliance with environmental protection, pollution control and land use planning regulations. Besides the entire exercise was undertaken with extraordinary secrecy, including by keeping elected bodies and representatives out of the decision making process.

While the implications of these decisions were being argued before the Tribunal, the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board accorded Consent for Establishment to the DRDO and Sagitaur projects during September 2013. However, the consent was conditional to the fact that “in case the area proposed for the purpose of the project is found to be forest area, necessary forest clearance shall have to be obtained”. In October 2013, MoEF filed its statement before the Tribunal stating that Amrit Mahal Kavals constitute forest areas as per the Karnataka Forest Act, 1961, Forest Conservation Act, 1980 and the orders of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in the Godavarman case (WP Civil 202/1995). The Ministry specifically said that “the status of 9,473 acres of land as “forest” or “non-forest” is to be decided through joint inspection by the State Forest Department and Regional Office of the Ministry, as per guidelines issued by the Supreme Court in Lafarge Judgment and interpretation of the Karnataka Forest Act and Rules framed thereunder.” Rather than immediately halt any construction activities, DRDO, for instance, continued massive building work which they refused to stop despite local protests and filing of police complaints.

As these activities are in breach of conditions imposed in the Consent for Establishment issued by the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board, the regulatory agency has been moved to withdraw the consent and initiate appropriate action against the violators.

Leo F. Saldanha                                                            Bhargavi S. Rao                                                            Doddaullarti Karianna
Coordinator/Trustee                                         Coordinator (Education)/Trustee                                Amritmahal Kaval Hitarakshana

বলাগড় বই মেলায় পরমের সম্পাদক, Editor of PARAM at Balagarh Book Fair

বলাগড় বই মেলায় সাহিত্যিক মনোরঞ্জন ব্যাপারীর সঙ্গে পরমের সম্পাদক, সাংবাদিক শঙ্কর রায়, কবি চন্দ্রশেখর ভাট্টাছার্‍্য সম্বর্ধিত হলেন।

একটি গুরুত্বপূর্ণ বিষয় - জনগণের ইস্তেহার৬, Peoples’ Demands in Election Manifesto of the Political Parties6

এবার আমাদের জোড়া ভাবনাগুলো

1.    Protect Traditionaity. Abolish Nation Statism. Preserve Diversity

·         Strongly discourage one language, one religion one state ideology into Bharat’s multicultural multi ethnic diverse plurality

·         Stop mainstreaming by injecting non-traditional ethics and the aesthetics of nation state upon the vast traditional communities , societies

·         Respect, protect, preserve, develop positive look and ensure vast diversity and flourishing of culture, tradition, production method, distribution method, knowledge system, technology, livelihood, healing method, education system, language, agriculture, governance and various other traditional issues

·         Ensure non-encroachment, discourage theft and loot of various forms of common properties as well as common property resources like land, water, air, forest, other resources, knowledge by the corporate and the nation state

·         Ensure traditional livelihood of millions of villagers by respecting & preserving their way of life

·         Do not brand communities as excluded, dalit, adivasi, folk, backward, pichrebarg, OBC, SC, ST etc

·         Ensure strong decentralization, discourage corporetaization of Indian vast traditional production, distribution system

·         Ensuring Positive look and a deeper planning by avoiding quick-fix method to protect the diversity of traditional culture, traditional livelihood, traditional aesthetics.

Coordinating Team:

1.    Ashis Das, Hunger Free West Bengal Campaign, Convener

2.    Debjyoti Chakraborty, West Bengal Progressive Alliance

3.    Ms. Ranjana Bhattacharya, Gana Unnayan Parshad

4.    Ms. ......., CASA

5.    Sourabh ....., Hunger Free West Bengal Campaign

6.    Dr. Ashis Bhattacharya, Lok Kalyan Parishad

7.    Md. Israfil, State Education Chapter

একটি গুরুত্বপূর্ণ বিষয় - জনগণের ইস্তেহার৫, Peoples’ Demands in Election Manifesto of the Political Parties5

1.    Right to Work, Employment regulation and Social Security for Unorganised Workers:

·         Formulate Comprehensive Welfare Legislation for the Unorganised Sector Workers in the Country ensuring right to work, protection of regular employment and social security.

·         Constitute National Wage Policy ensuring the concept of Need Based Minimum Wage.

·         Constitute separate Welfare Legislation for the workers in the Agricultural Sector.

·         Extend Implementation of MNREGA for 200 days in a year to all rural workers.

·         Implement total implementation of the Building and Other Construction Workers (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1996 in all the States of the Country by framing the appropriate Rules there under and constituting and activating Welfare Boards immediately.

·         Ensure better working conditions, protection of right to life and livelihood of the crafts persons and rural artisans in the country.

·         Curb the existing infirmities in the implementation of the Inter State Migrant Workers (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1976 in respect of their exploitation and identity crises.

·         Formulate the Welfare Legislation for the Domestic Workers in the Country by introduction of legal provisions for minimum wage & Social Security ensuring a measure of welfare and conditions of service.

·         Stop all sorts of harassment and exploitation  by the  employers of Domestic Workers.

·         Constitute Domestic Workers' National Welfare Board.

·         Implement properly the Forest Rights Act, 2006 for the forest workers.

·         Constitute a separate Ministry for Fisheries and Fisher’s Welfare.

·         Protect the Rights of the Small and Traditional Fishing Communities.

·         Formulate A Comprehensive Legislation to Save the Coastal Natural Resources.

·         Scrap the provisions for bringing in foreign fishing vessels in the name of ‘joint venture’, withdraw permits to foreign vessels already fishing in the Indian EEZ,

·         Stop promoting corporate involvement in deep sea fishing and reserve the deep sea resources for the benefit of fishing communities.

·         Stop all sorts of Bans and Restrictions on Fishing Through Environmental Laws and MCPAs:

·         Ratify and implement the ILO’s Work in Fishing Convention, 2007, and extend its provisions to all fishers, to improve their working and living conditions.

·         Unorganised workers in Tea Garden should get proper social security.

·         Tea Garden workers in Assam and West Bengal are basically the indigenous people forcibly migrated from the then Bihar (now Jharkhand) and West Bengal, Similarly several dalits and backward people from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh came to West Bengal to work in Jute, Cotton, Engineering and other allied industries. But due to several reasons a large number of tea gardens and most of the Jute, cotton and engineering industries are closed leading to unemployment, they should get social recognition and protection from the Government.

2.    Environment Protection & Sustainability:

·         Ensure People’s Protection of land area covered by forest

·         Ensure Ratio of area protected to maintain biological diversity to surface area

·         Scientific control of Energy use to protect environment

·         Control on Carbon dioxide emissions  and consumption of ozone-depleting

·         Stop man-made emissions of  greenhouse gases

·         Ensure peoples control for using of solid fuels

·         Ensure peoples control with sustainable access to improved water sources both in

urban and rural areas

·         Guarantee for  people’s access to improved sanitation

·         Plantation of trees and wild animals should be properly protected.

·         Appropriate technology should be implemented.

·         100% use of Bio Fertilizer and Bio Pesticides in agriculture and to aware of the farmers about farming with minimum uses of water,

·         pollution need to be checked from ground level

·         Connection of Rivers should be stopped as it will make adverse effect on nature.

·         Save wet lands to protect biodiversity of the nature.

·         To mitigate and overcome the devastation caused by flood & drought appropriate, sustainable and long-term initiatives will be taken up by the Govt

একটি গুরুত্বপূর্ণ বিষয় - জনগণের ইস্তেহার৪, Peoples’ Demands in Election Manifesto of the Political Parties4

1.    Protection and Development of Adivasi, Dalit and other Vulnerable Communities:

·         Ensure the right to enjoy socio-cultural status and scope for education through mother tongue 

·         Improve socio-economic status through various developmental and income-generating activities.

·         Ensure the development of educational status and enhancement of the entrepreneurial

capacity.

·         Ensure employment opportunities for educated youth of poor families.

·         Protect Art and Culture of the community from destruction by modern effects

2.    Development of Physically & Mentally Challenged Persons:

·         Follow U N Declaration on the Rights of Disabled Persons

·         Follow strictly the World Programme of Action (WPA), adopted by U N General Assembly to enhance disability prevention, rehabilitation and equalization of opportunities, which pertains to full participation of persons with disabilities in social life and national development; also emphasizes the need to approach disability from a human rights perspective.

একটি গুরুত্বপূর্ণ বিষয় - জনগণের ইস্তেহার৩, Peoples’ Demands in Election Manifesto of the Political Parties3

1.    People’s Right to Natural Resources:

·         Ensure Land and Agriculture Right to poor and marginal segment of the country

·         Forest Right as per Forest Rights Act 2006 to the traditionally forest dependent people

·         Ensure Water as the common people’s right not for sale to the corporates.

·         Treat Minerals are National property not to fulfill the greed of the corporate by destroying the land and forest, meant for the survival of Adivasi, Dalits and other common people of the country 

2.    Protection of Child Rights:

·         Ensure Protection  from Child Mortality (Institutional delivery for safe child-birth & Immunisation from Communicable diseases)

·         Guarantee for Early Childhood Care

·         Right to Free and Compulsory Education and Development (Inclusion, retention & quality education and exploration of her/his full potential)

·         Ensure Abolition of Child Labour

·         Ensure Right to protection from Abuse.

3.    Gender Equality and Empower of Women:

·         Affirmative action has been used to correct gender imbalances

·         Stop Female foeticides and all sorts of negligence on girl child

·         Guaranteed Protection of Women against violence  in family, work-place or in other social and cultural places

·         Ensure proper Ratios of girls to boys in primary, secondary and tertiary education

·         Guarantee for maintenance of proper Ratio of literate females to males of 15-24 years.

·         Introduce equal land right to women of the family

·         Ensure proper share of women in wage employment in the non-agricultural sector

·         Guarantee for equal remuneration for women employees at per the other male employers engaged in same nature of work.

·         Introduce Proportion of seats to be held by women in national parliament & State assemblies 

একটি গুরুত্বপূর্ণ বিষয় - জনগণের ইস্তেহার২, Peoples’ Demands in Election Manifesto of the Political Parties2

1.    illennium Development Goals (MDG): The UN Summit on the Millennium Development Goals concluded with the adoption of a global action plan to achieve the eight anti-poverty goals by their 2015 target date and the announcement of major new commitments for women's and children's health and other initiatives against poverty, hunger and disease. These goals were committed by the respective Governments in UNO; but it is now far away in India from its fulfilment within 2015 and necessary steps are to be taken to reach to the Goals as early as possible even beyond 2015.

2.    Ending Poverty with Ensuring Right to Livelihood with Dignity

·         To eradicate poverty & hunger, State should be liable for Proper Food Security to all section of people by providing adequate food as per the nutrition standard approved by UNO & WHO.

·         Public Distribution System needs to be strengthened with regular and adequate supply of food and other essential commodities like fuel to cook and electricity for all household.

·         Regular employment of all the toiling masses through effective implementation of MGNREGS and other Acts and Schemes, not only for 100 days but beyond that, at least 200 days  per year with need based minimum wage.

·         Provide Clothes at an affordable price, for all family-members, appropriate to their culture,

ensuring the quality; at least one full set of clothing per year based on the correct size, season and climate,

·         Habitable Shelter to all including footpath dwellers, as per International Humanitarian Standard (2^5m2 per person for a family of five ) with a cheaper price and long term easy-monthly-instalments

·         Health  Protection including safe-maternity and Adequate Medical Facilities including hospitalisation facilities in gram-panchayat level;  strengthening effecting implementation of NRHM & NUHM 

·         Social Securities to All (Old Age Protection, Death and Disability and other benefits in need)

একটি গুরুত্বপূর্ণ বিষয় - জনগণের ইস্তেহার, Peoples’ Demands in Election Manifesto of the Political Parties

পশ্চিমবঙ্গের একটি সামাজিক ঐক্য, হাঙ্গারফ্রি ক্যাম্পেন রাজনৈতিক দলগুলোকে কতগুলি দাবি সন্দ পাঠাচ্ছে যাতে তারা আগামী সংসদীয় নির্বাচনের আগে সেগুলিকে তাদের ইস্তেহারে জুড়তে পারে। আমাদের তারা কিছু বিষয় জুড়তে বলেছিল। ১০ নম্বরটি আমাদের তৈরি

Peoples’ Demands

in

Election Manifesto of the Political Parties

On the onset of

 16^th Lok Sabha Election 2014

Compiled and Presented by

Hunger Free West Bengal Campaign

Coordinating Office: 150, Muktaram Babu Street, Kolkata 700007

E-mail: hungerfreewb@rediffmail.com

Phone: +91(33)22573328/2365

Hunger Free West Bengal Campaign was organised widely in West Bengal in 2009 to get a guaranteed livelihood with dignity for all by a group of social activists from different CSOs, CBOs workers’ & human-rights organizations, and several eminent individuals and networks working in the field of Food, Shelter, Health, Education, Social Securities child rights and education, women empowerments, empowerment for socially backward people (SC, ST, OBC and Minorities), shelter for homeless, right to work for all the unorganized workers, etc.

All India Workers Forum, AFPRO, Action Aid, APIL, BASHA, CASA, WBPA, SRUDS, ASTHA, ANURANAN, DMSC, DRCSC, Earth Care, GUP, GRDS, His Truth Ministries, Lok Kalyan Parishad, NBMFWS, Right Track, READS, WTCP, and Several Small and Medium level Social Organisations, Workers Organisations & NGOs from all over West Bengal are with Hunger Free West Bengal Campaign to strengthen its Vision and Objectives.

Hunger Free West Bengal Campaign believes that it is the felt need to get the political parties to be more responsible for the betterment of the people of the Country; for which HFWB Campaign raised the voice of the people on their livelihood issues and made appeal to all the political parties to stand guarantee for Corruption free Good Governance and Decentralisation of power from Central Government level to Gram-sabhas/word-committees. Similarly ‘Representative Democracy’ which is in practice presently needs to be transformed into Participatory Democracy. Campaign also request all the political parties, either directly or indirectly in power or part of Government or even in Opposition, to include the following ‘Peoples’ Demands’ in their respective Election Manifesto for 16^th Lok-Sabha Election 2014.