Counterview Desk Oxfam India’s recent “India Inequality Report 2018: Widening Gaps”, among other things, points towards how lurking gaps exist not just between the rich and the poor, but also between organized sector workers and unorganized sector workers. Authored by Himanshu, Associate Professor at the Centre for Economic Studies and Planning, School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, the report states that the situation is particularly pathetic, as 93% workers come from the informal sector.

Counterview Desk Sixty eminent economists have written to the Union finance minister an “urgent and modest proposal” seeking to increase the Central contribution to social security pensions from the current measly Rs 200 per month to Rs 500 per month, and providing for maternity entitlements of Rs 6,000 per child as prescribed by the National Food Security Act.

By Our Representative 'Gandhi Bolechhe' (Gandhi Speaks), a book containing Mahatma Gandhi's 150 quotations, was released on Wednesday in three languages – Gujarati, Hindi and English. Released by Kumarpal Desai, well-known Gujarati writer and padmashree awardee, and senior social activist Indukumar Jani, the quotations in the book have been chosen by Hemantkumar Shah, principal, HK Arts College, Ahmedabad. Speaking on this occasion, Desai said that the book was an effort of taking Gandhi’s thoughts to people, while Jani underlined Gandhi’s importance in today’s context, pointing towards how he upheld ideas of equality before law. The book has been published by the HK Arts College with the support of Paragbhai Shah of the Shashwat Trust. Shah said the book contained Gandhi's quotations on religion, truth, non-violence, economics, democracy, freedom, equality, God, kingdom, prayer etc., and contains the idea of the need to fight against against injustice. He added, Gandh...

By Our Representative The Government of India is yet to release the additional Rs 6,084 crore for NREGA “promised” on January 15, 2019. Pointing this out, the NREGA Sangharsh Morcha, in a statement, has said, the promise came after several MPs activists, former bureaucrats, academics and leaders of farmers’ movements wrote an open letter to the Prime Minister to highlight the chronic underfunding of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA). By the end of December, the statement said, 99 per cent of the central government’s NREGA fund for 2018-19 was exhausted. “Within a few days of this letter, the Central government announced a supplementary budget of Rs 6,084 crore for the ongoing financial year. This increased the total NREGA budget allocation for the 2018-19 to Rs 61,084 crore”, which was “too little, too late.” The statement further said, “According to the official NREGA website ( nrega.nic.in ), the total central release so far is only Rs 53,353 crore. Including the ...

Counterview Desk Basing its analysis on top rating agency Credit Suisse's   Global Wealth Report , Oxfam India has said in a recently-released study , “India Inequality Report 2018: Widening Gaps”, seeking to debunk the view that India’s wealth inequalities are lower than other countries, suggests, the country, in fact, appears to be  competing with the United States on this score. It adds, the “richest in India have made their money through crony capitalism rather than through innovation or the fair rules of the market.”

Counterview Desk Well-known historian Romila Thapar delivered a video message at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris last year on how the Maharashtra government authorities’ effort to discredit five activists as #UrbanNaxals actually undermines the right to dissent in India. This was followed by police action against academic and public intellectual Anand Teltumbde, lawyer Sudha Bharadwaj, retired professor and poet Varavara Rao, human rights lawyer Arun Ferreira, activist Vernon Gonsalves, and human rights activist Gautam Navalakha,

By Our Representative The Supreme Court has reportedly taken a “serious note” of the way in which the Government of India has sought to fill up vacant posts of information commissioners in the Central Information Commission (CIC), even as questioning the additional solicitor general as to why only bureaucrats were being short-listed and appointed as information commissioners. A note issued by two senior Right to Information (RTI) activists, Anjali Bhardwaj and Amrita Johri, following an apex court hearing, said, “The court commented on the government’s propensity to only select bureaucrats for such posts even though the RTI Act provides for commissioners from various fields, only one of which is administration.” The bench, consisting of Justice AK Sikri and Justice S Abdul Nazeer, wondered why even the search committee consisted mostly of bureaucrats who then short-listed other bureaucrats, the note added. After hearing all the arguments, the bench reserved the judgment. The court’s o...

P Chidambaram Counterview Desk In an open letter, the advocacy group South Asia Human Rights Documentation Centre’s Ravi Nair has asked senior Congress leader P Chidambaram to include the promise to repeal sedition law, Section 124-A, IPC in Congress’ election manifesto for 2019, even expecting several Congress-ruled or supported states to take “immediate” steps to repeal it through state amendments. The letter comes following Chidambaram, a former Union home minister, condemning the “malicious” charge of sedition against Kanhaiya Kumar. The letter regrets that the sedition law was “misused” during successive Congress governments, too, though pointing out, the present BJP government has used “in a manner that the worst authoritarian anywhere on the planet would find difficult to emulate.” Nair insists, “A formal commitment in the Congress Party manifesto will draw a line under the Congress Party’s past on this important issue.” Text of the letter: We would like to reiterate...

By Shawahiq Siddiqui* It was a sad Republic Day for the poor and vulnerable communities in the downstream of the Narmada Basin as their plea for protecting their fundamental and legal right to water and environment covered under right to life and liberty under Article 21 of the Constitution goes unheard by the National Green Tribunal (NGT). Ironically, this comes almost on the eve of Republic Day when we embark upon celebrating the adoption of the Constitution of India that champions the protection of life and liberty as cornerstones of fundamental rights.

By Our Representative The Joint Action Committee, which is fighting against the Government of India decision to go ahead with the expansion of the Jindal Garbage Plant in Sukhdev Vihar, New Delhi, has said that it will “not tolerate polluted air” and continue fighting against “the poisonous plant”. In a statement issued following a massive demonstration against the plant, it said, toxic pollution coming out of the plant has been “recognized” even by the government. Those who demonstrated were residents of Jasola Heights, Sukhdev Vihar, Johri Farm, Okhla Vihar, Gaffar Manzil, Haji Colony, Shahin Bagh, Butla House, Masihgarh, Badarpur, and Madanpur Khadar. They formed a human chain, which was later converted into a rally. Earlier, opposition to the plant led to the administration and the Delhi Pollution Control Board to a cancel a hearing on the plant’s expansion on January 16. Insisting that environmental public hearing is a very important constitutional right, the statement said, “Exp...

NAPM poster By Our Representative In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, senior activists attached with the top civil society network, National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM), have wondered as to how many more sons of Ganga will have to pay with their lives to save “mother” Ganga. Congratulating Modi for taking the policy decision not to make new dams on the river, the letter, however, regrets, “Presently, three under-construction dams, Tapovan-Vishnugad, Vishnugad-Pipalkoti and Singoli-Bhatwari, are threatening the survival of this holy river adding to the damage already done by a number of existing dams.” Calling these dams “no less than ticking time bombs”, the letter says, “Swami Sanand fasted for 111 days to draw attention of the powers to be to its cries for survival before he succumbed unheeded. Carrying on the baton, Sant Gopaldas fasted for 146 days when he disappeared under suspicious circumstances unheard and unheeded. Presently the 26 year old young Brahmachari...

By Sheshu Babu* The above poem 'Doosra Banvas' by Kaifi Azmi, written in the aftermath of the Babri Masjid demolition, reveals the contradictions of the movement that caused it, and is relevant even today. "I was born in a slave India, grew up in an Independent India and would like to die in a socialist India", was his dream. This dream remains unfulfilled as the present system of inequality is growing very rapidly.

By Abhay, Swarna Bhat* At a huge public convention held at Siddaganga Mutt on the Republic Day, January 26, 2019, in the presence of Sanehalli Sri Panditaradhya Swamiji, padyatris of the Madya Nishedha Andolana decided to intensify the ongoing liquor ban movement. A resolution passed at the convention, in which thousands of rural women joined in, the marching women declared that on reaching Bengaluru will “occupy Vidhan Soudha” on Mahatma Gandhi’s martyrdom day, January 30.

Adrian Burragubba Counterview Desk The Wangan and Jagalingou Family Council, who consider themselves “the proud traditional owners and native title applicants of a vast area of land in central-western Queensland”, taking a cue from a letter written by senior United Nations (UN) official to Australia’s UN representative in Geneva to suspend the Adani coalmining project, has declared that it would go ahead with its Federal Court appeal against Adani’s “sham Indigenous Land Use Agreement”.

Counterview Desk Noureddine Amir, chair, United Nations Committee (UN) on Elimination of Racial Discrimination, in a letter to Sally Mansfield, Permanent Representative of Australia to the UN Office, Geneva, has said that, on receiving a complaint from the indigenous people of Queensland province of Australia, it is “concerned” about their land rights, pointing out that the Adani coalmine project in Carmichael and the rail project attached with would displace them.

Inka Achté Counterview Desk Delhi-based NGO, Restless Development , in collaboration with Men Against Violence and Abuse ( MAVA ),  and Act Now for Harmony and Democracy ( ANHAD ), has launched an advocacy campaign, Youth-led Accountability for SDG5 and FP2020, on the theme, "Engaging men for gender justice and sexual and reproductive and health rights, and understanding the need for sexual health education among college going youth”.

By Stan Swamy* India has vowed to be a socialist, secular, democratic republic. Sadly, all these values are steadily being eroded in the present political developments. About 20 intellectuals, professionals, activists who are working for the fundamental rights of the poor and marginalized and upholding the above mentioned constitutional values are being labeled ‘urban naxals’ and are being harassed no end either as ‘accused’ or as ‘suspects’. Their premises have been raided, their electronic devices seized, serious cases filed. Some are already in prison, others face arrest anytime.

Manjit Mahanta, Akhil Gogoi, Hiren Gohain By Shahana Bhattacharya, Deepika Tandon* The slapping of sedition charges against writer and academic Hiren Gohain, Akhil Gogoi, leader of the Kisan Mukti Sangram Samiti, and senior journalist Manjit Mahanta on January 7, 2019, and the process of filing charge-sheet in the 2016 sedition case against Jawharlal Nehru University (JNU) students Kanhaiya Kumar, Umar Khalid, and Anirban Bhattacharya, seven Kashmiri students, Aquib Hussain, Mujeeb Hussain, Muneeb Hussain, Umar Gul, Rayeea Rasool, Bashir Bhat and 38 unknown others, once again illustrate the character of the law on sedition as a potent weapon in the hands of ruling dispensations.

By Sandeep Pandey* Prof GD Agrawal, formerly of Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur and known as Swami Gyan Swaroop Sanand since 2011, died on October 11, 2018 on the 112th day of his fast, demanding a law for conservation of river Ganga, at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Rishikesh. Forty-years-old Sant Gopal Das, inspired by Prof Agrawal, also sat on fast for the same cause two days after Prof Agrawal began his fast, on June 24, 2018 at Badridham temple in Badrinath, was kept in the Intensive Care Unit of AIIMS, New Delhi after being moved about to different hospitals in Uttarakhand, Chandigarh and New Delhi.

By Sheshu Babu* While major contribution to implementation of social welfare schemes is through social volunteers and anganwadis, nurses, teachers, etc., their economic and social condition remains pathetic. Their problems have not been addressed either by governments or other welfare organizations for many years.

By Nava Thakuria* It was a spectacular rally in the pre-historic city of Guwahati on January 23 last that strongly opposed the Indian Union government’s latest initiative to amend the country’s citizenship Act in favour of religious asylum seekers from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan. Organized by the All-Assam Students’ Union (AASU) along with 30 indigenous groups at the historic Latashil play ground of Guwahati on the southern bank of mighty Brahmaputra, the demonstration witnessed vivid participation of thousands of people from different sections in the society.

By Our Representative Human rights defender Syed Mujtaba, advocate, who interacted with students at the Inspire Academy, Budgam, said that they should play a vital role in the protection and promotion of human rights. The interaction on January 24 was aimed at providing the students first hand information of institutional mechanism for the protection of human rights, even as apprising them with the situation on ground. Mujtaba sensitized students about various academic and practical issues related to human rights like right to life, right to equality, dignity, liberty and life, right to health, right to education, right to freedom of expression, and rights of other vulnerable sections of society, which formed the central theme of the interaction. Focusing on the importance of education as foundation for a progressive and knowledge-based society, which should be viewed from human rights perspective, Mujtaba asked students to join hands for a common cause for the protection of human righ...

Delhi National Capital Region girls speak about their woes  By Mitra Ranjan* India is a country which claims to have a culture of respecting women and girls since ages. But reality on the ground is entirely different, rather grim. Presently, girls are fighting for their right to birth and survival. They are deprived of literacy and education. They are forcibly pushed for early marriage and their safety and security have gone for toss.

By Our Representative The Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP) will be launching Hate Hatao, a new mobile app designed to fight hate, that can be used by anyone with a smartphone. To be made available on the Google Play Store from January 30, 2019, CJP says, it proposes to "revolutionise the way you can actively fight against hate of all kinds." Hate Hatao will enable it's users to report on instances of hate speech, threats and hate crimes, with appropriate evidence, such as screenshot, video or picture. A CJP statement says, it proposes the complaint to "authorities such as the National Human Rights Commission, Press Council, National Broadcasters Association, Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms or law enforcement agencies." It adds, "We will also lodge FIRs and pursue the cases in court if necessary. You will then receive real-time updates on the status of your submitted report."

By Fr Cedric Prakash SJ* Given the significance of the subject and the urgency which it entailed – it was an event that had to happen! Netizens for Democracy held a day long conclave on ‘Social Media as a Tool’, of Indian netizens who believe in the power of social media and want to use it to bring about sustainable and positive social change. It was held on January 19, 2019 at Fr Agnel’s Campus in Bandra, Mumbai.

By Our Representative Madya Nisheda Andolana (MNA) -- an anti-alcohol movement led by grassroots women which came into existence in 2015 when nearly 45,000 women, most of them are rural daily wage labourers and small scale peasants, took to streets in Raichur district for an agitation demanding complete ban on liquor in Karnataka -- has begun a 201 km long padhayatra for 12 days demanding for statewide complete prohibition on sales of liquor. Led by about 3,000 women and begun on January 19, the marchers will walk about 20 km each day, and pass through Kyadigere, Hosuru, Nityananda Ashrama, Javagondana Halli, Tavara Kere, Sira, Chikkanahalli, Dodda Aladama Mara Cross, CB Temple, Darga Bellavi Cross, Tumakuru, Sidda Ganga Mutt, Adi Chunchanagiri Mutt, Kulavanahalli, T. Begur, Dasanapura, Exhibition Grounds and Yeshwantpur, before ending at the Vidhana Soudha. Set to reach Bengaluru on January 30, the padyatra was formally inaugurated at Chitradurga with the support of progressive religi...

Ujjwala project being launched in Gujarat By Paulomee Mistry*, Prof Hemant Kumar Shah** The Prime Minister Ujjwala Yojana ( PMUY ) is apparently deceiving poor tribal women, as domestic cooking gas cylinders are not affordable to them. Worse, Below Poverty Line (BPL) families get converted to Above Poverty Line (APL) families on getting gas connection, and their access to kerosene is stopped, forcing them revert to firewood.

By Moin Qazi* Financial inclusion has been recognised as a key building block which will form the foundation for achieving several of UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. Access to the right financial tools is a key element in overcoming the hard, everyday realities for those who live in penny economies. It can provide them an opportunity to move out of poverty or build resilience to absorb a financial shock without sinking deeper into debt.

By Our Representative Arguing before a Supreme Court bench on controversial appointment of information commissioners, petitioners Anjali Bhardwaj, Lokesh Batra and Amrita Johri have argued that the “Government of India and state governments have attempted to stifle the functioning of the Right to Information (RTI) Act by failing to do their statutory duty of ensuring appointment of commissioners in the Central Information Commission and State Information Commissions, in a timely manner”. Represented through senior advocate Prashant Bhushan, Pranav Sachdeva and Rahul Gupta, the petitioners underlined the need for transparency in the appointment of commissioners, insisting, “Lack of transparency in the appointment of information commissioners, and the violation of directions of the Supreme Court regarding the procedure for appointment of information commissioners, is undermining the institution of the information commission”. Heard by the apex court bench consisting of Justices AK S...

By Moin Qazi* The true teachers are those who help us think for ourselves. – Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan The building blocks of a nation are the citizens of its tomorrow. The way these seeds will sprout will always depend on the way you choose to water them. India’s education sector is one of the largest sunrise sectors in the economic and social development of the country. India’s education sector has expanded rapidly in the last decade but the quality of learning remains pathetic on account of unimaginative and misguided policies. The purpose of education has to be, to inspire and develop children to think creatively, reason systematically and release their potential to shape their own future. The latest Annual Survey of Education Report (ASER) 2018 – the most authentic barometer of India’s educational health – shows that its findings are not inspiring, and in some cases quite dismal. The fragile foundation of basic education augurs a dim horizon for India’s future human capital. The...

By Our Representative A Gujarat government advertisement in Gujarati for appointing four sanitation workers in Khambhaliya municipality in Devbhumi Dwarka district of Saurashtra region has said that only scheduled caste (SC), popularly Dalit, candidates should apply for the fixed pay job. The advertisement, signed by top local body officials, has created furor among Dalit rights activists, who wonder whether the state government believes sanitation work is meant only for Dalits. In a Facebook post , well-known Dalit rights activist from Ahmedabad, Kirit Rathod, citing the advertisement, has said, "Prime Minister Narendra Modi has just reserved 10% seats in government jobs for the economically weaker sections belonging to the dominant castes. Why is Gujarat government shying away from the 10% criterion bypassed here? It seems,  the state government believes, cleaning gutters is the job that only Dalits should do."

School education in Gujarat By Our Representative In a stark revelation, the Annual Survey of Education Report (ASER), brought out by the high-profile NGO Pratham, has said that Gujarat's 24.9% of girls in the age group 15-16 are out of school, which is the highest among all Indian states with the sole exception exception of Madhya Pradesh (26.6%). Further, the report shows that the percentage of out of school children in this age group is double the all-India average (13.5%). Suggesting that most so-called Bimaru states perform better on this score, the data in the report show that, as against Gujarat's 24.9% out of school of girls in the age group 15-16, Uttar Pradesh has 22.2%, Chhattisgarh 21.2%, Rajasthan 20.1%, Jharkhand 11.2%, and Bihar 9.8%. The best performing state is Kerala, with 0.6% out of school girls, followed by 2% Himachal Pradesh. The report states, "In 2006, the all India proportion of girls in the age group 11 to 14 who were out of school stood at 10.3%...

By Maju Varghese* The resignation of the World Bank President Jim Yong Kim was an unexpected development given the fact that he had three more years to complete his tenure. Resignations at such a high level after bidding for a second term is unusual which prompts people to think what would have led to the act itself.

Prof GD Agrawal By Our Representative India's top civil rights network, National Alliance of People's Movements (NAPM), regrets, despite the fact that Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared himself Gangaputra in 2014 and named the ministry of water resources after Ganga, things have not changed. NAPM said, even today, one cannot ignore the condition of Ganga remains difficult. Illegal sand mining, construction of huge dams, and a total contempt of environmental laws continue. Recalling how Swami Gyanswaroop Sanand, or Prof GD Agarwal, an intelligent scientist who fully understood Ganga, gave his life for the sake of the river, observing hunger strike for 110 days, NAPM says, there is still no sympathy for his demands, nor have rulers engaged in discussion on keeping Ganga clean and serene. Earlier, another saint, Swami Nigamanand, who was fast in 2013 to stop illegal sand mining, sacrificed his life, and now a 26-year-old young saint, Atmbodhanand, is on fast for 90 days, c...

By Rajiv Shah  In India, a so-called low-caste woman can expect to live almost 15 years less than a so-called upper-caste woman. Suggesting that this is an international phenomenon, a just-released Oxfam report says, Life expectancy in one of the poorest parts of London is six years less than it is in one of the capital’s richest neighbourhoods, just a few miles away. Life expectancy in the richest parts of Sao Paulo, Brazil, is 79 years. In one of the poorest areas of the city it is 54 years.

Chief Information Commissioner Sudhir Bhargava Counterview Desk On January 1, 2019 five vacancies in the Central Information Commission (CIC) were filled up -- serving Information Commissioner Sudhir Bhargava was appointed Chief Information Commissioner; this apart four retired civil servants were appointed Information Commissioners.

Counterview Desk The All-India Forum for Right to Education (AIFRTE), India’s top education rights organization, in a strongly-worded statement condemning the threat to arrest of Prof Anand Teltumbde, has said that the “fabricated” charge of plotting a Rajiv Gandhi-style assassination of Prime Minister Narendra Modi  against him by the police, acting at the behest of their BJP political bosses, insisting, “His entire academic career and corporate career of nearly four decades has been an example of integrity of the highest degree.”

By Moin Qazi* "Princes and lords may flourish, or may fade; /A breath can make them, as a breath has made; /But a bold peasantry, their country's pride, /When once destroyed, can never be supplied". -- Oliver Goldsmith, "The Deserted Village" Small farmers are the key to ending poverty and hunger and promoting sustainable development. In India, small and marginal farmers — those who work on less than two hectares (five acres) of land — constitute 80% of all farm households, 50% of rural households and 36% of the total of all households. Sadly, the plight of these farmers is very distressing.

By Venkatesh Nayak* The dawn of 2019 saw the filling up of five vacancies in the Central Information Commission (CIC). Serving Information Commissioner, Shri Sudhir Bhargava was appointed Chief Information Commissioner. Four retired civil servants were appointed Information Commissioners. The Gazette notifications of these appointments were published on 1st January, 2019. Two days ago, the nodal department for the implementation of The Right to Information Act, 2005 (RTI Act), the Department of Personnel and Training has uploaded documents comprising the file notings and correspondence relating to these appointments. I thank Adv. Paras Nath Singh, of The Leaflet for alerting me about this proactive disclosure over the weekend. Click on the hyperlinks to access the correspondence and file notings relating to the latest appointment of the Chief Information Commissioner. Click on the hyperlinks to access the correspondence and file notings relating to the latest round of appointme...