By Our Representative Reacting to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s comments during the Mann ki Baat radio broadcast, senior Gujarat environmentalist Mahesh Pandya has said while Modi did talk of minimizing the sufferings of the migrant workers, he decided to devote most of his time on his achievements. Pandya, who heads the top environmental NGO Paryavaran Mitra, said, Modi talked of nearly one crore Indians having benefit from the Ayushman Bharat project, which is a part of the Government of India’s National Health Policy that claims to provide free health coverage to the bottom 40% poor and vulnerable population. Referring to the manner in which state hospitals are failing amidst Covid-19 crisis, Pandya said, “This means that Modi admitted that the government hospitals have turned into dungeons. Government hospitals are not being provided with necessary equipment, which is why they are unable treat complicated cases despite having competent doctors.” Pointing out that the result is, th...

By Our Representative The Central Information Commission (CIC), in an “out-of-turn” hearing of a complaint filed a senior activist Venkatesh Nayak has issued an advisory under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, to the Chief Labour Commissioner (CLC), Government of India, asking him upload all available information about stranded migrant workers on an official website within a week's time. This information should be updated from time to time, it added.

By Venkatesh Nayak* Readers might remember my previous despatch about an RTI intervention to obtain access to information about migrant workers stranded in different parts of the country since the nation-wide lockdown to contain the spread of COVID-19 began on 25th March 2020. On 8th April, 2020, the Chief Labour Commissioner (CLC), under the Union Ministry of Labour and Employment had issued a D.O. letter to the Regional Heads stationed in 20 different places across the country to collect details about every stranded migrant worker and send it to New Delhi within three days. On 5th May, 2020, the Central Public Information Officer (CPIO) had claimed in an unsigned reply, that the Statistics Section of the Office of the CLC did not have this information. I filed a complaint with the CIC, the same day. On 27th May, 2020, the Central Information Commission (CIC) conducted an out-of-turn hearing of my complaint against the CPIO’s reply, treating it as a matter deserving urgent atten...

By Rit Nanda*  Every year, on the last day of May, the United Nations member states observe the World No-Tobacco Day. It encourages people to give up tobacco and informs them of its health hazards. This day has been observed since 1987 and yet we find the ubiquity of chewing and smoking tobacco across our society. So, where has this push failed? 

Varavara Rao By Vidya Bhushan Rawat* It is deeply disturbing that 81-year-old poet Varavara Rao has been denied bail and has now been admitted to a hospital in Mumbai. Reports suggest that the prison in Taloja, Navi Mumbai, where he was lodged, has several Covid-19 patient. The family and friends of Varavara Rao have protested in Hyderabad, as they were not even allowed to visit him.

By Our Representative As many 28 civil rights and grassroots organizations, led by the National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM) and the Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) have opposed the Madhya Pradesh government for entering into an agreement with the Adani Group for setting up a 1,320 MW thermal plant in Madhya Pradesh, stating, this is being despite the fact that the state claims it has surplus electricity for the next 10 years. Objecting to the power purchase agreement (PPA) by the Adani Power arm Pench Thermal Energy with the state government’s MP Power Management Company Ltd (MPPMCL) for procurement of 1,320 MW of electricity on a long-term basis (25 years), a statement by these organizations said, the agreement is “more expensive than the one entered into by the Sasan Ultra Mega Power Plant (UMPP).” “Reliance-controlled Sasan UMPP’s per unit rate is Rs 1.194, while Adanis’ per unit rate is four times higher, Rs 4.79 per unit, which is the highest ever contracted rate”, the stat...

By Anand K Sahay* Now it is hard to find any classes of people, including among Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s followers, who believe that the PM has given leadership in the execution of the urgent twin tasks before the country -- of fighting the pandemic, and dealing with the economy- after the unknown virus struck, or even before.

By Bhabani Shankar Nayak* Is globalisation over after the Covid-19 pandemic? There are three visible signs during the unending Coronavirus led health crisis, which substantiates the end of globalisation thesis. The first sign indicates reversal of capitalist globalisation led by market integrations. The people and their nation states are fighting the pandemic alone. As a result, there is growth of ultra nationalist and right-wing forces during this pandemic.

By Balwant Singh Mehta, I. C. Awasthi, Mashkoor Ahmad, Arjun Kumar* With over 100,000 COVID-19 cases, India has entered its eighth week of lockdown, version 4.0. This lockdown 4.0 will remain in force till May 31. Ever since the announcement of the first national lockdown on 24th March, shutdown of transport and sealing of states/districts has created a humanitarian crisis in many states for panic stricken migrant workers, students, those between travels and transit. There has been some relaxation in the rules since lockdown 3.0 with relaxations rules and this crisis and ways and means to tackle it has taken the center stage, with many pertinent viewpoints, evidences, experiences and learnings. Amid a lack of responsive mobility option, despair, treatment alike commodity and inferior citizens and serious concerns of being infected and the craving to be at the comforts of their homes, several million migrant workers and families, begun to tread on foot. With no government support of tra...

By Subhanshi Negi* It is somewhat ironic that even when we are amidst a major national health crisis, one of the paramount health issues of ‘menstrual hygiene,’ which is recognized as global public health and human right by the United Nations, is being thrust aside by the Government of India. Many organizations have pointed out that India is suffering from ‘period poverty.’

By Our Representative In a representation to Gujarat Chief Justice Vikramnath Singh, senior advocates, scholars and activists have come together to express their “serious concern” over his decision to replace the High Court bench comprising Justices JB Pardiwala and IJ Vora with a new bench comprising himself and Justice JB Pardiwala. Justices Pardiwala and Vora had passed strong strictures on the state BJP government for its “inept” handling of the Covid-19 crisis.

Counterview Desk In a representation to Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani, My City Our City (MCOC), a civil society network of activists, academics and urban planners have said that nearly 1.91 lakh street vendors of the state need “immediate relief and consideration” from the government, especially because they are one of the most adversely affected sections due to Covid-19 pandemic.

By Our Representative Pointing out that it is painful that the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) has “abandoned” Vadilal Sarabhai (VS) Hospital, which can treat 700 Covid-19 patients, even as showing interest in acquiring beds in private hospitals, the civil rights organization, Nagrik Sashaktikaran Manch (NSM), has regretted that the VS Hospital’s “excellent infrastructure”, owned by AMC. Is not being put to use for the poor patients. In a representation to the Prime Minister, Jatin Sheth, convenor, NSM, said, the VS Hospital, set up by Seth Vadilal Sarabhai, a close friend of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, has been a real temple in the service of the humanity almost for 90 years. Appreciating that “another hospital has come up in the VS Hospital premises looking to increased needs of the time”, Sheth said, “Today, when Ahmedabad has become a national hotspot for Covid-19, there is an increasing need for more hospital beds rising each day”. Noting that the Gujarat High Court has “also ...

By Abhimanyu Hazarika* The Fast and Furious series of action films is replete with problematic content amidst its entertainment, but one positive aspect it harps on is keeping family first. Often seen as a bastion of the conservative end of the political spectrum , traditional family values and its allied support systems that are bound by social dictums new and old, have become increasingly relevant. This is particularly when looking at its role in helping individuals coping with the ongoing global restrictions. The spread of the pandemic has resulted in several students and professionals resorting to return to or work from, home. For those among them away from family, the period has meant a rise in anxiety and falling mental health . At such a juncture, the author of this article draws from a few his own simple experiences during the lockdown, which shall be looked at in the backdrop of established academic findings. Experts in a module have deemed the ‘inner resources of the family,...

By Our Representative In a unique case, the Gujarat High Court came to the rescue of a Narmada-based lawyer against whom an FIR came to be registered on the ground that he advised a couple to enter into a live in agreement despite the fact that the boy was only 20 years and 6 months and not 21 years i.e. the legal age for a man to get married in India. Justice RP Dholaria passed an order protecting the Petitioner Advocate from arrest and admitted the quashing petition. Advocate Ronith Joy appearing for the Petitioner submitted that any person above the age of 18 can enter into an agreement/contract in India. A live-in agreement is very different from and cannot be tantamous to actual marriage. Advising a couple to enter into a live in agreement cannot attract punishment under Sections 10 & 11(1) of the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006. The matter has now been posted on August 19, 2020

Quarantine centres in Jharkhand: Representative image Counterview Desk A civil rights organization, Jharkhand Janadhikar Manch (JMM), has taken strong exception to what it calls “contradictory statements by government officials in caste-based discrimination case in the Hazaribagh Banaso Panchayat quarantine centre, demanding the state authorities must seek clarification from officials concerned as to “why the dry ration was arranged in the quarantine centre and why confirmation regarding the incident was given to media.

Counterview Desk Calling for coordinated and urgent actions for migrants in distress, a group of senior academics and social activists* in a statement, following a well-represented discussion on May 26 to understand the reasons behind their plight, have said that “no government authority, at the centre or in states, has any comprehensive understanding of scale and type of migrant workers, especially those who are in vulnerable, insecure and informal employment and occupations.”

Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani By Our Representative Gujarat’s minority rights leader Mujahid Nafees has asked chief minister Vijay Rupani to withdraw cases against those who allegedly violated lockdown regime, saying, majority of them are poor people, who did not have enough stock of essential items, or were not left with any opportunity to earn a living. While it was the responsibility of the police to stop people from coming out and violate lockdown, Nafees, in a letter to Rupani, with copy to the leader of the opposition and the state home minister, said, “This also created many difficulties for the people. People were forced to come out to find a living. Those who belong to other districts or states were even more vulnerable.” Mujahid Nafees Pointing out that as a result of this, there have been reports of clashes between police and people in many parts of the state, Nafees said, criminal cases, including under the Disaster Management Act, were registered who wanted seeking t...

By Our Representative Gujarat economist Hemantkumar Shah, who is also a senior activist, has accused the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) for refusing to pay full salary to sanitary workers for the month of April. Quoting Ketan Jadav, one of the workers who lives near Khamasa Char Rasta and cleans the road around Chandola Lake, Prof Shah said, his contractor paid him only Rs 5,000 for the month of April, when his monthly salary was fixed at Rs 7,000. Pointing out that Jadav is not alone, Prof Shah said, Jadav is not alone, there are 30 other cleaners who have been working for almost two years, and each of them was paid Rs 1200 to Rs 5,000 by the contractor. “The contractor has been quoted as saying that their salaries had been cut because they did not work during the lockdown”, the economist said, adding, “Significantly, none of the workers was given the official pass to go to work during the lockdown.” “Ketan Jadhav says he is not given any weekly leave”, Prof Shah said, “In addi...

Counterview Desk In a representation to the Chairman, National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Gopal Krishna, who is with the Toxics Watch Alliance ( TWA ) and Occupational Health India (OHI), has accused the top talcum powder producer, Johnson & Johnson (J&J) of “doublespeak”, stating that while the commodity has been withdrawn in North America, it continues to be a “cause of exposure of Indians to hazardous asbestos mineral fibers” which allegedly contaminate the powder. 

Natasha Narwal, Devangana Kalita Counterview Desk The Campaign Against State Repression (CASR), networking several civil rights, students’ and trade union organizations, sharply criticizing the Government of India for the recent arrests of Pinjra Tod members Devangana Kalita and Natasha Narwal, has said that this is “not an isolated incident but part of a larger operation orchestrated by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MoHA) and the Delhi Police” since mid-February.

By Our Representative The Right to Education (RTE) Forum convener Ambarish Rai has warned that following the in-migration of lakhs of people working in other states, Bihar faces a major crisis in the form of a sharp rise in child labour, child marriage, and child trafficking. The girl child education is likely to be affected the most, he added. Participating in a video conference on the impact of Covid-19 on public education, Rai accused the Bihar government of “hiding serious issues” related to education arising out of the return of migrants amidst poor economic condition in the state. Pointing out that nearly one crore people go out of Bihar to work in other states, he said, out-of-school children is likely to go up drastically in the state. State RTE Forum convenor Dr Anil Rai said that the state government lacks political will to implement the RTE Act, adding, in order to reverse this, all the children who are returning to Bihar from other states should be given admission. He added...

By Our Representative Following Gujarat High Court stricture on the state government over high death rate of Covid-19 patients in Ahmedabad, especially in the Civil Hospital, independent board members of the second biggest hospital of the city controlled by the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC), Vadilal Sarabhai (VS), have asked the VS management and AMC “to decisively act in restarting the 1,155-bed VS, restoring its multi-speciality status, which existed prior to 2012”. Even as welcoming the Gujarat High Court order, which also directs the state government to open up 700 beds in VS for Covid 19 patients, the independent board members -- Jay Sheth, Dr. Nishith Shah, Rupa Chinai and Brijesh Chinai – insisted, “As the VS has a capacity of 1,155 beds totally, we strongly urge AMC to open up additional 455 beds for management of general medical care of poor patients.” Asking the VS management to “immediately move in restoring beds, equipment and staff so that poor patients receive fre...

By Sanghmitra S Acharya* In this ‘war’ against Covid-19 a lot has been said about the ‘frontline workers -- the doctors, nurses, policemen, bankers, journalists. In the first place it would not have become a ‘war’ had the machinery for governance been a bit vigilant and considerate about the World Health Organization (WHO) announcement that the Covid-19 is a public health emergency and the governments need to gear up their resources especially PPE, way back on 30 Jan 2020- when India reported its first case.

Ram Madhav, Anuradha Bhasin Jamwal Counterview Desk Counting Days – Kashmir, a Pakistan-India Peoples' Forum for Peace and Democracy (PIPFPD) initiative, has released an article by chief editor of a top Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) media house Kashmir Times, Anuradha Bhasin Jamwal, to respond to BJP's national general secretary Ram Madhav’s article ‘It is time to allow J&K full-fledged political activity’, published in the Indian Express (May 23, 2020).

By Bhabani Shankar Nayak* The spread of Covid-19-infused crisis has huge impact on all aspects of life and economy across India. It is particularly posing a serious challenge to the social and economic development of rural poor, migrants and farmers. The local businesses and communities are significantly affected by the pandemic.

By Our Representative Estimating that Gujarat's 73% of industrial units have not paid wages during the lockdown period, which began on March 24, three senior social activists, economist Hemantkumar Shah, environmentalist Mahesh Pandya and farmers' leader Sagar Rabari in a letter to the Gujarat government have said that the state government should pay 75% of their wages for three months, from April to June. At the same time, the letter, written on behalf of the civil rights organization, Gujarat Social Watch, says that unorganized sections of society, including petty traders, construction workers, agricultural workers, and others, be paid Rs 3,000 for three months in order to help their families as monetary help. Proposing a large number of measures to former IAS bureaucrat Hasmukh Adhia, who has been appointed as head of the committee to revive the state's economy, the eight-age letter said the government must abolish tax of those whose incomes are more than Rs 15,000, and ...

By Moin Qazi* Anthropologist Oscar Lewis, who travelled in India in the 1950s to assist the Planning Commission coined the phrase “the culture of poverty” which was lapped up by legislators and economists to deny what the villages needed to flourish. Since villages were considered inert, inefficient, backward, and lazy, it was thought it would be unwise to funnel our resources and energies to transform them, just keep them going with subsidies. It has been an urban refrain for many years that agriculture pulls India’s economy down; that manufacturing is the way forward; that villages need to be urbanised, that they become an extension of cities. And for what? To sustain cities because that’s where the future of India is. It’s beyond ironical that the future, in the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic which has left deep scars on the urban psyche has shown how inefficient has been our urban planning, can only be saved by agriculture. The Indian economy is getting bailed out, in whatev...