Vol 10 Issue 6
Nov-Dec.2012
“Great opportunities to help others seldom come, but small ones surround us every day.”
- Sally Koch
Failure of Govt It took a Savita to make Ireland change their abortion law, and it seems that now it will be the gangrape in Delhi that will force the government of India to refresh their laws on rape. First it was the moral police that went around harassing women who dressed a certain way, or went to certain places (pubs) or who did anything ‘they’ disapproved of. And then we had the Curb Police who want to stop what you say in print, on the net, or on a private page. Eventually it is a matter of lack of political will. In any and every way, it is a failure of governance, a failure of sensitivity, a failure of nationalism... If you look beyond the immediate you can see that it is actually the total corruption of politicians that has led to the police thinking they have the power to take any action they want, and men to think they have the power to do what they want. Power that corrupts is the worst kind. When a politician --a socalled leader--thinks he (and his family) have the power -to do what they want and the laws tweaked to suit their ends, their mentality peters down. For too long has this drama of Political Corruption- with criminals being given tickets to contest elections-been going on in India, and the gangrape in Delhi is the net result of the Leadership our government has given us. They refuse to pass the Police Reforms Bill which will take away their control of the Police and they refuse to table the Jan Lokpal Bill because they will be open to legal action. When a man thinks he is the one with Power and can get away with anything– murder, rape--there is something that has given him that message. That message has to be corrected...and as the protestors in Delhi, and all those in other parts of India, said ‘HANG the rapists’. Whether it is your son/brother/father/neighbour --if they have raped a girl, will you feel safe if he is around you/your child? No. Our judicial system will give him bail, let him out (after we have paid for his free stay in jail) after a few years.Those who are against capital punishment- may ponder over this: Does a predator have the right to kill/rape again and again? ---Rima Kashyap
Other issues GM crop field trials must not be allowed Environmentalists have been telling us about the presence of DDT residues in human milk and even traces of it in the blood of penguins. This tells us how widespread the use and abuse of this chemical is, but it took us more than 40 years to realise that DDT is a harmful persistent organic pollutant. Environmentalists are now worried about the growing emergence of biological toxins - like Bt - and the threat they pose to our health and environment. Newer estimates tell us that each Bt plant produces within itself a heavy dose of toxins equal to 4.2 kg per hectare, 19 times more than the average use of chemical pesticides. Still more worrisome is a recent Canadian study that shows widespread presence of Bt-related insecticides in the blood of 93% pregnant women and in 80% of foetuses. Having failed to learn any lesson from the DDT debacle, the scientific community is pushing ahead for the acceptance of GM crops. So when the Supreme Court-appointed Technical Expert's Committee (TEC) in its interim report suggested a moratorium for 10 years on field trials of GM crops till the time a regulatory mechanism is put in place, the GM industry reacted sharply. The TEC report couldn't have come at a better time. Only a few weeks ago, Giles-Eric Seralini, professor of molecular biology at the University of Caen, France, demonstrated that when fed with GM maize and a particular herbicide, rats developed huge kidney and skin tumours, and also had digestive problems. Female rats developed fatal mammary tumours and pituitary disorders with a high fatality rate . In case of agriculture, the claims have fallen flat. There is no GM crop in the world which increases crop productivity. US department of agriculture acknowledges low productivity of GM corn and GM soybean. The promise of reducing chemical pesticides usage has also been belied. In the US alone, pesticide use has increased by 404 million pounds between 1996 and 2011. In India, the Central Institute for Cotton Research has shown that pesticides usage in cotton has not decreased with Bt crops. Still more worrisome is the emergence of super weeds and resistant insects. In America, more than 14.5 million acres are now afflicted with super weeds which are difficult to eliminate. As many as 23 weeds have now been classified as 'super weeds'. A robust regulatory regime, with science-based long-term studies on the impact of GM crops on soil, animal and human health and the environment are desperately needed.
The WB’s World Devpt. Report is not holistic The theme of the World Bank's World
Development Report this year is, appropriately enough, jobs. The report recognizes that creating jobs is the surest way of reducing inequality and poverty, particularly in the developing world. But the cliché it offers as a solution is disappointing: relax labour laws. The bank has failed to take a holistic view of the problem. While job creation is a central issue, the report has overlooked the quality of employment on the one hand and the political economy of the production structure on the other. For it is a fact that a large majority of our workers are toiling in inhumane conditions and are unable to earn a decent living. Yet this inhuman aspect is hardly talked about. Similarly, it is also evident that the unprecedented momentum in growth seen in most economies in the last decade has not necessarily been employment-friendly . This is especially true for the Indian economy. Barely a million jobs were created in the entire five-year period from 2004-05 to 2009-10, coinciding with the first avatar of the UPA government. What, however, is not said is the fact that this period also saw the quality of employment deteriorating and most jobs being created in the low-paid construction sector. Consequently, not only did the share of the informal sector increase in the overall workforce, it now accounts for two in three workers in the organized sector. It is the latter sector that is generally considered to be a better employer in terms of facilities and work environment. The growing casualization of the workforce and its increasing contractual nature in the organized sector has been established through multiple sources. Contract workers accounted for less than 20% of all workers in the manufacturing sector in 1999-2000 but increased to almost 32% in 2008-09, according to the Annual Survey of Industries, and the National Sample Survey Office. So, not only is sufficient employment not being generated, but its quality too is suspect. At the same time, this period has seen a sharp increase in productivity, resulting in larger profit accumulation. However, increases in productivity have not led to any betterment in the working conditions of employees. This is not unique to India; it has happened globally with multinational corporations using the loopholes in labour laws in collusion with compliant national governments to take advantage of cheap labour in developing countries-a phenomenon described as crony capitalism. As a result, a large part of our population is poor, not just because they do not have jobs but also because the kind of jobs they land into do not provide enough earnings to ensure a decent standard of living. Irrespective of the justification of the poverty line, (already pegged at a very low level), the fact remains that a large majority of the workforce in the country earns less than that. This number is estimated to be little less
The media is a key outlet for this. Why influence? A just, fair and equitable world is not
The Woman Fire Fighters and Officers of Mumbai Fire Brigade Kavita Burkul, Lata Rathore, Shwetambri Yadav and Sunita Patil, and the youngest commercial pilot Bavicca Bharathi were felicitated at an event to mark International Day of the Girl Child
than one-third of the populationworking yet poor. The bank's overlooking of these fundamental issues is particularly distressing since these contradictions are now getting articulated violently. The recent incident where a section of workers at Maruti Suzuki's plant in Manesar clashed with the management-resulting in the death of a manager-is an isolated event, but a grim harbinger of things to come. Such incidents are not limited to India but have also occurred in the US, China and South Africa. In the last six months, workers at a Foxconn factory (which makes the Apple iPhone) in China resorted to industrial action against poor working conditions, leading to the death of 10 workers; employees of Wal-Mart protested working conditions at their facilities in the US and 12,000 protesting mining workers in South Africa were fired at by the armed security, killing 34 miners. While the World Bank has done well in flagging an endemic problem, it is remiss in not delving deeper into the issue. As a multilateral institution, it carries considerable weight and, hence, is in a strong position to influence the discourse in what is otherwise a hugely important and vexing problem. It is something that could trigger social chaos and derail the best laid plans, a situation that developing countries such as India can't afford.---(excerpts from an article by Himanshu, asst prof. at Jawaharlal Nehru University and visiting fellow at Centre de Sciences Humaines, New Delhi).
What is advocacy? Advocacy is action that aims to change laws, policies, practices and attitudes. Who to influence? Advocacy actions are usually directed at decision makers who hold the power to implement the change required, for example governments or private actors such as water companies. Advocacy can also be directed towards changing public opinion to support an issue or cause, or take a specific form of action to put pressure on decision makers.
The media is a key outlet for this. Why influence? A just, fair and equitable world is not possible without working on the social, economic and political injustices which result in millions without access to clean water, billions without access to a safe place to go the bathroom and the disproportionate costs and effects of climate change between various parts of the world.(Freshwater Action Network.)
What Aadhar? On Dec. 13, hundreds of residents from Kotkasim joined the “Right to Food dharna” at Jantar Mantar to share their side of the “direct cash transfer” pilot in Kotkasim – irregular payments, being forced to buy kerosene before they get their PDS grain, payment of Rs. 500 to open “zero-balance” accounts and so on. In the Kotkasim “pilot”, subsidy at the point of sale was removed, and was to be reimbursed into people’s bank accounts. Instead of buying kerosene at Rs. 15/litre earlier, now people buy kerosene at Rs. 50/litre. After the introduction of the pilot in December, 2011, kerosene sales fell by 80%. This was hailed as a success in curbing “black” sales of kerosene. However, the truth is that many people did not have bank accounts and those who did were not getting the “direct cash transfer” reimbursed into their accounts. On Dec.10 KV Thomas (Minister, Food) stated in the Rajya Sabha that the very same model which failed in Kotkasim is going to be introduced for foodgrains in six Union Territories!! His statement betrays the fact that the government is not coming clean on which schemes are to be linked to the “direct cash transfers.” Until a few days ago, many in government were at pains to clarify that food subsidies were NOT part of the “direct cash transfer” game plan. On Dec. 11, Jairam R a m e s h , ( M i n i s t e r, R u r a l Development) wrote in The Hindu, “subsidies on food and fertilizer have not been included in the first phase”, but on Dec. 10, KV Thomas (Minister, Food) stated in Parliament that it is being linked in six UTs.!!!! Who knows what?