Wednesday, November 25, 2009

[ZESTCaste] Fwd: Free and Open Source Software workshop for NGOs

 



---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: uk gali <uday@vikasadhatri.org>
Date: Nov 26, 2009 11:11 AM
Subject: Free and Open Source Software workshop for NGOs
To: Karthik Navayan <navayan@gmail.com>

Please forward this to  NGOs in your Network

Dear friends,

Consumer Education Society is planning to conduct Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) workshops across Andhra Pradesh. A series of workshops on Free and Open Source software specifically tailored for non profits and civil society groups will be organized. It enables more freedom and flexibility in choosing software for everyday use without expensive overheads and license fees and without worrying about piracy. The Representatives from Nonprofit organizations, civil groups, Youth and Women organizations can participate in these workshops.

The workshop covers the following broad domains:

 * Free and Open Source Software

 * Introduction to Linux based distribution Ubuntu. (A free alternative to MS Windows)

 * Open Office (equivalent of MS office)

 * Internet Tools (firefox, pidgin, thunderbird) (a brower, IM client and email client)

 * Desktop publishing (GIMP- photo editor, scribus-publishing, inkscape-drawing), Web publishing (CMS,      blogs).

 

 These will be fine tuned for each workshop based on participant profile and expectations.

The first such workshop will be conducted from 16th December to 18th December 2009 at Hyderabad. There is no participation fee. Working lunch will be provided by the organizers. No TA/DA will be paid. The participants have to make their own arrangements for their accommodation.  Interested organizations may register their details by visiting the website www.vikasadhatri.org before 5th December 2009.



--
గాలి ఉదయ కుమార్
వికాస ధాత్రి
Get free Telugu Books from www.vikasadhatri.org


--
B.Karthik Navayan,
Advocate,
H.No. 21-7-761,
Opp.High Court Post Office,
Gansi Bazar, Hyderabad,
PIN-500002, AP.
Email:navayan@gmail.com
http://sites.google.com/site/karthiknavayan/home
http://www.orkut.co.in/Main#Profile.aspx?uid=10379805095932756525

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[ZESTCaste] Gujarat girl's rehabilitation - looking for help

 

Dear donors and friends,

For my query to find the whereabouts of this brave girl, I got an immediate reply from brother Kirit Parmar promising his help to locate her. I am in touch with him.

I am also happy that a few donors came forward (I did not ask for donations) opening their pockets to help her. Thanks to them. Though monetary help is important, more than that rehabilitation is more important. I am looking for someone who can help her to get a suitable job. If someone can help (through their contacts with high officials or schools etc), please let me know.

Also, I decided to ask for donations as well. If anyone is willing to help her, we will collect it and disburse it through Mr Kirit Parmar.

Interestingly, Mr Parmar's life is a great example of how a spirited individual can overcome challenges and scale greater heights in life. So, I would like to send you his story which I think is a remarkable one. On my request, he sent me a link and I am forwarding it to you.

I am sorry, I did not take his permission. Still, good stories are to be told far and wide. Please read his remarkable story.

Br Parmar, please pardon me for sending your story without your permission.

With regards

Benjamin

http://wuyeseffect.com/index.php/ambassadors/kirit/

Date Added: 22 March 2009

'Yes' to education itself is empowering, inspiring and motivating for me and it has been playing major role in my personal development. Indirectly, it is leading towards the development of my family and untouchable community. I was born in 1970 in poor untouchable family in Hindu caste system in Gujarat state, India. After six months of my birth, my mother passed away in a road accident. At that time, my three sister and brothers were very young and my father was suffering from eye disease 'Retinitis pimentos'. However, I was raised at different places i.e. orphan's home which was run by Christian missionary where I was raised since six months of age up to five years as there was no one who could take care of me in my family. My secondary socialization up to 16 years of my age took place in Gandhi Ashram under Mahatma Gandhi's life principles and by the time my father got remarried. After few years of my stay in Gandhi Ashram I learnt that my father was unable to pay my annual hostel accommodation fees and for that, I was asked to leave the Gandhi Ashram. At very young age I requested school authority to give me work which can compensate my fees. After long discussion, school authority agreed to my suggestion. I was given work to clean 10 class rooms after school hours which I did with honor and completed my schooling. During my stay in Gandhi Ashram (1976-1986), I learnt the importance of education and Gandhi's principles at the same time I also learnt that I am poor untouchable who religiously do not have rights like; spiritual, educational, political and also human rights.

After 10th grad (1986), my family asked me to earn something to support family financially. I started working as a daily wage laborer in agricultural farms and factories. My step mother used to warn me many a times that 'if you do not earn then you will not get your meal and also won't be allowed to stay in this house'. During my work, I met many people with different objectives in their life but I was not satisfied with myself. I wanted to help people like me though I was suffering. After few years, I got to know about master level academic program in Social Work at Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai, India. Without informing my step mother I joined 11th grad (1989) school simultaneously I was working. After a year, my step mother came to know about my study, she compelled me to leave the school and I did, as I did not have any other place to live in. Once my brother offered me a job in village, I agreed to his job offer with my condition to allow me to study in village school. I completed my 12th grad in vernacular (Gujarati, 1992-1993). Now time came for university, this time, I realized that I should leave house for betterment future of my family. I left my house on my own risk and took admission in university under scheduled caste category (untouchable). I completed Bachelor of Arts (BA) (1993-1996) with a second class honor (Medium of instruction was English) from The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, Gujarat, India. While university studies, I did evening job at ice cream parlor. But still my dream was not achieved, I wanted to do Master in Social Work, and task was very tough ahead.

My university education gave me confidence in which I felt that 'yes' I can do it, I started preparing for MSW competitive academic entrance test. In the year 1999-2001 I completed MSW with specialization in Urban and Rural Community Development from TISS ( www.tiss.edu ). I got a job in field rural community development in Council for Advancement of people's Action and rural technology (CAPART) under aegis of Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India (2001-2003). [In July 2002, I was invited to participate in International AIDS conference and skill building workshops at Barcelona, Spain with full scholarship]. I worked as a district Gender Officer,(2003-2004) in Department of Women and Child Development, Government of Gujarat under Integrated Population Development Project(IPD) funded by United Nation Population Development Activities (UNFPA). I worked as a social worker (2004-2006) for voluntary organization working in grassroots level for most deprived scavenger community among untouchable castes. My objectives were to build bridge or minimize internal communal stress in order to reduce the violence and conflict between communities. In 2005, I received the prestigious Ford Foundation International Fellowship award (http://www.fordifp.net/index.aspx?id=225) to pursue further study in Human Rights at University of Birmingham, UK (www.bham.ac.uk ). In year 2007, I participated in Spirituality and Social work conference at Dominican University, Illinois, Chicago, the USA, organized by Arizona State University. After I returned from UK, I worked in India for a year and then went to Philadelphia, USA to work as a social worker.

I strongly believe my sacrifice, struggle and living away from home for education has brought better life for my family and community. Therefore, education is the only tool for both genders for their holistic development. If person develops the ability to understand 'yes' in positive context, he/she would definitely be able to join this 'yes' campaign… I believe that I have inspiring skill, caliber and maturity to be become a best ambassador for respected Western Union.

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An educated man without character and humility was more dangerous than a beast. If his education was detrimental to the welfare of poor, he was a curse to society.
-Babasaheb Dr B R Ambedkar

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[ZESTCaste] Please SIGN-ON: COPENHAGEN: Memorandum to the PM on Climate Change

 

Dear Friends,

The statement copied below (and attached), jointly drafted by several organisations, is a memorandum to the Government of India that draws attention to several urgent and so far unaddressed concerns about the climate crisis and the Indian Government's response to them, especially in light of the upcoming 15th Conference of the Parties (COP) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) at Copenhagen from 7-18 December 2009.

An initial list of endorsing groups can be found at the end of the statement. The letter will be submitted to the PM, the Environment Minister, MPs and members of the PM's Advisory Council on Climate Change.

 

If you are in agreement with the contents of the memorandum, please write to indiaclimatejustice @gmail.com with the name of your organisation. If you are an individual, please let us know your organisational affiliation, if any.

We hope to get endorsements by Saturday, 28 November.

 

Sincerely

 

New Trade Union Initiative (NTUI)

National Forum of Forest People and Forest Workers (NFFPFW)

Focus on the Global South

Intercultural Resources  

Delhi Platform

Delhi Forum

Bharat Jan Vigyan Jatha (BJVJ)

 




MEMORANDUM TO THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

ON THE UNFCCC's 15th CONFERENCE OF THE PARTIES AT COPENHAGEN

 

 

24 November 2009

 

Dear Prime Minister Manmohan Singh,

 

We, the undersigned people's organisations, social movements, trade unions and concerned citizens, submit this memorandum to the Government to draw your attention to the several urgent and so far unaddressed concerns about the climate crisis and the Indian Government's response to them, especially in light of the upcoming 15th Conference of the Parties (COP) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) at Copenhagen from 7-18 December 2009.

 

We believe that the economic and political issues of inequality, both within and between nations, grievously impact distribution and consumption and are at the core of the crisis of global warming and of responding meaningfully to it. The crisis is also about a few usurping the rights and access of the vast majority of the disempowered over the commons – air, water, land, minerals and forests. Unsustainable economic development and inequitable growth based on an economy dependent on the use of fossil-fuels and extractive industries — which intensified in the last 60 years — have led to the sharp rise in carbon emissions, way beyond what the Earth can absorb. The global annual carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions have reached about 35 billion tonnes a year from the burning of coal, oil and gas, and from deforestation. This is much more than the net absorption capacity of the Earth, estimated to be 16-17 billion tonnes a year or roughly 2.5 tonnes per person, which is declining due to a gradual warming of the oceans.

 

Hence, there is an extremely urgent need to make sharp and immediate cuts in the emission of greenhouse gases (GHGs). We fear that this urgency has not been reflected in the ongoing negotiations leading up to Copenhagen, neither in the Indian government's position and policy interventions, nor in the positions of governments worldwide. The urgency stems from the fact that scientific evidence suggests we may already be close to significant tipping points in some of the Earth's major ecosystems. Crossing a tipping point — whereby natural systems deteriorate even without any further human intervention — will make it that much more difficult for us to collectively intervene in halting possibly runaway global warming. We need to make drastic cuts in emissions, starting immediately. Anything less or watered down at Copenhagen will have massive consequences for humanity and for other species.

 

INDIA IS IN THE FRONTLINE OF CLIMATE VULNERABILITY

 

Climate change has become a serious threat to the poor, particularly in developing countries. Impacts are going to get unavoidably worse, with massive disruption and loss of human life and of other species that invisibly support our ecosystems. In India, widespread and significant impacts of climate change have been noticed for at least 10-15 years in many regions. These impacts are adversely affecting the urban working poor, the lives and livelihoods of the Himalayan and other hill people, fishing communities and other coastal and island communities, small, marginal and rainfed farmers and agricultural labourers, dalits, women, adivasis, forest dwellers, and other disadvantaged and marginalised communities in different regions. Published scientific evidence and other observations of people from different communities reveal that the following are some of the major impacts that are already visible:

 

·         Changing rainfall patterns, reduced rains in July and in winter, shorter south-west monsoon, and intense rains in a short period. This is hurting both small agriculture and water sources and causing unprecedented floods and soil erosion in some places.

·         In the mid-level Himalayas, reduced snow at mid- to high altitudes, warmer winters, shifting of fruits and crops to higher levels, spread of mosquitoes and vector-borne disease to new areas, drying up of streams, disappearance of small glaciers and receding of large glaciers.

·         The spread and intensification of drought in large parts of India leading to massive forced migration, agrarian distress and mass abandoning of livestock.

·         In forest areas, the migration of species to higher altitudes, the loss of biodiversity, the greater incidence of pests, increased growth of weeds, greater frequency of forest fires, the decline in stock of certain medicinal plants, and reduced growth of forests and grasslands.

·         The drying of water sources that supply water for drinking and for livelihoods at many places.

·         Sea level rise along many coastlines, depletion and migration of fish stocks, and ingress of saline water due to storm surges.

 

These impacts influence and aggravate a range of other crises with systemic roots, for example the agrarian crisis. It is widely accepted by scientists that the impacts are going worsen further, and will happen simultaneously, hitting the poor in different regions.

 

THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA'S POSITION

The Indian Government's stand on climate change needs to reflect this urgency. It should affirm the principles of equity, justice and sustainability as essential for effective global and national policy towards climate change governed through a democratic and participatory regulatory mechanism.

 

Our views on the GOI's stand in key areas in the climate negotiations are as follows:

 

a.       Mitigation: The Government's stand that India's per capita emissions are low and it will "not allow its per capita GHG emissions to exceed the average per capita emissions of the developed countries" (The Road to Copenhagen, MEA, GOI, 2009) is nothing but hiding behind the poor and is potentially dangerous because it will worsen the climate crisis in the long run. India's average emissions are relatively low for the time being because of the abysmal poverty of the overwhelming majority of this country; in contrast, the elites in this country have emissions approaching European levels. India needs to adopt and push for equity internally on a per capita emissions basis, the same principle it is arguing for in international negotiations. India's energy policy for the foreseeable future is based on polluting fossil fuels, driven by a model of industrialization directed primarily at elite consumption. This needs to drastically decrease and therefore a complete rethink of our energy policy is essential.

 

b.      Adaptation: The Government's claim that it is spending "up to 2.5% of GDP on adaptation" is an accounting sleight of hand. The 2009-10 Budget documents reveal that much of the increase in expenditure for the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) and the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) is being accounted for as Adaptation Funds. On the other hand, crucial areas for adaptation such as mangrove conservation, wetlands conservation, protection of rivers and other groundwater recharging systems, afforestation, methods of cultivation such as the system of rice intensification and organic farming and the biodiversity conservation programme have received scant attention and meagre allocations. Also, the shocking lack of prior information, preparedness and action regarding several disasters such as the recent drought, Krishna basin floods and the Aila disaster in the Sunderbans indicate that much more needs to be done and with greater urgency. Unavoidable worsening impacts suggest that they need to be anticipated and prepared for in advance.

 

c.       Technology: Any technology transfer negotiated as part of the Copenhagen process should be free of conditionalities and Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) restrictions. We need to ensure that we adopt solution-based technologies rather than technology-driven solutions. The belief that large technologies will provide the solution evades the centrality of the need to reduce elite consumption, in India and the world. It brings in large capital and takes solutions out of people's hands. We urge the adoption of decentralized, small and sustainable technologies that are appropriate for people's needs. Many such technologies and materials already exist and need to be examined and improved upon before we venture into blind import of technology.

 

d.      Finance: We support the stand proposed by the Bolivian government that industrialized countries should pay for their enormous historical emission and adaptation debts to the developing world, including India and the Indian poor. Any financial transfer mechanism and its ultimate use needs to be transparent, decentralized, democratic and decided by the people at all levels – through participation in consultation with national, state and local self-governments. However, we do not believe that adaptation and basic technology implementation in a large developing country such as India is in any way contingent on the prior transfer of financial resources.

 

Additionally,

 

·         We view the Government's formulation and finalization of India's National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) and its eight missions as undemocratic and unilateral. The NAPCC does not question the current non-sustainable, high emissions pattern of economic development. Therefore the Government needs to arrive at a new NAPCC with reference to Parliament, in consultation with state and local governments, and through the widest possible participation of affected people. This must include differentiated eco-zone planning, district level vulnerability and contingency planning for disasters, industry-based reduction of emissions and people's control mechanisms over the commons.

 

·         Instead of addressing the crisis at its source, the Indian government is pushing for a series of non-solutions and false solutions towards mitigating emissions. Nuclear power is costly, risky, harms communities in the vicinity of uranium mines and nuclear plants and has significant embodied emissions. Agrofuels – which many state governments are promoting through jatropha plantations – take away land from food production, reduces access to the commons used by the poor and consumes enormous quantities of water. The hundreds of hydropower dams being planned and constructed across the Himalayan and other ecosystems, the Northeast region and elsewhere undermines the will of the local communities, and denies decentralized micro energy projects that would be more appropriate. Genetically Modified Organisms being proposed for mitigation and adaptation of cash and food crops will grossly undermine food security, biodiversity and cause unforeseen consequences along with deepening the control of multinationals over our food chain.

 

·         We oppose both India's position of 'Compensated Conservation' as part of the Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) and its support for REDD. REDD and all other variants of carbon forestry encourage and promote the privatization and commodification of forests and their resources. There is the real danger that REDD will aggressively push a forced takeover of forest lands from communities by corporations and the Indian Forest Department. It will limit the access of forest people to their primary source of life and livelihood, who are already facing massive forced displacement in the name of 'development'. REDD goes against people-centered forest governance, promotes the much opposed and discredited Joint Forest Management thereby undermining the recently enacted Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006.

 

·         Projects under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) – of which India has about 1,200, both registered and under validation – prevents the physical and verifiable cuts in emissions that are so urgently needed, as does REDD. Carbon offsets perpetuate elite consumption in the misplaced hope that it can be compensated for. CDM in India is dominated by polluting industries that continue to harm communities and ecosystems, emit toxic fly ash and carbon, pollute rivers and underground aquifers. Corporations with bad environmental track records earn huge money through flimsy, non-verifiable and mostly false claims of emissions reductions.

 

·         At the Bangkok UNFCCC meeting in September-October 2009, the US introduced a proposed structure for measurement, reporting and verification (MRV) of mitigation actions. It seeks to extend MRV to all countries except the least developed countries (LDCs). The word "commitment" in relation is absent in the US draft. We see this as an important shift in the language of global climate change agreement from binding commitments to that of mitigating "actions". The Indian government should strongly oppose this watering down of the proposed regulatory mechanism of the Kyoto Protocol for developed economies.

 

WE DEMAND:

 

1.      Given the increasing risk to life and life-support systems in the world, the Copenhagen Conference should declare a Global Climate Emergency.

2.      A real and verifiable emission cut that is legally binding by the industrialized (Annex 1) countries of at least 50% by 2020, 70% by 2030 and 90% by 2050, over 1990 levels, and not left to voluntary "actions" of the industralised countries. The cuts should be within national borders, not offset through market and/or other mechanisms such as the CDM, and these cuts should start immediately.

3.      The post-Kyoto process of collective negotiation needs to be strengthened, deepened and widened on the issue of cuts in greenhouse gases. This is being undermined by the industrialized nations, who are pushing for voluntary and individual national cuts. We demand that the baseline for emission cuts should be kept at the 1990 level as agreed.

4.      Large emitters, including China, India, Brazil, Mexico and South Africa, should rapidly shift away from their high-consumption and high-emission development trajectories, while promoting internal equity. They need to commit to necessary and binding reduction targets along with sharp cuts by Annex 1 countries. India should take the lead in building a consensus among developing economies to commit to mitigation targets, which should be binding through national legislation. In this context, the Government of India should reformulate the Industries (Development and Regulation) Act, 1951 so as to incorporate the mitigation target based on a principle of democratic industrialization that ensures equity and social justice.

5.      The Indian government should revise its unsustainable development trajectory of several decades. This phase has witnessed the exploitation of natural resources, the greater displacement of adivasis and other forest dwellers, intensified exploitation and continued pauperization of the urban poor, casualisation and contractualisation of labour, and the promotion of consumption by and production for elites. Such an anti-poor development trajectory — a trajectory reflected in the toothless Biodiversity Act 2002, the much-diluted EIA Notification, 2006, the industry-oriented National Environment Policy, 2006, the rampant violations of the CRZ Notification, and in the NAPCC and various missions under it — intrinsically leads to higher carbon emissions. We demand that emissions by elites in India be urgently brought down to 2.5 tonnes of carbon dioxide per capita a year, thus enforcing equality and equity in resource-sharing by all Indians, and which is the maximum the Earth can currently absorb. At the same time we note that the working poor in the country are forced to consume much less than required for their well-being. Their consumption levels have to rise for them to have reasonable living standards and a life of dignity. We demand an effective framework that promotes the use of public transport alongside binding restrictions on the use of vehicles for private purposes, and one that prevents displacement of the poor in towns and cities. We demand that the livelihoods, constitutional and democratic rights of forest dwellers, fishworkers and small peasant cultivators be ensured.

6.      The Indian Government should prepare a comprehensive policy for compensation of those affected by restructuring of the economy for emission cuts and arrive at an acceptable framework for re-employment of displaced workers.

7.      Drastic cuts in defence expenditure, which is one of the largest consumers of energy, to promote peace in the region.

8.      That the Indian government should redraw its energy strategy, moving towards more sustainable, equitable, employment and livelihood-generati ng renewable and bio-energy sources and strategies, in a time-bound manner. There needs to be a much more decentralized generation, transmission and use of energy. For renewable energy to be competitive and go beyond experimentation there has to be substantial government subsidy. India has vast resources of solar energy, which, if all past subsidies to conventional power and costs of mitigation of ill-effects are taken into account, becomes a cost competitive source of clean and renewable power. All this would necessitate a credible and transparent re-examination of the Electricity Act in all its ramifications.

9.      The costs of mitigation and restructuring are paid for through direct investment by the government defined by the paramount principle of the public good.

10.  Un-proven, anti-poor and potentially disastrous non-solutions, such as nuclear energy, agro-fuels, large hydro, CDM and hydrogen fuel should be immediately halted. A strict principle of "polluter pays" should be implemented for costing and comparing various energy options. The government must cease to be party to any disastrous market-based solutions like carbon trading.

11.  We call for a new National Action Plan on Climate Change that will be arrived at after a wide consultation of people and be sanctioned by parliament.

12.  We oppose any attempt to link climate change commitments to trade barriers and tariffs. The Indian government should desist from and oppose any such moves.

13.  That the Government of India support the payment of ecological debt — both for historical emissions and current adaptation — as a legally binding obligation of the industrialized nations to nations and peoples of the global South. Their ecological debt should include the complete restoration of territories, and recuperation of agriculture and ecosystems. We demand the creation of alternative funding mechanisms and flows that recognize this ecological debt and respect, protect and promote the sovereignty and rights of nations and people. We demand an immediate end to any role for the World Bank and other international financial institutions (IFIs) in climate financing and to the tied use of technology to any debt repayment.

14.  Our government must stand united with and protective of progressive efforts of other developing countries, G-77, the least developed countries (LDCs) and the Association of Small Island States (AOSIS). We oppose the reported moves by the Indian government to align with the United States, historically by far the largest greenhouse emitter.

 

The Indian government must take leadership of the countries of the global South in Copenhagen and beyond, by bringing issues of justice and equity in all their dimensions to the centrestage in climate negotiations. These need to be informed by the principle of ecological sustainability, and need to transcend barriers of generations and species and ensure rights of nations and peoples.

Copies to:

Minister of Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh

Members of Parliament

Members of PM's Advisory Council on Climate Change

 

 

 

 

 

 

ENDORSED BY

 

 

Organisations

 

1.      New Trade Union Initiative (NTUI)

2.      National Alliance of People's Movements (NAPM)

3.      National Forum of Forest Peoples and Forest Workers (NFFPFW)

4.      National Fishworkers' Forum (NFF)

5.      Kerala Swatantra Matsya Thozhilali Federation (KSMTF)

6.      Indian Social Action Forum (INSAF)

7.      South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People (SANDRP)

8.      Programme for Social Action (PSA)

9.      Bharat Jan Vigyan Jatha (BJVJ)

10.  Delhi Platform

11.  Focus on the Global South

12.  Delhi Forum

13.  Environment Support Group

14.  Intercultural Resources

15.  Equations

16.  Coorg Organisation for Rural Development

17.  Popular Education and Action Centre (PEACE)

18.  Kabani (Kerala)

19.  Rural Volunteers' Centre, Assam

20.  River Basin Friends

 

 

Individual   For endorsements write to indiaclimatejustice @gmail.com


Peace Is Doable
Peace Is Doable


The INTERNET now has a personality. YOURS! See your Yahoo! Homepage.

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[ZESTCaste] Fw: Rape survivor, topper, now labourer

 

I forgot to send it to this group. Is there anyone who can help us locating this girl?
----------------------------------------

Can someone in Gujarat find this girl. FFEI is ready to help in a small way.

Thanks

Ben

 

Rape survivor, topper, now labourer

Posted by: "Siddhartha Kumar" mailsiddhartha.k@gmail.com   tellsiddhartha

Thu Nov 19, 2009 9:53 am (PST)

http://www.dnaindia .com/india/ report_rape- survivor- topper-now- labourer_ 1313167

Rape survivor, topper, now labourer
DNA

Wednesday, November 18, 2009 10:24 IST

Ahmedabad: She survived the torment of being repeatedly gangraped-- at
a government-run college in Patan, by her own teachers -- and yet
topped the Primary Teacher's Certificate exams.

Now she survives as a farm labourer, earning Rs60 per day. The victim,
Pooja (name changed), a Dalit girl, who was violated for months by the
very people who were supposed to protect and nurture her, was promised
a job by the state government.

The assurance was given during the trial of her six tormentors, who
were later sentenced to life in prison, at a time when outraged and
shamed Gujarat demanded that the government act responsibly and
sensitively.

Those promises seem to have been forgotten today. While her
application for employment is tossed back and forth in babudom's
labyrinth, Pooja struggles to fend for her bed-ridden parents. Her
mother underwent a hysterectomy recently and the father suffered a
bone injury, said Manjula Pradeep, the executive director of NGO,
Navsarjan, which has been championing Pooja's fight for justice.

Talking to DNA over phone, Pooja said, "I cannot join a private school
because they pay a measly Rs1,000 a month. As a labourer, I earn Rs60
per day." Her toils demoralise her so much that even the memory of
scoring 86.8 % in her final PTC exams provide little succor, she said.

As for government functionaries who had initially offered her support,
they are now issuing non-committal platitudes. Pooja said that the
state education minister, Ramanlal Vora, had told her, "The government
has received your application for a job, and will get back to you in
due course of time." The only concrete offer that was made, that of a
clerical job, came at a time when she was fighting her battle for
justice.

"The government has to perform its role by offering her social
security, and ensuring her physical and mental well-being," Pradeep
said. "It should fulfil all its promises of looking after her and
giving her a life of dignity."

Corroborating Pooja's statement that she had sent written applications
to all government notables, including Narendra Modi, Pradeep said that

Pooja had also met the Mehsana collector twice with her plea for a job.

Ajay Bhadoo, the district collector of Mahesana, confirmed receiving
her representation. "She had made a representation to us in writing,
three or four months back," he said. "We had forwarded it to the
official concerned, who is the district primary education officer.
Then the application was forwarded to the state government."

Meanwhile, Pooja continues to press on with her menial job, showing
the same spirit that allowed her to survive her unspeakable trauma.
She has received no monetary assistance, apart from the chief
minister's token relief of Rs1 lakh, released soon after her story
broke.

Despite DNA's sustained attempts, education minister Vora and revenue
minister Anandiben Patel, who is the sitting MLA from Patan, could not
be reached for comments
 
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
An educated man without character and humility was more dangerous than a beast. If his education was detrimental to the welfare of poor, he was a curse to society.
-Babasaheb Dr B R Ambedkar

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[ZESTCaste] Social activists seek right to food Bill

 

http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/social-activists-seek-right-to-food-bill/377577/

Social activists seek right to food Bill

Sreelatha Menon / New Delhi November 25, 2009, 1:23 IST

Several civil society groups are mounting a campaign for universal
food rights and will march with 6,000 people to Parliament on November
26, to press enactment of a Right to Food Bill.

The leading groups in the campaign include the Right to Food Campaign,
Jan Swasthya Abhiyan and National Campaign for Dalit Rights. They are
demanding a public distribution system (PDS) that does not distinguish
between those above or below the poverty line on subsidised foodgrain,
pulses and oil. And a five-yearly food entitlement census.

Presenting a draft Bill which incorporates these measures, activists
Jean Dreze, Kavita Srivastava and Annie Raja today said poor
implementation of the PDS is no reason for closing it. They said it
should be reformed to enable supply of at least 14 kg of grains, 800g
of oil and 1.5 kg of pulses per person every month.

These figures are based on estimates of physical requirement
calculated by the National Institute of Nutrition.

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[ZESTCaste] Fwd: Press Invitation to Launch of the Best Selling Book "Post Hindu India" by Prof Kancha Ilaiah

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Madhu Chandra <finicy@gmail.com>
Date: 2009/11/25
Subject: Press Invitation to Launch of the Best Selling Book "Post
Hindu India" by Prof Kancha Ilaiah
To: pressnotes@googlegroups.com


Dalit Freedom Network

Medchal Road, Jeedimetla, Secunderabad 500 055. www.dalitnetwork.org

Dr. Joseph D'souza - International President

Press Invitation

Launch of the Best Selling Book "Post Hindu India" by Prof Kancha Ilaiah

New Delhi, November 24, 2009


"Post Hindu India: A Discourse on Dalit-Bahujan, Socio-Spiritual and
Scientific Revolution" authored by Prof Kancha Ilaiah, which The Hindu
has reported as the best selling on November 17, 2009 will be launched
today. After press briefing, a panel discussion will follow.

Press Briefing

At Gulmohar, India Habitat Centre, Lodi Road, New Delhi 110003

November 25, 2009 at 6.15 PM

Panel Discussion at 6.30 PM

Panelists

Prof. S. K. Thorat, Chairman, University Grants Commission
Dr. Joseph D'souza, International President, Dalit Freedom Network
Dr. Udit Raj, National Chairman, All India Confederation of SC/ST Organizations

Prof. Kanch Ilaiah, a passionate thinker, social activist and author,
is Professor at the Department of Political Science, Osmania
University, Hyderabad, India . He has authored the best selling book
"Why I am not a Hindu."

Therefore, I on behalf of the Organizing Committee would like to
request to assign your journalist, photo and video journalist to cover
the event and media briefing from the author.

Mr. M. Chandra

Media In-charge

9716004939

About the Book

http://www.sagepub.in/browse/book.asp?bookid=1422&mode=1

Kancha Ilaiah, the author of the best selling book Why I am Not a
Hindu, pens a thought-provoking critique of Brahmanism and the caste
system in India, while anticipating the death of Hinduism as a direct
consequence of, what he says is, its anti-scientific and
anti-nationalistic stand.

This work challenges Hinduism`s interpretation of history, with a
virulent attack on caste politics, and also takes a refreshing look at
the necessity of encouraging indigenous scientific thought for the
sake of national progress. It establishes Hinduism as a `backward`
religion that suppresses the latent scientific and productive
potential of the Dalit–Bahujan communities. The author says this
oppressive system of spiritual fascism is detrimental to both the
future of religion and the nation-state. He thus criticizes the idea
of spiritual justice or varnadharma, used to justify the caste system,
as rooted in spiritual inequality.

On a micro-analytical level, it is based on a thorough study of the
productive knowledge systems of the Dalit–Bahujan communities of
Andhra Pradesh, and provides a detailed day-to-day analysis of the
scientific technological processes and events at work in the life of a
member of these communities. On a macro level, it shows how Hinduism
fails to negotiate between faith and reason, unlike other major
religions of the world.

Kancha Ilaiah critiques the intellectual imagination of the dominant
communities and inspires the marginalized. In the process of doing so
he crafts a work of immense socio-political interest which appeals to
academics, and also to all those who are concerned about contemporary
India`s polity and social fabric.


------------------------------------

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