New agency PTI reported that Justice Sarang Kotwal said: “The title of the CD, Rajya Daman Virodhi itself suggests that it has something against the State while War and Peace is about a war in another country. Why you (Gonsalves) were having books and CDs at home? You will have to explain this to the court.” 

War and Peace, first written in Russian in 1869 and later translated into English in 1899, is known as world masterpiece. Tolstoy, great author, thinker had influenced number of people across the spectrum through this work, and continues to do so. Nobody could have imagined that this book would be objected as ‘anti-State’ material ever anywhere. But Pune police did.

Interestingly, the Pune Police is completely unaware that this world classic was translated into Marathi and published by the Maharashtra Government in 1977!

NewsClick has a copy of this translation published by ‘Maharashtra Rajya Sahitya Sanskruti Mandal’ (Maharashtra State Literature and Culture Forum). The book was translated by AN Pednekar in 1977. The copy of the book clearly mentioned that it is published by the ‘Secretary’ of the said forum and published at ‘Mantralaya’ in Mumbai, the state’s administrative headquarters! 

This book is also has an introduction by none other than Lakshmanshastri Joshi, who was a Colossus-like figure in Maharashtra’s political, social and cultural life, and one of the most influential thinkers that the state has produced.

Activist Vernon Gonsalves at his residence, 2018

Joshi was chosen as an advisor against untouchability by Mahatma Gandhi himself. When Gandhi was imprisoned at Yerwada Jail in Pune, Joshi used to give him references and inputs from Veda and Smriti (Hindu literature) against untouchability.

In his introduction, written on June 16, 1977, to the translated book, Yuddha Ani Shanti, Joshi mentions that “to make Marathi language rich with the world’s best literature, the forum (Literature Culture Forum) has chosen the most important 300 books in first series.” War and Peace by Tolstoy was one of them!

Before objecting to the possession of this book, the least Pune Police could have done is a little bit of homework that the book is considered one of the highly respected literary creations in the world today and is also a widely acclaimed in Marathi.

First published in Newsclick.
 

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Adding to the woes of drought-hit Maharashtra, where almost 60% of the state is reeling under extreme water scarcity, the state’s agriculture department has issued an advisory for the farmers warning against a possible delay in monsoon. The department has suggested the farmers to start sowing and other related works under the direction of the meteorological department. The state was expecting the start of monsoon by June 8 but with updated details, it may get delayed till as late as June 15.

The lack of drinking water is the biggest issue for entire Marathwada, North Maharashtra and western Vidarbha region. Several parts of Western Maharashtra (Jat, Aatpadi, Khatav, Man, Sangola area) are also facing severe water shortage. The reports from only North Maharashtra region suggests that the number of water tankers being provided by the state government has increased by almost six folds compared to last year.

This year, almost 1,200 tankers have been running in this region. At the state level, the number of tankers goes up to 6,300. Even then, there are serious complaints from various corners of the state about tanker shortage.

Reserved water in the dams of the state has gone down to 13% till May 28. Marathwada is the worst affected region in the state where the only 2.9% of water stock is left in different reservoirs. The state’s irrigation officials are suggesting that in almost 45 dams of the state, the level has gone down to 0%. Now, it will have to lift water from dead stock if needed.

There are around 1,500 cattle camps being run in the state to help farmers to take care of their cattle. Almost 10.5 lakh cattle are kept in these camps. State government has released Rs 155 crore for the fodder camps across state.

The drought has affected the farmers the worst. The entire Rabi crop has been wasted. Soya bean and onions are the only two crops from which farmers were expecting a successful harvest this year. But the slashed rates of both has destroyed the hopes of farmers. In this backdrop, the state government has asked banks to provide crop loans to farmers, however, complaints about banks rejecting loan proposals are pouring in from entire Maharashtra.

There is also a buzz in the state that ahead of Assembly elections, the Maharashtra government may come up with the farm loan waiver scheme once again and that this time, entire loans will be waived off, as demanded by many farmer organisations. The state budget session is set to start from June 17. The full budget will be presented on June 18. If the loan waiver is announced in this budget session, it will prove as a great relief for the farmers struggling against drought.

The drought is also affecting the consumer markets in cities like Mumbai and Pune. The flow of wheat and rice has gone down in Mumbai. Till last month, around 1,700 to 1,800 tons of wheat was coming into Mumbai market. Now it has reduced to 400 to 600 tons. On the other hand, people have started stocking Jowar ahead of the rainy season. This has increased the Jowar inflow to market to almost 100 to 200 tons, leading to a rise in the rates, upto Rs 27 to 40.

Another impact is that power generation from Koyana dam has stopped due to depleting water level. The capacity of the dam is around 105 TMC (thousand million cubic feet) but currently it has just 12 % of the water stock. This has forced the state government’s power generation company to shut down the hydropower project, which in turn has reduced almost 1,000 MW power from the state’s generation capacity. The power department is claiming that it will not affect the state in terms of power load shedding as thermal power projects are running in full capacity.

Meanwhile, the opposition and farmers’ organisations are slamming the state government for lack of management to face the drought. “The entire state machinery was used for elections. The Bharatiya Janata Party-led state government is more worried about power than people’s issues. So, from tanker management to fodder camps, there are a number of issues in every tehsil. The government’s complete inability to handle the crisis stands exposed now,” said Dr Ajit Nawale, General Secretary of All India Kisan Sabha.

Courtesy: News Click

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In an important development in the investigation of rationalist Dr Narendra Dabholkar’s murder case, Central Bureau of Investigation arrested Sanjeev Punalekar on Saturday in Mumbai. Punalekar is a lawyer for Sanatan Sanstha, an organisation which has been under the scanner for terror activities. Punalekar along with his assistant Vikram Bhave has been arrested and will be produced to Pune Court on Sunday. Dabholkar was murdered on August 20, 2013, during his morning walk in Pune. His was the first in a series of murders of rationalists that followed in Maharashtra and Karnataka, including Govind Pansare, MM Kalburgi and Gauri Lankesh.

Sanatan Sanstha is a right wing organisation spread across Maharashtra, Karnataka and Goa. Punalekar being their lawyer had defended all the accused in the case including Virendra Tawde, Sachin Andure, Sharad Kalaskar, Amol Kale and others. One of the accused in this case, Rakesh Pangera has got bail but is under custody of Karnataka ATS for the Gauri Lankesh case.

Punalekar has also defended the Sanatan Sanstha and its activities on almost all television news channels, debates, press conferences and elsewhere. He has also defended Sanatan Sanstha’s alleged activists Sarang Akolkar and others in Margao and Panaji bomb blast case, which had taken place in 2009. His arrest in the Dabholkar case is one of the most important development of recent times.

CBI’s Additional Superintendent of Police S R Singh has confirmed the arrest of both. He said that the both of them will be produced in Pune court on Sunday, where the CBI will seek their custody.

Dabholkar was known for his rationalism and activism against various superstitious beliefs. He had founded Maharashtra Andhshraddha Nirmulan Samiti, an organisation against superstitions, and was the torch bearer of progressive and secular values.

Courtesy: Indian Cultural Forum

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Maharashtra’s Marathawada is amongst worst-hit regions by the drought this year. Newsclick travelled to Marathwada to get a glimpse into the plight of people, especially youth, across region.

three young boys leaving for Pune from Chinchpur Dhage
 

The post #MahaDrought: Farm Failure Spurs ‘Permanent’ Migration from Marathwada appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Rahul Ingale, 32, is depressed. Sitting in his shop in Shastri Nagar of Dharavi, Mumbai, Ingale, who deals in the leather market, is facing a huge debt. Carrying forward his family business, he buys leather from Kanpur, Lucknow, Kolkata and Chennai and sells it in Dharavi to a number of processing units. “I am in debt of Rs 75 lakh now. There is no business. Complete shutdown. We can’t even pay the rent of our shop,” he says.

Earlier, Ingale had engaged eight workers in his shop. Today, there is no one. In effect, eight unskilled youths have lost their jobs, leaving Ingale and his 62-years-old father, Shivaji Ingale, to manages the business. “We were unable to pay the salaries of those boys. So, now my father and I work,” he says.

Beef Ban & Leather Goods
The ban on beef has taken a heavy toll on around 300 such shops in Dharavi. The locality was earlier a hub of leather works. But now many shops are either shut or are crawling under debt. “I am in this business for 45 years. I have never seen such a downfall in the market. It’s tyranny on people like us. We are left with nothing,” says an emotional and angry Shivaji.

Dharavi, one of the most high-density localities in the world, is also a hub of small- scale industries. As per the records of Dharavi Businessmen Welfare Association, there are 1,000 small units in the area – be it plastic recycling, leather, garments, aluminium factories and bakeries.

The leaked report of the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) data has recorded a spike in unemployment in 2017-18. The Union government, led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), has denied the findings of NSSO data. But the reality on ground is entirely different than what the Narendra Modi claims.

The story of the Ingale family is related to beef ban. The current political dispensation at the Centre and Maharashtra banks on the ‘cultural politics’ of ‘beef’ and ‘meat’ to its vote bank. So, one can assume that the Modi Sarkar will ignore the disaster that has hit this industry. But the story of sweet products is no different.

Demonetisation Hit Bakery Units
Parvez Sheikh (37) owns Mumbai’s famous bakery, Nagina, located in Dharavi. He had other two bakeries Ibrahima (Kutti Vadi, Dharavi) and Rose (Mahim). Before demonetisation, Nagina had 40 labourers working two shifts, Ibrahima and Rose had 20 each. Sheikh’s main business entailed selling products like paav, bread and rusk in bulk. “Notebandi was such a big shock that money from street vendors stopped completely. Gradually, the business went down. I had to shut down my two bakeries and now Nagina has been given on rent to another person,” he says. Asked what happened to the workers, he adds: “I has no choice than to bid them goodbye. Many of them were from Bijnore and Barabanki in Uttar Pradesh and have returned to their native places.”

There were 25 such bakeries in Dharavi. But first demonetisation and later the Goods and Services Tax (GST) made them financially vulnerable. “I haven’t understood till date why Modiji brought GST? I know many small businesses who had to close down due to indirect effects of GST,” says Sheikh.

Plastic Industry Melts
Bakery is comparatively a smaller industry in Dharavi, compared with the much bigger plastic industry. Earlier, the area was also a hub for plastic manufacturing. But now many factories have shifted to the outskirts of Mumbai, especially to Vasai, Nalasopara and Navi Mumbai. Only plastic segregation and washing plus recycling industry is left. But that is also huge, with over 600 smaller units, each employing about four to five workers.
Juber Ahme
d is actually a graduate from Allahabad University. But in Dharavi, he does the job of segregating plastic. “I didn’t get a job in UP after completing graduation in 2013. So, I shifted here in 2015. Since then, I have been engaged in this work, as there is no job for me in Mumbai also” he says.

Ahmed says two years ago, there was demand for plastic in different forms. “Every 10 to 15 days, we used to segregate one or one and half tonnes of plastic. The broker used to pick it periodically. Now this period has widened. We don’t get plastic for two, even three months. Now the ratio of one tonne plastic segregation has slipped from 10 days to three months,” he says.

The rate for plastic varies depending on quality, from Rs 7 per kg to Rs 40 per kg. “Now, these rates have also come down. We sell plastic at even Rs 4 kg to Rs 30 kg. This has had a very serious impact on our salaries, too,” he adds.

There are around 600 small units engaged in plastic segregation and washing plus recycling in Dharavi. Hariram Tanwar (Dilliwala), General Secretary of the All Plastic Recyclers Association (APRA), says the business is down by 60-70%. “This started after notebandi (demonetisation). That time our business was shut down for almost two months. It has never recovered filly since then,” he says.

Guddu Sheikh owns a small plastic washing and recycling unit and has engaged six workers. “I haven’t reduced the number of workers. But it’s true that salaries are getting delayed. I don’t deal in ragpickers. My clients are big electric and electronics companies. They send me plastic from their factories. I crack, wash and recycle and send these to manufacturers. Now my problem is that the big companies are producing less. So, I am getting less plastic. Also manufacturers have lower demand now. We are sandwiched in the plastic business,” he says.

Textile Units Fading Away
The most affected industry, be it in jobs or turnover, is textiles. Big companies in somehow surviving the slowdown in the domestic markets but smaller units in Dharavi are not that strong.

Gafar Mansuri (42) was one of the major suppliers of suits in the Dadar, Parel markets. His factory had around 30 workers on two shifts a day. “We used to supply 450 to 550 suits per months. Now the number has reduced to just 100 or 125,” he says. Mansuri blamed the decline in business on demand slowdown. “Mandi chal rhi hai bhai. Pehle showrooms se hamare pas 400 suits to aate hi the. Ab showrooms vale hi bolte hai ke uthaav nahi hai,” (Earlier, showroom demand was about 400 suits , now they say that there is no demand) he adds.

Mansuri was forced to reduce his workforce from 30 to 10. “What do I do with so many boys? I will have to pay them, no? If my payment gets delayed by 2-3 months, how will I pay them? ” he asks. He has asked his two sons, one is in 10th and other is in 8th grade to help in the work. “Bachche padhai ke baad yaha aake chhote mote kam karenge to majdoor ka paisa bachegaa na,” (If my children help me after school, it will help me save my labour costs), explains Mansuri.

Mohammad Ejaj Khan, born and brought up in Mumbai, decided to try his luck in the garment business two and a half years ago. “I started the business with six machines. But then came demonetisation. It was not possible for me to reduce the machines. And, now I don’t have work for my labourers,” he says.

Khan deals in stitching suits, jackets and pants for children. “Earlier Rs 85 was the per coat rate. This has now gone down to Rs 77. A jacket was Rs 22, now it is Rs 17. Pant rate was Rs 40 per piece, which is down to Rs 35,” he adds. This, he says, has affected hundreds of jobs in Dharavi alone.

While films like ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ or ‘Kala’ have portrayed the immense struggle of people of living in Dharavi before world. Hardship is a synonym for Dharavi. But these hard-working people are crumbling now. That’s the gravity of financial disaster they are facing. The Modi Sarkar may contest the NSSO data on unemployment, but it can’t run away from the disaster it has brought to thousands of small units in Dharavi.

Courtesy: Newsclick.in
 

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