After two-three months of flooding, the residents spend at least one month removing the water and cleaning their houses. It’s also a considerable effort to rid their homes of the stench left behind by waterlogging.

Located on the banks of the Krishna River, torrential rainfall between the months of June and September leads to Saptasagar village, along with 15 surrounding villages, being completely washed out.

These villages are located in the Belagavi district on the border of Karnataka and Maharashtra. Belagavi is known as the sugar bowl of Karnataka and is irrigated by the eight rivers flowing through the region. Some rivers originate in Maharashtra and join the Krishna and Ghataprabha rivers. The rivers are in a spate during heavy rainfall, causing flash floods across the district.

Belagavi also emerged as the worst affected region during the 2019 Karnataka floods. The total loss in 2019 was pegged at Rs 11,000 crores by the district administration.

Saptasagar village is among those which have experienced flooding every year since 2019. Moreover, the farmers here only grow sugarcane. Appasaheb Ganapathy Kamble, 57, is a farmer from the Holeya community, which is scheduled caste. He has one acre and 17 guntas of land, on which he grows sugarcane. Speaking to NewsClick, he said, “I earn around Rs 40,000-50,000 a year. But the floods cause damage of Rs 3-4 lakhs. We are also facing an issue with power cuts. Last month, we were only getting two hours of electricity daily. This is interrupting the irrigation process. I had to stop all farming activities in June, July, August and September because of the floods. The entire crop was damaged. I lost four sheep as well. The homes of dalits are located closer to the (Krishna) river, so our homes are the first to get flooded. We take whatever we can with us, and spend four months in another place. Some people take refuge in the ganji kendra (gruel centres).”

Appasaheb Kamble (right) and his nephew, Ramu Pujari (left), stand amid their sugarcane field.

Kamble is entitled to compensation for his losses. The taluk administration does a survey and prepares a list. Under a scheme by the Rajiv Gandhi Housing Corporation Ltd, claimants receive an A/B/C designation based on the extent of damage to their properties. Persons placed in the A category are entitled to Rs 500,000 compensation because their house has been completely damaged; the B category means that the damage is between 25%-75%, and the claimants are entitled to Rs 300,000. The C category means that water has entered the home, but there is no major damage. Claimants in the C category are entitled to Rs 50,000 compensation. Kamble alleged that he was moved from A to B and then C after ‘re-surveys’. Finally, he received no compensation for his losses.

Fight for Resettlement

Ramu Pujari, 34, has completed his law degree and is now waiting for the results. He is working as an activist to resettle his community outside of Saptasagar village. Speaking to NewsClick, he said, “We have been demanding resettlement from the district administration in order to rid ourselves of this flooding issue. But they said that there is no available land. Even when they identified land, the farmers (who owned the land) were not willing to sell. So, we (dalit families) got together and began reaching out to land owners ourselves. We found a seller who was willing to part with 35 acres of land in Chikkatti village, a neighbouring village in Athani taluk. But the District Commissioner (DC) and the seller were not able to come to an agreement regarding the land valuation.”

Ramu Pujari showed NewsClick the documents pertaining to the requests sent to the administration. He has letters addressed to the Prime Minister, the Chief Minister, Belagavi district commissioner, Athani Tahsildar, Chikkodi assistant commissioner, Gram Panchayat, and Laxman Savadi, the Athani MLA candidate, and Mahesh Kumathalli, the Athani MLA. However, no one have reached out to help.

Ramu Pujari has attempted to document every struggle faced by his community since 2019.

Pujari lamented, “If we boycotted the elections, they would listen to us. Instead, our people are going to campaign for various candidates. We have not built any social organisation here. Some of us got together with our friends and also took the guidance of elders whom we trust. The administration has not provided compensation for crop losses suffered by Dalit farmers. There seems to be discrimination in the process. We demand that the entire village be relocated and new houses be constructed for everyone.”

He said their demand was essential because there are long-standing problems in the area. Many dalit and Muslim families in the village are landless despite having all the documents like Aadhar card, ration card, and voter ID. “Some of them are squatting on temple land, and they are regularly asked to vacate the place by members of the temple committee. Secondly, the dalit community here don’t have a burial ground of their own. We have to cremate or perform burials on the banks of the Krishna river,” Pujari added.

Pujari’s brother, father and mother all work as daily wage labourers. He is married and has children as well. He pursued an LLB course in order to do social service for his community.

The first big flood in the region occurred in 2005. Pujari said that 366 dalit families in Saptasagar village were affected by the flooding. He did not have the figures for 2019, but he estimated that it must be much higher now. In his tiny office, he had several files pertaining to their issue. Letters to the administration, photos of the devastation, lists of families affected, etc. He has been documenting everything which might help in the relocation process.

The calm before the storm around the mighty Krishna River.

Life in Ganji Kendra

Mahadevi Ramappa, a middle-aged woman, works as a daily wager in Saptasagar village. Speaking to NewsClick, she recalled the time spent in the ganji kendra (gruel centre). It serves as a relief camp during the floods. Those seeking shelter here would get one mat and a mattress. Food packets are also delivered there. She said, “Last year, we lived in the ganji kendra for one month. Conditions there are not good. There are no bathrooms or toilets. There are no facilities for clean drinking water. Everyone, including women, is forced to defecate in the open near the river. If we have to take a bath, we go to the river, while others hold sarees and form an enclosure for privacy. Inside the ganji kendra, nobody waits in line for food. Everybody is rushing and grabbing what they can.”

Mahadevi Ramappa (second from left) and the women from her community are hoping for an end to their ongoing ordeal.

The women earn Rs 200 per day as daily wagers. If they work half the day, the earnings are Rs 120. But the payments do not arrive on time, they said. They are unhappy with all political parties as no one has solved their housing problem.

The village comes under Athani constituency, and the sitting MLA is Mahesh Kumathalli of the BJP. He originally contested with an Indian National Congress (INC) ticket and defeated Laxman Savadi (then BJP) by a margin of 2,331 votes. A year later, he resigned from the Assembly and contested the bypoll with a BJP ticket. This time, Savadi has switched to the INC and will take on Kumathalli again for the Athani seat.

Most dalit families in the Saptasagar village do not own land titles. This adds to their problem as they do not have assets to sell. After 2005, the subsequent major devastation took place in 2019. Since then, there have been floods every monsoon. Every year, the inhabitants of the village lose several of their possessions, which get washed away or damaged in the flood. This year, the monsoon season will arrive one month after the state Assembly elections. The people might have to relive their nightmare – living inside a gruel centre for several months, without privacy, clean drinking water or a toilet.

Courtesy: Newsclick

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The Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR) in Tamil Nadu is a vast expanse of breathtaking forest, home to several species of birds and animals. It is part of the Nilgiris biosphere reserve, which is an ecosystem of forests sharing boundaries with Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. Four communities that live in the forest can trace their presence in the region at least 1000 years back. These are the Moundadan Chettys, Paniyans, Kattunayakans and Kurumbas.

A resettlement process for the communities has been underway since 2017. However, locals allege that middlemen and forest department staff managed to siphon off most of the money earmarked for the tribal communities.

The Moundadan (pronounced mount-adan) Chettys are not designated as tribals. They are classified as the Most Backward Communities (MBC) in the Tamil Nadu state Backward Classes list. The community speaks a local Dravidian language called Chetty. It has no script and is a mix of Tamil, Kannada and Malayalam. Among the four communities, only the Moundadan Chettys hold pattas (land titles) inside the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR). Compared to the tribals, the Chettys are better educated and are not intimidated by the prospect of going to court for redressal. In fact, it was the Moundadan Chettys who first approached the court in 1998 for resettlement outside the forest.

2007 High Court Judgement

In 1998, a member of the Moundadan Chetty community filed a writ petition (WP 18531) with the Madras High Court. The petitioner demanded that the court instruct the state government to provide resettlement and rehabilitation to the inhabitants of the Mudumalai wildlife sanctuary. He contended that development works had not been undertaken inside the forest since this was declared a wildlife sanctuary in 1954. Further, gun licences were not renewed, and the inhabitants could not save themselves or their crops from wild animals. There was also a threat to life from tigers and elephants. They wanted to be relocated to Ayyankolli, a village in the Nilgiris district but outside the forest boundary. The state government did not oppose the idea.

In view of conservation, the state government and the forest department supported the petition in the High Court. On February 19, 2007, the Madras High Court ordered the state government to complete the relocation process within a year. A few months later, the forest was co-incidentally declared a Tiger Reserve. The petitioners thought that they had won, they would be relocated, and their ordeal would be over.

However, the first phase of relocation took place only ten years later, in 2017, and it was far from smooth. The community members say that 235 chetty families were relocated in the first phase. However, no data is available about the number of tribal families that were relocated. They say that this was intentionally concealed because a coterie of middlemen, advocates and forest department officials siphoned off anywhere between 30%-100% of the compensation money that was earmarked for the tribal families.

NTCA Guidelines

As per the Guidelines of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), there are two options for inhabitants who wish to relocate outside the core forest.

The first option is the payment of the entire package of Rs 10 lakhs per family. The second is relocation/rehabilitation outside the protected area by the forest department and a compensation package including two hectares of agricultural land per family.

In both cases, the District Collector (DC) must complete asset valuation in order to compensate the beneficiaries for the trees and crops which they would be leaving behind. Additionally, in the case of option 2, the forest department would have to identify an alternate site for resettlement and provide compensation for house construction. Families who hold pattas (land titles) are entitled to receive land for land outside the forest.

First Phase of Relocation in 2017

In the first phase of the relocation process, adivasis and chettys were not placed in common resettlement colonies. Instead, they were separated and dropped in different colonies at random. Newsclick visited one group of kattunayakans (also known as kattunayakars) residing in Palapalli hamlet. They were earlier residing in Bennai village inside the forest. The new location is close to the border and they face elephant encounters on a daily basis. Six years on, they regret their decision to leave and can’t wait to return to their forest home in Bennai.

The Kattunayakans moved to Palapalli hamlet in 2017.

The government has constructed homes for them in the Palapalli resettlement colony. However, even after six years, they don’t have piped water in their homes. They do have electricity and most homes have a TV. They say that Rs 7 lakh was paid to them as compensation, out of which, the forest department officials asked them to part with Rs 5 lakhs for their home. The balance amount of Rs 3 lakhs is supposedly in a fixed deposit account. As per NTCA rules, it was supposed to be withdrawn after three years and transferred to their savings account or to the account of any individual who has agreed to sell the land. Most of the adivasis are uneducated. The person who has studied the most in the Kattunayakan colony is a girl who reached 11th standard. But she, too, dropped out and didn’t complete her education.

The adivasis are in touch with a lawyer introduced to them by an organisation called Adivasi Munnetra Sangam. They are plotting ways to return to their forest home in Bennai, largely because of elephant encounters and a shortage of work. Here, they receive only nine-ten days of work as daily wagers. Their ration card is the only reason they are able to eat on a daily basis. But they have to spend Rs 200 for an autorickshaw to reach the nearest ration shop.

What hurts the adivasis the most is that the forest guards do not permit them to return to the forest to collect forest produce or to worship their deities. What makes their position even more vulnerable is that they were not given pattas (land titles) for their new homes. They cannot sell the houses and move to a different location. Already, the houses have started showing signs of decay. During the rainy season, the roof begins to leak so some families have tied a plastic sheet under the roof to collect rainwater.

NewsClick also witnessed two houses that were partially damaged. The adivasis say that it happened as elephants attempted to enter their rooms in search of food.

Second Phase of relocation in 2018

A tribal community called Paniyans (also known as Kattu Paniyars) were relocated from Mandakeri village inside the forest to a hamlet called Beechanakolly, just outside the forest border. This group of adivasis were part of the second phase of relocation in 2018.

Kollan, 34, is a member of the Paniyan community, which is designated as a Scheduled Tribe (ST). He said, “I used to live in the forest and had regular work in the local farms owned by members of the Moundadan Chetty community. I left the forest and moved to the resettlement area in 2018. Inside the forest, there is no electricity. There is a threat from elephants and tigers. We were promised facilities and Rs 10 lakhs to relocate from the forest. We thought it would improve our lives.”

Kollan and ten other tribal families agreed to relocate in 2018. However, they found to their horror, that the new location was not suitable for farming; it did not have fruits and other forest produce that they were familiar with. They were dropped on the edge of the forest, just outside the boundary and barred from re-entering.

The Paniyans are without work and desperate to return to their forest homes.

Kollan further said, “A forest ranger and an advocate who was part of the relocation committee showed us this piece of land and promised us an approach road, electricity and piped water facilities. They said that it (the land) belongs to a man called Janardhan. In reality, this land belongs to the government. We will not be given any patta (land titles) for it. All 11 families were paid Rs 7 lakhs as compensation by the forest department, out of which we paid around Rs 2.5 lakhs each for the land to Janardhan, and invested the rest into building houses for ourselves. In a short span of time, the money was exhausted.”

It is unclear whether the government can offer any assistance to these tribals. This is not an official resettlement colony. They were induced to buy land here by forest department officials and middlemen who spoke their language.

This colony has a narrow approach road. It is wide enough for walking but not for any vehicles. Aged persons have to be carried half a kilometre to reach the main road. The main concern is that they are out of work. They say that they have only two-three days of work per month.

The local guide said that the men spend most of their days sitting idle or drinking. Due to malnourishment, they are too weak to work in the farms on a daily basis. Almost no farm owner hires this group of tribals. This group is divorced from their community, their forest and their deity. Since they don’t have land titles in their possession, they cannot sell the land and move on. Effectively, they are trapped, and are without any prospects.

When asked about their deity, Kollan said, “the deity did not agree to leave the forest. When we called the deity, it told us that we should come there instead. We are not able to worship our deities anymore because the forest guards do not permit us to re-enter. Now, during our festivals, we take the katti (a large sickle), lantern and other materials generally used in the worship. We clean it and worship it. That’s all we can do. The trees and flowers needed for our religious celebrations are not found here. It has been five years since we saw our deity.”

The Moundadan Chettys in Muduguli Village

Muduguli village is inhabited by people who are still uncertain whether to leave the forest or not. It is a tiny hamlet located within the boundaries of the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR). There are several Moundadan Chetty families here. Their main occupation is farming. They have only one primary school in their vicinity, and it is a Tamil-medium, government school till 5th standard. They have to travel four-five kilometres on uneven terrain to reach the nearest health centre or ration shop.

Ambika, 38, is one of two Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA) in MTR and has been a rural health worker for 12 years. She is from the Moundadan Chetty community. She lives in Muduguli village with her husband and two children. Speaking to NewsClick, she said, “The families who don’t own jeeps will have to carry the patient on a stretcher and walk until the (forest border) check post. There are no proper roads here, so ambulances cannot access this region. There is also a shortage of medical staff. I am the only medical worker for five villages. Moreover, I am only paid incentives, so my average earnings do not exceed Rs 2,000/month. Due to the relocation process, the population has reduced, and so has the number of pregnancies.”

Walking for four-five kilometres daily, Ambika performs her tasks with a broad smile on her face. Under the state government’s ‘Makkalai Thedi Maruthuvam’ scheme, she measures blood pressure and provides medicines for patients with serious illnesses at their doorstep. She takes notes on her visits and she has to update the completed work on a mobile phone app. Since there is no mobile network connectivity in most parts of MTR, she goes to the nearby panchayat office, which has a wifi facility. She is also part of the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) and had travelled to Chennai in February to protest in demand for job regularisation.

She says that the tribals are particularly fearful of going to hospitals and generally conceive at home. While she has witnessed several complications in the tribals’ home births, she did not feel comfortable narrating those stories on the record.

Ambika (R) and her husband Sivadass (L) outside their home in Muduguli.

Sivadass, 42, is Ambika’s husband. His farm is his main source of income. While he grows bananas, beans, ginger, pepper, coffee, arecanut and rice, his earnings largely rest on the crop of bitter gourd. This season, the yield has been good, and so has the rate. Speaking to NewsClick, he said, “The price of the bitter gourd has gone up to Rs 40/kg because a virus has been destroying the crop in the region. There is a lot of demand for vegetables in Kerala due to the Vishu festival.”

The biggest issue he faces is wild animals straying into his farm. He said that every farmer in MTR faces a great challenge – wild animals eating and destroying the crop as elephants, deers and wild boars enter human settlements in search of food.

Sivadass also needs labourers to efficiently run his three-acre farm. In the initial days of planting his bitter gourd seeds, he requires at least 20 labourers. Once the vines of the bitter gourd plants start growing, a 5-8 foot pandal has to be erected using wire and bamboo. In four months of planting the crop, it could yield up to 6 tonnes of bitter gourd, leading to a profit of Rs 1 lakh. After the commencement of relocation in 2017, the number of tribal families began to dwindle. Thus, a labour crisis seized the farmers of MTR. Farmers had to spend more money to import labourers from outside the forest.

Sivadass said, “The resettlement package is insufficient. The ten lakhs package got revised to fifteen lakhs recently, but that is also insufficient. We want land for land on fertile soil. The area should be safe and not prone to elephant encounters. If the government is prepared to give us that, then we will move from here.”

The Moundadan Chettys have seen the experiences of other community members who chose to opt for resettlement. They are tangled up in court cases over crop valuation and, in most cases, face a bigger menace from elephants destroying their crops (in the resettlement colonies).

For instance, in Neliambady village, there is a resettlement colony for Chettys. Due to the poor quality of the soil, coffee and pepper are the only crops they can grow there. Besides, the intrusion of elephants regularly has led them to spend a lot of money on solar fencing. The Chettys of Neliambady are already prepared for another resettlement or wish to return to their earlier home inside the forest.

Why Elephants Enter Human Settlements

Sivadevan, 53, said that the central question not being answered by the government is why the wild animals enter human settlements. The answer, he said, is that they are running out of food inside the forest.

Unnikrishnan (L) and his son Sivadevan (R) have been organising and educating their community.

Speaking to NewsClick, he said, “A lot of funds are given to the forest department to preserve and develop the forest. They should plant trees that will provide food for elephants. They should build check dams and ensure availability of drinking water for elephants in the core forest area. Moreover, there are funds for the eradication of Lantana but it is not utilised efficiently.”

Lantana is an invasive weed that replaces local flora and fauna. It is not eaten by herbivores. It is dubbed a ‘forest killer’ because it alters the food chain. Animals don’t prefer to live in areas densely populated by Lantanas. Sivadevan said that the spread of Lantana spells doom for their crops because herbivores are forced to move towards human settlements in search of food.

Sivadevan also pointed out the twin dangers posed by tigers. He said, “When the tiger population increases, all the herbivores come towards the human settlements and destroy the crops. Then tigers come here in search of those animals. Once the tiger starts eating all the domesticated animals like cows and buffaloes, there is no more natural manure left. The farmers will have to use only chemical fertiliser. This will increase the yield in the short term. However, microbes in the soil die due to the repeated use of chemicals. Slowly, the soil quality and the yield also starts to fall. We will not get permission to cut down trees and build new farms.”

Exploitation and Corruption

Sivadevan is also the man who mobilised his community to fight for a fair resettlement process.

He continued, “I received some information that there was a lot of corruption in the relocation process between 2010-2014. I began questioning the Mudumalai Relocation District Committee and the Forest Department. I asked them what happened to the compensation amount allocated for the tribals. The tribals are not educated, they are easy to exploit. I rounded up a few men from my community (Moundadan Chettys) and we began pursuing this issue together. Once, there was a visit by the NTCA representatives from New Delhi. They had come to enquire about the relocation process. A meeting was to be held between them and the affected families. The district level committee members barred us from entering the meeting claiming that we were part of the phase 3 relocation. The NTCA representatives did not speak any of the local languages, so we could not communicate our issues to them.”

In 2019, the locals managed to file a first information report (FIR) against the men who allegedly syphoned off money from the bank accounts of tribals. They have been booked under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989. However, no arrests have been made. The modus operandi was to allegedly induce the tribals to buy government land or Poromboke land (community land that is not for sale) with the money they received as compensation.

The local activists also broke up the old committee that was overseeing the relocation. In 2020, the committee was reconstituted and the local activists ensured that they were placed in the committee as ‘village representatives’. This includes Sivadevan’s father, Unnikrishnan and the twin brother of Sivadass (from Muduguli), whose name is Devadass. A relative of theirs, who is also a firebrand activist, named TV Suresh, is on the new committee.

Taking News Outside Tamil Nadu

The locals are determined to take their stories outside the state. PM Narendra Modi visited Mudumalai Tiger Reserve earlier this month to meet Bomman and Bellie, the stars of the Oscar-winning documentary, ‘The Elephant Whisperers’. Bomman and Bellie are Kattunayakans. The documentary shows the relationship between the adivasis and the elephants.

The locals are also desperate for a central government team to visit MTR and investigate the alleged corruption in the relocation process. The BJP is not a player in Tamil Nadu. The Nilgiris MP is A Raja of the DMK. However, PM Modi commands respect among the landed communities of MTR. The Moundadan Chettys, in particular, are trying to get his attention.

The local activists say that there are 450 people left inside the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR). They want the government to do justice towards every family who chooses to relocate. The Moundadan Chettys are prepared to leave the MTR if they receive fertile land for agriculture. The government will not provide new pattas inside the forest. As new generations are born, the inheritance will split the size of their farms. However, they have seen the bitter experiences and struggles of adivasis and Chettys, who opted for resettlement; those families regret their decision and wish that they had remained inside the forest.

If they choose to stay inside the forest, they want the government to provide all the facilities to them, including access roads, ration shops, schools, medical clinics and elephant trenches. They want the adivasis to stay as well. These communities co-exist in relative harmony and they perform several religious rituals together. The Chettys also give work to the adivasis on their farms, and whenever possible, they share food and grains with them. They need each other to survive a hostile environment outside their farms. After all, they literally live inside a tiger reserve.

Courtesy: Newsclick

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Thousands of workers affiliated with CITU on strike since January 23; Workers are classified as ‘activists’ and paid honorariums instead of salaries currently

Bengaluru: Thousands of Anganwadi workers affiliated with the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) have been on strike in Karnataka since January 23, 2023. Their primary demand is to be classified as ‘teachers’. They have been sleeping in the open air at Freedom Park in Bengaluru for the last two days and are determined to stay the course until their demands are met. Most of the Anganwadi workers are women.

Anganwadi centres were set up by the government in 1975 to combat child hunger and malnutrition. They are run by grass root level workers who are responsible for feeding children as well as pregnant women. However, the workers are classified as ‘activists’ and paid honorariums instead of salaries. 

Anganwadi workers are provided with a mobile application called ‘Poshan’ through which the government can track the health and nutrition level of lactating mothers, pregnant women and children between three to six years of age. This app is known to crash periodically. Failure to update the app can result in loss of pay for the worker.

Sujatha is a CITU taluk President from the Kolar district. She says that there has been a historical injustice to Anganwadi workers because they have not even been considered workers. Speaking to NewsClick she says, “this is an indefinite protest. We have placed ten demands before the administration. We have left our families behind and have decided to take on more hardship in order to reach our goals. We want to be classified as teachers and we want to be eligible for gratuity payments. Why have you classified us as karyakartas (activists) and made us work for forty years, in return for honorariums?”

As she was speaking, other Anganwadi workers from Kolar gathered around and spoke about their issues. Among their concerns were the heavy workload and harassment of Anganwadi workers. They said, “in our village (unnamed), there is a population of 1300 people and my Anganwadi has 28 children between the ages of three and six years. On the other hand, a village like Kondenahalli has a population of around 500 people, but that Anganwadi has more children because it is located in a rural area and there are no Convent schools in that region. That Anganwadi has only one teacher and no helper. By herself, she has to maintain around 40 books, and update the ‘poshan’ app daily. We serve eggs twice a week to children and pregnant women. However, the eggs are not delivered to us. We are given Rs 5/egg and expected to buy it ourselves from the market. On that day, our husbands have to take leave and deliver this to the Anganwadi. This is a further loss of earnings.” 

They spoke about the additional, unpaid labour that they are expected to perform. “We are at the beck and call of Mandal authorities. We have to participate in two taluk-level meetings per month. We are subjected to mental harassment if we close the Anganwadi to attend this. We are also appointed as Booth-Level Officers (BLO) for election duties. We have to update the voter lists and conduct house-to-house verifications for inclusion and exclusion errors. We are expected to send field reports through the Garuda app when we conduct voter ID verifications.”

Among the protestors is a contingent from Gulbarga district (also known as Kalaburagi) in North Karnataka. They are led by Pushpavati, 53. She says, “there are 1,500 women who have come here from Gulbarga district alone. Wage revision is one of our demands. Today, Anganwadi workers earn around Rs 11,500/month and the helpers earn around Rs 6 000/month.”

Speaking about the history of the union, she continues, “the CITU Anganwadi union in Karnataka was first started in Gulbarga in 1994. Back then an Anganwadi worker used to earn Rs 120/month. After many union-led struggles, our honorariums have been raised to this much, otherwise, it would have been even lower.”  

CITU Karnataka President, Varalakshmi says, “as per NEP, new pre-primary education centres will be opened. This will ultimately lead to a reduction of Anganwadi. Instead of this, we are recommending that LKG and UKG should be set up inside Anganwadi. The workers are presently burdened with too many additional tasks. We demand that workers should only be asked to do the work related to the ICDS. That way, they can focus on pre-primary education as well.”  

The CITU memorandum also says that the workers are expected to mark their attendance thrice in the mobile app and twice in a physical register. This is deemed excessive. It goes on to demand that pre-primary education timings must be fixed for workers during which they should not be disturbed by outsiders. Further, it says that they should not be expected to perform duties beyond the care work identified by ICDS. It recommends that the supply of food to Anganwadis should be decentralised and the food must be cooked at the Anganwadi itself, in line with a supreme court order in this regard.

Courtesy: Newsclick

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As the 17th All India CITU conference concluded in Bengaluru on Sunday, delegates started returning to their hotels to prepare for the journey home. Among them were union leaders of the Vizag Steel Plant, also known as Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL). The factory’s workers have been protesting privatisation for 710 days.

Newsclick caught up with CH Narasinga Rao (70), CITU state general secretary and chairman of the Visakha Ukku Parirakshana Porata Committee (VUPPC), at the Moti Mahal Hotel, Gandhinagar. He spoke about how the workers have resisted the 100% privatisation of the plant.   

When did the Vizag Steel Plant start operations?

The plant started operations in 1987. Though the foundation stone was laid by Indira Gandhi in 1971, funds hadn’t been allocated to the project. During the Janata Party government, Rs 1,000 crore was allotted in the Budget, and the construction started. The project was not conceived by the government alone; there was a huge struggle for it. Schools and colleges were closed for several months in 1966. This culminated in a police firing on protestors. In total, 32 people died during the protests. Four years later, the plant was sanctioned by the government. 

What was the reason for the struggle? 

People expected that industrialisation will create jobs. There were four steel plants: Bhilai, Bokaro, Durgapur and Rourkela. All were in north India. The government announced that the fifth one would be set up in Andhra Pradesh but did not sanction funds for construction. So, the people fought for the project.

Vizag had a port and the other plants were located close to mines. Research showed that the transportation of heavy metals is cheaper by sea. Even today, it is the only steel plant in India located in a port city.

The agitations continued for one year (1966) and spread throughout the state. The police firing happened in Warangal, Hyderabad and Vizag. In 1967, general elections were held, but the project was still not announced. In 1971, Congress (under Indira Gandhi) was growing apprehensive about the ‘syndicate’ (a political faction within Congress) and announced the project. 

When did the agitation against privatisation start?

There have been attempts to privatise the plant since the 1991 economic liberalisation. The government tried to divide some departments and lend the assets to private players. It tried to partly privatise departments like the thermal plant, oxygen plant, steel melting shop, etc—but never the entire plant.

On January 27, 2021, the government released a notification about the ‘strategic sale’. This was the first time a government signalled its intention to sell 100% of its stake in the plant. Immediately, we started a protest and put up a pandal with hundreds of workers starting a hunger strike in shifts. A team was scheduled to visit Vizag in November 2021 to start the valuation of assets. We prevented them from entering the plant. The hunger strike has been continuing for the last two years.

The government partly divested its stake (3.5%) in the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) by going for an IPO. It has divested some portions in BPCL, HPCL, ONGC and many other public sector companies. But because of our struggle, the government still holds a 100% stake in the Vizag Steel Plant. 

Have there been any strikes?

We were on strike for three days. Solidarity events were held throughout the state with CITU holding conferences in every district. We pressured the state government to pass a resolution in the Assembly opposing the ‘strategic sale’. Even during the strikes, we ensured that the temperature in the blast furnaces was under control. If the blast furnace melts, nobody can open it again. It will result in a loss of thousands of crores. We take care of the plant even during strikes. 

This is a highly skilled job.

Yes. The workers are trained at it is and polytechnics and many of them have engineering degrees.

How many workers are employed at the plant?

There are 16,000 permanent workers and 14,000 contractual. When older workers retire, the management does not replace them. Therefore, the workload on current workers is increasing. Despite this, production hasn’t dropped. But now, the government is trying to paralyse the plant’s functioning. Blast furnace number 3 has been closed. It is an important department in the smelting process. 

Could you elaborate on the struggle committee?

The committee has 23 associations of permanent and contractual workers. We formed it as soon as the government released the notification. In Telugu, it is called Visakha Ukku Parirakshana Porata Committee. The three largest unions are CITU, AITUC and INTUC. 

Who was in line to purchase the plant?

South Korean steel company POSCO had signed an MoU with the government to take over the land belonging to the plant. POSCO’s Indian partner is very close to the Central government.

Could you speak a little about your background?

I completed my BL (bachelor of law) from Andhra University in 1978. Six of my classmates are High Court Judges. Another colleague of mine, K Yerran Naidu, became a Cabinet minister.

After graduation, I dedicated my life to CITU. From the construction of the Vizag Steel Plant till today, I have been a part of the union. In total, 40,000 contract workers were brought in to construct the plant. We had to fight with the management several times to ensure that the workers received their entitlements. In those days, labour regulations were not followed. But workers were united during important issues even if they did not directly affect them.

There is a 100-bed hospital attached to the plant. There were attempts to privatise it, but we resisted. Now, POSCO is trying to take over our plant. It is one of the worst companies I have ever come across. No other company in the steel industry has been automated to this level. While we have 20-tonne trucks, POSCO uses 100-tonne driverless trucks. It runs a steel plant in South Korea with an annual output of 20 million tonnes with 4,000 workers. At the Vizag plant, the annual output is 7 million tonnes with an employee strength of 30,000. 

How crucial is the plant for Vizag’s economy?

This is one of the largest employers in the region. In FY 2021-22, it had an annual turnover of Rs 28,000 crore and a net profit of Rs 1,900 crore. This is national wealth. How can anyone think of selling it?

In the last three years, steel companies have announced huge profits. 

There is a reason for this. In the last three years, the government changed the rule for companies that owned captive mines. Earlier, they were supposed to exclusively use iron ore for their own production needs. Now, companies with captive mines can sell 10% of iron ore in the open market. Only the Vizag plant missed out because we don’t have our mine. During the CITU conference, the federation on steel presented a report on the sector. Besides the Vizag plant, the government has tried to put up other plants for ‘strategic sale’—at Salem (SAIL), Bhadravati (VISL) and Durgapur (IISCO). However, due to worker resistance, the process has stopped. Another issue faced by the workers is no wage revision. In other steel companies, wages were revised in February 2022. At the Vizag plant, wages haven’t been revised for 10 years. 

Courtesy: Newsclick

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Bengaluru: The 17th all-India conference of the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) commenced on January 18, 2022. Delegates from across the country landed in Bengaluru for the event. After paying respects to the martyrs of Kolar Gold Fields (KGF), a guard of honour was provided by the red volunteers for CITU president, Dr K Hemalata.

The honorary president of the reception committee, K Subba Rao, delivered the welcome address. The general secretary of the World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU), Pambis Kyritsis was one of the guests at the program. There were 1525 delegates at the conference from across the country.

Addressing the inaugural session of the conference, Tapan Sen, CITU general secretary, underlined the importance of trade union movements in the backdrop of mounting attacks on working people.

K Hemalatha mentioned that the CITU conference will deliberate strategies to change the trajectory of policies which serve corporate interests. Addressing the audience in the post-lunch session, K Hemalata says, “the share of the world’s poorest half today is about half of their share in the 1820s. This is how much inequality has increased over the last 200 years. The situation is such that even the world bank and IMF are talking about this crisis. Their own projections say that due to the present economic slowdown, 1/3rd of the world economy is going to contract further. The prescription of the international financial institutions is – a cap on wages, removal of subsidies, and removal of restrictions on exports. Capitalism has no answer for the present crisis and countries that follow the neoliberal path are doomed to fail.”

The sessions were translated into six languages in real-time through the use of headsets for simultaneous translation.

Speaking to NewsClick, Vjk Nair, 85, former president of CITU Karnataka, explained the martyrdom of Kolar Gold Fields (KGF) workers in police firing in 1946. He said, “in the 40s, the Communist party was quite strong in the region (that is now Karnataka). In Kolar Gold Fields where gold mining was being carried out, the Mysore mines employees union was organised and led by communists. The workers received word that the leader of the union, comrade KS Vasan, was in police custody. It was not true, but such a rumour reached the workers. When they heard the news, they walked out of the mines and protested against the police. Six workers were martyred in the ensuing police firing. The place where they died was turned into a communist Cemetary which remains even today.”

He also spoke about the protests of workers against the British rule over KGF mines even after independence. He said, “the KGFworkers were all Tamil Dalits. In the early 1950s, they protested against the British company, John Taylor and co. which continued to own mines in KGF even after independence. In 1956 the company’s administration was taken over by the Mysore government. British companies looted around 400 tonnes of gold from KGF alone.”

Addressing the conference, Pambis Kyritsis of the WFTU condemned all forms of warfare. He said, “the world is going through a phase of extreme intensification of political, economic and military antagonism. The aim is to control and exploit the economic resources of our planet. As always, the people pay the price of imperialist wars and interventions. After the Russian war in Ukraine, the United States, NATO and the European Union attempted to present the situation as a war between liberalism and authoritarianism. But can their criminal role in the developments be hushed up? So many bloody wars to promote their own selfish, imperialist interests are clearly visible – In Palestine, Iraq, Libya, Syria, Afghanistan, Yugoslavia and Cyprus among others. The WFTU is in favour of dissolution of nato, and all military coalitions including economic warfare through sanctions.”

The inaugural session saw addresses from leaders of several unions – R Chandrashekharan (vice president, INTUC), Amarjeet Kaur (general secretary, AITUC), Naganath (gen sec, HMS Karnataka), K Soma Shekhar (president, AIUTUC), B Rajendran Nair (national secretary, TUCC), Ashok Ghosh (gen sec, UTUC), Sonia George (SEWA), Clifton D’Rosario (nat sec, AICCTU) and V Veluswami (nat sec, LPF).

Courtesy: Newsclick

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Workers at Yazaki Pvt. Ltd., based in the Bengaluru Rural district, alleged that the company had verbally sacked at least 150 workers in December. The Yazaki plant in Lakkenahalli assembles wire harnesses for Toyota and Maruti cars. The workers said they were not given any termination notice, and their biometric authorisation was revoked. Around 50 workers were allegedly fired on December 13, following which another 100 workers were sacked the next day. There are 2,000 employees in the Lakkenahalli plant. The workers are being assisted by the All India Central Council of Trade Unions (AICCTU), which filed a memorandum with the Deputy Labour Commissioner (DLC) and educated workers about their rights and entitlements. They commenced a protest for reinstatement on Monday and are determined to continue until their objectives are met.

A sacked worker who wished to remain unnamed said he had worked at the company for five years. He started working at the Jigani plant, after which he was asked to shift to the Lakkenahalli plant outside Bengaluru city limits.

“I have been working at the Jigani plant since 2018. A few months ago, there was a change in management, and we were asked to shift to Lakkenahalli. It is very far away, so we initially refused. They promised a room and two meals daily if we agreed to shift. They also promised wage hikes. However, they did not fulfil any of their promises. My last salary was around Rs 11,000/month. It has remained unchanged for five years. On December 13, around 50 workers could not punch out after their shift ended. They were informed that their employment was terminated. The next day, some of us felt insecure about our employment status when we saw how our colleagues were dismissed. After our shift ended, we sat down inside the premises and refused to leave until we received some assurances from the management.”

However, the management did not meet them. Instead, the police were called. The workers allege that the police took photographs of the workers who had sat down on the spot. Another worker who wished to remain unnamed said that shortly after the police took the photographs of the workers, they were all sacked. At least 60 of the sacked workers are women.

Most of the sacked workers had completed training courses at Industrial Training Institutes (ITI). They had different trade certificates such as fitter, electrician, mechanic etc. Some among them also hold diplomas in electrical engineering. Before their termination, they were not unionised. However, they have started a Yazaki workers unit under the Karnataka General Labour Union. Around 100 laid-off workers joined the union.

Chandrashekhar, head of HR at the Yazaki plant, provided a statement to NewsClick about the termination of workers. Speaking on the phone, he said, “We have removed employees as per an agreement we have with them. We have recruited them under the Apprenticeship Act. We can give them training for up to three years. During that period, we can remove them anytime. Some political people are involved in the protests, and now, they are claiming permanent employment. The (terminated) operators told us that they are being forced to join the protests.”

When asked why they were not given a termination notice, he said it was not required.

“We provided mail communication to their HODs three days before termination. We are not required to give any notice to the workers. We were forced to fire some people because the business is down at the moment.”

While the workers believe there is a change in management, Chandrashekhar confirmed that that was not the case. The plant was shifted from Jigani to Lakkenahalli, but the management remains the same.

Maitreyi Krishnan of AICCTU condemns the use of apprentices for core production. She says, “Apprentices act was brought to provide short-term training to workers. It’s being abused by employers to deny job security and decent wages to people who are involved in core production. This practice has also been observed and criticised by the courts. Moreover, under section 25(n) of the Industrial Disputes Act 1947, you have to follow a certain procedure for layoffs. You need to take permission from the labour department and give workers at least three months of notice. This has not been done.”

Courtesy: Newsclick

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Junior Training Officers (JTO) in private Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) are facing a severe pay disparity. It is not uncommon to find a JTO (Junior Training Officer) earning around Rs 60,000/month, while another JTO in the same institute earns a paltry Rs 8000/month. They are both working in the same ITI, and doing the same job, yet their pay scales are vastly different. This is because the higher-paid JTOs are recipients of government grants-in-aid. Their salaries are paid directly by the state government of Karnataka, while the others are paid by their employer.

Skilled workers are the fundamental units of the ‘Make in India’ vision. Across the country, ITIs are attempting to realise this goal by providing vocational training to people who are unable to pursue full-time engineering courses. These institutes offer practical, skill-oriented courses and familiarise students with industrial equipment. Some of these ITIs are run by the government. However, private, unaided ITIs in Karnataka have been unwilling to pay a living wage to their teaching staff.

SS Mathad, 54, is a JTO at SJMVS ITI College, Hubbali, and teaches engineering drawing, workshop calculation and science. Speaking to NewsClick, he says, “Our institute received the grant-in-aid in 1997. I joined in 2006, and hence, I was not eligible for the grant. Today, nine members of staff in our institute are getting the grants – Engineering drawing JTO (1), Draughtsman-Civil JTO (2), Electronics Mechanic JTO (2), principal (1), clerk (1), workshop attender (1), and peon (1).”

He says about the pay disparity, “The senior JTOs who receive government grants earn around Rs 85,000/month. The Principal earns over a Lakh/month. The institute also offers two more trades – Fitter and Fashion Design. But the grants don’t cover these courses and their respective JTOs earn around Rs 6000/month. I also teach in the Draughtsman (civil) course, but I earn Rs 7000/month. I have three children. My daughter is pursuing MSc, another daughter is pursuing engineering, and my son is in school. To support the family, my wife teaches Kannada and English in a private school. It is an injustice that only three JTOs in our institute do not receive grant payments.”

The ITIs are regulated by the National Council for Vocational Training (NCVT). The size of a batch of trainees (for all trades) has been capped at 20. This limits the amount of revenue an institute can generate from one course. Further, most of the students who take up vocational training come from working-class families and would not be able to afford expensive courses anyway. So the fees would have to remain low. Outside Bengaluru, the Junior Training Officers (JTO) at these institutes earn between Rs. 5000-10000/month. This is below the stipulated minimum wages of construction workers in Karnataka. While JTOs in rural areas are earning minuscule wages, their counterparts in Bengaluru only fare slightly better, with salaries ranging between Rs 10,000-20,000/month.

The Karnataka State Private Industrial Training Institutes Sangha has appealed to the government to provide grants-in-aid to private, unaided ITIs. In 1997, the government announced that private ITIs registered for more than seven years were eligible for government grants-in-aid. These grants would cover 75% of the wage bill. The balance would be paid by the management. This would free up finances for the institute to invest in new machinery and tools. However, members of the ITI association claimed that this was done to provide a safety net to private ITIs on the verge of financial ruin. The limit on the batch size, along with low fees and high investments, resulted in the erosion of profits. In 2007, the grants-in-aid were enhanced from 75% to 100% and covered the entire salary for the selected trades.

The JTOs have been training students for more than 15-20 years. They are technically qualified teachers who have degrees and diplomas in Engineering. They argue that they would not have continued working with private, unaided institutes if they knew they would never receive grants. According to the commissionerate of Industrial Training and Employment, there are 1,492 ITIs in Karnataka at present; the break-up is as follows:

Private (unaided) ITIs – 1,030

Government-run ITIs – 270

Private ITIs (receiving grants-in-aid) – 192

As per data shared by officials at the commissionerate, the grants were paid to 196 private ITIs in 2010. The number then dropped to 192 as four institutes had closed down. The grants paid to 196 institutes had been supporting 2,412 people, including 1,326 junior training officers (JTO) and 54 training officers (TO).

Finding a Second job to Survive

Iradaali Hallur Talikoti, 52, is a JTO at VVS Balashetty ITI college in Talikoti (Vijayapura district). He is a double-diploma holder in Mechanical and Automobile engineering. He teaches the ‘Turner’ course and has been working at the same ITI since 2001. He says, “After my duty as a JTO, I go to work as a loan recovery agent for a bank because my salary is only Rs. 8000/month. In our institute, we teach four trades – Turner, Fitter, Electrician and Welder. There are 15 members of staff who receive grant payments from the government. And another 7 staff are paid directly by the institute. With my salary, it becomes difficult to run my household. I have four young children. That is why I had to get a second job.

The JTOs who receive grants-in-aid, earn salaries that are at par with state government employees. It is a considerable sum. The grants also apply to non-teaching staff such as office supervisors, workshop attendants and peons.

Making Ends Meet in Bengaluru

NewsClick visited the Loyola ITI in Bengaluru to understand more about the issues faced by JTOs. The JTOs at this institute earn a little more than their rural counterparts. Mahesh, 36, an Electronics Mechanic JTO, has been working at the institute for the last eleven years. In this trade, students are trained to repair televisions, radios, computers and solar-powered appliances. He says, “I have a diploma in Electronics & Communications Engineering and earn Rs. 16,000/month. I have to pay rent as well. It becomes difficult to survive. In our electronics department, the institute has invested close to Rs 10 lakhs on equipment alone. So, the fees paid by trainees do not cover all the expenses borne by the management.”

JTO Mahesh and Motor Vehicle equipment at Loyola Institute

Mary Veronika, 44, is the principal at Loyola ITI. She says, “there are 17 members of staff at this institute. The management is paying the salaries of 15 members, the other two are receiving grants-in-aid. This grant was approved in 2010 and only two trades were considered – fitter and electronics mechanic. Their salaries are close to Rs 60,000/month. The other staff members are earning a quarter of that salary.”

Loyola Industrial Training Institute has been operating since 1992. They offer three trades – Electronics Mechanic, Fitter and Mechanic Motor Vehicle. The institute was started by the ‘Karnataka Jesuits’, a society which runs educational and religious institutions across the state. Due to the financial heft carried by the society, they are able to pay their employees slightly higher salaries compared to their rural counterparts. However, the high cost of living in Bengaluru cancels any potential savings.

Scope for ITI Trainees

Mary Veronika says that the job opportunities for trainees have doubled in the last 10 years. She says, “The companies tell us that they are looking for 100 candidates, but we can provide them only 20 at a time. The demand had dropped slightly after covid, but things are better now. We also tie-up with companies for advanced training. The trainees are equipped with enough skills to set up their own businesses as well.”

Heavy Investment

The institutes would have to make a sizable investment in infrastructure in order to meet the basic requirements of the students. Trainees in the Mechanical Motor Vehicle trade would require a garage with genuine motor vehicle parts. Similarly, raw materials like sheet metals and other raw materials are needed for welding. Trainees in the ‘Fitter’ trade would require a lathe, drill machines and other tools. The institute must procure the items in advance to receive approvals from the Directorate General of Training (DGT). However, it appears that manpower is the only area where cost-cutting has been made. ITI management have been exploiting the staff in order to try and recoup their investments.

Thomas Commission Report

Retired IAS officer Thomas had submitted a report to the state government in 2007. His report recommended that the benefits provided to aided ITIs must be extended to private, unaided ITIs as well. He also recommended that institutions registered for more than five years should receive grants-in-aid for staff salaries. By those parametres, every private ITI in Karnataka would become eligible for grants.

However, in 2010, the state government, under BS Yeddyurappa announced that there would be no new grants-in-aid considering the poor financial health of the state government. Even an alternative was proposed, known as the ‘child-centric scheme’. As per this scheme, it was proposed that for every trainee who completes the course, the government would pay a sum of Rs 6,000 into a single fund. This amount could then be shared by all the staff members equally. However, this proposal was rejected by all the ITIs. They feared that if the intake was too low, the payout would be too little. They preferred the staff-centric scheme, where the government approves grants for a fixed number of staff members, irrespective of the number of trainees at the institutes.

The movement for grants-in-aid

In 2011, ITI staff members began the movement against the child-centric scheme. They insisted that grants-in-aid be extended to all unaided institutes (based on the 1997 rules). At least three different ITI associations have been set up to provide a platform for the protestors. They have held several protests over the years to highlight their position. In 2017, they held a big protest at Suvarna Soudha, Belagavi, during the winter session of the Assembly. Earlier this year, in February, they held protests at Freedom Park, Bengaluru. Following this, 50 members undertook a padayatra from Hubbali to Bengaluru. They say that they took 14 days to cover the distance. When they arrived in Bengaluru, they met with Ashwath Narayana, the Minister for Skill Development, Entrepreneurship and Livelihood. They say they have been ably supported by Arun Shahapur, a former MLC, representing Belagavi, Bagalkot and Vijayapur (Bijapur). He, too, was present in the meeting.

K Jyothi, Commissioner at the Commissionerate of Industrial Training and Employment (in Bengaluru) addressed the issue. Speaking to NewsClick, she said, “This is a policy decision to be taken by the government. There are 192 private ITIs receiving grant-in-aid and this is costing around Rs 200 crores every year. Since the cost is too large, the government has decided not to extend grants to any other ITI. Privatisation is good as long as the management is able to pay salaries. If they cannot pay salaries, they should shut down the institutes. They cannot play with the lives of people by paying low salaries. Further, the ITIs should consider the ‘child-centric scheme’, which was suggested in 2010.”

When asked whether the meagre salaries paid to the staff was a violation of minimum wage rules, she said, Tthe teaching staff are not labourers, so the minimum wage rules do not apply. However, If a private ITI is appointing a principal, they should ensure that the salary is equivalent to that of a principal in a government institute.”

SM Nerabenchi, 54, Chairman of the Karnataka State Private Industrial Training Institutes Sangha, has been one of the leaders of the movement since 2011. He set up the Sangha in 2016. He is the principal at Bapuji Vidyavardaka Sangha ITI, Bijapur. Though he has a degree in Engineering, his salary is Rs. 10,000/month. In order to be a principal at an ITI, one has to have an engineering degree, whereas diploma holders are eligible to be JTOs. However, both of them are unable to earn a living wage today.

Courtesy: Newsclick

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A large crowd gathered at the Bharat Scouts and Guides auditorium in Bengaluru on Monday to pay tributes to journalist-activist Gauri Lankesh on the 5th anniversary of her murder. 

The chief guests of the programme, organised by the Gauri Memorial Trust, included the late journalist’s sister and film director Kavitha Lankesh, Booker Prize winner Arundathi Roy, actor Prakash Raj, journalist and Alt News cofounder Mohammed Zubair and prominent rights activist Teesta Setalvad. 

Students, activists, citizens and friends and colleagues of Gauri attended the programme amid heavy police presence. Zubair and Setalvad could not attend the programme personally. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Manjinder Singh Sirsa has filed a police complaint against Zubair accusing him of “spreading hate” against cricketer Arshdeep Singh and the Sikh community with his tweet. 

Roy had accepted the invitation to speak at the programme just days after the passing of her mother Mary Roy in Kerala. “Three days ago, I buried my mother and I didn’t know whether my heart would allow me to leave her grave. But I’m here because she would have been ashamed of me if I hadn’t come,” the eminent author said to rapturous applause. 

Reflecting on the paradigm shift in the political system, Roy said, “In the early 90s, two locks were opened: one of the Babri Masjid and the other of the market [economic liberalisation]. When they opened those two locks, they unleashed two kinds of fundamentalism—religious and economic.” 

Explaining how the government had “two different reasons to become a security state”, Roy said, “In the name of Islamic terrorism and anti-development protests, everything became an excuse for the state to secure itself.” 

The author was at her searing best as she reflected on political horse-trading. “The richest political party in the world can topple (state) governments and buy members of Legislative Assemblies at will. I have a suggestion: like during the Kisan Andolan, our elected representatives should also start campaigning for MSP—but this time for MLAs and MPs,” she said.

Roy also condemned the release of 11 rapists of Bilkis Bano, who had also murdered 14 members of her family, through the legal process. There is an “attempt to destroy the legal trail of the Gujarat pogrom for international reasons while claiming its political legacy for internal reasons”, she said. 

Admiring Setalvad’s work in documenting “the atrocities committed in the 2002 Gujarat riots”, Roy said, “This meticulous documentation should one day provide evidence of ‘war crimes’ because that is what happened in Gujarat.”

Raj said that “it has been five years since Gauri died and her killers are in jail, but the people who ordered the killing are free”. “We should also understand the reason for the release of Bilkis Bano’s rapists. The message is that ‘if you commit atrocities in the name of our ideology, we are here to protect you,’” he said.  

Union home minister “Amit Shah recently said that society should not misunderstand the concept of jail. He said that just because a person went to jail does not mean he is a convict. Does this mean that we should keep garlands ready and expect more people to be released?” the actor added. 

Kavitha spoke about the “rise in communal incidents in Karnataka, especially in Shivamogga district. “When I was making a documentary on Gauri, I met [journalist] Ravish Kumar. I asked him is there any hope? Will there be a change if the regime changes and the BJP is out of power? He said, ‘No.’ People have been weaponised,” she said.

Courtesy: Newsclick

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Dalits in Dosapadu village undertook an unconventional fishing protest on Friday. 

At least 45 Dalit families in Dosapadu village have lost lands granted by the government to them over the past 20 years. They lost their lands to landlords through illegal land transfers in contravention of the A.P Assigned Lands (Prohibition of Transfers) Act, 1977.

The landlords turned the sites into lucrative fish ponds for aquaculture business. The business was allegedly netting around Rs 4-5 lacs/acre yearly.

On September 2, the Dalits occupied the land and undertook fishing in the 400 acres of fish ponds. They captured several tonnes of fish and distributed that among each other.

The police and the Tehsildar of Denduluru reached the spot and held discussions with the villagers and leaders. The leaders gave an ultimatum that fishing would continue until the land was returned to the original assignees.

The protest received support from the CPI(M) and the All India Agricultural Workers Union. They plan to repeat this protest till they get justice and the land is returned to their families.

The case is tied up in litigation despite a Lokayukta order stating that these lands were encroached upon. The Dalit families have been fighting to retrieve their lands since 2007.

Courtesy: Newsclick

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The Akhil Bharatiya Kisan Sabha (AIKS) and Andhra Pradesh Rythu Sangham (APRS) initiated a Vanta varpu (cooking) protest as a part of Maha Dharna Sabha on Aug 30, 2022, at Ponguturu Village, Koyyalagudem mandal, Andhra Pradesh.

The protest was against the ongoing land acquisition for the construction of the Greenfield National Highway project, which runs through the fertile lands of nearly six districts, spanning 31 villages and 1200 acres of land, and ultimately affecting the lives of 1,500 farmers in Andhra Pradesh.

APRS has demanded that the government offer Rs 50 lakh/acre as compensation to the farmers who handed over their lands to the Greenfield highway project. Land for the project has been acquired from farmers in both Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.

K Srinivas Rao, joint secretary, APRS, shed light on the various problems faced by the farmers due to the project.

“The farmers complained about the snatching of their fertile lands and further getting less compensation than their counterparts in Telangana. The 162 km highway will connect the two states and run from Khammam in Telangana to Devarapally in Andhra Pradesh. It passes through the Chintalapudi mandal in Andhra Pradesh, in the newly formed Eluru district and affects the following mandals in Eluru district – Chintalapudi, Narsapuram, Jangareddigudem, and Koyyalagudem. It also passes through Devarapally and Gopalapuram mandals in the West Godavari District. This is the most fertile land where oil farms, cocoa, lemon, banana, coconut, corn, teak trees, and custard apples can be grown”, he said.

The farmers’ struggle began in 2018 when the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) government sent a notification for the evacuation of farmers for the Greenfield National Highway Project. The then collector promised to give fair compensation.

According to The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, there should be 70% of the people’s ratification/approval for a national highway project. In the case of a public-private project, approval from 80% of the affected people is compulsory. But, in this case, the project has already started without the consent of the farmers.

HOW THE COMPENSATION IS WORKED OUT

The activists explained why the land compensation is higher in Telangana than in Andhra Pradesh. According to existing laws, the farmers are entitled to fair compensation and a solatium. Solatium is an amount awarded in addition to compensation. Per the 2013 compensation act, the solatium award is 100% of the compensation.

The Telangana government has offered 1.5 times the basic registration value as compensation. In addition to this, a matching amount is paid as solatium. Thus, compensation = registration valuex1.5+100% solatium. But the TDP government in Andhra Pradesh offers the basic registration value of ×1.25 + 100% solatium.

Further, the registration value for the affected lands has been set at different rates by both governments. The basic registration value in Telangana by the time of the 2018 notification was Rs 2 lakh/acre, but after protests by farmers, they increased it to Rs 8.5 lakh. So the total compensation, including solatium, is around Rs 25 lakh/acre in Telangana.

But in Andhra Pradesh, the average registration value was set at Rs 6 lakhs. So, in a place like Chintalagudem, the total compensation is Rs 15 lakh/acre. The type of region (urban/rural) also affects the multiplication factor. In Sagar, the total compensation is Rs 25 lakh. In Koyyalagudem, it is Rs 20 lakh. In Devarapallim, it is close to Rs 40 lakh because of the urban population and higher demand. So most of the farmers are getting the compensation that is less than the present market value of their lands.

Rao also mentioned the deliberate miscalculations of the land measurements and farmers being asked to pay a bribe for recording the correct measurements. A farmer from Chintalapally also said trees aged about 25 years got the same rate as the 5-year-old ones, which is another loss the farmer bears. According to the association members, 95% of the land acquisition for the project has been completed.

Courtesy: Newsclick

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