Deepening farm crisis, unabated farmer suicides శుక్రవారం , జన 22 2010

Nearly 2 lakh farm suicides since 1997

P. Sainath, The Hindu, Jan 22, 2010

Over two-thirds in ‘suicide belt’ of five States, more than one-fifth in Maharashtra

MUMBAI: There were at least 16,196 farmers’ suicides in India in 2008, bringing the total since 1997 to 199,132, according to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB).

The share of the Big 5 States or ‘suicide belt’ in 2008 — Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh — remained very high at 10,797, or 66.6 per cent of the total farm suicides in the country. This was marginally higher than it was in 2007 (66.2 per cent). Maharashtra remains the worst State in the nation for farm suicides with a total of 3802. (This is just 40 short of the combined total of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.) The all-India total of 16,196 represents a fall of 436 from 2007. But the broad trends of the past decade reflect no significant change. The national average for farm suicides since 2003 stays at roughly one every 30 minutes.

Within the Big 5, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh recorded higher numbers. The increase of 604 in these three States somewhat offset the dip in Maharashtra (436) and Karnataka (398). But a fall in suicide numbers in other States (for example, a decline of 412 in Kerala and 343 in West Bengal) means that the Big 5 marginally increased their two-thirds share of total farm suicides in 2008.

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Hyderabadi identity – Bakthiar Dadabhoy బుధవారం, డిసెం 23 2009

Opinion

Quo Vadis, Hyderabad?

Whatever happens, the Dakhni in their souls will unite the people of this city

Bakthiar K. Dadabhoy

OUTLOOK The Weekly Newsmagazine, December 28, 2009

Union home minister P. Chidambaram’s declaration on the midnight of December 9 that the Centre would initiate the process of forming the state of Telangana seems to have thrown most Hyderabadis into a severe identity crisis. The last major upheaval relating to Telangana was in 1969. Forty years on, Hyderabad finds itself caught once more in the political crossfire. In the case of Telangana, it has not been ethnicity but socio-economic deprivation resulting from political exclusion that has powered the sinews of the demand for a separate state. Language and culture are no longer a focal point of identity in the dynamics of federalism. It is economics which determines the new federal politics. Telangana and Andhra speak the same language but their economic interests are diametrically opposed. In fact, the latter accuses coastal Andhra of exploiting its resources.

There was a feeling (which still persists) that people from outside (read Andhra) were carpetbaggers and not stakeholders in Hyderabad. In part, this feeling can be explained by the fact that the feudal culture of Hyderabad was unable to deal with the entrepreneurial spirit of the people from Andhra. Their aggression and drive proved more than a bellyful for the laidback Hyderabadis. Anyone who has lived in Hyderabad will testify that ‘parsaun’, which in the Hindi heartland means ‘the day after tomorrow’ can stretch from a week to never. To live by such lexical precision is to create avoidable tension, and ever since I moved to Secunderabad, I have tried to liberate myself from the tyranny of the calendar and the clock in such matters.

Hyderabad has been the meeting place of many different cultures and traditions. It has over the years developed its own distinctive ‘Ganga-Jamuna’ culture. Hyderabad is a cosmopolitan city: people never identify themselves by their religion but only as Hyderabadis. Dussehra, Diwali or Sankranti are all meant to be enjoyed, whether one is Hindu or not. And Id brings celebrations not for a single community but for the entire city. Faith is a personal matter and what unites one is the sense of belonging to Hyderabad. (Old-timers say all this is a thing of the past, but I believe such pessimism is unwarranted).

Language is not a problem. The unique lingua franca, Dakhni, one of the most identifiable markers of Hyderabad, is a delicious blend of Hindi, Urdu and Telugu, with a lacing of old Marathi. The plural character of the city dates back to its founder, Quli Qutb Shah, who was also a Telugu scholar. Geographically too, it is inclusive: the twin cities, Hyderabad and Secunderabad, do not exhibit the cleavage in environment that divides, say, South Mumbai and the suburbs, or the Calcuttan whose life is confined south of Park Street. And now there is also Cyberabad, as the 400-year-old city constantly reinvents itself.

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Migrants make Hyderabad a concrete jungle శనివారం, డిసెం 5 2009

Hyderabad: The good, bad and ugly

Radhika Chhotai,

New Indian Express, Hyderabad 04 Dec 2009

One of the biggest changes that has transformed Hyderabad is the continuous traffic snarls with the congestion going from bad to worse. There was nearly no traffic earlier and we could reach from one place to another, in not more than 30 minutes.

Being a fashion designer, another thing I hate the most is the fact that Pochampally weaving and Ikkat art is dying. Earlier, each house in Pochampally would have a loom in their house but today only five to ten houses have looms. Though at one point in time, Hyderabad was famous for Pochampally weaving and Ikkat art, today the demand has gone down.

Also, earlier if you went to Charminar, you would find traditional embroidery everywhere around you, but now it is not that easily found. Very few people sell that traditional embroidery. They are more interested in selling modern and new designs, catering to the demand.

But, one thing that I like about the city is that it is very accepting. Coming from Tirupati, they not only accepted me, they made me feel welcome and at home. When I came, Kalamkari was a dying art, but because of the renewed interest of the Hyderabadis, I could bring it to the level that it has reached. Today nearly 45 to 50 families depend on Kalamkari art for their livelihood.

I also like the sensibilities of Hyderabadis. They have a very unique taste that blends tradition with modern. Hyderabadis are very traditional at heart, but still are open to new things, and this openness leads to a fusion in the type of clothes they prefer.

One thing that has not changed about Hyderabad is its passion for cinema. People are as crazy about movies and cinema, as they were ages ago. Even today, you see long queues to book tickets on the first day of a movie.

Also, the ice-cream shop that I used to hangout in my childhood, Rasranjan, near Abids, hasn’t changed a bit. They still have the best vada pavs in the city and their ice creams are as delectable as I remember them to be. They have ice creams with natural fruits and its quality is the same.

But Hyderabad has become a concrete jungle, it has no open spaces where we can just go and sit in peace. A lot of people from outside Hyderabad have set shop and the city has become overcrowded.

Earlier Abids used to be the hot joint for youngsters, but today hardly anyone visits that area. Though it is still my personal favourite, the area has lost its fame over the years.

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AP’s disastrous irrigation schemes slow down మంగళవారం, నవం 3 2009

Jalayagnam comes to a virtual halt

NM Satheesh  Indian Express 3 Nov 2009

HYDERABAD: Jalayagnam, the favourite scheme of former chief minister the late YS Rajasekhara Reddy, seems to have slided down in the list of priorities of the present government.

Leave alone the progress of the programme at the field level, even a review of it by the government has become rare in the last two months.

According to sources in the irrigation department, funding of the programme has come to a halt and the pending bills are piling up with the government.

It seems that the government is not going to spend the allocated budget Rs 18,000 crore in this financial year. The government has not released even Rs 1,000 crore for the projects in the last two months. It was decided by the regime of Rajasekhara Reddy that the government should release about Rs 1,400 crore every month to keep the projects going.

According to officials, the government has already halted payment of Rs 4,000 crore which was spent by the contractors and the construction of projects like Pulichintala which has been completed to an extent of 70 per cent is not progressing as per the schedule.

Irrigation officials say that the time table fixed by the government for the completion of 82 major and medium irrigation projects under Jalayagnam will go awry.

The YSR government had contemplated Jalayagnam to bring about one crore acres of land under irrigation facility. Under the scheme 82 projects are to be constructed at a cost of Rs 1.50 lakh crore.

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Truth of Displacement & Rehabilitation: GoM’s confidential Report శనివారం, అక్టో 31 2009

The Hindu /Opinion 17 April 2006

GoM’s confidential report

This is the text, obtained exclusively by The Hindu, of “A Brief Note on the Assessment of Resettlement and Rehabilitation (R & R) Sites and Submergence of Villages of the Sardar Sarovar Project.” The note marked confidential and dated April 9, 2006, was signed by Union Minister of Water Resources, Saifuddin Soz, Union Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment Meira Kumar, and Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office Prithviraj Chauhan.

The Group of Ministers (GoM) comprising Prof. Saifuddin Soz, Minister of Water Resources, Smt. Meira Kumar, Minister of Social Justice & Empowerment and Shri Prithviraj Chavan, MOS in the PMO, deputed by the Hon’ble Prime Minister to Madhya Pradesh, arrived Indore late in the evening on April 6, 2006.

Soon after arrival in Indore, a meeting was held with Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister, Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan and some of his Cabinet colleagues and officers.

The Madhya Pradesh Government made a presentation and wanted the GoM to appreciate that the Madhya Pradesh Government had taken concrete steps to rehabilitate Project Affected Families (PAFs) and that Rehabilitation and Resettlement would be completed by 30th June, 2006. In that connection, the GoM was requested to visit some sites such as Khalghat, Dharampuri, Lakhangaon and Borlai etc.

When asked as to how many SC/ST families were affected, the Government could not provide any information.

Early in the morning of April 7, 2006, the GoM left for a visit to Rehabilitation and Submergence sites.

The GoM visited Khalghat, Dharampuri, Lakhangaon, Borlai 1, 2 and 3, Awalda, Piplud and Nisarpur. The GoM was stopped at other places including Picchodi where people narrated their tales of woe. The representatives of Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) had insisted in Delhi in their memorandum that a visit to Borlai, Awalda, Piplud and Nisarpur would be necessary to find out whether the claim of the Government of Madhya Pradesh that the PAFs had been rehabilitated was correct.

Khalghat

The GoM visited Khalghat site where Madhya Pradesh Government had offered land to 407 families. Only 2 families had accepted the land. The top soil there is black. The people say that they have to dig 10 feet deep to find the cultivable land. The Government had not succeeded in persuading the oustees to accept the land. Hundreds of people on the spot complained before the GoM that the Government had not conducted a proper survey and offered the land without consulting the oustees. Shri Mohan Lal Sharma (resident of Gazipur, District Dharampuri) who spoke on behalf of oustees, complained before the members of the Narmada Valley Development Authority (NVDA) that the Madhya Pradesh Government had acted in haste and allotted the land which was totally uncultivable. The members of the NVDA did not contradict Shri Mohan Lal.

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Jai Telangana మంగళవారం, అక్టో 6 2009

BOOK WATCH
By Anita Joshua

Jai Telangana

Telangana: The State of Affairs, M. Bharath Bhushan and N. Venugopal, AdEd Value Ventures, Rs. 250.

Ever a festering issue in Andhra Pradesh, the Telangana question assumed national significance after a three-decade hiatus since the Jai Telangana Movement in the wake of the 2004 electoral alliance between the Congress and the Telangana Rashtra Samithi.

Sensing the widespread ignorance outside the State about the Telangana issue, M. Bharath Bhushan and N. Venugopal have sought to explain the rationale for the demand for separate Statehood in this collection of research articles on the region and literature from the area. Through these varied approaches, the attempt is to explain the reasons for the sense of alienation felt by the people of Telangana; traced in a 1969 vintage article by Duncan B. Forrester to the region being under Nizam’s rule for 200 years, cut away from the “rest of the Telugu country”.

Given that Telangana has become a major election issue in the State, the book examines whether polls foster separatism and uses government data to show how the region is lagging behind the coastal and Rayalaseema regions of Andhra Pradesh to make out a case for a separate identity. Also thrown in are two short stories in translation — the delightful “Golla Ramavva” by former Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao and “Bhoomi” by the doyen of Telugu short stories, Allam Rajayya.

Source: Literary Review, The Hindu, Oct 4, 2009 http://www.hindu.com/lr/2009/10/04/stories/2009100450060200.htm

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‘Little England’ in Secunderabad- Anglo Indians ఆదివారం, అక్టో 4 2009

Fun-loving and at home in ‘Little England’

Mithi Chinoy, Times of India

HYDERABAD: You don’t see much of them these days. The Anglo-Indian community, numbering about 20,000 at its peak in the 1960s, is a dwindling community today.

Of British and European descent, this community has co-existed peacefully here since the past 500 years. Also known as domicile Indians, these are the children of colonialism who have survived the Dutch, French and English.

After WW II ended and it was clear that Britain would have to liberate its colonies including India, this well-settled and happy community wondered if there would be room for them in the new India.

Their acknowledged leader and barrister Frank Anthony united them by stressing their Indian culture and roots.

As member of the Constituent Assembly, he secured a special place for the community in the Constitution, including a reservation in parliament and some legislative assemblies.

Aiding him in his endeavour was the All-India Anglo-Indian Association, the bedrock of the community, now in its 127th year.

Immediately after Independence, there was a wave of migration, chiefly to Europe and England, but the exodus from here was to Australia, Britain, Canada, the US and New Zealand in the late 60s and early 70s.

Making the transition was very easy for them as all they had to prove was their descent from a British paternal grandfather. At the time, the refrain often heard from those immigrating was, “Wer’re selling out and going to Australia.”

The city stood helplessly watching the community known to be so full of beans setting up in a far off land they knew nothing of. As a result, today the population of this community has fallen to mere 2,500 families.

Concentrated mainly at Lalaguda, Secunderabad, or Little England, the Anglo-Indians were a really fun-loving and vibrant community.

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Pramod Ram Reddy – Telangana deities గురువారం, సెప్టెం 10 2009

Telangana milieu on canvas

Pramod Ram Reddy’s exhibition at Minaaz Art Gallery depicts deities, life and people of Nizamabad

Sri Lakshmi

THE WIDE canvas of Indian deities has been an integral part of our system. On one hand, their peculiar imagery, clothing and unrelated colouring notwithstanding, people unquestioningly accept and revere them, thus making them a part of their lives, more so in the villages and rural areas.

On the other, these deities, as wonderful works of art – extremely imaginative and aesthetic, have inspired creative people in various areas to experiment with them – weave stories, make paintings, designs sets, perform dramas and make textiles.

Artist G.Pramod Ram Reddy presents his paintings portraying the ruling deities of Nizamabad along with a few others, apart from depicting the life and people there. In retrospect, Pramod experimented with bolder themes and an alloyed attitude concerning colour, design, composition and line.

The alluring result that got him noticed was probably his effort to be `real’ and his talent, despite the inevitable influence of Klimt.

In the present exhibition, the earlier spirit of adventure and influx of experimentation is replaced by a more reticent and mellowed attitude where the artist effortlessly exercised his skills in colour, line and composition.

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Legislator with a difference- Sukka Pagadaalu బుధవారం, ఏప్రి 15 2009

Congress ex-MLA now a labourer

25 Mar 2009, G Arun Kumar & Siva G, TNN

Former Congress MLA Sukka Pagadaalu and her husband Sukka Dasu work at a construction site. (TOI Photo

SRIKAKULAM: She was a member of the AP Legislative Assembly representing the Congress from Patapatnam (SC) constituency between 1972-77. But that was then. Today, she is a daily wage labourer who earns Rs 60 per day to make both ends meet.

“We have a little land, but in the off-season, my husband and I have to work as labourers to make both ends meet. Life comes at a price these days,” rues the sprightly 64-year-old Sukka Pagadaalu as she lifts heaps of mud on her head at a construction site in her native Mukthapuram village in Srikakulam district in north coastal Andhra Pradesh.

This is one of the most backward parts of the state, barely 5 kms from the Orissa border and an area infested with Maoists.

As an ex-legislator, Sukka gets a pension but that is not enough — the family having incurred heavy debts to marry three daughters. The dalit woman now lives in a thatched hut — that leaks during rainy season — unlike the plush pads and comfy, breezy environs that present-day legislators and public representatives are used to live in.

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Heroes of Elections 2009 – Mary Francis fights displacement సోమవారం, ఏప్రి 6 2009

A housewife’s crusade

K.P.M. Basheer

 

PARTY: Independent

 

CONSTITUENCY: Ernakulam

 

STATE: Kerala

 

MISSION STATEMENT: I want this antiquated, inhuman law [Land Acquisition Act of 1894] overhauled. I don’t want anyone else to suffer the way I have.

 

Mary Francis knows pretty well that hers is a losing battle. But the 60-year-old housewife is standing to draw attention to what she sees as a life-and-death issue for thousands of people from Nandigram to the Narmada Valley — displacement in the name of development. Ms. Francis understands their pain well.

 

In February last year, her home and the carpentry workshop run by her husband on a quarter of an acre property on the tiny emerald island of Moolampally in the Kochi backwaters were demolished. The bulldozers, sent out by the Ernakulam district administration, were making way for a road to the Vallarpadam project — a Rs. 3,000-crore international container transhipment terminal of the Cochin Port Trust being constructed by India Gateway Terminals Limited on a build-operate-transfer basis.

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