VIDARBHA JAN ANDOLAN SAMITI-91-9422108846

The Mealy Bug responsible 4 million hectors Cotton crop failure in Mahrashtra.

2011-12-26T07:54:00.000-08:00

The Mealy Bug responsible 4 million hectors Cotton crop failure in Mahrashtra.

Vidarbha -26^th December 2011

Vidarbha Jan Andolan (VJAS) activists have reported shocking facts, all types of plants and ruby crops are severely infected by Mealy Bug, a virus gifted by imported Bt.cotton seed supplied M

NC Monsanto. The VJAS warned that coming too season will have it'''s wider effect and larger area spread covering all most all cr

ops and set to destroy of next year not only cotton crop but all the other food crops hence too plant eater killer Mealy Bug .

VJAS president Kishor Tiwari urged the Maharashtra Chief Minister Prathiviraj chavan who declared that nearly 4 million hector cotton crop damaged and has given bailout package to compensate losses @ of Rs.4000/- per hector amounting more than Rs.1000 crore to recovery the crop damages from Monsanto Bt. Cotton seeds which has briught this Mealy bug in agrarian crisis hit Maha

rashtra in order to save more than 5 million distress and debt trapped vidarbha cotton farmers. He also demanded CBI probe over the Mealy Bug spre

ad in Maharashtra cott

on growing dry land region.

Now when the cotton plants have died, the mealy bug is shifting to nearby plants and the bug has been get

ting multiplied like any thing. It has shifted to pulses nearby, and many other weeds and plants in maharashtra forest which is grate danger to ecology and environmental impact of Maharashtra.

This initiative comes against a historical backdrop of government support for high chemical input cotton production at national and at state level that has sent the wrong messages to farmers. GM cotton is now falsely promoted as the answer to reducing the scourge of proliferating pesticide use, and is one of many reasons farmers are succumbing to the pressure to grow GM cotton which has

been spreading more complex hazards to public health and resulting heavy economical losses forcin

g farmers to kill themselves @ one every 8 hourly since June 2005 after Indian authorities has given permission to grow Bt. cotton in rain fed area of Maharashtra .

VJAS has requested Indian authorities to ban Bt.cotton in dry land region of region of maharashtra and to launch National Food Security Mission(NFSM)) and special outlay of Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY) which.should be followed along with a comprehensive promotion plan of sustainable farming in the small and marginal farmers and tribals cultivating barren land for maharashtra and the demand to allocate dedicated funds on the lines of AIBP for farm ponds,

community tanks and give incentives to farmers/villages who/which harness water but nobody in the administration is serious over the maharashtra agrarian crisis, Tiwari added.

तोकड्या पॅकेजमुळे शेतकऱ्यांच्या पुन्हा आत्महत्या वाढण्याची भीती- सकाळ वृत्तसेवा

2011-12-25T19:55:00.000-08:00

तोकड्या पॅकेजमुळे शेतकऱ्यांच्या पुन्हा आत्महत्या वाढण्याची भीती

सकाळ वृत्तसेवा

Sunday, December 25, 2011 AT 12:15 AM (IST)

Tags: farmer, suicide, yavatmal, vidarbha

यवतमाळ -

मुख्यमंत्री चव्हाण यांनी पॅकेजची मदत जाहीर करून 90 लाख हेक्‍टरमधील सुमारे सात लाख शेतकऱ्यांची निराशा केली. या अपुऱ्या मदतीच्या घोषणेने विदर्भ, मराठवाडा, उत्तर महाराष्ट्र व खानदेशात नापिकी झालेल्या शेतकऱ्यांना दिलासा मिळाला नसून उलट नैराश्‍य वाढून शेतकऱ्यांच्या आत्महत्या वाढण्याची भीती आहे, असा आरोप विदर्भ जनआंदोल

न समितीचे नेते किशोर तिवारी यांनी केला आहे.

किशोर तिवारी म्हणाले, वारंवार निवेदन देऊनही मुख्यमंत्र्यांनी शेतकऱ्यांच्या शेतीमालाच्या मागणीला बगल दिली. जेमतेम पाच टक्के मदत जाहीर केली. मदत जास्तीत जास्त दोन हेक्‍टरपर्यंत राहील, अशी घोषणा

करून नोकरशाहीने पुन्हा शेतकऱ्यांच्या तोंडाला पाने पुसली आहेत. सरकारच्या मदतीपेक्षा नुकसान 10 पट आहे. कापसाचा हमीभाव व नापिकीमुळे झालेली नुकसानभरपाई पश्‍चिम महाराष्ट्राच्या ऊस उत्पादक शेतकऱ्यांप्रमाणेच द्यावी लागेल, अशी मागणीही त्यांनी एका प्रसिद्धिपत्रकाद्वारे केली आहे. आर्थिक नुकसानीच्या बदल्यात सरकारने तोकडी मदत दिली व महाराष्ट्रात कापसाचे भाव व्यापाऱ्यांवर सोडले तर पुन्हा एकदा हजारो शेतकऱ्यांच्या आत्महत्यांला सरकार आमंत्रण देत असल्याचा आरोपही श्री. तिवारी यांनी केला आहे

मनरेगा’च्या कामात वनाधिकार्‍यांनी जमवली कोट्यवधींची माया

2011-12-23T10:52:00.000-08:00

मनरेगा’च्या कामात वनाधिकार्‍यांनी जमवली कोट्यवधींची माया

स्रोत: TarunBharat - Marathi तारीख: 12/18/2011 8:34:05 PM

सुबोध काळपांडे

पांढरकवडा, १८ डिसेंबर

ग्रामीण जनतेचे शहरी भागात स्थलांतर होऊ नये म्हणून ग्रामीण जनतेला वर्षभरातील किमान १०० दिवस रोजगार उपलब्ध होण्यासाठी सुरू झालेल्या महात्मा गांधी राष्ट्रीय ग्रामीण रोजगार हमी योजनेचा (मनरेगा) पुरता बोजवारा उडाला असून कागदोपत्री शेकडो मजूर कामावर दाखवून त्यांच्या मजुरीची रक्कम हडपण्याच्या अनेक तक्रारी उघडकीस येत आहेत.

मनरेगा अंतर्गत जिल्हा परिषद, पंचायत समिती, कृषी विभाग, वन विभागांतर्गत होणारी अनेक कामे जॉबकार्डधारक मजुरांमार्फत करून त्यांचे खाते पोस्टात उघडून मजुरी देण्याची साधी व सरळ पद्धत या योजनेअंतर्गत आहे. केळापूर तालुक्यातील ७४ ग्रामपंचायतींमधील १८०४४ कुटुंबियांनी जॉबकार्ड काढले असून यामध्ये एससी प्रवर्गातील ८५९, एसटी प्रवर्गातील ७०६६ तर इतर प्रवर्गातील १०११९ कुटुंबीय आहेत. या सर्वांना कमीतकमी १०० दिवस रोजगार उपलब्ध करून देण्याची जबाबदारी शासनाची आहे.

यावरूनच सर्व विभागांनी या कामांतर्गत कोट्यवधी रुपयाचा अपहार केला असून शेततळे, मातीला बांध, विहीर बांधणे, सिमेंट प्लग बांधणे, पाण्याची टाकी उभारणे, जंगलात वन्य प्राण्यांनाही तळे तयार करणे, चरे बांधणे, कुंड तयार करणे असे अनेक कामांपैकी बहुतांश कामे कागदोपत्री तयार दाखविण्यात आली आहेत. करण्यात आलेली कामे निकृष्ट दर्जाची झाल्याने शासनाचा कोट्यवधींचा निधी अधिकारी, दलाल व ठेकेदारांनी फक्त केल्याचे स्पष्ट दिसत आहे.

मनरेगाच्या कामातील सर्वांत मोठा भ्रष्टाचार वनविभागांतर्गत झालेला असून, वनविभागातील अनेक कामे अत्यंत दुर्गम भागात करण्यात आल्याने ठेकेदारांसह अधिकार्‍यांनाच या कामाची माहिती असल्याने या अधिकार्‍यांनी ‘अर्धे तुम्ही, अर्धे आम्ही’ या ‘नियमा’प्रमाणे वाटेल त्याला कामे वाटप केली आहे. पांढरकवडा वनविभागाअंतर्गत पारवा, उमरी, पाटणबोरी, पांढरकवडा या उपविभागात मनरेगाच्या माध्यमाने जंगलात मातीनाला बांधणे, चरे उभारणे, कुंड तयार करणे, तळे करणे, सिमेंट प्लग उभारणे अशी अनेक कामे मोठ्या प्रमाणात सुरू असून हाताच्या बोटावर मोजण्याइतपत कामे सोडली तर जवळजवळ सर्वच कामे निकृष्ट दर्जाची झाली आहेत.

वनविभागांतर्गत मनरेगाची कामे प्राप्त करण्याची राजकीय नेत्यांच्या जवळ असणारे चेलेचपाटे मोठ्या प्रमाणात गुुंतले असून, अधिकार्‍यांचे जवळचे मित्र, नातलग यांनाही पार्टनर करून ही सर्व कामे सुरू आहेत. पांढरकवडा वनविभागातील मनरेगाच्या सर्वच कामांची चौकशी करणे आणि या कामांतून वनअधिकार्‍यांनी कोट्यवधींची माया जमविली असल्याने त्यांच्या उत्पन्नाची चौकशी करणे गरजेचे झाले आहे. ठेकेदारांसह वनअधिकार्‍यांनी संगनमत करून ग्रामीण मजुरांची मजुरी हडप करण्याचा प्रकार म्हणजे ‘टाळूवरचेे लोणी खाण्या’चा प्रकार झाला आहे.

पॅकेज' नंतरही विदर्भात ४ शेतकर्‍यांच्या आत्महत्या-आघाडीचे पॅकेज 'धूळफेक' - किशोर तिवारी यांची टीका-लोकशाही वार्ता

2011-12-17T21:52:00.001-08:00

पॅकेज' नंतरही विदर्भात ४ शेतकर्‍यांच्या आत्महत्या-आघाडीचे पॅकेज 'धूळफेक' - किशोर तिवारी यांची टीका-लोकशाही वार्ता

लोकशाही वार्ता/१७ डिसेंबर

यवतमाळ: राज्य सरकारने विदर्भ, मराठवाडा, उत्तर महाराष्ट्र व खानदेशमधील सर्व कापूस उत्पादक शेतकरी आणि २५ टक्क्यांच्यावर नापिकी असलेले सोयाबीन व धानउत्पादक शेतकर्‍यांना दिलेले मदतीचे पॅकेज अपुरे आहे. हमीभावाच्या मागणीला बगल दिल्यामुळे विदर्भात चार शेतकर्‍यांच्या आत्महत्या झाल्या आहेत. अंकुश राऊत (रा. वाकळी जि. यवतमाळ), अशोक भोंगळे (रा. बार्मडा जि.यवतमाळ), (रामुदास कांबळे रा.गौळ जि.वर्धा),( शामराव ढेंगे रा.केसलवाडा जि.भंडारा) या ४ शेतकर्‍यांनी आत्महत्या केल्याचे उजेडात आले आहे. यंदा आत्महत्या करणार्‍या शेतकर्‍यांचा आकडा ७२२ वर पोहोचल्याची माहिती विदर्भ जन आंदोलन समितीचे नेते किशोर तिवारी यांनी दिली. सुमारे ९0 लाख हेक्टरमध्ये या वर्षी नापिकी झाली असल्याची कबुली सरकारने दिली आहे. यामध्ये सर्व शेतकरी कोरडवाहू आहे. कापूस, सोयाबीन व धानाचे पिक जेमतेम २0 ते ३0 टक्के आले आहे. त्यातच लागलेला खर्च व मिळत असलेला भाव यामुळे शेतकरी कमीत कमी २0 हजार कोटीच्या आर्थिक नुकसानाला तोंड देत आहे. अशा वेळी सरकार पश्‍चिम महाराष्ट्राच्या ऊस उत्पादक शेतकर्‍यांना हेक्टरी २५ ते ३0 हजार रुपये मदत देते. त्याचप्रमाणे या शेतकर्‍यांनाही भरघोस मदत देईल व काँग्रेस व राकाँचे मंत्री व आमदार वारंवार विनंती करत असल्यामुळे सरकार यावेळेस विदर्भाला न्याय देईल, असे वाटत होते. मात्र प्रत्यक्षात या पॅकेजमध्ये पश्‍चिम विदर्भातील कापूस उत्पादक ५ जिल्हे प्रचंड प्रमाणात वंचित राहतील, अशी दाट शक्यता आहे. अमरावती महसूल विभागाने या विभागात नापिकीचा अहवालच दिलेला नाही. एकूण क्षेत्र ९0 लाख हेक्टर असताना सरकार ही मदत शेतकर्‍यांना कशी देईल, यावर प्रश्नचिन्ह असून प्रत्येक वर्षासारखे हे पॅकेजसुद्धा एक धूळफेक ठरणार असल्याची टीका किशोर तिवारी यांनी केली आहे.
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Vidarbha Farm widows flays Maharashtra decision to delay ‘Bail-Out’: farm widows to take up issue with Smt Sonia Gandhi

2011-11-24T02:35:00.000-08:00

Vidarbha Farm widows flays Maharashtra decision to delay ‘Bail-Out’: farm widows to take up issue with Smt Sonia Gandhi

*In order to bring pressure on the Maharashtra Govt. to announce ‘bailout’ package hundreds of vidarbha farm widows will meet Smt Sonia Gandhi in the leadership of Rahul's Kalavati and KBC fame Aparna Malikar.*

Pandharkawada 24^th November 2011

‘Maharashtra chief minister’s yesterday said that code of conduct is reason for the announcement of so called ‘Bailout Package ‘for 5 million cotton farmers has received very sharp reaction in farm widow hunger strike today in which validity of such argument is questioned when election are in metros and farmers are dying micero-rural area of maharashtra ,it’s rediculos to stop relief aid on that account ,we

are moving up with state election commission will sort our issue and now farmers will force them to take corrective action to restore rural economy of maharashtra which is c

ompletely collapsed ’ Kishore Tiwari Farm activist of farmers advocacy group Vidarbha Janandolan Samiti(VJAS) announced today while addressing before hundreds of vidarbha farm widows

“vidarbha farmers are in urgent need of help due to crop failure and Govt. should help them urgently hence we all resolved that there is no question of raising MSP at this stage, because small and needy farmers have already sold around 50% of produce and cash subsidy of Rs20,000 per hectare for cotton and Rs15,000 for soya be paid to farmers to compensate for 40% loss of crop this year” Rahul's Kalvati and KBC fame Aparna Malikar informed the gathering

"The Situation of Crop damag

e is too critical and farmers have already spent 40% more on inputs this season, including labour costs and fertilizer but we are very skeptical about any package that bailout dying distress farmers of west vidarbha hence it is unanimously resolved for a blanket relief package for all cotton growers at a rate rs.20,000 per hector . Moreover, farmers will also need to be protected from any further collapse in open market rates in the coming days. Traders are known to manipulate the situation to their advantage and government should protect interests of farmers," ,Mohan Jadhav VJAS secretary informed in the meeting

In order to bring pressure on t

he Maharashtra Govt. VJAS leader is visiting delhi on 25 and 26 November will try to meet UPA convener smt.sonia Gandhi and Indian prime Minister Dr.Manmohansingh and fix appointment of farm widows in the leadership of Rahul's Kalavati and KBC fame Aparna Malikar ,Tiwari said.

Maharashtra proposed ‘Bail-Out’ package is Peanut :Vidarbha farm widows to join Stir from 24th Nov. tomorrow

2011-11-23T03:08:00.000-08:00

Maharashtra proposed ‘Bail-Out’ package is Peanut :Vidarbha farm widows to join Stir from 24^th Nov. tomorrow

Rampur(Yavatmal):23^rd November 2011

‘Maharashtra Govt. on going negotiations and proposed ‘Bailout Package ‘for 5 million cotton farmers is peanut and is nothing but another eyewash like earlier packages when administration is aware of short term and long term solutions to vidarbha cotton farmer’s agrarian crisis as crisis are policy driven and now farmers will force them to take corrective action to restore rural economy of maharashtra which is completely collapsed ’ Kishore Tiwari Farm activist of farmers advocacy group Vidarbha Janandolan Samiti(VJAS) announced today while addressing before two

thousand strong protest of cotton farmers by blocking the state highway chandrapur-Yavatmal near village Rampur 120 K.M. from Nagpur .This is seventh day in row that allover vidarbha road are being blocked by cotton farmers demanding higher procurement price for raw cotton @ Rs.6000/- per quintal whereas market price is Rs.4000/- per quintal ,demand supported by all the political parties in state including ruling NCP-Congress alliance too but the state Govt. is unmoved adding fuel to on going stir .

Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan called an all-party meeting on Wednesday to discuss the issue which failed to decide any relief package for dying farmers.

"There is no question of raising MSP at this stage, because small and needy farmers have already sold around 20 lakh quintals of produce. They will be the losers now."

Farm activist and Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti president Kishore Tiwari has already met the chief minister on Sunday and suggested that a subsidy of Rs20,000 per hectare for cotton and Rs15,000 for soya be paid to farmers to compensate for 40% loss of crop this year.

"Crop damage has burdened farmers who have already spent 40% more on inputs this season, including labour costs and fertilizer," said Tiwari. "But I am sceptical about any package. I am told the bureaucrats are asking the CM to announce a paltry relief of Rs1,000 per acre. This will be too little, too late and only fuel the farmer suicide crisis in Vidarbha," warned Tiwari

"Moreover, if they announce MSP higher than current market price of Rs4,300 to 4,500, it will be suicidal for the government as farmers and traders from neighbouring states will also flood procurement centres here. So, the best way out would be a blanket relief package for all cotton growers at a rate rs.20,000 per hector . Moreover, farmers will also need to be protected from any further collapse in open market rates in the coming days. Traders are known to manipulate the situation to their advantage and government should protect interests of farmers," Tiwari added.

In order to bring pressure on the Maharashtra hundreds of vidarbha farm widows will start hunger strike from tomorrow 24^th November in the leadership of Rahul’ Kalvati and KBC fame Aparna Malikar ,Tiwari said.

Vidarbha: Telangana’s cousin in distress

2011-10-29T11:41:00.000-07:00

Vidarbha: Telangana’s cousin in distress

again, it was only in 1994 – 38 years later – that a Presidential Order was issued making, among other things, the Governor responsible for supervision and allocation of Plan funds to Vidarbha and Marathwada – again unlike in Telangana. But providing budgets was one thing and spending them another. The backlog (gap) between allocation and expenditure in the regions was great.

The Vidharbha region of Maharashtra consists of six districts of the ancient Bhonsle kingdom of Nagpur (annexed 1853 by the British) and five districts of Berar (a province of the Nizam’s Hyderabad State leased to the British in 1853). Both are known for their vast cotton-growing areas, and they formed part of the Central Provinces of British India.

Vidharbha has two-thirds of Maharashtra’s mineral resources, three-fourths of the forest resources and is surplus in power. It covers 32% of the State and has a population of 20 million: 21% of the State population. It sends 10 MPs to the Lok Sabha and has 62 seats in the 288-member State Assembly. Nagpur is its major city.

On October 1, 1938, the Central Provinces Legislature passed a unanimous resolution to create a separate State of Mahavidharbha. The movement was seriously launched in 1947 when it was realised that, with the end of the British rule, Berar province would legally revert to the Nizam of Hyderabad.

By August 1947, political leaders came to an agreement, commonly known as the Akola Pact that contemplated Maharashtra with the two sub-provinces with separate legislatures and Cabinets, etc. It was a constitutionally unworkable proposition and soon disowned by all parties.

The Dar Commission in 1948 stated: “We are satisfied that public opinion is still in its formative stage in Vidharbha and it does not know it own mind. In these circumstances, it will not be possible to form a province of Maharashtra with Vidharbha”.

The 1953 “Nagpur Agreement”, signed by Y B Chavan, Morarji Desai and other politicians, envisaged a merger with Bombay State based on assurances and guarantees for Vidharbha and Marathawada.

The States Reorganization Commission, however, in 1955 recommended that Vidharbha should remain a separate State as it was financially sound and its people had a deep-rooted regional consciousness.
Despite this, Vidharbha was merged with bilingual Bombay State in 1956 and since 1960 remained part of Maharashtra.

The reason was simple. The Samyukta Maharashtra Samithi (SMS) was gaining popularity for a State for all Marathi-speaking people and including Bombay City. In the 1957 General Election, the SMS won 101 seats out of 133 in Western Maharashtra, including 12 from Mumbai.

The SMS was a combine of the Communist Party and the Socialist Party.
For the Congress, Vidharbha – where it won 62 out of the 66 seats - was crucial in retaining its tenuous hold in the Bombay Assembly.

The only way Congress could retain power in Maharashtra was by annexing Vidharbha before the strength of its Gujarat wing departed with the formation of Gujarat. The Nagpur Agreement had established the guarantees for the regions. Its salient features were:

1. Vidharbha, Marathwada and Rest of Maharashtra (RoM) - would be treated as separate regions for all type of development and administration.

2. Allocation of funds would be on the basis of population but special attention will be given to Marathwada

3. The three regions would be given representation in proportion to population in (a) composition of government (b) admission to all educational institutions in vocational, scientific, professional or other specialised training (c) the services of all grades under government or government controlled enterprises.

4. People of Vidharbha would have the advantages derived from Nagpur, as the capital of their State, preserved.
Thus Vidharbha’s history is similar to that of Telangana.
Marathwada’s four districts were even part of Hyderabad State like Telangana.

Both mergers involved the linguistic angle, the Congress Party interest and, above all, purported to level the cultural, economic and political differences, which existed for hundreds of years. Even the conditions of merger; the Gentlemen’s Agreement on Telengana is similar to the Nagpur Agreement. But, unlike the former, the latter was enshrined in Article 371(2) of the Constitution in 1956.

But, again, it was only in 1994 – 38 years later – that a Presidential Order was issued making, among other things, the Governor responsible for supervision and allocation of Plan funds to Vidharbha and Marathwada – again unlike in Telangana. But providing budgets was one thing and spending them another. The backlog (gap) between allocation and expenditure in the regions was great.

The “Dandekar Committee on Regional Imbalance” had given its recommendation in 1984, which had not been accepted by the State Government. Eleven years later another “Indicators and Backlogs Committee (IBC)” was set up in 1995 and reported in 2000 (another five years later!).

The Planning Commission, in its “Report of the Fact- Finding Team on Vidharbha” (RFFTV) of 2006 commented: “The delay in implementing the budgetary consequences of having willingly joined Vidharbha to Maharashtra in its very constitution as a State is by itself a measure of the inadequacy of the intentions of the Government of Maharashtra over the past more than a decade” (p.15).

In simple language, it means that Vidharbha (like Marathawada) was let down, betrayed and robbed of its promised budgetary allocations.
The IBC arrived at the total sectoral backlog of Rs.14, 007 crores as of 1st April 1994. The Table below gives the break up in crores of rupees (RFFTV, page 73).

From 1982 to 2002, the irrigation backlog grew from 38% to 62% for Vidharbha and from 23% to 33% for Marathwada, while for the RoM it declined from 39% to 5%!! By 2007, this backlog was 70% for Vidharbha, 30% for Marathwada and “nil” for RoM. The neglect was in the past, but also it continued to get worse.

The RFFTV states: “Other regions of the State which were behind Vidharbha at the time of Independence in irrigation development have now marched ahead in the post-Independence period” (p.88).

As far as power is concerned, the backlog of energy situation of pump sets, as of April 2005, for Vidharbha was 215,099, for Marathawada 109,073, while RoM had an excess of 357,320 pump sets energised.

The RFFTV commented: “The common refrain is that though majority of electric power is produced in Vidharbha and energy requirement of Vidharbha in particular for energisation of agricultural pumps is not fulfilled as compared to Western Maharashtra (RoM)” (p.94).

It went on: “The reason for the enormous difference is not the water table level but the huge pendency of applications by farmers who have applied for electric connections” (p.95).

The idea that an underdeveloped region without its own political control can progress harmoniously within a dominating political system has proven to be false. The Telangana Regional Council was a short-lived experiment, killed deliberately as it was unacceptable to the ruling State elite.

For Vidharbha, with all the good intentions of the rest of Maharashtra, that merger also has not worked and discontent is rife. Both mergers are different - yet alike. As Leo Tolstoy wrote in Anna Karenina: “Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way”.

Vidharbha and Telangana teach us the lesson that culture, politics and development is very local, and when such alliances do not work satisfactorily for over five decades, separation is better than continued bitterness.

Editor-in-Chief: India Today on Vidarbha Farmer Suicide

2011-10-28T12:53:00.000-07:00

EDITOR'S NOTE ON VIDARBHA AGRARIAN CRISIS

India Today EDITOR'S NOTE Story

From the Editor-in-Chief: India Today issue on Vidarbha

(Dated November 7, 2011)

| Aroon Purie

Editor-in-Chief: India Today

October 28, 2011 | 18:49

Kalawati, a widow with nine children, acquired national prominence, courtesy Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi three years ago. Her husband, a cotton farmer from Vidarbha unable to pay his debts, committed suicide in 2005. In July 2008, during the tenure of UPA 1, Rahul, in an evocative speech in Parliament, spoke about how he visited her home and found that her husband had committed suicide because he was dependent on only one crop. His widow subsequently resolved her problem, according to Rahul, by sowing three crops, acquiring two buffaloes and digging a pond. As this was part of the nuclear energy debate, he said that nuclear energy would be the country's insurance policy in times of need just like Kalawati's pond was her insurance policy in times of drought. It so happens that the prospect of nuclear energy looks dismal in India, and so does Kalawati's future.

After her husband's death in 2005, her son-in-law killed himself in 2010. One of her daughters, tired of the humiliation of prolonged illness and continued penury, committed suicide this year. Kalawati has lost four relatives in the last six years. Rahul Gandhi's visit brought her attention but no compensation from the Government. Some generous NGOs gave her money. However, her life today remains a struggle. There are many other less famous women in that region who lead lives harder than even Kalawati's. All of their farmer-husbands committed suicide, unable to pay their debts.

For our cover story this week, Deputy Editor Damayanti Datta, Assistant Editor Kiran Tare and photographer Bhaskar Paul drove 700 kilometres from Nagpur to visit 10 villages in Vidarbha. Says Datta, "The farmers of the region are so desperately poor that in addition to farming the small landholding they own, they also have to work as labourers on other farms. In the end they still earn no more than a total of Rs 2,500 a month." This region is an important cotton farming belt of India. Cotton is a commercial crop and should, logically, yield decent returns. What then drives farmers to suicide? Some activists blame the introduction of genetically modified BT cotton a decade ago. That, they say, has raised the prices of seeds, while requiring farmers to buy new seeds every year. However, there is considerable evidence to show that BT cotton gives substantially high yields and higher returns than the older varieties it has replaced. The real problem is with systems.

Vidarbha, unlike say Gujarat, another Bt cotton-growing state, has little irrigation, which means the probability of crop failure gets hugely magnified if the monsoon fails. Farmers are entitled to financial support from the local administration and public sector banks if the crop fails. Both usually fail to deliver. The administration demands proof that farmers used "approved" seeds. They often use cheaper unapproved varieties. Banks demand collateral which they do not have. That forces them into the hands of moneylenders who charge interest rates as high as 40-50 per cent, the main cause of suicides. The Government can play a preventive role: by investing in irrigation, by getting rid of unnecessary rules of approval, and by ensuring that banks give credit.

It is a travesty that starvation and suicide should haunt a region as large as Vidarbha in a state as industrialised and prosperous as Maharashtra in a country making such rapid strides elsewhere, growing at the rate of more than 8 per cent a year for a decade. Rahul may not be able to save India's nuclear deal but, perhaps, he can get the Government to save Kalawati and others from their miserable plight.

VJAS moved PMO for CBI probe in fact finding report of more than Two Million Bogus Students on role and Rs.20 thousand crore scam

2011-10-18T03:40:00.001-07:00

VJAS moved PMO for CBI probe in fact finding report of more than Two Million Bogus Students on role and Rs.20 thousand crore scam

Nagpur –18^th October 2011

Vidarbha Janandolan Samiti (VJAS ) has moved PMO urging him for the CBI probe on the shocking fact finding report of mega survey done by Maharashtra Govt. from 3^rd October to 5 october of this year which was being tabled before the Maharashtra Govt. cabinet on 19^th October in order to check the truth strength of students and to know the exact truth of the role of the students on which state is spending more than Rs.10,000 crore as grant-aid after the Maharashtra cabinet took decision on report submitted by as Dr Shrikar Pardeshi—District Collector of Nanded in Maharashtra who undertook such survey in his district from 6 to 10 september and found more than 1 lakh 40 thousand as bogus and school are getting the aid on the basis of this fraudulent students ,it is estimated that final report of state level survey revealed the shocking fact that in a progressive state like maharshtra has made completely mockery of “Sarwashkisha Abhiyan” and ther are more than 2 million student found missing from school and they in fact bogus and shown in order to get aid and staff salary which is practice continued since 1985 after state Gvot flooded the Govt. aided school opened by MLA/Ministers of ruling parties and more than Rs.20 thousand crore is amount of mega scam which likely to be largest scam of the Maharashtra after it’s formation since 1960, Kishore Tiwari of Vidarbha Janandolan Samiti informed in press release today.

“We are following the survey since it was initiated in Nanded District popularly known as ‘Pat Tapasani’ and ,we are finiated with the response of state Govt. after the report Nanded was submitted to state cabinet who decided to conduct it throughout state and it was done in Maharashtra with help of more than 1 lakhs staff and police force between 3^rd and 5^th October even after lot of efforts of local politicians ,final report shows that in Maharashtra more than 2million students are bogus and each year the school management are getting bogus grant to tune of more than Rs.2200 crore amounting to tune of Rs.20 thousands crore in last 15 years hence only CBI probe can bring truth and book all culprit who have mockery of education in Maharashtra. we are expecting the Maharashtra chief minister prathiraj chavan who has ordered such massive survey and brought the truth before nation will ask centre for the CBI probe in alleged irregularities and this bogus student scam” Tiwari added.

In a representation it is allged that initial district administration of Nanded conducted school wise survey to find out the exact number of students in government-aided schools in his district, little did he know that the statistics would be a shocker. In the 3,475 schools inspected, about 140,000 students were found to be bogus and nearly 4,000 excess teachers were found to be catering to these students. The loss to the government exchequer in the district was Rs 150 crore. What’s more, most of this money seems to have gone to the owners of these educational institutions, who are politically influential.

The exercise was undertaken in early September this year. Later, in early October, a similar survey was conducted across the state. Of the 20 million registered students in state-aided schools, 2.1 million turned out to be bogus. There were 65,000 teachers in excess and the loss to the state exchequer stood at Rs 4,000 crore. This included money for mid-day meals and books drawn in the name of these bogus students.

In the past there have been numerous school inspections by the education department, but never one on this scale. The exercise had to be undertaken because rampant corruption and bribery among education officials had led to the suppression of facts about school enrolment in the state. That was until Dr Pardeshi decided to risk it, a risk because three-fourths of the schools surveyed belong to political heavyweights of the Congress and Nationalist Congress Party.

After the school education department realised that there were bogus students and teachers registered across the state and huge sums of money was going into the coffers of institution owners, it decided to implement a pilot project in one district. Nanded was chosen because it had made headlines for cracking down on cheating in SSC and HSC exams.

The district collector planned the entire exercise, and shared it only with a handful. The district’s borders were sealed on the appointed day and Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code was imposed. At the pre-decided time, officials raided the schools and verified each student of all 3,475 schools. The survey involved 466 Class I and II officials and took four days to complete. When the school managements felt the noose tightening, they started ‘importing’ students from neighboring districts. However, these students were easily identified because of the imposition of Section 144 in the district.

On the completion of this survey, Dr Pardeshi made a PowerPoint presentation before the state cabinet. Though the cabinet was divided over accepting the ‘Pardeshi model’, as the exercise is being called, Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan is adamant that it be implemented.

It is a common practice among educational institutions to ‘import’ students from other schools when inspections are conducted. According to information available on previous inspections, school owners knew of these inspections in advance. Once a school was inspected, students and furniture would be taken to the next school on the survey list. Though officials did realise that they had seen the same students in other schools (often in multiple schools), no one dared take on the politicians.

The Chief Minister has threatened stringent action against erring schools. But when schools are owned by relatives of ministers, it is an open secret that few would be booked. So far, the names of school owners involved in this fraud have not been revealed. But it is only a matter of time before they become public.

Education malpractices in the state have increased alarmingly. There has been a steady decline in the quality of students and teachers. With excessive political intervention in the education sector, the education department had become ineffectual. “In a coalition government, no hard decisions can be taken. It is bound to hurt one of the coalition partners. Let us see what action is taken now. Even if registrations are cancelled, owners of such institutions make sure their political godfathers get it revoked. It is a win-win situation for such institutions,” says an official of the education department.

Many in the state’s education department believe that successive governments have lacked the will to clean up the education system in the state.

“We are planning move in high court once PMO reject our demand ,we are hopeful that state Gvot . Will take step to curb this massive corruption in next cabinet” Tiwari added.

=====================================================

Times Now launches new show Amazing Indians-kishore Tiwari

2011-09-28T04:24:00.000-07:00

Times Now launches new show Amazing Indians-kishore Tiwari

Times Now launches new show Amazing Indians

Swati Arya

Tue, 27 Sep 2011 21:52:00

http://www.medianewsline.com/news/118/ARTICLE/8275/2011-09-27.html

The category - Grassroot Soldiers features Kishore Tiwari, a man who has been relentlessly advocating the plight of debt ridden farmers in and around Vidarbha. Kishore has been championing various causes related to farming, right from cultivation, to crop failure, to fighting for fair value for the produce. He continues to be a strong support and a pillar of strength for the farmers

(Watch these untold stories unfold on TIMES NOW .Saturday, 1st October at 3:30 pm & 7:30 pm .Sunday, 2nd October at 9:30 am & 5:30 pm.)

With the launch of a brand new show Amazing Indians – India on the Rise, TIMES NOW celebrates true grit and determination of Indians who have re-written the rules and set a new benchmark. Featuring various unsung champions from across the nation, Times Now brings to light their unique achievements showcasing their perseverance of working towards a better India.

The show features multiple categories that highlight the channel’s differentiated programming by presenting a series of individual journeys encapsulating the struggle and achievements. TIMES NOW captivates audiences with this unique 20 week-long series that features inspiring stories and will culminate into awarding some of these worthy champions.

On the upcoming episode, TIMES NOW honours three individuals and presents the untold tales of true grit and determination through categories – The Grassroot Soldiers; The Unstoppable Indian and Global Indians.

The category - Grassroot Soldiers features Kishore Tiwari, a man who has been relentlessly advocating the plight of debt ridden farmers in and around Vidarbha. Kishore has been championing various causes related to farming, right from cultivation, to crop failure, to fighting for fair value for the produce. He continues to be a strong support and a pillar of strength for the farmers

Amongst the Unstoppable Indians, Kamlesh Patel has been an inspiration for many by overcoming physical deformity and facing all odds with a positive attitude. Braving paralysis from a very young age, Kamlesh pursued dancing passionately without the use of his legs. He has performed at over 1200 dance shows in India and abroad and has won laurels at multiple award ceremonies.

The Global Indians category showcases Rikkin Gandhi as one of the NRIs whose heart still beats for India. Aspiring to become an Astronaut, this graduate from Massachusetts Institute of Technology realised he could do much more by improving the economic wellbeing of the Indian farmers. By setting up NGO Digital Green, Rikkin helps farmers adopt better farming practices. Having covered some 500 villages in India and with a target of 1200 more in two years, Digital Green is going global as Rikin starts work in Ethiopia and Uganda in the coming months.

Watch these untold stories unfold on TIMES NOW .Saturday, 1st October at 3:30 pm & 7:30 pm .Sunday, 2nd October at 9:30 am & 5:30 pm.

Relatives of Balaji Trimanwar allege candidates made to run 26 km without medical help; VJAS-Mumbai Mirror

2011-09-20T20:17:00.000-07:00

Publication: Mumbai Mirror ;

Date: Sep 21, 2011;

Section: City;

Page: 4

Relatives of Balaji Trimanwar allege candidates made to run 26 km without medical help; Vidarbha Janandolan

Mumbai Mirror Bureau mirrorfeedback@indiatimes.com

He ran for a job, but ended up dead. A youth who participated in a 26-km run organised by the state forest department for aspiring guards in Yavatmal district last week died a day after the race. Balaji Trimanwar, 23, fell into a pit, apparently due to exhaustion, and never got back on his feet.

His family members allege that he was not provided any medical care for more than two hours, and this led to his demise. They, with the help of a farmers’ advocacy group, have approached the Maharashtra Human Rights Commission to seek compensation.

Balaji hailed from Yavatmal district. He was among thousands of candidates who took part in the gruelling run to qualify for interviews for posts of forest guard on September 12. Mumbai Mirror, in fact, reported this archaic recruitment drive of the forest department (Bhaag basanti, MM, September 13).

“Balaji was my brother’s only son, and he desperately needed a job,” said the youth’s uncle, Amrut. “On September 12, he left his home at 8 am to enter the race. At about 11.30 am, he fell into a pit and lied there unattended for more than two hours.”

Amrut claimed that forest officials took Balaji to a government hospital at only 4 pm. “When he was brought to the hospital, he was not making any movements. We then decided to shift him to Sanjeevani Hospital, where he passed away the next day,” Amrut said. Some forest officials, however, blame Balaji’s kidney condition for his death. Kishor Tiwari, the chief of Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti, said that 1,240 job aspirants fainted during the run because of the heat. The samiti has approached the rights commission to seek compensation for Balaji’s family. “This practice of organising the race is 130 years old; it was introduced by the British. The forest department should either chuck the race or pare down the distance,” Tiwari said.

RECRUITMENT DRIVE OR A CRUEL JOKE » The archaic and inhumane forest recruitment rule makes it mandatory for aspirants to run 26 km to qualify for an interview » Last week, thousands of candidates from Thane circle ran for the forest recruitment test in a single day » Those who do get these forest patrol jobs are unlikely to ever run 26-km as part of their working day » Applicants to the Police Service only have to run 6-km as part of their physicals » The National Defence Academy entrance requires no distance running at all

Balaji Trimanwar, 23, died in Yavatmal on Tuesday

Chintamani Karpat was among the many candidates who collapsed during the race

Land Bill will hit dryland farmers, says VJAS-TIMES OF INDIA

2011-09-07T20:26:00.000-07:00

Printed from

Land Bill will hit dryland farmers, says VJAS

Ramu Bhagwat, TNN | Sep 8, 2011, 08.08AM IST
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/nagpur/
Land-Bill-will-hit-dryland-farmers-says-VJAS/articleshow/9906573.cms

NAGPUR: Vidarbha Civil Society Collective and Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti (VJAS) have raised strong objections to provisions in the National Land Acquisition, Resettlement and Rehabilitation Bill 2011 tabled in Parliament on Wednesday. They demanded that the Bill be redrafted to safeguard interests of the dryland farmers and other landowners.

"The Bill has ignored all suggestions made by the civil society and farmer advocacy groups. A month ago the rural development minister Jairam Ramesh had sought the suggestions from the people. It is clear from the final draft that the proposed law is nothing but a move to smoothen the process of transferring to corporates drylands of farmers in areas like Vidarbha," Kishore Tiwari of VJAS alleged.

He demanded that the Bill be scrapped and sent back to a parliamentary committee for redrafting to safeguard interests of dryland farmers and to ensure food security. This is essential as the Bill has included provisions for conditional acquisition of multi-crop land as well, Tiwari stressed. The Bill is against the fundamental rights of farmers in distressed regions like Vidarbha who are already reeling under huge debts and willing to selling off lands as government policies had made agriculture uneconomical, said Tiwari. If the law is implemented, farming community in Vidarbha will be eliminated, he added.

The Vidarbha Civil Society Collective, a grouping of a number of social and civil rights organizations held a public discussion on the issue last month after Jairam Ramesh sought suggestions on the draft Bill. The group then sent a letter to the Union minister listing its observations.

It was of the view that the Bill was against the preamble of Indian constitution. There was hardly any material difference from the draconian Land Acquisition Act of 1894 that it seeks to replace, the Collective opined. VCSC has also found that the Bill reduced the government to a 'service agent' of the multinationals and corporates. There is no clear demarcation about public and private purposes in the Bill, it said.

Nitin Chaudhary of Lokadhikar Manch said the Bill did not give space to women and youth to be part of decision-making rendering them vulnerable when their land is sold. The compensation offered is far less than the market value. Moreover, there is no mention of farm labourer who will be rendered jobless once agricultural land is acquired, he said.

VCSC has also demanded that instead of the district collector, the local panchayat and gram sabha should be empowered to deal with the land acquisition process from the beginning. It has sought an assurance that there would be no damage to environment because of large-scale land acquisition.

Now, she wants to write about farmers' agonies-TIMES OF INDIA

2011-07-28T08:43:00.000-07:00

Printed from

Now, she wants to write about farmers' agonies

Ramu Bhagwat, TNN | Jul 28, 2011, 08.46PM IST

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/nagpur/Now-she-wants-to-write-about-farmers-agonies/articleshow/9399032.cms

NAGPUR: In 1998 Ramdas Ambarwar, a farmer at Telang Takli village in Kelapur taluka of Yavatmal district, committed suicide unable to bear the piling debt burden. He was the only bread-earner and with his death the world came crashing down for his widow Saraswati and four daughters. Their youngest daughter, Manju, was just over five then. Since that day, life has been an endless struggle for the Ambarwar family.

For Manju, now 19, Wednesday brought a ray of hope as she secured admission in journalism course of Nagpur University. "I want to pursue journalism. That way I can chronicle life and times of Vidarbha farmers. As the daughter of a farmer who committed suicide, I have seen it all from close quarters and suffered every moment," Manju told TOI. She wants to sensitize people and the government about the miserable conditions in which farmers depending on vagaries of nature and mercy of policymakers have to live.

"After father's death, mother had to look after the farming work and also run the family. She did not buckle down and gave us all strength to get along in life. She arranged for marriage of two of my elder sisters Sushma and Meenakshi after they had studied up to Class XII. My third sister, Jayshree, was in XII when a serious kidney ailment struck her. Mother wanted her to pursue a professional course as she was a science student. But Jayshree could not survive. Another of my mother's dream was shattered," said Manju. The already distressed family could hardly afford the costly medical treatment and got into even more financial trouble.

Amid all this, the youngest sibling continued her studies. After primary education in the village, she went to nearby Umri to study up to XII and then commuted daily by ST bus to Pandharkawda for the college. This year she graduated in arts. Visibly happy after securing admission to bachelor of mass communication course at the University campus here, she feels she is a step closer to her ambition of being a journalist. "As a kid, I was impressed by the reporters who regularly visited our home to write about farmer suicides in Yavatmal district. I made up my mind to be a journalist and write on the issue from my personal experience of pain and sufferings," said Manju.

"I remember, soon after father's suicide the then chief minister Narayan Rane came to our village. At a function organized to hand over compensation cheque of Rs 1 lakh several promises for welfare of farmers were made. Among the promises that were never kept was the one providing free education for children of farm suicide victims," she recalled.

"Thank god for the grit and courage of my mother that we survived the hard times. Also Kishore Tiwari and his Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti came to our rescue and stood by my mother. I have no idea how I will meet the cost of studying and living in a big city like Nagpur. I only hope I realize my ambition and lend a helping hand to my mother back in the village," says Manju.

Posted by VIDARBHA FARMER SUICIDE at 8:35 AM

4 more farmers commit suicide in Vidarbha-Pradip Kumar Maitra, Hindustan Times

2011-07-28T07:31:00.000-07:00

4 more farmers commit suicide in Vidarbha

http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/Print/726660.aspx

Pradip Kumar Maitra, Hindustan Times

Email Author

Nagpur, July 28, 2011

First Published: 19:09 IST(28/7/2011)

Last Updated: 19:11 IST(28/7/2011)

The agrarian crises in Vidarbha’s killing fields drove four more distressed farmers to commit suicide in the last 48 hours.

The victims were identified as: Diwakar Wankhede of Gondburanda (42), Sudam Rathod (40), Warondali (both Yavatmal district), Omkar Paraskar (35) of Takli (Buldhana) and Pramod Gautre (32), Belkhed (Akola). All the farmers swallowed pesticide to end their lives, reports reaching here this evening said.

Kishore Tiwari of Vidarbha Janandolan Samiti claimed that these farmers were frustrated as their sowing dried up because of deficient rains in earlier this month and they had no funds for re-sowing.

Tiwari insisted that the government and financial institutions in particular should provide crop loans again to needy farmers so that such suicides could be prevented.

On the other hand, Shravan Hardikar, the Yavatmal district collector claimed that a substantial crop loans were disbursed among farmers in the current kharif season. “An amount of Rs 550-crore crop loans were disbursed among farmers in the district since June this year so that farmers don’t fall into the trap of moneylenders,” he pointed out.

However, he said that there were lots of complaints against the nationalized banks for their non-cooperation to disburse crop loans this season. “We have taken two meetings with the bank officials in this regard and directed them to fulfill the target,” he informed.

Answering a question, Hardikar admitted that six farmers were committed suicides because of agrarian crisis this week. “We are holding a meeting on August 2 in this connection and analysis the issue,” he added.

An average two farmers commit suicide every day in Vidarbha because of agrarian crisis and the figure may go up if the state fails to take preventive measures, warns Tiwari whose organization--Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti--has been documenting farmers suicide in the region since 2001.

With the deaths of these four farmers the toll has risen to 37 this month alone while the figure was 38 last month. As many as 359 farmers killed themselves in the region because of agrarian crisis since January this year.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/Print/726660.aspx

12 vidarbha farmer commits suicides reported in a this week – Govt. urged to save vidarbha farmer

2011-07-23T11:35:00.000-07:00

save vidarbha farmer=Five ill fated vidarbha farmers suicides reported in last 48 hours giving serious indication of another trigger of farm suicide spiral as 12 more debt trapped farmers suicides already reported in this week and till two days are left taking official toll 448 in year 2011 alone

आश्रमशाळांचे स्थानांतरण, न्यायालयाची शासनाला नोटीस

2011-07-23T02:31:00.001-07:00

नागपूर, २२ जुलै/ प्रतिनिधी
यवतमाळ जिल्ह्य़ातील दोन आदिवासी आश्रमशाळा राज्यात इतरत्र स्थानांतरित करण्याच्या निर्णयाला आव्हान देणाऱ्या याचिकेवर मुंबई उच्च न्यायालयाच्या नागपूर खंडपीठाने सरकारला दाखलपूर्व नोटीस जारी केली आहे.
सामाजिक कार्यकर्ते किशोर तिवारी यांनी केलेल्या याचिकेनुसार, राज्यातील सर्वात जास्त आदिवासी लोकसंख्या विदर्भात आहे. मात्र यवतमाळ जिल्ह्य़ातील वणी व नेर येथील आश्रमशाळा सरकारने बंद केल्या. त्यानंतर कुणी या आश्रमशाळा चालवण्यास तयार असल्यास त्यांना या दिल्या जातील, अशी जाहिरात आदिवासी विकास विभागाने प्रकाशित केली. त्यानुसार विदर्भातील अनेकांनीही जाहिरातीला प्रतिसाद दिला. परंतु सरकारने या आश्रमशाळा धुळे व नांदेड जिल्ह्य़ांमध्ये स्थानांतरित केल्या. सरकारच्या या निर्णयाला याचिकेत आव्हान देण्यात आले आहे.
न्या. भूषण धर्माधिकारी व न्या. प्रमोद कोदे यांच्या खंडपीठासमोर या याचिका सुनावणीला आल्या असता, त्यांनी या याचिकेवर ३ आठवडय़ात उत्तर द्यावे अशी नोटीस आदिवासी विकास विभागाच्या सचिवांच्या नावे काढली. स्थानांतरित झालेल्या आश्रमशाळांना कुठलेही अनुदान देऊ नये, तसेच राज्यात यापुढे आश्रमशाळा स्थानांतरित करू नये असे निर्देश खंडपीठाने दिले. याचिकाकर्त्यांची बाजू अ‍ॅड. फिरदोस मिर्झा यांनी मांडली.

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2011-07-08T21:46:00.000-07:00

''Maran''s cotton export policy resulted in 20 Thousand crore losses to billion Indian cotton farmers''

Nagpur – JULY 9 2011

An association of cotton farmers has accused former textiles minister Dayanidhi Maran of pursuing a wrong policy of clamping a ban on cotton exports that has hurt farmers.

The present cotton crisis in the country is a result of wrong policies enforced by the former textile minister to protect the interests of handful textile mill owners. It has denied best available price of cotton to farmers and resulted in losses of an estimated Rs 20,000 crore to farmers and local ginners and traders, Kishore Tiwari, president of Vidharbha Janandolan Samiti, said.

A complete ban on export from January to May this year has forced them to offload the cotton or cotton bales at half the price which was prevailing till March this year, he added.

The present cotton crisis in India is result of wrong policies enforced by ex-textile minister of India to protect interest on handful textile mill owners which has denied best available price of cotton to 1 billion cotton farmers of India and resulted in the total losses of more than Rs.20,000 crore to farmers and local ginners and traders as complete ban on export from January to may 2011 has forced to them to offload the cotton or cotton bales at the half price which was prevailing till march 2011 .all decision of putting stringent restrictions of cotton bales export even on cotton yarn and cotton waste was to favor textile mills and garment industries of south India who paid thousand crore as graft to then Textile Minister Dayanidhi Maran and there are documentary evidences of ill-intended decisions taken by textile ministry in last six months and we demand C.B.I. probe to this “Cotton Export Ban Scam” kishore tiwari of Vidarbha Janandoaln Samiti urged Indian Prime Minister Dr.Manmohan Singh to in letter today.

“In letter to Indian Prime Minister Dr.Manmohan Singh on 24th may 2011 ,vidarbha cotton farmers raised the demand of sack Textile Minister Dayanidhi Maran when textile minister was not responding to letters written by union agriculture minister ,union commerce minister, chief ministers Maharashtra, Gujarat, Andhra and Karnataka and delayed the decision of lifting cotton export limit from 55 lakhs bales to 65 lakhs bales as against demand of minimum 100 lakhs bales .we have strong case against the Ex-Textile Minister Dayanidhi Maran and ready to submit all proof of mega corruption to C.B.I. if PMO direct the CBI for the same .if PMO fails to take any action the we will move Mumbai high court Nagpur bench for relief ”Tiwari added.

Earlier VJAS wrote to PMO iN MAY-2011 requesting him to look in issue of cotton price sudden crash in India and reports more 300 farmers suicides in dying field of vidarbha which is result of unholy cartel of finger counting textile tycoon and Union Textile Minister Dayanithi Maran backed union home minister P.Chidambram which is responsible for present cotton rowers crisis in India ,farm activist group Vidarbha Janandolan Samiti VJAS allged and urged indaina prime minister to sack Union Textile Minister Dayanithi Maran to save more than 5 million dying cotton farmers of Maharashtra ,Kishore Tiwari added

“Cotton prices have increased from Rs 30000/candy in april 2010 to Rs 60000/candy April 2011 which is an increase of about Rs 70-75 per kg and immediately Spinners increased the price of yarn from rs 150/- per kg in April 2010 for 30s combed to Rs 230/- per kg in April 2011. increase of Rs 80 per kg which reflects in cotton value to Rs 30000/per candy minimum. Fabric weavers too have increased prices of grey fabric of 40 x 40 counts 124 x 64 with 200 gm per mtr which is quoted at about Rs 70/- per sqmtr as against Rs 38 in April 2010. There s an increase of Rs 32/mtr which is Rs 160/- per kg which in terms of candy is about Rs 58/60000 and present ban on export has brought back cotton prices to the level of April 2010 which is artificial an stage managed and Union Textile Minister Dayanithi Maran is directly involved in this scam ” Tiwari added.

‘As Cotton is an agricultural commodity and higher the prices farmers get, they will be encouraged to produce more and more of cotton and when Cotton production has grown from a low of 225 lac bales to 330 lac bales in last 5 years the undue protection to Local textile mills benefiting of buying Indian cotton at prices which are at least

lower by 30% as compared to its competitor in Bangladesh, Pakistan and other countries who buy from other growths which is reason behind the present restriction of cotton export and when Indian cotton after lot of hard work and promotion by exporters have found a very stable and regular market of its cotton in foreign countries and Govt should ensure that the markets created are not lost to competition due to faulty Govt policies.” It is alleged.

‘We need the urgent C.B.I. probe in all ill-managed decisions enforcing qunatitaive restriction on cotton bales.cotton yarns and cotton waste taken by Maran as textile minister and demand to lift all export restriction of cotton bales and yarn too so that farmers get higher price to cotton ‘’Tiwari urged.

Mihan's flight delayed by 10 years-TIMES OF INDIA

2011-07-07T21:25:00.000-07:00

Printed from

Mihan's flight delayed by 10 years

Shishir Arya, TNN | Jul 8, 2011, 01.05am IST

NAGPUR: MADC is expecting some action soon at the special economic zone (SEZ) in Mihan cargo hub, however, some see it as flogging a dead horse.

The Mihan project being developed by MADC is divided into two parts - a SEZ and a cargo hub. The 1,400 hectare hub was planned with the view that Nagpur is in the country's centre, so it can emerge as a nodal point for cargo movement, especially by air. The 2,086 hectare SEZ is also based on this theory.

Voluntary organization Vidarbha Economic Development Council (VED) had mooted the idea of making Nagpur an air cargo hub in mid-1990s. It envisaged international flights from all directions, presently overflying Nagpur, landing here. The planes would redistribute cargo and fly back, with the air cargo hub supported by rail and road facilities.

However, it took a decade-and-a-half for the project to take off, and now even those in VED admit that the theory of aircraft overflying Nagpur landing here may no longer hold ground. The concept of a multi-modal cargo hub needs a change, they accept.

Over the last few years, MADC's focus has been on the SEZ and not the cargo hub, from which the name multi-modal international hub airport at Nagpur (MIHAN) was derived.

Devendra Parekh, president VED, says a lot has changed from when the project was conceived in 1997. The original theory could have worked those days, when short distance flights were used. With long-haul flights today, there is no need to land at a middle point like Nagpur.

A team of VED members had then visited Singapore to study a similar set-up, on which Mihan was conceived. Flying to Nagpur would have required less fuel, so more cargo could have been carried on planes, and then flown further in a different aircraft. With long haul flights in place, this may not be needed now, since direct flights are no longer a hassle, said Parekh.

Today, Mihan can be projected as an estate with ample land for industries to set up a unit. With industries facing land acquisition problems, like in Noida and Singur, Mihan still has a chance to come up as a road and rail terminal hub, he added.

However, the work on the rail and road terminal has been stopped by the company which had bagged the contract. It has been over a year since Nagpur Sical Gupta Logistics Limited stopped building the rail and road terminal. It backed out saying there was no assurance of any cargo being generated in Mihan. The company feared it will build the terminal and there would be no cargo to handle, leading to a dead investment.

Padmesh Gupta, a director with the company, said efforts are underway with the help of associations like VED and VIA to revive the project. Meetings have been planned with chief minister Prithviraj Chavan as well as BJP president Nitin Gadkari.

Meanwhile, Deccan 360, which had formally inaugurated its air cargo hub at Nagpur with much pomp two years ago, is yet to start it in a full-fledged manner. Deccan's cargo planes were supposed to land in Nagpur. However, the company continues to transport its cargo through other airlines operating from the city.

After Mihan Airport Limited (MIL), a joint venture of MADC and AAI, was formed, it was planned to redevelop the airport at a cost of Rs 63 crore. MIL is yet to get the money from the government, said a source. Finances have been a major constraint since the airport already has huge accumulated losses, they added.

All hope now rests on the strategic third partner that may be roped in for the project. Last month, Ernst and Young was appointed as consultant for advising the company in scouting for a partner. The new partner is expected to bring in the much needed equity for the venture.

UPS Madan, vice-chairman-cum-managing director of MADC, said after ensuring investors in SEZ start functioning, the focus would now be on the cargo hub. A decision may also be taken on Nagpur Sical Gupta Logistics, which has stopped work.

On roping in the third partner, Madan said no decision has been taken so far. "MADC will first go through the consultant's report and then decide its strategy on the partner. There is no immediate plan to review the entire concept of the cargo hub on the grounds that air cargo may now be outdated," he said.

Vilas Kale, former president of VED who was involved in conceiving Mihan, says that despite the changes in the type of aircraft the idea need not be given up yet. "Not all airlines have shifted to long-haul aircraft. Moreover, VED has also suggested that 50 acres of the SEZ should be de-notified to attract industries which may generate cargo. They need not be export oriented units," he added.

In debt-ridden Vidarbha, a battle brews-INDIAN EXPRESS

2011-06-18T22:10:00.000-07:00

In debt-ridden Vidarbha, a battle brews

Vivek Deshpande Posted online: Sun Jun 19 2011, 03:44 hrs

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/in-debtridden-vidarbha-a-battle-brews/805573/0

Nagpur : A strong anti-liquor c

ampaign is brewing in rural Vidarbha, with women leading from the front. Sizeable women’s rallies at many places, a stubborn response by the liquor lobby, and the murder of a woman activist have combined to make this one heady campaign.

Putting their weight behind this agitation are Vidarbha’s farm activists who now agree that liquor is one of the main distress-causing factors in the region.

Paromita Goswami, a social activist running Shramik Elgar, an NGO at Mul in Vidarbha’s Chandrapur district, has been fighting a low-intensity battle against liquor in Chandrapur’s villages for the past 10 years. “We work among rural women who have to bear the brunt of their husbands’ liquor addiction. Liquor has ravaged the villages socially and financially. We have known instances of school kids being addicted too. We have managed to get liquor vends shut through

women’s power. But isolated efforts are not so effective and we have increasingly felt the

need to turn this into a mass movement by women,” she says.

Goswami has been joined by leading farm activist Kishore Tiwari, whose Vidarbha Janandolan Samiti has been fighting for farmers’ rights. “People tend to go to extremities in distress and liquor takes its toll in these circumstances,” he says.

Tiwari cites a report by Yavatmal Collector Sanjay Deshmukh who says liquor consumption in the district has grown exponentially in the last five years.

According to official statistics, consumption of liquor in Yavatmal district, the most suicide-prone district in Vidarbha, has increased from over 8 lakh litres in 2005-6 to about 15 lakh litres in 2010-11. Of this, the sale of country liquor has increased from 6 lakh litres to 10 lakh litres.

Incidentally, the last five years were when the government poured in crores of rupees into Vidarbha’s agrarian belt, gave fresh loans to farmers and waived off their debts.

Two years ago, even the mention of liquor being one of the reasons for farm distress would invite huge backlash. Health activist Abhay Bang had been criticised when he said all efforts at helping farmers would be in vain if the problem of liquor addiction wasn’t solved. Bang, who has fought many battles against liquor in Gadchiroli, is a member of a committee set up recently by the state government to suggest ways to tackle the issue.

“Chandrapur district consumed 1.56 crore litres in 2010, which is next only to Mumbai in population-consumption ratio. Who is paying the price for it? Women and children. Liquor is a very potent means of exploitation in villages with inebriated and debt-ridden farmers getting alienated from their lands. Often, farm hands are paid in liquor instead of wages,” says Goswami.

At Golewadi village in Bhandara district of the region, 40-year old Meenakshi Dahiwale was choked to death by Sumitra Madavi, an illicit-liquor brewer, about two months ago when she had gone along with a women’s delegation to raid the shop.

“All the surrounding villages have enforced prohibition. A lot of young boys, too, had got hooked on to liquor. So, we had decided to force a ban. Most of brewers in our village fell in line, but Sumitra and her husband Sanjay Vaidya won’t give up,” says Golewadi Bachat Gat president Manjira Dahiwale.

The liquor lobby is fighting back. The Chandrapur District Liquor Association took out a huge rally of over 12,000 people in the city, opposing the demand for prohibition in Chandrapur. “We included all liquor shop owners, their employees, families and others who run small eateries near liquor shops. What we are saying is, don’t single out Chandrapur, ban liquor in the entire state,” says Deepak Jaiswal, NCP city unit president and leader of the rally. Himself a liquor trader, Jaiswal argues, “Chandrapur is the most industrialised district in Vidarbha. Also, there is tiger tourism here. If people in Mumbai and Pune can have liquor, why not those in Chandrapur? And where would all these people whose lives are dependent on the business go?”

Tiwari says, “Politicians have a vested interest as many of them are in the alcohol business. So, they will always support it. But I agree that the ban should be not in isolated places. I feel we can start by banning it in the six most suicide-prone, farm-crisis districts of west Vidarbha.”

Bang suggests a multi-pronged approach. “We need to run different long-term programmes simultaneously. Along with reducing the availability and production of liquor, we also need to initiate serious efforts of preventive education against its ill-effects,” he says.

NCP leader Jaiswal points out that even if liquor is banned, tribals, who traditionally brew and consume liquor at home, will continue to do so. Goswami counters this and says, “It’s a wrong perception. Tribals used to have it only during special occasions. In the changed socio-economic situation, it has affected them too.”

Confederation of Indian Textile Industry is misleading farmers -merinews reports

2011-06-01T01:34:00.000-07:00



Confederation of Indian Textile Industry is misleading farmers - VJAS

Wed, Jun 01, 2011 09:48:10 IST

“CITI STATEMENT is misleading and baseless when Indian regulatory authorities have confirmed that there is surplus stock of at least 50 lakhs bales and textile ministry has given it’s nod to the demand of agriculture and commerce ministry demand of additional permission of 15 lakhs bales in order to protect the financial interest of Indian cotton farmers who are committing suicides as prices of cotton have been slashed to 50 per cent in a month where as uncertainties and unjust quantitative restriction has always allowed the textile cartel to get cheaper cotton by 30 per cent. This is part of the textile lobby to get cotton export curtailed so that they can exploit the situation. It’s unfortunate that textile minister is playing on direction of this textile cartel that has ruined around one billion cotton farmers to the tune of Rs. 20,000 crore and losses are likely to be more if Indian government function with anti farmer policies,” Tiwari added. “CITI has managed the Indian Textile minister initially to restrict cotton bales export to 55 lakhs bales from earlier year 84 lakh bales even when country cotton production is higher by another 25 lakhs bales then ban export of cotton yarn and now surprisingly as per Quota Policy of Cotton items now added Cotton Waste (Comber Noil) H. S. Code No. 5202 as Cotton Waste is a ‘By-product’ of Cotton Yarn. When plenty of quota of Cotton Yarn lying unutilized the hostile functioning of Union Textile Minister Dayanithi Maran has a allaowed textile cartel to include the by-product banned,” said Tiwari. “CITI is keeping salient of the fact that cotton prices have increased from Rs 30000/candy in April 2010 to Rs 60000/candy April 2011. This is an increase of about Rs 70-75 per kg. And immediately spinners increased the price of yarn from rs 150/- per kg in April 2010 for 30s combed to Rs 230/- per kg in April 2011. increase of Rs 80 per kg which reflects in cotton value to Rs 30000/per candy minimum. Fabric weavers too have increased prices of grey fabric of 40 x 40 counts 124 x 64 with 200 gm per mtr which is quoted at about Rs 70/- per sqmtr as against Rs 38 in April 2010. There s an increase of Rs 32/mtr which is Rs 160/- per kg which in terms of candy is about Rs 58/60000 and present ban on export has brought back cotton prices to the level of April 2010 which is artificial an stage managed and Union Textile Minister Dayanithi Maran is directly involved in this scam,” Tiwari added. "CITI should admit that Cotton production has grown from a low of 225 lac bales to 330 lac bales in last 5 years the undue protection to Local textile mills benefiting of buying Indian cotton at prices which are at least lower by 30% as compared to its competitor in Bangladesh, Pakistan and other countries who buy from other growths which is reason behind the present restriction of cotton export and when Indian cotton after lot of hard work and promotion by exporters have found a very stable and regular market of its cotton in foreign countries and Govt. should ensure that the markets created are not lost to competition due to faulty Govt. policies to protect handful textile mill owners .” It is alleged. "We need the urgent central intervention and demand to lift all export restriction of cotton bales and yarn too so that farmers get higher price to cotton," Tiwari urged.

VJAS demands white paper on irrigation schemes-TIMES OF INDIA

2011-05-25T02:59:00.000-07:00

VJAS demands white paper on irrigation schemes

TNN | May 25, 2011, 01.08am IST
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/nagpur/VJAS-demands-white-paper-on-irrigation-schemes/articleshow/8561703.cms

NAGPUR: Farmers rights organization Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti, while welcoming the state Congress' decision to hold a water convention (Paani Parishad) at the farm suicide epicentre of Yavatmal on Thursday, demanded that chief minister Prithviraj Chavan should come clean on the alleged misuse of funds in the PM's relief package.

"Chavan should come out with a white paper on the alleged corruption in implementation of the PM's special relief package that had allocated a major chunk for enhancing irrigation facilities in drylands of Vidarbha," said Kishore Tiwari of VJAS. "Crores of rupees meant for irrigation works were siphoned off. To add insult to injury, the ruling partner NCP now wants special allocation of water to private power plants which are coming up in large number in Vidarbha," said Tiwari.

"We will request the chief minister to refer the matter to the Centre for a CBI probe as serious charges of corruption in irrigation works were levelled by legislature's public accounts committee (PAC) as well as the CAG. It is alleged that advance payment under Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Programme was made by the VIDC (Vidarbha Irrigation Development Corporation).

"We are thankful to MPCC president Manikrao Thakre for organizing the convention as it will provide dais to the dying cotton farmers of Vidarbha to raise issues related to hostile functioning and failure of administration in increasing irrigation facilities in western Vidarbha since 2006 when the PM package was announced for six districts," said Tiwari.

VJAS has also supported the MPCC president's contention that there was no need for mushrooming of power plants in Vidarbha when already plants expected to generate 19,000MW are nearing completion. "The state should not allow robbery of water by some 60 private power plants that are eying cheap land and water in Vidarbha. Instead, the state should ensure optimum use of funds being allocated from the budget by the governor for removing irrigation backlog and benefiting farmers," said Tiwari.
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MIHAN Nagpur LANDSCAM -BoA directs stern action against ‘First City’

2011-04-07T06:58:00.000-07:00

BoA directs stern action against ‘First City’-HITAVADA

Staff Reporter

TAKING "a serious view on the sale of flats proposed by M/s Reatox Builders and Developers Pvt Limited to general public which is not permitted under the SEZ Scheme," the Board of Approval — highest decision making body for Special Economic Zones — has directed the Development Commissioner (MIHAN) to take stern action against First City project developer. The BoA decision is a tight slap on the face of those who violated the SEZ Act brazenly and misled the High Court, authorities and people at large by selling flats openly to general public.

The land allotted to M/s Reatox Builders (promoters of First City project) at a highly subsidised rate by Maharashtra Airport Development Company (MADC) within MIHAN-SEZ and brazen act of the builder to sell flats to general public - apparently without any permission from BoA - has raised serious questions over its legality. The very action of MADC to allot agricultural land acquired for peanuts to a builder, to be sold to general public at market rates and earn mind-boggling profit, is nothing but massive loot of public property for the benefit of private few and apparently with the blessings of MADC top bosses, who now need to come clean on entire issue and punish the erring officials and private parties. Chief Minister of Maharashtra is ex-officio Chairman of MADC. After taking over as Chief Minister, Prithviraj Chavan had taken a serious cognisance of the irregularities highlighted by ‘The Hitavada’ and had removed R C Sinha, the high-profile big boss of MADC from his position.

The BoA took this decision during its 45th meeting held on March 25 at Udyog Bhavan, New Delhi. The meeting was chaired by Dr Rahul Khullar, Secretary, Department of Commerce, Government of India, and was attended by 38 top ranking officials of Finance, Commerce, Revenue, Industries and other connected departments. The final minutes of the meetings were uploaded on the website (www.sezindia,nic.in) on Monday revealing clearly that BoA had disapproved the action of MADC permitting sale of ‘First City’ flats to general public. Interestingly, ‘First City’ promoters always maintained that flats were meant for general public, clearly suppressing the fact they had a mandate to construct housing facilities only for employees working within SEZ.

According to the minutes, the Development Commissioner (MIHAN) Ved Prakash informed the Board "the developer of MIHAN SEZ (Maharashtra Airport Development Company) has permitted the co-developer (M/s Reatox builders) to construct and sell residential flats in the non-processing area of the SEZ to persons not connected with the SEZs."

"The Board took a serious view on the sale of flats proposed by M/s Reatox Builders and Developers Pvt. Limited to general public which is not permitted under the SEZ Scheme. Accordingly, the Board directed DC MIHAN to take strict action directly and through the agencies concerned in the matter and submit a report."

The BoA directive to Development Commissioner (MIHAN)- a senior officer of the Central Government, has also exposed the tall claims of MADC bosses, notably R C Sinha, then Vice-Chairman and Managing Director who had authorised ‘First City’ developer to "lease the flats in "First City’ (An Integrated Modern Township in MIHAN Nagpur) to General Public/persons outside SEZ area/anywhere around the world i.e. for leasing the flat, area/state/country is not restricted."

Apparently, this letter giving blanket permission was issued without consulting BoA and according to record, the MADC issued this letter contradicting its own stance stated on affidavit and application made to BoA about ‘First City’ project.

This communication issued by R C Sinha, Vice-Chairman and Managing Director of Maharashtra Airports Development Company (MADC) on August 23, 2010 was widely used by the promoters of ‘First City’ project to sell their flats to general public, cleverly suppressing the policy decision taken by Board of Approvals and Housing guidelines issued by Ministry of Commerce. The letter itself was issued by Sinha following a request made by Atul Shirodkar, Chairman and Managing Director of M/s Reatox Builders and Developers Private Limited on July 31, 2010 and August 23, 2010.

Going a step further, Sinha had informed Reatox Builders, "The flats are freely transferable by existing parties to third parties and likewise without any fees from Reatox Builder&Developers Pvt. Ltd (RBDPL) and/or MADC and NOC is not required from Reatox Builders& Developers Pvt Ltd (RBDPL) and/or MADC."

The latest missive from BoA has established clearly that the MADC overlooked the mandate of the Ministry of Commerce, SEZ Act, and rules framed thereunder putting severe restrictions on free transfer of residential units to outsiders.

Apparently, the collusion between MADC and promoters of ‘First City’ is crystal clear as top bosses of the Special Purpose Vehicle appeared to bend rules and looked elsewhere while relaxing norms and for allowing illegal action of builder in selling flats to general public and walking extra mile whenever the ‘First City’ project faced any crisis.

In fact, the Board of Approvals (BoA), the apex decision-making body for SEZ, had maintained consistently that no developer or co-developer can sell the land or residential dwelling and extended this principle to ‘First City’ coming up at MIHAN-SEZ promoted by MADC। Therefore, the BoA in its meeting held on July 13, 2010 had directed the MADC to remove the "condition of sale" from the agreement between developer (MADC) and co-developer (M/s Reatox Builders) as well as from the Power of Attorney granted by MADC to M/s Reatox Builders.

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Maharashtra budget ignores debt-ridden farmers in Vidarbha-PTI

2011-03-25T09:42:00.000-07:00

Maharashtra budget ignores debt-ridden farmers in Vidarbha: NGO
Published: Friday, Mar 25, 2011, 14:35 IST
Place: NAGPUR | Agency: PTI

1-12 budget presented by Maharashtra finance minister Ajit Pawar on Wednesday has ignored about 3 million debt-trapped cotton farmers as state owned debt touched Rs2,31,000crore during the 2010-11 fiscal, an NGO has alleged.
As three million cotton farmers have lost cotton crop this year, it was expected that the state would address the on going agrarian crisis and will give a bailout package as the earlier relief packages were disappointing," the Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti (VJAS), which works for the welfare of farmers, said in a release issued in Nagpur.
"However, the state has failed to give much awaited food security and health security to dying cotton farmers and over 10,000 farm widows and family members of famers who committed suicide since 2005. This is much more disturbing," VJAS president Kishore Tiwari said.

"We welcome the decision to give zero per cent crop loan up to Rs50,000 and two percent interest up to Rs3lakh but this facility can be availed by the farmers who are regular with banks.
"Hence, in order to extend this facility to debt trapped farmers facing crop failure since 2009-10 in Vidarbha, the VJAS has been demanding a bailout package for those who are not covered by state-owned banks and are forced to take loans from local money-lenders and private MFIs," he said.

The VJAS also flayed the announcement of creating irrigation facility in another two lakh hector land of the state saying that there was already a backlog of irrigation projects in Vidarbha, for which over Rs60,000crore were required.

‘Maharashtra Economic Survey’ before Budget 2011-12- ‘State is all set for fiscal Collapse’

2011-03-12T23:48:00.000-08:00

‘Maharashtra Economic Survey’ before Budget 2011-12- ‘State is all set for fiscal Collapse’

Nagpur- Nagpur- 13th March 2010,

Golden jubilee year of Maharashtra year 2010-11 has further deepen the economic crisis of the state and all tall claims of brining the state economy on road map of development even state is set collect 20% more revenue from tax prayers but one time progressive state is set to face fiscal collapse .there is no mega project of giving employment to youth has started moreover major job giving heavy and labor oriented industries have either closed or shifted to nearby Gujarat ,as per official estimate state has lost 10 million record skilled and unskilled jobs even when Maharashtra was claiming 10 million additional job in it’s golden jubilee year as major jolt came state mega flagship project ‘MIHAN’ in Nagpur failed to take off even after decade of the land acquisition .

In the half fiscal year Maharashtra got new Chief Minister Purthiviraj Chavan as true agent of MNCs and strong promoter neo-globalization policies and well set agenda of 10,janpath to remove obstacles in disputed projects and promotion of anti-farmer and anti-poor policies has created more distress and despair Agrarian crisis part of Maharashtra, the back door entry of MOS in PMO has strengthen the Groupism in congress widen which is working against economic interest of Maharashtra.NCP control taken by Ajit Pawar has set agenda to grab the power of it’s own has further weaken the administrative control in the state .uncontrolled corruption of NCP ministers in PDF government has given very bad signals corporate companies .infact it’s free for all environment in Maharashtra Govt. bring the state to threshold of economic collapse.

Major cash crop cotton and sugarcane suffered set back and crepe and onion growers added fuel to state agriculture economy which retarded the state GDP by 2% .Maharashtra is state where budget allotted by the central Govt. for tribal devlopement, NRHM, MGREGA, AIBP and fund allotted for social welfare ,food security and women and child development is freely diverted for the salaries of babus and staff as morethan 90% state earning is going in the staff salaries and payment of huge debt crossing Rs.2.4 lakhs crore ,this is too serious fisal condition to stop it from collapse needs mega ‘bail out package’ to survive , Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti(VJAS) president kishor Tiwari informed today regarding economic collapse of Maharashtra and urged central Govt. intervention to avoid systematic failure of fiscal structure of Maharashtra ..

I-OFFICIAL DEBT IS CROSSING THE 2 .4 LAKHS CRORE MARK

II.THIS YEAR MORE THAN 10 MILLION JOB LOST IN MAHARSHTRA.

III.DROP IN FOOD PRODUCTION BY 36%

IV.SEVERE HEALTH, EMPLOYNENT AND GROUND WATER CRISIS IN RURAL MAHARASHTRA.

V. NO MEGA PROJECT OR SEZ HAS STARTED.

VI. MARGINAL INCREASE IN POWER WHRE AS AROUND 1000MW POWERPLANTS CLOSE DOWN.

VII. 3MILLION BPL FAMILIES DELETED FROM FOOD SECURITY AND HEALTH AND SOCIAL SECURITY SCHEME

VIII.-STATE FAILED TO CRATE ROAD AND HEALTH AND EDUCATIONAL FACILITIES AS PLANED.

When in August 2009 it’s first economic survey before submitting the budget Maharashtra Govt. has admitted that state is not economic growth map when it was told that last year Maharashtra lost 2 million jobs in the year 2008-2009,food grain production dropped by 25% before drought has been declared ,outstanding debt mounting to Rs.1,58,520 crore, interest payment on debt is Rs. 12,953 crore,30% drop in employment provided under National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS), poverty ratio in the State is 30.7 per cent as against All-India average of 27.5 percent and more than 6000 farm suicides and lacs of tribal’s death due to malnutrition and starvation but same time rosy picture was shown regarding massive job creation and investments in infrastructure ,increase in food crop production ,reduction in the debt and restoration basic facilities to poor like food ,shelter, health ,education and rural employment ,industrial growth but nothing has happened and economical crisis further deepen and in the golden jubilee year of it’s formation Maharashtra is set to face worst economic crisis and fiscal collapse due to poor governance and massive corruption in ministry , Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti(VJAS) president kishor added.

VJAS has drawn the attention towards the wet drought situation in more than 50,000 villages that has effected sharply drop in kharif and raby crop and first food production has like to be drop below 94 lakh MT first time in history of Maharashtra . last year it was told that Total 14,957 industrial projects with an investment of Rs. 5,04,689 crore and employment potential of about 27.54 lakh have been registered with the GoI to set up units in the State till the end of December, 2010 but gloomy fact is that out of these, not single mega project as operational till today as same is not reflected in the economic growth and employment job dat of the state is retarding very fast. The compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) for the last five years for investments in registered and commissioned projects is more than 17 and 3 per cent respectively but in ground reality nothing has happened that cause of worry .

‘As ex -Maharashtra chief Minster Ashok Chavan was half year busy in land allotments and land lease ,New Chief Minister Purthiviraj Chavan is busy since taking oath to under stand problems of state and likely to another 3-4 years to under stand same that created more chaos in the debt ridden state ,the communication gap in his co-partners and executive and uncontrolled corruption has put state on ‘economic collapse.in order to keep ‘MR.CLEAN ’ image intact CM is not even clearing files that has retarded the decision making process and created fishy situation in Mantralaya’ Kishore Tiwari said

Kishore Tiwari of VJAS has asked today to central Govt. to review economic crisis in Maharashtra due to uncontrolled plan and unplanned expenses of state Govt. and on going fiscal deficit of state Govt. executive control is missing and corruption in administration is at it’s peak hence fiscal monitoring and central review is needed.

========================================================

Hard questions about soft questions-P. Sainath

2011-02-23T09:06:00.000-08:00

Hard questions about soft questions

P. Sainath

*There was in fact a successful auction of spectrum — only it was not conducted by the government but by its corporate sector cronies who made a fortune on the deal.

On one pronouncement of his, you have to agree with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. His is not a ‘lame-duck government.' Cooked goose seems the more appropriate soubriquet. However, not a single new scam worth over Rs. 1 lakh crore has surfaced for 10 days now. So maybe things are getting better. Yet, even a doting corporate media find that the Professor did not come out looking good from his interaction with a few favoured students. That is, electronic media chiefs and editors who have mostly adored Dr. Singh for nearly two decades. If even the largely free ride they gave him left him unnerved and defensive, it's a measure of how much things have changed. Not that the editors emerged looking better. If asking the right questions is at the heart of journalism, then somebody had a bypass. At no point did it occur to them that the corruption they questioned him on with some passion, flowed entirely out of policies and from a policy altar at which they have worshipped for years.

Some of the questions in fact indicated a need by worried editors to be reassured that those very policies would continue. For instance, a fear that there is “no big reformist wave coming from UPA II. Have we lost the will to take hard reformist decisions?” “No way,” responded the Prime Minister. “We have not lost the will. We will persist.” In asserting that what he (and the editors) view as “reforms” are on track, Dr. Singh speaks the truth. The chaos and corruption troubling the editors was the outcome of those very ‘reforms', if they cared to see it.

Even on corruption, the questions ranged from those revolving around some Ministers' actions to a couple implying wrongdoing by people within the PMO or Cabinet. Nothing that suggested the country's basic direction under the Professor's guidance is destructive and dangerous. But once you've accepted the neo-liberal economic framework scripted since 1991 as wonderful and beyond reproach, then your questions get limited to asking who fluffed his lines. And as for corporate criminality, editors step on to that terrain only when left without a choice and at their own risk.

The first question, fair enough, was about the 2G scam and the lack of an auction in the sale of spectrum. There's something missing here, though. There was in fact an auction of spectrum — a successful one. Only it was not conducted by the government but by its corporate sector cronies who gave it away for a pittance. Having been gifted that scarce public-owned resource by the government, the cronies then auctioned it privately for astronomical sums of money. The argument that consumers today enjoy low prices because the privateers got it cheap is a fraud. Customers are getting those cheap prices even after this double sale. After the crony cabal milked huge profits in its own private auction. Had that process been cut out, consumer benefits would have been far greater. Also auctioned alongside were the government's individual Ministers, posts and integrity. Two auctions for the price of none.

Abstract query

The press conference saw one abstract query and a no less abstract reply on ‘black money.' Not a single question on Indian illegal funds parked overseas in Swiss and other banks. None on why the government does not reveal the names it has in this connection. The illegal flow of such funds, according to the startling report from Global Financial Integrity, costs the nation Rs.240 crore every single day, on average. As much as Rs. 4.3 lakh crore (twice the highest estimate of the 2G scam losses) has been lost in just five years, between 2004 and 2008. And who are the main culprits? “High net-worth individuals and private companies were found to be the primary drivers of illicit flows out of India's private sector.” Seems a good subject to ask the Prime Minister some questions about. But it didn't happen.

Nor was there a single question about the Amnesty/Immunity schemes his government seems to be planning for such criminals. This, even as it plans tougher and tougher laws for ordinary citizens, abridgement of rights for displaced persons, gutting of the public distribution system and arrests of those protesting the incredible price rise.

Nor, while on morality and corruption, was there a single question from the editors about the Prime Minister making Vilasrao Deshmukh Union Minister of Rural Development. A man castigated by the Supreme Court for protecting moneylenders in Maharashtra now controls rural development across the country. The Maharashtra government has even paid up the Rs.10-lakh fine imposed by the court in that case, signalling acceptance that wrong had been done while he was Chief Minister. Dr. Singh cannot plead ‘coalition compulsions' here. Mr. Deshmukh is from his own party. If he remains in the Union Cabinet after the Supreme Court trashes him, it is only because Dr. Singh wants him there. There were no ‘coalition compulsions' in brewing the CWG scam either, but that too wasn't touched upon in the questions.

It would, of course, be insane to expect the editors to raise a question on the nearly quarter of a million farmers who have committed suicide in this country since 1995, going by the data of the National Crime Records Bureau. Or on migrations out of villages going berserk. Or on worsening levels of unemployment. But there was not a single one on hunger either.

The only serious question on food inflation, linking that to its impact on the poor in a country with 8.5 per cent growth came from a foreigner. Now our editors present knew this to be a burning issue, even for their middle class audiences. Yet Sara Sidner of CNN was the only one to raise it. The other question on inflation related to the need for “the second [round of] structural reforms to be done in agriculture.” Another query on price rise — not linked to hunger or poor people — was not answered at all. The Prime Minister was not challenged when he virtually equated losses in the 2G scam with subsidies to the poor. “If auctions are not taking place then what is the basis for you to calculate a loss? ... It is very much a function of what is your starting point. And also depends upon your opinion. We have a budget which gives subsidy for food, Rs.80,000 crores per annum, some people may say these foodgrains should be sold at marketplace. Will we say then because they are not sold at market prices, because you are giving them a subsidy, it is a loss of Rs. Rs.80,000 crores?”

Plunder and subsidy

Firstly, he equates plunder with the pathetic subsidies tossed at the world's largest hungry population. We rank 67th out of 84 nations in the Global Hunger Index. Secondly, subsidies for the super-rich soar each year. While food subsidies for hundreds of millions were cut by Rs. 450 crore in the last budget.

All those carping critics attacking direct cash transfers miss the point that the government has become really good at this. It routinely transfers billions of rupees, directly or indirectly, at each opportunity to the corporate world. And it is equally good at corporate karza maafi — Rs.5,000 billion under just three heads (direct corporate income tax, customs and excise duties) in the last budget. That's two-and-a-half times the 2G scam estimate. It also gets bigger with each new budget. The dominant media have never once raised a peep of protest against the corporate plunder of public money, thanks to the government Dr. Singh presides over. Nor did they in this conference with the Prime Minister. So Dr. Singh is understandably peeved when asked about the petty cash transfers of the 2G scam to a handful of hucksters. The Prime Minister wanted to know if the editors would view the Rs.80,000 crore his government commits to food subsidies as ‘losses.' Actually, most of them do. Quite a few of them would like to see all subsidies directed at the poor to be wound up. The politically correct way of going about this is to call for the “streamlining of systems,” or “proper targeting,” or “efficiency.” A demand never once made of the tsunami of subsidies given to a handful of super-rich (media owners amongst them).

One positive point: Dr. Singh announced no new Group of Ministers at his conference with the editors. Though one's probably required to conduct a GoM Census. That might help Pranab Mukherjee figure out how many of these he chairs. And spare him the embarrassment of having to ask “so which GoM is this?” at his next meeting. A ‘lame duck' government? Not really. More like an integrity-challenged Cuckoo.

Keywords: 2G spectrum scam, CBI probe, Manmohan interaction, A. Raja, S-band deal

Activities and Achievements of Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti (VJAS)

2011-02-13T01:24:00.000-08:00

Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti (VJAS)

The Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti, a farmers’ movement in Vidarbha or the eastern region of Maharashtra, is fighting for the cause of farmers and monitoring Vidarbha farmer’s suicides and agrarian crisis since 1998. The movement is pursuing its battle on various fronts from people’s agitations to taking up the issues with administration, judiciary, legislature, human rights bodies, and international forums. We have pursued with vigor the issue of farmers’ suicides and agrarian distress, malnutrition among tribal’s in Yavatmal, depressing rural economy, drinking water problem in rural Vidarbha, right to food and education, problems faced by minorities, and statehood to Vidarbha.

The continued follow up and Jan Andolans of Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti has resulted in many success broadly classified as under;

1. Waiver of small farmers crop loans

2. Interest remission to marginal farmers

3. Right to food to the lacs of tribal’s

4. Primary Education to every rural students

5. Farmers packages

6. BPL benefits to thousands of poor families

7. Justice to unwed mothers

The relentless agitations and struggle by the VJAS has given Vidarbha farmers a voice and political identity and helped place the crisis on state and national political agenda.

Activities and Achievements of VJAS:

Activities and Achievements of VJAS since 2004:

i. A PIL was filed by VJAS in 2002 in Nagpur High Court on malnutrition deaths among Kolam tribals. In 29^th June 2004 the court gave directions to provide foodgrains, clothes, shelter and health to Kolam tribals in Amravati division: - Yavatmal, Washim, Buldhana, Amravati, Akola, Wardha districts.

ii. On 19^th July 2004, a dharna was organized outside SBI bank, Parwa, taluka Ghatanji, district Yavatmal. Cotton farmers with outstanding loans were not being given fresh loans. Hence the dharna was organised to demand new loans for the farmers and accept repayment of the old loan in instalments. As a result the farmers started getting fresh loans.

iii. On 28^th July 2004, to demand land rights of tribals in Yavatmal districts. In every taluka an andolan was organised outside tehsil, SDO office. SDO spoke to Collector. Collector ordered the forest department to let the tribals continue farming in the forest.

iv. In 2004, VJAS demanded that the government start a ‘Sahukar Mukti Yojana’ after suicide of a farmer in Injara, taluka, Ghatnji, district Yavatmal.

v. In May 2004, Rohpat (Tandapod), taluka Maregaon, district Yavatmal, there was an incidence of police harassing Kolam tribals and wrong cases were applied to them. A PIL was filed in Nagpur HC by VJAS to quash the case against the Kolam tribals. ............

vi. In 2004, a PIL was filed in Nagpur HC to give Khawti Karj Yojana to all tribals. To waive off Khawti Karj, to give new loans to them and also cover those who have been left out. The demands were fulfilled.

vii. On 1^st July 2004, the government announced free electricity to all farmers. This would not help those farmers who commit suicide. Give direct loans to farmers because this would not help them. Give direct help to farmers.

viii. In Nov 2004, an andolan was organized to demand Rs.2700/- against government’s rate (which was declared in their election manifesto of Rs.2700/-) of 2500/- for all cotton farmers as MSP. This was done in Pandharkawda cotton market.

ix. In Dec 2004, farmers were not getting the payment for their cotton on time. So an Andolan was organised outside Zilla Madhyavarti bank, Pandharkawda. So payment gradually started being disbursed.

x. In Dec 2004, a scheme for tractor was started for farmers. There was a major corruption in the scheme and job in Zilla Madhyavarti Bank. So a demand was made to stop this corruption.

xi. In 104 Cotton ginning factories in Yavatmal district, the labourers were not getting minimum wages of Rs.82/- but were being given 30-40/-. There were no identity cards, muster, or provident fund being given. Then an andolan was organized at Collector’s office in Yavatmal. Then they started receiving minimum wages and pension.

xii. In Dec 2004, there was an andolan was organised in Pandarkawda outside tehsil office, to demand land rights for tribals who have encroached forest and revenue land to give them patta ownership. “Zameenche patte denari Swabhiman Yojana”.

xiii. Farmer suicides due to shortage of water, drought and loss of crops, lack of fodder. VJAS has raised the issue.

xiv. In 2^nd Jan 2005, A land owned by a trust Ruikar Trust in Nanjha, tehsil Kalamb, district Yavatmal was not being used and many farmers, mostly tribals, had been farming on that land since 30 – 40 years. The trust was trying to harass the farmers and evict them. So an andolan was organized against the trust and demand land for the farmers. After that the trust stopped harassing them.

xv. In 11^th jan 2005, VJAS supported the andolan of business traders who were opposing service tax as this would affect the poor.

xvi. Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) was procuring Cotton for the Central government at Rs.1700/- whereas the Pannan Maha Sangh was procuring it for the Maharashtra government for Rs.2200/-. So on 15^th Jan 2005, VJAS made a demand that the Maharashtra government give the difference as bonus to cotton farmers selling to CCI. But the demand was not met.

xvii. In Jan 2005, 12lakhs quintal of cheap cotton was bought by traders from Andhra Pradesh. Because of that local farmers were suffereing. Hence VJAS demanded the Collector that the border of Maharashtra-Andhra Pradesh be sealed to stop the flow of cotton.

xviii. Jhari tehsil, there was drought in some 20-25 villages. ‘Gaon tithe Uposhan’ andolan was organized on 15^th February 2005 to demand clean water in Gram Panchayats. A memo was given to collector. So Collector took steps to provide tankers, bore wells etc.

xix. In Yavatmal in 5 years, 216 layout were made after evicting tribals. VJAS demanded an investigation into these land scams to the Chief Secretary of Maharashtra.

xx. In Maregaon Van, tehsil Pandarkawda, tribal farmers had taken loans from money lenders. The money lenders bullock cart, bull, and belongings of the tribals when they couldn’t repay loans. Then VJAS took up the case and made a police case.

xxi. In 27^th February, payment was not being made on time in Vidarbha & Marathwada, by the Mahareashtra government. Hence a demand for uposhan satyagraha was made by VJAS. Then payment started.

xxii. In National Food for Work Program, corruption was taking place where foodgrains were being sold in the open market and not being given to beneficiaries. An andolan was organized against it on 5^th March 2005. Later foodgrains were being distributed started. Later work was not being started and hence an andolan was organized to demand start of the work.

xxiii. A petition was made to the National Human Rights Commission demand for inclusion of Neo-Buddhists in Scheduled Caste in Census in 2005.

xxiv. In Swabhimani Yojana where land is given to landless, Dalit and tribal agricultural labourers through Social Welfare department and Tribal Project Office. Corruption in this was brought to the notice of CM. They were buying land at Rs.1000-2000 per acre and telling the government that it is Rs.25,000/- per acre.

xxv. About 212 tendu patta ghatak in Vidarbha were not selling tendu leaves as traders were not buying. So VJAS demanded that the government buy it. But the government did not do that.

xxvi. Khawti karj andolan.....The central government had given directions to all banks to give loans to farmers but were not being implemented. So VJAS demanded that increase the loans. Later an andolan was organised.

xxvii. In Feb 2007, VJAS demanded the Central government that in places where there are no water facilities, Bt cotton should not be grown. Coarse grains should be grown so that farmers can get food as well as fodder for animals.

xxviii. In April 2007, Demand for Kolam tribals for Khawti karj and implementation of court order.

xxix. In Pandharkawda, a farmer committed suicide after not being able to repay the loan from a money lender. A demand was put before the CM, PM and President to write off the loan and help the widow but it was considered ineligible as the loan was not from a bank.

xxx. From Jan to April 2007, 396 farmers had committed suicide. But PMO had declared that suicide had reduced. Then VJAS defied it and presented the correct data.

xxxi. In june 2007, VJAS demanded that all loans be waived off. In the last package only interest was waived off which benefitted a very small number of farmers. In 2008 the loans were waived off only for farmers with less than 5 acres and those above 5 acres only 20,000/- was waived off.

xxxii. In june 2007, VJAS asked farmers to use traditional seeds and organic manure.

xxxiii. In june 2007, National Human Rights Commissions was approached for malnutrition deaths of Kolam tribals. A committee had come. VJAS showed the fluoride water affected villages and Kolam tribal villages.

xxxiv. The President was going to come to Yavatmal. Widows of farmers who committed suicide wanted to meet her and tell her the conditions of farmers. VJAS demanded that all loans be written off and be given new loans and give Rs.5 lakhs to the those farmer who committed suicide. The widows met the President and demanded loans be waived off, free education for their children and health benefits. The demand to wave off loans was agreed by the President APJ Abdul Kalam.

xxxv. On 18^th June Halla Bol andolan for writing off loans and give fresh loans. An andolan was organized outside Pandharkawda Central Bank.

xxxvi. 15^th August, a Shetkari Wachwa Andolan was organized for Dalit, tribal and OBC. Government and cooperative banks were not getting loans. So they were going to money lenders. They were being exploited by them. VJAS demanded the government that farmers be given loans, be included in antyodaya, and health facilities.

xxxvii. The VJAS demanded Nagpur High Court should implement in 10 days the case dealing with farmers suicides. A PIL had been filed earlier by VJAS.

xxxviii. In July 2007, a widow of a farmer who committed suicide was given PM package of Rs.10,000/- but the cheque bounced. VJAS raised the issue and finally cash was given to her by the government. Action was taken against 6 officials.

xxxix. On 27^th September 2007, Khawti Karj Andolan was organized to demand khawti karj for all tribals in front of tehsil office, Pandharkawda.

xl. On 2^nd October, Gandhi Parishad was organized so that cotton MSP be Rs.2700/- and loans be written off and from the profits of Pannan MahaSangh Rs.300/- be given as bonus to farmers. Widows also participated.

xli. Agriculture Price Commission, MS Swaminathan came to meet widows of farmers who committed suicide.

xlii. 1 – Agitation for loan disbursement at State Bank of India and District central cooperative bank branches of Pandharkawda, Patanbori, Darwha and Jhari (2008 June-July)

xliii. 2 – Gandhigiri Andolan in June and July 2008 for pushing the bank officials to approve loans to farmers. The activists would happily welcome the bank officials at the branches early morning, touch their feet, and embarrass them to the hilt in this unique protests. It moved bank officials faster than our usual agitations to avoid further embarrassment.

xliv. 3 – Krishi Parishad, Kinwat (nanded), September 2008 ; A convention of farmers who do not have protective irrigation was organized at Kinwat in Nanded post-loan waiver announcement, mainly to discuss its outcome and anomalies with regard to land acreage condition. The VJAS rallied the farmers who had smaller outstanding loans but could not get the benefit of the complete waiver due to their large land size. It was at this convention that the VJAS rejected the farm loan waiver scheme as unfair to rain-fed farmers and started a debate in the political and economic circles that loans up to Rs 50,000 should be waived completely, a view later accepted by the state government that went on to announce its own waiver of loans up to Rs 20,000 in December 2008.

xlv. 4 – Farm widows’ conventions, Pandharkawda, Yavatmal, Bothbodan, Kosara and Karanji (December 2008-March 2009) - The VJAS organized the first convention of farmers’ widows in December 2006, but it was on a small scale. A first major convention of over 500 farm widows from all over Vidarbha was organized in Pandharkawda, the VJAS field headquarters, in February 2009, as a precursor to many smaller village-wise farm widows’ conventions and get-togethers. The VJAS intended to mobilize the widows who are living in abjectly poor conditions with their children. It was important to organize them and bring them together to raise a charter of their demands. The VJAS intends to make it an annual feature to bring the widows together at least once every year so that their problems are heard and they feel they are not alone in their struggle. The convention helped the VJAS to not only mobilize the widows but also understand their land-related problems, among other issues. We now intend to take forward their struggle and demands.

xlvi. 5 – Dushkal Parishad, 2009 - Vidarbha witnessed a major drought in 2009. Crop yields were less than 50%; farmers had liquidity crunch at the beginning of the season; the cotton-soybean support prices had not been raised post-election. Maharashtra was going for the elections. The VJAS, in view of the political situation, organized a ‘Dushkal parishad’ in Pandharkawda to take the stock of the situation, invite farmers to share their conditions and prepare a charter of demands ahead of elections. The government did announce scarcity in Vidarbha that year, owing to our demand.

xlvii. 6 – Road blockade pressing for a rise in MSP of cotton - The VJAS blocked the National high way 7 in the summer of 2007 and 2008 demanding a hike in the minimum support price of cotton. MSP was hiked finally in 2008 May, a year before the Parliamentary elections were due.

xlviii. 7 – Drinking water agitation 2010 - The summer of 2010 was one of the most difficult periods of recent times. The two successive years of drought, water mining by mines and farmers, and lack of drinking water supply programme, villages in Yavatmal and rest of Vidarbha had to go miles in search of water. The VJAS held agitations and pushed the districts’ administration and political leadership of the region and state to make emergency plans to provide drinking water to the rural households.

xlix. 10 – Agitation against corruption in the implementation of special farm packages: The state and central government announced different packages for the six most suicide-prone districts of Vidarbha since 2005. First came the Rs 1075 crore CM package in the December of 2005; then the Rs 3750 crore PM package in July 1, 2006, followed by the central loan waiver, state loan waiver etc.

l. 9 – Food-Fodder - The VJAS also simultaneously launched agitations all over for food and fodder security for farming households during summer of 2010, drawing the attention of the government toward massive food and fodder crunch, and forcing it to open fodder camps in every tehsil so that the cattle could survive the scarcity.

li. In the implementation of each of these packages the VJAS stayed alert to massive corruption and anomalies and staged protests all over Vidarbha, petitioned the concerned ministers, and moved the high court when no action was forthcoming. The state government admitted in the legislative assembly in 2008 most of the VJAS charges and suspended a few officials, who were guilty of corruption.

तेंदुपत्ता घटकांचा लिलाव करण्याची मागणी-लोकमत

2011-02-12T23:16:00.001-08:00

तेंदुपत्ता घटकांचा लिलाव करण्याची मागणी-लोकमत
http://onlinenews1.lokmat.com/php/detailednews.php?id=NagpurEdition-2-8-13-02-2011-7d436&ndate=2011-02-13&editionname=nagpur यवतमाळ, दि. १२ (वार्ताहर) - तेंदुपत्ता घटकाच्या लिलावाची प्रक्रया दरवर्षी डिसेंबरमध्ये सुरू होवून जानेवारीत पूर्ण होते. मात्र गडचिरोलीच्या जिल्हाधिकाऱ्यांनी तेंदुपत्ता घटकाचा लिलाव करू नये, असा प्रस्ताव दिल्यामुळे वनखात्याने ही प्रक्रया रोखली आहे. शासनाने येत्या पंधरवड्यात लिलाव न केल्यास यावर्षी विदर्भातील पाच लाखांवर तेंदुपत्ता मजूर १६० कोटींची मजुरी व बोनसपासून वंचित राहणार आहे. त्यामुळे गडचिरोली वगळता इतर जिल्ह्यातील तेंदुपत्ता घटकांचा लिलाव करण्याची मागणी तेंदुपत्ता मजूर समितीचे नेते किशोर तिवारी यांनी मुख्यमंत्री पृथ्वीराज चव्हाण यांना केली आहे. महाराष्ट्रात प्रत्येक वर्षी ३३ वन विभागात सात लाख ५० हजारावर प्रमाण गोणीसाठी तेंदू घटकांचा लिलाव केला जातो. वर्ष २०१० मध्ये लिलावाद्वारे सरकारला ९० कोटींचा महसूल मिळाला होता. नंतर हा महसूल मजुरांना बोनस म्हणून खर्च कापून वाटण्यात आला. त्याचवेळी मजुरांना ८० रुपये शेकडा मुडक्याच्या दराने मजुरीद्वारे ६० कोटी रुपये वाटण्यात आले होते. मात्र यावर्षी अद्यापतरी लिलावाची प्रक्रया सुरू झाली नसल्याने तेंदुपत्ता मजूर मजुरीपासून वंचित राहणार असल्याचे किशोर तिवारी यांनी म्हटले आहे. गडचिरोली वगळता इतर जिल्ह्यातील तेंदुपत्ता तोडाईचा मार्ग मोकळा करावा व तेंदुपत्ता मजूरी वाटपासोबतच तेंदुपत्ता बोनस देण्यासाठी योजना लागू करावी, अशी मागणी भीमराव नैताम यांनी केली.
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More vidarbha farmer deaths feared as authorities get tough -UCA News

2010-11-22T22:41:00.000-08:00

More vidarbha farmer deaths feared as authorities get tough

Published Date: November 23, 2010

By Saji Thomas, Nagpur

Debt-ridden farmers meet in village Hiwara where power connection is snapped following their failure to pay up the outstanding tariff

Church and social activists fear more debt-ridden farmers will take their own lives in western India after the government begins to forcefully recover loans and cut power supply.

“If the government action continues there would be more suicides,” warns Father Francis Dabre, who coordinates the Catholic Church’s social works in the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra state.

As many as 667 debt-trapped farmers have committed suicide in the region since January this year following crops failure.

Father Dabre says the power disconnection and forceful recovery of loans have further shattered the farmers’ attempt to rebuild their lives. The government action, he asserted, have violated the farmers’ fundamental rights.

“It is the government’s duty to ensure its citizens lead a dignified life,” the Catholic priest told ucanews.com on Nov. 22.

Kishore Tiwari, who heads the Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti (forum for Vidarbha people’s struggle), says the government agencies do not care about poor people.

He told ucanews.com on Nov. 21 that he has consistently taken up the issue with appropriate government forums but nothing has happened.

Meanwhile, some banks have started seizing loan defaulters’ tractors and other movable property, Tiwari said.

Starvation deaths and suicide face some 150,000 farmers after the electricity department cut their power supply, he said Another 370,000 farmers could face a similar fate.

Ramesh Sankneniwar, a farmer from Hiwara, a village in Yavatmal district that reported the largest number of farmer suicides, said crops had failed after the “sudden power supply disconnection.”

The father of three said his eight acre farm had a thriving Bt Cotton crop a month ago, but the plants died as he could not water them.

“We pleaded with the government not to disconnect our power when the crops required water the most, but to no avail,” he said.

Sankneniwar had taken 300,000-rupee (US$6,820) bank loan mortgaging his property. “Failure to return the loan will lead to confiscation or auction the property,” he said.

Suresh Bolenwar, from the same village, says some farmers see no option but to end their lives if the government does not come to their rescue.

Farmer named by Forbes is landless today-Times of India.

2010-11-16T10:15:00.000-08:00

Printed from

Farmer named by Forbes is landless today

Mazhar Ali, TNN, Nov 16, 2010, 06.01am IST

CHANDRAPUR: Forbes' lists evoke awe. Those who figure in the publication's pantheon are super achievers, and, more often than not, super rich.

Dadaji Khobragade has made it to a Forbes' list. The magazine recently named him as one of the seven most powerful rural Indian entrepreneurs, whose "inventions are changing lives" of people across the country. For good reason too: Khobragade revolutionised paddy farming by developing the highly successful variety of paddy — HMT rice — that gives 80% more yield than conventional varieties and has become a household name.

But Khobragade is hardly your run-of-the-mill Forbes' millionaire. He is a landless labourer fighting poverty in the remote Nanded (Fakir) village in Nagbhid tehsil. Seventy and struggling, he can barely make ends meet.

The irony couldn't be more acute: Although the variety invented by him is cultivated over lakhs of hectares across the country, Khobragade doesn't even have an inch of land in his own name. HMT rice is sold at around Rs 3200 a quintal, but Khobragade had to sell his three-acre land because he didn't have money to fund his son's hospitalisation. Khobragade has a rack full of awards but his grandson could not pursue his polytechnic course because the family couldn't afford the modest fees.

Khobragade is barely literate but was always gifted when it came to farming. Despite no formal education in agriculture – he has studied only until Class III – Khobragade began experimental breeding of a new variety of rice. After years of trial and error, his variety gave him a much higher yield compared to that of conventional one. In 1989, the yield with the newly developed variety was so astounding that, the demand for his variety skyrocketed in no time.

"I began my experiments with the conventional 'Patel 3' variety of rice. After five years of continuous study and research, I succeeded in developing the one that is now known as HMT rice," Khobragade said, evidently recalling the story with mechanical ease.

However, the name of the variety — HMT – happened quite by accident. While people took their bumper paddy harvest from the seeds given by Khobragade for sale in the APMC market yard, the authorities asked for the name of the variety.

One of Khobragade's companions suggested the name of HMT, the brand of wrist watch he was wearing at the time, and the farmer innocently accepted it. The demand for HMT variety skyrocketed. In 1997, Khobragade alleged that the Panjabrao Krishi Vidyapeeth (PKV) was commercialising his variety and had started selling it with the name of PKV HMT rice. The agriculture university had claimed that it had 'purified' Khobragade's variety.

Nevertheless, Khobragade got several awards, including the Rastrapati award, state government's Krishi Bhushan award and the award given by National Innovative Foundation for his contribution in the field of agriculture.

However, despite the fame and awards, Khobragade's financial condition continued to deteriorate. He lives an impoverished life with his wife, son, daughterin-law and three grandsons with his small earnings.

"I had to sell my land for the treatment of my son. The small and only help came from the father-in-law of my son, who bought 1.5 acres of land in the name of his daughter. At present, I carry out my research work in this small piece of land owned by my daughter-in-law," Khobragade said.

Khobragade had asked 10 acres of land on lease from the district administration and had forwarded application in 2008, but he says nothing has come of it so far.

He said he had come to know about the Forbes' list only through scribes."I'm happy that my efforts have been recognised," he said. Tehsil agriculture officer, Nagbhid, DV Wahane said,"His request for 10 acres of land on lease has been approved. But the allotment is withheld due some procedural reasons. I would soon take up the issue with the tehsildar" said Wahane.

Khobragade hopes that this promise isn't hollow. But he has every reason to be skeptical of the government's intentions: the gold medal he had received as part of the Krishi Bhushan award had turned out to be made of silver.

Adarsh scam: Petition filed with the PMO-Hindustan Times

2010-11-07T00:24:00.000-07:00

Adarsh scam: Petition filed with the PMO-Hindustan Times

Mumbai-Nov.6-2010

The Adarsh CoOperative Housing Society n Colaba in south Mumbai – which is embroiled in controversy for having allotted flats to politicians, ministers, IAS/IPS,defence service officers,in stead of... widows and families of Kargil war heroes –has come under the scanner of the Prime Minister’sOffice(PMO).
Petition was filed with the PMO seeking an independent inquiry into the alleged scam and specifically into flats allotted to three war widows and some members belonging to scheduled castes/scheduled tribes alleging that the names could be dummies put up by politicians or some IAS/IPS officers.
The petition was filed on Wednesday by KishoreTiwari, president of the Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti, a non-government organisation that has primarily been working for the cause of farmers and tribals.
According to the petition, the list of allottees states that three war widows had been allotted flats and members of SC/ST, too,had been given flats in Adarsh CHS.
“These names need to be examined because the ultimate beneficiary is some other person who is occupying and enjoying the benefits of the flats. In case of allotment to SC/ST, the person needs to be probed, as the allottees are either bogus with no valid SC/ST certificate.
The ultimate beneficiary is some politician or top IAS official,”Vinod said.
The petition seeks that the scam be probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation. All those found guilty should be booked and prosecuted under relevant provisions of the Indian Penal Code and the Prevention of Corruption Act, the petition adds.
“The presiding officer (an officer of the level of joint secretary) at the PMO,informed us that an inquiry by a special team from the Ministry of Defence, Personnel Affairs and Home is already on,”said Kishore’s brother,advocate Vinod Tiwari.
The report is expected in a fortnight. Kishore’s petition will come up for hearing on November 17.
“We will wait till the report is filed. If nothing concrete comes from the inquiry,we will file public interest litigation in the Bombay High Court,” Vinod said.
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Vidarbha farmers stage protest ahead of Obama's visit-Press Trust Of India

2010-11-05T10:30:00.000-07:00

Press Trust Of India

Nagpur, November 05, 2010

First Published: 20:36 IST(5/11/2010)

Last Updated: 20:37 IST(5/11/2010)

Vidarbha farmers stage protest ahead of Obama's visit

Cotton growers in Vidarbha on Friday staged candle-light protests on the eve of US President Barack Obama's visit to the country, seeking to draw his attention to the plight of the agriculture sector in the region caused by American policies.

Protests were held under the banner of the Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti (VJAS), with the main protest being organised at Hiwara village in Zari taluka of Yavatmal district where a rally was taken out demanding a ban on American seed 'Bt Cotton' and withdrawal of ongoing subsidies given to American cotton growers.

Farm widows and distressed farmers from surrounding villages participated in the march and raised the slogan 'Barack Obama Go Back', the VJAS said in a release here.

"The US President is our guest and we respect him. There is no intention to hurt his feeling as we want that the main reason behind mass genocide of cotton farmers in Vidarbha should be there in the agriculture agenda as we understand it is not in the listed subjects," VJAS president Kishor Tiwari said during the rally at Hiwara, it said.

Vidarbha Farm Widows Association (VFWA) Babytai Bais lighted a candle in a prayer meeting in Hiwara, in which hundreds of farm widows and debt trapped farmers from the affected villages in Vidarbha attended, the release said.

Tiwari has alleged that American Cotton and Bt Cotton have ruined rural economy of cotton growing Vidarbha region as more than 10,000 cotton growers in Vidarbha, who opted for Bt cotton seed, committed suicide.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/Print/622505.aspx

Vidarbha farm widows to protest during Obama visit-PTI

2010-11-04T09:39:00.000-07:00

Vidarbha farm widows to protest during Obama visit

PTI / Thursday, November 4, 2010 21:21 IST

Vidarbha farm widows will hold a protest tomorrow to draw attention of US President Barack Obama ahead of his visit to Mumbai on Saturday, as huge subsidy by US on American cotton resulted into more than two lakh farmers committing suicide in India.

The widows will light candles as a protest at Hiwara in Zari Taluka of neighbouring Yavatmal district, which has a highest number of farmers suicides.

The farm widows want to draw the attention of Obama towards the fact that huge subsidy by US on American cotton led to most severe agrarian crisis in the country resulting into more than 2,16,000 cotton farmers committing suicides in India, Vidarbha Janandolan Samiti president Kishore Tiwari said in a release here today.

"Our aim is to inform Obama that Vidarbha cotton farmers mass genocide is the result of American policies to protect their cotton farmers and claim that Bt Cotton has brought genetic revolution in agriculture is hoax when 80% of three million cotton growers families are in deep distress and debt and one farmer is committing suicide every eight hours," he said.

He alleged that American Cotton and Bt Cotton have ruined rural economy of cotton growing Vidarbha region with more than 10,000 cotton growers in Vidarbha, who opted for Bt cotton seed, committed suicide.

The farmers' despondency was caused due to the delay in cotton procurement and forceful loan recoveries by banks and private micro finance agencies as government-run banks failed to provide fresh loans to distressed farmers even after intervention of administration, Tiwari alleged.

URL of the article: http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report_vidarbha-farm-widows-to-protest-during-obama-visit_1462324-all

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Adarsh Housing Society scam -VJAS urged PM to Prosecute under relevant provisions of IPC & Prevention of Corruption Act.

2010-11-03T09:54:00.000-07:00

VIDARBHA JAN ANDOLAN SAMITI

11, Trisaran Society, In front of Somalwar School, Khamla, Nagpur – 440 025

Mob No. 9422108846 / 9371137653 / 9822593943. Ph : 07235-227564.-

(Regd Office : At Post : Pandharkawada-445 302, Tq : Kelapur, Distt : Yavatmal) ______________________________________________________________________________

Ref: VJAS/PMO/175/11/2010 Dated : 01.11.2010

From,

KISHORE TIWARI,

B.E.(Mech. Engg.), MBA, LL.B., M.A. (Pub.Admn.),

M.I.S. (USA), Fellow – I.E.H., (Chartered Engineer)

PRESIDENT

VIDARBHA JAN ANDOLAN SAMITI

To,

1. Hon’ble Shri Manmohan Singh,

Prime Minister of India,

PMO, North Block, Raj Path,

Rashtrapati Bhavan Marg,

NEW DELHI-110 011.

2. Smt. Sonia Gandhi,

Hon’ble Chairperson, High Power National Advisory Council (NAC),

Govt. of India, New Delhi

President, Indian National Congress,

11, Akbar Road, New Delhi.

Sub : Involvement of High profile top Ruling Party Politicians, Ministers, IAS/ IPS Officers, Defence Services Officers, in a Govt. land allotted with the benefits for the purpose of Kargil War Widows housing scheme :

Adarsh Housing Society scam need to be probed by CBI and all guilty to be booked & Prosecuted under relevant provisions of IPC & Prevention of Corruption Act.

Ref : Benefits meant for families of War Widow taken away by the politicians and bureaucrats in a highly irresponsible, illegal and corrupt manner – serious controversy thereof

Hon’ble Sir,

Our organization is fighting for the cause of the common man and we have so far exposed many scams involving corruption in public life. We are striving for the faith & belief of a common man in this grave time of deminishing high values & moral of the society. Our small contribution in raising voice for the cause of Farmers, Tribals and Other suppressed class of society have brought great success. Our movement has now become a movement of common man.

With this representation, our organization would like to draw your immediate kind attention towards most serious and most discussed & debated issue of Involvement of High profile Top politicians, Ministers, IAS/ IPS Officers, Defence Services Officers, in a Govt. land allotted with the benefits for the purpose of Kargil War Widows – Adarsh Housing Society Scheme. Every citizen of India is shocked to know the entire controversy in which benefits meant for families of War Widows have been literally taken away by the politicians and bureaucrats in a highly irresponsible, illegal and corrupt manner.

Our organization has conducted thorough Analysis and Study of the entire controversy and came to concrete conclusion that the High profile Top Politicians, Ministers, IAS/ IPS Officers, Defence Services Officers are involved in the scam pertaining to a Govt. land allotted with the additional benefits for the purpose of Kargil War Widows housing scheme

ADARSH SOCIETY - BACKGROUND

It is pertaining to the note that the land on Survey No. 652, Colaba Division, forming part of Block VI, is owned & occupied by Government of Maharashtra and was earlier allotted to BEST and left out for road widening.

It was subsequently allotted to the Adarsh Society in which families of war widows and defence personnel were to be exclusively accommodated. Several benefits were given to the said Adarsh Housing Society only due to the fact that it was meant for the ultimate advantage of War Widows of Kargil and/or other defence personnel. But to the utter surprise of entire Country, High profile Top Politicians, Ministers, IAS/ IPS Officers, Defence Services Officers have virtually grabbed the benefits and are involved in the scam pertaining to a Govt. land allotted with the benefits for the purpose of Kargil War Widows housing scheme

It is also pertaining to the note that the high rise 31 floor building of Adarsh Society is in the highly sensitive area adjourning to the military establishment / defence organization and only because it was shown to be for use of War Widows, all benefits were given to the society and at the flag end, the flats were allotted to the so called members which are either dependant or directly related to High profile top politicians, Ministers, IAS/ IPS Officers, Defence Services Officers.

It is important to note that High profile top politicians, Ministers, IAS/ IPS Officers, Defence Services Officers have managed to increase the FSI in a most controversial and illegal manner directly in violation of Development Control Regulations (DCR) and in violation of provisions of Town Planning Act / MMRDA Act. They have changed the entire reservation pattern to accommodate High profile top politicians, Ministers, IAS/ IPS Officers, Defence Services Officers in a most irresponsible, corrupt and highly irregular manner though they have shown to have accommodated more than 60% Service/Ex-Servicemen including Kargil Heroes and widows and other brave soldiers in addition to 20% SC/ST as per Government Rules but the list given below indicates totally different picture.The fact is that the allottee members are either relatives or dependants or family members of High profile top politicians, Ministers, IAS/ IPS Officers, Defence Services Officers who all are involved in this scam of National Concern.

Having conducted thorough investigation and enquiry, We are enclosing herewith a list of the 103 members of the society alongwith its critical analysis to highlight the truth behind this controversy in which High profile top politicians, Ministers, IAS/ IPS Officers, Defence Services Officers are directly or indirectly involved as ultimate beneficiary of the scam of pertaining a Govt. land allotted with the benefits for the purpose of Kargil War Widows housing scheme

CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF ENTIRE 103 ALLOTTEE OF ADARSH CORRUPTION :-

S/No.	Name of Member/Allotee	Ultimate Beneficiary – Politician – Bureaucrat

1.	Shri. RC Thakur	Dummy name - Relative of MLA of Ruling Party
2.	Brig MM Wanchu	Defence Personnel – But said to be sold to businessman.
3.	Commander Rajiv Pilo	Defence Personnel – But said to be sold to businessman
4.	Cdr AS Balakrishnan	Defence Personnel – But said to be sold to businessman
5.	Surg Capt PS Tampi	Defence Personnel – But said to be sold to Politician.
6.	Shri Parmanand K Hinduja	Relative of IAS Bureaucrat
7.	Shri.Sudhakar Laxman Madke	Politician – Dummy allottee. Actual possession with other businessman .
8.	Smt Sushila Shaligram	Mother of IAS Retired Mr. Subhash Lala, Ex-Principal Secretary of CM – Vilasrao Deshmukh. Presently Member of Maharashtra Human Rights Commission.(MHRC)
9.	Adm Madhvendra Singh, PVSM,AVSM,VSM	Defence Personnel – But said to be sold to businessman
10.	Shri JM Abhyankar	Retired IAS – Secretary to Govt. of Maharashtra.
11.	Shri PV Deshmukh	IAS – Secretary to Govt. of Maharashtra
12.	Shri Gajanan S Koli	Relative of MLA
13.	Shri Amol V Kharbhari	Politician
14.	Shri Kiran Bhadange	Dummy Allottee.
15.	Shri. Kanhaiyalal Gidwani	Ruling Party Ex-MLC
16.	Shri. Kailash K Gidwani	Son of Ruling Party Ex-MLC
17.	Shri. Amit K Gidwani	Son of Ruling Party Ex-MLC
18.	Shri Arun P Pawar	Politician related to NCP Leader.
19.	Maj Ashish Tandon	Defence Personnel, but actually under sale.
20.	Lt Cdr A Puran Kumar,	Defence Personnel, but actually under sale.
21.	Maj Gen VS Yadav	Defence Personnel, but actually under sale.
22.	Lt Gen PK Rampal	Defence Personnel, but actually under sale.
23.	Col Amarjeet Singh	Defence Personnel, but actually under sale on heavy premium. .
24.	Lt Col PH Ram	Defence Personnel, but actually under sale on heavy premium. .
25.	Brig. AC Chopra	Defence Personnel, but actually under sale on heavy premium. .
26.	Lt Col RK Singh	Defence Personnel, but actually under sale on heavy premium. .
27.	Commander John Mathew	Defence Personnel, but actually under sale on heavy premium. .
28.	Maj Gen Tej Kishen Kaul,	Defence Personnel, but actually under sale on heavy premium. .
29.	Lt Gen GS Sihota	Defence Personnel, but actually under sale on heavy premium. .
30.	Brig MD Singh	Defence Personnel, but actually under sale on heavy premium. .
31.	Cmde Gopal Bharati	Defence Personnel, but actually under sale on heavy premium.
32.	Brig Romeshchander Sharma	Defence Personnel, but actually under sale on heavy premium. .Nominated by CM Ashok Chavan relative.
33.	Lt Gen Shantanu Choudhry	Defence Personnel, but actually under sale on heavy premium. .
34.	VAdm Madanjit Singh	Defence Personnel, but actually under sale on heavy premium. .
35.	Brig Tara Kant Sinha	Defence Personnel, but actually under sale on heavy premium. .
36.	Capt AP Singh	Defence Personnel, but actually under sale on heavy premium. .
37.	Lt Cdr Chunnilal	Defence Personnel, but actually under sale on heavy premium. .
38.	Shri Rajesh Shantilal Bora	Politician related to Ruling Party MP
39.	Dr. Arun V Dawle	Politician related to Ruling Party Minister
40.	Shri Sampat R Khidse	Politician related to Ruling Party MP
41.	Shri Anand S Bharose	IAS
42.	Smt Seema Vyas	IAS Wife of Ex-Collector of Mumbai.
43.	Shri Kanishka J Phatak	Son of Top Ranking IAS Officer – Shri Dr. J.M. Phatak, Ex-Municipal Commissioner of BMC – Ex- Principal Secretary – UDD Govt. of Maharashtra.
44.	Miss Supriya V Maske	Related to Politician
45.	Shri Shriniwas D Patil	Ex-IAS & Ex-Member of Parliament of NCP.
46.	Shri Shivajirao C Deshmukh	Politician Minister.
47.	Shri. Shah Dhaval Rajesh	Related to Politician
48.	Ms Kavita S Godbole	IAS related
49.	Cdr Harbhajan Singh (Retd)	Related to close friend of CM
50.	Shri. Malav J Shah	Related to close friend of CM
51.	Shri Rajesh Kumar Das	Related to close friend of CM
52.	Shri. Aditya B Patil	Related to Politician
53.	Ms Sumeela Sethi	Daughter of IAS Retired Mr. Subhash Lala, Ex-Principal Secretary – UDD & Ex-Principal Secretary of CM – Vilasrao Deshmukh. Presently Member of Maharashtra Human Rights Commission.(MHRC)
54.	Shri. Chandrashekar R Gaikwad	IAS Nominee.
55.	Shri Shivajirao Shankar Kale	Politician Nominee
56.	Shri Krishnarao D Bhegade	Politician Nominee
57.	Dr Sanjay Radkar	IAS Nominee.
58.	Shri Arun S Adate	Politician Nominee
59.	Shri Jitendra S Awhad	MLC of Ruling NCP Party.
60.	Miss Soniya S Kholapure	Politician Nominee.
61.	Shri Vishwas B Chougale	Politician Nominee
62.	Shri Raghunath M Bhosale	Relative of Top Businessman related to Politician.
63.	Shri Suresh Prabhu	Shiv Sena Leader & Ex-MLA.
64.	Shri Uttam Ghakare	Related to IAS. Backed by Politician – Dummy
65.	Maj NW Khankhoje	Dummy. Related to busiessman close to Ex-CM
66.	Shri Nivruti G Bhosale	Politician related to Ruling Party.
67.	Shri. Amar Singh Waghmare	Dummy actually sold to businessman
68.	Lt Gen Tejinder Singh , VSM	Defence personnel, but under agreement with some private businessman.
69.	Shri. Krishnajirao Rakhmajirao Desai (alias) Babasaheb Kupekar	NCP Leader & Former Speaker of Maharashtra Legislative Assembly. Former Minister of Govt. of Maharashtra.
70.	Shri. Ranjit Chintamani Sangitrao	Son of IAS Mr. C.S. Sangitrao, Ex-Principal Secretary – UDD & Ex-Principal Secretary of CM – Vilasrao Deshmukh. Ex-Collector, Mumbai.
71.	Devyani Khobragade	Related to IAS
72	Lt Cdr. Gurumukh S Grewal	Defence personnel
73.	Smt.Seema Vinod Sharma	Related to CM
74.	Shri.Jagdish Ambika Prasad Sharma	Related to CM
75.	Shri.Sajjan Singh Yadav	Dummy – Actually under agreement with Politician
76.	Shri Kedari Vishal Kishore	Related to IAS
77.	Nirmal Chander Vij,	Defence Personnel. Now staying in Delhi.
78.	Gen Deepak Kapoor,	Defence Personnel. Now staying in Delhi
79.	Smt. Idzes Angmo Kundan	IAS Ex-Collector of Mumbai.
80.	Shri. Onkar Tiwari	Related to IAS.
81.	Shri. Balasahib Yeshwantrao Sawant	Politician
82.	Shri.Sadusing Fulsing Rajput	Politician – Dummy Allottee.
83.	Mr.Mukundrao Govindrao Mankar	Related to MP.
84.	Mr.Sanjoy Shankaran	Son of IAS Mr. D.K. Shankaran, Ex-Chief Secretary, Govt. of Maharashtra, & Ex-Principal Secretary of CM – Vilasrao Deshmukh.
85.	Mr.Paramveer Abhey Sancheti	Son of brother of BJP MLA Mr. Chainsukh Kisanlal Sancheti from Malkapur, Buldhana. Closely related to BJP National President Mr. Nitin Gadkari as his Full-Time Business Partner Mr. Ajay Sancheti, National Executive Member of BJP.
86	Mr.Suresh Gulabrao Atram	Dummy Allottee – Bogus Scheduled Tribes. No Tribe validity certificate submitted so far.
87.	Ms.Sheetal Vinod Ganju	IAS allottee.
88.	Mr.Anil Kumar Thakur	Politician allotTee.
89.	Mr. Bhavesh Ambalal Patel	Related to NCP Leader.
90.	Mrs.Bhagwati Manoharlal Sharma	Related to CM
91	Mr.Madanlal Milkiram Sharma	Related to CM
92.	Mr.Satyasandha Vinayak Barve	IAS allottee relative
93.	Maj Gen Ram Kanwar Hooda	Defence Personnel. Now staying in Delhi.
94.	Mr.Dhondiram Ganpati Waghmare	Related to IAS
95.	Col KJS Khurana	Defence Personnel. Now staying in Delhi.
96.	Ms.Raorane Rupali Harishchandra	Politician Dummy Allottee.
97.	Shri.Siddhartha Sonu Gamre	Politician Dummy Allottee.
98.	Shri.Girish Pravinchandra Mehta	Related to Ruling Party MLA
99.	Shri.Manilal K Thakur	Related to Ruling Party MLA
100.	Sushil Chand Sharma	Defence Personnel. Now staying in Delhi.
101.	Shri.S.B.Chavan	In the name of father of CM Ashok Chavan, though he died long long back.
102.	Capt Praveen Kumar	Defence Personnel. Now staying in Delhi.
103.	Dr (Mrs) Archana Tiwari	Related to IAS. Dummy Allotee.

THUS THE LIST INDICATE ITS TRUE PICTURE AS TO HOW THE CLAIM OF ADARSH SOCIETY IS WRONG AND UNFOUNDED

In light of the facts mentioned above, we hereby demand that

1. The entire scam should be handed over to CBI or Independent High Level Enquiry Authority for enquiry, investigation and prosecution under the provisions of Indian Penal Code & Prevention of Corruption Act since the members / allottee of the Adarsh Society is either dummy / fictious or close relations of the High profile top politicians, Ministers, IAS/ IPS Officers, Defence Services Officers who have taken ultimate advantage of the benefits given to the high rise building in a prestigious society in posh colaba area of South Mumbai, under the shelter of War Widows.

2. Entire money paid by the so called member /allottees of the society for getting the flats need to be thoroughly investigated because money has been deployed directly or indirectly by High profile top politicians, Ministers, IAS/ IPS Officers, Defence Services Officers, in direct violation of provisions of Prevention of Corruption Act from the sources other than their known sources of legitimate Income.

3. Three war widows shown as allottee need to be examined because the ultimate beneficiary is some other person who is occupying and enjoying the benefits of the flats. Similarly, allotment made in the name of Schedule Castes & Scheduled Tribes persons need to be probed since allottee are either bogus SC / ST not having valid caste / Tribe Certificate and their ultimate beneficiary are some politicians or top IAS officials.

4. The entire scam is of high profile, therefore need to be investigated thoroughly by independent agencies to expose the scam of High profile top politicians, Ministers, IAS/ IPS Officers, Defence Services Officers.

We hope, you will take immediate appropriate action in the interest to the justice with the faith and belief of a common man in this most sensitive issue pertaining to the war widows in whose name Adarsh Society has took various advantages and benefits in direct violation of various laws, statute, rules & regulations. We are confident if probed independently, all guilty can be prosecuted under the provisions of Prevention of Corruption Act.

Thanking you,

Yours faithfully,

KISHORE TIWARI.

PRESIDENT,

VIDARBH JAN ANDOLAN SAMITI

A movement fighting for justice to the Common Man.