Pranav Kulkarni Posted online: Sat Jun 19 2010, 06:32 hrs
Pune : Vilas Bardekar of Pune was kidnapped by suspected BODO militants in West Kameng in Arunachal Pradesh
It’s been over a month and there is no trace of Vilas Bardekar, social forestry officer from Pune, who was kidnapped by suspected BODO militants on May 12 in West Kameng district of Arunachal Pradesh. While government officials are tight lipped about the developments, family and friends have been praying for the safe release of the officer.
Minister of Forests Patangrao Kadam said, “We have appointed a nodal officer who is looking into the matter. I don’t want to comment on the issue.” “We have strict restrictions from government authorities and are not allowed to comment on the issue. The efforts are on and we are hoping for Bardekar’s safe release,” said Prakash Thosare, director, social forestry.
A number of social organisations working for Bardekar’s release have been blaming the government officials for their incapability to deal with the situation. “It has been about 40 days and the government has not appointed a single person to follow up the case. On June 4, we wrote a letter to President Pratibha Patil requesting her to look into the matter. It is learnt that the militants are now asking for ransom,” said kishor Tiwari, president, Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti. “The response would not have been similar if a minister’s near and dear one was kidnapped,” said Kishor Rithe, president, Satpuda Foundation.
“We have been told that the negotiations are on and something positive should soon come out. The militants have put in fresh demands asking for ransom and as per our knowledge, the government is dealing with it. The family is going through a tough time,” said Sudhakar Shankarrao Suratkar, Bardekar’s brother-in-law.
Environment Day Appeal :Vidarbha reports 213 Human ,more than 2300 Bats ,312 Monkeys Deaths due to Heat wave in last ten days,’ water scarcity forcing more than 12 Million People to drink Toxic Water
NAGPUR-June 5 ,2010
The heat wave sweeping across vidarbha claimed 213 lives while there are wide spread reports of deaths of more than 2300 bats and 312 monkeys due to on going Heat Wave The death toll in Vidarbha region of Maharashtra mounted to 213 since May 24, 2010 as per reports of these deaths came from Nagpur, Buldhana, Bhandara, Chandrapur, Amravati and Gadchiroli districts,Vidarbha Janandolan Samiti (VJAS) informed in a press note today.
Here is the date wise death count of victims due to on going Heat wave
Date
Death Due to Heat wave in vidarbha
24th may
30
25th may
31
26 th may
36
27th may
33
28th May
18
29th May
11
30th May
10
31ST May
14
1st JUNE
12
2nd JUNE
08
TOTAL
213
Chandrapur,Yavatmal,Akola ,Amaravati ,Buldhana and Washim has crossed whewa s wardha reported allmost 50°C this year and water crisis is adding fuel to the scorching heat wave as region is reeling under drought and state administration has shown it’s inability to tackle the crisis ,VJAS added.
“most ofrivers ,dam and water reservoirs are completely dry ,there is no water in the forest and the village too .in last two days deaths of thousands of bats and hundreds of monkeys reported but this is piece of iceberg as more than 12 milion population is drinking water which is being mined below the 200 meters which is very toxic damaging major organs.the administration has declared this water is unsafe for drinking they have no choice or solution to provide the safe drinking water as per CM Ashok Chavan water crisis are so serious that 20,240 villages facing water scarcity, only 4 % water in Marathwada dams, and 3% in vidarbha dams . CM said that we all know the problems give him the Solution.
The uncontrolled water mining and mega deforestation in central India and unplanned surface water management in the region is the result of ecological crisis; the drastic climate is change is manmade due to wrong policies of administration. the intensity of heat wave and new peak in parametric graph is significant higher in the vidarbha region where surface water management is nil and area has lost major forest cover due illicit tree cutting by politicians which has converted vidarbha in to desert in last decade and we are paying the price of it,today hundreds of innocent are been killed by sunstroke ,next summer will claim thousand lives if these ecological imbalance is not corrected. this is very big warning of climate change and Indian Govt. should respond to it ” Kishor tiwari of VJAS urged Indian Govt on “Environment Day” today .
The ajaat, a once proud anti-caste social reform movement, have been reduced to an isolated group viewed as something like a caste themselves.
— Photo: P. Sainath “CASTE IS EVERYTHING”: Chaitanya Prabhu and Shyam Maharaj, the surviving grandsons of ajaat founder Ganpati Maharaj, at Shyam's house in Mangrul (Dastgir) village of Amravati district.
Amitabh Bachchan says that if ever asked about his caste by Census enumerators, his answer would be: Caste – Indian. That, of course, would do little more than stoke the media's bollywood feeding frenzy yet again. Shyam Maharaj is no Bachchan. Nor is his brother, Chaitanya Prabhu. But they and the followers of their fraternity will likely throw up far more complex answers — and questions — if Census enumerators do finally pop that query on caste. “Our answer: we are ajaat. Here is my school leaving certificate to prove that. But you can write what you like,” Prabhu tells us at his house in Mangrul (Dastgir) village of Amravati district.
Ajaat: this literally means ones without caste. The ajaat was a bold social movement of the 1920s and '30s that at its peak had tens of thousands of committed followers in what are present-day Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. It was led by the colourful and eccentric social reformer Ganpati Bhabhutkar better known as Ganpati Maharaj. Chaitanya Prabhu and Shyam Maharaj are his surviving grandsons. Apart from the usual anti-liquor and anti-violence norms of such movements, Ganpati Maharaj threw in others. He attacked caste frontally. Many stopped idol worship at his call. He pressed for gender equality and even railed against private property. And, in the 1930s, he and his followers declared themselves as ‘ ajaat.'
His inter-caste dining drive raised hackles in the villages he worked in. As one of his disciples P. L. Nimkar put it: “he would ask his followers from all castes to bring cooked food from their homes. This, he would mix up totally and distribute the mix as prasad.” Caste was his great target. “Inter-caste weddings and widow remarriage — that's what he sought and achieved,” says Prabhu. “In our own family, from granddad to us, we married into eleven different castes, from brahmins to dalits. In our extended family there have been scores of such weddings. Ganpati Maharaj himself had such a marriage.” He also “created the religion of ‘ maanav' (humanity) and opened the temple here to dalits, offending the upper castes,” says Shyam Maharaj. “They filed cases against him and no one would touch his case. All the vakils here at the time were brahmins.”
The movement waned over years, as some followers left on the caste issue, and with its Gurus's death in 1944. (He is buried at a community centre he built here decades ago, just opposite Prabhu's home). Still, it remained known and respected for some time after independence. “See my school leaving certificate,” says Prabhu, showing it to us. “As late as the 1960s, even the ‘70s, we still got certificates calling us ajaat. Now, schools and colleges say they've never heard of us and won't give our children admission.” The surviving ajaat are not doing too well. Shyam and Prabhu just about make ends meet as petty agricultural traders.
Forgotten by the late ‘70s, the ajaat were re-discovered some years ago by Nagpur journalists Atul Pandey and Jaideep Hardikar who wrote about their plight in Marathi and English respectively. Their reports sparked a Maharashtra government move to help them. But that died with the exit of the one senior official who had shown interest in the matter.
Ajaat candidates can't contest panchayat polls. Poll officials refuse to accept their forms — which state no caste. “ Ajaat folk can't get ration cards without a huge struggle,” says Prabhu. College admissions, scholarships and government jobs elude them for the same reasons. Other villagers won't marry into these families now as their caste status lacks clarity. In short, the followers of a once proud anti-caste reform movement have been reduced to a couple of thousand people viewed as something like a caste themselves.
“My niece Sunaina could not get into college,” says Prabhu. “The college said: ‘we don't recognise this ajaat. Bring us a proper caste certificate and we'll admit her'.” His nephew Manoj who did finally make it to college says: “They treat us as an oddity there. There were no scholarships for any of us. No one there believes such a thing as ajaat exists.” A restless younger generation feels imprisoned by the past. Many of the ajaat, including Prabhu's family, have faced the ignominy of having to trace out an ancestor whose caste could be clearly proven.
“Imagine our humiliation,” he says. “We have to take out caste certificates for our children.” Not easy, given the generations of inter-caste marriages these families have seen. And even the ledger of the village kotwal lists them as ‘ ajaat.' Some have had to trace a great grandfather whose caste could be established. “To recover and rebuild those old records is a horrible job,” says Prabhu. “The authorities suspect us of concealing things and faking our caste. And it hurts us like anything to make these caste certificates. But without them our children are truly stuck.” Sadly, they had no choice but to trace out the caste origin of anti-caste crusader Ganpati Maharaj himself. That was needed for his great-grandchildren.
Quite a few of the remaining 2,000 or so ajaat gather at that centre in this village in November each year. “Now there is only one such family we have contact with in Madhya Pradesh,” says a glum Prabhu. The rest are in Maharashtra. “Only 105 are formally registered with our body, the ajaatiya maanav sanstha. But far more than that come to our annual meeting. However, consider that we once had 60,000 members in this movement.”
“We need a much more comprehensive survey of caste than the mere introduction of a question in the Census will permit,” says economist Dr. K. Nagaraj (formerly with the Madras Institute of Development Studies) who has worked on the subject. “That we need caste data is beyond doubt. But we need that data in a frame that captures the huge diversity, location-specific nature, and the many other complexities of caste. A single question in the 2011 census will not achieve that. This is perhaps a job for the National Sample Survey and its team of trained investigators with much advance preparation.”
So what happens if that enumerator does come around to your house with the question on caste? “Believe me,” says Prabhu, “It will confuse him. I think they should create a different category in the Census for people like us. We must declare who we are. We have fought against everything that stands for caste. But in this society, caste is in everything.”
Vidarbha Janandolan Samiti (VJAS) in letter to Prime Minister Dr.Manmohan singh has demanded C.B.I. probe in to massive allged corruption and land scam in Satyam land deal after the recent report of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) that Maharashtra Government, operating through the Maharashtra Airport Development Company Ltd (MADC) helped Satyam Computers acquire land at damned cheap rate in MIHAN. The comptroller and auditor general (CAG) has slammed the state government for granting an “undue benefit” of Rs20.21 crore to Satyam Computer Services Limited (SCSL). The company was given land at a rate much lower than the existing market price for the Multi-model International Passenger and CargoHubAirport (Mihan) at Nagpur.
VJAS has recalled PMO regarding their complaint and PMO enquiry through ministry of company affairs in which the role R C Sinha, the then Vice Chairman and Managing Director (VC&MD) of Maharashtra Airport Development Company (MADC), for the role he played in the Satyam as well as in other deals and his links R C Sinha had with a Satyam subsidiary namely MAYTAS (‘Satyam’ if read in reverse) alleging the massive corruption and giving protecting vested interests of local politicians The CAG has now rapped the Maharashtra Government for giving "undue benefit of over Rs 20 crore" to controversial Satyam Computer Services Limited by selling land at lower rates in Multimodal International Hub Airport (MIHAN) project at Nagpur.
VJAS in the earlier complaint odd t.10th jan.2009 questioned the role of R C Sinha in allotment of land to Satyam Computer Services , was it because Sinha was Chairman of Maytas Infra (the company whose involvement brought about the disgraceful downfall of Satyam), dual role which has caused loss Rs.20 croreto public exchangerwhich fullest knowledge of chief minister and leader of opposition
As per CAG report that states, "The Maharashtra Airport Development Company Limited (MADC) allotted 100 acre land to Satyam at a lower rate of Rs 18 lakh per acre against applicable rate of Rs 24.28 lakh considering it as an ‘early bird’ offer."
The report questions the logic behind allotting land to Satyam, an IT company, at a far cheaper rate when another IT major Shapoorji Pallonji and Company Limited was given land at the rate of Rs 26.30 lakh per acre.
Scoffing at the ‘early bird offer’ idea advanced by Sinha for Satyam , the CAG says that how can Satyam be considered an early bird when Shapoorji Pallonji, too, was awarded the land on the same day i.e. December 5, 2005, but at a far higher price tag. MADC had approved 100 acre of land at MIHAN to Shapoorji Pallonji and Company Limited at the rate of Rs 26.30 lakh per acre for an IT company on the same day’ says the CAG report.It is alleged that was close to B Ramalinga Raju, Founder and Chairman of Satyam Computer Services. The relations had thickened during the tenure of Chandrababu Naidu when Sinha was serving the Andhra Pradesh Government. It was during this time that Sinha was installed as the Chairman of the beleaguered company Maytas.
VJAS allaged that this fact that R.C.Sinha being the Chairman of Maytas and having the direct connection with fraudlent company (Maytas) where Ramalinga Raju had a 36 per cent share and allottment of land to Satyam (owned by Raju), has raised many eyebrows in the local media that time too but MIHAN being CONGREE-BJP-NCP combined money garbing project everybody kept intentional salient and nobody questioned whether it was proper for a Managing Director of MADC to ‘deal’ with a company (Maytas) where he himself was the Chairman. The CAG report has almost put a stamp on the fishy deal.Satyam was also given over 28 acres of additional land on March 3, 2007 without the approval of the competent authority at a cheaper rate, the report said.
VJAS has aslo urged for detail probe of the role of local politician and all national party leaders who received multi-crore election fund for Raju and undue protection given to R.C.Sinha evenafter mega fraud of satyam broke of out. R.C.Sinha was defened and asked to continue and he further robbed the state exchanger by thousand of crore .MIHAN nagpur is turning out to be biggest land scam of the maharashtra if C.B.I. is allowed to probe at micro level.
here are media reports and our earlier complaints -
I quote
1)
CAG slams Mah for helping Satyam
The Hitavada Impact
By Rohinikant Matey
IT’S official now. The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) has stated that Maharashtra Government, operating through the Maharashtra Airport Development Company Ltd (MADC) helped Satyam Computers acquire land at damned cheap rate in MIHAN. This brings back into sharp focus R C Sinha, the then Vice Chairman and Managing Director (VC&MD) of Maharashtra Airport Development Company (MADC), for the role he played in the Satyam as well as in other deals.
The CAG finding has come as a vindication of The Hitavada story on January 11, 2009, questioning the role played by the MADC and its boss of the day. The Hitavada had exposed the tacit links R C Sinha had with a Satyam subsidiary namely MAYTAS (‘Satyam’ if read in reverse) and asked if that did not form vested interests that went against public interest.
The CAG has now rapped the Maharashtra Government for giving "undue benefit of over Rs 20 crore" to controversial Satyam Computer Services Limited by selling land at lower rates in Multimodal International Hub Airport (MIHAN) project at Nagpur.
Did R C Sinha grant extra-ordinary favours to Satyam Computer Services while allotting land to the now-maligned company at MIHAN, was the pointed question raised by The Hitavada then. And was it because Sinha was Chairman of Maytas Infra (the company whose involvement brought about the disgraceful downfall of Satyam), a connection nobody was aware of at the highest level, was the poser.
Coming down heavily on the Maharashtra Government, the CAG report states, "The Maharashtra Airport Development Company Limited (MADC) allotted 100 acre land to Satyam at a lower rate of Rs 18 lakh per acre against applicable rate of Rs 24.28 lakh considering it as an ‘early bird’ offer."
The report questions the logic behind allotting land to Satyam, an IT company, at a far cheaper rate when another IT major Shapoorji Pallonji and Company Limited was given land at the rate of Rs 26.30 lakh per acre.
Scoffing at the ‘early bird offer’ idea advanced by Sinha for Satyam , the CAG says that how can Satyam be considered an early bird when Shapoorji Pallonji, too, was awarded the land on the same day i.e. December 5, 2005, but at a far higher price tag.
‘Incidentally, MADC had approved 100 acre of land at MIHAN to Shapoorji Pallonji and Company Limited at the rate of Rs 26.30 lakh per acre for an IT company on the same day’ says the CAG report.
It was a well known fact that Sinha was close to B Ramalinga Raju, Founder and Chairman of Satyam Computer Services. The relations had thickened during the tenure of Chandrababu Naidu when Sinha was serving the Andhra Pradesh Government. It was during this time that Sinha was installed as the Chairman of the beleaguered company Maytas.
Surprisingly, nobody in the MADC or at the Government level was aware of Sinha being the Chairman of Maytas. The direct connection of Sinha with a company (Maytas) where Ramalinga Raju had a 36 per cent share and allottment of land to Satyam (owned by Raju), has raised many eyebrows in the Mantralaya.
Questions were raised whether it was proper for a Managing Director of MADC to ‘deal’ with a company (Maytas) where he himself was the Chairman. The CAG report has almost put a stamp on the fishy deal.
Satyam was also given over 28 acres of additional land on March 3, 2007 without the approval of the competent authority at a cheaper rate, the report said.
------------
2)Printed from
Maharashtra govt gave `undue benefit’to Satyam
PTI, May 3, 2010, 03.18pm IST
MUMBAI: The Comptroller of Auditor General (CAG) of India has rapped Maharashtra Government for giving "undue benefit of over Rs 20 crore" to controversial Satyam Computer Services Limited by selling land at lower rates in Multimodal International Hub Airport (MIHAN) project at Nagpur.
"The Maharashtra Airport Development Company Limited (MADCL) allotted 100 acre land to Satyam at a lower rate of Rs 18 lakh per acre against applicable rate of Rs 24.28 lakh considering it as an 'early bird' offer," the report said.
The land was given to Satyam to set up an IT company at MIHAN on December 5, 2005.
Incidentally, MADCL had approved 100 acre of land at MIHAN to Shapoorji Pallonji and Company Limited at the rate of Rs 26.30 lakh per acre for an IT company on the same day.
"The sale of land to Satyam at lower rate was not justifiable and it resulted in a loss of revenue of Rs 6.28 crore to MADCL owing to undue benefit offered to Satyam," the report said.
Satyam was also given over 28 acres of additional land on March 3, 2007 without the approval of the competent authority at the rate of Rs 22.35 lakh per acre while the market price during 2005-06 was Rs 72 lakh per acre, the report said.
"The allotment of additional land without the approval of competent authority at less than the prevailing market price of land was irregular and resulted in loss of revenue of Rs 13.93 crore," it said.
3)Satyam land deal robbed the state of Rs20cr: CAG
The comptroller and auditor general (CAG) has slammed the state government for granting an “undue benefit” of Rs20.21 crore to Satyam Computer Services Limited (SCSL).
The company was given land at a rate much lower than the existing market price for the Multi-model International Passenger and CargoHubAirport (Mihan) at Nagpur.
And SCSL was given the concession without the approval of the board of directors of the Maharashtra Airport Development Company (MADC), nodal agency for the project.
While selling land to the various companies establishing their facilities at the special economic zone in Mihan, the rate finalised by the board of directors was Rs24.28 lakh per acre.
However, SCSL was given land at the rate of Rs18 lakh per acre. It resulted in a loss of Rs6.28 crore for the MADC, and subsequently for the government.
On the other hand, Shapoorji Pallonji and Company Limited (SPCL) had to buy land at Rs26.3 lakh per acre — a rate higher than the quoted price.
After the first deal at a discounted rate in 2005, SCSL made a request for additional land. The company was allotted 28.06 acres of additional land at the rate of Rs22.35 lakh per acre in March 2007. This was done without approval of the board of directors.
The market price during 2005-06 was Rs72 lakh per acre, as offered by M/s Reatox Builders & Developers for the non-processing zones. The irregularity led to a revenue loss of Rs13.93 crore. The total loss in the two deals was Rs20.21 crore, the CAG report has said.
In its clarification to the CAG, the MADC management has said that the first allotment to SCSL and the SPCL deal was not made on the same day. However, the CAG is not ready to buy it.
“Advertisement for the land was given in December 2004, while the Centre approved the SEZ in August 2005. For the allotments to SCSL and SPCL, it is true that they were not done on the same day, but both proposals were approved in the same meeting on December 5, 2005,” the report said.
Nagpur, Jan 10 (PTI) Vidarbha Janandolan Samiti has demanded a probe into the role and links of Maharashtra Airport Development Company (MADC) managing director R C Sinha in the accounting fraud of Satyam Computers.
Sinha, in his capacity as MD of MADC, has signed agreements with Satyam-promoted Maytas company where he was the chairman at the same time, Samiti president Kishor Tiwari said in a statement here today.Maharashtra government should immediately relieve Sinha from MADC and from the ambitious MIHAN project where Satyam had plans to come up with a unit, it said.Samiti has demanded a CBI probe into the alleged links of Sinha with Satyam, Maytas and over all fruad. It has also written to Chief Minister Ashok Chavan to look into alleged fraud.
5)Satyam Scam : Maytas Infra ex-Chairman R.C. Sinha misleading ,admits to hold directorship of two other MADC beneficiaries companies
NAGPUR-13th January 2009
Whole vidarbha has been shocked to learn the news that the main man behind MIHAN - Multiti-modal International Cargo Hub and Airport at NagpurShri. R.C. Sinha, I.A.S. presentely working as Vice Chairman & Managing Director, Maharashtra Airport Development Ltd. (MADC)Company in the ranking Addl. Chief Secretary, Govt. of Maharashtra has resigned as chairman of Maytas Infra Pvt.Ltd. as Maytas Infra is company owned by family members of Satyam Computer Services founder and ex.chairman Ramlinga Raju who has alleged to siphoned out Rs.7000 crore for real estate business and Ramalinga Raju's son Teja Raju is the vice-chairman and chief executive of Maytas Infra., defended himself saying Satyam deal had helped push Mihan. He denied there was any conflict of interest in his heading Mihan and also being chairman of Maytas Infrastructure, a company owned by Satyam promoters. He reiterated that he had disclosed his position in Maytas to the "full board" of the MADC. He said "full board" meant even the chief minister, who is ex-officio chairman, attended the meeting. However, the then chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh had clarified that he was not aware of Sinha's Maytas connection.
MADC managing director R C Sinha has come out with shocking admission that he is till director of Indu Developers Similarly, he has been on Bengal Ambuja board for eight years. This company is a joint venture between West Bengal Housing Board and the Gujarat Ambuja Cements Limited. Indu Developers and Ambuja Realty are reported to have been allotted Mihan land at much cheaper rates but MADC managing director R C Sinha says that there was no clash of interest .
‘Infact companies in which MADC managing director R C Sinha is associated have been benefited ,it matter of pure misuse of power and multi thousand corruption hence we are asking for probe over the matter’ Kishor Tiwari president ( Vidarbha Jan andolan Samiti) asked in a press note today as earlier he in letter to Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan asked to arrange C.B.I. enquiry in to involvement of very senior retd. I.A.S officer till working on special duty on sensitive project like MIHAN in which Maytas Infra has beengiven big landby Maharashtra Airport Development Ltd. (MADC) controlled by Shri. R.C. Sinha.
VJAS has objected the duel status of Shri. R.C. Sinha, as as Vice Chairman & Managing Director, Maharashtra Airport Development Ltd. (MADC) and chairman of Maytas Infra Pvt.Ltd and raised issue of legitimate permission and morality as MIHAN - Multi-modal International Cargo Hub and Airport at Nagpur is dream project of all politicians expecting creation of millions of jobs for vidarbha youths .
VJAS has brought the attention of Maharashtra Govt. over the media reports of diversion huge fund to Maytas Infra Pvt.Ltd in the mega projects of Hyderabad metro rail and others projects in pipeline .VJAS has urged administration that MADC managing director R C Sinha is making the statements like he is man beyond the law of land and he has obliged Maharashtra Govt. to bring his own companies in MIHAN and now the whole matter needs scanner and clarification, Tiwari added.
============
unquote
VJAS has objected the duel status of Shri. R.C. Sinha, as as Vice Chairman & Managing Director, Maharashtra Airport Development Ltd. (MADC) and chairman of Maytas Infra Pvt.Ltd and raised objection on the salience of maharashtra chief minister Ashok chavan keeping him as MIHAN - Multi-modal International Cargo Hub and Airport at Nagpur is dream project of all politicians expecting creation of millions of jobs for vidarbha youths,it shows all are directely involved in this mega corruption which needs C.B.I. probe to nail to truth to thr public
Poor monsoons, depleting water tables, and dams with no water have brought the 3,400 villages of Vidarbha to a water crisis the likes of which they have never seen before, writes Jaideep Hardikar
Mangi-Sunday, May 2, 2010 2:17 IST
Jaideep Hardikar
Sitting in the front yard of his hut, Babarao Turankar, 50, and his neighbours in Mangi village of south Yavatmal are engaged in deep discussion. Finally, one of them says, "Let's begin our search after lunch." It's been more than a month since they began hunting for a well that has water, says an agitated Turankar, sarpanch (head) of the village. "So far we haven't found one source that will see us through this summer." The village's two wells and the three bore-wells that fed it are parched. They have gone dry for the first time. Understandably, Mangi is in panic. Turankar says they need to find a well or a bore-well within 2km of the village boundary soon, because the only well that has some water left would run dry in another week. "This is the first time," says the sarpanch. "Mangi has never seen dry wells before." Mangi is by no means an isolated case. In Maharashtra, 20,000 villages are in acute drought, a situation described by the water supply and sanitation minister Laxman Dhoble as "very, very critical." In May it could turn ugly, he told reporters in Nagpur on April 29. The situation is worst in Vidarbha's 3400 villages, as almost all the major reservoirs in the district are running at dead storage levels, from where the water can't be lifted into the streams. Yavatmal is the worst hit. Here, two of the 3 major dams have zero water storage at this time, and there's May to go. A failed 2009 monsoon in Vidarbha came on the heels of two bad monsoons. Yavatmal's long-term average annual rainfall is 911 mm. In 2009, it received less than 450 mm of erratic rains in small spells. In 2007, it got 844 mm rainfall, and in 2008, 633 mm or 70 per cent of the average. "What we face in the middle of March every year, we were facing in October last," says the district collector Sanjay Deshmukh. Adding to the meteorological drought is the hydrological drought, with the water table receding to disastrous levels. Almost every district has recorded a steep decline in water table: an average of 3-5 meters in five years, and a staggering 8-10 meters over a decade, according to the Groundwater Surveys and Development Authority (GSDA). Over extraction, misuse and illegal 'water mining' have combined with other factors to push the water table ever lower. A failed monsoon only contributes to the problem."Not only has the days of rainfall reduced over the past few years, the water recharging has also been very poor," says Ulhas Band, a GSDA junior engineer at Amravati. This particularly hot summer, in a region where 75 per cent of water supply schemes have shut down, water scarcity is driving the villagers to desperation. "Almost every woman in our village will lose a lot of weight by the time monsoon arrives," says Ankita Chahare, 18, of Pachpore village in Zari tehsil of Yavatmal, as she prepares to fill her can at the only 'live' hand pump alive in the entire village. Chahare is a mother of one, and the hand pump she's working on summons water from several hundred feet. It's 3 pm and the mercury is stuck at 45 degrees for the past 15 days or so. But this is Chahare's fourth trip at the hand pump. And she will be back again with her three canisters. And she makes these four trips three times a day, every day. Almost every woman - in this village and all over Vidarbha - spends four to five hours every day fetching water, often waling for miles. When Chahare's husband returns from work in the evening, she says, he also joins her with a can or two. 'City pipeline's our only source' Pachpore is lucky in one sense: it actually has a working pump. The catch is that it is contaminated with fluoride. Villagers use this water for non-potable purposes and wait for a tanker for drinking water. Alongside this pump is a stream that has long gone dry. There is no trail of water; only a cracked wall of what must have been a substandard barrage. Like Mangi, for Pachpore, too, this running out of water is a first. Most villages in Yavatmal are at the mercy of tankers that supply water from sources far away. Pachpore gets its water from a bore-well in Hiwra-Barsa village, 7 km away, and it is their only hope. "If my bore dries, they are done," says Suresh Bolenwar, a farmer activist of the Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti, whose bore-well supplies 24,000 litres of water every day to Pachpore and two other villages, free of cost. Bolenwar prays his bore does not run dry. "Otherwise there will be water riots here." In the saline tracts of Akola, Amravati and Buldana, the search for water is getting angrier. "In some of our villages," says Vasudev Ingle in Kinkhed, Akola, "You can get water supply once in 10 or 12 days." Ingle and his fellow villagers now raid a pipeline that carries water from Katepurna dam to Akola city, every alternate day. "It is the only source available to us," he says, drawing water from the supply line's valve. More than 200 villages in the saline tract, where ground water is salty and non-potable, the scarcity is frightening. Says Maya Ove of Dharel village, carrying three pots on her head, one on top of the other, "Hunting for water takes up most of our time every day." Even the livestock you see are searching for water. And there's little of it to be found anywhere.
Not a natural calamity "For years, we neglected strengthening water sources and helping improve recharge," says a senior official. "Now we're paying the price." This is not a natural calamity, avers noted water expert, economist and former planning board member, HM Desarda. "This is a structured, man-made disaster." The state, he says, is facing scarcity as a result of faulty planning and wasteful spending on unwarranted projects, which are benefitting only contractors and some ministers. "Even dams are running out of water! Why?" he asks. Even if Vidarbha receives half its annual rainfall, it comes to 450 mm, he says. On a hectare of land, it means five million litres of water. "Even if you conserve and save 100 mm of it, it comes to a million litres." The drought of mid-2009 really took its toll on people from February and March this year. In a single crop area like Vidarbha, where assured irrigation is barely 7 per cent, even the slightest aberration in rain fall or drop in water table means a sure disaster. Crop failure means up to 24 months without income. Two successive failures can easily break the back of most farmers in a region already beset by crises. Already, the number of farmer suicides is beginning to rise once more, and outstanding debts - after the 2008 loan waiver sop - have shot up. According to the Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti, in the first four months of 2009, the suicide toll in the six districts of Western Vidarbha is close to 300.
‘Ajit Pawar and Narayan Rane has no right to comment on vidarbha statehood issue-VJAS
Nagpur - april 23, 2010
The recent statements of Maharashtra ministers Ajit Pawar and Narayan Ranehas strongly condemned by pro-vidarbha statehood activist group Vidabha Jan andolan Samiti (VJAS) terming unwarned and uncalled for ,it’s just rubbing the salt to the wounds of the dying vidarbha farmers and tribal.
‘ Ajit Pawar andNarayan Raneboth ministers have not moral and legitimate right to decide the statehood issueof vidarbha when NCP has already supported the demand where as congress high command has not taken it’s final decision on the issue. these attempts to aggravate the issue to create law and order problem in the state as both ministers are completely aware on ground level sentiments of vidarbha people and continued injustice done to the people ofvidarbha more Ajit Pawar is the minister who is directly- indirectlyresponsible for thousands of cotton farmers suicides.statements are unfortunate and VJAS stronglycondemn it’ Kishor TiwariPresident of Vidabha Jan andolan Samiti (VJAS)informed in press note today .
VJAS was reacting to reported statements of Ajit Pawar and Narayan Rane,here
Mumbai: The NCP has supported the demand for a separate Vidarbha state, but water resource minister and NCP chief’s nephew Ajit Pawar on Thursday indicated that he did not want a separate state.
“We have supported the demand for Vidarbha and Marathwada in the past five years,” he said. “Nobody should doubt our intentions. But we should create such an atmosphere that no one should feel the need for a separate Vidarbha. We will not divert any funds allocated to any region. This is my assurance.”
Pawar was speaking at the legislative council after Manickrao Thakre of the Congress wanted to know if the tenure of the statutory development boards of Vidarbha and Marathwada would be extended. The tenure of the boards will end on April 30.
He told the house that the government would ask the Centre to extend the tenure of the statutory boards. “There are still eight days to make a recommendation,” he said. “But I do not want any region to feel left out.”
He announced that the government would give money from the contingency fund to complete the irrigation projects in Gadchiroli district, Vidarbha.
He, however, blamed leaders from Vidarbha for ignoring the region. “Some people enjoyed their tenure in the cabinet. They did not say anything,” he said. “Why did cooperative societies fail in some areas? Cows were distributed in Vidarbha from the prime minister’s package… why did the production of milk fall? I do not want to criticise anyone but it is everyone’s responsibility.”
Mumbai: Revenue minister Narayan Rane on Monday warned the BJP leaders that they should stop dreaming of statehood to Vidarbha as neither the government nor the people of Vidarbha are in favour of it. This is for the first time that any minister or Congress leader has firmly expressed views on the issue of independent Vidarbha.
Rane said the people from Vidarbha region have never been in favour of the statehood status.
“The results of the two elections recently showed it clearly as the both the ruling parties gained majority from the region. The leaders demanding independent status should realise clearly that they should stop dreaming about it,” he said.
The Congress leaders so far have never come out so emphatically against the demand for a separate Vidarbha. Even in the assembly and the Lok Sabha elections, the Congress chose to take an ambiguous stand on the matter.
Some of its leaders were in favour of the independent status, while others had left it to the party high command.
Rane said the BJP was trying to gain political mileage out of the issue. “Nobody will deny the plight of the farmers in Vidarbha. The need of the hour is to strengthen the farmers socially and economically. Efforts are needed to be put in by all the parties.
“Our government will leave no stone unturned to make the farmers from Vidarbha capable of fighting all odds. Apart from providing them fertilisers and seeds, adequate loans will also be made available,” he said.
The minister said his government never discriminated against farmers based on the region. “If the farmers from western Maharashtra are treading on forefront in farming, we should try to take farmers from Vidarbha and Marathwada on a par with them and my government is committed to achieving this goal,” he added.
“The government can fight if the problems of the farmers are of economic nature. But farmers are committing suicide because of other reasons, such as illness and lack of money for the wedding of their daughters. We should address these issues through awareness drives.”
Rane admitted that 6,161 farmers have committed suicide since 2001. “Suicide is not new to the region. Farmers have been committing suicide for last 50 years. But our government has sincerely attempted to get rid of it,” he added.
He claimed that the per capita income of the farmers in six districts with agrarian crisis of the Vidarbha has improved significantly in the past 10 years.
Rane also said that the government has demanded a new package of Rs7,264 crore from the Centre for the farmers of suicide-prone areas of Vidarbha.
UNQUOTE
‘Vidarbha statehood is issue that the people will decide it,the injustice and on going agrarian crisis has made the situation of the region worst .million of farmers are in despair and million of the tribal are malnourish. The drought in the area has created the severe water, food, fodder crisis in the region and ministers who are directly responsible and accountable to monitor the crisis are issuing such ridiculous and hostile statement.
Massive corruption in the irrigation contracts in last three years has made Ajit Pawar richer by thousands of crore as there are strong evidences of misdeed in the grant of contracts and VJAS has been demanding C.B.I.Probe in the Prime Minister Relief Package ’ Tiwari added.
Sangli's 10 tigers get Rs 28cr but Vid's 139 only Rs 3.8cr http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/nagpur/Sanglis-10-tigers-get-Rs-28cr-but-Vids-139-only-Rs-38cr/articleshow/5764946.cms
Vijay Pinjarkar , TNN, Apr 6, 2010, 04.25am IST NAGPUR: It is not just people of Vidarbha who suffer discrimination within Maharashtra. The step-motherly treatment extends to even wild animals. Even though Vidarbha has a bulk of Maharashtra's forests and wildlife, most of the funds for their protection are being siphoned off to western Maharashtra.
The manner in which funds were distributed under the state plan in 2009-10 show how the government, in its eagerness to take monies to western Maharashtra, is even leaving state's tigers unprotected. Of Rs 41.56 crore grants released under various heads, only Rs 3.78 crore were given for Vidarbha, while protected areas (PAs) in Western Maharashtra, which have only a fraction of wildlife of Vidarbha, managed to grab the rest.
Apart from the grants released under the centrally sponsored scheme (CSS) by the ministry of environment & forests (MoEF), money is released under state plan for promoting eco-tourism, wildlife protection, relocation of villages inside PAs, forest tourism, rescue centres and nature conservation.
Of the Rs 3.78 crore, Nagpur Wildlife Circle got Rs 1.80 crore for eco-tourism. It includes Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve (Rs 96 lakh); Pench (54 lakh); Bor (Rs 12 lakh); Tipeshwar (Rs 7.50 lakh); Chaprala (Rs 8.71 lakh) and Bhamragarh (Rs 2.10 lakh). Besides, Rs 1.43 crore were released for Melghat Tiger Reserve (MTR) including Rs 1.25 crore for MTR; Rs 7.40 lakh for Wan and Rs 10.60 lakh for Ambabarwa sanctuaries.
The state released Rs 3.18 lakh for a nature interpretation centre in Nagpur. Nagzira and Navegaon areas were completely ignored. Rs 10.67 lakh has been released for development of forest garden in Chikhaldara; Rs 6.67 lakh for Wadali (Amravati) and Rs 62.17 lakh for proposed works on Gorewada Zoo. The PAs in Vidarbha got Rs 3.24 crore but considering their area and importance, this is meagre.
These PAs constitute an area of 3,644 sq km and as per the 2007 official census figures have 139 tigers. The Wildlife Institute of India (WII) puts the figure at 103 (excluding cubs). On the other hand, huge sum of Rs 25.79 crore was released for relocation of villages inside Chandoli National Park, which is part of forest minister Patangrao Kadam's constituency Sangli. Conservationists say this is a cruel joke on tigers of Tadoba and Melghat where 24 villages need to be relocated on priority.
VIDARBHA JANANDOLAN SAMITI
PRESIDENT –
KISHORE TIWARI,
B.E. (Mech.Engg.), M.B.A., LL.B., M.A. (Pub. & Admn.), M.A. Sociology,
M.I.S. (USA), Fellow - I.E.H., Fellow – Institution of Engineers (India)-
CHARTERED ENGINEER
BACKGROUND :
Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti is fighting for the cause of common man since 1998.
Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti is constantly pursuing its battle on various fronts like –
a.Administrative
b.Judicial
c.Quasi-judicial
d.Legislative
e.Parliamentary
f.International levels
PUBLIC ISSUES :
1.Farmers suicides
2.Mal nutrition of Tribals.
3.Plights of Rural economy
4.Drinking water
5.Right to Food
6.Right to Education
7.Problems of Minorities
8.Issue of Separate Statehood to Vidarbha
THE EFFECT OF MOVEMENT :
The continued follow up and Jan Andolans of Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti has resulted in many success broadly classified as –
1.Waiver of small farmers crop loans
2.interest remission to marginal farmers
3.right to food to the lacs of tribals.
4.Primary Education to every rural students.
5.Farmers packages
6.BPL benefits to thousands of poor families.
7.Justice to unwed mothers
