Tuesday, April 15, 2014

“Banana- Republics have Onion-like Judiciaries”



The countries that are governed by the culprits, criminals and the accused are ashamed to lay down laws that advocate hard punishments on crimes. The elected representatives do not care to spend time on making laws as they are interested in spending time in order to find ways to break the laws , which may already  have been framed and put into force. This means they slowly move from the law-makers to "law-breakers".
This practice takes some time to enter the social-psyche of the masses where if one does not break Laws one is NOT considered powerful. Which means one is forced to break laws so as to project oneself that one IS  really  "Powerful".
The masses also then start copying the powerful by breaking laws that are in force. The masses congregate, shouts, protests, organizes sit-ins, walks on streets, etc. so as to exhibit that they also have the power to break the laws and they are not given power to break them. Thus, we have a series of cases piling up in the Courts of Laws wherein everybody big or small is asked to come for “hearings. These hearings are just a presentation of exhibiting the power of the Courts. If somebody avoids the appearances in the Court the power is exercised by the Court to arrest the accused for the Contempt of Court , etc. and forcibly produced in the Courts.
The Courts are none other than a part of our Society and the judges are human beings representing the masses. They also want to break the laws if somebody breaks the laws in front of them. The Courts are fully, ignorantly and totally depended on the system of administration in order to- record the events, report the event, make investigations into the evidence , provide relief to the victims of crimes, arrange for the advocates, submission of the fees for litigation, medical relief for those hurt,  arrest the accused, send them to jail, release them from jail, get salary for their services, get pensions after they retire, get promotion on jobs, get  Awards from the Governments,  go abroad to learn from other countries, get concessions for their kids, get educations and training from the experts, meet the seniors to get experiences and to get into the nit-gritty of the cases they hear.
Courts do not  want to reform themselves as they consider themselves to be  “above the Law of the Land.  No body dare challenge them even inside the books of Laws,  the precincts and in the Media. They are not interested in reforming themselves but  yes they want others to change for them.

Where have we seen any Advocate providing us a receipt of the fees of consultancies with pucca-bills ? The men in the black coats have been generating the money which may be b...... They have certain standards of getting the undisclosed fees from their clients. These men in black coats can manipulate the electronic reporting of the Official websites of the honorable Courts . The list of un-Constitutional activities that are carried out inside the Courts is very long and we can never reach possible solutions here.
Today almost all the Prisons (Jails) are overcrowded, thanks to these Onion-like Courts. The conditions inside these present-day modern Jails are inhuman for all of us but they thrive mainly due to the justice delayed and the justice denied
The rate of persecutions is so low that years are spent in final conviction of the culprits. Who can be sure to live so long ? The  series of heinous crimes that are taking place is solely due to the illegal system of  Justice-delivery.

The crux of the matter is the Courts are – dependent.
They are neither independent nor are they  "free" . Thus how can we expect Justice?
When we have some case sub-judice to the Court  we can expect the case to be peeledand  the whole process will make us cry !
The participants and all those who are the part of a Court-case have nothing but tears in their eyes once a matter reaches any Court!!

These Onion-like Courts can only make you........Cry !!!
bah  .booo hooo.. hoooo

P.S. -    This article is written and shared as a blog of the Author who belongs to a minority community in India , with an intention to neither defame nor demonise the Courts but only intended to bring out the harsh experience of the Author in various levels of courts of India. The bad experiences need to be shared so as to make other weaker sections of the Society aware that these processes are the real hindrances to true democracy and equality in India.

If you think this is an imaginary ravings of the author of this piece beware that I personally  ( and my family members ) have been victims of such actions and have been suffering due these actions and in-actions of our System of delivery of Justice , time and again.

 All said and done, we will never get into the night side of the fight for  our Rights until the System of  Justice-delivery changes with the changing times.
If   this principle applies to our present day Courts, I would like to add here that those whosoever  will complain about me and this article will again reach a Court which will start peeling and they will also cry as they will be a part of the litigation,.... ha...ha... ha !

Make self- help Groups of Women a Milestone of development



Let me start by asking you a question, have you seen a small child who has just started to walk and is afraid of being asked the question from her parent –
“ Hey! Stop! Where are you running so fast, my child ?”.
The parents know that the child need to walk but fear of falling is also seen in the mind of parents .The fear of falling and being scolded by the parents may not be always lurking in the mind of the child , who might have just tried to walk.
In all the probabilities, we are in the same frame of mind when we ask this question –
 Why do we need to sustain the self- help groups of the rural women?

I am putting stress on the word  rural ” with special reference to the areas which has some or any of the following features in its socio-geographical make up :-

  • The place is at least ten kilometers away from the nearest town or city;
  • The majority of the people residing there are dependent or living from the incomes coming from agriculture;
  • The basic-infrastructure like bank, schools, marketplace, telephones, electricity , hospitals, shops and roads have a limited access ( whatever may this term mean to you ) to all the people residing there and
  • The history of not encouraging or discouraging the involvement of the women and children in any public or major events of this place is also to be considered in this environment.

When we are now thus clear as to what I mean by a rural area let us also look into the possible or probable reasons of the formation of the self- help groups in the areas falling under rural categories.

The reasons could have been the following: -

i.       Announcement through the various Panchayati or State government functionaries about the availability of the various schemes that can be accessed after forming a small groups of women as in the S.G.S.Y., etc.
ii.      The presence of any or many non - government organizations( N.G.O.s )  in the area which may be encouraging the formation of the self- help groups( S.H.G.s) for all the residents kinds ( women, men, youth and children) of the area ;
iii.     The encouragement attained after coming in contact with the like- minded persons in the locality who might have already formed these kinds of groups in the recent past and who must have been operating them practically well.

The Merits and demerits of ALL the above processes have long been debated and already been discussed by many experts on this subject hence, I shall leave it to the wisdom of the reader to decide as to which process is best suited for her area and knowledge for the practice for the formation of the self- help groups for women, in particular.

Friday, January 3, 2014

New Year Resolutions



To sleep on time..
to wake on time....
to do work on time....
to eat on time...
to rest on time...
and now ...

what is this ...?

I have no time left for this Blog ?

wait and watch here...

Development Issues: I was a part of the pre-poll and post-poll Surve...

Development Issues:

I was a part of the pre-poll and post-poll Surve...
: I was a part of the pre-poll and post-poll Survey Team , traveling by road and meeting common people in  seven  Districts of Madhya P...

Thursday, December 12, 2013



    I was a part of the pre-poll and post-poll Survey Team , traveling by road and meeting common people in  seven  Districts of Madhya Pradesh during the recent State Assembly Elections in Madhya Pradesh. The campaign run by the State Election Commission had reached the villages that were linked by all weather roads and Mobile phone network. The employees of the State Government, The elected representatives in the village to District level panchayat and some of the elite Sponsors of the electioneering were in constant touch with the masses. The big rallies did not appeal to the rural people as they were busy in crop harvesting activities.
    The lessons are too many but I would like to pin point  the trends here :

  1. None of the National Leader appeals to the common Masses : Surprisingly no one single leader from Delhi level had appealed to the spirit of people this time be it Modi, Rahul, Sonia, Mulayam, et al even when they had come to rallies in Bhopal.

  2. Local issues dominated the elections- Selection of bahari ( Outsider )- candidates, local problems like water, electricity, link roads, corruption in Panchayats and delays in accessing the ration/ subsidies/ compensations of crop losses, etc. counted. The NOTA voting was discussed whenever they saw a new face in the electioneering.
  3. Local CM Shivraj dominated the mindset of all : yes be it ruling party, Opposition, bureaucracy, Implementing Agencies or the Media they all highlighted the face, character, work and promises of Shivraj Singh Chauhan. This was not diluted by the opposition leaders as they were projected as Dilliwallahs and were out of bound for the masses;

  4. Youth Voters made decisions : The elderly members of the family were sidelined by the youths as they wanted to vote for promises that were there before them . The rallies, meetings and discussions focused how youth wanted to change and saw the ruling party as a better alternative. No political party was able to satisfy there aspirations but they were struck by TINA and NOTA effect. They did not want to waste there votes in NOTA so they went for TINA ( There Is No Alternative );

  5. Inflation and Corruptions do not decide whom to Vote ! Everyone knew that Corruption, highhandedness and inflation goes with Every Political Party so why get swayed by these issues ? The Voters wanted a government which would seems-to  work for them, MLAs reside nearby and be accessible and make life easier by managing resources for them.

        So  looser,  get moving and  better luck….. next time !


Tuesday, August 20, 2013

God Nimmagiri Vs Dadagiri of Vedanta




Odisha in India is fighting another battle of freedom in the remote hilly tracks of Niyamgiri. This hill range is probably 250 kilometers long in the most backward district of Kalahandi and Rayagada. These forests are rich in minerals and forests , inhabited by lesser-known indigenous , primitive, tribes of Dongriya Kondh and Kutiya Kondh who speak kui ,a dialect very local to Niyamgiri area. These indigenous people survive mainly of forest produce, shifting cultivation and animal hunting. The outreach of any kind of government programmes are almost nill and they survive on their own laid out system of medicine and food habits. Sometimes they come down to local markets with some kind of collected forest produce to exchange it with salt and oils.

I would like to share with the readers that I have also worked as an NGO worker in Kalahandi District of Odisha in Thuamul Rampur Block which is accessible by road from Bhawanipatna . These are hilly areas still very poor in road,electricity, mobile phone and health service connectivity. The tribal people are surviving on their indigenous systems of birth , marriage, markets and death. There  are repeated attacks of malaria, cholera and other viral-diseases which go unreported in mainstream media. It is also very difficult for dedicated social workers to work here due to presence of wild animals, forest mafia and Maoists who have pre-defined territories which no one can violate. Even the local police  and forest personnel do not want to visit these villages due to lack of roads and risk of life for them.

Kondhs, the indeginous tribe,  in these mountains must have been reduced to a few thousands now but they are being approached by the State machinery due to a Supreme Court order to hold Gram Sabha, locally called as palli Sabha , in these some 12 bigger villages.  Vedanta want to mine some 70 million plus tonnes of bauxite from this area spread below the land area believed to be possessed and owned by God on the hilltop of Hundal jali called as Nimmagiri- the God who protects these tribal from the eyes of the evil forces. Supreme Court passed an order in April 2013 to ask for a vote from the inhabitants of the villages residing in the remotes of Niyamgiri.

Vedanta wants to mine bauxite from more than 660 hectares of land in the area. Even before all permissions were received they had constructed an alumina refinery at Lanjhigarh near the base of Niyamgiri with a cost estimated to be close to 1.7 billion dollars. The promoter of Vedanta have offered these villagers a series of vivid plans under corporate social responsibility  (CSR) but they are yet to be accepted by the inhabitants. The last of the 12 big public hearing-cum-gram sabhas held there have unanimously rejected the plans of Vedanta and it is now for the District Judge to finalize the reports and submit it to the Hon. Supreme Court of India.

So what we saw was an open-air , first ever, environmental- hearings , being conducted under the supervision of the Supreme Court thanks to timely intervention of the son-of-the –soil leader Sri Rahul Gandhi supported by the Ministry of Forest to protect the rights of the tribal through Forest rights Act by denying the permissions for Vedanta. Vedanta approached the Supreme Court which then ordered these open-air referendum, through palli sabha ( Gram Sabha ). The local leaders also supported the efforts to approach the indigenous people for this referendum.

The followers of  Nimmagiri have expressed their votes in favour of their God, now it remains to be how the Highest Court of the civilized- land deals with the dadagiri of Vedanta !

Will Nimmagiri win over   dadagiri ?
 I pray it, the former, wins !

Dated 20th.August, 2013 written with inputs from various published media reports and supported in strict confidence with  my own experience of working in Odisha.

tag : odisha @vedanta. Vedanta. Supreme Court of India, Dongriya Kondh,  Kutiya Kondh, Rahul Gandhi, Gram Sabha, Forest Right Act, CSR,

feedback may be sent to ameerparvez@gmail.com

Saturday, August 17, 2013

क्या बच्चों के मुँह से मध्यान्ह भोजन के निवाले छीनने की साज़िश हो रही है ?




भारत के प्रधानमंत्री स्व’ नरसिम्हाराव जी के ज़माने में जब सभी सरकारी स्कूलों में भोजन की व्यव्स्था प्रारंभ करी गयी तब उसका प्रभाव उस समय के लोकसभा के चुनावों पर भी झलका था और कांग्रेस की सरकार को पुन सफ़लता मिली थी। अब जब की 2014 के आम चुनाव नज़दीक हैं, हमें इस तथ्य की पड़ताल करनी चाहिये कि क्या भारत में आँगनवाड़ियों, सरकारी एवं गैर-सरकारी किंतु मान्यता प्राप्त प्राथमिक एवं मिडिल स्तर के स्कूलों में जो मध्यान्ह भोजन ( एम-डी-एम या मिड डे मील ) दिया जा रहा है ,उसके पीछे का खेल क्या है ?
 
1- मध्यान्ह भोजन की राशि ज़िला स्तर पर कहाँ से मिलती है ?


Text Box: फ़ोटो सौ-- परवेज़ अमीर, 2012 जन्, भोपाल, भारतम प्र में मध्यान्ह भोजन की राशि का आवंटन ज़िला पंचायत से कर के विकास खण्ड के जनपद पंचायत के माध्यम से सीधे उन इकाईयों के बैंक खातों में जमा कराई जाती है जो मध्यान्ह भोजन सप्लाई करते हैं। इसका मतलब यह है कि प्रथमिक एवं मिडिल स्तर के स्कूलों में जो मध्यान्ह भोजन सप्लाई करनेवाले स्वयं-सहायता समूह हैं उनके बैंक खाते में उस समूह के द्वारा सप्लाई किये गये मध्यान्ह भोजन के औसत के मान से कोई राशि का आंकलन कर के प्रति बच्चे के अनुसार तीन माह की अग्रिम [ एड्वांस ] राशि जमा करा दी जाती है। इससे यह स्पष्ट होता है कि ज़िला स्तर पर ज़िला पंचायत को सब मालूम  रह्ता  है   कि  किस  गाँव  में  मध्यान्ह भोजन कि  कितनी राशि , किसको  एवं  कब मिली है अथवा  नहीं  मिली। 
आँगनवाड़ियों के लिये भी यही व्यवस्था है जहाँ पर आँगनवाड़ी कार्यकर्ता ही सर्वे सर्वा हैं और राशि के आवंटन की जानकारी ज़िला कार्यक्रम अधिकारी को रहती है। यहाँ पर राशि का लेन-देन ज़िला स्तर पर होता है।

कई बार मध्यान्ह भोजन के सप्लायर-स्वयं-सहायता समूह अकसर यह शिकायत करते रहे हैं कि ज़िला/ ब्लाक स्तर के मध्यान्ह भोजन के नोडल अधिकारी एवं बाबुओं को बिना कुछ लिये-दिये यह राशि लेना कठिन ही है ।

2, सप्लायर-स्वयं-सहायता समूह कैसे-कैसे ?

मध्यान्ह भोजन के सप्लायर , महिलाओं के स्वयं-सहायता समूह ही हैं। जब हम आम स्वयं-सहायता समूह की बात करते हैं तो उस को स्थानीय महिलाओं के लोकतांत्रिक, पारदर्शी, सशक्त एवं जागरूक सप्लायर-स्वयं-सहायता समूह की कल्पना करते हैं परंतु वास्तव में यह सप्लायर-स्वयं-सहायता समूह तो स्कूल के टीचरों या आँगनवाड़ी की कार्यकर्ताओं के द्वारा बनाये गये ड्मी सप्लायर-स्वयं-सहायता समूह हैं जिसका सम्पूर्ण नियंत्रण इन्हीं सरकारी लोगों के पास रहता है ।
 सप्लायर-स्वयं-सहायता समूह के पास न तो कोई सही जानकारी मिलती और न ही कोई वास्तविक रिकार्ड । बैंक की पास बुक, बिल, नगद, रजिस्टर, आदि सब इन्ही लोगों के पास मिलता है और मध्यान्ह भोजन का पूरा हिसाब किताब समूह के अध्यक्ष – सचिव तक को नहीं पता होता। इसलिये समूह के द्वारा औडिट करवाना भी संभव नहीं होता

जहाँ कहीं [ खास तौर पर बड़े शहरों में ] पर कोई गैर सरकारी संस्था मध्यान्ह भोजन की सप्लाई में लगी है वहाँ पर उसकी किसी राजनीतिक पार्टी से नज़दीकियां साफ़ नज़र आयेंगी ,जिसका मतलाब यह है कि मध्यान्ह भोजन कि गुणवत्ता के साथ खिलवाड़ हो रहा होगा और इस पवित्र कार्य को बदनाम किया जा रहा होगा।

3 मध्यान्ह भोजन और मंहगाई ?

Double Bracket: सबसे पहला दोष उस व्यवस्था का है जो वर्तमान में स्कूल के टीचर और आँगनवाड़ी की कार्यकर्ताओं की है जिन्होंने मध्यान्ह भोजन की सप्लाई का सारा नियंत्रण अपने हाथों में ले रखा है और स्थानीय सप्लायर-स्वयं-सहायता समूह को अपना ग़ुलाम बना लिया है। 
मध्यान्ह भोजन की मात्रा काफ़ी कम है क्योंकि बढ़ती हुई महंगाई के अनुसार इसके प्रति मध्यान्ह भोजन के हिसब से कोई बढ़ौत्तरी नहीं करी जाती है जिसके के कारण मध्यान्ह भोजन की मात्रा एव गुणवत्ता में निरन्तर गिरावट आ रही है।

बी पी एल का खाद्यान्न, जलाऊ लकड़ियां, तेल, सब्ज़ी, मसाला और पानी के लिये अलग खर्चे और महगाई के कारण मध्यान्ह भोजन पका कर बच्चों को देना एक अग्नि परीक्षा से कम नहीं लेकिन फ़िर भी यह कार्य उसको चलाने वालों को लुभा रहा है इसकी मूल वजह क्या है ? मध्यान्ह भोजन के खेल में जब इतना मुनाफ़ा है तो भला कौन इसे छोड़ना चाहेगा ?

जब सप्लायर-स्वयं-सहायता समूह के माध्यम से दिया जा सकता है तो फ़िर इस पूरी व्यवस्था को ध्वस्त करने में कौन लगा है ?
हाल ही में बिहार में हुई त्रासदी के बाद अनेक स्थानों में इस तरह कि शिकायतें मिल रही हैं। बैतुल ज़िले में भी गत 14 अगस्त को एक प्राथमिक शाला में 71 बच्चे बीमार हो गये थे जिसका खामियाज़ा उन मासूम बच्चों अलावा उस स्कूल के प्रधान पाठक, सप्लायर-स्वयं-सहायता समूह के पदाधिकारियों एवं भोजन के रसोईयों के खिलाफ़ पुलिस केस के रूप में देखा गया है। इन घटनाओं के माध्यम से आम जनता को यह संदेश दिया जा रहा है कि पौष्टिक मध्यान्ह भोजन किसी स्थानीय सप्लायर-स्वयं-सहायता समूह के माध्यम से स्कूली एवं आँगनवाड़ी के मासूम बच्चों को अब नहीं दिया जा सकता है। 
यह हाद्से अचानक ही इतने क्यों बढ़ गये हैं ?
क्या पर्दे के पीछे भी कोई खेल हो रहा है ?
सबसे पहला दोष उस व्यवस्था का है जो वर्तमान में स्कूल के टीचर और आँगनवाड़ी की कार्यकर्ताओं की है जिन्होंने मध्यान्ह भोजन की सप्लाई का सारा नियंत्रण अपने हाथों में ले रखा है और स्थानीय सप्लायर-स्वयं-सहायता समूह को अपना ग़ुलाम बना लिया है। इस तरह सारा मुनाफ़ा भी इन्हीं के पास जा रहा है। स्कूल का पूरा स्टाफ़, अतिथिगण,आँगनवाड़ी की कार्यकर्ताओं और सहायिकाओं को तो प्रति कार्यदिवस ताज़ा और पका हुआ खाना मिल रहा है वो अलग । यह मध्यान्ह भोजन की मूल अवधारणा के बिल्कुल विपरीत कार्य हो रहा है।
दूसरा कारण , मध्यान्ह भोजन की सप्लाई मे जो मुनाफ़ा आज भी हो रहा है, उसको देखते हुये गाँव में भी स्थानीय सप्लायर-स्वयं-सहायता समूह के कई दुश्मन पैदा हो गये हैं जो हर वह मौका देखते रहते हैं जहाँ वह उसको और उससे जुड़े स्कूल के टीचरों और आँगनवाड़ी की कार्यकर्ताओं को नीचा दिखा कर उन्हें पुलिसिया लपेटे में लेकर, कोर्ट के चक्कर मे फ़ंसा सकें। इसमें कई बार तो शासन के वरिष्ठ अधिकारीगण और गाँव के ही अमीर और उच्च जाति के लोग भी शामिल पाये जाते हैं।
तीसरा , और अहम, किरदार उन बड़ी प्राईवेट कम्पनियों का है जो  के लिये आवंटन यानी की बजट को दो य तीन गुणा बढ़वा कर मध्यान्ह भोजन  के सप्लाई मे शामिल होना चाहती हैं। भोजन के अधिकार बिल में भी इसका प्रावधान केंद्र की सरकार ने कर दिया है कि कुपोषण को दूर करने के लिये सरकार आगामी किसी समय से देश के ग़रीबों को अनाज के स्थान पर           फ़ोर्टीफ़ाईड   [ यानी किसी महंगे, बहुत बड़े, आधुनिक, मशीनी कारखाने में गेंहूँ और मोटे अनाजों को पीस कर उसमें उचित मात्रा में प्रोटीनों, विटामिनों, चर्बी, नमक, स्वाद एवं प्रसंकरण तत्व को मिला कर उनको 10 या 20 किलोग्राम के पैकेटों मे पैक किया जायेगा जिससे उसकी पौष्टिक्ता बनी रहे ! ] यही आटा या कच्चा पैक्ड-फ़ूड राशन की दुकानों पर उपलब्ध करवायेगी। इन बड़ी प्राईवेट कम्पनियों के मालिक भी बड़े-बड़े पूँजीपति , औद्योगिक घरानें, बहु-राष्ट्रीय कम्पनियां    [ जो कि समाजिक सरोकार के कार्यों  या सी एस आर के नाम से भी यह कर सकती हैं ] या फ़िर राजनैतिक दम-खम वाले लोग ही होंगे जिनको कोई भी राजनैतिक पार्टी अपने चुनावी चंदे के लिये सम्पर्क करेंगी। वार्तमान की व्यवस्था से राजनैतिक पार्टी को ना तो चुनावी फ़ंड मिल रहा , न ही एक मुश्त वोट।

याद रहे कि ग़रीब के बच्चे ही तो भारत में आँगनवाड़ियों, सरकारी एवं गैर-सरकारी किंतु मान्यता प्राप्त प्राथमिक एवं मिडिल स्तर के स्कूलों में पढ़ने आते हैं सो उनको भी फ़ोर्टीफ़ाईड  मध्यान्ह भोजन सप्लाई करने की योजना इन बड़ी कम्पनियों ने बना रखी है और यही है इन बच्चों के मुँह से मध्यान्ह भोजन के निवाले छीनने की साज़िश ।  

यह साजिश , इन्हीं ग़रीब-बच्चों के खिलाफ़ है !

Parvez Ameer is a social scientist working with the poorer sections of the society in and lives in the Central part of India.
An occasional blogger.