AID News for Dec 19 2003

[aid...@aidindia.org]

AID News for Fri Dec 19 2003

AID News for Fri Dec 19, 2003
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AID News for Fri Dec 19, 2003
Good Afternoon,
Today's Headlines
1) AID-India Conference
2) Attempted Suicide of 15 Narmada Oustees


Today's News
1) AID-India Conference
(i) Agenda
Dear Friends,
As you know the AID-India Conference is being held at Chennai on the 3rd
and 4th of January 2004. You are all invited to the conference. The
Conference Venue is:
AID-India
20/34, Rathnam Street
Gopalapuram, Chennai - 600086
Phone: (044) 28350403 (O) and 28115058
Balaji cell: 98403-87111,
Ravishankar Cell: 98402 -66557
Since the conference is only for two days and there is a lot to share,
the conference focus is mostly centered around AID's internal issues,
goals and activities. There are very few 'outside' speakers or NGO
presentations.
The Agenda (tentative) for the conference is as follows:
3rd Jan 2004
9:00 AM-10:00 AM: Registration and Introductions (AID and participants)
10:00 AM - 1:00 AM:
Key Project Presentation:
Hundred Block Plan in Tamilnadu and Bihar -
Health and Education
Alternate Energy
Important Highlights in PSMs and NAPM two movements AID is working closely with.
1:00PM - 2:00PM: Lunch
2:00PM - 4:00PM: AID-India Chapters - Orissa,Chennai, Bangalore, Mumbai
4:00 PM - 4:15 PM: Tea Break
4.15 PM - 6:30 PM:
Parallel Workshops
(Those who want to present in this section, should confirm in advance and
come prepared with training materials and should train the volunteers
attending on exactly how to carry forward the programme. This session is
not discussion or presentationfocussed - but rather is more in the
nature of a training programme.)
Primary Education
Science Education
Health and Women's
Empowerment
Environment and Energy
Communalism and Globalization Campaigns
6:30 PM - 7:00 PM: Brief sharing of the parallel workshops
7:00 PM - 8:00 PM: Open time to share and discuss
8:00 PM - 8:30 PM: Dinner
4th Jan 2004
9:00 AM - 10:30 AM: AID-TNSF Chennai Coordination Committee - what has
been done and how to take this forward
10:30 AM - 12:01 PM: AID-India Goals, AID-US and AID-India Interaction
12:01 PM - 1:00 PM: (Tentative)Talk on the Informal Sector Unions
(eg: Construction Workers)
1:00 PM - 2:00 PM: Lunch
2:00 PM - 3:00 PM: Marketing of Village Products - Folk Mart, Eco
Shops and other experiences
3:00 PM - 4:30 PM: AID-India Coordination and Finances, Future
Plans for AID-India
4:30 PM - 5:00 PM: Valedictory
This conference promises to be packed with interesting stuff. Please
pass this information around and invite all the AID volunteers to
participate in the conference.
Thanks
Bye,
Balaji Sampath
(ii) Registration Information
Hello everyone,
Please register for the Aid-India conference by sending email to
ra...@alumni.cmu.edu with the subject line ``Aid-India conference
registration'' (without the quotes). Or simply reply to this email.
Please include the following information:
(i) Full name, Aid Chapter Affiliation / NGO or other affiliation
(ii) Current phone number (and email, if alternate email id)
(iii) Date, Apprx. time, Mode of Arrival in Chennai
Indicate if pickup is required. If you're coming as part of a group,
please mention.
(iv) Place of stay and phone # in Chennai - or write "Accomodation
required"
(v) Any special requests/other relevant information etc.
If multiple people from a chapter want to register, its better to send
separate emails, unless mode of transport/need for accomodation etc. are
all the same. You can also register someone else who may not have email
access, if you have all the info. In case you wish to change an earlier
registration, please send email in the same format again, with the subject
line: Aid-India conference registration - modification
Other Information
(a) Contact numbers in Chennai:
AidIndia office - 2835 0403. Admin office - 2811 5058
Balaji - 2836 1033, 98403 87111
Ravishankar - 2257 9410, 98402 66557
(b) Bring your own plates/cups if possible
(c) It is quite pleasant in Chennai, so no need for any winter
clothing. But it's possible that the rain gods actually respond to
the fervent prayers of chennai-ites, so an umbrella is advisable.
See you soon...
-Ravishankar
2) Attempted Suicide of 15 Narmada Oustees
Dire Situation in Gujarat Resettlement Sites
(BARODA, Gujarat) On December 5, the attempted suicide of 15 Project
Affected People (PAPs) at the Sardar Sarovar dam site brought to public
attention the grave injustice and destitution faced by dam-affected
people in Gujarat. The PAPs are adivasis displaced from villages in
Nandod and Naswadi talukas (District Narmada and Baroda respectively) by
the Sardar Sarovar Project reservoir and other project-related works and
shifted to resettlement sites as early as the 1980s, but not yet
adequately rehabilitated. The government promised, among other things,
that at least one member of each family would receive jobs from the
government upon displacement. After this and other promises of
rehabilitation failed to materialize and numerous appeals went
unanswered, the desperate PAPs felt they had no options left.
While the NBA in no way condones the attempted suicide, the issues raised
by the PAPs are genuine. As the Gujarat government repeatedly claims
that it has rehabilitated all 4,600 PAFs from Gujarat and seeks approval
to increase the dam height to 110m, the ground reality of the
resettlement shows that people displaced at the dam heights of 80, 90,
and 100 meters haven't even been adequately rehabilitated. Both the
NWDTA as well as the Supreme Court Order (2000) made it mandatory to
provide dam-affected oustees with a minimum 2 hectares of irrigable and
cultivable land, house-plots, and resettlement sites with ameneties,
before submergence and displacement.
However, surveys conducted by the NBA and petitions of oustees from R&R
sites indicate the complete violation of these provisions. Many declared
PAFs have not actually received the promised minimum of 2 hectares of
cultivable land. Among those who actually received 2 hectares of land,
many report that their lands are partially of fully uncultivable and of
lower quality than the fields in their original villages. Some PAFs who
received land are yet to get their title deeds, and others have not been
provided with irrigation as required by subsequent court rulings.
Moreover, many sons above the age of 18 and thus entitled to land
compensation are yet to be recognized. Many sites also still lack
approach roads, clean drinking water, grazing lands, and civic amenities.
Consequently, many families have gone from a situation in their original
villages where they could support themselves from the forest, river, and
fields, to one where they no longer have resources upon which to subsist
in a secure and dignified manner.
There are also scores of people affected by the dam who are still living
in the villages of Mukhedi, Gadher, Hateshwar, Turkheda, and Antras who
are facing submergence but have not been declared as projected-affected.
Other people have gone back to the original villages because survival has
proven so difficult in the R&R sites.
It is thus evident that the rehabilitation of PAFs in Gujarat is
incomplete, contrary to the claims made by the Government of Gujarat, and
in gross violation of the NWDTA, the Supreme Court Decision of 2000, and
fundamental human rights. The unfortunate incident this week should
compel the governments to take cognizance of the gravity of the
situation, stop submitting erroneous reports, and halt construction on
the dam until all Project Affected People are resettled. The NBA expects
the Courts, including the Apex Court, to take cognizance and legal action
to insure that this happens.
M.K. Sukumar and Sanjay Sangvai, Narmada Bachao Andolan
Contributed by Pervin and Aravinda
That's it for the day
Hema
Make a difference this holiday season. Visit
http://www.OneForIndia.org
where every One counts

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expressed by others do not necessarily reflect those of the editor.

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