The Narendra Modi-led government witnessed a general strike on September 2, the largest yet in this government’s term. Numbers of strikers were quoted at 150 million to 180 million. The big corporatised media mostly paid it lip-service coverage with the slant of inconvenience caused. Some digital platforms and newspapers like The Hindu highlighted the issues articulated in the workers’ charter of demands, which lay at the heart of the bandh. NDTV’s Ravish Kumar, predictably, did a deep dive discussion on the topic on August 31, as a run-up to the strike. Though he was also critical of the fact that the focus of the strike and the trade unions was on workers in the organised sector, while 94 per cent of Indians work in the unorganised sector.

At the heart of the strike was rationalisation of minimum wages at Rs 18,000 per month. And the minimum wages’ demand calculation had taken the cost of nutrition in our current times where persistent food inflation is the new normal. This IndiaSpend piece by Pavitra Mohan revealed diets in rural India have suffered significantly. “On an average, compared to 1975-1979, a rural Indian now consumes 550 fewer calories and 13 gm protein, 5 mg iron, 250 mg calcium and about 500 mg vitamin A lesser,” she wrote.

On the back of the workers’ strike and minimum wages’ discourse, it is important to revisit India’s poverty measurement issues.

India’s poverty line definition has been pegged at calorie consumption, which has been critiqued by progressive and heterodox economists as minimalist (considering nutritious food items, shelter, education, healthcare expenses are inadequately factored in). In the days before May 2014, the erstwhile Planning Commission used to put out poverty lines for rural and urban India. The month of August is that time of the year when that exercise took place.

Ridiculously low and unquestionably accepted, these poverty lines were discussed in academic papers and panel discussions in the over-professionalised circles of economists and statisticians only. But 2010 changed all that when the union government’s affidavit in the Supreme Court on the Right to Food litigation writ petition 196/2001 was challenged by the Supreme Court bench as destitution line and host of journalists took notice.

In one of the inspiring case studies of journalism-as-a-public-service, the poverty line numbers unleashed a concerted and concerned fact-checking by journalists. From social experiments trying to live below the poverty line to buying food at the official line to testing the menu price-list at the parliament canteen, there would be weeks of breathless reportage. Yes, reportage! And politicians and economists who defended these ridiculous lines would be challenged on air.

That irreverence, fact-check, was journalism 101. In fact, the on-screen, on-print debates were so intense that for the first time, the Vice Chair of the Planning Commission, Dr Montek Singh Ahluwalia, had to go studio-hopping to defend his numbers in 2011. That was one of the finest moments of Indian journalism, when the rarefied debates on poverty numbers and poverty measurement methods were democratised. They became the everyday issue of everyone. Newslaundry also did reactives and commentaries – here by Ranga Uncle (or Anand Ranganathan, as he is formally known) and here by this author. Coming from one of the poorest states of India, this author has been tracking the poverty measurement methods, numbers and the emergent public discourse.

Alas, with the advent of NITI Ayog, we haven’t had the annual ritual anymore. The din around poverty numbers and methods has died down and so has the ground reports and fact-checking. Even erstwhile Reserve Bank governor, C Rangarajan Committee’s 2014 report on poverty measurement and numbers, is yet to be formally accepted and the 2011 Socio Economic Caste Census disaggregated data is also waiting to see the light of day. We have written on Newslaundry, how delayed release and non-release of public survey data sets is also a form of censorship that needs to be called out by media.

Perhaps that is the reason why a very important development in the world of poverty count, has mostly gone unnoticed by the media. In a sign of our times, the Pew Research Report on religion has got much more air time. It has been shovelled on our mind space, but poverty measurement methods are begging for attention

Release of the beta version of the Global Consumption and Income Project

The Global Consumption and Income Project, GCIP, released the beta version of its datasets in April this year in New York. The project, initiated in 2009, is led by three researchers of Indian origin at various institutions (Arjun Jayadev, Rahul Lahoti and Sanjay G. Reddy) and provides two freely accessible datasets: the Global Income Database and the Global Consumption Database. Together, these paint an unprecedented portrait of consumption and income of persons over time, within and across countries and across the world, which can be used by researchers, journalists, public policy analysts in government, international organisations, think tanks, the private sector, activists and the general public. 

The datasets are based on around 2,000 underlying surveys from around the world over 50 years. The published versions provide estimates of monthly real consumption and income for every decile of the population (tenths ranked by level) for more than 160 countries for every year, for more than half a century in as comparable a way as possible. Despite growing concern about issues of living standards, poverty and inequality, enshrined now in the United Nations Sustainability Development Goals, there have been no freely accessible datasets providing for analysis of the level as well as distribution of material living standards with coverage as expansive and of as high a quality as provided by the GCIP. As a result, this is an important global public good. The database has been previously profiled by The Economist here.

 In light of the pressing concerns about global living standards, poverty and inequality, this resource will prove valuable for researchers, multilateral institutions and the interested public who wish to understand key global, regional and national public issues and to identify solutions. The lead authors are committed to curate future versions of the database that will allow users more sophisticated tools, for example, the ability to aggregate distributional data across countries to provide regional portraits of poverty and inequality, and still more comprehensive data.  

It is important to remember that the project lead of GCIP, Prof Sanjay Reddy of New School of Social Research, New York has already done seminal work with Prof Thomas Pogge (currently in Yale) on the inadequacy of the World Bank poverty measurement methodology. They have exposed, not only, is the World Bank substantially under-counting the poor, their international poverty line is flawed too. Even the Indian government concurs, as this piece in Business Standard reveals.

In current times of unprecedented inequality where India is considered the 12th most unequal country in the world, where 45% of wealth is controlled by dollar millionaires, the media has to engage with poverty counting and measurement issues. Persistent coverage, fact-check with living and lived experiences of the poor, will be the much-needed public pressure to fix the mess.  

It will be tragic if counting the poor becomes more difficult than helping the poor and the counting conundrum prevents country governments from designing and implementing pro-poor programmes.

A ten minutes’ walk from the Escorts-Mujesar metro station – the last stop of Delhi Metro’s Violet line – is the unassuming office of Faridabad Majdoor Samachar (FMS), the Hindi monthly workers’ journal documenting the lives and times of industrial workers across the National Capital Region.

The office is hidden in a narrow lane between rows of houses. But as one enters through the low doorway of Jhuggi number 3, it’s suddenly a different world. The door opens into a small room with a cluster of plastic chairs, and low wooden tables lining the cream-coloured walls. The plaster has peeled off at some places.  Up on the wall, there is an artwork inspired by daily lives of industrial workers.

It is in this room that the editorial agenda of the 34-year-old FMS is set. Conceptualised and born in 1982, initially FMS was a Left-leaning paper, focussed on workers’ activities in the factories in Faridabad. The objective of the paper was to organise a political party of the working classes. The paper made its debut as a single-page broadsheet priced at 25 paise. Since then, it has reported on labour uprisings, revolts against company managements, police action, trade unions etc..

The paper once used to have a column titled “Marxism” but they eventually did away with it. “Over time, it was felt that there was a need to speak in a language that is understood by 95 per cent of the population. As a conscious decision, use of words like Capitalism, Imperialism, Socialism and Marxism stopped in the paper since 1993,” said the editor of FMS, a man in his sixties, who does not want to be named.

There were efforts to explain those terms in longer sentences or paragraphs which the common worker could understand. It was in 1993 that the paper was made completely free to reach a wider target readership. The editor further explained, “By 1998, we started questioning whether there was any need to ‘teach the workers’. It was felt that there was rather a need to learn from the workers about their life and how they cope with tough circumstances. As a result, after 1998, workers’ voices found more importance in FMS.”

Over time, “taalmel” or “coordination” emerged as the most important word for those at FMS. The vision was to forge taalmel between workers of different factories in the industrial area, and eventually between workers of different industrial areas.  As disillusionment with trade unions, and political parties grew, what was left was taalmel amongst the workers – a mutual exchange for benefit of both parties.Even today, it is taalmel that ensures the smooth running of FMS. There are no edit meetings, no reporters – contrary to what one would imagine.

“We rely on conversations with workers to find out more about what is going on in the factories, their homes, and lives,” he said.

In every edition, in a column called “Saajhedaari”, the paper invites readers to collect 10-20-50 copies of the monthly, requesting them to distribute among colleagues, neighbours and friends. The paper invites workers for baat cheet (informal conversations) to share stories from the shop floor, or life in general.

For example, the July edition of the journal has a story from Apex Security in Delhi:  

The guards are made to work for 12-hour shifts. There are no weekly offs. After deducting the amount for ESI and PF, for 12 hours of work every day for 30-31 days, the guards in Delhi get paid Rs. 14500. The company gives them two shirts, two trousers, and a pair of shoes every year.

“We do not use names of those who give us anecdotes. Only names and addresses of the factories from which the stories come are printed. Confident of anonymity, workers come forward to share their stories,” said the editor. The August edition of the paper has stories of 12-hour long shifts, autocratic management, delayed or truncated salaries, workers denied of overtime benefits, smelly workshop floors, bribe-taking supervisors, revolts and a worker being arbitrarily dismissed when he complained about bribes.

FMS encourages workers to visit its Faridabad office on Sundays. If that is not possible, then there are other ways of sending anecdotes, pictures, videos, or audios through WhatsApp, phone, and even email.   One such voice in the latest edition of FMS is 22-year-old Babloo Singh. He works for Orient Electric in Faridabad as temporary worker. Singh hails from Pratapgarh in Uttar Pradesh, and three generations of his family have been working in Faridabad. Educated up to the tenth class, Babloo has worked in five different factories till date. He is relatively young compared to other workers, but has no hope for a better life – free from 12-hour shifts, alternating day-night shifts every week, squalid working conditions, and meagre pay.

An anecdote narrated by Babloo has been published in FMS and he is visibly excited about it. He said he likes reading the paper, and even distributes it to colleagues. “It tells me more about brothers in other factories facing the same conditions. Hum akele nahi hain. Yeh sochke accha lagta hain (It feels good to imagine that we are not alone in this),” he said, smiling wryly.

The method of circulation of FMS is another experiment in taalmel. Currently, the paper is circulated in the industrial areas of Faridabad, Gurgaon (Udyog Vihar), IMT Manesar, and Okhla Industrial Area. Editors of the paper station themselves at key locations, nearby factories, or railway stations through which thousands of workers commute every day, and distribute copies to interested workers.  

“More than 80 per cent of the2- 2.5million factory workers in Faridabad, Gurgaon’s Udyog Vihar, and the Okhla Industrial area are temporary. They do not exist in the company’s records, and could be asked to leave any day. Besides, there is a huge difference in the pays of permanent and temporary workers. The system is very arbitrary and is not designed to look after the interests of the workers,” said the editor, explaining the paper’s distribution priorities.

The current circulation of the paper, said the editor, is about 16,000 copies a month. He claims that the paper aims to highlight the real voices of the workers. “It is different from event-based mainstream media, where one jumps from one event to another – to avoid talking about the real issues,” he said.

Since the paper is distributed free, it depends on voluntary monetary contributions from “friends and workers.”The paper is online, where an English version is also available. “The translation is done by a friend free of cost, and so is the work of putting it up online,” he said.

In the age of big advertiser-funded media, FMS stands out as an example of what can be achieved when there is collective effort and taalmel.

By Tanya Kini

Community radio has been around since the Supreme Court declared airwaves to be public property back in 1995. The idea behind community radio is to bring news and views specially designed for a local community and as of March 2016, India has 152 such radio stations, broadcasting to nearly one lakh people per station. While this number is nowhere close to the 4,000 community radio stations promised by the government in 2007, this audio genre has caught the imagination of some and remains popular among those who feel left uncatered to by contemporary mass media. The chief consumers are rural women, who are also often at the centre of their station’s management.

Despite India’s technology and media boom, news and mainstream media remains largely inaccessible in small Indian villages. Take Mewat in Haryana, which feels relatively isolated from the booming National Capital Region that is only 70 kms away from it. It’s served instead by Radio Mewat. Or Saiyere Jo Radio, which serves 54 far-flung villages in western Kutch, run by the Collective of Women Friends, which in turn is managed by the Kutch Mahila Vikas Sangathan (KMVS), a network of rural women’s collectives.

So what does it mean for disenfranchised women to produce their own media? Salma works with her husband at Bengaluru’s Radio Active, a community radio station started in 2007. The duo are touted as “the world’s first wife and husband waste-picker RJs” and they co-host the daily show, Kasa Shramika Parisara Rakshka. When Salma first became a radio jockey (RJ), everyone at the godown where she used to work as a waste picker encouraged her to continue since her programme uniquely dealt with their own work problems – like the state of the facilities and equality in working conditions. She still visits the godown to discuss workers’ issues and says that many others approach her as well.

The women running these community radio stations argue that their impact is evident in their respective towns and villages. “One girl worked with us from 2012 till 2016 and contested the panchayat elections,” said Archana Kapoor, Director of Radio Mewat and founder of SMART (Seeking Modern Applications for Real Transformation) NGO. “Many women who have worked here moved on to become assistants at the nearby medical college, teachers, or hold government posts,” she said and pointed to their programmes for women, like Mahilaon Ki Baat, an hour-long show that discusses issues like women’s hygiene, the necessity educating girls and other subjects pertinent to women’s everyday lives. The programme encourages women to call in since and there is another woman on the other end of the line, it has raised the confidence levels of many women in the community.

“I’m not very educated but this station has helped me realise the importance of education and participation,” said Sarifa, Saiyere Jo Radio’s station manager in the village of Bhimsar in Kutch, Gujarat. “The community has helped us a lot in making our programmes a success, such as interviews on animal husbandry, agriculture, children’s shows, and songs.” In a KMVS video, Sarifa discussed how the station’s increasing popularity meant many more parents in the village were now encouraging their daughters to further their education and get jobs.

In another video, Sangham Radio’s women producers talk of how other radio stations, including prominent ones like All India Radio, ignore most village-specific issues like agricultural forecasts and folk heritage. Sangham Radio was set up by Dalit women in Machnoor village in what was formerly Andhra Pradesh and is now Telangana) in 1997, as a part of a women’s collective at the village level. It was started on this very principle — that the media has always treated people from rural areas, especially women, as consumers rather than producers of media, which must change. General Narsamma, who manages the station along with Agole Narsamma, said in the video, “We do not take help from outsiders because they don’t understand our issues, such as what affects our crops or why we sing a particular folk song for a festival.”

It is no wonder that community radio stations continue to thrive despite the rise of telephony and Internet. Their funding often comes from the involvement of NGOs, and some have reservations that the community factor in community radio isn’t as large as intended – that the NGOs remain mostly in charge of management while the community hosts and manages editing and broadcasting.

Radio Mewat was initially conceptualised by SMART, which had been involved with the community for 10 years. This came as a result of the Community Radio Policy changing in 2006 to allow NGOs to submit licenses for community radios. According to Kapoor, she has now handed over the management of the station to the community itself. She still helps out in content but that’s where her role ends, she says. “When Radio Mewat first started, I used to go to the village every day to oversee the operations and broadcasting,” she said. “But as the community began understanding the managing of the radio, it made sense to hand over control to them. After all, it’s community radio and the community needs to manage it.”

As per Tejaswini Dantaluri, who works at Deccan Development Society (DDS) as a liaison with Sangham Radio, the NGO’s involvement with the station is mostly to provide funding and training for the community in the village. In the case of Saiyere Jo Radio as well, according to the KMVS video, the NGO’s involvement seems to have been limited to recruitment and setting up the transmission tower and other equipment.

Community radio is thriving, and according to Kapoor, there’s a simple reason for this. “The community don’t have access to the internet, but are keen to learn more about their own culture and practices. Community radios facilitate this at minimal cost, which works out better in the long run for everyone.” While most media news focuses on the profileration of the internet and its influence, it’s good to remind ourselves of the reality of Indian audiences and how one of the oldest forms of mass media is enabling Indian women under the radar.

Disclaimer : The information, ideas or opinions appearing in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the views of Newslaundry.com. Newslaundry.com does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same. If the article carries photographs or images, we do not vouch for their authenticity.

Delhi University Student Union’s (DUSU) elections are barely two days away. Will three-time winner Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) manage a hattrick? They’re confident, but National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) is pinning its hopes on the anti-incumbency factor and their Priyadarshini manifesto that focuses on women’s issues on campus. Meanwhile, the ABVP’s new arch rival, All India Students’ Association (AISA) has fielded three women candidates, causing discomfort to both ABVP and NSUI (it’s the first time any party has fielded three candidates for the four positions of the Central Panel). Its campaigns such as Hostel Satyagrah (a symbolic hunger strike for hostels), has also served to make AISA popular.

Newslaundry spoke to the three frontrunners in the DUSU elections. Listen up to ABVP, NSUI and AISA.

There’s one word to describe the mood at Jawaharlal Nehru University now, with students’ union (JNUSU) elections round the corner: unease. The voting will happen on Friday, but it wouldn’t be a stretch to say that what happens on September 9 can be traced back to February 9, 2016.

The big issue this year are the debates around sedition that were sparked off by the arrest of JNU students earlier this year, which led to the campus being branded by the Right as a hub of “anti-nationals”. Arch rivals All India Students’ Association (AISA) and Student Federation of India (SFI) have come together to combat the rising influence and popularity of Akhil Bharatya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP).

ABVP has promised that, if elected to power, it will keep a check on “anti-national” activities on campus. Presidential candidate Janhawi, who has dropped her Brahmin surname, told Newslaundry that ABVP wanted to expose what lay behind the sloganeering on February 9 (that led to the arrests). Mohit Kumar Pandey is AISA-SFI’s presidential candidate, also harked back to the sedition cases and said that these elections will reflect where the country’s education policy is headed.
The fight, for now, is between the two of them. National Students’ Union of India (NSUI), like its parent party (Congress), has so far failed to attract voters. Not that this has stopped their presidential candidate Sunny Dhiman from saying he’s hopeful of defeating the “fascist forces”.”

In contrast to these old-timers, a new organisation is leaving everyone else jittery: the two-year-old Birsa-Ambedkar-Phule Student Association (BAPSA) has targeted the marginalised and they’re not afraid to take stands that will leave savarnas feeling nervous.Unfortunately, even though BAPSA’s presidential candidate Sonpimple Rahul Puneram had agreed to join this debate, Puneram cancelled at the last minute. Listen up to what the others have to say.

News offers so much more to the viewer now than it ever has in history. We get a bigger bang for our buck, thanks to the efforts of networks like ABP News. The versatility of their model not only gives you news, brilliant insight and analysis, but also entertains and satisfies your basest voyeuristic instincts – all this while talking truth to power and fulfilling the public service news is supposed to.

Maybe I have gone too far – so they not only give you the news, brilliant insight, analysis, but also entertain and satisfy your basest voyeuristic instincts.

Okay, still too much? They give you the news and also entertain and satisfy your basest voyeuristic instincts.

What? Ab bhi zyada hai? Fine. How’s this – they entertain and satisfy your basest voyeuristic instincts? Apologies for the earlier loopy ABP News fanboy hyperbole. But I was way too impressed by the dressing down they gave Newslaundry.

“Agar nahin suna, toe ab sun lein”

I had barely recovered after having witnessed (I say ‘witnessed’ and not watched because you don’t watch history being made, you witness it and ABP News is doing nothing less than making history) the outstanding coverage of former Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) minister Sandeep Kumar’s sex video coverage on ABP News on August 31 (it took me a few days to recover) when it was brought to my notice that the channel had taken Newslaundry and our errant reporter Manisha Pande to task for this piece.

Before I go on to extol the virtues of ABP News’s hour-long, we-told-you-so special. Sample the video below which has clips from an hour-long show which aired 3 days later.

For those who don’t have broadband access and can’t see the video, I shall quote the pearls of wisdom as we go along and we will all learn so much about journalism, pre-emptive, predictive reporting; the state of women, and how they are exploited in this country of which we (at Newslaundry) know very little, as pointed out by accomplished anchor and keen understander of women and gender issues, Dibang, which has no doubt contributed to his exceptional journalistic career.

I wish my appreciation for ABP News’s work could be as dramatic as their work itself, but text does not lend itself to rongte khade karne wala-background music from a Ramsay brother horror show (or some stolen bars from the soundtrack of The Dark Knight). Nor does it allow for the thrill and fear-inducing voiceover, right out of a low budget disaster film. And even if I used video, I doubt I could match the ABP News-like impact because as Dibang The Understander of Women stated on the show, “jo likhne wale hain, humare samaaj pe kitni kam pakad hai unki (those who write have such a weak grasp on our society)”. Clearly our pakad cannot match Dibang’s on samaj or women.

“ABP News pe sabse pehle aya ye CD”

Yo! Haters gonna hate but three days after they first aired the “apattijanak” (objectionable) video, ABP News was proud of what they’d done.

What ABP News also did wonderfully was replace the done-to-death “Times Now /CNN-News18 /NDTV /XYZ IMPACT” with the more down-to-earth, we-told-you-so model of news delivery. The almost hour-long episode on September 3  was a pat-on-their-own-back assertion that they gave us news before it had happened or anyone had claimed anything. A full three days before any of the silly details on the sex tape issue tumbled out. If you thought only channels like MiracleNet or Devi TV predicted the future with their religious shows,  turn to ABP News. George Bush’s pre-emptive strikes are nothing compared to ABP News’s pre-emptive reports, telling us what has happened to whom, before anyone has claimed anything or even tracked down the affected party.

“Poori zimmedari se kaha tha shoshan hua”

If ABP News’s ability to know news before anything has happened or been claimed is not zimmedar bhavishyawani, I don’t know what is. On August 31, they ran for at least an hour (if not two) special live coverage of a video clip (they keep referring to it as “CD”. Possibly because knowing basics of technology – along with spell check and factual accuracy – are not part of ABP News’s journalism. CDs, pen drives, What’sApp are delivery and circulation tools. The content is in video format. You could hope electronic news professionals at least would get nomenclature right, or you could just be thankful that they’re doing zimmedar bhavishyavani). The video shows a man and woman having sex. The man appears to be a much thinner Sandeep Kumar. As anchor Abhisar Sharma said on air at the top of the hour, this “CD” was given to ABP News by an unknown person. So all they had to go on as far as this video was concerned, was that it was provided by an unknown person. Nothing in the video suggests there is rape. It merely shows two people having sex.

Yet ABP carried it as a “scandal”. Mind you, they made no allegation of rape or any other specific claim – it was simply  a scandal. If this speculative bhavishywani a la Asaram Bapu is not enough to impress you, you don’t deserve such zimmedar news.  

Besides the only reason ABP News does this is to satiate the voyeur in us, until someone can get some facts to report as news. Selfless public interest news means plunge to any depth just to keep us viewers hooked.

“Blog pe apne lekhon mein ABP news ki khabaro ko lekar nishana saadha gaya”

While ABP News was wildly speculating – with background music and footage playing in loop – for the greater public good, to save TV news from becoming a reality show, ungrateful news professionals like Shivam Vij and Manisha Pande were attacking ABP News’s fine reportage on vile platforms like Huffington Post and Newslaundry pointing to silly details like absence of any facts or evidence at the time to back ABP News’s fine reporting on the 31st of August.

They had the audacity to question the “scandal” based on the information available at hand, which was nothing other than a video from an unknown person. But they are mere mortals. They can’t look into the future and know what would happen three days later, the way ABP News evidently could despite saying on air that they could not verify or say anything about the video when they first ran the story.  

But when has lack of information of any facts deterred the brave?

ABP News senses shoshan even before you can say ‘show’, so don’t shun what they claim. Only the slow wait for facts to emerge. Fittingly ABP News gave it back to Manisha Pande through their anchor Dibang of understanding-women’s-issues-well fame.

“Ek ek khabar jo ABP ne dikhayi thi wo sahi sabit hui”

As a scandalised voice uttered the line above (set to a noisy background score), I again understood the need for speculative reporting– all for the sake of the viewer and the truth. Because three days later, there was proof that  there was indeed a scandal, just as ABP News had claimed earlier (without really saying why).

As more facts will emerge, perhaps ABP News will make it up as they go along. Say something completely contrary emerges a week later (as has happened in many cases over the years, from wrongly-reported Church attacks to Tuktuki Mondal’s case), it matters not. ABP News’s zimmedar panel probably has already seen that in their crystal ball and will factor it into their reportage today.

Since merely reporting facts is no fun and one takes over-the-top hysterical positions on a whim, in case some contrary facts emerge later, I am hoping ABP News will go with headlines and hashtags like  “Dekhiye kaise ABP ne ki thi ghatiya kisam ka news coverage aur humari bhadd pit gayi! (See how ABP did bad coverage and got us royally screwed!)” Hashtag: #AbBoloABP (they had a hashtag #ABBoloAshutosh, not joking). Or “ABP ki behad hi ghatiya kisam ki C-grade horror film type coverage ka mukhauta utra (The mask is ripped thanks to ABP’s C-grade horror film-type coverage)”. Because if similar headlines congratulating yourself on your preemptive strikes inspire trust and confidence, so will the ones above. Promise. If you are selfless enough to stoop to where you do now, you ABP News will have no problem going a bit further, I am certain.

“Pidit ne lagayi ABP news ki khabar par mohar”

And nothing says we are brave news professionals who put news before everything better than using the victim of the sex video as a shield to cover attacks on themselves. On September 3, ABP News played a bit from an interview with the lady in the sex video, in which she says she has been exploited, followed by the same old angry and breathless voiceover guy saying – “Pidit ne lagayi ABP news ki khabar par mohar (the one who is suffering has put her seal of approval on ABP News’s report)”.  Also “Aaj is mahila ke saamne aane ke baad un sab logon ko karara jawaab mila hai (Today with this woman coming forward, all those who doubted have got resounding reply).”

If this does not want to make you kneel and bow to ABP News, what will? They are willing to plunge to such depths only to get you and me to watch them. That is called commitment to profession.  ABP News sinking to Mariana Trench-level depth on content for our sake is one thing, but to use a possible victim of a sex video as your advocate in a trash talking contest with a small-time news critique portal was too low – even for ABP News, who like the much-hated Arvind Kejriwal, only entered the gutter to clean it up and thus got a little dirty in the process. But still. Why drag her to your defense? You have Dibang, no?

If that mohar was not enough, roll out the netas.

But not just the lady in the sex video, ABP News decided to play video clips of AAP’s Arvind Kejriwal (who they can’t get enough of attacking at other times), who had fired the minister and rebuked him publicly the evening the story broke. ABP News used Kejrwal’s claims to prove they were right. Because you know – it’s Kejriwal, and as ABP News knows he can say and do no wrong, might as well use him to justify your actions.  Even though no one knew there was anything dubious about the video at the time that the statement was made. After using the Delhi Chief Minister’s statement to show ABP News was on the same page as Arvind Kejriwal (yay!), ABP News went back to trashing him.

In case the Delhi CM’s word was not enough to convince cynical Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party supporters that ABP News had done zimmedar reporting, they played Sambit Patra and Ajay Maken’s video clips, telling us how the case was that of exploitation. Now the holy trinity of Kejriwal, Maken and Patra had said what ABP News had gone to town with three days earlier. Case closed. And of course there is Dibang. It’s water-tight.

In case all this wasn’t enough to lagao “ABP ki khabar pe mohar”, they also stated “Humein apne sach aur darshakon par bharosa tha (we have faith in our truth and our viewers).” Because you, dear viewer, knew what had happened before anyone knew what had happened, even before ABP News aired clips of the video perhaps. You are the real heroes. You may well have a better eye for detail, considering how ABP News wrote the name of our website as “Newslaundary” while using our logo (which, incidentally, spells out the name fully). When you’re focused on the greater good, who has time for details like spell check?

“Mahila ko hi katghare mein khada kiya ja raha tha.”

This statement yelled in ABP News-style on their channel sealed it for me. Because the zimmedar news channel claimed that our reporter Manisha Pande was pointing fingers at the woman in the video. Actually no, she was putting you in the katghara and mocking your journalism and conduct. Yet again, ABP News put the victim of the circulated video in front to fight their battle. Why go so low when you have Dibang for defense ?

When it was time to cut to the panel debate, Dibang went with this:

“Jo likhne wale hain, humare samaaj mein kitna kam pakad hai unki. Mahilaon ki sthiti, humare samaj mein, humare samaj ke alag alag jagahon mein kaisi hai, uske bare mein kitni kam jankari hai unke paas, ye baat ek bahut saaf ubhar kar aati hai, saaf dikhai deti hai. Aur ye ek tareeke se aatma-manthan ka samay bhi hai un sab ke liye jo is tarah ki baatein likh rahe hain (Those who write, they have such a weak understanding of our society. The condition of women in our society, in different parts of our society, they know so little of this – this is made clear. And it is time to introspect for those who write like this).”

Dear Dibang, agreed Manisha doesn’t understand women’s issue. Neither does our Managing Editor (a woman) nor our Editor-in-Chief Madhu Trehan (you may know her) – none of them could truly understand women’s issues and “mahilaon ki sthiti” like you and your team (all the heads in decision-making positions being men and all). So, like, thanks for the atma manthan advice. And do let us know if Newslaundry could start a mentoring programme under you to understand women’s issues better, because I am sure your insight into that space will greatly help their careers as journalists.

Income Tax Commissioner SK Srivastava is an angry man. His colleagues are filing sexual harassment cases against him; the media is not listening to his allegations of former cabinet minister P Chidambaram being in unholy league withNDTV; the Delhi High Court has not ruled in his favour; and as if all this wasn’t bad enough, journalist Abhisar Sharma has gone out and called his claims “filth“.

Since we provided a platform for Sharma to air his complaints, we’ve extended the same courtesy to Srivastava. So here he is, holding forth on all of his claims and putting forward his point of view.

Srivastava strenuously maintains that he’s on the money with his accusation that the two income tax women officers he’s targeted (one of them is Sharma’s wife) are sex workers, even though he hasn’t actually seen what he claims is the clinching evidence to this claim. He says that he was falsely accused of rape (which he wasn’t. He’s been accused of harassment). Srivastava also told Newslaundry that NDTV is a corrupt organisation and in league with Chidambaram, and that the two officers Srivastava has targeted were among the legion of officials and journalists that NDTV bribed — not that he has any specific evidence to this effect that he could point out, but let’s not obsess over details.

On September 7, presidential candidates from different student organisations in Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) will lock horns at the much-awaited Jawaharlal Nehru University Student Union (JNUSU) presidential debate.Compared to past elections, there are fewer players hoping to win the top position — JNUSU President — this year.

Mohit Kumar Pandey is contesting from the joint panel of All India Students’ Association (AISA) and Students’ Federation of India. Its arch rival Akhil Bharitya Vidhyarthi Parishad (ABVP) has fielded Janhawi.

Birsa-Ambedkar-Phule Students’ Association’s (BAPSA) candidate Sonpimple Rahul Puneram has posed a serious challenge to both AISA and ABVP. Sunny Dhiman from National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) and Dileep Kumar of Students’ Front for Swaraj (SFS) are also in the running.

Listen to the AISA-SFI, ABVP and NSUI candidates argue their point of view.

(Though BAPSA’s Rahul Puneram had agreed to join this debate, he cancelled at the last minute  because he was campaigning.)

The biryani is served piping hot. But don’t be fooled by this hospitality served to you on a platter at the entrance to Mandya town and assume you are being welcomed into this part of south Karnataka. The delicacy is cooked in a large vessel in the middle of the road, as part of the protest against giving 15,000 cusecs of the river Cauvery’s water to Tamil Nadu every day, for the next ten days. 

Please note: drinking water is not served along with the biryani. 

Twenty-seven kilometres away in Srirangapatna, a dozen-odd farmers get into the Cauvery river, flags of their association in hand, to raise anti-Tamil Nadu and anti-Karnataka government slogans. Since the Supreme Court verdict on Monday ordering upper riparian state Karnataka to release water to Tamil Nadu, farmers in the Cauvery delta in Karnataka have demonstrated their lungpower, arguing the state’s dams have water just about sufficient for Karnataka’s drinking water needs.

In Mandya, the ground zero of these protests, I spoke to Sunitha, wife of a farm labourer. She said, “When farmers have no water for their land, my husband gets no work. How will he earn? Do I let my two little children die with no food and water?’”

For old-timers, the script is familiar. After all, the Cauvery dispute dates back to 1892 and every other year has seen Kannadigas and Tamils at each other’s throat. Every time, Karnataka faces a rainfall deficit and the Cauvery is not full to the brim, the river bed turns into a battlefield, using weapons of ugly threats and petty regionalism.

The Cauvery River Waters Tribunal stipulated in its award in 2007 that Karnataka should release 192 tmc feet of water to Tamil Nadu. But that is in a good year. In the lean months of August-September, the ceasefire is called off by self-styled spokespersons of the Kannadiga cause. ‘Won’t give a drop from my bucket’’ is the tone and tenor of the narrative.

With Tamil Nadu pressing the panic button to save its crop in seven districts through which the Cauvery flows and Karnataka pointing to its rainfall deficit figures, the Supreme Court had to urge Karnataka to help Tamil Nadu “exist as an entity’” in the spirit of “live and let live’”. But Mandya has been in shutdown mode since Tuesday and all of Karnataka will log out as well for a bandh on Friday.

“Bandhs are not going to decide the verdict in the Supreme Court,” says Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Rajya Sabha MP from Karnataka. “Yes, we are wronged and we should vent our anger. But it would have helped if the Karnataka government had engaged in a dialogue with the people. They should know that under the law of the land, river sharing is a matter of right.”

While Tamil Nadu chief minister Jayalalithaa dashed off a letter to the Prime Minister seeking his intervention, Siddaramaiah argued how could Karnataka give water for irrigation to Tamil Nadu when it is giving only drinking water in its own region? Irrigation minister MB Patil upped the ante, as if to suggest that cities like Bengaluru, Mysuru, Mandya will go thirsty if even a drop of water passed the Kabini and Krishna Raja Sagara dam gates. 

The fact of the matter is that while Kodagu and Hassan, the two main catchment districts for Cauvery recorded 27 per cent and 23 per cent rainfall deficit, it is not as if Cauvery has gone bone dry. Tamil Nadu too acknowledges the problem, which is why in the Supreme court, it scaled down its demand from 50,000 cusecs to 20,000 cusecs. 

“But the manner in which Karnataka groups are protesting, it is as if they own the Cauvery and are doling out a favour to Tamil Nadu,” asked a bureaucrat in the Tamil Nadu government. 

While farmer groups in Karnataka asked chief minister Siddaramaiah to defy the court order on Tuesday morning, their counterparts in Tamil Nadu too spoke the same language. “We will cut off power supply to Karnataka from the Neyveli Lignite Corporation,” said the Tamil Nadu Farmers Association. Nothing but empty rhetoric to play to the constituency back home, while inflaming passions.

Over the years, Tamil Nadu has accused Karnataka of building projects on the Cauvery to alter the course of the river while Karnataka has retaliated by asking Tamil Nadu to ensure so much water does not flow into the sea.

Cauvery has also seen much political posturing. In 1993, Jayalalithaa as CM sat on an 80-hour long fast forcing New Delhi to intervene. Likewise, in 2002, then Karnataka chief minister SM Krishna went on a padyatra from Bengaluru to Mandya to get a grip on the situation. 

The blame is now being laid at the door of the legal team representing Karnataka. This despite the fact that the team was led by Fali S Nariman, one of the best legal brains in India, and more importantly, someone who has articulated Karnataka’s case in court for the last 32 years. But his supporters say it was next to impossible for Karnataka to say it won’t release any water and that but for Nariman’s stature, the bench may have asked it to spare more water downstream.

More than a legal debacle, the issue has been mishandled politically. Siddaramaiah was aware that reduced water levels will lead to a war of words and should have spoken to his Tamil Nadu counterpart to ensure both sides sort it out amicably. Getting talking should not have been difficult, given that Jayalalithaa was born in Mandya district and Siddaramaiah hails from the neighbouring Mysuru district (both part of the Cauvery delta).

But like the kneejerk reactions to the flooding of some parts of Bengaluru in July – after which Siddaramaiah ordered large-scale demolitions – the Cauvery crisis also has been handled in the same nonchalant manner.

This is the second major river water sharing issue that has gone against Karnataka. The Mahadayi Water Disputes Tribunal in July rejected Karnataka’s plea to divert 7.56 tmc of water from the Mahadayi basin, leaving farmers in north Karnataka very angry.

It is not as if BJP chief ministers have not released water after pressure from Tamil Nadu before. Siddaramaiah himself pointed out that Jagdish Shettar had done so, releasing 10,000 cusecs in 2012 for nine days.
But even though legally he did the right thing, Siddaramaiah has lost much political face in the last 48 hours. Given that his stock among farmers – with 1,560 reported suicides by farmers in 2015-16 – is already at a low ebb, the Cauvery issue may well push the Congress party in Karnataka into a watery political grave.

Disclaimer : The information, ideas or opinions appearing in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the views of Newslaundry.com. Newslaundry.com does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same. If the article carries photographs or images, we do not vouch for their authenticity.

National Students’ Union India (NSUI) has been the talk of the campus for its targeted approaches to various students this student election. They have released the women’s manifesto titled ‘Priyadarshini’ and plan on releasing a separate manifesto for North-Eastern students as well, apart from the General Manifesto.

The 13-point manifesto seeks to address certain women-centric issues, but for the most part, they’re generic issues that have been laboriously repackaged to seem like they’re women’s concerns. After all, a demand for open gyms, physiotherapists and a protein diet are hardly specific to women. Arguably, men are very much part of the target group for such campaigns, particularly when it comes to topics like sports infrastructure (which has been a topic of conversation after the Rio Olympics).

Among the demands, the manifesto asks for the presence of Female Police Constables to be deployed outside campuses and bus stops. They also want CCTV cameras on college premises. On the face of it, this appears to be addressing the issue of women students’ safety on campus. However, there is also a certain militarisation barely disguised in here. It’s worth noting that similar proposals have seen protests in the past.

Similar guidelines were spelled by the University Grants Commision in its report ‘Safety of Students on and off Campuses of Higher Education Institutions.’ However, such Orwellian guidelines were rejected by student leaders, activist and teachers.

On question of whether the police and camera presence will restrict movement of students and violate their privacy, NSUI National General Secretary Angellica Aribam said, “We are demanding cameras only in common areas, outside campuses and student-heavy markets of Kamla Nagar and Satya Niketan for safety purposes. These cameras will not be placed inside classrooms to violate student privacy.”

She further added, “The female constable presence is not to militarise the campus or to disrupt democratic functioning of students. The idea behind it is that first and second year female students who are new to campus may feel hesitant about approaching cop cars. The presence of a friendly female constable makes it more likely for students to report crimes.” However, for this to be implemented in reality, what will also be essential is a gender sensitization course for the constables. Horror stories abound in campus of how female constables have dismissed complainants, often rudely.

Another concern that comes up in the Priyadarshini manifesto is whether this is yet another collection of promises or if it is actually possible to get the funds allocated for the provisions its listed. Subsidised sanitary napkins, open gyms and CCTV cameras don’t come cheap, after all.

Aribam sounded confident: “DUSU has enough fund for the promises to be materialised and we will of course demand additional allocation of funds as well.” If the first part of her statement is true, one wonders why improvements haven’t been made despite the existence of funds. “Had ABVP wanted to do what they have promised again and again for past three years, they could have easily done it,” Aribam said of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP). “They even had the added advantage of their parent body ruling in central government and could have requested more funds. All ABVP has done is spread hooliganism. They beat a teacher at Shri Ram College of Commerce, assaulted Kirori Mal College’s principal and further, their moral policing goes on for students.”

The manifesto is seen to have missed the issue of women’s accommodation and travel safety, but Aribam claimed that more issues would be discussed in the general manifesto that releases on September 6. The general manifesto, however, has neither made any pressing demands for women hostels nor for their travel safety.

The most burning question, however, remains that despite an entire women’s manifesto being brought out to woo female voters, NSUI has only one female contestant in the final list (Vinita Dhaka for the post of Secretary). For a party of such scale and membership, it seems odd that only three women were able to make the provisional list and only one made it to candidature.

Aribam claimed that candidate selection procedure does not discriminate between men and women. She said, “As we have always stood up for women’s issues, we do not feel the need to field women candidates just for the sake of representation. It depends on the credibility, hard work and dedication of the candidate, and not simply on them being a man or a woman.”

It’s a little difficult to believe, however, that so few women have the “credibility” and “hard work” in the party.

That said, the idea of preparing separate manifesto is a good move and one that is likely to sharpen the focus on women’s issues. However, the application and materialisation of these demands remains to be seen, given the not-so-vast resources and reach of DUSU.

All India Trinamool Congress became the 7^th political party to be recognized as a National Party in the country. BJP, Congress, CPI, CPI(M), BSP & NCP are six other political parties to be recognized as National Parties. But when is a party recognized as a State or National Party?

The Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968

A registered political party is accorded the status of a recognized state or national party as per the criteria listed in ‘The Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968’. This order was amended from time to time.

Recognition as a State Party

For any political party to be eligible for recognition as a State Party in a state, it has to satisfy any of the five conditions listed below.

In brief, the five conditions are:

Recognition as a National Party

For any political party to be eligible for recognition as a National Party, it has to satisfy any of the three conditions listed below.

In brief, the three conditions are:

Trinamool Congress is now recognized as a National Party as it has satisfied the eligibility criteria for a State Party in the four states of West Bengal, Tripura, Manipur & Arunachal Pradesh.

Though some of the other six national parties did not perform as well in the recently held elections, their national party status is intact following an amendment made to the allotment rules recently. Their status will now be reviewed only after the next general election.

Advantages of being recognized as a State or National Party

The biggest advantage of being recognized is getting the reserved symbol. A party recognized as a state party gets a reserved symbol from the list of free symbols. All the candidates contesting from that party will get the same symbol throughout the state. For National Parties, the reserved symbol can be used across the country by its contesting candidates.

There are also other advantages to the recognized parties like subsidized land for party offices, free air time on Doordarshan & All India Radio, supply of electoral roll copies free of cost during elections etc.

Disclaimer : The information, ideas or opinions appearing in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the views of Newslaundry.com. Newslaundry.com does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same. If the article carries photographs or images, we do not vouch for their authenticity.

Perfectly-greying hair, stylishly-draped shawl and a baritone infused with wisdom, Amitabh Bachchan is the perfect Indian patriarch. Like all good patriarchs, what he does best is tell us what to do. In a letter addressed to his granddaughters, he cites the influence of their dadaji and pardadaji — paternal grandfathers and great grandfathers — and their illustrious surnames, Bachchan and Nanda. Millions read the message as it went viral (predictably), neither caring nor realising that aside from being subjected to a subtle promotional campaign for his upcoming release Pink, Bachchan had got his basic science wrong.  

Even a cursory knowledge of basic biology means admitting that a human being is the sum of more than just her male ancestors, as the letter purports. That the grandmothers and great grandmothers, also illustrious but conditioned to live in the shadows of their more famous husbands, are omitted is simply casual everyday patriarchy. More insidious is that a certain Krishnaraj Rai – perhaps not in the same league of fame as the Bachchans and Nandas – but who did contribute his share of DNA, being conveniently left out of the family tree on which Aaradhya blooms. But who cares about science? In the traditional Hindu undivided family, once he has done the kanyadan (literally the donation of his girl child), he has no claims over either his daughter Aishwarya or her progeny. If his surname has to count and his family flourish, he better look to someone other than this granddaughter who is a Bachchan now. Similarly, Jaya Bhaduri’s parents and lineage are ignored, as though Jaya plays no part in the legacy bequeathed to her granddaughters.

But at least the Rais and the Bhaduris – barring their famous daughters – are relatively obscure. What explains Bachchan overlooking a certain Raj Kapoor, who happens to be Navya Naveli’s great grandfather? Just because he’s part of Navya Naveli’s father’s matrilineal heritage, does the legendary actor-director not ‘count’?

A large number of women have applauded this letter, a public relations exercise for the film Pink, whose theme is women standing up for themselves in a world ruled by men. Habituated to looking at the world through the male gaze, the invisibility of the woman (who bears a disproportionate burden of bringing up the child in our culture) is so natural that few find the exclusion of Jaya Bhaduri, Teji Bachchan, Ritu Nanda and Vrinda Rai misogynistic. The suffixing of a husband’s last name post marriage is a subsuming of the entire identity of these woman into the clan, it seems. It’s a sanction, apparently, to ignore their other achievements and contributions.

How ironic that Bachchan, while promoting a film that appears to be about how women are misrepresented, decided to ignore the women in his family altogether.

One can only hope that Pink surpasses this apologetic version of feminism. In a society where the men in charge (and this includes most film directors) see every little concession to women’s rights as a favour bestowed – and many women accept this status quo without question – the messages in popular cinema, are not always about genuinely furthering the female agenda even when they claim to be. However,  feminism has become a ‘cool’ brand in the past few years and the aspiring feminist, however confused and behind the times, forms a large chunk of Bollywood’s viewership, That’s been proven by the success of films like NH10. The film industry has appropriated female empowerment from advertising and going by the number of gushing women who have shared Bachchan’s open letter, it seems to be working.

There’s something else that is hinted at by this letter going ‘viral’ – how tightly patriarchy controls women and the kind of scraps it offers to build a facade of equality. Perhaps the women who shared Bachchan’s letter were reminded of a benign patriarch in their lives – perhaps a father who ‘allowed’ her to study or work, as though these opportunities are not entitled to her naturally. On screen too, it is the hero that usually comes to her rescue, the male saviour complex so ingrained in our cinema that it is taken for granted. It remains to be seen whether this film promoted in the guise of women empowerment truly empowers its female protagonists.

The aforementioned granddaughters, who apparently stay in touch with their grandfather through The Times of India, are growing up in the shadow of this benign patriarchy, even as they come from huge privilege. Luckily for Navya Naveli and Aaradhya, they live in a time and place where baring of their bodies and minds on many mediums is routine. And the choice of their friends and life partners is not restricted, except by narrow minds. Feminism and equality are concepts they live with, and these cut across genders. Addressing the men in the family, catching them young, is probably more urgent than lecturing the women.

While the girls no doubt will have to face their own battles as they grow up female, their challenges are likely to be very different from the ones Bachchan envisages in his open letter. The length of a skirt is hardly going to be an issue in the urban, upper class India that Navya Naveli and Aaradhya populate. It was certainly not much of an issue for their mothers, and even discussion on the subject is passé for the demographic to which they belong.

And yet girls and women continue to be addressed again and again about their clothing, in a way no man ever is. Indeed no letter to his son or grandson – not addressed here perhaps because he falls outside the purview of the film promotion – would ever have any mention on the length of his shorts. Or the reason to marry.

Let’s hope that by the time Aaradhya grows up, this letter from her grandfather won’t be relevant. Let’s hope that by then, women (and men) will have tired of looking down at skirts and will instead, in equal measure, reach for the sky.

In our very first NL Tippani, Abhinandan Sekhri takes on journalist Dibang of ABP News. As ABP News went around thumping its chest and taking potshots at Huffington Post and Newslaundry for … well, writing articles despite not knowing the future. Dibang, incidentally, accused Associate Editor Manisha Pande of not understanding women’s issues. Really now? Listen up to find out, in a nutshell, what Sekhri thinks about ABP News‘s reportage. For the non-nutshell version, click here.

Is “unauthorised” basically leave to speculate? Seems that way from Yasser Usman’s Rekha – The Untold Story, which is a gossipy, breezy read. Amitabh Bachchan’s letter to his granddaughters on Teacher’s Day raises a number of questions. Is it just a PR stunt to promote his upcoming movie, Pink? Speaking of Pink, we’ve found the best part of the film: Qurat-ul-Ain Baloch’s beautiful rendition of the song “Kaari Kaari“. There’s more good music in this episode, and there’s MSG – Sherdil. Listen up as Deepanjana Pal & Rajyasree Sen help you up your pop culture game. And as always, there’s a question at the end of the podcast. Send us your answers and comments to contact@newslaundry.com. 

For references:

1. Big B’s letter to his granddaughters
2. Song from the film Pink
3. MSG The Warrior – ‘Lion Heart‘ trailer
4. Rock On 2 trailer
5. Mirzya‘s trailer
6. Mirzya‘s title song
7. Ajay Devgn attempts to be Ravish 

Listen to The Awful and Awesome Entertainment Wrap on iTunes here and Stitcher here

“Nyaya abhi bhi adhoora hain. Ham chahte hain ki hamari taraf samaj ka naziriye bhee badle” [We are still waiting for justice. But we also want society’s attitudes towards us to change]. Nearly two months after the incident that sparked a Dalit uprising, 26-year-old Vashram Sarvaiya doesn’t sound bitter anymore. Vashram is one of the seven members of a Dalit family, of Mota Samadhiyala village in Una taluka of Gujarat, who was flogged by cow vigilantes on July 11 this year. The video of this horrific incident went viral and made #ChaloUna a war cry for the Dalit rights movement.

Since then, the Sarvaiya family has been surviving on the help offered to them by the community. “The last two months have been very tough for us. We have not earned a single rupee as we are still reeling under the trauma,” Balu Sarvaiya, Vashram’s father, told Newslaundry. “I was hit badly on my liver, I can’t walk straight,” Ramesh, Vashram’s 23-year-old brother, told Newslaundry.

One of the injuries Vashram sustained are in his eardrums, so he strains to listen now. Speaking to Newslaundry, Vashram expressed some hope for justice after Gujarat Criminal Investigation Department (CID) filed its chargesheet in the case on September 7. “Chargesheet mein takriban woh saari baatien hain jo ham shuru se keh rahe hain [The chargesheet contains almost all the facts that we have been stating since the beginning],” he said.

The Gujarat CID’s chargesheet squarely blames the police for laxity and misrepresentation of facts in the Una Dalit flogging case. It categorically states that the police turned a case of skinning of a dead cow by Dalits into a case of “beef being found.”

“At around 6.30-7.00 am we got a call from neighbouring Bediya village from our uncle,” Balu Sarvaiya, Vashram’s father, told Newslaundry. “He told us that a lioness has killed a cow belonging to Naja Shyora. Skinning dead cows is our traditional family profession and that is why we chose to collect the dead cow carcass from Bediya village.”

Newslaundry also spoke to Naja Shorya, whose cow had been mauled by a lioness and who had called the Sarvaiyas. “I have recorded my statement with the CID,” corroborating Balu and Vashram’s telling of the events. “I have told them that my cow had gone missing on July 10. Later, I learnt that it was killed by a lioness,” he said. Newslaundry has learnt that in the chargesheet, the CID has mentioned that Shorya was forced to state that his cow went missing and not to mention that it was killed by a lioness. This, he said, was done at the behest of the former police inspector of the Una police station. “I told the CID that I was asked to sign a paper on a statement that I never gave,” Shorya said.

The parts of the CID chargesheet in possession of Newslaundry put the police system to shame. According to it, when the Dalits were flogged in front of huge gathering of villagers, calls were made by some villagers to Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar state police control room, complaining about the incident. The call from Ahmedabad state police control was directed to Sanakhada outpost nearest of Mota Samadhiyala village. However, the then outpost in-charge Kanchan Parmar, instead of rescuing the Sarvaiya boys, actually chatted with the gau rakshaks and ignored the injured Dalits.

“We were severely beaten by people claiming to be gau rakshaks. Then we were shoved into a jeep and were taken to Una police station,” Ramesh Sarvaiya told Newslaundry. Ramesh said while they were being taken to Una, a police-control-van stopped in front of their jeep. “We thought we would be rescued by the senior officer, but they rather joked and exchanged pleasantries with the ‘gau-rakshaks’,” he said.

Similarly, a call made to Gandhinagar state control room was diverted to Una police station officer. It reported that some youths were being beaten up. However, the local police took more than four hours to act on the complaint, according to CID’s chargesheet.

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Newslaundry called the Gandhinagar state control room to find out what unfolded on July 11, but Sub Inspector (SI) KR Saxena, in the control room, said he did not have any recollection of receiving a call asking for help from Una on July 11. Moreover, the control room does not keep records, Saxena revealed, which meant that it isn’t possible to prove whether the control room received a call from Una that day. If someone did call from Una, normal protocol would have been followed, according to Saxena. “We have to note down the callers details,” he said. “Then we ask where the caller’s location is and based on that we ask them to contact the nearest police station so that help can reach quickly. Also, we notify the district control room to talk to the caller.” What part of the protocol was followed that day remains unclear.

 There was even an effort to pin a false charge upon the Sarvaiyas. Newslaundry has learnt that the Una police station house officer (SHO) in his report added a line that “cow meat was found” to tilt the case in favour of gau rakshaks. “This was done to make a case against Balu Sarvaiya’s family,” Dipender Yadav, special public prosecutor in this case, told Newslaundry.

Yadav said if the police had acted responsibly, they could have arrested the guilty vigilantes on the spot, when Balu’s sons were brought to Una police station, tied with rope. The CID has also mentioned in its chargesheet that Balu was left bleeding (after being beaten) where the incident took place. The reason for this, if Yadav is to be believed, is shocking in its callousness. “The accused left Balu as they didn’t want to soil the sheets of the vehicle with blood.” Yadav told Newslaundry.

The video of the flogging is an important part of the investigation. The chargesheet says, “The circulation of the video resulted in 74 incidents of rioting causing the death of one policeman…23 suicide attempts of which one died.” “We have compiled all these details in the chargesheet submitted to the Una court, now the matter lies with the court,” Inspector General of Police, CID, Shashikant Trivedi told Newslaundry.

The CID has arrested 43 accused in this case so far including then Una police station inspector Nirmalsinh Jhala; Sub-inspector N D Pandey; Assistant sub-inspector Kanchanben Parmar, and head constable Kanjibhai Chudasama.

Brajesh Kumar Jha, Inspector General of Police, Junagadh Range, refused to comment on the allegations of Gujarat CID when contacted by Newslaundry, saying that he was attending training in Delhi. Also unavailable for comment was Kirit Pandya, station officer (SO), Gandhinagar police station.

If the video of the incident offered a sickening insight into the caste-based prejudice that persists in India, then the way the Sarvaiyas suffered in the hands of the police is a searing reminder that for many, the police are not guardians. Instead, they’re part of the problem – and this is of critical importance because it is the police that is entrusted with upholding the laws that are meant to guarantee people like Balu, Vashram and Ramesh their security. The CID chargesheet makes it clear that the police thought the Sarvaiyas could be mistreated because they don’t occupy positions of privilege either economically or socially. They’re poor, discriminated against and therefore vulnerable. If those who are meant to be protectors will gang up with those violating both human decency and the law, then to whom does the everyman turn?

We are indeed living in a strange world where every bit of financial bad news is cheered with progressively excessive enthusiasm by traders and self-proclaimed “investors”. September has witnessed three instances of bad financial data just in the United States of America, which instead of spooking the markets are, in fact, taking them higher. In the case of emerging markets, participants are overjoyed and already-high valuations are getting further extended as Institute for Supply Management (ISM) Data for Manufacturing & Services and Payroll numbers in US came in much below expectations. It would require a great deal of detachment and independent thinking to not get swayed by the mania as the financial world around you is acting incredibly weird, if not downright crazy. When bad news is consistently portrayed as good news – because bad news means more action from central banks – you can be rest assured that financial prices are getting further delinked from reality. History tells us that such stories never end well. Recent history in the 21st century has presented two case studies for any curious student of financial markets who wishes to dwell on such matters.

The first example was in early 2000 when almost all internet companies were touted as revolutionary and path-breaking. Million-dollar valuations (and in some cases, billion) were being handed out to companies for just having ‘dot-com’ in their name. The euphoria and mania towards internet companies was eventually brought down devastatingly when people started realising that the impact of internet would be way more gradual than anticipated. The asset bubble of dot-com stocks got pricked and the pin that pricks the bubble is always Reality with a capital R. Yes, the impact of internet was indeed revolutionary and groundbreaking. The ignorance of participants was in the timeframe of impact and the assumption that the rewards of internet would be evenly spread among a large number of companies. Even 16 years after the dot-com bubble, only a handful of companies like Google, Facebook and Amazon have raked in disproportionate rewards due to the inherent winner-take-all effect that is in-built in the internet ecosystem.  

The boom-bust cycle caused by ignorance-driven mania got repeated in 2008 when the housing market collapsed in the US and led to global pandemonium. The underlying assumption of virtually all participants was that the housing market never goes down in the long run. Eventually, reality showed that if mortgage loans are distributed to all and sundry without any guarantee of asset collateral or income, then the housing market can also collapse like a house of cards. Yet again, Reality pricked the bubble caused by wishful thinking, ignorance and mania. But there was one crucial difference between the housing bubble of 2007-08 and the dot-com bubble of 1999-2000. While the dot-com bubble was limited mainly to equity markets and hence was resolved quickly without deep damage, the housing bubble involved the debt and derivatives market through opaque, exotic instruments like mortgage backed securities. The combination of debt and ignorance can have unimaginably deadly and destructive effects. The result is that we are suffering the consequences and repercussions even to the present day, as the global economy is yet to regain the momentum lost after the financial crisis that erupted due to the housing bubble.

Now we are in 2016. On September 15, it would be the eighth anniversary of Lehman Brothers’s bankruptcy, the cataclysmic trigger to the financial risis of 2008. Dow Jones is back to lifetime high territory. Even Nifty in India is inches away from its lifetime high close of 8996. Nasdaq too managed to hit a new all-time high recently. It speaks volumes of the dot-com bubble that Nasdaq is only slightly higher than the peak reached in 2000. Such was the intensity of the bubble.

The obvious question that now arises is, have we learnt the lessons that previous asset bubbles offered us? Or are we staring at yet another bubble caused by our manic ignorance and wishful thinking?

I would like to hazard a guess. There is no doubt in my mind that we are indeed staring at massive and multiple bubbles. The culprits (ignorance, mania and wishful thinking) remain the same, but the damage would be even more colossal this time as it would be the culmination of past mistakes. Like the previous bubbles, our underlying assumptions would be proven decisively wrong when the day of reckoning arrives. This time, we are assuming that central bank and government interventions will always support falling asset prices and will use all measures to keep prices high. We have come to this assumption due to the repeated interventions by central banks across the globe whenever the economy is facing difficulties in growing or facing deflationary tendencies. Virtually every time growth unravels or an economy deflates too much, central banks show up with bazooka-like quantitative easing, forward guidance, near-zero interest rates and even negative interest rates. If that was not enough, governments undertake even more deficit spending and fiscal stimulus to back up the money printing efforts of central banks.

The world is awash with liquidity yet the developed economies are struggling with anaemic growth and sustained lack of inflation. The developing economies and emerging markets are also facing the onslaught of reduced global demand and lower commodity prices. Amidst this gloomy economic picture, financial markets are behaving as if times have never been better. Asset prices have been distorted beyond recognition. Stocks, bonds, private tech companies, real estate and collectors’ items (art, cars, wines, stamps) are seeing prices that are highly disconnected with fundamentals. Trillions of dollars of government bonds and even corporate bonds are yielding negative returns. This is a bubble that is much more pervasive in scope and nature than what we have witnessed before. The bubble is a result of excessive liquidity caused by too many interventions than necessary. The liquidity is leading to higher asset prices, but is unable to revive and revitalise distressed economies. Japan and most of Europe are like zombie economies of the developed world. A combination of ageing population, extreme indebtedness, near-zero growth and deflationary economy are severe problems which need structural solutions rather than quick-fix liquidity rushes. There is a lot of focus on the problems of China but they pale in comparison to other systemically important countries which have far deeper problems. China is more of a red herring (no pun intended) while the source of future problems may come from elsewhere.

There will come a point in future, when participants and authorities alike realise that monetary policy and liquidity alone cannot solve fundamental and structural issues and are in fact compounding the problems. That would be the bursting of the bubble and would likely be triggered by an earth-shattering event. Like in 2008, this bubble too encompasses the debt and derivatives markets. The lessons about the perils of excessive leverage and indebtedness have still not been learnt. I hope I am wrong about financial assets being in bubble territory and hopefully we will not have to witness the pricking of bubbles again. But if I turn out to be right, then the damage would be excessively severe and it would lead to a reset of the economic world order as we know it.

Disclaimer : The information, ideas or opinions appearing in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the views of Newslaundry.com. Newslaundry.com does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same. If the article carries photographs or images, we do not vouch for their authenticity.

With only a couple of days left before the verdict of the Delhi University Student (DUSU) elections, the campaigns are in full swing. University campuses, colleges, even popular student markets of Kamla Nagar and Satya Niketan — student leaders have been everywhere for the past few days.

On September 6 morning, I reached Atma Ram Sanatan Dharma College in Dhaula Kuan, where Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) was about to campaign along with the DUSU presidential candidate Amit Tanwar, as well as Joint-secretary candidate, Vishal Yadav.

Half an hour prior to the candidates’ arrival, around 50 supporters were sitting outside the college gates in blistering heat, raining pamphlets with registered ballot numbers of the candidates. When I began to interview a few supporters, they jumped to action and began shouting slogans, “Hamara leader kaisa ho? Amit Tanwar jaisa ho! (How should our leader be? Like Amit Tanwar!)” Loud, perhaps, but the situation was peaceful until the candidates arrived.

South Campus has a strict policy that allows only nominated candidates to enter colleges while on a campaign, along with up to four registered students of the college that they are entering. Amit Tanwar, however, came with a proper entourage who, when denied entry, created a ruckus. All hell broke loose and physical altercations with the police officers began. A supporter cheekily told me, “Aap to ladki hain, aap side mein ho jaiye (You’re a girl, you should step aside.)”

Finally, a few supporters were allowed inside with the candidates and they began touring the campus floor by floor. They entered every class was entered and the candidate addressed the students, shook hands with them and asked for their support. The entire process took over half an hour, after which the candidates were hailed on the shoulders of party members and escorted back in their cars.

Before leaving, Tanwar gave a brief statement, “We have worked continuously for two years in the union and it is heartening to see the support of the students. We are sure of winning all four seats again and this year too we will deliver everything we promise in our manifesto.”

Shortly after, All India Students Association (AISA) vice-president candidate, Amrita Queen, came to the college with the four supporters she’s allowed.  The situation was vastly different from ABVP’s campaign. AISA members came on foot, had no banner and none of the fanfare that was in ABVP’s campaign. Queen went to every classroom, talked about how a female candidate can change the scenario of DUSU, announced her name and ballot number, and asked for support.

The AISA members toured South Campus for about two hours, but very few of them seemed to be interested in Queen’s campaigning. Most of them returned the distributed pamphlets that contained th AISA candidates’ ballot numbers.

AISA’s consolation is that despite all their enthusiasm, ABVP campaigners were about as successful as AISA at drawing students’ attention. Most students seemed annoyed by the noises and the paper trash being produced by the campaigners, but mostly, they seemed wary of the crowds outside college gates, that didn’t allow them to enter the premises.

A female ARSD student, who wished to remain anonymous, said, “We don’t want any part of this. I have a class going on right now and I’m stuck outside because the guards won’t open the gates until the supporters leave.”

Mr. Sudhanshu Kumar, AISA President for Delhi University, said, “ABVP has a stronghold on the campus. They were allowed to create a ruckus outside gates but we were asked to repeatedly show the candidature document to every officer outside.”

The NSUI campaign in South Campus began late in the afternoon from Motilal Nehru College. Here, too, the entry gate was barricaded and police was beginning to arrive before the campaigners reached. A long queue had formed as the guards insisted on checking every student’ identity card.

For over one-and-a-half hours, the campaigners sat outside the gates as the candidates were running quite late. It seemed like a picnic gone rogue. Some supporters were eating ice-creams and others were seen chit-chatting in the parking area. Few senior members were busy unloading stacks and stacks of pamphlets, fresh and toasty from the Xerox shop.

When the NSUI candidates finally arrived, most campaigners were exhausted and had lost their enthusiasm. Once again, only a few supporters were allowed to enter the campus. Right off the hook, pamphlets were being showered all across the corridors and canteen area. When I tried talking to a few of the NSUI campaigners, they were reluctant to speak to me, fearing they might say something inappropriate. Instead they called a ‘senion member’ who told me to keep the fact that he is not a student but an Indian Youth Congress member off the record.

Following the campaigns around on South Campus, there was one thing that was constant across the parties: the candidates may think they’re the stars, but the real heroes are the campaigners. Neither the weather nor the disinterested students swayed them.

At the risk of misquoting Alfred Tennyson, leaders come and leaders go, but campaigners go on forever.

Amidst demands for a ‘Special Category Status’ to Andhra Pradesh, the Government of India (GoI) has released  a note detailing the various commitments made to Andhra Pradesh and how it has effectively addressed all of them. GoI has in no uncertain terms said that a Special Category Status for Andhra Pradesh is not possible because of the recommendations of the 14th Finance Commission. The GoI said that class of special category states ceases to exist.

Commitments made under different Acts & Reports

GoI has categorized the various commitments made to Andhra Pradesh into the following,

Commitments made in the Andhra Pradesh Reorganization Act

• Extend awards to successor States based on 14th Finance Commission recommendations & resources available.
• Provide a developmental package to the backward areas of the State of Andhra Pradesh & provide adequate incentives for Rayalaseema and north coastal regions of the State.
• Declares Polavaram Irrigation Project as a National Project.
• Institutions and infrastructure to be developed in the State are outlined
• Provides for appropriate fiscal measures, including offer of tax incentives, to be given to the Successor States to promote industrialization and economic growth.  Also provides for support to programmes for backward areas including physical and social infrastructure.

Statement of the then Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh on 20.2.2014

The then Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh on 20.2.2014 stated before the Rajya Sabha that Special Category Status would be extended to the State of Andhra Pradesh for a period of five years.  This would be done to put the State’s finances on a firmer footing.  He further stated that the resource gap for the year 2014-15 would be compensated by the Central Government.

Fourteenth Finance Commission:

Andhra Pradesh was one of the States determined to be a revenue deficit State, and the Commission recommended that the Centre would provide revenue deficit grant for the period of the Fourteenth Finance Commission.  The amount of deficit for each year was mentioned in the report itself and a total of Rs.22,113 crores is to be paid to Andhra Pradesh as revenue deficit grant for the 5 year period.

Report on Developmental Support to Andhra Pradesh dated 1.12.2015

The Vice Chairman, NITI Aayog Dr. Arvind Panagariya studied various aspects of the support to be given to Andhra Pradesh under the Reorganisation Act and made recommendations regarding effective implementation.

What did the GoI do?

 As per the press release of GoI, the following support has already been extended or committed.

• A part of the revenue gap compensation amounting to Rs.3,979.5 crore has already been paid and the balance is being paid in annual instalments.
• An amount of Rs.2,500 crore has already been paid as support for creation of new capital of State of Andhra Pradesh and a balance of Rs.1,000 crore would be paid in due course.
• An amount of Rs.1,050 crore has been disbursed as special package for backward areas  and a further amount of Rs.1,050 crore would be paid in the coming years.
• For the Polavaram Project, an expenditure of Rs.5,135.87 crore had been incurred up to 31stMarch 2014 including Central Assistance of Rs.562.469 crore. GoI will now provide 100% of the remaining cost of the irrigation component only of the project for the period starting from 1.4.2014, to the extent of the cost of the irrigation component on that date.
• Government of India has already legislated for fiscal incentives of enhanced investment allowance and accelerated depreciation.  They will come into effect once notified, after the State of Andhra Pradesh identifies the eligible backward areas.
• Many new educational & other institutions have been established
  • A Petroleum University has already been established.
  • The IIT has already been functioning from a transit campus and the main campus is being constructed.
  • The NIT has already been functioning since September 2015 in a temporary campus and its main campus is being constructed.
  • The IIIT Kurnool has already started functioning from the temporary campus and would start functioning and its main campus is being constructed.
  • The site for the Central University in Anantapur district has already been selected.
  • The IISER has been established in Tirupati.
  • The IIM  has been established at Visakhapatnam.
  • An AIIMS has been approved at Guntur and the land for the same is being taken over.
  • A Tribal University is to be established in the State of Andhra Pradesh for which a Site Selection Committee of the State has already approved the land.
  • A National Institute of Disaster Management is being established in the State of Andhra Pradesh for which identification and takeover of the land is being completed.

• The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has given in-principle approval for the establishment of a major port at Dugarajapatnam in Andhra Pradesh on PPP basis, subject to feasibility.
• Proposals with regard to the Steel Authority of India, Indian Oil Corporation/HPCL to set up units in Andhra Pradesh are being examined as provided in the Reorganisation Act.
• With respect to Airports,
  • In Vishakhapatnam, international flights are already operating.  For further expansion, land has been identified at Bhogapuram. The State is to acquire and hand over land for development by AAI as per the standard terms for such development or develop on its own by PPP.  A techno economic feasibility report is to be undertaken by State Government.
  • For Vijayawada, MoU has been signed by AAI with Govt. of Andhra Pradesh to develop the existing terminal.  The State is to acquire 698 acres of land required for the expansion as per the standard terms.
  • For Tirupati, the new terminal was inaugurated

• The Fourteenth Finance Commission’s award came into effect from 1.4.2015.  The enhanced devolution amount due to Andhra Pradesh is being paid in entirety. This has resulted in an increase of Rs.7,787 crore in tax devolution in 2015-16 compared to 2014-15, a growth of 55%.  The revenue deficit grants for each of the years recommended by the Fourteenth Finance Commission will also be paid by the GoI to the State of Andhra Pradesh.  The same has been done for the year 2015-16 and 2016-17.
• GoI has agreed to give a special assistance measure for Government of Andhra Pradesh for five years, which would make up for the additional Central share the State might have received during these years, i.e. 2015-16 to 2019-20. This will be in the form of Central Government funding for externally aided projects the state of Andhra Pradesh signed and disbursed during these years.

The release says that the GoI is honouring and shall honour all commitments made under the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act.

Disclaimer : The information, ideas or opinions appearing in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the views of Newslaundry.com. Newslaundry.com does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same. If the article carries photographs or images, we do not vouch for their authenticity.

Image by Ishan Kukreti

For Kitab Singh Rawat of Kharadi, a small town in Uttarkashi district of Uttarakhand, the National Green Tribunal’s (NGT) judgement on Srinagar Bandh Aapda Sangharsh Samiti vs Alaknanda Hydropower Co. Ltd is a ray of hope. On August 19, NGT disposed of the two-year-old case by holding the power project company responsible for the destruction in Srinagar, Uttarakhand during the floods of 2013. The Tribunal fined a compensation amount of Rs. 9.26 crore on Alaknanda Hydropower.

The judgement is a historical one. It recognises that dams – till now seen only as paving the road to development – can unleash destruction on a massive scale. Moreover, for people like Kitab Singh, whose 18-room hotel was washed away  during the 2013 floods, ‘God’s will’ is not good enough reason to make peace with the tragedy.

Srinagar is 200 kilometres from Kharadi. Before 2012, Kharadi was a busy little village, catering to pilgrims on their way to Yamunotri, 30 kilometres from Kharadi. Then came the floods of 2012 and 2013. The latter claimed the lives of more than 4,000 people, with Rudraprayag, Chamoli, Uttarkashi, Bageshwar and Pithoragarh being the worst-hit. In Kharadi, the hotels standing on National Highway 123 to Yamunotri, with the Yamuna flowing past at a distance, were mostly devastated by the river at full flow.

Image by Ishan Kukreti

“The cloud burst at Hanuman Chatti that triggered the 2013 flash floods discharged most of its water into the Ganga basin, leaving Yamuna valley relatively safer,” said Hemant Dhyani of Ganga Ahvan, a public forum for the conservation of Yamuna and Ganga in the Himalayan region. Dhyani was also a part of the Ravi Chopra committee, set up by the Supreme Court after 2013 floods to look into the cause of the floods.

Kharadi in the Yamuna valley technically shouldn’t have been affected. The Yamuna valley and Ganga Valley are separated by Hanuman Chatti. “There was no destruction in any other area of Yamuna valley apart from Kharadi,” Manoj Mishra of Yamuna Jiye Abhiyan. This is perhaps why Kharadi hasn’t received that much attention, but it was the only town that suffered this devastation with 50 buildings being washed away. Some explain it as bad luck. Utttarkashi’s Sub Divisional Magistrate, Raj Kumar Panday, a ‘public’ servant, said, “If the people choose to build houses in the riverbed, then willget washed away.” However, others believe there’s a more concrete, man-made reason for Kharadi’s misfortune.

Image by Ishan Kukreti

Lost livelihoods

Jagmohan Singh Chauhan had built his hotel in 2005. The two months of Char DhamYatra and two months of winter tourism were enough for him to earn up to Rs 6-7 lakh, and that was enough. In 2013, Chauhan’s hotel was washed away. He’s now unemployed. Like the other 50-odd hoteliers who suffered losses in the floods of 2012 and 2013, Chauhan has no other source of earning now.

Ravindar Singh, lost his four room cottage in the flood of 2012. He is currently working as a cook at one of few remaining local restaurants. For both of them, while the river may have robbed them of their livelihoods, their complaint is against something more concrete: Gangani Hydro Project (GSHP).

Image by Ishan Kukreti

Privately owned by Regency Power Group, which is based out of Paonta, Himachal Pradesh, the head of the GSHP is a kilometre from the erstwhile Kharadi market. The head of a dam diverts river water into the project water channel so that it can be taken to the power house of the project.

“In the floods of 2011,the diversion head of the dam was washed away,” said Chauhan. The diversion head was rebuilt, stronger and thicker than before by 2012. It obstructed the flow of Yamuna in the monsoon of that year, due to which the river changed its course.   

“The flood changed the hydro-morphology of Yamuna. The riverbed rose due to excessive siltation,” Bhim Singh Rawat of South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and Peoples said, adding that that the siltation blocked the channel of the dam, obstructing the water flow.”Gangani Power project was the reason for the devastation of Kharadi,” Dhyani said bluntly. “The SDM (Sub Divisional Magistrate) of Badkot, had even issued a notice to Regency Power Group to stop the work and appear before the district court.” said Dhyani.

General Manager (Finances) of Regency Power Group, Rajeev Walia, says the company did not receive any such notice.

Damages and dues

After the destruction, Kitab Singh filed a case against GSHP in Uttarkashi district court in 2014. However, the endeavour has remained fruitless so far. “The company has hired three high profile lawyers to fight the case, we can’t win against them,” he said.

Locals working at GSHP deny any role of the dam in the tragedy, but they do agree that the channels were blocked. “Yamuna brought a lot of debris with it when the flood came. A tree got stuck in the spillway,” one of the workers said. The blockage caused the river to change its course as a result of which it eroded the land below the market, causing the building to collapse.  

According to Walia, GSHP has done whatever it can to help Kharad. He claimed the company has given more money as donations to the locals of Kharadi than it has earned from selling the power generated to Uttarakhand Power Corporation Limited. When asked for details of these payments, he was unable to provide specifics.

Some compensation has been provided by the state government, but it’s woefully inadequate. Those who lost their hotels in 2012 (36 hotels) received a meagre rehabilitation sum of Rs 2 lakh to build houses. Those who suffered in 2013 (13 hotels) were given a rehabilitation sum of Rs 7 lakhs. However there is a catch: the money can only be used to construct a residential structure. “I already had a house, I wanted the money to reconstruct my hotel,” said Janak Singh, whose hotel was one of the 13 that were washed away in 2013.

Meanwhile, GSHP still stands, increasing power generation from 8 MW to 9.6 MW over the years, while in the place of the hotels that once provided a living to the locals is a deep curve in the land.  

For the hoteliers of Kharadi, the NGT’s decision to fine Alaknanda Hydropower is an acknowledgement that their anger against GSHP may finally hold up in a court of law. “We will go to NGT,” said Singh, with hope renewed that perhaps in the NGT, their sufferings make them more powerful than GSHP.