The Argumentative Indian

Lessons Professor Jayashankar taught

2011-06-22T07:42:00.001+05:30

The dreaded end came yesterday. Professor Jayashankar passed away after battling cancer for several months. It is hard to fight the news of this departure without shedding tears and taking solace in the spirit he left behind.

My earliest recollection of seeing and listening to him was around 2002 when he was a guest at a seminar on Telangana statehood in Arts College, Hanumakonda. I could not comprehend all of what he spoke then but what struck me was his matter-of-fact tone and the mellifluous language he used. Later on, I came to understand his calm demeanor came from a rich mind and its clarity of thought and his language from Telangana’s rich multi-lingual heritage (No wonder he was in love with expressing in all languages – Telugu, Urdu, Hindi and English).

That is, for me, the primary lesson from him. To keep the calm and remain objective about issues, no matter how provoking situations could be. He showed by example that notwithstanding how sensitive and provoking the issue could be, it is important to be dispassionate to find a solution. While I grew up, that was the lesson I tried to remember as often as possible. In all these years, I have seen no one who spoke as objectively as he did about the reasons for Telangana movement. That did not change till his last breath despite being at the other end of vicious attacks from Andhra plutocrats who labeled him ‘Mullah Omar’ and the students campaigning for Telangana as Taliban. While the economist in him studied the regional disparities in this country, the humanist in him conceptualized the problem and advocated for the state of Telangana.

Another of his traits is his uncompromising spirit. He saw the struggle for 3 generations and did not end up just as another despondent guy. He incessantly fought for the state through all means. Authored literature presenting the many ills Telangana was subjected to due to the lop-sided merger, encouraged many Telangana organizations like TDF across the world to take shape and contribute to the cause and lent support to every political attempt to achieve Telangana statehood, whether it was TRS or NavaTelangana Praja Party. Not surprisingly, he remained a bachelor as he left too little time for his own self while dedicating his whole life to the cause he believed in.

The genial professor’s ideology shaped today’s Telangana movement so much that you see the most active part in the movement now taken by people from his background- that of academic circles. Professors elucidate the ideas, right from constitutional discussions around article 3 to debates over Bombay city during Gujarat’s inauguration. Taking the lead of the professor, the academics dug so much into the statistics of agriculture, industry and other areas of state administration over the years that the SriKrishna committee now finds it difficult to cover the pit with their concocted theories and cooked up statistics. It is this veracity that is lacking even in the most honest arguments for Samaikyandra. Instead, it has real estate businessmen making their case with ‘ground-breaking’ theories, like how asking for a state is being anti-national. If the professor made selfless efforts making the case for Telangana for decades, the best thing for Samikyandra on parallel lines is a book authored by an NRI sold on Amazon! In short, Samaikyandra ‘movement’ does not have a Jayashankar. It can’t.

Professor Jayashankar made invaluable contributions by putting on record the experiences from the Telangana movement of 1952 and 1969. In an age when the state government did everything to wipe out the very being of Telangana (by even putting a communal spin on Hyderabad liberation day), it was Jayashankar’s writings and speeches that carried through generations and are now on the threshold of giving a new lease of life to Telangana identity. In that sense, the professor shaped the cultural and political renaissance of Telangana. His work also made present Telangana movement to learn from mistakes of the past and reinvent itself over time as situation demands and importantly, sustain.

When I had a chance to interact with him more than a year ago, I asked him what to expect out of the SKC. He said ‘nothing’. I guess his experience taught him enough about these committees/commissions. There is no point for people today to relearn the same lessons he did for generations – that not to trust the government to ‘give the statehood’. Telanganas have to seize their right. That is what the professor wanted, to force the union to cede the statehood through an uncompromising fight. His departure only strengthens the resolve of those who know him to pay a fitting tribute to him – by incessantly campaigning for the Telangana state.

The SKC Scandal 5: How low is too low for Justice SriKrishna?

2011-06-12T12:16:00.000+05:30

When few paragraphs of the SKC’s eighth chapter leaked out 3 months ago, I went just plain sad. For once, I found nothing to discuss about that corrupt report. That leak made me relook at my blog and scores of activists out there, their hope, struggle and tireless efforts. Some of these thoughts, I would discuss in days ahead. The latest leak made me post this about the incredibly corrupt Srikrishna committee. How low is too low for these guys!?

After scores of songs and a movie, the cultural renaissance of Telangana is now marked by a newpaper. Namaste Telangana, theTelugu daily is launched this week and it started with a bang. It scooped out and published the contents of the ‘secret’ chapter 8. A news portal, Deccan Post, too published the English version now. The supplementary note of this chapter, as revealed, would put the wildest conspiracy theories to shame for lack of imagination!

Some excerpts are here below:

· “The Congress High Command must sensitize its own MPS and MLAs and educate them about the wisdom for arriving at an acceptable and workable solution. With the ruling party and also the main opposition party ( the TDP run by Chandra Babu) must be brought on the same page, the support mechanisms have a higher probability of becoming successful. The TDP must be advised not to participate in any further meetings that would be called by the Centre.

This could be an effective stumbling block for any meaningful dialogue on resolving the Telangana demand. The Andhra Congress MPs belonging to Kamma caste must be encouraged to work in tandem with TDP leadership which is now caught in a bad shape.”

So here is a committee set up by central government which suggests in its report to the very government to call for meetings on Telangana but also secretly advice the TDP to boycott the meet to stall any meaningful dialogue on the Telangana issue! I simply have no words to describe my feelings here. Beyond this point, I don’t feel like discussing anymore. But anyway lets go the whole log and get done with these drama company.

· “Further, on receipt of the Committee’s Report by the Government, a general message should be conveyed amongst the people of the State that Centre will be open for detailed discussions on the recommendations / options of the Report with the concerned leaders /stakeholders either directly or through a Group of Ministers or through important interlocutors and that this process will start at the earliest. But every method must be adopted to avoid giving finality to any discussions to drag on the matter until the agitation is totally brought under control.”

Justice Srikrishna seems to be so cocksure about everything. Maybe he thinks he controls the ebb and flow of everything around. His grand design, phew.

We already saw the below content in the earlier leak. Revisiting them to remind the times we live in.

· “ Andhra Pradesh has got about 13 Electronic Channels and 5 major local Newspapers which are in the forefront of molding the public opinion. Except for two Channels (Raj News & HMTV), the rest of them are supporters of a united Andhra Pradesh. The equity holders of the channels except the above two and the entire Print Media are with the Seemandhra people. The main editors/ resident and subeditors, the Film world etc. are dominated by Seemandhra people. A coordinated action on their part has the potential of shaping the perception of the common man. However, the beat journalists in the respective regions are locals and are likely to capture only those events/ news which reflect the regional sentiments. This can be tackled by the owners of the media houses by systematically replacing the local journalists by those from Seemandhra wherever it is possible.”

Just reflects how wide the grand plan is mapped, right into media, movies, editors. Did Telanganas complain about river waters, govt jobs etc,.Now add the local journos too to the list! Srikrishna’s grand symphony!

· “Each of the media houses are affiliated to different political parties. In the Print Media all major newspapers are owned by Seemandhra people and the Regional contents published by them play a vital role. Most of the editors except Andhra Jyothi are pro- united A. P. However, similar to the electronic channels, the print media have also got political affiliations. The editorial opinions, the banner headlines, the Regional content, the District editions need to be managed to be realistic and should give only due coverage to the separate Telangana agitations. The print media is hugely dependent on the Government for advertisement revenue and if carefully handled can be an effective tool to achieve this goal.”

“However, the RTI Act may prove to be an impediment for the Government to deny due share of ads to publications supporting the Telangana demand.”

Propaganda, our retired justice thinks overwhelms the principles of law, justice, propriety and uncompromising struggle. The way he and his committee members operated reflect not just the powerful opposition Telangana is facing, but the moral and ethical bankruptcy of those in power, in this age, in India.

TELANGANA 22: 'Justice Srikrishna's INJUSTICE' book now released online

2011-05-01T06:43:00.003+05:30

A long pending post here. Better late than never, here it is. I have been publishing my opinion on the Srikrishna committee’s report in various posts on this blog. In addition to these, I had the opportunity to converse, collaborate and collate opinions of various experts in different fields. As part of this exercise, I along with Sujai, Dileep and Madhav authored the book ‘Justice Srikrishna’s Injustice’. The book has been conceived and published by Telangana Development Forum (TDF). TDF India’s president Sri DP Reddy’s untiring efforts, TDF-USA’s sponsorship of the project along with time and efforts from many friends have bought the book into reality.

Initially, the book was planned to be released in Delhi but the parliament session then went into chaos due to the 2G scandal and unsettled the schedules of guests – serving MPs. That upset the book release schedule. We subsequently had a low-key book release on March 20, 2011 in Hyderabad. Eminent economist Ch. Hanumantha Rao was the chief guest. MLAs from Congress, TDP, TRS attended the book release. Telangana Political JAC chairman Prof Kodandaram, Zahed Ali Khan (Editor of Siasat), Dr. Gautam Pingle (Director,Centre for Public Policy, Governance & Performance, Administrative Staff College of India), Dr. Madabhushi Sridhar (Professor, NALSAR Univ.), R Vidyasagar Rao (Chief. Engineer (Retd), CWC) were some of the guests who graced the occasion. M. Narayana Reddy (Ex-MP) and the petitioner in the High Court on Chapter 8 made a stirring speech on the occasion. 4 Days after this book release, the High Court gave the landmark judgement to make chapter 8 public. It was a pleasure the octogenarian ex-MP talking and walking the talk with his petitions. The Hindu covered the release here.

The book has mainly 3 chapters. Chapter 1 focuses on why India should reject the committee’s report which challenges the basic tenets of our constitution. Chapter 2 is devoted to the irrationality, prejudice and bias in the arguments espoused by the report. Chapter 3 is about pointing out factual errors about facts and figures. Chapter 2 and 3 are efforts to collate and put in one place all arguments found in different articles produced by experts like Gautam Pingle and Madabhushi Sridhar. Their articles along with some others’ have been published as appendices in their full form. We could cover as much ground in the book as we wanted due to lack of time and our inability to work from one place due to the team members’ locations. All coordination has been done over phones and the internet. At last we were glad we did the release, thanks to diligent efforts from Sri DP Reddy. In the light of the Chapter 8 judgement, the book’s arguments get all the more significant as they reveal what a shame this report was. The high court too observed the same and we could not help but feel vindicated.

A month after the book release, it is now available for download on the internet here at Mission Telangana. Many thanks to Dileep for bringing this online for enthusiastic readers. Happy reading to you all folks. Enjoi.

My posts on Telangana:

TELANGANA 21: 'Million March' reflected Telangana's indomitable spirit

TELANGANA 20: 'Million March'- Govt. turns Hyderabad into Tiananmen Square!

TELANGANA 19: Parliament says 'No-Entry' for visitors from Telangana!

TELANGANA 18: Telangana goes camping on the tracks

TELANGANA XVII: Demerge Waltair from ECoR but not Telangana from AP!?

TELANGANA XVI: How the AP media is trying to suppress the truth about Telangana

TELANGANA XV: Why the SKC's 'best option' is bound to fail

TELANGANA XIV: Will SKC strongly recommend a 'state-within-a-state'?

TELANGANA XIII: How the 'politically unemployed' created the Andhra state

TELANGANA XII: About Amarajeevis and Anti-Nationals

TELANGANA XI: Cut the crap,the verdict is out!

TELANGANA X: The Good, Bad & Ugly of National Media Coverage

TELANGANA IX: EPW goes on the Telangana trail
TELANGANA VIII: My letter to Sri Krishna Committee (SKC) - A case for demerger of Telangana

TELANGANA VII: Grossly discriminated against: Prof Bhalchandra Mungekar

TELANGANA VI: Why Telugu news channels bar coverage?
TELANGANA V: Plutocrats unleash terror over OU students

TELANGANA IV: Shri Krishna committee a crude joke

TELANGANA III: A case of Tyranny of Majority
TELANGANA II: Statehood at Midnight

TELANGANA I: Telangana Movement and the Plutocracy: The Gathering Storm

Who would be liable for a Japan-like nuclear accident in India?

2011-03-18T15:30:00.001+05:30

As we know, the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) removed the ban on India's participation in international nuclear trade in September 2008. This happened after intense lobbying by US. A month later, India rewarded US by signing an agreement with the United States and opening up it’s civilian nuclear energy program worth $ 150 billion for US investments. The market is huge as right now India produces just above 2% of its total energy from nuclear plants and would like to increase that many fold in next few years to meet the needs of its growing economy. India has 20 nuclear reactors operational at 7 nuclear plants. See the map. Apart from upgrading these, it has already permitted a few other new plants after the ban has been removed.

US companies such as General Electric Co. and Westinghouse Electric Co. which design and manufacture nuclear reactors are supposed to be the biggest beneficiaries. India then moved ahead to set up a regime in place to govern the civil nuclear program. As part of this, it passed the The Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Bill last year. In context of the Japanese nuclear crisis and debate about who should shoulder responsibility for the crisis, this ball now assumes significance. India’s Nuclear damage liability bill lays down the framework for responsibilities on part of nuclear manufacturers, suppliers and operators of the nuclear power plants.

Who is liable for the damages of Japan’s nuclear accident?

It is to be noted that in the present situation in Japan, General Electric (GE), the designer and manufacturer of the Fukushima reactors now leaking radiation, faces no risk of liability in Japan even if a design flaw is proved to be the reason behind the failure. Tokyo Electric Power Corporation (TEPCO) - the operator of the nuclear power plant - will have to bear all liability. TEPCO’s maintenance was not the reason for the accident. In fact the reactor site survived the quake and the tsunami. TEPCO’s workers are now risking their lives to control radiation. It is clear the design of reactors’ cooling water system was flawed and so got disrupted. Even if this is proved in investigations in coming months, GE is not liable for damages.

What does the Indian nuclear liability law say?

Almost all countries using nuclear technology framed similar rules that exempt the suppliers from liability. India was obviously under pressure to frame similar laws both from suppliers of the NSG as well as India’s private corporations who would eventually enter the business of building and operating private nuclear plants. While the Indian government caved in, it ‘dressed up’ the words in the bill to pretend that in case of a nuclear accident, the operator of the plant has a ‘right of recourse’ against the nuclear supplier. A right of recourse is a procedure of shifting responsibility of paying damages on to the nuclear supplier. This usually happens when, after the nuclear accident, the operator sues the supplier for damages. The Indian act pretends to support the operator. But has put in clauses which are enough to disable this ‘right of recourse’.

Section 17 of the bill says:

The operator of a nuclear installation shall have a right of recourse where —

(a) such right is expressly provided for in a contract in writing;

(b) the nuclear incident has resulted from the wilful act or gross negligence on

the part of the supplier of the material, equipment or services, or of his employee;

Implications of the clauses:

So clause (a) tells us the right to recourse can be excluded through a carefully crafted contract. And clause (b) tells us that even if the contract stipulates, unless the accident is due to ‘wilful act or gross negligence’, the supplier is not liable. This is weak ground as the supplier can claim there was no precedent for the accident due to a design flaw and so they did not ‘wilfully’ cause the accident. For instance, the Jaitapur nuclear plant in India is going to house a reactor which has never been used anywhere in the world. If an accident happens, Areva, the supplier, can’t be blamed they ‘wilfully or negligently’ caused the accident.

Obviously, with the clauses the operator stands liable. Right now, only public-sector Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) operates the plants. So the Government ends up paying for liabilities with tax-payers money!

The bill shows ‘foresight’ about future private participation in operating plants and taken care of that too. It says in Section 5:

(1) An operator shall not be liable for any nuclear damage where such damage is

caused by a nuclear incident directly due to—

(i) a grave natural disaster of an exceptional character; or

So in an earthquake or a tsunami kind of situation, even the operator is not liable. So the government pays up, again.

How the law favored the suppliers & operators while leaving out potential victims

Additionally, the liability in any nuclear accident is capped by section 5 which says ‘..the liability of an operator for each nuclear incident shall be rupees five hundred crores… such liability shall not be decreased less than rupees one hundred crore…’.

The Kovvada nuclear plant with 6 reactors on the coast of Andhra Pradesh is said to be costing around Rs 75,000 crores. In case of a catastrophic quake or tsunami, there would be zero liability on part of the suppliers and the operators. The government will have to pay up. The nuclear damage bill, despite the experiences of Bhopal gas tragedy, has been insensitive to victims of nuclear accidents while going full throttle to open up a lucrative $ 150 billion market for multi-nationals.

Lessons from the Japan nuclear crisis

2011-03-16T20:37:00.001+05:30

The operators at Japan’s Fukushima nuclear plants are fighting the most deadly battles in hazardous circumstances trying to bring the nuclear plants under control. After an earthquake followed by a tsunami, Japan is now facing the biggest threat – a possibility of a nuclear meltdown. After a series of explosions at the reactors, latest reports say “that a second reactor unit at the stricken Fukushima Daiichi plant in northeastern Japan may have ruptured and appeared to be releasing radioactive steam”. ‘Radioactive steam’ indicates that a meltdown of the fuel rods inside the reactor is already in progress. While radiation from Xenon and cesium are expected to be detected, experts say they decay quickly and that may avert big casualties.

Japan’s rich disaster mitigation and prevention

Even as the 5 day ordeal seems to unravel, it is noteworthy that Japan, due to its history with natural calamities, sitting as it is in a seismic zone, consistently spent big money and efforts on disaster mitigation and prevention. According to FEMA, Japan routinely spent around 5-8% (about 0.8% of GDP) of its national budget since 1950s. It is technologically well-equipped, well-trained to handle earthquakes and tsunamis. But all that fell short to take on an earthquake measuring 8.9 quickly followed by a tsunami of 13-14 foot wall of water. The quake is fifth largest ever recorded. The tsunami too was too big to handle for the protective walls build on Japan’s coast to stop the tides. However, with its preparedness Japan could mitigate to some extent the damages due to these calamities. What is glaring now dangerously at Japan more than the above natural calamities is the nuclear threat from the nuclear reactor that rests on an outdated safety mechanism.

The design issue Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear power plant

Soon after the earthquake on 11 March, Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear power plant, as per its security procedures, slowed down and shut down it’s fission reactions in about 10 minutes. The tsunami too struck in about the same time and interfered with the plant’s post-shutdown process. Apparently, even after the fission reactions cease, the fission products continue to emit huge amounts of heat and these are supposed to be cooled. Only when this is done, the nuclear fuel’s temperatures are controlled. The cooling was being done through water being pumped by diesel generators through water chambers around the nuclear container. The fuel resides within the container. The tsunami washed away the generators and the water supply stopped circulating into and out of the reactor. The static water got heated and the temperatures rose in the container resulting in steam with radioactivity flowing out of it. In addition, the chemical reactions resulted in hydrogen gas that blew the tops out of the nuclear installations.The reactors within, the nuclear containers, did not seem to be disrupted for now. But the melting fuel rods seem to leak out radiation.

Experts now say the boiling water reactors (BWR) built by G.E. in 1960s are not up to safety standards followed today. Firstly, the external cooling system powered by diesel pumps is considered a design flaw that didn’t take into consideration how extreme calamities can occur and disrupt the external cooling systems, let the nuclear reactor get heated, and result in a radiation leak. Secondly, the very use of plutonium in nuclear reactors is an offshoot of nuclear weaponisation program of cold war era. While use of Thorium through Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactor (LFTR) is said to be far less dangerous and less prone to the meltdown scenario we are seeing now, not much headway is made in commercial use of LFTR. Incidents like in Japan can happen elsewhere and it is imperative we look at making nuclear reactors safe to operate, drawing lessons from Japans’ catastrophe.

Lessons for India

India is a pioneer in LFTR technology as it spent considerable time and resources building thorium reactors after the west refused to supply it Uranium as fuel for its nuclear power plants. India developed an experimental thorium reactors like Kamini through Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR) at Kalpakkam. India should build on this foundation to see if it can commercially make use of the technology instead of limiting the exercise to research.

India can learn well that it shouldn’t plan its nuclear sites should not be located on geological fault lines. The Jaitapur nuclear plant has evoked concerns on this front as its is prone to earthquakes and is located right on coast. While the altitude of the coast on western ghats is quite high and affect in case of tsunami is unlikely, It can not be overruled.

The Jaitapur nuclear reactor is of Pressurised water reactor (PWR) type which again depends on water to cool the reactor in case of a shutdown. Using fluoride salts as coolant is said to be less prone to risk. With water supply disrupted at Fukushima, Japanese are even trying to pour from the sky – through helicopters! But in vain. The radiation at the plant is too dangerous for the helicopters to go nearer.

Japan's disaster management system, despite its preparedness, is seen wanting in view of the big quake and tsunami. Countries like India with far poorer disaster mitigation systems should wake up for the possibility of calamities of this magnitude.

TELANGANA 21: 'Million March' reflected Telangana's indomitable spirit

2011-03-10T23:45:00.000+05:30

The day of March has arrived and started on a sad note. Shaken by the oppressive police, a graduate student in Khammam committed suicide. Another attempted the same at Basheerbagh press club. The arrests continued unabated, mainly in the outskirts and in the districts. Within the city, the police strategised more on barricading and cordoning off areas around Tank Bund, Secretariat and Assembly. All roads in these areas were blocked, ending up disconnecting Hyderabad and Secunderabad.

I failed to find a route through the Masab Tank road, the Taj Banjara road or the Khairatabad's track area towards Tank Bund. Police were on guard everywhere. I have never in my life seen such a deserted Hyderabad. See the Khairatabad junction here. I ended up on Necklace road through the by lanes and then drove around the lake to lower tank bund road. At the Mosque there, the Muslim youth helped us park and trek up the tank bund.

It was around 2.00 PM and by then thousands made their way. By then the barricades were broken and the main entrance to lower tank bund road from Liberty was wide open. So people from liberty took the road. While others on NTR Gardens, Necklace road side canoed over Hussain Sagar! Well, if the state government took up foiling this March on a war-footing by randomly arresting or harassing people from participating, it clearly lost the war.

The importance of today's Million March for Telangana movement:

It was clear the politicians were trying to distance themselves from the Million March. They tried to even 'postpone' it. But the pressure of the non-political civil society groups within the TJAC made this March inevitable. Today's turnout at tank bund is a eye-opener for all political parties. Without any mobilization from the parties, like for Telangana garjana in Warangal, around 1 lakh gathered at Tank Bund. This is despite the unofficial curfew, the traffic blockades, the arrests and the detentions of TJAC leadership. For anyone who has doubts about the depth of the movement, todays' turnout and the uncompromising will behind it should provide the answer. The unwilling politicians too attended, to save their face. People's will prevailed.

The creative expressions at the March:

As the telangana movement has time and again shown, there is no dearth of creativity in expressing the ideas and aspirations of the movement.

Firstly, there were the masks. Scores of people turned out in Masks of Gandhi, Ambedkar and even Professor Kodandram. When news flew that the professor may be arrested in the morning, the masks of his face were prepared and worn to mock at the police about the impending arrest. Of course, when the real arrest happened, the agitators found no fun in it and flew into a rage and even dismantled some statues on the bund, dragged them across the road and threw them into Hussain Sagar.

Secondly, the dhoom-dhaam and the songs raised the pitch as they usually do. Accompanied by a stereo in a four wheeler which managed to squeeze in, the songs, especially Gaddar's raised the tempo. The youth danced to the beats and a festive atmosphere ensued.

Meanwhile, women played bathukamma and sung. Some carried bonalu. Kids came in with attires of Gandhi, Nehru, Patel etc and played short skits encouraging the movement. Youth rallied around, some with their hands chained, some with their mouths covered symbolically. My friend Madhav carried a huge Indian flag around getting an odd compliment from one of the policemen! All organizations and groups which came with their banners rallied to and fro, sloganeering about Telangana, between the two ends of lower tank bund. The 2 ends were guarded by police and paramilitary forces. As was the adjoining Telugu Thalli flyover.

The Armed forces:

The paramilitary forces stood and watched as thousands poured in overcoming barricades in different parts of city. And I was told they gave up only at 1 PM before which they tried stopping by arresting people. But very soon they must have realised they can not arrest 100,000 people. However, they were the guys who saved the 2 MPs present, Madhu Yashki and K Keshava Rao, from being manhandled by the irate mob for not doing enough for Telangana movement. Even the media faced the ire of the public for all their recent dramas about NBA guidelines and the biased reporting. Some of their cameras were snatched and thrown into Hussain Sagar.

The agitators were prepared for the scorching sun too. Some came in with caps and most of them arranged for their water packets. Somewhere between 3.00 PM and 4.00 PM Mr. KCR came in and settled at Pothana's statue with his followers. Gaddar made his exit. Emotions were running high by then and one law student attempted suicide too. May be, it is this mood of the agitators that made the politicians cautious today. None who came there tried to address, appeal or instruct the public at large. Maybe, the Professor could have been different if he were allowed to attend the March. At last, the pledge for Telangana was taken. A pledge that, in its essence, says we would put up an uncompromising fight for Telangana's demerger. Come what may.

While the dusk set in, we stepped down the tank bund. Discussed the day's events among us friends over some cool drinks while the neighbourhood residents cheered the agitators on the Bund from their balconies and terraces. If not for the political leadership within the movement, Tank Bund would have been Tahrir Square within an indefinite sit-in. The cheering neighbours would have joined, the folks who were arrested would have joined too and the numbers would have swelled into millions. The Govt. must be feeling lucky that the dusk has set in and rescued them. They must be feeling lucky that the agitators didn't head towards the secretariat or Assembly. But then as I walked the half mile back to the Mosque recollecting the day's frenzy, I felt the March has now only begun and it is now unstoppable.

TELANGANA 20: 'Million March' - Govt. turns Hyderabad into Tiananmen Square!

2011-03-09T23:31:00.004+05:30

The last 2 days made me wonder if the autocratic Egypt and the dictatorship in Libya are better than the supposedly 'world’s largest democracy’ in public freedom. Even the British may not have clamped down on the democratic protests as aggressively as our state government is now doing. This Govt. randomly arrests, detains people. They restrict people from their own cities and towns. They casually disregard rights commissions’ instructions and callously violate high court’s guidelines. Tomorrow is yet another day the police promise they would be at their worst. Today, the whole of Hyderabad has become Tiananmen Square for Telangana people.

As you all know, the protest rally tomorrow has been cut down in scale due to a +2 exam that is scheduled for tomorrow. The Telangana Joint Action Committee (TJAC) which earlier called for the 'Million March' did so on an understanding with the Intermediate Examination board that the exam could be rescheduled for 12 March. However, the State government prevailed upon the board not to reschedule, to whittle down the protests. Keeping in view the importance of the exam for youth's career, the protests have been scaled down for few hours after the exam ends tomorrow.

TJAC has been very sensitive to the public in its scheduling of different kinds of protests. Even in December 2009, when the protests were at their peak with daily rasta-rokos, bandhs etc, Christmas day was given an exception so as to avoid inconvenience to our Christian brethren. Very recently, blockade of a national highway NH9 was postponed keeping in view a community festival. While TJAC, which comprises of intellectuals and civil society groups have been so reasonable, the state government is going to the abyss in trying to quell the protests and suppress democratic voices. Today, even as I mail you, the government announced cancellation of all trains within Hyderabad and those that are coming in from other Telangana districts into Hyderabad tomorrow. The government is trying every trick to stop people from coming to the protest march. It has diverted all bus services to avoid taking the central route through Hyderabad city. 100,000 people have been detained today across other Telangana districts as they were trying to come to Hyderabad. Within Hyderabad 10,000 people have been detained. T he police say that the main area of protest, Tank Bund besides the Hussain Sagar Lake, will be cordoned off tomorrow.

While TJAC called for peaceful protests, Andhra Government made it virtually a bandh by cancelling public transport and bringing in traffic restrictions. While TJAC called for a million march, the government contributed 100,000 police men/paramilitary forces in and around Hyderabad. That is a good start. I wish the police show the same enthusiasm in tackling the drug trade, the faction killings and the land mafia in the city. It is amusing to see the commissioner speak how the TJAC should do democratic, lawful, peaceful protests. For the record, the police did not give a single permission for any democratic meeting, rally in last 15 months. The police refused each time and the agitators diligently went to high court/supreme court to get permissions and got them. It is the police, on the other hand, who were severely criticized for their handling of the democratic protests. The atrocities in OU received international attention when REPORTERS WITHOUT BORDERS condemned the police action in the university. The police have been repeatedly put to notice by the State’s HRC and the national HRC. But the police, being willing party to the government’s anti-Telangana policy, won’t budge. Instead they lecture us on how to uphold democratic values.

Even as I blog this, I see the SHRC once again instruct the police to uphold human rights of the agitators. But of course they would not heed. But then the agitators have already been conditioned for the enemy. And the March will be on in the face of the enemy. And when the dust settles down, the state and the police will have yet another humiliation they need to shoulder, in addition to those of bandhs, rail-rokos and assembly muttadis that they already have faced. This would be another self-goal from the government. In their insecurity over losing to the Telangana people, they will end up disrupting public life and imprisoning themselves in their houses. And eventually they would meet the same fate as the Arab and African dictators. Till then the March of the Millions would be on.

Image courtesy: Jayaprakash Telangana

My posts on Telangana:

TELANGANA 19: Parliament says 'No-Entry' for visitors from Telangana!

TELANGANA 18: Telangana goes camping on the tracks

TELANGANA XVII: Demerge Waltair from ECoR but not Telangana from AP!?

TELANGANA XVI: How the AP media is trying to suppress the truth about Telangana

TELANGANA XV: Why the SKC's 'best option' is bound to fail

TELANGANA XIV: Will SKC strongly recommend a 'state-within-a-state'?

TELANGANA XIII: How the 'politically unemployed' created the Andhra state

TELANGANA XII: About Amarajeevis and Anti-Nationals

TELANGANA XI: Cut the crap,the verdict is out!

TELANGANA X: The Good, Bad & Ugly of National Media Coverage

TELANGANA IX: EPW goes on the Telangana trail
TELANGANA VIII: My letter to Sri Krishna Committee (SKC) - A case for demerger of Telangana

TELANGANA VII: Grossly discriminated against: Prof Bhalchandra Mungekar

TELANGANA VI: Why Telugu news channels bar coverage?
TELANGANA V: Plutocrats unleash terror over OU students

TELANGANA IV: Shri Krishna committee a crude joke

TELANGANA III: A case of Tyranny of Majority
TELANGANA II: Statehood at Midnight

TELANGANA I: Telangana Movement and the Plutocracy: The Gathering Storm

TELANGANA 19: Parliament says 'No-Entry' for visitors from Telangana!

2011-03-08T17:27:00.001+05:30

The Indian Parliament is not just barring a discussion on Telangana unrest but is literally barring everyone from the region, except MPs, from entering parliament. There is an invisible 'No-Entry' for all Telanganites even if you carry an authentication letter from the Chairman of the Lok Sabha House Committee (no less!), as were we.

After the SKC report so blatantly put in print the unconstitutional, irrational, biased arguments and the flawed details, many eminent people from the fields of constitution, law, economics, Irrigation, agriculture, public employment etc have filed in their critique on the report. I have in my personal capacity too, aired my opinion. TDF India took up the task of collating and publishing the core arguments in these critiques and thus came out with a book 'Justice Srikrishna's Injustice'. It is for the release of this book, I along with TDF India President D.P.Reddy and my friend Dileep flew to New Delhi.

It is in this context we paid a visit to the Parliament to get into the visitors’ gallery. We were armed with a letter from the office of Chairman of the Lok Sabha House Committee and submitted that along with our ID cards for the mandatory check. However, the officer in the Parliament reception routed us to another officer once he came to know, from our ID cards, that we are from Hyderabad. The second officer dithered on one pretext or the other before he finally told he cannot let us in unless he gets to talk to the Chairman of House Committee himself. The chairman himself is a Lok Sabha MP and obviously he wasn't in his office as the Parliament was in session. It was clearly a ploy to refuse entry for us. What surprised us was that Telangana MPs knew about this as they told us later in the day that no one from Telangana is allowed in as per Intelligence reports' instructions. We were clearly told the IB suspects that Telanganites might jump from the visitors’ gallery onto the floor of Lok Sabha and disrupt the proceedings! So upon IB's assessment, there is a blanket ban on Telanganites from entering the house.

So here is our system of governance that does not trust its own MPs! They issue the authentication letters and the officer at the Parliament reception rejects them! That reflects the state of things. Instead of a blanket ban, the MPs could have been just advised to issue the letters only if they are doubly sure the visitors would behave themselves. Instead, the Government found it easy to make the highest platform of democracy in India restricted for its own citizens. I am just wondering how many states/regions are blacklisted in this case. In addition to Kashmir, the whole of North East, anyone with a Muslim name, a Gorkha name, etc.

While this tamasha was on, the Lok Sabha was stalled for that day with 6 adjournments due to protesting TRS and Congress MPs. We could see on the TV monitor in the reception that KCR sat in the well of the house till the Lok Sabha was adjourned for next day. The Government was caught unawares by the protests that disrupted the day in the crucial budget session. It was especially embarrassed by its own Congress MPs sloganeering in the house ignoring the advice from their colleagues in Congress. Is that not enough of a lesson for the Congress Government? It better concentrate on the 'attacks' inside the house from its own party men rather than delude about 'attacks' from the visitors’ gallery. For, in days to come, these attacks within would get too close for comfort.

My posts on Telangana:

TELANGANA 18: Telangana goes camping on the tracks

TELANGANA XVII: Demerge Waltair from ECoR but not Telangana from AP!?

TELANGANA XVI: How the AP media is trying to suppress the truth about Telangana

TELANGANA XV: Why the SKC's 'best option' is bound to fail

TELANGANA XIV: Will SKC strongly recommend a 'state-within-a-state'?

TELANGANA XIII: How the 'politically unemployed' created the Andhra state

TELANGANA XII: About Amarajeevis and Anti-Nationals

TELANGANA XI: Cut the crap,the verdict is out!

TELANGANA X: The Good, Bad & Ugly of National Media Coverage

TELANGANA IX: EPW goes on the Telangana trail
TELANGANA VIII: My letter to Sri Krishna Committee (SKC) - A case for demerger of Telangana

TELANGANA VII: Grossly discriminated against: Prof Bhalchandra Mungekar

TELANGANA VI: Why Telugu news channels bar coverage?
TELANGANA V: Plutocrats unleash terror over OU students

TELANGANA IV: Shri Krishna committee a crude joke

TELANGANA III: A case of Tyranny of Majority
TELANGANA II: Statehood at Midnight

TELANGANA I: Telangana Movement and the Plutocracy: The Gathering Storm

New Delhi's disconnect and the nation's continuing status quo

2011-03-06T03:50:00.001+05:30

The stoniness of its giant structures in red sandstone seems to say something about New Delhi. Nehru must have said "New Delhi is the visible symbol of British power, with all its ostentation and wasteful extravagance" but it is not just ostentation that we see today as we drive through the tree-dotted avenues. We see inertia. We feel immovable powercentres. We see symbols of imperial power monstrously rising against the sky.

Long after I drove out of New Delhi, if there is something that strikes instantly about New Delhi, it is the sheer grandeur of this imperial setting. Yes, I loved the tree-lined avenues with the lovely white bungalows on either side. The vast space around, the consistency in using the red sandstones all around in this well-planned city and the beautiful filigree stonework are all breathtaking. So is the rich amalgamation of diverse architectural styles from European, Mughal, Buddhist and Jain traditions. But, for me, nothing defines India's political capital, as do the monstrousness of power centers like Rashtrapati Bhavan and the Parliament.

The Rashtrapati Bhavan is the largest residence for any President on this planet (It has more than 350 rooms while the super power's White House has around 130 rooms). The Raisina Hill, in all its steepness and high altitude, seems to present us the challenge in getting our woes heard. The Rashtrapati Bhavan and the Parliament along with the North and South Blocks wield unchallenged power and sit over myriad challenges facing this nation today. While a million mutinies and countless civil wars are being waged across the nation today, these powercenters in all their stoniness are unmoved. They symbolize perpetual power with their sheer vastness and utterly dwarf the citizens and their delusions about democracy.

Lutyen's Delhi, in its architecture, today symbolizes the huge disconnect between the rulers and the ruled. Historians often said Rashtrapati Bhavan was the abode of a disinterested elite whose rule was imposed from above. I couldn't agree more. In fact, I think it is true also with Imperial Bhavan's neighborhood - Parliament, North and South Blocks. My experiences with some democratic exercises here in New Delhi and the reception they got here, reinforced in me these ideas about how disconnected Delhi is from the trials and tribulations of the millions of its own people across the length and breadth of the area of its rule. New Delhi symbolizes a sleeping elephant which simply does not heed requests and demands for actions to change things for good. So things continue de facto and the status quo continues. More about this in my next post.

How crony capitalism lead to the Kakarapalli tragedy

2011-03-01T22:03:00.004+05:30

The killing of 2 villagers and the large scale violence unleashed by police in Kakarapalli village in Srikakulam again brings into question the crony capitalism presently destroying the moral, social and economic fabric of our society. With active connivance of politicians and bureaucrats, the capitalists have unleashed an era of loot and plunder. This post focuses on the East Coast Energy Pvt. Ltd project in Kakarapalli and the circumstantial evidence available in public domain to show that the project promoters and the bureaucrats in environment ministry went hand in glove to violate all environmental norms and most importantly, the rights of people to work and live in the proposed project area.

Process of obtaining EC from MoEF:
How does a project like this get necessary permissions? The Ministry of Environment and Forests grants prior environmental clearances to projects or activities on recommendations of the Expert Appraisal Committees (EAC). Several categories exist under the Ministry for projects related to Mining, Nuclear energy, Coal and Thermal energy, Hydroelectric etc. Each category has an EAC to assess projects in its category. The EAC shall scope and appraise these projects or activities and issue the environmental clearance (EC). So the EAC is the apex body here with almost a dozen members and a chairman and this decides the clearances. It is interesting then to see that EACs generally are headed by former bureaucrats and those who have nothing to do with environmental issues. And worse they recommend projects which they themselves are promoting!

About East Coast Energy Pvt Ltd (ECEPL)

The 2640 MW Bhavanapadu coal-based thermal power plant near Kakarapalli is being developed by East Coast Energy Private Limited (ECEPL). If you look out for the promoters of this company in their website, you would find that Athena Energy Ventures Pvt Ltd (AEVPL), AIP Power Pvt Ltd (AIP) and PTC India Financial Services Ltd are among them. All these 3 promote another company Athena Demwe Power Limited for a hydro-electric project in Arunchal Pradesh. If you look at the board of directors of this company, you find a certain Mr. A. Balraj. Mr Balraj is a retired IAS officer and more interestingly, the chairman of the Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC), the same which recommended the environmental clearance for the Kakarapalli!

The following details of this Environmental clearance are available on the website of Ministry of Environment & Forests.

Project No: No:J- 13011/36/ 2008-IA II(T)
Project Name: 2640 MW Bhavanapadu TPP near Kakrapalli Village
District:Sri Kakulam
Village:no
Company:M/s East Coast Energy Pvt. Ltd.

Application for EC received: 18/03/2008

EC Approved: 09/04/2009

The aftermath of obtaining EC
It is during A.Balraj’s tenure that the EC has been approved. Amazing thread of intrigue indeed. Such a glaring conflict of interest in public domain. So it is easy to guess the kind of appraisal done to grant the environmental clearance (EC) for this project. Well, it was a matter of time before the truth. In August, 2010 after series of complaints by environmental & social activists, a committee set up by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests has confirmed the existence of wetland around the thermal plant site near Kakarapalli village. The committee also said that the plant would irreversibly damage surrounding wetland and ecology. Read the full report here. Earlier, the EC was obtained maintaining that the site is not in a wetland nor is in a conservatory zone. This is apart from destroying livelihood and living conditions of the native village folks living there. But then despite the proof that clearance has been obtained on false claims, the EC was not cancelled. The manipulations continue and with active connivance from bureaucrats, state government and police, the crony capitalists now ended up killing 2 people.

Crony capitalism and its serpentine connections
Incidentally, the Sompeta project in the same Srikakulam district which claimed lives of 2 people in a similar police firing last year has this same dubious connection. That thermal project is being developed by Nagarjuna Constructions and it has on its board of directors the esteemed presence of P.Abraham who served as Chairman of EAC(Hydroelectric) and who in the same position approved environmental clearances for various projects which he was himself promoting as a director. He also sits on the board of companies promoted by those who promote Kakarapalli project. Some of the promoters are marquee names in Telugu press by now, namely Karvy’s Mr MS Ramakrishna and Matrix Prasad. Mr P. Abraham also graces the director position in GVK, Lanco group and half a dozen other groups. The world is indeed a small place now. You run into the same names every day. Long live crony capitalism.

Tehelka published an insightful article on how the DMK’s 12 year stint at the Environment ministry changed things in environment clearances. Tehelka said “In the 20 years from 1986 to 2006, the MoEF cleared 4,016 projects. According to the 2009 report by the environmental group Kalpavriksh, entitled ‘Calling the Bluff: Revealing the state of Monitoring and Compliance of Environmental Clearance Conditions’, the MoEF cleared 80 to 100 projects every month with a range of environment and social impacts. Under the new EIA 2006 Notification, 2,016 projects were cleared between 2006 and 2008 in just two years. “ So while the union ministers themselves were ‘milking’ the ministry, the babus pulled up their socks too. In a glaring conflict of interest many chairmen of these EACs are on the board of the same projects they are approving in their official capacity.

Dubious credentials of present Chairman of EAC (Thermal)

Despite the tragedies of Sompeta and Kakarapalli, and this latest notification suspending the project activities in Kakarapalli till March 07, 2011, there is an uneasy feeling among the environmental activists as the present chairman of EAC (Thermal), V.P.Raja too is a retired bureaucrat heavily involved with ‘corporate affairs’. There has been a formal request made to Jairam Ramesh to remove him as his appointment was a violation. After the tragedy, an uneasy truce lingers on for now.

Image courtesy: downtoearth.org.in

TELANGANA 18: పల్లె పల్లె పట్టాలమీదికి - Telangana goes camping on the tracks

2011-03-01T03:35:00.002+05:30

As the central and state governments continue to ignore the elephant in the room, the elephant for once decided to do something to force the Governments to acknowledge its presence. Despite the relentless agitation for Telangana, the governments decided they would just ignore and pretend that the issue does not exist. In every instance, they are aggressively trying to suppress the agitation by brute force. They simply pretend there is no such issue. They don't want the TVs to show anything about it and they think the issue will just disappear. The suicides, the continuous postponement of exams, the Rachabanda debacle, the non-cooperation movement, nothing seems to make the government at least take up a token discussion on Telangana in the ongoing assembly session. So what are the choices Telanganites is left with?

Telanganites have decided they did enough waiting. First, they unleashed the Non-Cooperation movement and caught the State govt unawares. Then, they called the 2 day Telangana bandh and marked their protest by blocking anti-telangana electronic media for 2 days. Now they have gunned for the central Govt and called for a day-long Rail-Roko calling it 'Palle Palle Pattaalameedhiki' (Let the Villages move onto train tracks). Like all other programs that have been creatively designed to show their protests, this protests would happen mainly on tracks in villages rather than those in railway stations. While this would mean more participation from Telanganites, it would also mean difficulty for the police to foil the Rail-Roko which would affect all trains between North and South India.

All townspeople and villagers would occupy the adjoining tracks from 6 AM to 6 PM. Their cattle, their fodder will be moved on to tracks. Teachers would teach children on tracks. Doctors would keep medical camps on the tracks. Cultural troupes will perform on tracks. People from all walks of life like Washerman, Blacksmith etc will practically live and work on the tracks on March 1st, 2011. If the police gets into their usual oppressive lot with the agitators, the tracks may be disarranged and the trains may end up stranded for 48 hours before the repairs get done.

For all the ruthlessness and insensitivity this state government is capable of, Telanganites do not expect a quick solution for their agitation but the tyrannical rulers ended up strengthening their resolve so much they wouldn't budge until they get rid of these rulers - the 3 visible tyrants CM, Governor, DGP and the invisible group of plutocrats backing this government. By not allowing any scope for dialogue and by not allowing any debates over the issue in Assembly and the Parliament, the state and central governments have pushed Telangana to the brink. And it is them who should bear all responsibility for the events that happen henceforth. For now, Telangana goes camping onto the tracks.

My posts on Telangana:

TELANGANA XVII: Demerge Waltair from ECoR but not Telangana from AP!?

TELANGANA XVI: How the AP media is trying to suppress the truth about Telangana

TELANGANA XV: Why the SKC's 'best option' is bound to fail

TELANGANA XIV: Will SKC strongly recommend a 'state-within-a-state'?

TELANGANA XIII: How the 'politically unemployed' created the Andhra state

TELANGANA XII: About Amarajeevis and Anti-Nationals

TELANGANA XI: Cut the crap,the verdict is out!

TELANGANA X: The Good, Bad & Ugly of National Media Coverage

TELANGANA IX: EPW goes on the Telangana trail
TELANGANA VIII: My letter to Sri Krishna Committee (SKC) - A case for demerger of Telangana

TELANGANA VII: Grossly discriminated against: Prof Bhalchandra Mungekar

TELANGANA VI: Why Telugu news channels bar coverage?
TELANGANA V: Plutocrats unleash terror over OU students

TELANGANA IV: Shri Krishna committee a crude joke

TELANGANA III: A case of Tyranny of Majority
TELANGANA II: Statehood at Midnight

TELANGANA I: Telangana Movement and the Plutocracy: The Gathering Storm

CM Kirankumar Reddy struggles with his Telugu on ‘International Mother Language Day’

2011-02-27T18:30:00.003+05:30

On February 21, the world observed ‘International Mother Language Day’ . This is how AP CM Kirankumar Reddy marked the day - with his inimitable Telugu :) Watch the video. And the very accurate cartoon from cartoonist Sridhar on the fun.

I am not sure if the CM can write Telugu.

TELANGANA XVII: Demerge Waltair from ECoR but not Telangana from AP!?

2011-02-25T18:55:00.004+05:30

Today, I had an interesting conversation with a friend of mine as we were watching Mamatadi present the railway budget. My friend was disappointed that a decision has not been taken regarding the demerger of Waltair division from East Coast Railway (ECoR) and merger of the same with South Central Railway (SCR). Alternatively, the division was preferred to be made a separate railway zone. Explaining the long-standing demand, my friend said the Waltair division comprising Vizag is the largest revenue earning division in ECoR but ECoR is supposedly giving the division a 'step-motherly treatment'. Apparently, before Waltair division was merged into ECoR in 2003, it was having rich funds. My friend gave few examples about depots and their budgets. These budgets were slashed by ECoR once it absorbed Waltair. In short, all revenue generated in Waltair is being moved to develop other parts of ECoR, mainly in Orissa. ECoR also seem to have extended all trains originating/ending in Vizag till its headquarters Bhubaneshwar. Waltair also seem to have lost quite a few railway engineering jobs to Bhubaneshwar in this process. And now these jobs are seen 'out of bound' for local youth as they are harassed and beaten in Bhubaneshwar when they go there for recruitment exams.

And now the issue is that ECoR wont let go of the cashcow and it is quite understandable! ECoR does not want to lose revenue by losing the 'rich' Waltair division. So despite a very prevalent demand among public, no railway minister is granting the much sought divorce.

What is not understandable is that the same friend, who is generally quite objective, does not apply the same logic for Telangana's demerger from AP and instead argues how the demand is 'regressive'. Waltair division feels discriminated in ECoR Zone and the people of that division think their division should develop and what more, they think they can survive as a separate zone. There is nothing 'selfish' about this. Nor is it anti-national to demerge from the predominantly Orissa division and merge with adjoining Telugu areas. So how come Telangana struggle is not seen through the same prism?

I told my friend that if the demand for Telangana is 'narrow-minded', so is the demand of Waltair's demerger. If Telangana movement is a hate campaign against Andhrites, so is the Demerge Waltair campaign against Oriyas. Of course, neither me nor my friend think the Waltair demand is a hate campaign. All we need to understand is that we should not over simplify these demands. They are justified demands and aspirations. These demerger decisions would bring localised focus on regional development and a more transparent scheme of things where we know sources and destinations of revenues which contributes to better planning and a faster development of resources and infrastructure.

Let us not change the logic, rationality of arguments simply because we think we will 'lose' by accepting the truth. In fact, all of this 'loss' or 'profit' is just perception. Neither me nor my friend would benefit or lose anything personally depending on whether Waltair or Telangana is demerged. So I am not sure why friend can not be objective in both the cases. As my friend said, Vizag station would remain just the way it is, despite a potential to become a central station in the south-east region, because it is not the priority of those in power in ECoR at Bhubaneshwar. However he would not agree that Telangana would remain the same because it is not the priority of those in power in Secretariat. At least, not yet. But I think it is a matter of time before he realizes. Right now, To each, his own truth!

My posts on Telangana:

TELANGANA XVI: How the AP media is trying to suppress the truth about Telangana

TELANGANA XV: Why the SKC's 'best option' is bound to fail

TELANGANA XIV: Will SKC strongly recommend a 'state-within-a-state'?

TELANGANA XIII: How the 'politically unemployed' created the Andhra state

TELANGANA XII: About Amarajeevis and Anti-Nationals

TELANGANA XI: Cut the crap,the verdict is out!

TELANGANA X: The Good, Bad & Ugly of National Media Coverage

TELANGANA IX: EPW goes on the Telangana trail
TELANGANA VIII: My letter to Sri Krishna Committee (SKC) - A case for demerger of Telangana

TELANGANA VII: Grossly discriminated against: Prof Bhalchandra Mungekar

TELANGANA VI: Why Telugu news channels bar coverage?
TELANGANA V: Plutocrats unleash terror over OU students

TELANGANA IV: Shri Krishna committee a crude joke

TELANGANA III: A case of Tyranny of Majority
TELANGANA II: Statehood at Midnight

TELANGANA I: Telangana Movement and the Plutocracy: The Gathering Storm

About the unfair trial faced by Dr Binayak Sen

2011-02-24T19:09:00.003+05:30

The video explains succinctly to what extent the Indian government would go to punish those who strongly voice on its shortcomings and its exploitative nature. This video of Tehelka's Shoma Chaudhury is about the injustice and the unfair trial faced by Dr Binayak Sen.

Indian media's corporate affairs and UPA's 'reformist' scams

2011-02-23T14:28:00.000+05:30

On 16 February 2011, our PM Mr. Manmohan Singh decided he will speak out, for a change, on several issues rocking the country. I watched in disbelief how easily Mr.Singh was let off by the electronic media chiefs who didn't bother to press him for serious answers for the complex issues, corruption and the inflation. Not a soul protested when the supposedly 'clean PM' equates losses due to 2G scam with food subsidies! This meeting was specially arranged between the PM and the editors of TV News channels and in hindsight, it only looks like a face-saving exercise with rigged queries and predictable answers. The meeting once again reminds us how the electronic media backed by corporate houses cares little about real issues affecting the people. They themselves, due to their corporate connections, are beneficiaries in some of the biggest economic reforms in the country. The scams which flow out of these reforms, like the 2G, naturally do not interest the electronic media. This meeting put this fact blatantly in our face.

Eminent journalist Mr. P.Sainath writes in The Hindu on how ridiculous the meeting looked. I found the article the most accurate portrayal of the meeting I found in print media. I am sharing some excerpts from that article below.

Referring to the editors representing the largely corporate media in our country today and their performance in the meeting, Mr Sainath says ".. once you've accepted the neo-liberal economic framework scripted since 1991 as wonderful and beyond reproach, then your questions get limited to asking who fluffed his lines. And as for corporate criminality, editors step on to that terrain only when left without a choice and at their own risk."

On several other critical issues, this is how Mr P.Sainath captured the conduct of the corporate media chiefs.

On how the media chiefs were covering up or deliberately digressing on the 2G scam - "The first question, fair enough, was about the 2G scam and the lack of an auction in the sale of spectrum. There's something missing here, though. There was in fact an auction of spectrum — a successful one. Only it was not conducted by the government but by its corporate sector cronies who gave it away for a pittance. Having been gifted that scarce public-owned resource by the government, the cronies then auctioned it privately for astronomical sums of money."

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

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

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

On how a foreigner from CNN asked the only serious question on food inflation -
"The only serious question on food inflation, linking that to its impact on the poor in a country with 8.5 per cent growth came from a foreigner. Now our editors present knew this to be a burning issue, even for their middle class audiences. Yet Sara Sidner of CNN was the only one to raise it. "

On how the PM is unchallenged when he equates losses due to 2G scam with food subsidies! - "The Prime Minister was not challenged when he virtually equated losses in the 2G scam with subsidies to the poor. “If auctions are not taking place then what is the basis for you to calculate a loss? ... It is very much a function of what is your starting point. And also depends upon your opinion. We have a budget which gives subsidy for food, Rs.80,000 crores per annum, some people may say these foodgrains should be sold at marketplace. Will we say then because they are not sold at market prices, because you are giving them a subsidy, it is a loss of Rs. Rs.80,000 crores?”"

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

"The Prime Minister wanted to know if the editors would view the Rs.80,000 crore his government commits to food subsidies as ‘losses.' Actually, most of them do. Quite a few of them would like to see all subsidies directed at the poor to be wound up. The politically correct way of going about this is to call for the “streamlining of systems,” or “proper targeting,” or “efficiency.” A demand never once made of the tsunami of subsidies given to a handful of super-rich (media owners amongst them)."

A video of the PM's meeting can be found here.

TELANGANA XVI: How the AP media is trying to suppress the truth about Telangana

2011-02-22T20:09:00.007+05:30

Media watchdog THE HOOT publishes this about how and why the news channels, especially Telugu channels, are blocking news about Telangana struggle and suppressing the truth. This blog post is a follow-up to one of my previous posts - Why Telugu news channels bar coverage?.

Media in a banana republic

Why are news channels so diligently following the guidelines of the NBA and the Cable Regulation Act on the Telangana issue alone? Why does a democratically elected government want to prevent media from covering a major political issue festering in the state for the last 60 years, asks PADMAJA SHAW

Nearly a year ago, on 3 January 2010, under the directions of the Andhra Pradesh High Court, Osmania University witnessed one of the biggest pro-Telangana student rallies. Some 150,000 students with identity cards arrived from colleges all over Telangana and dispersed without incident at the appointed time after the rally. Given that this came after weeks of siege of the campus by security forces, it was a heartening exercise in democratic politics.

December 2010. In the weeks before the announcement of Srikrishna Committee report, the campus was once again locked down by special police, rapid action force and other security personnel at all access points. The neighbouring localities were put under close watch. The campus road was reminiscent of the Wagah border! But it was not the Wagah border. The FORCE was deployed to battle a bunch of impassioned young students from the Telangana districts. In the name of preventing outsiders from entering the campus, no buses, media vehicles or cars were allowed to enter the campus. The university was compelled to close the campus messes. The students still on campus had no access to food and basic necessities. Politicians and rights activists were arrested if they attempted to enter the campus.

After the Committee report was made public, the state government has invoked the Cable Regulation Act and News Broadcasters Association guidelines and warned the electronic media against covering the activities on Osmania campus. The diktat was to avoid telecast of live/repeat footage of violent incidents and provocative speeches. But the result has been to black out more or less all coverage of the ground level response to the Srikrishna Committee report by the Telugu News TV channels for a few days. According to news reports, Raj TV channel, which is being run by Telengana Rashtra Samiti leader K Chandrashekhar Rao’s family on lease, was warned several times by the government through the license holder to refrain from showing visuals of the agitation. They have taken to flashing breaking news in large font without visuals.

It is interesting that the state government has been issuing statements that there is no police on the campus. The political leaders and the representatives of AP Civil Liberties Committee have been prevented from entering the campus (by who one wonders). Because there was little visual coverage of the events, the truth about the events is not coming out in public domain.

This raises the question: Why are the 16 or so news channels so diligently following the guidelines of the NBA and the Cable Regulation Act in the Telangana issue alone? Couple of days after Srikrishna Committee report was made public, there was a mafia style killing of Maddelacheruvu Suryanarayana in the heart of Hyderabad. The Telugu news channels went to town giving saturation coverage, repeatedly showing the bullet-ridden body and the lolling head of the dead man, violating the NBA guidelines and the Cable Regulation Act provisions for moderation.

Of the 14 or so Telugu news channels only 5 are members of the News Broadcasters Association. The remaining 9 are not. The big ones have more or less been back-peddling on the Telangana issue as the owners of the media houses are from Andhra essentially backing integrationist politicians. The Hyderabad Police Commissioner, Mr. A.K. Khan, asserts that he merely wants the channels to adhere to the provisions of Cable Act. The response of the channels has been to go for an all or none reading of the statement. They prefer to see coverage as live uplinks from the OB vans, unfiltered and un-moderated or unrelenting studio discussions with rabble-rousers. It would have been both a challenge and an education for the channels to finally find the middle path of well-informed and fair reporting of a problematic issue. Two very senior journalists have expressed the feeling that the channel heads are exploiting the statements of the Commissioner to scuttle coverage.

The channels and the government seem to have come to an understanding that by bottling the campus activity and by news black out they can effectively remove Telangana from public agenda. The state administration seems to have come to the conclusion that there is no Telangana movement without media coverage! The only reports that have surfaced on the media are those that show the agitators and students as hooligans, thereby discrediting the movement and the University. It is not yet clear if the hooliganism shown is by hired political goons or by students. No political party including TRS has taken the trouble of calling for peaceful protests that refrain from attacking innocent bystanders and business establishments. Focusing on violence and ignoring the issues raised has been a tried and tested technique used against the CPI (ML) groups for decades. Media effectively deflect the issue into a law and order problem by adopting this strategy and provide a justification for the use of force by the state.

One might add, after several rounds of recent High Court judgments, there is no attempt to implement the Cable Regulation Act by constituting advisory committees at the local and state level to monitor media and deal with complaints arising from the telecast of objectionable matter. The Act does not empower the Commissioner to unilaterally decide on which content to regulate. The Act prescribes a process through which this is to be done. But the Police Commissioner found instant success in controlling the coverage of the Telangana issue just by holding a press conference and a few strategic phone calls! If media houses accept this for short-term gain, the spectre of this will haunt them in days to come.

Thanks to Ratan Tata, today we have a re-popularised phrase to describe what’s happening not only in our polity but also in our media – Banana Republic! As in a typical banana republic, the media in our democracy are ‘allowed’ by the state to show lumpen entertainment, crime, gore and sex bordering on pornography. When it comes to important political issues like the securitization of large parts of the country in the name of maintaining law and order, corporate-politician nexus that brutally suppresses people’s protests, the state plays a highly proactive role in ensuring that no civil rights groups or media are around to bring alternative perspectives into public view. Denial of the existence of an issue by insulating it from public gaze can only result in bringing untold misery to the people, and escalating it to unmanageable proportions.

For about a week, by turning the Osmania University campus into an open-air prison, and by disallowing any information to come out of the campus, by repeatedly invoking the Cable Regulation Act for this, the state has once again proved itself to be a banana republic and not a mature democracy. The media houses, in their self-interest, do not seem to recognize that it is a banana republic they are helping build and profiting from.

Subsequent to this, partly inspired by the protests of rights groups and senior journalists, the channels have formed a Telugu News Broadcasters’ Association. This was followed a day or two later by the formation of Cable Operators Association. Both the associations have vowed to provide the best possible coverage of the Telangana movement. It would be a great step forward for the Telugu news media if these new initiatives pave the way for independence and self-regulation, Cable Regulation Act or not. Given their entrenched economic and political interests, it is to be seen if media houses can transcend the urges of self-interest to self-regulate and stop playing footsie with the state.

My posts on Telangana:

TELANGANA XV: Why the SKC's 'best option' is bound to fail

TELANGANA XIV: Will SKC strongly recommend a 'state-within-a-state'?

TELANGANA XIII: How the 'politically unemployed' created the Andhra state

TELANGANA XII: About Amarajeevis and Anti-Nationals

TELANGANA XI: Cut the crap,the verdict is out!

TELANGANA X: The Good, Bad & Ugly of National Media Coverage

TELANGANA IX: EPW goes on the Telangana trail
TELANGANA VIII: My letter to Sri Krishna Committee (SKC) - A case for demerger of Telangana

TELANGANA VII: Grossly discriminated against: Prof Bhalchandra Mungekar

TELANGANA VI: Why Telugu news channels bar coverage?
TELANGANA V: Plutocrats unleash terror over OU students

TELANGANA IV: Shri Krishna committee a crude joke

TELANGANA III: A case of Tyranny of Majority
TELANGANA II: Statehood at Midnight

TELANGANA I: Telangana Movement and the Plutocracy: The Gathering Storm

The SKC Scandal 4: AP High Court calls the SKC report a pack of lies!!

2011-02-18T22:28:00.003+05:30

Now, Is there something worser than the High Court calling the SKC report 'full of blatant lies'!? Well, of course the shameless plutocrats and the tyrants in power in Hyderabad wouldn't give two hoots to the comments. But for the lesser souls who care for democracy, constitution and propriety, here is what the High Court said after it went through the 'secret' chapter 8.

According to the ToI, the court said the secret contents full of lies and mind-boggling descriptions of non-existent things. It further said "It is unfortunate that this report and its related exercise was presided over by a former judge of the Supreme Court,", "This committee has spent Rs 40 crore of public money for preparing its report. Any person with a semblance of faith in the system of democracy would lose faith in it. The report prepared by the front office of an MP would have been more sensible than this report. Even the high command of a political party would have hesitated to prepare such a report,".

According to the Indian Express, the high court said the report's secret 'chapter 8' should be put before the public to make them know the kind of committees that are being appointed by the government.

Wait, there is more shame, according to Deccan Chronicle, "On being persuaded by the judge, the ASG also read the last two pages of the report and agreed that the committee need not have gone into all this." So the Additional Solicitor General of India who is representing the GoI himself agreed the SKC exceeded its brief!

In short, the High Court said the so called secret part of the report should be placed before the public not because it is important but because it is so dangerously ridiculous that people should know the levels to which governments stooped to appoint incompetent committees!!

I have discussing on this blog on how blatantly the report lied, suppressed truth, justified discrimination, encouraged constitutional violations and rued how the report makes right-thinking individuals to lose their faith in the system. I felt a relief hearing the court's comments and can only thank god we still have some institutions like the judiciary that reposed the faith in us now and then.

SKC Report Review 2: SKC lies on how BIG and IMPORTANT public employment is for Telangana!

2011-02-15T15:51:00.014+05:30

Here is a study by Subhash C. Reddy, Ph.D. on what the SKC report said on public employment and how the violation of the related safeguards affected Telangana.

The Srikrishna Committee exhibited extreme lack of comprehension of important Economic and Labor Concepts and Issues such as Local Economy, Labor Force, Employment and unemployment Rates, and Organized (Formal) and Un-Organized (Informal) Sectors of Economy. SKC also bared its ignorance of the significance of Organized Sector Employment with relation to the employment of people in professional, technical, college educated, and skilled trades. The Committee also has exhibited its total lack of appreciation of the size and the role of Unorganized Sector in employment. They have amply displayed their ignorance in the skills of statistical data calculations and interpretation.

But, the most important thing to realize is that as a consequence of these academic and scientific deficiencies the SKC has totally misrepresented the facts and figures and worse, didn’t even know that employment or unemployment rates are not calculated on the basis of Total Population of the Community but on the basis of Active Labor Force of the community. Also, the employment or unemployment of skilled and highly educated labor is separate and different from the unskilled labor force and, therefore, should not be mixed up.

SKC also didn’t seem to know who constitute the Labor Force and who doesn’t. By now national and international standards, Labor Force comprises working age population. For India that would be persons above 15 years of age and below 59 (Indian Retirement age is 58 years) years of age, excluding those who are in Armed Services, and persons incarcerated (jailed).

Please allow me to present to you all, some samples of nonsensical and absurd statements, assertions, and inferences SKC made in their Report:

1. “…Is public employment a big issue statistically ? The entire population of public employees in Andhra Pradesh in 2006 was about 1.7% of the total population in 2001 and about 3.6%of the working population in 2001.…The point is that, public employment constitutes a very small percentage of the working population of the state and an even smaller percentage of the total population.”

SKC further reported: “per the figures of Census 2001, the population of Andhra Pradesh was 762 lacs, out of which the working population was 348.65 lacs. The Employees‟ Census, held in 2006, put the figure of total employees under the state government (or in public employment) at around 12.9 lacs.”

Do the exalted members of SKC, who happen to be IAS, Vice-Chancellor, Chief

Economist, and a Professor of Delhi University, understand that Public

Employment includes not only state government employees but also employees

working for Public Sector Industries, Panchayats or Mandals, Municipalities, and

quasi-government organizations. There are almost 1200 Mandals (approx) and

more than 16 Municipal Corporations whose employees are not included in the

state government employee census. In fact, state government employees

constitute only half or less than half of ALL Public Employees. In other words,

we can double the number of the total state employees to get the full Public

Employment population. Then how could SKC equate state government

employees to total public employee number? Either SKC didn’t care for accurate

data or they had already made up their mind about their conclusions on the

subject.

What was the objective of calculating the proportion of public employees to the

total population of the state? Does it convey any inference or relationship in

economic terms? Is that how employment statistic calculated by Economists and

Social Scientists? Then SKC makes a most baffling conclusion: “The point is

that, public employment constitutes a very small percentage of the working

population of the state and an even smaller percentage of the total population.”

Perhaps you could make the same conclusion by comparing the number of

government doctors to the total population of the state. I am sure, the percentage

figure will even be more diminutive (tiny). But what am I conveying? That I can

calculate a most basic statistical measure – the percentage? I am impressed at the

mathematical prowess of SKC members but what then? And what exactly are

they asserting by asking “Is public employment a big issue statistically? ” What

do they mean by “big issue” and by “statistically”? Oh, I get it. If it is not a big

issue statistically then it is not an issue at all. But, what does “big” mean in

statistical terms? Or what number is BIG? Well, they could also ask the same

question about the number of farmers who committed in proportion to the total

population of the state. Even if 2 lac farmers committed suicide Is It a Big Issue

Statistically? After all, it calculates to 0.28% (2 lacs/722 lacs). If 1.37%, stupidly
calculated on the basis of total population, is NOT Big the 10% is big? According to
SKC, this 1.37% is equal to 12.9 Lacs. For the Public employment to reach 10% of
the population then the number of total government employees will have to reach 94
Lacs. Even then will SKC consider it as big statistically?

The largest employers in Hyderabad are the Andhra Pradesh Government and the

Government of India with 113,098 and 85,155 employees respectively. SKC
reported 12.9 Lacs state government employees as the total public employment.
But that is only half of public employment. So, the total public employment
would be 25.8 Lacs (12.9 lac state govt employees plus 12.9 lac employees of
Mandals, municipalities, public sector industries). SKC didn’t even mention this.

Let me shed some light on the subject of Economics, Demography, and Social Sciences of which SKC attempts, failingly, to make use of. In India and the state of AP or any other state, the total employment of the labor force (working population) is provided by two sectors of the Economy. One is Organized (Formal) Sector and the other is Un-Organized (Informal) sector. The Un-Organized sector is ten times larger than the Organized sector in terms of total number of people employed. Let me offer definitions or explanation for these two sectors.

Organized Sector: “The National Accounts Statistics (NAS) uses the

classification of `organised' and `unorganised' sectors in presenting national

income data and what is indicated as `unorganised' in NAS is not the same as

`uninc' or non-company forms of organisations."

Generally, all enterprises which are either registered or come under the purview

of any one of the acts like the Indian Factories Act 1948, Mines and Minerals

(Regulation and Development) Act, 1957, the Company Law, the Central/State

Sales Tax Acts, the Shops and Establishment Acts of the State governments, are

defined as part of the organised sector. Also included are all government

companies, departmental enterprises and public sector corporations. "Similarly,

forestry, irrigation works, plantations, recognised educational institutions, and

hospitals which are registered as non-profit making bodies are also classified as
organised sector.

Un-Organized Sector: “All unincorporated enterprises and household industries

which are not regulated by any acts of the above mentioned type and which do not

maintain any annual reports presenting the profit and the loss and balance sheets

are classified as unorganized sector." This includes agricultural farms, domestic

labor and such.

I shall show why and how these two sectors have an important bearing on this

subject of Public Employment for Telangana people. But, first consider the

statements and assertions of SKC in this context. I quote:

“During the last two decades (1990-2010), as the Indian economy has undergone

structural changes, a great many areas of employment opportunities in the

private sector have opened up, pushing public employment, both in numbers as

well as in importance into the background. In an era when the state is

withdrawing from many areas, accompanied by increasing privatization or publicprivate

partnerships, employment under the state can no longer be viewed as a

panacea for unemployment.”

Now, here are the real truths and facts and figures which will disprove SKC’s

above assertions and expose their ignorance of the subject matter and their

arrogance in making such categorical statements which are utterly false and

farcical.

“The organized sector in India consists of 293.77 thousand industrial

establishments. Out of these, 172.34 thousand are public sector enterprises while

121.43 thousand are in private sector. Since 2004, an increase of 1.4% has been

recorded in the number of establishments in the organized sector. As on the 31st

March, 2005 the total employment in the organized sector was estimated to be

264.58 lakh while in 2004, it was 264.43 lakh…The public sector employs about

180.7 lakh persons while the private sector employs 84.52 lakh persons.”…. the

employment in public sector decreased by 1 percent while private sector increased

by 2.5 percent.”

And the chart below shows that the quasi-government and local governing bodies

together employ slightly more employees than the state governments. Altogether,

the total public employment is twice as much as the employment provided by the

State government alone. State government employment decreased by only 1

percent in Andhra Pradesh.

According to the results of the National Sample Survey (NSS) conducted in 1999-

2000, total work force as on 1.1.2000 was of the order of 406 million for all of

India. About 7 % of the total work force is employed in the formal or organized

sector (all public sector establishments and all non-agricultural establishments

in private sector with 10 or more workers) while remaining 93% work in the

informal or unorganized sector. As per that survey, there were 44.35 million

enterprises and 79.71 million workers employed thereof in the non-agricultural

informal sector of the economy. Among these 25.01 million enterprises employing

39.74 million workers were in rural areas whereas 19.34 million enterprises with

39.97 million workers in the urban area. Among the workers engaged in the

informal sector, 70.21 million are full time and 9.5 million part times. Percentage

of female workers to the total workers is 20.2 percent. These percentages could be

logically applied to Andhra Pradesh state employment scenario.

Source: http://www.industrialrelations.naukrihub.com/organised-andunorganised-

labor.html

Let me summarize:

1. Organized Sector ONLY provides ALL the professional, technical,

administrative, office clerical and skilled jobs that require secondary

and tertiary (high school, college and professional education). These

are the jobs that pay highest wages.

2. Un-Organized Sector provides all the agricultural, non-agriculture, and

domestic labor jobs that don’t require even primary education (upto 8th

standard). These are the jobs that pay lowest wages.

3. Employees of the State government comprise only HALF of the total

Public Employment. And Public Employment is still THE MAJOR

EMPLOYMENT SOURCE providing TWICE as much employment as

the PRIVATE SECTOR. Public Sector provided 181 Lac jobs while

Private Sector provided only 85 Lac jobs (2005).

4. Therefore, Public Employment is VERY VERY BIG Statistically.

Public Employment is THE PANACEA for professionals, people with

secondary (high school diploma) and tertiary education (college).

5. SKC did not collect the required statistical data but made seriously

incorrect or false statements. It is Patently Untrue and Absurd what

SKC said: (IT IS A LIE! )

Thus, it is proven with supporting data, facts, and figures that all the assertions

made by SKC are false, untrue, and actually LIES. Yes, SKC LIED!

Not only Public Employment is the single largest source of employment but also

THE source of providing well paid, privilege laden, secure, authoritative, and key

positions of power to the people. Public Employment is IMPORTANT not only

because it provides huge number of well paid jobs but also because it is twice as

large as the Private Sector in terms of employment.

Key Role of Public Employees:

And Public Employment is even more Important to a community because:

1) Government employees play a major role in planning, formulating, and

implementing Public Policies, Educational, Economic and Developmental Issues,

and Facilitating Citizens interactions with government agencies. These public

employees include IAS cadre, IPS cadre, IFS cadre, high level administrators like

Secretaries to the government, District Collectors, Joint Collectors, Mandal level

executives, Magistrates, Tax Officers, etc.

2) When MOST government employees belong to only one region then it is obvious
which region benefits and loses out. Just about everyone knows that the Cabinet
Ministers are totally dependent on the civil servants to provide all the facts and
figures and the Truths. That is, the ministers, greatly, are deaf, blind, and dumb
without the input of their civil servants.

3) The civil servants (govt employees) are the Eyes, Ears, and Throat of the Ministers. This includes the Law and Order wing of the government which basically imposes the will of the government on the people instead of the will of the people on the government.

No wonder, people of one region (read Telangana) are always oppressed and shut out from participating the democratic processes of self governing.

Let me use an analogy here. Let us say there is a public function being organized

to dole out free lunch, free drinks, free clothes, and free shoes. A committee is

appointed by the organizers (govt). The members of the committee decide who is

informed about the free dole out function, who is invited and what is doled out and

how much and to whom. And all or most of these members belong to only ONE

locality, or ONE Community. Guess who will be the beneficiaries? Is it hard that

the Locality or the Community that benefits MOST is the one to which these

members belong?

In other words, the system is rigged to deny citizens of one region and dole out

most benefits to people of the other region. And that's what has happened and

that's what Telangana is Complaining! The way our 54 year old legitimate,

democratic, and just struggle has been totally sidelined and misrepresented

because of this lopsided control of the state's entire machinery in one region

(Andhra) is the Issue. Thus it obviously functions as an Exploiting Colonial

Power just as the British Colonial Power did.

Methodology I used:

I have obtained Labor Force Statistics from Nationmaster.com website which

supplied data for India and applied to A.P. state.

(http://www.nationmaster.com/red/country/in-india/lab-labor&all=1).

We have already learnt from authoritative sources of data that Ninety-three

percent of Indians are employed by the Un-Organized Sector of which nonagricultural

labor is 27%, and agricultural labor is 61%. Organized Sector

employs only 7% of the Labor Force. Let us use a round figure of 10% for

Organized Sector and 90% for Un-Organized Sector.

The data from authoritative sources: Source of Labor Statistics:

http://www.nationmaster.com/red/country/in-india/lab-labor&all=1

Source of Demographics Data:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_India (not the cooked up data

SKC presents) shows that only 9.5% of the Labor Force possesses Secondary

education (high school diploma only) and just 4% of the Labor Force possesses

Tertiary education (college education).

force with primary education > %of total 35 %

force with secondary education > %of total 9.5 %

force with tertiary education > %of total 4 %

Data on population demographics of India (closely related to AP) is as below:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_India

0-14 years: 31.1% (male 190,075,426/female 172,799,553) (2009 est)

15-64 years: 63.6% (male 381,446,079/female 359,802,209) (2009 est)

65-over: 5.3% (male 29,364,920/female 32,591,030) (2009 est)

Also, the same source informs us that more than 50%of India’s population is

below the age of 25 and more than 65%hovers below the age of 35. (let us

take it as equal to 50% instead of "more" than 50%).

Just on this basis alone, 10% of 348 lacs Labor Force, reported by SKC, is ONLY

34.8 lacs. Therefore, the total Labor Force for Public Employment is 34.8 Lacs.

Public Employment in AP is 25.8 lacs (doube the 12.9 lac state government

employees). Then, Percent Public Employment in AP is number of public

employees / Labor Force for Public Employment = (25.8 x 100) / 34.8 = 74.1%.

The remaining portion of this Labor Force (34.8 – 25.8) of 9 Lacs would be

employed by the Private Sector. These numbers closely match the proportions
of public and private sector employment as reported by earlier for India.

Conculsions:

Thus, Public Employment is 74.1% based on the Labor Force for Public

Employment and NOT 1.7 or 3.6% as SKC presented dishonestly. We,

Telanganites, are ONLY complaining about Organized Sector’s Jobs and majorly

about Public Sector’s jobs. Thus, SKC deliberately misdirected the issue and

misrepresented the facts.

Let me present to you the same calculations based on SKC’s data of 348 lac Total

Labor Force that is employed by both Organized and Un-Organized Sectors.

The data from authoritative sources already cited earlier (not the cooked up data

SKC presents) shows that only 9.5% of the Labor Force possesses Secondary

education (high school diploma only) and just 4% of the Labor Force possesses

Tertiary education (college education). Almost all government jobs require at

least Secondary education and a portion of those jobs require College education.

Therefore, we should only consider that part of Labor Force which possesses the

required qualifications of Secondary and tertiary education. And that would be

9.5% +4% = 13.5% of the Labor Force that should be considered in the analysis.

Then, 13.5% of 348 lacs = 47 lacs is the total Labor Force eligible for government

jobs.

So, Total Public Employment (12.9 lacs state govt employees plus 12.9 lac

employees of panchayat, municipal and public sector corporations) = 25.8 Lacs.

Even by this calculation the total population of Public Employees of 25.8 Lacs is

55% of the Labor Force (47 Lacs). SKC cooked up the numbers 1.7% or 3.6%

like a magician pulls out rabbits from his hat – from nowhere just imaginary!

If Private Sector employs half of all public employees (12.9 lacs) then the total

number of employees employed by the Organized Sector will be 25.8 + 12.9 =

38.7 Lacs.

Therefore, government employment (jobs) becomes a substantial factor for the

Labor Force of Andhra Pradesh and of Telangana. Thus, 8.3 Lacs of the Labor

Force with Secondary and tertiary Education is unemployed which is closer to the

figures reported for India (actually lower). Let us look at how equitable hiring for
Public Employment in Telangana would have affected the Employment (or)
Unemployment situation as applied to the Telangana people who have Secondary
and Tertiary Education. We already have the data we used in previous calculations.

Of the total of 25.8 Lac public sector jobs, Telangana should get 40% (based on

population) and that would be 25.8 x 40/100 = 10.3 Lac public sector jobs. Half

of this, 5.2 Lacs, would be Private Sector Jobs making a total of 15.8 Lac jobs in

the Organized Sector.

This would mean Telangana will be fully employed and then some more if done

equitably and fairly. But it did not happen. That is why Telangana is fighting for

separate State so its people can receive their due share of employment.

My previous SKC Report Reviews:
SKC Report Review 1: Recommendations at Variation with Analysis

'Jai Bolo Telangana' ends the cultural suppression of Telangana

2011-02-12T11:47:00.008+05:30

Jai Bolo Telangana (JBT) marks the cultural renaissance of Telangana. For a region that was always ignored and for a language that was ridiculed at in the Telugu movies, to take the centre stage and be received with aplomb, the transformation is dramatic. Obviously, the movie owes its assertiveness ( say release) to the Telangana peoples movement. Without which, this breakthrough in Telangana cultural renaissance wouldn't have been possible. In all probability, we will now be bombarded with many more Telangana movies, maybe with the same theme too, following the reception JBT got.

JBT has its story weaved around a couple in Love and in the backdrop of the Telangana movement. The ground realities of the Telangana movement explode in the aftermath of the December 9 and take control of the couple's destiny. The movie conveys how the movement and its sentiments transcended down to the common man and yet how the powerful plutocrats try subverting democratic processes for their benefits and increase the unrest in the movement. The love story is used to weave and anchor the wider issue of Telangana statehood. As the movie proceeds, this background of the movement slowly overpowers the love story and takes centre stage in the climax. The love story is well-written with good dialogues and is enacted by decent acting. And it clearly conveys the point that the Telangana movement is about demerging the region and not dividing the people. However, JBT does not spend too much time explaining how Telangana has been cheated in, say jobs and water. It, to an extent, succeeds in showing how Telangana is suffering today but did not focus much on how things came to this pass. So, an outsider would be none the wiser about the heartburn behind the movement after watching the movie. But the movie does show how strong the movement is today and records the ground realities for posterity.

JBT, in today's context, is no mean achievement.The media is deliberately ignoring the movement and suppressing the truth. The best example is how they blackened out all news of how 2.5 million people converged in an unprecedented way for the Telangana Mahagarjana in Warangal. This movie goes to villages, towns and cities and supports the cause which the regional and national media tries to continuously ignore. JBT encourages all Telanganites by speaking the truth aloud. Anyone who has doubts should listen and see Gaddar singing "podustunna poddu meeda nadustunna kalamaaa poru telanganama..". In the Houseful show at Kukatpally theatre 'Arjun', where I watched the movie, the response was unbelievable. The crowd sang along the whole song which exemplified the uncompromising struggle for Telangana. Similarly, 'Garadi chestundru..' song by KCR captured the trickery and gimmickry Telangana is facing and trying to overcome. These songs and the title song documented the movement and strengthened the cause. Despite the poor technical aspects, some bad acting and some lacklustre scenes, JBT is a breakthrough and a honest depiction of the struggle.

JBT marks the coming of age of Telangana in the political space and without doubt, this would force the Telugu film industry to think twice before they try stereotyping the people of the region as comedians/villains henceforth. Jai Bolo Telangana marks the end of Telangana's cultural suppression. Jai Bolo Telangana.