Friday, June 6, 2014
Wednesday, June 4, 2014
“IMPLEMENTATION OF GADGIL REPORT: A CHALLENGE FOR THE WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY”- SWAMI AGNIVESH
PRESS STATEMENT
“IMPLEMENTATION OF GADGIL REPORT: A CHALLENGE
FOR THE WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY”- SWAMI AGNIVESH
New Delhi, 4th June, 2014
President of World Council of Arya Samaj Swami Agnivesh and
Convenor of Sarva Dharma Sansad Manu Singh, met Mr. Prakash Javadekar,
Information & Broadcasting, MOS (IC) for Environment, Forest & Climate
Change and MOS for Parliamentary Affairs, GOI 2nd June, 2014
regarding concerns related to the environment. He asserted that the policies
regarding the Western Ghats should be made as per the Gadgil Commission Report
also known as the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel. The policy makers, under
the influence of the corporate lobby would want to dilute the already diluted
Kasturirangan Committee and then push it forward in the name of development,
which would be disastrous for the eco-system of the Western Ghats. Mr. Javadekar himself was very appreciative
of the Gadgil Report on the Western Ghats. He said he would soon call on Mr
Gadgil as they hail from the same town, Pune. He further reiterated that he
would take into account the suggestions and concerns of all stake holders
including members of the civil society and social activists, before arriving at
any decision.
Swami Agnivesh also proposed that the meat industry is the
greatest contributor to the green house gases. This industry has been
critically affecting the forests as well as the eco- system. He thus, proposed to
Mr. Javadekar to take initiatives for the creation and promotion of an
environment which encourages the inculcation of vegetarianism. Swami Agnivesh
reiterated that our development should be ‘need-based’ and not ‘greed- based’.
It should not be anthropocentric in nature but should holistically encompass
the values of ‘Vashudhaiva Kutumbakam’. Mr. Javadekar showed his willingness to
take this issue up as well and do the needful. All in all, the meeting seems to
throw a positive ray of hope towards a paradigm shift in development- an issue
close to the mission of Swami Agnivesh towards saving the Planet.
-Shilpi Singh
Swami Agnivesh’s Office.
Tuesday, June 3, 2014
AGNIVESH FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF GADGIL REPORT
PRESS STATEMENT
AGNIVESH FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF GADGIL REPORT
New Delhi, 2nd June
President of World Council of Arya Samaj Swami Agnivesh and Convenor of Sarva Dharma Sansad Manu Singh, met Mr. Prakash Javadekar, Information & Broadcasting, MOS (IC) for Environment, Forest & Climate Change and MOS for Parliamentary Affairs, GOI in the afternoon, today (2nd June, 2014) regarding concerns related to the environment. He asserted that the policies regarding the Western Ghats should be made as per the Gadgil Commission Report also known as the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel. Mr. Javadekar himself was very appreciative of the Gadgil Report on the Western Ghats. He said he would soon call on Mr Gadgil as they hail from the same town, Pune. He further reiterated that he would take into account the suggestions and concerns of all stake holders including members of the civil society and social activists, before arriving at any decision.
Swami Agnivesh also proposed that the meat industry is the greatest contributor to the green house gases. This industry has been critically affecting the forests as well as the eco- system. He thus, proposed to Mr. Javadekar to take initiatives for the creation and promotion of an environment which encourages the inculcation of vegetarianism. Mr. Javadekar showed his willingness to take this issue up as well and do the needful. All in all, the meeting seems to throw a positive ray of hope towards a paradigm shift in development- an issue close to the mission of Swami Agnivesh towards saving the Planet.
-Shilpi Singh
Swami Agnivesh’s Office.
AGNIVESH FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF GADGIL REPORT
New Delhi, 2nd June
President of World Council of Arya Samaj Swami Agnivesh and Convenor of Sarva Dharma Sansad Manu Singh, met Mr. Prakash Javadekar, Information & Broadcasting, MOS (IC) for Environment, Forest & Climate Change and MOS for Parliamentary Affairs, GOI in the afternoon, today (2nd June, 2014) regarding concerns related to the environment. He asserted that the policies regarding the Western Ghats should be made as per the Gadgil Commission Report also known as the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel. Mr. Javadekar himself was very appreciative of the Gadgil Report on the Western Ghats. He said he would soon call on Mr Gadgil as they hail from the same town, Pune. He further reiterated that he would take into account the suggestions and concerns of all stake holders including members of the civil society and social activists, before arriving at any decision.
Swami Agnivesh also proposed that the meat industry is the greatest contributor to the green house gases. This industry has been critically affecting the forests as well as the eco- system. He thus, proposed to Mr. Javadekar to take initiatives for the creation and promotion of an environment which encourages the inculcation of vegetarianism. Mr. Javadekar showed his willingness to take this issue up as well and do the needful. All in all, the meeting seems to throw a positive ray of hope towards a paradigm shift in development- an issue close to the mission of Swami Agnivesh towards saving the Planet.
-Shilpi Singh
Swami Agnivesh’s Office.
Brick kiln workers head back home without much assurance
The Hindu
Brick kiln workers head back home without much assurance
27th May,2014
After protesting continuously for four days at the Jammu and Kashmir Bhawan and Chhattisgarh Bhawan here to demand rehabilitation under the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act 1976, a group of 63 landless Dalit workers left for their homes in Janjgir Champa in Chhattisgarh on Sunday. The workers, including 25 minors, had arrived in Delhi last week after fleeing from brick kilns in Rajouri in Jammu and Kashmir where they said they had been coerced to work for eight months.
“The officials at Chhattisgarh Bhawan were at first indifferent to their protests and did not even allow them inside the building. The officials were reluctant to register even zero FIRs against their employer BBK brick kiln owner and the District Magistrate of Rajouri in Jammu & Kashmir where they had fled from. They have now given a verbal reassurance but still not done it,” said Nirmal Gorana, an activist with Bandhua Mukti Morcha (BMM) who had gone from Delhi to accompany the workers from Rajouri to Delhi.
Before this, National Human Rights Commission Chairperson Justice Balkrishna had served a notice on the Rajouri DM on May 22 responding to complaints filed by Mr. Gorana and Chandan Kumar, an activist with NGO Action Aid.
The workers’ protest was supported by the National Dalit Movement for Justice (NCDHR), Delhi Domestic Workers Forum, Dhani Om Charitable society, and Sarvadharma Sansad.
The group of workers, which included two pregnant women, said they had to work every day from 3 a.m. to 8 p.m. They alleged they had been promised an ‘advance’ of Rs.30,000 per couple and Rs.500 per thousand bricks they made, but even after working eight months they were not paid as promised by the owners of BBK brick kiln in Jangad village in Rajouri. They have been agitating for ‘release certificate’ which entitles those rescued from forced labour to a support grant of Rs.20,000 and State assistance to acquire land or skill-based alternate means of livelihood under the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) (BLA) Act 1976. Even after four days of protests in New Delhi, the workers were not given the “release” certificates making them ineligible for rehabilitation.
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