Social, Judicial, Youth, Political Activism Related Positive News

These women from Self Help Groups in Orissa have solved the problem of open defecation in a very interesting way. They not only started patrolling the streets but also planted the holy "Tulsi" plant to stop people from defecating in the open. Meet the amazing whistle blowers and their story of making their block completely "swachh". Last month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (Clean India Campaign) with a lot of fanfare and oodles of star power to inspire ordinary citizens to make all possible efforts to keep their surroundings clean and sanitary. This is the story of a group of women who decided to go in for a full clean up act in their villages much before the PM’s impassioned call. Arati Behara, Anusuya Sahoo, Rajalaxmi Sethi, and Ammbu Behara are part of a brigade called the Whistle Bahini, drawn from various Self Help Groups in different villages of Jagannath Prasad block in Odisha’s Ganjam district, and they have launched an all out offensive against open defecation. [caption id="attachment_16312" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] $Meet the ‘Whistle Bahinis’, a group of 30 women from Jagannath Prasad block in Odisha’s Ganjam district, who decided to go in for a full clean up act in their villages. (Rakhi Ghosh\WFS)$ Meet the ‘Whistle Bahinis’, a group of 30 women from Jagannath Prasad block in Odisha’s Ganjam district, who decided to go in for a full clean up act in their villages. (Rakhi Ghosh\WFS)[/caption] Every day, from 4 am to 6 am and then again from 4 pm to 8 pm, 30 women leave their household chores to take on a task they feel merits their urgent and undivided attention. For starters, in groups of three, they have taken to patrolling the main road that connects the block headquarters to their villages in a bid to stop people from relieving themselves in the open. Armed with whistles they fulfill their duty sincerely, reprimanding those who don’t listen to them. Next on their agenda is to motivate families to build a toilet in their homes and also put them to good use. But how did the women band together for this unique sanitation crusade? And how did they come up with the idea of patrolling with whistles? Says Arati,

“Open defecation has been a long standing problem in our area. The main road leading into the block headquarters, where the government offices and the only college in the region are located, used to be impassable because that was where all the locals came to relieve themselves. So we decided to take matters in our own hands. All of us in the group are aware of the importance of maintaining proper hygiene and sanitation to ensure good health.”

As per the statistics of the UNICEF and World Health Organization (WHO), nearly 88 per cent of deaths due to diarrhoea can be directly attributed to unsafe water, poor sanitation and inadequate hygiene. The effects of open defecation and poor sanitation also adversely affect nutrition, development, economy, dignity and safety of women. According to Census 2011, against a national average of 69.3 per cent, 85.9 per cent households in rural Odisha do not have a latrine. In rural Ganjam, 80.9 per cent of the over six lakh households still practice open defecation while in Jagannath Prasad block only 15 per cent homes have a toilet. The rest simply head out to the arterial block road that is a kilometre and a half long. The revenue office, panchayat office, primary school, girls’ high school, college, Integrated Child Development Services office, rural development office, micro irrigation office and a petrol pump – they are located along this road, which sees nearly 1,000 students and 500-600 people walk by everyday.

“The condition of the road is so bad due to open defection that one cannot walk without putting a handkerchief to one’s nose. During the monsoon, it becomes worse. So, earlier this year, the Block Development Officer (BDO) asked the Block Mahila Sanchyika Sangha (BMASS) to find a permanent solution to the problem. Although we had been conducting awareness programmes on hygiene and sanitation they did not lead to any real change in the attitude. So we decided to involve the women members of Self Help Groups (SHGs) to take on this critical task,” shares Dasarathy Tripathy, Project Officer, BMASS, a federation of SHGs in the block.

In 1998, as part of an effort to empower rural women and improve their financial and social status, the Ganjam District Administration had set up a block level organisation under the banner of Mahila Sanchyika Sangha (MASS). Tripathy explains, “Like everywhere else, total sanitation coverage is a necessity in our block, too. In the last few years, we found that many villagers were suffering from perennial diseases like diahorrea and malaria here. The women in our SHGs as well as others were constantly taking loans to pay off their hospital bills. In the money they were spending on treatment they could easily build a toilet, purchase a mosquito net and arrange for safe drinking water. So we decided to launch a movement, as part of which we created the ‘Whistle Bahini’ groups calling on women SHG members as committed volunteers.” In Jagannath Prasad block there are around 1,250 SHGs with 16,600 members. From this vast pool, at first, women from four SHGs were handpicked to be a part of this action group. “Within the first five days of our endeavour, we realised that it was not going to be easy to convince people to desist from open defecation. Apart from blowing the whistle we took to campaigning door-to-door to create awareness on water contamination and the advantages of using a toilet. But when still they did not pay heed to our messages we decided to plant the holy basil on either sides of the main block road. We planted nearly 1,000 saplings as we knew that people would never go for open defection near the tulsi because we worship it,” reveals Sasmita Sethy, another member of the Whistle Bahini. [caption id="attachment_16313" align="aligncenter" width="2301"] $Twice a day, the Whistle Bahinis patrol the main road that leads their villages to the Jagannath Prasad block headquarters to prevent people from open defecation. (Rakhi Ghosh\WFS)$ Twice a day, the Whistle Bahinis patrol the main road that leads their villages to the Jagannath Prasad block headquarters to prevent people from open defecation. (Rakhi Ghosh\WFS)[/caption] This move finally had the desired effect. Within a span of one month – the movement began in September 2014 – the number of people coming to the main road to relieve themselves has come down drastically. However, this has lead to a serious issue: if they can’t go to the main road and they don’t have a toilet in their home where would they go to answer nature’s call? To get over this hurdle, for now, the women have identified some faraway fields that people can use. At the same time, the move to push through applications for making toilets has been undertaken on a war footing. Informs Tripathy,

“We have discussed this with the BDO and submitted applications on behalf of the villagers for construction of individual toilet under the Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan (NBA). Those who fall under the Schedule Caste/Schedule Tribe, small and marginal farmers and Below Poverty Line (BPL) categories will get added benefits under the NBA. Others will be given a subsidy from government or they would be allowed to borrow from their local SHGs to construct toilets.”

Of course, the Whistle Bahinis haven’t let down their guard yet. In fact, to do some rigorous night rounds they have asked the local police to station a couple of constables with them. “We do patrolling early mornings and late evenings but there were some villagers who still tried to go there. That’s where the inclusion of the local police has reinforced the message,” says Anusuya Sahoo, a Whistle Bahini member, who is happy that their block road is now completely open defection free. Though SHG women have been known to tap into their collective strengths to increase economic prosperity and improve their social outcomes in terms of education and livelihood, putting their heads together for better sanitation has indeed set a positive example. Concludes Ranju Sethy, a vocal Whistle Bahini, “We have set a precedent in the region. Women from the neighbouring blocks are asking us to spread awareness on this issue in their villages as well. We all know that for good health, sanitation and security of women we should avoid open defection but it is our own negative attitude that is stopping from doing the right thing and building a toilet at home. However, the Whistle Bahinis have been able to bring about a change among people who are not really willing to accept new ideas. I am proud to be a part of this progressive women’s group.”

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Written by Rakhi Ghosh for Women’s Feature Service and republished here in arrangement with WFS.

The 'Kiss of Love' campaign took the country by storm. From outright supporters to obvious detractors, the incident has enabled people across India to respond to what is largely considered the unjust control of the moral police. With nationwide heated debates going on regarding the 'rightness' and 'wrongness' of this form of protest, we bring to you all sides of the argument, so you can decide for yourself where you stand. In this country “you can piss in public but not kiss in public”. Right? Well, earlier in November, a group of college-goers in Kochi, Kerala, thought why ever not? So they went ahead and kissed one another in broad daylight, during peak hour traffic at the city’s most popular hangout, Marine Drive. If only things had remained at that. Instead, the day after this incident took place everyone woke up to screaming headlines and risqué photographs splashed in various leading dailies: ‘Love in the Time of Bigotry’; “'Kiss of Love' Campaign Meets Wall of Cops”; “Mass 'kissing' Protests in Kerala cities against Moral Policing”… Okay, so this was just good entertainment that would lose its thrill in a few days, right? Well, wrong again. The concept of kissing and hugging in public spaces as a way to defy those who frown on such “western behaviour”, spread like wild fire. It was repeated at a Kochi college and then across several other cities in India – all within a week’s time. And to think it all started in ‘conservative’ Kerala. [caption id="attachment_16552" align="aligncenter" width="720"]

A group of college-goers in Kochi, Kerala, publically hugged and kissed one another in broad daylight, during peak hour traffic at the city’s most popular hangout, Marine Drive. (Credit: KOL Campaign)[/caption] What triggered this sudden, rather uncharacteristic upheaval among the quiet youth of Kerala? Pent up frustration against repeated incidents of violence and bullying against those who ‘dared’ to be ‘liberal’. Sample this.

In April 2013, an artist from Kochi was harassed by two policewomen when she went for a stroll on Marine Drive with a male friend.
In July 2013, the police arrested a couple from a beach in Alappuzha for suspected “immoral activity” as the woman was not wearing any accessories to suggest that she was married.
In June 2014, a female theatre artist and her male co-artist were detained in Kollam for travelling together at night.
And, of course, the latest instance of vandalism unleashed at a café in Kozhikode simply because the right wingers perceived it to be a dating spot.

Time to shake up the system, finally! “We are certainly not what we used to be,” remarks Jessy John, Head of Department-Sociology at K.E. College in Kottayam. In fact, she feels that the exposure of the youth in Kerala today is incomparable to what it was just a decade ago.

“They have seen how their counterparts in Delhi reacted to the gruesome rape of a young woman in 2012 and the overwhelming results their concerted protests yielded. They have been witnessing the various attempts taking place worldwide to overthrow despotic governments. Then there are the frequent social good campaigns, like the ice bucket challenge, the run-for-a-cause marathons, the flash mobs for awareness… all the various avenues available nowadays to put another point of view in the public domain. What these youngsters have done is to tap into this vast pool to find their own voice and brand of triggering change,” she elaborates.

According to John, one of the key reasons behind this heightened sense of awareness around the idea of seeking social and moral justice is an exposure to multicultural influences. “Most families in the state have at least one relative living abroad. Moreover, many children decide to pursue their higher studies outside. Ideas like the kissing protest germinate from a fusion of cultures. Change, therefore, is inevitable,” she points out.

[caption id="attachment_16553" align="aligncenter" width="960"] A sudden upheaval among the quiet youth of Kerala has been triggered by pent up frustration against repeated incidents of violence and bullying against those who ‘dared’ to be ‘liberal’. (Credit: KOL Campaign)[/caption]

While John’s assessment is bang on, can this one act of revolt be indicative of a total attitudinal shift? Not yet. Thomas’s response to the protest is sceptical. Says this Master’s in Social Work (MSW) graduate from Kottayam, “This protest was a direct response to the vandalising and destruction of a café by a few right wing political party workers who alleged that couples were often seen kissing there. Ideally, the miscreants should have been arrested. But police inaction as well as public apathy triggered this reaction.” Whereas Thomas understands and supports the call for action he is not quite comfortable with the approach. “I wouldn’t like it if my sister or best friend took part in it. There are so many other ways to protest,” he says. Then there are some who are convinced that such protests are only effective till there is sufficient media attention and hype. Vysakh Mohan, an MSW faculty member of K.E. College, wonders why the newspapers and channels can’t seem to give such dedicated space or air time to the humanitarian violations that occur almost on a daily basis in the country’s dark rural areas and instead go in for sensationalist “easy” coverage. And although Kiara, 22, “feels that the rationale behind Kiss of Love is okay, it’s after all a free country”, she does admit that she would never take part in it because her family would be hurt. There is a deep sense of control that still exists in Kerala, one that is especially exerted by parents and educational institutions. In fact, colleges in the state are practically functioning like schools these days. Gone are the days of impromptu strikes by student unions, bunking classes and loitering around in the canteen. Attendance is checked every hour, parent-teacher meetings occur frequently even in professional colleges. Confirms Alphonsa Cherian, a professor of sociology, “In my college, we have the contact numbers of all our students. Most parents check with us directly about their ward’s educational progress and behaviour.” Personally, she doesn’t really approve of Kiss of Love. “I don’t believe in pulling off such gimmicks whatever the cause.” [caption id="attachment_16554" align="aligncenter" width="960"]

There is a deep sense of control that still exists in Kerala, one that is especially exerted by parents and educational institutions. Students believe that colleges in the state are practically functioning like schools these days. (Credit: KOL Campaign)[/caption] Clearly, the Kiss of Love protests have stirred up mixed emotions and reactions. A post on the official Kiss of Love Facebook page, from where the entire campaign rolled out, reads:

“We believe, public place is a space owned by families, lovers and individuals and each one of us should respect that. There isn't anything wrong or obscene in showing affection by holding hands, hugging and kissing each other above the neck as stated by the Honorable Supreme Court of India, but it shouldn't be taken as [an opportunity for] groping…or performing any kind of sexual act in public place...”

There are obvious supporters and outright detractors - and then there are those moderates who are sitting on the fence. John speaks for this group when she says, “As the mother of an 11-year-old I am not easy with the idea of such a demonstration. But as a sociology professor I know that once the youth decides to take their fight to the streets, no one can stop them. Controlling them is never the option.” Right or wrong… Kiss of Love has certainly sparked a much needed debate for change.

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Written by Shwetha E. George for Women’s Feature Service (WFS) and republished here in arrangement with WFS.

Did you know that India is South Asia's first "Cruelty-Free Zone". From banning the import of animal-tested cosmetics to stopping the use of dolphins for entertainment, India is indeed blazing the trail by setting an example for other countries to follow. Here are 5 strong steps taken by the Indian government and private agencies to stop animal cruelty and create a humane environment. We grow up wearing leather, going to circus, using cosmetics and eating the meat of our choice. How many of us consider the impact these actions have on animal life? As per a report by PETA, more than 100 million animals like rabbits, guinea pig and rats suffer and die every year in chemical, drug, food, and cosmetics tests along with biology lessons, medical training exercises, and curiosity-driven medical experiments at universities. But fortunately, of late, the issue of animal cruelty has been taken seriously and the Indian government has taken some strong steps to make the country a “Cruelty-Free” zone. Here are some of the prominent actions by the Indian government that have created waves across the globe -

1. Ban On Captive Dolphin Shows

[caption id="attachment_16207" align="aligncenter" width="1024"]

Photo Courtesy: Anagoria/Wikimedia Commons[/caption] In May, 2013, India’s Ministry of Environment and Forests took a strong step by forbidding the capture and use of dolphins for entertainment across the country. The ministry issued a policy statement instructing all state governments to deny giving permissions for setting up a dolphnarium “by any person / persons, organizations, government agencies, private or public enterprises that involves import, capture of cetacean species to establish for commercial entertainment, private or public exhibition and interaction purposes whatsoever.” There had been wild protests by various agencies against the use of dolphins for entertainment purposes. So this news came as a welcome relief to many, showcasing the Indian government’s better understanding of issues such as global warming and a deeper concern towards marine life.

2. India was the first South Asian nation to ban import of animal tested cosmetics

[caption id="attachment_16208" align="aligncenter" width="1024"]

Photo Courtesy: Janet Stephens/ Wikimedia Commons[/caption] India’s ban on import of animal tested beauty products came into effect from November 13, 2014 and created history by becoming the first South Asian nation to do so. After banning cosmetics testing on animals nationally, this came as another important milestone that has been appreciated by the people. The recently announced rule states, “Prohibition of import of cosmetics tested on animals. No cosmetic that has been tested on animals after the commencement of Drugs and Cosmetics (Fifth Amendment) Rules, 2014 shall be imported into the country.” By taking such a strong step, India has become the first cruelty-free zone in South Asia and has set an example for others to follow.

3. A leading Indian airline commits to protecting shark populations and marine ecosystems

[caption id="attachment_16209" align="aligncenter" width="1024"]

Photo Courtesy: Cloneofsnake/ Wikimedia Commons[/caption] During 1981-2002, India was responsible for 9% of the global catch of various shark species and held the number three spot worldwide in the list. Sharks, being one of the top predators, need to be saved for a healthy marine ecosystem. Every year, hundreds of sharks are targeted and killed to meet the demand for shark fin soup, an East Asian dish. After removing the fins, the sharks are thrown back into the sea to die slowly and painfully. Jet Airways, after taking Humane Society International/India’s appeal into consideration, banned shipment of shark fins on its carriers to protect the declining population of sharks worldwide. Chemudupati Samyukta, wildlife campaign manager for HSI/India, said: “We are thrilled that Jet Airways has taken this environmentally responsible decision. We are certain that it will go a long way in the ongoing efforts around the globe to protect these keystone species.” This has put Jet Airways in the league of other environmentally-conscious airlines around the world who have committed to stop carrying the dreadful cargo.

4. Government orders to stop the illegal movement of animals to Nepal

Picture Source On November 04, 2014, the Ministry of Home Affairs ordered the paramilitary Sashastra Seema Bal to stop illegal movement of animals to Nepal and prevent cattle transport without license. The decision came at a right time as it was announced a few weeks before the Gadhimai festival where over 500,000 animals, most originating from India, were to be sacrificed in Nepal. The festival takes place once every five years and involves slaughter of lakhs of innocent animals including cattle, pigs, goats, ducks, rats, etc. It is estimated that 70 percent of the animals brought for slaughtering in this festival come from the neighbouring states of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim, Jharkhand and Assam. N.G Jayasimha, managing director for HSI/India said: “For the past few months, Humane Society International/India has been working vigorously to sensitize locals on this issue. We are delighted to have the Government of India’s support and look forward to working with them in implementing in orders.” The following actions were recommended by the ministry: 1. Meetings to be organized with Deputy Inspectors General, Commandments and District Magistrates to work out modalities for imposition of Section 144 Criminal Procedure Code restricting the movement of animals across the border 2. In-depth intelligence based operations within the area of responsibility be carried out to check organized smuggling 3. The performance of units be personally monitored by Deputy Inspectors General of sectors on daily basis 4. Cattle seized may be handed over to animal pounds with the instructions that no auction of cattle by the civil administration be undertaken till the conclusion of the Gadhimai Mela in Nepal 5. From 15 Sept. 2014, a daily monitoring report on action taken against smugglers be sent.

5. Punjab and Haryana High Court issues notice against confinement of egg laying hens in battery cages

[caption id="attachment_16211" align="aligncenter" width="900"]

Photo Courtesy: Maqi/Wikimedia Commons[/caption] Indian factory farms confine over 200 million hens in battery cages. These cages are smaller than a single A4 sized sheet of paper and the bird has to live here for more than a year before she is slaughtered. In March 2014, the High Court issued notice in a petition filed by the Federation of Indian Animal Protection Organisations against confining egg-laying hens in battery cages. These small cages violate the provisions of Section 11(1)(e) of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960, which requires that animals confined to cages be provided with reasonable opportunity for movement. “The use of battery cages to confine egg laying hens is absolutely barbaric. The cages strip away the dignity of the hens completely. It's unfathomable that living beings can be treated with such cruelty,” said Senior Advocate Mr. Anand Grover who represented the petitioner. With all these recent steps to stop animal cruelty, the Indian government is surely going an extra mile and setting a worthy example for other countries. We congratulate the various agencies for putting in efforts for making this possible and salute all the public and private organizations which have helped implement laws against animal cruelty.

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The special agency is addressing the issues of women across 20 states leading to a larger political and tangible change in their poor condition. From bondage labour to domestic violence and livelihood issues, the women's parliament is seeking to solve some of the major issues that women face from various communities. Know more. Monemma is a sprightly, outspoken young woman, who belongs to the Yanadi tribal community of Andhra Pradesh. There was impatience in her voice as she gave an update on the projects and campaigns she is leading on promoting the rights of girls and women in her native town of Vellore. Having spent her childhood as a bonded labourer, who was rescued only a few years back by a local human rights organisation, she is a woman in a hurry. According to her, “Too much time has been lost already. Women themselves are oblivious of their value and are mock spectators to the unfolding of their destinies. Even though I lost the Andhra Assembly election in 2009, by a narrow margin of 6,000 votes, I am committed to giving women a voice and unleashing their inner potential.” She informed that, like her, nearly 25,000 families belonging to the Yanadi tribal community living in Nellore district are still under bondage situations. More than 12,000 acres of land belonging to them is in the hands of mighty local ‘zamindaars’ (land owners). There is absolutely no one to pick up the cudgels on behalf of these women and restore to them what is rightfully theirs. [caption id="attachment_17494" align="alignleft" width="800"] $The Women’s Parliament, the first of its kind in India, was organised in Delhi to compel “real Parliamentarians” to sit up and take notice of women’s issues and their voices. (Credit: Taru Bahl\WFS)$ The Women’s Parliament, the first of its kind in India, was organised in Delhi to compel “real Parliamentarians” to sit up and take notice of women’s issues and their voices. (Credit: Taru Bahl\WFS)[/caption] They continue to live a life of abject poverty, humiliation, exploitation and helplessness. As she spoke about her people and their problems, urging Revenue and Labour officials to immediately visit the location, take stock of the situation and initiate necessary steps of rescue and rehabilitation, there was a lot of passion, conviction and hope in her voice. Monemma was one of 80 grassroots women activists from across India who brought to life a mock Women’s Parliament organised by ActionAid as part of its Beti Zindabad campaign. The campaign, which was launched in 2012, has worked with a clutch of women’s organisations from 64 districts in 20 states, resolving to give women’s empowerment a more physical and active voice, especially in a way that can make a strong political comment. While the initial trigger for the campaign was the declining child sex ratio in the country, it has since evolved into a larger movement that looks at a range of issues faced by women and girls at various stages of the life cycle, taking into account their geographical and social contexts. Trafficking and child marriage in West Bengal, acid attacks and domestic violence in Bihar, female infanticide in Haryana, rising sex violence in Maharashtra and skewed land distribution in Karnataka are some of the chronic conditions that women have been living with for generations. Campaigns and enactment of laws has brought about some awareness but change is yet to be seen. [caption id="attachment_17495" align="alignleft" width="800"] $The unique mock Parliament presented an alternative vision of political participation where women’s voices are heard and given their due importance. (Credit: Taru Bahl\WFS)$ The unique mock Parliament presented an alternative vision of political participation where women’s voices are heard and given their due importance. (Credit: Taru Bahl\WFS)[/caption] The Women’s Parliament, the first of its kind in India, was one way of articulating these challenges. It was organised in Delhi, the seat of the country’s polity, to compel “real Parliamentarians” to sit up and take notice. While ‘morchas’ (rallies) and ‘bandhs’ (boycotts) have their own place in the turbulent landscape of social, cultural and political change, the mock Parliament, which turned out to be a resounding success, unleashed years of pent-up angst, as women activists-members used data, evidence, recent cases and their powerful oratory skills to present to the House a range of issues that impact them. Remarked an activist from Nagaland, “It is not as if the powers that be are not aware of what is going on. It is just not a priority. Women’s issues and their voices are, therefore, viewed as noisy clamouring, not urgent items on the national agenda that need redress and action.” The unique Parliament presented an alternative vision of political participation where women’s voices are heard and given their due importance. This assumes relevance given the fact that women today account for just 11 per cent of the 543 members in the all-important Lok Sabha (Lower House). The proceedings were structured to mirror the actual Parliament, which incidentally is in session, complete with a government, opposition and Speaker. Noted feminist- activist Kamla Bhasin, who presided as the Speaker, said,

A range of issues were raised in this Parliament. From problems of brick kiln workers to cases of ostracising and branding women as witches – all of which is happening even seven decades after Independence. I am glad that this parliament has the consciousness to table some of these issues and provide an example of how a people’s parliament should be.

[caption id="attachment_17496" align="alignleft" width="800"] $oted feminist- activist, Kamla Bhasin presided as the ‘Speaker’ at the Women’s Parliament. (Credit: Taru Bahl\WFS)$ Noted feminist- activist, Kamla Bhasin presided as the ‘Speaker’ at the Women’s Parliament. (Credit: Taru Bahl\WFS)[/caption] The Question Hour proved to be an important part of the proceedings, as several issues such as Dalit women’s access to land, equal property rights of women, women’spolitical participation, social security, disability issues, declining child sex ratio, transgender issues, gender-based discrimination, health and sanitation issues, wage inequality, workplace harassment, issues of minorities and tribal women and more, were raised through a total of 23 questions tabled. Babita from Nalanda in Bihar drew attention to how in spite of land distribution taking place seven times in as many years, not one Dalit woman had so far benefitted from the Act. She also spoke about how nefarious groups with vested interests had ensured that alcohol shops in every village remain open till late but did not give importance to having regulated water supply. Alcohol had become the bane of their lives. She cited that in every village of 100 people, 40 women were single – either widowed or abandoned, largely due to drunken husbands. From alcohol problems to farmers’ rights, several women were annoyed by the fact that though, traditionally, in any agrarian community, they do more work than the men they still do not command equivalent wages. Even government benefits are directed towards the male farmer, not even acknowledging the entity that is the woman farmer. On the health front, too, they were not happy with the prevailing reality. [caption id="attachment_17497" align="alignleft" width="800"] $After hearing out the women activist-members Dr Syeda Hameed, former member Planning Commission, lauded their commitment to the betterment of their local communities. (Credit: Taru Bahl\WFS)$ After hearing out the women activist-members Dr Syeda Hameed, former member Planning Commission, lauded their commitment to the betterment of their local communities. (Credit: Taru Bahl\WFS)[/caption] Where in the countryside, a public health facility is supposed to be functional every 10-12 kilometres, on ground, they are either not there or are in a pitiable condition. In Manipur, where crisis and strife have been a way of life, widows still find it hard to access their pensions. On the subject of rampant domestic violence, there was a lot of thumping on the tables, demonstrating anguish at how women are still being killed for reasons as trivial as there being no salt in a dish or too much sugar in the tea, by none other than their own husbands. The women ‘parliamentarians’ demanded more effective monitoring mechanisms that could evaluate progress of laws that have been enacted and their enforcement, pushing up accountability of governments and the trust quotient wrested in them by women. A team of parliamentarians comprising D. Raja, Ali Anwar, N. Swamy and others was present at the mock Parliament in a show of support and encouragement. What the Women’s Parliament essentially has done is to draw up a very articulate wish list through the 27 questions that raise issues that women face across the country. Over debate and discussion (read crossfire, in Parliamentary language), it has even come up with some plausible solutions. [caption id="attachment_17498" align="alignleft" width="800"] $Eighty grassroots women activists from across India brought to life a Women’s Parliament in Delhi. (Credit: Taru Bahl\WFS)$ Eighty grassroots women activists from across India brought to life a Women’s Parliament in Delhi. (Credit: Taru Bahl\WFS)[/caption] For instance, having Protection Officers for domestic violence cases in every state and demanding that this be an independent post and not a joint one. That the mock Women’s Parliament members meant business was clear to everyone. As Dr Syeda Hameed, former member of the Planning Commission, remarked,

“These women are not going to be easily placated and satisfied. We in the government have to become more responsive. I am going to push for some of the issues raised at this platform to be tabled in the Parliament’s ongoing Winter Session.”

The mock Parliament might have concluded but each of the women activists has gone back with a little more hope and a lot more promise.

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Written by Taru Bahl for Women’s Feature Service (WFS) and republished here in arrangement with WFS.

There have been several times in history when people have come together in large numbers to protest against an injustice or support a cause, and created history. Here is a list of 9 such powerful people's movements in India that changed the course of the country.

The recent attack on Charlie Hebdo has given a whole new meaning to Freedom of Speech.

The attack that took place on January 7, 2015 was despicable and killed 12 at the office of the French satirical newspaper, including the editor. Since then there has been a wave of supporters who came out in the open to extend their support to the newspaper.

“Je suis Charlie” or “I am Charlie” slogan was adopted by the supporters of free speech and freedom of expression.

Source: http://i232.photobucket.com/

First used on twitter, the slogan became one of the most used hash tags in the history of Twitter. The campaign spread worldwide, thousands of people came out on the streets and raised their voice against the attack.

India, too was not untouched by the wave.

While many media publications were found to be reluctant to openly support the movement and held back from sharing controversial cartoons of Charlie Hebdo, the general public showed their full support on social media platforms and even offline campaigns.

#CharlieHebdo #parisattack #ParisShooting My #cartoon pic.twitter.com/XJwotKRyoQ — MANJUL (@MANJULtoons) January 7, 2015

Such citizen movements are not new to our country. In the past, India has seen some of the most powerful people’s movements which led to some of the landmark decisions and brought the entire nation together.

While events like the Sepoy mutiny played an important role in Indian history, they were led by a small group of people in the British army. Here is a list of 9 most powerful and talked about movements in Indian history which were led by citizens -

1. Swadeshi Movement - 1905

The movement which started during India’s struggle for freedom focused on removing the British Empire from power by becoming Swadesh i.e self sufficient. A lot of Indians came forward in support of the movement and boycotted foreign goods. They burnt all the imported clothes they had, boycotted British products and revived the production of domestic commodities. It gave people the power to speak against the authority and the courage to express their views.

2. Satyagraha

Source: Yann/Wikipedia

Probably one of the most noted movements in Indian history, Satyagraha brought thousands of people together in a peaceful way. The non-violence movement started by Mahatma Gandhi to send the British back to their country and leave India free of foreign rule did eventually taste success.

3. Save Silent Valley Movement - 1973

Source: http://rremya96.blogspot.in/

A social movement aimed at the protection of Silent Valley, an evergreen tropical forest in the Palakkad district of Kerala, started in 1973 brought many activists and people together. The protest was focused on stopping the valley from being flooded by a hydroelectric project. The controversy surrounding the valley still exists and people are still waiting for the final result.

4. Chipko Movement - 1973

Source: http://farm8.staticflickr.com/

Based on Gandhian principles, the Chipko Movement or Chipko Andolan saw people protesting against deforestation by hugging trees to stop them from being cut. Led by Chandni Prasad Bhatt and Sunderlal Bahuguna, the protest started in the early 1970s when a group of women opposed the cutting down of trees. Their actions spread like wildfire and hundreds and thousands of people across India came out in support of the green movement.

5. Namantar Andolan - 1978

Source: Adhanter/Wikipedia

It was a Dalit movement to change the name of Marathwada University in Aurangabad to Dr. B. R. Ambedkar University. This 16 year long movement was successful in 1994 when the 'compromise' name of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University was accepted. The movement saw several protests which led to terrible consequences including killings, molestation, burning of houses, etc of dalits.

6. Jungle Bachao Andolan - 1980s

Source: socialactivistjal.blogspot.in (photo for representation purpose only)

When the government decided to replace the natural sal forest with highly valued teak, the tribals of Bihar came out in strong numbers to protest against this decision. Having started in Bihar, the movement spread to other states like Odisha and Jharkhand too.

7. Narmada Bachao Andolan - 1985

Source: narmada.org

This protest, to express the views against a large number of dams being contrasted near Narmada river, brought a large number of adivasis, farmers, environmentalists, and human rights activists together. The movement involved prominent celebrities and people went on hunger strikes to show their support for the cause. The decision is still pending, though the court initially ruled the decision in the Andolan's favor, thereby effecting an immediate stoppage of work at the dam and directing the concerned states to first complete the rehabilitation and replacement process. Later the court allowed the construction to proceed.

8. Jan Lokpal Bill – Anti Corruption Movement by Anna Hazare - 2011

Source: http://sarika008.files.wordpress.com/

When anti-corruption activist Anna Hazare began a hunger strike at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi on April 5, 2011, the whole nation came together and stood by him. The movement led to the resignation of Agriculture minister Sharad Pawar from the group of ministers that had been charged with reviewing the draft Jan Lokpal bill. The initiative brought together a huge number of people, making it a one-of-its-kind event in decades. It was also one of those rare events that demonstrated what is possible if the world’s largest democracy woke up to take the reins in its hands. The movement was named among the “Top 10 News Stories of 2011” by Time Magazine.

9. Nirbhaya Movement - 2012

Source: www.democracynow.org

The 2012 Delhi Gang Rape saw one of the most angry reactions from people who were very clear on expressing that they have had enough. After the incident, thousands of people came out on streets to protest in several parts of the country. The movement also created a stir in social media where people changed their display picture to a black dot and tens of thousands of people signed a petition protesting the incident. Taking the movement into consideration, the government at the centre and various states announced several steps to ensure the safety of women.

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This is the story of Akkai Padmashali, who was born a boy but chose to become a transgender. Her challenging but inspiring journey as she fought for her rights and acceptance in society will move you to tears but also show you the true strength of the human spirit. Born Jagadeesh, Akkai is a male-to-female transgender. She is from a middle-class family in Bangalore; her father was in the airforce and her mother, a homemaker. She had a confused childhood, often inviting her parents' anger for wearing her sister's dress or playing with girls. Her parents even took her to local doctors and traditional healers in the hope of 'curing' their child, but it didn't change anything. Akkai tried to make herself believe that she was a boy, but she strongly felt otherwise. At the age of 12, feeling confused and lonely, she tried to kill herself twice.

"But I didn't die. I didn't die."

About four years later, Akkai disclosed to her brother that she wanted to be a girl. Her brother was the first to accept her as she is, and he tried to convince their parents, who still wouldn't change their minds and continued to believe that she would change. As a young teenager, Akkai would see other transgender women - or "eunuchs" as they are referred to in India - near a park in Bangalore on her way to college. One day she picked up the courage to talk to them and told them about her identity dilemma.

"Don't become like us," they told me. "If you become like us, there are only two options for you - begging or sex work."

But Akkai wanted to be like them; in fact, she knew she had to become like them. And she did. Sadly, she also had to start offering herself to men for money at the same park in Bangalore.

"I did sex work for four years. My parents believed that I was an office assistant in a private company."

Thinking about those four years of her life brings tears to Akkai's eyes even now. But, ironically, it is in those four years that she came to know that there are many others like her. She never felt lonely any more. She never felt like wanting to die anymore. Seeing the sexual violence that others like her face everyday, Akkai was motivated to join Sangama, a local NGO that works with sexual minorities. With Sangama, she realised the importance of educating the policy makers and the judiciary about the problems faced by people belonging to sexual minorities in India. (Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code makes sexual acts between two persons of the same sex and other sexual activities that are "against the order of nature" punishable. This leaves scope for sexual minorities to be exploited.)

"Why should I die? Let me fight for my community members. I have a huge responsibility on my shoulders."

Akkai couldn't complete her education and she hasn't studied beyond high school, but she speaks near-perfect English. She was invited by the Indian President to attend the swearing-in ceremony of the Chief Justice of India. She was also invited by the International Bar Association to speak about the legal rights of sexual minorities, in a conference held at Tokyo in October 2014. After the Supreme Court of India acknowledged 'transgender' as a third gender in all forms and legal documents (adding a 'T' to the usual options of 'M' and 'F'), Akkai was the first in the country to get a driving licence stating her gender as female. But she still has not forgotten the difficulty she faced in getting a passport stating the gender of her choice. Akkai is founder-member of Ondede (meaning 'convergence' in Kannada), an organisation that aims to create awareness about sexuality, sexual diversity and the right to choose one's sexual orientation.

"Being a transgender is not easy. People laugh at you, discriminate against you. You don't have access to buses, public toilets, office spaces. But things are changing now."

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About the Author: Bhagirath Iyer is a finance professional looking at doing something more meaningful than his day job. He is co-founder of Make Love Not Scars, which works with acid attack survivors, and is also trying to collect stories of people who have overcome odds to become successful in life.

Unity, persistence, and non-violence are but a few lessons that we can learn from the successful Koel Karo anti-dam protest in Jharkhand. Here's how a tribe resisted a government dam project for over three decades and finally won! The Koel Karo Jan Sanghatana was awarded the first Bhagirath Award during the India Rivers Week 2014 for protecting the Koel and the Karo rivers. That this is not an organisation that many people have heard of is a shame. The struggle that this organisation has faced against the Koel Karo dam is on par (some would argue that it's greater) with David's struggle against Goliath. It is one of the very few times in India, if not the world, where tribal peoples have successfully persuaded the government to cancel a project that was been sanctioned.

Koel Karo is not just a case for the history books. There are many lessons that the myriad groups protesting against dams can learn from this one successful story. All they have to do is to ask "Why?"

[caption id="attachment_20282" align="aligncenter" width="635"]

The Karo dam site at Lohajimi (Jeevan Kuruvilla)[/caption] India has no shortage of dams that threaten local communities and their livelihoods. In nearly all such cases, a passionate and organised resistance has been born. While the construction of some dams has been halted, none have had the definitive victory that Koel Karo has achieved. How did the Koel Karo Jan Sanghatan bring about an official cancellation of a previously sanctioned dam? Five reasons -

1. A strong identification with the tribe

Being a member of the Munda tribe is the basis of a Mundari's identity. The Mundari have a strong and democratic tribal leadership system which continues even today. It is this that enables the tribes to assert their rights. The many governments that have come and gone, while important, do not supersede the tribal government. This is the reason that Mundaris unanimously supported the Koel Karo struggle.

2. Deep connection with the land

The Mundari are not separate from their lands. It was a gift to them from their God, and today houses their ancestors. Dayamani Barla, a journalist from Ranchi says, "Natural resources to us are not merely means of livelihood. Our identity, dignity, autonomy and culture have been built on them for generations. These communities will not survive if they are alienated from the natural resources. How is it possible to rehabilitate or compensate us?" This feeling of unity with their land made it impossible for the Mundhari to contemplate relocation. They were quite literally, fighting for their families and their existence.

3. Non-violence

Not once during their long struggle did the Mundhari resort to violence. The Tapkara firing of 2001, when the police fired on an unarmed crowd, was the zenith of the intimidation that the Mundharis were subject to. By 1984, armed forces were in the area to 'control' the anti-dam movement. Through it all, the KKJS used non-violent and innovative ways to defeat the troops and dam officials.

4. Persistence

The Mundharis successfully kept up an unrelenting and non-violent resistance for nearly three decades. This is one entire generation that grew up during the struggle. In that time, six general elections took place and the state of Jharkhand was carved out of Bihar. Keeping up an entirely voluntary resistance against great odds and many changes requires a conviction that runs deep in every individual and every family. [caption id="attachment_20283" align="aligncenter" width="800"]

The 'Shaheed Sthal' - a memorial to the martyrs of the Tapkara firing (courtesy :Shripad Dharmadhikary)[/caption]

5. Hope

Shripad Dharmadhikary of Manthan pointed out the single most important lesson that anti-dam struggles can learn from Koel Karo. "Such struggles", he said "can be won". A neglected and 'backward' tribe successfully held the State and National governments at bay for three long and frightening decades till the governments were forced to accept defeat. And today, the Koel and the Karo rivers run free.

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This article was written by Chicu Lokgariwar for India Water Portal (IWP) and republished here in partnership with IWP.

The second largest green cover in Mumbai needs your help. It'll soon be cleared to make way for a metro car shed and other commercial activities. Here's how you can play your part in saving the green cover of Aarey Milk Colony by - just sending a rakhi! "I am a Neem tree from Aarey Milk Colony, about to lose my life, my home and my faith in humanity. A few days ago I heard about the metro shed development project and the proposed widening of the Aarey Road that threatens to destroy Aarey - the last of Mumbai's dwindling forest cover. " [caption id="attachment_22423" align="aligncenter" width="1143"]

The beautiful tree at Aarey Milk Colony.

One of the many beautiful trees at Aarey Milk Colony.[/caption] If a tree could speak today, this is what it would probably say. As per BMC Tree authority survey, around 2,298 trees are hindering the construction of a proposed car shed for Metro 3 in Mumbai. These trees are to be transplanted and some of them need to be cut. Some portion of the land will also be used for a man-made theme park and other activities like housing, retail, educational campuses, etc. Aarey Colony is spread over 1,619 verdant hectares. Out of the total area, 378 hectares are already occupied by a guest house, several dairy units, squatters, tribal padas (hamlets), Central Poultry Development Organization, private cattle sheds and film shooting sets. On the remaining area, BMC's draft Development Plan proposes new development on 1,009 hectares of Aarey land, leaving behind only 232 hectares of green cover. A group of concerned citizens came together to oppose this decision and started a movement called Save Aarey. Prashant Kalipurayath, a professional at an advertising company TBWA, along with three other team members, has launched an interesting initiative called Rakhis From Aarey to take the campaign to the next level and engage more influential personalities in their movement.

The team has given a voice to the trees by writing letters on their behalf and sending them to prominent personalities and decision makers along with an eco-friendly rakhi.

[caption id="attachment_22420" align="aligncenter" width="643"]

Rakhi's are sent to prominent personalities to spread awareness.[/caption]

“Only 2 percent of Mumbai’s land is covered with green spaces. Also, Aarey colony is the second largest green cover in Mumbai. We have to save it. Trees are helpless and they depend on other people for support. Rakhis are a symbol of protection and have a very deep emotional connect with Indians. So we thought of sending rakhis to people who can protect them,” he says.

The interesting initiative comprises of a letter written from the point of view of a tree and what it would want to say. The letter is accompanied by an eco-friendly rakhi made from discarded material of the trees.

The campaign, which is just about three weeks old now, has sent rakhis to over 2,000 people which include influential personalities like Narendra Modi, Amitabh Bachhan, Ranbir Kapoor, Vishal Dadlani, etc.

[caption id="attachment_22418" align="aligncenter" width="7184"]

The eco friendly Rakhi[/caption] The campaign aims at reaching out to as many people as it can in order to make a substantial impact in saving the trees at Aarey.

“After people receive rakhis, they can wear it as a sign of protest and can also send more rakhis to other people to enlist their support,” says Kalipurayath.

Recently, Ranbir Kapoor and Vishal Dadlani came out in support of the campaign and accepted the rakhi on behalf of the trees.

Aarey colony's green cover would soon be lost if action isn't taken on time.

“The main idea of sending these rakhis is to spread awareness. Once people receive a rakhi they ask questions like what is this for, which tree is this, why does it need help, etc. It is not just for information but for engaging more people in the awareness drive,” Kalipurayath explains.

The Rakhis From Aarey team has also hanged some audio letters on the trees where people can listen to their plight and what they have to say. They have also launched a website where anyone can type in an address and the team will send a rakhi to the mentioned address with a letter.

[caption id="attachment_22421" align="aligncenter" width="1345"]

Audio letters at Aarey Colony.[/caption] The impact of the interesting initiative is being seen in many interesting ways. The campaign picked up instantly in Mumbai and thousands of people came out in support of the trees.

“Initially convincing people about the idea was a challenge, especially the prominent people in the society. Also, reaching them is a challenge. Many a times their office or production house receives a letter and rakhi but it is never delivered to them. Unless they personally receive it, the whole campaign will not go very far,” says Kalipurayath.

The team has partnered with the already existing Save Aarey group, which has been fighting for the cause for quite some time now.

[caption id="attachment_22461" align="aligncenter" width="680"]

Rakhis for Aarey team at TBWA.[/caption] Speaking for TBWA India, CCO Parixit Bhattacharya says, “The journey of Rakhis From Aarey as an initiative from members of Save Aarey and us to a full fledged, high decibel citizens’ movement has been quite rewarding. The Govt. putting a hold on the Development Plan 2034 is a great outcome. The movement will be on until the citizens are assured that Aarey’s safe for good.”

The team believes that it is not just the Aarey trees that can benefit from these rakhis. The idea can be used as a peaceful form of protest for many other issues that exist in the society today.

[caption id="attachment_22419" align="aligncenter" width="1704"]

Letter to Amitabh Bachhan[/caption]

“If you want to be part of the movement to save the trees, all you have to do is send a rakhi,” concludes Kalipurayath.

To know more about their campaign, contact Kalipurayath at - prashant.kalipurayath@tbwaindia.com or check out their Facebook and Website.

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A small village in Rajasthan finally got its due - a fully functional primary health centre - when the villagers came together as one to fight for their rights. Read what the might of a united community can achieve. This story has all the elements of a typical Hindi film potboiler: there’s high-voltage drama, spirited agitation and swift action, nicely rounded off with the triumph of people power. The only difference is that this is not make-believe spun by an imaginative writer, but a true account of fearless activism spearheaded by an empowered community. The setting is the nondescript village of Devgarh in Rajasthan’s Pratapgarh district, where under the leadership of Sarpanch (village head) Hariram Meena, people decided to take the matter of securing their health rights into their own hands.

For years, the Primary Health Centre (PHC) in Devgarh, which provides basic healthcare and emergency medical services to 36 villages in the area, had been functioning erratically.

[caption id="attachment_22445" align="aligncenter" width="5152"]

Devgarh in Pratapgarh district of Rajasthan is home to a sizeable tribal community that displayed remarkable courage and determination as they got together to revive their poorly functional primary health centre, which provides basic healthcare services to 36 villages in the area.[/caption] Whereas the building and grounds were in a dilapidated, overgrown condition, the staff was either absent or unresponsive.

Adesh Kumar Jain, Devgarh’s passionate Up-Sarpanch (deputy village head), narrates, “Everyone knows that rural residents cannot do without a functioning PHC and even though it is rare to find one that doesn’t have any problems the situation at Devgarh’s PHC was simply deplorable. At most times, the doctor on duty and the support staff used to either be missing or reporting late, so patients were usually turned away. It was not uncommon to see stray cattle roaming freely. Moreover, the toilets used to be filthy, there was no water supply and the patient waiting area was being used to store junk. We were putting up with all this but it was difficult to see expectant women suffering on this account. Every time one of them was refused admission, it used to really bother us. Then one day, when the desperate pleas of the relatives of a young pregnant woman in need of immediate attention were ignored, something snapped. We decided: enough is enough.”

To deal with the problem at hand, in early July 2013, the Village Health Sanitation and Nutrition Committee (VHSNC), which includes the Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) and the Anganwadi Worker, sat together and came up with a rather drastic solution.

After taking the entire village into confidence, on July 15, they set their radical plan into motion. The villagers surrounded the PHC and locked it up with the staff still inside.

[caption id="attachment_22446" align="aligncenter" width="640"]

Before July 2013, stray cattle instead of patients were a common sight at the Devgarh Primary Health Centre (PHC).[/caption]

“We knew what we were doing was rather unconventional but the situation was dire and we needed to shake up the authorities. The siege had gone on till the Chief Medical and Health Office (CHMO), the district officials and the Tehsildar [district revenue administrative officer] came and assured us of action. They told everyone that relevant steps to improve the PHC would be taken in a matter of days,” elaborates Jain.

That collective effort can enable a community to secure their rightful entitlements is the one important lesson that the residents of Devgarh, as well as villagers in the adjoining areas, learnt when they became part of a unique initiative to improve maternal health underway in the region. In 2012, Prayas, a non-profit organisation that has been actively engaging on the issue throughout southern Rajasthan, and Oxfam India got together to implement a maternal health programme through the DFID’s Global Poverty Action Fund (GPAF), across 29 villages of Chittorgarh district and 66 villages in Pratapgarh district.

According to Ritesh Laddha, senior programme coordinator, Prayas, “The problem of substandard services at the PHC, which caters to hundreds of people, emerged as a key issue during our discussions with the VHSNC and the community. They were deeply upset by the fact that they had to make a trip all the way to the district hospital just because the PHC staff was callous. Gradually, by building their confidence and capacity, we have been able to empower them to demand their rights, take ownership of local healthcare resources and decide on how best to utilise them.”

The determined protests in Devgarh had a dramatic effect. In a matter of days, the stray cattle had been removed from the PHC premises, the toilets were cleaned out, the water supply properly restored.

[caption id="attachment_22447" align="aligncenter" width="2048"]

The infrastructure at Devgarh’s PHC was simply deplorable - the toilets used to be filthy, there was no water supply and the waiting area was being used to store junk.[/caption] At the same time, the doctor and other staff, too, made it a point to come on time. Consequently, impoverished villagers, a majority of them tribals, who were earlier forced to visit private doctors or even quacks that overcharged for treatment, started visiting the PHC once again. “I cannot describe the happiness the VHSNC members feel today when we see people lining up at the health centre. Those who were previously borrowing money to buy medicines and get diagnostic tests done are free from their debt burden. We are all availing of a state government scheme that provisions for distributing generic medicines and getting tests done free of charge at the centre,” says Jain, who runs a grocery shop near the PHC. Mindful of the growing awareness levels of the community towards their health entitlements, the district authorities have declared the Devgarh PHC as a 24-hour facility. What’s more, an ambulance has been stationed to ferry pregnant women from 36 villages for institutional delivery. When Laali’s daughter-in-law had become pregnant, the tribal woman from Sovani village had spent a few sleepless nights worrying about how she would gather enough money to take her to the district hospital for delivery. “But, thankfully, the PHC at Devgarh became operational by the time she was ready to give birth. Our ASHA arranged for the ambulance to take her there and within a few hours we had a healthy baby in our hands,” says the beaming grandmother. Not only was Laali’s daughter-in-law saved the expense and exertion of going to the hospital at Pratapgarh, the institutional delivery also made this Below Poverty Line (BPL) woman eligible for a number of benefits.

“I had made up my mind to take her to a hospital. We did not have to pay for the ambulance, delivery or the medicines and since it was her first child she was sanctioned five kilos of ghee (clarified butter) that helped her in regaining her health. I would not have been able to afford it myself,” Laali points out.

Acknowledging the difference an up-and-running PHC has made to their already tough lives, Kala, who makes earthen pots to earn a living, says, “We don’t have to pay for medicines or treatment now and even the PHC staff dare not ask for a bribe. All of us are fully aware of what is due to us under the government system.”

[caption id="attachment_22448" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]

Quality healthcare for free is now available for the vilagers.

Quality healthcare for free is now available for the villagers.[/caption]

Photo for representation purpose only. Courtesy: www.ruralmarketing.in

Vijaypal Singh, District Coordinator, Prayas, observes, “That the otherwise illiterate tribal women like Laali or Kala now understand their entitlements, prefer to go for hospital delivery and are quite vocal about their health needs is largely the result of concerted efforts at spreading awareness and encouraging greater community involvement. Once the VHSNC sends a call for action, they respond wholeheartedly.”

Yet, it’s not like there are no difficulties anymore. “Constant monitoring by the VHSNC is needed to ensure everything runs smoothly. For instance, although this is supposed to be a 24-hour PHC, at present, we only have one allopathic and one ayurvedic doctor so it doesn’t work in the evenings. The two GNMs (General Nurse-Midwives) stationed here manage everything in their absence. This is posing to be a grave problem as very often there is a delivery late in the night that cannot be handled here. We have been told that there is a shortage of doctors in the district but we are trying to work out a solution,” assures Sarpanch Hariram Meena. This new-found assertive and positive attitude of Meena and others is inspiring, “The villagers have many aspirations with regard to this PHC. They want a proper delivery room, 24-hour treatment and a pucca boundary wall as well. We hope to live up to these expectations in the future,” signs off Meena.

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Written by Annapurna Jha for Women’s Feature Service (WFS) and republished here in arrangement with WFS.

In the Ghogalgaon village of Madhya Pradesh, 213 protesters have been standing in water for 32 days now. Here's why, in spite of all the hardships they have to bear, they seem stubborn in the hope that the government will eventually provide them with justice. In the Khandwa region of Madhya Pradesh, 213 protesters stand with half their bodies submerged in water. This act, embodying profound perseverance, is being carried out in the hope of persuading the government to provide the low-lying villages of the region with rehabilitation. This demand has risen in the face of the threat which haunts these villages, posed by the opening of gates of the Omkareshwar dam.

Marching into the 32nd day of the Jal Satyagraha, the gravity of the situation runs deeper than the water level of the dam which is creating such havoc.

In the event of such a transition being made on the part of the government, like the one concerning the Omkareshwar dam, the Supreme Court must notify the villagers and provide them with rehabilitation 6 months prior to the action being undertaken. However, not only were the villagers notified late, they were also not provided with any such compensation. Continuous dialogue is taking place between the government and the protesters, albeit with barely any progress made so far. The government is forcing the villagers to accept the remuneration, which is in the form of a land, being provided to them.

The woe of the people rests in the fact that the land which has been given to them is of extremely poor quality and the hope of bountiful cultivation seems scarce.

The silver lining amidst all this painful chaos rests in the tenacity of the protesters. They hold profuse faith in their cause. Even though protesters have been fainting, with many having to be carried out, the number seems to be adamantly rising.

A majority of the them stand undeterred, even though their limbs have gone numb. With fishes feasting on their wounds, it seems as though their resilience is only growing stronger.

[caption id="attachment_23257" align="aligncenter" width="599"]

The feet of a protestor are displayed during the Jal Satyagraha at Ghogal in Khandwa MP.[/caption] Their claim is that they only ask of the law, the policy makers and the Supreme Court, that which is right. Nothing else. A similar fight such as theirs in 2012 won, then how is their cause any different?

"We know we are going to win," says Chittaroopa Palit, writer and one of the activists protesting the move.

When Ms. Palit was asked if she wanted to convey anything to the people of India through the medium of this article, she sheepishly asked, "What should I say?" Such is the honesty of their fight. It does not matter to them what the magnitude of their reach is, so long as the ones who are being hurt the most have justice served to them. With the threat of such an impending disaster of broken houses and shattered livelihoods looming over their heads, their only hope is that the country also sides with them.

There has been police intervention and without due support, their physical capabilities can only survive for so long.

[caption id="attachment_23223" align="alignnone" width="1280"]

Police intervention at Jal Satyagraha[/caption] [caption id="attachment_23226" align="alignnone" width="1280"]

Peaceful protest against the police intervention[/caption] When Chittaroopa was probed further to say at least a few words, this is what she had to say,

"I appeal to the people of India to support the farmers who are being sidelined. In the process and name of development, resources are being taken away. Are we going to afford lives for them? Or shall they be pushed to the margin?"

The funny thing is, that even though it may seem like a lost cause to us, there was not a hint of surrender in her voice. It was almost like she knows the only ending is a happy ending. This faith is one which resonates with all the protesters. They seem far from defeated, injured as they may be.

They know that their cause is a just one and the fight has only just begun.

[embedvideo id="kXjcRKCBAQA" website="youtube"]

Afraid of helping an accident victim because you may get harassed or involved in a police case? Don't be. The Supreme Court has now introduced guidelines to protect and even reward good samaritans who save the lives of accident victims. A 17-year old crossing the road is hit by a jeep coming at him at enormous speed. For the next 45 minutes he bleeds slowly to death even as 300-400 people pass him by, craning to look at his body but refusing to stop and help. This is not as uncommon a scenario as we would like to think. About 50% of deaths related to accidents happen only because the victim did not get medical attention in time. We are all to blame for what happens. And yet, very often, our so-called callousness is merely the result of our fear to get involved in a situation which may lead to harassment by the hospital or police authorities. People are not callous at heart. They want to help but are afraid to. Recognizing this, the Supreme Court has introduced guidelines to protect and reward good samaritans who save the lives of accident victims.

In an edition of the Gazette of India published on 12th May, 2015, the Supreme Court of India has laid down 15 guidelines for the conduct of and around good samaritans -- on what is expected of them and what is expected from hospitals, police and other law enforcement agencies who interact with good samaritans.

Source: Satyameva Jayate

The guidelines are as follows:

1. (1)A bystander or good samaritan including an eyewitness of a road accident may take an injured person to the nearest hospital, and the bystander or good samaritan should be allowed to leave immediately except after furnishing address by the eyewitness only and no question shall be asked to such bystander or good samaritan.

(2)The bystander or the good samaritan shall be suitably rewarded or compensated to encourage other citizens to encourage other citizens to help the road accident victims by the authorities in the manner as specified by the state governments.

(3)The bystander or good samaritan shall not be liable for any civil or criminal liability.

(4)The bystander or good samaritan , who makes a phone call to inform the police or emergency services for the person lying injured on the road, shall not be compelled to reveal his name and personal details on the phone or in person.

(5)The disclosure of personal information, such as name and contact details of the good samaritan shall be made voluntary and optional including the Medico Legal Case (MLC) Form provided by Hospitals.

(6)The disciplinary or departmental action shall be initiated by the government concerned against public officials who coerce or intimidate The bystander or good samaritan for revealing his name or personal details.

(7)In case a bystander or good samaritan, who has voluntarily stated that he is a also an eyewitness to the accident and is required to be examined for the purpose of investigations by the police or during the trial, such bystander or good samaritan shall be examined on a single occasion and the State government shall develop operating procedures to ensure that bystander or good samaritan is not harassed or intimidated.

(8)The methods of examination may either be by the way of commission under section 284 of the code of Criminal Procedure 1973 or formally an affidavit as per section 296 of the said Code and standard Operating procedures shall be developed within a period of 30 days from the date when this notification is issued.

(9)Video conferencing may be used extensively during examination of a bystander or good samaritan including the persons referred to in guideline (1) above , who are eye witness in order to prevent harassment or inconvenience to a bystander or good samaritan.

(10)The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare shall issue guidelines stating that all registered public and private hospitals are not to detain a bystander or good samaritan or demand payment or registration and admission costs, unless the good samaritan is a family member or relative of the injured person and the injured is to be treated immediately in pursuance of the order of the Honorable Supreme Court in Pt.Parmanand Katara vs Union of India &Ors [1989] 4 SCC 286.

(11)Lack of response by a doctor in emergency situation pertaining to road accidents, where he is expected to provide care shall constitute "Professional Misconduct", under Chapter 7 of the Indian Medical Council ( Professional Conduct, Etiquettes and Ethics) Regulation, 2002 and disciplinary action shall be taken against such doctor under Chapter 8 of the said Regulations

(12)All Hospitals shall publish a charter in Hindi , English and the vernacular language of the state or Union territory at their entrance to the effect that they shall not detain bystander or good Samaritan or ask depositing money from them for the treatment of the victim.

(13)In case a bystander or good samaritan so desires, the hospital shall provide an acknowledgment to such a good samaritan , confirming that an injured person was brought to the hospital and the time and place of such occurrence and the acknowledgement may be prepared in a standard format by the State Government and disseminated to all hospitals in the State for incentivizing the bystander or good Samaritan as deemed fit by the State government

(14)All public and private hospitals shall implement these guidelines immediately and in case of noncompliance or violation of these guidelines appropriate action shall be taken by the concerned authorities.

(15)A letter containing these guidelines shall be issued by the Central Government and the State Government to all Hospitals and Institutes under their respective jurisdiction, enclosing a Gazette copy of this notification and ensure compliance and the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and Ministry of Road Transport and Highways shall publish advertisements in all national and one regional newspaper including electronic media informing the general public of these guidelines.

2. The Above guidelines in relation to the protection of bystander or good samaritan are without prejudice to the liability of the driver of a motor vehicle in the road accident as specified under section 134 of the Motor Vehicles act 1988 (59 of 1988).

You can read the entire directive of the Supreme Court and print it out from here. You could then carry it with you on the road and show it to the authorities if harassed.

Getting the Supreme Court to reach this decision and publish the guidelines took a lot of hard work, patience and time. The Campaign for the Good Samaritan law began in October 2012 when SaveLife Foundation, Delhi, under the leadership of Piyush Tewari petitioned the Supreme Court to ask for protection for good samaritans who save lives or help injured accident victims.

This began for Piyush Tewari with the tragic death of a cousin in a road accident. Piyush set up the SaveLife Foundation which works in almost all areas of Road Safety.

Beside pushing for the Good Samaritan law, his NGO has also managed to secure a ban on trucks for carrying protruding rods. This itself is expected to save 9000 lives annually, according to the Foundation.

Source: SaveLife Facebook page

It all started when an old tree in Bangalore was about to be cut but a few people wanted to save it. Then came the realisation: Even if this one tree is saved, there are many others in danger and nothing is being done about them! Plenty of introspection followed, till the citizens of Whitefield decided that there had been enough complaining but very little action. The result was: Whitefield Rising!

If you live in, or have been to Bangalore's Whitefield area, you might be aware of the tumultuous problems hidden (and often largely visible) amidst its high rise buildings and the ever growing number of IT offices. It is this region that Whitefield Rising is trying to change in some very inspiring and action-driven ways. As described on their website -

Whitefield Rising is a platform for change makers. Many of us are coming together in focus groups to brainstorm and address matters of incredible importance to us all living and working in Whitefield. The list includes Water, Garbage, Lakes, Traffic, Stray Dogs, Trees, Pollution, Governance, Grievances, etc. We learn about the issues facing us, seek out subject matter experts from around the world, learn from experiments in other cities, and then try to effect change in our own world.

Here are four of the many ways in which Whitefield residents are bringing about change:

1. Lakes

What was once called the city of lakes is losing the charm provided by its water bodies. This has been even more evident ever since the polluted foam in the Bellandur lake recently caught fire. Although the number of lakes has been reducing with constant constructions, the Whitefield area is still left with quite a few of them. Many of these have highly polluted water, so much so that the stench hits you way before the lake becomes completely visible. The Whitefield Rising team has decided to begin work with the Sheelavanthakere Lake. They are forming a trust and plan to bring corporate volunteers to the lake to initiate rejuvenation efforts. They have also conducted cleaning drives here. In 2011, the organization launched the ‘Wake the Lake’ campaign to encourage people to help revive the lakes in the city. As for the Varthur Lake, which recently became one of the most discussed lakes in Whitefield because of toxic foam frothing from it on to the streets, a group is studying alternate sewage treatment options to work on it. They plan to present the study and final results to the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA), who are the owners of the lake.

Have a look at some of the work being done:

2. Spot fixes

If you have heard of the innovative artist from Bangalore who converted a large pothole into an artificial pond and placed a life size crocodile right in the centre of a crowded street, you would be aware of how frustrated the people of the city are because of these numerous, dangerous potholes. Whitefield Rising found a solution to this and some other pressing problems when, in collaboration with The Ugly Indian, they were able to put forward an example of spot fixing in front of Whitefield residents. With the effective motto of Mooh bandh, kaam chalu, the team showed the residents how the first step needed is to stop complaining and move out of home to fix the problem yourself: Pick a spot that needs fixing, form a team, get expert advice and help if required, and finally, just get down to work. You can find some examples of spot fixes that have already taken place in the locality here.

3. Traffic

Like many places in Bangalore, Whitefield also has its own share of traffic woes. With the aim of helping commuters in the best possible manner, volunteers went out on to the streets where they discovered a few surprising things. At the Hope Farm junction, they found that BMTC buses do not stop at the bus stand but halt only at the intersection instead. Hence, passengers have to wait at the intersection. So, even as the first bus stops there and waits for the commuters to board, the following bus stops behind it. And voila… we have an effective, strong, difficult to break, and extremely irritating traffic jam in place! But this was not the most amazing find of the day. The amazing part was that the team took just seven minutes to make sure that the vehicles were plying smoothly on this very route. In these seven minutes, they, with the help of the Inspector Traffic Police, got the BMTC buses to stop at the official bus stand, and surprisingly, this was all it took. To solve this problem from its very roots, they are also working on getting the buses to always stop at the bus stands. This is one of the many examples of similar work been done all over the Whitefield area.

4. Voter Awareness

With the BBMP elections right around the corner, Whitefield Rising has taken it upon itself to help spread awareness among voters. This means mobilizing them to get registered and get their voter ID cards made, and helping them learn about the various steps involved in the entire process. If people vote for the wrong person because of their own ignorance, or do not vote at all because, well, who cares - then they simply lose the right to blame the government for any problems they may face in the future. Simply put, every vote matters. Whitefield Rising gets hundreds of queries about various local problems from residents each day, and their teams try to ensure that replies are sent out to every one of them. Through a well-organized system of Google groups, they guide people to the right places where they can get help, or put people in touch with groups who might be working on similar projects. They are also an inspiration for people outside of the Whitefield area, who now have an example to learn from, a starting point to get inspiration from, and the motivation to get up and get started. As Whitefield becomes cleaner, safer, prettier, and more live-able with each passing day, we hope Whitefield Rising is able to reach out to more and more communities around the country. You can get more information about the work being done by Whitefield Rising here, or write to them at - hello@whitefieldrising.org

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These men from Delhi and Bihar are mobilizing many in their communities to talk about the sensitive topic of family planning and reproductive health openly. They have been taking action in many commendable ways. Here is how. Delhi - In most traditional Indian families, couples are unable to hold frank discussions on that commonly avoided but critical issue called family planning. Do they want children? If so, when best to start a family? How many children should they have? What are the contraceptive methods available and best suited to them? Now imagine a scenario where young men understand the importance of equality within marriage and are even willing to share contraceptive responsibility.

In the narrow by lanes of Madanpur Khadar, a resettlement colony of 70,000-plus in south Delhi, Ajendra Sirohi and Harish Pant are actively engaging with the boys and men to bring home the message of responsible family planning since 2008.

Picture for representation only. Credit: Flickr

Says Sirohi, “We speak to adolescents at two stages of life – those who have just entered puberty [10-14 years] and those between 15 -19 years, in order to prepare them for adulthood. We also sensitise young married men. We discuss the need to delay first birth, the benefits of spacing, and the advantages of a small family. Improving spousal communication on family planning is also on the agenda.”

Fact is that men in India have greater decision-making powers than women over household matters, including health care, even though family planning is frequently perceived as a woman’s concern. This creates a situation where women not only lack the powers to seek services that can enable them to control their family size but also the resources to pay for them. And, if and when couples actually discuss family planning, gender dynamics tend to give the man greater power resulting in decisions being made with a bias toward the husband’s interests. Clearly, women cannot use contraceptives without the direct or indirect support of men. Moreover, given the popularity of condoms among young couples, men need to be provided with extensive reproductive health and family planning information. “Today, young men are not just ready for such knowledge they are demanding it as well. They are interested in their own bodies, they want to know more about reproduction, but there aren’t enough resources of information, which will tell them what they need to know in an honest, frank, unembarrassed way,” observes Rekha Masilamani, well-known reproductive rights activist associated with Agragami India, a non-government organisation that is helping to improve the health status and quality of life of communities by reducing early fertility.

Adds Masilamani, “If one takes a look at the demographics of India, there’s a huge youth bulge. Also, 50 per cent of all children born in the country are to young people in the age group of 25 and below. So, if we want to enable couples to truly plan their families then we have to inform them when they are young.”

Pathfinder International’s PRACHAR programme set the trend for reaching out to adolescent boys and young married men on reproductive health issues. It focuses on Bihar, which has the highest Total Fertility Rate in India (3.6) and where 46 per cent of girls are married by the age of 16, with 60 per cent becoming mothers before 19.

[caption id="attachment_30833" align="aligncenter" width="800"]

Pathfinder’s PRACHAR programme conducts three-day trainings at the village level for adolescent boys and young couples to increase their knowledge and understanding of reproductive health issues. (Courtesy: Pathfinder International)[/caption]

Elaborates Binod Bihari Singh, Project Leader, PRACHAR, “Men can play the critical role of acting as catalysts and facilitators to ensure true family planning – and that is what the programme has been advocating for nearly a decade now through interventions that target unmarried adolescents, young couples and those who influence their decisions. Youngsters are also taught communication skills in order to negotiate better with partners and guardians to achieve their reproductive goals.”

Considering that typically men, especially rural men, have not been part of family planning conversations, their knowledge levels are generally low. PRACHAR, therefore, has been interfacing with boys and young married men in the districts of Gaya, Nalanda, Nawada, and Patna through group meetings conducted at the village level. Here trainers familiarise them with the process of reproduction, conception and contraception through cultural-friendly literature, street theatre and motivate boys to negotiate with parents to ensure that their sisters go to school and marry later.

There have been success stories. Aakash Kumar, 17, a resident of Tekna Farm in Bodh Gaya, where child marriages are the norm, took on his parents and the community to stop the marriage of his 13-year-old cousin sister after he got an opportunity to be part of PRACHAR’s training sessions.

[caption id="attachment_30832" align="aligncenter" width="1000"]

Aakash Kumar, 17, a resident of Tekna Farm, a small hamlet in Bodh Gaya, Bihar, took on his parents and the community to stop the marriage of his 13-year-old cousin sister. He has attended sensitisation trainings under the PRACHAR programme that showed him the significance of delayed marriage on the health and well being of women and families. (Courtesy: Pathfinder International)[/caption]

He says, “My own sister was married at 15. She gave birth to a girl within the first year of marriage and became pregnant again the next year. She suffers from severe anaemia now. So when my family started looking for a match for my cousin I rebelled.”

Citing the example of his sister and using the book, ‘Anjaan Dagar Aasan Safar’, provided to him by Pathfinder, he even convinced the village elders about the negative impacts of early marriage and childbirth. Today, this teenager, on a mission to share his learnings with everyone in Tekna Farm, has even motivated his sister-in-law to go in for an intra-uterine device (IUD) to ensure spacing between children. The evaluation undertaken at the end of the second phase of the PRACHAR programme has revealed an increase from five per cent to 20 per cent in contraceptive use among young couples. Among unmarried adolescents, the percentage of those who believe that contraception is necessary has jumped from 45.3 to 90.5. Involving men and boys has certainly made a difference. In Delhi, Agragami India’s Sirohi and Pant, along with their team, are scripting a similar success story.

Says Pant, who takes trainings in groups of 15, “For school-going boys, we have a 15-hour module that is completed in three or five days depending on the time they can spare. Through games and demos, I tell them about their reproductive organs, why contraception is needed, the methods available and how to use condoms properly. Even myths regarding contraception are dispelled. Initially, some are reluctant to talk; others crack naughty jokes, even pull my leg. But later most do share their experiences and ask questions.”

Between 2009 and 2013, Sirohi and Pant, often referred to as “condom men”, have conducted almost 50 trainings for nearly 800 adolescent boys.

Picture for representation only. Credit: Flickr

The big challenge, of course, is to motivate men and boys to attend the discussions.

Shares Pant, “Although most men acknowledge the importance of family planning, being daily wagers, rickshaw pullers and drivers, they are busy. They tell us to get someone to explain it to their wives. But I insist that they make time and often spend my Sundays in the community.”

Naturally, each success brings a sense of achievement. There is the story of local resident Ajay Kumar, 23, who adopted family planning for his wife’s well being.

Narrates Pant, “Ajay first came to me when he was 19. He brought along other boys of the neighbourhood as well. When he married his girlfriend, he was thrown out of his home for going against his parents’ wishes. Although he had his first child soon after, he came back to me to talk about the precautions he needed to take to prevent further pregnancies. Now he has motivated his wife to get an IUD.”

Aakash and Ajay are part of a growing tribe of men who are convinced of certain principles: tying the knot at the right age, ensuring equality within marriage and sharing contraceptive responsibility. Dr E.E. Daniel, Senior Advisor-Evaluation, Pathfinder International, puts it this way, “Finally, it is about men wanting to care for their own health and that of their partner’s. With a little support not only will they challenge old customs and practices that endanger women’s health, they will support their wife’s sexual and reproductive health decisions as well.”

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Written by Aditi Bishnoi for Women’s Feature Service (WFS) and republished here in arrangement with WFS.

One would think this 80-year-old would have hung up his boots a long time ago. Why then is he, instead of reading a newspaper on the porch and playing with his grandchildren, busy keeping the local government, policemen and officials on their toes? Meet K.R. 'Traffic' Ramaswamy, a social activist who fears none. "I want to see Chennai as one of the most livable and lovely cities in the country,” says 80-year-old Ramaswamy, with high hopes and a quavering voice. This man, who started his career as a mill worker, is one of the most popular names in Chennai today. [caption id="attachment_17438" align="alignleft" width="198"]

Traffic Ramaswamy[/caption] Born on April 1, 1934, Ramaswamy is no less than a hero who continues to fight for what is right in spite of many challenges. From asking to remove the prefix 'Amma' from Jayalalitha’s name to filing over 50 PILs (Public Interest Litigations), Ramaswamy has always stood by what he believes in. He even walked out of his father’s house when he demanded dowry from the bride’s family.

Who is he?

A home guard by profession, his life as an activist started when he unofficially began directing traffic on Chennai’s busy Parry Corner. In appreciation of his dedication and efforts, the police gave him an identity card which earned him the name Traffic Ramaswamy. “It was difficult. Many family members went against me for my ‘foolish’ acts of public service. But some friends provided me food and shelter,” he remembers. Ramaswamy’s activism grew, along with his understanding of the public system, when he worked as PA to a minister in Rajaji’s cabinet.

What has he done?

He was imposed a fine of Rs. 25,000 by the Madras High Court in October 2014 for filing a vague PIL stating “party functionaries who swear allegiance to a criminal cannot form the government.” He had also filed a PIL to prevent Jayalalitha’s picture from appearing on bus stands and buses. He was responsible for bringing the ban on the use of motorised fish carts in Chennai in 2002. The fish carts, also known as Thattu Vandi, are motorised carts with a flat wooden plate at the back which causes a lot of damage and injuries if it accidentally hits people. Furious with his actions, the fish sellers attacked him and damaged his property. Ramaswamy was also abandoned by his own family when he started receiving death threats. But today, even the fishermen acknowledge his efforts and accept that the ban was important.

“What is wrong should be addressed without fearing anything. That is what I have always done.”

- Ramaswamy

Another major change that he brought to the city was by going against unauthorised constructions. He managed to get a multi-storey building which was encroaching on the street at T. Nagar demolished. He also got a one-way road where a lot of lives had been lost due to accidents, converted into two-way. [caption id="attachment_17439" align="aligncenter" width="640"]

The 80 year old man is still standing tall and fighting against wrong.[/caption] Most of his actions are backed by the PILs that he files. Cathedral Road in Chennai is one of the best kept roads in the city as it has the houses of two of Tamil Nadu's biggest political leaders on each side of the road. The entire stretch of the road used to be covered with party posters and banners. Ramaswamy filed a PIL to remove the posters and won the case too. Too scared to go against the powerful figures, the police and other officials were reluctant to remove these posters. So Ramaswamy went ahead and removed them himself. Having spoken loudly against corruption, he has been attacked several times and today has court protection and lives alone due to several death threats given to his dear ones. He also launched a political party, Makkal Pathukappu Kazhagam in January 2014, which is open to anyone to join. “I want to invite people to get associated with it and feel free to raise their voice against what is wrong. The party already has thousands of people engaged with it,” he says.

What keeps him going?

[caption id="attachment_31885" align="aligncenter" width="600"]

Having spoken loudly against corruption, he has been attacked several times and today has court protection and lives alone due to several death threats given to his dear ones.[/caption]

“It is the love for my city and a dream to see it progress that keeps me going. I believe there will be a day when the entire nation will be corruption-free. But only if we all come together to fight for it.”

- Ramaswamy.

He believes that the real power lies with the people and they should use it. “I want citizens to be bold. They should not fear anything and come out in the open,” he says. From a mill worker to a social activist, Traffic Ramaswamy’s life has been full of ups and down. But he has always stood by his decisions and raised his voice against what is wrong. Even in his twilight years, he shows strong will power and immense dedication towards a better city and, above all, a better India. Contact Ramaswamy on his Facebook page.

All pics: Facebook

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A 4,818-year-old man, people who are 120 years old, numerous citizens aged less than 18 years, and several women listed as males – these are just a few of the many errors PG Bhat has found in the country’s electoral rolls. But he’s also created the software to fix them! A 66-year-old man in Bangalore has taken on the responsibility of cleaning common errors found in the electoral rolls across the country. From a name being duplicated multiple times, to lakhs of names being illegally deleted from the rolls – PG Bhat can find them all and tries to ensure that the authorities take note.

Bhat is an electrical engineer who retired from the Indian Navy in 1996, after which he worked in the software industry till 2009. The idea of developing software to clean up the electoral rolls struck him that same year.

[caption id="attachment_32816" align="aligncenter" width="490"]

PG Bhat - On a mission to clean up the electoral rolls[/caption] It was a few months before the BBMP (Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike) elections that Bhat got associated with a citizen movement called Smart Vote. It had been started by some of his friends with the aim of spreading awareness among voters. Together, they worked on increasing voter participation and helping people make informed choices by providing accurate information about the candidates. Bhat joined the team to help them with the technical aspects of the movement. He soon came to the conclusion that it was important to make voter information easily searchable. This could be done by providing citizens with a better way to find out about their data as entered in the electoral rolls on the state election commission websites. Thus, he developed a simple tool for searching the names of voters in the electoral rolls, with the purpose of adding it to the Smart Vote website. However, in the process of collecting the data about voters from published sources, he was shocked by the number of common errors that the electoral rolls were strewn with.

“I can go on naming the kind of errors found. There are so many male voters who have ‘husband’ listed as their relative. Thousands of voters are aged less than 18 years and also more than 120 years, because the date of birth entered is wrong. Sometimes, the age difference between a father and son is only of 3 to 5 years if the electoral rolls are to be believed. The father-in-law of my neighbour was shown as her husband in one list,” Bhat says.

Therefore, in 2010, he developed a simple software to pinpoint these errors.

“The Chief Electoral Offices (CEOs) of different states have all the information related to electoral roll management systems (ERMS) in their database. They are required to publish the electoral rolls in PDF format on their website 2 to 3 times every year, and about 10% of this information is required to be released in English,” he explains.

So he downloads these electoral rolls and makes his own database by converting the PDFs into normal text with the help of the software (for this the software uses a common parser program). According to Bhat, the program for this conversion cannot be frozen because the rolls are generated in different formats each time and hence the program also needs some changes every time a new roll is released. The records are then arranged in a manner that they look similar to how they would be on the ERMS portals. After this, Bhat analyses the records. He looks through different data points like name of the voter, EPIC (Elector’s Photo Identity Card) number, relative’s name, relationship, age, sex, etc. A quick look through the data gives him an idea about the various errors in the list. For common points of suspicion, he has developed various tools, and has written specific programs that point out the errors.

The software includes about 20-25 such programs written in the Icon programming language.

For examples, there is a program that uses a phonetics tool to find out if the name of a person has been repeated in the roll more than once with different spellings. This is a duplication error that is very common in the rolls. Bhat says there are 5 types of duplications found in the records and they are extremely rampant. For instance, the EPIC number, which is supposed to be unique, is shared by many people in some cases. Many sets of rolls have more than 200 records with the same voter name, relative name and photograph. The records for people with different EPIC numbers are sometimes the same. Then there are names with different spellings but same house numbers. More than 20 people with the same house address, who are obviously unrelated as per other details, have also been found. “90% of these errors can be blocked with a good software. But the whole system is ineffective, and most of the guidelines of good software engineering are broken,” says Bhat, who is working on the records of Bangalore and Delhi as of now.

He looks into the rolls every time they are published, and finds out the errors. He also keeps sending his findings to the CEOs of both cities.

Picture for representation only. Credit: Flickr

In 2010, Bhat also got a chance to test the software. The then Deputy Election Commissioner, Alok Shukla, understood his work and was supportive of his vision. He provided Bhat with a sample database of about 1000 records from Chhattisgarh and asked him to check them. While common citizens do not have access to voter photographs, Bhat got the sample database with pictures for testing. He suspected 13 duplications based on the spellings, and with the help of the software, he verified that 8 of them also had the same pictures. He also procured such a sample from the MLA of his constituency in Bangalore. “So the software has been well tested and has enough proof,” he says confidently. Bhat made a shocking discovery in 2012. He found that the electoral system in Karnataka had deleted the names of 8 lakh Bangalore voters in July, and about 5.5 lakh voters in December. For 97 percent of these deleted records, the reason specified was a ‘change of residence’. On visiting some of his neighbours whose names had been deleted, Bhat found that 40 of them had been living at the same address since a decade. The CEO and BBMP authorities had deleted these names just to rectify some errors made by them in the records. Bhat, along with some other people, took this issue to court.

They won the case and got all the names added back to the list. "If I had not inspected the records, this information would not have been found in the first place," he says.

Picture for representation only. Credit: Flickr

Bhat has shared copies of his software with the Election Commission of India (ECI), and with the CEOs of some states. However, they are not willing to use it as of now. He has also offered to work for ECI without any compensation.

“Access to CEOs is difficult. Some of them deny the data or make it difficult for us to work on it (by releasing data in the regional language only). They do not respond to emails and block my telephone calls. If the public data could be really open, that would reduce my work and make it more effective. Cooperation from authorities would help,” he points out, while talking about the challenges that he has faced till now.

Currently, he is using the software as a personal tool, and keeps on sharing his findings with all election authorities.

Picture for representation only. Credit: Flickr

His feedback is often implemented in the electoral rolls as well and the impact is already visible on the ground. Bhat frequently interacts with election officials in Bangalore.

“I meet the CEO whenever possible and I am informed that there have been changes. The number of records with ages of voters listed as 0 or 120, and other such common errors, have gone down based on the constant feedback I send,” he points out.

Even though the software has not been accepted at an official level, Bhat feels that the effort is still useful.

“Even if this is not accepted, there is at least one voice which is telling the world that these mistakes are present. When I talk to officials and people in power, I can tell them with authority that I have these findings. So many names were illegally deleted from the list – but now the authorities know that somebody was watching,” he says.

A graduate from the Naval College of Engineering, Bhat loves teaching. Other than working on the electoral rolls on most days, he also goes to the National Degree College as visiting faculty. He teaches computer science subjects to post graduate students there twice every week and also volunteers with some NGOs in the city.

“I am happy that I could bring about some improvements in the system and also get the names of lakhs of illegally deleted voters restored. This work has created opportunities to meet and interact with several wonderful people from many walks of life. This is a great learning experience in many ways,” he happily concludes.

You can contact PG Bhat by writing to him at bhat.pg@gmail.com.

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This article on using mobile technology for social good is part of the #Mobile4Good series & is made possible by Vodafone India.

How many of you have planned to file a complaint against a product that does not match your expectations or is different from what the company promised to deliver, and then never actually gotten around to doing it? Here is one simple app that will let you file a complaint anytime and anywhere you want. Satyamurthy had booked flight tickets worth Rs. 60,000 through an online travel company. But due to a medical emergency, he had to postpone his travel plans. Satyamurthy contacted the company looking for a refund, but all he got was Rs. 1000. He was miffed by the poor services, but also clueless about where to take his complaint. That's when he heard about the Consumers Association of India (CAI) and took the matter to them. This NGO focuses on helping consumers file complaints without any hassles. CAI took the matter into its hands and helped Satyamurthy get a refund of Rs. 55,000 within a month. Satyamurthy is just one among hundreds of discontented customers in India who have approached CAI for help.

“It is not entirely a company’s fault. We, as consumers, are equally responsible for all the trouble that we go through. Hardly any of us take the trouble to file a complaint. We prefer to let go of the matter rather than spending time on finding out how and whom to approach if we’re not satisfied with a product or service” says K. Krishnakumar, a Founder Trustee of CAI.

Founded in 2001, CAI is all about addressing consumer complaints and following up with the companies to make sure that matters are closed to everyone’s satisfaction. But this is not all. There is more that the CAI team has to offer.

[caption id="attachment_34726" align="aligncenter" width="1600"]

CAI team makes sure a complaint is resolved within a month.[/caption] They wanted to make their service more user friendly, so they came up with a mobile app called ‘Consumer Connect’ to address consumer grievances.

“For example, I am in a store and I have a complaint to make. But by the time I come back home, find the contact details of the person to approach, and draft the complaint, half of my motivation to complain is already lost. This is why we felt the need to come up with an initiative like Consumer Connect; it enables consumers to file a complaint from wherever they are and whenever they want to,” says Krishnakumar.

[caption id="attachment_34727" align="aligncenter" width="276"]

Users need not register on the app before using it.[/caption] What does Consumer Connect do? It helps users file complaints about products or services they are not satisfied with through their mobile phones. The mobile app, which works on Android devices, enables users to directly file a complaint without having to register as a member first. After downloading the app, one can fill in details like name, email address, mobile number, description of the complaint, name of the company against which the complaint is being filed, etc. These details could be supported by a photo of the faulty product, which acts as proof.

Once a complaint is filed, it goes to the CAI team. They make sure the complaint reaches the relevant company and is addressed within a month.

“We want to make the process easy for the consumers. Once we get a complaint, it is our responsibility to get it resolved. And ideally, it gets resolved within a month,” says Krishnakumar.

The CAI team of 11 people manages the entire initiative. As soon as a complaint is received, the team calls the concerned company and informs them about the issue. This is followed by an official mail that has all the details about the faulty product or service offered by them.

The team continues to follow up until the consumer gets his/her due refund or compensation.

[caption id="attachment_34725" align="aligncenter" width="2048"]

Krishnakumar, founder of CAI[/caption]

“The good thing about the app is you can use it anywhere, even at locations where network connectivity is not very good. You can fill in all the details offline and then submit it as soon as you reach a better network zone,” explains Krishnakumar.

Consumer Connect receives about 200-300 complaints every month and about 90 percent of these complaints are successfully resolved through Alternate Dispute Resolution. Though the organization has come a long way with its first-of-a-kind initiative in India, it had to initially struggle to make people understand the use of a platform like this. In the four years since its launch, Consumer Connect has been trying hard to make people understand the importance of fighting for their rights. In addition, they have helped people realize that filing a complaint is not very difficult and companies are willing to cooperate if the customers reach out to them.

CAI has seen a recent increase in the number of complaints filed by consumers, and has also observed that it is senior citizens who are more willing to file complaints as compared to the younger generation.

[caption id="attachment_34728" align="aligncenter" width="275"]

The complaint needs to be supported by a photograph of a faulty product.[/caption] The NGO sustains itself through an annual voluntary membership of Rs. 600 paid by its registered members. “We also run a magazine but we don’t carry any advertisements in it -- since there could be a conflict of interest created if one of our members complain about a product advertised in the magazine. So currently we are just managing with the help of the membership fees,” says Krishnakumar.

“We have bigger plans and this is just the start. We want to connect with Consumers International, the world federation of consumer groups that addresses consumer grievances. We want them to use this platform and then one app will be used globally to file each and every kind of complaint. It will simplify the entire procedure,” he adds.

So next time you have any issue with a product or service you bought, you know what you have to do. You can download the Consumer Connect app here. To know more about CAI, check out their website or mail them at info@caiindia.org

Featured image: www.womentravelmotherindia.com

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In the MY STORY section, we present some of the most compelling and pertinent stories and experiences shared with us by our readers. Do you have something to share? Write to us: contact@thebetterindia.com with "MY STORY" in the subject line.

This Diwali, 24 slum kids of Delhi went on a spectacular journey that helped all of us realize that you don’t have to be rich to save the world. [embedvideo id="gZQsxGezx00" website="youtube"] My name is Radhika and I run a NGO in Delhi called Super School India. I moved from Singapore to Delhi knowing vaguely that I wanted to do something to give back to the country I was born in. And I was convinced that the solution to most problems in any country is education.

Thus came along Super School India. It became a learning space for slum children about all things bad that we can change and all things good that we must inculcate in our lives.

[caption id="attachment_38349" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]

Radhika Mittal runs an NGO, Super School India.[/caption] Two weeks ago I told them that the firecrackers we burst are made by little children in factories. I showed them pictures online and my kids were shocked. They said they wanted to do something to help them. What could they do? I said they could pledge to stop bursting crackers. They agreed but said it doesn’t seem enough. What else could they do? That is when we came up with the idea to have a street play.

So, the Super School kids started the process of becoming change makers, with the youngest actor being 7 years old!

[caption id="attachment_38350" align="aligncenter" width="1448"]

The NGO is using theatre to spread awareness about child labour.[/caption]

They worked hard for 10 days, preparing the material and coming for practice daily after school.

[caption id="attachment_38352" align="aligncenter" width="1024"]

The slum kids have become empowered ad don't feel like beneficiaries anymore.

The slum kids have become empowered and don't feel like beneficiaries anymore.[/caption] Onkar Grover and Tarun Kohli from Khanabadosh, a Delhi-based street theatre group, also took out time to deliver a workshop on acting for these young stars of Super School India. And after all the practice, the kids were set to perform in schools and public spaces!

They have performed for over 1,200 students in four schools in Sangam Vihar, New Delhi in the first two days of their performances.

[caption id="attachment_38351" align="aligncenter" width="1024"]

Super School India kids have performed their plays in front of over 1,200 students so far.[/caption] And over the weekend, they courageously performed for the general public at PVR Saket market and Select City Walk mall, where they reached out to hundreds of Delhiites.

Watch these kids explain in their nukkad naatak in under one minute why every time we burst a cracker this Diwali, we are indirectly responsible for promoting child labour in India.

[embedvideo id="hw20xKpICdI" website="youtube"]

Now watch this Super School kid explain how the basic rule of economics can slowly undo this problem.

[embedvideo id="bz7E7cWUmHU" website="youtube"] If a child can so easily understand that his actions have horrible consequences, then what are we waiting for? What am I happiest about? It is not the amazing outreach and response we had through the street play. It is the fact that these kids now feel empowered. They aren’t just beneficiaries anymore. They are also change makers. They now tell me they want to do another street play as soon as possible! They’ve been making a list of problems in our society that need to be tackled – sanitation, gender equality, cleanliness! [caption id="attachment_38353" align="aligncenter" width="1024"]

The initiative proves that one just needs big heart and strong will to bring about a change.

The initiative proves that one just needs a big heart and a strong will to bring about change.[/caption] You don’t have to be rich to save the world. You just need to have a heart to want to do it. And isn’t that what Diwali is all about? The victory of good over evil. - Radhika Mittal Super School India is founded by Radhika Mittal, a Political Science graduate from the National University of Singapore, who recently moved back to Delhi and has been following her passionate heart ever since. At Super School, along with academics, her dedicated team of volunteers has a strong focus on teaching moral and civic issues to children. Learning from a textbook is amazing but imbibing and practicing the values that make a good human being, don't come easy.

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Gopi Shankar does not fit in any prescribed male or female gender. Refusing to be categorized as “he” or “she,” Gopi asked us to use the gender neutral pronoun “ze.” And ze is indeed a free soul who is helping hundreds of people from the LGBTQIA community through an organization ze set up called Srishti Madurai. “Since childhood I never felt like a girl. I was always an outsider among girls and never mingled with them. Initially, I thought I was a tomboy. I used to indulge in boyish activities with my brother. I did not question my gender at that young age but as I grew up and started getting bodily changes like other females of my age, I could not come to terms with them,” shares Duncan Kingsley, a 25-year-old transboy from Tamil Nadu. There are hundreds of people like Duncan who struggle with their gender preferences for years before finally coming out of the closet. And Gopi Shankar is here to help them. “I don’t identify myself as male or female. I consider myself as a loving human being who is beyond gender,” ze says. What is 'ze', you ask? Ze is a gender-neutral pronoun, and Gopi prefers that we use it when addressing him. Gopi is passionate about the issues confronting the LGBTQIA (Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Queer Intersex Asexual) community. Ze knows the troubles of this community inside out and has been supporting it for a long time.

Gopi came out of the closet when ze was 19. Unlike many who continue to struggle and hide their true preferences, Gopi did not just choose to openly accept it but is also rigorously working to support others in need.

[caption id="attachment_39183" align="aligncenter" width="605"]

Gopi Shankar does not like to be described as either male or female.[/caption]

“Gender is related to the physical and emotional perception of an individual. Restricting gender in the binary categories of female and male is erroneous as we have to be aware about the existence of more than 20 categories of gender,” says Gopi.

Ze is the founder of Srishti Madurai, an organisation that counts amongst its members human rights activists, independent scholars, and genderqueer activists who spread more awareness about the LGBTQIA community. Srishti Madurai runs a 24x7 helpline and provides face-to-face counseling services to community members in need. It also has resources, research material and literature on LGBTQIA. Started in 2011, Srishti Madurai goes to schools and colleges and conducts seminars and workshops to not just raise awareness but also make the younger generation more empathetic towards the often-stigmatized LGBTQIA community.

“Here we do not want to narrow down our emphasis on homosexuality, rather we want to emphasize gender-variants. Gender and sexuality are the rights of an individual and interfering in those is like interfering in personal freedom,” says Gopi.

Gopi has also been supporting Santhi Soundarajan, an Indian athlete who was stripped off her silver medal after a gender fail test in 2006.

[caption id="attachment_39182" align="aligncenter" width="800"]

Gopi has organized many workshops and seminars to spread awareness about LGBTQIA community.[/caption] Deeply moved by Santhi’s plight, Gopi has been fighting against the system to help restore her dignity. Ze recalls the issues faced by Santhi as she was insulted in front of the crowds at the 2006 Asian Games held in Doha. She was told that she could not compete in sports in the future and sent back to her village. Unable to bear the humiliation, Santhi tried to kill herself by drinking poison but was saved at the last moment. “Everyone looked down on me. Everyone was looking at me in this new way: Is she a man? Is she a transvestite? It's very hurtful. It ruined my life and my family's life,” Santhi recalls. Gopi has stood like a pillar with Santhi and is fighting to get her medal, prize money and respect back.

“She is a woman. Just because Santhi doesn’t conform to their preset standards, it doesn’t mean she is not a woman. It is extremely upsetting to see that the International Olympic Association doesn’t understand that gender is a complex issue. All we want now is for Santhi to get her rights back, along with a permanent job, so that she can pursue her dream of training underprivileged athletes,” says Gopi.

To spread more awareness about the issues faced by the LGBTQIA community, Shankar wrote Maraikappata Pakkangal (Hidden Pages), the first book on gender variants, in Tamil.

[caption id="attachment_39181" align="aligncenter" width="800"]

Gopi has also been supporting Indian athlete Santhi Soundarajan after she failed the gender test.[/caption] The book is a scientific, sociological, anthropological, psycho-analytical, religious, philosophical, and political take on gender, according to Gopi. This book also interprets references to alternative genders in Hindu mythology, the Quran and the Bible. Gopi is also the youngest panelist to share the chair in UGC and ICSSR sponsored national seminars. Ze has conducted more than 80 seminars on gender and sexuality and also organised Asia's first Genderqueer Pride Parade inhe 2012. The Srishti Madurai helpline number is +91 9092282369.

All pics: Gopi Shankar's Facebook page

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Two Things That You Can Do To Save The Internet

1. Watch this video by AIB

2. Click on SaveTheInternet.in and submit your email to TRAI

Want to know more about Net Neutrality? Click here. Want to know more why Facebook's Free Basics violates the fundamental principle of the Internet? Click here.

Natarajan, an 80-year-old manual labourer, has distributed 50 cents of land in his village in Kerala to 10 poor families. Read how he did this to protect the environment. P athanamthitta, the land of Lord Ayyappan, is a scenic district in Kerala, known for its rocky hill ranges. The district is also infamous for its stone quarrying activities. Many illegal quarries continue to operate in this region, resulting in machines mowing down these hills, one day at a time.

This indiscriminate quarrying has led to a series of agitations across the district - especially in areas like Konni, Athirungal etc.

One man has been at the forefront of this agitation. Meet 80-year-old manual labourer Natarajan, fondly known as Achan (father), who has found the most unique way to protest against this large-scale quarry mining. As quarry owners continue to accumulate more land in the region, Natarajan, in a bid to protect the environment, has distributed 50 cents of his land to poor families. Here's a discussion with this ordinary man who has done an extraordinary thing.

Q: Can you tell me a little about yourself?

A: I’ve been living in this hillock in Konni for the last 45 years. I’ve been a manual labourer all my life. My wife and I live in a small tin shed here. I don’t have any savings. Over the years, I’ve managed to buy one-and-a-half acres of land here. The rest of the money I had was spent on marrying off my two daughters.

Q: How has life changed in all these years?

A: Actually, I can’t even remember a time when this used to be a quiet area. Granite quarries and stone-crusher units have mushroomed all over the district. According to government records, only around 169 quarry licenses have been issued. But the truth is that over 800 quarries operate in this district.

Q: What problems have you directly faced from them?

A: See, my house is very close to the biggest granite crusher here. So naturally, as they expand their operations, they wanted to buy my land as well. Because this is a remote area, away from the town, we don’t have access to water. Even today, my wife Kalammma needs to walk a lot to fetch drinking water. So some people advised me to sell off my land and then go live in a better place with access to water and electricity. However, the quarry owners, who were eyeing my land, did not quote a fair price. They also threatened me with goondas and were forcing me to part with my land, for a paltry sum.

Q: How did you tackle this problem?

A: I revisited my decision to sell. I didn’t want to succumb to pressure and also harm the environment. So, I distributed 50 cents of my land among 10 poor families. They have now constructed huts and have started living here. This is the part of my land that is closest to the quarry. I think that if more people are living in this area, it will be more difficult for them to find ways to make us leave.

Q: What if these families come under pressure from the quarry mafia and are forced to sell?

A: Though I have made the title deeds, I haven’t distributed it among these families as yet. What if these people (goondas) forcefully snatch it away from them? And to ensure that the land doesn’t end up in the wrong hands, I have made a clause which says that the land can be transferred to another person only after 70 years. I believe by doing this I have protected these 50 cents of land.

Q: What has been their (quarry owners) reaction?

A: They think I have gone crazy, distributing the land for free. They have also tried to intimidate me by sending their goondas a couple of times. But, I don’t fear them. Neither does my wife.

Q: Do the people in the region support you?

A: See, initially a lot of people stood up against the quarry mafia. There are plenty of health problems among the people, especially respiratory troubles, as a lot of dust comes from the quarries. Water is getting polluted and there is always a lot of noise going on. People cannot live in peace. However, fewer people complain now. I hear that these guys are going around bribing people with money, rice etc. So if ever a problem happens, I can’t be sure how many people will stand by me. Even the authorities in this area turn a deaf ear towards our problems. I’m sure these officials are in connivance with the quarry owners.

Q: Do you foresee things getting better in the future?

A: I doubt things will get better for the people living in these areas. I just hope the identity of this district (hills) isn’t compromised due to this mad fascination we have with development. In all these years there is one thing that I’ve learnt and it is that this world only belongs to the rich. There is no place for the poor here and there is certainly no justice for people like us.

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1. Ban On Captive Dolphin Shows

2. India was the first South Asian nation to ban import of animal tested cosmetics

3. A leading Indian airline commits to protecting shark populations and marine ecosystems

4. Government orders to stop the illegal movement of animals to Nepal

5. Punjab and Haryana High Court issues notice against confinement of egg laying hens in battery cages

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The recent attack on Charlie Hebdo has given a whole new meaning to Freedom of Speech.

“Je suis Charlie” or “I am Charlie” slogan was adopted by the supporters of free speech and freedom of expression.

Source: http://i232.photobucket.com/

India, too was not untouched by the wave.

Such citizen movements are not new to our country. In the past, India has seen some of the most powerful people’s movements which led to some of the landmark decisions and brought the entire nation together.

1. Swadeshi Movement - 1905

2. Satyagraha

Source: Yann/Wikipedia

3. Save Silent Valley Movement - 1973

Source: http://rremya96.blogspot.in/

4. Chipko Movement - 1973

Source: http://farm8.staticflickr.com/

5. Namantar Andolan - 1978

Source: Adhanter/Wikipedia

6. Jungle Bachao Andolan - 1980s

Source: socialactivistjal.blogspot.in (photo for representation purpose only)

7. Narmada Bachao Andolan - 1985

Source: narmada.org

8. Jan Lokpal Bill – Anti Corruption Movement by Anna Hazare - 2011

Source: http://sarika008.files.wordpress.com/

9. Nirbhaya Movement - 2012

Source: www.democracynow.org

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"But I didn't die. I didn't die."

"I did sex work for four years. My parents believed that I was an office assistant in a private company."

"Why should I die? Let me fight for my community members. I have a huge responsibility on my shoulders."

"Being a transgender is not easy. People laugh at you, discriminate against you. You don't have access to buses, public toilets, office spaces. But things are changing now."

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Koel Karo is not just a case for the history books. There are many lessons that the myriad groups protesting against dams can learn from this one successful story. All they have to do is to ask "Why?"

1. A strong identification with the tribe

2. Deep connection with the land

3. Non-violence

4. Persistence

5. Hope

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The team has given a voice to the trees by writing letters on their behalf and sending them to prominent personalities and decision makers along with an eco-friendly rakhi.

The campaign, which is just about three weeks old now, has sent rakhis to over 2,000 people which include influential personalities like Narendra Modi, Amitabh Bachhan, Ranbir Kapoor, Vishal Dadlani, etc.

Recently, Ranbir Kapoor and Vishal Dadlani came out in support of the campaign and accepted the rakhi on behalf of the trees.

The Rakhis From Aarey team has also hanged some audio letters on the trees where people can listen to their plight and what they have to say. They have also launched a website where anyone can type in an address and the team will send a rakhi to the mentioned address with a letter.

The team has partnered with the already existing Save Aarey group, which has been fighting for the cause for quite some time now.

The team believes that it is not just the Aarey trees that can benefit from these rakhis. The idea can be used as a peaceful form of protest for many other issues that exist in the society today.

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For years, the Primary Health Centre (PHC) in Devgarh, which provides basic healthcare and emergency medical services to 36 villages in the area, had been functioning erratically.

After taking the entire village into confidence, on July 15, they set their radical plan into motion. The villagers surrounded the PHC and locked it up with the staff still inside.

The determined protests in Devgarh had a dramatic effect. In a matter of days, the stray cattle had been removed from the PHC premises, the toilets were cleaned out, the water supply properly restored.

Photo for representation purpose only. Courtesy: www.ruralmarketing.in

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Marching into the 32nd day of the Jal Satyagraha, the gravity of the situation runs deeper than the water level of the dam which is creating such havoc.

The woe of the people rests in the fact that the land which has been given to them is of extremely poor quality and the hope of bountiful cultivation seems scarce.

A majority of the them stand undeterred, even though their limbs have gone numb. With fishes feasting on their wounds, it seems as though their resilience is only growing stronger.

"We know we are going to win," says Chittaroopa Palit, writer and one of the activists protesting the move.

There has been police intervention and without due support, their physical capabilities can only survive for so long.

They know that their cause is a just one and the fight has only just begun.

Source: Satyameva Jayate

The guidelines are as follows:

1.

(2)The bystander or the good samaritan shall be suitably rewarded or compensated to encourage other citizens to encourage other citizens to help the road accident victims by the authorities in the manner as specified by the state governments.

(3)The bystander or good samaritan shall not be liable for any civil or criminal liability.

(4)The bystander or good samaritan , who makes a phone call to inform the police or emergency services for the person lying injured on the road, shall not be compelled to reveal his name and personal details on the phone or in person.

(5)The disclosure of personal information, such as name and contact details of the good samaritan shall be made voluntary and optional including the Medico Legal Case (MLC) Form provided by Hospitals.

(6)The disciplinary or departmental action shall be initiated by the government concerned against public officials who coerce or intimidate The bystander or good samaritan for revealing his name or personal details.

(9)Video conferencing may be used extensively during examination of a bystander or good samaritan including the persons referred to in guideline (1) above , who are eye witness in order to prevent harassment or inconvenience to a bystander or good samaritan.

(12)All Hospitals shall publish a charter in Hindi , English and the vernacular language of the state or Union territory at their entrance to the effect that they shall not detain bystander or good Samaritan or ask depositing money from them for the treatment of the victim.

(14)All public and private hospitals shall implement these guidelines immediately and in case of noncompliance or violation of these guidelines appropriate action shall be taken by the concerned authorities.

2.

The Above guidelines in relation to the protection of bystander or good samaritan are without prejudice to the liability of the driver of a motor vehicle in the road accident as specified under section 134 of the Motor Vehicles act 1988 (59 of 1988).

Beside pushing for the Good Samaritan law, his NGO has also managed to secure a ban on trucks for carrying protruding rods. This itself is expected to save 9000 lives annually, according to the Foundation.

Source: SaveLife Facebook page

Related Read: Just Saw An Accident And Don’t Know What To Do? This Team Can Help You With That!

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Here are four of the many ways in which Whitefield residents are bringing about change: