Dear All,
Many thanks for this - not only is there need for ongoing debate - I
actually think there is a critical need for all groups- whether working on
nuclear, GM, coal, forests, fisheries etc to now come together in a more
organised manner - dealing with the fundmental issues of the neo-liberal
paradigm or economic development' - which are indeed the root cause of so
much of the destruction, exploitation, corruption and much else that we are
seeing as often individual or unrelated struggles.
The government will continue to try and splinter these movements - as indeed
we are seeing on all sides.
Cheers
Lalita Ramdas
On Mon, Jun 6, 2011 at 1:53 PM, Niloufer Bhagwat <niloufe...@vsnl.net>wrote:
> Thank you for this communication .There must be a continued
> debate on the export of non -renewable resources harming
> the ecology and environment , appeasing MNCs like POSCO
> in which financiers such as Warren Buffet and other American
> financiers have major stakes ,in a day and age where all over the world
> the " Neolberal" paradigm of economic development , including
> of export oriented growth has broken down, even in its heartlands of
> North America, Europe and Japan .
>
> It was my experience based *on a case study of*
> *the attempted Privatization of the Shipping Corporation*
> *of India by the NDA alliance *with Arun Shourie then
> leading the pack ,*an attempt which failed* when submissions
> were made by me in the Writ Petition filed in the High
> Court , *that whenever there was a need to justify concessions*
> *or tributes to MNCs Indian or Foreign the word " Strategic"*
> *was resorted to by succeeding governments of alliance partners.*
> **
> *The so called hunger strikes undertaken against corruption*
> *are an exercise in futility unless the strangle hold of corporate*
> *policy on government decision making is defeated which*
> *calls for systemic changes, in addition to mobilization of *
> *people demanding rational policy in our country as a whole*
> *and from region to region ,in keeping with **Constitutional *
> *policy including Article 39 (b) and ( c) **of the Directive Principles*
> * of State policy .*
> **
> *'............*
> *39(a) that the ownership and control of the material resources*
> *of the community are so distributed as best to subserve the*
> *common good ;*
> **
> *(c) That the operation of the economic system does not result*
> *in the concentration of wealth and the means of production to*
> *the common detriment .*
> *..............'*
> **
> *We need a political coalition in India with Article 39 ( a)*
> *and ( b) as an integral part of a manifesto for economic ,*
> *political and social emancipation to complete the task*
> *which commenced with the framing of India 's Constitution*
> *which has been left incomplete and inconclusive .*
> **
> *This does not imply elimination of the private sector.This*
> *Constitutional policy demands that all sectors operate*
> *within the paradigm of Article 39 (b) and ( c) , implementation*
> *of these provisions of the Constitution must be made *
> * mandatory in the implementation of economic **policy not*
> * only to determine/decide the constitutional validity*
> *of statutes , but in the implementation of economic and*
> *financial measures .*
> **
> * This was the objective of the freedom movement of*
> *India, rebelling against the East India among other*
> *Companies who ruled and controlled and repatriated*
> *all surplus from India leaving the country in a bedraggled*
> *States even as we were the " Brightest Jewel in the Crown"*
> *the pivot of the Empire with Indians serving in colonial*
> *armies .The emancipation of the people of India has*
> *still to be accomplished in totality .*
>
> * Whenever **the word" Strategic" is used by policy*
> *makers it must be questioned and the " Corporate Veil " *
> *surrounding **the expression lifted with the real reason exposed .*
>
> *The 'Neoliberal' paradigm of development resulted in major*
> *subsidies to MNCs Indian and foreign Companies , employing fewer*
> *and fewer workers and a depletion of the budget *required
> for the large mass of working people in the rural and urban
> sector for improvement of the infrastructure of their daily
> lives including nutrition , healthcare ,basic housing ,transport,
> education and culture .*To disguise these huge financial subsidies*
> *the word " Strategic " was used to camouflage the real nature*
> *of the policy as it was in pursuance of the export led growth*
> *model at the cost of the national economy.*In many
> cases based on exploitation of non-renewable resources
> such as mineral reserves or as in the case of the Spectrum scam
> on parceling to individual interests , the benefits of public/ State
> monopolies at throw away rates which was the basis of telecom
> policy , when earning of revenues for the national exchequer was
> of paramount concern, along with efficient services .
>
> We need more case studies of projects and decisions
> to dialogue on the nature of policy and expert opinions
> on a policy for mining operations which are increasingly
> causing distress from one region to another and have
> led to civil war conditions in Central and Eastern India
> with the para military and military unleashed along
> with hired militias .
>
> Niloufer Bhagwat
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> *From:* Leo Saldanha <l...@esgindia.org>
> *To:* esgl...@lists.esgindia.org
> *Sent:* Friday, May 27, 2011 10:18 AM
> *Subject:* [ESG-LIST] Release of "Tearing through the Water Landscape",A
> study of environmental and social impacts of POSCO project in India
>
>
> *Environment Support Group*
>
> *27 May 2011*
>
>
> *Release of Study on impacts of POSCO's India project*
>
>
> “*Tearing through the Water Landscape: Evaluating the environmental and
> social consequences of POSCO project in Odisha, India”*
>
>
> On 2nd May 2011, Indian Environment and Forest Minister Jairam Ramesh
> finally approved the diversion of over 3,000 acres of forest land, of the
> 4,000 acres demanded, for a steel-power-port complex of the POSCO India
> project.
>
> Earlier, on 31 January 2011, Ramesh had approved the environmental and
> coastal regulation zone clearances that the project had secured in 2007,
> even though all these clearances were obtained by fraud, and thus illegal,
> as proved by two independent investigative committees that he appointed last
> year.
>
>
> *Forest Rights denied is violation of Fundamental Rights*
>
>
> The diversion of forests for non-industrial use by POSCO was based on
> “categorical assurances” that Jairam Ramesh sought from the Odisha
> Government, that the Forest Rights Act did not apply to communities affected
> directly and indirectly by POSCO. The Odisha Government gave him this
> assurance on the basis of fraudulent claims that there were no
> non-traditional forest dwellers and tribes in the POSCO project affected
> villages of Jagatsinghpur, thus making this massive land transfer merely an
> administrative arrangement. Rather cheaply, the Odisha Government accused
> Shishir Mahpatra, the Sarpanch of Dhinkia Panchayat, of fraud in providing
> resolutions of Palli Sabhas that demonstrated that not only were there OTFDs
> and tribals in the project affected area, but that they had been dependent
> on the region's natural resources, particularly forests, for centuries.
> Ramesh did not hesitate for a moment and question this claim by the Odisha
> Government. On the basis of this uncertainty in fact, he proceeded to
> support the POSCO clearance claiming it was of “strategic importance” to
> India.
>
>
> *Authorising the loot of India's natural resources:*
>
>
> As the single largest industrial foreign direct investment ever in India
> (with a capital cost of Rs. 51,000 crores at 2005 prices), POSCO's ambitions
> in India aren't merely of location a steel-power-port complex in the
> ecologically senstive Jagatsinghpur district. In fact, company officials
> have submitted before the investigative committees that they will not invest
> in the steel-port complex if permission to mine for iron ore in over 6,100
> acres of dense jungle in the Kandadhar Hills in Sundergarh district is not
> granted. Most of this iron ore mined is for export without any local value
> addition, and thus will serve the economic interest of South Korea and POSCO
> stockholders – mainly American banks and Warren Buffet – one of the world's
> richest's individuals. POSCO has also demanded a dedicated railway line to
> the port – that means additional land demands. Further the project requires
> at least 2,000 acres for a township for its employees, and diversion of
> drinking water from the Jobra barrage for industrial use. All this has been
> agreed to by the Odisha Government when the project MOU was signed in 2005,
> but the people have been kept in the dark of the real consequences of such
> loot of India's non-renewable natural resources.
>
> *The Making of a 'Right-less People' by Jairam Ramesh*
>
>
> Over 13,000 acres is merely the demand of land for realising POSCO's dream
> venture in India. Thousands of families will be dislocated, and suffer
> irreparable damage to their lives and livelihoods. It is time we appreciated
> that this steel-power-port-township-mining project is the single largest
> industrial venture conceived in recent memory, and that such scale of
> investment will be done only because we are gifting highly expensive and
> excellent iron ore for POSCO to make stupendous profits. There is absolutely
> no benefit for India in this deal, and what POSCO will leave behind, if they
> succeed at all, is a lot of fly ash, destroyed ecologically sensitive
> coastal and forest environments and thousands of people in misery.
>
>
> To help appreciate the full consequences of the POSCO investment in India,
> Environment Support Group, a not-for-profit public interest research,
> training, campaign and advocacy initiative, has produced a study entitled “
> *Tearing through the Water Landscape: **Evaluating the environmental and
> social consequences of POSCO project in Odisha, India”, *which is
> co-authored by Leo Saldanha and Bhargavi Rao. This study was undertaken at
> the request of POSCO Pratirodh Sangram Samithi (POSCO Project Resistance
> Movement), leading the opposition against the POSCO project. The study
> reveals on the basis of extensive review of historical, ecological, social
> and economic evidence that Jairam Ramesh's support for POSCO is nothing but
> a highly condemnable act that legitimises fraud and corruption in
> environmental decision making. As a result, the study reveals that Ramesh
> has today become the architect of one of India's greatest planned disasters
> that begins its ominous initiative by turning the affected communities into
> a 'rightless people', as their fundamental rights have been snatched on the
> basis of “faith and trust” in Odisha Government's lies*. *
>
>
> A copy of this study is accessible at *www.esgindia.org*
>
>
> Environment Support Group, 1572, 36th Cross, Banashankari II Stage,
> Bangalore 560070. INDIA
>
> Tel: 91-80-26713559~61 Email: *e...@esgindia.org* Web: *www.esgindia.org*
>
>
> Email of authors of this study:
>
>
> Leo Saldanha: *l...@esgindia.org*
>
> Bhargavi S. Rao: *bharg...@esgindia.org*
>
>
> --
> *{It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick
> society. - Jiddu Krishnamurti}*
>
> Leo Saldanha
> [Environmental, Social Justice and Governance Initiatives]
> Environment Support Group - Trust
> 1572, 36th Cross, Ring Road
> Banashankari II Stage
> Bangalore 560070. INDIA
> Tel: 91-80-26713559-61
> Fax/Voice: 91-80-26713316
> Email: l...@esgindia.org
> <l...@esgindia.org>Blog: http://leoonpublicmatters.blogspot.com/
> Web: www.esgindia.org
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
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--
Ramu and Lalita Ramdas
`Lara' - Ramu Farm
Bhaimala Village
P.O.Kamarle,
Alibag 402201
Raigad Dist, Maharashtra, INDIA
Phone: 0091-2141-248711
Fax: 0091-2141-248733
Cell: [L] 0 9422495315
Cell: [R] 0 9860170960
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