VOL. 14 NO. 9 JULY 2017 www.civilsocietyonline.com .com/civilsocietyonline `50 NUTRITION MUDDLE IN DELHI PIL asks for State Food Commission The Matri Sudha core team with young trainees ‘fARMERS NEED MARKETs’ INTERVIEW MAKING OF A PRESIDENT Pages 8-9 ‘GeaC AND NITI AAYOG Pages 22-24 SAMARITAN OF TIKIAPARA HAVE GOT GM WRONG’ FEAR-FREE CLASSROOMS Pages 10-11 Page 27 ASHWANI MAHAJAN ON THE SALAD BUSINESS SWADESHI AND SEEDS OTHER FILMS AT CANNES Pages 22-24 Pages 6-7 Pages 29-31 CONTENTS R E A D U S. W E R E A D Y O U. Farmers in distress decade ago, the National Commission on Farmers submitted an important report which listed several measures to take to make farming more remunerative and sustainable. Importantly, the Acommission proposed a single unified market in India and a return of 50 percent above input costs on wheat and rice. The current agitation in Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra is about prices not charity. Farmers have worked hard to increase production from their fields, but can’t get a fair price for their produce. On the one hand input costs are high and on the COVER STORY other the market is constricted. For this issue, we spoke to Dr M.S. Swaminathan, who was the chairman of the commission, and he made Muddled nutrition in Delhi the important point that the problem was not over-production but Malnutrition is a serious problem among Delhi's children, but the under-consumption. Farmers needed to be liberated from a variety of Right To Food Act is yet to be implemented. A PIL in Delhi High constrictive policies. Court now seeks the setting up of a State Food Commission. The problems of the farm sector have been staring us in the face. It 18 should worry us that they have only grown more acute over the past two decades of economic reforms. Agitations across the country tell us that COVER PHOTOGRAPH: AKSHAY NAGPAL farmers expectations have changed. They want governments to go beyond old-fashioned responses like writing off loans. The solutions they are Survivors tell the real TB story .............................................. 12 looking for are more robust and in step with the larger promise of a spirit of competitiveness in the economy. Roads reduce hills to rubble ........................................................ 14 Governments can’t wish away their responsibility towards the farm sector with the excuse that people are coming off the land. Even if they were to get employment in construction, manufacturing, retail and so on, there would Loitering lions of Gir ..................................................................................... 15 still be the core issues of the farm sector which would have to be addressed. The solutions are complex and involve the market, environment, input costs Harvesting Rain for Profit and investment in infrastructure. There is much scope to promote Name: Shri Muniraj, Mini rice mills a gain for farmers ................................... 16 businesses related to agriculture which in turn would bring jobs and growth Village: Muthur, Krishnagiri district, Tamil Nadu to rural areas. Farmers generally need much greater freedom to find solutions to their problems. Why 5 June is a pretence ..................................................................... 26 An important voice in this issue of the magazine is of Ashwani Mahajan Muniraj, a marginal farmer with seven acres of land from Muthur village of Krishnagiri district, had a of the Swadeshi Jagran Manch and the concerns he raises over the greenhouse where he practiced floriculture. However, a falling water table meant that irrigation became a introduction of genetically modified crops. The shaping of GM policy in Rise of the foreign Indian film ............................................... 28 India has been dominated by the lobbyists of corporations whose interests problem – especially during summer months even for drip irrigation. have essentially been commercial. It needs to be a scientific and environmental debate which includes the rights of communities that have To overcome the problem of insufficient water, Srinivasan Services Trust (SST) encouraged Muniraj to Bengali cooking decoded .................................................................. 32 nurtured India’s amazing biodiversity over generations. The concerns save every drop of rainwater falling on his green house. SST provided technical information and Mahajan raises over the Niti Aayog are also interesting. Does the thinking engineering support for creating a pond, next to the greenhouse, large enough to collect six lakh litres of emanating from the Niti Aayog merely recycle outmoded ideas from other Big lizards and a spectacular sea ....................................... 33 economies? How relevant is the think tank to contemporary India? rainwater. To prevent loss by seepage, the pond was lined with a polythene sheet and a shade net was used Finally, the bad news from the National Capital Territory of Delhi is of as cover to help arrest loss by evaporation. The pond gets filled up with 3 days of rain. The water saved in widespread malnutrition among its children. It is three years since the ......................................................... Ayurveda: For a sturdy liver 34 National Food Security Act was was passed but it hasn’t been implemented. this pond is sufficient for the crop needs for one season. A PIL lays this sorry situation bare. IMPACT: Muniraj is now financially secure and earns more than `30,000 per month. He has built a Contact Civil Society at: pucca house and also bought a car. He has become an expert on rainwater harvesting and offers advice to [email protected] several villages in the area. The magazine does not undertake to respond to unsolicited contributions sent to the editor for publication. SRINIVASAN SERVICES TRUST Publisher Cartoonist Printed at Samrat Offset Pvt. Umesh Anand Samita Rathor Ltd., B-88, Okhla Phase II, Advisory Board Get your copy of Civil Society New Delhi - 110020. Aruna Roy (CSR Arm of TVS Motor Company) Editor Write to Civil Society at: Rita Anand A-16 (West Side), 1st Floor, Postal Registration No. Nasser Munjee Have Civil Society delivered South Extension Part 2, DL(S)-01/3255/2015-17. Arun Maira to you or your friends. Write News Network New Delhi -110049. Registered to post without to us for current and back pre-payment U(SE)-10/2015-17 Darshan Shankar Shree Padre Ph: 011-46033825, 9811787772 issues at response@civilsoci- TVS MOTOR COMPANY Saibal Chatterjee Printed and published by at Lodi Road HPO New Delhi - Harivansh Jehangir Rashid Umesh Anand on behalf of 110003 Registered with etyonline.com. Jug Suraiya Post Box No. 4, Harita, Hosur, Tamil Nadu Pin: 635109 Susheela Nair Rita Anand, owner of the the Registrar of Newspapers Also track us online, register of India under Upendra Kaul title, from A-53 D, First Floor, and get newsletters Layout & Design Panchsheel Vihar, Malviya RNI No.: DELENG/2003/11607 Vir Chopra Phone: 04344-276780 Fax: 04344-276878 URL: www.tvsmotor.com Virender Chauhan Nagar, New Delhi -110017. Total no of pages: 36 www.civilsocietyonline.com VOICES villages made it possible to save more IN THE LIGHT SAMITA RATHOR than a billion litres of water, which would otherwise have arrived in 1.3 million tanker loads. And `272 crore 10 THINGS worth of water is now being annually conserved." Some calculation correction is YOU CAN DO needed: First, one billion litres of water saved is 100 crore litres. That will be 0.1 million tankers (of 10,000 litres) TO GO GREEN and not 1.3 million. Secondly, saving of `272 crore means the cost of water would be `2.72 per litre, that is, `27,000 per tanker Vijay Kedia Oops, we got our maths wrong. Thanks for your intricate calculations. Editor Carry a Bag Focus on Compost Sewage solution Wherever You Go This is with reference to your story, ‘Small sewage solution is finally here’. Segregating waste and I congratulate the people who have Tucking in eco-friendly using the organic waste as compost helps Paani Foundation deserves a people’s I would like to point out a calculation drafted the Faecal Sludge and Septage bags into your purse LETTERS award for its work. It should also be error in your story. Your Management Policy (FSSM) for enables you to achieve improve soil quality honoured with a national award. correspondent writes: “He (Jagadale) involving people to sensitise other a plastic-less future Ditch the Ameeta Dasgupta has 10 acres. Three years ago he grew people on proper disposal of waste Shower onion all over his land and harvested generated from their homes, offices Say No to Is it possible for Paani Foundation to 20 tonnes. That year, onion prices hit etc. I would love to be part of this Bottled Water An average shower help the farmers of Tamil Nadu? They the roof. Jagadale earned Rs 1 crore movement. I am pursuing my PhD uses almost 60 litres are suffering the worst drought in from his onions.” on disability issues at Sri Drinking tap water of water while using a decades and it's all manmade. A First of all, earning Rs 1 crore from Krishnadevaraya University in prevents using plastic bucket to bath can do campaign, like the one the foundation 10 acres means earning Rs 10 lakh Ananthapuramu, Andhra Pradesh. I for packaging purposes is doing in Maharashtra, is badly per acre. Secondly, Rs 1 crore for 20 have been working with various the job in 10 litres at and saves 1.5 million needed here. The farmers of Tamil tonnes of onions means Rs 500 per NGOs/government agencies for the the most tons of plastic waste Nadu aren’t aware of the right kg! I would request you to please past 23 years. I hope all states in India per year strategies. They are asking for river crosscheck your figures before implement this policy. linking and rubbish like that.