VOL. 6 NO. 10 august 2009 www.civilsocietyonline.com Rs 50 RISE OF THE jackFRuIT ScIEnTISTS TEam lOwERS BP uP wITH cHOlESTEROl FaRmERS and cancER RISk GIvE THE cuTS wEIGHT HumBlE FRuIT and HaS a nEw STaTuS anTI-aGInG In IndIa and and anTI-ulcER aBROad PROPERTIES special recipes inside left finds nRega mela in Rti village intellectuals Pages 8-9 have gone delhi metRo’s Real RecoRd Page 11 Fed up with Left policies and embarrassed by a wateR haRvesting company Page 21 flashpoints intellectuals in Bengal move on Pages 6-7 city of tomoRRow Page 29 CONTENTS reAD u s. We reAD yo u. Farmers and the market alk of boosting the farm sector mostly remains just talk. It is because the government doesn’t do enough for creating opportunity in villages. TWe are too narrowly focussed and don’t know how to read our amazing biodiversity for the economic prosperity that it can provide. Jackfruit growers have shown that big leaps are possible if we let interests converge, don’t live in denial of the market and reach out to the rest of the world. The rather glum-looking jackfruit is normally passed over for not being worth too much. You will find it mainly in middle-class markets. In culi - RISE OF THE jackFRuIT nary terms it has been seen as being good for a curry but not much else. Scientists team up with small farmers to form India’s first But take the jackfruit and process it to make chips, jams and squashes jackfruit growers’ association and give the humble fruit a and suddenly vistas open up. It can bring good returns to farmers and new status. The income of growers has tripled. 16 become the source of much needed additional income to them. For rural demand to strengthen, the basket of opportunities has to be much bigger. Farm and non-farm activities have to grow and diversify so as to satisfy changing aspirations. The jackfruit is one example of how this can be Why was there war on Lalgarh? . .7 achieved. Experience has shown that the global search for natural diets increasing - ly brings people to our part of the world with its wide range of vegetables, The other view on the Metro . .10 fruits and herbs. We must not lose this advantage. There is a case for examining more closely what we have in nature, understanding tradition - al nutrition a whole lot better and then marketing and packaging our nat - Kashmir’s RTI campaigner . .15 ural products for wide consumption. If such links could be established, a whole lot of value that now lies dormant could be unleashed. There are many ways forward. One is, as jackfruit growers have shown, Organic lifestyle at Dubden . .22 by collaborating with scientists and allying with commercial agents. Rural areas will see prosperity when they are hitched to other surges in the econ - omy. The strengths we have in marketing, packaging, technology and Farce of a public hearing . .25 enterprise creation need to move beyond the big cities. Our other big story in this issue is on the Metro. We at Civil Society were the first to report several months ago on the deaths of workers at Do rivers have enough water ? . .26 Metro railway sites in Delhi. It was even more worrisome that a huge fund for worker compensation was largely unused. Our story was based on the information collected by an activist using RTI. Climate change a feminist issue . 27 The Metro may have made rapid strides, but it is important that there be greater transparency and accountability in such projects. across cities in India Metro projects have been given pushed through without enough When women bear the brunt . 31 scrutiny. Tea tourism in northeast . 32 Diet to cure anemia . 33 Publisher Photographers pArAngAT offset, C-62/4 ph-2, umesh Anand gautam singh, Lakshman Anand okhla industrial Area, nD-20. 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The is political leadership that counts in letters Thanks to the global meltdown this so-called green revolution is not taking a region out of poverty. long is the right time to be local, to see being able to deliver desirable years of neglect have taken their how the domestic market can flour - results to make India hunger free. toll. Bihar is a difficult region to ish. If you are strong inside, then The rich are becoming richer and develop. Its most crucial aspect is you are respected outside. the poor, poorer. The green revolu - water management. Floods obliter - Vivek Mehta tion could not stop farmers’ sui - ate whatever development is made. cides. People like aV We need a strategy that can help Ministers of the UPa government Balasubramaniam and organic farm - people live with floods. have interesting agendas. Will they ers have to be taken into the Ashish Gupta be able to manage the bureaucracy Planning Commission. let us have and make real change at the grass - an organic farming revolution. Gay rights roots? Macro policies can be made. Kalpana, Geo Resource Centre, But things have to be micro man - Tamil Nadu. We hope the gay community finally aged at ground level and it is here gets human rights. It is cruel to pun - we fail. Women Mps ish people because of their sexual Asha Biyani orientation. article 377 must be Women are making their mark in abolished and a new law which politics without reservation. This The UPa needs to bring down helps the gay community live with shows society is more than willing prices of essential commodities. respect and dignity is needed. Gay to elect women to positions of Such prices should be regulated. activists should outline the con - power on merit. let’s hope the Upa govt Every government’s primary respon - tours of the new law. bright young women MPs will suf - sibility is to ensure poor people can Mohan Negi as your July cover story pointed out, fuse politics with the ‘gender per - also buy their daily necessities. the people of India have placed spective’. For instance, we need Rishab Being gay is not a crime. But the gay their faith in the new UPa govern - much more focus on infant and community will have to alleviate ment. They have rejected divisive maternal mortality, female foeti - fears raised by society. Religious politics and opted for secularism, agenda cide, unorganised sector women peace and development. There is groups are hard to convince.