Wednesday, Feb 02, 2005
Wednesday, Feb 02, 2005 |
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Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Kerala
By Our Staff Reporter
KOCHI, FEB. 1. The Narmada Bachao Andolan leader Medha Patkar today called for obtaining social sanction for development activities. It is not enough that the Government sanctions projects, but it should be ratified by the people who are expected to be affected by it. She was inaugurating the Activists' Dialogue on Development in Kerala, led by the Solidarity Youth Movement and supported by 19 other groups leading struggles against `skewed' development activities or fighting social evils and campaigning for environmental protection, here. Ms. Patkar said that though a number of rules and laws were being amended to accommodate various interests, the Constitutional laws of equality, justice and liberty had not changed. And since socialism is part of the Constitution, raising voice against something that deprives the citizen of his basic rights such as food, water, shelter, health and education is the right of the people. "We are not fools to say no to everything. We don't say our resources are not be used. They are here to be used. But do not use them as a commodity," Ms. Patkar said.
Kerala's case
Kerala is endowed with 3,000 mm of rainfall every year, has 44 rivers and a green cover which has no match, but it is alarming that the people here are struggling for water. "It is a question of how best to utilise the resources," she said. India is still a country of simple living and self-reliance. But the Governments are cheaply selling away not just the resources but the workers as well. It is not just the State or big non-governmental organisations which need to be involved in decision-making. The communities concerned should be able to say what is best for them, she said. Delivering the main speech, the writer C. Radhakrishnan called for the convergence of different activist groups instead of them remaining localised. He said that one of the main problems of present-day development activities was lack of direction. Planning for future is important, but politicians plan only for the next election, he said. Sahodaran Kootil Mohammed, president of Solidarity, presided. The activists M.K. Prasad, V. Venugopal (Plachimada), R. Parthasarathy and C.R. Neelakantan were present. Representatives of environmental activist groups such as the Endosulfan Prathirodha Samiti, Periyar Samrakshana Samiti, Kerala Swathanthra Matsyathozhilali Federation, Sasthamkota Thadaka Samrakshana Samiti, Vellayani Kayal Samrakshana Samiti, Joint Action for Airport Development and many others from all over the State participated in the programme.
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