Jinxed PDS

Serious discrepancies are taking place during distribution of ration cards at the designated DPL centres in the twin cities.

1. Owing to the collusion between the middlemen and the officials, white ration cards are not being issued in genuine and deserving cases and instead are being issued to undeserving families.
2. The interference of political parties in the issue of ration cards is obstructing objective identification of beneficiaries. Many representatives of these political parties influence the officials concerned into issuing white ration cards to individuals of their own choice.
3. The officials are not following objective systems of identifying beneficiaries. For example, based on the word of mouth of the owner of a house, they are denying ration cards to the tenants.
4. The public is not given proper information regarding the issue procedure of ration cards at the DPL centres. The officials in charge are indifferent and non-cooperative.
5. The enquiry procedure is entirely haphazard.
6. The submitted declaration forms are missing from official files after the enquiry. People are forced to run from pillar to post to make the officials locate their forms.
7. Thousands of applications are pending with each DPL centre as a result of corrupt practices in issue of ration cards.

As concerned citizens, we put forward the following demands for fair and just distribution of ration cards:

1. Stop political interference in the issue of ration cards. Activities of all kinds of middle-men in the procedure of issue of ration cards should be immediately curtailed. There should be strict monitoring of the DPL centres to curtail the activities of the middlemen.
2. Officers in cognito should monitor the functioning of the DPL centres to check corrupt and biased practices at the DPL centres. The Anti Corruption Bureau needs to revamp its system of checking corruption.
3. The procedure of enquiry to identify the deserving beneficiaries should be systematically rationalised.
4. It should be ensured that the behaviour of the officers in charge at the DPL centres is people-friendly by initiating action against erring officials.
5. The Hon’ble Minister for Civil Supplies should take the ultimate responsibility for the discrepancies in the issue of ration cards. The minister should occasionally visit the DPL Centres, especially in the old city of Hyderabad, along with the officials concerned, and inspect the functioning of the centres and take measures to expedite the issue of pending ration cards.

- Citizens' Initiative for Fair Distribution of Ration Cards

Golf Course at Golconda

The neoliberal economic policies that India adopted in the early 1990s are increasingly visible at their aggressive best. The Jawahar National Urban Renewal Mission, initiated by the Government of India, is all set to change the urban face of India to suit private entrepreneurship and foreign investment in the country.

Hyderabad has become one of the favorite laboratories for the new economic experiments. Here a golf course is more important than cultivated lands which are the only source of livelihood to dozens of farmers. Recently, the farmers were served with notices asking them to quit their lands to make way for a golf course near the historic Golconda Fort. About 120 acres of cultivable land was acquired for the sake of Tourism department. While even the government rates would fetch the farmers a handsome amount of about Rs.45 lacs per acre, the government offered them a paltry compensation of Rs.80,000 per acre. The ‘elected people’s representatives’ remained understandably silent when the farmers cried for help.

Afzal, 'an activist by birth', mobilized the farmers for a protest meeting at the foundation-stone-laying ceremony. The farmers peacefully demonstrated their protest by sporting black flags and black badges. At long last, the District Collector agreed to constitute a committee to find ‘equal valuation land’ for the aggrieved farmers. These farmers on the fringes of this city are happy at this ‘victory’. Eight or nine years ago, these very people opposed the golf course itself. Let us hope their victory is for real!

Moral of the story: The poor in this country will have to wage many more battles in future.

An Old (City) Story of Development

As part of the Charminar Pedestrianisation Plan, the Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad brought into effect several measures some of which are proving to be enormously burdensome to several sections of the society.

One of the measures that is proving to be especially painful to the common man is shifting of Bus Stand from near Charminar. The Charminar Bus Stand has been shifted to Falaknuma, though it is possible to exclude it from the Charminar Pedestrianisation Plan. Most of the buses that used to ply to and via Charminar bus stand, which is nearer to the great monument and the important markets surrounding it, now are diverted. As a result, the public is put to a lot of inconvenience.

As a result, innumerable students, patients visiting the Unani and Ayurvedic hospitals, tourists visiting Charminar and its surroundings, as well as the consumers visiting Lad Bazar, Pathergatti and Madina Building have been suffering every day. Further the poor people of the city are forced to bear an additional burden of nearly Rs.1 lakh which is being collected by the RTC through bus fares.

The market has also been affected badly as a consequence. There are nearly 125 shops and establishments around Charminar bus stand. Since the shifting of the bus stand, the income of these shops fell down drastically by 80%. In the lives of the innumerable families depending on the business in the area, this is indeed a serious crisis. Unable to run their establishments, some of the shopkeepers closed down their business despair. Others have been living in hope that the bus stand will be restored and their businesses will once again flourish. Some political parties and civil society organisations have launched a struggle to restore it but their efforts had only a minimal effect.

While we are all for development, we want the government to give it a human face and save hundreds of livelihoods by your timely intervention in restoring the Charminar bus stand.

- Panchmohalla Social Welfare Society

Who is Shaitan? : The Corrupt Qazi of Golconda

The Qazi of Golconda has been charging from both the bridegroom’s and the bride’s parents for conducting the Nikha ceremony. This is clearly a violation of Wakf Board rule, which stipulates that the bride’s parents need not pay for the ceremony fee. When as the bride’s father M.A.Khaliq pointed this out, during hisdaughter’s marriage on 17th February 2006 at Hyderabad Function Hall, Kishanbagh, the Qazi abused him in blasphemous terms. (Teri daadi mei shaitan hai)

It is quite well known in the area that the Qazi of Golconda has been indulging in corrupt practices, which harass the poor people in this area. They want an enquiry, preferably through CBI and Intelligence, into this matter and an appropriate action against the Qazi who is earning by corrupt means.

Scheduled Castes being deprived of Public Toilets in the old city

MCH has no use for Scheduled Castes? They are planning to demolish the public toilets at Bandi Ka Adda, Murgichowk, Shakkarkota, near Charminar. These public toilets are now being used by a community of about 50 poor families belonging to Scheduled Caste. Responding to the demand by a well-to-do local person, the MCH authorities are going to resort to this action.

The poor residents, who are a worried lot now, have immediately responded to this planned move today, and represented on this issue to the Chief Justice of the High Court of Andhra Pradesh, A.P. High Court Legal Services Committee, Secretary, A.P. State Commission for SC & ST Commission, the MCH Commissioner, and the Additional Commissioner, MCH (South Zone).

These poor people have been enjoying the facility of public toilets in the basti for the past four decades. The households are too small to accommodate individual toilets. Thus they are entirely dependent on public toilets to answer calls of nature. The MCH Commissioner Mr Sanjay Jaju warned in the past that those who used roadsides and other public places would be penalized. On the other hand, the MCH demolishes the public facilities in a methodical manner. The MCH appears to be keen on punishing the poor.

This case is not first of its kind. At Fukrulmulk Deodi in the old city, the public toilets meant for a community of SC families were already demolished, and the people there are running pillar to post to learn why it happened. (Refere to Pay, Shit & Watch on this blog)

If the MCH does not protect their facilities, the peace-loving people will be forced to launch public protests to secure their rights.

Open School Teachers exploited by the government

The govt. is finding new ways to save money. One way is to privatise the service sector. Education, one of the most basic services that any citizen should be entitled to, is being privatised. When NGOs are given contracts for services, it does not exactly look like privatisation, right?

AP Open School Society has provided about 30 open school centres during 2002-2004 through the management of an NGO based in the old city of Hyderabad. The teachers, all poor Muslim women, were supposed to train and send students to take open school exams. They are paid on a per-candidate-this-much basis. The academic year lasts for 3 trimesters or nine months. In the first year, that is, 2002-2003, they are paid only for the first trimester. In the second year, that is, 2003-2004, they are not paid for the entire year. After an endless series of representations, it is only in the first week of February 2006 they were paid for two trimesters. Three trimesters' pay is still due. One of the teachers threatened the NGO that she would commit suicide if she was not paid her due.

When the coordinator of AP Open School Society was approached by a newspaper reporter, he pleaded not to publish this story. Why is he so afraid?

All of us in the development sector will benefit from a crash course on how to get things done from the government. Is there anybody who would offer such course?