BM_discussion http://groups.google.com/group/BM_discussion
[email protected] Today's topics: * AMENDMENT OF RTI ACT : AN ANNALYTICAL OBSERVATION - 1 messages, 1 author http://groups.google.com/group/BM_discussion/browse_thread/thread/27ee285a11011f8a * Meeting Minutes [ Jabalpur, Dehli ] - 1 messages, 1 author http://groups.google.com/group/BM_discussion/browse_thread/thread/3ef0d590159db3a4 * Chapter Activities ! [ Pune, Pilani ] - 1 messages, 1 author http://groups.google.com/group/BM_discussion/browse_thread/thread/1092f1e379f21928 * Wake up all ! - 1 messages, 1 author http://groups.google.com/group/BM_discussion/browse_thread/thread/8bba1be350432741 * Independence Day Celebrations - 1 messages, 1 author http://groups.google.com/group/BM_discussion/browse_thread/thread/fc964e1c30046127 * Suggestions to Health Minister on how to review vaccine policy. - 1 messages, 1 author http://groups.google.com/group/BM_discussion/browse_thread/thread/8443405a525d9f4c * Pesticides, politicians, pharma - 3 P's that kill farmers. - 1 messages, 1 author http://groups.google.com/group/BM_discussion/browse_thread/thread/a91eae642ff0aff1 ============================================================================== TOPIC: AMENDMENT OF RTI ACT : AN ANNALYTICAL OBSERVATION http://groups.google.com/group/BM_discussion/browse_thread/thread/27ee285a11011f8a ============================================================================== == 1 of 1 == Date: Fri, Aug 4 2006 12:03 am From: "Information Team Bharat Uday Mission" This article is written by Mr. Milap Choraria: AMENDMENT OF RTI ACT : AN ANNALYTICAL OBSERVATION. Recently, Union Minister Shri Suresh Pachauri, representing India through a 4 Member delegation expressed before the several British Ministers that Right to Information Act, 2005 given extreme rights to the people of India to check the corruption at all level of the governing system. Indian Minister, in Britain further discussed that the Government of India is intending to push more transparency in the working of the government to ensure good governance, while in India his Government is acting in just the opposite direction. Accordingly, Government is planning to withdraw such powers from the people, through amendment in the RTI Act, as if Government is not at all concerned with the corruption. Most shockingly it is nothing but a regressive step from the solemn promises and assurances given by the Indian Government, from the different platforms and that too in foreign countries. However, Government is fully aware that its amendment may not stand the test of the judicial scrutiny in the light of the fundamental right to know. It is a sad augury that the government chose to decide otherwise, obviously under the pressure from the strong lobby of the bureaucracy, which is never happy for it has virtually taken away their prerogative and put the same under scanner of the citizens to assess the accountability of the Public Servants. On 20th July 2006, the Cabinet approved the proposal of an amendment in the Right to Information Act, 2005 to exclude the `File Notings' from the ambit of the Act, without considering that amendment may not stand the test of the judicial scrutiny in the light of the fundamental right to know, which is well settled fact that it flows from Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution of India. Even before the enactment of the Right to Information Act, 2005, Supreme Court in its various Judgments had held that Right to Know is a fundamental right of the Citizen of Indian democracy, about the process and path taken in arriving at a certain decision, which cannot be possible without access to the `file notings'. Supreme Court has already given clear rulings, in unambiguous terms that "In a Government of responsibility like ours, where all the agents of the public must be responsible for their conduct, there can be but few secrets. The people of this country have a right to know every public act, everything that is done in a public way, by their public functionaries." Therefore the Notings on the files cannot be denied as it forms an integral part of the related information pertaining to a decision making process. Withholding the Notings means virtual denial of the very information, for which the Act has been brought on the statute Book and thus negating the very purpose of the Act itself. The following extracts from various judgments will further elucidate this: "In the Constitution of our democratic Republic, among the fundamental freedoms, freedom of speech and expression shines radiantly in the firmament of Part III. We must take legitimate pride that this cherished freedom has grown from strength to strength in the post independent era. It has been constantly nourished and shaped to new dimensions in tune with the contemporary needs by the constitutional Courts. Barring a few aberrations, the Executive Government and the Political Parties too have not lagged behind in safeguarding this valuable right which is the insignia of democratic culture of a nation. Nurtured by this right, Press and electronic media have emerged as powerful instruments to mould the public opinion and to educate, entertain and enlighten the public." "Freedom of speech and expression, just as equality clause and the guarantee of life and liberty had been very broadly construed by this Court right from 1950s. It has been variously described as a 'basic human right', 'a natural right' and the like. It embraces within its scope the freedom of propagation and inter-change of ideas, dissemination of information which would help formation of one's opinion and viewpoint and debates on matters of public concern. The importance which our Constitution-makers wanted to attach to this freedom is evident from the fact that reasonable restrictions on that right could be placed by law only on the limited grounds specified in Article 19(2), not to speak of inherent limitations of the right." "In due course of time, several species of rights enumerated in Article 19(1)(a) have branched off from the genus of the Article through the process of interpretation by this apex Court. One such right is the 'right to information'. Perhaps, the first decision which has adverted to this right is State of U.P. Vs. Raj Narain [(1975) 4 SCC 428]. 'The right to know', it was observed by Mathew, J. "which is derived from the concept of freedom of speech, though not absolute is a factor which should make one wary, when secrecy is claimed for transactions which can, at any rate, have no repercussion on public security". It was said very aptly- "In a Government of responsibility like ours, where all the agents of the public must be responsible for their conduct, there can be but few secrets. The people of this country have a right to know every public act, everything that is done in a public way, by their public functionaries." "The next milestone which showed the way for concretizing this right is the decision in S.P. Gupta Vs. Union of India [(1981) Suppl. SCC Page 87] in which this Court dealt with the issue of High Court Judges' transfer. Bhagwati, J. observed- "The concept of an open government is the direct emanation from the right to know which seems to be implicit in the right of free speech and expression guaranteed under Article 19(1)(a). Therefore, disclosure of information in regard to the functioning of the Government must be the rule and secrecy an exception..." Peoples' right to know about governmental affairs was emphasized in the following words: "No democratic Government can survive without accountability and the basic postulate of accountability is that the people should have information about the functioning of the Government. It is only when people know how Government is functioning that they can fulfill the role which democracy assigns to them and make democracy a really effective participatory democracy." These two decisions have recognized that the right of the citizens to obtain information on matters relating to public acts flows from the fundamental right enshrined in Article 19(1)(a). The pertinent observations made by the learned Judges in these two cases were in the context of the question whether the privilege under Section 123 of the Evidence Act could be claimed by the State in respect of the Blue Book in the first case i.e., Raj Narain's case (supra) and the file throwing light on the consultation process with the Chief Justice, in the second case. Though the scope and ambit of Article 19 (1)(a) vis--vis the right to information did not directly arise for consideration in those two landmark decisions, the observations quoted supra have certain amount of relevance in evaluating the nature and character of the right. Then, we have the decision in Dinesh Trivedi vs. Union of India [(1997) 4 SCC 306]. This Court was confronted with the issue whether background papers and investigatory reports which were referred to in Vohra Committee's Report could be compelled to be made public. The following observations of Ahmadi, C.J. are quite pertinent:-- "In modern Constitutional democracies, it is axiomatic that citizens have a right to know about the affairs of the Government which, having been elected by them, seeks to formulate sound policies of governance aimed at their welfare. However, like all other rights, even this right has recognized limitations; it is, by no means, absolute." The proposition expressed by Mathew, J. in Raj Narain's Case (supra) was quoted with approval. The next decision which deserves reference is the case of Secretary, Ministry of I & B vs. Cricket Association of Bengal [(1995) 2 SCC Page 161]. Has an organizer or producer of any event a right to get the event telecast through an agency of his choice whether national or foreign? That was the primary question decided in that case. It was highlighted that the right to impart and receive information is a part of the fundamental right under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution. On this point, Sawant, J. had this to say at Paragraph 75- "The right to impart and receive information is a species of the right of freedom of speech and expression guaranteed by Article 19(1) (a) of the Constitution. A citizen has a fundamental right to use the best means of imparting and receiving information and as such to have an access to telecasting for the purpose. However, this right to have an access to telecasting has limitations on account of the use of the public property....." Jeevan Reddy, J. spoke more or less in the same voice: "The right of free speech and expression includes the right to receive and impart information. For ensuring the free speech right of the citizens of this country, it is necessary that the citizens have the benefit of plurality of views and a range of opinions on all public issues. A successful democracy posits an 'aware' citizenry. Diversity of opinions, views, ideas and ideologies is essential to enable the citizens to arrive at informed judgment on all issues touching them." Milap Choraria National Convenor Movement for Accountability to Public (MAP) B-5/52, Sector-7, Rohini, Delhi-110085 Mobile:9313713699 011-27055356 -- Thanks and Regards Information Management Team (Bharat Uday Mission) "We have only one Passion The Rise of a Great Nation." www.bharatudaymission.org ============================================================================== TOPIC: Meeting Minutes [ Jabalpur, Dehli ] http://groups.google.com/group/BM_discussion/browse_thread/thread/3ef0d590159db3a4 ============================================================================== == 1 of 1 == Date: Tues, Aug 8 2006 1:17 am From: "Information Team Bharat Uday Mission" * MEETING MINUTES [ Jabalpur, Dehli ] 1.Jabalpur Chapter : Meeting minutes* *Date:* 6-Aug (Sunday) *Venue:* Bhawartaal Garden. *Time:* 1400 hrs *Member Present:* (1) Shilpi Nema (2) Parag Verma (3) Shariq Khan (4) Shahnawaz Ahmad (5) Mr. Hari Krishna Sonkar (6) Mr. D.M. Shrivastav *Discussion & Decisions:* (1) Inroduction of New Members. (2) Discussion on chapter structure. *Formation of teams for proper functioning of chapter.* *[i] Finance Team:* Shilpi Nema *[ii] Propogation Team:* Shahnawaz Ahmad *[iii] Information Mgt Team:* Shariq Khan *[iv] Planning Team:* (Kanika Verma) (Parag Verma) (3) Assignment of responsilities of teams to all members. (4) Decision on Monthly contribution by chapter members. (5) Decision on Independence day Event. (6) Discussion on future actions of chapter. (7) Decision on Constitution of chapter: Final Copy will be uploaded on �bm_jabalpur� groups FILE section very soon *2.MOM for 5 and 6th August 2006- bm_dehli* Friends, As we are in process of consolidation and systematization of our efforts. We have meetings on 5th eve and 6th morn in order to keep things in harmony. The present members were: 1. Shashank Shekhar 2. Rajendra 3. Kriti 4. Ankit 5. Robin 6. Swadesh 7. Amit 8. Rajeev 9. Ajay 10. Vikash 11. Vikram 12. Krishanu 13. Avinash 14. Pradeep 15. Ashish The issues which was were discussed: 1. Office and Policy 2. PR and Media coordination 3. Activities 4. Membership regulation 5. Participation with other organization *The decision were taken- * - We are participating with Anna Hazare and others march at Janter Manter on 7th August against amendment in RTI. - On Independence day, we will celebrate it in much greater way at Kargil Heights. - Teams and program for 15th Aug was decided and work distributed to members. Office has been located temporarily - Membership policy was discussed and will be incorporated in policy document. with love and affection, Amit Kumar Srivasatva JNU, New Delhi contact- 09911059101 www.amitk.tk www.globalmedia.in/simplyyuva Thanks and Regards, Saurabh Bharat Co-ordinator Information Management Team (Bharat Uday Mission) "We have only one Passion The Rise of a Great Nation." www.bharatudaymission.org ============================================================================== TOPIC: Chapter Activities ! [ Pune, Pilani ] http://groups.google.com/group/BM_discussion/browse_thread/thread/1092f1e379f21928 ============================================================================== == 1 of 1 == Date: Wed, Aug 9 2006 12:55 am From: "Information Team Bharat Uday Mission" This mail includes:* 1.BM Pune Chapter Activities* *2.BM Pilani Chapter Activities* *1.BM Pune Chapter Activities* * MOM of Hadapsar Sub Chapter* Hi All, The Meeting was held at Durlabhs Place on Saturday evening ,5th August 2006.It was attended by: 1)Durlabh 2)Satya 3)SubbaRao* Since we had a new member attending the meet, we explained him the concept of BM in general and we also discussed at length on how Pune Chapter has grown up over the last few months and the initiatives taken up by it. We have also discussed various problems faced by Pune chapter as well as the City and we decided to conentrate on the problems and issues concerning Hadapsar and the areas around it. The following areas where actions must be taken up were identified: 1) The pathetic condition of roads in Hadapsar. We have decided to file an RTI on the Pune-Saswad Road which is in shambles with crater sized pot holes just after 2 months of repair works. We have also decided to file an RTI on any funds released for the developement of Hadapsar Gadi tal which lacks proper shelters for commuters and proper bus stops. 2)Visit the slum area on the Pune Saswad road to learn about their condition and problems. 3)Visit the institute for Handicapped children near our office in Hadapsar. 4)Getting in touch with PMC regarding the unclean premises of dustbins. Furhter action is required on this issue. 5)Start working on Propagation in Hadapsar. We have prepared a rough format and content regarding the RTI application on the Pune Saswad Road with the knowledge and understanding we have.It will be posted to the group in a seperate mail. Please have a look at it and suggest improvements.Balajee, I guess you are the right person :-) .We need a volunteer who can file this application by sparing some time in the morning session of the week days. Update:Durlabh has visited the institute for Handicapped children on Sunday 6th August.He met some officials of the institute and has learnt about the institute and their requirements. He will be visiting it again on Tuesday. The details would be posted later by durlabh latest by thursday. Truly, Satya We have only one Passion The Rise of a Great Nation *Visiting Villages * Dear All, Here I am putting minutes of village trip and list of activities to be done in villages... We decided to go to new villages and continue with Kolwade in this trip. We planned to meet at Vihang's place. It was heavily raining. We divided in two teams. 1. Puneet, Pradnya, Milind*, Nitin*, Rishikesh (* first timer ever in any meeting/activity) 2. Vihang, Rohan, Praful, Ashwin I am putting update of first team. Second team's update will come from one of the team members. First we went Gadewadi and went into some house. There we met some men. Asked questions like upto what std school is there in that village, what is prime crop, population and things like that. School was upto primary level and teacher come from Pune. We got perception that there is no urgent need for villagers. They grow 1-2 crops every year and for rest of the time. Important thing which we got there was that person there was ready to give some land for experimentation in agricultural sector. His name is Mr. Balasaheb Gade and can be contacted at 020 69520340 . Please take a note of this thing. Then we went to Mukai. We were treated like strangers. Anyway, but after some conversation we realized that in summer there is problem of clean drinking water. It would need time to get engaged in Mukai. Otherwise here as well there was no high school so we couldn't think about working with schools for career guidance. Then we went to Urawade. Here school was closed and it was raining very heavily. So couldn't find some people with whom we could have some significant talks. Here high school is there. In future in while going to Kolwade, we will visit again. Then we went to Kolwade. Puneet has put points below. we need financial support to give books and sports literature to Kolwade village school. Please give all bats/balls/discs/volleyball/any other sport related thing/money to support the village. Even used literature is ok. Something is better than nothing. The head master there, hinge sir has almost single handed brought this school to reality. There was no govt aid , no students who can pay fee, still he managed the school and his consistent efforts has led to 7 classrom building and govt aid in near future. We must not only help school bu the this teacher as well. He has done what is called serving last men of society. *Please contribute/participate as much as you can. No activity can take shape on ground by talking on internet or just reading mails and joining e-groups. * Please get in touch with Punit for anything you want to do in village. Thanks and Regards, Rishikesh -- ABHIJEET RAJWADE 09422506600 *2.BM Pilani Chapter Activities* Hi, On account of the clarified mail regarding the social activities of BM and the consent that we would like to become a political party through social service and for social service I am glad to send this mail on behalf of Pilani chapter elaborating the activities that we have chosen this semester. As many of you know that we do a lot of social service activities, they are being continued with the same spirit. We are concentrating mainly on education and economic upliftment of the BPL people in the nearby Raila village. We took it as a model village to try out these concepts. *On Education* *Gyanbodh program:* *Incharge:* Bhuvana ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) This happens in two places. The first place is just outside the BITS campus and other in the Raila village. We teach from class 5 to 10 and cover math, science, English and counseling for 9 and 10 th classes. All these kids are chosen from underprivileged background. The normal way of teaching is not followed and not the repetition of what’s taught in school. But we try to make the subject more interesting and fun with games, videos of many scientific phenomenons etc. to attract them toward the subject. The aim is to make them love their subject by making them understand it better. Since all the kids are from a poor background they are all mostly in government schools. So we are planning to provide a scholarship called ‘Shiksha’ for bright as well as poor children to move up to a private school. We have made arrangements with a professor in BITS to be an official in charge for the same. The funds would come out of our own pockets and from the contributions of faculties at BITS. So if any of the other chapter feels they can pool in some money for Shiksha please do contact me for the full working module of the program. *Computer Literacy Program(CLP):* *Incharge:* Siddarth ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) This is a very unique program where we target the youth in the villagers of age group 15-25 who have just finished their 10th or 12th and may be a BCA or a polytechnique, but couldn’t find any job and got bored of the same old village life with no electricity nor computers and ultimately plunge into liquor and other bad habits. So we made them fill an application form for the program getting all their details like their educational qualification, their ambitions and what they want to learn in computers etc. Finally we selected 20-30 people and started to teach MS Word, Excel and other basic computer handling with 2 of our laptops. This semester we are planning to make a meaningful work out them as a practice. We are planning to make a database of the population of Raila from these 20 people. Each has to enter in the laptop 10 names and details of villagers everyday. This will be a practice to them as well a database for us. Also our Professors agreed to take them for an hourly basis job for clerical work. *Rural technology club:* *Incharge:* Karthik and Haasa (kri.hasa.gmail.com, [EMAIL PROTECTED] ) We as a technical people must surely do something useful through our knowledge. This club will focus on how to solve many problems and shortcoming that are faced in villages through engineering knowledge. This plans to involve professors to take up technical projects that can be applicable in a village scenario and to be done by BITS students. This way many people get to see what their knowledge is worth of and how big a change they can make for the poor if they can focus their skills. This club has to go on to get new patenting and new innovations to transform our rural India. Few visible examples are that of the Pedal Power generator, LED lamps from solar power etc. *Story telling sessions in the library:* In the two libraries that we have set up in Dhandar and Raila, we would like to have story telling sessions by our vols and may be inviting faculties. The crux would be to cultivate interest for reading books in young minds. Also it’ll be a good outreach program and popularizes the library. *On Economic development * *Self help groups:* *Incharge*:Swetha ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) As improving status of people should be the goal of any social service organization, we started some SHG activities. But it was really challenging as it involves mobilizing the women to trust us and start a new venture which was fogged up with many uncertainties. Also language became a big hindrance. But ultimately after 4 months work we succeeded in bringing to market one of their handicraft works. This was articles made out of paper by molding them to various shapes like pen stand, cups, vases etc. after soaking them in water and making it a paste. We got a profit of 800 Rs/- after selling them. The 4 women whom we employed for the work got 200 Rs/- each for the 20 articles they made. *Vocational training:* This is aimed at giving life skills for high school children to get themselves employed after their schooling. This is basically to improve their skills and knowledge for an alternative work and not certainly discouraging their studies. We are to plan this semester in detail. We have a plan to invite carpenter and IC engine lab workers from our workshop to conduct classes for these children. *Other events: * *Independence & Republic day celebrations:* Various activities happen both in campus and in village on these days. India quiz is conducted in the name of koun Banega Crorepati with the same enthu as with the real program. We are getting good response for this every year. In villages our vols go to primary and secondary schools and participate in their programs. They conduct an enthu quiz program with lots of good prizes and inspirational speeches and stories to ignite nationalism in young minds. *National youths day celebrations:* This is widely celebrated as birthday of Swami Vivekananda. Last time we distributed 3000 swamiji’s ‘Call to the Nation’ book and invited Sikar law college principal to deliver a speech on the occasion. This semester also we will try to work out few activities for the same. These are just brief description of what we do here. We are going to document all these activities so that it would be easy for any others to follow the same module rather than starting from scratch. Lets attack the problem our motherland is facing from all possible angles. Lets not leave any stone unturned and not rest until all possible ways to solve these problems are found. Let our goal be crystal clear as the waters of Ganga. We Have Only One Passion. The Rise of a Great Nation. BM-Pilani. (Ragavendar) -- Thanks and Regards, Saurabh Bharat 09826959161 Co-ordinator Information Management Team (Bharat Uday Mission) "We have only one Passion The Rise of a Great Nation." www.bharatudaymission.org ============================================================================== TOPIC: Wake up all ! http://groups.google.com/group/BM_discussion/browse_thread/thread/8bba1be350432741 ============================================================================== == 1 of 1 == Date: Sat, Aug 5 2006 1:47 am From: "Information Team Bharat Uday Mission" With all regret i want to inform evryone specially members in Madhya Pradesh that it was very unfortunate that even after a week we posted the formal announcement of the state meeting we havent recieved a single response. This is the reason why we had to postpone the meeting even after we made all the arrangements for the same. I request all to kindly cooperate and respond as soon as possible as to whether we should keep it on 28th August or first week of September. Friends a delay might be very costly if we dont act now. Regards Siddharth Girivir Singh Moderator BM_Bhopal +919425362899 -- Thanks and Regards, Information Management Team (Bharat Uday Mission) "We have only one Passion The Rise of a Great Nation." www.bharatudaymission.org ============================================================================== TOPIC: Independence Day Celebrations http://groups.google.com/group/BM_discussion/browse_thread/thread/fc964e1c30046127 ============================================================================== == 1 of 1 == Date: Wed, Aug 9 2006 12:09 pm From: "Moderator BharatUdayMission" 09th August, 2006. Dear Brothers and Sisters, This is to inform all the chapters their coordinators and members, that, we at BM should celebrate our *Independence Day on 15th of August* in our cities. We can have a *flag hoisting* ceremony, however simple it is, alongwith some *social / social-service programmes*. The programme could be anything like some *competitions for children * in some local schools, or even involving the local public, *cleanliness drives*, *public awareness programmes*, *sponsoring lunches* in orphanages etc. The * chapter coordinators* and *senior members* are requested to chart out plan, and take responsibilites for the same. Since it would be a *national holiday*, all should ensure that they participate full fledged in the programme. Let us start working now itself and make the Independence Day celebrations a grand success. -- *Jai Hind!* *Cheers and Regards, **BABURAJ *Admin Team *Bharat Uday Mission *"We have only one passion... The rise of a Great Nation!" *Mob: +91-98866-74807* Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web: http://www.bharatudaymission.org *----- "Mothers all want their sons to grow up to be president but they don't want them to become politicians in the process..." --John Fitzgerald Kennedy * ============================================================================== TOPIC: Suggestions to Health Minister on how to review vaccine policy. http://groups.google.com/group/BM_discussion/browse_thread/thread/8443405a525d9f4c ============================================================================== == 1 of 1 == Date: Fri, Aug 4 2006 7:43 am From: Jagannath Chatterjee To, Dr Anbumani Ramadoss, Hon'ble Minister for Health & Family Welfare, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, New Delhi INDIA. Dt: 25.06.2006 Respected Sir, We have come to know that a review committee meeting on the vaccination policy is upcoming. Being a vaccine damage victim I do not at all favour the concept of mass vaccinations, but realising that this evil will not be eradicated I would like to put forth the following points which, I feel, should be discussed in the above meeting; 1. The composition of the review committee. ----------------------------------------------------------------- The committee should include experts from non-mainstream methods of healing like homeopathy, naturopathy and ayurveda. The practitioners of these systems of healing have observed firsthand and warned against the many side effects of vaccines. Now that all their apprehensions are more than apparent, these physicians should have a say in framing a new vaccination policy. Who should be vaccinated and who should not, what are the risk factors to be considered, what are the disease states that merit vaccines, should mass vaccinations be allowed, all such issues should preferably be discussed in the meeting. 2. Mercury in vaccines. -------------------------------- This will be a main topic for discussion but I wish to emphasise that mercury is not the only harmful ingredient of most vaccines. There are other heavy metals like Aluminium Hydroxide, Aluminium Sulphate and also other carcinogens and toxins. There is also the question of antibiotics in vaccines which are delivered intramuscularly without a skin test. 3. Human and animal serum in vaccines. ------------------------------------------------------------- As per vaccine researchers, there is no such thing as "uncontaminated serum". When the contamination in green monkey serum in polio vaccines leading to the human transfer of simian viruses SV 20 and SV 40 was detected, the responsible scientists countered that had they used any other serum it would have probably introduced virus from some other species instead. As serum from monkeys, horses, pigs, cows, chicken, egg, and even human fetuses is routinely used in vaccines, this aspect of vaccines should be an important subject for discussion. This is highly essential considering the widespread prevalence of animal induced diseases like bird flu, mad-cow disease and other scourges like AIDS. 3. Genetically Modified Viruses. --------------------------------------------- Gene technology is in its infancy and many anomalies have come to the fore. The use of genetically modified viruses is therefore a very questionable procedure. The use of live viruses also should be debated. 4. Combination vaccines. ----------------------------------- It has been observed, in countries where human life is considered important, that combination vaccines like MMR, DPT etc are more dangerous than the rest. This issue should be taken up and the use of separate vaccines for each disorder should be considered. 5.More tests needed on vaccines. ------------------------------------------------- Vaccines are tested for only 48 hours. Is this adequate? If the effect of vaccines is known to exist for life then is it not obvious that the side effects too could be long term? What are the tests, if any, that have been conducted on the long term effects of vaccinations? The other tests that are absolutely necessary are; A. The effects of the ingredients of vaccines, singly and in combination. B. The effects of multiple vaccinations. C. The amount of total vaccine ingredients that are injected into children during the childhood immunisation procedure and its effects. D. The effects of vaccines on the sick, the pregnant, the immunodeficient, those suffering from inveterate skin problems, and on the children of parents suffering from chronic autoimmune disorders. 6. Building public awareness on probable vaccine dangers. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- As we are all aware, the common man is blissfully unaware of the downside of the vaccination procedure. The medical industry prefers this ignorance as education on this aspect will make many, if not all, wary of vaccines. It is well known that health workers, vaccine researchers, and employees involved directly in the manufacture of vaccines usually shy away from them, knowing fully well the dangers. Why then should the public be kept in the dark about vaccine dangers? Is this not a great injustice that should immediately be rectified? The statement of mainstream doctors that the new vaccine policy should be framed without "creating a scare" is an indication of their utter callousness, lack of concern and disregard for safety. Like in the civillised countries, in India too, all vaccines should be given only after obtaining signatures from parents that they are willing to vaccinate their children after duly considering the dangers involved. All the probable vaccine after effects should be clearly spelt out in these forms and read out and explained to illiterate parents so that they are not forced to blindly sign the declaration. 7. Acknowledging vaccine adverse effects and training doctors. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- As I have been acutely aware in my case, no doctor will ever acknowledge that vaccines can cause adverse reactions. This situation should change. Doctors should be educated about all the probable after effects of vaccines and how to tackle them. They should maintain records of all vaccine adverse effects noticed and a national database should be formed in line with the VAERS system adopted in the USA. What about a skin test being performed before the vaccines are given? This may save many a life especially from anaphylactic shock and seizures. 8. Compensating vaccine damage victims. --------------------------------------------------------------- Having suffered an adverse vaccine reaction when I was barely 18, I have suffered horrendously for another 26 years, putting an end to all my dreams and aspirations besides forcing me to undergo pain and humiliation in the hands of insensitive doctors who refused to acknowledge my condition. What price should I put on all that I had to go through? I cannot imagine. Can you Sir? Compensation is a must. Most vaccine damage victims are incapacitated for life. The government should not only compensate monetarily, but also take care of these victims as best as possible for life. A national vaccine damage compensation fund as well as an expert committee should immediately be formed for this purpose. 9. Should infants be vaccinated? ----------------------------------------------- Why do we have to vaccinate children at their infancy? Can the vaccines not be shifted to a more mature age? Our country recognises all the major systems of treatment. But by vaccinating children and introducing in them the vaccine dyscrasia we render them incapable of healing by other modalities as an unnatural and unstudied disease state is introduced. Should we not give the children a chance to decide whether they should risk the vaccines? Why inject babies who cannot describe their pain and anguish? The vaccination procedure makes a mockery of a persons right to choose the modality of treatment he prefers. It is an infringement on his right to good health. Sir, I hope you will consider all the above points during the vaccination review committee meeting. May God Bless You. Respectfully yours, Jagannath Chatterjee Vaccine damage victim, Health Reform Activist. cc: Sri Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister. Madam Sonia Gandhi,Chairperson INC. State Minister for Health. Secretary, Department of Health. Secretary, Department of Family Welfare. Director General of Health Services. Personal Secretary to Hon'ble Health Minister. Director, Department of AYUSH. Director, Central Council for Research in Homeopathy. Dr Leo Rebello, Director, Natural Health Centre, Mumbai. "Our ideal is not the spirituality that withdraws from life but the conquest of life by the power of the spirit." - Aurobindo. --------------------------------- How low will we go? Check out Yahoo! Messenger’s low PC-to-Phone call rates. ============================================================================== TOPIC: Pesticides, politicians, pharma - 3 P's that kill farmers. http://groups.google.com/group/BM_discussion/browse_thread/thread/a91eae642ff0aff1 ============================================================================== == 1 of 1 == Date: Tues, Aug 8 2006 2:42 am From: Jagannath Chatterjee (Circulated with permission from Ms Kavitha Kuruganthi of the Centre for Sustainable Agriculture - Jagannath) ================================================================================= PESTICIDE SPRAY PROVES DISASTROUS IN SALKIANA VILLAGE, JALANDHAR Report of a Fact Finding Visit by Kheti Virasat Mission 21st July 2006 21 July 2006 began as any other day for the residents of Salkiana village in Jalandhar district. That was until around 8.30 am - until they started feeling severe suffocation and breathlessness. The worst affected were the school children of the Government-run Elementary School. It was just after Morning Prayers that the students started complaining of a strange smell and breathlessness. The teachers were not aware of what happened either. Suddenly one student fell unconscious near the hand pump [of the drinking water tube well] and then student after student started to faint. Within ten minutes, 16 students fainted after inhaling something that was toxic. It was not just the school children who were affected. The villagers outside the school were also experiencing and complaining about breathlessness by then. Some women in the adjoining houses are reported to have fainted too. There was total panic in the village for a while. It was only then the villagers began to realize what happened – IT WAS A DEADLY PESTICIDE SPRAYED IN A NEARBY SUGARCANE FIELD THAT HAD AFFECTED THE VILLAGERS. The villagers then understood that they were experiencing acute poisoning symptoms. Meanwhile the farm workers, who had sprayed this pesticide, came into the village and disclosed that they had sprayed PHORATE. In this case, it was Sudarshan Chemicals' SUTOX 100 that they had sprayed. The workers had sprayed 15 kilos of Phorate 10G in 3.75 acres by then. In the school, the situation had become quite serious by then and the teachers started experiencing breathlessness too. Students started complaining of difficulty in breathing, severe headache, body ache, irritation in eyes, uneasiness, dizziness and some of them started vomiting. The teachers acted very swiftly and informed the higher authorities and the local health officer. Within half an hour, a team of doctors reached the school and first-aid was administered. The affected students and teachers were shifted to Civil Hospital, Phillour [the nearest town]. However, some parents took their children to private hospitals also. Some children with severe breathlessness were administered oxygen. Fact Finding Visit: Following this incident, a fact finding visit was made by Kheti Virasat Mission 26 th and 28th July 2006 to this village. The teachers, the students, the other affected villagers, the sarpanch and other farmers were interviewed as part of the fact finding visit. In addition, the FFT [fact finding team] spoke with the doctors in the Civil Hospital and met with the SDM, Phillour. This report tries to give a picture of the situation based on all the information gathered from these interviews and discussions. According to the doctors at civil hospital, patients were admitted with following signs and symptoms [somewhat varying between patients]: 1. Excessive Lacrimation 2. Excessive Salivation 3. Dizziness 4. Nausea & Vomiting 5. Breathlessness 6. Body aches and cramps These patients were given first-aid in the village and later referred to Civil Hospital, Phillaur. Patients were given- 1. I/V fluids 2. Rangers Lactato 3. DNS 4. And 5% Dextrose -Inj.Atropine I/M & I/V slow in cloop -Inj. Aciloc sos -Inj.Ettacarlin -Inj. PAM -Inj.Neomolsos -O* 2* Inhalation The list of patients admitted to the Civil Hospital in Phillaur, following this poisoning incident: Parwinder 13 yrs M Jasbir Kaur 40 yrs F Jeeto 50 yrs F Sonia 13 yrs F Dalwinder 15 yrs F Gurdeep Singh 13 yrs M Reena Kumari 13 yrs F Manjit 9 yrs M Kamla Devi 25 yrs F Naresh Kumari 13 yrs F Manjit Kaur 30 yrs F Navneet Kaur 13 yrs F Raman Deep 12 yrs M Amarjeet Kaur 22 yrs F Dalbiro 40 yrs F Suman 18 yrs F Sukhdev 15 yrs M Bhagwan Dass 52 yrs M Total: 18 persons. One adult male, seven adult females, 5 male children and 5 female children. All these patients were in the hospital for three days. Two others patients Suman (18 year old young girl) and Sunita (14 year old girl) were admitted in a private nursing home at Phillaur. Sunita, a newly-married girl inhaled the toxic fumes when she had gone near the fields the next day. Her condition deteriorated soon after and she was taken to the Civil Hospital. She was then referred to a hospital in Ludhiana as her condition was found to be critical. Her family members got her admitted in to Arora Hospital. She was here for four days. These are the 21 cases of hospitalization from the inhalation poisoning from the phorate spraying. At the time of the fact finding visit, some of the students and teachers were still unwell, even after six days. They had irritation in eyes upto six days, itching of the skin and general uneasiness. The teacher in the government school Mr Bhagwan Dass was complaining of disturbance in his digestive system. He is suffering from constipation and urinary problem. Same were the complaints from Hardev Singh M 38 and Ms Asha Sharma F 34, both teachers at the government school. Bakshish Chand, 37, who is also the ex-sarpanch of the village had similar complaints. All children and adults, exposed to PHORATE, were experiencing loss of appetite even on sixth day after exposure. Most of the children poisoned were from SC community with low incomes. After this incident, there is widespread resentment and concern amongst the villagers regarding pesticides. They are quite worried about safety from pesticides. The elders at village feel that there should at least be restrictions followed about spraying away from the village that too from schools etc. Mr Ram Kishan, Harjeet Ram and Ram Swarup (all members of the Panchayat) and other villagers were of the strong view that some concrete steps should be taken to prevent such mishaps in future. The Doctors who worked tirelessly at Civil Hospital, Phillaur were admitting their limitations in dealing with a case like this, given that none of them is a trained environmental epidemiologist. About Phorate: Phorate is a Class IA pesticide – which means that by World Health Organisation's classification, it is "Extremely Hazardous". Phorate 10% G falls under Class IB. The Food & Agriculture Organisation recommends that products that fall under Class IA and Class I B [Extremely Hazardous and Highly Hazardous] should not be used in developing countries given a variety of safety concerns related to these products. Phorate poisoning in India Phorate is an organo-phosphorus pesticide implicated in several poisoning cases earlier. For instance, in June 2001, phorate was implicated in poisoning of workers in a tea estate and in a cardamom plantation in Kerala [1]. A 16 year old boy, Kannan, died applying phorate on June 26th in a cardamom plantation. On the tea estate in Idukki district, on the same day, 41 people in all got affected. They all experienced acute poisoning symptoms of blurred vision, vomiting and dizziness. Mancini et al report in the International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health, 2005 that acute pesticide poisoning from Organophosphorus pesticides like phorate was quite common, especially amongst low income marginal farmers in cotton growing belts of South India. There are reports that indicate that upon ingestion of organo phosphate pesticides like phorate and monocrotophos, there is also the danger of Organo Phosphate Induced Delayed Neuropathy which appears 2-4 weeks after poisoning and leads to motor paralysis [affecting the distal muscles of limbs, minimal sensory involvement and calf pain which precedes its onset]. Acute poisoning due to phorate intoxication was reported from Tamluk in West Bengal in the Journal of Indian Pediatrics in 2002. Here, the affected were mainly toddlers. Significant amongst all the published studies is a report by Kashyap [1986] which reported that " Exposure of 40 formulators to a highly toxic OP insecticide (phorate) showed that over 60% of the workers suffered from toxic effects in spite of using a complete set of protective clothing" [2]. In Wayanad district of Kerala, in July 2002, children exposed to phorate fumes sprayed on banana plantations had to be admitted to hospitals. These children had experienced vomiting, dizziness and headaches. According to the first information report available with Thanal, on July 10, 2002, children arriving at the Kottathara upper primary school complained of an unbearable stench, obviously from the banana fields where workers were busy applying a mixture of fertiliser and pesticide (Phorate 10%) to the soil before planting the banana rhizomes. As the day progressed, and aided by the breeze, the smell became worse and the children started complaining of severe headache and dizziness. Meanwhile, efforts by the school authorities to stop the workers from continuing using more pesticide were met with a firm refusal. The situation soon began to get out of hand as children began fainting; gram panchayat officials were contacted for jeeps to help carry the students to hospital. On July 17, the children were back in hospital with similar complaints. Doctors confirmed that the symptoms were of acute toxic exposure. As per a study published in Economic & Political Weekly, December 2004, based on field investigations in high pesticide consumption districts in four states of India, phorate was implicated in creating adverse health effects amongst respondents. Ch. Srinivas Rao et al reported in the Journal of Tropical Medicine & International Health [Vol. 10, No. 6, June 2005] about acute pesticide poisoning in South India [3] . In this paper, the authors report that Warangal district in Andhra Pradesh alone records more than 1000 pesticide poisoning cases each year and hundreds of deaths. They report that in the district government hospital, between 1997 and 2002, 8040 patients were admitted to the hospital with pesticide poisoning. In 2002, there were 21 cases of poisonings due to phorate, including 4 deaths. About Class I pesticides in India It is estimated that 2 to 5 million people every year suffer acute poisonings all over the world and that around 40,000 people die. These are very conservative estimates and these poisonings occur mostly in the developing world, caused mainly due to OP pesticides. Many of these are Class IA and Class IB pesticides. In India, despite the fact that FAO has recommended the non-usage of Class IA and IB pesticides, a number of these products continue to be used. It is only from July 1 st 2006 , after many long years of activist struggles with the company that Bayer, a market leader in pesticides in India , had stopped marketing many of its deadliest pesticides including its Class I products. In earlier studies done by groups like Centre for Sustainable Agriculture, Hyderabad , many such products were implicated in acute poisoning hospitalizations and deaths [4]. It is also interesting to note that even though the Central Insecticides Board is currently reviewing several pesticides that have been banned in other countries for their continued use in India, several deadly pesticides like Phorate, Edifenphos, Oxydemeton-Methyl, Methyl Parathion etc., are not amongst them! Given the wide extent of acute poisoning with pesticides, not to mention the many long term impacts and the related socio-economic problems, we strongly demand the following: To the Punjab government: - Immediately ban aggressive marketing of pesticides and all types of agro-chemicals including all forms of advertisements and publicity of pesticides along with all incentives given to pesticide dealers' network with the express acknowledgement that these products are essentially poisons. - Punjab Government should take up a proactive campaign on ill effects of pesticides - raise awareness about the dangers through well-financed education campaigns and ensure the dissemination of information on ill effects of pesticides to all users - acknowledge the threat and that the problem of serious health effects with pesticides exists - assess the extent of the problem with various adverse health effects of pesticides - fix liability and get compensation to be paid for medical care and economic rehabilitation for all victims – get the industry to pay up; if not, the government to pay To the Union of India: - ban all class I a, I b and II pesticides immediately - modify pesticide risk assessment procedures – bring in the precautionary principle - promote better and safer agricultural practices including NPM approach and organic farming - curb aggressive marketing by pesticide industry To the health sector: - train and equip health sector staff and infrastructure to identify and deal with such cases - set up systems for regular and proper monitoring - Government should fill posts of District Epidemiologist in all districts on priority basis. - Citizens' committees on epidemiological surveillance shall be formed under District Epidemiologists to ensure community participation in mitigation and crisis management process To the Industry: - pay compensation to all the persons affected - pro-actively withdraw all Class I and Class II products from the market - stop aggressive marketing To Punjab Agriculture University [PAU]: - Set aside a mple funding to ensure adequate education, research and extension on organic farming. Such research to be farmer-led and farmer-centric - Policy formulation should be such that they are evolved from the original experiences of organic farmers. PAU should draw from such experiences and not just research in agriculture research station campuses - Crops that are suitable to the local natural eco-systems should be promoted and research should be taken up on this basis -- Umendra Dutt Executive Director KHETI VIRASAT MISSION Street-5, Hardayal Nagar, JAITU-151202 District-Faridkot,Punjab Phones:01635-503415 09872682161 --------------------------------- [1] "Phorate Poisoning of Children and Women in Idukki district of Kerala", Thanal, Trivandrum, July 2001 [2] " Health surveillance and biological monitoring of pesticide formulators in India", S K Kashyap, Toxicol Lett. 1986 Oct;33(1-3):107-14 [3] "Pesticide poisoning in south India: opportunities for prevention and improved medical management", Ch Srinivas Rao et al, Tropical medicine & International health, Volume 10, No. 6, June 2005 [4] "Killing & Poisoning Pests or Human Beings? – acute poisoning of pesticide users through pesticide exposure/inhalation", Centre for Sustainable Agriculture & MARI, 2005 =========================================================== -- Kavitha Kuruganti Centre for Sustainable Agriculture 12-13-445, Street # 1, Tarnaka Secunderabad 500 017 Phone: +91-9393001550 "Our ideal is not the spirituality that withdraws from life but the conquest of life by the power of the spirit." - Aurobindo. --------------------------------- See the all-new, redesigned Yahoo.com. Check it out. ============================================================================== You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "BM_discussion" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] or visit http://groups.google.com/group/BM_discussion To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] To change the way you get mail from this group, visit: http://groups.google.com/group/BM_discussion/subscribe To report abuse, send email explaining the problem to [EMAIL PROTECTED] ============================================================================== Google Groups: http://groups.google.com
