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Modi - Naidu Must Answer, Whose And At What Cost AP Capital City Being Built?

By NAPM

19 October, 2015
Countercurrents.org

Hyderabad | 19th October, 2015: Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Chandrababu Naidu, the CM of Andhra Pradesh are to inaugurate the capital city on 22nd of October, spending Rs. 300 crores. At whose cost and what cost, this endeavor is pushed and still being imposed, is a big question. The capital is a game of the capitalists, including real estate developers who are in nexus with the politicians.  It being at the cost of the best of agriculture and horticulture which would bring in severe destruction of livelihood and contribute to food insecurity. 

The Government of Andhra Pradesh decided to establish a green field capital city between Vijayawada and Guntur cities, in a 122 sq kilometre area by acquiring prime agricultural land on the bank of river Krishna. The Government has also planned to develop the capital region in a 7068 sq. kilometres area. The capital city is promised and claimed to be developed as a liveable, environmentally sustainable and people's capital. 

The core capital region alone will displace around 90,000 marginal farmers, lease holders, agricultural workers, fisher people and other unorganised labour classes. The latter compose 80% of the population in the area. While the land lords will be getting residential plots, a commercial plot and yearly compensation for every acre surrendered, the landless will be left with a paltry Rs. 2500/- per month as ‘Pension'. Our enquiries have shown that a large number of landless families have not been included in the enumeration of affected families. Tenements in large numbers  have lost their means of livelihood. Their children are dropping out of colleges because their parents can no more afford to pay for their education. 

If Amaravati is to be a People's Capital as the Government claims it to be, then everyone, especially the unorganised working classes should have a right to the City as well as development both. They have a right to land, housing and other resources just like the landlords so that they are able to live with dignity and earn their livelihood in the new capital. 

The paltry Rs.2500/- as Pension promised for the landless working classes will make them ‘beggars'. We demand that the land less working class families who are threatened to be deprived of their livelihood are paid Rs. 15000/- per month for the next ten years, with an annual increment of 10 per cent. Every family unit of the landless affected by the new capital must be included for such compensation with the government taking adequate care so that no one is excluded from such benefit. 

NAPM questions this paradigm of development, Modi-Naidu model of urbanisation and undemocratic, unsustainable development planning. We will support the farmers and labourers who are refusing to give land and those who are deprived and destitute citizens. 

NAPM concluded its three day Chintan Baithak at Hyderabad attended by its National Conveners and Senior Activists from 15 States. The meeting expressed deep concerns at the ongoing situation in the country and formulated a number of programmes in coming months and passed the following resolutions. 

November 19 – 20 : Bhumi Adhikaar Andolan Coordination Committee Meeting, New Delhi

December 6 – 7 : National Convention and Public Hearing on Communal Violence and Religious Fundamentalism 

January 10, 2016 : Samajwadi Samagam National Committee Meeting, Delhi

January 11 : Conference on “Land Rights, Community Control of Natural Resources and Development”, Chhindwara, Madhya Pradesh

Resolution Supporting Dissenting Writers and Performers

National Alliance of People's Movements [NAPM] salutes the resilient spirit of all the writers and performers who returned the national awards, protesting against the shrinking space for difference of opinion, dissent which is happening on a daily basis directly through the different groups associated with those in power. It is also a statement to the institutions created, which were created to perform functions responding to the conscience to society.  NAPM reiterates the demands that the government must reassure the community of writers and artists that its ministers are tolerant of diverse views. Also, it must ensure that the investigations into the murders of M M Kalburgi, Narendra Dabholkar and Govind Pansare are conducted fairly and expediently and their killers are brought to justice.

We express our discontent in the strongest words especially about the inadequate response by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as well as the irresponsible statements made by the other Ministers in the Cabinet ridiculing the protests against this inaction from various quarters.  In a diverse country, imposition of irrational beliefs of vested interests in a dominant community on individuals and communities is definitely against the spirit of the values and the freedom enshrined in the Constitution. The State is obliged to ensure the spirit and the values guaranteed by the Constitution in the day-to-day lives of the people rather than subverting the spirit of the Constitution itself by violating the basic freedom of communities daily.

This is a timely reminder by the fraternity once again standing upto the power stating ‘What right do you have to remain silent'? 

Medha Patkar - Narmada Bachao Andolan and the National Alliance of People's Movements (NAPM); Prafulla Samantara - Lok Shakti Abhiyan & Lingraj Azad – Niyamgiri Suraksha Samiti, NAPM, Odisha; Dr. Sunilam, Aradhna Bhargava - Kisan Sangharsh Samiti & Meera – Narmada Bachao Andolan, NAPM, MP; Suniti SR, Suhas Kolhekar, Prasad Bagwe - NAPM, Maharashtra; Gabriel Dietrich, Geetha Ramakrishnan – Unorganised Sector Workers Federation, NAPM, TN; C R Neelkandan – NAPM Kerala; P Chennaiah & Ramakrishnan Raju – NAPM Andhra Pradesh, Arundhati Dhuru, Richa Singh - NAPM, UP; Sister Celia - Domestic Workers Union & Rukmini V P, Garment Labour Union, NAPM, Karnataka; Vimal Bhai - Matu Jan sangathan & Jabar Singh, NAPM, Uttarakhand; Anand Mazgaonkar, Krishnakant - Paryavaran Suraksh Samiti, NAPM Gujarat; Kamayani Swami, Ashish Ranjan – Jan Jagran Shakti Sangathan & Mahendra Yadav – Kosi Navnirman Manch, NAPM Bihar; Faisal Khan, Khudai Khidmatgar, & J S Walia, NAPM Haryana; Kailash Meena, NAPM Rajasthan; Amitava Mitra & Sujato Bhadra, NAPM West Bengal; B S Rawat – Jan Sangharsh Vahini & Rajendra Ravi, Madhuresh Kumar and Shabnam Shaikh – NAPM, Delhi, Brother Varghese, Hyderabad and Subhash Lomate, Jai Kisan Andolan 

 For details contact : Madhuresh Kumar 9818905316 | email : [email protected]  

 


 




 

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