Medha Patkar interacts with students in Mangalore; lashes out at Govt for MSEZ, UPCL

Mangalore, March 6: Attempts to bring in Mangalore Special Economic Zone are in fact unjustifiable concessions being given by the government to loot natural resources which intends to give corporate players vulgar levels of profits, said Medha Patkar, renowned environment activist.

She was speaking at an interaction programme organized by Roshni Nilaya School of Social Work, Mangalore, on Tuesday.

Responding to questions from students and others in the gathering, Ms. Patkar threw light on the injustice being done to farmers and tribal people in the name of development and Special Economic Zones. “Uttara Kannada and Dakshina Kannada were districts with 80% of land under green cover. The ones behind Special Economic Zone are after this wealth. We challenge the Act (SEZ Act) itself. The ones who are ruling us today are worse than British administrators. The whites said no acquisition of land would be made for private purposes and only government projects would be considered. But today's rulers have gone to the extent of changing the very definition of public purpose, stating that even private players also serve the society in terms of public good. Due to protests and oppositions, many SEZs have stopped in quite a few places. It's good that in every place, people are waging a war against it”, she said.

Ms. Patkar asserted that she and her group are not against development. “What is needed is the right kind of planning through right kind of democratic process. We say no to unjust, wrong, and unconstitutional methods of development. Base the future development planning on the directive principles of the constitution. We demand that contents of Article 243 of the constitution be part of law in India. An answer to the question as to who needs to be given preference needs to be sought. Who has the natural resources - the Ambanis or the farmers? Who contributes more to public good? This 'hisaab' needs to be settled”, she said.

Inviting students, social activists and others in the gathering to the upcoming national 'People's Parliament' to be held from March 18 to 23 in New Delhi, Ms. Patkar said, an attempt to seek answers on development and handling natural resources would be sought on the occasion. “We want to raise key issues such as inequity, value for produce that comes from agriculture, fishing etc as against value for produce that comes from machines, labour charges and remuneration of rural folk, farmers and tribals etc. and many other issues in this meet”.

'Ameeri Rekha'

The nation has discussed 'Gareebi Rekha' (poverty line) enough, Ms. Patkar said, stating that there is a need to implement an 'Ameeri Rekha' (line of richness) to minimize social imbalance.

“Let there be a line of richness, an extent to which the rich can amass wealth. If they cross that limit and amass more wealth, let it be considered as public money in their control and tax it heavily. If this system is implemented, the rest of India can become tax free. The state exchequer will get 10 times more money in the form of taxes from these rich people, than what it is accumulating today,” she said.

UPCL plant just a business

Expressing her views on the Udupi Power Corporation Limited's (UPCL) thermal power plant project which has been a key issue in the region for quite some time now, Ms. Patkar said that although people argue that we need power and there are load shedding problems and every citizen has a 'right to energy', projects like UPCL thermal power plant are mere business endeavours to mint money and there is no real planning in terms of fulfilling the power needs of the region.

“The government's concerned authority in its energy policy has set a target of generating 8 lakh MW of power by 2032. Out of this 8 lakh MW of power 60% is to be generated via thermal power plants. Currently, 1, 60,000 MW of power has been generated. But going by the trends they are following, they will end up generating 6 lakh MW of power by 2032. This is not planning. This is business and financial exchange of resources”, she said.

Fight to save Narmada on

The 'Narmada Bachao' movement, for which Ms. Patkar is known for, is still on, she said. “The adivasis are still fighting the battle. In one part of Madhya Pradesh, tribals have been on a satyagraha for the past 100 days wherein they have occupied government land and even carried out cultivation on it. The government isn't daring to arrest us for doing it since it had a bitter experience when it arrested us for carrying out a similar Satyagraha in the past. The farmers in Gujarat are not willing to give their lands for government's canals as they have irrigated those lands with alternate methods. Chief Minister Narendra Modi attended a question answer session of ours at Indore and couldn't utter a word. In other places, the government tried to make tribals and farmers toe its line by doling out money to show that they have purchased the land. But our farmers were investigative and we found out that the government was maintaining fake registries, fake documents containing fake names and fake photographs. The Supreme Court has said that without rehabilitation and addressing environmental issues no construction work of dam should take place. But the government is trying to push it and we are trying to stop it”, she revealed.

Youth must step up

Ms. Patkar on the occasion advised students of social work and other youth to take part in social movements and help in eradicating the social imbalance.

“Our Narmada Bachao movement has now been strengthened by a 'Narmada Yuva Dal' unit. Students and youth must step up and contribute. If students decide that they would dedicate one year after their courses before taking up a job for a social movement, any movement for that matter, it can make a lot of difference”, Ms. Patkar opined.

She invited students in the gathering to take part as volunteers in the 'People's Parliament' in New Delhi as well.