Interventions : Human Rights Monitoring and Advocacy : State/Regional Consultations

Meeting of the Indo-Nepal Group on Cross Border Trafficking

A meeting of Indo-Nepal group was organized on Women’s Progress Centre, a Nepali NGO working at Mahendra Nagar, Nepal on 30th March 2009. In the meeting it was decided to chart out an action plan to provide visibility to the issue and the group, build capacity of NGOs in using legal instruments and institutions, improve bilateral cooperation to curb trafficking and support safe migration etc. the probability of organizing a three day workshop on strategic planning was also explored. A number of organizations working in Indo-Nepal Border (at Uttaranchal) has requested Pairvi to help them in capacity building, advocacy at national, international and bilateral level and enhancing bilateral cooperation in curbing human trafficking and unsafe migration through the porous Indo-Nepal border. More than 25 organizations working on either side of Indo-Nepal Border participated in the Consultation.

State Consultation with Political Parties in Chhattisgarh

A one day meeting was organized by Pairvi with the major political parties in Raipur, Chhattisgarh on 2nd April 2009. The meeting was organized to bring real issues before the political parties and candidates in the fray and to take their commitments towards resolution of those issues. A number of concerns regarding RTI, NREGA, PDS and water insecurity were discussed with the political leaders. All the parties assured improved focus on these issues in future governance. The ruling party, BJP exhorted people to bring these issues to them, so their expedited resolution is possible. It committed to extend all support on these issues and lauded the role of the NGOs in bringing concerns of people in light.

Regional Consultation on Dalit Women and NREGA in Rajasthan

A regional consultation was organized in Chittorgarh District on 24th September 2009 on Dalit Women’s Participation in NREGA scheme. The main objective of the consultation was to monitor the effective working of NREGS in the region and to highlight the issues related to the discrimination that is being done towards Dalit women under this scheme. The consultation involved 35 Dalit women who have worked under the NREGA scheme in Chittorgarh District. Some of the major issues that came out during the consultation were low wages, discrimination to dalit women in providing access to food, drinking water and other facilities. Issues related to bank accounts, job cards and delayed payment of wages, lack of free space and crèches were also major areas of concern. Participants complained that separate dishes are used to serve them food and water. Some women also complained that they get work at least 5 kilometers away from their native village. They also complained that none of dalit women were made “meth” even when they met the set criteria. A statement of concerns from dalit women was handed over to the District Magistrate of the Chittorgarh after the meeting who assured to take appropriate measures.

State Consultation on Challenges in Agriculture and Food Security

A state level consultation with multiple stakeholders was organized on 23rd October 2009 at Patna in collaboration with Bihar Council for Scientific and Technical Education and was attended by more than 200 representatives from NGOs, academicians, civil servants, media and policy makers. Mr. Vyas, Principal Secretary, Disaster Management, Government of Bihar addressed the consultation and drew the attention of the participants towards ill impacts of climate change. Mr. C. P. Sinha, ex-member, Water Commission, shared his research on decrease in rainfall and increase in temperature in Darbhanga district in Bihar. Other speakers included Dr. Diwakar (Senior Scientist, India Rice Research Institute), Dr. Ajay Kumar (Prof. Rajendra Agricultural University, Pusa), Dr. B. K. Dutta (Director, Council for Scientific and Technical Education), Mr. Vijay Pratap Singh (Bihar Statistical Institute).

Multi-stakeholder Regional Consultation on Climate Change

The western region consultation was organized at Pune, Maharashtra on 27th October 2009 by the Collective members. The objective of the consultation was to create awareness amongst the civil society organizations regarding climate change and its impact over various spheres of life and also to sensitize the organizations on their role and responsibilities in this process. Around 30 representatives from 19 organizations from urban and rural Maharashtra participated in the Consultation.

Public Hearing on Agriculture and Climate Change: Voices from the Rain-fed Regions

A public hearing on the ‘impact of climate change in rain-fed areas’ was organized on 4th November, 2009 by Oxfam and its allies at B.S. Mehta Bhavan, HCM- RIPA, Jaipur. The event hosted by CECOEDECON and Pairvi was attended by representatives from 11 states of the rain fed areas of the country.
The objective of the public hearing was to include the voices of the agrarian and pastoral communities into the climate change debate in the national debate. Testimonies of the farming community from the rain-fed areas which stated the impacts of climate change on their livelihoods and their coping or adaptation mechanisms were presented in the public hearing. The testimonies would enable to generate demands from the government for appropriate actions/policies to support the people in adapting to the impending consequences of climate change. The public hearing for rain-fed areas was the last session after six public hearings organized by Oxfam India all over the country. The findings would provide inputs to the national public hearing which is on 11th November 2009.
About 400 people from 11 rain fed states in the country (UP, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Bihar, Uttarakhand, MP, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh) converged in Jaipur to discuss the impact of climatic change in their regions and their lives in the public hearing on climate change. The participants came from different streams like farmers, pastoralists, agricultural experts, scientists, and members of civil society. A jury of eminent citizens comprising Justice V. S. Dave, Justice Panachand Jain, Shri Rajendra Bhanawat (NREGA, Commissioner, Rajasthan), Shri Manhar Adil (Representative of Chhattisgarh Government, Dr. Suman Sahai (Gene campaign) and Ms. Sunita Satyarthi (Advocate and ex-member Women commission Rajasthan), Mr. Arun kumar ‘Panibaba’, and C. K. Ganguly conducted the public hearing.
The summary of the testimonies highlighted the shrinking of rainy and winter seasons and increasing of summer. Delay in the onset of monsoon, untimely rainfall, higher temperatures, dwindling forests and growing deserts. During the public hearing, deposing before the jury farmers from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar said for the last five years the precipitation and number of rainy days has come down significantly and disrupted the entire agricultural cycle in the region. Tribals and pastorals from Jharkhand and Gujarat said that due to the decrease of forest cover due to climate change their livelihood opportunities and income from forest produce has significantly reduced compelling them to migrate to nearby urban areas. NGOs from these states also attested to loss of number of species of plants, pests and insects.

To download complete report click here

Public Hearing on State Information Commission and RTI Act, 2005

A public hearing on the State information Commission was organized 7th November 2009 in Raipur, Chhattisgarh. The jury consisted of Mr. S.K. Tiwari, Retd. Justice, Kolkata High Court, Mr. Sushil Trivedi, Retd. Member, State Election Commission, Chhattisgarh, Mr. Hanumant Yadav, Professor, Hidayatulla National Law University & Ex. Member, State Planning Commission. And Mr. M. K. Sharma, Ex. Nodal Officer, Right to Information, Chhattisgarh Academy of Administration. Out of 39 cases compiled for the hearing, 14 cases were presented to the Jury, which conducted detailed discussions and examination of the complainants. The jury found that in most cases the order of the commission were not followed by the PIOs and on the basis of the comments of the jury, it was decided to share the report with the SIC of the state.

State Consultation on Girl Child Rights in Madhya Pradesh

A state level Consultation was organized on 13th November 2009 in Madhya Pradesh based on the assessment study with collaboration with MPSHRC on Child Marriage that was conducted in three Districts namely Gwalior, Bhind and Morena. A final report was released in the National Consultation and commitments from MPSHRC related to policy redesign and action strategies were taken to lower the magnitude and extent of child marriages in Madhya Pradesh. 

State Consultation on New Industrial Policy in Chhattisgarh

The State Consultation was organized on 22nd November 2009 at Raipur to review the Industrial Policy announced by the state government. The Industrial policy is highly weighed in the favour of big industries and has very little to offer for small and medium scale enterprises or for people in the state. The consultation was organized in view of large scale indignation over the policy in the civil society. Many prominent persons including Mr. Shailesh Nitin Trivedi, Political Secretary of Ex- CM of Chhattisgarh, Mr. Ramesh Varlyani, Economist, Mr. Veerendra Pandey, Ex. Chairman, State Finance Commission, Mr.Bhupesh Baghel, Ex. Revenue Minister, Chhattisgarh, and Mr. Shashank Sharma, Editor, People’s Watch, Media Group participated and spoke on their analysis of the New Industrial Policy. The Consultation decided to present the government with a more reasonable and balanced Industrial policy.