Interventions: HUMAN RIGHTS
Deprecated: Array and string offset access syntax with curly braces is deprecated in /home/pairvior/public_html/Oldsite/current/core/core.php on line 1318
Deprecated: Array and string offset access syntax with curly braces is deprecated in /home/pairvior/public_html/Oldsite/current/core/core.php on line 1350
Fact Finding on the Custodial Torture, Death and Unprovoked Police Firing in Singrauli, Madhya Pradesh
PAIRVI received phone calls from residents of PO Wadhani, distt. Singrauli asking for fact finding in the alleged atrocities committed by police and custodial torture resulting in death of a young man named Akhilesh Kumar Shah (age-27 years), custodial torture and illegal confinement of Mr. Sanjay Kumar Shah (age-24 years), and death of Mr. Naqeeb Ahmad Siddiqi (age-22 years) in unprovoked police firing. It was also demanded that Superintendent of Police, Mr. Jeydevan A and Station House Officer Mr. R S Rajput, who conducted torture should be charged with murder of Mr. Akhilesh Kumar Shah and custodial torture of Mr. Sanjay Kumar Shah. Media reports also suggested police atrocity and torture resulting in deaths of said victims. An independent civil society fact finding committee was constituted by many civil society organizations concerned over the events that took place at Singrauli. The Committee was headed by Justice (Retd.) P C Jain and composed of Soumya Dutta, National Convenor, Bharat Jan Vigyan Jathha, Sanjeev Kumar, Delhi Forum, Ajita George, Johar, Jharkhand, and Ajay Jha, PAIRVI, Delhi.
Assessment of Malnutrition Treatment Centres in Jharkhand and State Consultation
31st October 2013
Eight MTCS were visited in five districts of Ranchi to collect information against the indicators in the framework. These MTCs were located at Doranda (Ranchi), Mandar (Ranchi), Khunti (Sadar), Gola (Ramgarh),Gumla (Sadar), Reidh (Gumla), Bhandra (Lohardaga) ,Kuru (Lohardaga). The assessment was done in collaboration with CINI, world vision, right to food campaign, Ekjut, BPNI, PHRN, SCPCR and Vikas Bharati. The MTCs were assessed on the bases, which included location and infrastructure, human resources and training, and process and protocols. The recommendations include increasing accessibility and coverage, institution based facility should be supplemented with community based preventive management, addressing the institutional differences between ICDS and NRHM guidelines, improving compliance rate of follow up visits, increasing financial support for accompaniment etc. The State Consultation was organized on 31st October in collaboration with Viaks Bharti and CHILDLINE Nodal Ranchi (XISS). The State Consultation was attended by Chairperson, SCPCR, Director, MTCs, government of Jharkhand, former President India Medical Association, MOs of MTCs, Save the Children, world vision, representatives of relevant departments from Government of Jharkhand besides CSOs, academics, and media. The recommendations included policy demands, increased financial allocations, operational issues, facilities.
State Consultation in Rajasthan - 'A Call to End Malnutrition'
17th September 2013
The State Consultation was organized in collaboration with save the children, world vision, CECEOEDECON, IDS, Right to Food Campaign and ACF on 17th September, 2013. It was attended by Principal Secretary of the WCD, civil society organizations working on malnutrition, pediatricians, nutritionists, parents of beneficiary children, ASHA workers and MTC in-charges. It came out with a collective “Call to end Malnutrition.” The recommendations included harmonization of criteria for identification of SAM children, institutionalize follow up of discharged children, allocation of technical and trained staff, capacity building of mothers, creating child friendly atmosphere, and integrating institution based facilities with community based malnutrition management.
Fact Finding on the Death of Manual Scavengers
On Monday 15th July 2013, several newspapers in Delhi carried the incident of death of three manual scavengers in the Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts in delhi. While few of them said that the death was caused by obnoxious gases; some reported electrocution as the cause of deaths. Many of them neither established the cause of death nor the identity of the victims. None of the newspapers published any follow up story on subsequent days.
PAIRVI conducted a fact finding on 16th and 17th July 2013 to establish the identity of the victims, cause of death, turn of events and course of the occurrence and also the accountability for these deaths. It is mention worthy that Delhi was the first state to ban manual scavenging in 2012. The fact finding team came out with certain facts...
State Consultation - Renewing Social, Political and Legal Commitment Against Witch Hunting
6th October 2012
In view of the rising graph of witch hunting cases and atrocity on women, a collective of organizations lead by PAIRVI, Vikas Bharati, FLAC, AASHA, and Humanity organized a State Consultation at Ranchi on 6th October. More than 70 civil society organizations, Panchayat members, women, survivors of witch hunting, academic community and lawyers attended the Consultation. The Chief Guest of the function was Mrs. Vimla Pradhan, Hon’ble Minister of Social Welfare and Women and Child Development. The Consultation was also attended by Jusctice Narayan Roy, Chairperson of the State Human Rights Commission, Dr. Hemlata S Mohan, Chairperson of the State Women Commission, Prof. Ramesh Sharan (Ranchi University), Adv G S Jaiswal, Adv Rashmi Katyayana, Ms Ranjana (Member, State Child Rights Commission).
Workshop with Tongia Community
“Taungiya” is a colloquial word for plantation settlers, which was settled in forest villages by the forest department for maintaining forests during the late 1800 and early 1900. Majority of the taungiyas belong to Tharu and Buxa Tribes having come across the border of Nepal long back. However, later taungiya system was abolished and many of them were driven out of forests. More than 1 lakh taungiya settlers face unknown fate in Uttarakhand living mainly in the districts of Udhamsingh Nagar, Champavat, Hardwar, Dehradun and Pauri-garhwal. They become victim of wrath of forest department and revenue department and many of them suffered imprisonment on the charges of encroachment of forest lands. According to the forest officials, Taungiya system was abolished in 1980s, The Scheduled Tribes and other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 mandates the land rights to traditional forest dwellers including the Taungyas but the State Government has denied to recognize these forest-villagers as traditional forest dwellers and therefore rights available to them under the Act. Pairvi organized a fact finding on land rights of taungiyas and visited a number of forest villages in US Nagar, and Champavat, and met govt officials, NGOs.
Screening of 'Cotton for My Shroud'
12th March 2012
PAIRVI organized a screening of the Film “Cotton for my Shroud,” which was awarded the best investigative Film in the Indian Film Festival. The film depicts and plight of cotton growers of Vidarbha thousands of whom have committed suicide due to the failure of BT cotton seeds of Monsanto. The Minister of Agriculture, in a statement in the Parliament, has recently admitted that more 2,50,000 (quarter a million) farmers have committed suicide due to poverty and failure of crops in the last one and half decades.
State Consultation on Declining Child Sex Ratio
The consultation held at Udaipur, Rajasthan on 2nd September 2011 in association with Jatan Sansthan, Udaipur was an effort to learn from the experiences of the organizations/ groups/ individuals working to check progressive decline in child sex ratio, and to strategize possible advocacy interventions on the issue. It was attended by around 40 participants including civil society representatives, PCPNDT cell members and coordinators, DPM, Advocates, Generalists and Medical Doctors. The house was unanimous on the fact that implementation of PCPNDT Act has remained utterly disappointing and has made trivial contribution to the fight against declining child sex ratio. The need was also expressed to look beyond implementation of the Act and to address the socio-economic and cultural aspects of the problem. Major recommendation on this front was curriculum revamp at school and higher levels to make education more gender sensitive. Some of the major recommendations (evolved from the consultation) are as appended below:
- Alternate Report: Civil Society must publish a shadow report at district level giving a true account of the situation of girl child in the district.
- Lawyers Must be trained to litigate proactively using PCPNDT Act
- Alternate dialogue with Doctors community must be established. Since Doctors are very much aware of legal aspects of the Act, all that is needed to do is their moral sensitization.
Annual Conference of Association of Retired Judges of the SC and HC of India
In view of the critical role of judiciary in defining and ensuring implementation of the norms related to environment and environmental justice, the coalition also had a brief meeting with Retired Supreme Court and High Court Judges Association where five senior members and office bearers of the Association participated. The Association also adopted a resolution earlier asking the government of India to put a moratorium on GM Foods in the country.
Public Meeting of Manjha Artisans in Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh
23rd July 2010
Manjha artisans and traders had assembled in Bakarganj Karbala Maidan in Bareilly to jointly decide on a charter of demands on issues concerning the threats to their only source of livelihood- production and sale of indigenously made manjha. This was the last in a series of other meetings which were held with Manjha Workers in Moradabad and Rampur in the month of July. Around 30,000 families in Bareilly are engaged in the Manjha making trade for generations. These are mainly Muslim families who have no other recourse or option of livelihood – since Manjha making is the only skill they know. Pairvi along with Lokadhikar has initiated a process of collective formation for these artisans who have remained unorganized till now.
Human Rights
PAIRVI works with grassroots organization to protect human rights, promote internationally accepted standards of human rights and monitor human rights conditions. It works to strengthen peoples capacity to respond to human rights challenges and improve human rights infrastructure.