campaign for questioning...

Citizen's campaign for accountability continues.
Starting on 2nd October, there have been four meetings,- 2 by Agni, one by Juhu Citizen's and one by Janhit Manch. There has been one succesful and visible protest demonstration by H-west ward Citizens trust. The movement now gathers momentum.
Also attaching the Hoarding at Marine Drive.
Next two events
1. Press conference by 'I love Mumbai' at Mumbai Patrkar Sangh at 4.30pm on Monday, 29 Oct. on Crawford Market

2. A meeting of friends and citizen has been organized on the subject of Crawford Market sale of FSI and pocketing of Rs.6000 cr of wealth of the city of Mumbai by few existing licensees with the connivance and support of some officials and possibly many corporators.
It is symbolic of the malaise that has been spreading like cancer. But thanks to a serious and studied initiative of people like Shailesh Gandhi there is a good chance that such scams can not only be exposed but can be stopped and the citizen teach politicians a practical lesson that they cant get away with such loot . This is possible if we follow the Satyagraha .
As a member of informed middle class citizen of Mumbai we appeal you to attend the meeting and have the concepts clarified and see what we all can do and go beyond casual criticism and take some practical step without requiring to get u onto the streets.
place : Hall of Makarand Society, Savarkar marg, Mahim
time 6.30 pm 1`st Nov thursday
pl come and bring ur likeminded friends and family members
Love shailesh.

All my emails are in Public Domain.

www.satyamevajayate.info

RTI WORKSHOP

Forum for Public Interest is organizing a free workshop on "Right toInformation Act" by Mr. Shailesh Gandhi on 25th Oct, 07 from1 pm to 6 pm at Nalanda- Lower Parel, S B Marg, Kamala Mills Compound.

Call: 20310400 for registration.

Love,
shailesh.

All my e-mails are in Public Domain.

www.satyamevajayate.info

crawford market bachao... bhrashtachar hatao

Please see if you can inform people about this and also come yourselves.
On 26th Bombay Catholic Sabha is organising a meeting, 7th march Mahiti Adhikar Manch,
Dr. Ajay Kothari-renowned ENT specialist of Khar,- is trying to organise the medical fraternity.
Let us all make our efforts. The cumulative effect may be tremendous:
Janhit Manch led by the redoubtable Shri Bhagwanji Rayani launches its first JAWABDYA on Vijayadashmi:
CRAWFORD MARKET BACHAO
BHRASHTACHAR HATAO
Rs . 1000 crores of public loss is at stake !
So, let's oppose this proposal for Mumbai's sake !
Crawford Market, the 138 year old heritage structure is virtually being donated.
Neither was a tender floated, nor were bids invited.
On 11-10-2007 , the BMC house passed this proposal by voice vote unanimously within a minute.
The developer would be spending Rs.105 crores and earning Rs.1050 CR.
That is 10 rupees profit for every one rupee spent !
The estimated return on investment is 1000% !
If this isn't corruption, what is?
This proposal is also in violation of the heritage norms.
The FSI of 4 will create a massive pressure on the crumbling infrastructure.
Public Meeting - Question your Corporator
Venue : Shri Vile Parle K.V.O. Seva Samaj, Amarsons Bhavan, 68, Misquitta Road, Opp.Railway Crossing, Vile Parle (East), Mumbai – 400 057
Day & Date : Sunday, 21st October, 2007
Time : 10 am to 11.30 am
Invitees : You all and the Corporators and MLAs.
Contact Person : Utsal Karani (93249-91030)

letter to gurudas kamat... jawabdya campaign

Am giving letter sent to Shri Gurudas Kamat below. Please write letters to various Corporators and political leaders, to save your 5000 rupees.
Next meeting by Janhit Manch at Vile Parle (e) on 21st; 10am to 11.30am.
Bombay Catholic Sabha meeting at Chembur on 26th evening.
Many other organizations are also gearing up. If you plan a meeting do share the information
shailesh gandhi
B2 Gokul Apartment, Near Asha Parekh Hospital,Poddar Road, Santacruz (W),Mumbai-400054 ,
Tel: 32903776, 9867327305 Email: shaileshgan@vsnl.com
16 October, 2007
To,
Shri Gurudas Kamat,
19, G.R.G.Road, Near Acharya Garden, Chembur, Mumbai 400071. Tel: 25212727
Sub.: Public loss of 1000 Crores on CRAWFORD MARKET ‘REDEVELOPMENT!
Dear Shri Kamat,
I write to you since i am perturbed by a decision of various political parties in the MCGM on 9/11. This is regarding the proposal for the ‘redevelopment’ of Crawford Market. It has been shown clearly by simple calculations that the present proposal deprives the Citizens of a huge loss of their money, without any logical reason being offered. We are sacrificing a very important part of our Heritage structures and skyline for which we are only caretakers for the future generation. However, even if we assume that some people do not value it, the financial implications of a Public loss of over 1000 crores are evident. I am giving the main implications of the proposal:
Area of Plot
22472
Sq.mts.
RTI info
Area with licencees
6206
Sq.mts.
RTI info
Proposed Building
65690
Sq.mts.
RTI info
MCGM gets
26495
Sq.mts.
RTI info
Developer and tenants get
39195
Sq.mts.
RTI info
Construction Cost
16000
Per Sq.mt.
Assumed
Sale Price of Property
350000
Per Sq. mt.
Assumed
Construction Cost to of building
105
Crores
Calculated
MCGM gets free of Construction
42.4
Crores.
Calculated
Developer and tenants get extra
32989
Sq.mts.
Calculated
Ie. Profit at Public cost by
1049.6
Crores.
Calculated
Note: 10.7 sq.ft.= 1 Sq.mtr.; Construction cost Rs. 16000 per sq. mtr. is equal to Rs. 1495 per sq.ft.
Sale price of Rs.350000 per sq.mtr. is equal to Rs. 32710 per sq.ft.
The data on the proposed construction and the sharing of area has been obtained by the undersigned under RTI. When this proposal is applied to the other 101 Municipal Markets the total loss to Public will be over 6000 crores. If MCGM gives the construction on contract, or decides on the developer by competitive bidding, it can earn over 6000 crores! Each Citizen including the poorest loses Rs.5000. Citizens had approached 95 Corporators individually during July, August 2007 to explain how this proposal was a huge loss to the Public. 86 Corporators across all parties, including over forty Corporators from your party had agreed that the proposal was in not Public interest. Congress MP Shri Milind Deora wote to Corporators of all parties to defeat this retrograde proposal. Yet, on 9/11 the Corporation has passed this proposal which will deprive each Citizen,-including the poorest suffering from hunger,- of Rs. 5000. Citizens have started a JAWABDYA abhiyan to ask Corporators the reasons for this treachery. Some of your Corporators at a meeting at Colaba stated that the proposal was bad and they had opposed it, but had to fall in line because of orders from their leader. On close questioning by Citizens, they said you were the leader. We request you to reconsider this and publicly assure us that your party would ask for the proposal to be scrapped. If there are any plausible reasons for allowing this proposal, please let the Public know. If we get no plausible reasons for stealing 5000 rupees of each of us, we will obviously conclude, it is because of GREED and CORRUPTION.
The only duty of elected representatives is to serve and safeguard the people. I am sure you will do your duty.
Yours truly,


shailesh gandhi

jaago

Yaha aapne suna hai
Yaha aapne padha hai
Bahut varshon se chalta aaya-
Yaha ek inquilab hai.

Thukrayie nahi ise-
Kahi thokar kha chuke.
Ab thokar nahi khani-
Isliye likh rahe.

Partantra me kaha tha-
Bharat chhodo, swadeshi apnaao.
Swatantra mein yehi kiya-
Bharat bhi chhoda, videshi bhi apnaaya.

Udhar mein jaakar swadeshi apnaaya!
Sanskritik mandal basaya,
Mandir-Masjid banvaya…
Par Bharat ke liye kacchu na kiya.

Udhar mein jakar unako dosh diya!
Mandir-Masjid-sanskritik mandal
Banavane ke liye-
Raaste par utar aaya!
Par Bharat ke liye kacchu na kiya.

Udhar mein jaakar-
Bharat ko doshi thaharaaya
Ki Bharatvaasio ki neenda
Swades ki taraf anguliyaa bhi uthayi-
Bhool hi gaye- chaar anguliya apni taraf hi uthi!

Khub piili pepsi-coke, khub piili bisleri-
Khub khaaya lays, khub khayi maagi.
Khub pahanaa nike, khub pahana levis-
Har din jaate hai mcd’s pizzahut
Har din hote hai barista.

Par- bhool gaye plaachimada- bhool gaye dahanu!
Bhool gaye nandigram- bhoolhi gaye singur!
Bhool gaye raigad- bhool bhi gaye pen!



Arrey jaago, jaago sonewaalo jaago-
Daur naya nahi hai, yaha daur purana hai.
Naye package mein daur purana-
Hamare saamne aaya hai.

Thukra do is package ko-
Apnaao naariyal nimbu paani.
Juhu beach ka gola, pune ka chivda.
Mathura ka petha, kolkata ka rossogulla.
Inhi ko apnaao bhai, inhi ko aapnaao.

Pukar rahi hai yaha mitti-
Ab vakt aaya hai.
Karz hampar hai mitti ka-
Ada karna hi farz hai.

Yaha Bharat ki jaroorat hai-
Yehi samaj ki maang hai.
Hum tum yahi par rahe-
Aur desh ke liye-
Kacchu to Karen.

Jaago…

-- Sachidananda.
(Eternal Happiness)

Tribal Insctincts Feature In TOI 13 Oct 2007

BOLLYWOOD & BHAGWAD GITA

Priyanko Sarkar meets youngbloods itching to change the world—but who aren’t quite sure how

There were three bodies on the tracks. A shapeless form in a burqa and two others. The burqa was still, the smaller bodies breathing raggedly. Abhijit Alka Anil, who happened to be at Bhandup station on that November morning in 2005, was among the hundreds watching in silence. The railways’ stained stretchers arrived but there weren’t enough porters. Abhijit stepped forward to help and hurried to the nearby hospital hoping the children at least would be saved. It wasn’t a heavy load—the baby was nine months old, the girl three years. One died on the way, the other in hospital. “The whole station was just watching but no one came forward,” he says.

Abhijit went home, related the story and learnt his first lesson. “I was yelled at for a whole week for getting mixed up in a police case,” he says. “Revolution begins at home. It’s only now, after three years of social service that my parents have begun to accept my decision.”

His decision was to choose social work as a career. “I was a hardcore capitalist till 2003. Then, my sociology professor introduced me to socialism and Che Guevera. Ever since, I have decided to be a social worker,” he says. His family reluctantly realised that this was no passing infatuation but something deeper. Abhijit enrolled for a Masters in social work at Nirmala Niketan, dropped his surname, and formed a group called Dnyeyam.

Dnyeyam, a name plucked from the Bhagwad Gita, was formed impulsively last year at a movie theatre in Mulund where Rang de Basanti was being screened. That’s where Abhijit met Umakant Nadkar, an old colleague. Suitably fired by the film’s rousing call to arms, the two boys discussed the movie, the rotten system, politics, and other things. Before leaving, they had decided to form a group. “The word Dnyeyam, from Chapter 13 of the Gita, means ‘object of knowledge’,” says Abhijit. “But
we have tweaked it and for us it means ‘know yourself’—all knowledge must begin within us.”

Over time, through a network of common friends, the group grew to 21 members. But once the RDB fever had evaporated, the number shrank to 12. Some members are from Pune and Aurangabad and correspond over the phone and on email. The group meets every Sunday for marathon five-hour-plus sessions, when they discuss ways in which to shake the youth out of their consumerist stupor—youth, who, according to them, are getting too American in their thinking and living.

Abhijit, now 23, is fond of quoting from Thomas Friedman’s best-selling book, The World is Flat. The NYT columnist, he says, came to Bangalore looking for Indians and found only Americans. “We aren’t against boozing or one-night stands. We just want the youth to realise that there is an India out there which needs help,” he says. The group is disgusted with the ways of their peers— “educated youth who spit on the road and litter. All they want is money, even their parents take a back seat”.

To go beyond jaw-jaw, the Dnyeyams decided to tell people about the new civil weapon, the Right to Information Act. But they soon found it wasn’t that simple. They were short on manpower and funds—even to register the group would cost them Rs 10,000. After much breast-beating, it was decided to start small. New members were admitted on a fee of Rs 150 — “about the cost of five cigarette packets” and each member was expected to skim at least Rs 50 from their pocket money and put it into the Dnyeyam piggy bank. On the strength of this touching but terribly limited fund, two RTI lectures were held at Bhandup and Thane. They also collected 1713 signatures on the Khairlanji dalit killing and forwarded the list to the President. The workshops had guest lecturers like RTI crusader Shailesh Gandhi and writers like Pradeep Deshpande and Sulabha Brahme, who taught the group an invaluable lesson: you need patience to tackle bureaucratic sloth and you need to know an issue inside-out before you decide to march on it.

The group has three agendas: women’s empowerment, reforms in education and rights awareness. “We also want to promote the spirit of nationalism,” says Namrata Salunkhe. In order not to sound like a bunch of bores, they have coined some catchy one-liners. “The attitude of our group is: Try me rather than why me,” says Nikhil Kasarpalkar, a genetics research student. Chimes in Umakant Nadkar: “Join us. We need no education, just dedication.” Shamika Chavhan, the youngest member, declares that the problem is that “80% of the youth don't care about anything apart from their jobs and the remaining 20% have no clue about how to help even if they want to”.

Perhaps they could dial Dnyeyam.

ADMISSIONS OPEN

Anyone can join

The membership fee is Rs 150 and Rs 50 per month thereafter

To join email dnyeyam@gmail.com or visit www.dnyeyam.blogspot.com

public meet... JAWABDYA

On Saturday, 6 October, Agni alongwith 9 other organizations had called a JAWABDYA public meeting at SMPS school at night. Agni coordinator Mr. Laxmidas Thakker who is a very prominent social worker of Mulund, and treated with great respect by Citizens and politicians was the main moving spirit for the meeting. He told the audience that he had personally written and talked to the eighteen Corpororators of Mulund-Bhandup to invite them to come to the meeting to meet Citizens on the Crawford market issue. Though about six had indicated that they would come, only Shri Mhaske,- of BJP,- had come. The other Corporator present was Shri Mohsin Haider of SP, from Andheri. This shows that Corporators who come for our votes, are unable to even come face to face with Citizens.

Former Commissioner Shri Sukhthankar presided and Mr. Gerson Da’cunha was also present to guide the meeting. Shri Mhaske first declared that he accepted that the decision was bad. He said he had to follow the orders of his party leaders. He accepted that Corruption was the reason for this proposal being passed. As Citizens questioned closely, he promised to write to his party leaders to ask for any rational explanation.

He agreed that he was embarrassed by the close questions being asked by Citizens about his conduct.

Shri Mohsin Haider disarmed the audience by thanking them for not tearing his clothes for the treachery in which the Corporators were all involved. He admitted that his party had wrongly supported this proposal and said he was publicly apologizing for it. He said that as atonement.for its mistake the SP had asked for the proposal to be reopened. He stated that the proposal could be reconsidered by the Corporation after three months. If adequate Public pressure was brought, it could force a change in the decision. He also suggested that since under Section 520(b), the CM had the power to overrule any decision of the Corporation which leads to loss of Public money, Citizens should write to the CM asking him to invoke his powers. Shri Haider said it was necessary for Citizens to defend their money and interests, otherwise the Corporators would continue with their Corrupt actions.

Mr. Sukhthankar,-former Chief Secretary and Municipal Commissioner,- also exhorted the audience to become vigilant for their interests and ensure that the Corporators are individually held accountable. He expressed surprise and dismay at the blatant corruption which this episode had displayed.

Many more meetings are being planned by Bombay Catholic Sabha, PCGT, Agni,

H-west ward, Mahiti Adhikar Manch, Janhit Manch and many other organizations.

A true Citizen’s movement is beginning to stir. It will exercise for the Sovereignty of the Citizen and enforce the accountability of their elected representatives.

shailesh gandhi

7 October, 2007.