Tuesday 24 July 2018

भविष्य का कृषि संकट कार्पोरेट खेती / कार्पोरेट जमींदारी विवेकानंद माथने


भविष्य का कृषि संकट 
कार्पोरेट खेती / कार्पोरेट जमींदारी
                                                                 विवेकानंद माथने 

23/07/2018

 

शायद भारत अब किसानोंका देश नही कहलायेगा। यहां खेती तो की जायेगी लेकिन किसानों के द्वारा नही, खेती करनेवाले कार्पोरेट्स होंगे, कार्पोरेट किसान। पारिवारिक खेती की जगह कार्पोरेट खेती। आज के अन्नदाता किसानों की हैसियत उन बंधुआ मजदूरों या गुलामों की होगी, जो अपनी भूख मिटाने के लिये कार्पोरेट्स के आदेश पर काम करेंगे। उनके लिये किसानों की समस्याओं का समाधान किसानों के अस्तित्व को ही मिटाना है। इस समय देश में खेती और किसानों के लिये जो नीतियां और योजनायें लागू की जा रही है उसके पीछे यही सोच है। किसानों को खेती से बाहर करने की योजना उन्होने बना ली है। अगर किसान अपने अस्तित्व का यह अंतिम संग्राम नही लढ पाया तो उसकी हस्ती हमेशा के लिये मिटा दी जायेगी। उनके लिये न रहेगा बांस, न बजेगी बांसुरी।   
उन्होंने पहले ही साजिश पूर्वक देशकी ग्रामीण उद्योग व्यवस्था तोड दी और गांवोके सारे उद्योग बंद कर दिये। जैसी की उनकी नीति रही है, स्थानीय उत्पादक विरुद्ध ग्राहकों के हितोंको एक दूसरे के विरुद्ध खडा किया गया। स्थानीय उद्योगों में उत्पादित वस्तुओं को घटिया व महंगा और कंपनी उत्पादन को सस्ता व क्वालिटी उत्पादन के रुपमें प्रचारित कर यहां के दुकानों को कंपनी उत्पादनों से भर दिया गया। स्थानीय उत्पादन की जगह कार्पोरेट उत्पादन को प्रमोट करने में यहां के व्यापारियों ने भी कोई कसर नही छोडी। कार्पोरेट उत्पादनों को ग्राहकों तक पहुंचाने के लिये व्यापारियों का इस्तेमाल कर कार्पोरेट्स ने माल बेचने के लिये खुद की व्यवस्था बना ली है। अब उन्हे दुकानदारों और व्यापारियों की आवश्यकता नही है। छोटे मोटे व्यापारियोंने अपने व्यापार और देशी उद्योगों के पैरों पर खुद कुल्हाडी मारकर उसे कार्पोरेट के हवाले कर दिया है।
जो तस्वीर उभरकर आ रही है वह अत्यंत भयावह है। दुनिया में खेती का कार्पोरेटीकरण किया जा रहा है। अब उद्योग, व्यापार और खेती सब कुछ कार्पोरेट्स करेंगे। वह इन सभी पर एक के बाद एक अपना कब्जा करते जा रहे है। प्राकृतिक संसाधन, उद्योग और व्यापार पर तो उन्होंने पहले ही कब्जा कर लिया। अब देश के खेती और किसानों की बारी है। जो पहले ही गुलामों की जिंदगी जी रहे है, कार्पोरेट्स उनका अस्तित्व ही मिटाना चाहते है। वह खेती पर कब्जा करना चाहते है ताकि कार्पोरेट उद्योगों के लिये कच्चा माल और दुनिया में व्यापार के लिये जरुरी उत्पादन अपनी सुविधाओं और नीतिओं के अनुसार कर सके। कार्पोरेट खेती के लिये तर्क गढा गया है कि पूंजी की कमी, छोटे जोतो में खेती अलाभप्रद होना, यांत्रिक और तकनीकी खेती करने में अक्षमता के कारण पारिवारिक खेती करनेवाले किसान खेती का उत्पादन बढाने के लिये में सक्षम नही है। 
FOR MORE Please Click Here (pdf) भविष्य का कृषि संकट – कार्पोरेट जमींदारी- विवेकानंद माथने (23/07/2018)
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Monday 23 July 2018

Introducing the whole new world of Ancient Indian Stepwells

Introducing the whole new world of Ancient Indian Stepwells.

Stepwell Number 1 – Agrasen Ki Baoli

Location – Kasturba Gandhi Marg, Hailey Lane, New Delhi, INDIA
Age – 1132 AD
Built by – Aggarwal Communities of 12 century Delhi

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Monday 16 July 2018

Shepherd from Karnataka builds 14 ponds on barren hill, turns his village green

Eighty-two-year-old shepherd Kamegowda may be illiterate, but he has been able to do what most so-called educated and environmentally conscious persons only wish they had done. 
Published: 15th July 2018 05:05 AM

DASANADODDI (MALAVALLI TALUK): Eighty-two-year-old shepherd Kamegowda may be illiterate, but he has been able to do what most so-called educated and environmentally conscious persons only wish they had done. He is credited with greening an entire hillside at Daasanadoddi village in Malavalli taluk of Mandya district, an effort that took him four decades and culminated in 14 ponds being developed and maintained by him. These ponds are filled with water all year round — even during the scorching summers.
It was about 40 years ago when he realised that the almost barren Kundinibetta hill next to his village had sparse shrubs with almost no greenery. While taking his flock of sheep grazing on the hillside, he saw animals and birds stressed from lack of a watering holes on the hill. Whatever water the hill received through rain, only flowed down its slopes. It hardly retained any water and what little remained either evaporated or got absorbed into the ground.  
That’s when this 2017 Basavashri awardee hit upon an idea: Why not develop a pond to provide animals and birds a watering hole? It started from there, although he doesn’t remember the precise date, but estimates that, so far, he has spent nothing less than Rs 10-15 lakh in designing, developing and maintaining the 14 ponds, some named after his grandchildren. Almost all the money is from various awards he has won throughout his life.
When The New Indian Express visited his haven — a half-complete house on a two-acre land — the hill presented itself in lush green attire, thanks to the 14 ponds, linked by a waterway that ensures when the upper ponds on the hill are filled, the surplus water flows into the ponds below.
Kamegowda underwent an eye operation a couple of weeks ago, and the doctors have advised him not to step out for fear of contracting an infection. But this is what he has to say: “I close my eyes and come out; I know every inch here. If a drunkard is advised not to drink, will he stop drinking? I too have an addiction. 
The trigger
The idea to design, develop and maintain hillside ponds was triggered by observing animals and birds struggling on the Kundinibetta hill due to lack of water. Today, he has built 14 fairly large ponds on the hill, turning it into a green abode.
Green deeds earn him ‘Madman’ tag
So passionate and addicted to looking after his 14 ponds is this 82-year-old Kamegowda of Daasanadoddi in Malavalli Taluk of Mandya district that people in his village and his relatives started calling him a “madman”. For the last 40 years, almost everyday between 5 am and 9 am, he has dug ponds, and grazed sheep from 9 am to 7 pm. “Sometimes, I used to go to the hillock to dig a pond during night with lamp or also on a full moon day,’’ he tells TNIE when the reporter visited his home on Friday.
Meanwhile, the villagers called him “madman”. But that did not deter his spirit, which saw a barren hillside of Kundinibetta near his village turn into lush green slopes. His eccentric ways saw many of his relatives break off from him.  “After I started digging ponds and spending all my savings on them, I started losing my relatives. But the trees, ponds, birds and animals became my relatives. Some made fun of me ...  some opposed me for using government land. But I did not stop. I can challenge anyone! Wherever I take up 5-6 ft of digging, there will be water which will not dry up … even during summers.” 
It all started 40 years ago. To begin with, he sold a couple of his sheep and purchased a shovel, spade, pickaxe, and other tools to dig a pond so that animals and birds easily got water to survive. He started digging the land and the first one was done at Daasanadoddi, taking more than six months. Later, with his little savings, he hired workers who helped him to dig other ponds. All his 14 ponds are interlinked.
“Once the pond at the top is filled, water flows to the next pond located at a lower altitude,” Kamegowda, who has never gone to school says with pride. Kamegowda also tests soil quality before taking up digging.
He has made narrow pathways to reach each of these ponds. There are rocks in between,  which host Kamegowda’s painted quotes on nature, blended with philosophy. He visits all the 14 ponds daily. “Do you eat only one day and starve the entire year? I cannot dig a pond a day and ignore them the rest of the year,” he adds.
He has given his grandchildren’s name to these ponds. He even brought grass from outside to grow them on the hillock, so that soil moisture remains and trees remain green. Kamegowda has never taken a loan.“I have spent more than `10 to 15 lakh for the ponds, mainly cash from Basavashree and other awards where they gave me cash. I spent this money only on maintaining the ponds. I have two acres of land ... if I did not spend money on ponds, I would have made a few more acres and a better house,” he says.
This octogenarian, who is addicted to constructing and maintaining hillside ponds, only has two acres of land for his children, but 14 ponds that have helped the flora and fauna and the people of his village, 15 km from Malavalli taluk of Mandya district.The Kundinibetta — which has now become Kundurubetta — is a small hillock located in the village and a part of the hill is in the neighbouring Panathalli village. Of the 14 ponds, nine are in his village while five are in Panathalli.
“If I give my children, grandchildren money, it will be spent and they’ll become bankrupt. Instead, if I give them these ponds that has water throughout the year, they will be the richest,’’ says Kamegowda, who resides in a small incomplete house.“When some people give me cash for my personal use, I will say yes, and like a drunkard who spends all that money on liquor, I spend the money on the ponds. It is an addiction!’’ he says.
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Thursday 1 February 2018

Ancient Mauryan technology brings water, hope to dry Magadh in Bihar

(Cyber stirring on Water Management Systems of South Bihar)

Ancient Mauryan technology brings water, hope to dry Magadh in Bihar


Inspired by a college professor, villagers in the south-central part of Bihar donated money, built traditional channels and embankments to irrigate fields and ease farm woes.

A check dam built by villagers along with Maghadh Jal Jamaat near Sijuaghati in Imamganj-Dumaria area

Ancient Mauryan engineering has brought water back to the undulating and rocky terrain of Magadh, the grain bowl of Bihar that had turned almost entirely arid because of abortive modern irrigation policies.
The Magadh region, comprising 10 districts in south-central Bihar, was reeling from its worst water crisis over a decade ago, forcing farmers to board trains to distant cities such as New Delhi and Chandigarh and work there as migrant labourers.
Rainfall was scant, people had long abandoned traditional reservoirs that caught and stored rainwater run-off, the water table in aquifers had depleted from overuse, and modern irrigation canals covered only a small area.
Gaya itself was a modern nightmare as most of its ponds overflowed with garbage. The water table had dipped below 200 feet, and taps and tube wells had gone dry. The water crisis was so acute that people sold their houses in posh localities at throwaway prices. The government promised to build a 100km canal from the Ganga, but the project failed.
The crisis looked irreversible but Rabindra Pathak, who taught Pali and Sanskrit at a college in Arwal, was certain that the answer lay in the long-forgotten and crumbling aqueducts and water reservoirs that irrigated the fields and fed ancient India’s most glorious empire.
He pored through old books and scriptures, and found that reviving the dilapidated network of pynes and ahars was the lone solution.
Pynes are channels carrying water from rivers. Ahars are low-lying fields with embankments that act as water reservoirs. This combined irrigation and water conservation system dates back to the Mauryan era that flourished in Magadh 2,000 years ago.


Easing farm distress
The restored pyne-ahar system brought water to the remote countryside and helps farmers in Gaya
Major pynes in district
Barki Pyne, Jamune Dasain Pyne, Moratal Pyne, Ninsar Pyne, Ninsar-Shakurabad Pyne, Bansi Nala-Karamdih-Pale Pyne and Bargawan Pyne
Grounwater depletion over the years in Gaya
Pathak founded the Magadh Jal Jamaat (MJJ) in 2006, a network of individuals working to revive the neglected pynes and ahars. “There was no other way to solve the recurring water crisis threatening to turn the region arid. Reckless use of tube wells for irrigation without adequate recharge complicated the scenario,” he said.
Convincing people to participate was not easy in a fragmented society, where nobody was willing to part with an inch of land.
“Villagers shrugged off the idea of collective participation initially, as they couldn’t fathom its impact,” said Kanchan Mistri at Khaneta-Pali village. “When the government with all its resources failed, how could a group (like ours) do it? That was the common refrain.”
Besides, the local mafia interested in contracts for government projects posed a big threat to the voluntary initiative. A years before MJJ’s formation, in 2004, social activists Sarita and Mahesh, working on an irrigation system in Gaya, were murdered by the mafia.
But Pathak was determined to do the unthinkable — bring water to the area. He got ample help from his professor-wife, Pramila, and trader Prabhat Pandey.
They persuaded villagers to form committees and donate anywhere between Rs 100 and Rs 1,000, depending on the size of agricultural plots they owned, and revived the 125-km Jamune Dasain pyne and 159-km Barki pyne. These two complex channels, rebuilt with help from social worker Chandra Bhushan, brought water from Falgu, a tributary of the Ganga.
The impact was instantaneous and miraculous. About 150 villages along the Jamune-Dasain pyne and around 250 villages along the Barki canal have been able to irrigate their fields for the kharif and rabi (monsoon and winter) crops, and grow vegetables, pulses and oilseeds as well.
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http://www.environmentportal.in/files/file/Ahar-pyne%20system%20in%20South%20Bihar.pdf


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Wednesday 31 January 2018

हिन्दुत्व को चुनौती देती 'संस्कृति के चार अध्याय'

हिन्दुत्व को चुनौती देती 'संस्कृति के चार अध्याय'

Poet Ramdhari Singh Dinkar's works 'Sanskriti ke Chaar Adhyaye' & 'Parshuram ki Pratiksha'

PM to inaugurate golden jubilee celebrations of Poet Ramdhari Singh Dinkar's works 'Sanskriti ke Chaar Adhyaye' & 'Parshuram ki Pratiksha'

नई दिल्ली : जिस किताब की प्रस्तावना पहले प्रधानमंत्री जवाहरलाल नेहरू ने लिखी हो और जिसके साठ साल होने के जलसे में आज के प्रधानमंत्री नरेंद्र मोदी शिरकत कर रहे हों, वो किताब सिर्फ किताब नहीं, बल्कि एक घटना भी है। दोनों प्रधानमंत्रियों के बीच राष्ट्रकवि रामधारी सिंह दिनकर की रचना 'संस्कृति के चार अध्याय' की यात्रा निरंतर जारी है। यह किताब आज की भी किताब है। 'संस्कृति के चार अध्याय' के दूसरे संस्करण में दिनकर ने काफी बदलाव किए हैं। दूसरे संस्करण की भूमिका में दिनकर ने लिखा है, "पहले संस्करण के बाद जो विवाद हुआ उससे पता चलता है कि इस किताब से सबको तकलीफ़ पहुंची होगी। इस किताब के बारे में मंचों से जो भाषण दिए हए, उनसे यह पता चलता है कि मेरी स्थापनाओं से सनातनी भी दुखी हैं और आर्यसमाजी तथा ब्रह्मसमाजी भी। उग्र हिन्दुत्व के समर्थक तो इस ग्रन्थ से काफी नाराज़ हैं। मेरा विश्वास है कि मेरी कुछ मान्यताएं ग़लत साबित हो सकती हैं, लेकिन इस ग्रन्थ को उपयोगी माननेवाले लोग दिनोंदिन अधिक होते जाएंगे। यह ग्रन्थ भारतीय एकता का सैनिक है। सारे विरोधों के बीच वह अपना काम करता जाएगा।"