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Hans India
31-05-2025
- Politics
- Hans India
Jalaarathi offered to Jhanjavati river
Parvathipuram: In a symbolic gesture of devotion and protest, the Janjhavathi Sadhana Samithi (JSS) performed 'Jalaarathi' (offering of water) at Jhanjavati river near Rajyalakshmipuram village, Komarada mandal in Parvathipuram district on Friday. The event was led by Samithi president Chukka Bhaskar Rao, Action Committee convener Marisharla Malathi Krishnamurthy Naidu, advisor Bharathananda Swamiji, and working presidents Savarapu Rama Rao and Vangala Dali Naidu and others have taken part in this protest. As part of the ritual, special prayers were performed to Ganga Mata using turmeric, flowers, with a heartfelt plea for the full realisation of Jhanjavati Project to provide irrigation water to the farmers of the region. Speaking on the occasion, Samithi president Bhaskar Rao expressed deep disappointment that the Project has remained a mere election promise for over five decades. He criticised political leaders for repeatedly citing the Odisha dispute as an excuse after elections, despite making strong commitments before them. He emphasised that with BJP-led governments currently in power in Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, and at the Centre, there is now a favorable political alignment to resolve the issue. He asserted that the people will no longer accept Jhanjavati as just another poll promise. Action Committee convener Krishnamurthy remarked that the completion of the Project would transform the backward region, reduce migration, and significantly boost agriculture.
Time of India
09-05-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Action panel's transplanted trees back to life
Mysuru: They started as an informal group to fight against the axing of 40 mature trees that were more than six decades old on Hyder Ali Road near the SP office in Nazarbad. But now Action Committee is now taking forward its initiative to protect the waterbodies and greenery of its first initiative, the committee, which is an umbrella grouping of more than a dozen organisations, transplanted four trees (Akash Mallige) that fell during downpour at Kukkarahalli Lake in early May. Twigs sprouted from the branches of two translocated trees. In less than a week, the trees were back to has been a month since the trees on Hyder Ali Road were axed. After activists voiced their concern about the axing of the trees, deputy commissioner G Lakshmikanth Reddy formed a committee to examine the need for widening the road, the need to cut 40 mature trees, and to check whether all rules were followed to remove the convener Kamal Gopinath told TOI that after the committee was formed to investigate the matter, its findings have not been disclosed yet. "We have written a letter to both deputy commissioner Lakshmikanth Reddy and forest minister Eshwar B Khandre seeking to disclose the report," Gopinath committee, according to Gopinath, is not against development but aims to conserve the environment. Development should happen not at the cost of nature, he said.
The Hindu
02-05-2025
- General
- The Hindu
Trees transplanted through crowdfunding
Four fully grown trees along the Kukkarahalli lake embankment which were uprooted due to heavy rains and gale that lashed Mysuru on Wednesday night, were transplanted on Friday. It was the initiative of the Action Committee for Environmental Conservation which is an umbrella organisation of various NGOs and groups advocating the cause of environment and entailed raising funds from among its members. The four Akash Mallige trees, each aged around 15 to 25 years, were transplanted within 5 ft. of their original site. The initiative has drawn the appreciation of the general public and has come as a boost to environmental cause as it comes close on the heels of 40 trees that were felled for widening Hyder Ali Road. The Action Committee members ensured the moisture of the roots was sustained through wet gunny bags and necessary watering and stablished contact with N.K. Lokanath, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Mysore who approved the idea if it was feasible. Kamal Gopinath, member of the Committee and Parashurame Gowda of Parisara Balaga, said while the university agreed to lend both manpower and some equipment support, the Action Committee opted to go for crowdfunding from among its member organisations and its members towards meeting the JCB, crane, fertilizer and other requirements. ''Today, we have proved that tree transplantation is possible, cost-effective and not a myth, as the many bureaucrats, real estate interests, and timber lobbyists would have it,' said Mr. Kamal Gopinath.
Hindustan Times
23-04-2025
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
EWS admissions: Punjab govt, private schools slammed for ignoring RTE Act
Chandigarh The Punjab government and private unaided recognised schools drew flak from social activists and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) on Tuesday for their 'lack of interest' in admitting children from economically weaker sections, as mandated by the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009, despite a directive from the high court. Addressing a press conference here, several social activists and representatives of the 'Action Committee for RTE Act-2009 in Punjab' said that the state government and its officials were not serious about implementation the provisions of the RTE Act. They pointed out that no EWS admissions had been carried out in most districts, even two months after the court order. 'When parents of children from EWS families, social activists and various organisations approach private schools, the school authorities claim they have not received any instructions and feign ignorance about the procedure. There is also no clarity on whether it is the responsibility of the schools or the district authorities to admit the children. The situation is totally confusion,' said social activist Onkar Nath, a retired bureaucrat. Nath, who was among the petitioners in the case, stated that in Delhi and Chandigarh, the school education departments had set up their portals, invited applications from underprivileged children, and ensured their admissions un private unaided recognised schools through a transparent process. 'The Punjab government has neither created awareness nor issued any guidelines regarding the procedure to be adopted for the implementation of section 12(1)(c) of the Right to Education Act. There is no application form, no guidelines regarding income limits, no monitoring cell, etc. We submitted a list of 22 EWS children to the school education department who were refused admission by private schools in writing,' he claimed, putting the total number of such schools at 9,500. Fatehjang Singh, Taranjeet Singh, Kirpal Singh, Sarabjit Singh and Sanyogita, Didar Singh and other members of the 'Action Committee for RTE Act-2009 in Punjab' and representatives of the Krantikari Lok Chetna Manch were also present. They warned that if steps were not taken immediately to implement the RTE provisions, the action committee would organise a statewide protest and even file a petition in the court for contempt of court. The RTE Act mandated unaided private schools to admit in Class 1 children from weaker sections and disadvantaged groups in the neighbourhood to the extent of 25% of the strength of that class and provide free and compulsory elementary education till its completion. However, the state government framed its own rules in 2011 and virtually nullified the provision. The Punjab and Haryana high court had, in its February 19 order, directed all the private unaided recognised schools in Punjab to reserve 25% of their Class 1 seats for children from weaker and disadvantaged sections in the state. The state government was ordered to ensure strict enforcement of the ruling in the 2025-26 academic session.
