To help states meet that goal, the federal government is providing them with 12.9 million swabs.
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Tuesday, May 12, 2020
Monday, May 11, 2020
Centre asks Karnataka to limit jurisdictional power of farmers marketing committees
The Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha has opposed this move, stating it takes away their ability to set fair prices.
The Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare has written to the Karnataka government to issue an ordinance, which would reduce the regulatory role of the Agricultural Produce Marketing Committees (APMCs) from the physical markets, in light of the coronavirus pandemic. In a letter dated May 5, to the Additional Chief Secretary of Karnataka, the centre has requested that the APMCs’ role in the fruit and vegetable mandis be reduced and that the state adopt the Agricultural Produce and Livestock Marketing (Facilitation and Promotion) Act 2017. The APML Act had introduced nine new metrics of how the APMCs would function. These metrics include the APMC’s regulatory role within the premises of the mandi, separation of APMCs power from the functioning of the managing director of the Mandi Board, declaring warehouses, cold storage units as market sub-yard, deregulating the sale of fruits and vegetables, private market, direct marketing and ad hoc wholesale buying, e-trading, unified license for across the state and single point levy for market fees. Karnataka has so far adopted eight out of the nine provisions of the APML Act. However, it had not restricted the role of APMCs just to the mandis. Farmers in the state are now calling it an anti-farmer move. “This is an anti-farmer move. If there is an ordinance towards the APMC from higher powers, then the cooperative will not be in our power any longer,” says Veersangaiah from the Karnataka Rajya Raitru Sangha. Veerasangaiah further stated that e-trading would be very difficult for the farmers at this point. “The farmers are not very educated, and we have not gotten used to the system, as we do not have the required training. We have tried many times but it has not worked out. When we are not able to even swallow water, why would they try to push solid food down our throats?” Veersangaiah asks. Prakash Kamaraddi, the former chairperson for the Karnataka Agricultural Prices Commission, says that APMC is “the government’s last protection for farmers. Why should they remove this protection as well?” What is APMC? APMC is a physical market where farmers can bring their produce in order to sell wholesale to traders. It is considered as better for farmers, as farmers can know the market prices across markets in the state, and can sell at the rate set by the APMC. Prakash says that it is better for farmers to sell at the APMC market because they have better bargaining power there. “When big traders come to APMCs, farmers have better bargaining power as buyers cannot threaten to go to another farmer as prices are the same. The farmer will have excess stock, some of which might have started to rot. The farmers might get desperate and sell it at that price, and thus they get cheated by the traders. The APMC avoids this by regulating the prices, and regulating the grade and weight of the produce as well,” he added. For example, tomatoes are grown in huge quantities in Kolar district. Prakash points out that “prices in the production centres will be much lower than in the consumer’s market due to the large supply. But in consumer markets where there is low supply, like in North Karnataka, the prices are much higher. APMCs exist to give farmers a fair price for their produce.” Prakash Kamareddi adds that in fact, APMCs should get even more decentralised. “Why should farmers have to bring their produce to the nearest towns’ APMCs? The government should bring the APMC to the farmers, by providing transport to their smaller farmers and sourcing produce from there.”
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Karnataka Labour Secy Captain Manivannan IAS transferred without new posting
Manivannan P was relieved from the post of Principal Secretary of the Labour Department as well as the Information and Public Relations Department.
In a sudden decision announced by the Karnataka government, Karnataka IAS officer Manivannan P was unceremoniously transferred on Monday. The announcement comes amidst the state government's efforts to handle the COVID-19 pandemic, in which Manivannan played a key role in dealing with the plights of labourers in the state. He held the roles of Principal Secretary of both the Labour Department and Information and Public Relations Department. He has been relieved from both the roles. M Maheshwar Rao, Principal Secretary, Commerce and Industries Department (Mines and MSME), has replaced him in both roles with immediate effect. However, Manivannan has been transferred without a new posting. Manivannan P, who earned plaudits for being responsive to the public, was an active user of social media platforms. He initiated a Telegram group for the public to raise queries about the coronavirus outbreak and the subsequent lockdown imposed due to it. The group, which initially hosted discussions on the coronavirus outbreak, was kept alive by the users who used it as a platform to dispel fake news and clarify rumours during the lockdown period. It currently has over 27,000 users. A 1998 batch IAS officer, Manivannan had been dealing with issues related to employers not paying workers during the lockdown period over the past week. As the Principal Secretary of the Labour Department, he had to reverse his decision to issue notices to employers for not paying full salary or wages for April, in less than 24 hours, under pressure. The department had received over 700 complaints at the time. Read: Karnataka Labour Dept withdraws decision to issue notice to employers on wages The announcement of Manivannan's transfer also comes at a time when the Karnataka government is considering relaxing labour laws governing minimum wages, increasing overtime working hours and easing compliance with key labour legislation to help industries. Read: Karnataka govt mulls labour policy changes, increase overtime working hours He was involved in the Karnataka government's response to the floods in 2019. Manivannan was made the district in-charge secretary of Shivamogga, which was affected by the floods. Among the controversies during his stint, strife with fellow IAS officer Rohini Sindhuri came to the fore in September 2019. Rohini was transferred out of the Labour Department just six months into her new posting. Read: Controversy erupts as Karnataka govt transfers Rohini Sindhuri IAS out of Labour Dept He previously held various postings in the Karnataka Urban Water Supply and Drainage Board, Social Welfare Department and BESCOM (Bangalore Electricity Supply Company Limited).
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Too anxious to wait for trains, migrant workers continue to walk from Bengaluru
The workers who had set out on foot on Thursday had returned to their residences after hearing the news of trains restarting. But over the last three days, many workers grew impatient...
Even though it has been over four days since the Karnataka government reversed its earlier decision, and decided to re-start train services for migrant workers, many people were seen walking along the national highway leading out of Bengaluru on Monday. The workers who had set out on foot on Thursday had returned to their residences after hearing the news of trains restarting. But over the last three days, many of them grew impatient after they were told to wait for their turn to board the train taking them home. “I waited at the police station all day yesterday but I have still not been informed when I will be able to leave,” says Parvej Alam, a 22-year-old from Bihar’s Purnia district who is employed as a tailor in HSR Layout in the city. Parvej was informed by the police at the Bandepalya police station that he has to book tickets on the train services being started by the Indian Railways on Tuesday. These are not connected to the Shramik trains, which are meant for interstate travel of migrant workers and others who are stranded. Shramik trains operate from point to point and do not have stops along the way. “If workers are registered for the Shramik train services, we are telling them that they will receive a call when they will be taken to the railway station. Those who have not registered yet, we are asking them to book trains online, since services will be started tomorrow,” Yogesh, the inspector of Bandepalya police station who was interacting with workers, told TNM. A volunteer providing food and water for migrant workers attempting to walk long distances told TNM that he has observed hundreds of workers walking along National Highway 44 which connects Bengaluru to Chikkaballapura, on each of the last four days. Workers are walking on this road in an attempt to reach Hyderabad and hope to hitch a ride on a truck going in their direction. Migrant workers are still walking along NH44 towards Devanahalli in northern Bengaluru. Even though trains have re-started, workers have continued to resort to walking since they do not know when they will be able to board the train and are struggling to pay the ticket prices. pic.twitter.com/FpTBLGF7Gp — Prajwal (@prajwalmanipal) May 11, 2020 Officials tasked with facilitating travel of migrant workers by train admit that due to the large number of migrant workers looking to return home, many will have to wait for their turn to board the train. “Ultimately, they will get to board the train. It is better than attempting walking. But we are failing to communicate this to the workers,” says a senior police official in Bengaluru. Similarly, long lines of migrant workers were seen at the Sarjapur police station and Jeevan Bheema Nagar police station on Monday morning. Abhimanyu Singh, a 23 year-old from Bihar who works as a construction labourer in Sarjapur in the city says, “We waited for a few hours this morning before the police dispersed us without information on when we will get to leave.” Since Thursday, 23 trains have left Bengaluru for states like Bihar, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh transporting 1200 workers on board each train. On Monday, this number was revised to 1500 but the number of workers looking to leave the city is around one lakh, and many have already set out on foot, unwilling to wait any longer. On Monday, hundreds of workers were seen walking on National Highway 44 leading out of Bengaluru towards Andhra Pradesh. “My company will not pay me until work resumes and I don’t have the money to arrange for food and water here,” says Raju from Jharkhand who works at a hotel in Murugeshpalya in Bengaluru. Unwilling to live on the kindness of strangers, workers like Raju are increasingly looking to reach home, sometimes resorting to desperate measures. “We might get a lift on the way. I have heard of people who have managed to go home that way,” adds Raju.
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Tiger kills 19 livestock in a month in villages near Bandipur, park officials slow to act
A committee was formed as per National Tiger Conservation Authority guidelines, but 15 days after the tiger made its first kill and after pressure from environmentalists.
Image of tiger on camera trap
A tiger has been on the prowl for about a month in the Kundakere range of the Bandipur National Park in Karnataka, killing as many as 19 livestock in April/May and creating fear among villagers. However, park officials have been slow to act in capturing the tiger. The big cat killed its first cattle prey in the second week of April in Kadabur, one of the villages on the fringes of the Kundakere range, and has continued attacking domestic animals since then. The delay in the capture of the tiger has resulted not only in repeated cattle kills in the vicinity, but residents of Kadabur, Kundakere, Chirakanahalli and surrounding villages are now hesitant to venture out into the fields to guard their crops fearing an attack by the tiger. However, efforts by park officials to drive the straying tiger back to the forest using tamed elephants combing the villages have not yielded positive results. Despite their efforts, the tiger has been attacking cattle at regular intervals. One of the reasons these big cats stray into villages, sources say, is that weak and old tigers usually settle on the edge of the forest and prey on slow moving animals. Another reason cited is a tiger losing its territory to another dominant tiger. A village resident who lives close to the Kundakere range said that the tiger killed three cows, a calf and two sheep in a single day. This occurred a couple of days ago. Though the tiger killed the cattle it could not feast on the carcass because it was disturbed by villagers. The state Forests and Environment Minister Anand Singh visited Kadabur on Sunday and directed officials to capture the tiger. In September and October 2019, when a tiger killed two people in villages bordering the Gopalaswamy Betta range and the Kundakere range, it was captured using tranquillisers. According to sources, three tigers are often sighted in the Kundakere periphery but two of them are resident tigers who do not attack humans or prey on cattle. But recently, a tiger has migrated to Kundakere and taken to killing cattle in the periphery villages creating panic among the villagers. Manjunath, a resident of Kadabur, was critical of the steps being taken by the Bandipur National Park officials to capture the straying tiger. He said that apart from combing the village areas forest officials have done nothing substantial to catch the tiger and give villagers the confidence to return to the fields. “They have simply wasted money by engaging in combing operations,” he added. A source said that a committee was formed as per the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) laid down by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) only 15 days after the tiger made its first kill, that too after pressure from environmentalists. “We don’t know why Bandipur officials don’t constitute a committee as and when an emergency situation arises,” an environmentalist said. Moreover, he said that there has to be a scientific study on why tigers stray from the park, as NTCA says that where there is history of an emergency situation with tigers, a detailed study is needed to find the causes for the tigers venturing out. But, this has not been done in Bandipur so far. According to the environmentalist, tigers straying out of the forest has been reported in Gundre range, Maddur ranges of Bandipur, and also in Nagarahole National Park. “Capturing such tigers and shifting them to the rehabilitation centre in Mysuru is not the long-term solution for the problem. Adequate steps have to be initiated to prevent tigers from straying out of the parks through a scientific approach to the problem,” he opined. Park officials say that the cattle-killing tiger is about 5 years old and a healthy one. Often this big cat is sighted in overgrown private lands left uncultivated by the owners, offering refuge to the straying tiger. “We have advised villagers not to take their grazing animals too close to the forest borders, but they don’t listen to our requests and their livestock come under tiger attacks,” a park officer said. The official said that a committee has been formed with the Chief Conservator of Forests, Mysuru, the Conservator of Forests, Bandipur National Park, two representatives from wildlife NGOs, a villager, and a veterinarian from Bandipur National Park as its members. The committee will chalk out a plan to capture the tiger through sedation and that the big cat will be caught before it resorts to attacking humans, the officer said. Girisha is a freelancer who reports on wildlife and the environment.
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Make train arrangements free for migrants: Trade union to K’taka CM
The activists have also asked the govt to make the process transparent as many of the workers are in the dark and are crowding police stations.
Unhappy with the state government’s action taken for stranded interstate migrants workers who want to leave Bengaluru for their respective home states, the All India Central Council of Trade Unions (AICCTU) have written to Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa and Chief Secretary Vijay Bhaskar. In an email dated May 10, AICCTU has asked for clarity on how these workers are being allowed to board the trains and highlighted the issue of many being in the dark about when their turn will come. The email reads, “Vide SOP dated 01.05.2020 as per Ref. (1), workers were required to register themselves on an online platform https://ift.tt/2LvCysR. Accordingly several workers registered themselves on the said website. However, they received no information in regard to the departure of trains. Around 2,14,269 migrant workers from about 23 States have registered on the Seva Sindhu website desiring to return to their home States.” They added this has led to confusion among the registered workers rushing to police stations given the police are only arranging the travel from their areas to the train stations and giving them tickets. Further, given most of the workers wishing to return home have wages due and were pushed into situations with no food, the AICCTU appealed that they are given free travel. This especially given the state government has failed to do labour inspection and ensure wages are paid. The email also mentions the TNM report highlighting the same plight for many workers who had chosen to walk since they have no surety when the trains will arrive for them. Read: For thousands of migrant workers in Bengaluru, a train ticket is like winning a lottery The AICCTU in their letter dated May 9 has mentioned that while the state government has submitted in the Karnataka High Court that 2,14,269 (2 lakh+) such workers of 23 states have registered with the government portal to return with the home states, the actual number of workers will be much higher given many workers won’t have access to the website or the technology. In their letter, the union said, “We are proposing a matrix (table) as a way to schedule trains in respect of the wishes of the migrant workers to return to their homes at the end of this representation.” The table details the number of stranded workers based on their home states, the best starting point of the trains and their present locations across Karnataka and the number of trains required to send them home. For example, from Bengaluru to Jharkhand alone there is a need for 15 trains for a total of 17,429 workers identified by the union alone. These 17,429 workers are further presently spread across Bengaluru Rural (441), Bengaluru Urban (16,743), Chamarajangara (25), Chikkaballapura (5) and Hassan (3) districts. The AICCTU also highlighted the HC order stating that the wishes of stranded workers who are away from Bengaluru city also have to be respected if they want to return to their home states. They pointed out, “To date the trains are only run from Chikkabanavara station and Malur (close to Bengaluru city), which is insufficient. Needless to add the State Government in consultation with the Railways would decide on the stations best suited to ensure that migrant workers from the nearby districts can be brought in buses to the said railways stations. Please do note that the Hon’ble High Court in its order dated 08.05.2020 in W.P. No. 6435/2020 has observed as follows… ‘If some migrant workers who are residing far away from the capital city desire to go back to their respective States and all the procedural formalities with the other States are completed, it follows that necessary arrangements for operation of Shramik Special Trains from different stations will have to be made’…” So far the South Western Railway till Monday has run a total of 24 trains beginning May 3 from Bengaluru to states like Bihar, Jharkhand, UP, Jammu and Kashmir, West Bengal and Odisha among others. All these trains can carry a maximum of 1200 passengers given the mandatory social distancing norms. It may be recalled that the train services were withdrawn by the state government unceremoniously and restarted forcing public backlash and a High Court hearing. The letter mentioned that based on their rough estimates, it would require 187 train rides to 16 states based on the registrations. However, they reiterated the actual number wishing to go back will be higher given many won’t be familiar with registering themselves online.
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How emerging supply shortages could disrupt race for a coronavirus vaccine
The nation’s supply chain isn’t anywhere close to ready.
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