PVCHR initiative supported by EU

Reducing police torture against Muslim at Grass root level by engaging and strengthening Human Rights institutions in India

Saturday, February 22, 2014

BENARASI DEATH NET


A report on suicide and malnutrition among weavers in Varanasi was prepared by the People’s Vigilance Committee on Human Rights in collaboration with ActionAid, an international anti-poverty agency. It said that about 175 weavers fell prey to financial hardships since 2002. The Economic Survey (2009-10) estimates that over 50 per cent weavers’ children are malnourished. There is a high prevalence of TB, particularly multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB). The survey also said that while the human development index of India is steadily improving, weavers and their children in Varanasi continue to die either by committing suicide or succumbing to malnutrition.

Friday, February 7, 2014

Weavers’ Villages in India Suffer TB Epidemic

Weavers’ Villages in India Suffer TB Epidemic

To,
Chairperson,
National Human Rights Commission(NHRC)
New Delhi.

Sir,

Greetings from Peoples' Vigilance Committee on Human Rights(PVCHR).


Associated Press and Time published about pligt of weaver in Varanasi in general and Lohta in particular.

http://world.time.com/2014/02/07/weavers-villages-in-india-suffer-tb-epidemic/
(LOHATA, India) — This cluster of poor villages, long known for its colorful silk saris, now is known for something else: tuberculosis. Nearly half of Lohata's population has it — some 100,000 people — and the community's weaving tradition is part of the reason it is on the front line of a major Indian health crisis.
The area of Uttar Pradesh state is under unofficial quarantine because of the epidemic. Strangers rarely venture into these villages outside the ancient city of Varanasi. Even rickshaw drivers refuse to enter, turning away the few passengers looking for a lift.
The high rate of TB cases in Lohata is unusual, even for India, where the disease kills about 300,000 people every year. Poverty and malnutrition are factors, but the fact that so many people in Lohata are weavers also is significant, said Dr. J.N. Banavalikar, vice chairman of the TB Association of India, a government agency.
Thousands of sari weavers work all day in cramped rooms, breathing in minute threads that weaken their lungs and make them more susceptible. "They work in poorly ventilated rooms for hours, and that spreads germs very fast," Banavalikar said.
India has made important strides in health in recent years, most recently by launching a successful polio vaccination campaign. But tuberculosis has remained a stubborn problem in India, which has more than a quarter of the world's new TB cases.
Children are especially at risk.
Mumtaz Ali says he has no way to help his 4-year-old grandson, Anwar, who coughs throughout the day, spitting blood with each spasm.
"Doctors say he is malnourished," Ali said. "They say we should give Anwar nutritious food. But the fact is, I cannot even afford two meals a day — forget about giving him milk and eggs. Only Allah can save us."
The average income in Lohata is about 3,000 rupees per month ($48).
In many ways, Lohata's fortunes have fallen with the decline of the sari industry, leaving many already vulnerable families destitute.
Shruti Naghvanshi, who works with Voice of People, a conglomerate of charity groups in Uttar Pradesh, said weavers used to produce about five saris per week. Now, due to changing fashions and a lack of raw materials, weavers are lucky if they make two per week.
Less weaving means more poverty and poorer nutrition, and TB's toll on Lohata appears to be growing. About 12,900 people in the villages died of the disease in 2011, and about 13,700 died in 2012, according to Dr. S.P. Dubey, a health official in Uttar Pradesh who oversees the TB program. Statistics for 2013 are not yet available.
India has the highest incidence of TB in the world, according to the World Health Organization's Global Tuberculosis Report 2013, with as many as 2.4 million cases. India saw the greatest increase in multidrug-resistant TB between 2011 and 2012.
Although the government has launched programs to combat the disease and offer free TB drugs, but there are serious nationwide roadblocks. Quacks with no training often treat TB patients, and pharmacists routinely give out antibiotics without prescriptions.
"These quacks give high-potency antibiotics which initially give them relief but in the long term, these people develop drug resistance," said Dr. Surya Kant Tripathi, head of the Department of Pulmonary Medicines at King George's Medical University in Lucknow, the state capital.
Another factor contributing to TB's growing drug resistance: Many patients, weary of TB drugs' harsh side effects, stop their treatment once they feel better instead of taking the full course.
Critics say the federal government's anti-TB campaign is inadequate. Its centerpiece is a program that pays counselors and private groups to verify patients take their medicine, but counselors get paid only for those who complete the standard six-month course of treatment, so they have an incentive to lie when patients drop out.
Banavalikar, of the TB association, said that in some cases local officials fail to implement federal guidelines on making drugs widely available.
"Despite reprimanding the officials, we are yet to get positive results from them," he said. "The government is doing its best. But we do not have labs to identify TB, particularly the drug-resistant strain. So, we do not know exactly the number of TB patients and how many of them are drug-resistant."
Uttar Pradesh Health Minister Ahmad Hasan said it's the federal government that is failing because it is not providing enough drugs to treat everyone.
"Unless we get medicine," he asked, "how can we control TB?"
Those suffering from the disease also say they need more help.
Farzand Ali says he borrowed 50,000 rupees ($800) from his relatives when the condition of his son, 21-year-old Ghulam, deteriorated rapidly in 2012. He took his son to a specialized TB hospital in the Indian capital, New Delhi.
"After four months' treatment, we came back," Ali said. "We were told my son is infected with deadly strain of multidrug-resistant TB."
Now, Ghulam is being treated in a state-run hospital, but Ali said it is not giving him the more expensive medication he needs.
It costs 10,000 rupees ($160) per month, but Ali earns just a pittance — as a weaver.
"Where will I get this money from?" he asked.

Read more: Weavers' Villages in India Suffer TB Epidemic | TIME.com http://world.time.com/2014/02/07/weavers-villages-in-india-suffer-tb-epidemic/#ixzz2shLCJqLY


Please immediate take action on above mentioned situation.
With warm regards,


Lenin Raghuvanshi   
Founder and CEO
PVCHR

Hatred does not cease by hatred, but only by love; this is the eternal rule.
--The Buddha

"It is possible for those who are different in all kinds of ways, to cohere as a unified community."
– Archbishop Desmond Tutu

"I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if it needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die."
– Nelson Mandela

"We are what we think. With our thoughts we make our world." - Buddha
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Thursday, February 6, 2014

Maulana Abdul Batin Nomani on Integrated approach of technology in education


SDTT-PVCHR initiative on Integrated approach of technology in education: 



Speech of Maulana Abdul Batin Nomani, the mufti of Benares. Please read this:

Monday, February 3, 2014

‘প্রভাবদুষ্ট রাজনীতি বাংলাদেশে ন্যায় বিচার প্রাপ্তিতে বড় বাধা’


Our Founder and CEO Lenin Raghuvanshis' interview published in the Manab Zamin (Bengali: মানবজমিন "People's Land") which is a major daily tabloid newspaper in Bangladesh, published from Dhaka in the Bengali language. It is the first and largest circulated Bengali tabloid daily in the world, with monthly website hits of 3,270,000. 590,000 visitors from 179 countries from all over the planet visit the web site every month, making it one of most visited Bengali-language online publications worldwide. The newspaper is also the only Bangladeshi newspaper to boast credentials and affiliations with FIFA, UEFA, and the English Premier League. It has also partnered with Sony Pictures and Warner Bros. in publicity for Hollywood productions, including Batman Begins, Superman Returns and Casino Royale.


About newspaper:

‘প্রভাবদুষ্ট রাজনীতি বাংলাদেশে ন্যায় বিচার প্রাপ্তিতে বড় বাধা’




জাকারিয়া পলাশ | ৩ ফেব্রুয়ারি ২০১৪, সোমবার, ২:৩২ | মতামত: ১ টি
ভারতীয় মানবাধিকার কর্মী লেনিন রঘুভানসি বলেছেন, বিচারবহির্ভুত হত্যাকান্ড, রাষ্ট্রীয় বাহিনীর নিষ্ঠুর নির্যাতন, সংখ্যলঘুদের উপর হামলা, দুর্নীতি- সব মাপকাঠিতেই ভারত ও বাংলাদেশের মানবাধিকার পরিস্থিতি প্রায় একইরকম। অর্থ ও পেশীশক্তির প্রভাবদুষ্ট রাজনীতি প্রান্তিক মানুষের ন্যায়বিচার প্রাপ্তির বড় বাধা হয়ে দাঁড়িয়েছে। শিক্ষাবঞ্চিত, দরিদ্র, নি¤œবর্ণের যেসব মানুষ সহায়হীন তাদের জন্য অভিশাপ হয়ে দাঁড়াচ্ছে এই অবস্থা। নৃশংস হামলা ও চাঁদাবাজি, কথিত ক্রসফায়ার, ক্ষমতাবানদের বিরুদ্ধে মামলা বা অভিযোগ গ্রহণে অস্বীকার, মিথ্যা অভিযোগে গ্রেপ্তার, বেআইনি রিমান্ড এবং পুলিশি হেফাজতে মৃত্যু এখন নৈমিত্তিক ঘটনা এই দুই দেশে। বিচারবহির্ভূত হত্যা বন্ধে সরকার ও গণমাধ্যমের পক্ষ থেকে ক্রসফায়ারের পক্ষে প্রচারণা বন্ধ জরুরি বলেই মত দেন তিনি। সাউথ এশিয়ান নেটওয়ার্ক এগেইনস্ট টর্চার এন্ড ইমপিউনিটির (শান্তি) কো-অর্ডিনেটর লেনিন রঘুভানসি। ই-মেইলে পাঠানো প্রশ্নের জবাবে মানবজমিন অনলাইনকে তিনি বলেন, ভারতের উভয় প্রান্তে নিরীহ মানুষের মৃত্যু হচ্ছে। সীমান্ত এলাকায় ভারতীয় আধাসামরিক বাহিনীর মনোভাব হচ্ছে ‘বড়’ ভাইয়ের মতো। গণমাধ্যমের তথ্য অনুসারে নিরাপত্তা বাহিনীর সদস্যদেরকে খুব কমই দায়ী করা হয়েছে এমন সাজানো হত্যাকান্ডের পর। গণমাধ্যমের স্বাধীনতা প্রসঙ্গে তিনি বলেন, নামে মাত্র গণমাধ্যমের স্বাধীনতা আছে। কিন্ত প্রেস এখন বণিকদের করায়ত্বে থাকায় তা কাজে আসছে না। উড়িষ্যাসহ বিভিন্ন স্থানে অধিকাংশ খবরের কাগজ রাজনৈতিক দলের প্রতিনিধিত্ব করছে। সীমান্ত হত্যা খুবই গুরুত্বপূর্ণ বিষয় হয়ে দাঁড়িয়েছে। উত্তর প্রদেশের মানবাধিকার সংগঠন পিভিসিএইচআর-এর প্রতিষ্ঠাতা ও প্রধান নির্বাহী লেনিন আরও বলেন, বিচার না হয়ে অপরাধীদের দায়মুক্তি পেয়ে যাওয়ায় সাধারণ মানুষের মনে আইন মেনে চলার প্রতি অনিহা সৃষ্টি করছে। আইনের শাসনের বিচ্যুতি মানবাধিকার কর্মীদের কাজকে করে দিয়েছে কঠিন। মানবাধিকার রক্ষায় সক্রিয় নারী কর্মীরা শুধুমাত্র লৈঙ্গিক কারণে বাড়তি ঝুঁকির মধ্যে রয়েছেন। নারী মানবাধিকার কর্মীদের নির্যাতন ও হয়রানির ঘটনা এখনও মানবাধিকার লঙ্ঘন হিসাবে বিশেষায়িতই হয়নি। তারা তাদের পুরুষ সহকর্মীদের কাছ থেকেও কার্যকর সহযোগিতা থেকে বঞ্চিত হচ্ছেন বলে তিনি উল্লেখ করেন।