I visited Mankol, my grandfather Ambalal Sarabhai’s village, today. He had built the main square, and an 8 kilometre brick lake there from where the village gets a lot of its water. He had renovated the Bootmata temple.
He is much adored there and so was I. In 1926 he gave the village a harmonium which they still use for their many plays. (How ironical that the harmonium was announced as my election symbol just yesterday!)
The village has 9000 people and is the main of 24 villages. What started as a meeting with the leaders turned into a walk through the village, and later I addressed a couple of hundred people from dadaji’s porch.
Prices are killing the farmers. Women have all the usual problems. Narmada water is available for farming but not for drinking yet.
Posted in Campaign.
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– April 14, 2009
The village of Juval in Sanand taluka is angry with the sops that the Nano project has got from the government, when they don’t even get proper power through the day. The power is intermittent and short-circuits very often, while the industries get power all the time. I met about 100 women, 50 men and more than a 100 children. The men also said that the water from the Narmada canal was depleting the fertility of their soil.
Another matter that came up during my discussions with them was the government plan of giving wheat at Rs 2 per kilo. They said the quality was so bad that they would not even consider feeding it to their cattle!
When it was time to go, I saw the group of women getting ready to go away too, and found upon asking, they were going to the next village to sing. I asked them to sing for me and they demanded that I sing for them first! So I did, and they joined in and there was such jubilation. They promised to come as a mandali and sing when I get elected!
Posted in Campaign.
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– April 14, 2009
We kicked off the arts communication campaign yesterday in Juhapura with Arvind Gaur’s Asmita, a hugely talented group of youngsters. They spent an hour with me understanding all the issues that I have come to understand from my interactions with over 100 villages and more areas in the city, and then stayed up all night and wrote a street theatre piece. The women completely forgot that they were actors and startedarguing vociferously with them!
Posted in Campaign.
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– April 12, 2009
The veteran actor Om Puri was here today, campaigning with us, urging voters to recognise that I would be the right candidate to represent Gandhinagar. The versatile actor, who has known me and my work for many years now, got great response. He specially urged women and young people to go out and vote and exercise their right as citizens.
We also have Delhi-based theatre specialist Arvind Gaur, who with his team are performing all over the city talking about issues which need to be raised, issues which need to be solved. Their support is very encouraging.
Today we went all over Usmanpura, Gokulnagar Society, the Riverfront jhopadpatti, the Asia Pacific Management Institute, and met over 1000 people. In the afternoon, we took a Peace March from Vejalpur to Juhapura in which about 5000-6000 people participated.
Late evening, a public rally is arranged at Ranip, from the Bus Stop to the Pani-ki-Tanki where we will have a meeting.
Every day, there is much activity. We are now waiting for our symbol to come on April 13th.
Posted in Blogs.
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– April 11, 2009
In Indira Nagar Chhapra in Kalol, 500 families are facing demolition of their homes, to make way for a garden. The bull dozers were ready to raze them, and they were not even given any notice to remove their belongings.
A stay order in the high court has stopped it for the time being. But one never knows.
The uncertainty is hanging in the air. I felt it as I walked through the entire colony.
There are those who believe that anyone occupying land should be removed from it. Then what? Where will they go? Why are they here? Have we taken care of the problem?
Why would anyone want to leave their own homes to come and live like this? Think about it.
Posted in Development.
By
– April 11, 2009
I met Idris in the hutments across Sector 28 in Gandhinagar. This is a slum I pass frequently, for the villages where I have been working for many years are beyond them. Today, and for many years they have been out of work, going and standing at the chowki to be picked up as daily labourers. In spite of being across the road from the Gujarat Electricity Board, there are no lights. No toilets. No water connections. Enough dust to make us choke.
After speaking with a group of a hundred people i saw a young man chewing tobacco. I went up to him and said that cancer wasn’t worth the relief that the chewing provided. I offered to take him to the cancer museum that the Civil Hospital runs — after the election. Another young man was talking about the lack of jobs. I am a driver he said, but I have had no work for years. I turned and asked if he had a valid license. Yes, I was told. Then give me your
phone number as I need chauffeurs fro the campaign, I told him. “When you hear my name, you won’t want me. I am a Muslim”. “It makes no difference to me” I said. He burst into tears. “I have lost forty jobs in three years because I am called Idris”. He has joined the campaign
and is also a fantastic drummer. At this moment he is dressing to dance in the “Mallikabenno Sannedo”!
Posted in Governance.
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– April 11, 2009
Looking at the apparent infrastructure of the health care system
in Gujarat one would be fooled into thinking all is well. As compared
to the norms of how many Primary Health Centres or Community Health
Centres or Sub Centres are needed per thousand people, Gujarat is
bursting with health. But go slightly deeper into what staff is
available is available and one gets a totally different picture. Form
my tramping through the villages and slums of my constituency this
discrepancy is appearing more and more frequently. Tackling this with
motivated and trained staff is a conundrum which would have to be
solved.
| Table 2: Health Infrastructure in Gujarat as on March 2007 |
|
|
|
|
| Particulars |
Required |
In-position |
Shortfall |
|
| Sub-center |
7263 |
7274 |
0 |
|
| Primary Health Center (PHC) |
1172 |
1073 |
99 |
|
| Community Health Center (CHC) |
293 |
273 |
20 |
|
| Health worker Female/ANM at sub-center |
7274 |
7071 |
203 |
|
| Health worker Female/ANM at sub-center & PHC |
8347 |
7071 |
1276 |
|
| Health Worker Male at subcenters |
7274 |
3347 |
3927 |
|
| Doctor at PHC |
1073 |
1034 |
3 |
|
Surgeons at CHCs
|
273 |
70 |
307 |
|
Obstetricians & Gynaecologists at CHCs |
273 |
6 |
267 |
|
| Physicians at CHC |
273 |
0 |
273 |
|
| Paediatricians at CHCs |
273 |
6 |
267 |
|
| Total specialists at CHCs |
1092 |
82 |
1010 |
|
| Radiographers |
273 |
124 |
149 |
|
| Pharmacist |
1346 |
814 |
532 |
|
| Laboratory Technicians |
1346 |
899 |
447 |
|
| Nurse/Midwife |
2984 |
1585 |
1399 |
|
| Source: Rural Health Statistics Bulletin, March 2007 |
|
|
|
|
Posted in Public health.
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– April 9, 2009
