Mahuva's Mahatma

Vijaysinh Parmar | TNN
Bihar’s former chief minister Lalu Prashad ate up all the cattle fodder, but Gujarat chief ministra Narendra Modi ate up the entire land meant for fodder.” This harshly worded pamphlet was distributed at a Garib Kalyan Mela in Rajula that Modi was to attend two years ago. It was distributed by one of the agitators protesting against the proposed Nirma’s cement plant in Mahuva.
When Dr Kanubhai Kalsaria, a three-time Mahuva BJP MLA and the spearhead of the agitation, came to know about the pamphlet, he asked his supports not to do so and went on a two-day fast to atone for the act. “The anger was justified, but the expression was wrong. We are protesting against the state government’s policy and not against any individual,” Kalsaria told the protesters.
Gandhian-style fasting is not new for Kalsaria given that he is always walking in the Mahatma’s footsteps. When he decided to lead the farmer agitation against the cement plant two-and-a-half-years ago, he made it clear the tools would be truth and non-violence.
And just as Gandhi never returned to Sabarmati Ashram after starting the Dandi march in 1930, Kalasaria has not slept in his bed at home in Mahuva since January. His new home is a temporary shelter opposite the Nirma site.
Kalsaria, 57, is a practising surgeon who has been running a charitable hospital for the poor for the last 25 years in Mahuva. He has used the Gandhian values of t r u s t e e - ship, fasting and n o n - v i o - lence in both his public and private life. His hospital, for instance, has no special wards. There are no donation plaques on the hospital’s walls either. “We are here to provide lowcoast health-care. There are many hospitals for those who can afford special wards. We treat all patients equally, irrespective of their caste, religion and economic status,” he always tells his staff.
Because of his values, Kalsaria had become extremely popular in the region even as the BJP was growing in prominence in the 1990s. The party was looking for a candidate who could defeat Congress strongman Chhabildas Mehta in Mahuva in the 1998 assembly election, and zeroed in on Kalsaria. The doctor won by a large margin. He learnt about Gandhi’s trusteeship p r i n c i p l e from Dr Vasant Parikh of Vadnagar and late Gandhian Dr Dwarkadas Joshi. “I always wanted to work for the poor, but my ideas took shape when I worked under these two men. Kalsaria then established the Sadbhavna Trust
hospital in Mahuva on those principles.
Interestingly, Modi too considers Parikh, a resident of the chief minister’s hometown of Vadnagar in north Gujarat, his guru. Kalsaria began his career in 1982 in Parikh’s hospital which also works for the poor. Pravin Kathiriya, a close aid of Kalsaria, says, “The 1998 assembly election against Chhabildas Mehta was a tough one. On voting day, Kalsaria’s supporters found out that Congress workers had indulged in bogus voting and they did the same. When Kalsaria found out about this, he said he would rather lose than win through wrong means. He went on a two-day fast. No wonder many in the BJP believed he would not survive in politics.” When he was contesting his third assembly election in 2007, the only assets he declared were Rs 25,000 cash in his bank account and agricultural land worth Rs 95,000 in Vaghnagar village. “In 1999 his eldest daughter Sunita, who was studying at Cept University in Ahmedabad, was selected for an exchange programme in the US. But her father did not have enough money in his bank account for a US visa. Kalsaria’s friends credited some money into his account so that Sunita could go to the US,” says one of his aides.
The MLA takes only that much salary from his trust as needed for his family’s survival. He takes no MLA allowance from the government either. “People stand by him because he has stood by people all his life,” says one of his supporters.

Her father’s daughter
Dhruti, Dr Kanubhai Kalsaria’s youngest daughter, got admission to the Surendranagar Medical College in the OBC quota in 2001. But her father wanted a more needy student to get the seat. The girl backed her father’s decision even when it meant a much harder life for her. She studied for three years, got admission to the Kesar Sal medical college and completed her internship in 2010. “He believes everything would turn in your favour if you live for others,” says Dhruti.

National award for groundwater recharge campaigner

Vijaysinh Parmar/TNN/RAJKOT: Shamjibhai Antala, a resident of Dhoraji town, was recently honoured with the 'National Ground Water Augmentation Award' in the individual category by the Union ministry of water resources.

Antala (74) has been actively involved in water resource conservation and the movement to recharge ground water in Saurashtra for the past 25 years. He had to quit farming in the arid Saurashtra region due frequent and worked in various fields for survival. Since the last 25 years he has been tirelessly visiting villages, colleges and educational institutions across the state to spread awareness about the dire ground water scenario in the state and the need to recharge ground water using traditional methods.

Antala, who is a writer despite never having been to school, began his ground water recharge movement in the 1990s when it was evident that the water table had gone down rapidly. "The situation will soon become serious. We need to adopt simple recharge techniques and teach every farmer to use them,'' he said.

According to him, Saurashtra has been drought prone for many years and that had forced people to take up other vocations. It was a matter of life and death for them and people themselves started the water conservation movement, recounts Antala.

"But over the last five years, the people's movement has slowed down, which is a dangerous thing. The rains have been good but one drought can be devastating for the region if people stop ground water conservation,'' Antala warns.

Interestingly, Antala never started any organization. "Now, I want to take up another mission to clean and revive the rivers in the state. We have to conserve and protect our natural resources which are important resources for millions of people's livelihood,'' Antala says.

Antala hit the headlines when he took up the 'red water' issue in Dhoraji town, 70 km from Rajkot, and fought it for 15 years in the Gujarat High Court. Industrial units making sarees were releasing effluents into Bhadar river, the only source of drinking water of Dhoraji. He won the case.

Ironically, a man who brought smiles on the faces of many in the drought prone region is yet to get potable water for his hometown, Dhoraji. "I made several representations to the government about the poor quality of water in our town but no one has taken any steps so far,'' Antala said.

One-man crusade against bad governance

Vijaysinh Parmar TNN/3 May/ Junagadh: Here is one crusader,who considers o t h e r s problems his own.Q u i e t ly but diligently using RTI as a tool,JP Shah,59,a re t i re d bank manager,has helped hundreds across the country get their rights.Be it widows not getting their dues,pensioners who have been struggling for many years,educated unemployed youths waiting for jobs in government departments,senior citizens and people who are struggling with various government departments his list has endless success stories.Shahs weapon is his computer and his phone that are live every hour in the day.He could be reached by phone calls,emails,blog posts and letters and he promptly replies to them too.Shah tags a line in all his letters,Hate RTI and perpetuate bad governance for the next generation. When TOI went visiting Shahs home four days back,a certain Geetha Kumari of Kerala was on line.Kumari complained that she had four children to feed,but was not getting her family pension after her husband died in 2007.Her husband was an employee of Food Corporation of India (FCI).Shah immediately emailed an RTI application to her.In just few days,Kumaris file was recommended for pension disbursal.Chandrika Thakar from Junagadh lost her husband to illness in 2003.It came as a big blow to this 40-year-old widow,who had also lost all hope of getting back her husbands 16-year-old Rs 2.29 lakh fixed deposit.Shah helped her file an RTI application and she got her fixed deposit with an 11-year interest in a few months.Shahs blogs and articles have had 1.4 lakh hits in the last two years.He has already guided 5,000 persons from all over the country on matters of RTI.Interestingly,Provident Fund status,income tax return and Provident Fund refund gets maximum hits.Two years ago,Administrative Staff College of Assam had invited Shahs suggestions on RTI training for their personnel.People from Chennai,Thiruvanathapuram,Chandigarh,Ambala,Phagwara,Ujjain,Mumbai,Udaipur,Byawar,Bengaluru,Delhi,Noida,Agra,Ghaziabad and Rajamundry are in regular touch with Shah.Iwould not have lived had JP Shah not helped us.His help came at a crucial juncture in our life.I had lost everything.But,Shah gave us hope,says Thakar.JP Shah has been guiding force for many like me.He helped me tirelessly fight the charity commissioner to get permission to non-CA to audit the trust whose income is up to Rs 3,000 per year.Now,this has helped numbers of youths in the state, says Rakesh Shah,a resident of Junagadh.For the first time since Independence,an ordinary Indian feels empowered,thanks to RTI.I wish everybody feels the same, says Shah.

Applications reveal collectorates' apathy to RTI awareness

Vijaysinh Parmar/TNN/15 June/KHAMBHA (Amreli): Are district administrations across the state indifferent about creating awareness on Right to Information Act 2005? A look at the utilisation of funds allocated by the state government for this purpose certainly indicates so. This major revelation came from series of RTI applications made by activists from Khambha taluka of Amreli district to know the status of funds which were meant to be used to create public awareness of the RTI Act under section 26. It also issued a guideline about the utilisation of funds to create awareness about the Act. The communiqué asked the collectorates to form a committee headed by the respective collector. The deadline for utilisation of funds was March 31, 2010. "Our RTIs revealed that in most of the districts the fund was either under utilised or not utilised at all. There are districts that have not used a single rupee till end of March,'' said Yusuf Juneja, a member of Mahiti Adhikar Nagrik Mandal in Khambha. "We started filling RTI queries on February 10 this year at all district collectorates. Interestingly, in many districts, officials started convening meetings to discuss the allocated funds with their respective officials after our queries were filed," Juneja said. Among the worst cases were Valsad, Gandhinagar, Kutch, Kheda, Anand, Navsari and Surendrangar. In Surendranagar district, on March 16, collectors started allocating funds to mamlatdars and other district officials. "The mamlatdars were given a deadline to utilise the funds, giving them just 15 days to spread awareness. In many cases, we did not get information from the first applications. So, RTI applications are pending with at appeal level and Gujarat Information Commission,'' he added. "We have seen that funds are either being under utilised or misused. In fact, government agencies should encourage citizens for more participation in order to create greater transparency, which will serve the objective of the Act,'' said JP Shah, RTI crusader in Junagadh.

Mating season: Lesser floricans reach Velavadar

Vijaysinh Parmar 19-June/TNN Rajkot: Come monsoon,and one of the most endangered bird species of the world,the lesser florican,will make the Blackbuck National Park (BNP) in Velavadar their abode.These birds flock to the sanctuary in Bhavnagar for mating.Its a rare sight to watch the spectacular courtship of this bird,which is unique.According to assistant conservator of forests,BNP,J S Solanki,lesser floricans have already started arriving in the sanctuary.They start arriving at the onset of monsoon and start marking their territories in the grasslands, Solanki said.Wildlife lovers say the male can jump over a metre high to impress the female and attract her,sometimes up to 500 times a day.During breeding season,males also change plumage to dark black and the neck with white elongated belt on the edge of the wings, said wildlife photographer Bhushan Pandya,adding,Feathers on the back are pinkish black and they have prominent neck,which can be seen easily from a distance. Females are bigger in size,but shy.They are attracted by the vertical leaps of the male florins,forest officials said.One of the bustard family,the floricans,are recognised as highly endangered species.Its one of four critically endangered bird species of India,and one of the 50 rarest birds of the world.The species is protected under Schedule I of Wildlife (Protection ) Act,1972, said Solanki,adding that this species is regarded as endangered because its population is declining primarily as a result of loss and degradation of dry grassland.The grassland in Velavadar park provides an ideal and safe place for breeding to this bird.These birds start laying eggs in August to September period.After breeding,these omnivorous birds move into peninsular India.Every year,forest department conducts a population estimation of this rare bird.The numbers could be more than the sightings as it is difficult to sight these birds during the mating in grasslands, foresters added.

Rajkot village to set green record this monsoon

Vijaysinh Parmar/TNN/June-21/RAJKOT: They won't be looking for greener pastures elsewhere. For, 6,000 villagers of Virnagar in Rajkot district have decided to create green cover in their own village. Led by an initiative by Rajkot District Co-operative Milk Producers Union Limited, known as Rajkot dairy, members of the village co-operative of Virnagar have taken it upon themselves to plant 1 lakh saplings this monsoon. Says Arjan Ramani, a villager and board member of Rajkot Dairy, "Though this is a part of an initiative taken up by district dairy union, villagers have decided to take this initiative to new heights and create a model green village." To execute their green goal, these men and women of Virnagar, located 47 km away from Rajkot in Jasdan taluka with farmers comprising majority of its population, have begun working round the clock. They have chalked a detailed road map to their success. According to Ramani, this will be the first-of-its-kind village in the state where plantation at such a grand scale will take place on private land. Plantation on private lands doesn't take place in villages as farmers fear for their crop life. Interestingly, to clear such misconceptions from minds of villagers, environmentalists, forest officers and even saints were roped in to create awareness in the last few weeks. "We had organised seven camps in the village specially for this purpose," says Ramani, explaining, "Farmers have a misconception that by planting trees on the border of their field, their crop yield is negatively affected. And so, during these camps they were made aware about the consequence of climate change and importance of the green cover. Villagers are now ready to plant saplings in the village." Besides their fields, farmers will plant saplings on the banks of lakes and ponds among other places. Twenty committees have been formed to distribute responsibility of the growth of each tree in different areas in village. "We have made a plan to distribute the number of saplings to be planted area-wise. According to our estimate, we have enough land to plant 1 lakh trees as private land is also available. In addition, we have an added advantage of 101 check dams in the village," says Ramani. "We have contacted government officials to provide sufficient saplings and also approached nature lovers and groups for financial aid," he adds.

NRI alumni restore iconic Ranavav alma mater

Vijaysinh Parmar TNN/Ranavav/ As high school kids,the lessons they learnt here left deep impressions on their soul.No wonder when their alma mater needed them,they rushed to their native village from different corners of the world.Two families played a pivotal role in restoring the village high school,which got damaged in the earthquake in 2001.By doing this,families of Muljabhia Madhvani,sugar kings of Uganda and Aroon Samani,75,have restored 100 years of glory.The Sarkari High School building was restored at the cost of Rs 2.5 crore,pooled in by the two families,and handed over the state government last year.Ranavav,a coastal town,located about 180 km from Rajkot has a population of about 22,000.The government high school,formerly known as Ranawad Gujarati School was founded in April 1903 by the then ruler of Porbandar Bhavsinh Madhavsinh.In 1903,the school had only four classrooms,one office and one staff room and a central hall.The total cost to build the school stood at Rs 11,927.It was a beautiful heritage structure.We were really shocked when we learnt that it had been damaged in the earthquake.It was our duty to restore it, Samani,an alumni of the school now based in Nairobi,Kenya told TOI over telephone.Samani studied here between 1942 and 1947 before flying to Kenya where he worked as a consultant engineer.We wanted to preserve it in its original glory.We decided to restore and extend the building without altering the structure, says Samani.When he hired a contractor to do the job,he advised that it would be cheaper constructing a new building instead of restoring the old one.But we wanted the same school back, said Samani.After the restoration,the school has been named after Muljibhai Madhvani government school.It was a remarkable efforts made by past students to restore it.They frequently travelled to this village just to supervise restoration work.They are an inspiration for the present students,who can carry forward the legacy, said school principal B M Chudasama.