Gas leak tales

Sopan Correspondent

Wikileaks reveals that Dow spied on Bhopal activists

In a sensational revelation, Wikileaks has alleged US chemical major Dow Chemicals used the services of Stratfor, a Texas-headquartered self-described "subscription-based provider of geopolitical analysis", for procuring intelligence on activists seeking compensation for the 1984 Bhopal gas leak.
While Dow has repeatedly claimed it holds no responsibility for the accident - India's worst industrial disaster that killed at least 3,500 people - a company spokesperson confirmed to Business Standard it indeed undertook such surveillance activities but that was the standard practice worldwide.
"The material shows how a private intelligence agency works, and how they target individuals for their corporate and government clients. For example, Stratfor monitored and analysed the online activities of Bhopal activists, including the 'Yes Men', for the US chemical giant Dow Chemical. The activists seek redress for the 1984 Dow Chemical/Union Carbide gas disaster in Bhopal, India. The disaster led to thousands of deaths, injuries in more than half a million people, and lasting environmental damage," a Wikileaks release stated.
The disclosure is part of The Global Intelligence Files, a set of more than five million emails that Wikileaks claims will "reveal the inner workings" of Stratfor as a provider of "confidential intelligence services to large corporations, such as Bhopal's Dow Chemical Co", among others.
The Fortune 500 chemical maker, on its part, admitted that it had monitored Bhopal activists but emphasised that such activities were part of standard procedure. "Major companies, including Dow, are often required to take appropriate action to protect their people and safeguard their facilities around the world from those who would threaten, disrupt and misrepresent the company and its employees," Scot Wheeler, a spokesperson for the Dow Chemical Company, said.
"Dow takes the obligations to ensure the safety of its people and facilities seriously and will continue to do so within the bounds of the law. We are strong proponents of free speech and encourage public debate on important issues. However, while we have not yet seen the specific documents in question, the theft of any private documents cannot be condoned," Wheeler added.
When contacted, Madhya Pradesh Urban Development Minister Babulal Gaur said that he was not aware of the development. "But if Dow Chemicals has done that, then we will take this issue up with the centre," he added.
Bal Krishna Namdeo of Pension Bhogy Sangharsh Morcha, an NGO working in Bhopal, said that Dow is spying "out of fear". "We are the ones who protest against the company. They fear that our agitation will force them to pay for the clean-up at the Union Carbide factory site in Bhopal, which still houses toxic waste," he said.
The emergence of these surveillance activities by Dow comes at a time when the company's sponsorship of the London Olympics this year has been strongly opposed by the Indian Olympic Association and a clutch of NGOs.
While the exact nature of the documents pertaining to Stratfor's monitoring is yet to emerge, the Wikileaks release does specify that the firm monitored "the online activities" for the activists, a fact brought out by some of the correspondence made available on the website of The Global Intelligence Files. The correspondence also contains mentions of the Indian media's reporting on the activists and events pertaining to the Bhopal accident.
Meanwhile, groups fighting for the Bhopal gas victims today said they were not surprised at revelations that a US-based security think-tank spied for Dow Chemicals on the activists of the 1984 gas tragedy.
"Such things happen as a matter of routine even between nations like America and Iran. We are not worried or surprised about that," Bhopal Gas Peedith Mahila Udyog Sangthan convener Abdul Jabbar said.
WikiLeaks has not done any great job by revealing that Stratfor was snooping on Bhopal gas activists, he said.
One can appreciate WikiLeaks only if it can reveal the names of people, including senior Indian officials, who were helping Dow Chemicals, Jabbar added. Cases against Dow Chemicals were being currently heard in the US federal courts, the Supreme Court of India and Madhya Pradesh high court, Jabbar said.
Stratfor, meanwhile, released a statement saying, "Having had our property stolen, we will not be victimised twice by submitting to questioning about them." The website of this Texas-based organisation said that it was offering all its contents for free.
"I wanted to warn you that individuals continue to send out false communications that appear to be from Stratfor. These spam emails may contain malware and attachments, and may attempt to lead you to websites that look like our own. They may also attempt to convince you to provide your private information," says Stratfor CEO George Friedman on its website.
The e-mails posted by WikiLeaks on its website, revealed that Stratfor not only provided to Dow Chemicals and Union Carbide the analysis of the daily developments on the case related to the Bhopal Gas tragedy in Indian courts, but also the activities including the travel plans and like where they are staying or what they plan to do.
The Indian government on Monday lodged a formal complaint against Dow's sponsorship of London 2012 Olympics with the Union Sports Ministry writing to the International Olympic Committee (IOC). The Union Sports Ministry strongly protested over the sponsorship.
"A false campaign has been launched by the Dow Chemical's saying that matter has been settled. It is not correct. The case is still pending in the court and no final compensation has been made. It is IOA's considered opinion that Dow Chemical's should be removed as the sponsors of the Games," the letter, written by IOA Acting President Vijay Kumar Malhotra to IOC President Jacques Rogge said.
The IOC, however, maintained that Dow Chemicals was not responsible for the Bhopal gas tragedy as it had no ownership stakes in Union Carbide till 2000, adding that they appreciated the concern of the IOA for the victims of the Bhopal gas tragedy.
In a letter to IOA acting President Vijay Kumar Malhotra, IOC chief Jacques Rogge said that "IOC recognises that the Bhopal tragedy in 1984 was horrific event for India and the world. The Olympic Movement sympathises with the grief of the victims' families and regrets the ongoing suffering people face in the region."
Meanwhile, the IOA has said that India will participate in the London 2012 Olympics and a decision on the kind of protest will be taken later.
Speaking on the issue, VK Malhotra, the acting president of IOA said, "We are still protesting… we will decide on the form of protest. It will hurt the players who have qualified if we tell them that they are not going."
Later, IOA secretary Randhir Singh said that India will participate in London Olympics, adding, "How India will participate, with protest or with no protest, that is something that has to be looked into."

Agriculture has become climate resilient

Sangita Jha/ New Delhi

The agriculture ministry is buoyed over reports of the success of the second Green Revolution unfolding in eastern parts of India. Chhattisgarh is also doing well.

Indian agriculture appears to have become climate resilient. This is good news for the Central government which is gearing up to unveil National Food Security Act this year. Indian agriculture appears to have put its monsoon tag behind and very soon India could well become the net exporter of foodgrains.

“The track record of agricultural production for the past six years clearly shows that it has become climate resilient. In 2009-10 the country had witnessed severe drought, which had affected over 340 districts. Still we had achieved a 218 million tonnes of foodgrain production. We cannot go below that figure, which is more than enough to meet the demands. This year we are going to clock 241 to 250 million tonnes of foodgrain production,” said PK Basu, secretary in Ministry of Agriculture.

“The agriculture ministry is buoyed over reports of the success of the second Green Revolution unfolding in eastern parts of India. The reports suggest that the drought prone areas in Bihar, Jharkhand, eastern Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal are doing well in spreading the green revolution. The ministry is particularly impressed with the performance of agriculture in Orissa, Chhattisgarh and Assam. “Green revolution has taken deep roots in these states due to better water table, which is being seen in healthy paddy cultivation,” said Basu. Agricultural growth rate, which was about 3.5 per cent in the 11th five year plan, is being expected to go to four per cent in the 12th five year plan. The ministry of agriculture is of the view that India has recorded record productions in sugarcane and cotton and dependency on import to meet the demands for pulses too has come down substantially. “With increasing focus on minor irrigation, water conservation, mechanization in farming, Indian agriculture is going to stay on the growth trajectory,” said a senior official.

In fact India would now require importing only about two million tonnes of pulses in a sign of dependency on import going down. India is expected to register 20 million tonnes of pulses production this year.

The same also holds true in the case of oil seeds. However, the agricultural sector in the recent years has been facing shortage of farm labourers and higher wages. Union minister of agriculture Sharad Pawar in a letter to the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had put the blame on the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MG-NREGA) for shortage of farm labourers and higher wages. But the complaint appears to have been addressed by the Ministry of rural development, which administers MG-NREGA. The Planning Commission member Mihir Shah headed committee has submitted its report on reforms for MG-NREGA, which has been accepted by the ministry of rural development and would be implemented from April 1 this year.

The report recommended 28 out of 30 new categories of works related to the agricultural sector. “The new avatar of MG-NREGA will help in improving agricultural productions. Eighty per cent of job demands under the MG-NREGA come during the agricultural off season,” said Ramesh in an attempt to dispel the notion that the MG-NREGA was the culprit behind shortage of farm labourers.

“The report seeks to exploit the synergy between MG-NREGA and agriculture. Among the new works categories, which we seek to include in the flagship scheme, are paddy cultivation, fisheries, spring shed developments, fish dry land yards,” said Shah.

The report named MG-NREGA 2.0 suggests the strengthening of the synergy between the job scheme and rural livelihoods especially agriculture and allied sectors. To stress the point that the MG-NREGA seeks to compliment the agricultural productions, Ramesh claimed that around 70 per cent expenditure in the flagship scheme has been in the field of water conservation and land development. He also claimed that there are reports which indicate that water table, which is essential for better agricultural production, has gone up in a number of areas due to projects undertaken through the MG-NREGA funds. Reclaiming the barren land for agricultural use is being seen as one of the major contribution of the MG-NREGA for healthy agricultural growth.

Bose is of the opinion that India could emerge as a strong player in the export of foodgrains. India this year has already allowed the export of over 30 million tonnes of non-basmati rice. The government is also gradually allowing export of sugar. In fact record foodgrain production has helped India in unveiling its “rice diplomacy” by which the country is exporting rice to a host of countries, including Bangladesh, African nations and other Latin American countries. It’s in this context that the government is gearing up to unveil the National Food Security Bill, which would require 61 million tonnes of foodgrains to meet the legal obligation to fulfil the entitlement of the people for wheat, rice and millets currently.

However, the food inflation remains a concern and the agriculture ministry appears to be of the view that the food basket of the people has expanded, with more demands for pulses, eggs, poultry, etc. This requires more focus on agricultural allied areas. The new avatar of MG-NREGA which seeks to encourage building of cattle sheds, fisheries, poultry are being seen as an answer to the question on how to keep the price rise in check.

The government is also seeking investment in cold storages and developing the vegetables and fruits market and supply chain to ensure that the demand is met at reasonable prices. The ministry of agriculture has drafted a legislation, which is soon likely to be introduced in the Parliament, to facilitate hassle free movements of foodgrains and related articles across the states, which are currently hindered due to each state having its own taxes. By uniform registration and single tax, the legislation seeks to break the barriers in states to allow the movement of the consumable goods to places where there is demand. The move is likely to benefit both the producers and the consumers. The ministry is also looking forward for the passage of the Pesticides and Seeds Bill, Bio-diversity security Bill to essentially address the demands of the sector.

Though the cliché of Indian agriculture being dependent of vagaries of Monsoon may be on the way out, the government still needs to keep its sustained focus on the sector, which is facing crisis in the form of water table going much deeper in northern states and land becoming infertile due to excessive use of fertilizers.

Pitfalls in catching-up drive

Kumari Chitra/ Patana

Bihar should first ensure sustainable development and other facilities

before it aims for big-ticket global investments

Dhamdaha JD(U) MLA and former Bihar State Woman Commission chairperson Lessi Singh went a little overboard in praise of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar as she said the Centre should confer Bharat Ratna on Bihar CM for the state turnaround.

Call it sycophancy of the worst order or just plain and innocuous praise for a leader privately nursing ambition of becoming prime minister, it is all coming from much-hyped Bihar turnaround and growth rate story – touching 14.8 per cent in 2010-11. But the likes of Lessi Singh perhaps do not read between lines of speech of experts like economist Lord Meghnad Desai, Aditya Birla Group chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla and even Planning Commission member Abhijit Sen. She perhaps does not know the difference between inspiring growth and inspired growth.

The message from Global Bihar Summit 2012 was loud and clear: First get sustainable development, electricity and good roads before asking big investors to come to Bihar.

Lessi Singh should also know, just for her reference before she demands Bharat Ratna for Nitish again, of the state government receiving over 50,000 investment proposals since 2006. State Investment Promotion Board cleared 603 proposals worth over Rs 2,48,000 crores. So far so good. But here is the reality: So far, only 55 units, mostly medium and small scale, have come bringing investment of just Rs 3,712 crore, this despite all the camera-mounted image and front-paged publicity for Nitish Kumar in last six years. It is time Nitish started comparing himself with himself but he would still bring Lalu Raj in picture to get better comparison and dupe gullible and not-so-daring media.

Two jokes have been doing the rounds in Bihar media circles and even on social networking sites. First one is – “We had resurgent Bihar (topic of 2007 global summit) to Changing Bihar (topic of just-concluded 2012 summit). But when will have a summit on Changed Bihar? The second one can be crude --- Nitish wants to imbibe entire Gujarat growth minus the man instrumental behind it.

But then, Nitish is neither good at telling jokes nor does he like crude ones. He may go down in history as best Bihar CM but also as one with not such large heart for criticism. In plain words, he wants to know and read what he already knows and better, what his babus meticulously drafted. This is where media misses the point and tells half-truths, conventionally always dangerous.

Nitish Kumar, who succeeds in using large section of media as extension of his PR department (Rs 130 crore advertisement to newspapers in one year), seldom likes hard-talk. Ask Planning omission member Abhijit Sen, who had to face barrage of nuanced and even direct attacks by Nitish Kumar, who had successfully put Bihar being case of historic and historical neglect – right from British to Dr Manmohan Singh rule.

Nitish asked Abhijit Sen if it was also not an economist’s duty to suggest ways out of problem and not just criticize growth pattern. CM had perhaps taken great offence to Sen terming Bihar growth rate as “a catch-up and nursery growth”, which cannot be sustained for a long time. Sen’s contention, like any well-meaning economist, was need for having thrust on primary sector growth and not harping too much about second and tertiary sectors growth. Nitish did have last word during the summit after having asked plan panel to open its offers and re-consider the state’s demand of special category status. But political rhetoric aside, here are some facts and figures which may put Bihar growth story into right perspective. Anyone seeking immediate readymade reference to Bihar truth may well open page number 24 of Economic Survey 2011-12, tabled on Tuesday in Bihar Legislative Assembly.

As one opens the page telling one about “Yearly growth rates of GSDP in Bihar at constant (2004-05) prices”, the first thing catching attention is mercurial annual growth of agriculture/ animal husbandry since 2005-06. The key primary sector recorded -9.1 per cent growth in 2005-06 and then phenomenally climbed to 30.2 per cent in 2006-07. It again dropped to -7.3 per cent in subsequent year but took it to 12.3 per cent in 2008-09. In Year 2009-10, it was again hit negative at -9.1 and recorded 7.7 per cent in 2010-11. The gross of primary sector (agriculture/ animal husbandry/ forestry/ logging, fishing/ mining/ quarrying) also makes an interesting average. It averaged -7.5 per cent in 2005-06, 24.3 in 2006-07, -6.2 in 2007-08, 11 in 2008-09, -8.2 in 2009-10 and 6.3 per cent in 2010-11. So how does one get 11.33 per cent annual growth and 14.8 per cent in 2010-11 with this kind of performance in mainstay of your economy? Bigger question: For how long can you get it?

A look at secondary and tertiary sectors growth tells the complete truth about growth jump. Construction recorded 26.1 per cent growth in 2010-11. Thanks to law and order improvement and people restoring faith in Bihar to invest, construction sector went up since 2005-o6 with 24.1 per cent growth, kept up the momentum in 2006-07 with 25 per cent. Even in 2009-10 when agriculture recorded negative growth, construction still had 16.8 per cent growth. Year 2010-11, it touched 26.1. But this sector growth is mostly Patna-centric. Last six years has seen construction of over 10,000 apartments. The construction has reached almost saturation point with no residential plots being available in livable area. The secondary sector averaged 19.2 per cent as compared to primary sector’s 6.3 per cent in 2010-11. Tele-communication revolution caught Bihar’s imagination. Bihar, which had over 44 lakh telephone connections in 2005 has grown 10-fold by 2011 with 4.4 Cr connections. The growth rate suggests as much – 24.4 per cent in 2005-06, 17.9 in 2006-07. Year 2009-10 was watershed in communication boom with 68.7 per cent growth. But the point experts have been driving at home about such growth being unsustainable can be seen with growth rate coming down to 39.3 per cent in 2010-11. The positive sign amidst skepticism is however banking/ insurance sector picking up in last two years (28.2 per cent in 2009-10 and 25.2 per cent in 2010-11). Finally, the year-wise break of growth rate can also be a curious reading for economists. It started with 0.9 per cent of GSDP in 2005-06 to 17.7 per cent in 2006-07, 7.6 per cent in 2007-08 and 14.6 in 2008-09. But it went downhill to 10.4 per cent in 2009-10 and recorded 14.8 in 2010-11.

Against backdrop of such statistics, an economist like Abhijit Sen had valid reasons to give his prescription to Bihar’s economy. He did it threadbare asking what the state government would do after saturation in construction and communication sector in a couple of years. Even Kumar Mangalam Birla suggested that it was a nice idea to first get investment in power sectors.

Economist Lord Meghnad Desai gave a stern warning against power subsidy. “Power subsidy is a free lunch and destruction of resources. A state government has to discontinue it to make economy sound and robust,” said Desai.

Just because Bihar government had improved roads and law and order cannot bring big investments. The Economic Survey 2011-12 seems to make a defensive beginning while dealing with investment: “The investment climate of a state is determined by a mix of factors, resources availability, regulatory framework, physical infrastructure and incentives to industries.”

The investment pattern in Bihar, says Economic Survey, shows only 11 per cent investment has come in service sector. The share of food and beverages is also substantial. The government claims to have sanctioned 161 investment proposals in 2010-11 and 142 in 2011-12. But only 55 small and medium scale enterprises have started operation. Power, as outlined by experts, is the biggest hurdle before investment. The state that needs 2500 MW power in summer season has central allocation of only Rs 1700 Cr. Of it, the state only gets 800-900 MW. The state can hope to get 700 MW on its own in coming four-five years after a Barh NTPC units starts and Aurangabad’s Navinagar power plant starts functioning.

Nitish privately knows that prospective investors know the growth rate story. “We are willing to purchase power for investing companies and have started incentives for farmers to part with their land”, said Nitish.

It was the same Nitish Kumar, who used to say a year ago that land acquisition had been the real problem. Protest in land acquisition for Navinagar power plant resulting in a death was a case in point. Bihar Industrial Area Development Authority (BIADA), has little over 200 acre land left in vicinity of Patna. BIADA’s liberal policy got land to investors like Prakash Jha for a Cineplex at throw-away rate in midst of Patna. The government defends it by calling it in full consonance with its industrial policy. BIADA also converted education and entertainment into industry.

The agency has still over 2,000 acre land left at different industrial areas. But power situation being even more dismal in districts can be yet another de-motivating factor for prospective investors. The Opposition, though almost decimated and demoralized, still has some valid points. RJD president Lalu Prasad Yadav said: “Global summit does not bring investments. Even, I attended one such meet wearing sola hat”. RJD leader of Opposition Abdul Bari Siddiqui followed his boss up with calling it “just impression building development”. Siddiqui went further: “You media people have not been showing Nitish Kumar the mirror but treating him like US President”.

This said, Nitish government still has created sound defence in form of Asian Development Research Institute member secretary Shaibal Gupta, “fact gathering” Deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi and one-in-all man, economist, bureaucrat and JD-U Rajya Sabha MP NK Singh. Singh, former Planning Commission member who moderated key session of Global summit having Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia, stressed on need of Bihar getting Rs 2500 per capita by way of central transfers as against about Rs 3,500 at present. Singh has examples of Canada and Germany to show how all states should be treated equally.

Nitish Kumar himself has gone a step ahead by laying out an agriculture roadmap of Rs 1.5 lakh Cr for 1 years. He asked plan panel: “Will the rainbow revolution come through with your Rs 400 Cr agriculture help?”

Fence sitters have a sense of fatigue with growth story and national and even international media going gung-ho over Nitish factor. Patna University economist NK Choudhary said: “Can we have sustained agriculture growth? Unless we achieve this, rest is cock and bull story”. Editor of bihartimes.com, an online news-portal, Ajay Kumar said nobody in the government had been willing to digest hard facts.

“Nitish Kumar is unchallenged now. But he feels the heat on investment count. Even he knows the truth of catch-up growth. But as long as selective magical figures are played to his benefit, he will love every bit of it”.

Many more Falaks crying for help

Sopan Correspondent/New Delhi

Falak case has brought to the fore the situation of child trafficking in the country. Administration’s lackadaisical attitude has emboldened traffickers.

The Falak case has brought to the fore the situation of child trafficking in the country. In Delhi’s Kashmere Gate in old Delhi, there is a home for girl children. The condition of the home itself speaks volumes of the plight of its inmates. Like the Kilkari Rainbow Home for Girls, the national capital is home to 100 such child shelters with thousands of children. A closer look revealed that their stories are almost never heard, and two-year-old Falak who was separated from her mother, battered and is still battling for life at AIIMS was only one such abandoned child.

In the muddy courtyard of the Kilkari home, six-year-old Anisha is the youngest resident. She rubs the slate board clean every time she draws something on it. She is trying to recollect faint memories of the day when she was found by police at the crowded Nizamuddin Railway Station here a few months ago.

"Mummy ne mausi ke ghar bheja tha...Yaad nahi uske baad kahan gayi...My mother had left me at aunt's home...don't remember what happened after that)," Anisha said.

The zonal integrated police network of Delhi Police lists over 4,000 children missing in the capital.

"It is a vicious circle as metropolitans pull families from smaller towns in search of employment and work. Rights are violated when children from such families are lured for work," said Shanta Sinha, chairperson of the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), headquartered in Delhi.

"The implementation of child protection laws is not happening the way it should. Other than stronger implementation, we need regulation and monitoring," said Sinha, adding that there were over 50,000 children in need of a shelter home in the capital alone.

Battered baby Falak has been reunited with her mother along with two siblings, but doctors fear it may be too late for the child.

She was earlier abandoned at AIIMS by a 14-year-old girl, who had allegedly been pushed into prostitution by a man. She is at the centre of a case that blew the lid off trafficking and exploitation rackets in a country where 11 children go missing every hour.

According to Childline India Foundation, a non-profit organisation that runs a 24-hour helpline (1098) to assist children in need of care and protection, nearly 500 cases that require intervention are received by it every month in the capital.

"We have nearly 500 intervention cases coming to us on a monthly basis. This means dealing with missing children, victims of child labour, children who have been maimed and pushed into beggary," said Komal Ganotra, specialist of training and advocacy at the Childline India foundation.

If an abandoned child is found by police, he or she is handed over to the child welfare committee (CWC) to inquire about his or her whereabouts. If it is not possible to relocate a child, he or she is shifted to a shelter home.

What goes unnoticed, other than cases of abandonment and abuse, is the alleged mafia involvement in organised crime against children.

"It is different to have an agency for a certain task. But the pattern on crime against women and children needs to be tracked as there is an organised mafia that pulls them from states like Bihar, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh for exploitation," said Ganotra.

A study by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) - 'Action Research on Trafficking in Women and Children' in 2003 - found a grave link between trafficking and missing children. On an average, of the 22,480 women and 44,476 children reported missing in the country every year, over 5,000 women and nearly 11,000 children remain untraced.

Even if a child gets traced, there was a huge gap between institutional care and alternative family support that was to be given, said Bharati Sharma, former chief of the CWC.

"The child may be at a shelter home for any reason, but the alternative family care at our institutions is lacking. Understanding of children is very important," said Sharma.

"There has to be better coordination among partner organisations working on child rights like police, CWC, NGOs and government-run institutions and a separate tracking mechanism for trafficking," Sharma added.

Anisha awaits the day when she will finally be able to complete the picture on her slate board, and say where she came from.

"Didi (the caretaker) tells me, my parents will find me...But now I like this home," she said, shying away, with her eyes fixed on a rusted iron gate which reads - 'Welcome to the Kilkari Rainbow Home for Girls'.

Peddlers of brides

Dr Nimisha / Chandigarh

Children from poor states are trafficked to Haryana and Punjab for marriages

A con-woman was recently caught in Haryana who was in the habit of “marrying” people and then running away with the booty from her husband’s house. Taking advantage of the skewed sex-ratio in the state where finding a bride for a marginal farmer is extremely difficult, the con-woman used to “marry” a person after taking amount ranging from 1 lakh to 1.5 lakh and then used to decamp with valuables of the house when no one in her “marital” home was around. She “married” five times but was caught when trying the trick for the sixth time in a row.

The woman, with the help of her accomplices, had another trick up her sleeve. She used to threaten her “husband” that she will approach police for harassing her for dowry lest he part with an agreed amount. The hapless “husband” used to part with the money and that was the last he saw off his “wife”.

Given the social conditions prevailing in rural Haryana, there could be several such con-women going around with their “business” without any problem.

With the dubious distinction of being a state with one of the lowest sex ratio in the country, the marriageable men of Haryana had never had it so bad. While the rich farmers still manage to get wives, though with great difficulty, the marginal farmers and those on the edges find it extremely difficult.

No wonder they resort to buying brides as they have to look for somebody to do the domestic chores at house, look at their farms and animals and also to meet their biological needs.

Here, caste system goes for a toss. Nor is religion or the state from where the girl hails from given any consideration.

“After wedding, women belong to the caste and the religion from where their husbands hail from,” goes the saying in the rural belt. The “bride purchasers” have another reason and logic. “Beggars are not choosers,” they say.

With such a demand, triggered by years of sex determination tests and resultant female foeticide, the traffickers had never had it so good in the state, known otherwise for its agriculture, sports and hardworking people.

Recently, the Delhi police busted a gang that used to abduct young girls and sell them off to middle-aged men and their brothers in Haryana as brides. But abduction is not the norm as poor families in several states and the north east willingly give away their daughters in “marriage” to these men in Haryana who either have failed to find a bride or are widowers.

The families of these girls also got paid for the “brides”. Most of the girls are illiterate or came from extremely impoverished backgrounds where even one meal a day is difficult to come.

Haryana has also emerged as a major destination for trafficking of girls from the Northeast who are sold as brides in the state. Hissar has emerged as a prime destination for trafficking girls from Assam.

The state government realises the gravity of the problem but cannot do much. It can come in the picture only if there is a complainant.

The Haryana Government has implemented Centrally-sponsored Ujjawala scheme to prevent trafficking of women and children and for rehabilitation of the victims. Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Geeta Bhukkal said the scheme would facilitate rescue of victims from the place of their exploitation, keep them in safe custody and would provide rehabilitation services. The scheme ensures reintegration of the victims into the family and society. But again, the poor families of states like Jharkhand, Kerala, North East and others who have sold their daughters on their own accord, do not and will not complain. As per Census 2011, Haryana had 877 females per 1,000 males.

The last census in 2001 showed the sex ratio to be 861. The state ranks lowest among all 28 states on the sex ratio front. Against Kerala's high of 1,084 females per 1,000 males, Haryana reports a sorry number of just 877.

Ironically the sex ratio of 877 in Census 2011 is the highest since 1901. This perhaps explains why there are few females in the marriageable age in this northern state. Among the neighbouring states, sex ratio of Punjab is 893 and of Himachal Pradesh 974. With the Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PNDT) Act being enforced strictly and the state being watched closely, things could improve say after 10-15 years. Till, then parts of the state continue with its practice of “purchasing brides” from other states.

Falak case just the tip of the iceberg

Sangita Jha/New Delhi

Story of the child has shook country’s conscience. Activists call for strong measures to end trafficking

Falak, a badly bruised and battered baby battling for life at All India Institute ofMedical Sciences (AIIMS), has become the face of unabated human trafficking menace in the country. After hitting the national headlines and occupying the prime time on TV channels, she has silently become just another patient at the premier institution. This tells the sickening tale of human trafficking which has accounted for millions of Falaks over the years but there remains to end to their saga of pain.

Union home ministry very promptly had judged that plight of two-year-old baby Falak was a case of human trafficking. Falak was brought to the AIIMS on January 18 with severe head injury, both her arms broken, bite marks all over her body and her cheeks branded with hot iron. Immediately after her admission, doctors conducted a life saving surgery on her brain and another two were undertaken at a later date. Doctors said that she needs to undergo more such surgeries but they have been put on hold as infection level in her blood has not receded. After the media cornered the police, investigations appear to have laid bare the gory details of the infant's saga. The police traced her mutilated fate to cases of unabated human trafficking in Rajasthan.

Investigators said Falak's mother is also a member of a racket which dupe people in the name of marriage. Falak's mother Munni was sold to a youth in Jhunjhunu village for Rs 2.7 lakh. Now that she has been arrested by the Delhi Police and her truth exposed, the youth and his family is feeling cheated.

It has come to the light that Harpal and Mukesh Katewa were also victims of human trafficking. Harpal, who hails from Bhadaunda village in Jhunjhunu got married in September 2011 to Falak's mother Munni, who at the time was under the name Anita. Harpal has since been telling all those who want to listen to his story that he had paid Rs 2.7 lakh in two installments for marrying Anita, alias Munni, and later came to know that she had already been married and had three children apart from having undergone tubectomy.

Falak is just a tip of the iceberg. Selling a woman for the sake of marriage is, however, one part of the human trafficking saga. The other part is of course the dark alleys of sex trade in which girls trafficked from different parts of the country are pushed into.

A number of NGOs have well documented India as a source, destination, and transit country for men, women, and children trafficked for the purposes of forced labour and commercial sexual exploitation. A number of NGOs working for United Nations have reported internal forced labour constituting India's largest trafficking problem. They claim that men, women, and children are held in debt bondage and face forced labour working in brick kilns, rice mills, agriculture, and embroidery factories.

In the last two decades the worsening sex ratio in most of the northern states, including Rajasthan, Haryana, Delhi, have further added to the booming racket of illicit trafficking of women for sex and marriages. Children on the other hand are subjected to begging and in some instances they had been found to have been used as armed combatants by terrorist groups.

This is in addition to heavy inflow of women and girls from Nepal and Bangladesh trafficked for the purpose of commercial sexual exploitation in various cities of India. Indian women on the other hand have been found to be trafficked to the Middle East for commercial sexual exploitation.

The government prohibits some forms of trafficking for commercial sexual exploitation through the Immoral Trafficking Prevention Act (ITPA). Prescribed penalties under the ITPA - ranging from seven years' to life imprisonment - are sufficiently stringent and commensurate with those for other grave crimes. However, these laws appear to be ineffectually enforced.

Human trafficking cases appear to be flourishing for the reason that the palms of the law enforcement agencies and officials are greased enough that they turn a blind eye to the continuance of the worst kind of crime against humanity.

Battered childhood

Sopan Correspondent

Human trafficking is the third largest profitable industry. Children are trafficked for prostitution, organ harvesting

Afew years ago, five-year-old Nandlal (name changed), a native of Manipur, was brought to a religious institution in Karnataka. His parents were promised that Nandlal would be given good education. His poor parents hoped that his son would get good education.

A few years after when he came back to his native village, he could not converse with his parents as he had already forgotten his mother tongue. Instead he was talking in Kannada - which the parents could not understand. So a video conferencing facility was to be organized to facilitate their interaction.

Shon, a resident of Nagaland, was admitted in an orphanage In Tamil Nadu. The orphanage had a branch in Kerala also. The institution thrived on foreign funds and the people who run the establishment used the same set of children to rake in foreign donations. For this children were transported back and forth overnight and photos are taken. Then these are sent to donors.

This is the new trend in child trafficking. Now children are being trafficked for religious institutions. With the promise of better education and lifestyle, the children are being snatched away from their parents and sent to hostile situations.

According to experts, human trafficking is the third largest profitable industry in the world. Child trafficking unlike many other issues is found in both developed and developing nations. Trafficked children are used for prostitution, forced into marriage, illegally adopted, used as cheap or unpaid labour, used for sport and organ harvesting. A few years before, a major 'begging mafia' which used to operate out of Ghaziabad near New Delhi was unearthed. The operators used to kidnap children and ampute their limbs and used for begging. More shocking was the involvement of a doctor whose name was on the list of persons who were to be honoured with a prestigious award.

The ethnic fight in Sri Lanka had shown how children were used to fight battle. It has been found that Maoist groups also recruit teenage boys and girls. There were reports that they were even sexually assaulted.

Trafficking exposes children to violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation. The latest figures estimate that 1.2 million children are trafficked worldwide every year. Child prostitution has the highest supply of trafficked children.

Every year thousands of children are being trafficked from other countries, including Nepal and Bangladesh for flesh trade in India. Apart from that many children are being trafficked from poor states of India to metros for commercial sexual exploitation. Every now and then, one can see reports of rescue of minor children out of infamous red light areas of Delhi and elsewhere. Children are trafficked to Middle Eastern countries for sport such as camel racing. There are no national or regional estimates for the number of children trafficked every year. But 40% of prostitutes are children, and there is a growing demand for young girls in the industry.