[Reader-list] Re: [Urbanstudy] safeguarding municipal councils in Protesting against water privatisation among other 'reform' efforts

[anant m]

solly, 
i dont know if you wanted this feedback within a
timeframe.  i agree with the overall framework. but we
need to quickly move towards a programmatic statement
from here because only then the actual politics of
resistance will become graspable. one goal for
practical politics should be something like "townhall
socialism" something like what is happening in
vijayawada where the cpm is digging its heels in. 

another goal should be to somehow get our teeth into
the whole finance reform thing. what we are seeing in
india is the, by now, classic instance of neoliberal
reforms coming to the local scale riding on financial
devolution. just think of how in 1991, the BoP crisis
was the turning point at the national scale, in 1995,
the fiscal crisis of the state was the turning point
and in 1998, the municipal corporation's finances was
the turning point. in each instance, it was the same
dynamics and the same rhetoric. the government has no
money, the poor can pay and so on. we need to find a
way of addressing this when we go after the
corporators. 
i know this is jumping the gun. but we do need to move
fast. 
best
anant


--- solomon benjamin <sollybenj at yahoo.co.in> wrote:

> Dear Friends,
> attacthed is a note with some points on how one may
> conceptualize resistance to the urban reforms
> agenda.
> specifically, what is happening to local municipal
> governments and the new language appropriated by the
> neo-libral development business! your comments and
> suggestions will be most welcome!
> Solly
> --- Clifton <clifton at altlawforum.org> wrote:
> 
> > Dear Friends,
> > 
> > *Protest against water privatisation
> > Venue: Town Hall
> > Time: 5.30 p.m.
> > Date: 24th February, 2006*
> > 
> > The struggle against water privatisation
> continues.
> > 
> > _A group of students (60 in all) have embarked on
> a
> > padh yatra (walk) 
> > from Anekal to Bangalore to raise awareness about
> > critical water issues 
> > especially water privatisation and its serious
> > impacts. _
> > 
> > Today (23rd) morning they began from Anekal and
> > having passed through 
> > several villages where they have held discussions.
> 
> > They will be 
> > reaching Bangalore tomorrow evening and joining
> the
> > Campaign Against 
> > Water Privatisation to protest against water
> > privatisation at Town Hall 
> > at 5.30 p.m.
> > 
> > Several eminent persons will be present there
> > including Rajendra Singh 
> > (Magsaysay Award Winner), Gowri Lankesh, Indudhara
> > Honnapura, Mavalli 
> > Shankar, C. Basavalingaiah, B. Suresh, Mahesh
> > Sukadhare and others.
> > 
> > Please attend the protest tomorrow and bring your
> > friends along.
> > 
> > In solidarity
> > Clifton
> > 
> 
> Dr. Solomon Benjamin 
> #32, 2nd. 'A' Cross, 10th. Main 
> Koramangala, 4th. 'C' Block 
> BANGALORE 560034 
> INDIA 
> Phone: 91-80-2552-5485
> 
> 
> 
> 		
>
__________________________________________________________
> 
> Yahoo! India Matrimony: Find your partner now. Go to
http://yahoo.shaadi.com>
_______________________________________________
> Urbanstudygroup mailing list
> Urban Study Group: Reading the South Asian City
> 
> To subscribe or browse the Urban Study Group
> archives, please visit
>
https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/urbanstudygroup
> 



		
___________________________________________________________ 
To help you stay safe and secure online, we've developed the all new Yahoo! Security Centre. http://uk.security.yahoo.com