[Reader-list] [Announcements] Invitation for Public Meeting with "Reclaiming Public Water"- Network tour -- 27th April 2007 in Bangalore

Mon Apr 23 17:37:16 IST 2007

The invitation follows below. All are welcome. Additionally, if you know Spanish and can help with Spanish-English translations at any point during the interactions on April 27th, please get in touch with Vinay Baindur (yanivbin at gmail.com) 

Dear Friends, 

Public Meeting Interaction with Reclaiming Public Water (RPW) network members.

Time : 4.30 p.m. 

Date : 27th April 2007 

Venue: S C M House  (Behind Vijayalakshmi Silks) 2nd Cross Mission Compound , Bangalore 

All citizens have a Right to Water. But in the new and current revenue recovery model of the Govt of India (GoI) projects are made with only a few people in mind especially the rich and those who can pay. This is happening increasingly with erosion of Government  responsibility towards its electorate by pressures from "fiscal reform" and the private (for profit) sector. 

The poorest people all over have now been identified as  those who are a sizable market for purchase of commercial goods. Water supply has also become one of the biggest revenue earners for a few multinational companies. This has been also backed by the "neoliberal ideology and vision"  of the world Bank, the IMF and others which have generated "bureaucratic consensus" without political or public debate among reprsentatives or citizens. 

In this context over the last several years a coordinated international effort began to roll back the privatisation of water supply as part of the network known as :- RECLAIMING PUBLIC WATER. 

This has received extensive support from all over the world from various sections of the common people. They include water utility workers, residents from slum areas, neighbourhood associations, NGOs and civil society organisations,  academics and researchers, etc etc.

5 Key members of the RPW group are visiting India as part of the campaign efforts from 23-30 April 2007.

Reclaiming Public Water (RPW) network, was initiated in November 2005 to promote progressive public water ( Public - Public partnership) models and other alternatives to water privatisation. This involves connecting in an open and consensus-based network, activists, trade unionists, researchers and public water managers from around the world.  

A series of case studies have now been put together in a new book "Reclaiming Public Water: Achievements, Struggles and Visions from Around the World" has been published in Chinese, Spanish, Finnish, Indonesian, Italian and Korean, along with Transnational Institute (TNI) & Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO).  In India as part of the tour Hindi, Tamil and Malayalam editions will be released.

The English edition of the book can be downloaded from: 

http://www.tni.org/detail_page.phtml?&page=books_publicwater 

The full download of the Hindi edition will be available after April 25th at:

www.insafindia.org

The translated books are being released during April 25-30 in New Delhi, Mumbai, Indore, Bhopal, Bangalore, Coimbatore, Plachimeda, Thrissur & Chennai. 

The authors of the book and waterjustice campaigners participating in these book launches are:

a.. Julian Perez (Bolivia) works with the Ministry of Water of the Bolivian Government and responsible for the Inter-institutional Commission, which is a responsible organisation of the construction of the "Public and Social" model for the city of El Alto and La Paz, consisting of the municipal governments of La Paz and El Alto and civil society organisations, Federation of Neighborhood Associations of El Alto and La Paz (FEJUVE), and the Ministry of Water. Member and adviser of the FEJUVE El Alto, during the second "Water War" in Bolivia that happened in the cities of El Alto and La Paz against the Transnational Company SUEZ. 

b.. Santiago Arconada Rodriguez (Venezuela) works at Hidroven, the main agency for drinking water and sanitation in Venezuela. He is the former secretary-general of the Textile Worker Union U.T.I.T. and has worked in water management in the cities of Caracas and Maracaibo. 

c.. Olivier Hoedeman (Dutch/Danish) is the research and campaign coordinator at Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO), an Amsterdam-based civil society group targeting the threats to democracy, equity, social justice and the environment posed by the economic and political power of corporations and their lobby groups. 

d.. Ms. Tamsyn East (UK) has been the water campaigner at the World Development Movement(WDM) for the last 2 years. She also campaigns on climate change and trade. Much of her work involves working with activists in the global south and with networks of activists in the UK. She is responsible for production and dissemination of campaigning materials and inspiring people to take action to achieve political change. She also coordinates the parliamentary advocacy work for WDM. Before working at the World Development Movement Tamsyn worked on the Corporates campaign at Friends of the Earth England, Wales and Northern Ireland. 

e.. V. Suresh (Chennai) is an advocate of Madras High Court, Supreme Court appointed Adviser for Tamil Nadu to the Supreme Court Commissioner on Food Security, President of People's Union for Civil LIberties, Tamil Nadu & Pondicherry. Suresh has been working on governance reform of different public service departments like education, health, welfare and recently with water department. 

f.. Rakhi Sehgal (Delhi) was a volunteer with the Right to Water Campaign during 2004-2005. She is currently engaged in labour research in the new industrial area of Gurgaon, near New Delhi. 

 Julian Perez (Bolivia), Olivier Hoedeman and V . Suresh will be speaking at the meeting along with CAWP-Ka members Issac Arul selva and Y J Rajendra who will share the Bangalore experience. 

 This interaction meeting will give all of us an excellent opportunity to find out more about struggles all over the world and an insight into what it means to re-nationalise  water sector like in Bolivia under Evo Morales,  President of Bolivia, or in France where municpalities are also planning to RECLAIM the water supply services. by what is now being termed as a process of 
"remunicipalisation".

we look forward to meeting all of you, 

Yours sincerely,

Vinay Baindur                             Issac Arul Selva  ,  Kshitij Urs 

Casum-m                                   Campaign Against Water  

                                                 Privatisation- Karnataka

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