[Reader-list] endorsement campaign of official apathy into lalitmehtamurder enquriy

[radhikarajen at vsnl.net]

All citizens must raise the question of propriety of central government and state government which is scared to go into any probe in the irregularities in utilisation of funds in the NREGA scheme, for one this state government is foisted on the citizens by the political parties without any ethics or morals in politics with one point agenda of keeping "communal" BJP out of power. What the citizens should understand is that this communal label is as applicable to all the political parties as it is to BJP as all these parties are with votes of communities based on faith and castes.

 In the whole process misuse of national exchequer for personal gains has become hallmark of governance with allies of UPA, be it RJD or BSP or Congress itself, where is the funds of oil coupons Sonia. ?
Regards.

----- Original Message -----
From: Asit asitreds <asitredsalute at gmail.com>
Date: Monday, June 16, 2008 4:31 pm
Subject: [Reader-list] endorsement campaign of official apathy	into lalitmehtamurder enquriy
To: Sarai Reader List <reader-list at sarai.net>

>                 Dear friends,
> We are attaching (and enclosing inline text with some of the initial
> signatories) a statement on the happenings in Palamau jharkhand 
> related to
> uncovering of fraud in NREGA works in social audits and violent 
> reactions to
> that. The latest is a report that has been sent by the District
> Administration of Palamau which, amongst other things contains many
> ridiculous allegations against jean and the survey team. we are also
> attaching the scanned copy of the DCs report as carried by Prabhat 
> Khabar,and a link to an article in the Indian Express on the 
> growing violence
> against NREGA activists: http://indianexpress.com/story/322527.html
> *Could you please go through the statement below, and if you 
> approve send
> your concurrence as soon as possible so that the signed statement 
> can go to
> various newspapers.
> *Please send this urgently to   kiranshaheen at gmail.com  with a 
> copy to
> mkssrajasthan at gmail.com  . Also please send this on to others for 
> them to
> sign. If you need any more details, do let us know.
> in solidarity,
> Aruna Roy and Nikhil Dey
> (for the MKSS)
> 
> *Palamau Report: Enquiry or Cover-up?
> *
> We are shocked by the recent report prepared by the Deputy 
> Commissioner (DC)
> and Superintendent of Police (SP) of Palamau, commenting on Lalit 
> Mehta'smurder as well as on the survey of NREGA conducted there in 
> May 2008 by the
> G.B. Pant Social Science Institute, Allahabad (As published in the 
> newspaperPrabhat Khabar, Ranchi on 12th, 13th and 14th June ). 
> This report is a
> deliberate attempt to divert attention from the real issues, which
> effectively protects those responsible for corruption and violence 
> in the
> area.
> 
> The report shows that the police have made no serious enquiries 
> into Lalit
> Mehta's murder. It does not provide any credible clue to this 
> murder, but
> raises a number of mischievous conjectures using selective 
> evidence. For
> instance, the report refers to interviews with Lalit Mehta's 
> brother and his
> sons, without mentioning that the sons are one and three years old,
> respectively. Meanwhile, evidence from extensive interviews with 
> Lalit'swife, Ashrita, is ignored. Further, the report is full of 
> factual mistakes.
> Even the date of the murder is incorrect: Lalit Mehta was murdered 
> on 14
> May, not on 15 May as stated in the report.
> 
> Instead of presenting a serious analysis of the circumstances of 
> the murder,
> the report makes  absurd insinuations, such as Jean Drèze's possible
> involvement in the murder, or the allegation that he and his team
> manufactured evidence of fraud in NREGA works. Equally ridiculous 
> is the
> unsubstantiated claim of the possible role of an old family 
> dispute about
> Lalit Mehta's inter-religious marriage being the cause for the murder.
> 
> The report also makes insidious allegations about the survey team, 
> VikasSahyog Kendra, and Lalit Mehta's family. For instance, the 
> report presents a
> ludicrous picture of the social audit activities conducted by the 
> surveyteam, and even accuses the team of using devious means to 
> collecttestimonies. No-one familiar with the team's work (which 
> was conducted in a
> transparent manner in full view of the public and the media) can 
> take this
> seriously. Casting  unwarranted aspersions on people like Jean 
> Drèze, who is
> a member of the Central Employment Guarantee Council (and 
> therefore mandated
> to monitor and investigate NREGA implementation anywhere in the 
> country),and on students from Delhi University  and other reputed 
> universities, is in
> fact an attempt to snuff out any independent monitoring of government
> expenditure.
> 
> The report reinforces earlier suspicions that there is an 
> entrenched and
> deep rooted nexus of corruption and violence surrounding NREGA in 
> Palamau,with powerful connections. Otherwise, why would the 
> district's seniormost
> officers go to such length to undermine a forthright examination 
> of the use
> of NREGA funds in this area?
> 
> We demand that the report of the DC and SP Palamau be rejected by the
> Central Government as well as by the State Government, and that a CBI
> enquiry into Lalit Mehta's murder and the corruption in NREGA 
> works in
> Palamau District be initiated immediately.
> 
> 
> signed
> 
> Aruna Roy
> 
> Bunker Roy
> 
> Arundhati Roy
> 
> Prabhash Joshi
> 
> Harsh Mander
> 
> Kiran Shaheen
> 
> Nikhil Dey
> 
> Shanker Singh
> and many more
> A comprehensive list is being prepared .
> _________________________________________
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