Biju Monthly Report for the month of May 2010

For the month of May 2010

1. On the 1^st of May, I had a meeting with Ms. Lalitha the village work coordinator to understand CESCI village program direction for the year 2010-11. She will continue her work in the direction of economic and social empowerment of the women and children’s education. Also we are planning to expand the work in few more villages nearby the centre. She will work for creating a women’s federation with all the group members and will try to empower the group members in a leadership process. Lalitha will try to mobilize about 100 people to participate JS 2012 action.

2. Finalized the first issue of Ekta Parishd South India news letter and have started to distribute to the friends by email. It is an eight page news letter and the next issue will come in July.

3. Created a new Blog as http://ektaparishadsouthindia.blogspot.com to upload all the information’s and reports, News letters from the Ekta Parishad South India. In future any one can get the information’s directly from this blog. Similarly a new Facebook account also created for Ekta South India friends. Please join our Facebook to become a friend. http://www.facebook.com/search ekta parishad south india

4. ektasouthindia@gmail.com is the new email address which I am using for communications. Please use this new email address for further communications. CESCI related communications the cescimadurai@gmail.com will remain.

5. On the 8^th visited Trichy Mukthigram village and met some of the inhabitants and Durairaj. Informed the villagers about the need of becoming self reliant in terms of running the office building as a common village hall. Informed Durairaj to find out a new job very soon with some other agencies or independently. He will also settle the Ekta membership account with CESCI office.

6. Prepared a south Indian travel plan for Mr. Christop and Polani of Reck Film Company of Switzerland for their film project research visit during June 3^rd to 25^th. Later the plan was forwarded to Vinod bhai at Bhopal and asked him to integrate the North Indian visit part and also requested him to coordinate their visit.

7. 60 selected children’s from CESCI village children program was participated a five days summer camp called Dreams at CCD, sevaiyur during15th to 19^th May 2010. Lalitha the village work coordinator and the volunteers coordinated the summer camp with the support of CCD filed staff team.

8. Went to Kerala to meet Rajaji and also to participated the youth camp at waynad district conducted by Rajaji. There 68 people participated in this youth camp from the Kerala Adivasi Forum. The camp was held at PAVANA centre, Mananthvadi, Waynadu during 21^st to 25^th May 2010.

9. Joined the Kerala padayatra evaluation meeting at the Pavana centre on the 21^st May 2010. Generally the group felt that it was successful yatra and team strongly wish to continue their struggle by using such techniques to challenge the Govt policies. As a continuation of this process the KAF may send some people to NCAS, Pune to learn the Advocacy techniques and also make a good study about the Status of Adivaisis in Kerala with the help of some professional researchers. Rajaji will set up research committee and Fr. Stephen will follow it up. The finding of the research will be published in the leading news papers by the end of December 2010.

10. On the 23^rd may we (Rajajji & Biju) had a meeting with the Kerala Adivasi Forum (fr. Stephen, Raghvan, saradha) at PAVANA centre and have decided few major decisions in relation to the work of Adivasi Forum and Ekta Parishad in connection with strengthening the work among adivasis in Kerala.

a. Adivasi Forum will work among the adivasi communities in Kerala to empower them to get their rights and justice. Ekta parishad will not interfere with KAF and their work among the adivasi areas in Kerala as KAF is actively involved in this process and Ekta Parishad doesn’t want to repeat or compete with KAF.

b. KAF will join with Ekta parishad to create a linkage in a National Level and will join all the major action programs of EP at the national level.

c. In support to Jansatyagraha 2012 action on the issue of land KAF will participate from Kerala by bringing about 2000 adivasi’s and landless from Kerala.

d. Ekta Parishad will provide leadership training to 1000 cadres of KAF on Advocacy, constructive action programs, etc.

e. Ekta Parishad will provide exposure and linkage to KAF with the other states in India in-order to strengthen their struggles on land issues.

f. KAF can deal with Mr. Biju, EP South India coordinator to continue their relation and communication development with EP at national level.

11. On the 23^rd evening participated in the Inaugural function of Kerala anti liquor campaign vehicle yatra at Malappuram, Kerala. Swami Satchidanada bharathi will lead this dharma Sandesa yatra from the 23^rd to 5^th June travelling all around kerala and will end at Trivandrum. Shri. Rajaji inaugurated the yatra by giving a flag to the Swamy who is leading this important message for the recovery of kerala from the clutches of liquor demon.

12. I also spent some time to help Rajaji to draft his email replies and some reports in connection with our work.

13. In a meeting with KGNS, it was decided to start a new organisation at Kollam district where ekta parishad was very active in support to tsunami rehabilitation work. Ms. Benzy was instructed to coordinate this process with the help of KGNS. Later she came with a proposal to create the new organisation as “ekta centre for rural development” ECRD.

14. There are some works are pending under the KGNS and it was decided to list out the pending activities and Mr. Suresh the office secretary will follow it up.

15. In a discussion with Rajaji, he asked me to take more responsible in the SAPA activities in south India keeping CESCI and IGINP as a base to work for it. Similarly we also had a discussion about to bring 5000 people from the south for JS 2012. I am working on that and trying to list out a group of 10 leaders who can bring 500 people and also 100 leaders who can bring 50 people. (May be we have to change our system here in south differently like 25 leader x 250 people = 5,000) any how I am trying to figure out various possibilities to this task.

16. Under Ekta Parishad Tamilnadu a new forum was initiated as Tamilnadu Adivasi Land Rights Movement (TALRM), to work among the tribal’s in the state. Mr. Raja who is heading this new initiative and has organised a one day meeting at CESCI with a small team of social activists and intellectuals to prepare a working plan for the year 2010-11. At the end of the meeting the group came out with a good proposal to create adivasi movement in tamilnadu and will be participated 5000 people to Janasatyagraha 2012 action at Delhi. This needs support from Ekta Parishad to continue the work in the state.

17. Did some follow up work with European contacts by sending emails to some of them? Ms. Caroline Morel of Swissaid is asking us to contact Mr. David Kadam: david@swissaidindia.org of Swissaid for further communication in-order to create linkage with them. Secondly Yvonne of Solifonds will meet Rajaji on the 21^st June while he visits Switzerland. Mamaji has agreed to send some money about EUR 5,000 to the south Indian coordination work to CESCI Madurai account and have agreed to collect some more money.