Articles by Bharat Dogra

The Other Side of the Dam Bharat Dogra The Social and Environmental Effects of Large Dams by E Goldsmith and N Hildyard; Volume I: Overview; Wadebridge Ecological Centre, UK, pp 345. Available in India from Gandhi Book House, Rajghat, New Delhi.

February 16, 1985 cognisance of the cry for help of the Hari- jans. Most of the accused were arrested many days after the event.
The urban areas of Broam and Ankleshwar and the coastal areas of Broach district are notorious for smuggling, black-marketing, gambling, matka and illicit distilling of alcoholic beverages and illegal arms deals and many types of anti-social activities. Goondas and musclemen flourish in these areas. Ordinary people wonder how these persons operate in broad daylight if the police do not extent to them some patronage. In these areas the poor live not under the rule of the Government of India but Goonda Rule. Anyone belonging to the SC and ST communities who refuses to bow down before the dominant community is in danger of being deprived of his life and property. Several murders of this nature TEXTILE mills are the most important source of employment for industrial workers in India, and it has been estimated that nearly one and half million workers are employed in these mills. Despite this and the fact that these mills have been the scene of several working class struggles, working condition in most of the textile mils are known to be very bad. Dust, heat, noise, contact with dangerous chemicals and high frequency of accidents are the most common occupational hazards.

December 8, 1984 So action had to be taken to collect the maximum possible Hindu votes by reassuring them that the Sikhs would be taught a lesson; the responsibility for designing the plan of that action and for its execution must have been left completely to the hoodlums of Delhi who formed the leadership in Delhi's Congress(I). Need for immediate action however arose on October 31, the moment Indira Gandhi was shot by her two Sikh security guards. It was realised that the opposition parties would fully exploit the situation and public confidence in the ability of the ruling party to give protection to the Hindus against the militant Sikhs would be shattered and crucial Hindu votes would be irretrievably lost. Orders must have been issued immediately to put the plan into action. Then everything began to happen at the same time; as violence broke out rumours spread like wild fire; every Gurudwara was an arsenal, Sardars have planned to attack and kidnap children, Sikhs had distributed mithai (sweets) to celebrate Indira Gandhi's assassination, in Trilokpuri two infants of a Muslim had been sacrificed in gratitude. Such rumours and the terror campaign had the desired effect of inflaming public passion and whipping up violence against the Sikhs. So on the night of November 2 Muslims rushed out en masse and tore the Sikhs to pieces and raped their women. For full three days, Delhi was allowed to be ruled by murderers and arsonists.

October 13, 1984 special vehemence for those production lines which are colourfully called "the likely winners" in the export drive. The idea being canvassed is that the export drive would have to be made more selective as it should be more efficient and in the case of at least the selected production lines and industries all restrictive policy hang-ups of the past must be discarded. The work of the foreign trade policy committee is thus not confined within the narrow frame of trade policies and procedures. It cannot be. Its scope is wider so that it can provide the thin edge of the wedge for a more radical revision of the industrial and economic policy- frame in the future. The watchwords in this context, of course, are liberalisation and market competition. This also gives a clue to the nature of work of the other committee on the public sector. Here are indeed some indications of the policy preferences that would hold sway in the political Establishment in the event it is able to win the coming election. The populist gestures and leftist posturing are for the hustings. What would follow is realism and pragmatism and the necessary advance work in that direction has been taken in hand.


RELIABLE statistics are crucial to development planning in any sector. It is on the basis of such data that existing programmes can be evaluated and decisions taken on their continuation or replacement by other programmes. In the area of rural development, unfortunately, the data base is not every reliable. And nowhere is this shortcoming greater than in dairy development.