Articles by Biren Roy

also cause long lasting environmental degradation in the neighbourhood.
Northern Kerala is an acutely power- starved area where voltage drop as well as frequent power cuts are the order of the day. People are prepared to sacrifice anything for the sake of a steady supply of electricity. Feeling the pulse of the people, SKPL has come forward with a statement that they will generate 100 MW of power captively, out of which 80 MW will be utilised by the factory and 20 MW will be fed into the grid. In a state where unemployment has reached explosive proportions, any opportunity to mitigate it will be accepted wholeheartedly. Knowing this well, grossly exaggerated estimates of employment potential of the proposed plant are being flaunted by Vinod Thaparia, the director of the company. The public relations exercise he has undertaken is unique for its attempt to foreclose any anticipated opposition, by certain simplistic statements. For example, he has gone on record (see Chemical Weekly, February 11, 1997) saying that the petrochemical factory is a 'non-toxic' and 'zero-pollution' venture. Imagine the nerve of portraying an industry which is among the most hazardous 20 industries as such a harmless venture, "to allay the fears of the public", even before the deal has been finalised. Much more by way of statements such as these can be expected from companies of this type with huge allocation of funds for public relation and propaganda Now that an MoU has been signed and a 'green signal' has been received from the central government by way of a letter of intent, it calls for immediate public attention. One has to weigh the advantages on the economic and employment sectors against probable destruction of the environment through pollution and excessive water consumption. Pollution, of course, can be prevented to a limited extent; but only at the cost of profits, as funds will have to be diverted to state-of-the-art technologies to fight pollution. Can we reasonably expect a private company with a considerable equity participation by foreign firms to invest heavily on pollution control and monitoring, in a country where the rules are rather for the statute books than for implementation? TNCs coming to India with hazardous processes do not have a track record of conforming to stringent environmental standards in their host countries (the case of Bhopal is too vivid to forget).

Biren Roy The fact that certain human rights are enshrined in a formal document does not mean that the battle for a society free from all kinds of exploitation has been won.

Left Front and the Police Case of Bhikari Paswan Biren Roy It has become customary for the Left Front government to defend every action of the state police, however brutal and indefensible, This is making it possible for the Congress, and the Youth Congress leader Mamata Banerjee in particular, to emerge as champions of human rights.

Human Rights Abuse Continues Unchecked Biren Roy The Left Front in West Bengal runs its government by compromising with the police, lest its stability is disturbed. Not surprisingly, the government's record of human rights violations is shameful.

LABOUR Left Front Lukewarm to Workers' Co-operatives Biren Roy There are by now many examples of workers co-operatives succeeding in saving 'sick' industrial units from liquidation. There is no reason, therefore, why the Left Front government in West Bengal and the CITU should not extend a helping hand to the workers of Calcutta Chemical Company to salvage this Once-prosperous unit CALCUTTA CHEMICAL COMPANY, recently shifted to the south-eastern fringe of Calcutta, was established in 1916 by some Bengali entrepreneurers in the wake of the Swadeshi movement. It offered the first serious challenge to foreign soaps and tooth pastes. Its products, especially Margo soap and Neem toothpaste, have enough goodwill in the market The management of the company passed through different hands, ultimately to Shaw Wallace Company which was later on bought by NRI Chhabaria group in