PRESS RELEASE– Inauguration of Feku.in

www.pheku.in is a new and forward moving engagement with India’s new struggle for democratic space.  The last five years has seen a significant and often angry civil society mobilization against what is perceived as a descent into anarchy and authoritarian actions by the state. The decade long rule of the UPA government has not only led to the sporadic ignition of youth anger but also created the space for the emergence of a fascist politician in Narendra Modi on to the national stage. Like all fascists Modi presents a model of efficiency and effective rule to a beleaguered nation and like most fascists this model of efficiency and growth is based on lies, half-truths and a million dollar PR industry.

But such a moment when a fascist alternative is being sold to civil society, is also the moment which can produce a creative challenge. www.pheku.in offers such a challenge by putting every creation of the Modi PR machinery under the scanner. We have collected a vast range of data on the Gujarat model of development and have commissioned several new investigations on claims that he has made publicly. Thus, pheku.in will serve simultaneously as a clearing house for publicly available information and as a breaking news site through the election season. Our objective with pheku.in is two-fold: to build a new democratic imaginary by exposing the record of the most authoritarian politician in India today and simultaneously produce a new level of engagement for the youth in Indian politics. pheku.in‘s team is located in 15 different states across India and 4 cities outside the country.

The unique combination of Modi’s authoritarianism, his deeply communal record, and his ability to lie smoothly is the fertile ground on which pheku.in will flourish. Already some exposures of his smooth lies – such as his Himalayan miracle – have been exposed. Our examinations reveal hundreds more that need to be unveiled. These lie along several dimensions – his destruction of democratic institutions in Gujarat, scams of enormous proportions and needless to say, his Pheks – from which we get our name. Any politician responsible for the slaughter of over 2000 minorities and several encounter killings should be beyond the pale as a Prime Ministerial aspirant. But a beleaguered nation engages all hope even when such hope is mere Chimera. Pheku.in, we hope, will be part of a new era of democratic upsurge in India.

www.pheku.in is being simultaneously launched today, August 23, 2013 in over 20 cities across India. The following people launched the website:

1.    Ahmadabad -to be launched by Prakash Shah, Mahesh Pandya, Gautam Thaker, Hemant Shah

2.    Ajmer- to be launched by DlTripathi, Anant Bhatnagar, Carol Geeta

3.    Bangalore- to be launched by (Gauri Lankesh, Parvateesha

4.    Bilaspur – to be launched by  Zulekha Jabin, Nand Kashyap, Noor Nawaz Khan

5.    Bhopal- to be launched by LS Hardenia, Father Anand, Yogesh Diwan

6.    Delhi – to be launched by Kavita Srivastav, Apoorvanand, Mansi Sharma

7.    Goa – to be launched by Eric Pinto

8.    Hissar- to be launched by Prof Anil Panikkar, Rajender Yadav , Manjeet Roperia

9.    Hyderabad– to be launched by  L Ravi Chander, Jasveen Jairath, V Ramakarishnan

10.  Jaipur- to be launched by Prem Krishan Sharma, Radha Kant Saxena, Mohammed Hasan, Krishan Takhar: Nishat Hussein

11.  Jammu- Tanveer Hussain Khan,

12.  Kozhikode- to be launched by Secular Collective & Keluettan Study& Research Centre

13.  Lucknow – to be launched by Prof Rooprekha Verma- Saajhi Duniya, Pradeep Ghosh- IPTA, Manan Trivedi & Shabnam Hashmi -ANHAD

14.  Mandya, Karnataka- to be launched by-Dr Vasu-Janashakti

15.  Mangalore- to be launched by-Suresh Bhat

16.  Mumbai – to be launched by- Prof Ram Puniyani, Dolphy D’Souza, Abraham Mathai

17.  Nuh – to be launched by Ramzan Choudhary, Zubair Ahmad, Subhash Kumar, Dr Abdul Wahab

18.  Patna – to be launched by Father Philip Manthra, Prof. Bharti S Kumar, Prof. M.N.Karna, Alok Dhanwa, Prof. N.K. Chaudhry

19.  Pune- to be launched by Neeraj Jain

20.  Rohtak- to be launched by

21.  Saharanpur – to be launched by Prof Surendra Nischal, Shahin Ansari

22.   Shimoga- to be launched by Ashok- Karnataka Communal Harmony Forum

23.   Srinagar- to be launched by- Shabbir Hussain Buchh, Iqbal Wami

24.  Udaipur- to be launched by Ramesh Nandwana, Ashwani Paliwal

25.   Varanasi – to be launched by Prof Mohd Arif,  SM Khursheed, Dr Lenin Raghuvanshi, Anand Tiwari,  Zaheer Ahmad, Suresh Kumar

Pheku.in is endorsed by: Amit Sengupta, journalist, Delhi, Anjum Rajabali, script writer, Mumbai, Anuradha Chenoy, professor, JNU, Delhi, Apoorvanand, Prof, DU, Delhi, Arma Ansari, filmmaker, UP, Ashok Vajpaye, poet, Delhi, Avni Sethi, Designer, dancer, Ahmadabad, Azam Khan, entrepreneur, Hyderabad, Biju Mathew, Hyderabad, Cedric Prakash, Director Prashant, Gujarat, Dev Desai, social activist, Ahmadabad, Ganesh Devi, Bhasha, Baroda, Gauri Lankesh, Lankesh Patrike, Bangalore, Gautam Thakkar, Harsh Mandar, writer, activist, Delhi, Harvardhan Hegde, Surgeon, Delhi, Indu Kumar Jani, writer, Ahmadabad, Irfan Engineer, social activist, Mumbai, Kamayani Bali Mahabal, Human rights activist, Mumbai, Kalpana Kannabiran, Hyderabad, Kamal Chenoy, Prof JNU, Delhi, Kavita Krishnan, Kedar Misra, journalist, writer, Bhubaneswar, KM Shrimali, historian, Delhi, KN Panikkar, historian, Trivandram, Lawrence Surendra, Bangalore, Mahesh Bhatt, filmmaker, Mumbai, Mahesh Pandya, Mallika Sarabhai, artist, Ahmadabad, Manan Trivedi, social activist, Ahmadabad, Manisha Trivedi, Social Activist, Ahmadabad, Mansi Sharma, activist, Delhi, Nandini Sundar, Naseeruddin Shah, actor, Mumbai, Neena Vyas, Noorjahan Diwan, Social activist, Ahmadabad, Parvateesha, Lankesh Patrike, Bangalore, Prakash Shah, journalist, Ahmadabad, Purnima Joshi, journalist, Delhi, Rahul Roy, filmmaker, Delhi, Ram Puniyani, writer, Mumbai, Ram Rahman, designer, photographer, Delhi, Seema Mustafa, journalist, Delhi, Shabnam Hashmi, activist, Delhi, Sukumar Muralidharan, journalist, Delhi, Tanzil Rahman, Delhi, Vani Subramanian, activist, Delhi, Vivan Sundaram, artist, Delhi, Yadavan Chandran, artist, Darpana Academy, Zaheeruddin Ali Khan, Hyderabad, Zakia Soman, BMMA, Gujarat, Zulekha Jabin ( Chattisgarh)

FACT SHEET

·                     In 10 years 60,000 small scale industries have been closed down.

·                     Gujarat ranks 5^TH  in F.D.I.

·                     The state’s total debt was less than Rs 10,000 crore when the BJP first came to power in Gujarat in 1995. Gujarat’s actual debt has mounted from Rs 45,301 crore in 2001-02 when Modi took over  to Rs 1,38,978 crore on December 30, 2012.  The debt would mount to Rs 2,07,695 crore as per the state government’s budget estimates by 2015-16.

·                     Gujarat is at 8^th position in agricultural growth. Gujarat is never achieved 10% growth in Agriculture sector. As per Government of Gujarat’s own statistics from year 2005-2006 to 2010-2011, growth in GSDP in Agriculture and Allied sector is 3.44% only-not double digit or 10%.

·                     In Gujarat VAT on fertilizer is 5% it is highest in India

·                     In Gujarat 26 districts have 225 blocks in which 57 are dark zone blocks.

·                     455885 Applications are pending for agricultural power connection as on March, 2011

·                     Close to half of the states children under the age of 5 (44.6 %) are known to be suffering from malnutrition. 70 per cent are said to be anemic while 40 per cent are underweight.

In  8 districts and 3 Talukas of Gujarat, 2494 teachers posts are vacant.

In 4 dist of Gujarat, approximately 978 schools are running with only 1 or 2 teachers.

·                     Health expenditure by Gujarat fallen down from 4.25% in 1990-95 to 0.77% in 2005-2010. Gujarat occupied second position from bottom in terms of allocation of health in state budget.

·                     Gujarat ranks 20^th (the bottom) among the 20 major states in the percentage of women with severe anaemia.

·                     Gujarat ranks 15^th in malnourishment in children

·                     Gujarat ranks 16^th in children’s anaemia

·                     Gujarat ranks 14^th in rural IMR and 10^th in urban IMR.

·                     According to report on Global Hunger (2009), Among the major 17 states in India, Gujarat ranks 13^th with a Hunger Index of 23.3. The state has been declared as an “alarming state” along with MP, Jharkhand and Bihar

·                     The data show that 67 per cent of rural households in the State ranks 10th in the use of latrines.

·                     Data collected during the National Census 2011 reveals that around 29 per cent of the total number of households in Gujarat is receiving untreated drinking water. Approximately 1.75 crore people are not getting clean drinking water.

·                     Gujarat has 32% poverty in 2001 and it reached 39.5% in 2011. Every 100 person there is 40 persons poor. Statistics of the NSSO show that the percentage of reduction of poverty between 2004 and 2010 was the lowest in Gujarat, at 8.6 per cent.

·              52,260 number of scholarships minority students should have got in Gujarat, through the Centre started a scholarship scheme for minorities; to be shared in 75:25 ratio between the Centre and state to encourage students from poor families to complete schooling. Since the scheme started, Gujarat has let the funds lapse by not sending any proposal to the Centre for giving these scholarships.

·              12% Muslims’ share of total bank accounts in Gujarat, but their loan amount outstanding is only 2.6 percent. This proves they don’t get loans.

·              UNDP United Nations has observed that poverty head count ratio for Muslims is highest in the states of Assam, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Gujarat.

·              Of 1,958 riot cases reopened after the Supreme Court order, the Gujarat Police made arrests in only 117 cases — 5 percent of the total

·                     Gujarat stands 11th in implementing Forest Rights Enactment, 2006.

·                     One rape takes place every three days in Gujarat.

·                     The Deputy Speaker’s post is left vacant by the Gujarat Government for a decade. (As per article 178 of Indian constitution, it is compulsory)

·                     Assembly runs on an average for 30-32 days a year.

·                     No Lokayukta appointed since last 10 years.

·                     Gujarat has organized 3716 Employment festival” as per Government of Gujarat own record 10 lacks educated youth are unemployed and a total of 30 lakh people are unemployed.

·                     NSSO data show that in Gujarat , growth in employment has dropped to almost zero in the past 12 years

A recent CAG review on accounts of the States is an eye-opener when it comes to Gujarat, the latter’s high claims notwithstanding. Allegedly there are Rs 16,706.99 crore worth of financial and land allotment irregularities with resultant negative impact on delivery on economic and development fronts