‘We were the first to fight for rights of Polavaram-hit’

The Hindu‎‎: Vijayawada: Friday, October 07, 2016.

Social activist Medha Patkar on Thursday faulted Prime Minister Narendra Modi for taking one-sided decisions such as increasing the height of the Narmada dam by 17 metres, keeping his Cabinet colleagues, including the Social Justice Minister, in the dark.

Referring to the Polavaram project, Ms. Patkar said that her organisation was the first one to fight for the rights of Adivasis and other people who would be affected by the project.

Ponnala Lakshmaiah (the then Irrigation Minister in undivided AP) was ready for formulating a policy.

The then Congress government was ready for a dialogue. But neither Mr. Modi nor Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu was ready to hold a dialogue with people’s organisations, she alleged.

Asked whether the RTI Act was allowed to die on its own, Ms. Patkar said the NDA government was killing every enactment which was a result of sustained struggle of people, be it employment guarantee Act or labour Acts. But still the RTI was useful as many scams such as Adarsh could be busted with it.

Ms. Patkar was in the city as part of Nasha Mukth Bharat Andolan Yatra’ (Addiction-free India), a nationwide tour urging implementation of prohibition across the country.