Events

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Condolence Resolution at the passing of Professor Mahanta Kalita.

Mahanta-Kalita-Condolence-AIPSN

Read about Prof Mahanta Kalita here

Condolence Resolution at the passing of Professor Mahanta Kalita

 

 All India People’s Science Network (AIPSN) expresses deep grief at the passing of Professor Mahanta Kumar Kalita, a pioneer and leader of People’s Science Movement and AIPSN, who played an important role in nucleating many a People’s Science Movement organizations in the North East of India and bringing them to the AIPSN. Dr. Kalita passed away in Guwahati on 13th April, 2020. Due to the lockdown, we are sure, many would not have been able to pay their last respects at the funeral, to this many faceted personality and a pillar of People’s Science Movement.

 

A plasma physicist by training and a dedicated teacher, Professor Kalita was deeply involved in research even at a time when regular teaching duties in under-graduate colleges would not have left much time and leisure to pursue scientific research. He thus tried to make use of opportunities by visiting different institutes in the country. While performing these teaching duties and research he also dedicated himself in the democratic movement of college teachers, in Assam.

 

Professor Kalita had a network of contacts in different places in the country. This proved to be useful when the Institute of Advanced Studies in Science and Technology (IASST) was set up in Guwahati. The institute was the dream of many academics in Assam and North East India. It was inaugurated by Professor Dorothy Hodgkin, Nobel Laureate and a collaborator of John Desmond Bernal, on 3rd November, 1979. The institute began with a skeletal staff, limited facilities and the initial infra-structure was provided by The Assam Science Society, with which Professor Kalita was intimately associated. The institute (under the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India) has flourished since then in many areas of research; in the initial phase Professor Kalita would send out feelers for people to join whenever a vacancy arose or at least coax people to come as a short term visitor and give lectures.

 

Even though the PSMs as organised body emerged in the late 1980’s , many would recall that the importance of such a movement was already in Professor Kalita’s mind, well before that. Thus, when the massive exercise of Bharat Jan Vigyan Jatha (BJVJ, in 1987) was planned, Dr. Kalita found a platform that he was always dreaming of. He thus flung himself in organizing the BJVJ in the North Eastern states, bringing a stream of volunteers and  organizations. He was the North Eastern Secretary of the BJVJ.

 

After the BJVJ , when the different participating organizations decided to firm up their work by forming the AIPSN, Dr. Mahanta Kalita played an important role, in his state. He was a living link between all the organizations in Assam. When the Sabka Desh Hamara Desh programme was launched, Prof Mahanta Kumar Kalita gladly accepted to be an adviser.

 

We are sure that the AIPSN will miss him, as would others in many other walks of life. Those, who knew him would always cherish memories of this self effacing but inspiring person.

 

14th April, 2020.

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AIPSN Response to Govt affidavit to Supreme Court

ResponsetoGovtAffdvttoSupCourt

All India People’s Science Network

Concerning the Union of India’s “Status Report” dated 31 March 2020, submitted to the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India, in Writ Petition No. 469/2020 – Alakh Alok Srivastava v. Union of India

 

The pleas of the government are that the Union of India has responded urgently on 8th January, 2020 immediately on receipt of information on 7th January, 2020 when “China announced a new type of Corona virus as the causative agent for disease.” [para 5] and the “Central government has taken quick and timely measures in anticipation of the potential crises reaching our country even before India had the first confirmed case” [ para 4]

 

Accepting that 21 advisories were given from 3rd February to 19th March 2020, but the assessment of state of action taken in respect of preparing the healthcare system, securing the arrangements for supply of testing kits and personal protection equipment and creating arrangements for assuring informal settlements in the eventuality of nationwide total lockdown does not indicate that the central government was undertaking advanced planning.  There was no budget allocation for Covid 19 in the 2020-21 Union Budget. There was no meeting called with the state governments to deliberate on the preparations. The question is why was the COVID 19 missed in the economic survey and the need to make preparations was not reflected in the Budget allocations, even 51 days after the first meeting (held on 8th January, 2020).

 

The government states that about 35 lakh people were screened since March 2020 [para 16] giving the number to be 1,30,000 per day of whom 1000 had proved positive by 31st March 2020. It must be noted that this number concerns those who underwent screening (largely at airports) and NOT of tests.  

 

It needs to be stated that the above steps and judgements based on limited tests were grossly inadequate. This is clear from  the fact that by 31st March, 2020 the number of positive cases had grown to 125 per day, i.e. 0.08% of those tested and the rate has now (6th April, 2020) climbed to 672 positive cases per day, i.e. 4% of the cases tested. [All figures are from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India website]

 

It is not clear from the Status Report about the rate at which these testing facilities were augmented or would continue to be augmented in future. Given that since 5th March- 6th April the overall advance of the epidemic is at an overall 15% daily compound interest, by now the testing capacity should have been 35,000, and since the rate has climbed to 22%, the testing capacity had to grow, at least, at that rate so that no one requiring tests for surveillance, quarantine and isolation is left untested to plan for the recalibration and future planning in respect of lockdown.

 

It is our understanding that at the end of the Lockdown (15th April, 2020) the daily testing capacity must be 1,22,000 per day, if the daily compound rate of interest growth is kept at 15% (which is the overall rate since 5th March). However, if it jumps to 3 lakh per day since the advance is 22% per day, as is seen in the last six days, the state of testing for the recalibration and future planning is totally inadequate.

 

In terms of the number of hospitals in India, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare’s Press Release on 24. 07. 2018, states that there were 7,39,024 beds in 37,735 facilities. Thus, the figure of 40,000 ventilators being made available in the country, should be accompanied by a statement about the numbers to be allocated in 1000 different district hospitals. It is further to be stated, whether these ventilators are already available or at what rate would they be installed in different facilities. It needs to be recalled that India has only one bed per 1700 population, far below the desired number of one per 1000.

 

What is missing in this Status Report is: how was the intellectual base of the entire country put to use? It talks of the decision making to be only a bureaucratic procedure. For example, how were the institutions of medicine, public health, university departments of mathematics, statistics, sociology, economics made to get involved at the government’s initiative in suggesting these prescriptions? Some of these prescriptions do not fall in the ambit of any intellectual reasoning, like thali bajana, tali bajana etc. as also the diya jalana, prescribed for yesterday. And finally, were they asked about the option of the lockdown and the strategy for its implementation at the national, state, inter-state and local levels? Was any opinion taken from the opposition parties, the trade unions, Kisan Unions? For example, Anganwadis, ASHA workers and many other stake holders? Was the government conscious of the intellectual base that the country possesses and has created, developed and nurtured for several decades? Can one justify the claim, “the government gave an institutional response to the management of COVID-19 disease most scientifically and methodically”? [para 8]

 

 The way the Lockdown has been implemented has brought untold hardships, close to misery,    while the government’s most exhorted public observances like “tali bajana” , “thali bajana”, “candle light vigils” had in fact, degenerated with mass euphoria, in which even governors participated, giving social distancing an unceremonious burial, contrary to what might have been officially recommended. [para 27]. In his address to the BJP workers from the BJP office on its 40th foundation day, after abdicating the government’s responsibility to provide with food, shelter and wages, the PM has asked, called upon in a partisan manner the BJP workers to provide relief to people. 

 

Admitting that “The challenge for management of Covid 19 is huge”, the allocation of Rs. 1.7 lakh crore is only 0.87% of our $ 2.6 trillion economy and only 5% of the total Union Budget. This fight against the virus, which respects no one, can merit more attention than this 5% extra allocation. Further, it is not clear what proportion of it is really extra or is it an internal transfer from the Union Budget with repackaging and new labels. 

 

While it is claimed in the Status Report “India had a proactive, pre-emptive and graded response to COVID-19, but when the crisis was developing internationally, the central government was pushing CAA-NPR-NRIC agenda. The claim that the central government has taken quick and timely measures in anticipation of the potential crises reaching our country even before India had the first confirmed case” [para 4], does not hold water.

 

Concerning the confusion created by the statements on the impact of Lockdown’s success, the Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare admitted, “The reason for sudden increase in cases has been due to lack of public support in some locations and failure to inform authorities in time.” [India Today, March 31]. The Government’s submission is – “The prompt measures, particularly social distancing and lockdown have halted the spread of the disease in the country so far.” [ para 32] The statement on Status Report to Supreme Court completely ignores that the daily growth rate is fluctuating between 1.07-1.25% and that the lockdown has really “halted the spread of the disease in the country so far.”

 

The government’s aim is to apparently shift the blame upon people’s non-cooperation. The status report states that “there are approximately 4.14 crore who have migrated for the purpose of work/employment….The present bare foot migration which has taken place consists of – on a very rough estimate – 5 to 6 lakh persons across the country.” [para 4]. “It is most important and crucial to point out at this juncture that this kind of migration by the migrant workers on their own (emphasis added, as if the migration is in defiance!) in large numbers, defeats the very object of preventive measures taken by the Central Government. It is submitted that the migrant workers travelling barefoot or otherwise in large numbers inevitably and unknowingly defy the social distancing norm which is one of the globally accepted norms for preventing Covid-19 and put their lives and lives of others in danger. Such groups of persons in large numbers travelling together, if permitted to reach their home villages in rural India, then there is extreme and most likely possibility of their carrying Covid-19 infection in them in rural India and infecting the rural population of their respective village which has remained untouched so far…” [para 42]

 

In contrast to the above insensitivity, which blames the poor for being irresponsible and the source for spreading the disease, the Hon’ble Supreme Court’s observation is more sensitive to the plight of migrants, “The anxiety and fear of the migrant should be understood by the police and other authorities… We expect those concerned to appreciate the trepidation of the poor men, women and children and treat them with kindness.” acts as a message that touches our collective conscience.

 

In the Status Report there is no mention of the contributions of state governments, notably that of Kerala which has stubbornly faced the threat more or less single-handedly. Its social security measures acted as insurance against mass migration. Similar examples are there from Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan. The question is: in planning any of the measures, notably the countrywide lockdown, did the Centre with the Prime Minister as the leader of the government confer with the Chief Ministers? How much time did the Centre give to the states to prepare? Was it 4 hours at 8:00 PM on 24th March 2020? Or, did the concerns in para 43, take into account 40 deaths in the course of the migration?

 

Concerning the question of relief, i.e. “80 crore individuals i.e. roughly two-thirds of the India’s population is to be provided 5kg of food grains [rice and wheat] and one kg of pulses free of cost for next three months” [para 36] one has to bear in mind that the amount of pulses barely matches the nutritional necessity while that of the grains is only a third of what is needed for normal survival.

 

While the Central Government submitted that because of “fake and /or misleading news/ social media messages, a panic was created”, we need to know, which messages had created the panic? On the contrary, much fake news and anti-science falsehood was spread by those who used social media to support the government’s steps, e.g. about the divine content in the number nine and hence the Prime Minister’s ingenuity in choosing the right date and time for the candle and darkness exercise; that “taali bajana and thali bajana” would create enough magical vibration to beat the scourge to retreat and what a co-operative glow of 130 crore candles would do at this time of distress. 

 

Lastly, what is the constitutional authority of the PM CARES Trust to collect money for aiding this fight against COVID-19? What was found lacking in existing Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund (PMNRF)? 

 

These points of concern are being highlighted so that the centre  comes good on its submissions to the Hon’ble Supreme Court, and also to the people of India.  

 

6th April, 2020.

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ISRC link

For the Indian Scientists Response to Coronavirus ISRC link click here https://indscicov.in/

There is a lot of material that can be used by the members of the peoples science movements available at this link

The objectives of the ISRC are

  • To support evidence-based action by national, state and local governments through data analysis and modeling from a scientific perspective
  • To provide accurate science-based resources for activist groups working on the ground.
  • To mobilise the academic community, including students at all levels, to participate in science communication and local action.
  • To act as scientific interpreters for the public at large. This would include:
    • Providing collated, curated and verified information for the general public in accessible form in  Indian languages.
    • Hosting discussions among the scientific community (e.g. where epidemiologists, biologists, statisticians, health professionals and social scientists come together) to discuss the situation as it evolves
    • Providing a forum for addressing and answering queries from the public.
    • Communicating a scientific perspective to further public understanding of the current situation.

For queries contact us by email at indscicov@gmail.com or reach us on twitter at @IndSciCOVID

 

Press Release   “May there be light!” 5 April 2020
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Press Release   “May there be light!” 5 April 2020

Click here for English version of PressRelease5Apr2020         

“May there be light!”

Light came to Iceland in their efforts against the COVID19 disease. Even as the first cases were reported in China, Iceland led by a Prime Minister who is the second woman to hold that post and former chairperson of the Left-Green Movement made preparations to fight the spread of the corona virus (Sars-Cov-2) which all knew was bound to happen. Iceland produced indigenous kits and made testing free and readily available. Daily press briefings were held to update the public on the COVID19 situation since the end of February.  Focus was on transparency and taking the people along in a scientific and friendly manner. Of course, Iceland is smaller even than  Kerala  yet its efforts to fight the epidemic have lessons for all.

On January 30th the first COVID19 case was reported in India. The Union Government set up a Science and Technology Empowered Committee to take speedy decisions on research and development related to the virus causing the disease. In the beginning of April, we are still racing to develop and produce test kits indigenously. Our testing rate is extremely low and far below what is required. Medical personnel and other health workers and allied staff are in dire need of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) which are in severe shortage. Hospital infrastructure to handle severe cases of COVID19 is woefully poor, even in urban areas, and pitiable in rural areas.

Following the ill-planned  21-day nationwide lockdown announced with just 4 hours notice 24th March, there has been huge unanticipated and uncontrolled movement of jobless, desperate and hungry migrant labour, loss of standing crops and other agricultural produce causing huge distress for farmers, who were unable to harvest and sell the produce, as well as to farm workers. Small and medium scale enterprises are facing terrible hardships. About 80% of the Indian workforce in the unorganised, daily wage and self-employed sector face a daunting loss of daily subsistence and livelihood. Essential goods and services including food stuff are paralysed, even after government permitted their movement including across state-borders, and retail shops are running out of stock. Even hospital OPD services are unavailable, and no transport is available even for emergencies.

Unfortunately, through its actions and messaging, responsibility for overcoming the COVID19 hurdle has been  thrust on the people, while there have been numerous lapses and missteps on the part of the government such as allowing lakhs of foreign and Indian nationals to enter the country unhindered even in the first half of March, without rigorous tracing, quarantine and testing, resulting in hundreds of infected persons wandering all over the country adding hugely to the rise in cases. Despite this, people were urged to clap, and bang pots and vessels from their balconies and doorsteps, even at the cost of physical distancing, in appreciation of the medical and police personnel who were working to keep people safe. Immediately many pseudo-scientific theories were floated that sound vibrations will kill the virus, that NASA satellites had recorded evidence of this.

We are being called upon on 3rd April, to switch off all indoor lights and light candles, lamps or shine torches or cell phone lights for 9 minutes starting at 9pm on Sunday 5th April. Spurred on by the imagery mentioned of a Ram Baan to fight the coronavirus, once again there is a spurt of pseudo-science messages including from government sources (which were later deleted) that this light will kill the virus through some mysterious “quantum” process. The Make Noise event, replicating such events in Italy, is now being followed by the Make Light event  replicating the “Let there be Light” nationwide event in the US on 1 April 7pm. These were social movements of solidarity, not arising from a government diktat.  Efforts to raise the spirits, perhaps even to generate a sense of solidarity, may be appreciated. But it cannot hide the hazards faced by medical professionals in bravely tackling the COVID19 disease in the face of shortage or non-availability of protective equipment, or sometimes even resorting to jugaad motorcycle helmets and goggles, and plastic sheets instead of prescribed coveralls. Solidarity leading to collective action needs empathy with the poor and now severely deprived workers, and bringing all sections of the people together for the common good, above all for effective planning and implementation by the Government keeping in mind the needs of the people.

With this in mind, we call upon the Government to:

Light the life of Health workers with adequate PPEs

Light the life of Covid Patients with adequate Testing

Light the life of Poor with adequate Food

Light the life of the Workers and Farmers with Economic and Medical support.

 

All India peoples Science Network and its member organisations and its members will send the following tweet to the Prime Minister and request all other movements also to tweet to make a trending twitter storm:

 

Let there be light, in people’s lives, with food, testing and protection.

सबका जीवन हो रौशन, सुरक्षा, वायरस जांच और भोजन

In addition on 5th April at 9pm for 9 minutes and more, the AIPSN has requested member organisations and its members to sing or play the song Hum Dekhenge by Faiz Ahmed Faiz to show that the people will see the light that gives life.

 

Released by

All India People’s Science Network

gsaipsn@gmail.com

Twitter: @gsaipsn

General Secretary P. Rajamanickam

Mobile 9442915101

 

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Letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi

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Shri Narendra Modi

Hon’ble Prime Minister of India

South Block, Raisina Hill

New Delhi 110011

25 March 2020

 

Dear Modi ji,

             Access to Free Testing and Free Treatment for COVID-19

The number of people infected with COVID-19 has steadily been increasing globally. As is well recognized, access to screening test and confirmatory diagnostics is an important element of our response to the COVID-19 pandemic. We note that 119 government laboratories that are either operational or in the process of operationalization have been approved for conducting COVID-19 testing. We appreciate that ICMR has also started approving private labs to carry out testing and so far has approved 26 labs in 7 states. The labs network is to cover 15,000 collection points. Efforts in high burden countries have shown a correlation between extensive screening and control of the epidemic, and even of mortality. Testing can also pinpoint “hot spots”, where timely prevention and treatment efforts can be implemented to address the pandemic.

We, therefore, welcome the amendments to the testing strategy through which the eligibility criteria for undergoing diagnostic tests for COVID-19 were expanded to include all hospitalized patients with Severe Acute Respiratory Illness, all symptomatic healthcare workers, and asymptomatic direct and high-risk contacts of a confirmed case (between day 5 and day 14 of coming in contact). The testing strategy needs to be further expanded to all patients with Severe Acute Respiratory Illness or Influenza like illness and not restricted to only hospitalized patients with Severe Acute Respiratory Illness. Further, at specific well chosen sentinel sites within each state, there should be adequate population wide testing with an adequate sampling design so as to understand the actual spread of the disease – and the proportion of infected who are severe, or with mild symptoms and who are asymptomatic.

The Government first diagnosed COVID-19 by Reverse Transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), a molecular technique performed in centralized labs. More portable versions of these molecular diagnostic machines are required to decentralize testing.

We therefore welcome that ICMR has established a fast-track mechanism for validation of non-USFDA/CE approved commercial test kits at ICMR NIV, Pune and is permitting the use of the test kits that are subsequently approved by CDSCO. Further studies to validate the accuracy and quality of these kits should be continued in parallel.

Laboratories in public health systems across the world have had delays in securing reagents. We would in this context like to draw your attention to the absence of local production of reagents and raw materials of reagents, necessary to secure availability of laboratory confirmation and RT-PCR test kits for COVID-19 and other diseases. We request you to mobilize the domestic capacity available with national and the domestic industry for securing the local supply.

Only 3 mass-produced test kits – Altona Diagnostics, Mylab and Seegene–have been approved to date through this process. We understand that several more applications are pending validation by ICMR NIV or will soon seek such validation. Accelerated approval of the test kits is critical to ensure sufficient availability of kits to meet the growing need of testing.

We understand that currently testing is being carried out in the government laboratories through home brewed kits. This is relatively time consuming and expensive too. Many commercial test kits have the potential to deliver faster results and at significantly lower costs.

Therefore it is important to ensure the availability of cheaper and quicker tests that have passed strict validation. Moreover, private labs, where testing has been restricted to only commercial test kits, also require access to the kits. However, the mere availability of tests kits and lab facilities alone will not enable the scaleup of testing under the current testing strategy.

We have serious concerns and question the approach to make patients pay up to Rs. 4500 for testing in private labs because it negates the public health response to the pandemic and creates inequitable access to testing for people who meet the testing criteria. We further understand that test kits developed by Indian companies may significantly reduce costs, and therefore urge appropriate support for scaling up of domestic production to further reduce costs. The ICMR’s call for private labs to provide free testing is unrealistic. Irrespective of whether an individual is tested in a public or a private lab, the Government needs to bear the cost.

The constraints of public health infrastructure will make the use of the private sector necessary for testing as well as treatment. As infection spreads, and particularly at the stage of community spread, it is inevitable that more private sector hospitals and laboratories will be pressed into action.

We appreciate that the Government has already instructed for COVID-19 related expenses to be covered under government-sponsored insurance schemes such as Ayushman Bharat. However, the majority of the population is outside the purview of government schemes and lacks access to health insurance that would cover COVID-19, and would be vulnerable to catastrophic expenditure and potential exploitation in the private sector.

Therefore, we urge the Government to announce and follow a free test and free treatment policy in dealing with this public health emergency, and make the necessary cost-sharing arrangements with the private sector for its services. Such a responsible approach would enable the Government to fulfill its duty in protecting peoples’ health and also ease any overwhelming burden on the public sector, enhancing our collective efforts to contain the disease.

We request you to instruct the relevant Government ministries and offices to:

  • • immediately ensure testing for COVID-19 as per the testing protocol in private laboratories free of charge to patients, with reporting of test data to appropriate centres
  • • mandate all test results should be made publicly accessible and put in an open repository
  • • make necessary arrangements to extend treatment for COVID-19 even in private healthcare institutions at no cost to patients
  • • provide for full disclosure of the prices at which test kits are being supplied by each
  • manufacturer as well as the costs of testing in public and private laboratories
  • • accelerate the evaluation of pending applications of RT-PCR test kits for COVID-19 and
  • subsequent approval by CDSCO of kits passing validation, and provide appropriate support for scaling up production to reduce costs
  • • ensure timely procurement and supply of test kits approved by CDSCO for supply to Government and approved private laboratories for testing
  • • take urgent steps to secure supplies and to promote local production of reagents, raw material of reagents, and other physical components used such as swabs which are used in testing

We urge you to expedite the action of the Government on our proposals provided through this letter.

Sincerely,

Jan Swasthya Abhiyan (JSA)

All India Drug Action Network (AIDAN)

All India Peoples Science Network (AIPSN)

 

 

Copy to:

Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Hon’ble Minister, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MOHFW)

Dr. Balram Bhargava, Secretary DHR & Director General ICMR, MOHFW

Dr. Priya Abraham, Director, ICMR National Institute of Virology (NIV)

Ms. Preeti Sudan, Secretary, MOHFW

Dr. V. G. Somani, Drugs Controller General of India, Central Drugs Standard Control Organization

(CDSCO), MOHFW

Dr. S. Eswara Reddy, Joint Drugs Controller (India), CDSCO

Shri D. V. Sadananda Gowda, Hon’ble Minister, Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers

Dr. P. D. Vaghela, Secretary, DOP, Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers

Smt. Shubhra Singh, Chairperson, NPPA, Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers

Dr. Vinod K. Paul, Member, Niti Aayog

Prof. K VijayRaghavan, Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India

Dr. P K Mishra, Principal Secretary to Prime Minister, PMO

Shri P. K. Sinha, Principal Advisor to Prime Minister, PMO

Dr. ShrikarPardeshi, Joint Secretary, PMO

 

 

For further information, contact:

Prof. T. Sundararaman, 9971415558, sundararaman.t@gmail.com

Dr. Sulakshana Nandi, 9406090595, sulakshana.nandi@gmail.com

  1. M. Gopakumar, 9372927647, kumargopakm@gmail.com

Malini Aisola, 7838381185, malini.aisola@gmail.com

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SDHD Ask How campaign

All member organizations are requested to organize SCIENCE FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE campaign activities in your state

April 11th Jyothiba Phule birthday
April 14th Ambedkar birthday 

National Workshop : Science and Social Justice Bengaluru 16,17Feb 2019

National Workshop for Hindi-speaking States including Maharashtra and Odisha

at Delhi, 10-12Feb 2019

26th Jan 2019

Subka Desh Hamara Desh:
Ask How Campaign

In Defense of the Republic and Constitution:
Mr. R. Krishnamurthy Lawyer High Court speaks

Tamil Nadu Science Forum (TNSF)
6, Kakkathoppu Street, Madurai-625001

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A Vibrant and Inspiring 16th AIPSC organised in Bhubaneshwar

The 16th AIPSC was organized from 9th February to 12th February 2018 at National Institute of Science Education and Research (NISER). The Congress was hosted by Bharat Gyan Vigyan Samiti (BGVS), Odisha. More than 700 delegates from  42 organisations associated with the All India People’s Science Network (AIPSN) from across the Country, and more than 200 participants from Odisha and 130 children, come together for the promotion of science and public participation in science and technology in country. The 16th AIPSC attempted to make a difference in content discourse, hospitality and people participation.

Click here for a brief report of the AIPSC.

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Bhopal Jan Utsav: A festival of Hope and Solidarity

The city of Bhopal witnessed a unique Festival — a festival of diversity, reason and resistance—between 26th and 28th of November. Named as Bhopal Utsav, it was organised by various progressive organisations, collectives and movements between. The festival brought together activists from diverse movements, cultural activists, science activists and thousands of people from all walks of life. The festival was conceived as a response to the systematic assault on people’s lives mounted by religious  sectarian forces and neoliberal economic policies. Over 3,000 people representing movements from across the country, raised their voices in unison to celebrate popular resistance against attempts to unmake the vision of a multicultural and self–reliant nation that fired the independence movement in India. For three days the grounds of the Rabindra Bhawan reverberated with slogans, songs, and debates which spoke about the real concerns of the people. They spoke of social justice, gender equality, of the primacy of reason over obscurantism, and of freedom – freedom from hunger and poverty, freedom from repression of free speech and ideas, and freedom from caste and class oppression.

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