Events
Report-May 2006 |
Advocacy Seminar on ‘Child Domestic Workers’ |
Advocacy
Seminar on ‘Child Domestic Workers’ As part of the project on Child Domestic Workers (CDWs), CUTS Centre for Consumer Action, Research & Training (CUTS-CART), in partnership with Save the Children (UK) organised a State level advocacy seminar at HCM-RIPA, Jaipur, Rajasthan, on May 26, 2006. Chairman of the Rajasthan State Human Rights Commission Justice N K Jain inaugurated the seminar inaugurated the seminar. In his inaugural address, he suggested for inclusion of adequate provisions in the Child Labour Act to protect the rights of child domestic workers. Project Director, National Child Labour Project, Jivraj Singh delivered the keynote address. While initiating the open discussions, Neetu Sahi, Programme Coordinator, Save the Children (UK) emphasised the need to locate child domestic workers and sensitise each and every person on the issue. A future plan of action was finalised based on the recommendations emerged out of the seminar. The same will be submitted to the recommendations to the State Government. Dharmendra Chaturvedi of CART was responsible for the implementation of the activities of the project along with Priyanka Gupta (Volunteer from Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai). |
‘Involvement
of Consumers in Power Sector Reforms in Rajasthan’
Udaipur, Rajasthan, India, May 17, 2006 The 12th and the last Circle Level Training Workshop under the second phase of the CUTS-FES programme was organised at Udaipur, Rajasthan, on May 17, 2006, with the support of Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES), New Delhi. About 65 participants, who came from various blocks of Udaipur under Ajmer Power Distribution Company Ltd., attended this workshop. R C Sharma, Deputy Secretary, Rajasthan Electricity Regulatory Commission, Jaipur; and B L Khamesra, Chief Engineer, Udaipur Circle were the main resource persons of the workshop who handled the technical part of the session. Gangadhar Solanki, CUTS networker from Chittorgarh spoke on advocacy and regulation in power sector. In the workshop, sessions on capacity building in power reforms, awareness regarding the power reforms, power tariff settings, role of consumer organisations in power reforms were taken up for discussions. The event was well organised, well attended and well covered in the media. For further details, please contact: |
District
level de-briefing Meeting of PETS on MDMS CUTS Centre for Consumer Action, Research & Training (CUTS CART), in collaboration with CUTS Centre for Human Development (CUTS CHD), and in partnership with South Asia Social Accountability Network (SASANet) of the World Bank is implementing a project on ‘Participatory Expenditure Tracking Survey on Mid-day Meal Scheme’ in Rajasthan since October 2005. The project was formally launched at Chittorgarh, Rajasthan, on October 21, 2005. The initial survey was conducted among various stakeholders through 221 Government and Government Assisted Primary Schools covering 14 blocks of Chittorgarh. To analyse and deliberate on the key findings of the survey, a de-briefing meeting was held in Chittorgarh, Rajasthan, on May 11, 2006. About 100 representatives participated in the meeting. In addition to J V R Murty from World Bank; Rajendra Singh Shekhawat, ADM, Chittorgarh; T C Damor, City SP, Chittorgarh; Sunil Kumar Jha, Chief Executive Officer, Zilla Parishad, Chittorgarh; Narmada Bhambi, Deputy Executive Officer, Chittorgarh; Dr Pushpa Khilani, CMHO, Chittorgarh; Shiv Shankar Daadich, Pradhan, Rashmi; Manohar Lal Anjana, Pradhan, Choti Sadri attended the de-briefing meeting. George Cheriyan, K C Sharma & Dhudeshwar Kumar from CART and Dhanna Singh Rawat and Madan Giri Goswami from CHD attended the meeting. |
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Two outreach meetings have been organised by CUTS-CRC at Uttarkashi, on May 19, 2006, and at Pouri on May 21, 2006, under the programme ‘Farmers Rights to Livelihood in the Hindukush Himalayan Region’ supported by Ford Foundation and Novib. The objective of the meetings was to sensitise the primary stakeholders on the issues of property rights over traditional knowledge and natural resources. Many farmers from the region participated in the meetings and expressed their concerns on the rights of the mountain communities over traditional knowledge and natural resources. The farmer groups opined that the government should formulate a comprehensive policy for the land, water, and forest resources of the region. The major points of the Seeds Bill 2004 were translated into Hindi and circulated among the participants. However, it was felt that the farmers should be sensitised on the recent steps taken by the government in the farm sector, so that they could voice their protest against any anti-farmers’ policy. For further information please contact: |
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CUTS International, in collaboration with the Vietnam Competition Administration Department (VCAD) and the Taiwan Fair Trade Commission (TFTC) organised a workshop on ‘Skills for Cartel Investigation’ on May 19-29, 2006 at Sapa Lao Cai in Vietnam. The workshop was a part of the 7Up2 project in which experts and officials from VCAD and the TFTC participated. The workshop incorporated the introduction of cartel
regulations in Vietnam, the introduction to cartel and the Fair Trade
Act and the approach of investigation and its process. It also discussed
case studies of cartel manufacturers, including one on cartel service. |
State
Workshop on ‘WTO and Its Position on Agriculture & Textile’
Kisan Mandi Bhawan, Gomti Nagar, Lucknow, May 16-17, 2006 Network of Entrepreneurship & Economic Development (NEED), in association with CUTS International, Jaipur and Uttar Pradesh Council of Agricultural Research (UPCAR) organised an action awareness-cum-capacity building programme for core groups of Government Departments, Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), Universities and other Stakeholders on ‘Basic Functionalities of WTO’ with special reference to Agreement on Agriculture (AoA) and the current status of Textile and Clothing (T&C) at Kisan Mandi Bhawan, Gomti Nagar, Lucknow, on May 16-17, 2006. The two days workshop covered each possible aspects of state’s agriculture in the context of WTO. Pranav Kumar from CUTS International facilitated an interactive session on the WTO issues. |
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CUTS Centre for Human Development (CUTS CHD) with the
support of Rajya Mahila Aayog (State Women’s Commission) and United
Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) organised a
state-level campaign against ‘Child Marriage’ at Chittorgarh, Rajasthan,
from April 15 to May 15, 2006. |
ICRR
NRG Meeting CUTS C-CIER, with support from the British High Commission, India, organised a National Reference Group (NRG) meeting on the India Competition and Regulation Report (ICRR), at the India Habitat Centre, New Delhi, on May 13, 2006. The objectives of the meeting were: to propose the organisation of the first Project Steering Committee; to discuss the related issues; and to finalise the overall structure of the report. The Committee would comprise of eminent experts and economists of the country CUTS C-CIER took the initiative in proposing to bring out a biennial report on ICRR, which would contain a biennial review of the competition and regulation scenario in India for the purpose of promoting a healthy scenario formarkets to function well. The report would be set against the background of India’s initiation towards market-oriented economic reforms vis-à-vis a complete lack of periodic review to comprehensively assess the functioning of markets in the country. ICRR seeks to address this issue in order to undertake a periodic review of the competition and regulation scenario in India and provide relevant inputs to the policy-making community as well as other stakeholders for taking necessary actions to help the markets function well. The first issue of ICRR is scheduled for January 2007. ICRR will carry a biennial review of the various policies/practices of Government (Central as well as States) in terms of their impact on competition, including: working of the Competition Law and other Sectoral Regulatory Laws; competition issues in regulated sector and at consumers’ end; and competition issues at sectoral levels (primary, secondary and tertiary). This review would highlight various distortions
prevalent in the economy and provide relevant inputs to enhance competition
and contestability in the market leading to higher efficiency and
productivity; and thereby sustained high economic growth and well-functioning
markets. |
Roundtable
Discussion CUTS Centre for Competition, Investment & Economic Regulation (CUTS CCIER) organised a roundtable discussion to delve into the above-mentioned issue and come up with a set of recommendations on how the civil society can play an active role in developing functional competition regimes in the continent. The roundtable discussion was attended by representatives from the civil society and competition authorities. For further information please contact: |
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