‘Neither a politician, nor a terrorist’: Agricultural scientist writes to PM after refusing award
In more symbolic support to the farmers’ protest on the fringes of Delhi, a senior agricultural scientist refused to accept an award from Union minister Sadanand Gowda in solidarity with the ongoing movement for the repeal of the contentious farm laws.
A long line of sports icons, mostly from Punjab, have threatened to return their awards if the Centre doesn’t roll back the three laws that are believed to have stoked the farmers’ unrest.
Dr. Varinderpal Singh, Principal Soil Chemist at Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), Ludhiana, went up on the dais at an event organised by the Fertilizers Association of India in the Capital on Monday, but refused to receive the award from the Union minister for chemicals and fertilizers.
The golden jubilee award was in recognition of the 48-year-old’s work in the field of plant nutrition. Singh stepped on the dais as his name was announced for the award, but handed copies of a letter he wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, instead, to the minister and Dr. Satish Chander, director, FAI, who was also on stage at the time.
Singh then delivered a short speech, saying, “My conscience does not allow me to receive this award when our farmers are on the roads.”
Raising a slogan – ‘we support farmers’ – from the stage, he returned to his seat in the audience, turning down repeated requests by the organisers to accept the award.
Singh had led a research team which worked on developing the PAU-leaf colour chart (PAU-LCC) technology for optimising consumption of urea in field crops. He said, “Once this technology goes into farming, it will help farmers, in Punjab alone, save Rs 750 crores. Across the country, it will enable farmers save millions in input costs.”
“I wish all our institutions can come together and work for the country. The government should pay heed to our farmers. The work I was a part of is dedicated to our farmers and the country. Hence, it would be morally wrong to accept the award at a time the farmers are out on the streets, protesting (against the farm laws). However, I do humbly express my gratitude to the honourable minister and director, FAI. Kindly accept my apologies,” Singh said.
“I regret any inconvenience that my decision may have caused. However, I do reaffirm our pledge and commitment to work for the government and be part of the collaborative effort to make India a great country,” said the senior agricultural scientist before concluding his short address by chanting “We support farmers”.
The minister and the other dignitaries on stage stood motionless as Singh made his short speech and turned on his heels.
Singh’s letter to the PM opens with the line, “I am neither a politician nor a terrorist”. He said he was writing as an Indian professionally dedicated to the welfare of farmers.
“I don’t want to receive this award from any government official because of the unnecessary pain being inflicted on peacefully protesting farmers by the Union government. The government tried to break their resolve but the farmers continue to hold their ground in a disciplined manner. It pains me how a section of our media has resorted to labelling our ‘Annadata’ (food provider) as ‘terrorists’,” Singh wrote.
“I would request you (PM) to immediately announce withdrawal of these laws in Parliament. Ignoring the farmers’ demands and keeping them on roads in this winter is not in the interest of the nation. Please listen to the voice of India. Anything short of a complete rollback of these laws would be an act betrayal to our farmers and the country,” he wrote.
Singh has more than 100 research publications in soil science and many awards to his name. His colleagues at the agricultural institute took to social media to commend his gesture of solidarity with the protesting farmers.
Courtesy: indianexpress.com
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SC to hear on May 4 PIL seeking stringent guidelines for issuing Aadhaar to adolescents, adults
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on Monday a plea seeking a direction to the Unique Identification Authority of India to issue new Aadhaar cards only to citizens up to the age of six years, and frame stringent guidelines for its issuance to adolescents and adults to stop infiltrators from masquerading as Indian citizens.
As per the apex court's causelist of May 4, the plea would come up for hearing before a bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi.
The Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by lawyer Ashwini Upadhyay has also sought a direction to the authorities to install display boards at common service centres stating that the 12-digit unique identification number is only a "proof of identity" and not a proof of citizenship, address or date of birth.
Besides all the states and Union Territories, the plea has made the UIDAI -- which is the authority that issues Aadhaar -- and the Union ministries of home, law and justice, and electronics and information technology as parties.
The plea, filed through advocate Ashwani Dubey, said Aadhaar, originally intended as a proof of identity, has increasingly become a "foundational document" enabling individuals to obtain other identification documents, such as ration cards, domicile certificates and voter identity cards.
"The UIDAI has issued 144 crore Aadhaar and 99 percent Indians have been enrolled. Therefore, the petitioner is filing this writ petition as a PIL under Article 32, seeking a direction to UIDAI to issue new Aadhaar to children only and frame new stringent guidelines for adolescents and adults, so as to stop infiltrators from getting it and masquerading as Indian citizens," the plea said.
It said the need to file the plea arose when the petitioner came to know the manner in which infiltrators are able to procure Aadhaar through a verification process that is weak and can be easily manipulated.
"Foreigners apply for Aadhaar under the 'foreign' category. But infiltrators apply for Aadhaar under the 'Indian citizen' category and get it easily made. Thereafter, they obtain a ration card, birth and domicile certificate, driving licence, et cetera, essentially becoming indistinguishable from Indian citizens…," it said.
Besides seeking other directions, the plea has raised legal questions, including whether the Aadhaar Act 2016 has become "temporally unreasonable" for failing to keep up with the legislative intent of distinguishing foreigners from Indian citizens.
It said the alleged misuse of Aadhaar undermines targeted welfare delivery and leads to diversion of public resources.
