tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10932995622704836932024-03-12T20:56:24.483-07:00Mr. Vivek PanditVivek Pandithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05076997530315949989noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1093299562270483693.post-34394305022418898612010-10-26T23:59:00.000-07:002011-03-19T22:47:52.445-07:00स्वतंत्र भारतास अनावृत्त पत्रआ. विवेक पंडित, वसई -
<br /><a href="mailto:pvivek2308@gmail.com">pvivek2308@gmail.com</a>
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<br />माझ्या प्राणाहूनही प्रिय स्वतंत्र भारता,</div><div align="justify">
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<br /></div><div align="justify">आज अनेक वर्षांनी तुला पत्र लिहायला बसलोय. तसं तर गेली ३० वर्षे तू भेटतोच आहेस मला. कधी कुण्या दीन-दुबळ्यांच्या अश्रुतून, कधी भूकबळींच्या वेदनेतून, तर कधी उपेक्षितांच्या दुर्लक्षिलेल्या जाणीवेतून. तुला माहितीय की, मी गेली ३० वर्षे लढतोय या तू आम्हा भारतीयांना देऊ केलेल्या लोकशाही मूल्यांसाठी, तू निर्मिलेल्या आणि जगभरात आदर्श ठरलेल्या तुझ्या संविधानाने दिलेल्या मूलभूत हक्कांसाठी..तुला चांगलं माहितीय की, मी अनेकदा रस्त्यावर उतरलोय, त्या साऱ्यांसाठी ज्यांच्या उंबरठय़ापर्यंत तुझे स्वातंत्र्य ६३ वर्षांनीही अद्याप पोहोचलेले नाही. हे स्वतंत्र भारता, तू ६३ वर्षांपूर्वी देऊ केलेल्या व्यवस्थेशी मी गेली ३० वर्षे लढतोय हे पाहून तुझ्या मनात काय भावना दाटून आल्या असतील मला ठाऊक नाहीत. कदाचित तुला माझा राग येत असेल वा कौतुकही वाटत असेल किंवा तू हसतही असशील उपहासाने ..पण मला त्याची फिकीर नाही आणि तुझ्या स्वातंत्र्याने मला तसा विचार करीत थांबण्याची मुभाही दिलेली नाही. तुझ्याशी लढलेल्या अनेक लढाया मी आजवर जिंकलो. अनेक संघर्षांत कुणा उपेक्षिताला न्याय मिळवूनही देऊ शकलो. अनेकदा तू मला हरवलंस, नेस्तनाबूत केलेस, पण तरीही मी पुन्हा नव्याने शस्त्र पाजवून पुढच्या लढय़ाची तयारी तितक्याच उमेदीने केली. अनेकदा माझा पराभव केल्यावर तू खूषही झाला असशील मनोमन.. पण अरे वेडय़ा, तो पराभव माझा नव्हताच मुळी.. रणभूमीत जखमी अवस्थेत पडलेला, विव्हळणारा माझा देह म्हणजे तू देऊ केलेल्या स्वातंत्र्याची लक्तरं होती. धारातीर्थी तर तू पडला होतास. माझं काय? मी लढायलाच जन्माला आलोय. संघर्ष हा माझा श्वास आहे. गांधीजींच्या सत्याग्रहाचा मार्ग ही माझी पाऊलवाट आहे. त्यामुळे जरी एखाद्या लढाईत तू मला जायबंदी केलंस तरी नवी रणभूमी आणि नव्या रणभूमीवरचा नव्या शस्त्रांनी केलेला नवा संघर्ष, हेच माझे जणू आयुष्य झालेय आता.आज बऱ्याच काळाने मनात दाटून आले आणि वाटलं तुझ्याशी थेट संवाद साधावा. हे स्वतंत्र भारता, तू कसा आहेस?, हा प्रश्न विचारण्याचे धाडस मी करणार नाही. कारण तू कसा आहेस याचा पाढा वाचायला घेतलास तर भूकबळी, लोकशाहीच्या सगळ्या स्तंभामध्ये, सर्व स्तरांमध्ये झिरपत गेलेला भ्रष्टाचार, संवेदनाशून्य प्रशासकीय यंत्रणा, शासनाची अनास्था, दारिद्रय़, बेरोजगारी, अराजकता, कमालीची निरक्षरता, दीन-दुबळ्यांच्या आत्महत्या, उपेक्षितांचे शोषण इत्यादी भयावह वास्तवतेला मला आणि तुला दोघांनाही सामोरं जावं लागेल आणि मग गेली ३० वर्षे समाजातल्या वेगवेगळ्या प्रतलांवर एकमेकांशी लढणारे आपण दोघेही मग वेदनेने एकमेकांच्या गळ्यात पडून धाय मोकलून केवळ रडत राहू. दोस्ता, आज इतक्या वर्षांनी तुला मी पत्र लिहायला बसलो. कारण, आज जेव्हा मी शैलेश रमाकांत सुरुंदाच्या घरी गेलो तेव्हा मला तुझी प्रकर्षांने आठवण झाली. तुला माहिती आहे, शैलेश रमाकांत सुरुंदा, वय वर्षे १७, एक हुशार पण गरीब आदिवासी मुलगा, आई-वडील शेतमजुरी करणारे, डोळ्यांमध्ये कसलेच भविष्य नसणारे त्याचे आई-बाप. मात्र त्या मुलाच्या डोळ्यात मात्र उज्ज्वल भविष्याची स्वप्नं तरळत होती. चांगले आयुष्य जगायचे होते. त्यासाठी स्वतंत्र भारता, तूच या आदिवासींना कायदे बनवून काही सुविधा, शिष्यवृत्तीसारख्या काही सवलती दिल्या होत्यास. शैलेशची आर्थिक स्थिती हलाखीची होती. </div><div align="justify">
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<br /></div><div align="justify">पण पोरगं कमालीचं हुशार आणि मेहनती होतं. शैक्षणिक फी माफीसाठी त्याला जातीच्या दाखल्याची गरज होती आणि प्रशासनाला नोटांवरच्या गांधीजींची भूक होती. ती भूक तो गरीब मुलगा शमवू शकला नाही. या भ्रष्ट, कोडग्या व्यवस्थेच्या गतीने धावायला शैलेश पांगळा होता. त्याला जातीचा दाखला जो त्याचा तू देऊ केलेला हक्क होता तो त्याला अखेर मिळालाच नाही. शिक्षणाला मुकावे लागेल या निराशेपोटी शेवटी त्याने गळफास लावून स्वत:ला संपवले. आदिवासीच्या कल्याणासाठी तू केलेल्या तमाम कल्याणकारी योजना, सवलती फक्त कागदावरच राहिल्या. माझ्या स्वतंत्र भारता, का रे वेडय़ा, उगा भलतीच स्वप्नं दाखवलीस माझ्या गरीब आदिवासी बांधवांना? आणि जर स्वप्नं दाखवलीस तर तू देऊ केलेल्या लोकशाही यंत्रणांच्या आजच्या जाणीवाहीन, पाशवी भ्रष्टतेखाली त्याची स्वप्नं अशी चिरडू का दिलीस? माझ्या दोस्ता, मी केवळ तुलाच दोषी मानीत नाही. मीही तितकाच दोषी आहे. आतापर्यंतच्या आपल्यातल्या लढायांमध्ये कधी तू जिंकलास तर कधी मी जिंकलो. पण आजचा पराभव हा आपल्या दोघांचा पराभव आहे. कारण तू लोकशाही शासन व्यवस्था आम्हाला देऊ केलीस आणि मी एक विधिमंडळ सदस्य या नात्याने त्या लोकशाही शासन व्यवस्थेतलाच एक भाग आहे. ठाणे जिल्ह्यातल्या ज्या भागात ती दुर्दैवी घटना घडली, त्या मतदारसंघातून मला जनतेने त्यांचा लोकप्रतिनिधी म्हणून निवडून दिलेय. त्यामुळे शैलेशच्या आत्महत्येच्या पापाचा धनी जितका तू आहेस तितका मीही आहे. हे स्वतंत्र भारता, त्यामुळे गेल्या ३० वर्षांच्या आपल्या संघर्षांत माझा पराभव झाला की तू माझं सांत्वन करायचास तर तुझा पराभव झाला की मी तुझे सांत्वन करायचे. पण आज शैलेशच्या आत्महत्येबाबत आपल्या दोघांपैकी कुणी कुणाचं सांत्वन करायचं हा एक प्रश्नच आहे. तुला माहितीच आहे दोस्ता, शिक्षणाची आस पूर्ण होणार नाही या नैराश्येपोटी शैलेशने त्याच्या घराच्या ज्या आडय़ावर गळफास लावला होता.</div><div align="justify">
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<br /></div><div align="justify"> त्या अड्डय़ावर शैलेशच्या स्वप्नांचे कलेवर नव्हते तर तुझं आणि माझं, आपल्या दोघांचंही कलेवर त्यावर लटकत होतं. काही दिवसांपूर्वी जव्हारच्या सिताराम पांडवा या ३२ वर्षांच्या आदिवासी युवकाने दारिद्रय़ापोटी आत्महत्या केली. तेव्हाही मला तुझी तीव्रतेने आठवण झाली होती. हे स्वतंत्र भारता, माझ्या मित्रा, आणखी किती दिवस लागतील रे, आपला देश खऱ्या अर्थाने स्वतंत्र व्हायला? आयुष्यभर ज्या महात्म्याला मी माझा आदर्श मानले त्या माझ्या गुरुस्थानी असलेल्या साने गुरुजींनी स्वतंत्र भारतात आत्मत्याग का केला असेल, याची कारणं जेव्हा मी शोधतो तेव्हा त्या शोधाच्या प्रक्रियेत हाती येणाऱ्या वास्तवाने मी पुरता होरपळून जातो रे आतल्या आत..हे स्वतंत्र भारता, तू १५ ऑगस्ट १९४७ ला जे स्वातंत्र्य आम्हाला देऊ केलेस ते खरंच खूप सुंदर, पवित्र, आशादायी अन् सोनेरी असेलही. पण गेल्या ३० वर्षांत समाज अगदी जवळून पाहताना त्यात समरसून जगताना मला स्वातंत्र्याचं बकाल, छिन्नविच्छिन्न झालेलं रुपच दुर्दैवाने अनुभवास आलं. तू देऊ केलेलं ते शुद्ध, निखळ स्वातंत्र्य समाजातल्या शेवटच्या स्तरापर्यंत झिरपलंच नसावं कदाचित. ज्या उंबऱ्यातल्या उपेक्षितांसाठी मी लढलो. कदाचित स्वातंत्र्याची ही प्रकाश किरणे त्या सर्वांपर्यंत पोहोचवण्याच्या तगमगीतच साने गुरुजींसारखे अनेक सूर्य स्वत:हून मावळले असतीलही, माहीत नाही. हे स्वतंत्र भारता, अजून खूप लिहायचं, बोलायचं आहे. यापुढेही आपण एकमेकांशी संवाद साधू. पण अशा कुणा शैलेश वा सितारामाच्या आत्महत्येच्या निमित्ताने नको. कारण खरं तर ही आत्महत्या कुणा युवकाची, त्याच्या स्वप्नांची आत्महत्या नाहीच मुळी. ही आत्महत्या आहे तू निर्मिलेल्या लोकशाही व्यवस्थेची. ही तुझी नि माझी आत्महत्या आहे रे. पुन्हा केवळ आपली भेट एकवेळ पूर्वीसारखी रणांगणात झाली तरी चालेल. मी तुझ्याशी लढण्यासाठी पुन्हा माझी शस्त्रं उमेदीने पाजवेन. पण पुन्हा आपली भेट अशी कुणा उपेक्षित, शैलेश वा सितारामच्या गळफासावर न होवो या आशेसह हा पत्र प्रपंच इथेच थांबवतो. </div>Vivek Pandithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05076997530315949989noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1093299562270483693.post-11324736005645226742010-07-23T03:42:00.000-07:002011-01-21T05:15:55.058-08:00Protest against state government during monsoon session<p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfxQL7iG6AWsWALPHessFxfbhI6aXy3PzlF1FsvY7sn2tHjjk7FEJgTjqHtx0VnV2_gylu1FEUAT22axjjuaKcKD7ky9B15lSUYTicdiY7Bz-R7WSO_otKaAcNn2TtvuOOOLZnUhQ0aA/s1600/_MG_4338.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 417px; display: block; float: none; height: 283px; cursor: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5497057147571150722" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfxQL7iG6AWsWALPHessFxfbhI6aXy3PzlF1FsvY7sn2tHjjk7FEJgTjqHtx0VnV2_gylu1FEUAT22axjjuaKcKD7ky9B15lSUYTicdiY7Bz-R7WSO_otKaAcNn2TtvuOOOLZnUhQ0aA/s320/_MG_4338.jpg" width="427" height="290" /></a></p><p align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIF5H3pSOc1sZCURIpCx1S9YtpPCxLETnXSPNvracmVuhRPHN4Yw1cBp4jNtHHZo4tqmHhn-zptAKy4TrkyFqplEK2tlkNxOkYuN5DWAAbMCSJmlqKKbB27IeDX9rYgggk706jbrB-iQ/s1600/_MG_4330.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 429px; display: block; float: none; height: 291px; cursor: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5497056892874654434" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIF5H3pSOc1sZCURIpCx1S9YtpPCxLETnXSPNvracmVuhRPHN4Yw1cBp4jNtHHZo4tqmHhn-zptAKy4TrkyFqplEK2tlkNxOkYuN5DWAAbMCSJmlqKKbB27IeDX9rYgggk706jbrB-iQ/s320/_MG_4330.jpg" width="439" height="298" /></a> <span style="color: #000000"><strong>विधान भवनाच्या पायऱ्यांवर विवेक पंडित यांचा ठिय्या</strong></span></p><div><div><div><div align="justify"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr11dJsv7lTfjF6wYpMef8f1Z-8jP6-lNUWmve6t3tEg8_hDAC6Dx1Gca463Zztq1cw820m7WC6TmQbvLzYjvswUAeqrof6B1hzg6v4R6oOnIjqG0iTGBnPmE3uR3eTj9lI7zcLvswCA/s1600/_MG_4316.jpg"><span style="color: #000000"></span></a></div><br /><div align="justify"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr11dJsv7lTfjF6wYpMef8f1Z-8jP6-lNUWmve6t3tEg8_hDAC6Dx1Gca463Zztq1cw820m7WC6TmQbvLzYjvswUAeqrof6B1hzg6v4R6oOnIjqG0iTGBnPmE3uR3eTj9lI7zcLvswCA/s1600/_MG_4316.jpg"><span style="color: #000000"><img style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 320px; float: left; height: 214px; cursor: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5497057750122974770" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr11dJsv7lTfjF6wYpMef8f1Z-8jP6-lNUWmve6t3tEg8_hDAC6Dx1Gca463Zztq1cw820m7WC6TmQbvLzYjvswUAeqrof6B1hzg6v4R6oOnIjqG0iTGBnPmE3uR3eTj9lI7zcLvswCA/s320/_MG_4316.jpg" /></span></a></div><div align="justify">मुंबई - वसईतील निष्पाप जनतेवर अमानुष लाठीमार करणाऱ्या दोषी पोलिसांवर कारवाई करण्यात यावी; तसेच वसई महापालिकेतून 35 गावे वगळण्याच्या आदेशाची अंमलबजावणी करावी, या मागण्यांसाठी वसईचे आमदार विवेक पंडित यांनी आज विधान भवनाच्या पायऱ्यांवर अनोखे आंदोलन करीत सरकारचे लक्ष वेधले.तोंडावर तिरंगा कपडा बांधून व हाताला साखळदंड बांधून आमदार पंडित सकाळपासून विधान भवनाच्या पायऱ्यांवर बसले होते. निष्पापांवर अमानुष लाठीमार करणाऱ्या पोलिसांवर कारवाई करण्याची आग्रही मागणी पंडित यांनी सातत्याने लावून धरली. अखेर संसदीय कार्यमंत्री हर्षवर्धन पाटील यांनी पायऱ्यांवर येऊन आमदार पंडित यांना आंदोलन मागे घेण्याची विनंती केली. याप्रकरणी लक्ष घालण्याचे आश्वासनही संसदीय कार्यमंत्र्यांनी दिल्यानंतर पंडित यांनी आपले आंदोलन मागे घेतले.</div><div align="justify"></div><br /><div align="justify"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO0pMZEdKb4PAEkyrwS-MCfdhM8BJ5l2chxdE7CmD2jMUjjWr-2wtEC-5jTNGSHsz9g_2x1wgsmtxxQqxXOysAqDS-6AflgFeanvNwxCTJiT5AdSjAQM3G1JwmohNhTMmq0sptm1leeg/s1600/_MG_4250.jpg"><span style="color: #000000"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 463px; display: block; float: none; height: 314px; cursor: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5497051669538214114" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO0pMZEdKb4PAEkyrwS-MCfdhM8BJ5l2chxdE7CmD2jMUjjWr-2wtEC-5jTNGSHsz9g_2x1wgsmtxxQqxXOysAqDS-6AflgFeanvNwxCTJiT5AdSjAQM3G1JwmohNhTMmq0sptm1leeg/s320/_MG_4250.jpg" width="473" height="321" /></span></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT6kzXtm7NOHYrZZnVtkaLWwIbNdoi9ja7M3MwTFsRHiYC11VSyF12cpMTbW8c4a8jwTw5vtmxw6Z3i_COgRkN49BSLqcb9cQY3PXpTZPL5Y-YeD5KE7cwZ1MO_nAmpK4CP2W1Km1Yag/s1600/_MG_4301.jpg"><span style="color: #000000"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 458px; display: block; float: none; height: 316px; cursor: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5497056089596905858" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT6kzXtm7NOHYrZZnVtkaLWwIbNdoi9ja7M3MwTFsRHiYC11VSyF12cpMTbW8c4a8jwTw5vtmxw6Z3i_COgRkN49BSLqcb9cQY3PXpTZPL5Y-YeD5KE7cwZ1MO_nAmpK4CP2W1Km1Yag/s320/_MG_4301.jpg" width="468" height="323" /></span></a></div><br /><div></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirVgTyfZUGCs8OJdELAqDlW3XUMxGpRQlQXpTLnbHWFUcb52c3xkcKITwmqbGoeTgfoCkwJnvjDS0CZhPsJ8useIdmMdULU6yPtv1NuLpMgb6D8gb7svshgSP51eg3i3A4QCwLVOOWqw/s1600/_MG_4316.jpg"></a><div><br /></div></div></div></div>Vivek Pandithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05076997530315949989noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1093299562270483693.post-45974312288382401462010-07-02T03:26:00.000-07:002011-01-21T05:12:05.887-08:00Ring route bus facility in Vasai East<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyRxMqHQ0Glmu1r98m-z_Cg-hRhEhOUwHCXzGR7bPMhfVAaAcyYuss22tB78a0F98LvLV3Wkcjl3TfAQR7P1W8HqK046o8Uy90dj9cCkpH2cGxu2dLlKstafiwBwJVS9ui5WS9mV-XYA/s1600/DSCN5377.jpg"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDMmC9INzHTVXxc_GMEJcWH5LYt-9haKpRZp9eXZEQj5BGYiv73c-hUMtksIMDv5Q1pnCr1fKB-uMAShyCCxtJTgX049iVyrnjyvqnn3SsPQimd18SFhb8uWY6vaXJ_ef9VDjRmocwZA/s1600/DSCN5323.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 430px; display: block; float: none; height: 326px; cursor: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5489257465492538066" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDMmC9INzHTVXxc_GMEJcWH5LYt-9haKpRZp9eXZEQj5BGYiv73c-hUMtksIMDv5Q1pnCr1fKB-uMAShyCCxtJTgX049iVyrnjyvqnn3SsPQimd18SFhb8uWY6vaXJ_ef9VDjRmocwZA/s320/DSCN5323.jpg" width="440" height="333" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn4THDxfcmtcEiKRhL6Ke7VCQfrLToCWEHFnkz9Dn6e951OrqIAngwFOzcmvHxSvlGO0YBiiqfEIQ4GndqSvG9Lfewq2iVCQCjUSy5NBFYYAzXPba0rzp3fE-wKspug_NTKrQfJd20ig/s1600/DSCN5327.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 320px; float: left; height: 240px; cursor: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5489254178711566306" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn4THDxfcmtcEiKRhL6Ke7VCQfrLToCWEHFnkz9Dn6e951OrqIAngwFOzcmvHxSvlGO0YBiiqfEIQ4GndqSvG9Lfewq2iVCQCjUSy5NBFYYAzXPba0rzp3fE-wKspug_NTKrQfJd20ig/s320/DSCN5327.jpg" /></a><div><strong>vasai people sharing their views, expectations about the current transport facility. </strong></div><br /><div align="justify">Shri <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pandit" title="Pandit" rel="wikipedia">Pandit</a> interact with the passengers last week to get know their problems, expectations about the current transport facility. as well as to know their views about the decision to start ring route <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bus" title="Bus" rel="wikipedia">bus</a> facility in vasai east. people were enthusiastically sharing their problems, expectations with their M.L.A . They were satisfied with the decision of ring route bus facility. </div><br /><div align="justify">It was very unusual scene , M.L.A was getting in conversation with people out side the railway station and receiving overwhelming response. </div><br /><div align="justify"></div><br /><div align="justify" style="text-align: center;"><strong>Inaugration of ring route bus facility</strong></div><div align="justify"></div><br /><div align="justify"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmwrQcxca9R8GfbLytnS9p2PzXBo_vBPDw6rJCC6imWdbMi_SKmFu4LK_NzNtjExRj6ov43Hd-WgBaJ_ATtojHQm1X1TXjdolEVS3tFj0hQuOKY9dubeWb1Xuyf0ztLalpTJ3X0KFaTA/s1600/DSCN5377.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 417px; display: block; float: none; height: 339px; cursor: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5489271667962737170" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmwrQcxca9R8GfbLytnS9p2PzXBo_vBPDw6rJCC6imWdbMi_SKmFu4LK_NzNtjExRj6ov43Hd-WgBaJ_ATtojHQm1X1TXjdolEVS3tFj0hQuOKY9dubeWb1Xuyf0ztLalpTJ3X0KFaTA/s320/DSCN5377.jpg" width="427" height="347" /></a></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlVEQnpEbVzh5t5GNYhdQyu67qsYsmm_rIFVNJs-GSvn9a_KsjK3qSmcnTbpt1lONW76N4M0iTTY9jmR6v2QLa4VJ7IdSoQxe95phIHY4k5ifH8KEHJuK3VFlpEk8kqxE_93EyM-pnsQ/s1600/DSCN5382.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 418px; display: block; float: none; height: 347px; cursor: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5489272022675796962" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlVEQnpEbVzh5t5GNYhdQyu67qsYsmm_rIFVNJs-GSvn9a_KsjK3qSmcnTbpt1lONW76N4M0iTTY9jmR6v2QLa4VJ7IdSoQxe95phIHY4k5ifH8KEHJuK3VFlpEk8kqxE_93EyM-pnsQ/s320/DSCN5382.jpg" width="428" height="355" /></a> </div><br /><div align="justify"></div> <div class="zemanta-pixie" style="margin-top:10px;height:15px"><a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://www.zemanta.com/" title="Enhanced by Zemanta"><img class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/zemified_e.png?x-id=0abe45df-087e-41ab-9706-48cc6ea3b928" alt="Enhanced by Zemanta" style="border:none;float:right" /></a></div>Vivek Pandithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05076997530315949989noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1093299562270483693.post-31902845382931464952010-05-14T00:12:00.000-07:002010-07-27T09:53:56.332-07:00<p><span style="color:#33ffff;"></span></p><p><span style="color:#000000;">I am not surprised but again experienced the corrupt bureaucracy even in electoral process. </span></p><p><br /><span style="color:#000000;">Ms. Revati Gaikar, Returning officer of Vasai for Vasai- virar municipal corporation, she has acted illegally and abuse the powers.</span></p><p><br /><span style="color:#000000;">She denied the candidature of Mrs. seema Dhondekar for being defaulter of Municipal Corporation. </span></p><p><br /><span style="color:#000000;">she has accepted my argument but after interference of opponent she ruled against Mrs. Dhondekar. </span></p><p><br /><span style="color:#33ffff;"><span style="color:#000000;">Here we are approaching High court, today is the Hearing<br />Hope to get justice from Court.</span> </span></p>Vivek Pandithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05076997530315949989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1093299562270483693.post-33670960192377552732010-03-19T23:48:00.000-07:002011-01-21T05:24:59.417-08:00Protest against lathicharge in vasai<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTfVPkYEaBHIVwQhX0qaRJVaZIxZvXR0wLCyF9Qi6dG-e6Wjd1Y_uIZnRYkDfwXTrMl_MnxTP2BpHHDCc-3v3LqC-0mJqlo1lqynzoeMX6_4VZp375L84YzVZbeM6baO0Sd38fCnY7sQ/s1600-h/tn%5B4%5D.jpg"><font color="#000040"><img style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; width: 150px; display: inline; height: 100px; cursor: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5450605519559389314" border="0" alt="" align="left" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTfVPkYEaBHIVwQhX0qaRJVaZIxZvXR0wLCyF9Qi6dG-e6Wjd1Y_uIZnRYkDfwXTrMl_MnxTP2BpHHDCc-3v3LqC-0mJqlo1lqynzoeMX6_4VZp375L84YzVZbeM6baO0Sd38fCnY7sQ/s320/tn%5B4%5D.jpg"></font></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHD_NsF9v549UxDlZF2SXJvGLbIUn4Ptu2pbpPedBGkubkN_AYFlUwaoWflpUg9aeM-lfOKgoZcMrr8yb0MGJq3J2Tbs665qgeUBdcP7dPh9V7cVV7hCKludQ3Kv6_7ANLWT-zJQBX4A/s1600-h/tn%5B3%5D.jpg"><font color="#000040"><img style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; width: 150px; display: inline; height: 100px; cursor: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5450605408011659218" border="0" alt="" align="left" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHD_NsF9v549UxDlZF2SXJvGLbIUn4Ptu2pbpPedBGkubkN_AYFlUwaoWflpUg9aeM-lfOKgoZcMrr8yb0MGJq3J2Tbs665qgeUBdcP7dPh9V7cVV7hCKludQ3Kv6_7ANLWT-zJQBX4A/s320/tn%5B3%5D.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 150px; display: block; float: none; height: 100px; cursor: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5450605308469500962" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipcso2nb6YrtPGjnMotsLAaeLfw3VYFzNctaIpI1bTbLcfn4sx5rzL5RpXQ3bh1dtgGdGHe_Q7UZ_WgUbRg-dUB4Fpm4auV0xj6jmc1INP1_NOIjuUdSiCdai5PkdZEZGxbZBZdu8PoA/s320/tn%5B2%5D.jpg"></font></a><br /><div><br /><div><font color="#000040"> </font></div><br /><div><br /><div align="justify"><span style="color: #33ffff"><font color="#000040">Thousands of villagers from all over Thane district gathered at Saket Road on Sunday under the banner of Shramajeevi Sanghatana to protest against the police lathicharge on Vasai MLA Vivek Pandit and his supporters on March 5. The villagers marched from Saket road to Tembhi naka, where, amid heavy police bandobast, Pandit, his wife Vidyulata and Shiv Sena MLA Eknath Shinde addressed the rally. Pandit said their agitation was against the state government for democracy and freedom. “Whatever our freedom fighters fought for, they sacrificed their lives for freedom, and the Chavan government has snatched away that freedom and made slaves out of people. They have raped democracy with the lathicharge. But it is time for people to revive democracy and the freedom struggle. This is just the beginning, the battle is yet to be fought,” said the Independent legislator. He added that the real culprits behind the lathicharge were sitting in the Mantralaya. “We have no problems with the hands that hit us but with the heads behind them,” he said. On the exclusion of the 53 villages, Pandit said that mafias are after the land of the villagers and that the state government is an agent. He said they would intensify the agitation if they do not get justice. Pandit gave a written application to resident deputy collector Amol Yadav.</font></span></div></div></div><br /><p><font color="#000040"></font></p>Vivek Pandithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05076997530315949989noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1093299562270483693.post-3108063652346450482009-11-16T23:03:00.000-08:002011-01-21T05:26:47.457-08:00Thane MLAs vow to take up issues of tribals<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnKUVFjDq5XP6V_T8V52-DRP5Wde_kZqKFRC7b8mYZwbxvThDk64ShyCq-q1JNwSJ-LfmHhfEUpCbczp3Dc__BRpyswzihiZiUcyE_Iy6f4UwnDQtHvjIXuitnBRzzw9NgOP8_ph8prg/s1600/IMG_7171.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 446px; display: block; float: none; height: 338px; cursor: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5404981446685390978" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnKUVFjDq5XP6V_T8V52-DRP5Wde_kZqKFRC7b8mYZwbxvThDk64ShyCq-q1JNwSJ-LfmHhfEUpCbczp3Dc__BRpyswzihiZiUcyE_Iy6f4UwnDQtHvjIXuitnBRzzw9NgOP8_ph8prg/s320/IMG_7171.jpg" width="456" height="345"></a> <br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkXeucJEo8YB2kZWagkhdZATfEf2_g8LUqwBqgz8JNUfBoeBSvc02OOhBiBMtqPrvG4ST76wN9Td2apRrGGWynpr2CDnqm6uAkFb4B8892SxwPDPH1vobv58O90mTi6rSlA7nsrFMUwg/s1600/IMG_7133.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 320px; float: left; height: 240px; cursor: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5404970431623341762" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkXeucJEo8YB2kZWagkhdZATfEf2_g8LUqwBqgz8JNUfBoeBSvc02OOhBiBMtqPrvG4ST76wN9Td2apRrGGWynpr2CDnqm6uAkFb4B8892SxwPDPH1vobv58O90mTi6rSlA7nsrFMUwg/s320/IMG_7133.jpg"></a> <br /><div align="justify"><strong><span style="color: #33ffff"><font color="#000040">Thane MLAs vow to take up issues of tribals </font></span></strong></div><br /><div align="justify"><strong></strong><span style="color: #33ffff"><font color="#000040">Three newly-elected MLA's from Thane district have vowed to jointly take up the issues of tribals in the district. Speaking at a felicitation function organised at the Shirsad Phata in Vasai last night, the MLAs, Chintaman Wanga of BJP from Vikramgadh, Vishnu Savra of BJP from Bhiwandi-Rural and Vivek Pandit, an Independent from Vasai, declared that they along with Daulat Daroda, former MLA from Sahapur, will be working towards resolving the long pending issues of the tribals. Mr Pandit said the felicitation was in fact for citizens of Vasai, who had fought against the terror of the 'Mafia dons' from the Vasai-Virar region. </font></span></div><br /><div align="justify"><span style="color: #33ffff"><font color="#000040"></font></span> </div><br /><div align="justify"><span style="color: #33ffff"><font color="#000040"></font></span> </div><br /><div align="justify"><span style="color: #33ffff"><font color="#000040">On the occasion, the 30th anniversary of the Shramajivi Sanghatana and Samarthan was celebrated by the tribals. It is since 1979 the Pandit couple Vivek and Viddhyulata have been fighting for the cause of downtrodden in the district and the state, and they have been bestowed several national and international awards. They both were felicitated on the occasion and given Shawl, sriphal, and a citation for their work. Pandit was described by speakers as the MLA of the people, by the people and for the people. It may be recalled that immediately after the state government annouced the formation of Vasai Virar Municipal corporation, merging 53 villages into it, the people of Vasai protested and demanded revoking of the order. Pandit took the lead in the committee and staged a fast into death. The move was supported by all, which finally came handy in the election and this was the main plank on which he fought the election and won the seat. </font></span></div></div>Vivek Pandithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05076997530315949989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1093299562270483693.post-44848520001353998052009-10-26T02:00:00.000-07:002011-01-21T05:28:37.822-08:00Vivek Pandit elected in Vasai <div><br /><div align="center"><span style="color: #33ffff"><strong><font color="#800000" size="4">Shree Vivek Pandit elected in Vasai</font></strong></span></div><br /><div align="center"><span style="color: #33ffff"><strong></strong></span> </div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikadF3LEA0FoGUK0rq278AeSkD5T-3nPChJAZqHPUUaPM1jsfx56SSctSeXfv4sqIngRTtGnFTMr-Ejc44pPE25GJJ9M1huEfrrPEksSgMG-mQ7Vq7Iy4qoxu0H8AuI7EAQpDlZAV3Mg/s1600-h/tn[1].jpg"><img style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 150px; float: left; height: 101px; cursor: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5396868065970140450" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikadF3LEA0FoGUK0rq278AeSkD5T-3nPChJAZqHPUUaPM1jsfx56SSctSeXfv4sqIngRTtGnFTMr-Ejc44pPE25GJJ9M1huEfrrPEksSgMG-mQ7Vq7Iy4qoxu0H8AuI7EAQpDlZAV3Mg/s320/tn%5B1%5D.jpg"></a> <br /><div align="justify"><span style="color: #33ffff"><font color="#000040">Shramajivi Sanghatana's Vivek Pandit has won the Vasai assembly seat with a margin of 16,737 votes after defeating Bahujan Vikas Aghadi's candidate Narayan Mankar.The controversial issue of inducting 53 villages into the jurisdiction of the newly-formed Vasai-Virar Municipal Corporation (VVMC), and the protest against this move, proved fruitful for Pandit. The state formed the VVMC in March and inducted these villages in the civic corporation.After the move, Bahujan Vikas Aghadi's legislator Hitendra Thakur <img style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; width: 150px; display: inline; height: 101px; cursor: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5396868229242437618" border="0" alt="" align="right" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDR3KqEq57oRQSjDg8rzDWVX1ysgeQOLsz1VjWIGPPIzRrangSoJqW2I72X2VTy6eV8zinFPMaavoYY6PSPSZ7Z69v8hbXmcdJ1ESGrX__2-vB48_WS_TR9RXhmA74S-2pjh0rb0JGNw/s320/tn%5B2%5D.jpg">and newly-elected MP Baliram Jadhav had to face the ire of villagers. For two days in August, Vasai saw violent protests. Pandit started an indefinite hunger strike against the induction, and ultimately, the government had to take note and appointed a committee to review the move.The Gaon Bachao Aandolan Samiti, which was formed to protest against the VVMC, offered support to Pandit. Pandit agreed and polled 81,249 votes, while his rival Mankar got 64,512 votes. "I will now ensure that villages don't come under the ambit of the VVMC," said Pandit.IMO: So the strongman has been trounced, and the Vasai area will hopefully benefit even more from Vivek Pandit who has done much useful work in areas like social work and combating slavery. The light of hope arises, like a great beacon, from Vasai !</font></span></div><br /><div align="justify"><span style="color: #33ffff"><font color="#000040"></font></span> </div><br /><div align="justify"><span style="color: #33ffff"><font color="#000040"><a href="http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report_countdown-for-vasai-candidate-begins_1302763">Source</a></font></span></div><br /><div> </div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div></div>Vivek Pandithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05076997530315949989noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1093299562270483693.post-26419137864025353962009-10-08T05:47:00.000-07:002010-07-30T10:19:39.116-07:00Vachan Nama<p align="justify"><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;color:#000000;">It's Our Promise to the People of Vasai </span></p><p align="justify"><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;color:#000000;">'Vasai Jan Aandolan' is a forum established by the People of Vasai for protection of their rights. Aandolan has unanimously conferred candidature (for 133, Vasai Assembly Constituency) to Mr. Vivek Raghunath Pandit (Bhau), a resilient leader. We as 'Vasai Jan Aandolan' are committed to overall and all-inclusive development of Vasai. We assure that our every decision will bear the mandate of 'Will of the People'. We will strive hard to fulfill every wish of the People of Vasai. Policy issues concerning Vasai will be raised in the State Assembly and consistent follow up on issues in the purview of Central Government will be done. This is not a mere manifesto but a Promissory Note to the People of Vasai.</span><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;color:#000000;">Transparent and Answerable Governance: </span><br /></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;color:#000000;">Ø We assure transparent, responsible and answerable administration in Vasai.<br />Ø We assure involvement of citizen in the planning and implementation of development projects and schemes.<br />Ø 24 Hours Helpline will be available for the assistance and security of the citizen.<br />Ø Suggestions and feedback from the citizen is welcome. Suggestion Boxes will be put at central locations in the constituency.<br />Ø Information Centers will be established to assist citizens in getting proformas, certificates and information about government schemes.<br />Ø Annual Report of the work done by our candidate in the constituency and Assembly will be published.<br />Advanced Medical Facilities:<br />Ø Special attention will be provided to the effective functioning of existing government health centers and hospitals.<br />Ø 500 bed well equipped hospital will be built to provide advanced medical facilities to the citizens from low income group.<br />Ø Ambulance with ICU facility and resident doctor will be available for 24 hours in the service of people.<br />Quality Education:<br />Ø Every child will be provided quality education, all the government schools of all mediums will be provided with necessary facilities and teaching as well as non teaching staff.<br />Ø Special efforts will be made to ensure government recognition and grants to private schools.<br />Ø Night schools and colleges will be started to encourage working youths to take further education.<br />Employment Opportunities:<br />Ø Industrial Zones, well equipped with basic infrastructure will be established to provide massive employment opportunities.<br />Ø Information Technology Zones with necessary infrastructure will be created.<br />Ø Employment opportunities will be generated in the field of bio-technology and nano-technology.<br />Ø Career Guidance Centers will be established with services of professional counselors for the assistance of youth so that they can choose the field appropriate to their capacities.<br />Ø Consistent follow up will be done with state government so that an employment policy similar to Employment Guarantee Scheme is introduced for the educated youth.<br />Ø Marketing facility will be established to ensure market and good prices for the products manufactured by Mahila Mandals and Women Self Help Groups.<br /><br /><br />Infrastructure Development:<br />Ø Good quality roads, foot paths and railway subways will be constructed in the constituency.<br />Ø Bridge connecting Naigaon east and west will be constructed at the earliest.<br />Ø Good quality road connecting to Mumbai and parallel to railway line will be constructed.<br />Ø Over bridge at Juchandra railway crossing will be constructed.<br />Ø Bridge will be constructed over the creek to facilitate traffic between Naigaon east and Parreira Nagar.<br />Ø Vasai Fata - Satiwali - Vasai station road will be broadened to four lanes.<br />24 Hours Electricity:<br />Ø There will be no load shedding in Vasai after 2 years.<br />Ø By then timings of load shedding will be properly regulated so that citizens and farmers suffer less.<br />Ø Old and rusted electricity polls and cables will be replaced with safe equipments. No innocent citizen will die at the cost of unsecured electric cables.<br />Ø Efforts will be made to provide special financial assistance to professionals, small scale industrialists, farmers to compensate their losses due to load shedding </span><br /></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;color:#000000;">Plenty of Clean Water:<br />Ø Villages and cities will be provided with plenty of clean and hygienic water.<br />Ø No hidden and additional cost will be charged while providing water connection.<br />Ø Citizens from cities and villages will share water proportionately.<br />Ø Water bills will be charged on basis of meters. It will be ensured that citizens are not charged unnecessarily.<br />Ø All the pending works under Surya project will be completed at the earliest.<br />Ø Works under Ghateghar and Kaman water supply schemes will be undertaken immediately.</span><br /></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;color:#000000;">Beautification of Vasai:<br />Ø Nature and environment will be protected and nurtured.<br />Ø Beaches, gardens, parks and ponds will be protected and maintained.<br />Ø Historical monuments, hills and caves will be preserved carefully.<br />Ø Vasai and Arnala Forts will be protected and developed to encourage tourism. </span><br /></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;color:#000000;">Nurturing Culture and Art:<br />Ø Well equipped sports grounds, cultural centers and community centers will be constructed.<br />Ø Art gallery and well equipped theatre will be built to enable Vasaikars experience art from different states and countries.<br />Ø Local artists and artisans will be encouraged.<br />Ø Nana-Nani Parks and Joggers' parks will be constructed.<br />Assistance to Farmers:<br />Ø Clean and well equipped market with parking lot and other infrastructure will be created.<br />Ø Separate markets for vegetables, fruits and meat products will be constructed.<br />Ø Export centers for the agriculture and horticulture products will be built.<br />Ø Plantations of up market vegetables, fruits, flowers and medicinal plants will be encouraged.<br />Ø Agricultural products processing units will be established.<br />Ø Special efforts will be made to protect ponds built in farms. Water Conservation Department will be pursued to compensate farmers each year for the land occupied by ponds.<br />Ø Educated youth will be exposed to latest agricultural technology and will be encouraged to do export oriented farming.</span><br /></span><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;color:#000000;">Relief for Women:<br />Ø Each household will be provided with gas connection through pipe line.<br />Ø Proper, clean public toilets with availability of light and water will be constructed at all public places.<br />Ø Programmes for the welfare of women will be undertaken with the help of social organisations.<br />Ø A syndicate of day to day household services such as crèche, domestic help, nurses, electrician and plumber will be formed. Such services with ensured quality will be available to citizens at the finger tip.<br />Respect to Senior citizens:<br />Ø Old age homes will be established to ensure safety and well being of senior citizens. Experts will be consulted in the process.<br />Effective Waste Management:<br />Ø Modern water sewerage system will be built under the guidance of experts.<br />Ø Dumping grounds, industrial zones, water purification projects and bio-medical waste management projects will be established without affecting health and well being of residents.<br />Welfare of Disadvantaged and Youth:<br />Ø Orphanages, rehabilitation centers for destitute women and widows, rehab cent and schools for physically and mentally challenged visually impaired people will be established.<br />Ø Various programmes for the welfare of youth will be organised through social organisations.<br />Railway and Local Transport:<br />Ø Frequency of trains from Virar to Chrchgate, Vasai to Diwa and Virar to Dahanu will be increased.<br />Ø Every village and locality and housing complex will be connected to railway station for 24 hours by public transport.<br />Ø Coordination between citizens, auto rickshaw owners and drivers will be encouraged for the advantage of all.<br />Ø Water transport between Vasai to Mumbai will be started.<br />Welfare of Fishermen:<br />Ø Beaches will be safeguarded with the help of coastal guards and police.<br />Ø Disaster management system will be established to face natural and other calamities.<br />Ø Subsidised diesel and plenty of water will be provided at the jetties.<br />Ø Ice factories of Fishermen Societies will be modernized.<br />Ø Cold storages will be constructed near fishermen's villages.<br />Ø Refrigerator Banks will be established to encourage export of fish.<br />Ø Wireless and GPS system will be made available to all the fishermen.<br />Ø Houses of fishermen that are affected by BPT and CRZ will be regularized.<br />Ø Effective measures will be taken to prevent erosion of beaches.<br />Ø Revenue land in possession of fishermen and farmers will be regularized.<br />Facilities for Housing Societies:<br />Ø Water connection will be provided on priority basis to housing societies without any hidden or additional costs.<br />Ø Special drives will be organised for easy handed over of conveyance to societies.<br />Ø Plots belonging to housing societies that are reserved for gardens, and other public usages and that are under illegal possessions will be emptied immediately.<br />Special Attention to Civic Facilities:<br />Ø All necessary civic facilities will be made available in cities and will be taken care of.<br />Ø The villages that do not wish to be included in Municipal Corporation will be excluded immediately.<br />Ø Proposed MMRDA project of 1 lakh 30 thousand houses will be immediately revoked as it is going to put burden on the existing infrastructure.<br />Ø Cremation facilities for all the religions will be provided in all the cities. The long pending issue of cremation ground for Muslim community will be resolved immediately.<br />Ø Well equipped fire stations with vehicles will be established at proper locations.<br />Welfare of Government Employees:<br />Ø Sixth Pay Commission will be made applicable to the employees of Vasai-Virar Municipal Corporation.<br />Ø Contract labourers with Municipal Corporation will be accommodated as permanent employees of Corporation.<br />Ø 30% HRA will be made applicable to all government and semi-government employees in Vasai region.<br /><br />Justice to Unorganized Labourers and Tribals:<br />Ø Special efforts will be made to elate standard of living of low income group labourers, agricultural labourers and tribals.<br />Ø Rights of local sand extractors will be protected.<br />Ø Basic amenities like water, electricity, roads and schools will be provided in all tribal hamlets.<br />Protection of Consumer Rights:<br />Ø All necessary steps will be taken to strengthen the consumer movement.<br />Ø Co-operative consumer organisations will be strengthened.<br />Well Equipped Press Club:<br />Ø Well equipped press club with facilities of writing desks, phone, fax and internet will be constructed.<br />Pro-People Banking:<br />Ø Special attention will be given for pro-people functioning of co-operative financial institutions and banks.<br />Ø Efforts will be made to provide government's financial assistance to farmers through co-operative banks.<br />Animal Welfare:<br />Ø Drives for sterilization of stray dogs will be undertaken.<br />Ø Animal welfare centers for domestic and stray animals, especially cows will be established. </span></p><p align="justify"><br /><span style="color:#000000;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">Michael Furtado, Milind Khanolkar, Prafull Thakur, Vidyullata Pandit, Dominica Dabre, Shyam Patkar, Vijay Machyado, Suresh Joshi, Kedarnath Mhatre, Vinayak Nikam, K. D. Gharat, Ramdas Meher, Sanjay Koli, Nitin Mhatre, Rupesh Rodrigues, Dharmaji Patil, Suresh Rinjad, Vincent Parreira.<br /></p></span></span>Vivek Pandithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05076997530315949989noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1093299562270483693.post-20623022674851005292009-10-08T05:31:00.000-07:002010-07-30T10:21:54.060-07:00Bio-Data<p align="justify"><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;color:#000000;">Bio-Data<br />Conscientious Leader<br />We are about to cast our valued vote to elect our representative for State Assembly. Mr. Vivek Pandit is an ideal person to shoulder this responsibility. He is educated, thorough, studied and uncompromising when it comes to interest of people. He is a visionary recognised as Champion of Social Justice not just in our own country but worldwide. Here is a brief life sketch of Mr. Pandit.</span></p><p align="justify"><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;color:#000000;">Vivek Pandit – Leader as should be<br />Activism Since Student Days:<br />Mr. Vivek Pandit has been involved in social movement since his student days. Rashtra Seva Dal and Jayprakash Narayan's students' movement groomed him to what he is today. Mr. Pandit fought stridently for the protection of Democracy in the Anti-Emergency movement in 1975. </span></p><p align="justify"><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;color:#000000;">Battle to Restore Dignity of Downtrodden:<br />Mr. Pandit along with his wife Vidyullata left Mumbai in 1979. They started their social career at Dahisar, a small village in Thane district. Through their organisations, Vidhayak Sansad (the Constructive Parliament) and Shramjeevi Sanghatana (Organisation of Toiling People), they spearheaded the struggle to release and rehabilitate bonded labourers. They fought to release thousands of bonded tribal families and organized them against the bonded labour system. The movement later spread to other parts of India. Mr. Pandit has released bonded lablourers in Marathwada region, Madhya Pradesh and even in Nepal. Mr. Pandit served as a member of the District Bonded Labour Vigilance Committee and of the Task force constituted by National Human Rights Commission on bonded labour system. He was also a member of the committee constituted by Ministry of Labour, Government of India and was invited for consultation on the issue of child labour by Department of Customs, USA.<br />He combated against every form of exploitation and struggled hard to restore the dignity of downtrodden. Mr. Pandit organized various movements of tribals, labourers and marginal farmers to fight for their minimum wages, for the restoration of alienated land, for the right to education for migrant child labourers, etc. He served as a member on the state government's Task Force on Primary Education.</span></p><p align="justify"><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;color:#000000;">Lobbyist for Poor:<br />Mr. Pandit successfully changed the policy of the government of Maharashtra on bio-diesel plantation. Plantation of bio-diesel plants has now been incorporated under the Employment Guarantee Scheme. Almost 55 lacs plants have been planted by more than 8,500 tribal farmers in Thane district over the last three years. The plant is eco-friendly and apt solution for Global Warming. The policy has provided employment to thousands to combat malnourishment in tribal areas and is also a contribution towards state's self-sufficiency in fuel.<br />Mr. Pandit never confined himself to issues of particular region. He knew the importance of influencing policies to have wide spread benefits. He created institutions that will specifically work in the direction. In 1993 Mr. Pandit along with legends like Hon’ble Justice P.N. Bhagwati (retired Chief Justice of India) and Late Mr. Vijay Tendulkar (leading intellectual and writer) founded the National Centre for Advocacy Studies. He also founded Samarthan, the first state-level advocacy organization to promote issues affecting marginalized groups. He formed Centre for Budget Studies that analyses state budget from the social perspective. Today Samarthan along with Centre for Budget Studies is recognized as premier advocacy institution working with the principal governing institutions of Maharashtra, including the State Assembly, the Judiciary, and the upper-level bureaucracy. Members of Legislature across the political parties refer to analysis by these organisations as authentic and reliable.</span></p><p align="justify"><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;color:#000000;">Recognition:<br />Mr. Pandit has participated in various consultative meetings called by then Hon'ble Prime Ministers Late Mr. Rajiv Gandhi, Late Mr. V. P. Singh and Mr. Atal Bihari Vajpayee. The Estimate Committee of Maharashtra Legislature has sought his views on making state budget simple and people friendly. He bears deep knowledge of functioning of democratic institutions and police system in various countries. He was invited by advocacy organisations in South Africa and Nepal, who wanted to influence their respective constitution making processes.<br />Mr. Pandit's work has been recognised internationally as well. He has been felicitated by various awards and fellowships. Mr. and Ms. Pandit have received International Anti-Slavery Award (UK), in recognition of their consistent work against bonded labour System. The Parliament of the United Kingdom passed a resolution felicitating their work. They were honoured with Maharashtra Gaurav Award by the Vasantrao Naik Foundation and were felicitated by the Hon’ble His Excellency Governor of Maharashtra. Recently he and Ms. Pandit were felicitated with the first-ever Excellence in Social Service Award by the Rotary Club of Bombay.<br />Mr. Pandit was awarded the Ashoka Fellowship (USA) in 1982. The fellowship aims to promote young social entrepreneurs. He was awarded Advocacy Fellowship (USA) in 1990 for learning the advocacy techniques. He also received renowned Eisenhower Fellowship (USA) in 2000. It is a highly sought mid career fellowship conferred to leaders in the field of business, media, government and social sectors. He also represented India at the International Human Rights Conference organized by the United Nations in Vienna. In 2003 he was keynote speaker at the General Assembly of the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations in Boston, USA.</span></p><p align="justify"><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;color:#000000;">Laureate:<br />Mr. Pandit writes extensively in Marathi dailies on current issues and has authored several books in Marathi and English. To name a few, Parighavarun (From the Periphery of the System) is a compilation of articles based on his experience of working with democratic institutions. Akher Savlya Jinklach (Savlya Won At Last) is compilation of real life stories. Fearless Minds and its Marathi version Manus Mhanun Jagnyasathi are books for youth, organisers and for every person who wants to bring change. These books are referred by students of social sciences in India and abroad. He is frequently invited by reputed institutions like Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Nirmala Niketan College of Social work, YASHADA, apex training institute of Government of Maharashtra and Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (that trains IAS, IPS) to share his knowledge and experience.<br /><br /><br />Battles for Vasaikars:<br />Mr. Pandit is equally dedicated to fighting the criminalisation of politics. He not only openly speaks out against criminals, mafia, and communal forces, but has put his life at stake more than once for these principles.</span></p><p align="justify"><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;color:#000000;">Mr. Pandit battled against the state government’s decision to transfer sand-extraction rights to mafia-led companies. The transfer of rights would have destroyed the traditional livelihoods of 50,000 sand workers. He organized the sand workers and walked 40 kilometers from Thane to Mumbai in protest against the government’s decision. He performed Satyagraha and went to Jail. Finally the state had to withdraw the contract. </span></p><p align="justify"><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;color:#000000;">In 2006, he organized all the major political parties in Vasai to protest against the privatization of State Transport, which would have handed it over to mafia-run contractors. He fasted for five days till the government withdrew the contract. </span></p><p align="justify"><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;color:#000000;">In August 2009, the government despite of resistance of Gram Sabhas, had passed an order to include 53 villages in the new Vasai-Virar Municipal Corporation. The order came at the behest of the land mafia and was strongly opposed by local villagers. Mr. Pandit opposed government's decision of inclusion of villages in Vasai-Virar Municipal Corporation and also demanded withdrawal of the MMRDA plan to build 1,30,000 houses in the region without any infrastructure in place. The decision was likely to put additional burden of more than 6 lakh populations on city which has inadequate water, electricity and public transport. Mr. Pandit against the medical advice fasted nearly to his death. After major public outcry and pressure from all sides, the government revoked the order. </span></p><ul><li><div align="justify"><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;color:#000000;">He is presently serving as Deputy Leader of Shivsena and is in charge of Nadurbar District and Palghar and Bhivandi Parliamentary constituency in Thane district.<br />In his public as well as private life Mr. Pandit is immovable in his commitment to social justice, religious tolerance, and humane values. Mr. Pandit believes that God resides in the poorest of the poor; serving the poor is our divine duty. Lines from his poem Dream of My Life read as:<br />“Let those who have no food or dignity be my God.<br />Let every step I take today<br />Be in the service of that God.”<br /><br />Don't we deserve educated, studied, judicious, humane and conscientious leader like Vivek Pandit?<br />He has released more than 5 thousand bonded labourers from Thane district, Marathwada region, Madhya Pradesh and Nepal<br />Ø He was invited for various consultative meetings called by then Prime Ministers of India and by US government<br />Ø He has represented India in conference organised by United Nations<br />Ø He has been felicitated by various national and international awards and fellowships<br />Ø He bears deep knowledge of functioning of Democratic Institutions and Police System in various countries.<br />Ø Legislators across the parties rely on the budgetary and policy analysis done by his organisations<br />Ø He has influenced various policies of government in the interest of poor<br />Ø He has been invited by various colleges and government training academies as guest lecturer<br />Ø He has been invited by organisations abroad for guidance in their campaigns<br />Ø His literature is referred as reference material by academicians and students<br />Ø He has fought and won various battles for Vasaikars including transfer of sand extraction rights to mafia led companies, privatisation of state transport, MMRDA plan to burden city and inclusion of 53 villages in Municipal Corporation against their wish.<br /></span></div></li></ul>Vivek Pandithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05076997530315949989noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1093299562270483693.post-89284250260251406752009-10-08T05:28:00.000-07:002011-01-21T05:29:44.817-08:00Views<div align="justify"><strong><span >Unanimous Candidate<br />of Vasai Jan Aandolan<br />VIVEK PANDIT (Bhau)<br /><br /><br />Michel Furtado:<br />Leadership of Mr. Vivek Pandit is not confined to the caste, religion and party politics. He has spent his life for the society. Vasai Jan Aandolan Samiti feels proud to present a competent candidate like him to the people of Vasai. He is capable to end corruption and terrorism in Vasai. He will effectively represent Vasai in State Assembly.<br /><br />Milind Khanolkar:<br />Vivek Pandit is one of the struggling children of Sane Guruji. Rashtra Seva Dal has shaped his personality. He has respect for all religion and love for poor. I am sure that he will be ideal leader of Vasai.<br /><br />Shyam Patkar:<br />Vivek Pandit is a 'visionary' and extraordinary combination of knowledge, organising skills, fighting spirit and developmental work. Vasai has not developed as expected in last 20 years. I am confident that Vivek Pandit through his extensive experience and his social commitment will bring prosperity to the region.<br /><br />Vinayak Nikam:<br />I feel proud that Vivek Pandit has blessings of Shivsena Chief Balasaheb Thackrey. He has won confidence of Shivsena Chairperson Mr. Uddhav Thackrey. His leadership and presence in Assembly will not only benefit Vasai but will give justice to all the poors and disadvantaged in the state.<br /><br />Prafulla Thakur:<br />Vivek Pandit is a real combatant. He has fought hard against the rulers in Vasai, who mislead people in the name of development. Vivek Pandit has capacity to take all the people of different religion, caste and class together for the real development of Vasai. Unanimous candidature conferred upon him is itself a beginning of a revolution in Vasai.<br /><br />Vidyullata Pandit:<br />I have been actively and firmly supporting Vivek for last 25 years. He reaches the root cause when faced with any issue and fiercely confronts the opponent. I feel proud of his organising skills, learning abilities, strong headedness, his speech and his writing. I always appreciate his strategies and tactics. He gets furious when sees any form of injustice.<br /><br />Dominica Dabre:<br />Vivek Pandit helps any person who is denied of justice. He successfully battled against injustice on sweepers, sand extractors, tribals and even ST commuters. He put his life at stake during the agitation against inclusion of villages in Municipal Corporation.<br /><br />Vijay Machado:<br />Vivekbhau has been fighting for the rights of poor tribals and down trodden through his organisation. His entry in politics has given common people say in administration. He respects all religions, is intelligent and is a great leader. I have no doubts that he will work hard for the development of Vasai.<br /><br />K. D. Gharat:<br />''Doston ke liye dildar hu mai, dushman ke liye talwar hu mai'', such is a persona of Vivek Pandit. He will bring development to farmers and fishermen. He is god of poor.<br /><br />Dharmaji Patil:<br />It is just difficult to forget Dharmvir Anand Digheji. However Vivekbhau has filled in the cavity after Dighesaheb. Lakhs of poor are ready to sacrifice their life for Vivekbhau.<br /><br />Dilip Mathak:<br />Vivekbhau is a storm that is swarming at the horizons of Vasai. Vasaikars have got historical opportunity to elect Vivekbhau as their legislator. His presence there will benefit whole of the state.<br /><br />Navin Dube:<br />Vivekbhau has never seen caste or religion while helping anyone. He has always practiced religion of 'humanity'. He has always strived hard to build capacities of youth.<br /><br />Manohar Joshi, Ex Speaker of Loksabha and Ex Chief Minister of Maharashtra<br />I know Vivek Pandit as an activist, who is capable to bring about change in the system by reaching the roots of any issue. He is learned and has fighting spirit. He excels in organising downtrodden to make them heard in the process of policy making.<br /><br />Kathy Sreedhar, Leading activist in the civil movement in America<br />Vivek is an extraordinary combination of intelligence, sensitivity, insistence to preserve human values, courage to face any consequences. I have not met any other person with combination of similar qualities.<br /><br />Laxmidhar Mishra, Special rapporteur of National Human Rights Commission<br />Vivek Pandit has presented a unique combination of right based organising for developmental and welfare works. He never compromised with injustice. At the same time he never instigated violence against his atrocious opponents.<br /><br />Simon Martin:<br />Recent developments in Vasai are promising. Vivek Pandit's successful effort to bring together political parties with different philosophies against atrocious rule in Vasai is an important happening in this country. Good people need to come together to fight against wide spreading evil deeds.<br /><br /><br />Haji Allah Baksh Haji Gulam Mohammad Bangi:<br />"Vivekbhau Aandhi Nahi, Maharashtra ke Gandhi Hai" He respects all the religions and treats everyone equally. I pray to Allah for his health and wish Allah offers him long life to serve the people.<br /><br />Sanjay Koli:<br />Vasai has been exploited in the name of development for last 2 decades. We need a capable candidate to stop this exploitation. Vasai needs non-corrupt and cultured leadership. Vivekbhau only can give such leadership to Vasai. Let's think only of Vivek Pandit this time and make Vasai Prosporous. </span></strong></div>Vivek Pandithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05076997530315949989noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1093299562270483693.post-27483505571389460742009-10-08T03:42:00.000-07:002009-10-09T02:32:21.794-07:00Read more about Vivek Pandit<span style="color:#33ffff;"><strong>Read more about Vivek pandit...</strong><br /><strong><span style="color:#ff0000;"></span></strong></span><br /><strong><span style="color:#ff0000;"><br /><a class="texted" href="http://www.indiatogether.org/2003/jul/hrt-bondage.htm" target="_blank">We shall overcomeVivek Pandit, anti-bonded-labour campaigner, recounts the the journey his work has taken to free bonded workers in Maharashtra.</a><br /><a class="texted" href="http://www.antislavery.org/homepage/antislavery/award.htm" target="_blank">Antislavery Award</a><br /><a class="texted" href="http://www.rotaryclubofbombay.org/ps120607.htm" target="_blank">Recognizing Bravery of Various Kinds</a><br /><a class="texted" href="http://www.uuworld.org/2001/03/feature1.html" target="_blank">Transforming the Lives of India's Broken People</a><br /><a class="texted" href="http://www.antislavery.org/archive/press/pressRelease1999-MP.htm" target="_blank">BRITISH MP HONOURS MAHARASHTRA COUPLE FIGHTING AGAINST BONDED LABOUR IN INDIA</a><br /><a class="texted" href="http://sify.com/news/fullstory.php?id=14865804" target="_blank">Anita Ramu Dhangda: Bonded for a cause</a><br /><a class="texted" href="http://www.uuworld.org/ideas/articles/24063.shtml" target="_blank">Hut schools for India's child laborers</a> </span></strong><br /><strong><span style="color:#ff0000;"></span></strong><br /><strong><span style="color:#ff0000;"></span></strong><br /><strong><span style="color:#ff0000;"></span></strong><a href="http://ow.ly/15T15R">http://ow.ly/15T15R</a><br /><br /><span style="color:#ff0000;"><strong><a href="http://www.mumbaimirror.com/index.aspx?page=article&sectid=2&contentid=2009090920090909042239234383dbee2#ftr2">http://www.mumbaimirror.com/index.aspx?page=article&sectid=2&contentid=2009090920090909042239234383dbee2#ftr2</a></strong></span><br /><strong><span style="color:#ff0000;"></span></strong><br /><a href="http://www.telegraphindia.com/1090811/jsp/nation/story_11346413.jsp">http://www.telegraphindia.com/1090811/jsp/nation/story_11346413.jsp</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.vasaikar.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=126&Itemid=2">http://www.vasaikar.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=126&Itemid=2</a>Vivek Pandithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05076997530315949989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1093299562270483693.post-25058683606048693542009-10-08T02:40:00.000-07:002009-10-08T02:47:07.042-07:00<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV6_8V8xV-n0QnSRTNsUnVwlXFDWimSGNRzbLMz_q30Rp8O7vreIEnJnnwk5vNVdHoMElKw_9uIxLWYkkeH5uOB4RNsEok0fki2sNcr5Bda5V7gQFAqbitj1Ok7KxDUv3OSf5aRx5a0A/s1600-h/Vivek+Pandit"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5390163386592556690" style="WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 226px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV6_8V8xV-n0QnSRTNsUnVwlXFDWimSGNRzbLMz_q30Rp8O7vreIEnJnnwk5vNVdHoMElKw_9uIxLWYkkeH5uOB4RNsEok0fki2sNcr5Bda5V7gQFAqbitj1Ok7KxDUv3OSf5aRx5a0A/s320/Vivek+Pandit%27s+Bio-data_1.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div></div>Vivek Pandithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05076997530315949989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1093299562270483693.post-4646859034639157142009-10-08T00:33:00.000-07:002009-10-08T01:18:56.876-07:00<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dwxC75e8_CKg7DI3pXZc65UktUU3vNoH4Boz4O1bI074Dv_KAK54UA2OyI49s-s26v6sbE2miSCnLgyRSf4kA' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe>Vivek Pandithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05076997530315949989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1093299562270483693.post-69412265360475390972009-10-07T04:11:00.000-07:002010-07-30T10:23:03.777-07:00Over whelming support of people<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsKOufZHb6rGFzhk3K53kVbbhQvSMLFlgTjCLdTWgiDV57w9hchcwf8U2EnIGf3w5SEI767W_HjMmEmKqrA4buGkqgH_U1j0jLMfO78gOegjJsgFfDaAd_n1mCJGrFv-KfozPqBFxEbg/s1600-h/tn[2].jpg"><span style="font-family:times new roman;color:#000000;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5389816194314884162" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 150px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 113px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsKOufZHb6rGFzhk3K53kVbbhQvSMLFlgTjCLdTWgiDV57w9hchcwf8U2EnIGf3w5SEI767W_HjMmEmKqrA4buGkqgH_U1j0jLMfO78gOegjJsgFfDaAd_n1mCJGrFv-KfozPqBFxEbg/s320/tn%5B2%5D.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-family:times new roman;color:#000000;"><br /></span><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:times new roman;color:#000000;">Over Whelming Support of People<br />to 'Vasai Jan Aandolan', an All Party Alliance<br /><br />Vasai is an exception to other 287 assembly constituencies in the state of Maharashtra. Rebels and havocs are common all over. 133-Vasai Constituency is all exception and one can see a completely unlike picture here.<br /><br />All the political parties with different philosophies have joined hands in hand to battle against 'Mafia Raj' in Vasai. They all are actively involved in the election campaign and are supporting Mr. Vivek Pandit. Mr. Pandit is receiving over whelming support from Vasaikars of different religions, castes and classes. Vasaikars are intrigued by this extra ordinary all party alliance.<br /><br />Different political and social organisations got united to oppose inclusion of 53 villages in Vasai-Virar Municipal Corporation against their wish. They were also against government proposal to build 1 lakh 30 thousand houses through MMRDA, without upgrading basic infrastructure in the region. Mr. Vivek Pandit successfully led the agitation of Vasaikars. He even put his life at stake. Ultimately government had to revoke its decisions. The alliance of different political and social organisations that was called 'Gaon Wachwa Aandolan' or 'Save Villages Movement' was later formulated as 'Vasai Jan Aandolan'. The member organisations and common people of Vasai insisted that Mr. Vivek Pandit should contest assembly elections as 'Independent Unanimous Candidate' of Vasaikars. Shivsena Supremo Balasaheb Thackrey and Chairperson Uddhavji Thackrey respected wish of Vasaikars and allowed Mr. Pandit to contest as an independent. Symbol of Mr. Pandit is a cricket 'bat'.<br /><br />Leaders of different political and social organisations including Michel Furtado, Dominica Dabre, Milind Khanolkar, Prafulla Thakur, Suresh Joshi, Shyam Patkar, Kedarnath Mhatre, Vinayak Nikam, Navin Dube, Radheshyam Pathak, Vivek Patil, Janardan Matre, Ramdas Meher, Nilesh Tendolkar, Ke. D. Gharat, Dilip Mathak, Vidyullata Pandit, Rambhau Warna, Keshav Nankar, Suresh Renjad, etc. are working day and night to end 'Mafia Raj' in Vasai region. They are sure of their historical victory.</span></div>Vivek Pandithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05076997530315949989noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1093299562270483693.post-7647753258379429772009-08-01T04:53:00.000-07:002009-08-03T02:46:14.366-07:00My new book<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwG-nar2eL3maHJgbJYGGoBNYnX-Boz72i7WdSYFkY-nwXcJwZxlu-RByqWiRujeeveGOQESBfvIbIXQaNsinlIGs_kj7u0hQ17CIEeuakaKNc6ReZBzKgfncA7iZHnky4gt_GuCAM1g/s1600-h/tn[1][1].jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5365618117434119218" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 103px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 150px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwG-nar2eL3maHJgbJYGGoBNYnX-Boz72i7WdSYFkY-nwXcJwZxlu-RByqWiRujeeveGOQESBfvIbIXQaNsinlIGs_kj7u0hQ17CIEeuakaKNc6ReZBzKgfncA7iZHnky4gt_GuCAM1g/s320/tn%5B1%5D%5B1%5D.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div align="justify"><em><span style="font-family:georgia;color:#ff0000;"><strong>Today I am sharing some context of my newly released book.<br /><br />This book is a translated version of my ‘Fearless Mind’ book. The title of this book is inspired by Rabindranath Tagore’s well-known poem ‘where the mind is without fear’. In this poem he gives the description of the word “Freedom”. His Idea of freedom was different, it's not related with the term Independence. Gurudev always said, ‘If the people never feel the feelings of freedom from their heart.' Then that Freedom is meaningless. At the end of poem Gurudev asks for worship to God. Which is “May God keep fearless everyone in my country, every person of my country can live with dignity and without fear in this world.<br />Shramjeevi Sanghatana is now celebrating its 30 years of experience. We have gained lots in these years but still there are lots to gain and lots to discover. When we started the organization, the situation was different, conditions were not favorable to us. We didn’t know the laws, we didn’t have any degree in social work, or we didn’t have an experience of organizational work. We just were having an inner desire of Freedom, Inspiration of Sane guruji, & an extreme love for oppressed, marginalized people, which helped us to tackle with any critical situation; on this basis we started our developmental work. When we found an atrocious custom of bonded laborers, our work suddenly changed. And the journey of Sanghatana took place. In this journey Sanghatana faced many troubles, difficulties. But we overcame them. Some mistakes happened in this journey. But we are satisfied about the precious love & trust of people, which we have achieved. We just keep faith in term that God is not in a temple, but he resides in the tears of poor, oppressed people. In these 25 year we suceeded to achieve desirable changes in the lives of thousands of bonded laborers, farmers, workers, women, labors, dalits, oppressed, marginalized peoples, children deprived from education. </strong></span></em></div><em><span style="font-family:georgia;color:#ff0000;"><strong><div align="justify"><br />Today we can see the bonded laborer like Keshav Nankar elected in panchayat elections, who takes charge of politics of his own village. We can see him as a chair person of Sanghatana, doing the leadership of Sanghatana, & we also see him while receiving the award of Anti-slavery on behalf of us at Nehru Hall of British parliament. </div><div align="justify"><br />There are still many leaders like Keshav Nankar who having the high capacity of leadership within them, but they are living as slaves, or as any dreamless creature only because they are exhausted by the condition, surroundings. We have many people with such gifted precious leadership qualities in our country. They are just waiting for one opportunity. There is just a need to create favorable conditions for them & to share a dream of humanity with them. They have an extreme capacity of leadership. We just need to introduce them to their own soul. In the country like India if the human want to live like a human then he has to able to stand against all atrocities, he himself has to become capable to tackle the unfavorable conditions. </div><div align="justify"><br />It is not an autobiography or the history of Shramajivi Sanghatana. But as organizer whatever we learned is in front of you through this book, & so the context of Sanghatana's struggle is an indivisible part of this book. We always take care of one thing that our every struggle or friction has to take place with our nonviolent strategies. We received guidance of many Mentors who met us in our journey of struggle. </div><div align="justify"><br />How to build the organization? How to change the loser mentality of people? & how to deal with government officials, with political leaders? When the use of the judicial court is essential or when not. How to work with the democracic system? Regarding these all questions what we experienced has come through this book. I try to explain some theories here that I learned through Sanghatana. </div><div align="justify"><br />Thus when I read Sun Tzu's “Art of War” & Saul Alinsky's “Rules for Radicals” both the books explain the same theories, which are explained through this book.<br />As in Maharashtra I got experience of work at Madhya Pradesh & Nepal also. This book is totally based on my own experiences. It was never taught in any college or read in any book. I wrote this book for people because I learnt it through people. </div><div align="justify"><br />This book is differentiated into three parts. The first part is about the procedure of building an organization. The second part is the story of struggles and frictions of Sanghatana. The third part is about Democratic system, media & the experience of building the People's Organization. </div><div align="justify"><br />I try to explain how the oppressed, marginalized, poor people can live with dignity. As an organizer whatever I experienced, I am sharing with the readers. & may this book help to build that capacity which will enable some desirable changes in the lives of these oppressed & marginalized people.</strong></span></em></div>Vivek Pandithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05076997530315949989noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1093299562270483693.post-5369200753173375012009-03-13T03:14:00.000-07:002011-01-21T05:21:19.689-08:00<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9wNgJZShm2SP1Vl1udFgQd_Qs-Xe_lJmQsiiAp5Dtkgl4NjIWE9Yh46dzATWadBd4uVhtzryPyHFG3xTG3875Y2jLapSpNVSTVDDSEfQUdk-E2F2teXe6JYjK5Jpj9S9hx20h5KOxFw/s1600/images.jpg"><img style="text-align: center; margin: 0px 0px 10px; width: 160px; display: inline; height: 181px; cursor: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5564627898721000658" border="0" alt="" align="left" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9wNgJZShm2SP1Vl1udFgQd_Qs-Xe_lJmQsiiAp5Dtkgl4NjIWE9Yh46dzATWadBd4uVhtzryPyHFG3xTG3875Y2jLapSpNVSTVDDSEfQUdk-E2F2teXe6JYjK5Jpj9S9hx20h5KOxFw/s320/images.jpg"></a> <br /><div align="justify"><span style="font-family: times new roman">Today i am very excited to interact with the people through this medium. I choose this medium specially to get connect with young generation. i am not much netsavy but i know the importance of this medium. today i am here not as social activist or as any political personality. i am here to share my views with the common man of my country. in future i will come infront of you with different subjects to share. & I hope you will give me the same love & response which I expect from you.</span></div><br /><div align="justify"><span style="font-family: times new roman"></span> </div><br /><h3>Today I like to share my work & vision with you......</h3><br /><div align="justify"><span style="font-family: times new roman; color: #ff0000"></span> </div><br /><p>Almost 24 years ago, I moved from Mumbai, the crowded, busy metropolis known to many of you as Bombay, with my wife to a small village called Dahisar. It was my uncle's village. We were committed to serve the poorest of the poor. At that time we did not know that there were Indian people who lived in slavery as bonded labourers.</p><br /><p><br>Soon we came to know that the village was not a homogeneous community. The indigenous peoples, the tribals, did not live in the village with the upper caste. They lived in hamlets in the forests. We learned that for small sums of money, loaned by the landlords, the tribals were bonded to serve, to serve for life, to serve for generation after generation.</p><br /><p><br>Bonded labour is illegal in India, but these tribal people did not know this. Their masters knew it, but ignored the laws and the Constitution. In those days, and even today, the masters often had powerful friends in local and state government who helped them keep the bonded labourers and their families under control -- subjugated to a life of service. This criminal-political nexus is a major support for the illegal practice of bonded labour and the commission of innumerable brutalities on oppressed people.</p><br /><p><br>Every day, in my uncle's village, the bonded labourers served their masters and every day they suffered inhuman bondage. Every day the masters through their speech and behaviour reaffirmed the sub-human existence of these bonded labourers. Every minute of every day these people lived believing that they were not free. They had no land, no homes, often no food, no clothes. Their children didn't go to school. For every step they took they had to seek permission, and always there was a palpable fear of the master. That is how their parents had lived, and their grandparents. The men inherited their father's debts and the women were tied first to the masters of their fathers and then the masters of their husbands. They taught themselves the virtue of silence before the master.</p><br /><p><br>We started telling the tribals that they could become free. The masters, including my close relative's family, began treating us with animosity because we were openly challenging their system of bonded labour -- the tribals ran away when they saw us, because they thought we were the agents of the masters. Then, on India’s Independence Day, we organized a programme in the village and sang a song in which we described how the bonded labourers were not free even though the country was free, and how our goal was to see them free.</p><br /><p><br>Soon thereafter, my own uncle and other masters beat us and threw out our meager possessions into the street. The news of this incident spread like wildfire in the tribal hamlets. That night, for the first time, the tribals came to us. They took us home and nursed our wounds. That night the tribals believed that we would be with them at all cost.</p><br /><p><br>One day, four bonded labourers hid from their masters and managed to reach our home in Mumbai. They came and said they wanted to be free. We were in a big fix. What could we do? Where could we take them? We hit upon a plan to dramatise their freedom for them and told them that we would take them to a senior officer who would set them free. We phoned one of our friends who was a retired bureaucrat and told him what to do.</p><br /><p><br>We brought the tribals to the apartment of our friend, which was on the eleventh floor of a high-rise building. It was the first time the tribals had ever been in an elevator. With our friend posing as an officer, we started the ceremony. He listened carefully to their story and then, using his power as a Government Official proclaimed, "You are now free. You need not work for the master anymore. And you need not repay the loan."</p><br /><p><br>The tribals were overjoyed. From that moment they believed and they knew that they were free. They returned to the village as heroes and they declared they would never work for the masters. The embers of freedom in their hearts had started to glow and nothing could extinguish them now. They were free because they knew that they were free!</p><br /><p><br>We started helping agricultural labourers and small farmers to organize themselves into a union that became known as Shramajeevi Sanghatana. The union supported the bonded laborers in their struggle for freedom. The strength of this collective bargaining would change their lives.</p><br /><p><br>Soon bonded labourers from village after village started coming to us asking to be set free. It was a sign that they were gaining confidence in the union. We began to use the law and the courts and also helped them to access the government's rehabilitation programmes. But the most important lesson we learned was that it was neither the laws nor the rehabilitation programs that had set them free. They were free because they thought they were free, and we created an atmosphere that made them think they were free.</p><br /><p><br>We asked them: Do you want to be cattle tied to your master? The master will feed you twice each day, like he feeds his cattle. Do you want to be cattle or do you want to be human beings? The tribals learned to value freedom. They readied themselves to demand it, and they prepared to pay the price. They prepared to go to jail. They prepared to go hungry. They prepared to get organized and support fellow bonded laborers to change the course of their history. They found hope in their organization. They learned to assert their rights as citizens of a democracy.</p><br /><p><br>From then on we seized every opportunity to make manifest that freedom. I remember when the bonded labourers decided to salute the national flag for the first time, on Independence Day in 1983. The masters came armed with sticks and created such an uproar that the ceremony could not be held.<br>The indignity of that day stayed with us the entire year, increasing our determination. The next year, the masters prevailed upon the district administration to pass orders preventing us from saluting the flag. As we moved ahead towards the flag, the police stood in front in a cordon. Imagine not being allowed to salute the national flag, to be degraded and denied this simple act of citizenship! That day we broke the cordon, and for the first time the bonded labourers saluted the national flag.</p><br /><p><br>We were arrested and went to jail. My wife went to the women's prison with our three-year-old-daughter. We remained in jail for ten days and refused to give bail, finally the government had to withdraw the case. It was an incomparable victory.</p><br /><p><br>The former slaves raised their first slogan against the masters:<br>"We bonded labourers are not cattle, we are human beings.<br>We don't want charity, we demand our rights."</p><br /><p><br>This slogan gave them strength to declare that they preferred starvation to slavery, even death to slavery. Abraham Lincoln once said, "Freedom lies in the hearts of the people." Yes, it lies in the hearts of the slaves, although they be covered with the ashes of indignity and hopelessness heaped on them by masters and rulers.</p><br /><p><br>Keeping our hearts courageous is not an easy task. When the masters in my uncle's village saw that freedom was taking hold they rose up to destroy it. They imposed a social boycott on the bonded labourers. This means that they were not given work in the fields, the shopkeepers did not sell to them, and they were not allowed to enter the village.</p><br /><p><br>The greatest fear is of backlash by the master. The master is all-powerful. He has money. He knows the police. He knows the politicians. He has powerful friends. The master may even kill the labourer. Who will support the bonded labourer? Just as the hour before dawn is the darkest, the transition to freedom is the most difficult. Many of the worst fears may come true, and yet we must help the bonded labourer hold on to freedom.</p><br /><p><br>During this unrest a woman said, "We shall eat bitter roots but we shall not touch the feet of the masters." This became another slogan repeated by the bonded labourers. When slaves rise in protest, when they raise their heads high and look straight into the eyes of the master and say, I shall die but not bend before you, that is the moment of power. Once they say this, no power on earth can keep them in shackles.</p><br /><p><br>Freedom is an expensive thing, but that does not mean that any currency in the world can buy it. Only the bonded labourers can pay the price. They alone must gather courage from the depths of their being and say 'no'.<br>Nothing else can set them free:</p><br /><p><br>For them there is no alternative employment, because they are enslaved.</p><br /><p><br>· They do not have the leisure for adult education because they are starving.<br>· Savings and credit schemes require money, which they do not have.<br>· Buying them back from the master is disastrous, as it encourages the master to keep more slaves.</p><br /><p><br>The only answer to bonded labour is organizing the slaves to demand the freedom that is already theirs by law.</p><br /><p><br>Our task as organisers is to help the yearning for freedom to bloom, like a bud. The bud is attacked from all sides by storms of violence, and gnawing inside are the worms of inner doubt. The fear of freedom is a very real fear. However inhuman the system, this is the life that the slave has been born into.<br>Let me tell you another story, the story of Keshav Nankar. To me, Keshav is a symbol of what the human spirit can achieve. As a boy he and his family fell into bondage for a small loan taken by his father. Keshav wanted to go to school but could not because his master wanted him to tend to the cattle. As a young man Keshav and his wife, who was also in bondage, worked more than 14 hours a day. He got only one break to eat; he was abused and kept hungry.<br>Twenty years ago, through our union, Shramjeevi Sanghatana, Keshav escaped from the horrors of this bonded labour. Today he serves as chairperson of the union, a union run by former bonded labourers. Its membership has risen to some 100,000. It has helped more than 6000 slaves gain their freedom, and many thousands more have been freed by masters who were afraid of the union.</p><br /><p><br>Who would have thought twenty years ago that Keshav would some day travel to London and tell his story to world leaders at the meeting of the Anti-Slavery Society? And there is no fear that Keshav's children will ever live in bondage.<br>I wish you could meet Anita Dhangda. She is the first bonded woman to be elected as a representative in a District government. Anita was born into a bonded family, and her father died young as a result of their hard lives. In 1989 Anita approached our union with the request to help free her family. We registered a formal complaint against the landlord. The landlord was powerful. He had the village under his control. He stopped all work and food for Anita and her family. We mobilized the surrounding villages, who confronted the landlord, and we succeeded. Anita and 22 of her family members gained their freedom.</p><br /><p><br>Anita got involved in our union, and became interested in politics in Maharashtra state. Who could imagine that Anita Dhangda would fight against the candidate of the mafia politicians and get elected, this year, to the Zilla Parishad, which is the district-level unit of local government? No one could have imagined that the Chief Minister of Maharashtra would join a celebration in her honor. No one could have imagined she would appear in TV interviews and raise issues on the floor of the House. Her story is a credit to her and to the organization that worked to free her.</p><br /><p><br>There are no short cuts to freeing slaves. Each and every slave has to be protected and encouraged. There is no magic wand at the single wave of which all will be free. The only way is to be with each person and support him or her in the long walk to freedom – to change the systems that support and defend these crimes against our humanity. While the bonded labourer pays the price of freedom, we can share the path and sometimes the cost. Those of us who chose to pay that price have spent days in jail, have gone hungry and thirsty. The police bring charges against us. But we know that compared to the pain of the bonded labourer, our pain is small.</p><br /><p><br>Along the way we have found people who will stand with the bonded labourers in their fight. At the height of the struggle we have been supported by lawyers, doctors, intellectuals, media persons, government officials and students. Among those people there were also those who belonged to the families or castes of the masters, who invited the anger of their own community to be with the bonded labourers in their struggle.</p><br /><p><br>Our union is also a bridge that connects the struggle of the tribal bonded labourers in India to the struggle of communities and nations across the globe. During apartheid the members of Shramajeevi Sanghatana collected one rupee each and handed over twelve thousand rupees to the ANC. It was not the money that counted, but the spirit of solidarity, which says “ We are with you in your struggle. We understand how hard it is for you because it is so hard for us.” And which says, “no one is free till every one is free.” Hundreds of our people danced with joy at the news of Nelson Mandela's release from South Africa's jail as if their own brother had been released. The spirit of freedom knows no geographical boundaries, no race or country. We are one with Rosa Parks and Dr. Martin Luther King, who have become our heroes along with the heroes of the Indian Freedom Struggle.</p><br /><p><br>Thus, Friends, I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Unitarian Universalist Association for your support for our struggle against slavery.<br>For two decades Ms. Kathy Sreedhar has been with us marching and working with us constantly. We have the knowledge that through her you all are with us.</p><br /><p><br>Some of you have visited us; some of you know the former bonded labourers by name. This is most important, for the first thing a master takes away is a person's name. You are with us in our struggle. You have celebrated our victories with us. We have sung together the English and Marathi versions of "We Shall Overcome." You have brought many, many friends from many countries and cultures and introduced the freed bonded labourers to them as you would a member of your family.</p><br /><p><br>By doing all these things you restored to the bonded labourers what the masters, and generations of enslavement had taken away – recognition of their inherent worth and dignity as human beings. You are far more precious to us than all the money in the world.</p><br /><p><br>You and we together share a vision of the world where there will be no slavery or bondage. The work towards that vision is our service to God. God resides neither in temples, nor mosques, nor churches, nor synagogues but in the freeing of the oppressed human being. To work for freeing slaves is our worship of the living God.</p><br /><p><br>I tried to capture in the words of a song the dream that all of us share, and I would like to end my speech with the translation of that song.</p><br /><p><strong>This is the dream of my life</strong><br /><p><strong>May it come true</strong><br /><p><strong>May the children of human beingsLive with human dignity</strong><br /><p><strong>May no one sell their bodiesFor a small piece of breadAnd may my inner urge ever beTo destroy oppression.</strong><br /><p><strong>May the flowers yet to bloomNot be trampled underfoot</strong><br /><p><strong>May every breath I takeHelp new flowers to bloom.</strong><br /><p><strong>May I never be weak, vulnerableAnd powerless</strong><br /><p><strong>May I find within myselfThe strength to contain storms.</strong><br /><p><strong>The night that has passedWas the darkestLet the emerging raysLive in the huts of the poor.</strong><br /><p><strong>May those who have no foodAnd no dignity, be my Gods.</strong><br /><p><strong>And may every step I take todayBe in the service of that God.</strong><br /><p><strong>This is my prayer May it come trueMay the children of human beings Live with human dignity.</strong><br /><p> <p>Zindabad!!<br>Thank you<br /><p>Vivek Pandit<br /><div align="justify"><span style="font-family: times new roman"></span></div><span style="font-family: times new roman"></span>Vivek Pandithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05076997530315949989noreply@blogger.com4