Jan andolan

During the months of February and March, King Birendra defended his system by radio, in public speeches and his government held its own democracy rally in Katmandu, where some 30,000 people carried banners in support of the monarchy and the non-party council system known here as panchayat democracy. Nepal is a small Himalayan country that borders China and India with a population of about 20 million and with a famous ethnic and religious diversity. Established as a monarchy in the mid-18th century, its form of government was hotly contested in 1972 with the death of King Mahendra and the accession of his son, Birenda. The king maintained power but promised a national referendum on the panchayat system of councils, which then allowed the king almost total autocratic control. In a national referendum in 1980, it was established that the panchayat system would continue, allowing the king to maintain his autocratic powers over the parliamentary system. Many people believed that the decision had been rigged and demanded a change to a multiparty system. In 1990, two groups, the Nepali Congress, a pro-democracy group and the largest illegal political party in the country, and the United Left Front, a coalition of communist and leftist parties, joined to launch a campaign to achieve a multiparty democracy in Nepal The Jana Andolan’ (People's Movement) towards a multiparty democracy officially started on February 18, 1990, which is Democracy day in Nepal, in honor of monarch King T...

The Jal Shakti Ministry has brought together many departments under your leadership. Are you prioritising one aspect, and is there any concern that some areas may be ignored? This is the first time that the subject of water is being dealt with in a holistic manner, and I believe that no subject which is dealt with holistically ends up ignoring any aspect of it. We would have gained a lot if such a synergy had been attempted earlier. There are five pillars for this: rainwater harvesting; judicious use of water by individuals, agriculture, industry; use of technology for groundwater recharge, sewage treatment and desalination; reuse and recycling of water; and afforestation. If these five principles are followed, you will see change in the country’s water situation. One of your priorities is to provide piped drinking water by 2024. However, the previous National Rural Drinking Water Programme failed to reach its goals of piped water to half the population by 2018, reaching only 18% of households. What is going to be done differently this time? Today, there is so much more money. We have been given ₹10,000 crore in the budget allocation. But as importantly, we are following an integrated approach on the issue now. It is not only about piped water supply. Prior to that is source sustainability, which can be attained in India by groundwater recharge only. Second is piped water supply and third is grey water disposal and reuse, either after treatment or for groundwater recharge....

During a joint press briefing with the Ministry of Health and Niti Aayog, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting secretary Amit Khare said within its first week of launch, the 'jan andolan' campaign garnered 2.33 billion impressions and trended on Twitter with the hashtag "Unite2fightCorona". "I would like to thank the media on behalf of the ministry for its valuable contribution in spreading information about COVID-19 in the country. I do feel and appreciate that the media has been prominent in taking the message of precautionary steps to be taken against COVID-19 throughout the country. It has played a very important role," Khare said. He said that the winter season and religious and other festivities are approaching and the economy is also opening up, hence, precautions were essential. "The season of religious and other festivities is approaching. The economy is opening up but while doing so we need to take precautions. We have permitted schools to open up, SOPs for colleges are also coming and from October 15 onwards, even cinema halls will open at many places." "On one hand economy is opening up and on the other, we need to take precautions. In view of this, we launched a campaign on October 8. We must wear mask, maintain physical distancing and wash hands to maintain hygiene at all times. Let us adjust to this new normal," Khare said. He said the 'jan andolan' will be an intensive campaign in October and November and will continue till March in various forms to rea...

Exhorting farmers to adopt natural farming to protect the soil from harmful impact of chemicals, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said the crops produced from chemical-free process will fetch higher prices in export market due to demand for healthy products. “Perhaps there is no village in Surat (district) which does not have families living abroad. Today you have achieved the target (of convincing) 75 farmers in each village; tomorrow 750 farmers will be ready in each village to adopt (natural farming),” Modi said addressing a conclave virtually on Sunday. “When the entire region will adopt natural farming, the buyers from across the globe will reach out to you because the products (grown here) are free of chemicals and good for health. They will offer higher rates too,” the Prime Minister said adding that quality assurance system is in place for certification of such produce. In March, during his address at the Gujarat Panchayat Mahasammelan as part of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav, the Prime Minister had exhorted at least 75 farmers in each village to adopt natural farming. Consequently, 75 farmers were identified and trained in each gram panchayat of Surat to undertake natural farming. There are about 800 villages in Surat and as many as 60,000 farmers were targeted for the project. Also, more than 41,000 farmers were trained in 90 different clusters so far. The prime minister said that 30,000 clusters have been created all over the country under the ‘Paramparagat Krishi Vik...

Residents of Wagholi have grown increasingly frustrated with the lack of response from various government agencies regarding their concerns. To address this ongoing issue, they have organized another Virat Jan Andolan to be held on July 20, 11 AM at Pune Municipal Corporation Headquarters. According to the residents, both the Residents are determined to voice their discontent and hold the civic body accountable for its unfulfilled promises. The focus of the andolan will be on highlighting the Taking the lead in this movement is Team Wagholi Against Corruption, a group spearheading the protest to demand immediate attention to the pressing matters affecting the residents’ daily lives.

At the request of the Ministry of Women and Child Development, Harvard Chan India Research Center have partnered with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to document and evaluate “promising practices” for social and behavioural change communications (SBCC) to promote Jan Andolan. Led by Dr K. Viswanath, Lee Kum Kee Professor of Health Communication at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, the project aims to delineate current SBCC strategies, that are being used to promote nutrition seeking behaviours within the communities, identify ‘promising practices’ for Jan Andolan that are geographically and culturally proximal to people and disseminate the best strategies for context specific mass mobilization including effective media, channels and strategic messaging that can be used to scale and promote Jan Andolan. Drawing from Phase 1 of the project, an e-book titled “ Post navigation