Meeting on 17th in Delhi regarding the coal ordinance

Meeting on 17th in Delhi regarding the coal ordinance

Dear Friends,

Thanks for your confirmation for the meeting on 17^th regarding coal ordinance. While initially we were planning to focus our discussion only on a select region of Chhattisgarh, we received many suggestions that in light of the sweeping & far-reaching provisions of the coal ordinance it might be useful to focus on the broader issue of coal ordinance itself. As a result, we would like to broaden the objectives of the 17^th meeting as an attempt to come up with a concerted strategy for organizing a national campaign on the issue of coal mining & coal block allocation.

The demonstrated urgency of bringing wide-ranging changes vide the ordinance route, points to Government’s intention towards rapid and ruthless exploitation of coal blocks in the country. Moreover, recent media reports point towards commencement of coal block auctions as early as December – January itself. It maybe pertinent to note that a large majority of the coal blocks earmarked for auction, as per Schedule 1 of the Coal Ordinance, do not possess requisite environment or forest clearances or meet the requirements of gram sabha consents, forest rights' recognition, impact assessments, etc. An auction of these blocks before conclusion of such important processes is likely to significantly undermine them and would lead to devastating impact on the ecology, environment, biodiversity, agricultural productivity, human rights and displacement.  

Any plan for a campaign on coal mining must necessarily be centered around two critical timelines – a. coal block allocations and b. tabling of this ordinance in Parliament and subsequent discussions. Therefore, we would like to focus on the above and strive for a crisp, participatory and outcome-oriented brain-storming session in order to come up with a well coordinated action plan.

Date: 17^th November, 2014 (Monday)

Time: 10 AM – 4 PM

Venue: The Faculty Center (office of the JNU teachers' Association),near railway reservation Centre and in front of the office of  Dean, students. This place is inside the campus, close to the library, JNU

Tentatively, we propose the following broad agenda items to steer our free-flowing discussions:

1.  Overview of the current scenario of coal mining, displacement and grassroots struggles’ across various states (10 AM – 11.30 AM)

a.     Experience sharing by representatives from various states

b.     Changes in the on-ground scenario post the Supreme Court order and the subsequent Coal Ordinance

2.   Understanding the SC court order and various provisions of the coal ordinance and their implications (11.30 AM – 1 PM)

a.     Understanding the challenges thrown up by various provisions of the ordinance

b.     Impact on previous orders (NGT, courts, etc.) and way forward on enforcing these

c.     Threat to various grassroots’ movements from the ordinance

3.    Way forward and strategy planning (post lunch 2 - 4 PM)

a.     Legal strategy on countering the effects of the ordinance

b.  Structure and framework for coordinating a national campaign against coal mining involving various grassroots’ movements and like-minded organizations’ & individuals

Any suggestions / modifications to the above agenda are most welcome. Also, please feel free to share the invite with other people / organizations who you believe would be keen to contribute to and join the discussion on 17^th. Also, please find attached a note by CBA on the coal ordinance.

Looking forward to your participation and valuable inputs. With your support and solidarity.

Regards

Alok Shukla,

Chhatisgarh Bachaao Aandolan