TCN News
Dr Lubna Sarwath, Contesting Candidate for Karwan Legislative Assembly, Telangana, Hyderabad, Socialist Party(India) has released the manifesto for her constituency which is a well thought out and meticulously planned one.
The broad plans are of the party are : to make Karwan the safest constituency in Telangana; safety from violence (especially against girl child/children/women;); safety from goondaism and dadagiri; freedom from poverty and unemployment; Safe from pollution/climate change.
This manifesto, different from any political manifesto that has ever been announced before is a 11 point programme with the aim to make Karwan a role-model assembly with equality and sustainability with participation from the community.
- Water
-Ensure that all lakes get clean/rain water and make the lakes as recreation zones free from encroachments for all residents of Karwan with no entry fee; to make lakes potable, fishable, swimmable, to stop the froth and foam of shah hatem talab;
– to ensure that houses do not get flooded during rains; to capture all rain water dynamically for water needs of Karwan;
– ensure that every building in the Karwan has a rain water harvesting structure.
– ensure that the water table in the area rises year by year to reach 20 feet.
- Waste Management
-Ensure that basic amenities of clean roads, by implementing ward wise segregation at source handling of solid waste; ensure zero-waste Karwan;
-Ensure composting of green waste at local level;
-Ensure that industrial and sewage waste does not go to the river or water bodies. Gradually introduce composting latrines/alternative methodologies to save water and keep the water bodies clean. Industrial polluting water should
- Food
-To ensure clean vegetable markets and clean shops and dignity of labour;
-Promote home and roof top vegetable gardening. Promote tree planting and fruit tree planting wherever possible.
4. Energy
-To make the constituency fossil fuel free in 10 years gradually.
-Do energy audit of all energy users and reduce energy use by 10 % every year.
– Promote roof top solar energy both for heating water and electricity.
- Transport
-Ensure that roads are well laid with no pot-holes, and ensure that all rain water on streets is properly channelised into nearest water body;
– to increase the public transport in Karwan constituency and to streamline private transport; – Promote bicycles, footpaths and cycle rickshaws and discourage private auto mobiles. Make car free zones and observe weekly car free days in congested localities. This can reduce pollution and improve cognitive and physical health.
– to improve bus stops are properly shaded with trees and structure, and attached with basic amenities of water and toilet separately for TSRTC and for public.
- Health
– to ensure that existing government hospitals at Karwan are equipped with infrastructure and staff,
-to establish hospitals ward-wise; restore Golconda hospital with alternative medicine wing, full capacity of staff/doctor, medicines, infrastructure; and root out mosquito menace;
- Education
– Make Karwan constituency 100% literate and employed; Rigorously promote Urdu, Telugu, English and other mother tongues of Karwan residents;
– ensure that all government schools/colleges have highest standards of experiential teaching and state of art infrastructure and sports; ensure that all private schools comply the rules for fee, teaching and safety of all students;
-Make universal school education compulsory. Eliminate child labour through experiential schooling.
-Give bicycles to all school going students of government schools and nutritious diets for overall physical and mental health of the child.
– to ensure that girl students and poor students get laptops as governmental scheme for further study;
-Ensure that all schools have libraries and reading rooms with newspapers in Urdu, Hindi Telugu, and English to be provided in localities/mohallas;
-Establish govt girls junior college and boys junior college; establish govt degree college with full staff and infrastructure;
– to ensure that all blind and other challenged people get free bus passes for all buses and not just ordinary buses;
8. Housing
– ensure that every resident has basic housing facility through low-cost environmental and dignified housing; that are so architecturally designed that they do not require Air condition, coolers or fans and artificial lighting during day time.
9. Heritage and Commons
– Improve all Heritage Monuments and increase eco-tourist economy and get World Heritage tag for Karwan constituency;
– to ensure that Naya Qila is opened up for tourists; Naya Qila Bagh Persian gardens is revived and opened up for public; Naya Qila Talab is freed from encroachments; to revive Toli Masjid and make it another heritage glory of Karwan;
– ensure that all waqf properties are geo-tagged and safe guarded and brought into use for betterment as a top priority;
– ensure buffer zone for heritage monuments of Karwan, and local employment for guides and for maintenance;
– Ensure eco-tourism. Discourage cars, eating places around monuments. Promote heritage walk and bicycle tourism
- Community participation
Ward-wise/area-wise meetings will be held local organisations will be involved for planning, budgeting and to undertake public works
- Employment generation and entrepreneurship
– to promote green entrepreneurship such as rain water harvesting, waste processing and composting, home gardening resources, bicycle stands and bicycle repair and maintenance shops, markets for organic and green local products etc.
Dr Lubna Sarwath, being a champion environment activist has worked extensively in Karwan constituency to restore the lakes and get rid of water pollutants; submitted several petitions to the Water board, GHMC and other line departments for supply of water, clear clogged drainages, and resolved many such issues.
Her manifesto makes it clear that she wants to restore the glory of Hyderabad which once had more than 1000 natural and manmade water bodies apart from many architectural marvels built during the reign of the Nizams.
Dr. Sarwath holds a Phd in Islamic Economics from Indonesia; is on the Editorial Board of International Journal of Ethics & Systems, Emerald Publications, UK; and has also done Women in Leadership course from IIM, Bangalore.