World Social Forum 2004- Mumbai

Six-day WSF event will cost Rs 8.5 crore
S BALAKRISHNAN

TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ THURSDAY, JANUARY 15, 2004 03:35:49 AM ]

MUMBAI: About 60 per cent of the funding for the World Social Forum (WSF) beginning here on January 16 is coming from abroad.

The sixday event is estimated to cost a whopping Rs 8.5 crore and this does not include the expenses being incurred by the organisers on travel, mobilephones et al.

According to Gautam Modi, who is coordinating the media cell of the WSF, two Nederland-based organisations, Hivos and Novib, and the UK-based Oxfam would be providing 60 per cent of the Rs 8.5 crore.

He explained that these organisations raised money through a “variety of means’’, including contributions from the public.

The rest of the money is being raised by the India General Council to which as many as 216 Indian organisations are linked. Most of the people working for the meet are volunteers, he added.

Mr Modi said the organisers had taken a conscious decision not to accept contribution from the Ford Foundation, which had supported the WSF meet held last year in Brazil , or any corporates.

He said a large part of expenses would be incurred on the venue, translation facilities etc.

However, People Against Imperialism (PAI), an umbrella body of several progressive Indian organisations, has decided to hold a parallel meet to protest against the fund-raising practices of the WSF.

Pravin Nadkar, a senior Naxalite activist working for PAI, alleged that certain MNCs were funnelling funds for the WSF through certain agencies.

Asked what earthly reason MNCs would have in funding an anti-globalisation meet, Mr Nadkar said, “Their strategy is to blunt the world struggle against imperialism by coopting events like the WSF.’’

“The true character of the WSF became obvious last year when it accepted substantial funds from the Ford Foundation, which by no stretch of imagination can be called an anti-imperialist organisation. We are holding a separate and smaller meet precisely to focus on the true character of the WSF,’’ Mr Nadkar told TNN on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the Communist Party of India (CPI) and the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM) are preparing to receive delegates from the communist parties of as many as 18 countries, including China .

A public reception will be held in their honour at Maharashtra High School grounds, Delisle Road , on January 20 at 5 p.m.




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