KHETRO Broadsheet 04: Editorial

The new thrust of "global development" seems to have finally arrived with a big bang in West Bengal.

As the capital of the state, Calcutta has entered a phase of resurrection. Of late, the widespread declaration that we are heading towards becoming a 'neo-city' which will be at par with any other major city of the world, is being heard. To achieve that status, Calcutta needs to lure global business investors to the city as well as the state. The city therefore needs a complete facelift to provide the right infrastructure for investors to feel comfortable. With this, money will pour in and soon the city will be elevated to a level which Calcuttans have only dreamed of.

It is now the new dictum of the state government that we should all subscribe to this dream and cheer the way Calcutta is changing. Enthused by this way of thinking, many have responded to the call and joined hands with the government's new "development" programs as active collaborators. Government-private collaboration and privatization of the public sector is the new trend here.

The phenomenal boom in the real estate sector has significantly changed the cityscape, and now seems to be the prime indicator of development here in Calcutta. The city has a glossier look because of these new urban constructions, unfortunately happening mostly through the encroachment of paddy fields and wetlands on the city's fringes, and by closing down factories without caring too much about the economic or environmental impact. What dream are we actually chasing? And what is the price we will eventually pay for its realization?

Being a Calcutta based organization involved with issues related to community culture, ecological existence and media explorations, Khetro cannot avoid critiquing the disastrous changes taking place. We have initiated a study, "The Changing Landscape of Calcutta" to document the transformation of landscape which is happening at a random and reckless pace. Through this study we intend to learn and understand the consequences of these changes in the ecological fabric of Calcutta and offer potential sustainable alternatives.

In tandem with this, another segment we are exploring is the "Transforming Industrial Landscape" which will look at the eroded industrial scenario of Calcutta.

Editorial Collective: Dr. Silanjan Bhattacharya, Patrick S L Ghose, Ranu Ghosh, Nilanjan Bhattacharya, Mrityunjay Chatterjee (Sarai-CSDS, Delhi)

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Khetro: In A Nutshell

Khetro is an initiative to foster an open space for cross-disciplinary dialogue and for the implementation of innovative ideas that will explore, exchange and implement within the domains of community culture, old and new media, and ecological existence.

Khetro has programmes to generate, develop and encourage alternative ideas and thoughts on urban and rural public culture, social practices and the ecology.

Our key objectives:

• To explore the possibilities of media towards ensuring space and scope for pluralistic discourse and implementation with an emphasis on public participation and open access;

• To operate this as a non-proprietary collaborative endeavour through sustained collective interactions between theorists and practitioners from diverse fields of ideas and activities;

• To act as a catalyst for initiating multicultural and open dialogue between the subject and the intent;

• To include semi urban and rural issues within the agenda of socio-cultural transformation is a crucial concern for the collaborative;

• To produce documentary films, support archiving activities, publish journals, books, monographs and other modes of dissemination, specifically in cultural studies and in the vernacular, and to develop multimedia products and freeware, are priority areas for Khetro.

Khetro is involved in the research and compilation of works in various fields of socio-cultural significance, and is committed to make such information and findings widely available for public knowledge and use.