Is implementation of NREGA (national rural employment guarantee legislation) being fundamentally altered to the extent that instead of being a deliverable for regular rural work, the law becomes a source of exploitation?

This and other disturbing questions were raised at a press conference organized in Delhi on March 3 by the NREGA Sangharsh Morcha (a collective which has been monitoring NREGA implementation carefully for some years and also campaigning for its proper, improved implementation.

This press conference was part of a wider mobilisation to demand significant improvements, as reflected in a protest dharna at Jantar Mantar, Delhi. While several national level injustices have been highlighted in the course of this protest, a special focus has been on the extreme injustices suffered by NREGA workers in West Bengal.

As the NREGA Sangharsh Morcha has pointed out, most NREGA workers in West Bengal have not been paid their wages for over one year. According to the Morcha, the union government has withheld the release of over Rs. 7500 crore worth of NREGA funds out of which pending wages amounting to Rs 2762 crore have not been paid to nearly 3.4 crore registered workers from the state. This is for work already completed by them (one crore=10 million people ). In addition,  there was a near shutdown of NREGA work in the state for financial year 2022-23.

According to news reports, the union government authorities held back funds after discovering anomalies in the implementation of NREGA in this state. However, as was repeatedly emphasised in the press conference and at the protest dharna, when corruption is discovered, the response should be to punish the corrupt persons concerned and not to victimise innocent workers.

A wider, national level aspect of implementation which came in for repeated criticism at the press conference and at the dharna relates to the mandatory imposition of a centralized digital attendance system (NNMS) and Aadhaar based payments that has “caused havoc”. Many workers cannot be paid in time due to technical problems related to the NNMS App for no fault of theirs.

Brinda Karat, former Rajya Sabha member and CPMleader said that the big reduction in NREGA budget this year, the huge numbers of workers who demand work but are denied work, extremely low average wages of around Rs 218 per day as well as the fact of nearly 20 states being in deficit due to spending being higher than allocation received from the central government have led to serious questions regarding the future of NREGA. The union government has been very unfavorable towards NREGA as well as other pro-poor laws like the Forest Rights Act, 2006 Karat also said.

Anjali Bhardwaj, a senior social activist, stated that most of the weaker sections have continued to suffer from a worsening livelihood situation and inflation in the post-pandemic phase and therefore the weakening of important pro-poor schemes like rural employment guarantee is a cause for very serious concern. She called for genuine, comprehensive anti-corruption steps, while avoiding the imposition of more difficulties on the poor in the name of checking irregularities, as has been seen in the context of NREGA.

Rajiv Dimri, senior trade union leader (AICCTU), said that while the assault on NREGA is very regrettable, there is also a much wider assault on the entire working class and the central trade unions are preparing to resist this in various ways.

Several NREGA workers from West Bengal stated how they have been denied wages after toiling for up to 90 days at NREGA sites , and this as well as loss of work opportunities has led to hunger and starvation in their households.

The various speakers extended their support to the demands raised by the ongoing protest movement and dharna. These demands include—

• Immediate payment of the pending wages by the central government,

• immediate release of the withheld funds by the central government,

• Establishment of a revolving fund of Rs 1000 crore by the state government  for timely payment of NREGA wages,

• Checking irregularities in implementation of NREGA ad action against all those who are complicit in these.

(The writer is Honorary Convener, Campaign to Save Earth Now. His recent books include Protecting Earth for Children, Man over Machine and Planet in Peril)

Related:

West Bengal farm workers protest Centre withholding Rs 7,500 crore MGNREGA budget

With Demand for MGNREGA Work Increasing in Sept 2022, Activists Warn About Rural Distress

The post Strong voices raised to check exploitation of NREGA workers by union government  appeared first on SabrangIndia.

The recent closure (from October 1 onwards, approximately) of several industrial units in the National Capital Region (NCR) has led to the unemployment of a very large number of workers in several leading centers of industrial activity like Panipat, Faridabad and Gurugram.

 This is hardly the first time that pollution control curbs have led to the unemployment of workers on a large scale, and is certainly not likely to be the last. In fact, as pressure to reduce GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions increases with the escalating crisis of climate change, the chances of such unemployment being caused are likely to increase, although the possibilities of this can certainly be reduced by better planning for which there is much scope.

 Therefore, it is high time that mechanisms for compensating workers for such forced periods of employment must be introduced. This policy framework should come into force automatically whenever such unemployment is caused. The compensation should continue till such time that the worker is employed again by the resumption of work in the industrial unit or in some alterative employment, or else this can be fixed for a period which is reasonable enough for finding alternative employment in case of prolonged closure.

This policy imperative is justified further by the fact that most workers have passed through exceptionally difficult times in recent years caused by a number of policy decisions including   prolonged and strict lockdowns, sudden instability in employment caused by demonetization as well as ceiling and demolition drives in some cities.

Workers in Delhi, to give an example, have faced a series of government actions including the removal of slum-dwellers to outlying parts of the city, an earlier wave of dislocation of industries relating to environment protection, yearly bans on construction activity for restricted periods to reduce pollution, various ceiling drives, lockdowns of 2020 and the related reverse migration back to villages. All these have led to prolonged periods of unemployment for large numbers of workers, increasing their precariousness and reducing their ability to withstand more shocks.

However, the distress suffered by workers generally does not get due attention, and concerns of workers seldom if ever become the main factor in decisions taken on these issues. This is true of the government as well as the judiciary.

Workers in some categories like brick kilns and coal mining in various parts of country may be particularly vulnerable to decisions taken on environmental grounds, even though they already suffer from many problems.

At the same time, the urgency of reducing GHG emissions and reducing air pollution is certainly a very important factor and cannot be ignored, keeping in view the high levels of air pollution in many cities and the seriousness of climate change. So, what we really need is much better planning to take forward these tasks in ways which can minimize unemployment for workers. Once this problem is substantially reduced, it will become easier to arrange compensatory payments to unemployed workers.

To give an obvious example, once deadlines are fixed for industries to shift to cleaner fuel(s), there should be simultaneous speeding up of the arranging of cleaner fuels to the extent needed by various industries, along with the credit/subsidies needed particularly by the smaller units to make the switch-over. The changed equipment needed by some industries for this purpose should also be available readily. If electricity supply is regular, many otherwise non-polluting industries will not need big generators which use polluting diesel.

Such planning and policy shifts will reduce avoidable disruption, closures and the resulting pollution.

Several arbitrary government projects and actions involve considerable pollution. The twin tower demolition in NOIDA caused a lot of avoidable pollution. The avoidable demolitions of the Central Vista project also caused pollution. Many unjustified demolitions of hut colonies caused a lot of avoidable pollution and the generation of massive waste (apart from disrupting life and livelihoods of people). Such pollution can be avoided.

Several polluting industries, like brick-kilns, produce essential products which we need in any case. Hence the way forward is not arbitrary closure but a helping hand for less polluting but reliable technology, linked to more protective conditions for workers (many kilns are notorious for exploiting workers). In such a situation environment protection and worker protection can proceed together.

A big source of pollution in several cities is the methane gas (a very powerful GHG, much more harmful than carbon dioxide) emanating from huge landfills which appear to be assuming the form of mountains of dirt. These can be largely avoided by better waste management practices based in on-source waste-segregation and decentralized, improved composting and recycling. Much useful and creative employment too can be generated in the process.

Trees absorb the most important GHG carbon-dioxide. At many places there is mass axing of trees which is avoidable.  In the case of the much-publicised Ken-Betwa Link Project as many as two to million trees will be axed, even though this project has been widely exposed by eminent experts to be non-viable and harmful. By carefully listing all such projects involving avoidable slaughter of trees, many millions of trees can be saved.

This brings us to the wider reality that there can be various paths of reducing GHG emissions and keeping in view India’s problems of poverty and unemployment, we have to be very careful in choosing that path which reduces poverty and unemployment at the same time. Large-scale sustainable livelihoods can be created in re-generation of forests in degraded lands, to give only a more obvious example. Spread of low purchased input, low-cost, self-reliant, eco-friendly farming can help rural communities to increase sustainable livelihoods and at the same time contribute much more to soil and water protection and to climate change mitigation and adaptation. Renewable energy and better waste management can help to reduce GHG emissions in a big way, while also proving to be leading sources of new and creative employment generation. Just one source of clean energy, Mangal Turbine, based on the innovation of an Indian farmer (Mangal Singh) which has been praised at high official and expert levels, can contribute in a big way to reducing GHG emissions as well as increasing highly creative employment in many, many villages.

By carefully planning a path of reducing pollution and GHG emissions, we can choose options which will not cause unemployment and dislocation of workers. Training for newly emerging opportunities in ecologically protective lines of work can help to re-employ those workers who have to leave activities involving high GHG emissions. Once the problem of unemployment caused by new environmental regulations is reduced, it becomes much more possible to provide financial compensation to unemployed workers till they again find employment.

The writer is Honorary Convener, Campaign to Save Earth Now. His recent books include Planet in Peril, Protecting Earth for Children and India’s Quest for Sustainable Farming and Healthy Food. 

Related

With Demand for MGNREGA Work Increasing in Sept 2022, Activists Warn About Rural Distress

Labour Codes Issues: Spelling out the ABCs

How the new labour codes leave Indian workers’ future in the dark?
 

The post A path towards combined protection of the environment and workers’ livelihoods appeared first on SabrangIndia.

At a time when the trend of trying to maximize profits has led to so many serious distortions in the health sector, the need for at least some efforts which have been consistently providing rationality based, low cost medical care with a special emphasis on trying to reach out to workers and peasants and to all weaker sections of society has increased further.

The Shaheed Hospital in Dalli Rajhara (Chattisgarh) region provides one such highly inspiring example. It is, moreover, a very rare example of a hospital which was actually created, built, expanded by workers, using their own hard labor and meager savings (with some help from other well-wishers). It has been a tremendous effort to maintain the continuity of this hospital’s work during the last four decades.

The Shaheed Hospital also provides a very inspiring example of many deeply committed doctors, nurses, medical and other workers who have been serving the hospital with the deepest commitment over the years.

In particular one must mention Dr. Saibal Jana who has been with the hospital since its birth and still continues to lead this inspiring effort, braving many difficulties and adversities.

Going back about four decades, the late seventies and early eighties were a period of great awakening and hope in the mining township of Dalli Rajhara. The iron ore miners, particularly contract workers, had been successfully resisting highly exploitative practices including very low wages.

Under the inspiring leadership of the legendary trade union leader Shankar Guha Niyogi and his close colleagues, the workers had followed this success with many constructive programs with the understanding of combining struggles with many-sided constructive work (sangharsh va nirman).

This included a very effective campaign against liquor addiction, education and vocational training, cultural programmes and above all a strong health program of workers and peasants.

By then the trade union had spread to some other mining areas as well and what is more, had established a strong organizational base in the rural areas under the banner of Chhattisgarh Mukti Morcha (CMM). This and the main trade union called the Chattisgarh Mines Shramik Sangh (CMSS) became the main hub of asserting the rights of workers and peasants in this region.

I was fortunate to be a part of these times of hope as a visiting reporter and journalist. However my first visit to the area was in more difficult circumstances, as a member of a human rights team, when a big protest movement was going on and Niyogi Ji had been arrested. Later I also got permission to meet Niyogi Ji in jail.

So phases of repression and the resulting protests were always coming in and the constructive work had to be continued in the middle of this. Niyogi Ji once told with a sigh — we have so many ideas about experimental constructive work with great potential but the day to day problems which are always being created for our union leaves us very less time for this.

Despite this, constructive work like workers giving up liquor on a large scale and in a very determined way was a big success. Around the same time as visitors we started seeing patients coming in significant numbers to a dispensary operating then from a garage. Doctors like Vinayak Sen, Ashish Kundu and Saibal Jana had started reaching here to start a healthcare program, and a health committee of workers had been formed.

At the time of disasters like Latur earthquake and Bhopal gas leak, the hospital sent its volunteers for helping

The arrangement in garage was only a temporary one, we learnt, the workers plan to soon build their own hospital! This was great news which enthused many visitors, but they had their doubts too. A hospital, its building and equipment cost a lot of money too; how can the workers arrange all this.

But soon the workers by their strong determination were soon turning this into a reality. As many as 1000 workers would gather at the time of construction and with their disciplined and dedicated voluntary work would complete in a single day work that may otherwise drag on for an extended period.

During subsequent visits visitors saw the inauguration of the new hospital building in 1983, additions to it, various equipment and new facilities being added, an ambulance being purchased, the number of beds being increased.

Each of these improvements and additions was a quiet celebration of the aspirations of the workers and peasants, most of them from tribal communities and other weaker sections who had suffered much due to earlier denial of proper medical care and some had even lost family members due to this.

The hospital got its name Shaheed (martyr) from the memory of those comrades who had been killed in the course of an early struggle; they would surely rest in peace that an institution created in their name has saved so many precious human lives.
Even at an early stage the hospital and the union took steps to take health campaigns to wider rural areas and improve water and sanitation in the area. At the time of disasters like the Latur earthquake and the Bhopal Gas Leak disaster, the hospital sent its volunteers for helping.

Young doctors and health personnel keen to work with similar ideals came here to gain experience and inspiration. The hospital became a center recognized widely for providing very good training to nurses. It contributed to and also made made effective use of various government health programs.

As the hospital completes nearly 4 decades of its tremendously useful and inspiring efforts, There are many, many friends and beneficiaries who wish for the further success of this effort, with more doctors and others coming forward to help.

*Honorary convener, Campaign to Save Earth Now. His recent books include ‘Planet in Peril’, ‘A Day in 2071’ and ‘Man over Machine’

Courtesy: https://www.counterview.net

The post Inspired by health for all motto, built by workers: Shaheed Hospital of Chhattisgarh appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Nomadic communities have suffered from increasing marginalization in recent times as both their needs and potential have not received the due attention and understanding. On the one hand their rights are trodden upon and violated by powerful forces, on the other hand whatever development work is initiated for them fails to take account of their real and considerable potential, their wisdom and rich skills in certain areas. Both kinds of interventions ultimately lead to continued marginalization of nomadic communities in different ways, as well as the perpetuation of several prejudices against them which has also result in violation of their human rights.

Some time back I visited a settlement of Kabutra community in Mahoba district (UP). They appeared to be scared of any outside visitors. The reason was not difficult to understand. As they are members of a highly vulnerable community, when some crimes are difficult to solve, it is members of this community which are more likely to be implicated and arrested, leading to high levels of distress among them.

While visiting another settlement of a nomadic community—the Kalandar community in Tonk district of Rajasthan—another kind of distress was more visible. Till some years back they wandered to many places with their bears and monkeys, their skilled animals presenting highly entertaining performances in streets and villages. The animals were taken good care of as after all they were the sources of livelihood and sometimes such affectionate bonds developed that the bear would not take food if he did not see the family head (with whom the animal travelled) for a day or two. What was of great value in this community was the great understanding between human beings and animals. Much could be learnt from this. Entirely ignoring such assets unique to this way of life, new regulations required these ‘madaris’ to give up the animals for ever and along with this their ancestral life and livelihood pattern was disrupted, without anything being created to replace this, driving many towards beggary and destitution.

These disruptions of the life-style and livelihoods of nomadic communities have taken several forms. In several places there have been traditional close relationships between nomadic pastoral communities and settled cultivators. The cultivators welcomed pastorals to camp in their fallow farms as the dung and urine of animals would provide free, highly productive manure to the fields. But once intensive cropping patterns were introduced ignoring this mutually beneficial relationship, the system based on this collapsed, making farmers dependent on chemical fertilizers and creating such conditions where they would regard nomadic pastorals as unwelcome intruders, not welcome guests as before.

The increasing dependence being created in India for various kinds of paper identities makes life more difficult for nomadic people. During the pandemic and lockdowns the sufferings of nomadic communities increased the most, for understandable reasons. For those who followed a cycle of nomadic life and settled life, the lockdowns disrupted the cycle in ways which were very disruptive and whose impacts will linger on for quite some time, adding much to their difficulties. Hence it is all the more important now that the problems of nomadic communities should receive more and careful attention. The word careful is important here as nomadic communities in various parts of world have often been victims of prejudice and misunderstanding. The biggest misconception has been that the nomadic way of life is inherently wrong and solutions should be seen only in terms of settlement. In this distorted thinking the many-sided potential, knowledge and skills of nomadic people are simply ignored. While in some cases nomadic communities do demand and need settlement, in some other contexts they need better protection of their way of life. This second aspect gets little recognition from those policy makers for whom settlement has to be a pre-condition for ‘development’.

Such narrow, distorted and wrong notions about nomads have led to the snatching away of livelihoods of several nomadic communities as well as the knowledge systems of great value associated with these livelihoods and life-patterns. A much more pluralist understanding of different ways of life being suitable to different communities is much needed.

In the Sahel region of Africa this lack of understanding of nomadic life proved even more harmful as big agribusiness companies took over a lot of land which disrupted the life-pattern of nomadic pastorals and led of large number of deaths of pastoral people in famine conditions in the Sahel region.

However those who tried to carefully study the nomadic way of life tell a different story of a lot of hidden wisdom in their patterns of living. Frances Moore Lappe and Joseph Collins write in their widely acclaimed book, Food First: “While the migrations of nomadic pastoral people might look random to outsiders, they are, in reality, patterned to take advantage of variations in rainfall and vegetation.  The nomads may herd their livestock over hundreds of miles from rainy season pastures to oases of perennial grasses in dry seasons…  The nomadic tactics make use of resources that others would not even consider resources.”

K.S. Fraudenberger, a social scientist who has worked extensively in Africa, particularly Senegal, says, “Pastoralists like FulBe play a critical role in the sustainable management of fragmented ecosystems.  Both Third World governments and aid agencies need to recognize this.  The key is to work with local people to develop policies to protect grazing lands and nomadic rights where pastoralism is both more sustainable and more environmentally appropriate than farming.”

In India, a very important contribution of nomads has been to make available hardy breeds of cattle.  The Royal Commission of Agriculture noted, “If inquiry were to be made into the history of such breeds…….we believe it would be found, in most cases that their excellence was due to the care bestowed on them by the professional cattle breeders, usually nomadic.  They usually worked under unfavorable conditions, but their skill in selecting and tending cattle was…..considerable.”

Researchers who have looked at the life-patterns of nomadic communities have helped in clearing several misconceptions about them. The Van Gujar nomadic community in Uttarakhand was frequently blamed for harming forests. However, a study by A. Clark, H. Sewill and R. Walts which examined the evidence carefully concluded, “From our study we found that crown cover was relatively unaffected by lopping and that there was an increase in ground vegetation in an area with lopped trees with would decrease the possibility of erosion.” A ‘Community Forest Management in Protected Areas’ (CFMPA) plan for involving Van Gujars in forest protection described the several skills and admirable world-view of Van Gujars in detail. On the knowledge of Van Gujars about forests this plan said ,”To walk through the forest with a van gujar guide is a lesson in bio-diversity; every species of tree is known, its quality as fodder, the timing of its leaf-fall, medicinal properties and so on. Every sound has meaning, every bird known and its habits noted, every fallen branch or tree noted.”

The skills of the Van Gujars in buffalo breeding are also described in this document—“’ the van gujar buffalo are not the rather dopey animals one sees commonly in Indian villages but a livelier and altogether more robust breed with the endurance to cover great distances on very little food and the strength to scramble over rocks in high mountain pastures.  Quietly sleeping with eyes closed by day or wallowing contentedly in a mud-hole, they come alive after dark and are said to possess excellent night vision.  Either sex is quite capable of fending off predators and indeed deer are said to actively seek out their protection.  Easily distinguished by their appearance and personality, each is named individually, much as human beings are named…… Injured animals are carefully tended and unproductive animals are neither killed nor sold.”

As for their special needs of migration this document said, “It is said these buffaloes themselves initiate the migration, becoming restless for the hills as the April heat increases and then again becoming anxious to descend as the mountain air cools in late September.  They know the regular stops along the route, and where water is to be found.”

A study of the Bhotiyas of the Kumaon Himalaya titled ‘Living on the Move’ by Vineeta Hoon has also argued along similar lines that their nomadic life is based on a good understanding of and adjustment with the existing resource base.  She writes, “The Bhotiyas recognize the unique seasonal opportunities offered by their mountain environment and utilize them in an ecologically sustainable manner. ….Over the course of many generations they have devised and refined a set of economic strategies and land use practices, and have developed a system of mountain resource mangement attuned to the opportunities of their high mountain ecosystem. Energy analysis and time-space analysis have also demonstrated that pastoral nomadism and transhumance are appropriate eco-technologies which are effective in using a marginal environment without damaging it …They synchronize their life with the season in such a way that they utilize energy resources in different altitudinal levels as they become available to them within the annual cycle of transhumance and nomadism.”

This study emphasized that shepherds are a storehouse of knowledge on high altitude plants. “They know which portions of the plants to collect as food, medicines and seasoning, they also know the best time for collection and understand the symbiotic relations between different species of plants.” This knowledge has been passed on from one generation to another on the basis of an informal system of education. Vineeta Hoon says,” The informal indigenous education system taught the next generation survival skills and economic strategies to survive in the harsh Himalayan habitat. This knowledge was passed down orally and is ingrained in their songs, dances and folklore. They were innovative in their teaching methods with a focus on learning by doing.”

Some nomadic groups have also made an important contribution in water conservation. To meet water needs while moving in water-scarce areas nomadic groups showed great skills in conserving water, finding and protecting water sources which also proved helpful for other travelers and settled villagers as well.       Pichola lake, an important source of water in Udaipur City, was constructed by Banjara nomads while the  Maldhari nomads of Kutch developed a unique rain water harvesting system called Virda.

Keeping in view these many-sided achievements of nomads and nomadic communities, it is really sad that in most dealings with them others, including officials, take their assumed backwardness for granted and so invariably talk in terms of asking them to give up their rich traditions. A different approach based on sympathy and understanding is needed and media can make an important contribution in this. This will make it possible to understand their needs in changing times and in special problem situations.

Bharat Dogra is Honorary Convener, Campaign to Save Earth Now. His recent books include Planet in Peril, A Day in 2071, Man over Machine and Protecting Earth for Children.

Courtesy: https://countercurrents.org

The post Marginalized and Misunderstood — Nomadic Communities in Desperate Need of Better Policy appeared first on SabrangIndia.

In 2019, the Government of India announced a reduction of corporate tax rate from 30 per cent to 22 per cent, along with a further reduction to 15 per cent for new corporations. The Parliamentary Committee on Estimates has recently stated that this has led to a revenue loss of Rs. 1.84 lakh crore to the public exchequer in the two years: 2019-20 and 2020-21.

This raises the question regarding how much we have lost in terms of funds that could have been utilized for priority tasks. What we should not forget is that many important schemes and programs have been facing severe resource constraints. Inadequate allocations have been made for important welfare and development programs, and then further cuts have been made, citing resource constraints. Hence questions are bound to be asked regarding the additional funds that could have become available for priority needs if this loss of revenue amounting to Rs. 1.84 lakh crore had not taken place.

Here we present calculations to show that an amount of Rs. 1.84 lakh crore would have been adequate to exactly double the allocations for as many 20 departments and ministries which are very important for welfare and development.

In the table below we show the combined actual expenditure for 2019-20 plus 2020-21 for 20 ministries and departments. By adding these we get a figure of Rs. 1.84 lakh crore. In other words, if the loss to revenue caused by corporate tax cut had not taken place, then there was a potential of exactly doubling the budget/expenditure of all these 20 departments and ministries.

The expenditure data has been taken from the expenditure profile for these two years provided by the Budget Division of the Ministry of Finance, and then adding the figures for the two years.

Combined Actual Expenditure of 20 Ministries and Departments for 2019-20 and 2020-21

1. Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change – Rs. 4,486 crores

2. Ministry of Labor and Employment—Rs. 23,003 crores

3. Ministry of Minority Affairs—Rs. 8,351 crores

4. Department of Social Justice and Empowerment—Rs. 16,771 crores

5. Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities—Rs. 1,864 crores

6. Ministry of Tribal Affairs—Rs. 12,821 crores

7. Ministry of Women and Child Development—Rs. 42,395 crores

8. Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports—Rs. 4,384 crores

9. Department of Science and Technology—Rs. 10,300 crores

10. Department of Health Research—Rs. 4,984 crores

11. Ministry of Ayush—Rs. 3,910 crores

12. Department of Pharmaceuticals—Rs. 1,009 crores

13. Ministry of Culture—Rs. 4,629 crores

14. Ministry of Development of North-Eastern Region—Rs. 4,510 crores

15. Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying—Rs. 5,175 crores

16. Department of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation—Rs. 14,650 crores

17. Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises—Rs. 12,152 crores

18. Ministry of New and Renewable Energy—Rs. 6,051 crores

19. Ministry of Panchayati Raj—Rs. 1,184 crores

20. Ministry of Planning-Rs. 1,316 crores

Total—Rs. 1.83,945 crore (approximately Rs. 1.84 lakh crore).

As can be easily seen, several very important ministries and departments are covered in the table above, including the Ministry of Women and Child Development, Ministry of Labor and Employment, Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Ministry of Minority Affairs, Department of Social Justice and Empowerment and Department of Science and Technology.

Several schemes and programs of these various ministries and departments have been suffering due to lack of availability of adequate resources and have been in news due to this. Imagine what a relief it would be if the resources available could be doubled, as would have been possible if the loss on account of arbitrary and unwarranted cut of corporate tax was avoided.

Here it may be recalled that this cut in corporate tax, announced in September 2019 just before the Howdy Modi event organised in the USA, had attracted a lot of criticism at that time as well.

The lesson for future is that in situations of severe resource constraints revenue opportunities should not be squandered just to appease some powerful interests. The costs for people can be very heavy, as was soon seen during the pandemic times which followed this tax cut.

*Views expressed are the author’s own. The writer is Honorary Convener, Campaign to Save Earth Now.

Other articles by Bharat Dogra:

Himachal Pradesh: Apple growers continue protest over adverse impact of Big Business

80th Anniversary of Quit India Movement

Why the Struggle of Dhinkia Deserves Wide Support

The post Corporate tax cuts: Revenue lost could have funded important welfare projects appeared first on SabrangIndia.

It was on August 8 1942, 80 years ago, that Mahatma Gandhi gave his great call to the people of India to ‘do or die’ for independence and thereby served notice to the colonial rulers. Even though all the leading Congress rulers were arrested almost immediately, several hundred thousand people responded almost immediately and the very next day witnessed some of the most courageous and spontaneous clashes of people with police, despite the clear instructions from Churchill and his henchmen to step up their repressive machinery as perhaps never before.

Even as the British rulers evoked the ideals of freedom and democracy in their wider struggle against the Axis powers in the Second World War, it appeared that they were determined more than ever before to deny this to India and other countries ruled by them. The restraining hand of their most important ally, the USA (then under the leadership of FDR, one of the best Presidents of the USA) was the only problem Churchill appeared to care for before unleashing one wave of repression after another. Even as he used over 2 million soldiers of India to fight some of his most difficult battles, the British Prime Minister was only too willing to send India’s most respected leaders to prison. He and his henchmen also prepared the background for two of the biggest, avoidable tragedies, the most cruel and harmful legacies of British colonial rule in its last decade.

First, the neglect of crucial food needs of India and more particularly its more vulnerable people at a difficult time and even diversion of food led to the great Bengal famine which claimed around three million lives. There had been several terrible mass famines as a result of the exploitative policies of colonial rulers earlier also but perhaps none  as devastating and destructive as this, one important factor being the tendency to subvert all other considerations to what Churchill perceived to be war-time needs. Forgetting also the nearly two million Indian soldiers being used by him in this effort, Churchill was compulsively contemptuous towards the great aspirations of India for freedom and called Mahatma Gandhi a half-naked fakir who should be  trampled under an elephant’s feet.

Secondly, as the most important leaders of the freedom movement were imprisoned and hence were not able to be in contact with their people, the colonial rulers also used this as an opportunity to strengthen Hindu as well as Muslim communal forces. As their prize for staying away from the Quit India Movement and even opposing it, the communal forces led on two sides by the Muslim League as well as the Hindu Mahasabha were provided ample opportunities by the colonial rulers to strengthen their base and operations. This greatly increased their power for mischief and worse (at a time when the freedom movement’s leaders with the biggest support base among people were imprisoned and hence were unable to challenge openly their collusion with the divide and rule policy of colonial rulers). Hence the ground for partition was prepared by a few highly narrow-minded selfish and sectarian leaders who did the bidding of colonial rulers while betraying their own people.

In the middle of all these adversities, however, the common people showed great courage in rising in revolt. They revolted at many places and even set up parallel governments for some time. They clashed repeatedly with the police and braving bullets and lathis insisted on unfurling their tiranga flag at public places, often succeeding, sometimes sacrificing their life in the process. The police forces not just struck them lathi blows, but also fired on people more frequently than perhaps ever before. They even flogged protesters and imposed collective fines (although even they did not go to the extent of demolishing their houses).

However even as this highly repressive machinery was being unleashed, more officials and even policemen had started to secretly help freedom fighters in various ways. Several of them apologized to freedom fighters for having taken any action against them, and offered to help them in some way secretly within their limits.

Even as people continued protests in non-violent as well as violent ways, Mahatma Gandhi refused to take back the movement, thereby making amends for taking back the non-cooperation movement after the violence at Chauri Chaura, something which had been opposed by even Congress leaders like Jawaharlal Nehru and Subhash Chandra Bose at that time. Of course his own deep commitment to non-violence continued. His 21 day fast taken up in very difficult conditions helped to strengthen his resolve for independence and for taking this message to people. Tragically he lost forever his constant companion and support Kasturba Gandhi and close associate Mahadev Desai in the course of this imprisonment.

In the absence of the most famous leaders, new leaders like Arun Asaf Ali and Jayaprakash Narayan played an increasingly important role. Those who provided the leadership for various parallel governments also made an important contribution. The jail breaks of Yogendra Shukla, JP and others thrilled and inspired the youth. Those working outside India for India’s independence, including Subhash Chandra Bose and his colleagues but also others, were encouraged by the great upsurge of people in India.

As a result of the continuing repression the protests of course could not of course retain their strength for a very long time, and this has been mistakenly seen as a failure by some commentators. On the contrary the great upsurge of people played a very important role in strengthening the freedom movement in a very difficult phase and in fact in conveying a very strong message to the colonial rulers that their days were numbered. If such a great uprising had not taken place, the British hardliners led by Churchill would have been tempted to prolong colonial rule even after the end of the world war. However the strong message sent by this movement and its brave resistance was that the colonial rulers should start packing up.

Bharat Dogra has contributed several booklets and books on the freedom movement, the latest being When the Two Streams Met and Azadi ke Deewanon ke Dastavez.

Courtesy: https://countercurrents.org

The post 80th Anniversary of Quit India Movement appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Anganwadi caregivers from across the country reach the national capital on Tuesday. Image clicked by Ronak Chhabra

Anganwadi workers, who gathered in Delhi from various parts of the country in protest as part of their Adhikar Mahapadav, have rightly emphasised the need for substantially more funds for wages, gratuity, social security etc., and for the urgent nutrition requirements of women and children.

The word Anganwadi has become almost synonymous with the biggest nutrition program in India for children up to six and pregnant and lactating mothers. Known earlier as ICDS or Anganwadi services, this scheme has been used to provide nutrition, pre-school education and related services. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the women workers also provided valuable healthcare services.

In 2021, the government added three more nutrition and childcare programs to this scheme and renamed it Saksham Anganwadi Scheme and Poshan-2. In recent years, there have been several recommendations to improve the infrastructure and facilities, create nearly 2 lakh enhanced centres, make substantial improvements in pre-school education and launch a special effort to improve nutrition in over 100  so-called aspirational districts. 

At the same time, the demands of Anganwadi workers, who are often denied even the minimum legal wage, have been gathering strength. What is more, several vacant posts have to be filled.

All this requires funds, but unfortunately, the government has not provided these. The expenditure and allocation trend for the scheme is stagnant, but if we provide for inflation, then in real terms, there has been a decline. In such a situation, how can the government make the improvements it announces from time to time, and how can it meet the legitimate aspirations of Anganwadi workers for better wages and gratuity?

Comparing expenditure and allocations over the years has become difficult because of the merger of various schemes and other policy changes. However, the Centre for Budget Governance and Accountability has made an effort by re-calculating the expenditure of earlier years—mainly adding the expense of recently merged schemes. 

The picture of expenditure and allocations for Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2 that emerges from this analysis is listed below.

In 2015-16, the actual expenditure was Rs. 16,097 crores, in 2016-17 the actual expenditure was Rs. 15,239 crores, and in 2017-18 the actual expenditure was Rs. 16,548 crores. In the two following years, this figure rose to Rs. 19,672 crores and Rs. 18,927 crores in 2019-20. But the budget estimate in 2020-21 was Rs. 24,557 crores, which was revised to Rs. 17,917 crore. Similarly, in the financial year 2021-22, the Budget Estimate was Rs. 20,105 crores, which rose by an insignificant amount to Rs. 20,200. And finally, the FY 2022-23 Budget Estimate was Rs. 20,263 crores.

This data reveals that the only recent year when the original budget allocation was significantly increased was 2020-21, but even this year, while preparing the Revised Estimate, there was a massive cut in the allocation. So big was this cut (Rs. 6,640 crores) that the revised estimate this year is lower than the actual expenditure made since 2018-19. Even worse, when we compare the Budget Estimates since 2020-21, the allocation has stagnated in the last two years—and is substantially lowering. 

In 2020-21, the 15th Finance Commission had recommended in its interim report just for this year that a grant of Rs. 7,735 crores should be made to states for strengthening supplementary nutrition under Aanganwadi, but the government did not accept this. In its final report, the Finance Commission also dropped this specific budgetary recommendation while talking in general about strengthening Aanganwadi.

A question that arises is—how can the improvements in nutrition and justice for workers be achieved in such a situation of decline in real terms of funds availability? The sad reality is that what to talk of improvements, the nutrition coverage is declining. Recent reports have pointed how that the number of supplementary nutrition program beneficiaries has fallen from 10.2 crore in 2016 to 8.6 crore in 2020, a 15% fall. In 2019, only 46% of pregnant and lactating mothers received take-home rations to which they are entitled, although 78% were enrolled. Less than half of eligible children were covered. The coverage remains low even in urban areas because of the higher costs of building or renting centres here. 

In March 2021, 71,801 posts of Anganwadi workers were vacant. Around this time, nearly 12,000 sanctioned centres were not operational, while in several of the more remote hamlets, had not even been sanctioned yet. At the level of supervisory staff, the vacant posts are higher, leading to a decline in performance. 

Around a year ago, reports indicated how nearly 30% of posts of Child Development Project Officers and 28% of lady supervisors were vacant. After 2017, the salary burden shifted more to state governments which they have found difficult to cope with given their resource constraints. The deficient honorarium for workers and many unmet needs of the program make it challenging to keep the program running. 

To meet the pressing needs of workers and children’s nutrition and early education, the government has to make much more funds available for this vital program. Child malnutrition is among the highest in our country, so we cannot afford our most crucial child and mother nutrition program to suffer from a lack of resources. The importance of early or pre-school education is also now increasingly realised. The needs of Anganwadi workers who have been given these essential responsibilities cannot be neglected if this situation has to be reversed. If workers cannot meet the basic needs of their own families, or are demoralised, how will they give their best to their work? 

Hence funds for this important program should be significantly increased for both components—improving nutrition and basic infrastructure and arranging better remuneration, gratuity and social security for Anganwadi workers all over the country.

The writer is honorary convener, Campaign to Save Earth Now. His recent books include A Day in 2071, Planet in Peril and Man over Machine. The views are personal.

Courtesy: Newsclick

The post Anganwadi Workers are Right: They Need More Money appeared first on SabrangIndia.

BHARAT DOGRA pays tribute to a great editor and freedom fighter
 
While several journalists and newspapers made an important contribution to the freedom movement, the contribution made by Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi and his newspaper Pratap is unique for many reasons.

Firstly this was a rare newspaper in that, during the critical decade of 1920-31, it was as well known for its support of the Gandhi-led Congress movement as it was for its sympathetic coverage of the revolutionary movement led by Shahid Bhagat Singh and Chandra Shekhar Azad.

Gandhiji and Jawaharlal Nehru had the highest praise for Vidyarthi while Bhagat Singh and his colleagues consulted him on important issues. Bhagat Singh also worked for Pratap for some time as an assistant editor of sorts and contributed articles under the pen name of Balwant Singh. As a meeting point of these two waves of the freedom movement, at a very sensitive period, Vidyarthi and Pratap played a unique role unsurpassed by any other editor or newspaper of those days.

Secondly, both as a freedom fighter and a leading editor, Vidyarthi always emphasized the importance of communal harmony. Ultimately, he sacrificed his life at the young age of 41 for Hindu-Muslim unity while trying to rescue victims of communal violence in 1931.
 

Thirdly, Vidyarthi and his paper combined their support of the freedom movement with constant coverage of the struggles of peasants and workers. Pratap published several detailed reports of the oppression of peasants by zamindars. To mention only a few, it carried reports on peasants on indigo plantations, firing on the agitating peasants of Rai Bareilly, and the many-sided oppression in Champaran. Other memorable reports published in Pratap included reports on the struggles of textile workers and on various forms of slave labour.

Reports which are likely to fetch journalism awards these days invariably fetched prison sentences in those days. Not surprisingly,  Vidyarthi had one foot in prison while bringing out Pratap. In fact, his time at the helm of the paper, guiding and editing Pratap, was disrupted by as many as five prison sentences.

In addition, there were other threats all the time, including raids on the offices and press as well as many defamation cases filed by powerful and extremely rich persons and institutions. Perhaps the greatest difficulties were created by the cases that were filed in the fiefs of various royals and their riyasats as even the pretence of a justice system did not exist. Undeterred, Vidyarthi went ahead with publishing daring exposes of the oppression faced by people under the rule of royal families such as those of Bijaulia, Gwalior and Bharatpur.

The prison sentences which Vidyarthi endured served to strengthen his role as a civil liberties activist and writer. He himself wrote about the terrible conditions inside prisons faced by freedom fighters and the need for urgent jail reforms. As to his own experiences, this astonishing editor used his time in jail to translate several of Victor Hugo’s work into Hindi.

Inspiring Life
Starting his life as a journalist in Kanpur with journals like Saraswati and Abhyudya,  Vidyarthi soon attracted attention due to his hard work and deep commitment to public causes. When, at the very young age of 23, he decided to start a weekly magazine called Pratap devoted to his social concerns, several friends and supporters such as Shiv Narain Mishra and Narayan Prasad Arora came forward to help him.
 

Despite the many problems faced by the new magazine and the disruptions created by the government and other forces, people needed  a courageous magazine and responded so well that in the middle of all the problems, a big decision was taken in 1920 to convert it into a daily newspaper.

Subsequently this Kanpur-based newspaper became widely known as the one widely read media outlet where stories relating to the misdeeds of the colonial government, as well the royals in collusion with the regime, were most likely to be published and that too in the most fearless way.

By 1930 Pratap became the most widely circulated newspaper in the United Provinces. One of its great strengths was its ability to create an effective network of reliable local stringers instead of relying on the same English news agencies as other publications.

Although Vidyarthi had to quit as editor for short periods because of jail sentences and legal complications arising from defamation and other cases, he came back repeatedly to edit and guide the newspaper. Even during the period when his name may not have appeared as the editor in a formal way owing to the fact that he was in prison, he was widely regarded as the newspaper’s single most important asset.  

The growing popularity of the newspaper and its editor made it increasingly difficult for the colonial government to initiate frequent action against them without attracting criticism. In 1925-26 Vidyarthi was elected to the UP Legislative Council. In 1929 he was elected to head the Congress in this important province.

The British government was most troubled by this development since Vidyarthi enjoyed the confidence and support of the Congress as well as the revolutionaries. He was arrested in May 1930 at a time when the popularity of Bhagat Singh and his companions had begun to peak. He came out of prison on March 9, 1931 and immediately plunged deep into important work.

When Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev were hanged by the colonial government on March 23, protests broke out in various parts of the country and Kanpur, under Vidyarthi’s leadership, was all set to emerge as a leading centre of such protests. At this stage, to prevent this happening, communal riots were deliberately instigated and Vidyarthi was killed during these riots while he was on his way to the most dangerous spots to rescue trapped people. 
Gandhi paid his tribute to Vidyarthi with the words: “His blood will become the cementing bond for inter-faith harmony.” Jawaharlal Nehru said: “In his death he has taught a lesson that we in our life can’t equal for years.”
After Vidyarthi's death the role played by Pratap declined gradually though it continued for some years thereafter. 
 
Bharat Dogra is a freelance journalist who has been involved with several social initiatives and movements. He is also the co-author of a booklet on Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi with Reshma Bharti.

Sources
1.     Salil, Suresh, (Editor): Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi Granthavali (collected works), Anamika Publishers and Distributors.
2.     M.L. Bhargava: Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi Publications Division, Government of India.
3.     Francesca Orsini: The Hindi Public Sphere 1920-1940, Language and Literature in the Age of Nationalism, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
4.     Gyanendra Pandey: Mobilisation in a Mass Movement: Congress ‘Propaganda’ in the United Provinces 1930-1934, Modern Asian Studies, 9 (2) 1975.
5.     Kama Maclean: A Revolutionary History of Interwar India, Penguin Books.
6.     Reshma Bharti and Bharat Dogra: Jeevan-Mrityu Dono Mein Prerna Srot Bane Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi, Social Change Papers, Delhi

Courtesy: thehoot.org
 

The post The giant who straddled Nehru and Bhagat Singh appeared first on SabrangIndia.