As these elderly persons can barely look after their own needs, these children get neglected. They do not go to school and roam around aimlessly. Tragedy struck twice recently as three such children of this hamlet were drowned, two in a pond and one in a canal. This caused widespread distress in the hamlet.

Urmila, a deeply sensitive dalit woman of this village was already involved with a voluntary organization Vidya Dham Samiti (VDS). With its help she decided to open an informal school in which these children could come get some education and care.

For over a year now she has been teaching these children for about two hours per day. Depending on the migration cycle, the number of children who attend this school can range from 20 to 35. The school hours were 4 to 6 earlier but with the onset of winter have been changed from to 3 to 5.

Urmila is one of the very few women here who is a graduate. She divides children according to age group and teaches them the basics of English, Hindi and Math. Saturday being sports day is eagerly awaited. Keeping in view the recent tragedies, children are alerted regarding safety precautions. They also learn about good health and hygiene.

Urmila has not yet been able to arrange a room or properly covered place for her small school, so rainy days sometimes become off days while occasionally someone provides a covered place. She hopes that some more durable solution can be found soon.

Meanwhile Urmila has already succeeded in integrating some of her students in the mainstream school, although problems caused by the frequent migration of their parents will persist.

Urmila gets a lot of affection from children, as is evident from the fact that those going to the mainstream school still insist on coming to her school too. Urmila does not believe in punishing children. When these children or their grandparents experience any serious health or other problems, Urmila tries to arrange some help from neighbours, or from VDS and its sister organization Chingari.

Several such schools have been started by VDS without having any project support for this by raising small donations. These can play a particularly important in villages where migration levels are high, or where there are very high levels of poverty and the nearest school is some distance away and the path is not safe. Such informal schools may not be adequate for meeting educational needs, but these fulfil an important need. To explore various options, in one such school nutrition is also provided, despite the difficulties faced in this due to the non-availability of any project funds.

For the school in Missouri village a beautiful small bamboo room has been created near a lotus pond for the children who assemble here for about two hours every day for education. Here some nutrition is also provided on daily basis. Jitendra, the teacher in this school, is a talented youth of this village. One of his arms was crushed in an accident, but several people say that this accident was deliberately caused by a dabang (ruthless person) of the village who was angry with Jitendra for being assertive. Jitendra remains very quiet but his mother was very agitated when I spoke to her. Jitendra is very committed to teaching children, even though only a small honorarium could be arranged for him. Coming to meetings and inter-acting with many people has given him a new confidence and he has also re-joined his own education along with teaching children.

Even at a very small scale, such efforts have given heart-warming results which testify to the eagerness of children themselves to have at least some access to education. One hopes that with more support becoming available, these efforts will be able to expand and improve in the near future.

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

Courtesy: CounterCurrents.org

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Under this law people of any village can ask for employment according to simple procedures described in the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA), and employment must be provided to them within a fixed period.

The guarantee aspect is supposed to be ensured by an additional provision in the law that if employment is not provided within the stipulated period, then a compensatory payment will be made to all those workers who had demanded employment. However this was watered down by the authorities by shrewdly adding that such payment will be provided subject of availability of funds.

On the whole the compensatory aspect has been implemented only very rarely, and this is how the guarantee aspect of the pioneering legislation has been weakened.

Hence it was particularly courageous on the part of the women workers from poor households in a very remote village Dhok (located in the desert district of Barmer in Rajasthan) to stand up with determination for their right to get the compensatory payment.

As they had demanded work using the proper legal procedure but did not get employment, they showed a lot of determination in raising the demand for compensation. When they did not get the payment, helped by a ‘mahila sangathan’ ( women’s rights organization) activist Anita Soni  they formed a group and came to the block office to meet the concerned officials.

The officials stated that they will consider their demand sympathetically. The women asserted with firmness that if their demand is accepted by officials here they will be thankful to them, but if the demand is not accepted then they are prepared to go right up to the state capital city of Jaipur to ensure that the demand for compensatory payment is accepted.

What has been seen recently in Barmer is a reflection of much wider problems in the implementation of NREGA. The budgetary allocation for NREGA is much less than the real need to fulfil the guarantee part of the law. Further its implementation is marred by widespread corruption. Systems of transparency and social audits which could have helped to reduce corruption have not been implemented properly.

On the other hand arbitrary actions brought the much needed law to a standstill in the state of W. Bengal for several months. In many states the NREGA wage rate is lower than the agricultural wage rate, and needs to be increased significantly. Procedures like ABPS and NNMS introduced as reforms have complicated the scheme and made it difficult for several workers to access this.

Several activists who have been trying to improve the working of this scheme at the grassroots assembled at a national convention and raised several of these demands. Such efforts are increasing in the context of several states like Jharkhand, W. Bengal and Rajasthan and the government should take overdue steps at the national level to ensure that the NREGA is able to live up to its rich potential and the expectations of people.

Apart from helping the weaker sections a lot, NREGA can also make an important contribution to climate change mitigation and adaptation.

*Honorary convener, Campaign to Save Earth Now. Books: “Man over Machine”, “Protecting Earth for Children”, “India’s Quest for Sustainable Farming and Healthy Food”  

Courtesy: CounterView

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While his title implies authority, his reign was one of love and compassion rather than dominance. He is remembered for his profound impact on non-violent resistance and his relentless pursuit of justice and peace. Born among the Pathans and Pakhtoons near the border of Pakistan and Afghanistan, Badshah Khan dedicated himself to uplift these communities, often labeled as violent and revengeful.

Through tireless efforts, he advocated love and peace, cultivating a cadre of peaceful resisters who bravely opposed British colonial rule without resorting to violence. Their moral fortitude was so formidable that soldiers often hesitated to fire upon these unarmed freedom fighters.

Mahatma Gandhi, deeply moved by this aspect of the freedom struggle, regarded visiting Badshah Khan’s followers as a spiritual journey. Though Badshah Khan looked up to Gandhi as a mentor, Gandhi also found inspiration in his dedication to peace.

The legacy of the Indian freedom movement transcends national borders, carrying significant implications for all of South Asia. Among its many triumphs was the consensus reached by powerful leaders, representing diverse faiths, on the essential nature of inter-faith harmony. Figures such as Gandhi, Badshah Khan, Jawaharlal Nehru, and Maulana Azad were instrumental in promoting this vital cause, creating a much-needed foundation for stability and prosperity in the region.

While some leaders maintained a secular position and distanced themselves from religion, Gandhi recognized the importance of spirituality in fostering social objectives. He emphasized Hindu-Muslim unity as crucial for national progress, with Badshah Khan standing as a key ally in this endeavor. Together, they established the Congress party as an inclusive political entity, fortifying connections between religious communities.

Badshah Khan, known as the Frontier Gandhi, led the Khudai Khidmatgars (Servants of God), composed predominantly of Pashtuns. Despite societal perceptions of violence, these volunteers epitomized the essence of non-violent resistance, illustrating extraordinary courage in their fight against colonial injustices. Their commitment to safeguard minorities, such as Hindus and Sikhs, was emblematic of their harmonious principles.

Throughout the freedom struggle, instances of inter-faith cooperation flourished, with leaders like Maulana Azad articulating Islamic interpretations that echoed the values of peace and unity.

However, colonial powers perceived this solidarity as a threat and sought to promote sectarian leaders, exacerbating religious divisions that ultimately led to the tragic partition of India.

Despite his heartbreak over the ensuing violence, Gandhi relentlessly pursued peace, navigating conflict zones and advocating for harmony until his assassination in 1948. His commitment to inter-faith understanding, cultivated through dialogues on spirituality and mutual respect, remained influential. Although Gandhi’s vision suffered disruption due to external forces, it did not diminish the impact of his lifelong dedication to promoting peace. He urged individuals to view religion as a path to understanding rather than a source of division.

Badshah Khan embodied Gandhi’s teachings long after the Mahatma’s death, continuing to inspire millions with his messages of peace and social justice, even under challenging conditions in Pakistan. The invitation from Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi to address Parliament in his later years reflected the nation’s enduring appreciation for his contributions. His speeches upheld the principles of inter-faith harmony alongside social justice, prioritizing kindness over bitterness, even after years of imprisonment.

The legacy of such visionary leaders calls upon the current generation to diligently work toward a South Asia founded on the ideals of inter-faith harmony and socio-economic justice.

*Honorary convener of the Campaign to Save Earth Now. Books: ‘Planet in Peril’, ‘Protecting Earth for Children’, and ‘When the Two Streams Met’ which discusses the freedom movement

Courtesy: CounterView

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Most Sahariya hamlets tend to be located away from the main village settlement, often on hilly land, reflecting the marginalized state of the community. In Mathurapur village too the Sahariya settlement is located some distance away and even their paths have been encroached upon by others, making the approach even more difficult.

All except a very few families are landless. Only a few families have received the benefit of PM Awas scheme for housing. To get their houses constructed under this scheme, the beneficiary families had to put in some of their own contribution too, and for this they had to borrow at the high interest rate of 5% per month.

A pipeline for water has been installed here but people here have not yet started receiving water in their taps. Hence the community here is still depending entirely on two hand pumps for their water needs. In heat wave conditions these hand pumps are unable to maintain the same water yield as before, adding to the woes of people.

Hardly any employment has become available to people under NREGA or rural employment guarantee law in recent times.

Under these conditions there is no other alternative to migrate for a few weeks to various places wherever employment becomes available, in crop harvesting or any other work. However as several women here explained, conditions at these work sites can be extremely difficult as they have just a few polythene sheets, or pannies as they call them, to try to somehow obtain protection from extreme hot or cold weather, or from rains.

In another Sahariya hamlet of Semariya village women complained bitterly that sometimes the wages which has been agreed upon are not paid fully and sometimes they are even sent back without wages being paid at all.

As they are in a vulnerable condition at new places, they cannot resist such exploitative practices, they said. If the labour department intervenes in such cases promptly when complaints are made then they can hope to get some relief.

They are able to get the ration under the public distribution system, which is a big relief, but find it difficult to get the nutritious food from anganwadis, they said.

Apart from other familiar problems faced by anganwadis, this settlement also faces a special problem of excessive exposure to low-hanging high tension electricity wires, a constant source of hazard and danger.

Some time back when electric wires fell, five houses of the community were burnt as a result of this. Although some officials visited the village to make some inquiries, they have still not received any compensation for this loss, although due to their poverty and vulnerability they should have received this compensation payment very promptly. In addition they say that a protective cover below the wires should be provided to avoid such accidents in future.

Hardly any employment has become available to people under NREGA or rural employment guarantee law in recent times

While emphasizing all these problems the women of these two villages also stated with one voice that there is urgency of checking liquor consumption and addiction among male members of the community as hard earned meager income of the community, to which women also contribute a lot, is being wasted on liquor instead of improving nutrition or health or providing for better education of children.

Liquor consumption and the resulting domestic violence has a very adverse impact on children too, they said. In addition, the habit of chewing guthka is spreading very fast, adding further to health problems.

Women said with one voice that while better livelihood opportunities and welfare schemes are certainly needed, in addition social reform to reduce liquor and intoxicant consumption is a must for providing genuine relief as well as sustainable development opportunities to people.

Parmarth, a voluntary organization, has been trying to help these communities in various ways. As Gaurav Pandey, a senior member of  Parmarth’s team explains, most of the involvement is in the context of educational and water issues, but in addition the organization also tries to help in locating some employment opportunities closer to home so that dependence on migrant labour can be reduced.

However, he agrees that much more needs to be done to increase the sustainable development opportunities for the Sahariya community.

Dalip Verma, another member of Parmarth’s team more involved with Semariya settlement, says that he intends to seriously pursue the issue of getting the compensation payment for the Sahariya community’s houses burnt by high tension wires in the Sahariya hamlet of Semariya village. If this compensation payment can be arranged, it will be a welcome case of justice delayed but not denied.

*Honorary convener, Campaign to Save Earth Now. Books: “Man over Machine”, ”A Day in 2071” and “Navjeevan”

Courtesy: CounterView

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What is more, corruption and payment of commissions has been avoided in this particular village, although it is a common practice elsewhere. In the case of most of the households here, almost all of the house construction (leaving aside plastering) has been completed. If several of them have not yet moved in, it is because an auspicious worship considered important in their culture is still awaited. They too will move in soon.

However, even at the peak of this success a few very troubling questions have been left behind. Even without plastering and whitewashing and some finishing touches, the government funds were not adequate for the house and as these are really very poor people with no savings and with precarious livelihoods, they had no option but to borrow the remaining money at a high rate of interest from private moneylenders.

The result is that they have the new house but have to return a high sum on weekly basis which may be very difficult to pay particularly during the lean season of livelihood opportunities. The lenders have stated clearly that they have to return the loan instalments in time no matter what the compulsions of borrowers are.

Villagers gave this breakdown of the minimal expenditure for the two room house constructed under this scheme (in Rs):

7000 bricks — 42,000

Sic quintal iron bars — 36,000

Two trolley stones (gitti) — 6000

70 sacks of cement — 22,000

Five trolleys of sand — 15,000

Doors etc. — 10,000

Mason –12,000

Plastering — 25,000

Whitewashing, misc, labour other than mason, interest payment in the course of house construction as government funds are released in instalments, money spent when overcharged etc. If toilets and washrooms are to be constructed, these too need funds. There are no toilets in this village yet.

Keeping in view all these aspects and inflation, what these villagers need is about Rs 2 lakh for a housing unit, and not Rs 1.20 lakh in three instalments (each instalment paid after certain work has been completed).

In this particular village, bribes have not been given or taken in the housing scheme, the villagers said. However, elsewhere when bribes are common, the situation becomes even more difficult for the really poor households selected under this scheme.

In this village, bribes have not been given or taken in the housing scheme. However, elsewhere the bribes are common

Another question relates to the unskilled work done by the beneficiary household members. They are supposed to be paid for this and have been told the likely sum is Rs 18,000 or so, but they have not received this yet. The scheme of Rs 12,000 for toilet construction has also not reached this village yet, and regarding this it is often stated that this amount should be increased keeping in view real expenses needed for proper construction in inflationary times.

In Dafai in some cases old kutcha houses were demolished when new ones were constructed, but in some cases these were not. I saw a new house which has been beautifully integrated with the old dwelling. This family has constructed the new house in such a way that both can be used together and are almost attached to each other with a little open space in between.

As the lady who gracefully showed me around her home said happily: “In the winter and rain I like to live in the new pucca house but in the hot weather which exists during most of the year actually I still like to live in the old mud dwelling.”

This is also a reminder of how the old kutcha house also has its uses, all the more so in times of climate change, so the best situation in many villages may be for beneficiaries of this scheme to retain both the new and the old house.

However, the new loans are truly troubling. One lady told me that her family has to pay Rs 840 per week for the next two years, while another lady said that she has to pay back Rs 1200 per week. They both said that the private moneylenders have stated very clearly that they are going to be very strict in taking back their loans in time.

Hence, there is a strong case for raising these payments and for ensuring early payment of the wages due for the household’s contributed labour. It will be helpful also to ensure that toilets and washrooms are provided wherever these do not exist. 

*Honorary convener, Campaign to Save the Earth Now. Recent books: “Protecting Earth for Children”, “Man over Machine” and “India’s Quest for Sustainable Farming and Healthy Food”

Courtesy: CounterView

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A media report said, during this winter nearly 300 houses were demolished near DPS Mathura Road in Nizamuddin area. A woman Lalita Devi has been quoted here as saying that she also lost her source of livelihood in the same demolition.

While people here are quoted as saying that they have lived here for a very long time, the authorities said that they demolished the homes after consulting satellite imagery which did not show any settlement here in 2006. This is also a new situation when other evidence such as documents with people are not considered and instead satellite imagery is used. The demolition took place without rehabilitation effort so that the people here have become homeless in acute winter.

Five homes were demolished in Khirki Extension area near Malviya Nagar as well. A woman Chandrawati said they had no clue when the demolition would take place, and in fact she was cooking the family meal at the time. This is another case of demolition leading to more homeless people.

It is shocking and distressing that the impact on the health or even survival of people when suddenly thrown out in the biting cold weather mixed with high air pollution conditions was not even considered by the authorities while taking such actions.

If more people are being rendered homeless by such actions, then is the number of shelters for homeless people being increased?

No, says another report. It tells us that one reason why there are so many homeless sleeping out in the biting cold of Delhi is that “in the past one year , several night shelters operated by the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB) have been demolished and also because such shelters are not entirely safe for women and children.”

What is more, this report quotes activists working on this issue as saying that “DSUIB is fighting a case in court to demolish more shelters in Yamuna Pushta here.” As those familiar with the homelessness scene in Delhi know, the Yamuna Pushta has long been known for a high concentration of homeless people.

The existing shelters can’t be properly used by homeless people much in need of these who, particularly many women, prefer to sleep in the open even in the bitterly cold weather rather than go into the shelters. When the concerned reporter further visited the shelters, some of the complaints were confirmed further.

It appears that the survival conditions for the homeless people have been deteriorating even in the capital city where earlier quite a significant effort was made for improvement. One shudders to the think of the conditions in several other cities where this issue has received much less attention. As the Supreme Court had given significant directives for improvement, these should be monitored at the national level to find out to what extent these have been followed in the right spirit.

Meanwhile, to prevent the further worsening of the distressing situation, any further demolitions during the winter should be stopped and clear instructions should be given that even later, demolitions should take place only when these are unavoidable any demolitions that cannot be avoided should be accompanied by a rehabilitation effort.
—
The writer is Honorary Convener, Campaign to Save Earth Now. His recent books include “Planet in Peril”, “Protecting Earth for Children” and “A Day in 2071”. He was earlier associated with a leading programme to help homeless people and contributed several booklets and articles on this subject

Courtesy: CounterView

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“No democratic government can survive without accountability and the basic postulate of accountability is that the people should have information about the functioning of the government… that an open society is the new democratic culture towards which every liberal democracy is moving. Our society should be no exception.” — Justice PN Bhagwati, Supreme Court of India, in SP Gupta vs Union of India, 1981.

“The citizen’s right to know the facts about the administration of the country is thus one the pillars of a democratic state. And that is why the demand for openness in the government is increasingly growing in different parts of the world.” — Justice PN Bhagwati.

Having read these statements of some very eminent previous judges of the Supreme Court of India, kindly now refer to what the Supreme Court had to say very recently on October 30, 2023. The Supreme Court said that the Right to Information (RTI) Act is fast becoming a “dead letter law”. Seven of the 11 information commissioner (IC) posts in the Central Information Commission are vacant and the body will become defunct if replacements for the 4 incumbent commissioners due to retire in November are not filled in time.

Due to similar non-filling of IC posts in time, Telangana’s State Information Commission has been defunct since February 2023, Tripura’s SIC since July 2021 and Jharkhand’s SIC since May 2020. There are shortages of ICs due to unfilled posts in several other SICs too with the result that appeals have been piling up — a many as 115,000 in Maharashtra alone.

This is the situation despite the fact that as early as 2019 the Supreme Court had already directed governments to fill up such vacancies without delays. This raises serious questions regarding the commitment today to such an important strength of democracy as RTI. The present situation is very sad, as earlier India’s RTI efforts had been admired internationally.

This writer remembers the days leading up to and following RTI legislation in India when at international seminars the story of India’s RTI journey would get special attention and applause as here this journey had been led by people’s grassroots struggles.

The efforts and yearnings of about 15 years culminated in fairly satisfactory RTI legislation being passed in India in the year 2005. Two aspects of the RTI movement in India are quite remarkable and demand wider attention.

Before the right to information movement in India, the demand for this right was generally not related to the struggles of the poor. However in India this demand rose from the struggles of the peasants and workers in Rajasthan being mobilized by the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathna (MKSS).

This became an integral part of the struggles of the MKSS and other organizations to improve rural employment and drought relief work which play an important part in sustaining life and livelihood in Rajasthan. This trend of RTI being used to serve the needs of the poor was maintained in other struggles in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Delhi and elsewhere.

Secondly, it is quite remarkable that while in the beginning of this campaign — say around the year 1990 — there was very little support for RTI and in fact a lot of misgivings were expressed about it, by the time the legislation was discussed in Parliament in year 2005, such a strong base had been created for its wide acceptability that even politicians known to be opposed to it were not inclined to voice their feelings publicly.

It is interesting and significant how this public opinion in favour of RTI was created within a relatively short period of about 15 years or so. At least a part of the credit should go to the several small groups who worked for this cause. There was a National Campaign for People’s Right to Information and other groups at the state-level.

At times all these efforts taken in isolation appeared to be quite small and inadequate. But taken together their efforts to keep the issue alive on a continuing basis appear to have been quite effective and when other circumstances also became favourable, then fairly strong national level legislation would be passed.

During these 15 years at various times state-level RTI laws were enacted by nine state governments including Tamil Nadu, Goa, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Delhi, Karnataka, Assam, Madhya Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir. In some states administrative orders were passed for RTI at the village council level or for some selected departments.

Some Chief Ministers like Digvijay Singh (Madhya Pradesh), Ashok Gehlot (Rajasthan) and Sheila Dikshit (Delhi) spoke strongly in favour of RTI. However most of the state laws were relatively weak. In Goa despite the law being weak, however, during the very first year the government received about 400 requests for information. Many of these were related to pollution. MK Jose and his colleagues made effective use of this legislation to expose several irregularities particularly those relating to banking and educational institutions.
In Rajasthan a strong grassroots movement for right to information had emerged demanding the right to information. The most remarkable aspect of RTI use at grassroots in Rajasthan was the exposure of corruption in the use of rural development/relief funds at the village level and the organization of public hearing (jan sunwais) for this purpose.

In some villages this led to such a situation that elected representatives admitted corrupt places publicity and even agreed to return the money. This entire exercise of ‘jan sunwais’ was a very democratic effort in which almost the entire village community became involved at most places.

Some other organizations in Rajasthan followed the good work done by MKSS.

One of the most successful ones is the effort of Jagruk Nagrik Manch (helped by Urmul Jyoti Sansthan) in Nokha block of Bikaner district, Rajasthan. JNM claimed to have tackled effectively nearly 400 issues of corruption leading to the return of almost one million rupees to people who had been victims of corruption.

JNM also exposed a major fraud in the public distribution system as a result of which the corrupt dealer agreed to return all the ill-gotten money to the village community (whom he had swindled earlier) and also agreed to surrender his dealership.

If in 1990 there was very little support for RTI, by the time the legislation was discussed in Parliament in 2005, strong base for it was created

In Maharashtra earlier very weak legislation was enacted but sometime later – thanks partly to a movement launched by social activist Anna Hazare and his fast which attracted national attention – a highly progressive legislation was passed. Several persons like Sailesh Gandhi and Prakash Kardley made effective use of RTI to expose a wide range of irregularities. A case relating to files of police transfers and recommendations of politicians for these transfers attracted wide attention.

In Bharavan region of Hardoi district, Uttar Pradesh, an effort was started by villagers who started questioning why benefits of development funds were not reaching them. They were helped by activists of Asha Ashram, Lalpur, to use the tool of RTI as panchyat level. Despite several initial difficulties in obtaining information when relevant records of ten panchyat areas were received very high level of fraud was exposed.

In Badwani district of Madhya Pradesh benefits of drought relief work could not reach villagers in great need of this work as work was given to contractors who used big machines in gross violation of government’s directives aimed at maximising benefits to needy people. Adivasi Mukti Sangathan used RTI to get information which revealed that persons who were not even present in village were shown to have been employed. These cases were exposed at a public hearing organized in May 2003.

Earlier Commissioner of Bilaspur Division (Chattisgarh), Harsh Mander with the help of other officials and social activists introduced significant experimental work regarding right to information. These experiments clearly proved the effectiveness of right to information legislation, particularly in important areas like improving the public distribution system and reducing corruption.

In Meghalaya, a small but strong movement demanding RTI emerged, although no RTI legislation had been enacted so far in this state.

In the urban context good results using RTI were obtained by Parivartan and later by Satark Nagrik Sangathan organisations in Delhi. Several other organisations incorporated RTI in their work in slums and resettlement colonies of Delhi so that the message about the new legislation could reach more people. In fact a women’s organisation Jagriti Mahila Samiti was the first to take RTI’s message to slums and other colonies of Delhi.

Thus even before the passing of national-level RTI legislation in India there were many effective examples of using RTI for checking corruption and irregularities, using state-level or panchayat level laws or directives and these continued later. These efforts were strengthened when better, stronger RTI law was passed at the national level. Effective use of RTI started spreading quite rapidly in the country. Hence it is sad that recent neglect has led to the weakening of this law. This trend should be checked so that strong RTI remains a strength of India’s democracy.

*Former Convener, National Campaign on People’s Right to Information, has written several books, booklets and articles on India’s RTI experience

Courtesy: CounterView

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In most remote villages that I visit several houses belonging to the poorest people are often seen to be in very poor condition, requiring urgent repairs to such an extent that otherwise these may fall down, particularly in conditions of heavy rain.

Several houses or huts are in such a pathetic state that these can hardly provide proper shelter. The rural housing scheme is meant precisely for these households and provides them a housing grant in installments.

However, at the implementation level it appeared in the villages that I visited that the well-intentioned scheme is badly marred by corruption. Some well-informed persons said that the going rate is around Rs 25,000 or so. While one felt sad about this, one hoped still that at least the remaining amount reaches the poorest households who badly need better housing.

However, when I mentioned this, people pointed out that when corruption becomes a precondition, the chances of the poorest people getting selected for the scheme are automatically reduced as it is very difficult for them to pay this money or a part of it to start with. If they pay corruption money, it also becomes difficult to complete a certain amount of construction which is needed for receiving the next installment.

On the other hand, those who are already in good economic condition (at least relatively) can pay the bribe and adding their own money, also quickly carry out the initial construction for the second installment to be released.

Is there a way out for the poor household who really and desperately needs government help for a shelter? Some of the poor ‘beneficiaries’ said they had to take loans at a very high interest rate; however in the process the basic purpose of the well-intentioned scheme appears to be at least partially defeated.

So in such a case it is clear that it is not just a part of the grant that goes down the drain of corruption, instead to a significant extent extent because of corruption the scheme slips out of the grip of several of the poorest households for whom it is meant.

Let’s see such impacts on development at various levels. If Rs 50 crore (500 million) is allocated for spending on an irrigation project and Rs 10 crore is snatched up by corruption at various levels, then what is the amount that remains for actual development work?

The most obvious answer would be Rs 40 crore, but more often than not this is likely to be wrong. The loss is likely to be much higher. The reason is that the powerful persons including key decision makers involved are likely to be so involved in siphoning off the corruption money that the quality of the construction work gets much less importance.

As long as the official is getting his money, he may be much less caring for the quality of the work. Regardless of the required proper location of the work, both the contractor and the officials may be interested in pushing it towards a place of less visibility. They are likely to avoid all efforts at improving transparency and participation of people, and thereby the most important means of ensuring good quality and cost effectiveness is lost.

The official may be in a hurry to give a completion certificate to the contractor so that both can quickly collect their booty, and for this reason important aspects of proper work completion may be missed. Hence due to all these factors, the actual public loss is much greater than the commission or corruption money taken by the official.

Now let us take another example of a much bigger project that costs Rs 20,000 crore or 200 billion. Assuming that corruption of around 20 per cent is also involved here, Rs 4,000 crore will go away directly, but will the remaining Rs 16,000 crore be spent for the benefit of people? Very unlikely, as all that was stated earlier is valid here also.

Assuming corruption is 20%. Rs 4,000 crore will go away directly, but will remaing Rs 16,000 crore be spent for people’s benefit? Very unlikely

Additionally, as in such a cases the amounts involved are much bigger and are shared at much higher levels a situation is created by powerful persons that this project must go on, come what may. If it is revealed in studies, or on the basis of the experience of some very well-informed persons, that this project may turn out to be harmful, then this possibility is simply brushed aside and such voices are silenced in various ways.

In this way undesirable and unsafe projects also come up. So in such a case the strange math of corruption may say that Rs 200 billion minus Rs 40 billion is not Rs 160 billion at all; in fact it may even turn out to be a negative figure as the project turns out to be harmful to people. Hence the strange math of corruption may say, for example, that Rs 200 billion minus Rs 40 billion (in the case of such a project) leads to a minus figure, perhaps equals minus Rs 100 billion!

Now consider another situation in which most farmers already have access to some irrigation and all that is needed is to allocate the available budget equally among all farmers so that they can take up some repair work as well as water conservation work on their farmland.

But this option has least room for corruption so the official ignores this best option and anyway decides to use the entire budget for a new project not really needed. Again the real benefit may be extremely low or a minus figure.

Or take an example where an official has enough money for improving paths of 100 villages by equally dividing budget among them. But the corruption possibility is either very low , or too many people are involved which may also lead to exposure.

So he devotes this entire money for awarding a single big contract to his favored contractor for widening of a big city approach road which is not really needed. Widening leads to cutting many big trees which creates opportunities of more earnings for him. Again there may be minus benefit and the village paths remain in bad shape.

Let us take a situation where several schools have satisfactory buildings but there is need for devoting more attention at several levels for improving education. However, there is no money to be made in this. So an official somehow finds a justification to build a new hall in all schools which actually reduces the already limited playing space for children, while the real educational work also suffers.

Due to high impact of corruption a situation can arise where those aspects of development which involve payment of commission are prioritized and speeded up, while those very important aspects which have no room for this get neglected.

Hence corruption can be much more damaging for proper development needs than what is indicated by the amount of stolen money. High levels of corruption have a much more harmful and damaging systemic influence much beyond this and therefore a much tougher stand against corruption is needed.

In the case of several highway widening projects people of nearby villages have told me that heavy economic and high ecological costs could have been avoided easily but these projects awarded to big contractors were imposed on their region due to considerations relating to corruption.

What is happening is that certain very important kinds of development is being neglected while certain undesirable kinds of development is being favored due to consideration linked to corruption. Hence the actual costs of corruption in terms of what we lose, what the entire society loses are very high indeed.

*Journalist involved with public hearings and campaigns for transparency; was first convener of the National Campaign for People’s Right to Information; has written several books and booklets on the issue in English and Hindi

Courtesy: CounterView

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A social activist who worked all his life for weaker sections, Gopal is now 85 years old and is generally addressed as Pita ji by the younger generation of artists and activists. Gopal grew up as a child in Bigahna village which is known for some of its simple, small farmers being accomplished dhrupad singers. They would cultivate their fields in the daytime and gather in the evening for music. These singers include Rambahori, Parasram, Kamta Prasad and Ramvjay.

This news had attracted a lot of attention when broadcast on radio some decades back. Gopal, growing up in this village in the company of such accomplished singers, had a strong feeling that there isn’t such a wide gap or barrier between classical and folk music as is often taken for granted. This was confirmed by later experiences. A famous dhrupad singer told a folk singer from a tribal community who had just given a great performance at a Lok Laya festival — It is your singing of old days to which we trace origin of our own music.

As Gopal had been working among the weakest sections on land, justice and related issues, he soon realized that very rich folk song and dance forms exist among the weaker sections of society, including the tribal communities and dalits of Bundelkhand region. However when he tried to reach out to them, he found that they were so poor that it would be unfair to ask them to come to any performing centre without arranging for their travel.

Hence he started looking for donors who could pay the travel and other expenses plus a modest honorarium. After this the Lok Laya festival started and nine such festivals have been held so far in the campus of this organization in Chitrakut district (Uttar Pradesh).

However, the difficulties in which many artists continue to live has become an increasing concern and Gopal has been pleading with the government to take more steps for ensuring livelihood support to these artists based on their valuable arts and skills.

Ramjivan’s parents worked as bonded labourers in Bharkhari village of Hamirpur district (UP). When he was in class four he was forced by his parents’ employers to take their cattle for grazing. As he grew up, he spent his nights learning nautanki songs and Raawla dance. In a few years by sheer dedication and hard work he emerged as one of the most accomplished folk artists of the area famous for his tamboora singing and kabiri. Yet he continued to grapple with poverty and survival.

Naurangilal, born in a family of traditional sanitation workers, experienced extreme forms of untouchability and other humiliations from early childhood in Bakurkhurd village (Hamirpur district). A more interesting part of his father’s traditional professional was to play various instruments at weddings. Naurangilal was fascinated by this and he soon became an accomplished player of dafla.

What is common to both these folk artists is that they got enthusiastic response at Lok Laya (which literally means Rhythm of People).

Gopal travelled far and wide in rural areas to establish contacts with such unknown folk artists of great skills and accomplishments. He collected books and documents on folk arts and also established contacts with various scholars who were working as this issue.

What Gopal found in the course of this huge effort was that many accomplished folk artists are living in great economic difficulties. Families of several of them could not get two square meals a day and they had to toil as migrant workers to survive. In such a situation there was little incentive to hand over their skills to the next generation.

On the other hand, Gopal says that he also comes across cases of resilience and strength of folk arts and artists to survive against heavy odds, thanks mainly to their integration with the social fabric of villages. This effort was being supported by persons like Dr Ram Bhajan in Hamirpur district who left his job to help folk artists of Vinvaar and neighbouring villages in the revival of folk arts.

Efforts of Krishna Mohan Saxena and Vijay Srivastava helped Nautanki artists in and around Banda district, scholars like Dr Veena Srivastava, Dr Madhu Shukla and Ayodhya Kumud were helping to document important aspects of Bundelkhand’s folk arts in their research work and books. Social programs like PACS, organizations like PRIA and Sahbhagi have also donated for this cause from time to time.

These festivals were well-covered by local media and helped to generate a region-wide interest in the protection and strengthening of folk arts.

At a typical Lok Laya festival the beauty and vitality of folk-arts is very much in evidence. The presentations of occupational and caste-groups such as dhobis (washerfolk), Kahars (water-providers), kumhars (potters) and kachis (vegetable growers) were widely appreciated. As Lallu Ram Shukla of Music Dept. of Chitrakut University explained, these attract audience of the entire village community and such performances which continue all night help to strengthen the social fabric of rural life.

Even more lively were the presentations of ‘Rai’ and ‘Kolhai’ folk arts by Kol tribal artists. A new generation of Kol women like Booti Kol have left behind the cruel legacy of bonded labour to emerge as panchayat leaders and in addition they are very good folk artists.

Dr Ram Bhajan has explained that talented women artists who inherit and develop great skills in their maternal homes are often discouraged from performing after their marriage.They and their families should be approached and encouraged to develop the talent further. He gave the example of Siyapyari Ahirwar who has emerged as one of the most celebrated artists after efforts to re-discover and encourage her talent were made.

Dr Veena Srivastava has pointed out that several folk artists of Bundelkhand have a special talent for combining singing, dancing and playing an instrument at the same time.

Dr Madhu Shukla has said that even the modest amounts sanctioned for folk artists generally fail to reach the truly deserving artists. She stated at a Lok Laya function that performers such as those seen at Lok Laya are true folk artists, but clever urban artists just take a few tips from them to emerge as more popular figures at urban stage and also corner more funds and fame.

Gopal has stated that the existing disbursal of funds for folk arts needs to be carefully re-examined so that complete transparency and honesty along with the right priorities can be ensured. He has made a strong plea for the government giving much more attention to the protection of folk arts and artists.

*Honorary convener, Campaign to Save Earth Now. His recent books include “Hindi Cinema and Society”, “Man over Machine” and “When the Two Streams Met”

Courtesy: CounterView

The post Bundelkhand grassroots activist’s tryst with rich folk song, dance of weaker sections appeared first on SabrangIndia.

The Ken river deserves special attention among the various tributaries of the river Yamuna that deserves very urgent attention regarding protective measures.

Ken River, lifeline of Bundelkhand region in Uttar Pradesh, is badly threatened at present by sand mining and its future is threatened by new emerging factors which need more careful attention instead of allowing very costly mistakes to be made. In addition there is also the problem of pollution.

Sand mining has been taking place in the Ken river at much beyond sustainable levels. Almost all the rules and precautions of safer mining have been violated with ruthlessness and those who question or challenge this have been threatened.

While small-scale mining carried out manually with care for river protection may not cause much harm to the ecology what has happened in reality is that very large-scale and indiscriminate mining is done using heavy machinery. Instead of confining to river-bank or flood-plain area the heavy machinery digs deep into the river-bed and for this temporary bund-making is done to check the flow of water.

This has several impacts which can deplete the water in the dry season while at the same time increasing the threat of erosion and floods at the time of rains. The capacity of the river to absorb and retain water and also to link with the groundwater aquifers and to replenish them when these need water is adversely affected.

The increasing turbidity created by machinery, bunds , removal of sediments are all bad for diversity of aquatic life and fish as well as other species may perish in large numbers or suffer a gradual decline. Needless to add the satisfaction of the water needs of human beings, farm and domesticated animals as well as wild life around the vast area around river banks is also adversely affected.

This is particularly true of Bundelkhand region where the number of stray cattle is very high and for them dependence on river water for quenching their thirst can be very high. If river is badly depleted in the pre-monsoon summer months then this can be disastrous for a large number of stray animals, while at the same time difficulties for farm and dairy animals also increase.

Reports are already available of a large number of animals in this region dying due to water shortage and acute thirst in drought years and summer months of intense heat.
Hence it is important to take steps to check highly destructive sand mining on Ken river. Very powerful mafias are active in this mining work who use massive corruption as well as threats to go on violating existing rules and even law court directives.

While some mining leases may be obtained legally but at the same time a lot of illegal mining is also done and the truckloads of sand carried away is much in excess of any sustainability norms. Hence the Ken river is badly threatened today.

While highly destructive sand mining is taking place in several stretches of Ken river, matters came to a head recently in a river-bank village called Kolawalpur Raipur (located in Mahuwa block of Banda district).

On the one hand the river was being damaged very badly by mining carried out on a very large scale using heavy machines, on the other hand wages of several workers were not paid and compensatory payments were not made to farmers whose fields were converted to roads for the trucks carting sand away from the river-site.

Villagers presented a mix of demands which combined curbs on destructive mining practices with payment of proper wages to workers and compensation payment to farmers. Heavy mechanization was opposed and there was a demand to change the mining methods so that river is better protected and at the same time workers using manual methods get more employment.

When their demands were not accepted and the local police sided blatantly with the mining mafia and threatened the peaceful movement, villagers gathered at the river bank.

A leading role was played by women. Several of them entered the river-water and stayed there for a long time shouting slogans and offering prayers , asserting their determination to protect the river.

Later when the protesters moved towards the road people of other nearby villages joined them. The fear of a fast growing protest led at last to rapid action on the part of the authorities and most of the demands of this jal satyagraha were accepted.

However this was only a success at one mining site as indiscriminate heavy mining continued at several other sites. Wider efforts are certainly needed to protect and save this river.

Heavy mechanization was opposed and there was a demand to change the mining methods so that river is better protected

Last but certainly not the least there is the increasing possibility of water depletion during the lean season and this can reach alarming levels once the plans being made to withdraw a lot of its water reach a final stage. The serious depletion of water during the dry and lean season that can be already seen has been caused by reckless sand mining and deforestation of catchment areas.

This can be seen in the context of not just the main river but also its tributaries like Ranj and Gharar which have dried up to a larger extent. Hence the water availability for farmers and vegetable growers who depend on the Ken and its tributaries and canals has been already adversely affected at a time when water is badly needed for farming.

Despite this, however, there are ongoing plans to withdraw huge quantities of water from the Ken river to the Betwa river under the Ken-Betwa river link scheme, using a 230 km long canal. Either such water just may not be available, or if still effort to transfer from Ken is made then surely the Ken river lean flow is likely to be further affected adversely and like its tributaries the main river too may dry up in certain stretches during the dry season.

What an important study titled ‘Strategies for Water and Food Security in Bundelkhand in the face of Climate Change’ by Prof. Brij Gopal, Prof Dinesh K Marothia and Prof Bhartendu Prakash (2017) has stated in this context is very relevant:

“Ironically, the Ken-Betwa Link project is being promoted to provide irrigation and drinking water to some parts of Bundelkhand, without realizing the gravity of the situation that the river Ken which is assumed to have ‘surplus’ flow, had gone bone dry for two years for most of its reaches except the deep rocky pools.

“And, if that is not sufficient ground to think over the management strategy, the project is designed to create a 78 m deep reservoir with a submergence area of over 100 sq km of Panna’s dense and biodiversity rich forest (estimate more than 2.3 million trees with a girth of more than 20 cm)… Finally, the river may not have enough water to feed the link canal system if the projections of climate change also become reality.”

If very less water is available in the river and its canal system, then this will have a very adverse impact on farming and a very large number of farmers and vegetable growers, including those who specialize in growing crops like watermelons and musk melons on the river-bank, will be affected very badly.

The same study has stated, summarizing the research of several experts:

“Analysis of trends of rainfall over the past more than a century shows that in Ken river basin the frequency of droughts has doubled whereas the total annual rainfall is declining.”
In such conditions to continue large-scale mining and to plan for transfer of its water to another river is surely going to have very disturbing and disruptive impacts for environment as well as livelihoods,. One can imagine the very harmful impact on fish and other river-life if and when the river goes dry for several stretches.

Hence urgent steps to protect the Ken river are needed on urgent basis and a strong public campaign for this is also needed.

*Honorary convener, Campaign to Save Earth Now. His recent books include “Planet in Peril”, “Protecting Earth for Children” and “A Day in 2071”

Courtesy: https://www.counterview.net

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