BACKGROUND

From the night of  February 24, 2020 till date, North East Delhi has seen unprecedented violence, directed especially against minorities in the areas of Ashok Nagar, Mustafabad, Jafrabad, Seelampur, Maujpur and Shiv Vihar. Mosques have been attacked, houses burnt, and people hunted down in the streets by mobs. As in any incident of mass violence, in this situation too, the role of the health system has been critical. From February 25, onwards, we have been attempting to coordinate the public health system response to survivors and victims of the violence that erupted in North East Delhi. Far from providing healing from the trauma that victims have faced, we have found that the public health system itself has ended up inflicting secondary trauma through acts of commission and omission. In this report, we are documenting the challenges that were faced by victims in accessing and seeking health care in this time of violence, and the steps that the Delhi Government needs to take to ensure that the system plays a constructive role in helping survivors heal from trauma and get justice.

NARRATIVES OF VIOLENCE FACED IN THE RIOTS AND RESULTING INJURIES

Patients narrated gruesome experiences of violence from the night of 24th February 2020 onwards. Some reported being chased by mobs and beaten with lathis, their vehicles being stopped and passengers being attacked with swords, mobs burning shops and houses. Assailants were said to be people not belonging to the area, but had come from outside. The police’s role has been particularly highlighted by all patients. In one case where a missing family was searching for their son, the police told them they had taken him to a hospital. They refused to disclose which hospital. Later, the family reported that an eye witness had told them that when the boy ran to the police for help, he was pushed back to the mob which dragged him away and he has been missing since then. In three cases, the patients reported being attacked by the police themselves and beaten by lathis. In addition to gunshot wounds, sharp and blunt trauma, we were also told of and shown pictures of burns. One woman whose husband and daughter are admitted in a tertiary public hospital told us that they heard ruckus on the street, looked out to from their house to see what was happening, and acid was thrown on them by an unknown person in a mob.
 

RESPONSE OF HEALTH SYSTEMS AND PROBLES ENCOUNTERED THEREIN

1. Accessibility to Health services:

1. 1. Insecurity: While the conflict was ongoing, injured had no means to reach hospitals even when they were able to escape the violent mob alive. In the case mentioned above, the two persons burnt by acid escaped and hid in a mosque and then walked almost three kilometers to a point where they could find a private vehicle to get to the hospital. The time lapse between the assault and reaching the hospital was about 8 hours – precious time in cases of burns. Further, it has already been reported that mobs were not allowing ambulances to reach hospitals, and so some patients who needed to be referred to tertiary care from small private health establishments closest to the site of violence, were not able to seek care. This situation was relieved after the Delhi High Court order of February 26. A charitable hospital that has been proactively providing  care to injured persons is struggling to provide free care, as they have no received an official notification from the Delhi government regarding the extension of the Farishtey scheme to riot victims. Families are struggling to raise finances through volunteers and well wishers to ensure admission.

2. 2. Fear of state institutions: Another barrier to accessibility was the lurking fear of the state in the minds of victims. One resident of an area that saw large scale mob violence on  February 25 called us on the phone in need of medical help but told us that she was afraid to come along with injured to GTB hospital as the police would then file an FIR and may prosecute them as rioters. Another woman, whose 14 year old son had a shrapnel injury on the back told us that they sought care at a small private clinic near their house instead of going to GTB Hospital, because of the same fear of being picked up by the police later on. When the pain became unbearable, only then did the woman bring her son to the hospital, more than 24 hours after the injury. Similarly, a man who was also attacked by the police and had a forearm fracture came to the LNJP casualty and told the doctor that he had had a fall from the stairs. He was afraid that an MLC would eventually lead to an FIR being filed against him by the police, which would mean a loss of his employment. In another case, a young man with a bullet injury in his hand refused care and almost fled from the LNJP hospital because he was told that he would need to file an MLC and would need to speak with the police. After much persuasion by a volunteer he agreed to seek care at LNJP. The fear of state institutions extends to ambulances with families reporting that they are reluctant to call on 102 for government ambulances and instead feel safer accessing private/ charitable hospitals using private vehicles or auto rickshaws.

2. Quality of Treatment Provided to victims:

3. 1. Negligent care: There were instances where we saw that patients who had sought care at GTB and LNJP hospitals were not treated appropriately. In one case in which a man had been beaten by the police, he was taken to GTB hospital. He said he was treated there hurriedly and was asked to leave even though he had trouble standing up and walking. Two days later he was in great discomfort and sought care at LNJP hospital. At LNJP he was not being admitted and instead being repeatedly told to go to GTB as that is where he had been treated at the first instance. The hospital also told him that they could not treat him as he did not have his discharge papers from GTB. He had never been admitted at GTB. Fed up, he said he would rather go home and bear the discomfort than be treated this way. After much insistence by volunteers and the family themselves, the CMO saw him, just checked his pulse and said that he is fine. He said that the man is probably feeling unwell because he has not taken medications. We then brought him to a charitable hospital where he was finally examined properly, investigations were done and he was admitted and treated. At the charitable hospital it was discovered that he has a forearm and leg fracture which was not treated at GTB or LNJP. These injuries were also not mentioned in the treatment summary given to him by GTB hospital.

4. 2. Denial of Care: A common reason for denial of care was the lack of an MLC number and treatment records from previously accessed hospitals. Several patients were not given their MLC number or treatment record by hospitals. If they went to a different hospital, they were told that they cannot be admitted unless they bring the MLC number and treatment records. The doctors should have been responsible for doing this themselves, however they did not and this caused great harassment to patients. In two cases a lawyer and senior doctor’s intervention was required to get two injured men admitted to LNJP hospital after a lot of delay. One of the men eventually died. It is possible that timely care could have saved his life.

1. 3. Communal remarks by health professionals: Patients and volunteers both reported that injured persons being called “ugravadi” and “atankvadi” by doctors. Some said that when they requested prompt treatment, they were told “What will you do if we treat you? You will go back on the streets and be violent”. These are also the exact words that a volunteer heard when he was waiting to take detainees from the police station to the hospital. A volunteer at a shelter who had been accompanying victims to seek care reported that doctors at casualty had asked some victims the full form of NRC and CAA. It is disturbing to see that health professionals are using this to shame patients in casualty, who have suffered grave violence.

2. 4. Disregard for safety of patients: Patients reported that even in an atmosphere of great insecurity, they were asked to leave the hospital and go home, on their own. One man with a fracture on his leg without an accompanying person was asked to go home. He was not given time to contact his family to assist him in reaching home. Instead staff at the hospital put him in an auto rickshaw and sent him on his way. No ambulances were being provided to drop them home. No assessment of safety was done to ascertain where the patient lives and whether it is safe for them to go back or not. In times of crisis, the hospital itself can make arrangements for shelter until the law and order situation is controlled but this was not done, thus pushing patients back into insecurity.

3. Information and support to families of victims:

1. 1. Information on treatment and status of patient: Families of injured persons were not being provided information on what treatment is being provided or how their patient is doing. No liaison existed and families waited outside casualties for hours, not knowing if their patient had even been attended to. In one case a family member of a deceased man told us that he brought his brother in law alive to the hospital. He had been badly injured by a bullet and the family had rushed him to GTB hospital. Once he went into casualty, the family was just asked to wait outside. When they tried to intervene they were told, “Why dont you only come and treat your relative? Are you the doctor or I?” They kept waiting for many hours and finally went inside again to ask. They were told that their patient is no longer in casualty. Then after asking around they were told that the person is dead and the body has been shifted to the mortuary for post mortem.

2. 2. No help for identifying missing persons – During the violence, many persons were missing and families were desperately trying to locate loved ones in hospitals. Instead of being transparent and aiding families in finding their missing relatives, relatives were told to go from ward to ward, and room to room to check if their missing family members are admitted.

4. Medico-legal documentation and Post Mortems:

1. 1. No MLC number on papers: In several cases the patients did not have MLC numbers and were hence being denied treatment at other hospitals. In one hospital where we took a patient, the doctor called the previous hospital where the MLC was apparently made, and he was told that MLC numbers have not been “assigned” as yet due to the patient load. This will be done in two or three days, after which the MLC number can be attached to the subsequent hospital’s documents. While the high volume of patients can certainly be a challenge to manage in casualty, if the hospital knew that MLC numbers were being given retrospectively, this should have been informed to patients and not be made a requirement for admission.

2. 2. No access to medico-legal records: Patients were not being given any records of medicolegal documentation or post mortem reports. This is the right of the patient and will be of use to them if they choose to pursue legal cases in the future. One family member told us “I brought a live man here to the casualty, and now he is dead. I do not know what the hospital did or what kind of injury he had. We have been waiting for his body and post mortem reports for more than 24 hours and we have only been given one paper that says that the police has handed over the body to us. What are we supposed to make of this?” In another case where a woman lost two sons, the family has been asking volunteers to help procure medico legal records. They said we do not know what injuries our sons had, what treatment they were given, and how they eventually died. Thus in all, we saw at least three cases of deceased in which the families had just been given one document from the police which was required for burial. Other than that, no record of injuries or treatment were given to families. When they asked for it, they were told that they can only access them from the police, after two weeks.

3. 3. Inadequate documentation – For patients who had a casualty case paper, we noted that the documentation was extremely sparse. No details of history were recorded – such as where the violence took place, with what weapon, who the assailant was and so on. Injuries were also recorded cursorily and some gross injuries such as fractures were not recorded at all. Hospital papers can serve as legal proof for victims to claim justice and all efforts must therefore be made to make sure that these are complete and accurate. While we understand that high volume of patient load can pose a challenge to documentation, the health department must find a way to deploy more human resources to accomplish this task given that it is a legal obligation.

5. Health care in communities: The violence has resulted in displacement of entire communities in the north east of Delhi. In one relief site that we visited, persons displaced from Shiv Vihar were living in the houses of relatives, friends and good samaritans in a safer area. People are living in crowded conditions with families separated from each other. There is a need for more space for people to live, with good hygiene and sanitation facilities and access to health care at the community level. Access to routine treatment for chronic illnesses has been affected, such as diabetes and hypertension, due to the disruption and displacement. Shiv Vihar, one of the most affected areas from where maximum displacement of people has happened, is situated in Mustafabad. Mustafabad has no Mohalla clinic. The primary health centre of the government has been lying shut since violence broke out on Monday and even basic services are not available. There is also a need for medical vans and ambulance services to provide healthcare and transport people from the community to hospitals since there has been a disruption in services in the community.

POSITIVE EXAMPLES:

It must be mentioned that there were a few doctors in this chaos who went out of their way to help patients. In LNJP hospital, two doctors intervened when a patient without an MLC number was being sent back and asked the police why they should not offer care. Doctors at a charitable hospital provided attentive care to patients who had been turned away from other hospitals for want of MLC or inadequate care. Moreover, in this time of great strife and distress, there have been various instances in which the medical community has also risen to the occasion and pulled resources together to respond to the crisis. Given the great sense of insecurity in sites where fresh conflict had broken out, it was a small private hospital – Al Hind – that provided first response medical care. It is commendable that the care was provided free of cost even before the Aam Aadmi Party government announced the extension of the Farishtey scheme to riot victims. Moreover, they also followed up on patients who had not completed treatment and ensured that they received care later on. In one instance, a relative of an admitted patient told us how they could not transfer him to tertiary care on the night of 25th February because of the presence of mobs, and so they went home. But the next day after the Delhi HC order, Al Hind reached out to them and told them that the government had now guaranteed security to ambulances and so he could be taken to GTB. The family then returned and completed treatment. Similarly, although government ambulances apparently were not able to respond to violence victims, private ambulances did. Small private clinics also provided whatever care they could.

IMMEDIATE DEMANDS:

1. Station hospital liaisons in all government hospitals attending to injured persons to intervene if they or their families are facing issues in accessing care or treatment records.

2. Issue written orders to public and private hospitals to ensure injured people are not denied care or treatment records including MLC number.

3. Issue directions that treatment records including MLC numbers be made available to families and injured persons who have so far not received their treatment records.

4. Post Mortems reports should be made available to next of kin.

5. Issue written orders to all private and charitable institutions informing them of the extension of the Farishtey scheme to riot victims to ensure access to free care.

6. Set up a toll free number so that people can report instances of denial for treatment/admission for quick and appropriate action.

7. AAP should lead a team of people consisting of representatives of health rights groups to visit all affected areas and identify responses needed from the health system.

8. Operationalize primary healthcare services at all affected areas through Mohalla clinics or Urban PHCs. Ensure that  paediatricians, gynaecologists and surgeon are stationed there.

9. Ensure availability of surgical facilities as people need surgical care and are scared to go to hospitals.

10. Designate mobile vans for affected areas and assign a team of medics and paramedics to provide healthcare outreach and referral services to injured people.

The post Crisis medical help & health care wanting: Delhi Violence appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Despite a loss of nearly Rs 850 crore and damaged offices and substations, the Kerala State Electricity Board restored power to nearly 2.56 million consumers in less than two weeks.

“We were lucky that our home was not damaged,” said Cherian, who moved back to Kerala in 2014 from Kuwait where he had worked for 20 years.

But the flood waters had left Chengannur without electricity. It was the worst-affected division in the state with six of seven sections flooded. By August 16, 2018, its sub-station–an electricity distribution point–had been switched off.

The Zachariahs were struggling to tend to the needs of the dozens of volunteers who slept over at their home. “Not having power was the biggest problem, especially for cooking and the use of toilets,” said Neelina.

The disaster left 2.56 million homes statewide without electricity. How the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) restored power in these homes under a fortnight by mobilising and deploying every human resource at hand, including retired KSEB staff, engineering students and private electricians, doing away with red tape and questions of hierarchy and communication could be a model for every disaster-stricken state grappling with a similar problem.

The KSEB called its plan Mission Reconnect.

“The situation was unprecedented,” NS Pillai, chairman and managing director (CMD) of KSEB, told IndiaSpend. “We had to ensure that requests for materials and personnel on ground were provided without the usual delays of following government procedure.”

In the first part of this series on how Kerala is rebuilding itself post-flood, we looked at the role of a poor women’s collective. In this second part, we tell you how KSEB, which suffered a loss of nearly Rs 850 crore during the floods, dealt with the crisis. The flood waters damaged nearly 16,158 distribution transformers, 50 sub-stations, 15 large and small hydel stations, according to the KSEB data we accessed.

IndiaSpend traversed four districts–Alappuzha, Pathanamthitta, Ernakulam, and Thiruvananthapuram–to understand how the KSEB pulled off its mission.

Swimming, wading through mud, riding a boat: How wiremen reached work
The KSEB set up a state-level task force (SLTF) at its headquarters in Thiruvananthapuram consisting of a 24×7 control room. “Our primary role was to ensure communication to and from district level officials was seamless,” said Suresh Kumar C, deputy chief engineer leading the SLTF.
The challenge was to make human resource and material available at all levels of its functioning–from the control room in the state capital to section offices–and also ensure coordination between different wings of the board and between the board and external agencies.

The focus was to ensure that materials and personnel for power restoration were provided without delay: NS Pillai, chairman and managing director, KSEB.

But what ensured the mission’s success was the doggedness with which workers and volunteers made sure that they reached distressed homes and submerged villages.
“I am set to retire soon, and have never seen anything like this,” said Manikuttan, a sub-engineer with KSEB at the Chengannur division office. It was his day off but he walked into his office in a white mundu (sarong) and brown shirt. At 55, he is fit, just a few strands of grey giving away his age.

In the three days following August 15, 2018, he travelled to work in a milkman’s boat from his home around 5 km away. “Although my house wasn’t affected, I had to wade or swim till I could access transport,” he said. “For a few days we stayed in office to restore power in different parts of the sub-division.”

Source: Kerala State Electricity Board (As of September 3, 2018)
Shyam Kumar, an assistant executive engineer, is a part of the project management unit (PMU) in Haripad circle. With senior officers stranded at home or in relief camps, he and his colleagues had to coordinate the restoration of infrastructure and supply to 120,000 consumers in Haripad. “We assumed charge under the circumstances,” said Shyam Kumar.

In order to ensure efficient coordination and communication, the PMU decided that seven nodal officers would be in-charge of each section office and local electrical installations would not be activated without their knowledge. This ensured that there were no transmission issues once sub-stations were resumed and activated.

Teams of line staff, supervisors would patrol the 11-KV high transmission lines and inform nodal officers about their status and repair requirements. The officers would then communicate the information to the circle and the control room.

Retired wiremen, electricians, engineering students roped in
Volunteers from engineering colleges, retired KSEB staff and wiremen visited individual homes to check installations like meters and wiring. “Considering Onam was around the corner, we were expecting establishments to be shut,” said Kumar. “We ensured that electrical supplies, line materials, transformers and so on were moved here from other circles.”

The priority for restoration was given to hospitals, railway stations, water pumping station and the telephone department in Chengannur.

Laila NG, assistant executive engineer at the Chengannur sub-division office, could only join work by August 22, 2018. Her home was a shelter to more than 20 neighbours hit by floods. “When I joined I realised it was a matter of managing resources, both human and material,” said Laila.
Just before the floods, 11 line staff had been transferred to new locations. This meant that the new people who had joined had little knowledge of the area and the distribution network.

“During a meeting, we requested that overseers and line staff be temporarily moved back so that they could help complete the restoration works quickly,” she said. The orders were passed immediately by the board in Thiruvananthapuram.

In Alangand too, a flood-hit section of Ernakulam, line staff and supervisors were transferred back to ensure that their familiarity with the region would hasten restoration work.

Pile of electricity meters that were damaged or have been replaced in Chengannur sub-division which was among the worst affected by the August 2018 flood.

In some areas of Chengannur and Alangad, electric poles and lines had fallen into water-logged fields and wires were sagging. A team of eight KSEB staff with experience in working in water-logged areas helped resurrect the installations and pulled up the wires.

Transformers which were not damaged were charged, their oil replaced, and fuse removed to restore transmission. Nearly 99% of the 16,158 affected transformers had been restored as of September 3, 2018, as per KSEB data.

“It was the effort of our own staff, volunteers that helped us restore power within few days despite our 33 KV substation tripping due to the flood,” said Anil Kumar, assistant engineer in Alangand section.

In homes where it was not possible to supply power immediately due to structural damage, simple connections were provided which included safety device to prevent shock, a power socket to use motors for cleaning or other purposes, and a bulb holder. Nearly 700 such devices were provided.

The Kerala Electrical Wiremen and Supervisors Association, a private association of electrical workers, were vital in ensuring that homes were safe for power restoration.

“A group of 3-4 people would check the wiring of close to 150 homes a day, ideally in the presence of the homeowner,” said Jose Daniel, a member of the association in Chengannur. These men were among the first to wade through the slush and mud to damaged homes, often working late into the night.

A team of wiremen like Jose Daniel would check around 150 homes a day to ensure safe wiring wiring before power restoration. They often had to wade through mud and filth to reach homes.

Low-lying areas like Kuttanad, which routinely experience flooding during rains, were even tougher po ckets to restore power.

Restoring power in Kuttanad, below mean sea level
Barely a couple of metres away from the backwater, files and papers lie strewn outside KSEB’s Kainakary office in Kuttanad. With an average elevation of 1 metre above mean sea level, it has the lowest altitude in India.

Kuttanad is used to annual waterlogging during monsoons but this was unprecedented, said locals.

During the July 2018 flood that hit parts of Alappuzha, including Kainakary, the damage had not been severe, said Anandan NK, assistant engineer, electrical section in Kainakary. “Water rose a foot inside the office in July,” he said. “But in the August flood, water rose five-feet inside the office and the strong currents damaged installations.”

The KSEB office in low-lying Kainakary, a couple of metres from the backwaters, was flooded. The substation was switched off for nearly four days.

Six of the 98 transformers in Kuttanad submerged and many others affected. The substation was switched off for nearly four days.

Small motor boats with teams of line staff and contractors cut supply to homes due to the rising waters. “With almost all the inhabitants of the region having been evacuated, patrolling at night in pitch dark was tough and dangerous,” said Ashok Kumar, a contractor with KSEB for 24 years and a flood-affected resident of Kainakary. “The clearance between the boat and the electric line was so low that we could be on the boat and check the wires in some places.”

The staff at the Kainakary office that helped restore power in low-lying Kuttanad.

In the districts IndiaSpend visited, rescue teams new to the area used electric lines to identify roads and pathways.  

Volunteers helped identify unsafe homes with damaged installation like meters or wiring. Wherever possible, they marked meters using stickers–red for damaged and green for undamaged–and created a checklist for reference. The entire 58-km stretch of 11 KV lines in Kuttanad, 86% of which is on paddy fields located a few metres below mean sea level, was restored in five days.

Single point connections were provided to homes where wiring was damaged or those with issues of structural stability.

“Usually, the motor pumps are used in paddy fields to deal with monsoon water-logging but most of them were damaged,” said Anandan. The need for boats also slowed down the progress. “Even now, close to 200 homes that are situated in the water-logged parts do not have power.”
Pathanamthitta and Ernakulam experienced similar issues.

Neighbouring states helped with men, material
“While the staff did an exemplary job, we received a lot of support from volunteers wiremen, and electricity staff from other state governments in the south,” said Pillai. Nearly 120 state electricity board board staff from Andhra Pradesh arrived with their own equipment to join Mission Reconnect.

KSEB received more than 20,000 electricity meters and transformers from Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. Since the board was implementing the Integrated Power Development Scheme and Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana–central schemes to improve power distribution and supply–it had a stock of electrical poles, meters and transformers it could put to use in restoration work.

“We received around 125 transformers from Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation,” Santosh K, executive engineer in Pathanamthitta, told IndiaSpend. “More than 220 transformers were submerged here, but we were able to either replace or fix them within five days it thanks to the availability of replacement.”

The infrastructure loss alone in the district was Rs 33 crore. The KSEB has decided to not collect electricity dues till January 31, 2019, to give people time to tide over the financial distress caused by the floods.

This is the second of a three-part series. You can read the first part here.

Next: How A Robust Health System Is Preventing Outbreak Of Diseases In Post-Flood Kerala  

(Paliath is an analyst with IndiaSpend.)

Courtesy: India Spend
 

The post How The Lights Came Back In Kerala’s Ravaged Homes appeared first on SabrangIndia.

To,
The honourable Supreme Court of India,

Subject: Non-implementation of food schemes in the relief colonies of people displaced in Gujarat by the disturbances of 2002.

The commissioners of the Supreme Court had received disturbing information about acute food and livelihood distress of people who were internally displaced by the disturbances in Gujarat. They were informed that many families continued to live in relief colonies in very difficult conditions with acute problems of food and livelihood security. It was brought to our notice that the directions of the honourable Supreme Court of India (in CWP 196/2001) on the food and employment schemes, including the ICDS, MDMS, PDS, NREGA, Antyodaya and Annapurna Yojana, NOAPS, NFBS and NMBS, were being violated.

Since we are mandated by the honourable Supreme Court to monitor all the food and employment schemes in Writ 196/2001, we subsequently wrote to the government of Gujarat requesting them to look into the matter and ensure that food schemes were implemented by the government of Gujarat as per the directions of the honourable court in Writ 196/2001.

The government of Gujarat responded back to us that there were no relief colonies of people displaced by the violence of 2002 in Gujarat.

Shortly thereafter, the National Commission for Minorities (NCM) deputed three members to visit the state from October 13 to 17, 2006 and they went to 17 relief colonies. Their report is annexed in Annexure 3. They observed the difficulties that were faced by the residents of these colonies and the non-implementation of state programmes. In relation to livelihoods and food schemes, the commission made the following observations:

"The residents were frustrated by their inability to earn their own livelihood and to support themselves in the manner to which they were accustomed. Before the violence many of these people were small self-employed traders, artisans or industrialists. The violence put an end to their means of livelihood since their old clients were unwilling to use their services. The impression the team received is that very few of them were employed in service. In the new environment, they are unable to resume their earlier professions and because of this they find it difficult to survive."

They add, "NCM members examined the homes in several rehabilitation colonies and found evidence of abject poverty. With some exceptions, the houses contained little except for bedding and kitchen utensils. Despite these signs of poverty, the NCM found that many residents did not have ration cards. Even when ration cards were issued, most of the residents were given above the poverty line (APL) ration cards instead of below the poverty line (BPL) ration cards. This makes a big difference because BPL ration card holders are entitled to get food grains, cereals, kerosene and other basic consumer items at subsidised rates. Indeed, in several camps, especially in rural areas, the women without exception had just one major demand: they wanted BPL ration cards to be issued to them."

The report of the NCM clearly established that the government of Gujarat had misrepresented the situation to the commissioners of the honourable court by denying the existence of these colonies. It also established prima facie evidence of the fact that the directions of the honourable Supreme Court with regard to food and employment schemes were being violated.

My colleagues further completed a full survey of the state and found similar conditions in 81 such relief colonies across the state of Gujarat. The report of this investigation (guided by senior academic, Dr Ghanshyam Shah, and state adviser, Dr Indira Hirway) is appended in Annexure 4. It found 4,545 families comprising around 30,000 persons still living in very difficult conditions in 81 relief colonies.

The study found that none of the colonies had been set up or assisted by the state government. Only five of the 81 colonies had government or government recognised schools and only four served midday meals to the children. Only five had ICDS centres, of which four served supplementary nutrition to the children, and one to nursing and expectant mothers. Only three had PDS shops and only 725 out of 4,545 families were recognised as BPL although their intense poverty as internally displaced persons facing economic boycott was acute. People who had APL cards are reluctant to apply for a transfer of the card because they fear that this may be cancelled.

It is therefore proposed that the following steps are immediately undertaken to ensure state accountability for the food and livelihood rights of its citizens who remain internally displaced nearly five years after the 2002 incidents.

1. Contempt of court notices are issued to the chief secretary and other officials of the government of Gujarat for misrepresenting facts and furnishing incomplete and inaccurate information to the commissioners appointed by the Supreme Court.

2. All families who continue to live in relief colonies must be given Antyodaya cards as internally displaced persons who lost all their belongings, face fear and economic boycott, and are too afraid to return to their original homes.

3. Primary schools with midday meals should be opened in all 81 relief colonies immediately and in any case before the next financial year. The location of the school should be such that it is accessible not only to the residents of the camp but to the surrounding host communities, to promote integration.

4. All 81 colonies should have fully functioning ICDS centres, with the entire contingent of nutrition and health services, within two months.

5. PDS shops should be opened in all colonies where these are not available within a distance of three kilometres.

6. There should be a drive within three months to ensure that all eligible persons for NOAPS and widows pensions receive these.

7. Job cards under NREGA should be issued in all NREGA districts to all residents of relief colonies who are desirous of these.

8. The chief secretary should personally certify that all these steps have been undertaken in an affidavit to the Supreme Court within three months of the passage of the order.

Dr NC Saxena
Commissioner of the Supreme Court

Archived from Communalism Combat, July 2007 Year 13    No.124, Genocide's Aftermath Part II, For The Record 1

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Report of the National Commission for Minorities’ visit to Gujarat, October 13-17, 2006

On August 29, 2006, complaints from social activists were received by the National Commission for Minorities (NCM) on the plight of persons displaced as a result of communal violence in 2002. They pointed out that more than 5,000 Muslim families in Gujarat are staying in makeshift colonies in four districts of Gujarat. In view of the tense situation in their original place of residence, these people are unable to return. In the absence of basic amenities like safe drinking water, drainage, health education, etc, the condition of those living in these colonies is pitiable. They therefore requested the NCM to make a first-hand assessment of the entire issue by visiting the camps and to issue suitable directives to the government on the basis of their findings.

The matter was considered at a formal meeting of the commission held on September 7, 2006. At this meeting, it was decided that a three-member team, consisting of the vice chairman and two members, would visit Gujarat for this purpose over a period of three days (in the case of the vice chairman and member one) and five days (in the case of member two). The team visited a large number of camps. Member two visited 17 colonies in the districts of Panchmahal, Dahod, Sabarkantha and the city of Ahmedabad while the vice chairman and member one visited colonies in Ahmedabad and Sabarkantha. The team had an opportunity to interact with members of civil society, NGOs, groups involved in rehabilitation and with inhabitants of camps as well as those who had suffered as a result of the riots. On the third day the team had a long meeting with officials of the state government led by the chief secretary and finished up with a session with the chief minister of Gujarat. The main findings of the team are summarised below:

Observation, complaints and demands of residents of rehabilitation colonies

1. During its visit to the rehabilitation colonies, the NCM team was accompanied by district collectors in each of the four districts as well as by local government officials concerned with development, including district development officers (DDOs), taluka development officers (TDOs), officials of the revenue department, including talatis and mamlatdars, and by officials of the municipal authorities in nagar palika areas and the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation. The NCM team found that these colonies have come into existence after the violence of 2002. They house people who, prior to the riots, had lived elsewhere. Several colonies were found to be housing people who are witnesses in major legal cases.

2. The NCM team noted with concern that not a single colony was constructed by the state government, nor was any land allotted by the state government. All the colonies were built on land purchased at commercial rates primarily by a range of Muslim organisations and NGOs, including the Jamiat-ul-Ulema-e-Hind, Islamic Relief Committee, Gujarat Sarvojanik Relief Committee, etc. During the tour of the camps, members observed that residents were denied the most rudimentary civic amenities. They are deprived of potable water, sanitary facilities, street lights, schools and primary health care centres. The poor condition of the approach roads was repeatedly highlighted and the team heard reports of how in the absence of such roads even adolescent boys were drowned in the water that had collected near the village after the monsoon when the roads are submerged under several feet of water. The accumulated garbage, the slush and the puddles of water are a source of debilitating diseases, including some infectious ones.

3. The residents were frustrated by their inability to earn their own livelihood and to support themselves in the manner to which they were accustomed. Before the violence many of these people were small self-employed traders, artisans or industrialists. The violence put an end to their means of livelihood since their old clients were unwilling to use their services. The impression the team received is that very few of them were employed in service. In the new environment, they are unable to resume their earlier professions and because of this they find it difficult to survive.

4. NCM members examined the homes in several rehabilitation colonies and found evidence of abject poverty. With some exceptions, the houses contained little except for bedding and kitchen utensils. Despite these signs of poverty, the NCM found that many residents did not have ration cards. Even when ration cards were issued, most of the residents were given above the poverty line (APL) ration cards instead of below the poverty line (BPL) ration cards. This makes a big difference because BPL ration card holders are entitled to get food grains, cereals, kerosene and other basic consumer items at subsidised rates. Indeed, in several camps, especially in rural areas, the women without exception had just one major demand: they wanted BPL ration cards to be issued to them.

5. Interaction with members of civil society, NGOs and those affected by the riots threw up several problems. Residents complained about the atmosphere of insecurity in which they had to live. The team received several complaints about the hostile attitude of the police towards the residents of these colonies or their representatives who have taken up their problems with relevant authorities. In addition to the palpable sense of insecurity in which most of the victims continue to live, there were several complaints that compensation given for the extensive losses suffered by riot victims was completely inadequate. The team was told that the state government has restricted compensation in respect of damage to houses to a maximum of Rs 10, 000. Other complaints referred to the absence of suitable rehabilitation facilities since the state government concentrated only on immediate relief. Since the remit of the team was to look into issues of rehabilitation, we concentrated more closely on these.

The state government should prepare a special economic package for those displaced by the violence with a special focus on livelihood issues. For the self-employed, special efforts should be made to provide inputs like easy credit, raw material and marketing assistance

6. During interaction with the state government we raised the question of the sum of Rs 19.10 crore that had been returned by the government of Gujarat to the government of India since it had not been utilised. Government officials explained that there were no further demands under the particular heads under which these grants had been advanced by the Centre. As a result, auditors had pointed out to the ministries concerned in the government of India that the money should be returned if it could not be utilised for the purpose for which it was intended. The NCM team pointed out that if more people were covered under the relevant schemes it would be possible to utilise the entire amount allotted. In the course of our visits to the camps we found several people who are in need of funds under different schemes. If the state government was able to identify such people and extend the benefits of the scheme to them they would be able to utilise the entire money allotted.

7. The team noted with concern that the state was not in the forefront of the move to provide rehabilitation to those who could not return to their homes after the riots. As pointed out elsewhere, the state government has not been involved in constructing houses for the violence affected thus leaving the rehabilitation process to private organisations. If these private organisations were NGOs whose brief was to serve the riot affected that would still be appropriate. But this is not so. Some of the organisations that are active in the field are not purely philanthropic or service oriented. This space that should have been occupied by the state is now being held by bodies which have a definite agenda of their own. The implications that this has for the severity and well-being of civil society as a whole are extremely serious.

8. The NCM team received repeated demands by the victims as well as NGOs for a policy package that would be applicable to all displaced persons. In our view, the time has come to look at this question very seriously. Riots, disturbances or other calamities occur at regular intervals. If, as a result of such occurrences, people are displaced and are unable to return to their usual places of residence, some responsibility for their welfare must devolve on the state.

Main findings

Having visited several camp sites and interacted with members of civil society, victims and activists in the field, and government officials, the NCM came to the following conclusions:

1. The NCM found overwhelming evidence that there continue to be large numbers of internally displaced Muslim families in Gujarat who are living in subhuman conditions in colonies constructed entirely by NGOs.

2. They are not there by choice but because they are unable to return to their original place of habitation.

3. There has been no support from the state to compensate them for their loss of habitual place of residence and normal livelihood or provide basic services and livelihood options to allow them to live with dignity in their present location.

4. There has been no attempt to secure a safe environment or facilitate their return to their homes.

5. Local Muslim organisers who have tried to procure some rights and entitlements for these displaced survivors have found themselves the targets of threat and harassment by the local police.

6. Far from admitting that the inmates were in fact ‘internally displaced persons’, the authorities argued that they have chosen to willingly remain in the camps even after some of their family members had returned to their original habitation where they continued to live and ply their trades in absolute security. The NCM team found such reasoning to be erroneous. It noted that the residents of these colonies fear to return to the places they had fled partly because they have nothing left back home to return to and partly because many of them are eyewitnesses to murders, arson and looting during the communal violence.

Recommendations

The NCM would like to make three sets of recommendations to the state government and central government to improve the lot of residents of the makeshift camps: (1) Basic amenities and livelihood issues; (2) Central government economic package; (3) National policies on rehabilitation of internally displaced due to violence.

1. Basic amenities and livelihood in the rehabilitation colonies

Basic amenities must be provided in the camps of displaced victims. These would cover provision of safe drinking water, street lights, approach roads, etc. This should be done by the state government.

The government of India should agree that for a period of five years or until they continue to live in camps, whichever is earlier, all the inhabitants of such camps should be given BPL ration cards without going through the formalities laid down by the government for the issue of such cards. Similarly, widows should be allowed to claim their pension even if they have not applied within two years or even if they have sons above the age of 18.

The state government should prepare a special economic package for those displaced by the violence with a special focus on livelihood issues. For the self-employed, special efforts should be made to provide inputs like easy credit, raw material and marketing assistance. We strongly believe that this is a vital element in the rehabilitation scenario and that for it to be successfully implemented NGOs should be involved in it.

Wherever possible the state should take advantage of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme to cover able-bodied people in these camps and give them employment.

The government of India should return the amount of Rs 19.10 crore given back by the government of Gujarat. The state government should be asked to cover more beneficiaries under the schemes in an attempt to utilise the entire sum.

There should be a monitoring committee, consisting of representatives of the state government and civil society, which will be charged with the responsibility of ensuring that the schemes described above are properly implemented.

2. A special economic package for rehabilitation of internally displaced Muslim families in Gujarat

There is an urgent need for the central government to design and implement an immediate special economic package for the rehabilitation of internally displaced Muslim families in Gujarat. The package must include a set of inputs that would address the totality of livelihood concerns. In particular, attention must be paid to the availability of credit, raw material and marketing support, where necessary, with the help of NGOs.

3. A national policy on internal displacement due to violence

There is a need to design a national policy on internal displacement due to violence. Populations displaced due to sectarian, ethnic or communal violence should not be left to suffer for years together due to the lack of a policy and a justiciable framework for entitlements.

The preamble of the new Draft National Rehabilitation Policy 2006 (NRP 2006), which incorporates recommendations made by the National Advisory Council, provides a precedent and sensitive understanding of how displacement due to any reason affects people. It describes displacement in the following terms, "…displacement of people, depriving them of their land, livelihood and shelter, restricting their access to traditional resource bases and uprooting them from their socio-cultural environment. These have traumatic psychological and socio-cultural consequences on the displaced population…" However, the NRP 2006 pertains only to planned displacement due to development imperatives. When displacement takes place due to mass violence, entailing loss of life, property, family and loved ones, and a total destruction of the fabric of the socio-economic and cultural community, then the rehabilitation of the internally displaced population calls for a new framework of understanding.

When displacement takes place under conditions of fear and under constant direct threat in violation of Article 21 of the Constitution (guaranteeing the protection of life and personal liberty), the trauma and the conditions under which survivors face the future is considerably worsened. Further, when the threat of violence is perceived to be continuing (as it currently is in the state of Gujarat), in the absence of justice, and in a situation of discrimination and exclusion, the protection of people’s constitutional rights can only be sought through a national policy which clearly lays out a non-negotiable framework of entitlements. Any national policy on internal displacement due to violence must be designed to include provisions for immediate compensation and rehabilitation. A national policy on internal displacement due to violence must further take into account the displaced populations’ aspirations to ‘return to their home’ and make provisions to facilitate the return, if it is possible under conditions of safety and security, and to restore the displaced families to their original conditions of living.

A national policy on internal displacement due to violence must also lay down specified time frames for the implementation of a rehabilitation plan, and include an effective grievances redressal and monitoring mechanism.

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