Works unwell

This piece came in Down To Earth (Corss Current section) in Dec 15, 2009 issue

Link: http://www.downtoearth.org.in/node/2603 

Works unwell

Employment guarantee scheme workers in Rajasthan do not get their dues

“Puro kaam, par puro daam nehin milto,” says Hodri Bai of Morthala village in Rajasthan’s Sirohi district. In the Grasia dialect this means, “We do full work, but do not get full payment”. The problem has plagued the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme in Rajasthan ever since its inception in 2006. It’s an ironical situation considering that Rajasthan pioneered the nation on the right to work scheme.

People in Sirohi district complain that fixing wages is an arbitrary affair. Officials, usually a junior engineer of the Public Works Department, fix wages on basis of work done by the total group of workers at a site—an individual worker’s output is not considered.
This practice has led to various problems. Since people themselves cannot measure the work they have done, they cannot correlate it with the wages they should get.

In most cases the payment is far less than the minimum wages. During the first half of 2006, people were paid Rs 20-30 a day instead of the stipulated minimum of Rs 73.

Initially, the scheme also fostered a worker’s aristocracy. “In a group of 50, about 10 people, who were close to the supervisor, would come to the worksite only for the sake of attendance and go away. But they were paid wages,” Manju Kahanar a worker of Janchetna Sansthan, a non-profit working on the issue of right to work, told this writer.

Kahanar’s organization was in the forefront of a movement that began in 2007 to improve the quality of the supervisor’s work.

Labourers are now divided into a group of five; work target for each day is fixed and the workers are paid after completing the assigned task. These interventions did lead to an increase in the worker’s output and there was increase in their earnings. Non-serious workers disappeared and there was more discipline. But Kahanar still believes there is no effective mechanism to check worker’s slackness. She calls this “the hangover of the drought relief works”.

In March 2008, the minimum wages were revised to Rs 100. This did improve matters somewhat. But in Rajasthan, the minimum wages are actually the maximum wages. So a worker will not be given more than Rs 100.

The supervisor—called the mate—does not let people work more than what will earn them Rs 100. The workers are fine with this arrangement but the situation gets complicated because the overall in-charge at a site—the junior engineers—do not accept the supervisor’s calculations.

They believe workers actually do less work than calculated by the mate. So after the overall in-charge has had his say, the workers end up getting less than Rs 100. In a conversation with this writer, Rajasthan’s one-time nregs director, Manju Rajpal, admitted to the discrepancy. “There is as much as 20 per cent discrepancy in what the mates measure and what the junior engineers do.”

Workers are caught in this tussle between the supervisor and the junior engineer. They are willing to work more to earn Rs 100 but the supervisor does not permit them to.

Shape up

Then there is a paucity of officers to measure the workers’ output when works on the employment guarantee scheme are at full steam: usually May and June.

We are taking steps to improve matters, Rajpal told this writer. Junior technical assistants have now been asked to take up some of the junior engineers’ employment guarantee scheme tasks, but this change has improved matters only marginally.

The writer is a freelance journalist in Orissa, currently working on NREGS. The trip to Rajasthan was sponsored by Action Aid India

Starvation deaths continue, as officials demur

This piece came in India Together (www.indiatogether.org) on 2nd December 2009
http://www.indiatogether.org/2009/dec/pov-starve.htm

Starvation deaths continue, as officials demur

BPL politics at the central level is skewed, and quotas are fixed for every state, regardless of the actual number of people who need to be protected. Pradeep Baisakh reports on one family's near-total loss.

02 December 2009 - "What is your daily diet?" I asked Ramprasad, the seven-year-old son of Jhintu Bariha in Balangir district of Orissa. "I take mudhi (puffed rice) with black tea in the morning given by my grandparents; rice with either salt or with some wild spinach collected from the forest during noon." I waited a while for him to tell me about dinner, but he did not continue, so I asked him again, "OK, then what do you take for dinner?" Still no answer.

Upon my innocent repetition of the question, Ramprasad began crying. Immediately I realised my mistake - I should have not repeatedly asked him the question. This child doesn't get to eat anything for dinner.

Ramprasad is the only survivor among his siblings, in Buromal village of Bhanpur Panchayat. His father Jhintu had lost Siba Prasad, his 3-year-old son, Gundru, his 1-year-old daughter and Bimla, his 35-year-old wife Bimla one after another on 6, 7 and 9 September 2009 respectively. The local media initially reported these as starvation deaths, but eventually malaria was said and reported to be the cause of these deaths.

Jhintu (42) a tribal, was married to a hindu woman. After their wedding, due to oppostion from the community to his inter-community marriage, he preferred to move out of state with his family to work. Three years ago, when he was working in Madhya Pradesh as an agricultural labourer, he was eloctrocuted in an accident, and his left hand and left leg were partially paralysed. As a result, he was forced to return to Orissa. He is separated from his parental family and does not possess any agricultural land. He and his wife used to do minor agricultural work in the village and in surroundings to earn their livelihood, but this was hardly sufficient - there is very little work in and around.

This forced the family to again migrate, this time to work in the brick kilns in Andhra Pradesh last year. Jhintu, already too weak, fell drastically ill in Andhra and was brought back to the village in June this year. This time around, again back in village, it was very difficult for Jhintu to work as he was too ill, and Bimla also could not go out full time for work as she had their infant daughter to care for. As a result, the whole family was suffering from gross inadequacy of income and food.

Jhintu did not possess any PDS (Public Distribution System) card. The only help they received was a share of PDS rice (half of 25 kg of rice a month) from his elderly parents, some portion from his father's old age pension (his mother is not getting her pension, though she is eligible) and some occasional help from the community in terms of food items. For a family of two adults and three children, this added up to a lot less than subsistence. Little wonder then, that three of them lost their lives.
But to what? Starvation or malaria?

The cause of deaths
Champi Bariha (80) and Bimpi Bariha (70), Jhintu's parents say that since his family had been living on grossly inadequate food for a very prolonged period, their deaths are clearly the result of starvation. They admit that the children were ill and feverish just before their deaths, but insist that these were merely the final symptoms - they succumbed essentially to starvation. Jhintu Bariha, who was himself then admitted in the hospital and been treated for fever, also confirmed this. He said the family had been starving as they did not have adequate income nor had they been getting any government entitlements. Their gradually starvation led to the illnesses, culminating in death.

But district officials do not believe Jhintu's children and wife died of starvation. The Collector-in-charge Sanjay Kumar Habada and the Block Development Officer Chandramani Seth say that Jhintu's financial transactions with villagers indicate he would have had money to meet his food expenses. Moreover, just the day before the death of his wife, his parents had got their quota of 25 kg rice from the ration shop, so they must have had some food too available, say the officials. Some villagers too say the three died of malaria, and not starvation.

The State Advisor's office attached to the Supreme Court Commission on Right to Food, in its report submitted to the Commission based on its fact-finding visit, writes "... food intake for the family of five may clearly give a picture of the severity of the vulnerable condition of the family. The inadequate food intake was taking a heavy toll on the health of the whole family which in turn was reducing their ability to work to earn. They were therefore caught in the vicious cycle of poverty and starvation."

Bimpi, Jhintu's aged mother has still a clear way of describing the starved situation of the family. "When the small two children would cry out of hunger, they would start sucking their mother's breast, ... but nothing would come out." She says. "How can there be secretion of milk from the mother's breast if the mother herself does not get enough food to eat?" she asks.

The doctors say the deaths were most likely the result of malaria. Firstly, it was found that there is a malaria epidemic in the village where out of a total of 370 people, almost a third (120) were found malaria positive after testing. Secondly, in case of Jhintu and his surviving elder son, who were taken to the district hospital by the administration as they were suffering from fever and loose motions, "they responded positively to anti-malaria doses, although they tested negative; this is clinical malaria" says Dr Balaram Panigrahi, a medical officer at the district hospital in Balangir.

A conspiracy?
Immediately after the media report of three starvation deaths, a mobile health unit was sent by the administration to camp in the village. This health unit tested and found 120 positive cases of malaria, and all of them were administered anti-malaria doses. However, doctors say that although this area is malaria-prone, there have not been any recent reports of malaria deaths. Moreover, the villagers don't appear to show any post-malarial weaknesses.

The report sent by the advisor's (Advisor to SC Commission) office observes that there were some influential people in the village trying to track the movement of the fact finding team, and the villagers were generally tight-lipped on this matter. However, some investigations and in-depth questioning of a few young people gave them a clue - that only five to six people had fever, but the doctors had administered many people anti-malaria doses anyway.

Bideshi Meher had no fever, but his blood was tested and he was given anti-malaria doses. "The doctors told me that malaria has spread, and I should take these medicines. If I do not take these I will have malaria." says Bideshi. After taking anti-malarial pills, however, he fell ill. When he discontinued the medicine, he became normal. Santosh Meher, a young man in the village also did not have any fever but was given anti-malaria pills. The advisor's office report writes " ... In order to cover up, the doctors have administered malaria doses to many who did not have any fever. This may be why the media initially reported it as a case of starvation death, but later ... as malaria. The report suggests that further investigation is needed to establish the truth behind the "probable conspiracy".

Amidst the controversy, Jhinu Bariha also breathed his last on 7 October 2009. After he was discharged from the district hospital (where has treated for fever during September), he came back to his village. On the fateful day, he began vomiting and was taken to the nearest hospital by the villagers. On the way he died.

Covering up starvation
The Supreme Court, in an interim order in October 2002 in PUCL vs. Union of India and Others fixed the responsibility on the Chief Secretary for any starvation death occurring in a state. Following the order, the Chief Secretary of Orissa despatched a letter in November 2002 to all the Collectors stating "... The responsibility of the Chief Secretary is the collective responsibility of the entire State administration of which the Collectors are the key functionaries." By implication all the collectors along with the Chief Secretary will have to own responsibility for such cases. With the government's image at stake, the administration has been hostile to poverty and starvation reports, as documented in a number of cases. In 2002, for instance, NDTV and Star News reported the starvation death of two tribal children in Keonjhar district. A fact-finding team sent by the Union Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution reported otherwise.

It may be remembered that the government in the state at that time comprised of a coalition between the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and the BJP, with the latter heading a larger coalition also including the BJD at the Centre. The politics in the country is not so mature where New Delhi ruled by one party will give a hostile report on a state ruled by the same party or is a coalition partner. Ironically, a national English weekly blasted the journalists for making sensational reports, and even went to the extent of making charges of bribery against the Star News reporter!

In another case, in 2005 it was reported by some electronic media that the people of Paharia, a vulnerable community in Nuapada district eat 'soft stone'. In its response, the government filed a criminal case against a journalist and the regional electronic channel reporter was sacked from the television. In protest to the criminal case, the Orissa Journalists' Union (OJU) staged a dharna to condemn the vindictive act of the government.

Starvation and the BPL list
Twenty two per cent of Orissa's population are tribals, and another 16 per cent are dalits, both highly vulnerable communities. Therefore, proper mapping of BPL (Below Poverty Line) families is important, as it serves as the lifeline for many. But the BPL politics at the central level is skewed, and quotas are fixed for every state, regardless of the actual number of people who need to be protected. The has bearing on the Supreme Court's orders to check starvation deaths.
In its 8th report submitted to the Supreme Court in 2008, the SC Commission on Right to Food headed by Dr N C Saxena and Harsh Mander observes "... we have found that interim order of 2nd May 2003 of the Supreme Court (that identified six vulnerable categories of people should be provided with AntoDaya Anna Yojana, AAY cards) is one of those least implemented by most state governments. We believe that there are three main reasons for this wide failure ... the quotas for AAY in most states were already exhausted before the said 2003 order". The report suggests that there should be exclusive court orders for covering these categories of people under AAY for two years irrespective of the quota limits. However, this recommendation has not cut much ice in government circles.

Interactions with many families in the Kalahandi-Bolangir-Koraput region suggest that the '25 kg of rice' scheme by the state government which was universal in this region (given to those who possess a ration card irrespective of whether BPL or APL) served as lifeline for them. But in Orissa, the BPL list has not been updated since 1997 (2002 BPL survey was not made operational). This puts many deserving families in the region out of the loop, as so many families that have formed in the last twelve years have not got a card. The economists sitting in the Planning Commission, who fix the limit of food subsidy so also the state quotas, hardly take into account on how many families like Jhintu's are made to starve due to its changed approach based on 'economic rationalism'.

The expert committee appointed by Ministry of Rural Development and headed by N C Saxena has recommended a more inclusive methodology for conducting BPL surveys. According to the committee, the poverty level in Orissa is projected to be 84.5 per cent - as against 47 per cent in the 1997 survey. It is for the Centre to recognise this reality, and stop the tragic deaths of many others like Jhintu and his family. ⊕

Pradeep Baisakh 02 Dec 2009
Pradeep Baisakh is a freelance journalist based in Bhubaneswar.

Does the Government care?

This piece was carried in the "GRASSROOTS" in November 2009 issue

Does the Government care?

Poverty and hunger have left many families on the bread;line in Orissa, even most are left to die, drawing least media and government attention.

PRADEEP BAISAKH, Orissa

The Expert group headed by Dr N C Saxena, which was constituted by MoRD, Government of India to suggest appropriate methodology for conducting Below Poverty Line (BPL) census, projects the poverty figure in Orissa as 84.5 percent of the total population. The state government may or may not agree with the reports of starvation deaths, farmers suicide, torture and missing of interstate migrant workers, but the fact remains that poverty and destitution in Orissa is a perennial phenomenon, out of which only a few come to light.

Padman Naik and wife Bhuje Naik of Karangmal village in Nuapada district of Orissa belong to Bhunjia community (adivasi) and somehow managed to make their ends meet. Their seven children survived from wages of daily labour. Landless with no regular work, life was very difficult, but this did not stop him from giving his six children a decent education. Except the elder daughter, who is mentally challenged, all the four daughters study at residential girls’ school and their sons (twins) go to the village school.

Padman’s death in Tuberculosis in January 2009 snatched away everything and left the family in penury and desperation. Bhuje, burdened with the responsibility of feeding her children single-handedly was losing hope while her two daughters Lally (aged 14 and studying in Class X) and Dolly (aged 13, studying in Class IX) began to work as daily labour whenever they return from hostels. Three month after husband’s death Bhuje fell ill and was diagnosed with intestinal complications. Her relatives took her to the local hospital, then to Burla hospital but finally gave up as the complications were too severe. They had already spent about Rs 10000 and are unable to afford treatment anymore.

The Naik family has got one BPL card and one Annapurna (issued in the elder daughter’s name) and so, effectively they are eligible for 25 kg rice @ 2 rupees per kg and 10 kgs of free rice per month, which is is insufficient to feed the entire family. Dolly and Lally have to not just just provide food for their siblings but also earn enough money to buy medicine for their mother.
The school authorities have done their bit by permitting the two girls to stay in home and attended the mother without missing the classes. The sisters do odd jobs and also take woek under NREGA, although it is not routine as due to non-availability, and try to earn as much as possible. Somehow all their efforts are just not sufficient.

The family is so poverty stricken that they cannot even afford to buy the 25 kg subsidised rice. “Bhuje and her children have gone hungry for some months now and if the administration does not provide immediate and adequate help, the entire family is bound to die of starvation.” expressed Sameet Panda, a Researcher from the office of the advisor to Supreme Court Commission on Right to Food.

Padman’s death had the family entitled to ex gratia of Rs 10,000 under National Family Benefit Scheme (NFBS) for death of the major earning member of the family as well as the widow pension of 200 rupees per month. Nevertheless, none of the benefits ever came. The Sarpanch of the Panchayat says he was not informed of the status of Naik’s family by the ward member and the higher officials are in total darkness of the entire situation.

Sources suggest that Panchayat was well aware of the family’s plight but prefer to overlook the matter. It is after the intervention of Sameet Panda and some electronic media, did the Panchayat deliver rice under Gratuity Relief and PDS to Bhuje and her children. The Sub Collector, Gurucharan Prasad, eventually visited the family and sanctioned widow pension due and Rs 10,000 from the Red Cross fund for the Bhuje’s treatment. There were promises to release NFBS soon as well.

It must be noted that the Supreme Court in its order in October 2002 fixed the responsibility on the Chief Secretary of a State for any starvation death occurring in a state. Following the order, the Chief Secretary of Orissa wrote in November 2002 to all the Collectors stating that the responsibility of the Chief Secretary is the collective responsibility of the entire State administration of which the Collectors are the key functionaries as well.

The Naik family is lucky and their plight received the attention at right moment with social activists and media taking up the issue before the inevitable worst could happen. However, this is but one case.

There are many starvation death cases those never been brought to light and have remained completely hidden from public sight such as the case of Harihara Sahu from Bhadrak district who died on May 1, 2009 or that of Nagar Munda, a tribal person from Bhadrak District as well, whose death by starvation was reported on February 17, 2008 and also the case of Santara Nayak from Dhenkanal district who died on November 10, 2007.

These are just a few names but given the poverty estimates in the state of Orissa, there are, without doubt, very many families suffering from starvation. This being the situation, would the Chief Secretary or the Collectors ever be held responsible for these preventable deaths? Experience till date suggests that it is most unlikely.