Food being snatched from children's mouth

This piece was carried in the GRASSROOTS in December 2010 issue.

Food being snatched from children's mouth

Weight of the children is not taken regularly and children with severe malnourishment are not taken to hospital in time of need

PRADEEP BAISAKH, Odisha

Food meant for the children from 0-6 age group and for the pregnant women and lactating mothers are being siphoned away by the vested interest constituting the officials involved in implementation of the Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) and the transport agents of the food grains, alleged the victims who testified before a gathering of 900 people from across Balangir district and a group of Jury and observers constituting eminent citizens of the state.

In a Public Hearing held in Town Hall in Balangir on 2nd November 2010 by the District level People’s Organisation, about 16 women and men presented their stories on how they have been victimised and deprived of getting the entitlements due to them under ICDS that aims at maintaining the nutrition levels of the infants, pre-school going children, the pregnant women, lactating mothers and adolescent girls. Several complaints about non-availability of food grains and medical treatment to the needy population due to non-existence of Anganwadi Centres (AWCs), non-supply of adequate food grains, delayed delivery of services, supply of poor quality of food grains, involvement of large scale corruption etc came to fore during the public hearing.

People shared their grievances

Smt Sakhi Mahanand from Naagaon village of the district complained that during her first pregnancy, she was not provided with any support from the AWCs in her village, nor any support came to her children after birth. During her second pregnancy also she did not get any help. Only after the birth of her second female child, Prativa, she (child) is getting only rice, but no pulses and soyabin, supposed to be provided under the scheme.

Under ICDS, a child is supposed to get a daily quote of food grain of 80 grams of rice, 30 grams of pulses and 10 grams of soyabin. Her child has also been deprived of being taken regular weight as provided under the scheme. She complained that due to inadequate food intake, both she and her children have become too weak and her children are never taken to the hospital for medication despite their frail health.

Ms Pankajini Bagarti from Bankiamunda village under Balangir block/district companied of non-functioning of the AW in her village. Weight of the children is not taken regularly and children with sever malnourishment are not taken to the hospital in time of need. She companied that in recent occurrence of diarrhoea, where about 60 people were affected, some of whom were so serious that they were taken to Balangir hospital, the Anganwadi Worker visited the village only after the visit of the doctor from far flung.

Saraswati Bhoi from Kurtula village under Patnagarh block of the district complained that she was never invited to the monthly meeting of the Matru Mangal committee despite her being a member of the committee. Her complaint about lackadaisical performance of the centre has never been heeded by the Anganwadi didi.

Surendra Juel from Bhoipali village under Luisinga block of the district submitted that in August when no service was provided by the AWC to the women and children of the village, they demanded the same from the AW worker. But the latter denied taking the plea that nothing has come from above. The matter was taken to the notice of the AW Supervisor and then to the CDPO but to no result. The collector’s notice was drawn to the problem who assured for immediate action, but no such action has been taken despite two months time passed. Ironically, the Programme Officer Ms Bharati Patel of the DSWO (District Social Welfare Office), who was present in the meeting expressed ignorance of the case.

Banchhanidhi Rout and wife Nuadei Rout from Muribahal block are old couple of above 70. They have absolutely no government support like PDS or old age pension. Son is a TB patient and cannot support the family. They literally have to depend on begging and go empty stomach many a times.

Ms Padmini Samrath from Barbahali village under Belpada block, Ms Padmini Nag from Jhariamunda village under Belpada block and Ms Hemabati Bag of Amabanji village under Behramunda GP complained that their villages have no AWCs.

Photo: Banchhanidhi and Nuadei Rout (Photo by Pradeep Baisakh)

Study findings on ICDS

Jatin Patra, the organiser of the hearing, while briefing the findings of a study conducted on the functioning of ICDS in the district, told that only 10% of the AWCs are showing performances as per expectations; 40% of AWCs have no own buildings; dalits are discriminated in the AWCs and there is dilution in service both in terms of quantity and quality. Despite migration of a large number of people for the district and children from the district, the government registers show presence of all the beneficiaries.

Suggestion for improvement

Panchanan Kanungo, former Finance Minster of Odisha, who was present as a jury member in the public hearing suggested for creation of storage facilities in every Gram Panchayats to tackle the problems of delayed delivery of food grains near the ICDS beneficiaries. Rajkishore Mishra, State Advisor to the Supreme court Commission of Right to food opined that the food grain should be procured at the block levels e.g. pulses could be colleted from the self help groups (SHGs) who have been given pulses processing machines. That will dispense the need of transport agents. Ms Sneha Mishra, a social activist, said to bring progressively the children with disabilities actively into the fold of ICDS in practice. Narayan Pruseth, academician and columnist, suggested having an integrated and special programme for tackling high level of malnutrition prevailing in Balangir district.

Photo: Public Hearing on ICDS (Photo by Duleswar Budek)

Ms Teba Sagria, leader of people’s organisation lamented on the irregular opening of AW centres and dissatisfactory delivery of service to the pregnant mothers.

Some activists stressed the need for displaying all information relating to the scheme in the AWCs and addressing the systemic issues involving the functioning of the scheme. It was understood that there exits an unholy nexus among officials, politicians and the transport agents, who supply the food grain to the ICDS who together siphon a large chunk of resources in form of black marketing etc.

Programme Officer Ms Bharati Patel of the DSWO that is responsible for implementation of ICDS in the district, took note of all the complaints and assured to take up the issues with the DSWO.



Toiling away from home

This piece came in GRASSROOTS in Septemebr 2010 issue

Toiling away from home

The plight of Odia labourers in Andhra is sad. The story took a turn for worse when an Odia labourer was apparently beaten to death in an Andhra brick kiln…

PRADEEP BAISAKH, Odisha

Anjana and two sons attending the last rites of rupadhar bariha in village (Photo by Jatin Patra)

A migrant worker from Odisha Rupadhar Bariha, who was kept as bonded labour along with his family in a brick Kiln in Nalgonda district of Andhra Pradesh, was beaten to death by the owner of the kiln Jagan Seth. What was his fault? He wanted to go to his home in Solbandha village in Balangir district of Odisha!

Bariha , a tribal person, along with his wife Anjana and two minor sons went to Udaimal in Nalgonda district of Andhra Pradesh before 6 years through a local labour contractor Tapi Harijan. Hardly did they know that they were ushered to a place which would eventually prove to be a death trap for them. They were assured by the labour Sardar to be given some advance money and regular wages for making bricks in the work place, but were given literally nothing. In stead, they were kept in bondage for six long years in the work place. They were regularly harassed, scolded to the fullest without check and beaten whenever they wished to go back home.

About two months before the time of incidence, Bariha had somehow managed to come to his home place to meet his family members in Solabandha. That was for the first time in six years he could come to village. As Bariha came alone, the owner of the kiln was not too worried as Ms Anjana and two sons were still in the kiln. Benudhar returned to the kiln, but with a mobile so that he could get in touch with the family back in Odisha.

April/May is the time when the migrant workers return to their home state from Andhra Brick Kilns. When the rest of the labourers started gradually heading for their native place, Bariha and family also showed their willingness to go home. But this time it was too much for the owner; both the owner and his son started mercilessly beating Benudhar with stick. When wife Anjana and the elder son Omprakash protested, they were pushed aside. After beating him, he was taken to his hut and laid there. The wife offered him some tea but Benudhar could not swallow it. Sinu, the son of the owner shouted the labourers who were witnessing the incidence. As all left back to work, Sinu and four five of his goons guarded Benudhar. This happened at around 5 pm. While at around 12 night, Anjana came to see her husband, to her utter dismay Benudhar was found with his neck tied with an iron wire which is hanging from the roof of the hut. Anjana came out of the hut and started shouting for help; ambulance was summoned by the owner and later, death was confirmed.

Was it a case of suicide or a murder? Balangir based Lawyer Asish Chandan who studied the evidence from the legal eyes says it may not be an incidence of suicide as ascertained from the circumstantial evidences. The height of the roof if only five feet, and Benudhar was kneeling while found dead with his neck tied from the roof top. “A person of five and half feet cannot hang himself from a roof of five feet height!” And Anjana suspects the hands of Binu, the son of the owner and his goons in the death of her husband as they were the people who guarded Benudhar near his hut all through.

After the death, the police came for inquiry but did not interact with any of the family members of Benudhar. They only spoke to the owner and went away. Anjana wanted to take the dead body of her husband to Odisha, but the owner did not agree. He also was not willing to leave the rest of the family members to go back to their village in Odisha, though eventually budged. “Seth left us after so much of request. He took our signature a paper where something was written in Telugu language which we could not read.”

Back in home, Anjana and her two sons were given shelter by her in laws. Several media and civil society people came to meet the family and discussed matter with them. The wider family was too worried of the visit of several people and repeatedly discuss on something that had left indelible wounds in the hearts of the wife and sons of Benudhar.

Unwilling to take legal recourse:

Labourers at work in a brick kiln (Photo by Pradeep Baisakh)

 

Some civil society members based in the district wanted to take the mater to the legal forum and give justice to the bereaved family. But the family was unwilling to file a FIR near the Balangir police. Sunadhar Bariha, the elder brother of Benudhar says “we are landless labourers. Where do we get the money to fight a case against the mighty owners based in Hyderabad” How can we go there to fight our case?” Anjana looks at us with a plain look, “ I do not want to go to Hyderabad again”. Sanjay Mishra, a social activist and some local journalists intimated the matter to the Collector of the district Sailendra Narayan Dey who immediately sanctioned 10,000 rupees from Red Cross for the family and promised sanctioning the benefits under National Family Benefit Scheme and work under MGNREGA. The Collector also sent the Sub-Collector of Patnagarh division to meet the family and give assurance for full support if the Anjana makes a written complaint of what happened to her husband. But the family reportedly did not show any trust on the administration.

Difficulty fighting Inter state legal battle:

Jatin Patra of a local NGO, who fought one case for a group of migrant labourers before, says “our past experience suggests that fighting a legal battle of inter state nature is extremely difficult more so when it comes to doing it for these highly vulnerable people of Odisha pitted against the mighty kiln owners of Hyderabad where the case is to be fought.”

It is quite an irony that an aggrieved family does not want justice for the crime committed to them of this gravity; so high is their vulnerability and so weak is our justice system!

Lone Battle

This article was carried in Tehelka (web edition) in 24th April 2010 issue.

http://emagazine.tehelka.com/tehelkaenglish/24042010/ShowText.aspx?pageid=3

The content of the piece is not available in web; but I am providing here the one I sent to Tehelka.

LONE BATTLE

A poor Dalit girl from Orissa is served long-overdue justice with the conviction of her rapists after a drawn-out legal case

Pradeep Baisakh

 

Justice delayed but not denied for Sunita Deep (name changed), a poor dalit woman from Bolangir district of Odisha, who had been fighting a seven year long legal battle in Additional Metropolitan Sessions Judge Court and Additional District and Sessions Judge Court in Ranga Reddy district of Andhra Pradesh against his rapist who was finally convicted for ten years of rigorous imprisonment. Thanks to the courage of Sunita, now married, who defied all restrictions imposed by her in laws and displayed the audacity to face the possible ostracisation of the society by travelling to the court in Andhra Pradesh to record her statement in camera. The language barrier (Sunita could speak odia language only, not english or telugu), the game plan of the defence lawyer to defer the dates of hearing and the visible apathy of the Public Prosecutor to argue the case for the victim proved futile before the determination of the Sunita accompanied by sustained endeavour of some social activists and organisations.

Sunita Deep, about 15 to16 years (as the medical examination report suggested) had gone in 2002 after Dussehra along with her parents and elder brother to work in the brick kiln in Kowkur area of Bharat Nagar in Ranga Reddy district by taking some advance money from a middleman. They, along with some people from their area, worked in the brick kiln of the accused Feroz Khan and brother Ayub Khan. In august 2003, by when all the labourers should have come back to their native after finishing their work, were instead kept in captivity by the owners by force. Three minor girls (one from dalit and other two from tribal communities) were allegedly regularly raped by the Khan brothers and a labour contractor Sanju Sagareya. Some of the captive labourers some how managed to flee and reported the issue back in their home district in Odisha. Local and national media carried the story, following which some social activists from Bolangir district rushed to Bharat Nagar and contacted a voluntary organisation-Action Aid for help. Matter was reported to the Cybderabad Police Commissionrate and the Alwal police released all 83 labourers along with the three rape victims, arrested the Khan brothers and sent them to Judicial custody. Case of rape, cases under SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act 1989 and Bonded Labour (Abolition) Act 1976 were clamped by the police against the accused. Sources suggest, among the released was the mother of Pratima (name changed), one of the three rape victims, who had lost her mental balance due to inability to see the cruelty meted out to her daughter, 20 children, who were severely malnourished due to hard work and inadequate food intake and one differently-abled person.

Hearing of the case started after five years, toward the end of 2008. None of the girls initially were interested to go to give their statement before the court as all were married by then and had their own family and society. Only Sunita mustered the courage to go to Ranga Reddy district and record her statement. “I took high risk to go there and speak before the camera knowing fully well that if it comes to the knowledge of my in laws, they will simply throw me out of their home and my marriage might dissolve.” says Sunita. Hearing to all the parties- to the victim Sunita, to about a dozen of witness, key among whom are the elder brother of the Sunita, Sudhir Deep (name changed), Umi Daniel, Ms Soma Sundaray, both former staff of Action Aid and Jatin Patra, social activist and to the defence lawyer, Additional Dist and Sessions Judge Smt A Bharathi pronounced the judgment on 22nd January 2010 in favour of the victim. The owner of the kiln, Feroz Khan was found to be guilty of rape, wrongful restraint and criminal intimidation of Sunita under U/s 376, 341, & 506 of IPC and is convicted as per the provisions of U/s 235 (2) of CrPC and was handed down RI of ten years.

Not an easy victory

Traverse of justice in the case has not been smooth. “We got very scanty information about the place where all the people were kept bonded from the couple who escaped from there and came back to village. After reaching in Hyderabad, it took full three days to trace the exact location of the kiln” reminisces Jatin Patra who had gone there after reading the news papers in august 2003. Umi Daniel says “pushing such a case in other state where the victim physically does not stay is a very big challenge.” Sources suggest that even though the hearing of the case started toward the end of 2008, the witnesses did not receive any summons, though they were sent. The first summon they got was for the hearing in July 2009. The despatch of previous summons was suppressed somehow. The activists found it extremely difficult to convince victims and their in-laws to travel all the way to Andhra Pradesh for giving witness on such case which had become too irrelevant for them by then. The women were reluctant as such a move would rock the boat of their smooth married life. None of the women’ in laws however had any prior information of such happening nor was it disclosed to them during meeting by the activists. In final count, except Sunita, the other two victim women did not want to go and record statement; as a result the case became week. The younger Khan, Ayub, got scot free as he was sexually harassing Pratima who did not turn to give witness. In October 2009 when Sunita Deep and others arrived for giving witness, the date of hearing was deferred by six days due to some plea by the defence lawyer. These were some tricks adopted to discourage the victims and the witness. And finally, as Daniel points out “It was a clear case of bonded labour where these number of people were forced to stay in captivity; they were not paid their wages, not given sufficient food, physically beaten, treated cruelly, mentally and sexually harassed. But unfortunately the accused were not punished for this. Most of the people also belonged to SC and ST community. There also the accused were not convicted to have harassed people of these communities. So we have only one victory, not all”. Some felt that the Pubic Prosecutor should have done his home work more meticulously and could have given a tough fight in favour of the case.

High degree of vulnerability of the migrant workers

After the first incidence of rape, Sunita intimated to her uncle and aunt in the next morning, who were also working in the same kiln. Eventually the brother and father of Sunita came to know about it and tried to rescue her, but were beaten and Sunita was also beaten by the owners. Why are these people so helpless and vulnerable that they can do nothing when the daughter/ sister is raped right under their nose? Bolangir and other western Odisha districts constitute the part of ill famous KBK area of Odisha which is marked by high incidence of poverty and food insecurity. are highly backward. Western Odisha is characterised by regular drought which makes agriculture unsustainable. To cope up with low level of income and consequent food insecurity people form there, particularly from Bolangir district, have been seasonally migrating to Hyderabad to work in brick kilns for last about thirty five years. The transportation of labour takes place through an established system of middle men (Khatadars or Sradars). Yearly about 2 lakh labourers migrate to from Western Odisha to Andhra Pradesh to work in brick kilns (Action Aid 2005). Even tough Inter State Migrant Workmen’s Act 1979 provided for legal movement of these inter state workers, in reality most of these are illegally done. The system of advance payment makes them de facto bonded labourer to their employer. As there is no effective mechanism for their protection in foreign land they become vulnerable and exploited severally in terms of long working hours, less wage payment, physical and mental torture and finally sexual harassment. The language barrier also contributes its part to the vulnerability. Even through sexual abuse of young girls and women in the brick kilns in Andhra Pradesh is an open secret, the conviction in Sunita’s case is probably one case where justice has been done to the victim. Though there are many other reported and unreported cases of sexual abuse, some of which are captured in a documentary film “Wealth Amidst Dust” made by Action Aid International and American Foundation of India and directed by documentary film maker - ‘Vishy’, but the victims got no justice…

………….

The author is a Freelance Journalist from Bhubaneswar. He can be reached at 2006pradeep@gmail.com

1.5 Lakh people migrated out of Odisha district as MGNREGA fails to deliver

This piece was carried in Counter Currents on 2nd September 2010

http://www.countercurrents.org/baisakh020910.htm

and in Orissa Diary on 2nd September 2010
http://www.orissadiary.com/ShowOriyaColumn.asp?id=20948

1.5 Lakh people migrated out of Odisha district as MGNREGA fails to deliver

As in earlier years, this time around about 1.5 lakh people migrated out from Balangir district of Odisha to work in brick kilns in and around Hyderabad and Chennai and other places.

The data compiled by Migration Information and Resource Centre (MiRC), Aide et Action, a civil society organisation basing on the migration registers maintained in about 66 villages in three blocks (Muribahal, Tureikala and Belpada) in the district suggest that about 1.5 lakh people out of about 13 lakh population in the district migrated out of the state during November-December 2009 and January 2010 as they did not get enough of employment opportunities in the home place. Among the total migrating population, about 30 percent belong to scheduled caste (SCs) and 41 percent are scheduled tribe (STs) population.

People in Balangir district, mostly belonging to the landless category and the small and marginal families, have adopted the option of migrating out as a coping up mechanism to the high degree of food insecurity owing to lack of employment, bad show in agriculture due to continuous droughts, uneven land distribution, loss of forest so on and so forth. This form of migration is therefore mostly due to distressed condition in the villages. The form of migration takes place in a well established system of middlemen (called Sardars or Khatadars) who take advantage of the distress condition of the poor dalit and tribal people in the district and give them some advance money to the tune of 15-25 thousand rupees to work for about seven months in the brick kilns in other states. This advance money comes as a big allurement and also relief to the helpless families who tacitly agree to a semi-bondage condition under their employers. The people go there as brick makers, brick carriers and so on. The brick maker constitutes most part of labour in a brick kiln. The unit of labour as brick maker constitute generally two adult members and a child. Therefore the incidence of child labours in a brick kiln is by sheer design not by default. Both the adult and child labourers have to work about 14-16 hours in a day under very harsh conditions. They are provided with a small weekly allowance of 250-300 rupees which cover their food, clothe and health needs. They rice they eat are basically the chicken fodder. They are provided with the accommodations which are like chicken huts-worse than houses in the slums in a city. due to inadequate food intake, long hours of work, non availability of people medical attention, people and children often fall to various types of diseases. Targets of making 1.5 lakhs to 2 lakhs of brick moulding are set for them which they have to complete in seven months. Since the target is too high, the brick owners use all dirty means to extract maximum output from the labourers. More often than not the poor labourers are treated inhumanly and are harassed to any extent beyond imagination, which include both mental and physical torture. Toward the end of the season (season is from September/October to May/June in Hyderabad and from December/January to June/July in Chennai), if the labourers could not complete the task they are not allowed to go back home and are kept under forced captivity in the brick kilns under the vigilance of the hired goons. The unspoken misery of the people is witnessed in every season forcing some civil society organisations intervene to rescue them from the captivity of the brick owners.

MGNREGA which promises to provide 100 days of guaranteed employment to the rural households has pathetically failed in the district. Out of total of 2.4 lakh Job Card holders in the district only 60,000 households have been covered under MNREGA last financial year (2009-2010) (Data as on 14th April 2010 from www.nrega.nic.in ). This is only 25% coverage of the total. These numbers of families have got an average of 43 days of employment. In comparison to the total capacity of 100 days to 2.4 lakh families, it is only 11 percent utilisation of the full potential. This is as per the official figures. The real figure would be far less which may be exposed through social audits. This shows how abysmally MGNGREA has delivered in the district. Over and above this, the scheme has become meaningless owing to the delayed nature of payment. People in the district complained of receiving payment in two to three months time against the mandated 15 days period.

Apart from the failure of MGNREGA, other social security schemes have also faired very badly in the district as in other parts of the state. The uneven distribution of land has added to the misery of poor.

Rare show of success of MGNREGA:

Photo: Ugrasen Gaud purchased gold for daughter's marrige from wages of MGNREGA

On very rare occasions, due to the intervention of the civil society organisations, MGNREGA has brought some relief to a miniscule numbers of families. For example, in Tentulimunda village in Belpada block of Bolangir district, about 25 habitually migrant families stayed back as they availed work under the scheme. Similarly about 35 such families opted out to stay back in village and work under MGNREGA in Badbanki village under Tureikala block. Several children who used to migrate with their parents and lose their education also stayed back and continued their study in their respective villages. Some people have also made capital investment from income generated MGNREGA to make capital investment. For example, Ugrasen Gaud in Badbanki village who has completed 100 days of work under MGNREGA in 2009-10 financial year, has got about 15,000 rupees and purchased gold for his daughter's marriage and got bullocks for his agriculture. Similarly, Ms Kumari Nag has got some gold for herself from the income got under MGNREGA. About 17 families in the Badbanki village have completed 100 days of work quota. It has helped reducing migration in this Panchayat. But these are very rare instances. Two civil society organisations namely Adhikar and Sramik Shakti Sangathan have helped the people getting their entitlements under MGNREGA.

Time is ripe for the state and district administration to put all their efforts to make MGNREGA a success for reducing distressed migration and prevent people from facing all out harassment in other states.

[The writer is a social activists and senior editor of www.orissadiary.com, readers can contact him in his email id 2006pradeep@gmail.com and mobile no Mobile no: +91-9437112061]

Orissa's Wonder Women

This piece was carried in InfochangeIndia in January 2011 (http://infochangeindia.org/201101118667/Women/Stories-of-change/Orissa-s-wonder-women.html)

It was also carried in in Indus Vally Times in July 2010 issue and in Grassroots in January 2011


Orissa’s wonder women  

By Pradeep Baisakh

Orissa’s villages are beginning to see the benefits of committed women sarpanchs spearheading projects under the MGNREGS, and taking up problems and issues with government officials

There is a check dam in Laxmipur village, R Udayagir gram panchayat, in Orissa’s Gajapati district, which irrigates around 40 acres of land belonging to 70 small and marginal farmers. Premlata Raita, 48, the woman sarpanch of R Udayagir is the person responsible for the dam. Indeed, she has initiated several projects under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) aimed at enriching the life and livelihoods of the people in her panchayat. In the last financial year she spent a record Rs 80 lakh under the scheme, earning herself an award from the state government’s panchayati raj department.

A total of 139 families were given 100 days of work under the MGNREGS in R Udayagir. In this tribal-dominated panchayat, categorised as a scheduled area under the 5th Schedule of the Indian Constitution because of its overwhelmingly tribal population, the enhanced income from wages under the MGNREGS and indirectly, through better irrigation facilities, land development, roads and other infrastructure, has improved consumption patterns. Says Manjuri Paika, a woman activist and winner of the governor’s award: “Income from the MGNREGS has helped us spend more on the education of our children, agriculture, reaching out to our relatives in other villages, and on community functions that increase socialisation in the villages.”

Proper implementation of the employment guarantee scheme has also checked distress migration in the panchayat; seasoned migrant workers no longer have to seek work outside their village.

Premlata has a long list of schemes implemented in the panchayat over the last three years she has been in office. She has provided pucca houses to 400 families under the Indira Awas Yojana (IAY) and the ‘Mo Kudia’ scheme, revived the Gaon Kalyan Samiti (village health committee), improved sanitation facilities under the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM). People have also benefited from the ASHA scheme, and schools offer midday meals to their children. Premlata approaches the BDO and tehsildar for any problem that may crop up. How does this simple 9th-standard-pass woman muster up the courage to face senior officials like BDOs and tehsildars? Premlata explains: “Initially, I was afraid of these senior officials. But eventually the fear went, as I am here as a people’s representative and have to work for people. It’s my duty to articulate the village situation at every official meeting, as people trust and depend on me. The faith and confidence of people in me provides me the courage.”

Irrigation canal under MGNREGA undertaken by Premlata Raita

Premlata is a Christian and belongs to the scheduled tribes. Her husband Manika Raita works in a church, and they have a son. There was no indication of any form of ‘proxy’ power being enjoyed by male members of Premlata’s family.

Premlata was first elected a ward member in 1992; she became sarpanch in 2007. The long gap did not dampen her spirit. She ensures that the panchayat office is open on all work days. Peon Rama Goud says: “Even if madam has a fever she still comes to office.”

Premlata is one of several successful women PRI (panchayati raj institution) representatives Orissa has produced. The 73rd amendment of 1993, providing reservation for women at the grassroots level, has gone a long way in the empowerment of Indian women.

Observations from Orissa suggest that the journey involved several phases, starting with awe and fear at the inclusion of women in party politics, characterised by ‘proxy rule’ by male relatives of the female representatives and dominance of male members and senior officials in decision-making, etc. Litali Das, a social activist who works with women’s issues, cites some instances. “In 2009, in Nuapada district, some women sarpanchs in Boden block wanted to convene a gram sabha. But the BDO was not convinced. The ladies then showed him the Orissa panchayati raj manual that stipulates the mandatory holding of gram sabhas at least four times a year. The BDO capitulated.”

We are gradually seeing the realisation of the objectives of the 73rd amendment. The involvement of NGOs in generating awareness among women representatives has yielded results. Women are now able to participate in discussions and decision-making within the three-tier panchayat system. The first visible gain is, of course, the increased participation of women at village meets, not only in numbers but in the quality of their involvement.

Apart from becoming panchayat administrators, women representatives have also emerged as leaders, taking local issues up at higher levels. In one case, the Andhra Pradesh government was building a dam in the border area of Orissa’s Gajapati district. Three villages in Gangabada gram panchayat were scheduled to be submerged. Sarpanch Sumitra Sabar galvanised and led her community in launching a successful agitation and making it an inter-state issue. Her untiring efforts caught the attention of the powers-that-be; construction of the dam has since stopped.

In another instance, Sangeeta Nayak, sarpanch of Borda gram panchayat in Kalahandi district, mobilised around 3,000 people to block the collector’s path. They got a doctor appointed in the village primary health centre that had not seen a doctor for years. Similarly, Nayana Patra, a lady ward officer in Baruan gram panchayat in Dhenkanal district, has set an example in improving the education system in her village (the school dropout rate has since declined considerably), and in protecting local forests. Purnavasi Nayak of Damala gram panchayat, Gajapati district, has successfully set up market linkages for farmers in the area, vastly increasing their profits. In Bingharpur gram panchayat, Khurda district, under the leadership of Ruma Sahu, a lady ward officer, women are struggling to close down a liquor shop and have drawn the attention of the chief minister to the problem.

Minati Padhi of the Institute for Women’s Development (IWD), who has been guiding women representatives like Premlata Raita, says: “Our women representatives in panchayats are no less than Sonia Gandhi, Sheila Dixit or Mayawati in terms of performance and leadership. The experiences on the ground provide enough evidence about the efficiency of women in politics. Members of Parliament should pass the Women’s Reservation Bill in Parliament providing one-third reservation for women in central and state legislature.”

(Pradeep Baisakh is a freelance journalist based in Bhubaneswar)

Infochange News & Features, January 2011



MGNREGA payment woes: bad to worse?

This piece was carried in India Togehter on 17th July 2010

Web link: http://www.indiatogether.org/2010/jul/eco-mgnrega.htm

CURE WORSE THAN DISEASE


MGNREGA payment woes: bad to worse?

To check corruption under the MGNREGA, the Centre is routing funds through banks and POs. But this has resulted in delayed payment and loss of faith in the system among people. Pradeep Baisakh argues the case for the earlier cash payment system.
 

17 July 2010 - “Apply for work, get work, and get paid on time”. This is how the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) took off in February 2006. Various instruments like muster rolls and job cards were designed to keep the payment process transparent. However, it was soon realised that a good chunk of money was being siphoned off by officials and implementers.

Consequently, in a circular dated 21 January 2008, Ministry of Rural Development instructed the state governments that “opening of bank and post office accounts of all the NREGA beneficiaries must be done before April 1, 2008”. The Government’s primary concern was to rule out the possibility of officials/implementers/middlemen ‘taking a cut’ while disbursing the wages. All the states have officially adopted in the new system barring probably Tamil Nadu.

Papatu Devi and Koshila Devi of Chhatrapur block of Palamu district in Jharkhand are still waiting for the wages for the work they did four months ago. Pic: Pradeep Baisakh.

However, subsequent surveys in Odisha (2007) and Jharkhand (2008), and observations from many other states like West Bengal highlight delay in delivery of wages as the most frustrating reason for people to lose faith in the scheme. By April 25, 2010, there was delay in delivering wages amounting to Rs 1,355 crores (www.nrega.nic.in), of which, about Rs 136 crores were paid after 90 days of delay, Rs 156 crores in between 60-90 days, Rs 466 crores between 30-60 days, and Rs 596 crores between 15-30 days of delay.


 The total wage payment (unskilled) made during 2009-10 was about Rs 25,000 crores. Consequently, 54 percent of the wages did not reach the labour force on time, i.e., 15 days. That delayed wages is an issue too conspicuous to go amiss was further substantiated with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi admitting it just as much.

Loopholes in the new system

 The system works differently across states. In Rajasthan and Jharkhand, though the system of institutional payment has been put in place at least at the policy level, delays have been reported nevertheless. “In Chhattisgarh, it takes between one-and-a-half to two months to process payments,” says Gangaram Paikrai, a social activist.

In case of banks, although the process moves a bit faster, distance between villages and banks poses bottlenecks and exposes the system to many kinds of manipulation. For instance, the Utkal Gramya Bank (UGB) branch office is 15 km away from the Badabanki GP headquarters. Unaware of the bank transactions and schedules, villagers seek help from middlemen, mostly contractors, and pay for it. Frauds of this nature have come to light in Odisha and Jharkhand. Even in cases where the role of middlemen is limited, lack of knowledge about banking and overworked bank staff force the villagers to visit the banks at least 2-3 times to get what is rightfully theirs. This has been observed in Chhattisgarh, Odisha, and Jharkhand.

During a social audit conducted by the G B Pant Institute in Karon block of Deogarh in Odisha in October-November 2007 and in Jharkhand in November 2008, it was found out that the implementers resorted to corrupt ways to fleece villagers: forged signatures of the beneficiaries to withdraw money; contractors/middlemen accompanied the villagers to the bank while withdrawing the money and took a cut out of it. Another way of swindling was by obtaining the account-holders’ signatures on withdrawal forms on one pretext or the other and then withdrawing money without the knowledge of the latter.

Discussion with authorities in Badbanki GP, Tureikala block of Balangir district of Odisha, revealed that payment through POs takes about 26-30 days; of which, postal processing itself takes about 15-20 days as the cheque has to pass through the district PO and the sub-divisional PO before it is disbursed to labourers by the local PO. People, however, claim that they received wages though POs more than two months after the completion of one phase of work spread over 14 days.

People cannot escape corruption in POs either. Jawahar Mehta, a Jharkhand-based social activist, says, “In Garhwa district, people complained that they had to give the postmaster 2% of their earnings while withdrawing wages from the local branch.”

Gangaram Paikrai from Chhattisgarh says, "Post offices are often run by only one official. Naturally, it becomes very difficult to cope up with the task of payment under the MGNREGA.”

Old system vs. the new

Some studies suggest that the level of corruption in wage payment has gone down ever since the government started routing the funds through POs and banks. In their article “NREGA Wage Payments: Can We Bank on the Banks?”, Anindita Adhikari, Kartika Bhatia write drawing facts from their survey in Karchana and Shankargarh blocks in Allahabad district of Uttar Pradesh and Mander and Angara blocks of Ranchi district of Jharkhand that 76% of the sampled workers confirmed the accuracy of the bank records. This, by any standards, is a fair delivery of wages.

But somewhere down the line, the very intent of MGNREGA is getting defeated. Each new mode of payment comes with its own inherent drawbacks. For instance, in the previous cash payment system, muster rolls and job cards were necessary documents to monitor payments and they were easily accessed by the poor labourers. Similarly, the open system of payment by ‘roll call' of labourers was monitored by the community as was experimented in the Dungarpur (before the NREGA came into effect) and other areas of Rajasthan where Mazdoor Kishan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS) was at work.

Conversely, in the new system, documents are not easily accessible even by activists, let alone villagers in remote areas. It therefore weakens the community monitoring of wage payment of the scheme. The new system has rendered job cards meaningless and social audits, tedious. For instance, in Jharkhand, labourers come to know about the amount paid for the work done only when they receive the money from POs. In such cases, any underestimation of their work by junior engineers results in underpayment and the workers cannot even complain about it. Moreover, accounts are opened in the name of family heads which happen to be men, thus robbing a vast majority of the women workforce of its right over hard-earned money.

Another unsolved issue is making these payment institutions accountable under the MGNREGA as they are guided by their own set of rules. Measures to ensure transparency may be a part of the government’s policy-making exercise; but when it comes to ground reality, it is hard to imagine that these institutions would deliver goods keeping the exigencies of the poor in mind.

Development economist Prof Jean Dreze attributes the delay to the apathy of the implementing officials who take less interest in the timely processing of payments since the new system does not allow for deducting cuts. Apart from this, delay is also caused by the internal processing of payment institutions. This inherent delay occurs as the system is not developed for quick delivery in many states. Overworked and often indifferent bank and PO staffers add to the woes.

Binay Sahu, a grassroots activist in Sundargarh district of Odisha, says, “It has become very difficult to monitor the system and to ascertain at what stage the matters are stuck.”

Local problems need local solutions

The wage payment monitoring system worked quite well in Andhra Pradesh as the state had designed its own mechanisms, not something imposed from New Delhi, to check corruption. Rajasthan, for example, was also performing fairly well in timely payment of wages and corruption was comparatively low.

In an interface with CSOs at a training programme a year ago, former NRGEA Commissioner Manju Rajpal had said: “we were not in favour of introduction of the bank and post office payment system in NREGA as the direct cash payment system was working well with us. But the Centre made the new system mandatory leaving us no option but adopt it.”

Currently, in states like Rajasthan where the system is performing well in overall implementation of the scheme, delayed payment is not uncommon. Richa of Janchetna Sansthan, Rajasthan, says, “Though the government has already developed the system for proper functioning of wage payment through banks and post offices, it is delayed by two or three months in several cases as the officials pass the buck from one institution to the other.”

The victims’ version

In their article in EPW, Anindita Adhikari and Kartika Bhatia write that about 77% people preferred banks to POs. On the contrary, Tulsa Dharua of Tara village, Belpara block of Balangir district of Odisha, has a different tale to narrate. She has witnessed a starvation death recently and her villagers’ migration to Hyderabad for work. “No matter how we get the payment, if we get our wages in seven days, why would so many people migrate?”

Abhimanyu Dharua of Chhuinara village in Balangir district of Odisha says, “The bank payment system is good as the money is not siphoned off. But timely wage payment is very important. In our village, a pond renovation work under MGNREGA was discontinued because of delayed payments. The workers eventually migrated as they did not receive payment on time and the work was stopped. Now I am jobless. When there is no job, where is the scope for corruption?”

Papatu Devi and Koshila Devi from Chhatarpur block of Palamu district in Jharkhand, who have not received payment for their work for the last four months, expressed similar helplessness. Now, people in their village are jobless and the work has been stopped.

In Badbanki GP of Balangir district, 17 families have completed 100 days of employment in the last financial year despite delayed payment. Further inquiry revealed that these families own land and hence can live even without MGNREGA. The work under the scheme comes as an additional source of income for such families. But in the same GP, the poorest lot has migrated as they need immediate payment for their work.

Effects of delayed payment

Loss of trust in the Act is the first casualty. Jawahar Mehta of Vikash Sahayog Kendra, Jharkhand, recounts the situation before a year in Latehar and Khunti districts of Jharkhand, where things had almost come to a standstill due to delayed payment. Neither the administration nor the people took any interest in continuing work under the scheme. “It was only after the intervention by Prof Jean Dreze through his ‘Sahayata Kendras’ did things start moving” says Mehta.

Abhimanyu Dharua of Balangir district of Odisha is now jobless as all the work under the MGNREGA has been stopped in his village due to delayed payment. Pic: Pradeep Baisakh

People in the undivided Kalahandi-Balangir-Koraput area (KBK region) of Odisha, one of the most backward regions of the country, have resorted to migration as the MGNREGA has almost failed to check distress migration in this region -- initially due to non-availability of work and now, delayed payment.

Contrary to official figures, the MGNREGA is a failed scheme for the needy in Odisha. About 1.5 lakh people from Balangir district alone have migrated this season in search of work. Distress migration figures in the KBK region is somewhere between 8 to 10 lakhs. Starvation deaths in Odisha are going unchecked. In remote areas of Jharkhand, death of women during pregnancy is a cause for concern mainly due to malnourishment and anaemia.

On the other hand, many feel that if loopholes are plugged and strict monitoring measures are followed, cash payment system can work well. Tamilnadu is a case in point. (See ‘Slow but steady success’ by Reetika Khera and Karuna Muthiah in The Hindu on 25 April 2010).

Checking corruption may be a priority for activists, media and the government. But for the poor labourers, ‘aajiki mazdoori, aazka bhoogdaan’ (today’s work and today’s payment) is what counts most. One cannot expect a poor person to fight corruption on an empty stomach. Therefore, the agenda of fighting corruption should follow assurance of regular work and timely payment.

An opportunity to fight feudalism missed?

The MGNREGA was expected to make inroads into the democratic control of design and execution of the government welfare programmes in rural India. By transparent mechanisms like muster roll maintenance and cash disbursement in full public view, designs of community control like choosing work and conducting social audits by gram sabhas had discouraged corruption and also exposed embezzlement by the local elite who controlled local matters. The poorest lot -- labourers, landless, and small and marginal farmers, the potential beneficiaries of MGNREGA -- had even started challenging feudal domination. Maybe, had this trend continued, it could have possibly led to greater social transformation through gradual decimation of feudal dominance.

So long as the cash payment of wages was in place, despite its limitations, it was within the grasp of the common lot and hence, under their control. In such a system, the victims might have not had the courage to question the local elite like sarpanchs, contractors, or the panchayat staff. But in the long run, they could not have tolerated their hard-earned money being bungled up by others.

Though less prone to corruption, the institutional wage payment system cannot be monitored by common people. Thus a noble objective of the MGNREGA lay nullified. It has to be mentioned that corruption in the MGNREGA exposed by social audits was perhaps as bad as it was in other schemes. The only difference was that the strong transparency mechanisms of the Act laid it bare. In all fairness, the government should have persisted with the cash payment of wages and waited for it to show its effectiveness. Unfortunately, it was aborted half way in favour of a system, which, though partially addressed one problem, has given rise to several others.

Poor on the periphery

At policy level, the scenario of delayed payment has improved in states like Jharkhand, Rajasthan, Odisha, etc. These measures have alleviated the problem to a certain extent, though way below expectations. When certain shortcomings of this mode of payment came to the fore, a new system of mobile bank payment through biometric smart card is being experimented in some districts. Though initial observations show good results, only time can tell its real impact.

The concern is: the more the system becomes complicated in vital components like wage payment, the more it drifts away from the common people's understanding. In such cases, the government, social activists, and the media occupy the centre-stage and debate and discuss to sort out the issues. Ironically, the poor stand on the periphery as they have little say on matters that affect them the most.

This is not what the original rozgaar guarantee law envisioned. Just like other welfare schemes which are mostly government-driven, the MGNREGA may end up becoming an activists- or media-driven programme. ⊕

Pradeep Baisakh
17 Jul 2010
The author is a freelance journalist based in Bhubaneswar.

The case of the disappearing ponds

This piece was carried in Infochange (http://www.infochaqngeindia.org/) in June 2010

http://infochangeindia.org/201006268358/Governance/Features/The-case-of-the-disappearing-ponds.html

The case of the disappearing ponds


By Pradeep Baisakh

An RTI inquiry in Kusmal village in Orissa’s Nuapada district revealed that though in official records seven farm ponds have been built under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, not a single pond exists in reality. Across this district, which has high levels of migration, Rs 77 lakh has been misappropriated under the job guarantee scheme by unscrupulous administration officials at all levels

The pond the Junior Engineer tried to dig after expose (photo: Khuturam Sunani)

In Nuapada district of Orissa, farm ponds costing Rs 77 lakh, dug under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), have vanished – or never existed.

In October 2009, Khirasindhu Sagria, a youth from Kusmal village in Birighat panchayat under Khariar block of Nuapada district, sought information under the Right to Information (RTI) Act from the Kariar block office about the status of seven farm ponds that were to be dug in his village under MNREGA. A resolution had been passed in the gram sabha in 2007-08 to this effect.

The answer to his query was that all the ponds were completed as per records, at a cost of Rs 2.14 lakh. The fact is that not a single pond exists. The projects were started in 2008-09 but abandoned after some time. Panchayat and block level officials suggested that the ponds were washed away by the rain!

The pond-vanishing phenomenon has been occurring all over the district. Construction of about 2,000 farm ponds on private lands has been undertaken officially in the district from 2007-08 to 2009-10 at an estimated cost of more than Rs 10 crore. Some Rs 3.74 crore has already been spent. But verification of 200 farm ponds in eight panchayats in Khariar, Boden, and Sinapali blocks reveals that 41 farm ponds are non-existent (about 20%). So the quantum of money misappropriated in the form of ghost works is close to Rs 77 lakh in the district.

Apart from these non-existent ponds, Ajit Panda, a social activist who has studied the corruption in the farm ponds, says that “in about 50% of the remaining farm ponds, the work expenditure has been shown to be much higher than the work done. If we include the half-done farm ponds in the calculation, misappropriation would be more than 40% of the total expenditure.”

Khirasindhu Sagria-the whistle blower (Photo: Khuturam Sunani)

In the case of Kusmal village about which the RTI inquiry was made, once the gram sabha passed the resolution on building the ponds, the gram sathi, Rina Mandal, asked the beneficiaries in May 2008 to start the work and assured them that the money would be released. Later, her husband Jogeswar asked the beneficiaries to stop the work and told them they could get the full payment even without digging the pond. He asked for a bribe of Rs 5,000 from each of the workers and managed to amass a sum of Rs 35,000.

Asked why they gave the bribe, Bidyadhar Majhi, one of the beneficiaries, said, “We feared that unless we give him the money he may scrap the projects altogether.” The other beneficiaries are Nutan Sagria, Renudhar Gahir, Sahadev Majhi, Makarsingh Majhi, Parakshita Majhi and Kokil Majhi.

According to the procedure laid down in the MGNREGA, the block development officer (BDO) must put his signature on the final report after receiving a photograph of the completed pond. In this case the BDO and the junior engineer have both signed, though the pond does not exist.

There are other irregularities. Muster rolls have been fudged to adjust the payment; names of dead persons and teachers and students of the local school show up on the muster roll. Hari Majhi is dead, Nirekha Jagat is paralysed and Nimesh Sunani is a 10-year-old student, but their names appear in the muster roll to suggest that they have worked on the pond projects.

The BDO, Nabin Chandra Naik, and the collector, Bishnu Prasad Panda, were informed about the fraud in January 2010 but took no action. After Khirasindhu Sagria blew the whistle on the scam, the junior engineer, S Samantray, attempted to dig the ponds using machines (which is forbidden under MGNREGA), and the gram sathi, Rina Mandal, foisted a false case of rape and chain-snatching on him.

Rajkishor Mishra, Adviser to the Supreme Court Commission on Right to Food, made an e-complaint on March 5, 2010, to the Commissioner-cum-Secretary of the panchayati raj department of the state, S N Tripathy, and the Project Director of MGNREGA, S K Lohani, and eventually wrote to Amita Sharma, Additional Secretary, Union Ministry of Rural Development.

Ashwani Kumar, member of the Central Employment Guarantee Council (CEGC) wrote to Amita Sharma urging her to send a central team to investigate the allegations. The rural development ministry despatched a national monitoring team headed by Colonel U B Singh which interacted with the beneficiaries, officials and other stakeholders in April 2010.

The chief minister of the state, Naveen Patnaik, has ordered appropriate action against the collector and the project director of the District Rural Development Agency, Akshya Jena. Four officials -- the present BDO of Khariar block, Nabin Chandra Naik, the former BDO Chita Ranjan Bangola, the Additional BDO, Bijaya Kumar Muduli and the Assistant Engineer Keshab Mahanty -- have been suspended.

Termination notices have been given to the junior engineer and the gram sathi and FIRs have been filed against them. Departmental proceedings against the Asst Engineer and the BDO were initiated.

Even though punitive actions have been initiated against the erring officials, the larger issue remains: what about the entitlement of the poor labourers which was siphoned off by the greedy officers? Will the government compensate their entitlements and loss?

The non-existen farm pond of Makarsingh Majhi (Photo: Khuturam Sunani)

The district of Nuapada is probably the most neglected in the state when it comes to implementation of MGNREGA. There are 100,000 job card holders of whom only about 18,000 households have been provided work in the last financial year (2009-10) for an average of 26 days. This is the official figure. Given the degree of corruption discussed above, the real benefit to the people from MGNREGA can well be imagined.

According to the DRDA, if it gets timely release of money under MGNREGA, it could plan and implement better. However, Khuturam Sunani, a journalist, says, “The district has been unable to furnish the utilisation certificates in time, failing which release of money has been inconsistent. Government records received under RTI reveal that in Komna block alone about 50% of the farm ponds which started in 2007-08 and 2008-09 remain incomplete even today.”

In one case, labourers have not been paid their wages, amounting to Rs 3.16 lakh, for the past two years. Despite the Lok Adalat on MGNREGA held in the district in February 2010 ordering the administration to act, things have not been settled yet. When the central monitors asked for the records, the block authorities were unable to show the same.

Nuapada is prone to high levels of migration. People from here go to work in Hyderabad and elsewhere in brick kilns in very poor conditions. One of the objectives of MGNREGA is to reduce migration but this it has conspicuously failed to do due to the apathy of the state government and inefficiency and corrupt practices of the district administration.

(Pradeep Baisakh is a freelance journalist based in Orissa)


Infochange News & Features, June 2010

A school at work!

This piece was published in GRASSROOTS in June 15, 2010 issue

A school at work!

A new ray of hope for migrant child labourers…


PRADEEP BAISAKH, Odisha

A migrant child working in a brick kiln in Tamil Nadu (Photo by Biju George)

Sunita Tandi, the eight-year-girl from Jharani village under Tureikala block of Balangir district in Odisha has migrated to Bomalaramaro area of Nalgonda district in Andhra Pradesh. She came along with her parents who have gone in October 2009, to work in the brick kilns there. Sunita is from ST community. Like any other migrant child, she also would have discontinued her study and joined back in same class three when she comes back to her village school in June/July 2010. But thanks to the initiative taken by a Civil Society Organisation (CSO), Aide et Action to run worksite schools at brick kilns in Andhra, she is now continuing her study. Sanu Behera, the Odia teacher who teaches about sixty students in the school there says “Sunita will appear her annual tests here in Odia language and will be elevated to class four after returning to her village school”. Necessary order have been passed by the Sarva Sikshya Abhiyan (SSA), Odisha for acknowledging the exams conducted in the brick kiln schools. A similar initiative for study of the migrant children has also been initiated by the aforesaid organisation in Tamil Nadu for the Odia migrant children.

Lakhs of people from Western districts of Odisha have traditionally been migrating for last 30 odd years to Andhra and Tamil Nadu to work in brick kilns. This sort of migration is termed as distressed or forced migration as people do not have enough of livelihood option in the home districts. Even after the enactment of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), the situation has not improved much due its lackadaisical implementation in the state. People generally migrate with families and stay in the work place for seven to eight months. Child goes to the brick kilns as a child labour by design as s/he constitutes a part of the work unit called Pathuria. The Pathuria constitutes two adult members and a child who mould bricks. As a result the child loses out his/her education and becomes a labour in making. The migration starts during September/October and the families stay till May/June next year in the worksites. As the annual examinations are conducted in the schools in April/May, the child fails to attend the same in its village school due to his/her absence. So when they come back they continue in the same class and again in September they migrate out. After this cycle continues for a year or two, the child eventually drops out of school. A study conducted in 2009 by Migration Information and resource centre (MiRC), Aide et Action in western Odisha suggests that about 23 % of the total migrant children drops out in the process and still alarming is about 28% of such children just do not go to schools.

Some initiatives were taken by the CSOs in Odisha and the state government to start seasonal hostels by name of Residential Child care Centre (RCC) in the source place to accommodate such children when their parents are migrating. At one time RCCs could retain 5000 children in the state.

The initiative that started in 2000 functioned well for four to five yeas but eventually faltered due to apathy of the state. This time around, in Balangir district of Odisha about 49 RCCs have been started under National Child Labour Project (NCLP) but it was done only in January/February 2010 when all the children had already migrated.

As supplement to RCC, Action Aid, a Civil Society Organisation had started the trend of running work site schools in the brick kilns in destination places. This model is doing still well with other CSOs like Aide et Action joining the initiative and extending it to Tamil Nadu. The SSA, Odisha has agreed to support both the leading CSOs in this initiative namely, Aide et Action and Action Aid in running brick kiln schools in the destination places in AP and TN. The SSAs in TN and AP are sharing their primary school premises for the Odia migrant children and providing Mid Day Meals (MDM) to them. Odia teachers have been appointed by these organisations for teaching the Odia children in brick kilns. After completion of education in destination places, annual exams will be conducted by the same teachers there and then the children will be mainstreamed in their native schools and admitted into the higher classes. But that’s not enough as both these agencies are able to provide primary education to only 1000 migrant children in both these states. This model has to qualify from the stage of experimentation to the stage of accepted state policies.

Odia migrant children in a worksite school in Andhra Pradesh (photo by Pradeep Baisakh)

In wake of enactment of Right to Education Act (RTEA), coordination is being done by the CSOs in AP, Odisha and Tamil Nadu with the respective education departments for providing education to the migrant children. As a result of this effort, this time around, state of Tamil Nadu has come up with a draft action plan to ensure early child care and education to all the children migrating to the state from other states and the Andhra Pradesh government has decided to impart education to 50,000 such migrant children in association with the CSOs.

Apart from the issue of education of the migrant children, the issue of child labour also remains as an issue of concern. Sunita, who attend the worksite school in Nalgonda district in Andhra Pradesh continues to support her parents in brick making. She has to put extra hours for it as she also has to attend school and do her home work. Parents of Sunita, Gourang and Miriki Tandi say “We are quite happy that the schooling of our child has not been stopped here. We are trying hard to reduce work burden on her so that she concentrate on her studies.” Virish Sannap, the supervisor of the kiln where Sunita’s parents work says “in other kilns children are working, but in my kiln we do not encourage child labour!”. But in reality children do work as discussed above and they constitute a vital part of the work unit-Pathuria.

Umi Daniel from Aide et Action says “Children’s education is an entry point for us. Immediately raising hard issues like child labour in kilns is fraught with risks of backlash from the brick kiln owners. Gradually we will take up that aspect and influence the governments of Odisha, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh to ban child labour in the kilns”. Till then, let’s hope that the brick kiln schools would lend them some light.

Starvation stalks Balangir, government in denial

This piece was carried in India Together (http://www.indiatogether.org/) on 26th April 2010

http://indiatogether.org/2010/apr/pov-balangir.htm

HISTORY AND HUNGER REPEAT

Starvation stalks Balangir, government in denial

Even as the state government refuses to accept the cause behind the recent 50 starvation deaths reported by the media, hunger stalks the people of Balangir and other KBK districts in Orissa portending more such tragedies, writes Pradeep Baisakh.

26 April 2010 - On 24 February 2010, the print daily Hindustan Times reported 50 chronic hunger-related deaths in Balangir district of Orissa. The lead story laid bare five deaths in the family of Jhintu Bariha in Gudighat village, Khaprakhol block of the district, which occurred between September 2009 and December 2009. India Together had earlier published my story on the same family (Starvation death continues as officials demur). There were also reports in the local language media on this issue.

The HT story ruffled the state and the national capital. One of the immediate upshots was the transfer of District Collector S Aswasti. Later, the cases were investigated by the special rapporteur of NHRC Damodar Sarangi; the High Court of Orissa also sought response from the state government.

Balangir district is part of the undivided Kalahandi-Balangir-Koraput (KBK) region of Orissa which is notorious for starvation deaths, child sale cases, overwhelming malnourishment, and acute poverty. About 62 percent of the 13.4 lakh people (Census 2001) in Balangir district live below the poverty line, official estimates suggest.

However, despite the buzz in the media, the government denied the starvation deaths of Jhitu Bariha’s family and submitted its own findings based on an inquiry carried out by the district administration. According to this probe, malaria was the cause of the deaths in the family.

The report of 50 deaths, ironically, evoked mixed response from social activists and the media. While some doubted the veracity of the number of deaths reported, others heaved a sigh of relief as this grave issue was finally being discussed at the national level.

Subsequently, I visited the district and interacted with some families who had lost their dear ones in the last two years. My primary focus was to ascertain the cause behind these tragedies and study the conditions under which these deaths occurred.

1. Rahasa Bhoi, 45, belonging to ST community in Chhuinnara village, died in January 2009. He was a seasonal migrant worker for many years and used to migrate to Bangalore and Cuttack district of Orissa along with his family. In 2009, while the family was in Bangalore, he suffered from fever and severe headache. He was brought back to the village as the treatment he received in Bangalore did not help. His health deteriorated even after a one-and-a-half month stay at the Patnagarh government hospital. His case was referred to the Burla hospital -- one of the best government hospitals in the state. By then the family had spent Rs 60,000 on his treatment by selling its two acres of land, gold, etc. A chronically ill Rahasa Bhoi died. At the time of his death, he was unable to lift his head, move his legs and hands, or speak. “The doctor could not tell what the disease was,” says Brindavan Bhoi, nephew of Rahasa who used to attend on him at the hospital. Rahasa is survived by wife Padmani Bhoi, four daughters, and a minor son.

Following the tragedy and loss of assets, the family has slipped into the zone of high vulnerability. The local panchayat has given an APL card recently. A road work which began in November 2009 under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) came to a halt as the villagers could not continue to work due to a three-month delay in payment. Dogged by lack of employment, three of Rahasa’s daughters are now migrating to Cuttack district to work in brick kilns while his wife does some work in the village whenever available. The eldest and the only married daughter Sumitra says, “We used to get regular food only when we were at work in Bangalore as the landlord used to give us ‘kharchi’ (weekly expenditure). But when we are in the village during off-seasons, there isn’t much work available. We get to eat only when we get work; otherwise we almost go hungry. After my father’s death, the food intake of our family is worse than ever before.”

When asked how she get her three daughters married, Rahasa’s wife had no answers.

2. Nidhi Biswal, 50, who lived in Tara village of Kapani GP in Belpara block, had a small patch of low-yielding agricultural land. The family used to migrate to Hyderabad to eke out a living. While at home, they used to depend on the rarely available work. In 2006, while in Orissa, Nidhi fell ill to diabetes and sickle-cell disease and consulted a private clinic at Belpada. His wife Bhumi’s efforts to ensure proper treatment by borrowing money turned futile. The predicament went on for two years. Nidhi was bed-ridden for a year and passed away in January 2009.

Like Rahasa’s, Nidhi’s family too got an APL card only after the tragedy struck the grief-stricken lot. His blank job card exposes the true state of MGNREGA as the villagers hardly get to work under this scheme. Tulsa Dharua, secretary of a self-help group in the village, says: “We survive mostly on daily wage work whenever available. MGNREGA has been discouraging due to insufficient work and much-delayed payments.”

According to Tulsa, Nidhi’s family survives on a single meal put together with extreme difficulty. However, this is not an exception as hunger stalks the entire village relentlessly. A debt-ridden Bhumi has now migrated to Cuttack district to work in brick kilns along with her three-year-old son. Barring the APL card, she has no other support; not even the National Family Benefit Scheme (NFBC) benefits -- a one-time compensation of Rs 10,000 she is entitled to since her family has lost the primary breadwinner.

The special rapporteur of NHRC visited these two families in March 2010 to study the cause of deaths. The report has not been made public yet.

Do the scanty sources of livelihood, shoddy implementation of the government welfare schemes, and the poor quantity of food intake of these families indicate chronic hunger as the reason behind the deaths? Any layperson could argue that inadequate food intake makes people physically weak, results in the breakdown of their immunity system, and renders them vulnerable to diseases. Acute poverty also eliminates chances of recovery as the victims’ families fail to afford proper medical attention.

What is starvation death?

Ironically, starvation death is now an expert subject. It’s not the tragedies or the plight of the family members that matters; but the niggling discussion on the definition of hunger by the government, the media, and even some social activists. It is this expertise that often questions the veracity of the reports on starvation deaths.

The Commissioner of Supreme Court Commission on Right to Food Dr N C Saxena and Harsh Mander laid out a starvation protocol. Section 1(i) (definition of starvation) reads: “An adult having access to food giving less than 850 kilocalories a day”. Similarly, Section 2(i) further explains what constitutes starvation death: “It is to be recognised that starvation death does not occur directly and exclusively due to starvation. Victims usually succumb to diseases due to severe food deficit for a long period.” The protocol also suggests that while investigating starvation deaths, one should take into account the food and livelihood conditions of the family and examine how the government welfare schemes are operating.

At the time of their deaths, it is clear that the families of Rahasa Bhoi and Nidhi Biswal were stuck in the downward spiral of poverty and disease. Welfare schemes including PDS and MGNREGA did not come to their rescue. Through MNREGA, on an average, only 25 percent of the total card-holders availed 43 days of work in 2009-2010 in the district. Although disputable, these official figures lay bare the failed government intervention to ensure employment to the harried lot, thanks to half-hearted efforts and delayed payments.

Rues Sanjay Mishra, a social activist from Balangir, “Due to the delay in BPL survey which was last done in 1997 (Survey 2002 was not implemented), about 35,000 to 40,000 deserving families in the district have been left out of the crucial BPL net. Starvation is inevitable in such families.”

Bleak health scenario

What compounds the situation is the decreasing government expenditure on public health, non-availability of medical and paramedical staff, diagnostic services, and medicines in government hospitals. Consequently, the out-of-pocket expenditure among the poor has gone up making access to private medical care almost impossible. In short, death becomes imminent.

Having lost an earning member as well as assets, the family finds it hard to wriggle itself out of debt, poverty, and of course, hunger. Even as the conspicuous absence of government support stares in the face of the affected, starvation deaths get reported. And only occasionally, the lives led in hunger too.

It takes a cursory look to figure out the extent of hunger and poverty dehumanising the people of Balangir and other KBK districts. The need of the hour is to assess the impact of the decreasing spending in the social sector and rationalisation of food subsidy on the poor. The government must accept the reality and ensure effective implementation of major schemes like MGNREGA, PDS, old-age pension, NFBC, emergency feeding, mid-day meal scheme, etc. NGOs, on the other hand, must pressure the government to focus on all-inclusive growth, not just Sensex-driven confabulations. ⊕

Pradeep Baisakh

26 Apr 2010

The author is a freelance journalist based in Bhubaneswar.