The No Land’s Man

The piece was carried in Counterpunch (US journal) on May 20, 2020

https://www.counterpunch.org/2020/05/20/the-no-lands-man/?fbclid=IwAR0ntewUCha8yHiwQraxPv8DGs5Z_yMIdvf32uWgwcdUo6oLPBGLKIlgqn8

Pradeep Baisakh 


Photograph Source: Victorgrigas – CC BY-SA 3.0

A mother giving birth to a child right in the midst of the road with other women covering the space with sarees stretched around her is no more limited to the Bollywood movies; they are real stories of the modern India. The other day a migrant woman gave birth to a child on the roadside while walking from Maharashtra province to her home in neighbouring Madhya Pradesh province. The lady and her family walked 150 kilometres after the delivery of the baby. Did it shake our conscience? Not really. After the nationwide lockdown was announced, many such incidences have happened with the interstate migrant workers and the central and state governments have shown their thick skins to it. Just a day before the above incidence a train rammed over and killed 16 migrant workers in Aurangabad of Maharashtra province when they were exhausted and resting on the railway track (They may have thought that no trains would come as it’s a lockdown) while walking back to their homes. And wait, much more such incidences are going to happen as many migrants are still on the road, walking, cycling, and going by an auto rickshaw or by a truck.

Why are they walking?

After the first lockdown imposed on March 25, there was huge exodus of the interstate migrant workers from cities like Delhi, Mumbai, and Pune etc to their homes, who started walking as all transport services were shut down. Somehow, the situation was managed with the state governments taking them to temporary shelters from the roads. With the anticipation that they would be allowed to go home after the 21 days of lockdown, the migrant workers cooperated. The lockdown, however, never ended and the prospect of them returning home got indefinitely delayed. Many of them have lost their jobs by now and are hardly left with any money. The livelihood of 40 million migrant workers in India have been affected by the lockdown, said World Bank in April.

Despite widespread demands from economists and opposition parties for immediate cash transfer to the tune of $70 -$100 to the poor people, especially the migrant workers accounts, the government continued to be obstinate. The two financial packages announced till now, 1.7 trillion rupees or $22.6 billion on March 27 and another of 20 trillion rupees of $265 billion, hardly gave sufficient cash in hand for the migrants that would have encouraged them to stay in the cities till they are taken back homes through government arrangements.

Despite governments’ claim that food and ration were delivered to them in the cities of their work, the fact remains that many went hungry. The house owners continued to demand room rents from them. One can well witness several such cases beamed daily on Television channels. Limited train service have started during the third lockdown from May 4. But with no income, no food and no future, the migrant workers would hardly wait to die in the place, which was never theirs! Many migrant workers started walking back to their homes travelling a distance that is sometimes more than 1000 kilometres. Many were exhausted and died en route. Many faced with accidents and the number went on counting each day as the country brazenly witnessed them suffering! As I am writing this article, many are still on the roads walking empty stomach day and night, with the children on their shoulders and luggage on heads.

Who are these migrant workers?

Interstate migration has taken place long ago in India. But after the liberalisation of economy in early 1990s, the cities grew at a faster rate with construction work and service sector witnessing rapid growth. It required cheap casual labour to do unskilled manual labour or semi-skilled jobs in the informal sector in the cities. And simultaneously there has been consistent negligence of the agriculture in the country and decimation of the rural economy. On-going profession became economically unviable. People from villages started migrating to cities in large numbers individually or through labour contractors, to do odd jobs for a meagre income. People also migrated with families. Bigger cities attracted more such working class people. This push factor was created as part of the design under the neo-liberal economy adopted under what is known as Mamohanomics. And subsequent governments continued with the same economic model. And no wonder, due to the negligence of agriculture and rural economy, more than three hundred thousand  farmers have committed suicide in last three decades or so.

They lived in slums in cities or in small rented houses. The slums went on expanding in the cities. These are uneducated people or having some levels of school education with low-level skills that are engaged as labourers in construction sites, textile meals, factories, as security guards, tailors, sales persons etc. People having some education level at college level or having some skill worked as supervisors, typists, receptionists etc. These people make the cities; therefore they are called city-makers. As there was nothing left in the villages, people also went to cities to open their small own ventures like vegetable selling, roadside eateries so on.

The other day, the finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman puts the figure of migrant workers at 80 million while announcing the “One nation, one ration card” as part of the newly announced financial package. Umi Daniel, social activist working on the issue of migration however suggests based on studies, “Of about 400 million informal workers, 100 million are seasonal labourers” It may be pointed out that there is no proper mechanism to calculate the interstate migrant workers. The figure above also does not differentiate among the interstate and intra-state migrant workers.

Exploitation by design?

These people working as casual labourers and in informal sectors do not make great earnings. This is different from the high skilled workforces who work in big companies with handsome salaries, which is not being discussed here. These migrants live a minimalist life in cities in cramped condition limiting their expenses so that they can send the savings to their families in villages. Under the labour contractor system, an interstate movement of casual labour is promoted by design to work in construction sector, brick kilns etc so that the labourers cannot form unions and they have to work at the mercy of the employers.

The labour laws in the country hardly protect the interest of the workers. As Prata Bhanu Mehta, columnist puts it in his article in Indian Express, “Indian labour laws are irrelevant for 90 per cent of the labour force”. The minimum wages, norms of working condition, and their human rights are violated with impunity. These people are exploited to the fullest.

Uprooted from the villages and not owned by cities of their work, these migrants are left as no land’s men and women!

Reverse remittance during the lockdown

How these people have been living last two months in cities during the lockdown with no jobs in hands? One migrant worker from the Odisha province, Pabitra Muduli, who migrated to Gurgaon of Haryana province to work as tailor before ten years, has now taken more than $250 from his family back in home to feed himself and give the room rent – a case of reverse remittance! The family has taken a loan from a self-help group to send him the money. His company is closed now, he has exhausted his savings and wants to come back home. The government has started Shramik special trains to bring the migrants workers back to their homes. The irony is that these people who are starving during the lockdown have to pay for train tickets! The state and central government passed the buck on who should cover the ticket cost. It was never resolved and the migrants are forced to bear the same. Several instances of reverse remittance are reported now.

What’s next?

The government and all other institutions like the courts and the human rights commissions have miserably failed in dealing with the migrants’ crisis. The central government’s $265 billion package aims to make the economy self-reliant. It provides, among others, strengthening the agriculture and small-scale industries, and reviving the rural economy. It will take some time to analyse the possible impact of the package. But for the migrant workers, the unending journey back to homes continues amidst the risk of losing the life anytime!

Rs 68,600 Crore Vs Rs 710: Who Does The System Favour?

This piece was carried in odishaBytes on May 6, 2020

https://odishabytes.com/rs-68600-crore-vs-rs-710-who-does-the-system-favour/?fbclid=IwAR17-qXWGK_6iFMcEeDTS_EfO9IDcQTlyGh-HBMNjYos3GQ-YNIEfyeeKq4

Pradeep Baisakh 

We have come across two different types of development in a small time gap but they are worth comparing. On the one hand, an RTI revealed that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has written off over Rs 68,600 crore loan taken by 50 wilful defaulters like Mehul Choski, Vijay Mallya and others. This was reported on April 28.

On the other hand, the migrant workers who are returning to their home states through the Shramik special trains are being charged the train fare. For example, the Odia migrant workers boarding the train from Surat to Puri on May 2 had to pay Rs 710 each, reported Indian Express. Similarly, workers travelling from Agra to Ahmedabad paid Rs 250. And so on.

How does it sound? The defaulters who should be behind the bars are being rewarded while migrant workers who have lost their jobs and were almost in hunger for more than a month, who hardly have any money are being punished!

In fact, the clarifications started coming in on each case. There were charges and counter-charges made by Rahul Gandhi and Nirmala Sitharaman on loan waiver.  On the Congress leader’s charge that the finance minister did not answer his question to disclose the names of the bank scammers, which have come out now, the finance minister accused the latter of misleading people. She said loans were also written-off between 2009-10 and 2013-14. This was when the UPA government was in power. She asserted, “Provisions are made for NPAs as per the four-year provisioning cycle laid down by the RBI. Upon full provisioning being done banks write off the fully provided NPA but continue to pursue recovery against the borrower. No loan is waived off.” She gave figures related to seizure of assets of Mehul Choksi and others by the government.

Similarly, in case of charging the train fare from the hapless workers, a clarification came from the government that the Ministry of Railways devised an 85:15 ratio with the Centre bearing the major share and the states giving the minor share. Amid this, one continues to wonder why the Railways should have not ferried the workers for free! Why because of administrative confusion should the burden fall upon the hungry migrant labourers, whose present and future are uncertain with no jobs in their hand, and who are desperate to return home?

In both cases, systemic clarifications were given which are technical in nature. And for obvious reasons, they are beyond the understanding of a common person. But what comes out clearly is that while on the one hand, the system favoured the Mehul Choksi type – the rich and connected, on the other hand it became heavy on the poor. And that the conclusion! Irrespective of the claims and counterclaims made by different political parties, the fact is they create a system, which is clearly tilted towards the rich and mighty!

Planet Is Slowly Slipping Out Of Our Hands, It Is Time To Debunk The Growth Model

This piece was carried in Outlook magazine's web version on April 27, 2020

https://www.outlookindia.com/website/story/opinion-planet-is-slowly-slipping-out-of-our-hands-it-is-time-to-debunk-the-growth-model/351609?fbclid=IwAR3feGW75ceEZe-pAkmwktSYmdqCVgMdPPep-kvBayYhGJxuCxpF0arBJP4

The wrath of nature – if it could be termed so, has manifested in the form of the Coronavirus pandemic and has forced on us unimaginable dangers and hardship.

Pradeep Baisakh 

Workers are seen cleaning a road near Vayu Bhawan, during a nationwide lockdown in the wake of coronavirus pandemic, in New Delhi.

Credit: PTI

Delhi has a clear sky now, so does London. The pollution levels have gone down in several cities across the world. The wildlife movement has increased in the Similipal sanctuary in Odisha. Reason: the sharp reduction in human activities. The deadly virus has nailed down the principal destroyer of nature – the human being!

With no curative vaccine in hand, COVID-19 has claimed over two lakh lives in nearly three months across the world and the count is still rising. The pandemic has brought an unprecedented halt to the world. The economy has come to a standstill. A leader like US President Donald Trump is saying for the first time that saving lives is a priority now, the stock market can wait! This is exactly what many concerned individuals and environmentalists have been saying – live life in a sustainable manner and save resources for the future generations. But the world leaders, backed by the corporate lobby, never heeded to it in true sense. They have pushed us to the brink!

Painting a gloomy picture, the UN Global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) report 2019 has warned the world community on the lackadaisical response on reaching out to the most vulnerable groups. Rising inequalities within and among countries and the rising global temperature are areas of concern, finds the report. The UN SDG progress report 2020 for the Asia Pacific suggests that the region is faltering on responsible production and consumption (SDG 12 ) and on climate action (SDG 13). In his book, “The Uninhabitable Earth” the deputy editor of New York Magazine, David Wallace-Wells claims that the globe is destined to cross the 2-degree limit above the pre-industrial era set by the Paris Climate deal, no matter what we do.

It's in common knowledge since last few years that things are slowly slipping out of our hands. But we continue to do mindless mining, forest cutting, forced consumerism, military spending, and warmongering, etc. The wrath of nature – if it could be termed so, has manifested in the form of the Coronavirus pandemic and has forced on us unimaginable dangers and hardship. But it gives an opportunity to reflect upon our paranoia with the growth model. 

At this moment, apart from treating the disease, the governments are struggling for ensuring basic amenities for people. Luxury is a far cry. What have we learned during this period? That we can live without junk food; we can stay home on vacations instead of a pleasure trip overseas; we can manage without buying so much of our fashion clothes, and we can certainly live an austere life. It may be stated that the clothing and textile industry is a major emitter of the greenhouse gases.  

Future is unpredictable at this moment. The global economy, however, is predicted to go into recession – a negative 3 % growth, projected IMF on April 14. For India, the IMF has reduced its growth estimate for 2020-21 to 1.9 % from 5.8% projected in January. And the World Bank has projected 1.5-2.8 %, the lowest in the last three decades since economic liberalisation. Every sector of the economy is being affected, impacting all sections of people. But the worst affected are the poor.

In India, the migrant workers, most of who work in the informal sector, are visibly suffering. Many migrants have lost their jobs and are either stuck in the cities or in temporary relief camps across the country. Many poor people and the homeless in the villages and cities are living sans food, through some support in the form of ration and cooked food for the destitute has come through from the government. Good portions of the migrant workers are unlikely to get their jobs back after the lockdown is over, due to a sliding economy.

The recession and declining growth have created a frightening situation. There will be less production and less consumption, but it will have lesser carbon footprints also! The situation, post-lockdown has to be properly managed.

There must be a national debate on whether we stay the course of development characterised by extravagance or mend our ways towards a more conservative and sustainable model. It is time to delink us from the growth-centric model. The distribution of nature’s resources should take an egalitarian path. Apt state intervention should pave the way for resource conservation and downward distribution of the development benefits.

In view of the job loss, the potential sector that can offer an alternative is the country is revival of the rural economy – the agriculture and the small scales entrepreneurship. Agriculture should also be sustainable, not an intensive agrarian practice.

We have come full cycle. It’s time to shed the “mega” and resource-guzzling approach and go back to the Gandhian model of the village economy. After all, 70% of the country’s population lives in rural areas in India. Similar models could be adopted by other economies. Otherwise, we as the human race will face extinction. And it may so happen that once this destroyer is gone, the planet will regenerate itself and nature will again be bountiful!

 (The author is a senior journalist. Views expressed are personal.)

Migrant Workers’ Woes: An Open Letter to the Prime Minister

This piece was carried in Countercurrents on March 29, 2020

https://countercurrents.org/2020/03/migrant-workers-woes-an-open-letter-to-the-prime-minister/?fbclid=IwAR3IaL0SvJubWY8Mv8SpppcrhpS0n8KUI0qcdWJ73V3pizCYXSnyMCPhM9M

Migrant Workers’ woes: Please address the nation to assuage their fear, Dear Prime Minister

To

Shri Narendra Modi

Honourabe Prime Minister of India

Respected Modi Jee,

You have received accolades from the World Health Organisation, the opposition party leaders and from several other quarters for your statesman-like approach in dealing with the emergency situation arising out of the threat from the COVID – 19. I, as an ordinary citizen, also congratulate you for your swift and decisive action in calling for a complete lockdown for 21 days to fight the deadly virus. We all witness how people responded to your call during the Janata Curfew last Sunday and it was in fact a great success. This is so, as the people of the country love you and trust in your leadership!

Today is the fifth day of the nation-wide lockdown. Many issues have come up, and they are in expected lines. But the issue of migrant workers is unprecedented at this juncture. Imagine a six-month pregnant woman is now walking from Delhi to Jhansi with her family, a distance of approximately 500 kilometers (Source: NDTV, 28 March 2020. Will she possibly reach her home with no food, no or scant water and fast-rising temperature? And what the ‘yet-to-be-born baby’ eat during its mother’s painful journey?

Delhi houses about twenty lakh migrants, many of who are walking on the road back to their hometowns or villages in Uttar Pradesh and elsewhere. This is despite the appeal by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal not to leave Delhi and assurance to feed all the 20-lakh migrants during the lockdown. A similar scenario is witnessed in other parts of the country too. There are also many who have not left their current places of stay obeying your request. Lack of food for the migrants at the source of work is just one reason. The reasons of their attempt to coming back to their native places are multiple: a. They have lost their job for now at least, the prime reason for which they migrate, b. many do not have money in their hands, c. many are not allowed by the local police to go out to buy ration, d. they are being demanded house rent by the landlords or are being driven out, e. they are also worried about their old parents back in their villages and small towns. So, the reasons are a mix of hard realities and emotional factors.

We as a nation cannot forgive ourselves if lives are lost due to hunger and this kind of hardship during the lockdown. You may know that we have already lost one countryman who was walking from Delhi to Madhya Pradesh. The home ministry has issued orders to all chief secretaries to make all possible arrangements for the migrants and the UP Chief Minister has made transport arrangements to take home the stranded migrants, so on and so forth.

But the enormity of the problem demands that you, as the Prime Minister, appeal to people through your address to the nation.

Your oratory skill blended with hard facts and emotional appeal is unparalleled. I am sure if you directly address the migrant workers to refrain from going home, to the landlords to threat them as own family members in these times of crisis and waive the rent for a month, and to the employers not to terminate their jobs and give them some advance money, that will definitely help mitigate the situation.

Simultaneously, it is necessary to convene the meeting with all the Chief Ministers through video conferencing and chalk out the strategy to deal with the situation. All the states should take steps to feed the migrants – the children, men, and women – many of who may be walking on the highways, roads, etc and give them asylum wherever they are. And very importantly, please appeal the police personnel in your address to humanely treat the migrant workers and not treat them with heavy hands. Simultaneously, let’s also acknowledge that the Police across the country are doing a commendable job in ensuring the lockdown risking their own lives.

The situation also demands, Pradhan Mantri Jee, that you directly address people once in two or three days conveying them the situation and appeal them not to panic.

I strongly believe that together the country will successfully sail through this phase!

Yours Sincerely,

Pradeep Baisakh

Citizen of India

We need Food And Money. Otherwise, We Will Die

Story and impact: This is a news item carried in Outlook magazine's web version on March 27, 2020 prompted the Odisha government immediately issue an order to distribute cooked food to the destitute during the lockdown in COVID 19 pandemic. The order and the story shared below: 

We need Food And Money. Otherwise, We Will Die

https://poshan.outlookindia.com/story/without-food-and-money-migrant-workers-in-odisha-capital-cry-for-help/349534?fbclid=IwAR1pygtxozSkiLBBgBu8G3YpPt8z-5Lbtgfy1NejIryS3llTAAMfPxFeZp0

Pradeep Baisakh

Migrant workers stuck in Odisha capital Bhubaneswar due to the countrywide lockdown are facing a nightmarish situation, going without food for several days and left with no money in a place far away from home. About 50 migrant workers are sleeping in the open near the Nayapalli Durga Mandap waiting for food and cash aid from the authorities. With all forms of transport suspended, they are unable to return to their homes.

Odisha was already under lockdown before Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a 21-day countrywide lockdown on March 25.

Most of these workers are from different parts of the state who had migrated to the capital in different points of time to do daily labour for their livelihood. One among them, who identified himself only as Rakesh, broke down as he begged for food and financial support. “I have not eaten for the last three days,” said Rakesh, who is from Ganjam district.

In normal days, they offer their labour in an informal market in the Crown Hotel-Durga Mandap service road. Even though some of them are working here for several years, they have preferred not to spend money on accommodation but to save for their families back in their villages. Thus they end up sleeping in the open.

As per the census 2011, the number of homeless in Bhubaneswar is 1,245. But this is a gross underestimation. A study conducted by the NGO, ActionAid, in 2017 puts the number at 6,559. The city is not equipped with enough night shelters to provide asylum to these people.

After the lockdown, these migrants have multiple burdens to face. The immediate impact is the loss of income, as hardly anyone needs their labour now. They cannot go back due to the suspension of transport. More importantly, as they have no homes, they are vulnerable to coronavirus. And finally, the hunger. On a regular day, they would either eat in the Aahar centres or in a restaurant–all of which are shut down now. Some may even cook in the open. But now, the police are not allowing them to cook as the location is beside the golden quadrilateral connecting Chennai and Kolkata.

The labourers also complained of police excesses. Rakesh said, “The police are chasing us away. They are saying to leave the place. Where shall we go? We do not have a house here.” Other labourers said that they have exhausted their savings. “Our income is very meagre. We need food and money. Otherwise, we will die,” said another labourer who is from Kandhamal district.

The irony is that many of them are unaware of the fact that the lockdown is for 21 days. Generally, they get information from newspapers hanging in the tea stalls. But now the tea stalls are closed, as also the printed version of newspapers. Hambru Patra from Ganjam, who is in the city for about four years, said, “I knew that the lockdown is till March 29 (Earlier Odisha announced the lockdown till March 29). But I do not know that now it’s for 21 days.”

As Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a financial package for the benefit of the poor, promising distribution of ration and cash transfer, it's doubtful if these people will be
immediately benefitted by the measure. None of them has a ration card or a bank account in Bhubaneswar.

If God Saves, Who Can Kill; If God Kills, Who Can Save!

This piece was carried in OdishaBytes on March 26, 2020

https://odishabytes.com/if-god-saves-who-can-kill-if-god-kills-who-can-save/?fbclid=IwAR29sQ_EHuNjTJoVA8UHRlOOCXeoy_52blOiwlLzDt7-8my4-oVeKI31ji8

“Why have you ventured out of home despite the request by the Prime Minister to stay home for 21 days in wake of the treat of Coronavirus?” I asked six daily labourers who had gathered on Thursday morning at Crown Hotel Chowk in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, expecting that someone may need their labour. “We stay here only,” they answered. “What you mean by here only? You may be staying in the nearby slum,” I exclaimed. “No, we do not have a house here. We sleep on the streets!”

My goodness! I had completely forgotten about the homeless people amid the overwhelming slogan of “Stay home, stay safe!”

While everyone is vulnerable in these testing times, these homeless people are doubly vulnerable. They are vulnerable to the disease, as they have no place to stay in the city. The tiny numbers of night-shelters are hardly functional.  They also lose out on their income due to the lockdown. With the Aahar centres closing down and restaurants shut, they are vulnerable to hunger too!

There are some pockets in Bhubaneswar, including the Crown Hotel Chowk, where the daily labourers gather and offer their labour – be it for construction, offloading and unloading work or any other work – for a price.  It’s an informal arrangement where people come looking for labourers. There is no fixed wage; all depends on negotiations between the parties. In Crown Hotel Chowk, one may see the gathering of 500 to 600 people on a normal day. A day after the March 22 Janata Curfew, when the lockdown was still prevailing, there were about 40 labourers. And today, there were only a few.

While the people on the street had no choice, I wondered why some people from slums are still coming out. “Do you not fear for your life from Corona?” I asked Bibhuti Patra (name changed on request), who lives in a nearby slum but came to seek work despite the lockdown. His answer baffled me. He cited an Odia adage, “Rakhe Hari Mare Kie, Mare Hari, Rakhe Kie!” (If God saves, who can kill? if God kills, who can save!). “We are poor people. The day we stop working, we will sleep in hunger. The fear of this new disease is no different for us. We are dying everyday!”

The Odisha government has ordered for home delivery of three months advance ration and pension, e.g. old-age, widow etc for eligible beneficiaries. These are steps in the right direction. In some areas in the state, the ration distribution has already begun.

“But we will lose about Rs 7000 seven to Rs 10,000 in these three weeks of lockdown. We request the government for monetary help to compensate for the loss of our income,” urged a labourer.

Another group is domestic workers. Most of the women living in the slums provide domestic help to the middle-class houses nearby. This has come to a halt. The public authorities have reached out to the people living in the slums and have requested them to not go for work. They have assured of timely delivery of ration. For this category of people, the deal is “no work, no pay”. The employers will hardly give them payment for the days they will miss work during the lockdown.

The beggars, who used to meet their ends by sitting in front of the temple, have suddenly become penniless, as gatherings at religious places have been suspended.

Similarly, a large number of unorganized workers working in small outlets, street vendors, sex workers, rickshaw pullers and such low-income group people have lost their jobs for now. They are already facing or will be facing severity in life in coming days due to the loss of income. Many such people living in the cities are migrants from rural areas, and some of them do not even possess a ration card in the city they live in. Their families back in villages may be having one.

Five kilograms of rice per month under the public distribution system (PDS) for people is not enough when people have zero income. “Three months ration should be considered as relief to the people in this situation. From next month, the government should distribute their regular monthly ration after the lockdown,’ opines Rajkishor Mishra, former Supreme Court Advisor on Food Rights. The government should actively consider a compensatory financial package to the poorest category for the loss of their income.

[The author is a senior journalist. He can be contacted via 2006pradeep@gmail.com]

Odisha Leads Way With Climate Budget

This piece was carried on March 16, 2020 in Outlook web version

magazine'shttps://poshan.outlookindia.com/story/poshan-news-odisha-leads-way-with-climate-budget/348879

Climate budget is a step in the right direction. It is not the same as a gender budget or a nutrition budget. It’s essentially a perspective paper on budgetary components relating to climate change. The challenge remains how far the various departments will implement the suggestions.

Pradeep Baisakh | Mar 16, 2020

Odisha is the first state to present a climate budget. The importance of such a move reflects the fact that climate has direct relevance to outcomes in agriculture, health, hunger, forests, water, etc. In fact, every aspect of life and thus climate budget is a step in the right direction. But the challenge remains how far the departments will implement the suggestions made in the budget.

Climate budget is not the same as a gender budget or a nutrition budget. It’s essentially a perspective paper on budgetary components relating to climate change. Odisha’s State Action Plan on Climate Change (SAPCC) 2015-23 has formed the basis of the state climate budget.

 The budget encompasses 11 departments - Department of Agriculture and Farmers’ Empowerment, Revenue and Disaster Management, Energy, Fisheries and Animal Resources

Development, Forest & Environment, Health & Family Welfare, Panchayati Raj & Drinking Water, Rural Development, Commerce and Transport, Housing and Urban Development
and Water Resource, in its analysis.

It is unfortunate that the Departments of Industries and Steels & Mines have been excluded from this exercise. The department of Women and Child Development is also not part of the budget. Tribal development department does not also figure though a lot of infrastructure projects are carried out through the Integrated Tribal Development Agency (ITDA). The expenditures in these departments have far-reaching impacts on climate change adaptation and mitigation.

The budget document states that “the purpose of this analysis is to assist the government in first identifying sectors and schemes to focus on improving climate resilience and mitigation outcomes, and secondly to support government in deciding whether programmes need redesigning or additional funding to accommodate changes needed to deliver climate benefits and/or safeguard projects from the impacts of climate change.”

The next step is to ensure that related schemes are revisited and resource allocations realigned. A consultation recently organized by the Foundation For Sustainable
Development and Climate Action (FSDCA) (www.fsdca.org), a non-profit organization, in association with Action For Sustainable Development (Action4SD) (action4sd.org),
a global civil society platform engaged on issues of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), looked into how far the Climate Budget addresses the climate issues of the state. About 50 people from civil society, academia, students, corporate houses and media persons participated in the event.

Just budgeting is only one step. In order to widen its intervene on the issues of climate change, it needs to create more awareness among the people on the subject
and rope in the civil society and community in the implementation of the climate action plans.

Climate Issues in Odisha:

“Despite being on the frontline to experience climate change impacts, Odisha hasn't yet attracted wider discussion in national forums. Though some discussion is taking place over coastal erosion and coastal climate, the impacts of climate change are significant on forests, rivers and overall landscape of the state,” stated Basudev Mahapatra, environment journalist. Mahapatra pointed out that due to climate change, forests in the state are degrading, rivers are dying, agriculture is facing uncertainties, and farmers are facing the brunt of it. Due to the rise of sea temperature fishes are travelling to colder area. For example, fish catch in Astaranga coast has gone down.

Globally, temperature has risen by 1.1 degree centigrade in comparison to the pre-industrial era. Rise in sea level and irregular weather conditions affecting food production are some clear impacts of climate change. The Paris Climate Deal signed by the world leaders in 2015 aims at keeping the global rise in temperature to 2 degrees above the pre-industrial era. Otherwise, it will have some irreversible impacts.

Though the people of Odisha are least responsible for climate change, we are certainly facing the heat as climate change is a global phenomenon, which does not respect boundaries. As Odisha is predominantly an agrarian society, it needs proactive actions to save its farmers and the general populace. “Climate change will drastically reduce the food production in coming years which will affect the people in Odisha,” warns Mahapatra.

Prof Surendranath Pasupalak , former Vice Chancellor, OUAT, blamed rapid, unmindful industrialization for many of the woes. “Capitalism is profit oriented. Such development does not care about the climate issues. This is the primary reason for climate change. Population growth and their rising requirement have led to consumerism and impacted negatively climate change,” stated Pasupalak.

Experts at the meet felt more funding agencies need to come forward to support climate actions undertaken by the NGOs and the government. The implementing agencies
and the monitoring agencies should be identified. These are structural needs. In addition, the participants felt traditional knowledge of locals should be utilized to help us fight climate change.

Pratap Pradhan of Samaja, a prominent Odia newspaper, stressed need for more focus on climate issues in the media by bridging the gap between the researchers on climate change and the journalists in the state. Giving a gender angle to the discussion, Bijayini Mohanty, social worker, opined, “The socio-economic impacts of climate change on the women is more than the men. The climate discussion and actions ought to reckon with this fact.” Pasupalak felt setting up of a Climate Change Commission in the state could help in bringing all the climate linked issues under one umbrella.

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(The writer is Director, Foundation For Sustainable Development and Climate Change)

People’s Assembly -- An antithesis To UN General Assembly?

This piece was carried in Outlook magazine on January 9, 2020

https://www.outlookindia.com/website/story/opinion-peoples-assembly-an-antithesis-to-un-general-assembly/345434?fbclid=IwAR352mna1wHle7jk0u7OCV-9RaN37widnw1lwZFVKzrYd-_ikhsy2hJYZ6g

When the UN SDG Summit was taking place on September 24 and 25, 2019 at the UN headquarters, a parallel People’s Assembly was being held at the UN Church Center

Pradeep Baisakh

“What do you want? Climate justice. When do you want it? Now. If we don’t get it? Shut it down!”

Around 300 activists from 80 countries, who had gathered in New York to join the People’s Assembly raised such slogans at the Dag Hammarskjold Park in Manhattan.

When the UN SDG Summit (High-Level Political Forum convened under auspices of UN General Assembly) was taking place on September 24 and 25, 2019 at the UN headquarters, New York for quadrennial review of the working of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a parallel People’s Assembly was being held at the UN Church Center, opposite the UN building. This was organised by the wider civil societies like GCAP, Action4SD, CIVICUS, Action Aid, ADRF, Forus, Women’s Major Group, Global Policy Forum, Trust Africa, FEMNET, SDG Watch Europe and others. 

The member nations of the United Nations adopted the framework of Agenda 2030 in September 2015 outlining various developmental goals. For example, SDG 1 promises to end extreme poverty, SDG 2 to end hunger, SDG 10 to reduce inequality, SDG 13 to fight climate change and SDG 16 to promote peaceful societies in the World so on. But what is the situation after four years? In comparison to 2015, there is more hunger; the gap between the rich and poor has widened. The global temperature has risen by 1.1 degree comparison to pre-industrial level, concentration of the greenhouse gases (GHG) reached a new high in 2018; genocide, and attacks on the human rights defenders and the civil society continue unabated.

In the voluntary national reviews (VNR), presented during the High-Level Political Forums (HLPF) in the last four years, most governments have listed their performances on achieving the SDGs and exhibited complacency with the ‘business as usual’ approach. By end of the two-day UN SDG Summit, the World leaders adopted a political declaration that reads “Gearing up for a decade of action and delivery of sustainable development”. This is also nothing other than a mere promise, which is issued during every such meeting.

People now feel cheated by governments for making false promises.

The Assembly was a gathering of people from civil society organisations and communities from countries like India, China, Russia, Philippines, Ghana, Kenya, Germany, United Kingdom, United States and Argentina etc. Among others, the indigenous communities from Amazon, community discriminated based on work and descent (DWD), termed as Dalits in India and other South Asian countries, and the women with disabilities from Ghana and other African countries participated. The two-day event discussed various ills faced by the world and marginalized and left-behind communities. The public demonstration in the Dag Hammarskjold Park was part of the event.

The gathering was an expression of disenchantment and restlessness by the people at the governments’ misdemeanor of taking them for granted. One can draw a similarity between the People’s Assembly to the World Social Forum, which is held as an anti-thesis to the World Economic Forum.

The Assembly brought forth some glaring facts. Over 730 million people in the world are still living under extreme poverty, 820 million go hungry every day, 1.1 billion do not have access to electricity, 2.7 billion are still without access to clean cooking facilities, and more than 260 million people across the world suffer daily exclusion and discrimination based on work and descent. The Assembly attributed some of these failures to the lopsided global economic system, so also social order.

In one voice, the gathering in the Assembly declared, “We exist in a world of profound inequality, climate emergency, a crisis of human rights and closing civic space and where violence is increasingly protracted and normalized. We live in a world where there is a crisis of accountability and governance. In 2019, at the end of the UNGA Summit, we are saddened by the persisting lack of political will & leadership to even begin to address these issues.  This is not good enough. This is a failure.”

Democracy and human rights have taken a beating in the last years. Across the world, there is a visible rise in the right-wing populists, nationalists and extremist groups, many of who have come to power and using the majority to attack the most vulnerable, who are perennially powerless. Such groups have grossly misused the social media to spread falsehood and create division and hatred between the dominant communities and the minorities.

The argument by some governments in Asia about the initiatives taken to produce renewable energy is belied by the fact that the plans for major coal utilization in South Asia and Southeast Asia alone would upset the Paris agreement targets, according to Climate Analytics. The US has already withdrawn from the Paris Climate deal despite being the second-largest emitter of carbon dioxide. India is the fourth-largest emitter, but its coal import in 2018 was largest in the last four years.

The Assembly demanded fundamental structural and system changes. It demanded climate justice, civic space, and equality.

In the coming years, the organizers are pondering to do such assemblies across the world, not just in New York or the national capitals, to unleash the people power and energy, to give it a shape of mass social movement and to force their political representatives to mend their ways of governance and be accountable to global citizens. No wonder, as the governments are failing to act on emergencies, the people are devising ways to protect the planet and drive the globe towards a more egalitarian and sustainable order.

(Baisakh is the Asia Coordinator of GCAP, a global campaign fighting inequality, and poverty. Views expressed are personal. Email id: 2006pradeep@gmail.com Twitter: @pradeepbaisakh)

Telangana Rape Case Encounter: Delivery Of Justice In India Needs Radical Reforms

This piece was carried on December 9, 2019 in OdishaBytes.

https://odishabytes.com/hyderabad-rape-case-encounter-delivery-of-justice-in-india-needs-radical-reforms/?fbclid=IwAR1IGTeCkeSZMNqhlNXMHsNofu0hV2TaygXiL50w-PtzonhtI3PYZ4tAuQg



Pradeep Baisakh 

We cannot wish away the feelings, emotions and helplessness of the people, particularly the parents of the victims, in this country in the garb of arguments that “The law should take its own course.”

On December 6 evening, when I was watching the prime time shows of various news channels to know different viewpoints about the encounter by the Telangana police in the Hyderabad rape incident, killing the four accused, I struggled a bit to fix my position on the issue.

I generally do not support such an action, as I believe that the due process of law should be followed while punishing the guilty. We are a civilized society and law has its own role to maintain the civility and protect democratic practices and values. We are not an anarchical society.

There is no iota of doubt that the four accused in the rape and murder of the veterinary doctor in Hyderabad on November 27 were guilty and deserve the highest form of punishment. But the case was to be investigated by the police and would have been heard by a judge to pronounce the punishment. But the police’s controversial action on the day, which many think is actually a cold-blooded murder reading the circumstantial factors, put an end to such a process. The police action evoked merriment among the common people, mostly women and young girls, who celebrated the occasion by beating drums, feeding sweets to each other and to the police and tying rakhi to police personnel.

Most Hindi news channels were supported the common man’s emotions defending the police action, while most English channels preferred towing an intellectual line arguing in favour of the “due process of law”. Odia regional channels also argued in favour of a popular sentiment.

As I heard the news of death of the Unnao rape victim on late night of December 6, my conscience was shaken, so also my views. The thought that repeatedly challenged my intellectual standing is: had the Uttar Pradesh police acted like the Telangana police, we would not have lost this victim!

It is also true that the negligence of the police in the Unnao case is a cause for which the alleged rapists could catch hold of the victim on the road.

It may be pointed out that this Unnao rape case is different from another infamous case in the same district where a minor girl was gang raped in 2017 in which the former BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar is an accused.

The police and justice system have miserably failed us in case of heinous crime like rape followed by murder. The mother of the Nirbhaya (2012 Delhi rape case that enraged the whole country) justified the police action in Hyderabad while blaming the system. “I have seen my daughter dying every moment while she was in her last stage of life. I have been running incessantly to get justice for my daughter. What have I got in the last seven years?” After the Nirbhaya case, there were changes in the justice delivery mechanisms to fast track the disposal of such cases in follow up to the Justice JS Verma committee report. Now, after seven years, the convicts might be hanged soon as the home ministry is likely to recommend rejection of clemency by the President (India Today report).

Nirbhaya’s mother is right. Seven years is too long a time for anyone to wait for justice in a crime as heinous and barbaric like rape and murder. Also listen to the brother of the Unnao victim, who said, “When I hugged my sister she told me, she does not want to die. She asked me to ensure that the attackers are not speared.” He adds. “Hyderabad police was right. I also want “quick justice” for my sister”. Now her father also wants the same.

Yesterday, a friend, who is a high class professional, called me and said, “ Being the father of a daughter, I support the Hyderabad police action.”

We cannot wish away the feelings, emotions and helplessness of the people, particularly the parents of the victims, in this country in the garb of arguments that “The law should take its own course.” They also have a right to speedy justice. Had the due process of law been followed, the people would not have come out dancing in support of the encounter of the rape accused. Laws are a means to an end. They are meant to give justice to the people. Laws are not end in themselves.

How did the rape accused in the Unnao case get bail? Was it not part of the justice system? And see the audacity. He had threatened the family members of victims while on bail and committted this crime. It means that the legal system is terribly vulnerable to manipulation, which we witness in several cases. It is another wake up call for our politicians, police, judiciary, intellectuals and we as society at large to undertake radical reforms in the justice delivery system, otherwise I will not be surprised to see more such “Tatkal justice system” through encounters or any other forms which mask serious human rights violations.

(The writer is a senior Bhubaneswar-based journalist and the views are personal)

Starved for Five Days, Disabled Child Succumbs in Indian Province

This piece was carried in CounterPunch (US-based journal) on September 3, 2019

https://www.counterpunch.org/2019/09/03/starved-for-five-days-disabled-child-succumbs-in-indian-province/



by PRADEEP BAISAKHFacebooTwitterRedditEmail

Starved for five days, Goutam Behera, 17, a disabled child from Odisha, an eastern state of India, finally succumbed on July 8, 2019. Was it a starvation death? Government is evasive; but the activists say, ‘yes’. If there are so many food related schemes in the state, then why the starvation deaths? That’s the moot question.

Goutam’s death is a story of state apathy and callousness, and breakdown of the social systems. His father and stepmother abandoned this disabled child as his disability became crippling in nature. Goutam was from Sargimunda village of Karlakot Panchayat under Boden block of Nuapada district in Odisha.

Goutam’s life

He has disabilities from childhood, but he studied till 5^th class in the village school and then completed 7^th class in a special school meant for disabled children in the Khariar block. But he had to discontinue his studies owing to increasing degree of disability. When he was about 13, he was limited to his tricycle as the part of the body below the waist became paralytic. The ordeal of Goutam started when his mother died and father married to another lady. Back in home from the school, he was beaten and tortured by the parents (Step-mother and father) for his inability do his daily-works. After driven out of his house, he took shelter under a tree for some year before he finally returned to his parental house after his parents shifted to another house. His elder sister Debanti, 22 was his caregiver.

Eventually, when Goutam and Debanti were completely separated from their parents, they were on their own. They were beneficiaries of some government schemes. They had a priority ration card, which fetched them 10 kg of subsidised rice per month from the public distribution system, which came irregularly. Goutam got the disability pension of rupees 500 ($7) per month. Insufficient these benefits were, Goutam would go out to beg on a daily basis to feed both of them. Debanti has also some disabilities and has dermatological problems.

Some activists had approached the administration to provide them an Antodaya card, which fetches 35 kg of subsidised rice per month, for which Goutam and his sister were eligible for being in the category of poorest of the poor and being disabled. But they were denied. And they were also denied a house under the Prime Minister housing scheme for the poor.

Conditions before the death

Owing to disability, Goutam developed a bedsore on his back and was admitted to a government hospital in April 2019. After being discharged from the hospital, he spent his pension money to buy his medicines. He could no more use the tricycle to go out for begging, Debanti tried to fetch some food from the neighbours for both of them. But it did not continue for more days. Last quota of rice they received was on May 25. Sameet Panda, member of Odisha Khadya Adhikar Abhiyan (Right to Food Campaign), who visited the village as part of a fact-finding team, narrates “Debanti felt ashamed to beg more as the neighbours also denied help after some days. The general condition of people in the village is also not well enough to support them for long.”

Attempts to cover up by the authorities

Both the brother and sister did not take any food for five days before Goutam died in evening on July 8. The next day the Manoj Mohanty, Additional Block Development Officer (ABDO) of Boden block reached the village and persuaded the villagers to cremate the body at the earliest despite request by the villagers to send the body for post-mortem. As per the legal norms (Odisha Relief Code), in case of alleged starvation death, the body should mandatorily be sent for post-mortem. The act of this officer was an attempt to cover up the case. Debanti has now been shifted to a government run rehabilitation center in nearby block headquarters.

Post the death; some damage-control measures have taken by the district administration. Debanti was issued with an Antodaya card hurriedly on 9^th of July along with 70 kg of rice. The Irony is, explains Ajit Panda, the local activist “They withdrew the card issued on 9^th July and then re-issued a card with a previous date mentioned on it i.e. 6^th July!” This is another attempt of covering up.

Some money was deposited in June 2019 in Debanti’s bank account from Chief Minister Relief fund before Goutam’s death, but Debanti was not aware about it as no authority informed her. It came to knowledge only after the death. It remained unutilized. She does not have a mobile to fetch any Sms-alert service from the banks and the branch is far off to make too many visits.

Where does the buck stop?

Agenda 2030 has been adopted by the member states of United Nations in September 2015 promising achieving 17 ambitious goals. The sustainable development goals 2 (SDG 2) aims to end hunger by 2030. Both the central and state governments are expected to work in tandem to achieve these goals. Sameet Panda says that about 13 alleged cases of hunger-deaths have taken place in last four years in Odisha. Both the state and central government owe an answer to the state of affairs vis-à-vis the SDGs.

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. In Odisha, further order by the Chief Secretary makes the entire administration responsible mentioning the Collectors as the key functionaries. By implication, the district collectors and the Chief Secretary ought to be responsible, and of course then the entire administration.

But this arrangement has not worked. In none of the cases, any such functionary has been fixed, as government has never accepted them as starvation deaths. In this case also, sources suggest, official inquiry report refuses to accept it as a case of starvation death.

Repeated attempt by this reporter to reach out to the district Collector, Madhusmita Sahu to get her reaction on the matter, went in vain.

How to stave off the starvation deaths

Rajkishor Mishra of Rupayan, a NGO working in food issues says “Earlier we had an emergency feeding programme under which the destitute would get free cooked meal from the Anganwadis once in a day. This has been discontinued since April 2015. Similar programme with a better focus should be launched forthwith.”

In view of the fast crumbling social systems, foolproof mechanism should be developed to stop hunger deaths. The village Panchayats should prepare and regularly update a roster identifying the families in vulnerable condition and suffering from chronic hunger. These families should be given Antodaya cards. In every Panchayat, there must be hoardings explaining the parameters for identification of such individuals and families and schemes meant for them.

Post the death; the Chief Minister’s Office woke up to the cause and doing a survey in backward districts to identify the vulnerable families and individuals. In Balangir district of the province, such people have been included all possible government schemes. These are good moves, but reactionary in nature. Government ought to be proactive in addressing issues of starvation.

The government should adopt a “graduation approach” to deal with such families and individuals. When immediate relief should be provided to a starving family, long term support for their livelihood and linking to the health facilities will stave the people to slip into same situation again.

.....

Pradeep Baisakh is a senior journalist based in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India. He can be reached through email: 2006pradeep@gmail.com