Children’s participation in protest is due to their higher consciousness: Abhaya Sahoo

The interview came in Orissa Diary on 24th June 2011.

Web Link: http://orissadiary.com/inerview/abhaysahoo.asp


Children’s participation in protest is due to their higher consciousness: Abhaya Sahoo

Amidst controversial but successful method of taking help of children to stage Dharana in Govindur village under Kujang Tehsil to prevent the entry of the administration to acquire land in the area, POSCO Pratirodha Sangram Samiti (PPSS) observed ‘Black Day’ on 22nd June to protest the day on which MoU was signed by the Orissa government with the south Korean Steel Giant: POSCO. Its leader Abhaya Sahoo terms the decision of administration for temporary suspension of land acquisition as a victory of people, though temporary, which PPSS promises to convert into a permanent victory. In an exclusive interview he speaks to Pradeep Baisakh, Senior Editor, OrissaDiary and clears air over controversies surrounding their struggle.

Photo: Abhaya Sahoo

Orissa Diary: The government has announced for a temporary suspension of land acquisition in Govindpur/Dhinkia area? Do you consider it as your victory?

Abhaya Sahoo: Temporarily suspended. So it’s also a temporary victory. But we want to convert it to a permanent victory. We have miles to go. We have to strengthen our organisation so also our movement to achieve the permanent goal.

OD: Who this victory is attributed to?

AS: The democratic movement has forced the state government to withdraw the land acquisition process for a temporary period. It also needs to be noted that by the political atmosphere, which was created on the ground, the Naveen government was sidelined. All political partied except the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) came and extended their support to the POSCO Pratirodh Sangram despite the difference amongst themselves. Several social and political activists of national stature and reputation also visited and extended support.

OD: Has the visit of many national level activists like Medha Patkar, Swami Agnivesh, Gurudas Dasgupta, Rajgopal and others and the visit of representatives (from within Orissa) of political parties like CPI, CPI (M), Congress and others boosted the morale of the protesting people?

AS: Naturally several national social and political activists came here and the way they addressed the protesting people, it mounted pressure on the government on one hand and encouraged the people on the other. The leaders now keep coming. Their solidarity keeps the morale of people high and strengthens the movement.

OD: A new aspect of the movement added this time where you have preferred children to form the frontal barricade of the human chain formed that literally stopped the police to enter into the village. Do not you think the issue of child rights is involved here?

AS: Basic responsibility lies with the government to make congenial atmosphere for the children to go to school. I think that aspect is avoided deliberately by the state government. Since the parents are being beaten up by the police and the armed police are confronting the democratically protesting People, so the children are compelled to participate in the protest Dharanas. I will say it’s the higher consciousness of the children that they have come forward to rescue of their parents and to safeguard their livelihood.

OD: Do you see the temporary suspension of land acquisition by the government as a trick to befool people and make some new strategy to enter the area by taking people by surprise?

AS: I see this retreat of the government as a tactic to buy time and come again in a big way. This is one thing. We however are all for strengthening our movement and mobilize people in and around so that the pitch of democratic protest goes up which the government will find hard to ignore. It may then budge to the wishes of people.

OD: The government seems to be firm in establishing the POSCO project in this area since it has started construction work in the Polang and other villages where it has already acquired land. How do you respond to that?

AS: If you take law into consideration, since there is no MoU (MoU has expired and yet to be renewed) with POSCO, the government should have not taken any construction work for POSCO now. But they have done it which is beyond law. They are violating the law. We are also organising people from the side where construction work is going on so that they oppose the construction work. Some individuals have taken the shelter of the High Court against the illegal order of the Environment Ministry of GoI and illegal land acquisition. The court will be hearing the case soon.

OD: Visiting personalities like Swami Agnivesh, Medha Patkar urged the government to hold talks with the protesting people. Shall you be willing to talk to the government?

AS: Democratic dialogue has a good space in a democratic movement that we cannot avoid. Last year we had a direct dialogue with the Chief Minister also. But he did not keep up to his promise to visit our area. If the state government wants to start a negotiation with PPSS it should create a congenial atmosphere. For that it has to stop land acquisition, withdraw armed police from the area and withdraw false cases clamped on innocent people, and then PPSS will consider any offer of dialogue with the government.

OD: But you are firm on your position for the relocation of the POSCO project from this location. This does not leave any room for negotiation. On what subject then the government holds dialogue on?

AS: This is our basic demand that the government must withdraw the POSCO project from here. If the government is not keen in withdrawing project from our area, they may not come for any dialogue. The movement has come to the stage where the government cannot resort to use of force to establish the project as ours is a democratic movement and this is also a democratically elected government. Dialogue is of course a preferred way for working out solutions.

OD: What is your impression on United Action Committee (UAC), a pro-POSCO outfit? Does it represent the people’s will or it’s a creation of the government to confuse the media and public?

AS: It’s a creation of the government and the company. They have lost their entity. Their chairman has resigned. They are also divided with respect of who would get the contract for undertaking construction work in the area. They are now afraid of people and they are going to be more divided.

OD: Veteran BJD leader Damodar Rout alleges that since you do not belonging to this area, so you do not have any locus standi to lead the movement?

AS: The person who has made such complaints against me himself does not belong to this area. So he and I fit into the same category. If he has the right to make complaints I have the right to fight for protecting the interest of people.

OD: If everyone starts opposing the industrial projects like this then what will be the future of industrial of the state?

AS: It’s not good to oppose industrialisation for the sake of opposition. We are of very scientific view that the industrialisation should not come at the cost of vibrant agrarian economy. That’s our objective and stand. It can be take in some barren land where there is no or faltering agriculture. We are not opposed to industrialisation.

OD: If in place of POSCO, which is a foreign company, an India company like TATA proposes to build steel plant in the area, would you also oppose the same way?

AS: It’s not a question of domestic or foreign capital. At no cost a rich agrarian economy can be sacrificed for such industries.

OD: Police has been camping in the area for some months now. Are people in the village facing any difficulty due to this?

AS: People are facing different types of socio-economic difficulties due to the police presence. At one point the police was camping in the schools inside the village, which was hampering the education of the children. This is however not possible for them due to the movement of the people. The police presence at the entry point to the area, namely Balitutha prevents the activist to go out of our area. Ceremonies could not be held in villages. People cannot go out to meet relatives, cannot go out for undertaking economic activities etc. So a lot of social and economic hardships people have to face.

OD: Are people facing any health related hardships?

AS: On occasions the health of the people has been complicated due to improper access to hospitals. But PPSS has arranged heath camps for the needy people and we have asked solidarity organisations to provide doctors to look the ailing people.

OD: At this testing moment what is your appeal for the public who are sympathisers of the anti-POSCO movement?

AS: To express solidarity to this anti-POSCO movement has been a key contribution of our friends and well wishers outside. It has helped us a lot in keeping our momentum. It has also kept building pressure on the state and central government in many ways. We urge the public at large to oppose any forceful attempt of land acquisition and help us visiting us, by writing to the government to withdraw force, by simultaneously undertake protest march or Dharanas in other areas.

Intensive farming responsible for farmers’ suicides

This piece came in Orissa diary on 18th June 2011 and in Counter Currents on 17th June 2011

Link: http://www.orissadiary.com/CurrentNews.asp?id=27334

Link: http://www.countercurrents.org/baisakh170611.htm

Intensive farming responsible for farmers’ suicides

By Pradeep Baisakh

POSCO steel is a water guzzler. If they are beneficial to us, they should be beneficial to South Korea also, why then they are coming to India ?

Dr Devinder Sharma

Devinder Sharma, Journalist, Food Policy Analyst and an activist speaks to Pradeep Baisakh, Senior Editor, Orissa Diary on the issue of farmers' suicide, role of Micro Finance Institutions, water conflict between industry and agriculture sector, with special focus on Orissa.

Q: Odisha is not much known for farmers' suicide the way we hear it in Vidarbha, Andhra Pradesh etc. But of late such cases are being reported in the media. What's the reason?

A: When you look at the issue of farmers' suicide, it's an indication of the crisis that exists in the agriculture sector. This is linked to monoculture and intensive or industrial farming model, which have been implemented in the country. Vidharbha for instance has been in the news on the issue of farmers' suicide mainly because there is one NGO namely Vidharbha Jan Andolan Samiti which regularly compiles the figures of farmers suicide and feeds to the media. Unfortunately there are no such NGOs elsewhere to do a similar job. So we do not get the real picture of farmers distress in other areas where conditions are equally bad. Suppose this NGO also stops compiling suicide figures, our impression about Vidharbha as a suicide belt of India will also disappear. In other words, not only in Vidharbha, agriculture across the country is in a terrible crisis.

The primary cause of farm suicide is the destruction of natural resources. Due to intensive farming soil has been destroyed and ground water has plummeted. Inputs like use of fertiliser and pesticides have destroyed the environment. Unwanted technologies have added to the woes. The input cost e.g. the cost of the seeds, fertilisers and pesticides have gone up whereas the output cost has remained more or less same in the last twenty years. If you adjust for inflation, output prices have remained more or less frozen. So what do you expect the farmer to do? They collapse under agrarian distress and commit suicide.

In Odisha the suicide rates are not as high as in Maharastra or Punjab. That's because Odisha still follows sustainable farming practices. It is yet to completely switch over to intensive farming.

Odisha has yet not adopted the ‘intensive farming' model that the green revolution areas are plagued with. The lessons here are very clear. If you want the farmers to suffer push them into intensive farming. I find Odisha is now at the crossroads. It is under pressure from agribusiness to go in for industrial farming. It has therefore to decide what path -- sustainable or unsustainable -- it wants to pick up for its farmers.

Q: Can you explain what intensive or industrial farming model is?

A: Soil comprises of organic matter. The effort should be on how to ensure that the organic matter is released to plants in a sustainable manner. Under the industrial farming model, the use of chemical fertilisers, pesticides and hybrid seeds are promoted in an intensive way. Over the years, chemical fertilisers have upset the equilibrium of micro-organism in the soil. The organic matter in the soil should be at least 2%. If it is 4% content, nothing like it. Now look at Punjab, where the organic matter in the soil has come down to a low of 0.1-0.2%. In other words due to excessive use of chemical fertilisers, organic matter in the soils is almost zero. Under such conditions, crop production is dependent upon how much chemical fertilisers you use. It is primarily for the lack of organic matter in soil that farmers are now applying twice the quantity of fertilisers that they used to apply some 10 years ago for getting the same harvest. What is not being realised is that the soil is gasping for breath. The desperate need of the hour is to regenerate the soil.

Similarly, the use and abuse of chemical pesticides have played havoc with the environment and food chain. All this has been necessitated because we developed high-yielding crop varieties and hybrids that were responsive to chemical fertilisers and pesticides.

These crop varieties are also water guzzlers. A high-yielding variety (HYV) of rice, for example, consumes on an average 5000 litres of water to produce 1 kg of grain. For the hybrid varieties, the water requirement is as high as 7000 to 7500 litres for a 1 kg of rice production. Hybrid seeds have hybrid vigour and therefore its seed have to be purchased afresh every year. This means more in put cost for the farmer. In any case, till now hybrid rice occupied about 3% area under cultivation. Now the government is aggressively pushing the use of hybrid seeds under Rashtriya Krishi VikasYojana. As a result we will see water mining literally sucking the groundwater levels dry. Any shortfall in rain will turn into a severe drought-like condition because the groundwater levels will fall drastically because of hybrid seeds promotion.

Q: In many cases of farmer's suicides there appears to be a linkage with small loans taken from Micro-Finance Institutions (MFIs). Are MFIs also responsible for agrarian distress?

A: There is no denying that micro-finance is a killer. It looks very attractive under the garb of disbursing small credit at a cheaper rate to build the capacity of the poor and thereby alleviate poverty. In reality, it does the opposite. I fail to understand how poverty can be banished when the poor are given small loans up to Rupees 10,000 on an exorbitant annual interest rate of 24%, which in reality turns out to be as high as 48% on weekly recovery. If you and I were to be also charged a usurping interest of 24 % we would surely slide into poverty. Micro-finance is therefore nothing short of a crime against humanity.

In the cities, we can buy a car on a loan at an interest averaging 6-7%. House loans up to rupees 20 lakh are available at 8 % interest. Why should then the poorest of the poor be charged 24 % for a paltry amount? This is nothing but crime. And now look at the hypocrisy of MFIs. They have gone to the Reserve Bank of India pleading for an extension of their repayment period for loans to 5-6 years. MFIs expect the poorest of the poor to repay at weekly intervals but when it comes to them, they are seeking a repayment period of 5-6 years. Isn't this double standard? I have no hesitation in saying that the MFIs bosses need to be held accountable for the crime they continue to inflict on the poor.

Often MFIs respond by saying they have empowered the poor with micro-finance. This is a cruel joke. As I said earlier, if anyone like you and me were to repay back our loans at an interest rate of 24% with weekly instalments, we too would remain perpetually in poverty. The stories that some women have succeeded with MFIs loans is not only unconvincing but are more often than not simply cooked up. As the private money lenders (who charge still higher rate of interests) and they too will tell you stories of several poor who turned the tables with their loans. So if the MFIs brand the private money lenders as criminals, I see no reason why they too need to be seen as anything different. MFIs are nothing but organised money lenders.

Q: People also are taking multiple credits?

A: The repayment cycle is so designed that poor have no choice but to take multiple credit thereby falling in multiple trap. When the poor women cannot repay at weekly intervals they come under so much of peer pressure that they are left with no other option but to commit suicide. Most of the poor in the rural areas are either small farmers or landless labourers. It is therefore obvious that farmer suicide has a direct correlation with the functioning of MFIs.

Let me illustrate. If a poor woman in West Bengal wants to buy a goat she gets a loan from an MFI at 24%. On the other hand, the previous government had made available credit to Tatas for setting up its manufacturing facility for Nano car at an interest of 1%. Isn’t this ironical? If the poor woman was also to be given a small loan at 1% interest I bet she would be driving a Nano car at the end of the year.

Q: In many cases, relatives of the victims of farmer suicides allege that coercive methods are used by MFIs to recover loan thereby creating a desperate situation wherein the borrower is forced to commit suicide. Has the government done enough on this issue?

A: This is true. Recently, primarily for this reason Andhra Pradesh had brought in a law to regulate MFIs. I am told the Centre is brining in another law which will over-ride the AP law. It is therefore obvious that no lessons have been learnt. The Centre appears keen to protect the erring MFIs. This probably follows from the global euphoria in recent years in favour of the MFIs. Such a feeling emanated after the Nobel Peace prize was given to Mohammed Yunus of Bangladesh. No one ever asked Yunus whether he had ever taken a loan at an interest rate of 24% for himself or for his family. The same is true for the head of Basix and SKS Finance in India. They have never taken a loan for themselves at 24%.

I fail to understand why the shutter should not be pulled down on MFIs. The RBI can do that. I have always said that if farmers can be given cooperative loans at 3% (some States give at 1%) why the same loan cannot be extended to the SHGs?

Q: Farmers in Western Odisha districts like Balangir and Kalahandi, which are also part of the KBK (Undivided Kalahandi, Balangir and Koraput) region, have started using Bt cotton seed for cotton farming. Is it legal? What will be the impact of the entry of Bt seeds to Odisha agro-market given that it has led to farm crisis elsewhere?

A: I think it does not matter if this is legal or illegal. The governments all over the country are supporting Bt cotton or genetically modified cotton. Under public pressure some of the governments may say something, but basically all of them barring a few exceptions are sold to the idea of GM crops.

KBK as an area has been in news for long and for wrong reasons. We all know what has gone wrong with KBK, which otherwise is a naturally well endowed region. Early in 1990s when I visited the area to research for my book, people had started shifting to cash crops. You cannot only blame the seed companies for the shift. My view is the farmers are also responsible for the mess they have created in agriculture. Normally we all blame the government. But somewhere down the line we need to also see where the farmer is at fault. If in the last fifteen years more then 2.5 lakh farmers have committed suicide much of the blame also rests with farmers. They have gone equally greedy and wanted to be rich overnight and did all the wrong things. They complain that they have been taken for a ride while purchasing a particular type of seed, this is not believable. I think as a community they must come together to understand what has gone wrong. Look at the farmers union. Are any of them taking the issue of farmers' suicide seriously?

In KBK region also farmers have tried to be rich overnight. There is always a government pressure through various ‘Kisan Melas' to adopt a particular model of farming or promoting a particular brand of seed. But the farmer should know what seed they are using and what would its effect be.

There is one farmer Subhash Sharma in Vidharbha region who owns 16 acres of land. He grows organic crops for the domestic market; does not use any chemical fertilisers or pesticides and still makes good profit. To his 50-odd workers, he gives an annual bonus and also provides them leave travel concession with 50 holidays every year. If one farmer can do this, why can't others? Still more importantly, Subhash Sharma farms in the heart of the suicide belt of Vidharbha. This only shows that there still is hope provided the farmers learn to apply the right kind of farming techniques and approaches.

Q: Is the water conflict between industry and agriculture real? Or do we have sufficient water resources to afford for both the sectors?

A: Water conflict is now all pervasive. In Gujrat, Andhara Pradesh, Punjab conflict is being witnessed around the contentious issue of water distribution. Odisha is also going to be major problematic area because the influx of private companies will divert a lot of water being used by the communities. Most of the companies which originate in other Asian countries are coming here for water. For example, POSCO (A South Korean steel giant which is going to make huge investment in Odisha) originates from South Korea which is faced with a terrible water crisis. Crisis there is so precarious that here is one country (there may be other countries) which actually erected underground dams for preserving and conserving groundwater. Steel manufacturing process is one of the worst water consuming. Therefore if Korea permits companies like POSCO to guzzle water then there will be little water left for domestic use. Therefore Korea is allowing steel and car manufacturers (car production tops the list as far as water consumption is concerned) to set up plants outside the country. But in our quest for more FDI we allow these companies to set in. We are simply ignoring the environmental cost. By the time we realise it, it will be too late.

Q: Despite a large number of cases of farmers' suicide why the farmers union have not been successful in taking up the issue and improve upon the situation?

A: There was a time when the farmers union were doing very well. The prominent farmer leaders are Narayan Swami Naidu in Tamil Nadu, Sarad Joshi, a national scale leader, Mahendra Singh Tikayat in North India , Dr Sunilam in MP and others. They were popular and had a lot of support from the farmers. But over the years most of the farmer's leader stared getting into elections. That is where the process of weakening of the farmers union started. Narayan Swami Naidu fought election and lost. Then his movement fizzled out. Similarly Sharad Joshi fought lections and lost. His ‘Chetkari Sangatahan' lost its sheen and there are almost no followers now. The gentleman is now in the bandwagon of Mansantos, the infamous seed company. Similarly Mahendar Singh Tikayat's original 'Bhartiya Kishan Sangathan' has fragmented to so many splinter groups. He is very sick now and his son entered into politics and lost deposits. This is the beginning of the end of the farmers' movement. I have a feeling that the way Trade Union leaders failed the workers movement similarly the farmer leaders have failed the farmers' movement. Every farmer leaders have political ambitions.

2.5 lakh farmers committed suicide, but not a single farmer leader has the guts to come and sit on fast. On one occasion I had offered them that I will go on fast on the issue and you join. Then gradually farmers will join from across the country, but none accepted my offer. The farmers are in search of honest farmer leaders who can lead them and rescue from the current agro crisis.

…………………

The author is the Senior Editor, Orissa Diary. He can be contacted through e mail: 2006pradeep@gmail.com

Prevent possible genocide in proposed POSCO area of Orissa: Dr B D Sharma

The interview came in Orissa Diary (http://www.orissadiary.com/) on 15th June 2011

Web Link: http://www.orissadiary.com/CurrentNews.asp?id=27257

Prevent possible genocide in proposed POSCO area of Orissa: Dr B D Sharma

 By Pradeep Baisakh

 

Dr B D Sharma

Dr. B D Sharma, former Chairperson of SC/ST Commission, President, Bharat Jana Andolan and an authoritative voice on tribal issues visited proposed POSCO area in Jagatsingpur district on 7th June 2011 to witness the people's protest against the forceful land acquisition by the police. He visited Govindpur village under Dhinkia Panchayat, the bastion of POSCO Pratirodha Sangram Samiti (PPSS), an outfit leading the anti POSCO struggle for last six years and also saw the police preparedness (about 20 platoon of force is camping there) in the area. Dr Sharma speaks exclusively to Pradeep Baisakh, Senior Editor, OrissaDiary.com and expresses concern over the tensed situation prevailing due to heavy presence of police force in the area.

Q: You visited the Govindpur village under Dhinkia Panchayat, supposed to be the bastion for anti-POSCO movement. What is your observation?

A: The police have arrived in the area with full force and is organising flag marches. This is basically to threaten people to leave the area. The police are now strategising their next move. But the people there are too determined to be intimidated. They are resolved to protect their land by protesting in democratic manner.

Q: On several occasions of land acquisition, like in case of Kalinga Nagar (for TATA steel) in 2006 and in Maikanch (in Kashipur for Utkal Alumina) the state has used force leading bloodshed and loss of lives. Do you apprehend such situation here also?

A: Nothing can be ruled out given the situation now arising out of deployment of heavy police force in Govindpur village. The people are known to have opposed the project for last six years. Despite that if the state decides for forceful eviction leading to any untoward incidence then this will not be termed as mere police action but'genocide'. If you do not anticipate a situation and opens fire to control the crowd leading to loss of life, then that is different. But in this case where you know that people will not leave their land and still you open fire at them, then its genocide. Moreover people in Dhinkia and other Panchayats are democratically protesting.

Q: Jairam Ramesh, the Minister of state for Environment and Forest, GoI gave the environmental clearance to POSCO project ignoring the findings and recommendations of the expert committees appointed by him. How far is that justified?

A: His own appointed committees like Saxena and Meena Gupta committees have given reports of violation of forest rights act and other laws like coastal zone regulations etc by the state government and recommended for withdrawal of all the clearances (Saxena committee and majority of Meena Gupta committee) granted to the project. Despite that if he is giving clearance to the project then it seems that he is influenced. Even though the Minister is under no legal obligation accept the recommendations of the expert committees, but the norm is that the Minister should go through the suggestions carefully and decide accordingly.

Q: The Environment Minster, while pronouncing the final order, heavily depended on the argument of the state government that "Faith and trust is an essential pillar of cooperative federalism". (This was on the issue whether there were Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (OTFDs) present in the area, which the state government denies) Should federalism be based on rule of law or trust and faith?

A: It is obviously the rule of law and the provisions of Constitution that determine the federal character. Faith and trust do not count when it comes to the issue of implementation of laws passed by Parliament (Forest Rights Act, 2006) by the state government.

Q: Is there no scope for peaceful industrialisation? What is the way out for POSCO?

A: The Bhuria Committee on tribal self rule has given extensive recommendations on how the state should include the community as the stake holders in the industrial ventures. The government should hold talks with the people who are losing land and are going to be directly or indirectly affected by the project. Some solution will emerge. Peaceful industrialisation is possible by debates and holding discussion. But if the government depends on using force against its own people for ushering industry driven development, then how it can be peaceful.

Q: The Naveen Patnaik government is going ahead with its pursuit of aggressive industrialisation and has signed above 85 MoUs without any proper estimation of the requirement of land, water and forest and how they would be acquired. This is despite criticism from several quarters. The state has not dithered to use brutal force against its own people while favouring corporate. Despite all these it has bounced back to power with a thumping majority for the third time! Has the representative democracy failed in India to ensure accountability of the government?

A: Yes, it has. Unfortunately, in the representative form of democracy as is being operating in India, the real owners i.e. the people get only one chance to decide in every five years. After a government is elected, it takes the people for granted and pursues its own agenda, which is many a time contrary to the overall interest of people. This is not how representative democracy should function. But unfortunately, it so functions here.

[The author is the Senior Editor, Orissa Diary. He can be contacted through e mail: 2006pradeep@gmail.com ]

Is the Forest Rights Act working?

The interview with Ashish Kothari, Environmentalist came in India Together on 17th May 2011


The web link: http://www.indiatogether.org/2011/may/env-fra.htm

17 May 2011 - Environmentalist Ashish Kothari was a member of the Inter-Ministerial Committee (constituted by Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) and Ministry of Tribal Affairs) to review the implementation of the Forest Rights Act (FRA). The committee, headed by Dr N C Saxena submitted its report recently to the Central government. During the course of its work the committee visited Odisha to assess the performance of the FRA there, particularly in the area proposed for the new POSCO plant.

Kothari, in candid conversation with Pradeep Baisakh, reveals the politics behind the approval of the POSCO project by MoEF, and discusses how the FRA is faring in the state.

What is your observation on the status of implementation of FRA in Odisha?

Overall, the implementation of FRA is bad throughout the country. In Odisha, there are some things which are quite progressive - a number of clarificatory orders have been issued by the state government (to explain how the Act should be implemented), and the state-level monitoring process has been better than in other states. But on the other hand there are also very serious systemic problems in protecting individual rights as well as community rights.

On the community rights front, the state has hardly progressed. It has given only 500-700 titles under community claims whereas the number of claims filed by applicants is four to five times as many. There is either reluctance on part of the state government, particularly the Forest Department (FD) to give forest rights to communities, or they are mostly focusing on individual rights for their own political reasons.

One reason why the government is not promoting community rights is because they want to open large tracts of forest land to mining and other so-called developed projects. If communities get rights over forest land, to that extent it will be more difficult for the government to push this agenda.

By distributing individual titles, the state government is hoping that the FRA can be used to tackle Maoism in tribal areas. How do you see this strategy working?

Lack of tenurial security and lack of appropriate development inputs are among the reasons why Naxalism has spread so much in the country. Laws like FRA, the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, the Right to Information Act do help in addressing these deficits that feed the growth of Naxalism. But if you think of FRA in that kind of an instrumental way of dealing with Naxalism, it's a wrong approach. The Act is about recognition of the fundamental right that the community already has. It's not something the state is giving to people out of charity.

Moreover, Naxalism as an issue has to be tackled at a much more fundamental level. And that will not happen if the government enacts one law here and another scheme there, and claims it is doing enough to deal with Naxalism.

You have visited the proposed site of the POSCO project as part of the FRA review committee. What's your observation there?

Our role was primarily to find out if the FRA is being implemented there, and to see if there are eligible claimants (for protection) under the Act. The state government is claiming that there are no eligible scheduled tribes in the area, so the FRA does not apply. We went there for investigation, and verified the present and old records, and decided that the state government is lying. There are a few scheduled tribes, and many more people classified as Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (OTFDs), who've lived there for more than 75 years and are dependent on the forest - for betel leaves and other minor forest produce.

Our main conclusion was that there are legitimate claimants and they have tried to file claims which the government has ignored, therefore the project is in violation of the FRA. There has also been violation of MoEF's own circular which says no forest land can be diverted until the FRA process is complete and unless the consent of the gram sabha is taken for such diversion. I know at least three gram sabhas have passed resolutions opposing diversion of forest land.

The Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh cited several provisions of FRA to say 'no' to mining in Niyamgiri hills by Vedanta, but gave conditional approval to POSCO's project (now final approval has been given). Are the tribal and forest issues more pressing in Niyamgiri than here?

There are a few scheduled tribes in the POSCO project area, and many more people classified as Other Traditional Forest Dwellers, who've lived there for more than 75 years and are dependent on the forest - for betel leaves and other minor forest produce.  •  Consent under duress  •  Interdependence and integration

The number of tribals living in Niyamgiri hills, where the Vedanta project was proposed, is certainly more than in the POSCO area. But from the environmental perspective and from the point of view of rights of people, both POSCO are Vedanta involve serious and similar issues. And of course from the point of view of violation of laws like FRA, CRZ, and wildlife protection laws, they are on equal footing. In fact Jairam's decision on POSCO is completely inconsistent with his decision on Vedanta. If he had applied the same yardstick used to deny mining and expansion of refinery to Vedanta, the POSCO project would never have got the clearance.

Moreover, it was easier for the government to say 'no' to mining in Niyamgiri as Vedanta already has a refinery in operation in the area. Now it could get mineral from elsewhere, as it is now trying to get from Gandhmardan and other places. But in case of POSCO, if it had withdrawn forest and environment clearance, the project would not come into being at all. Moreover POSCO is a much bigger investment and the biggest FDI in the country. The PMO is directly interested in this project. There is an inside kind of news that India is probably interested in entering into a nuclear deal with South Korea. Taking advantage of this, the South Korea government is backing its own corporate.

Has the FRA become a stumbling block for upcoming development projects?

Yes, but in a good way. Because what the FRA says is that the development projects have to be appropriate; they have to be ecologically right, culturally sensitive and they should benefit people. The kind of projects which are coming up are mindlessly extracting water and forest resources on which people depend; these are not really 'development' projects. And if the FRA is coming in the way of such projects then it's a good stumbling block to have.

There are other projects - like those taken up with support from Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), and others taken up under the Joint Forest Management (JFM) - that existed before the FRA was enacted. Are they legal in the current FRA regime, particularly in the manner the Forest Department (FD) is pushing them through in many states?

No, not at all. Any previous project or schemes, in which the Forest Department (FD) or any government agency is taking any decision evading the gram sabha would be completely inconsistent with and violative of FRA. So the projects you're asking about, whether under JBIC or CAMPA (a Compensatory Aforestation Programme) or JFM, unless they confirm to FRA, those are illegal.

On one hand, both the central and state (Odisha) governments are visibly pro-corporate. On the other, here is an act in form of FRA that gives power to people to block destructive development projects. Does it create a situation of confrontation between the people and the state - more so when it's not uncommon for the governments to declare a particular area as Maoist-affected, or to brand a particular group of people fighting for their legitimate rights (Like in Narayanpatna in Koraput district) as Maoists?

If the governments continue to impose an inappropriate form of development on people and take away their land and natural resources for doling out to a corporate, then confrontation will take place. FRA or no FRA, people now are asserting that they should have a voice in the development of their area and their own human development. Laws like FRA and RTI help people to raise their voices. Democratic aspirations are rising everywhere. If the government continues not to listen to people then there will be confrontation.

And yes, the state will use repressive laws like the Chhatisgarh government is doing. Even ordinary NGOs like ours (Kothari heads the NGO, Kalpavriksh) would be branded as anti-development, anti-national, Maoists and so forth. Even in places like Gujarat, where there is no presence of Maoists, the state has branded people as Maoists and repressed them.
⊕

Pradeep Baisakh 
17 May 2011

Movement for worse

This piece came in Down To Earth in May 16-31, 2011 issue

http://www.downtoearth.org.in/content/movement-worse

Movement for Worse

The marginalised from Western Odisha who migrate out of the state lead difficult lives


Pradeep Baisakh

Bhubaneswar Bindhani has not heard of a UNDP Human Development Report Paper, ‘Migration and Human Development’. It is quite likely the authors of the 2009 report did not take note of the fortunes of this resident of Nuagaon village in Odisha’s Nuapada district when they wrote, “migration fosters development of the migrant people.” They also perhaps did not take note of many other people from Odisha’s western districts who migrate every year to work in sub-human conditions at brick kilns and construction sites in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.

In 2010, eight members of Bindhani’s family sought work in different parts of Andhra Pradesh to return a loan of Rs 27,000. Non-profit ActionAid’s statistics show 200,000 people migrated from the western districts of Odisha to work in the brick kilns of Andhra Pradesh. Data compiled by another non-profit, Migration Information and Resource Centre (MIRC), shows 150,000 people migrated from Balangir district in 2009-2010. According to this non-profit, most migrants are landless or small or marginal farmers, and belong to the Scheduled Tribe and Scheduled Caste communities.

The condition of the migrant workers of this area is well encapsulated by the Inter-state Migrant Workmen’s (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Services) Act, 1979. The Act’s preamble reads, “At the time of recruitment, sardars or khatadars promise that wages calculated in piece-rate basis would be settled every month, but usually this promise is never kept. Once the worker comes under the clutches of a contractor, he takes him to a far-off place on payment of railway fare. No working hours are fixed for these workers.”

Miriki Tandi of Balangir district, who worked at a brick kiln in Andhra Pradesh’s Nalgonda district, told this writer that brick kiln workers labour for 18 hours a day throughout the season (October/November to May/June) for a weekly allowance of Rs 300. A typical labour unit constitutes two adult members and a child. This unit is supposed to make 150,000 to 200,000 bricks in seven months. The families usually eat broken rice (chicken fodder) with dal and sometimes a little curry. “A good meal at a brick kiln is a dream for us,” lamented Tandi.

An MIRC study notes that more than 80 per cent of migrant children work with their parents. The study also notes that 10 per cent of the total migrants are in the age group of 6-14, who lose education for seven months in a year. It points out that 49 per cent of such children go to schools when they are not labouring in other states; the rest are either dropouts or never enrolled in the school due to uninterrupted migration. In the destination areas only a handful of children get education in schools run by NGOs.

Photo: family attends the last rites of Rupadhar Bariha, beaten to death by employer

Very often, the workers are tortured by employers. In April 2010, newspapers in Odisha reported the death of a migrant worker from Balangir, Rupadhar Bariha. Kept as a bonded labourer along with his family at a brick kiln in Nalgonda district, Bariha was beaten to death by kiln owner Jagan Seth. Last year, the Balangir administration had to rescue people from the district working as bonded labourers in brick kilns in Andhra Pradesh’s Ranga Reddy district. Most brick kilns in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh as well as in parts of Odisha are not registered under company laws and are rarely monitored by labour departments.

The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme could have helped the migrants. But the scheme has not really worked well in Odisha. In Balangir, for example, 61,000 of the 245,000 job card holders were covered under the scheme in 2009-2010. These job card holders have got an average of 43 days of employment, as per official figures. In Nuapada district only 18 per cent of the job cards (108,000) got an average of 27 days of employment in 2009-2010.

The author is a freelance journalist based in Bhubaneswar. He can be contacted at 2006pradeep@gmail.com

Vedanta and Posco: A tale of two projects

This piece came in InfochangeIndia in April 2011

Web Link: http://infochangeindia.org/201104158758/Environment/Features/Vedanta-and-Posco-A-tale-of-two-projects.html

Vedanta and Posco: A tale of two projects

Why was the POSCO project treated so differently from Vedanta? One was given clearance, with conditions, while the other was rejected, despite the fact that both were found to be in violation of the Forest Rights Act and other laws. Is it realpolitik that guides these decisions, asks Pradeep Baisakh

On April 1, 2011, the Orissa government filed an application in the Supreme Court challenging the Centre’s rejection of environmental clearance to the UK-based Vedanta Group’s $1.7 billion bauxite mining project proposed in the Niyamgiri hills. The state government filed the application through the Orissa Mining Corporation (OMC) against the Ministry of Environment and Forests’ (MoEF) order, dated August 24, 2010, denying the project clearance. In its petition, the state government said that the MoEF’s decision was in violation of a previous order by the Supreme Court giving the project the green signal. It also contended that the Centre’s order was illegal and arbitrary.

So, why was Vedanta denied clearance and another project, POSCO, given the go-ahead? According to three members of the Meena Gupta-headed POSCO review committee (tribal affairs expert Urmila Pingle, former director general of forests Devendra Pandey and Madras High Court advocate V Suresh), constituted to look into the violation of various laws in the proposed POSCO project: “Both POSCO and Vedanta are alike in the sense that in both instances there is gross violation of the law with impunity.”

This is a view shared by many who have been keenly watching the approach of the state and the central government towards the two much-talked-about projects -- POSCO steel and Vedanta alumina. So there was surprise that Vedanta was given the thumbs-down (August 24, 2010) while POSCO got the green signal (January 31, 2011). One failed to convince Sonia and Rahul Gandhi’s green soldier (Jairam Ramesh), while the other managed to win over Manmohan’s ministerial colleague.

Basic facts about the two projects

POSCO signed an MoU with the Orissa government on June 22, 2005, to set up an integrated steel plant (steel-cum-power plant and captive minor port) in the Paradip area of Jagatsingpur district. Touted as the highest FDI in the country, an investment of Rs 51,000 crore was envisaged for the plant that would have a capacity of 4 MTPA (million tonnes per annum) initially, and would later be upgraded to 12 MTPA. Sterlite Industries Ltd, the parent entity of Vedanta, signed an MoU with the state on June 7, 2003, to set up an alumina refinery with a capacity of 1 MTPA (later an MoU was signed for expansion to 6 MTPA), at an investment of Rs 4,000 crore, in Niyamgiri, Kalahandi district.

POSCO needed an area of 1,621 hectares, of which 1,253 hectares was forest land. Vedanta’s requirements were for 723.343 hectares of land for the alumina refinery and 721.323 hectares for bauxite mining. Forests cover 58.943 hectares of the land needed for the alumina refinery, and 672.018 hectares of that required for the mining project.

The Khandadhar iron ore mines in Sundargarh district were earmarked for POSCO, and the Niyamgiri alumina mines for Vedanta.

 

Geography and people

There are differences in the two projects in terms of people likely to be affected, and ecological and environmental ramifications. In Niyamgiri, the livelihood and rights of two primitive tribal groups -- the Kutia Kondhs and the Dongaria Kondhs -- are involved. The area is also important from an ecological point of view as it is rich in biodiversity and wildlife. In the proposed POSCO area, the primary sources of livelihood for people are fish, betel vine and paddy. Although few tribals live in the area, it is inhabited by a substantial number of other traditional forest-dwellers (OTFDs). On the ecological front, the project will cause damage to the coast.

Ashish Kothari, member of the inter-ministerial (MoEF and MoTA) committee to review FRA (Forest Rights Act) implementation that visited the proposed POSCO site to study whether FRA claims had been settled, says: “Even though the issue regarding tribals living in the Niyamgiri hills (proposed Vedanta project) are more pressing than those in the POSCO area (as there are very small numbers of scheduled tribes in this area), from the environment perspective and from the point of view of the rights of people, both POSCO and Vedanta are on the same platform. And of course from the point of view of violation of laws like the FRA and others, they are on an equal footing. In fact, Jairam’s decision on POSCO is completely inconsistent with the decision on Vedanta. If he had applied the same yardstick used to deny mining and expansion of refinery capacity to Vedanta, the POSCO project would never have got clearance.”

Initial clearances

Both projects received initial ‘in principle’ forest and environmental clearance (Stage 1), albeit with conditions, by the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) at different points of time in 2007 and 2008. But in both cases, the companies and state government were criticised for violating forest and environment laws and local people’s rights. Activists who raised their voice and protested the move to displace people were also targeted. In both cases, expert committees were constituted to look into violations.

Expert committees recommend withdrawal of clearance

Dr N C Saxena made some important observations and recommendations on both projects as head of the expert committee formed by the MoEF for Vedanta and by the MoEF and the Ministry of Tribal Affairs (MoTA) for POSCO. In both cases, Saxena recorded gross violations of the Forest Rights Act, 2006 by the state government and the companies involved.

In the case of POSCO, members of the POSCO review committee (headed by Meena Gupta) held that there was gross violation of environmental laws, fabrication of evidence, forest rights violations, and the suppression of facts relating to the Costal Regulation Zone (CRZ). Most members of the Meena Gupta panel recommended prosecution of authorities that had violated provisions of the FRA and other environmental laws. But Gupta differed and gave a set of conditions for granting approval to the project. Incidentally, Gupta was environment secretary in the Orissa government when POSCO was given environmental clearance.

The forest advisory committee (FAC), which is a statutory committee affiliated to the MoEF, recommended withdrawal of all clearances given to Vedanta for mining in Niyamgiri as it found violations of the Forest Rights Act and forest conservation and environment protection laws. In the case of POSCO, the committee observed that due diligence had not been observed in the settlement of forest rights, and therefore it was a breach of law. It recommended temporary withdrawal of Stage 2 clearance for diversion of forest areas to the project.

 Similar cases, but different orders

In Vedanta’s case, the MoEF withdrew forest clearance for mining and stopped refinery expansion. But in the case of POSCO, the company was allowed to go ahead with certain conditions. The order did not mention mining at Khandadhar as it was sub-judice.

The order in the Vedanta case reads: “Upholding the recommendations of FAC, I (Jairam Ramesh) have come to the following conclusion: the Stage 2 forest clearance for Orissa Mining Corporation and Sterlite bauxite mining project on Niyamgiri hills… stand rejected.” It goes on: “The primary responsibility of the ministry is to enforce the laws that have been passed in Parliament. For the MoEF, this means enforcing the Forest Conservation Act, 1980, the Environment Protection Act, 1986, the Forest Rights Act, 2006 and other laws. It is in this spirit that the decision has been taken.”

Despite violations by POSCO, as shown in the findings of several expert committees, Ramesh did not deem fit to enforce the laws passed in Parliament. Overlooking the findings of the N C Saxena Committee, most members of the Meena Gupta Committee, and recommendations by the FAC, the order from Paryavaran complex reads: “Projects such as POSCO have considerable economic, technological and strategic significance for the country… 28 additional conditions for steel-cum-power plant and 30 conditions for a captive minor port…” On the issue of the Forest Rights Act, the order says that the state has to give an assurance that no other traditional forest-dwellers (OTFDs) live in the area. Ironically, the state had already submitted that there were no such people living in the area -- a fact found to be incorrect by the Saxena Committee. On August 3, 2010, Saxena wrote to Ramesh after his team’s visit to the area: “There are other traditional forest-dwellers (OTFDs) in the area, contrary to what the district administration is saying. Both documentary and oral evidence exists to this effect…”

Prasant Paikrai, spokesperson of the POSCO Pratirodha Sangram Samiti (PPSS), says: “As POSCO has the highest FDI (as stated by the government) in the country, the central government seems to be interested. Major shareholders in the POSCO project are the US and Canada. The Indian government is carrying forward the western imperialist agenda. This is quite unfortunate. We from PPSS will continue our struggle until the project is scrapped.”

The most ironical part of the two orders is that, in the case of Vedanta it extensively discusses various recommendations made by the expert committee to justify the decision. This is not the case with POSCO.

Decision guided by political compulsions?

Madhu Sarin, noted forest rights activist, says: “Jairam Ramesh seeks an assurance from the state government that there are no OTFDs in the area. This is despite the findings of two committees that he himself appointed and that visited the areas and examined so many records, that there are OTFDs and that the FRA claims of the people in the area have not been settled. This is quite unfortunate.”

Most experts and activists believe Ramesh had little choice but to give approval to the POSCO project given that the PMO was interested in it. Kothari says: “It was easier for the government to say ‘no’ to mining in Niyamgiri as Vedanta already has a refinery in operation in the area. Now it can get mineral from elsewhere, as it is trying to do from Gandhamardan. But in the case of POSCO, if it withdraws forest and environment clearance the project will not come into being. Moreover, POSCO is a much bigger investment and the largest FDI in the country. The PMO is quite interested in this project. There is some inside news that India is interested in entering into a nuclear deal with South Korea. Taking advantage of this, the South Korean government is backing its private companies like POSCO.”

Journalist and agriculture expert Devinder Sharma explains: “While Jairam is confident about 10 Janpath, which is concerned about the environment, he also has to listen to the prime minister and his coterie of economists. His role is to be seen in this difficult context. In the case of Vedanta, both Sonia and Rahul were listening to the concerns of the people, and he stood up for that. In the case of POSCO, it seems his heart was for stopping POSCO, given the kind of committees he set up to study violations of the law in the proposed area. But he was under pressure from the PMO, which is bent on selling out our national resources to companies in the name of development.”

It would seem therefore that realpolitik guides the government’s decisions. The ruling party can ill afford to project an anti-corporate image.

(Pradeep Baisakh is a freelance journalist based in Bhubaneswar)

Infochange News & Features, April 2011

MGNREGA performs poorly in poverty-stricken Orissa

This piece came in InforchangeIndia in January 2011

Web link: http://infochangeindia.org/201101068662/Poverty/Features/MGNREGA-performs-poorly-in-poverty-stricken-Orissa.html

MGNREGA performs poorly in poverty-stricken Orissa

By Pradeep Baisakh

The MGNREGS is particularly relevant in states such as Orissa, where different estimates put the number of poor at 48% to 84%. But while Rajasthan provided 74% of eligible families with work in 2009-10 and Andhra Pradesh 52.6%, Orissa provided work to only 24% of eligible families. No wonder there’s been a 116% increase in rural migration

India’s flagship programme, the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS), was enacted with the multiple objectives of providing employment in a rights-based framework, addressing rural poverty, checking migration, and building rural infrastructure. It came into operation on February 2, 2006. Many say it is because of the success of the scheme in various states that the UPA (United Progressive Alliance) government made a comeback to the Lok Sabha in May 2009.

The NREGA was renamed the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) on October 2, 2009.

Poverty in Orissa

Orissa has a total population of 367 million, according to 2001 census data. Of this population, about 22% belong to the scheduled tribes and 16% to the scheduled castes -- both extremely vulnerable communities. According to official figures, around 48% of the state’s people are poor (1997 BPL survey), although a committee constituted by the Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD), headed by Dr N C Saxena, places the figure at 84.5%. Similarly, the Tendulkar Committee on estimation of poverty, appointed by the Planning Commission of India, puts the figure at 57%.

Given the state’s high poverty figures, the MGNREGA holds great significance for the people in terms of addressing poverty and unemployment. But in the four-and-a-half years of its existence, has the scheme brought about any real changes in the lives of Orissa’s poor?

Performance of the MGNREGS

From the official data available on the NREGA website, Orissa’s expenditure in 2008-09 was only 10% of what it could have been had all poor families with job cards been provided 100 days of employment. In 2009-10 expenditure is only 12%, and in the current financial year (2010-11) it is 9.8%. This reflects the state’s inability to fully tap the scheme’s potential.

In 2008-09, only 22.6% of families with job cards were provided jobs. The corresponding figures are 24% in 2009-10, and 20.7% in 2010-11.

In terms of providing 100 days of guaranteed employment to families that have availed of a job under the scheme, the figure is abysmally low at 4.4% in 2008-09, 6% in 2009-10, and 3% in the current year.

In 2006-07, Orissa provided 57.5 work days to people availing of the scheme. But in the ensuing years, the figures show a downward trend. In 2007-08, it was 37 days, 36 days in 2008-09, 40 days in 2009-10, and 37 days in 2010-11.

Comparison with other states

In an inter-state comparison for 2009-10, Rajasthan provided 74% of eligible families with work, against the total number of families given job cards; Andhra Pradesh provided work to 52.6% of families; Orissa provided work to only 24% of eligible families. In the same year, Rajasthan provided 100 days of employment to 23% of families engaged in work; for Andhra Pradesh the figure is 22.7%. Orissa provided only 6%. In terms of the number of person-days provided to families that worked under the scheme last year, 2009-10, Rajasthan provided 69 days and Andhra Pradesh 66 days. That same year, Orissa provided an average of only 40 days.

Although Orissa has fulfilled the legal obligation of providing work to at least one-third of women, it lags behind other states in bringing more women under the MGNREGS. For example, in 2009-10, in Rajasthan, 67% of person-days were taken by women; in Andhra Pradesh, 58%; in Orissa the figure was only 36%.

Distress migration on the rise

The recent Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) report reveals that despite the MGNREGS, Orissa witnessed a 116% increase in rural migration.

Despite the fact that migrant labourers work in inhuman conditions in other states and face various forms of exploitation (economic, physical, mental and sexual), Orissa’s failure to establish the MGNREGS as a credible and sustainable source of livelihood leaves people with no option but to seek employment elsewhere.

There is large-scale distress migration from the state’s western districts of Balangir, Nuapada and Kalahandi to brick kilns in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu owing to lack of employment in the source areas. From Balangir alone, 1.5 lakh out of 13 lakh people migrated to other states in 2009, according to data from MIRC (Migration Information and Resource Centre), a research agency studying migration issues. Family and individual migration from southern districts like Koraput and Rayagada is also on the rise. Umi Daniel, an expert on migration, pegs Orissa’s rural migrant population at 20 lakh people per year.

The state’s performance in providing employment to only a fifth of eligible families is defended by officials who claim there is not enough demand for jobs by the people. Such naïve claims only point to the failure of the state to make the scheme demand-driven. Ashwani Kumar, member of the Central Employment Guarantee Council (CEGC), observed during his visit to Orissa in February 2010: “The myth of lack of demand for NREGS work in Orissa has become excruciatingly complicated to justify. And it certainly needs demystification because in a state where hunger and distress migration, forced by notorious labour contractors (sardars), are endemic, especially in Kalahandi-Balangir-Koraput (KBK), the demand for NREGS work especially from BPL families should logically and naturally exist or must be existing!”

Delayed payments damage scheme’s prospects

Official data suggests that out of Rs 421 crore payments made towards the wages of unskilled workers under the scheme in the ongoing financial year (till October 12, 2010), only Rs 44.4 crore reached workers after the due period of 15 days. In other words, there was a delay in wage disbursements in only 10.5% of cases. The ground reality in several districts contradicts this claim. Official figures for Balangir district suggest that 22% of wages paid were delayed. Jatin Patra, a local social activist, says that in almost all cases a delay of four months is reported. In one instance, in Juba village, a panchayat of Belpada block, people did not receive payment for over six months. In Nuapada district, delayed wage payments, according to the official data, amount to 6.6%. According to Ratnamani Agasti, who works in the district, for tank work in Budhikamna panchayat workers received payment after two months. He adds that in most cases delayed payments is the norm though lately the district administration has been expediting payments after media reports of heavy migration from the district. Similarly, in Koraput district, delays in wage payments are officially 8.3%. However, Bidyut Mohanty, a social activist working in Lamptaput, Nandpur and Bandugaon blocks, says that delayed payments are common in Koraput district. Further discussions with these activists reveal that workers are not given payment slips (slips carrying information on wages paid to workers that are given to them when the wages are deposited in the account), and dates on muster rolls are manipulated to hide delayed payments.

Poor grievance redressal mechanism

The state’s grievance redressal system under the MGNREGA is in complete disarray. Workers’ complaints lie unattended for months by officials responsible at the block, district and state levels. A visiting delegation of the Central Employment Guarantee Council (CEGC), in November 2007 submitted 20 complaints to the commissioner-cum-secretary of the state’s panchayati raj department; they are yet to be heard.

Civil society organisatons have conducted several social audits, and grievances and lacunae have been brought to the notice of the administration with no appropriate follow-up. This inaction not only discourages CSOs in their efforts to oversee the scheme’s implementation, it denies justice to the people.

Section 25 of the Act provides for a penalty of up to Rs 1,000 on the implementing official, in the event of a violation of provisions under the law. In none of the cases of violation by the authorities, however, has the government invoked this clause.

MGNREGA, starvation and poverty

 

On February 24, 2010, the national edition of The Hindustan Times reported the occurrence of 50 chronic-hunger-related deaths in the last two years in Orissa’s Balangir district. Indeed, several such reports have appeared in the media in the past 15 years.

Though it is difficult to come up with an exact correlation between the impact of the MGNREGS on poverty levels in Orissa, and its role in addressing the issue of starvation deaths, the above data on implementation and delivery of the scheme in the state should offer some clues.

The MGNREGS has performed poorly in delivering entitlements to poor workers, compared to states like Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh. As Ashwani Kumar observes: “Though the state government is clearly aware of what it calls ‘eventual starvation’ (refer to letter of chief secretary dated 5/11/2003), state government official reports have routinely denied many cases of ‘alleged starvation deaths’ that have been reported from the KBK region and also from Keonjhar district in the recent past… Had the NREGA been implemented in right earnest, the Orissa government would not have earned the ire of the right to food activists!”

Political will lacking

One programme that substantially contributed to the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) party’s third victory in the May 2009 Orissa state assembly elections was the offer of rice at Rs 2 per kilo for all families covered under BPL survey 1997 (both APL and BPL families in the KBK region, and for BPL category people only in the rest of Orissa). Personal interest taken by the chief minister and other ministers ensured the effective delivery of rice to beneficiaries, making this a popular and extremely successful scheme. A similar spirit has not been displayed in the execution of the MGNREGA, though its implementation had equal potential for effecting electoral victory. Political analysts believe there was fear in the ruling BJD that the Congress Party would cash in on any success the MGNREGS might have in the state, as this was the UPA’s flagship programme. This apparently prevented the ruling party from fully supporting the scheme from the start; the government continues with it only under pressure from the Centre. Lack of political will is therefore one of the main reasons for unsuccessful implementation of the MGNREGS in Orissa.

Not all is unwell…

On rare occasions, due to the intervention of civil society organisations, the MGNREGS has done well. In Tentulimunda village in Belpada block, Balangir district, about 25 migrant families got work under the scheme and remained in their village. Similarly, around 35 families opted to work under the MGNREGS in Badbanki village, Tureikala block, of the same district, instead of migrating. Several children who used to move with their parents also stayed behind and continued their studies. People like Ugrasen Gaud of Badbanki village have made capital investments from income generated through the MGNREGS. After completing 100 days of work, in 2009-10, he received wages to the tune of Rs 15,000. From the money he bought gold ornaments for his daughter’s marriage and some bullocks for the fields. About 17 families in Badbanki have completed 100 days of work.

Room for improvement

Although it is now over five years since the MGNREGS became operational in India, the people of Orissa have lost faith in the scheme because of several lapses at the policy and implementation levels. The state has to devise appropriate action to reinstate the people’s faith and take the scheme forward.

The first step would be to address the issue of delayed payments. Experimentation in involving new technology for payments through smart cards (branchless banking pilot scheme), in Ganjam district, has been promising.

In migration-prone areas, the district administration should take special care to start work before the migration season, and continue during the lean agricultural season; also, to make timely payments. This would prevent a lot of people from leaving the state in search of work.

 

Orissa should provide an unemployment allowance to job-seekers in the event of delays in giving out work, charge officials responsible for causing the delays and, of course, compensate workers under the Payment of Wages Act 1936 in case of delayed payments. It should not hesitate to invoke Section 25 of the Act and penalise errant implementers. Such measures would discourage people from taking the law for granted.

Ultimately what is needed is the political and administrative will to implement the scheme according to the provisions of law. In the absence of this vital element, the MGNREGS could meet the same fate as other government schemes that do well on paper but falter on the ground.

(Pradeep Baisakh is a freelance journalist based in Bhubaneswar)

Infochange News & Features, January 2011