Is expelled Maoist leader planning to go mainstream?

This news piece came on Tehelka on 12th August 2012

Link: http://tehelka.com/story_main53.asp?filename=Ws130812ODISHA.asp

Is expelled Maoist leader planning to go mainstream?

While Sabyasachi Panda formed a faction last month, CPI (Maoist) expelled him last week for being a 'revisionist'

Pradeep Baisakh 

  Bhubaneswar

Two days after the central committee of the banned CPI (Maoist) expelled one of its top leaders Odisha Sabyasachi Panda from the party for his ‘betrayal’ and for being ‘revisionist’, Panda issued an audio tape on 12 August night rebutting the charges leveled against him. Panda said, “The expulsion is meaningless as we have severed our ties with them and formed a new party a month ago.”

On 14 July, a 16 page letter written by Panda and addressed to CPI (Maoist) general secretary Ganapathy, was released to media. In his letter, Panda had leveled various charges against the party leaders, saying, “Killing innocent people, apart from unarmed and innocent police personnel, has become the norm of the party.” He had alleged that “Ganapathy wants to establish dictatorship based on terror and fear.” He said that “Adivasi women were being sexual exploited” and also raised questions on “domination of Telugu and Koya cadres in the party.”

Reacting to Panda's letter, the central committee of CPI (Maoist) issued a press release on 10 August, branding Panda a ‘renegade’ and declaring his expulsion from the party. The release said that Panda is ‘fulfilling his selfish political motives that serve the ruling classes.’ The statement also termed the allegations of ‘exploitation of Adivasis’ and ‘sexual exploitation of women’ as baseless, claiming that there are several Adivasis, including women, in the Maoist fold.

In response to the expulsion, Panda criticised the party for its diversion from its main ideology since 2003. “They have killed the workers of SUCI, CITU, CPI (ML) and many common people without any solid reasons. They killed Nava (the leader of a group protesting against the bauxite-mining project in Niyamgiri) branding him as a police informer. During that time, I was kept under strict vigil for seven months and the Andhra cadres were employed to spy on me,” Panda said in the audio tape. “They have not clarified how I became a ‘revisionist’ or an ‘opportunist. We will not continue with a party that is working against people’s interest,” added Panda. He alleged discrimination against Odisha cadres by the Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh cadres.

The differences between Panda and the party have existed for quite some time now. The party did not approve of Panda's kidnapping of the Italian tourists Paolo Bosusco and Claudio Colangelo in March this year. Apart from that, a Maoist organisation Andhra Odisha Border Special Zonal Committee kidnapped the Laxmipur MLA Jhina Hikaka even when the negotiations for release of the Italian hostages were on between Panda and the police. Last month, Panda declared the formation of Odisha Maovadi Party, though he did not openly declare disassociation from CPI (Maoist).

Meanwhile, Subhashree Dash alias Mili Panda, wife of Sabyasachi Panda, hinted at his possible surrender. “He hasn't committed any crime in the two years. The government should provide a democratic space for him and withdraw cases against him,” she told a local TV channel.

However, Odisha DGP Prakash Mishra said, “Sabyasachi Panda has not offered to surrender. Let that situation come, then we will think about it. All Maoists are free to surrender, of course.” On whether the cases against Panda will be dropped if he offers to surrender, Mishra said, “I am not the government, it is premature to discuss on this. Let the offer come.”

Gopala Nanda, former DGP of Odisha said that a clash between the two factions can not be ruled out. “In fact the life of Sabyasachi is now under threat as this is a small group. The language he has used in his audio tape – that he does not believe in violence, in dictatorship or authoritarianism – indicates that he is eager to come to mainstream. However, he may demand some degree of respectability from the government to clear the legal hurdles.” He has cases pending against him in Nayagarh armory raid in 2008 and in Swami Laxmananda’s killing, among others. “I think the government should grab this opportunity and facilitate his entry into mainstream. With his surrender, the Maoist activities will suffer a jolt in areas like Kandhamal, parts of Ganjam and Rayagada districts,” said Nanda.

Nihar Nayak, an Associate Fellow at Institute of Defense Studies and Analysis, said, “It is extremely difficult for Panda to go underground for a long period. In order to carry his activities, he needs cadres and arms. He may somehow manage to get cadres but getting arms from outside would be difficult as it may be thwarted by the Maoists. Given the nature of expose he has made of the internal matters of Maoists, the chance of his reinstatement into the fold also seems bleak. He may go ahead with his newly formed Odisha Maovadi Party for a few days and use pressure tactics with the government to come to mainstream.”

...........

Pradeep Baisakh is a freelance journalist based in Bhubaneswar. 

letters@tehelka.com

Ground zero realities

The book review came in GovernanceNow in 16-31 July 2012 issue


Web Link: http://governancenow.com/views/columns/ground-zero-realities

Ground zero realities

Book Review: A must-read compilation of landmark essays and surveys in the debate on right to work

The Battle for Employment Guarantee

Edited by Reetika Khera

Oxford University Press

264 pages, Rs. 695

Pradeep Baisakh

MNREGS has been a topic of hot debate, even before the law was enacted. Critics see it as wastage of huge public money in ‘mud work’, whereas supporters think it answers the need to save the poor from starvation and malnutrition in the neoliberal era. Amid this debate, the book under review comes as a comprehensive document, compiling some previously published major articles, surveys and essays, to argue in favour of the law.

The book is divided into four parts with 19 chapters. Part I provides an account of the early days of the civil society struggle for employment guarantee. Parts II and III discuss ground realities and case studies from based on surveys conducted in various states. Part IV points out the ‘trouble spots’ in implementations and suggests remedies.

As Nobel laureate Amartya Sen writes in a blurb, “This is a remarkably enlightening study of a novel strategy of public intervention in alleviating chronic poverty in India. The National Rural Employment Guarantee has been a highly popular scheme which has yielded many rewards, but which still suffers from a number of serious challenges related to implementation, cost-effectiveness, and ultimately justice…”.

Jean Dreze in his article ‘Employment Guarantee and Right to Work’ reminisces the early days of the struggle for employment guarantee with the Rozgar Adhikar Yatra undertaken by activists through some of the poorest districts like Badwani, Palamu, Gaya and Puruliya. He presents a picture of the rural economy “…that looked like a graveyard and unemployment was people’s main concern”.

An exhaustive study was conducted by researchers and activists in mid-2008 in six states – Jharkhand, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh – to ascertain the impact of MNREGS. The survey found that the scheme indeed reached the neediest people: 73% of the beneficiaries interviewed belonged to scheduled castes and scheduled tribes, 61% of the workers were illiterate, 69% people said it helped them to stave off hunger and 47% spent MNREGS wages to meet their health needs.

The workers got 31 days of work on average in 2007-08. Through barely 13% of workers got the full quota of 100 days, the survey busted the mis-information by some economists that people do not need NREGA.

The survey busted many arguments from a section of economists. For example, one expert held that there was only 1% unemployment among poor agricultural workers. But the survey showed 98% of them wished to get 100 days of work in a year under this scheme. The article by Dreze and Khera, ‘Battle for Employment Guarantee’, provides more details.

Khera and Nandini Nayak narrate field experiences with regards to benefits the law has brought to women who form majority of the beneficiaries. In 2007-08, their share among the total workers was 82% in Tamil Nadu, 71% in Kerala and 69% in Rajasthan. When women face limited and adverse condition of work in private labour market, MNREGS opens up new opportunities for them, asserts the article.

Aruna Roy and Nikhil Dey of the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS) expose the dwindling commitment of the central government that undermined the Minimum Wages Act, 1948 by putting an upper limit cap on the wages under MNREGS. Now the wages have been linked with the wholesale price index.

A considerable number of essays extensively discuss several measures to check corruption under this scheme and reduce delay in payment of wages to the poor labourers.

The book is dedicated to two martyrs, “Piku who was killed by the CRPF in a fake encounter in Orissa and Niyamat Ansari, killed by Maoists in Jharkhand”.

The book provides a thorough guide for the policy makers in enhancing the delivery of MNREGS. It is quite useful for researchers studying labour market, unorganised sector and welfare economics. This book is a must read for everyone interested in poverty alleviation and socio-economic development of rural India.

 ………

Baisakh is an Odisha-based freelance journalist and National Foundation of India (NFI) media fellow of 2012.2006pradeep@gmail.com

A novel way to tackle domestic violence in India

The article came in OpenDemocracy, a U K Based journal,  on 2nd July 2012

Web Link: http://www.opendemocracy.net/pradeep-baisakh/novel-way-to-tackle-domestic-violence-in-india

A novel way to tackle domestic violence in India

PRADEEP BAISAKH , 2 July 2012

The plethora of progressive laws in India to protect the women from various forms of harassment and discrimination has not brought the desired change in the status and dignity of women. This is partially because of the mindset of the men and women in a patriarchal milieu and due to the low level of awareness of women and men about the laws and women’s rights.

The ‘Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Law 2005’ is the latest addition to the list tough assessing it performance would be too premature at this stage. However the informal mechanism of Mahila Panchayat (MPs) designed at the community level to address issues relating the domestic violence and other forms of harassment against women could well prove to be an exception. Mahila Panchayats are informal institutions promoted by the Delhi Commission of Women (DCW) aiming at “crisis intervention and legal aid at community level and help tackle local level legal disputes and assist in reduction and reconciliation of violence against women”.

Sonali, victim of domestic violence, gets relief

Take the case of Ms Sonali Samantray (name changed) of Sangam Vihar colony that is located near the ruins of old city of Tuglakabad in South Delhi. The young lady having one daughter was living a life of hell inside the four walls of her in-law’s house. Being beaten by her husband Hemraj (name changed), snubbed and beaten by ther mother-in-law had been her regular way of life till she desperately knocked doors ofMahila Panchayat in Sangam Vihar for help in September 2011. Why was Sonali tortured? “My husband and the mother-in-law wanted one lakh rupees from my father, which my father could not give.” Says Sonali. The mother-in-law also wanted a male child from Sonali. As she was unable to conceive for the second time, it had become an alibi for physically and mentally torturing her and of course, contemplating for a second marriage for Hemraj. Sonali also alleged of sexual harassment by the husband of her sister-in-law (Hemraj’s sister), who was staying with the family, harassment that was taking place at the knowledge of her mother-in-law.

Going to the police and filing a case against the in-laws was more than a dream for Sonali and her poor parents. Following the report filed by Sonali the Mahila Panchayat summoned Hemraj to appear before it. It may be noted that the Mahila Panchayat does not carry specifically legal power to summon anyone. But it does enjoy a lot of persuasive power. Adamant Hemraj instead brought goons to beat his own wife. Sonali made a panic call to the leaders of Mahila Panchayat who immediately rushed to her house to tackle the situation. Seeing the unity of leaders, determined to take the challenge, the goons literally ran away from the place. Hemraj then appeared before the Mahila Panchayat, which undertook a phase of counselling for the couple. The members explained Hemraj about the provisions of law dealing with women harassment and dowry and the possible consequences. “He realised his folly and understood the powerful influence of the leaders of the women panchayat. He apologised and signed a written agreement not to repeat any form of cruelty on Sonali” narrates Anwari, a paralegal worker who guides the leaders on legal matter. “In follow up visits to Sonali’s house, we found her leading a happy life” informs Sakuntala Gupta, an elderly lady who is a leader of Panchayat from its inception before three years.

In another case, Ms Kamlesh had rented a portion of her house to a family. Kamlesh is a poor woman with seven children and an ailing husband, who managed her family with running a laundry and from the rent. The tenant, Ms Bimlesh, denied giving rent just after two months of stay, neither did she leave the house. When Kamlesh wanted her to vacate the house, she was threatened by the goons came at the behest of tenant’s father. “They threatened to kill my only son who is of four years old. I was very frightened” says Kamlesh. The police also could not be of much help to Kamlesh.

The aggrieved Kamlesh with her children got justice from Mahila Panchayat

Finally she approached the Mahila Panchayat. The leaders visited her house to assess the situation. They persuaded Bimlesh to pay rent or leave the house. Infuriated by the development, the father of Bimlesh threatened the leaders over telephone of dire consequence if they continue to muddle in the matter. The threat only strengthened the determination of the women leaders who warned the father and daughter duo not to take law onto their hands. Sensing that the situation would actually go out of control as the community has come together with Kamlesh, tenant Bimlesh quietly vacated the house in night. In fact the daughter and father had past record of forcefully occupying residential premises after staying as tenant. It may be noted that Sangam Vihar is an unauthorised colony, where proper legal document of ownership of immovable property are not availabe, leaving the scope for mafias to grab land and houses by intimidating common people. 

Composition and functioning

Mahila Panchayats are run by DCW in partnership with NGOs. There are about 44 Mahila Panchayats run by 22 NGOs working in the National Capital. The working of Sangam Vihar Mahila Panchayat is facilitated by YWCA (Young Women’s Christian Association). Some other NGOs which run Mahila Panchayats are Action India, Delhi Brotherhood Society and similar. The Sangam Vihar Mahila Panchayat has 25 members, all of whom are from the local community. The leaders hold regular weekly meetings not just to resolve disputes but also to discuss the laws on protection of women, government schemes and other laws like right to information act etc.

A member of DCW, Kiranvati Tank, says “in slum areas where most people are illiterate and are unaware about various laws and schemes, Mahila Panchayats have been established to help the women and spread awareness on the same. Several family disputes are resolved by the Panchayats.” Awareness camps are organised by the concerned NGOs for the leaders on legal issues, dispute redressal mechanism, laws relevant to crimes against women. They are given exposure on the existing legal position regarding property, maintenance, marriage, custody, etc.  They are trained in counselling, FIR writing etc.  

  Meeting of Mahila Panchayat.

The Panchayat has adopted some minimum formality in its functioning. After the receiving the applications it summons both the parties for counselling and resolving disputes. It sits for some sessions of counselling and attempts to arrive at a solution. The final outcome is recorded and both the parties sign on the agreement. Then the case is followed up by the visit of the members or the paralegal workers to the houses for about three months. Once the progress is found to be satisfactory, the case is closed. In case when a solution is not worked out, the case is referred by the  Mahila Panchayat itself to the Women Cell of Delhi police. The aggrieved women are provided help to be taken to the cell and to file case. Some cases are also referred to the courts and Delhi Legal Service Authority (DLCA) is linked for free legal service. “And in extreme cases we can refer the case to the DCW” says Nafish Ahmad of YWCA.

“The remarkable features of Mahila Panchayat are its informal ways of functioning and the ease at which an aggrieved woman can approach it. The threat of bringing the violators to book under the existing laws, in case counselling fails, brings moral pressure on the aggressors to accept the verdict of Mahila Panchayat. Unity, leadership and motivation are the hallmarks of it. After all, the backing of DCW has made it a credible institution” says Durang Basu Mullick, Programme Secretary of YWCA.

Male chauvinism affected the process initially

Brining the women together and constituting the women body has not been easy from the beginning. The active women who started coming to the meetings due to the persuasion of the staff from YWCA were discouraged by the husbands as male chauvinism was challenged. Some male members straightway opposed to their women going to the meetings. The NGO staff persuaded the husbands of the members and explained the novelty and utility of the institution. When their women started gaining respect from the community by way of providing leadership and guidance in resolving family disputes, the husbands were captivated. “My husband now even reminds me of the time of the weekly meetings in case I get late!” says Ranju Singh, young member of Sangam Vihar Mahila Panchayat, chuckling.

Empowered women lead the community

Out of about 200 cases received in last three years by two Mahila Panchayats facilitated by YWCA (another exists in Govindpuri), more than 85% percent cases have been resolved informally. “Our approach has always been to keep the family intact while protecting the rights and dignity of women.” adds Kamlesh Rathore, another paralegal worker. The institution has brought in conspicuous results in the empowerment of the women who have stepped out of the threshold to participate in the wider advocacy process in favour of the community. They have been active in collecting about 12,000 signatures and submitting same to the local MLA for addressing the problem of acute water scarcity of the colony.

Pradeep Baisakh is a Development Journalist based in Odisha, India. He has written extensively on transparency law, right to work and food, environment issues, industrialisation and development, women, tribal rights so on. His writing can be found at: http://pradeepbaisakh.blogspot.com/ . He can be contacted through email:2006pradeep@gmail.com.

Italian tourists abducted by Maoists in Odisha

The piece came in Delhi Talks, a monthly magazine published from New Delhi in April 2012 issue

Italian tourists abducted by Maoists in Odisha

Pradeep Baisakh

In a rather unconventional manoeuvre the red rebels of Odisha have kidnapped two Italian tourists from the deep jungles of Kandhamal district while they were there for trekking. In an audio tape sent to media houses, the Secretary, Odisha state organising committee of CPI (Maoist), Sabyasachi Panda, popularly known as Sunil, charged the tourists of taking objectionable photos of the tribal women. This is for the first time the Maoists have taken any foreigners as hostage. The two tourists are Bosusco Paolo and Claudio Colangelo. While Bosusco has been visiting and staying in Puri town of Puri district for last twenty years,  Claudio Colangelo has visited for the first time to India. Both went inside the jungle without the permission of the local police. The incidence took place on 14^th March 2012.

 Photo: File photo of Bosusco Paolo somewhere in a forest

This is the second such high profile abduction by the rebels in Odisha. In February 2011 District Magistrate of Malkanagiri R Vineel Krishna was kidnapped from a remote village in the district while he was on his official tour. This time a 13 point demand has been issued for release of the foreigners. Among others the rebels have demanded the release of Subhashree Panda, the wife of Sunil, Gananath Patra, stopping operation green hunt, banning tourist visits to tribal areas,  etc. Subhashree Panda was arrested in 2010 under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act for alleged involvement in terror activities. Charges against her have already been quashed by the High Court.

The event sent thrillers to the state and central government and the Italian embassy was quick to send its consul general Joel Melchiori to Bhubaneswar, the state capital to ensure release of the hostages. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik appealed the Maoists to release the foreigners on humanitarian ground and expressed his readiness for talks with the outlawed group, while the Home Minister P Chidambaram offered central government help to deal with the matter. The state assembly unanimously passed resolution appealing for safe release of the hostages. This also comes in a time while the India-Italian relationship is going strained owing to the arrest of two Italian marines by Indian police in charges of killing two fishermen. India government has spurned the Italian government’s request to release them.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh cited the incidence in the parliemant to strengthen his case for NCTC (National Counter terrorism Centre).

Maoists suggested names of three persons for mediation on their behalf. They are Dandapani Mohanty, Biswapriya Kanungo, Independent Lawyer and Prafulla Samantra, Social activist. But Kanungo and Samantra did not agree to negotiate. So the name of Dr B D Sharma, retd IAS officer and former chairperson of SC/ST Commission was suggested by the Maoists. Dandapani Mohanty was one among the key interlocutors in the Collector release case last year. The state government has nominated three officials for holding talks. They are U. N. Behera, Home Secretary, Pradeep Jena, Secretary, Panchayati Raj and Santosh Sarangi, Secretary, SC/ST dept. The talks commenced on 21^st March.

In the mean time, the negotiators demanded the presence of some Maoists leaders in the city to facilitate the talks. Names suggested are of Narayan Sanyal, Kobad Gandhi and Amit Bagchi. All of them are in different jails in some charge or others, brining them to Odisha would need the intervention by the ministry of Home Affairs, GoI. While the names were okay with the Odisha Maoist leader, the state government was not willing to accept the suggestion. Sources suggest that the Chief Minister was not willing to request the Home Ministry for the same. The government hoped that all final settlement that may be agreed upon by Dr Sharma and Mohanty would be accepted by the Maoists.

Talks suspeneded - sincerity missing

Sincerity for talks was seemingly missing from both the sides. Just before the talks, the Maoist ranks declared unilateral ceasefire to create an ambience of talks. The government also reciprocated by halting any anti-extremist operations in the state. However, there were media reports that the security agencies used Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAVs) for surveillance in the Daringbadi and Kotgarh area where the hostages are believed to have been kept. A case was registered by the Kandhamal police against Sunil and other leaders of Maoist ranks on the kidnapping matter. On the other hand, just after the beginning of the talks, a Sub Inspector was killed by Maoists in the Malkanagiri district.  And on 23^rd March night, when the talks were inching toward some outcome, the Maoists have abducted the Laxmipur (Koraput district) MLA Khina Hikaka in wee hours while he was returning from Semiliguda after a party meeting was over. B D Sharma who said earlier that the talks were in progress and some solution may emerge soon, expressed his unwillingness for continuing the talks after the abduction incidence. Speaking to the media both the interlocutors said that let all the three hostages be released by the Maoist first and then negotiation could resume. The interlocutors also criticised the government for breaking conditions.  

Division among Maoists ranks?

The killing of the sub-inspector and abduction of the MLA is done by the southern region Maoists ranks that are in control of Andhra command. In the Collector’s abduction case last year, mostly the telugu Maoist cadres were benefited, not the Odia cadres. Sabyasachi Panda is in command with the central region including Kandhamal, Gajapati and Ganjam, part of Rayagada districts. This time, it is he who wanted to call the shot and demanded the release of mostly the Odia Maoist cadres. Nihar Nayak from Institute of Defence Studies and Analysis (IDSA), an expert on Maoism said “The abduction of foreigners seem not to have been approved by the central committee of the Maoists as no comments has come from them till now. This may have been done by Panda as part of his personal interest which could be interpreted from the demands he has made.  Moreover, any abduction of any Odia person would have brought unpopularity to him inside the state. From that view point taking the foreigners as hostages was safe for him.”

With the talks failing, the fate of the Italian tourists enters into the zone of uncertainty.

…….

Pradeep Baisakh is an Odisha based journalist. He can be reached through e mail: 2006pradeep@gmail.com

Children beat the odds to pursue education

The piece came in VIDURA, a quarterly journal by Press Institute of India (PII), April-June 2012 issue

Web Link: http://www.pressinstitute.in/vidura8.html

Children beat the odds to pursue education

Pradeep Baisakh

It is a village in Odisha which seems like the back of beyond. Here the children are made to work to add to the family income and parents are not too fund of sending them to schools. Yet, there are girls such as Namsi and Gurubari who just cannot do without attending classes, despite being shouted down by their father. They even stay away from home to attend classes. However, thanks to the effort of the volunteers of Sikshasandhan, things are slowly changing in these parts and parents are beginning to send their children to study.

Photo:  Gurubari and Namsi, two sister, who overcame odds to continue education

Namsi Purti resumed her study by rejoining in class 4 in Kathachua primary school after a gap. Her father, Hadi Purti, however did not want her to be in school as she was an earning hand for the family. She used to help her mother in selling Handia (country liquor), pluck Sal leaves and stitch them and help in domestic chores. As she started going to school, her involvement in household activities was reduced. Namsi is from Kathachua village of Kalamgadia Gram Panchayat under kaptipada block of Odisha’s Mayurbhanj district.  

One day, when Namsi was preparing to go to the class, her father told her to go with her mother to sell handia. But Namsi was not willing to discontinue her school; she refused. Hadi shouted “What’s the point of going to school. Go to work in the nearby mines and help mother in work. What will you get from education?”. Namsi’s elder sister Gurubari, also studying in class 4, received similar warning. That day, the sisters left home and went to class. After school they were clueless where to go. Somehow they decided to go to the house of the elder brother of her father.

The sisters continued attending classes, but the problem of returning home remained. As days passed, the sisters gradually started returning home. But Hadi’s antipathy toward education continued. So they choose to go to school clandestinely. On occasions, the girls would hide their books under the skirt while going out form the home so that the father cannot know their destination. Over a period, the sisters’ conviction in attending classes won over the minds of their parents. “When we were staying out of house, we would quietly jump the walls of our house in night to take our dinner” says Namsi.

 Photo: Manual stone crushing unit where children are employed

When asked, their father Hadi Purti says “No sir, I am for the education of my daughters. But only once I said the younger daughter to stop school and help her mother. I realise my mistake. I will now ensure that my daughters go to schools regularly”.

The sisters managed the school dress and sandals on their own earnings. Gurubari worked in nearby mines, breaking the stones to pieces and earned 450 rupees in a week; Namsi collected Sal leaves and stitched them to make plates and sell. From these earnings, the siblings purchased school dresses, sleepers and other stuffs of necessity.

Volunteers of Sikshasandhan, a Civil Society Organisation (CSO) working on Right to Education Act (RTEA) have taken the effort to persuade the parents to send their children to schools in this tribal area. It may not be quite pertinent to blame the parents for not taking enough interest in the education of their children. Teachers’ absenteeism is rampant in all the primary schools. Schools used to be opened only for few hours daily. The teacher would come at 11.30 and go by 2.00 to 2.30 pm. The teacher-student ratio was also too low in almost all the schools till recently when some new teachers have been appointed. In most of the schools there was only one teacher. Schools used to remain close on Saturdays. Given such circumstances, the level of attendance of these schools has been abysmally low.  With no monitoring mechanism in place, most of the teachers, who were mostly from general community, used to take advantage of the situation and neglect their duties. Things have improved after Sikshasandhan began alerting the community about the opportunity of providing their children free elementary education. The school management committee, a body of parents of the school-going children, has become vigilant on the teachers’ attendance in recent days, leading to improvement of the situation.

Kalamgadia GP is a hilltop village with very poor road communications. The houses are mostly scattered. The village Panchayat is dominated by Ho, Santhalis and Bathudi communities. As the literacy level of these tribal communities is very low, people generally do not understand the value of education.

There exists a communication gap among the teacher and students owing to the language barrier. The teachers could not speak the local language of Ho and Santhali and the small children cannot understand Odia. There is no common medium of study and instruction.

The children generally constitute economic hands of the family. Children help parents in agriculture, collect non timber forest produces (NTFPs), go to nearby hills to break stones, and sell handia. Children go to schools, the parents feel, would reduce the family income. The girls also help the mothers in domestic chores. The elder siblings take care of the younger ones when the parents go out for work or selling something. Asman Soy, the language teacher of Kathachua School, a local, says “It’s true that if the children go to schools, their involvement in domestic and economic activities decline. But one has to see the long term gain for the family and community from education.” In order to bridge the language barrier Sikshasandhan experimented with recruitment of a teacher, what it call as language teacher, who would teach the children in their local language.

Enrolment increased and drops out rate decreased

Constant interface with the community by the social workers have shown results. The children are gradually being sent to schools by their parents. The language teachers are teaching in Ho, Santhali and Bathudi languages, that too narrating stories relating tribal culture. Therefore the younger children find it very interesting as they understand what is being taught. The government teachers have become regular and the schools are opening and closing in time. “In 12 schools, the attendance has risen to almost 65 to 75 percent from barely 20 to 25 percent two years ago. For example, in Kalamgadia School, out of the total strength of 188, daily attendance now varies in between110-125. Similarly, the Kathachua new primary Scholl was almost not functioning earlier. But now the daily attendance varies from 60 to 75 out of the total current strength of 94. This is based on our data colleted from the schools by our language teachers” informs Pitambar Sankhua of Sikshasandhan. “Education is the only means by which the children will be refrained from these,” adds his colleague Anil Pradhan.

 ............

The writer is a freelance journalist based in Odisha. He has extensively written on transparency law, right to work and food, migration, forest and environment, industrialisation and development, women-related issues and tribal rights. He is a Media Fellow of the National Foundation of India for 2012.

We need a politics of the poor: Nikhil Dey

The interview came in Infochange India in April 2012.

Web Link: http://www.infochangeindia.org/governance/analysis/politics-for-the-poor.html

By Pradeep Baisakh

Social activist Nikhil Dey discusses the flaws in the Lokpal, Grievance Redressal, Food Security and other bills

Nikhi Dey

Nikhil Dey, key member of the National Campaign for People’s Right to Information (NCPRI) and founder of the Rajasthan-based people’s organisation MKSS (Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan), was in Orissa recently on invitation from the state government to guide social audits in the MGNREGA. In this interview with Infochange, he discusses the essence of the Grievance Redressal Bill, loopholes in the Food Security Bill, dangers in the Lokpal Bill, which is currently in Parliament, and the need for structural arrangements for social audit in the MGNREGA. 

Q: You have been advocating the Grievance Redressal Bill. Can you tell us what stage the bill is at now? And how it is going to help citizens? 

The bill is necessary, as in India there is no proper institution where one’s complaint is heard in an appropriate manner. We now have a number of rights-based legislations and even in those we have a very poor grievance redressal mechanism. Instead of having different kinds of mechanisms to redress grievances in each piece of legislation, you need one standard minimum formulation across the country that anyone who has a complaint can register under, get a dated receipt for, have his complaint heard within a certain timeframe, and get an action taken report within that time schedule. That is the only way to ensure that citizens get some level of accountability.

This is complementary to the state’s Public Service Guarantee Bill; it is not duplication. It ensures that complaints are heard and sorted out. It has been tabled in the Lok Sabha and is now lying with the standing committee.

There are some shortcomings in the bill. We hope they will be sorted out in due course.

Q: Are you happy with the Right to Food Bill as it has been presented in parliament?

We are happy only with the fact that right to food legislation is coming in. But there are many shortcomings. It is in fact wrong to call it a Right to Food Bill. It should be called either a Ration Entitlement Bill or a Foodgrain Entitlement Bill. Even with that limited view, there are many in-built implementation problems. There are so many categories in it that identifying them will be problematic. It has been seen from experience that such experiments have been successful only through universalisation.

The quantum of entitlement provided in the bill is too little, and the debate is whether India has enough foodgrain. Even if you do not have enough foodgrain in the country, you cannot have people starving.

The attempt to bring in a cash transfer system is very dangerous. It will absolve the state of responsibility and become just a dole.

Q: But the government defends the bill citing huge financial implications amounting to Rs 1 lakh crore a year… 

All through, activists have been saying that the government can provide corporate subsidies to the tune of Rs 5 lakh crore a year. Why can it not provide subsidy on a basic service like supplying food? The government cannot cite the financial implications argument with food.

On the availability of foodgrain, the government has to find a way out. Even if some affluent people get (the foodgrain meant for the poor), it does not matter, they are only getting food. You are finally maintaining a basic level of consumption among the populace.

Q: The Anna movement gave leadership to the people on the issue of corruption. You have your differences with them. While some say that the Anna movement had a rightist bias, some also allege that you played into the hands of the Congress with the intent of keeping the BJP at bay. How do you respond to these allegations? 

We have no intentions in the course of the campaign of trying to keep the BJP at bay. A strong and powerful policing agency against corruption will not provide any fundamental benefit to the people. It is true that high-level corruption needs a powerful police agency at the top. But extending that to all branches of government and democratic institutions and having the same agency deal with it right down to the bottom, including grievances, is to our mind impossible, and a threat to democracy. The National Campaign on People’s Right to Information (NCPRI) believes that a combination of bills would be much stronger. This is not something that the Congress Party advocates at all. So the idea that we have done it to save the Congress is not true at all.

We do not believe that legislation is the only way to fight corruption. It’s much more important for activists to fight against corruption within the movement. Every party in power including the Congress, the BJP and others, have charges of corruption levelled against them.

Q: Was the timing of your press meet appropriate? The NCPRI held a press meet just after Digvijay Singh and Manish Tiwari stopped speaking to the press. This breeds suspicion in people’s minds…

If you see the government dealing with Anna Hazare’s movement: sometimes it was very accommodating and sometimes it was very hostile. After all, the Anna team sat with the government in the joint drafting committee; none of us sat.

In the joint drafting committee there were only Team Anna members and representatives from government. Others will have to speak from somewhere. We do not agree with many provisions in the Jan Lokpal, and we agree with many.

Wherever government did anything anti-democratic, we have come out strongly. We do not agree with Ramdev at all. But when the attack took place on his dharna, by the government, we came out with a statement saying it was anti-democratic. When Anna Hazare was not given permission to sit in dharna, we said he must be given permission.

Democracy should have space for expression of different voices. If that voice is trampled by saying that you are pro-government, then it’s sad for democracy.

About the timing of the press meet, in fact that was not the first time we spoke out. We have spoken many times before that.

Q: How do you see the current Lokpal Bill? Has the government done justice to the bill? 

It’s a mix of two things. It’s a powerful structure, not a weak structure. But it is a dangerous structure because the government will select the people who will man it as majority government representatives in the selection committee. Removal will be recommended by the President, which is, in fact, the government’s recommendations. The other problem is not having an independent investigating agency. On the positive side, sanction for investigations and prosecution has been done away with. Confiscation of disproportionate assets has been brought in. But the amendment that it will not be applied to the states is a big loss. The common people will have very limited benefit from it. Despite the federalism debate, the Prevention of Corruption Act is an all-India act. Think: If RTIA had not applied to the states, how limited its use would have been…

Q: People have been surprised at the difference of opinion between the Annas, Arunas, Kejriwals or Nikhils on this issue; they compare this disagreement in civil society to that of politicians...

It is important to understand that civil society is also a political class in a way. Change will come only through politics. Some may sit in parliament, some may use the democratic polity of agitation and pressure, some may do constructive work in the village. These are different aspects of how political decisions are taken. In civil society too you will have differences, you will have very poor performing social activists, and you will have corruption there also.

Q: Whatever way you define politics, what I meant is that people have lost faith in party-based politics…

That is the problem of our middle class tendency of rejecting everyone. Actually, people have not lost faith in political parties. When people voted for, say Mayawati in the earlier Uttar Pradesh elections, they voted with a strong commitment towards a particular party.

Q: Are electoral reforms the answer?

Electoral reform is only a technocratic solution. Politics cannot be done with technocratic solutions. We need to have a politics of the poor where state policies can be influenced in favour of the poor.

Q: You are here in Orissa to guide the government on the social audit process in the MGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act), wherein the government wants to bring a structural arrangement in line with Andhra Pradesh. There is so much talk about corruption in the MGNREGA in the state in the wake of the ongoing CBI inquiry. But the major issue here is delayed payments. And distress migration has increased in Orissa, post-MGNREGA.

Social audit is only one way, but an important, much more people-centric, way. Social audit is not only to fight corruption; it goes beyond that. The first phase of social audit is an entitlement audit: Getting job cards, timely work, timely payments, compensation for delayed payments, and whether improvements have taken place over time. These are the things that are scrutinised first. In the second phase, you see the corruption angle. The financial audit does not have that scope.

It’s true that in several parts of the country, social audits have been a sham. But we have examples in Andhra Pradesh and other pockets that show that if you give people a chance through social audits there can be dramatic results in delivery of the scheme.

To put in place such a structure that functions in a desirable way is not at all a simple task. We are here with a very limited mandate of searching for the right person to be social audit director.

The MGNREGA has had two impacts. The wage rate has gone up in many parts of the country and it has given people bargaining power. And I think it has reduced distress migration in many parts of the country, particularly of women. If the MGNREGA gives 100 days of work, at least the women stay back. So, entire family migration has been reduced to male migration. Women and children staying in the village means schooling and health are better taken care of. Therefore, there is a lot of rethinking about the kind of work to be provided under the MGNREGA.

Q: In coastal areas of Orissa, I find work is done by machines and people do not seem to be too needy for this kind of work. Is it not possible to reduce the quota in coastal areas and increase it in the interior tribal belts where people are needier?

Actually, there is no shortage of funds for the MGNREGA. This year, about half the available money has been spent. Rs 53,000 crore was available, and at the end of the year, I think only Rs 27,000-28,000 crore will be spent. In Sahariya tribes in Baran district in Rajasthan, we have seen bonded labourers freed and the state government putting 100 days more work for people there.

We should fight at both the central and state government level to increase employment in backward areas. Money is not a problem. Let the coastal areas have 100 days of guaranteed employment. For example, Kerala, Haryana, Punjab, etc, are states where it is felt that the MGNREGA is not required. Actually there we have seen women come to work and it helps their income and helps in village development. Roads are made; water harvesting structures are built… So, all the micro and sustainable development that we have been talking about is coming through the MGNREGA.

(Pradeep Baisakh is a freelance journalist based in Bhubaneswar, Orissa)

Infochange News & Features, April 2012

India: Time To Focus On Electoral Reforms

This article came in countercurrents.org on 20th February 2012

Web Link: http://www.countercurrents.org/baisakh200212.htm

India: Time To Focus On Electoral Reforms

By Pradeep Baisakh

20 February, 2012

Countercurrents.org

When the Parliament was scheduled to debate on the Lokpal (an anti-corruption institution in line of Ombudsman) bill on 27 th December 2011, Team Anna (Anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare and his team have been leading a popular struggle for last one year for enactment of a strong Lokpal )) decided to go on a token fast to mount pressure on the elected representative to pass an effective law. The attitude of Anna Hazare and team for ‘dictating' and ‘blackmailing' the highest representative body of was criticised by some so called enlightened individuals and of course some leading electronic media of the country running the discussion 24x7. In just 12 hours, the debate in the Lok Sabha (Lower house of Parliament) was over with voting taking place on party lines. The major amendments moved by opposition parties e.g. giving the Lokpalan independent investigative agency and freeing the CBI (Central Bureau of investigation), the premier investigative agencies of the country, from administrative and financial control of the government were defeated. Minor amendments which were soothing to the government however were adopted. Eventually amidst high drama, the Rajya Sabha (Upper House) was adjourned without passing the bill. This is exactly what Team Anna was apprehending. It has been complaining from the beginning that the government of the day lacks will to bring a strong Lokpal . This was however negated by many experts airing their opinion in TV channels innocently reposing faith on the temple of India - the Parliament, apparently ignoring the fact that the majority party calls shot in this so called temple.

In a recent interview I asked Manish Sisodia, a key team Anna member on what's their learning in last one year of struggle ( http://www.orissadiary.com/CurrentNews.asp?id=31286  ). He said “The biggest learning is­­­ - aam admiki is desh me koi aukat nehin (Common people's voice has no weightage here)”. The demonstration by millions of people for last more than eight months ended with the Lokpal matter been made a mockery by the political parties tacitly joining hands together. The blame goes more to the ruling establishment, the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) lead by Indian National Congress popularly known as Congress party.

India has nearly $1500 billion black money stashed in foreign banks. This is the data provided by the Swiss Bank. India has the highest black money followed by Russia 470 Billion, UK $390 Billion and others like Ukraine $100 Billion and China with $96 Billion. The quantum of black money operating inside the country is not known. Many of the politicians, bureaucrats, corporate houses are the ones who own this money and the government, for the very obvious reasons, is not disclosing the names to the public despite insistence by the Supreme Court of India. Nor has it initiated any disciplinary action against the owners of this money. It's therefore not beyond anticipation to not have got any opposition from these powerful masses to the anti-corruption movement by Anna Hazare .

With a phase of anti corruption crusade being over, what's the next course of action for Team Anna ? Campaigning against the candidate of Congress party in Hisar (a place in Haryana, a state of India where an by-election was held for the state Assembly), though non-conventional, was a strategy to pressurise the party to fall in line for an brining an effective Lokpal bill. Now time has come to understand the basic problem lying with the electoral system of the country. The prevailing system, where money is raised by the political parties in dubious means to fund elections and political parties dominated by criminal and corrupt elements, people at large are the passive participants in the democratic process limited to ‘electing' representatives once in five years. Therefore, there is a felt need of creating an atmosphere for brining in key electoral reforms in the country in order to cleanse the political system of rot. Once this root cause is addressed, the quantum of corruption is most likely to come down. Team Anna , which once proposed electoral reforms, must now focus its movement in this direction. Some of the proposals are a discussed here.

Negative Voting

The concept of negative voting provides the choice to a voter to reject a candidate s/he does not find them suitable. In the current practice of adult suffrage in India , the voter in fact adopts a process of elimination than selection. Suppose when a voter is faced with a situation where he finds none in the list to be suitable enough to represent him/her, what does s/he do? He either votes for the one s/he ‘dislikes the least' of s/he just skips voting. In both these circumstances the freedom of the citizen to elect his or her representative is only partially met, which may not be called as a free will but a forced will.

No wonder that in last Lok Sabha (Lower house of parliament) election held in 2009 the number of Members of Parliament (MPs) with criminal background is 162 out of the information available for 543 MPs (Total strength of Lok Sabha is 552). And ironically this is a 34% increase to the last election held in 2004. MPs with serious criminal cases pending against them are 76 in numbers this time. A compilation made by National Election Watch (NEC) and Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR) provides further details on the criminal cases and the numbers of Crorepatis (owner of Crores of money ) ( 1crore is 10 million) (http://www.adrindia.org/   ) . The website reveals that in case of 304 MPs in the 2004 Lok Sabha who also contested the 2009 election, their assets have gone up by 289% on an average. Their average assets was 1.92 crore rupees then but has gone up to an average of 4.8 crore rupees in just five years! Where have these money come from, wonder the common people. And the Crorepati MPs in the 2009 Lok Sabha are 315. All these show that a common person has a rare chance to enter into these so called temples of India namely the legislatures.

Given the above fact, it is not ironic that the kinds of governments the Indians have been getting are the ones which hardly listen to the real need of people.

System of negative voting operates in two forms. In the first form, the voter is given two options, one is ‘for' and the other is ‘against'. He can vote for the candidate he finds most suitable and against he considers highly undeserving. During the counting of votes all the ‘for' and ‘against' votes are added separately and then added to each other to get the sum total of it for a particular candidate. The candidate getting the highest number of ‘for' votes (or least number of ‘against' votes as the case may be) is declared elected. This suggestion is a radical one. In the other form, which is also known as neutral voting, simply one more option indicating ‘none of the above' is added to the ballot paper. Here the voter will have the option of rejecting all the candidates if s/he finds them unfit to represent him/her.

Under the current dispensation, there is option for ‘not to cast his/her vote' by letting the reason recorded near the presiding officer under r ule 49 O of the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961. Though this provides the scope for ‘rejecting all candidates', it violates the secrecy of voting. The Election Commission of India (EC) recommended in 2001 and again in 2004 that “Rules 22 and 49 B of the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961 may be suitably amended adding a proviso that in the ballot paper … there shall be a column ‘None of the above', to enable a voter to reject all the candidates, if he chooses so.”

This recommendation has fallen into deaf ear of successive governments. The Election Commission of India has also not attempted to bring in such a provision on its own despite it having the power to do so. (In Mohinder Singh Gill case of 1978 and A.C. Jose case of 1984, the Supreme Court held that the EC has power to bring in such reforms on its own). The Supreme Court also played safe hand and called for a larger political consensus when it has been approached by concerned citizen for acting proactive to bringing in this provision. In 2007 hearing to a PIL filed by Ashok Agarwal, a resident of Noida, the apex court suggested the petitioner to wait till the government takes a decision on negative voting.

The system of negative voting operates in countries like Nevada State ( United States ), in Massachusetts ( United States ), Spain , Switzerland etc in various forms.

Likely impact of negative voting

This reform will in all likelihood bring back the disaffected voters back to the election process as s/he now has option to vent out his/her displeasure toward the candidates. If the numbers of negative voting in an election is too large, it shall bring moral impact on the political parties to redefine their criteria for candidate selection. And if the numbers of negative votes are more than the highest votes got by a candidate, re-polling should be ordered in the constituency. This however may need the backing of necessary legislation by the Parliament. The parties will be very cautious onwards to ensure that the criteria to choose the candidate are quality and acceptability of the candidates by the public, not on basis of money, muscle power and family affinity. This may usher good people entering politics breaking the wider perception that ‘politics is not everybody's cup of tea'. It might thus revolutionise the political system with people at large having voice in influencing the internal functioning of the political parties.

The other suggestion for electoral reforms to be discussed is State Funding of Elections.

State funding of elections

In May 2001, the then Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) party president Bangaru Laxman was shown in a clandestine video to have received one lakh rupees ‘bribe' to favour a defence deal. The BJP however defended terming it as receiving the donation for party. The lesson learn is that there is no difference between taking bribe and receiving raising funds for parties and elections as in most of cases the money raised for party is not accounted and come from dubious means.

The debate on the desirability and feasibility of state funding of elections has been in air for last some decades. But owing to lack of consensus among the political parties, the matter could not take any concrete shape. Recently while the debate for a strong Lokpal was going on, the Group of Ministers (GoM) formed to suggest measures to tackle corruption in the country asked the Law Ministry in October 2011 to formulate concrete proposals on constitutional and statutory amendments required to introduce state funding of elections of the Parliamentary and Assembly pools. Gandhi Scion Rahul Gandhi has reportedly supported the idea.

The purpose of it is to check the dirty money funding the operation of political parties and then influence the policies. Ideally, even though India is a Sovereign, Democratic and Republic where the people are said to be source of power, in reality those who fund the parties- legally or secretly, set the agenda of governance for the nation.

Indrajit Gupta Committee recommended for state funding of elections way back in 1998. It recommended for partial state funding of elections to the candidates and parties recognised by the Election Commission where the support may be given in kind than in cash. The Law Commission report in 1999 also agreed to Gupta commission's idea of partial state funding of elections for reducing scope for raising funds by the political parties from illegitimate sources. There is desirability for complete state funding provided that the political parties are debarred from raising fund from any external sources, opined both the committees. Second Administrative Commission report ‘Ethics in Governance', 2007 reiterates the position. Law Commission recommends for regulation of the internal democracy and structure of the political parties and proper maintenance of accounts and submission of audit to the Election Commission as pre-conditions for introducing state funding. While the National Commission of Review of Working of Constitution (NCWRC), 2001 have been cautious on the issue, the Election Commission of India is not in favour of it as it feels that state funding of elections will not solve problems of black money. However, given the condition of role of dirty money in elections and the rising quantum of black money, presumably, with the connivance and active participation of the politicians and political parties, there is case for state finding of elections.

Currently the limit of expenditure for a candidate contesting Parliamentary elections has been pegged by the Election Commission of India at 40 lakh rupees (or $0.8 million. 1 dollar is considered equivalent to 50 rupees here, which is the prevailing exchange rate) and that for Assembly pools is 16 lakh rupees (or $0.32 million). While it may be difficult to quantify the money required to be borne upon by the state if a complete state funding of election is considered, it will certainly be less than the money bungled in the recent series of scams exposed in the country e.g. the 2G spectrum scam (of $25.4 billion or 1. 27 lakh crore rupees; 1 dollar is considered approximately equal to 50 rupees) (presumptive loss as quantified by Comptroller and Auditor General of India), Commonwealth game scam, Adarsh Society scam ( $200 million or 1000 crore rupees scam), Mining scam in Karnataka (India state, mining scam in Odisha (an India state) ($60 billion or 3 lakh crore rupees as quantified by CNN-IBN-a leading electronic media of the country) so on and so forth.

Time has come for the people and concerned citizen to raise the pitch for these electoral reforms which will go a long way in brining the electoral system to the control of people and drive out the elements illegitimately funding elections and shape government policies in their favour. It will also reduce the scope of accruing black money by the corporate, politicians, bureaucrats, criminals so on and so forth.

Pradeep Baisakh is a Freelance Journalist based in Odisha state and a National Foundation of India Media Fellow (2012). He can be reached through e mail: 2006pradeep@gmail.com