From deprivation to sufficiency – a hamlet shows the way

The story came in Grassroots in October 2011


Web Link: http://www.pressinstitute.in/archgr2011/grassroots-oct-2011.pdf

From deprivation to sufficiency – a hamlet shows the way

A comprehensive, sustainable model of development – investment in agriculture, animal husbandry, kitchen gardens, vegetable farming and a grain bank – has led to a visible change in the lives of the families living in an Adivasi colony in one of Orissa’s backward districts.

- Pradeep Baisakh, Orissa

A woman plucks ripe tomatos. Vegetable farming has proved remunerative for the villagers . Photo: Adikanda Biswal

People in the Adivasi colony, Padia, a small sleepy hamlet in the Kechhodadar Gram Panchayat that comes under the Paikmal Block in Orissa’s Bargarh District, used to go to bed some years ago with only half their stomachs full. That was when their primary source of income was daily labour, and agriculture another source. People had to venture outside the village for work; some even left the State to find work elsewhere as migrant labour, often ending up in brick kilns and similar work. Needles to add, their lives were marked by abject poverty and exploitation by moneylenders. However, a marked change enveloped the village after it adopted a sustainable model of development, including paddy farming, vegetable farming, animal husbandry, and other initiatives such as growing a kitchen garden or developing a seed or grain bank.

Recalls an old woman in the village: “There was a time when the male members of the family would go out of the village for daily labour. The wives would be waiting with the children for them to return with some rice, so that they could cook food. We never had any stock to meet our daily requirement of food. Many a time we have had to starve as our husbands returned empty-handed or with a small amount of grain.” On most occasions, it would be the women who would starve to feed the children and the male members. Things have undergone a vast change in the Adivasi colony, with almost all the families confident and smiling whenever a visitor arrives, and narrating the success stories.

In the beginning, Manav Adhikar Seva Samiti, a local NGO, helped the women form Self Help Groups (SHGs) and persuaded them to save some of their income. Collective savings by the members supplemented by external support the NGO extended to the group at the block level created a small pool of money which met the immediate cash requirement. People borrowed money from the group at a low rate of interest and invested it in purchasing seeds for agriculture. They also invested in rearing goats or breeding chickens. Earlier, the villagers had to depend on moneylenders who would give them the seed loan that carried exorbitant interest. Investing in agriculture provided the villagers a fairly good return; this was in turn supplemented by income from animal husbandry.

With the seed support from the government, people also started kitchen garden in 2005 and conducted vegetable farming. As vegetable price in the country spiralled, the villagers not only has got a good return by selling the vegetable in the market but also enriched their diet. Premsila Bhoi, one of the first in the village to adopt the kitchen garden model, showed how the model has yielded a rich harvest and was financially remunerative. In 2010, she sold vegetables worth 7000 rupees with almost negligible investment in a  small patch of land. Premsila’s success has now led to almost all the 47 families in the village nurturing kitchen gardens.

Rearing goats also has provided returns to the villagers. For example, Kain Bhoi now has 6 goats. She sells each one at the rate of 6000 rupees. Prabha Bariha sold 6 goats over past two or three years and made 36,000 rupees. Most income was spent on food and on other consumption needs.

The village then started a grain bank with purpose of saving food grain for use in the lean season. During rainy days people had no food grains with them, resulting in dependence on the money lenders for rice. The money lenders would charge a monthly interest rate of 10%. This inescapable dependency on borrowing had created a kind of vicious cycle for the villagers, with no signs of getting out of it. After their harvest, almost all their income would go to the money lenders in form of repaying the debt and principal amounts. Effectively the villagers were not able to enjoy their own harvest forcing them to venture outside the state for finding jobs.

After the grain bank was established, villagers contributed a portion of their harvest to the community-managed initiative, the stock enough to feed them during - June, July and August. Once, according to a villager, rain continued for eight days without respite, keeping the villagers indoors. The sahukars (Money Lenders) came with rice wanting to lend as usual against a high interest return. But now, with the village having accumulated enough grain for self-sustenance, the sahukars had to beat a retreat. The grain bank had helped the villagers preserve dignity and self-respect.

Women who are part of Self Help Groups meet regularly to discuss issues. Photo: Pradeep Baisakh

The rising incomes in Adivasi colony have enhanced the confidence of people, positively impacting on the education of children. Today almost all the children attend schools. Some of the children have joined nearby Ashram schools run by the government. “The self sufficiency in living has particularly impinged on the girl child education, which was neglected earlier. There has been an increasing awareness of people through various exposures to training and meetings, accompanied by rise in income levels”, says Lata Sahu, Community organiser in the village. 

The fight against POSCO in Orissa

The piece came in September-October 2011 issue of 'Ethics in Action' a bi-monthly magazine by Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) published from Hong Kong. 

Web link: http://www.ethicsinaction.asia/archive/2011-ethics-in-action/vol.-5-no.-5-october-2011/the-fight-against-posco-in-orissa

The fight against POSCO in Orissa

Pradeep Baisakh

The Orissa High Court’s interim order on 9 September 2011 came as a damper for the inhabitants of Dhinkia, Nuagaon and Gadkujang panchayats of Jagatsingpur district, many of whom are vehemently opposing the POSCO steel-cum-captive power plant in the area. Hearing two public interest petitions filed by Nisakar Kahtua and other affected people from the area, the court dismissed their request to order a stay on the acquisition of forest land by the state. It has however, ordered a stay on the acquisition of private land to be transferred to the company.

Prashant Paikray, spokesperson of POSCO Pratirodha Sangram Samiti (PPSS), a group spearheading the anti-POSCO movement for more than six years now, said, “We are happy that the Court has stayed the private land acquisition. It has however denied the diversion of the forest land acquisition under the Forest Rights Act. But this is only an interim order, the hearing will continue. We are hopeful that the final order will go in favour of the people.”

The district administration is currently involved in a mindless tree felling exercise as part of its forest land acquisition. A writ petition has been filed by some local social activists mentioning that “50,000 trees have been cut by the government. It is ascertained from the government website that more than 500,000 different trees would be cut down in the area for the proposed steel plant.”

While the copy of the interim order is yet to become public, the court ruling is bewildering as environmentalists and forest rights activists say there is no basis for the diversion of forest land and tree felling, which violate India’s Forest Rights Act. Moreover, there is no Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between POSCO and the state government at present. The MoU on the project expired on 22 June 2010 and is yet to be renewed. Prior to discussing the illegalities involved in the POSCO project, we can first throw some light on the project itself and examine the sequence of events regarding the government’s role and the people’s struggle.


The project

On 22 June 2005 Pohang Steel Company (POSCO), a large South Korean corporation, signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the government of Orissa. This understanding outlined POSCO’s proposal to invest USD 12 billion (around 54 thousand crore Indian rupees) and build a 12 Million Tonne Per Annum (MTPA) integrated steel plant, captive port and mines in the Erasama block of Jagatsingpur district. This is tipped as the highest FDI to India. The project requires 4004 acres of land, of which about 2900 acres are forest land; the rest is private. In addition to this, land is also to be provided for railways, road expansion and mine development. This MoU was valid for five years, and stands expired now. A renewed MoU is yet to be signed as both parties are at loggerheads on certain issues. Three panchayats will be affected by the steel and power plant project, namely Dhinkia, Nuagaon and Gadakujang under Kujanga Tahsil.


Clearance for the project

After the signing of the MoU, the state government recommended the central government to consider the POSCO project as a Special Economic Zone (SEZ), for Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) and Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) clearances in mid 2006. The project got initial ‘in principle’ forest and environmental clearances with conditions from the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) in June 2007. The matter was taken to the Supreme Court, which eventually gave clearance for the forest diversion proposal and ordered the state government to refer the matter to the MoEF, which would take a decision according to the law. With Jairam Ramesh taking charge of the MoEF, and his proactive role in appointing expert committees to inquire into alleged violations of forest and other related laws by the state government, people’s hope of obtaining justice was rekindled, only to be dashed later.

On 2 May 2011, the ministry gave final environmental and forest clearance to the project(1),  much to people’s surprise, as both the expert committees appointed by the Minister, the FRA review committee (headed by Dr N C Saxena) and POSCO review Committee (headed by Ms Meena Gupta), recommended the withdrawal of the project from the area. 


Unique people’s struggle

The pertinent land in the Jagatsingpur district is considered to be very fertile for the cultivation of betel, paddy and fish. P Sainath, the Rural Affairs Editor of The Hindu, a popular English daily newspaper told me in an interview that, “On one betel farm, over one-tenth of an acre earns a profit of 1.5-2 lakh (2)  rupees in a year. This is actually a stunning return while comparing with the input cost.” This is one of the reasons why many people and political parties oppose the project’s establishment there.

Since the signing of the MoU, people of the area have been opposing the project. The POSCO Pratirodha Sangam Samiti (PPSS) was conceptualized to lead the anti-project movement. Several rallies, protest marches and demonstrations were held by PPSS in the area and around, including the capital of Orissa, as well as the national capital. In due course a pro-POSCO group was established, the United Action Committee (UAC), which supported the project with some conditions. Some say that this group was strategically formed by ruling party leaders (Biju Janata Dal: BJD) in the area and does not in fact have any mass base. Confrontations between the two groups have occurred at different points of time. One member of the anti-POSCO group was allegedly killed by the project supporters. Police had gone to the area and unleashed repressive action against the protesting people. Some people, mostly from Gadkujang and Nuagaon panchayats supported the project, while people from Dhinkia panchayat stood firm against it. The leader of PPSS, Abhay Sahoo, was arrested by state police in October 2008 and a number of criminal cases filed against him, with charges of murder, kidnapping, assault and so forth. Criminal cases have in fact been filed against many of the PPSS supporters. As a result, they are unable to leave their villages, even today. In a bizarre human rights violation, while Abhay Sahoo was in the hospital during his arrest (he was ailing then), he was secured to the bed with chains like a dreadful criminal. Following such excesses, human rights activists raised an outcry of gross violations in the area. Support poured in from across the nation and beyond, and the anti-POSCO movement took an international shape. In condemnation of the arrest of Abhay Sahoo and other PPSS activists, a rally was organized from Mandi House to Parliament Street in New Delhi in November 2008. A ‘Banar Sena’, a protesting wing of children, was formed where even children resolved to fight against the project.

In order to thwart any entry of police and POSCO officials to the area, people raised a barricade at the strategic Balitutha, the entry point to the three panchayats. But in May 2010, police used tear gas, rubber bullets and lathi charges to drive people away from there. Some houses at the entry point were allegedly burnt by the police. Finally in August 2010, the environment minister ordered the state government to stop the land acquisition until a final decision was taken on the matter.


Recent standoff and protest

Armed with the MoEF’s final clearance on 2 May 2011, the state administration, without any loss of opportunity, resumed acquiring land from May 18 in the villages of Polang, Noliasahi and Bhuyanpal, where most people were persuaded or threatened to hand over their land in lieu of compensation.  Betel vines, the major source of livelihood of the people in the area, were pulled down by the administration. Those opposing the acquisition process were harassed by armed police. Basu Behera, the Panchayat Samiti member of Gadkujang panchayat and vice president of PPSS was injured and bleeding due to the police attack.

The police faced unprecedented resistance when it attempted to enter the Govindpur village in Dhinkia panchayat as its next target at the beginning of June 2011, considered to be the bastion of the PPSS. Twenty platoons of armed police were deployed to tackle the situation, with both the District Magistrate Narayan Jena and Superintendent of Police Debadutta Singh present to supervise. More than 3000 people formed a human chain and lay on the ground at the village entry point. Said one protester, Manjulata Dalai of Govindpur village, “If the land goes to the company, we will die anyway. It is better to die now in pursuit of protecting our land than dying after losing the land.”


Children’s participation

In a novel—and controversial—method, about 600 children formed the frontal barricade and prostrated on the hot sand in the month of June, preventing entry to their villages.  The state administration cried foul over the use of children in the struggle, claiming it to be a violation of child rights. After the brutality of May 2010, when more than 100 people were injured, including several women, the villagers felt they had little option but to take the children’s help in protecting their homeland. Priyanka Dalai, a fifth-grade student taking part in the protest said, “We will not leave our land. We will protect it at any cost.”

The district administration had gone on record saying they could use force to acquire the land. The situation looked very precarious where the people were lying on the ground under the scorching sun, while the police was ready just 500 metres away. Imposition of section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code and repeated warnings by the district Superintendent of Police to leave the land fell on deaf ears; people did not budge. Dr B D Sharma, former Commissioner for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, told the media during his visit to the area that the determination of the people not to leave their land is unshakable. “People are protesting here for the last six years. Even then if the administration resorts to using force leading to any loss of life, it would amount to genocide, for which the administration will be fully responsible.”

Children’s participation in the struggle was defended by Abhay Sahoo: “Since the armed police are confronting the democratically protesting people, so the children are compelled to participate in the protest dharanas. I will say it is their higher consciousness that they have come forward to the rescue of their parents and to safeguard their livelihood.”

The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) visited the area and recommended the state government to vacate the schools occupied by the police and appealed all concerned to create an ambience so that children’s right to education and well being is protected.

Almost all the political parties barring the ruling BJD, thronged to the area extending support to the protesting masses and decried any use of force on the people. CPI, CPI (M), Congress, BJP and other small parties sent their representatives who sat alongside the people and thwarted any possible police action. Well known social activists such as Medha Patkar, Magsaysay award winner Aruna Roy, Swami Agnivesh, Vandana Shiva, trade union leader Gurudas Dasgupta, retired Justice of Bombay High Court Kolse Patil and Magsaysay award winner Sandeep Pande also sat in solidarity with the people. 

The demonstrations continue in Bhubaneswar and New Delhi. The 24-by-7 presence of media, most importantly the electronic media, has allowed for live telecasts and a close watch over the war like situation. Children prostrating under the hot sun caught the attention of people across the globe and sympathy flowed in support of those determined to sacrifice everything for their land. People from 64 countries, in a signed petition, have urged the Chief Minister not to use force and to hold a dialogue with the people. While the government temporarily made a retreat from Govindpur, construction work and tree felling continues unabated in Nuagaon and Gadkujang.


Illegalities of the project

There are several legal issues involved in the proposed POSCO project, which are discussed below. Not only are people’s voices being suppressed, but several laws and procedures have been bent to favour the company.

Palli Sabha resolutions ignored

The first and foremost issue relates to the Palli Sabha (3) resolutions of the Dhinkia (held on 21st February 2011) and Gobindpur (23rd February 2011) villages under Dhinkia village panchayat, which dismissed the diversion of forest land to the project. These resolutions were sent to the MoEF by the PPSS, with 1632 out of 3445 voter signatures in Dhinkia village and 1265 of 1907 in Gobindpur village. The state government however, submitted to the ministry that the resolutions were only signed by 69 and 64 voters respectively, which lacks the quorum needed in accordance with the Forest Rights Act (4).  Said PPSS spokesperson Prashant Paikray,

We had faxed only two pages of the resolution to MoEF but the complete copy was sent to both the MoEF and state government by registered post. The state government has lied on the number of signatures backing the resolutions. Still unfortunate is that Jairam Ramesh also accepted it unquestioned. The facts have now been presented before the High Court in a petition.

Apart from the ground of quorum, the state government also has raised the issue of the power of the Sarpanch, elected head of a Gram Panchayat, to convene a Palli Sabha and the validity of the resolutions passed. According to the government, “Two resolutions purported to have been passed by the Palli Sabha are not available in the book (recorded by the gram panchayat secretary and signed by the Sarpanch) and are therefore fake ones.” The MoEF also purportedly analyzed various provisions of the Orissa Gram Panchayat Act and the Forest Rights Act, and came to the conclusion that the resolutions are not valid documents. Many legal experts do not agree to the conclusion of the state and central governments. In fact, the Orissa Chief Secretary’s order of 4 February 2009 states that when the Forest Rights Committee in a village wishes to present its findings, there is no need to wait for any government decision to convene any Palli Sabha; only the ward member and Sarpanch have to be impressed upon the need to hold the Palli Sabha. In the records relating to the aforesaid resolutions, the Panchayat secretary writes that he could have not attended the meeting as there is no government order for him to attend, although in reality he has violated provisions regarding attendance. To suit its agenda, the state government has suspended Sarpanch Sisir Mohapatra for having ‘over-stepped his jurisdiction’. Legal expert Prasant Jena opines, “Suspension of a democratically elected Sarpanch in such instance amounts to misuse of power by the state government.” Social activist Aruna Roy demanded his immediate reinstatement as “he has not violated any provisions of the Constitution.”

It is clearly visible that the substantive aspects of the FRA have been relegated by the procedural aspects. What is of substance here is that the majority of people in the area oppose the diversion of forest land for the POSCO project. In fact, the current acquisition of forest land by the state government for the purpose of diversion has also not been backed by any Palli Sabha resolution, which is mandatory under section 4(5) of the law and the MoEF guidelines of 30 July 2009. This legal violation is now being contested in the High Court. The state government however, is of the opinion that since there are no tribals and other traditional forest dwellers (OTFDs; non-tribals dependent on forests) in the area, no such resolutions are needed.

Earlier in February 2010, Palli Sabhas in Dhinkia, Govindpur and Nuagaon villages were convened on the direction of the District Collector and passed resolutions rejecting the forest diversion proposals for the project. All these resolutions were overlooked however, while final clearance was granted to the project by the MoEF.

Claims under FRA not settled

The state government’s claim that there are no tribals and other traditional forest dwellers (OTFDs) in the area is incorrect. The 2001 census itself shows there are 23 tribals in Polang village under Kujang Tehsil, which is one of the villages covered under the proposed project.Under the definition, people living in the area and dependent on the forest for three generations or 75 years prior to 13 December 2005 will be considered to be OTFDs. However, the state government claims that people living there could not have been dependent for 75 years on the ‘forest’ as only in October 1961 was it declared as forest under the Indian Forest Act. In other words, with the forest only legally existing for 49-50 years, there is no possibility of anyone falling under the category of OTFDs. Contrary to the government’s claim however, the Survey of India map shows that as early as 1928-29 the area was forest land under Cuttack district (Jagatsingpur district was part of former undivided Cuttack district). Furthermore, Madhu Sarin, a renowned expert on forest issues, disparages the linkage of period of notification of forest to claims under the FRA. “Under the FRA, the definition of forest includes all kinds of forest, such as unclassified forests, reserved forests, existing or deemed forest, wild sanctuaries, national parks and so on. It does not say that it should be notified in such and such a year. If that was the case then large parts of Orissa are not forest land as large chunks of land in scheduled areas were notified as reserved and protected areas after independence.” 

Records show existence of traditional forest dwellers

In fact in August 2010, Dr N C Saxena, Chairperson of the FRA monitoring committee constituted by the MoEF and MoTA (Ministry of Tribal Affairs), wrote to Jairam Ramesh and mentioned some ten documents providing the proof of existence of OTFDs in the area. One such document is the record of rights of a Mr Giridhari Bardhan of Govindpur village from 1927, collected from the survey and settlement manual:

 

Saxena wrote in no uncertain terms that there were violations of the Forest Rights Act in the proposed POSCO area by the state government. Similarly, the majority of the POSCO review committee members held that there were gross violations of environmental laws, fabrication of evidence, perpetuation of forest rights abuses and suppressing facts relating to the Costal Regulation Zone. They even recommended prosecution of the authorities who had violated the provisions of the Forest Rights Act (FRA) and other environmental laws.

Ignoring all evidence of such violations, the Environment Minister approved the project. Not surprisingly, four days later, the Minister said on record that he is forced to regularize illegalities many a time!

Prime Minister’s pet project

Implementation of the POSCO project is being directly monitored by Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh’s office (PMO), as it constitutes the highest Foreign Direct Investment in the country. In an April 2007 meeting with Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, Manmohan Singh asked the state government to expedite the process of land acquisition for the project. In August 2010, Patnaik met Manmohan Singh and Jairam Ramesh to seek their support for the POSCO project, where Singh assured the Chief Minister ‘to hasten the project’. This was despite the MoEF expert committee’s adverse report on the project. On many other occasions the PMO has played a key role in facilitating speedy implementation of the project. Environmentalist Ashish Kothari, also a member of the Dr Saxena committee, said “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 Korean government is backing its own corporate.” It is therefore not surprising that the project got forest and environmental clearance despite adverse reports by both expert committees.

According to journalist and food policy analyst Devinder Sharma, “It seems that Jairam Ramesh’s 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.”

Conclusion

While the September 9 court order has come in handy for the government to continue acquiring land and felling trees in areas where it is facing less resistance, the stay on private land acquisition has given it a jolt. Even though the project has obtained the final clearance from the MoEF, the matter relating to the source of mining is not settled. The High Court has previously set aside the state government’s recommendation to provide a licence to POSCO for the Khandahar iron ore mines in Sundergarh district. Moreover, the MoU is yet to be renewed after it expired on 22 June 2010.

In the meantime, Paikray of PPSS says, “Already a petition is lying in the National Green Tribunal challenging the violation of environment norms in our area.” Abhay Sahoo asserts “We will fight till the project is shifted out of our area”. With both the central and state governments putting their weight behind the project and giving clearances left and right, how far the people can resist is to be witnessed. One can only hope that the violence unleashed by the state in Kalinga Nagar, the steel hub of Orissa, in January 2006 where 14 people were shot dead by the police, is not repeated here.

Reference:

Das, Prafulla (2010), “Bulldozer Regime”, Frontline, 5-18 June

Pattnaik, Sandeep (2010), Chronology of anti-POSCO movement

Baisakh, Pradeep (2011), “The Orissa government wants to bring Bt Cotton to Kalahandi”, Tehelka, 18 July (Link: http://www.tehelka.com/story_main50.asp?filename=Ws180711The_Orissa.asp)

Baisakh, Pradeep (2011), “Clearing Forests and People in Orissa”, Counter Punch, 15 July (Link: http://counterpunch.org/pradeep07152011.html)

Baisakh, Pradeep (2011), “War Zone in Proposed POSCO Project Area”, Counter Currents, 14 July (Link: http://www.countercurrents.org/baisakh140711.htm)

Baisakh, Pradeep (2011), “Children’s participation in protest is due to their higher consciousness: Abhay Sahoo”, Orissa Diary, 24 June (Link:http://orissadiary.com/inerview/abhaysahoo.asp)

Baisakh, Pradeep (2011), “Prevent possible genocide in proposed POSCO area of Orissa: Dr B D Sharma”, Orissa Diary, 15 June (Link:http://www.orissadiary.com/CurrentNews.asp?id=27257 )

Baisakh, Pradeep (2011), “ Vedanta and POSCO: A tale of two projects”, Infochange India, April (Link:http://infochangeindia.org/201104158758/Environment/Features/Vedanta-and-Posco-A-tale-of-two-projects.html )

Website of Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) (Link: http://moef.nic.in/index.php)

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

(NB: Much of the matter used in this article is reproduced from the author’s earlier articles written on the topic.)

1. http://www.environmentportal.in/files/Posco-final-orders-02052011.pdf

2. One lakh is equal to one tenth of a million.

3. Palli Sabha is the assembly of adults of a revenue village, synonymous to the generic term Gram Sabha or village panchayat, which is the lowest elected body in India.

4. The quorum under the Forest Rights Act requires the presence of two third of the total voters in the village in the Palli Sabha meeting.

Don’t rush with the cash

This interview came in 'Financial World' , an financial daily by Tehelka group of publications on 6th September 2011. The web version is not available. 

Don’t rush with the cash

REETIKA KHERA, ASST PROFESSOR, IIT, NEW DELHI TALKS TO PRADEEP BAISAKH ON THE FINDINGS OF A SURVEY ON THE FUNCTIONING OF THE PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM IN 100 INDIA VILLAGES ACROSS NINE STATES.

You recently conducted survey covering about 100 villages in nine states like Chhatisgarh, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan. What did you find?

You forgot to mention two important states that were part of the survey: Himachal Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. The survey was important because the proposed National Food Security Act (NFSA) is currently being drafted and because of the debate about cash transfers as an alternative to the PDS. There were three important reasons for the PDS survey: to get feedback from the ground on the functioning of the PDS, to learn what makes the PDS work well in some states and not so well in others and to know the views on cash transfers as an alternative to food. We found that the PDS plays a crucial role in ensuring food security. The general perception of half of PDS grain (we did not have a chance to probe non-grain PDS commodities in as much detail) not reaching the poor is no longer true in most of these states; BPL households reported getting 86% of their grain entitlements. On cash, except in Bihar, people were quite resistant to the idea – overall, 67% opted for food, 18% for cash and the rest were either not clear or made conditional choices.

You have written to the Prime Minister sharing with him brief observations on the revival of PDS system urging him not to switch over to the cash transfer mode from the current system of distribution of ration. Have you got any response from the PMO?

Well, the letter to the PM urged against a hasty transition to cash transfers. And no, we have not received any response.  

What, according to your survey, are people’s views on cash transfers?

An important learning from our conversations this summer was that it is not easy to make a single statement about the impact cash transfers on food security.   The answer to that question depends on many things: for instance, who is asked that question (is it a marginal farmer or a single woman), where they live (in a village with poor access or close to a market town), how the PDS works in that area, etc. A large majority of the respondents, though they could see the potential benefits of cash transfers (e.g., being able to purchase a more diversified food basket), were extremely apprehensive - in some cases, people even ‘feared’ cash - about the impact of cash transfers on food security. Bihar is an exception to this general pattern. These apprehensions stemmed primarily from the fact that most parts of rural India are just not ready for cash transfers. Mind you, readiness is not just a question of whether banks/post offices are accessible and whether people have accounts already. Readiness of the system is equally a question of whether markets are accessible and well-developed, whether the government has accurate and reliable data on prices to index cash transfers in a satisfactory manner, whether rural markets function well. Let me give you a few examples. When we explained to a woman in Sirmaur (Himachal Pradesh) that the cash amount would be indexed to prices, guess what her reply was? She said, "I know when the government will increase the amount - every five years, before elections". In Tamil Nadu (where rural markets are reasonably well developed) and in Chhattisgarh and Orissa (where they aren't), respondents feared being left at the mercy of the local banias (businessman). In Dharmapuri (Tamil Nadu), one man said, "If there is no PDS ration shop, all the banias in the market will collude and raise prices. Where will we go in that case?" Experts engaged in the cash versus food debate could do with a lesson in the economics of rural markets from rural residents who will be affected by this policy change.

Shall it have any bearing on the Minimum Support Price (MSP) of farm product and consequently on the farming community?

Will the government's procurement operations continue if there is no PDS? Procurement is undertaken for the PDS and to stabilize market prices through open market sales (its another story that the government failed to do that when prices of wheat and rice shot up two years ago). There isn’t any concrete proposal on the details of a cash transfer regime.

Is the cash transfer system working well in countries like Mexico where it has been borrowed from?

In Mexico, the government used conditional cash transfers as an anti-poverty measure - e.g., households were given a certain amount of cash if they attended the public health clinic. That is quite different from what is being proposed here (a replacement of the PDS – a food security programme - with cash transfers). Two more points are worth noting: one, the identification of households was done through something that resembles India's BPL census. In India the two BPL censuses have been a disaster. In 2005-6, among the poorest 20% (of the expenditure group), nearly half did not have a BPL card! Two, in Mexico cash transfers were accompanied by large-scale public provision of basic services (like the public health clinics), not a withdrawal of public provisioning.

Why is government keen on cash transfers?

Though there is no specific proposal yet (cash transfer or food coupons), there is certainly a big push towards dismantling the PDS. This would be criminally unfair to states such as Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Himachal, Tamil Nadu where people rely on the PDS shop for subsidized wheat/rice, dals, oils, etc. I will be surprised if the Centre finds any takers in those states for such a proposal. In fact, I believe the Chhattisgarh Chief Minister has written to the planning commission that he is opposed to cash in lieu of the PDS. State governments seem to understand people’s needs better than the Centre.

Reforms in water sector is biased towards favoring the rich: Ranjan Panda

This interview came in Orissa Diary in August 2011


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


Reforms in water sector is biased towards favoring the rich: Ranjan Panda


Ranjan Panda was crowned as the NDTV-Toyata Green hero in December 2010 for his contribution toward environment protection by way of renovation of the traditional water harvesting techniques in Western Odisha districts like Sambalpur and Bargarh. He was earlier profiled as a Climate Crusader by NDTV and is the writer of a book on Traditional Water Harvesting Practices of Western Odisha. He is the convener of Water Initiative Odisha and founder of Organsiation Manav Adhikar Seva Samiti (MASS). Panda , known as the Waterman of Odisha, speaks exclusively to Pradeep Baisakh, Senior Editor, OrissaDiary.com on the traditional water harvesting techniques, the agro-industry conflict, water distribution and the ADB promoted water reforms plan in Odisha.
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 Orissadiary:You have won the NDTV-TOYATA Green Hero award, a prestigious award for work on environment. What is your reaction?

Ranjan Panda: An award is a recognition and responsibility at the same time.  I am happy not only because I got this  first ever national green awards launched by NDTV, but also because this is where our work has been recognized by an independent group after following us and our work for several years.  At a time, when many awards are in reality lobbied for, this is a recognition you get without even applying for it or knowing that you were being tracked for years.  Responsibility, I say, because the work that people like us are doing is getting rare by the day.  We are in a world where environmentalism is increasingly being seen in parlance with naxalism and terrorism. If you seriously talk and work for environment the entire human race, which has forgotten its root of existence and its responsibility towards the mother earth, will consider that you are actually committing a crime.  If you become the voice of the alive but dumb ecology, you will be crushed in several ways.  We are happy blindly urbanizing and discriminately industrializing; and in the process, eating up all other species and beings on earth.  Ironically, we are eating up our own future and call ourselves educated!  So, this award is a responsibility to keep on to the difficult task of siding with the environment and fighting against the deadly human race.

 Orissadiary: Can you very briefly narrate us your work on water harvesting?

Ranjan Panda: In fact our work goes beyond water harvesting; towards creating water secure communities for now and future.  In 1988, when I was a student of Sociology in the Sambalpur University, I got an opportunity to visit remote rural and tribal villages.  I was astounded to see the rich ecological knowledge and value system that existed in these villages and the communities.  They understood forests, water and food management much better than anyone I had talked or interacted so far.  But they lived in abject poverty, neglected by the state and other development machineries.  The invasion of external cultures and knowledge systems, all in the name of development, had made them so weak that they had lost their confidence in their own skills and traditional know-how.  Thus they had turned from prospering villages, which fought drought successfully just a century ago, to perishing villages which had become dependent on external support.  We tried to revert this and spent several years to make the people regain their confidence on the wonderful traditional knowledge they had; to build and manage water harvesting structures and systems.  After years of persuasion and strategic efforts we achieved success in reviving water harvesting culture in several villages.  People, who had abandoned their crop lands for decades and were migrating out, started returning and converting these human-made deserts into green fields again.  To add to their local and traditional skills and knowledge we provided some inputs that would make locally and ecologically sustainable value additions.  We motivated them to manage the water they harvested through different types and sizes of structures like Bandh, Kata, Muda, Chahala, Chua, Paenghara, etc.  Once the water security was achieved, cropping systems were reworked so that food and nutrition security could be achieved through out the year.  Different villages had different levels of successes depending on the resources they could mobilise and other factors.  However, the culture of water and food security came back to the main agenda of the village communities and they found back the lost dignity of their traditional knowledge and technology. 

 Orissadiary: Drought is quite recurrent in Odisha, mostly in the western part of it. Is the state traditionally a drought prone area? And will your magic formula of water harvesting solve the problem?

Ranjan Panda: Yes, drought is now the other name of western Odisha.  But this was not the same just about a century ago.  The communities here were better water planners and managers than the modern day engineers.  This area supplied food relief to the Bengal famine victims. Records hold it that this was agriculturally one of the most prosperous regions of the erstwhile central provinces.  However, this sustainable system of water harvesting and management started decaying during the British Raj and more so after we got independence. We bet for large dams, canal irrigation and everything else that involved concrete constructions.  We ignored the people and the systems that had worked for centuries.  Deprived of any support, the once prosperous agrarian communities had no options but to take to what the govt. officials and engineers prescribed them.  Unfortunately, the external engineering based water management systems failed miserably and hence the area got converted to a drought prone region.  The need is therefore to revert to the traditional decentralized systems of water harvesting that does not only talk about structures but systems of ecological integration.  Things can only improve then. The engineers and govt. departments and even civil societies should come up with solutions that can fit into the already existing systems of the people so that they can own the process and be managers of their own water.  This works. We have proved it.  More so, this is no magic formula.  We have just learned from the people and have given it back to them with some modern day inputs.  This has helped them fight drought with success, yet again.

Orissadiary: The state supplies cheap labour to other states. Is it because the agriculture has failed to meet the livelihood need of people? Shall water harvesting help on this front?

Ranjan Panda: Water harvesting alone is not the solution to all woes agriculture faces now.  While agriculture has been neglected by successive governments, the process has got accelerated ever since the new economic reforms started in the early 90s.  All support in the name of agriculture is benefiting the rich and industrialists; agriculture land is being indiscriminately being diverted for industries; and effective irrigation is shrinking. A cumulative result of this is reflected in the growing marginalization of the farming communities who are now gaining a new identity of ‘wage laborers’, be it in the roads, constructions, industries or even in urban areas.  There is been a systematic conspiracy to weaken all support systems for the farmers and as a result, while the income of almost all other people in the country has grown by manifold (even hundreds and thousands of times), that of the farmers has actually declined drastically.  As a run up to the Bali climate convention we carried out an exercise to build a people’s agenda for climate change.  You would be surprised to note that most of the farmers said that they want the agriculture department to be shut down if the farmers’ plight is any concern of the govt.  They said this in frustration as they feel while the agriculture department officials and ministers have grown richer, the farmers have turned paupers.  This is a serious aspect and needs to be looked in with utmost urgency.  Farmers have to fight against all evils like poverty, climate change and money lenders’ vagaries to grow crops for the nation and then fight on streets to fetch a ‘minimum’ support price.  Even if they can get the minimum support price for some of the main products like paddy, that never comes in handy to buy a dignified life in an economy where everything including education, health care and drinking water have to be bought with cash, which keeps escalating by the day.  They are being impoverished by design and are triply murdered in the way I have described above.  Is it not an irony that the same farmer who grows food for us has to depend on the Rs.2 or Rs.3 kilo rice for quenching his hunger!!  While water harvesting is an urgent need, there is plethora of issues to be addressed if we are serious about development of this agrarian state.

 Orissadiary: Recent days have witnessed the conflict of water distribution between industries and agriculture. How real is such a conflict? Does the government have any proper plan to meet the water requirement of several industries coming in the state (State has signed 79 MoUs steel, alumina and power companies etc) without bringing pressure on agriculture?

Ranjan Panda: In my opinion the debate over water distribution has gone beyond just industries versus agriculture. Water is now being diverted for everything else for industries and urban areas and be sure we are heading towards a disaster. Our state has been proactively marketing itself as a water surplus state to attract investments and in that blind move it has completely ignored both logical and scientific principles of water resources management. We have already warned that we may in fact turn to a ‘water stressed’ state just in another five to seven years. Time is now for the state to learn the basics of water; that it is a finite ecological resource and not an abundant gift of nature that can be exploited just to attract private sector investment. We are dooming our state and ripping the people and ecology of their water future, just for profit of a few private pockets. See, even we cannot provide water to all the industries we have signed agreement with, in about a decade’s time. Take it as my word. And if we do, be sure you will witness bloody battles all around the state, I warn.

 Orissadiary: Now international aid agencies like World Bank and Asian Development Bank (ADB) are suggesting water sector reforms in the state of Odisha. How far such recommendations going to help the state’s farmers and industries?

Ranjan Panda: This is nothing new. In the neo-liberal economic era, reforms are the mantra of the elitist economists who keep pushing for it without caring about monitoring the results.  And, our greedy political classes, who assume mastership of our fate as soon as they get elected, get easily swayed by the glitzy promises of the so called reforms.  In reality, reforms have widened the gap between the rich and poor further.  Access to water is one of the glaring indicators of this.  The so called reforms agenda that is being propagated in water sector is biased towards favoring the rich.  Putting a price on water is the single fundamental principle of this.  So, while in the name of economic growth, you are free to push water sucking urbanization and industrialization, you propose for reforms in the management of the available water resources.  You eat up the water, pollute it and alienate the people and species that are dependent on it for their survival and basic livelihood.  And as water goes scarce for products of your ‘reforms’ you ask the people to behave and in the name of management you grab the remaining water resources by putting a price on it and giving entry to private entities to manage it. Neither the poor can pay the price nor can they hold private bodies accountable.  So, they lose out on their survival.  More farmers will end their lives in our state if such reforms continue.

 Orissadiary: Water is a community property. Do you visualize a situation in any point of time in future where water is managed by the community at large? Is practically possible? Do you have any quick suggestions for it?

Ranjan Panda: We have appointed our government exactly for that.  They have not been elected by the people to work at behest of the corporates.  The water resources and other related departments and institutions have been created to serve the people.  The people are the owners of the resources and the institutions; and instruments created in the form of such departments and bodies are to ensure that the ownership remains in the people.  That is the basic sense of democracy and this is what government should be.  We are going the opposite way.  Rather, in the name of community participation, we are creating institutions to alienate the communities from planning and decision making.  The Pani Panchayats are a case in point.  It’s only when you have a good officer or committed politician that you get to find some positive things happening.  Or it’s only when the farmers or people can show up their courage and power enough to exert control over such institutions. What I intend to say is, it’s very much possible if such good officers and politicians and civil society players combine to revert the trend; and make the system serve the people, not become owners of them.

 Orissadiary: Finally, have you taken any initiative in persuading the government for accepting your plans of water management in the state policy; and with what results?

Ranjan Panda: Yes, if you have kept a track of what we have been doing, you can find that we have been trying to persuade the government to be people’s representatives and not that of corporates’.  We have been constantly urging upon them to take the communities into confidence and give people their due right over the water and other natural resources.  Its only when the people of the state are closely and constantly involved in water resources planning and management that we can ensure a better water future for ourselves.  Corporate, at whose behest most of the water management planning is being done at the moment, are here only for profit and they will go away as soon as our resources are exhausted.  This should be considered while taking decisions and devising management plans.  We have recently objected to the inclusion of corporate representatives in proposed river basin organisations.  According to us, they are at best consumers and hence can never be part of the decision making bodies in the name of stakeholder participation.  The first and foremost stakeholder in water management of the state is its people.  We have proposed inclusion of farmers, fisher folks, women, panchayat representatives in decision making bodies.  The govt. officials and other technical bodies can provide the advisory and technical supports. Time the govt. takes serious note of it and changes its attitude and culture of alienating people from water and its management.

Are Micro Finanace Institutions driving defaulters to the depths of despair?

The piece came in GRASSROOTS in July 2011 issue

Are Micro Finanace Institutions driving defaulters to the depths of despair?

The term ‘collection agent’ is often used in a pejorative sense. However, in Orissa, a new low seems to have been reached , with micro finance institutions, in stead of empowering women and alleviating poverty threatening defaulting borrowers to into submission

Pradeep Baisakh, Bhubaneswar

Belonging to a Micro Finance Institution dragged Nirupama Nayak, a 35-year-old woman staying in Salia Sahi slum of Bhubaneswar (Capital of Odisha), rebuked her in filthy language in front of her neighbors, roughed her up and locked her house. The incidence took place in last year when Nirupama failed to repay the installment. She had taken a loan to build her house. A humiliated Nirupama poured kerosene and attempted to commit suicide by setting herself on fire. She was, however, stopped from doing so by neighbours.

“I had taken a loan of 12, 000 from a micro finance institution for starting a small business. As my business did not do well, I could not meet the high interest rate demanded. One executive from the micro finance institution used slang and his boys physically assaulted me” alleges Malati Nayak, a resident of Sarankula, Bhubaneswar.

A leader addressing a rally of women Self Help Group members demonstrating againt micro finance institutions

“Are you such a shameless woman? Had I been in your place, I would have committed suicide!” screeched a agent belonging to a micro finance institution at Babi Parida of Maa Shakti Self Help group in Panchrida village, Nayagarh district. Babi, who had taken a farm loan of Rs 10000, was unable to repay because her crop failed.

Several such complaints are pouring in from almost all Orissa’s 30 districts, drawing the focus on how the much hyped micro finance institutions are being run. The institutions are supposed to empower women and alleviate poverty, but, ironically on many occasions borrowers have attempted suicide and, sadly, some have succeeded.

It may be naïve to consider the behavior of the office bearers of some micro finance institutions as just an expression of anger. The real intention could well be made out if one analyses the insurance linkage of every loan disbursed under the scheme. Under the scheme, insurance cover is also provided for the life of the person availing the loan. In case of her death, the insured money is given to the family, but after balance installments are deducted. Therefore suicides and deaths ensure recovery of the loan amount.

When the person taking loan becomes insolvent, the insurance cover comes in handy for the institutions. In other words, the borrowers who turn defaulter are driven to depth of despair, to suicide. One may be skeptical on such a horrendous linkage, but given the number of suicide cases reported in the state owing to the borrowing from micro finance institutions, it is difficult to throw away the premise altogether.

In Orissa, micro finance institutions have mushroomed in the state in absence of the proper banking network, particularly in the rural areas. The institutions are doing good business with the success almost percolating to grassroots. There are about 30-35 such institutions operating in the state, most of whom function as NGOs. They operate like non-profit organisations, but make huge profit by charging high interest. In the past four years (2006-2010) the institutions have lent Rs 1500 crore, covering 20 lakh customers, the rate of return being 95 percent.

Even though the annual rate of interest chargeable by micro finance institutions has been fixed in the range of 15-28 percent by State Level Banking Committee (SLBC), the real rate of interest varies from 30 to 35 percent. Some institutions allegedly charge up to 60 percent. In the case of Babi, she was given a loan of Rs 10,000 with Rs 1550 being deducted at source citing insurance cover, registration charges etc. She had to pay a Rs 225 every week for 50 weeks. That means for an effective loan of 8500, she has to pay 11,250 in 50 weeks in installments; the interest rate thus hovers around 32-percent mark.

The micro finance institutions use all possible coercive methods to recover the loan installments. They include causing physical and metal humiliations. Sai Prasan, an expert on financial matters, says “Banks give loan to the costumers at 10 percent interest, but micro finance institutions charge more than 30 percent.”

The institutions avail loan from banks at the rate of 12-15 percent. They, however say that they adhere to all norms and guidelines laid down by RBI and SLBC. Bijay Pandia, Branch manager of a micro finance institution says “We charge 1.03 percent interest rate per month and do not use any coercive method for loan recovery”

Devinder Sharma, a critic of micro finance institutions say “If any of us takes loan at least at the rate of 24 percent annual with weekly repayment of installment, s/he will fall in to BPL category in some years.”

Last year in Balasore district a farmer committed suicide owing to his inability to repay a loan. Similar such cases of suicides have poured from various parts of the state. Although the government came out with the figure of 46 farmer suicide cases which occurred in 2009-10 to 2010-11, the real number is quite high. “Farmers borrow from micro-finance organizationsthe money-lenders and of course from the banks. The cases of the farmers committing suicides owing to non-payment of installments to the micro finance institutions are much more than the other two categories.” Says Sai Prasan

A sub committee of State Level Banking Committee (SLBC) was formed in November 2010 by the government to look into the regulatory aspects of the micro finance institutions.

As early as in 2006 such a sub-committee was formed but with no impact. The micro finance institutions seem to have been given a free run in every nook and corner of the state to bring people into debt trap. People have even sought multiple loans from different micro finance institutions. A new loan is taken to repay the installment of an old one.

The Andhra government recently brought an ordinance regulating the micro finance institutions, owing to large-scale instances of suicide by borrowers. The state government of Odisha is yet to take such a measure, although it has written to the central government urging for a comprehensive legislation regulating the functioning of such institutions.