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power firmson their owntrip in DelhiPrayas study saysregulator to blame

Finally, a legalTaungiya village

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Many wonders amongAshden awards

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Delhi Police campaignon female foeticide

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A citizen's report by Harivansh

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contentsCIVIL SOCIETY July 2006 3

PercepTions abound about naxalites who now virtually rule a bandof territory in eastern india – all the way up to the border with nepal.There are the idealists who see them as liberators of the poor. There

are others who regard them as brigands. The truth, as in all matters, lies,quite boringly, somewhere in between. The important thing is thatnaxalites have managed to spread their influence to such an extentwithout the rest of india cottoning on. it is our belief that even today thereis little realisation of what is happening. Urban india is far too immersedin its own understanding of economic change to figure out that large partsof the country are adrift. There has been so little accountable governancein these areas that they are quite happy to submit themselves to naxalism.

Ministers and administrators who occasionally bestir themselves, have agood scratch and call for police action may actually have lost the chance toenforce the writ of the government. so effete have our political partiesbecome that they have no real presence in areas where the naxalites aresupreme. The contractors who used to pay the politicians now pay thenaxalites.

Attempts in chhattisgarh to counter the naxalites through tribalactivism aligned with the government are fraught with their ownproblems. A civil war-like situation could easily run wild and result in evenmore complex problems.

over a year ago, as we chatted with Harivansh inranchi, we suggested that prabhat Khabar, ofwhich he is chief editor, join civil society in doingan extensive report on the naxalites. prabhatKhabar and civil society are editorial allies. ourregard for Harivansh's journalism is expressed inour cover story "Mr editor" ( May 2005).

We were then of the view that it was importantto take the naxalite movement, in all itscomplexities, to urban readers. Like all smalloutfits beset with problems of growth and survival,both of us couldn't get our act together though we tracked the story.

recently, Harivansh visited chhattisgarh as a member of a team ofindependent citizens to assess the situation there. other members of theteam were BG Verghese, ramchandra Guha, Farah naqvi, eAs sarma andnandini sundar.

We felt that this was a good time to get Harivansh to do a status reporton the spread of naxalism and the many realities with which it confrontsthe country. We have chosen to avoid using words like "menace" and"problem" when referring to naxalites because we believe that theirexistence is intimation of a breakdown in governance. people are turningto naxalites because there is no one to address their real problems of land,water, forest rights, education, health and so on. The naxalites, therefore,represent a reality that comes in many layers and the sooner we seek tounderstand them the better.

Printed and published by Umesh Anand on behalf of Rita Anand of A 53D, First Floor, Panchsheel Vihar, Malviya Nagar, New Delhi-17. Printed at KaizenOffset, 19 DSIDC Scheme 3, Phase-2, Okhla Industrial Area, New Delhi-20.

Write to Civil Society at E-2144 Palam Vihar, Gurgaon, Haryana 122017Ph: 9811787772, E-mail: [email protected]. Editor: Rita Anand

Registered: Postal Registration No.: DL(S)-01/3255/2006-08 & Registered withthe Registrar of Newspapers of India under RNI No.:•DELENG/2003/11607

Naxals from up close

COvER STORy

Maoists rule in large chunks of territory in the easternstates. They respond to the needs of people that havelong been ignored by politicians and governments 11

What are power firms upto in Delhi? Prayas takesa close look . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

National policy onrehabilitation ismaking progress . . . . . . . . . . . 5

4

Business: Seen Kriti’sdiary? Buy it and helpgood causes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Perspectives: Rural jobfunds should result inmore assets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26

21

Slum schools in Kolkatashow how it pays to goin for solar energy . . . . . . . . .

National Alliance ofPeople’s Movementsmeets in Bangalore . . . . . . .10

7

Good Living: Orissa hasmany vegetariandishes it is proud of . . . . .

For those sparklingeyes, Ayurveda hasnatural solutions . . . . . . . . . .

29

31

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THE NAXAL REALITy

4india

July 2006 CIVIL SOCIETY

Civil Society NewsNew Delhi

PriVATe power distributionfirms have had the run ofthe Delhi market in the

absence of a vigilant regulatorand well-informed consumerswho can question their tariffsand investment plans.

The first independent assess-ment of power privatisation inDelhi by prayas, the pune-based nGo, has expressed sur-prise over data provided by twoof the three private distribu-tors.

The functioning of the Delhielectricity regulatorycommission (Derc) has comein for plenty of serious criti-cism. The regulator has failedto question the claims of thecompanies and ensure qualityof service.

The Derc has failed to pro-vide transparency and theavailability of essential infor-mation in the public domain.Both are critical for privatisa-tion to succeed.

Much of the blame must alsobe laid at the door of the sheilaDiskhit-led congress govern-ment. it did not strengthen theregulatory process and failed toempower consumers to dealwith privatised services.

This assessment has beenpublished by prayas as one ofits occasional reports. prayasseeks to use professionalknowledge and skills for a bet-ter understanding of issuesrelating to the rather complexenergy sector.

prayas believes in providingstrategic but sensitive respons-es. With adequate information, the consumer canmake serious interventions that hold commercialentities to account. The nGo has a formidable rep-utation for serious work in protecting consumerinterests in Maharashtra.

Last year, Delhi's residents took to the streets inprotests over a hike in power tariffs. (see civilsociety september 2005: Middle class Anger.) Theoutpouring of anger and emotion resulted in a par-tial rolling back of tariffs, but prayas' report is thefirst clinical account of power privatisation inDelhi.

power distribution in Delhi was handed over tothree companies. north Delhi power Ltd (nDpL)was under the Tatas. Bses, controlled by the undi-

vided Ambanis then and nowAnil Ambani, set up Bsesrajdhani power Ltd (BrpL) andBses Yamuna power Ltd(BYpL).

Most of the protests inDelhi were directed at BrpLand BYpL. The Tata-run nDpL

was by and large seen as being better managed,though areas under it were not without their prob-lems.

prayas, too, has questions chiefly with regard tothe functioning of BrpL and BYpL. it finds nDpL tobe largely on course.

Figures for consumers in certain categories, con-sumption and capital investments needed to havebeen scrutinised by the regulator. For instance,BrpL and BYpL showed an unexplained decline inthe number of industrial consumers. The averagebilling rate (ABr) also varied without any apparentbasis. The lowering of the ABr results in the reduc-tion of aggregate technical and commercial (ATc)losses. This is one measure by which the perform-

ance of the private distributors is judged. it also hasbottom line implications.

However, when asked for data so that the move-ment of consumers from one slab to another andthe billing rate changes could be understood better,BrpL and BYpL said they could not provide it.prayas finds this strange.

"nDpL's ABr increased from year to year asexpected," says the report. "However, the trajectoryof ABrs departed significantly from expectationsfor BrpL and BYpL. Both BrpL and BYpL showed adecline in the ABr in 03-04 even though the tariffswere increased in that year."

prayas says that the regulator should haveanalysed the reasons for the variations in billingrates as well as the much lower billing rate of nDpLcompared to BrpL in 2002-03.

similar question marks hang over capital invest-ments. These are important because higher capitalinvestments translate into higher tariffs. in thecase of the Tata-run nDpL, the actual investmentsfor the years 2003-04 came up to 85 percent of theprojections. But in the Ambani-run BrpL and BYpL

As Delhi regulator sleeps,power firms on their own trip

Prayas points out that at first DERC had only aChairman when it should have had severalmembers and access to a variety of expertopinion. Then the Chairman retired and the postremained empty till recently.

LAKSHMAN ANAND

Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit grilled by residents in South Delhi over inflated power bills and the performance of private distribution companies. Below: The meters everyone found fault with. Right: One of many street demonstrations

indiaCIVIL SOCIETY July 2006 5

the actual investment was only 25 to 26 percent ofthe tariff order issued for that year.

A privatised service regime requires a vigilant reg-ulator to ensure that the consumer gets a fair deal.in the case of power distribution in Delhi the angrydisplays by residents on the roads were the result oftwo years of virtually no serious monitoring.

prayas points out that at first the Derc had onlya chairman when it should have had several mem-bers and access to a variety of expert opinion. Thenthe chairman retired and the post remained emptytill recently. Two commissioners were appointedbetween January and February 2005 after the lastdate for filing for tariffs. This meant that they hadno scope for review andassessment.

The Derc anyway hasjust six technical staffmembers. Most of themare on deputation forshort tenures. prayas wor-ries about this because itimpairs institutionalmemory.

privatisation of utilitiesrequires a process of tran-sition. Transparency andeducation and empower-ment of the consumer areof huge importance. it isimportant to have sys-tems of accountabilitythat fit the new arrange-ments.

The regulator is key to all this."Many times we found that thecommission staff had difficultieslocating documents," says prayas.The staff then had to rely on thecompanies to update the commis-sion's records.

The commission also does notmake public its spreadsheets onthe basis of which its calculationsare done. This is a failing withother regulators in the country aswell. But the problem that resultsfrom it is that the consumer or anorganisation like prayas cannot getto the basis of numbers that thecommission puts out.

prayas clarifies that it is notimputing motives to what the companies havedone. But the questions it is raising needed to havebeen put to the companies by the regulator in theinterests of the consumer.

"Delhi's residents will have to rely more on hardinformation and learn to make probing inquiries ifthe privatisation effort is to work to the benefit ofeveryone," shantanu Dixit, one of the members ofthe prayas energy Group, told civil society onphone from pune.

Dixit says the way forward is to understand thetechnicalities of the power sector. To do so resi-dents need to build groups of professionals, partic-ularly with a background in power.

interventions will haveto be made at junctureswhen they are needed. Forinstance, the rationale forcapital investments has tobe questioned when theyare being proposed by thecompanies because theyfinally influence tariffs.Unwarranted investmentsneed to be stopped at theproposal stage itself.

To improve quality ofservice residents' welfareassociations could play animportant role. Girish santof prayas points out that itis necessary to create aninstitutional basis for theirinvolvement.

NationalrehabpolicymakingprogressCivil Society NewsNew Delhi

THe government has finally begun to showurgency on the Draft rehabilitation policyframed by the national Advisory council

(nAc). Under directions from the pMo, a panel ofcivil servants from the ministries concerned are inthe process of framing a law that would make thepolicy enforceable. The nAc had indicated to thepMo that merely formulating a policy would becounterproductive because it could easily be by-passed.

The urgency on the government's part is directlyconnected to the recent fracas over the sardarsarovar dam and the fast undertaken by Medhapatkar. The government, embarrassed by the turnof events, has decided it does not want to becaught in a similar situation again. With thenarmada matter likely to be back in the limelightearly next month when the government and thesupreme court are to examine a report on therehabilitation work underway in Madhya pradesh,the government would like to use the proposedlaw to show its seriousness on the issue.

The panel formulating the law comprisesbureaucrats from ministries such as waterresources, roads, mining, power and rural develop-ment. it is learnt that the brief from the pMo isthat the matter should be expedited as quickly aspossible. The draft had been prepared by the nAcafter over a year of consultations with variousnGos and experts in the field. This draft had thenbeen forwarded to the pMo early this year butthere had been no movement within the govern-ment till the fast by Medha patkar.

The policy itself envisages institutional structuresthat will assess any project displacing people:1. There shall be set up, through an Act ofparliament, a national rehabilitation commission.This national commission must have thestatutory responsibility of assessing all projects(and activities, initiatives) that would displacepeople. it will be empowered to give statutoryclearances to such projects, similar to the statutoryclearances being given from the environmentalangle under the environment (protection) Act of1986.

2. such a clearance will only be given when thecommission is satisfied that displacement of peopleis essential for the proposed project (or activity); thatthe project, nevertheless, involves the smallestextent of displacement necessary; that despite thedisplacement involved, the project is viable; and thatthe process of rehabilitation and compensation is inkeeping with government policy.

The rationale for capitalinvestments has to bequestioned when theyare being proposed bythe companies becausethey finally influencetariffs.unwarrantedinvestments need to bestopped at the proposalstage.

LAKSHMAN ANAND

Shantanu Dixit of Prayas, the Pune based NGO, which has filed a report on Delhi’s power privatisation

6india


Finally, a legal Taungiya villageRakesh AgrawalDehradun

FiFTY-two-year old Ganga Devi, a resident ofpathri village on the outskirts of the rajajinational park, has always lived in perpetual

fear of the forest department. on a chilly Januarymorning in 2003, she recalls, a forest ranger turnedup with a truckload of policemen. They bulldozedher makeshift hut and destroyed her tiny 0.40 hafield. Ganga Devi had nowhere to go with her fourchildren.

"We have been living here since 1927," she says." We have even paid land dues up to 1986. Landrecords including mutation papers are with us. Butthe forest ranger refused to recognise any of this."

pathri is a Taungiya village. The Taungiya systemwas first started in the forests of Myanmar andintroduced by the British in india.

it forced people to work as bonded labour togrow commercial forests. in return they wereallowed to live on small plots of land on the periph-ery of the forest and cultivate crops for their sur-vival.

Uncertainty about the legal status of these vil-lages in the Terai region of Uttaranchal and Uttarpradesh (Up) has forced thousands to live withoutany facilities for health, education or even a postoffice. Taungiya settlements are just a cluster ofmakeshift huts with a little land and some barenecessities.

no pucca construction was allowed in these vil-lages.

in 2004, after a lot of lobbying by the nationalForum of Forest people and Forest Workers(nFpFW), the Uttaranchal government recom-mended to the central government that 194Taungiya settlements in Haridwar and Dehradundistricts be recognised as revenue villages. The

central government has now given the green signalto this proposal, though the order has yet to benotified.

"i can finally see a better future for my children,"says Ganga Devi. Decades ago, her husband's ances-tors came to pathri from Garhwal to work as bond-ed labour growing sal trees for the British.

"since the forest department does not allow usto collect fuel and fodder, we depend on cow dungto cook and our cattle survive on leftovers. somehave even died by eating polythene bags," says 51-year old Kishuni Devi, of Aithal village in Haridwardistrict.

Development work was stopped when the Forestconservation Act of 1980 came into effect.Taungiya villagers relate several stories of harass-ment by the forest department. Fake cases werelodged against many of them. The Wildlife

Biswajit PadhiBhubaneswar

THe orissa chapter of the White ribbonAlliance, (WrA), an international network, haslaunched an awareness campaign on safe

motherhood. rallies are being held in all 30 dis-tricts of orissa to educate people on mater-nal health and government health schemes.several nGos are joining hands with WrAto strengthen the government's healthdelivery system.

The WrA got government agencies,nGos, the media and oriya film starstogether in April to discuss what each ofthem could do to make the campaign a suc-cess.

Ushashi Mishra, one of orissa's top filmstars has lent her name to the cause."Despite being a science student i didn'tknow that pregnancy can be so life threat-ening. Mothers bring us into the world.

They deserve a better deal and i am going to domy best," said the young star, emphatically.

According to the national Family Health survey(nFHs) 29 women die everyday in orissa due tocomplications caused by pregnancy. The stategovernment refuses to believe the nFHs. it claims11 women die everyday and the state's maternal

mortality rate (MMr) is merely 376 per 100,000live births.

Local activists denounce the orissa govern-ment's figures as pure fiction. After all the nFHspegs the state's MMr at 707 per 100,000 livebirths. "in the tribal districts of Koraput,Kalahandi and Bolangir, MMr rates are not less

than 800 per 100,000 live births," saysniranjan Das, an activist from Kalahandi."Because of the hilly terrain and lack of roads,health workers can't get to villages and preg-nant women don't even bother to seek med-ical advice."

While cynics in the government say dis-missively that more people die due to roadaccidents on the national Highway betweenBhubaneswar and cuttack, the cold fact isthat maternal mortality rates can be broughtdown.

"Almost all these deaths are preventable,"says Dr sarojini sarangi, professor, scBMedical college, cuttack.

"In the tribal districts of Koraput,Kalahandi and Bolangir, MMR ratesare not less than 800 per 100,000live births," says Niranjan Das, anactivist from Kalahandi. "Becauseof the hilly terrain, health workerscan't get to villages."

In Orissa watch the White Ribbon of safe motherhood

uncertainty about the legalstatus of these villages hasforced thousands to livewithout any facilities forhealth, education or even apost office.

CIVIL SOCIETY July 2006 7india

Schools go solarin Kolkata slumRina MukherjiKolkata

LocATeD off Brace Bridge, near Taratala,Khalbari is one of Kolkata's dirtiest slums. pigsroam around feasting on mounds of garbage.

Lanes and by lanes are in a seething mess.But turn into the surjodaya prathamik Vidyalaya, a

non-formal school, andencounter a difference. run bythe Jay Azad club, a local youthgroup, the school, consisting oftwo rooms, is neat, spacious andattractive. ram naresh rajbhar,secretary of the club, is trulyproud of it.

Three fans and three lights runon solar energy. installed at a costof rs 60,000, the school's solarenergy system provides uninter-rupted power. The club does notneed to illegally tap power linesand the school is safe from therisk of catching fire.

The people who live inKhalbari are from Uttar pradeshand Bihar. They belong mostly to scheduled castesand backward classes and migrated here years agoto work at the port and other industrial establish-ments. children from the slum like Bikas Tomar,Akash Dhanu, Gudiya Kumari saroj and Hirorajbhar throng to the school for coaching, after thegovernment schools they go to close for the day.

The Khalbari non-formal school belongs to rightTrack, an nGo that runs 10 similar schools inKolkata's slums. All are powered by solar energy.

When a makeshift school in Tamil nadu caughtfire some years ago killing many children, the WestBengal government got worried. An official direc-tive was issued. it said that all educational institu-tions which did not have pucca structures, adequateventilation, two doors and fire safety measureswould be closed down. The fire department evenordered two non-formal centres to renovate their

structures or shut shop. right Track got anxious. it did

not want its schools to be closed.The main reason non-formalschools caught fire was becausethey had to illegally tap powerfrom a jangle of wires. sinceslums are deemed illegal, therewas no way they could get powercompanies to supply electricitythough the legal route.

The nGo got in touch withtheir funding agency, Goal india,and sought a solution. rightTrack needed lights and fans fortheir schools but drawing onexisting power lines was haz-ardous.

"To circumvent this problem, we decided to go infor solar panels to light up our centres," explainsMohammed shakeel Haider of right Track.

in 2004 right Track began its solar energy project inright earnest. The nGo worked with local self-helpgroups and basti committees it had helped organiseover the years. each committee was told about thegovernment's directive and taught how solar panelsshould be maintained. The basti committees weremore than willing to comply. All they had to do wasensure that the solar panels were kept clean.

"it meant low cost, easy maintenance and lack ofdependence on the conventional electric supply,"explains shakeel. right Track also gave each centrea fire extinguisher to doubly ensure schools werefire proof.

right Track then found out that other nGos werealso worried about their schools being closed downby the government. so they called a meeting of allnGos working on non-formal education andoffered them funds and assistance to set up solarenergy systems.

so far, 50 non-formal schools have such systems.These include two non-formal education centresnear Brace Bridge in Taratala, and similar schools innarkeldanga, Tiljala, Garia, Dhapa, rashbehari road,rajabazar and Garden reach.

since 2005, right Track has broadened its hori-zons. Under a two-year solar energy programme cost-ing rs 1 crore, it is offering solar energy systems tonon-formal schools in four districts. one hundredand fifty such schools in Kolkata, Howrah, Hooghly,and north and south 24 parganas will benefit. eachschool is being given a solar energy system costingbetween rs 40,000 to rs 70,000. The school canstate its requirements. For instance, the cathedralrelief services (crs), which runs a non-formalschool at chingrighata, needed just one fan and twolights. so they opted for a less expensive system.

right Track's project is on the right track. Theschools now get cheap, safe and reliable power supply.

protection Act was used to throw villagers intoprison for allegedly killing wildlife. But no compen-sation was paid if someone was hurt or killed by ananimal.

To put an end to atrocities and ensure villagersgot basic facilities the nFFpFW took up theTaungiya cause as one its key goals. in 19991, itlaunched a forum called the Ghad Kshetra Mazdoorsangarsh samiti (GHMss) in Dehradun, Haridwarand Udham singh nagar districts of Uttaranchal aswell as in Bijnaur and Lakhimpur Khiri districts ofUp.

nFFpFW started networking and organising peo-ple, holding workshops and conducting surveys togauge ground reality.

"We began direct action and staged a series ofsit-ins, demonstrations and rallies. We also ques-tioned forest department officials," says MunniLal, convener of GHMss.

in 2004, the GHMss was extended to the wholeof Uttaranchal and re-christened as the Van AvamBhumi Adhikar Manch (VABAM).

"The VABAM took up the issue in all 194Taungiya villages and asked the state governmentto convert them into revenue villages," says Hariram, a VABAM activist from Haripur Taungiya vil-lage in Haridwar district.

Thousands of VABAM supporters demonstratedin front of the DFo's office at Haridwar on 25november 2004. They also presented petitionsand applications to the government.

When 50 armed forest department workersburnt about 40 ha fields belonging to Taungiya vil-lages, VABAM forced the district administration toact against the culprits.

Village level institutions were established in all194 villages. "We also provided legal education topeople to fight for their rights," says ram. For thefirst time a government school was constructed inHaripur Taungya village.

The government's decision to regularise 194 vil-lages in Uttaranchal is indeed a victory for about7,000 people living on the margins since years.

{With inputs from Roma}

setting aside bitter differences over statistics,nGos are now joining hands with the governmentto bring down the MMr.

"every nation is looking at india to make a sig-nificant drop in the MMr. india alone contributes20 percent of MMr globally," said Aparajita Gogoi,national coordinator of WrA. "ninety two percentof all maternal deaths have one or more avoidablefactors."

The orissa government has launched the Jananisurakshya Yojana (JsY) under which women areencouraged to opt for institutional deliveries.About 60 percent of deliveries are conducted athome. one Accredited social Health Activist(AsHA) has been appointed to serve a populationof 1,000. But very few women are aware of thegovernment's schemes.

Duryodhan Majhi, state minister for health andfamily welfare, has appealed to nGos to informpeople about government programmes.

WrA started its campaign as a response to theminister's appeal. sudhanshu Mohan Das, state

coordinator, WrA, said apart from holding rallies,WrA also plans to appoint a peer educator in eachdistrict to spread the message.

one problem is that only 12 percent of govern-ment run health centres have facilities to conductdeliveries. Majhi has promised more staff, includ-ing doctors and health workers to man these cen-tres.

Anemia is a major concern. shaktidhar sahoo,chairman of WrA, said there were several mythsprevailing about iron folic tablets. some tribalcommunities wrongly believe that the tabletsincrease the size of the foetus making deliverymore difficult for the woman. nGos will be edu-cating people about the benefits of taking ironfolic tablets.

infection or sepsis is a serious cause of maternaldeaths. often the umbilical cord is cut with sharpstones or arrows. The nGos will promote the 'Fivecleans: clean surface, clean hand, clean blade, cleanthread and clean stump.' Low cost delivery kits willbe marketed through self-help groups (sHGs).

In Orissa watch the White Ribbon of safe motherhood

Three fans andthree lights run onsolar energy.Installed at a costof Rs 60,000, it isa system withuninterruptedpower.

Shuktara LalRampurhat

For nearly 25 years, the Foundation foreconomic rehabilitation of rural Youth (FerrY)has been helping people in villages of West

Bengal become economically self-sufficient so thatthey do not have to migrate to cities to eke a living.

FerrY was set up in 1983, by a group of 14 per-sons. sibabrata Ghosh, its primary founding mem-ber, closed down a flourishing business to concen-trate on social work. He believed that independent

india had failed to fulfil its promises to villages. over the years, cities have begun to offer fewer

jobs to rural india. As executive secretary, AbhijitGupta, explains: "While there is a constant influxof people from villages to a city, employmentopportunities in the city can in no way keep upwith the increase in population."

FerrY has centres in Birbhum, Bardhaman,Bankura and Hooghli where young people learnskills with which they can earn in their villages ornearby towns.

FerrY plans its courses after carrying out in-depth surveys. Questionnaires are distributed andopinion polls undertaken to gauge the viability ofactivities in the area, the kind of remunerationtrainees can expect, and the time required to teachthe course.

Most trainers are local people. students areselected on the basis of applications received and

priority is given to those who are in desperate needof an income. special consideration is given toyoung deserted mothers, widows and other womenwho have faced hardship.

A certain degree of emphasis is laid on the levelof basic education needed to fully benefit fromthe course and the applicant's motivation becauseif a trainee leaves the course midway, the seat iswasted.

"We discourage school students from enrolling toprevent them from dropping out of school.sometimes they are lured by the prospect of a regu-

lar income," says Gupta. " However, there may betimes when an individual has no inclination to finishschooling. We accept these persons into our coursesto provide them with the possibilities of employ-ment. otherwise, they may always be unemployed."

often, FerrY has to turn away applicants due tolack of space, but it makes every effort to accom-modate them in subsequent courses.

one of the oldest FerrY sites is at rampurhat inBirbhum district. Here students have been taughtcourses in machine knitting of woollen garmentsand two-wheeler maintenance. Farida Begum wholearnt machine knitting now runs a profitable busi-ness. she has enabled FerrY to train other Muslimwomen. Many two-wheelers ply in rampurhat. it isnear a highway that has a number of garages. so thetwo-wheeler maintenance course is helping young-sters earn a good living.

At Kalanabagram in Bardhaman district, poultry-

keeping was one of the most popular courses.When FerrY first offered the course, residentswere lukewarm. They thought poultry was notcommercially viable. FerrY established a modelpoultry farm and once the course had ended therewere around a hundred poultries flourishing in afew years time.

After being accredited by the regional TransportAuthority, FerrY conducted courses in auto-rick-shaw driving. classes in carpentry and repair ofelectronic goods have been held at the Bardhamanand Birbhum sites.

Visiting FerrY's centre at rampurhat wasa rewarding experience. currently, sessionsin machine embroidery are in progress, andplans are on to start a second carpentrycourse. in the embroidery classes, girls learnto stitch bed sheets, pillow covers, curtainsand saris. Mamata and Meera, who areattending this course said: "We want to beself-sufficient and this course will help us."

Biswanath Konai, who was a student ofthe last carpentry course remarked: "Theclasses benefited me immensely. i'm look-ing forward to talking to the new class ofprospective carpenters about how thiscourse helped me and sharing my workexperiences with them."

Trainees were also shown how a solarcooker functions and informed of its merits. infuture, residents might be taught how to make asolar cooker.

At least 80 percent of FerrY's funds go intofinancing their courses. once FerrY members feelthat they have no more training to offer at a site,they leave.

"We do not want residents to become dependenton FerrY for their economic well being. We con-sciously restrict our activities because we realisethat growth or expansion need not necessarilyimprove the quality of work done by a voluntaryorganisation," says Gupta.

FerrY organises follow-up appraisals to ascertainthe success of their courses and assess whethertheir trainees are enjoying economic and profes-sional independence.

[If you would like to donate to FERRY, you can contact theagency at 033-24256926.]

Ride on FERRy in Bengal

8

indiaJuly 2006 CIVIL SOCIETY

Abhijit Gupta, executive secretary of FERRY. Girls learning to stitch and embroider in Rampurhat

TWO YEARS OLD AND GROWING MONTHLY

rs 500 for 1 year rs 850 for 2 years rs 1200 for 3 years

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R E A D U S. W E R E A D Y O U.

indiaCIVIL SOCIETY July 2006 99

Vidya ViswanathanNew Delhi

IT is three-thirty in the afternoon. Arijit roy of Jagran is standing on a stagethat has been set up at pitampura village, in saraswati Vihar, in the north-west periphery of Delhi."no need for tickets or money," he yells. "We are showing you a play and it's

free." santosh, the woman head constable of the area, dives into lanes to drumup an audience. soon, nearly 200 children sit giggling on a cotton carpet acrossfrom the stage. Women peep from balconies. Men hang around.

northwest Delhi is infamous for its marauding criminal elements. Womendon't feel safe here. The male-female ratio is the worst in the indian capital.

Jagran's performance isaimed at reducing someof this stress and creat-ing awareness.

More interestinglyJagran is here at theinvitation of the police,who want to explorenew ways of gettinginto neighbourhoodsand preventing crime.

An enterprising offi-cer, sagar preet Huda,additional Dcp north -west, has been running a campaign called parivartan since november 2005. Hehopes this will work better than wielding a stick.

"even if all our 60,000 policemen in the city were to be sensitised to violenceagainst women, we can't stop crime. We cannot be on each doorstep to preventdomestic violence and in each office to stop sexual abuse," says Huda, who is asociologist with a phD in gender issues.

one of the big problems that Huda's campaign addresses is of female foeti-cide. others are domestic violence, alcoholism, drug abuse, child molestation,harassment for dowry and sexual harassment.

These problems mostly lurk below the surface. sexual harassment, forinstance, abounds within families. Making a difference means influencingthinking and changing environments. The plays with Jagran combine enter-tainment with education. There are 20 pantomimes being staged this month.

The first play is about a boy who gets lured into drugs. He sells his clothes to payfor his addiction. The mafia gets rich. At the end the children are asked what theysaw. All of them scream "nasha nahin lena chahiye" (narcotics addiction is bad).

The second play is about a man who tells his wife he has no money to payschool fees but when he goes out with his friends he pays for the booze. He beatshis wife and in the end gets caught by the cops. The third is about a family of fourwhich has a studious girl. They invite a man who is supposed to be a friend butis in reality a lecherous creep. one day when the family leaves him alone withthe girl, he molests her. This was a play that Delhi police got specially written.

As the plays end, two women head constables are invited on stage to talk toresidents. The idea is to improve the status of women constables. Huda hasalready begun deploying women constables in larger numbers in crime-proneareas of seemapuri and Mongolpuri. The women constables go door to doortalking to residents. They also train girls in self-defence techniques.

With this, it is hoped that the force will show greater sensitivity and becomemore accessible.

Along with rajat Mitra, a clinical psychologist and founder of the swanchetansociety for Mental Health, the police are holding workshops in schools to edu-cate children about sexual abuse. They have also created a helpline for children.

so intractable are the issues that lead to crimes in areas under Huda that theonly way out for him is to change perceptions even if that means taking theroad less travelled to better policing.

POLICECAMPAIGNAGAINSTFEMALEFOETICIDE

Photos: LAKSHMAN ANAND

10

indiaJuly 2006 CIVIL SOCIETY

Civil Society NewsBangalore

THe fifth biannual conference of the nationalAlliance of people's Movements (nApM), heldin Bangalore, ended with a decision to launch a

non-violent movement to counter the govern-ment's 'anti-people' development policies.

programmes were drawn up for the next twoyears. Activist sandeep pandey of Asha will lead a'visa free and nuclear free south Asia programme'from 6-9 August in Lahore. This month, yatras tothe narmada Valley are taking place. in september,a 'national action against displacement' programmeis planned in cities. padayatras will be intensifiedin every river valley to protest the government'sriver linking project. The agitation against coca-cola is to be deepened.

nApM will continue its struggle against displace-ment caused by big dams, mining projects and agri-cultural distress. it will oppose industrial policiesthat force rural artisans, marginal farmers and agri-cultural labour to migrate to urban areas. it willfight against attempts to privatise water.

Medha patkar, convenor of nApM, said that peo-ple's movements were forging a political union tochallenge communal and divisive politics nationally.

"india's anti-people and anti-environment devel-opment policies are further exacerbated by theforces of global politics in the form of multi-lateralbodies like the World Bank and the iMF," said patkar.

nApM's three-day meeting was attended by hun-dreds of activists, nGos and intellectuals. Literarystalwart Ur Ananthamurthy, who inaugurated themeet, said india was in a state of civil war.

"people are being displaced by dams and other proj-ects, thrown into slums in cities and eventually evict-ed from there as well. The iT sector hungers for farm-ers' land. Water is being privatised and poisoned.politicians are mere managers for the affluent."

patkar said the government is determined toimplement the river linking project. “it is a goldmine for them. several global corporates are in the

process of signing contracts and this is being seen bycompanies as a source for privatisation of water,”she said.

nApM expressed support for reservations inhigher education and in the private sector forDalits, Adivasis and backward communities."reservation is not a favour but a realisation oftheir creativity and productivity," said one activist.

Young students, said nApM, must unite and fightagainst common adversaries – national and inter-national corporations and imperial vested interests.

nApM condemned 'the deliberate lethargy on thepart of the government regarding implementationof the Mandal commission's recommendations.'

nApM also demanded changes in the govern-ment's elitist education policy. it said that the com-mon school policy should be strengthened andthere should be a common technical and highereducation system as well.

They demanded an end to corporatisation ofeducation and said all institutions should followpublic policies.

Activists expressed their support to the narmadamovement. They criticised the prime MinisterManmohan singh for "his refusal to protect thelives and rights of the project-affected people andfor siding with narendra Modi."

patkar emphatically condemned the VK shunglucommittee as an eyewash.

"The dam will cross the 122 metre height by June30 and the houses and lands of more than 35,000families will get submerged this monsoon. This ille-gality cannot be tolerated. The affected people havenot been rehabilitated according to the narmadaWater Disputes Tribunal Award," she said.

Also condemned was the Bush-Manmohannuclear deal and WTo's Hongkong Declaration of2005. in the West, nuclear power plants are beingclosed down while in india outdated nuclearplants are being dumped alleged sandeep pandey.His group, Asha, is carrying out a survey near thenarora nuclear plant in Up. several people havedied mysteriously and there is a spate of illness,he said.

opposition was expressed to the government'splans of creating special economic Zones (seZs).According to activist rajni Dave, "seZs would furtheralienate farmland, grazing land and lead to exploita-tion of labour. The nation will be deprived of taxes."

Dave led a struggle in Kutch against the Mundraport, the first privatised port, set up by the Adanis.Mangroves were cut, the livelihood of fisher folkaffected and marine biodiversity ruined, he said.Mundra, considered the rose garden of Kutch, isdevastated. The Adanis constructed a railway lineconnecting the area. pastoral communities lost theirgrazing land. none of the people were given jobs aspromised. Dave said the government is uncon-cerned about the ecological impact of the seZ and ofthe security problems in border areas of Kutch.

Aruna roy of the MKKs talked about the right toinformation (rTi) which has empowered farmersand landless labour and is helping to make thenational rural employment Guarantee Act(nreGA) a success in rajasthan. nApM resolved tospread use of the rTi so that people could asserttheir rights.

A new legislation for urban land ceiling wasdemanded. regularisation of slums was also askedfor. The Tamil nadu unit of nApM said thesethusamudram project must be stopped. TheTuticorin port project should also be put on holdsince it destroys the livelihood of fisher folk andlabour working in the harbour. They also wanted thenuclear fast breeding reactor in Kalpakkam closed.

r Geetha, nApM's Tamil nadu representative,said the state government was the main benefici-ary of the tsunami disaster. it had evicted fisherfolk from the confluence of the Adyar river to makeway for a seven-star hotel.

The national commission for Women (ncW),which had organised a public hearing, said womenaffected by the tsunami tragedy were not regarded asworkers and were therefore not being compensated.

The ncW recommended that the governmentclose illegal prawn farms. All fishing panchayatsshould give 50 percent representation to women.Women must be given priority in all schemes foremployment, housing and health, it said.

nApM activists say countries in Latin America arecasting off Us domination and emerging as a rolemodel. "The new global power is china. LatinAmerica has shifted to chinese investments.Venezuela is emerging as a leading exporter of oil.The uprising against the Us in iraq is growing. Thetime is ripe for people's movements to strengthen.We should take inspiration from the people's move-ment in nepal," said sergio of Global people's Actionwho attended the meet to express solidarity.

NAPM decides to fight on

In September a 'nationalaction againstdisplacement' is planned incities. Padayatras will beintensified to protest thegovt’s river linking project.

Medha Patkar, leader of the NBA, at the NAPM meeting in Bangalore

CIVIL SOCIETY July 2006 11coveR

On 1 June, 12 policemen travelling in bullet-proof vehicles in thesinghbhum district of Jharkhand were killed when landminesplanted by naxalites exploded. This area has seen 52 policemen

killed in such attacks in the past two years. The naxalites have gonefrom strength to strength and the police have become more vulnerable.The attack added an ominous notch in the escalating violence that hastaken hold of a swathe of perhaps 20 percent of indian territory. Theimmediate loss has been in terms of men, weapons and vehicles. As thenumbers keep going up, the official estimate is that naxalites are takinga bigger toll than extremists in Kashmir. More importantly, they havesucceeded in eroding the authority of the government in ways more

enduring and complex than other extremist groups in the country. The influence of the naxalites has grown steadily, which is one reason

why the response to it has been inadequate. it is as though a trickle hasbecome an unmanageable expanse. The acts of violence have often beendubbed as random news reports, but the reality is that strung togetherthey create a disturbing picture. in district after district, the naxaliteshave come to replace the administration. police and civil officials do notdare to enter areas where the naxalite writ runs.

Across urban india there is little understanding of the naxalites and

REALITyTHE NAXAL

India must wake up to the upsurge in itspoorer eastern states, reports Harivansh

Harivansh is chief editor of Prabhat Khabar, one of eastern India’s most influential dailies

12 July 2006 CIVIL SOCIETY

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the control they now exercise. There is,therefore, no sense of them being anational danger. only urban india would be able to articulate this concern. Butthe areas the naxalites operate in are on the fringes of the currentconsciousness governed by talk of a market economy and reforms that favourindustry. The naxalite strongholds are also geographically remote. steeped asthey are in poverty these areas have long been counted out, deleted as it werefrom the map of modern india. no one in Mumbai, Delhi or Bangalore has timeto think about singhbhum or Dantewada. it is this space, vacated by the stateand citizens at large, that the naxalites have filled.

The typical urban response has been either of complete neglect or romanticidealism that sees the naxalites only as liberators of the poor. Both havedangerous consequences. By the time the neglect becomes awareness it will befar too difficult to govern large parts of the country. The idealists on the otherhand forget that though the naxalites may be speaking for the poor, they arealso responsible for corruption and violent excesses.

perhaps the most worrisome reality should be that politicians no longer havean answer to the naxalites. no major political party has bases in the areas overwhich the naxals hold sway. Local political leaders don't dare to enter theseareas any more and naturally no national leader will even think of visitingnaxalite territory.

According to the Delhi-based institute for conflict Management, naxaliteswere active in 55 districts in nine states in 2003. A year later, in 2004, thenumber rose to 170 districts spread over 13 states. now it is believed thatnaxals are running parallel governments in 55 districts spread over 12 states.

The Union government has assessments that should be reason for promptaction. it is perhaps a measure of its own helplessness that it cannot draft aneffective strategy. Minister of state for Home, prakash Jaiswal, informed theLok sabha that naxalites held sway in 12 states. Jaiswal said that apart fromchhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Madhya pradesh, orissa, Andhrapradesh and Bihar, parts of Kerala, Tamil nadu, Karnataka, West Bengal,naxalites were also having an impact in Haryana and Uttar pradesh.

THe naxal movement that started in 1967 fragmented over the years andsome factions moved from violence to constitutional means. But after this

fragmentation the naxal movement re-emerged in a new and more organisedform. As compared to the past, it was more violent, better organised andequipped with modern gadgets, weaponry and an up to date communicationnetwork. naxals came together with the Maoist communist centre (Mcc) inBihar and Jharkhand. Then they united with the people's War Group active inchhattisgarh and Andhra pradesh. now the communist party (Maoist) hasemerged as a unified organisation. For the first time, from Andhra pradesh toJharkhand, the naxals have emerged as a unified force. They have forged stronglinks with the Maoists in nepal and periodically news about the supply of

weapons and the imparting of training comes to the fore. in reality, the 'naxal problem' has been discussed endlessly from 1967

onwards. But till today no serious initiative has been undertaken to solve it.The centre and the various states have all spoken in different voices. it seemsthat each side wants to thrust its responsibility on the other. The centre saysthat this is a law and order problem, but its roots lie in socio-economic issuesand the state governments should find ways of tackling them. The stategovernments say that the problem is spread over several states, therefore onlyan integrated plan can be successful in tackling the issue. But, till today neitherthe centre nor the states have a policy to counter the naxalites.

on 13 March, the Union Home Minister presented a report on the naxalproblem in the Lok sabha – status paper on naxal problem. The minister said,"…we were telling them that we do have a policy and we are following thedirections given in that policy and yet every now and then we were told we lacka policy. so we thought of putting together the policy in a booklet form andgiving it to the honourable members."

The day the Home Minister was distributing copies of the booklet on naxalpolicy to the Mps, the chief minister of chhattisgarh was saying that confusioncontinues to reign over policy matters. He said that there is no coordinationamong the affected states and called for a national policy in this regard. Justbefore this, following naxalite violence in some districts during the electioncampaign in West Bengal, chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya spoke intough terms of evicting naxals from the state. He ordered strict measuresagainst them. in August last year, the cpi(M)'s sitaram Yechuri said inHyderabad that there can be no national policy with regard to the naxalproblem.

recently an independent 'citizens’ team', of which i was a member, visitedthe Bastar-Dantewada area of chhattisgarh. This area is severely affected by thenaxalite movement in chhattisgarh. some parts of this area are considered'liberated zones'. Here a government supported anti-naxalite movement, theselva Judam, is underway. Talking to members of this team, a district collectorwanted to know how to deal with naxal groups that flitted across states. Theyused bases in Maharashtra, Andhra, orissa and Jharkhand.

West Bengal's chief minister has already stated that naxalites fromJharkhand spread violence in the districts of Bengal. on the other hand theJharkhand government believes that this movement is being led by non-Jharkhandis (from Andhra pradesh or West Bengal). in Bihar it is said thatpeople from Bengal sowed the seeds of naxalism. This same allegation is heardin chhattisgarh where it is said that leaders from Andhra are carrying outoperations.

The booklet tabled by the Union government in the Lok sabha says inparagraph three that "naxalism being an inter-state problem the states willadopt a collective approach and pursue a coordinated response to counter it."

on various earlier occasions the Union government has made similardeclarations, but it is clear that substantial differences exist at the policy levelamong the states. Andhra pradesh, chhattisgarh and Tamil nadu have banned

NAXAL uNITy, GOvT DISuNITy

The typical urbanresponse has beeneither of neglector romanticidealism. Bothhave dangerousconsequences. Bythe time theneglect becomesawareness it willbe far too difficultto govern largeparts of thecountry.

The Centre and the states have all spoken indifferent voices. It seems that each sidewants to thrust its responsibility on the other.

coveRCIVIL SOCIETY July 2006 13

the communist party (Maoist). orissa, which was earlier opposed to such aban, has now imposed one. West Bengal has refused to consider such a ban.The chhattisgarh chief minister has expressed worry over the uncertainty thatprevails at the centre and in the states: "We need an integrated plan to tacklethis problem among affected states and under this plan, there has to be jointaction …."

A statement by the prime Minister that the growth of naxalism is a seriouschallenge to internal security has made no difference to the absence of acoherent policy. The Union home minister first told the Lok sabha that therewill be no talks with naxalites unless they lay down arms. shortly thereafter hesaid: "if they drop arms, it is good. But if they want to carry arms and still talk… we do not have any difficulty."

in the absence of a clear national vision or political response, a movementthat started at naxalbari in West Bengal three decades ago has now spread over13 states. As governments dither and corruption rules, the 'soft state'described by Gunnar Myrdal in Asian Drama becomes even less capable ofgovernance. The naxalites, with their dedication to their cause and their abilityto bond at the grassroots, make short work of the indian state's hollowapparatus.

IF the state machinery has failed, so have politicians. The various political par-ties are divided. The situation at the grassroots is such that no leader of any

political party can organise a function in the naxalite areas without the help ofnaxal organisations. During elections the political parties take the help ofnaxalites. several important leaders have links with naxalite leaders in theirrespective states. The intelligence wings of various state and central agenciesare well aware of this. recently the state government in Jharkhand called an all-party meet over this issue. representatives from some political parties did notattend, others chose to indulge in banalities. The leaders are afraid that raisingtheir voices against the naxals could be counterproductive.

The Jharkhand government concedes that of the 22 districts in the state, thenaxalites have a presence in 18. But rarely, if ever, has the matter come up fordiscussion and debate in the Jharkhand Assembly or has there been aninitiative to plan a strategy on the issue. The same is true for Bihar. policeoutposts in Jharkhand are being shut down out of fear. in May, in theindustrial area of ramgarh in the Hazaribagh district, three police outposts(Basal, Urimimari and Bhadaninagar) were vacated. of these, all the rifles at theBhadaninagar outposts had been looted by naxalites a year earlier. Because thepolice posts could not be protected the entire area was left unprotected. inMcluskieganj a police post was blown up a day after it was vacated. The policehave stopped operations against the naxalites. While preparing the budget fordevelopment activities in naxalite areas, provisions are made for additional

funding of 30 per cent so that it is possible to pay a levy to the naxalites. At the political level, Jayaprakash narayan, or Jp, as he was known, was the

last leader to challenge the naxalites. in 1972, when naxalites threatened tokill a sarvodaya worker associated with Jp, he went to the Musahari village inMuzzafarpur district to be with the worker. Jp roamed among the localvillagers, met the naxalites and raised issues relating to the rising corruption inthe government and administration and lack of land reforms. He admitted thatpoliticians and the state had overlooked basic questions. Based on his Musahariexperience he brought out a booklet - Face to Face - that became rather wellknown.

Today no indian politician would be capable of Jp's response. A recent trip tothe worst affected districts in chhattisgrah revealed that from Abujhamad tovarious parts of Dantewada and Bastar, neither the government nor thepolitical parties have been able to do any substantive work over the past 50years. no schools, no health centres, no arrangements for a public distributionsystem, no construction of roads, no efforts to create employment. on theother hand, the increasing influence of corrupt contractors in the jungles hascreated the circumstances for naxalites to establish roots in these areas ofchhattisgarh. Government officials openly state that no one can enter theAbujhamad area consisting of 130 villages. And if some do enter, they cannotreturn. recently when the chhattisgarh chief minister went to one village ofAbujhamad by helicopter, he was fired upon.

over the past 39 years, the strength of the naxalites has continued toincrease. The bitter truth is that questions related to the poor are raised onlyby the naxalites. They live among them. The leaders of the movement haveshed their class privileges and have become a part of the very poor anddeprived. The naxalite movement has capital built out of the dedication,commitment and renunciation of its leaders. They also have the samecommitment among the rank and the file. in the midst of dense jungles theyhave ensured the construction of water tanks as well as initiated severalprojects for the common good.

educated but unemployed youth in the villages have joined the naxalites on alarge scale. in Jharkhand alone the government spends rs 200 crore on highereducation. over 60,000 students graduate every year, but of these only 5,000 getjobs. When young people return to their villages and remain unemployed they areeasy to recruit. By becoming naxalites they earn between rs 1,500 and rs 2,000 amonth. in addition they get weapons and a sense of purpose in their lives.

NAxALiTes are also running into opposition from local people. The reasonsfor this are many. First, naxalites use violence to do as they please. They

continue to challenge the small farmers, though they can hardly be called pros-perous class enemies. secondly, there is corruption with naxalites taking fundsfrom state functionaries and contractors doing business in areas under their

POLITICIANS HELPLESS

SIGNS OF OPPOSITION

Perhaps the most worrisome reality shouldbe that politicians no longer have bases inthe areas over which the Naxals hold sway.

Picture: SANKARSHAN THAKUR/TEHELKA

Picture: SANKARSHAN THAKUR/TEHELKA


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sway. Thirdly, the transition from well-meaning naxalite to brigand is difficultto resist. in fact, given the way naxalites function it is difficult to distinguishone from the other.

in Dantewada and Bastar, the anti-naxalite selva Judam movementsupported by the chhattisgarh government is underway. naxalites admit thattheir supporters among the tribals have been drifting into this movement.recently, in the course of a visit to this region, i was witness to people fromseveral villages questioning the manner in which naxalites function. They saidthat at their meetings naxalites don't give villagers a chance to speak. naxalitesforce every household to contribute foodstuff or cattle or land. A boy or girlfrom each household is required to join the movement and this is cause fordissatisfaction. recently, in the course of a police raid in the jungles ofJharkhand, a diary was recovered from naxalite hideouts which revealed thateven they are getting divided on caste. several cases of atrocities on girls haveemerged. The question has also begun to be asked how naxalites can maintaintheir principles after coming into contact with corrupt contractors and officials.

perhaps the biggest challenge to the naxalites comes from tribal aspirationsto prosper and modernise. if young tribals turn to the naxalites because theyget little from the state, they also become disillusioned when they don't see thenaxalites ushering in development either. An example is the naxaliteopposition to the construction of roads because of the access this will give theadministration. There are villages in Jharkhand from which it has beenreported that naxalites decide on who will own a cell phone. such control isbeing resented, especially by the young who have access to TV and education.

opposition from the young is new and has much to do with the spread oftechnology. The naxalites perhaps don't know how to deal with it. Butdisenchantment after the first flush of initiation is a growing trend.

in Jharkhand the former chief minister Babulal Marandi has left the BJp andhas announced that he will launch an anti-naxalite movement.

He organised a function in ranchi where he brought some of the extremelypoor who have had their limbs chopped off by the naxalites. A man namedKuchu Marandi had his ear chopped off, pappu Marandi and Mansur Ansarihad a hand chopped off. in Marandi's parliamentary constituency in Giridihdistrict, on 11 september, 16 persons in Bhelvaghati village were lined up andshot, their hands tied behind their backs. All of them were very poor.

in May, after leaving the BJp, one of the issues that Marandi has taken up isthe fight against extremism. He has authored a book, Hai re Ugravaad , wherehe has cited his case and has also included several pictures of the victims ofnaxal violence.

THe government still does not know how the naxalites get their money.But there are many estimates. According to a report published on 28 May

in the ranchi edition of The Hindustan Times, just from the subdivision ofGhatshila alone naxalites earn a levy of rs1 crore a year. Jharkhand has 35subdivisions. it is estimated that in the entire state of Jharkhand, naxalitescollect about rs 150 crores a year. The naxalites say that they need themoney to run their organisation. if large companies have to work unop-posed, big contractors go about their work uninterrupted, if road and con-struction work in the jungles is to proceed, then the permission of thenaxalite groups is required. And permission is given against payment.critics of the naxalite movement allege that naxalism has now onlybecome a means of collecting money. According to the raipur edition ofthe Hindi daily navbharat on 20 April, central intelligence agencies believenaxalites have collected rs 700 crore from traders and government officialsin various states.

naxalbari, the village in West Bengal which gave its name to themovement and where it all started, is now merely a hub for smuggling. Thewidow of one of the main leaders of the movement, Jangal santhal, is livingin extreme poverty. When she discusses the movement she speaks of herpoverty. An important ideologue of the movement, Kanu sanyal, is still alivetoday, but his voice echoes the cry of meaningless violence. Yet, despitethese ups and downs dealing with the naxalites remains the biggestchallenge for the indian government. The reason is clear: it is still only thenaxalites who raise questions pertinent to the deprived majority in thecountry. They reach where the government and established political partiesdon't bother. The growth of the naxalites is finally the result of the breakingdown of the state and the inadequacy of the political system.

Harivansh is Chief Editor of Prabhat Khabar. He is based in Ranchi. Many sources have been used to compile information pertinent to this write up, in particular the

piece - Policy to Fight Naxalism – by General VP Malik (retd) and Dr PV Ramanna The citizens team which went to Bastar-Dantewada area of

Chhattisgarh consisted of Ramchandra Guha, historian and columnist, Bangalore, Harivansh, Farah Naqvi, writer and social activist, New Delhi,

EAS Sarma, retired Secretary to the Government of India, Nandini Sundar, Professor of Sociology, Delhi University and BG Verghese, former editor,

The Hindustan Times and Indian Express.

NAXALITES HAvE MONEy

A Maoist leader addressing a gathering in Andhra Pradesh.

Picture: PRAJATANTRA

CIVIL SOCIETY July 2006 15coveR

‘Weak govt has helped Naxals’Hartosh Singh BalNew Delhi

OVer the past few months the Dantewada district of chhatisgarh has beenin the news with reports of clashes between the selva Judam movementand the naxalites. Differing views have been expressed about the selva

Judam ranging from those that see it as a state-sponsored militia to others whoclaim it is an entirely spontaneous upsurge against naxalite atrocities.

Historian ramchandra Guha was a member of the team of citizens who vis-ited Dantewada district tomake an independentassessment. He spoke tocivil society.

What was the backgroundto the citizens’ initiative?i have known andadmired nandini sundar'swork. she is the world'sleading authority on theAdivasis of Bastar and shewas concerned aboutwhat was happeningthere. The idea was todetermine the facts in thecompany of people whohave no party or ideologi-cal affiliation. speakingpersonally, i have felt thatthe Adivasis are the mostdeprived section of indiansociety. i have arrived atthis point of view throughmy work on a biographyof Verrier elwin. i haveknown Bastar onlythrough elwin's writing so i was interested in visiting theregion.

The citizens’ panel has called for an administrativerevamp. What steps should a new official take?i think that some other members on the panel such as for-mer secretary eAs sarma may be in a better position tocomment on this but we do feel that the government mustreign in the departure from democratic government thatthe selva Judam represents. it is an army of unaccountableyoung men. There is a need to restore an acceptable systemof state authority, which at the moment is subordinate tothe selva Judam.

Then there are larger issues that are true in all tribalareas. Their remoteness contributes to a lack of properfacilities even in terms of schools and officials are loath togo there. BG Verghese, speaking in the context of elwin'swork, has suggested the need for an equivalent of the indian AdministrativeFrontier services of the 1950s and 1960s. i have met many of these officers andtoday there is a requirement for similar young men who are fit, daring and insympathy with tribals.

The state often says that there is little point in instituting other measureswhen the law and order situation is not under control. But even by chhattisgarh’s own report violence has increased with the forma-tion of the selva Judam. More than 40,000 persons have been displaced. Thismay even be deliberate but it is a shocking commentary on what is happeningthere. We have spoken to a lot of such people and they want to go back to theirvillages. The state has escalated and worsened the situation through this stepand it is necessary that the experiment is not extended to other districts. Thestate needs to find other methods. clearly this method has failed.

Why has the chhattisgarh government been unable to recognise this failure?With regard to the selva Judam movement per se, i met a senior official of thestate government and he told me that this experiment had failed but to acceptthis fact would be political suicide for the chief minister.

The current edition of the economic and political Weekly has two interestingarticles on the naxal issue. one is a pro-naxalite propaganda piece by Gautamnavlakha and the other is a deeply sensitive piece by K Balagopal. it is the bestpiece i have read that specifically deals with the selva Judam and Dantewada.it describes the crimes and excesses of both the selva Judam and the naxals.After travelling through the area, the author has concluded that evenMahendra Karma recognises that matters have gone out of hand and the selvaJudam is now little more than a collection of goondas unleashing violence. Butpoliticians find it very difficult to accept mistakes.

in May the parliamentarystanding committee onHome Affairs recom-mended that the govern-ment should "curb naxalactivities with an ironhand and simultaneouslyaddress the associatedeconomic problem." Whatdo you make of the rec-ommendation?i think the naxals havegained influence throughthe weakness and ineffi-ciencies of the govern-ment and its failure inthe tribal areas. But i am aconstitutionalist, i do notapprove of violence andthe state has a clear rightto crush such movementsas long as this is donewith the necessary sensi-tivity. The state has aright to target terroristsand kill them but i do not

support such means if they entail `collateral damage` aswas the case in punjab under the leadership of Kps Gill.nor can this done by internal depopulation of an area. Thissaid, the state has to address the question of socio-eco-nomic development.

How is this to be done?i have been thinking about it and i feel there are twoimportant issues here. The first is that the Adivasis are themost vulnerable segment of society because of the failuresof the state. They inhabit remote areas and lack the skillsto compete in the modern economy. This is the result ofthe state's failure to provide facilities for health and edu-cation in these areas.

The second is that the Adivasis live in the most resourcerich areas of the country. These areas, under forest cover,are a potential source for hydro-electric power and are also

the richest sources of minerals in the country. As the economy expands, thereis greater need for the state to take over these areas. The tribals end up losingland and because of the first failure they lack the skills to benefit from theopportunities that result from economic growth.

it is a tragic accident that the tribals live in areas others exploit. Figures showthat tribals comprise 40 percent of all those who are displaced while they makeup only eight percent of the population. in other words, a tribal is five times morelikely to be displaced.

Moreover, the tribals are concentrated in certain parts. even in chhattisgarhand Jharkhand they make up only 30 per cent of the population. in orissa theyare concentrated in the uplands while in Maharashtra they are restricted to cer-tain districts. Hence they can only influence the vote in a few pockets. Unlikethe tribals, the Dalits are scattered over a majority of the districts and can influ-ence votes almost anywhere. so if nothing else, most political parties are forcedto pay lip service to the cause of the Dalits.

The tribals in comparison lack political influence. The Maoists in suchregions offer short-term protection of tribal interests. But they live with thefantasy of wielding political power in Delhi through an armed struggle. over

(Continued on page 16)

By the govt’s reports,more than 40,000persons have beendisplaced. This mayeven be deliberatebut it is a shockingcommentary on whatis happening there.

16coveR


Hartosh Singh BalBhopal

EVerY year, on the day of the mid-January poornima festival, Gond tribalsfrom the surrounding districts of Madla and Dindori pour into the pilgrimtown of Amarkanta in Madhya pradesh. no railway staff dares to ask for

tickets on the trains headed to the nearby station of pendra road and in the bit-ing winter cold of the Maikal Hills, even the early morning buses into townhave dozens of men clinging to the roof.

it is rare to see this level of dedication among workers of a political party, butfor these Gonds the Gondwana Gantantara party (GGp) is much more than apolitical formation. it is at the heart of a cultural renewal, which is in part areinvention, in a region where the Gonds had slowly lost touch with their lan-guage and traditions.

The evening gathering overlooking the source of the narmada bears this out.in much the manner of a political rally anywhere leader after leader speaks of

the quest for political power in Mp, an unrealistic possibility but a clear indica-tion of the success the party has enjoyed in the 2003 Assembly elections.seated on stage with the political leaders are a number of Gond holy men whoare as much part of this revival as the politicians.

This is clear in the stalls lined around the congregation where it is not justthe politics or the food on offer that attracts crowds. Among the multi-colouredGondwana banners, people gather to buy books and pamphlets in large num-bers. Written in Hindi they range from books such as Gondwana ka sanskriticitihaas, which claims to list out the cultural history of the Gonds from pre-Vedictimes to the present, to far more specific pamphlets like Gondwana Darshan.The book has an introduction by GGp chief Hira singh Markam and describesthe rituals for worship of Bada Deo as well as birth and death rites. The worddarshan is used in the old indian sense of a philosophy of life, and the bookemphasises repeatedly that the nature worship of the Gonds and its laterrefinements far predate Hinduism.

it has been this cultural aspect that has seen the GGp rise from a marginalplayer in 1992 to a party that had Kamal nath on the run in chhindwara dur-ing the previous Lok sabha elections. At Amarkantak the party is lead by Thunusingh Maharaj, a 68-year-old Gond vaid, "i came in touch with the Gondwanasamaj a decade ago. i learn about Gondwana sanskriti and realised we have areligion different from the Hindus, sikhs or the followers of Kabir. They call us

shudras but our job is to sustain all living creatures. Hum palanhari hain, ourchal chalan is not of the shudras. neither are we christians or Muslims. Wehave to revive our history."

For the GGp this has meant the worship of the supreme Deity Bada Deo,unmediated by pandits. They have with equal vigour opposed the presence ofthe christian missionaries and the naxals. Armed revolution is not their strat-egy. some of the literature is in Gondi, written in the Devnagari script. AsThunu Maharaj says, no one has spoken the language in and aroundAmarkantak for over a generation. But in the adjacent areas of Dindori andMandla district the GGp runs several schools where teaching is carried out inGondi and it has opened several `banks' in Mandla and Dindori districts. Gondwomen deposit a handful of rice two times a day against which money is cred-ited to their accounts. The banks also give loans to tribals at very low rates ofinterest.

even the GGp election campaign unites the political with the cultural.Workers of the Gondwana Gantantra party canvassing for votes, fan out hold-ing aloft the Gondwana banner, wielding the party symbol, an ax. They carrywith them a plateful of turmeric rice. A handful is placed on every doorstep, atraditional invitation for a propitious occasion such as a marriage, and in thiscase an invitation to vote for the GGp. Tribal custom ensures that their workpropagates itself. The household where the turmeric rice is placed will in turninvite everyone they know to the occasion, in this case the voting at the near-est polling booth.

While the party originated in chhattisgarh, it is here in the relatively undis-turbed areas of Madhya pradesh that it has enjoyed its greatest success. in 10out of 45 districts where the congress failed to win a single seat in the Digvijaysingh rout, four lie in the Gond belt. And in this region the GondwanaGantantra party has a strong presence. A party that had not even registered asecond place finish in 1998, won three seats and took the second place in fiveother seats with very close margins.

The GGp, as is clear from the statistics, can grow much stronger. The tribalsform over 20 per cent of the population in Mp, and the Gonds are the largesttribal group in the state, concentrated in the southeast. in districts such asMandla, Dindori and shahdol they form over 45 per cent of the populationthus effectively deciding who wins and who loses.

interestingly, the rise to public prominence of the GGp has exposed the partyto the vagaries of parliamentary democracy. Kamal nath went out of his way totry and split the party to ensure his own electoral success in chhindwara. Theparty leaders have been accused of taking funds in turn from the BJp and thecongress but this has only underlined their importance in state politics.

equally significant has been their ability to keep both the rss and the naxalsat bay. in the Bhil dominated areas of western Madhya pradesh the work of theVanvasi Kalyan parishad has had a significant impact but the organisation hasmade no inroads in Gond areas. While much of this area is sometime termednaxal-affected, the presence of the Maoists is not a major factor. The culturalappeal of the GGp is something they can never fulfil, and much of the self-affir-mation they hope to provide the tribal in the region has already been broughtabout by the GGp.

The traditional interaction of the tribal with the local patwari or thanedar hasseen a sea change ever since the GGp gained in strength and it is somethingofficials admit on their own. policemen here complain that the Adivasis nolonger think much of telling them what to do. GGp workers often mediateadministrative power in the region.

in these areas, which should have been part of naxal territory, the GGp is aclear example that a movement which springs from the tribals can counter thenaxals better than the indian state.

Tribal politics stops Naxalites

the long run they end up using the tribals as cannon fodder.

Do you see the indian administration actually coming to terms with the naxalsituation in the near future?in the context of this report i do hope that the selva Judam is stopped and thestate gets its act together. And while it is not the historian's role to give a prog-nosis for the future if i take a cynical, detached look i think progress on thisfront is unlikely. i feel that naxalism and the violence are likely to linger on.

We spoke to a naxal leader during this trip and mentioned the example of

nepal. He said that the Maoists there are different and may well take part inthe democratic process but they are willing to wait till they achieve their aims.At the same time the indian state lacks the required military or developmentalwill. i see the endemic violence continue over the next 15 years much like inKashmir and the northeast. A lot of people will suffer and die.

if i give you an absolutely objective prognosis, in Kashmir it took the death of60,000 persons for people to realise both sides were horribly wrong. in the sameway, either people like navlakha somewhat absurdly speak of the Maoists as ifthey are imbued with the same moral principles as a Mandela or a nehru or thereare others who take equally misguided positions centered on the role of the statewhere they assume the problem can be solved by throwing in more money andarms. i see the same tragedy being repeated over the next 15 years.

‘Weak govt has helped Naxals’(Continued from page 15)

While the party originated in Chhattisgarh, itis here in the relatively undisturbed areas ofMadhya Pradesh that the party has enjoyedits greatest success. In 10 out of 45 districtswhere the Congress failed to win a single seatin the Digvijay Singh rout, four lie in the Gondbelt. And in this region the GondwanaGantantra Party has a strong presence.

CIVIL SOCIETY July 2006 17

Everyone ownsa shrinkingplanet. Peoplecount more thangovernments.Track changebefore itbecomes news.

WorldviewLATITUDE MATTERS

Civil Society NewsKathmandu

NepAl has been declared an 'untouchabili-ty and discrimination free nation' by itsHouse of representatives. it has also

been declared a secular state. Till the recentpolitical changes, the country was the world'sonly official Hindu kingdom, although halfits population of 25 million, belonging tomore than 50 ethnic groups, did not practiseHinduism.

"The practice of untouchability will nowonwards be considered as a social crime andthe government will enact laws in such a waythat the inhuman and discriminatory prac-tice is more punishable," Minister for Law,Justice and parliamentary Affairs, narendraBikram nembang, told nepal's House ofrepresentatives. There will be a fair repre-sentation of Dalits, comprising almost 22 per-cent of the population, in the process offorming the constituent assembly and a newconstitution.

nembang also assured the governmentthat special arrangements would be made forthe education and employment of Dalits,besides the ongoing provision of scholar-

ships for Dalit students in schools and reser-vations in higher studies.

Activists say untouchability must be madea punishable offence. "if they want to makethe country free from untouchability, theymust pass a law...the whole nation is infavour of this, including the Maoists," saysratna Bahadur Bagchand, executive directorof nepal's Lawyers’ national campaignAgainst Untouchability (LAncAU).

in 1955, nepal's revised civil code out-lawed untouchability. in 2002, the govern-ment created the national Dalit commission.Three years ago a new leadership pledged tobring charges against anyone accused of dis-criminating against untouchables.

since then police have opened just twocases and neither has reached the courts."incidents are happening day after day inevery corner of the country and are reportedin the media but no one has spent one hourin jail," says Bagchand.

More than a year ago, nepal's supremecourt ordered the government to strengthenits law against untouchability. "We watchedand waited for the government to do some-thing, but it did nothing, so we thought wehave to do something ourselves." After sixmonths of work, LAncAU has submitted adraft bill to the House of representatives.

"We are economically and socially behindeveryone. our literacy rate is just 17 percentfor men and 10 percent for women. As forlife expectancy it is only 42 years," Moti Lalnepali, chairman, Dalit Welfare organisationtold civil society, when he was in Delhi.Dalits, who comprise about 22 percent of thepopulation, own just two percent of land.Bonded labour and the system of paying inkind instead of cash continue because ofnepal's feudal land system.

Dalit organisations are asking the govern-ment for free education for Dalits, womenand ethnic tribes from primary school to col-lege. They have also asked for job reservationin the civil services and private sector: 10percent for Dalits, 15 percent for women and20 percent for ethnic groups. "All the politicalparties support us and then do nothing," saidnepali. concerned citizens hope this sce-nario will change.

Hope for Nepal Dalits

‘The practice ofuntouchability willbe considered asocial crime andthe governmentwill enact laws insuch a way thatthe inhuman anddiscriminatorypractice is morepunishable.’

18WoRld


Kabul finds an anthem, but no musiciansWahidullah Amani Kabul

IT's finally official: Afghanistan's new nationalanthem was played in Kabul on May 14. it hasreplaced the old version and is becoming a for-

mal symbol of national unity.But there were no trumpets or cymbals to mark

the occasion, held at the Ministry of information,Youth and Tourism. The song can only be playedfrom a compact disc sent from Germany, as thecountry has neither the musicians nor the instru-ments to reproduce the sound live.

Decades of war and the emigration of millions ofAfghans meant the national anthem had to be com-posed and produced abroad.

After several attempts at finding an acceptableversion, the words to the anthem were written byAbdul Bari Jahani, an Afghan American living inWashington, Dc. The music was composed byBabrak Wasa, an Afghan émigré living in Germany.The final version, performed by well-knownAfghan singers from all over the world, was record-ed onto cD in Germany.

"i like this anthem, it is very sweet," said shahZaman Wraiz stanikzai, head of the publicationsdepartment at the Ministry of information. "Butwe still have some technical problems. We do nothave an orchestra to play at ceremonial functions –

the musicians are all abroad. We don't have theinstruments.

"now, when we have to play it, we will put on thecD and hire musicians to pretend they are playing."

The national anthem is meant to unite the coun-try, inspire patriotic emotions and help heal the

wounds created by decades of war. But it has takenover two years of bitter debate to get the nation'spower elite to agree on it.

The constitution mandates that the anthemshould be in pashtu, contain the words "AllahuAkbar" (God is great), and mention the country'smain ethnic groups. All three requirements havecaused major heartache in a country with deep eth-

nic, linguistic, and political divides."Maybe there are a few people who don't like it

because it's in pashtu," said stanikzai. "But if they areagainst this anthem, then they're against themselves.This is our national anthem, and it is as it should be."

one of those dissatisfied with the outcome is Abdul

Hafiz Mansoor, editor of a political magazine called theVoice of the Mujahed. Mansoor, who is a Tajik andtherefore has Dari rather than pashtu as his main lan-guage, is a perennial critic of government policies, andthe anthem is a particular irritant for him.

"i want the anthem in seven languages," he said."if the government is giving preference to one eth-nic group over others, it is very dangerous. i do not

WHiLe china builds big dams withimpunity to divert water and power tocities, 55-year-old Yu xiaogang does

the reverse. When a dam built by the gov-ernment destroyed the ecology of LakeLashi in Yunnan province and ruined thelivelihood of farmers and fishermen, Yustepped in. He restored the lake's watershedand increased the incomes of rural folk.

"it is the first watershed managementproject in china that involves the partici-pation of nGos, local governments andresidents," says Yu, winner of the 2006Goldman environmental prize.

Yu, an environmental scientist, came toLashi to do research on the social impact ofthe dam built at Lashi Lake for his ph.D. He foundthat the dam had ruined farmland so more peopleturned to fishing. Then, as fish stocks dwindled,birds ate the seeds and grain from the remainingfields. The people lost their source of livelihood.

Lashi Lake is an internationally protected wet-land reserve, home to thousands of naxi and Yiethnic people and 80,000 migratory birds.

Yu calls himself a 'fundamentalist communist'whose mission is to fight for the underprivileged.He got the Lashi county government, privateentrepreneurs and villagers to form a watershedmanagement committee. He also formed a fish-eries association and got schools and a micro-finance scheme going.

The agro-forestry project plants fruit trees onmountain farmland. "That controls erosion and

generates an income," says Yu. "We've also tried tomaintain the waterway to control floods, so thatmore land becomes fertile. We encourage organicagriculture, which has very good production.some people have increased their income four- tofive-fold through organic agriculture." More than40,000 fruit trees have been planted and rivercanals cleaned. crop harvests have increased inthe past four years.

in 2002, Yu founded Green Watershed, an nGo."its about good governance, social justice andordinary people's rights," he says. in bureaucraticchina, his nGo works on participatory manage-ment with ordinary people.

Yu also studied the effects of the Manwan damon the Mekong river. He found out that relocatedresidents had not benefited from the project. 'cost

efficiency' had been achieved by cuttingcompensation to dam oustees. After theirfields were submerged most oustees beganto work as rubbish collectors. His researchpaper led to the provincial governmentfinally paying them compensation.

in 2003 the Yunnan governmentannounced plans to construct 13 new damson the nu river. it is one of only two riversin china that hasn't been dammed. Thisregion has Three parallel rivers, the nu, theJinsha (Yangtze) and the Lancang (Mekong).The surrounding watersheds are a WorldHeritage site with virgin forests, endangeredspecies and rich biodiversity. The damswould displace 50,000 people and affect the

livelihoods of millions in china, Burma and Tibet. Yu rushed to the nu river and conducted

research. He got nGos together to discuss theYunnan government's plans and he voiced hisconcerns at international conferences.

Yu educated villagers living near the nu riverabout the impact dams would have on their lives.He took them in a bus to the Manwan dam siteand introduced them to dam affected communi-ties. Villagers saw for themselves how men andwomen were picking through garbage dumps forscrap to sell.

The campaigns paid off. premier Wen Jiabaoordered a suspension of the nu dam saying thatit should be "seriously reviewed and decided sci-entifically."

But the dams were merely put on hold.

Dam buster yu not ready to give up

The national anthem is meant to unite the country, inspirepatriotic emotions and help heal the wounds of war. But ithas taken over two years of bitter debate to get the nation'spower elite to agree on it. The Constitution mandates thatthe anthem should be in Pashtu, contain the words ‘God isgreat’, and mention the country's main ethnic groups.

Yu Xiaogang at Tiger Leaping Gorge

PAKisTAn's sindh province is in the process ofauctioning fishing rights. The auction, which

started on 6 June, will continue till 30 June. some1260 fishing spots, traditionally used by local andindigenous fisher folk, will be sold to private con-tractors. A minimum of 200,000 people whodepend on traditional fishing will find it impos-sible to fish and will be forced out from their tra-ditional occupation.

in protest against the auction, the pakistan FisherFolk Forum, an association of local fishermen, hasstarted a movement including daily public demon-strations. However, the sindh government hasrefused to talk with representatives of the Forum.

Many fishermen and their families will sufferfrom acute starvation as a direct result of thepoverty forced upon them.

Source: The Asian Human Rights

WoRldCIVIL SOCIETY July 2006 19

Kabul finds an anthem, but no musiciansrespect this anthem, and if it is played on any occa-sion, i will not stand up for it. it's (president Hamed)Karzai's anthem - let him stand."

others – including even Jahani, who wrote thewords – object to the use of "Allahu Akbar" in the text.

"That is something sacred; we are supposed torecite these words in mosques and holy places, notplay music to them. it is not allowed in islam," saidJahani in a telephone interview from his home inWashington. "still, it is finished, and if people like it,then good luck to them."

The requirement that all major ethnic groups behonoured in the text also created problems, sinceAfghanistan has dozens if not hundreds of individ-ual groups. in the end, 14 were singled out for men-tion, giving the hymn a bit of a shopping-list quality.it also angered some, like Hindus and sikhs, whowere left out.

But most people nevertheless agree that the newanthem is an improvement on the old one, whichdates from the mid-nineties and sings the praises ofthe mujahedin who helped drive out the soviets.Many Afghans are bitter about the destruction of thefactional wars that followed the end of communistrule in 1992, when the mujahedin engaged in a bit-ter power struggle, wreaking havoc in the process.

"The old song was a mujahedin anthem," said aca-demician Habibullah rafi. "replacing that one withthis new anthem is a very good thing."

He conceded that the new song had some problems,since so much of the text was dictated by the consti-tution. "The poets had some difficulties," he said.

rafi should know – he himself composed an earli-er version of the anthem, which was first acceptedbut later scrapped by the president. still, he profess-es himself satisfied with the new song. "in the end,we did what the constitution said," he said.

The production of Afghanistan's new anthem cost$ 40,000 and called on the services of more than 70singers. Famous expatriates such as nashnas andMiss Afsana were on hand for the recording, and thefinal version is quite stirring.

"i heard the new anthem on television," saidHamayoun, 17, who sells fruit in the centre of Kabul."it made me very happy. After such a long time, wehave a national anthem that belongs to all the people."

Hamayoun was scornful when asked about thelanguage issue, saying, "Those who complain that itis in pashtu do not want peace in this country."

"it is very beautiful," said nooraqa, who sells dish-es on the street in Kabul. "it does not matterwhether it is in Dari or pashtu or whatever. it is reli-gious and it is also modern."

But engineering student Hedayatullah, 28, was notpleased with the use of sacred words set to music.

"The anthem is nice but it isn't good to play musicto 'Allahu Akbar'. That is sacred. As for the language,it doesn't matter if it is in pashtu. That is the lan-guage of the majority. For the last ten years theanthem has been in Dari, and no one complained.We shouldn't complain now." From:iwpri.net

www.iwpr.net

construction of the xiluodu dam, the country's sec-ond-largest hydroelectric dam on the lower Jinsha,has already begun. Three other dams are in theexploration stage, including one on Tiger LeapingGorge in upper Jinsha, one of the world's deepestcanyons. if built, the dam would affect up to100,000 people and supply electricity to shanghai.

After damming the Jinsha and nu rivers, chinaplans to build dams on the Brahmaputra in Tibet.

"our purpose is not to stop the damming of oneor two rivers. our real goal is to let all ordinary peo-ple participate in the decision-making process onchina's hydroelectric projects," says Yu.

since the communist takeover in 1949, 16 mil-lion people in china have been displaced by reser-voirs. some 10 million of them still live in pover-ty. Today china has about 46 percent of theworld's dams. in its search for energy to power itseye popping economic growth, china has zeroedin on hydro-electricity. it may not have rich oilreserves but it controls most of Asia's rivers.

Green activists might have lost the battleagainst the humungous Three Gorges dam butthey are not changing tack. Their objective is tosave china's last virgin rivers and to ensure thatpeople affected by dam construction finally havea say. They want social impact assessments whichare independent and involve the people.

china has today about 280,000 nGos. The mostvigorous among them are environmentalists.From highlighting the adverse effects of damsthey have begun to gradually organise and repre-sent the people.

But showing the top heavy chinese governmenta different reality is not easy. Yu has been dubbeda trouble maker by the Yunnan government andhis nGo branded as an extremist organisation.

Source:goldmanprize.org, tgp.org

Fishing rights denied to Pak fishermen

CHiLDren from across Bangladesh havedemanded quality health service through

schools including nutritious tiffin, doctors andan adequate stock of medicines in hospitals.

They also suggested a special health servicemonitoring cell, a hot line to receive complaints,supply of free disposal syringes in hospitals andfree treatment for disabled children. The chil-dren said measures should be taken to eradicate

malaria from hill tracts. The demands were raised recently in the

national children’s parliament jointly organisedby save the children Australia, plan-Bangladesh,Academy for educational Development (AeD)and UsAiD. The children have been assured thatthe number of doctors will be increased and afree health service provided to poor and disabledchildren.

Bangla kids ask for health services

THe Kyoto protocol will cut the developingworld's greenhouse gas emissions by at least

one billion tonnes by the end of 2012, accordingto the United nations.

The organisation announced that projectsplanned under the clean DevelopmentMechanism (cDM), which encourages companiesto invest in reducing emissions in the south, hadreached the one billion milestone.

The expected emissions reductions are equiva-lent to eliminating the combined annual emis-sions of spain and the United Kingdom.

The programme has recorded more than 800projects that are already underway or planned.They include wind farms, power plants that burnsugar cane waste, and efforts to capture gasesemitted from landfill sites.

nearly 300 projects have registered or are in theprocess of registering with the cDM scheme, andthe Un expects the remainder to register as well.

Most projects are in Brazil and india; althoughAfrica is lagging behind, the continent has seena five-fold increase in cDM projects over thepast year.

Source: SciDev.net

Cuttinggreenhouseemissions

THe sylhet region of Bangladesh is in the grip ofa flash flood. More areas are likely to be inun-

dated. Flood preparation, including adequate pro-visioning of emergency supplies, their fair distri-bution and management of the entire reliefefforts, assume critical importance.

The mobilisation plan has to include buildingup in advance, stocks of water purificationtablets, oral saline, food grains, salt, matches,

blankets and other stores by the district adminis-tration in flood prone areas. The preparationshave to include prior knowledge of which placescan be turned into centres for flood relief andshelter as well as a plan for evacuation of dis-tressed people along with their movable assets.The past experience in Bangladesh points to theneed for a plan ahead of time as well as its effi-cient execution. Source: The Independent, Dhaka

Dhaka prepares for floods

20WoRld


IT seems that the path modern democracies have taken asthey evolve into the future is one that is leading theminto becoming increasingly legalistic societies. examined historically, we have always been proud – and

rightfully so – when we could claim our community hadinstituted laws and that it functioned on the basis of suchlaws. civilisations defined themselves by their laws – andtheir successful implementation. To be labelled lawless wasakin to being uncivilised. From Hammurabi in Mesopotamiato Ashoka in india, the highlights of antiquity lay as much(if not more so) in its capacity to create a lasting legal framework within whichits people could exist, as it did in its material achievements.

Moses, Mohammed, Manu… all added their own prescriptions of what waslegitimate for society at large and what was not. The principal determiner oflegitimacy has always been – that is till now – a moral principle. The source ofsuch moral principles for most of recorded history has been a divine one, giv-ing way to a more secular humanism of the recent centuries. Legality andmorality were yoked together in a union that seemed eternal.

A couple of weeks ago a rude shock awakened me to question this union inmore than a cursory way. i had gone to see off a friend at the charles de GaulleAirport outside paris and parked my car in the parking lot, outside which thepayment rates were written. starting at two euros for the first ten minutesthey went up by increments of two euros and seemed to stop at eight euros forthe hour. Usually, the first hour was the most expensive and then the ratestaper off for the successive ones, generally ending with a proportionately muchlower flat rate for a 12 or 24 hour period. it was an expectation confirmed bypersonal experience in most places in the worldwhich offered such moden facilities as the readerswill probably confirm. imagine my shock when oninserting my parking ticket into the slot on theexit turnstile i was told (electronically that is) thati owed the machine 33 euros for one hour andthree minutes. i was trapped between two electri-cally operated turnstiles and had absolutely noway of exiting without making the payment.

What was really shocking was that there hadbeen no mistake (caveat emptor of course). it wasclearly marked that after the first hour the cus-tomer would be charged 33 euros. The parking lotis owned by ADp – Aeroports de paris, which isnot a private company. This is what brought me tothe question of legality. Modern man lives, mean-dering as it were, through a nightmarish maze ofendless laws, rules and regulations that, insteadof improving the quality of his life makes it all themore stressful.

Why do we feel this way? What then is the basis

of legislation today? is there a moral criteria that is appliedto law-making or have we as a society been taken over bythe functional criteria that merely serves our economicbeing, our material wants that seek instant gratification.The Americans have successfully narrowed down the loftyJeffersonian ideals as seen in their Declaration of rights,which provides that "all men are… endowed by theircreator with… rights…(to) the pursuit of happiness." it isthis narrow interpretation of happiness by material meansthat has unleashed the unbridled excesses of capitalism

that we witness today. The story of American independence is an economicone. it was inevitable from its inception that the state would become the pro-tecter and eventually the facilitator of property owners who have evolved tobecome today's business interests. nothing succeeds like success, and the loveaffair between the American Government and American business proved to beits path to superpowerdom. Having exhausted its own shores it continued tosuccessfully export the dynamics of its success (with the accompanying ethos,of course) throughout the planet.

A team from DeLL, France ( a very successful American company) told methe other day how different the business culture was in their company; differ-ent from the traditional business culture of other French companies that is.There must be many Americans in your French office i ventured to ask. onlyto learn that there were but three Americans in an office of over 350 people.Amazing how culture is created by organisational structure. Add to that thepower of the American pension Funds that hold financial sway over yournational stock markets and the transition is fairly complete.

What is frightening is not only the power of thelogic of "success" but the ease with which we areadapting to it. The moral content in what is legaland what is not is becoming increasingly less rele-vant. How accurately solzhenitsyn saw the rise ofthis legalistic state and its concurrent moraldecline which he brilliantly outlined in his 1978commencement Address Delivered at HarvardUniversity. America never recovered from thatspeech, its honeymoon with the great russianprophet over, and solzhenitsyn was once againsent to the Gulag of non-existence in theAmerican media.

What he had said of the West then is the virusthat has now become globalised and a worldwidereality. The question is whether we are doomed toan orwellian existence in the future or our veryinstinct for survival will lead us to safety from selfdestruction. perhaps we can take solace insolzhenitsyn's cryptic answer that there wasn't"any other way left but – upward".

Riaz Quadir in Versailles

Do rules improve lives?

TWO YEARS OLD AND GROWING MONTHLY

rs 500 for 1 year rs 850 for 2 years rs 1200 for 3 years

PAyMENT AND PERSONAL DETAILSName: Mr/Ms/Institution ...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... Designation: ..........................................................................................................................................

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First Middle Last

Tick ( ) appropriate: 1 year (Rs. 500) 2 years (Rs. 850) 3 years (Rs. 1,200)

R E A D U S. W E R E A D Y O U.

The moral content in what islegal and what is not isbecoming increasingly lessrelevant.


Rethink money withus. What should theentrepreneur of thefuture be like? Howcan you get rich andstill serve society? Docauses need bottomlines?

BusinessBEYOND P RO F I T

Shailey HingoraniNew Delhi

HoW do you get people's movements on to desksand into minds and make a little money to keepa capacity-building nGo afloat as well? That's

simple. print a diary that tells the stories of change-makers.

Kriti has become one of a long line of organisationsthat have found ways around funding traps by buildinga business that fulfils a social purpose.

Kriti's 'our Diary' comes in two sizes big and small.The big one costs rs 175 and the smaller one rs 125.Kriti prints about 1,000 diaries every year and is ableto sell all of them. orders are placed in advance. Thediaries make enough money to finance the next cycleof production. They are a big hit. students, compa-nies, bureaucrats and social activists are the buyers of'our Diary'.

"every year we first shortlist about 20 people'smovements and then further shortlist them to seven,"says Aanchal Kapur, a member of the Kriti team."Then we proceed to collect as much information aspossible about the movements. Finally, the story ofstruggle is presented in the style of a feature as part ofthe diary. An analytical framework binds the diary together. it is not thematic."

Kriti works as a support group, providing professional expertise in research,documentation, capacity-building, organisational development, monitoringand evaluation, design and communication to trade unions, women's groups,government and civil society organisations. Kriti members have skills in deal-ing with issues like education, health, labour, environment and gender.

“We at Kriti were upset with the newspaper reportage of the movements. inthe media, they were being covered as one-time events rather than as ongoingprocesses,” says Aanchal.

suman Bisht, another member of the Kriti team explains, " We also realisedthat movements themselves were not documenting their own strugglesbecause of a variety of reasons like lack of skills or resources. We understoodthat this should not deter them or anybody else to put to paper their struggles.That's why we decided to pool our resources and start tracing the trajectoriesof various movements."

every diary includes a 'movement map' that locates these struggles on themap of india. This, explains the Kriti team, "builds a physical and human geog-raphy of people's movements in india."

each diary also provides a contact list of resource groups and people's move-ments groups along with other references so that diary users are able to get intouch, if they want to. Like other diaries, Kriti's diary too is available in themarket and has a year planner. What sets it apart is the documentation of peo-ple's movements that is interspersed with the planner.

some stories of the landless, the marginalised and the displaced enter andleave the public consciousness subject to the attention span of the media. Yetthese people's movements continue to wage their struggle in obscurity against

unbridled power and the status quo for change, and for a new way of life.Through these movements the people create a history. ideologies, issues andstrategies are all part of it. Kriti recognised the need to acknowledge this histo-ry and then try and make it a part of popular culture.

so the diary recounts the voices of different people's movements against thedenial of social, cultural and political rights from all over india and across theglobe. Kriti uses primary and secondary sources to write features on people'smovements. As the team explored people's movements, it was also able to putthings into perspective, analyse events and link happenings to the bigger pic-ture. class, gender, religion and region, came under their scanner.

"We get in touch with the people directly engaged with the movements and alsoconduct independent research of our own through other sources," explainsAanchal. This helps Kriti maintain a balanced perspective while writing a feature.

each year’s diary is unique. The 2006 diary introduces the user to the worldof people's movements via documentary films. This diary is, explains Kriti, a'documentary journey on rights, on the access to and control over power,resources and lives…a journey that we hope will inspire many more films thatreflect the politics, the ideology and the contradictions that make struggles forrights an inevitable part of our ground reality'.

some of the films which have been profiled are A night of prophecy, WhenWomen Unite: A story of an Uprising, Development Flows from the Barrel ofthe Gun, ek Minute Ka Maun and Work in progress.

Kriti's diary is itself the story of a struggle by a committed group to bringforth long forgotten, obliterated scraps of history and to ensure that stories ofthe people are not lost in the labyrinth of corporate globalisation, privatisationand liberalisation.

A diary of people’s movements

Aanchal Kapur (second from left) with the Kriti team and the diaries

22business


Civil Society NewsNew Delhi

BricKs fired from agricultural waste instead of wood, an inexpensive trea-dle pump for a small farmer's field, a smoke-free stove that rustles up tor-tillas were some of the innovative projects which won at the 2006 Ashden

Awards for sustainable energy in London. The prince of Wales, patron of the Ashden Awards, personally congratulated

all the winners in a separate private ceremony. He said he hoped that thesepractical, simple and economical solutions would be used on a larger scale.

Four awards were given in recognition of the way sustainable energy has beenused to improve access to light, to food, to promote enterprise and to improvehealth. An Africa Award was given in recognition of the urgent need to addressenvironmental degradation and lack of access to resources in this region. Weprofile five of the prize winners.

FIRED BY BRICKAlthough Mwanza is situated on the southern shores of Africa's largest lake, itis far from lush. The region is arid with a high incidence of poverty. The quali-ty of housing is very poor. Most people live in ramshackle mud structures.

The Mwanza rural Housing programme (MrHp), Tanzania wanted toimprove the quality of housing. But the area was badly deforested and 100-year-old mango trees were being cut to produce wood to fire bricks.

MrHp came up with a brick-firing kiln that produces good quality brickswithout burning a single tree. instead, it uses agro waste like cotton waste, ricehusk, coffee husk and sawdust to fire the kiln.

MrHp has helped villagers set up sustainable brick-making businesses byproviding training and loans. Together they have produced enough bricks tobuild an impressive 100,000 homes. The quality of the bricks is also high andthey are being used to build 3000 houses under one of Tanzania's largest pen-sion funds, the parastatal pensioners Fund.

not only has this project radically improved the quality of housing for 50 per-cent of the region's inhabitants, it has also trained unemployed young men andhelped them set up businesses in clean brick making. There is now a thrivinglocal industry in the area that has lifted people out of poverty and fostered agenuine entrepreneurial spirit.

WALK UP WATER in Uttar pradesh and other parts of eastern india, small farmers migrate tocities because their tiny rainfed fields yield only one crop. A second harvestrequires irrigation. But diesel is costly and polluting while hand pumps andwells are ineffective.

The treadle pump is tailor made for this problem. it uses human power to liftwater from either shallow aquifers (via a tubewell) or surface waters such aslakes or canals. it is a brilliantly effective and environment friendly alternative.

To pump up the water the user stands on two bamboo or metal treadles,pumping each foot up and down in a walking movement. it's no harder thanpedalling a bicycle up a slight incline, yet it can lift water from a depths of someeight metres with an output of 3,500 to 5,000 litres per hour. Anyone can'pedal' a pump – from children to grandmothers.

The pumps, called 'Krishak Bandhu', (farmer's friend) are made by 17 manu-facturers under license from the international Development enterprises india(iDei). Water is released in a steady flow over fields. in contrast, farmers usingdiesel pumps often experience problems with soil erosion, as the pumps churnout water at a fierce rate. This can wash away soil and nutrients, and doesn't suit

ManywondersamongAshdenawards

Customers prefer restaurants using smoke-free Patsari stoves in Mexico.

Bikram Singh, 79 operates a treadle pump in Uttar Pradesh, India.

businessCIVIL SOCIETY July 2006 23

crops which prefer 'lighter' watering, such as potatoes,tomatoes and cucumbers.

The cost of a treadle pump on its own is around rs400. Dealers often offer farmers 120 days' credit so theywon't have to pay the full cost until they have benefit-ed from the first harvest on their newly-irrigated land.

Treadle pumps increase farmer's incomes substan-tially by enabling them to cultivate a range of crops out-side the traditional growing season. Most farmers whouse a treadle tend to double their available income,especially when the savings from not using diesel aretaken into account.

SMOKE FREE TORTILLAS in rural Mexico 95 percent of households cook on openwood fires. This harms health, leads to deforestationand increases carbon emissions. in the centralMexican highlands the situation is particularly bad.Here there are many poor indigenous households andthousands of women earn a living selling hand-madetortillas cooked on open fires. The Mexican govern-ment has encouraged the use of LpG for cooking, butLpG stoves are not adapted for tortilla making and, more importantly, the poor-est families can't afford it.

Dr omar Masera, project leader of GirA, and his team designed the smokefree patsari cook stove. it is built with local materials and comes in four dif-ferent models. each one has an optimised combustion chamber and custom -designed parts for durability including a metal chimney support and a ceramicstove entrance. it can be built in just two hours and is fitted with a metal flatplate sealed to avoid smoke leaking. The result is a locally adapted, fuel-efficientstove that significantly reduces fuel wood use and indoor air pollution.

since 2000, GirA has worked with 100 small stove builders to install 3,500patsari stoves in homes in the Mexican highlands plus 40 for tortilla-makingbusinesses. in total 17,500 people have directly benefited from this new stovetechnology including 55 women in the tortilla-making business. To date, thepatsari stoves have saved 8,000 tonnes of fuel wood and 9,800 tonnes of carbonemissions annually. Demand for the patsari continues to grow with the imme-diate short-term demand being approximately 10,000.

For women making tortillas as a business, the patsari stove reduces runningcosts. They have reported an increase in clientele and profits as people preferthe smoke free environment.

RENT A SOLAR HOME SYSTEMGrameen shakti has installed nearly 65,000 solar home systems in ruralBangladesh. A typical solar home system can power four to six low energylights, plus a socket for TV, radio or battery recharging, and a mobile phone-charging unit, too. each system consists of a solar photovoltaic panel, mountedon the house roof. Depending on its size, this provides between 40W and 75Wof electricity in full sunlight.

Grameen have come up with a method known asmicro-utility model to finance solar home systems. ithas become very popular in rural market placesbecause it allows a number of people to share the costand benefit of a solar home system. The way it worksis that one individual is responsible for paying theinstalments, which he collects by renting lights toneighbours. once the instalments are paid, hebecomes the owner.

Grameen shakti is also setting up a network of tech-nology centres, managed mainly by women engineers,which will train hundreds of local women each year tobe solar technicians, equipped with tools providing serv-icing, repairs, spares and accessories to their neighbours.

rahimafrooz is a major supplier of batteries andother solar components for the programme. it has alsoinstalled centralised systems, water pumps, street-lights, and solar-powered telecom solutions to variousorganisations, totalling about 106 KW.

only the modules are imported. its technicians pro-vide installation, servicing and repair services for itsnGo clients. rahimafrooz's technicians work in

remote areas, from the chittagong Hill Tracts to the sundarbans, deliveringsolar components by river to farming and fishing villages far from the grid.

BIOGAS FROM FOOD WASTE The Appropriate rural Technology institute’s (ArTi) new compact biogas tech-nology developed by Dr Arvind Karve and his team of engineers, needs onlyvegetable residues, waste food and grain. its daily consumption is just one kgof feedstock (such as waste flour, leftover food, spoilt grain, spoilt milk, over-ripe fruit, green leaves and oil cakes) as opposed to the 40 kg of cow dung need-ed for traditional plants. From this small amount of feedstock it produces 500litres of gas. The digestion process is also much quicker – taking place within48 hours instead of the 40 days required when using dung.

The biogas plants are made from cut-down HDpe water tanks. The standardplant uses two tanks of incremental sizes so the smaller fits inside the other.The smaller tank holds the gas and the larger contains the slurry. The basicwater tanks, which are mass produced, often from recycled plastic, are adapt-ed with the help of a heat gun and standard HDpe piping. The plant is filledwith a starter mix, either cattle dung mixed with water and starch or effluentfrom an existing plant mixed with starch (waste flour). The feeding of the plantis built up over one or two weeks until it provides a steady supply of gas

its relatively small size means it can be used in urban houses and even apart-ments, which is a break-through in the world of biogas production.

it has even attracted keen interest from the pune municipal administrationwho are keen to find an effective disposal system for the growing food wastein the area. installing these systems and supplying feedstock to users alsooffers good business opportunities to rural enterprises – made possible by thefact that ArTi has decided not to patent its design.

The ARTI biogas plant uses food waste and is suited to urbanhomes in India.

House built using bricks fired in an MRHP-designed kiln in Tanzania.

Solar house on the edge of the Sundarbansin Bangladesh.


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Have an idea?Perhaps a lostcause? Tell yourstory or justexpress anhonest opinionin these pages.

Perspec ivesCATCH I NG T R ENDS

Iwas recently called by the BBc to comment on abreaking news story relating to the controversysurrounding the release in india of a movie

based on Dan Brown's bestselling thriller The DaVinci code.

i was surprised to hear of the growing opposi-tion to the movie because i had read the book andcould not immediately understand what the fusswas all about. i bought the book from the best-sell-er's fiction section at the airport bookshop justbefore departing for my holidays last summer. itwas an interesting read but full of humbug parad-ing as facts. As a student of comparative theology,with a special interest in early church history, ifound the theories espoused in The Da Vinci codepure fantasy without a shred of supporting aca-demic research to support the story. Dan Brown

was doing what all good thriller writers do – take afew facts, spin a yarn that sounds real enough andwrite in a style that will hold the readers' attentionto the end – and his book did not disappoint inthis context.

Although some christian leaders had beenoffended by the film's theory that Jesus marriedMary Magdalene and their descendants survivetoday, the majority of Western christian leadersand groups appeared to take the view that thelaunch of the film presented an opportunity topresent their case for the truth as they saw it.These groups launched websites and publishedresource materials and Da Vinci code guides andtours, to encourage open discussion and debate ona subject that is generally ignored in an increasing-ly secular society.

Western journalists were therefore caught by sur-prise by the reaction to the release of the film with-in india. What had begun as a relatively low-scaleprotest was suddenly threatening to escalate intoorganised street protests and even forcing cinemahalls showing the movie to shut down.

it was reported that the head of the catholicsecular Forum in india, Joseph Dias, had gone onhunger-strike to try to have the film banned. Hisorganisation described The Da Vinci code as"offensive" because it breaches "certain basic foun-dations of the religion".

protests by religious groups seem to be on therise across the globe. in the UK we have seen con-troversies over the sikh play Behzti which recountsa rape by a priest in a Gurdwara. The theatre was

forced to stop the show after violent protests broke out outside the theatre inBirmingham.

in May this year, London-based Asia House hosted its first solo exhibition ofindia's most renowned artist Maqbool Fida Husain, showing rarely seen worksfrom a private collection. The exhibition was inaugurated by His excellencyKamalesh sharma, The indian High commissioner to Britain. MF Husain'scareer and success mirrors closely the meteoric rise of contemporary indian arton the international stage. Yet Asia House caved in to a campaign by Hindu reli-gious groups and cancelled the exhibition after two paintings were destroyedand "threats" made by "irate Hindu vandals". A painting of Mother india in thenude was cited as one of the works of art that had caused "distress and hurtamongst Hindus". commenting on the rise in religious protests, sunnyHundial, editor of Asians in Media in the UK , said: "it is surely a bizarre stateof affairs that we have reached a point where religious organisations are com-peting against each other for victimhood status".

one of the factors accounting for the rise in such protests may be the greaterimportance given to spiritual matters in Asian society compared with the West.

The strength of feeling for spiritual issues wasclearly demonstrated by the violent protests thatfollowed the publication of salman rushdie's Thesatanic Verses and the protest by Muslim commu-nities over offensive books and cartoons publishedin Denmark.

There may also be a political element to the ris-ing protests as some community leaders seek tocapitalise on any controversy to enhance their per-sonal reputation and popularity. This had hap-pened in a previous controversy in india that fol-lowed the publication of the controversial shivajibook when it was reported that many of the shivsena thugs who had participated in the attacks onpune's Bhandarkar institute had never even readthe shivaji book that had allegedly upset them!

it is fascinating to see the development, in thecurrent protest against the release of The Da Vincicode in indian cinemas, a co-belligerency strategybetween the different faith communities as romancatholics in Mumbai received support from influ-ential Muslim clerics in india. reuters reportedMaulana Mansoor Ali Khan, General secretary ofthe influential All-india sunni Jamiyat-ul-Ulema assaying that "The Holy Koran recognises Jesus as aprophet. What the book says is an insult to bothchristians and Muslims.

His stance was supported by syed noori, presi-dent of Mumbai-based raza Academy, a Muslimcultural organisation that organises protests onissues concerning islam. "if the government does-n't do anything, we will try our own way of stop-

ThroughNR Eyes

rAM GiDooMAL

I bought the book from thebestseller's fiction section atthe airport bookshop justbefore departing for myholidays last summer. It wasan interesting read but full ofhumbug parading as facts.

Da vinci protests cause for worry


26peRspectives


Building assets with NREGA

AMAr singh belongs to a scheduled caste.Aged around 63, he heads a household offive members. Amar singh lives in village

Adori in Birsa Block of Balaghat district, Madhyapradesh. Baria Bhikhiben ramanbhai is the onlymember of her family. she is 45 and lives in vil-lage nadisar of Bhamariya panchayat, in theGodhra block of panchmahal district in Gujarat.Anand rao sakharam Mankar, 69, lives with hiswife Bhibrabai aged 55, in village Kokebad (M)located in the Bhadravati block of chandrapurdistrict in Maharashtra. They are also membersof a scheduled caste.

i have never been to these villages. nor do iknow these people in person. i came to know alittle about them from cyber space. Amar singhand his family members have been assigned an

identification number Mp-38-009-044-001/100. The identification number forBaria Bhikhiben is GJ-14-001-059-001/16. Anand rao and his wife are identifiedby the number MH-29-002-009-001/23374.

Although they live in three different states and in all probability know nothingabout each other, they share a common concern. All are registered jobseekersunder the national rural employmentGuarantee Act (nreGA). i don't reallyknow if we are to rejoice or feel sorrythat people even at the age of 69 arekeen to join the job market.

To go into a little detail, by 15 June,17674560 individuals from 6291882households across the country regis-tered themselves as willing to offertheir labour under the provisions ofnreGA (see www.nrega.nic.in fordetails). The scheme has been opera-tional in 200 districts since February,ostensibly to alleviate the miseries ofindia's poverty-stricken population.

More than 60 percent of these reg-istered individuals are from districtsof Madhya pradesh while another 30percent are residents of orissa. Theconcentration of jobseekers under nreGA in these two states may be purelyincidental. perhaps other states are yet to get over the process of registering job-seekers. perhaps it is an indicator of the general socio-economic status of peoplein these two states. Will nreGA be able to bring these people out of the scourgeof poverty? Are the provisions of the Act in its present form sufficient to achievethe objectives it has set for itself? The question is far more relevant in view ofthe growing resentment being noticed in the central part of the country as thismonth’s cover story shows.

ragnur nurkse once said, "A country is poor because it is poor" and advancedhis famous argument on the vicious circle of poverty way back in 1952. Whatapplies to a country applies by default to an individual as well. A poor individ-ual begins with a very low level of asset base that yields income too meagre totake care of her basic needs. she can save little. savings serve two importantfunctions. First, today's savings can be used for consumption tomorrow, in casethere is an unexpected fall in income – a sort of insurance for the future.second, savings may be used to purchase an asset that yields continuousincome to its owner over its shelf life. Moreover, some part of the income gen-erated out of the asset is necessarily spent to maintain the productive capacityof the asset - commonly known as depreciation costs.

An individual with low income cannot afford to save. Hence, she cannot addto the existing asset base that could have added to her income in future.rather, in situations of unforeseen contingencies she is forced to sell off somepart of her existing asset. she can also ill afford to incur the necessary depre-ciation expenditure to maintain the asset in productive conditions. As a result,the asset often becomes unproductive long before its ideal lifetime.

strategies to alleviate poverty in a sustainable way across the world originate

from this simple concept – increase the income of the poor to help them saveand thus add to their asset base so that they become capable of earning higherincome and adding further to their asset base. And the process continues.poverty disappears!

income can be increased in two ways: provide employment to a poor indi-vidual and the wage income earned helps increase her income. otherwise, pro-vide an asset capable of generating income. poverty reduction strategies theworld over are based on either of these two concepts. The national ruralemployment Guarantee programme which provides for a minimum of 100 daysof employment in a year to at least one member of a household at a particularpoint of time is designed to follow the "employment" path. The integratedrural Development programme (irDp), initiated during the late 1970s was anasset-based strategy to alleviate poverty. several employment-based pro-grammes, like the national rural employment programme (nrep) were alsoinitiated during that time.

evaluation of programmes to attack poverty initiated during the late seventiespaints a rather disheartening picture. one is reminded of a famous statementby the late prime Minister rajiv Gandhi that only 12 or 13 paise out of every onerupee spent on poverty alleviation programmes reaches the poor. While inves-tigating the functioning of asset-based strategies, it was revealed that:l identification of the beneficiaries was not proper and often the benefits

landed in the hands of individual who were not poor.l The assets, in cases where theywere provided to deserving individu-als, were mostly found to haveeither been sold-off or damagedbeyond repair to provide substantial-ly enhanced income to the benefici-aries.

employment guarantee pro-grammes, as the experiences of thenew Deal initiated after the GreatDepression in the UsA suggest, alsocall for asset creation. such assetsare not to be owned privately. ratherthey are public assets that facilitate arise in individual incomes.construction of roads, school build-ings, hospitals and other infrastruc-tural facilities add to the productivecapacity of the poor and thus

enhance their future levels of income on a continuous basis. However, one should note carefully that creation of wage-income in the

hands of the poor cannot be a long-term solution. such programmes consumeconsiderable resources and if their use cannot guarantee creation of publicassets, the resources are as good as being wasted. public assets, once createdthrough employment guarantee programmes should be put to economic use togenerate additional income for the beneficiaries who helped create them. Thelogic of economics also suggests that the income so generated must be largeenough to enable proper maintenance of the assets. As most of the assets thuscreated are for use by local communities, it is imperative that they are capableof apportioning a certain amount of their enhanced income towards maintain-ing the asset in question. if the asset cannot guarantee such enhancement inincome, the objective of alleviating poverty remains unfulfilled.

experiences from employment guarantee schemes in india reveal that theassets thus created failed to boost the income of the poor on a long term sus-tainable basis. The programmes were mostly completely synchronised with thefive-year political cycle 'democratic' india is linked to. The funds were simplyused with the myopic obsession of influencing the people's verdict in elections.

it is heartening to note that the guidelines of the employment guaranteescheme, in its new avatar, have explicitly mentioned the need to link employmentto creation of productive community assets. This is a necessary condition to helpachieve the goal of poverty alleviation. The guidelines are not sufficient, though.

Assets can generate income as long as they are productive. A necessary condi-tion for ensuring the productive capacity of assets is to unambiguously assignproperty rights of the asset to some identified individual or group of individuals.

MiLinDo cHAKrABArTi

ReformsReport


peRspectivesCIVIL SOCIETY July 2006 27

Indian Muslims weak and well offAsGHAr ALi enGineer

In secular india, Muslims the largest religiousminority, face various problems and paradoxes.constitutionally, india is secular and provides

equal opportunities to all irrespective of caste andcreed. But certain castes and communities are nei-ther equal in practice nor are provided with equalopportunities, in reality.

Historically, the scheduled castes andscheduled Tribes (sc/sT) have suffered immense-ly. They have been rightly provided with reserva-tions in educational institutions and in govern-ment jobs. reservations are being extended tooBcs (other Backward classes) among Hindus.

However, the history of indian Muslims is a lit-tle different. A section of Muslims formed the rul-ing class for more than 800 years. But today a large

section of the community comes from Dalits and backward caste Hindus whoconverted to islam throughout the medieval ages. nearly 90 percent of indianMuslims are from these weaker and backward sections. The creamy layer ofthe Muslim community migrated to pakistan from north india during parti-tion in 1947.

Those who remained in india are mostly at the margins of society like thesc/sT. Herein lies the paradox. A community, a section of which was at thehelm of affairs, has almost been marginalised. political, social and economicdata clearly points out that Muslims have slipped below the level of Dalits. inother words, today they are more backward than even the Dalits.

no doubt a section of Muslims is availing of opportunities provided by eco-nomic development in india. However, this segment is very small and theirsocial base quite narrow. This section, it is interesting to note, is coming fromlow caste Muslims who are mainly traditional artisans or professionals likeweavers, gardeners, bangle makers, butchers and so on.

Although three presidents of india, three chief Justices of the supreme courtand two chief ministers (in rajasthan and Maharashtra) came from the Muslimcommunity – and this is cited proudly as an achievement of secular india – avast majority of Muslims live either on orbelow the poverty line. This is anotherparadox indian Muslims face.

some political parties woo them forvotes whereas communal parties like theBJp and shiv sena indulge in Muslimbashing. They consider wooing of Muslimvotes by secular parties like the congress,samajvadi party or Janta Dal, as 'appease-ment of minorities'. This is the third par-adox being faced by Muslims. The fact isthat Muslims are completely sandwichedbetween 'wooing' and so-called 'appease-ment'. The former creates false illusionswhereas the latter threatens their veryexistence.

several promises were made by thecongress but were never fulfilled. Formerprime Minister indira Gandhi appointedthe Gopal singh committee to recom-mend measures to improve the economiccondition of minorities in 1980. The com-mittee did good work and submitted itsreport in the early eighties. Before indiraGandhi could examine the report she wasassassinated in november 1984. Thereport was not even tabled in parliament.i drew the attention of Vp singh, when hewas prime Minister, to the report. He wasnot even aware of its existence.nevertheless, he promised to table it butbefore he could do so, his government fellin 1989.

indira Gandhi had announced a 15-point programme for the economic upliftof Muslims but our monitoring clearly showed that the bureaucracy turned ablind eye towards it. The government hardly has the political will to implementsuch programmes. now the Manmohan singh government has appointed ahigh- powered committee to look into the grievances of Muslims under thechairmanship of Justice sachar.

The data collected on the plight of Muslims by the sachar committee fromstates like Up, rajasthan, Bihar, Gujarat, Maharashtra etc. is really shocking.There is no doubt that the report being prepared by this committee will be use-ful and beneficial. But again the real problem is whether it will ever be imple-mented. i want to place before the committee a general outline of suggestionsfor their consideration.

First, it is important to note that Muslims should not be treated as a homog-enous community. There are both horizontal and vertical cleavages and region-al differences. since the implementation of the Mandal commission report, acaste consciousness has also emerged among north indian Muslims, particu-larly in Bihar and Up. Low caste Muslims, referred to in the past as kamin zaten(lowly Muslims), feel that they have always been left out and upper casteMuslims have cornered the benefits of whatever has been given to them bypolitical parties.

This vertical cleavage among Muslims should be borne in mind. The all-inclu-sive approach should apply to the entire Muslim community as much as to theentire country. i feel there should be a three-tiered approach to the Muslimproblem – political, educational and economic.

it is ironic that the Muslim elite fought for adequate political representationduring the freedom struggle, Jinnah even demanding 33 percent representa-tion for Muslims in parliament. But in the post partition period the represen-tation of Muslims in parliament has never gone beyond seven percent and hasgenerally remained at five percent. short of reservations, the government hasto seriously think about representation of Muslims in proportion to their pop-ulation or at least ensure a 10 percent representation of Muslim members inparliament. The secular parties should ensure 10 percent of tickets to Muslimsincluding Muslims of low caste biradaris to make their presence all-inclusive.

MinorityReport


In the post partition period the representation of Muslims inParliament has never gone beyond seven percent and hasgenerally remained at five percent.

28peRspectives


The congress could take a lead by giving tickets to Muslims. in state assemblies the position is even worse. Muslim women should also

be given some tickets to contest elections by political parties. This may not bein the terms of reference of the committee but it could be informally suggest-ed. Muslims should be given important positions in political parties. The polit-ical visibility of Muslims is important for the community.

on the economic level, a more comprehensive approach is needed. MostMuslims are urban or semi urban artisans. They need loans from banks to runtheir small businesses or to acquire looms and other machines. The data showsthat bank loans are not available to Muslims as they are generally not consid-ered credit-worthy. The government should ensure that loans are made avail-able to them. nationalised banks should be asked to rigorously enforce this pro-vision. This will greatly benefit artisans.

polytechnics should be established to train artisans and help them under-stand export-import rules so that they can export their products. such poly-technics can be established in cities like Meerut, Moradabad, Aligarh, Bhivandi,Malegaon etc. where Muslim artisans and workers are concentrated.

Bank loans could be extended to Muslim businessmen who run small busi-ness establishments or who want to establish small-scale industries. A financecorporation for minorities could also be established or its capital increased asin the case of the Maulana Azad Financial corporation. central and state gov-ernments could contribute. such measures will help backward sections ofMuslims as new entrepreneurs are emerging from amongst them.

The presence of Muslims is very poor in the administration, the police ormilitary services. even in lower levels of administration like clerks, grade fouremployees etc. the Muslim presence does not exceed five to six per cent. Forjobs at these levels no special qualification is needed. There are enough matric-ulates and even graduates available to take up these posts.

For jobs in the iAs, ips, iFs etc., the Muslim presence is four percent or evenless. Again, short of reservations, the government should take all possible

measures, including special efforts to train Muslims, to bring their representa-tion to 10 per cent in the next 10-15 years. Today Muslims feel left out. Moreaffirmative action is needed to make them feel included.

Another measure is to let Muslims fully avail of reservations as oBcs underthe Mandal commission as these reservations are not on the basis of religionbut on the basis of backward classes. There are corresponding categories amongMuslims, under the Mandal commission, like dhobi (washerman), dyers (ran-grez), weavers (julaha), lalbegis, faqirs etc. This will greatly benefit the com-munity as a whole.

For educational purposes minorities should be given more facilities to opentheir own institutions especially in engineering, medicine, management andeducation. currently, they find it very difficult to get recognition for their insti-tutions.

secondly, the government should encourage madrasas to modernise andestablish madrasa boards that have equivalent qualifications for matriculation,graduation etc. by introducing secular subjects like mathematics, physical andsocial sciences. in this way the existing infrastructure can be easily utilised bygiving some financial aid to current institutions.

Also, the state and central governments should establish educational institu-tions in Muslim localities to encourage more children to attend school. it isnoted that there are no educational facilities in such localities and children haveto travel a long distance which discourages them from going to school. As far aspossible, facilities should be provided for education in the mother tongue.

Good primary education is the foundation for higher education. it provideschildren the ability to compete in the market. Let us remember that govern-ment jobs are shrinking and the private sector is becoming more important foremployment. Thus reservation is loosing its charm because of the enhancedrole of the private sector. Though reservation for Muslims is desirable as theyare on par with Dalits and oBcs but this is no remedy since communal forceswould raise hell for Muslims, if the government were ever to agree to it.Muslims would get very little and loose much more in terms of security andwell-being.

These are some suggestions, which could help improve the political, eco-nomic and educational status of Muslims as a whole.

ping the film being shown," he said. "We are prepared for violent protests inindia if needed."

The issue of co-belligerency has rarely been as well expressed as it was byMartin niemoller, pastor in the confessing church during nazi Germany, whowas imprisoned for his church's stand against Hitler, from 1937 until 1945 insachenhausen and Dachau. neimoller said:

They came for the communists, and i didn't object, because i was not a communist;They came for the socialists, and i didn't object, because i was not a socialist;They came for the union leaders, and i didn't object, because i wasn't a labour leader;They came for the Jews, and i didn't object,because i was not a Jew;

Then they came for me, and there was no one left to object.While it was good to see different elements of civil society in india joining

together to object, these protests do beg the question of where to draw the linebetween freedom of expression and respect for community sensitivities. A bal-ance needs to be achieved but who has ultimate accountability to resolve suchissues?

in the case of The Da Vinci code, the information minister stepped in to per-sonally vet the film before the indian Board of Film censors finally allowed itsrelease (one week later than its worldwide premiere). The release was onlyauthorised after reaching a compromise with the film's distributors to displaya clear statement saying the film is fictitious and giving it an adult rating.

The head of the national film censor board, sharmila Tagore, herself a formerBollywood star, was critical of the intervention of the information minister andcomplained about increasing political intervention in the arts. she would do wellto remember what the late John Kenneth Galbraith, former UsA Ambassador toindia, said about political intervention: 'politics is not the art of the possible. itconsists of choosing between the disastrous and the unpalatable'!

Ram Gidoomal, Chairman, South Asian Development Partnership

The hue and cry in favour of participatory development derives its justificationfrom this simple logic. The ownership norms of the assets created through nreGAneed to be clearly defined. Attempt at institutionalising Users' Association is a cor-rect step towards such direction. However, we have come across a number of caseswhere such efforts met with utter failure. Documentation of failed experimentsin institutionalising Forest protection committees under Joint ForestManagement or Water Users' Associations for irrigation systems are abundantlyavailable in literature on collective action. However, there are success stories aswell – in a comparatively less number though.

Assigning of property rights in an unambiguous manner does not necessari-ly ensure that the asset in question canl generate enough income in the hands of the owner l be effectively protected by the owner and therebyl help alleviate the poverty of the owner.

The failure of irDp clearly supports these arguments. Thus a sufficient con-dition for nreGA to be successful is to ensure that necessary efforts are in

place so that people like Amar singh and his family members, Baria Bhikhibenand Anand rao and his wife are capable of protecting the assets created fromtheir hard labour. An asset in the hand of its owner is productive as long as itsowner, be it an individual or a community, has access to other complementaryresources to generate an income out of it. such complementary resourcesinclude, among others, relevant skills to put the asset to productive use, mar-keting infrastructure to realise remunerative prices for the products generatedand availability of proper credit facilities in right doses at the right time.

once ensured of access to such complementary resources Amar singh andhis colleagues will definitely consider deleting their names from the jobseek-ers' list. They would rather keenly look forward to taking their products - agri-cultural, horticultural, livestock-based, fish, non-timber forest products, hand-loom, handicrafts – for sale to the nearby market through the village road theyconstructed with support from nreGA. Yes, they expect to earn enough notonly to maintain the livelihood of their families, but also to contribute to theannual cost of maintaining the road. Mind you, they will not be available tooffer labour under nreGA. poverty has thereby been truly alleviated.

The success of nreGA will be indicated by the number of years it is in force.The lesser the number, the greater its success.

Milindo Chakrabarti is director of CREATE (Centre for Studies in Rural Economy, AppropriateTechnology and Environment) E-mail: [email protected] Phone: 913542270555.

Da vinci protests cause for worry

Building assets with NREGA

(Continued from page 25)

Indian Muslims weak and well off(Continued from page 27)

(Continued from page 26)

Good livinGCIVIL SOCIETY July 2006 29

Purba KalitaJodhpur

BenGALi food invariably comesto mind when one thinks of cui-sine from eastern india. But peo-

ple who have explored this regionwill beg to differ. oriya food, thoughakin to Bengali cuisine because ofcertain overlapping methods of cook-ing, has its own unique and variedflavour.

There is a difference in the foodhabits of coastal, western and south-ern orissa. For instance, tomato-kha-juri khatta, a tantalising chutney madeof tomato and dates, uses jaggery as aningredient. But in western orissa, thesame chutney is cooked traditionallywithout jaggery. southern orissa, onthe other hand, draws heavily fromsouth indian cuisine.

rice is the staple food of the state.A variety of vegetables are grown.The Bay of Bengal provides amplescope for great non-vegetarian farebut oriya vegetarian food is equallytempting. in fact, certain days of theweek are observed as strictly vegetar-ian days.

The famous Jagannath temple inpuri has a kitchen said to be thebiggest in the world. it feeds thou-sands of devotees everyday. Morethan 50 varieties of bhog in the formof rice, vegetables, dal and sweetdishes are cooked in earthen vesselscalled kudua placed over each otheron a simmering wood fire.

An oriya meal is a fine balance ofpiquant and bland tastes. Food is hot,spicy, tangy and sweet. popular ingre-

dients include peppercorn, paanchphutana (a five-spice mixture ofcumin, mustard, fennel, fenugreekand nigella seeds), mustard pasteand coconut.

some famous dishes includedalma which is made of lentilscooked with vegetables, saga bhaja orfried spinach, dahi baingan which isbrinjal cooked in curd, khajuri khat-ta, chhena tarkari, a spicy cottagecheese curry, santula, a dry mixedvegetable and besara or vegetablescooked in mustard paste.

Badi, another typical food item, ismade by sun drying lentils and ashgourd. These pieces are used as curryor added to any curry to enhancetaste.

Desserts seem to be the state'sforte. There is chhenapoda, a bakedsweet made of cheese and semolina,the rasagulla, rasmalai and malpua.You can also pamper your taste budsto a variety of pitha made of rice orwheat flour.

Tomato-khajurikhatta Ingredients

Tomatoes: 3 large, finelychopped

Dates: 7-8, slit and deseeded

Paanch phutana: ½ tsp

Ginger: 1 inch, finely sliced

Curry leaves: 7-8 leaves

Turmeric powder: ¼ tsp

Chilli powder: ¼ tsp

Oil: 1 tbsp

Jaggery to taste

Salt to taste

Coriander leaves: 1 tbsp, finelychopped

Method: Heat oil. Add paanchphutana. When it splutters, add gin-ger, curry leaves, chopped tomatoes,turmeric and chilli powder. Whentomatoes are done, add water to suitthe consistency you want. Add saltand jaggery. cook for a while. Adddates and simmer for a few minutes.Garnish with coriander leaves andserve when cool. Tastes great withparanthas and goes well with anymeal.

Aloo-potol tarkari Ingredients

Parwal: 250 gm, cut horizontallyinto halves

Potatoes: 250 gm, cut into bigsquares

Onion: 1 big, finely sliced

Ginger-garlic paste: 1 tsp

Tomato: 1 large, chopped

Oil: 4 tbsp

Green cardamom: 2-3

Bay leaves: 1-2

Cumin seeds: ½ tsp

Sugar: ½ tsp

Coriander, cumin, turmeric andchilli powder mixed with a littlewater to form a fine paste: 1 ½ tsp

Method: Heat oil. Fry gourd andpotato till light brown. remove fromoil and keep aside. Add sugar to hotoil. Follow with cardamom, bay

leaves, cumin seeds and onion. Fryonion till light brown. Add ginger-garlic paste and continue frying.Then add tomato. Fry till done. Addmasala paste and salt. cook on lowflame till aroma starts wafting. Addgourd and potato. Mix and cook for awhile. serve hot with rice or roti.

Dahi baingan Ingredients

Brinjal: 2 medium-sized, cutlength-wise

Curd: 2 small glasses

Mustard oil: 3 tbsp

Turmeric powder: ½ tsp

Paanch phutana: 1 tsp

Curry leaves: 7-8

Chilli powder: ¼ tsp

Ginger: ½ inch (optional), sliced

Salt to taste

Method: rub turmeric and salt onbrinjal pieces. Heat oil and fry. Keepaside to cool on paper napkin. Thiswill drain extra oil. Mix curd withwater to form a nice flowing consis-tency. Heat remaining oil and splut-ter paanch phutana. Add curry leavesand chilli powder. Here you can addginger if you like. Add this to curd.Add salt and mix well. Add brinjal tocurd. enjoy this dish with rice.

Dalma Ingredients:

Arhar dal: 3/4 cup

Ghee or oil: 1 tsp

Cumin seeds: ½ tsp

Potato: 1 large, cut into bigpieces

Pumpkin: 150 gm, cut into bigpieces

Brinjal: 1 large, cut into medium-sized pieces

Raw banana: 1,cut into medium-sized pieces

Raw papaya: 1small, cut intomedium-sized pieces

Grated coconut: 2 tsp

Dry red chillies: 4

Minced ginger: 1tbsp

Turmeric powder: 1 tbsp

Sugar: ½ tsp

Cumin seeds: 1tsp, roasted andpowdered

Dry red chilli: 1, roasted andpowdered

Salt to taste

Method: Boil 4 cups of water and adddal, coconut, salt, ginger, turmericpowder and sugar. cook till dal ishalf done. Add vegetables and cooktill done. Heat oil or ghee and splut-ter cumin seeds. Add to dal. sprinkleroasted cumin and chilli powder.serve hot with steamed rice.

The Bay of Bengal provides ample scope for non-vegetarian fare but Oriya vegetarian foodis equally tempting. In fact, certain days of the week are observed as strictly vegetarian.

Aloo potol perfectionand divine dalma

Aloo potol perfectionand divine dalma

Aloo potol tarkari

30Good livinG


InDiA's food diversity is, to a large extent, basedon oilseeds. Different regions consume mustard,coconut, groundnut, sesame, linseed and saf-

flower oil. eight percent of edible oil is processedin the small-scale sector on "ghanis" which operateon tiny amounts of capital but provide pure andnutritious oil to local consumers.

sarson or mustard seed is one of the most popu-lar spices traded in the world today. it is central toindia's diverse health and food systems. Mustardis the symbol of spring and renewal. The yellow ofthe mustard flower is the colour of spring (Basant).songs on the theme of "sarson" are an integral partof folk culture. Makki ki roti and sarson ka saag(corn bread with vegetable made of mustard leaf) isa well-known food, linked to punjab's culture andidentity.

As a crop, mustard has originated in india.Mustard seeds are mentioned inancient sanskrit writings datingback to about 5,000 years ago.The seeds are also referred to inthe new Testament in which thekingdom of Heaven is comparedto a grain of mustard.

As mustard grows well in tem-perate climates, the areas thatproduce the greatest amount ofmustard seeds currently includeHungary, Great Britain, india,canada and the United states.

As a medicineThe unique healing propertiesof mustard seeds can partly be attributed to theirhome among the Brassica foods found in the cru-ciferous plant family.

Mustard seeds emerged from our food rankingsystem as a very good source of selenium, a nutri-ent that has been shown to reduce the severity ofasthma, decrease some of the symptoms ofrheumatoid arthritis, and help prevent cancer. Theseeds also qualify as a good source of magnesium.Like selenium, magnesium has been shown toreduce the severity of asthma, lower high bloodpressure and restore normal sleep patterns inwomen having difficulty with the symptoms ofmenopause. Mustard seeds also help reduce thefrequency of migraine attacks, and prevent heartattack in patients suffering from atherosclerosis ordiabetic heart disease.

navdanya brings you organic kachhi ghani mus-tard oil (and seeds) at its outlets in Dilli Haat and

D-26 Hauz Khas, new Delhi.Mustard seeds also qualify as

a very good source of omega-3fatty acids as well as a goodsource of iron, calcium, zinc,manganese, magnesium, pro-tein, niacin and dietary fiber.

Mustard not only stimulatesthe appetite by increasing saliva-tion up to eight times, it also hasdigestive, laxative, antiseptic, andcirculative stimulant properties.As a digestive aid in moderation,mustard neutralises toxins andhelps ward off an upset stomach.

since mustard seed has high oil content and canbe processed locally, it is available to the poor atlow cost.

As a foodin the northern and eastern regions of india, mus-tard oil is the preferred edible oil. Hilsa fish inmustard oil is the ultimate delight in Bengal andnorth indians like their pakoras fried in it becauseof its unique taste and aroma. in the south, mus-tard seeds are the preferred seasoning for Upma,vegetables, curd rice etc.

Mustard oil is used for therapeutic massages.The oil with garlic and turmeric is good for rheuma-tism and joint pains. Mustard oil is also used as amosquito repellant, a significant contribution in acountry where the resurgence of malaria is respon-sible for the death of thousands.

in the winter season, mustard oil is used as a

hair oil because ithas warming proper-ties.

As a spicein south india, mus-tard is used primari-ly as a spice. Thespice value of mus-tard seeds is due tothiocyanates, whichare present as glyco-sides and releasedby the action of anenzyme, in the pres-ence of moistureunder suitable con-ditions. The seedsare used for pick-

ling, preserving and seasoning vegetables. processed mustard products are mustard powder

used in the manufacture of mayonnaise, dried ordehydrated mustard leaves, whole mustard seedsetc. Whole mustard is used as a flavoring agent inindian cooking, whereas ground mustard providesflavour and consistency to Bengali fish curries.

Mustard flour has preservative and antioxidantproperties in addition to providing flavour andcolour.

Celebration and pest controlThe 'diya' or lamp of Deepawali for which mustardoil is used is not only a celebration but an ecologi-cal method of pest control at a time when a changein season causes an outbreak of diseases and pests.The smoke from the mustard oil which lights theDeepawali lamp acts as an environmental purifierand pest control agent reducing disease, destruc-tion of stored grains and cleaning the atmosphereof homes and villages. The replacement of mustardoil lamps by candles of paraffin wax transforms anenvironmentally cleaning festival into an environ-mentally polluting one.

Tips for storageJust as with other dried spices, try to select organi-cally grown mustard seeds or powder since thiswill give you assurance that the herbs have notbeen irradiated. Mustard powder and mustardseeds should be kept in a tightly sealed containerin a cool, dark and dry place. prepared mustard andmustard oil should both be refrigerated.

Nutritional Facts

MUSTARDProtein 20.0 g

Fat 39.7 g

Minerals 4.2 g

Carbohydrates23.8 g

Calcium 490 mg

Phosphorus 700 mg

Iron 17.9 mg

Seasoning:� Mustard seeds-1 tsp� Urad dal -1 tsp� Channa dal-1 tsp� Hing -1 tsp� Curry leaves: A few

Method: � Dry roast sooji for fewminutes and keep aside.Take care not to brown.� Heat oil in the same pan

and add the seasoning.� Add chillies, ginger andonion. Fry till translucent.� Add salt, water and let itcome to boil. Now add the soojigradually. Keep stirring andtake care not to form lumps.� Simmer, cover and let it cookfor five minutes.� Switch off the stove,combine, garnish with curryleaves and serve hot.

Ingredients:� Sooji - Upma Rava 1 cup� Ginger- 1 " inch piecechopped finely� Chilies- red or green, 2pieces � Onion- medium size 1chopped � Salt- As per taste� Oil- 2 tbsp� Water- 2 cups

Upma

unravel the magic of mustard

Chokha is made in mustardoil. It's the combined aromaof mustard oil and rawonions that make chokha sodistinct and wonderfullydelicious.Just add mustard oil,chopped onions, salt andpepper to mashed potatoes.Mix it well and serve withgreen coriander. This is theeasiest way to make chokha.

Aloo Chokha

Good livinGCIVIL SOCIETY July 2006 31

THe eyes are the mostimportant externalorgans of the body.

indian wisdom says thatthe eyes can even receivesolar energy and convert itinto bio-energy for bodyfunctions. A living exam-ple of this truth is a personfrom Ahmedabad who forthe last 20 years or so hasnot taken any food apart

from gazing at the sun in the morning for a particularperiod of time.

The application of cooling oil on the feet every day hasan amazing outcome on the health of the eyes. if doneevery day this massage on the feet can prevent or delaycataract.

For common eye diseases like dryness, itching andmild infections with phlegm formation one can useelaneer Kuzhambu (available in any Ayurvedic shop).

one teaspoon of Thriphala choorna mixed with oneteaspoon of pure cow's ghee taken at bedtime and fol-lowed with a cup of warm water is very good for pre-venting eye diseases.

Thriphala (Harad, Baheda and Amla) is said to be theAgrya oushadha (the best medicine) for eye care. Here are some tips to prevent and cure eye diseasesand to enhance your eyesight.� Take three gm of sphatiga (alum) powder. Mix withone glass of cold water. Filter it and keep the mix in asterilized bottle. Applying two drops of this water inboth eyes, morning and evening. This is very good foreye pain due to stress and overwork and for any infec-tion. it also improves eyesight.� For watery eyes make a paste of ilanji seeds(Mimusops elengi ) in water and apply to both the eyes.� Take the root of punarnava (Boerhavia Diffusa). Grindit in honey and apply on both eyes for any eye com-plaints.� For severe pain in the eyes one can safely apply thejuice of the tender leaves of sigru (Moringa oleifera),mixed with honey once a day for a few days. This isgenerally good for all kinds of Kapha related cases.� For people with eye diseases it is always good to takeone gm of ela powder (ilaichi) mixed with a little gheeand sugar.

HOW TO MAKE KAJAL: There are many kinds ofkajal available in the market. But it is best to make kajalat home. it is a very simple procedure. Here is the method: Take about 50 ml of sahadevi

(Vernonia cineria) juice. � Dip a small, clean, cotton cloth of 3 inch x 5 inch init.� now dry the cloth in the shade. � Dip again in fresh sahadevi juice.� Dry the cloth yet again. � repeat the procedure three or seven times.� cut this cloth into two wicks. � Take castor oil and light these wicks in a lamp. � Above the lamp keep a clean, sterilised copper orstainless steel plate upside down, so that the smokefrom the burning wick can touch the interior of theplate and get accumulated.

This can be kept overnight, so that one can get enoughblack kajal. Mix the kajal with pure ghee to make a goodpaste. Keep it in a sterilized bottle. This kajal is excel-lent for eye care. if used daily, it prevents infection,improves sight and delays or prevents cataract forma-tion. children and adults can apply it.

Ayurveda advocates, in its daily regimen, applicationof kajal every morning which is the time of Kapha vitia-tion. The kajal applied at this time can remove excessvitiated Kapha of the eyes and keep them healthy.

CONJUNCTIVITIS: red eyes or conjunctivitis are acommon infection of the eyes. it affects almost everyonein the hot-wet climate. Washing of eyes with Thriphalakashayam twice a day is very good for curing conjunc-tivitis. You can also try the following:� Take one teaspoon of dhania (coriander) in a smallcloth and make a bundle of it. put it in pure water forone hour. After that take the bundle and apply it onthe affected eyes every now and then. This will helpto get rid of conjunctivitis. � Take the juice of nandyarvattam (Tabernaemontanacoronaria ) and apply it in the eyes. � Apply the juice of sahadevi (Vernonia cineria) ormake a decoction of sahadevi. Filter and cool it. Thiswater can be used for cleaning the eyes for conjunc-tivitis.

never rub your eyes when you have conjunctivitis. itis easily transmittable. so do not use the same towel orother personal items as the infected person.

There are very few centres of excellence of Ayurvedicophthalmology in india. one of them is the sudarshannethra chikitsalaya in Thiruvalla. To get reliable adviceor treatment and medicines for any type of eye ailment,one can visit their web site: www. netrafoundation.comor contact the chief physician, Dr BG Gokulan, at [email protected] or call 0469-2630718/2605873 or09447163071

([email protected])

For those sparkling eyes Dr G G GAnGADHArAn

Civil Society is going places...Delhi, Dhaka, Trivandrum,Tennerife, Nadia, Nagpur, Kolkata, Ghaziabad, Washington, Geneva,

Bhubaneshwar, Ladakh, Lahore, Bangalore, Mumbai,

London, New York, Versailles, Dehradun, Chandigarh,

Belgaum, Dibang Valley, Shillong, Patna, Shimla,

Ahmedabad, Panjim, Hyderabad, Singapore, Porto Alegre,

Gurgaon, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Lucknow, Surrey, Srinagar,

Manali, Pune, Peechi, Pondicherry...R E A D U S. W E R E A D Y O U

WheReaRe WebeinGRead?

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IN C IV IL SOCIETY EVERYONE IS SOMEONE IN C IV IL SOCIETY EVERYONE IS SOMEONE IN C IV IL SOCIETY EVERYONE IS SOMEONE IN C IV IL SOCIETY EVERYONE

I S S O M E O N E I N C I V I L S O C I E T Y E V E RY O N E I S S O M E O N E I N C I V I L S O C I E T Y E V E RY O N E I S S O M E O N E I N C I V I L S O C I E T Y E V E RY O N E I S S O M E O N E I N C I V I L

S O C I E T Y E V E RY O N E I S S O M E O N E I N C I V I L S O C I E T Y E V E RY O N E I S S O M E O N E I N C I V I L S O C I E T Y E V E RY O N E I S S O M E O N E I N C I V I L S O C I E T Y E V E RY O N E I S

SOMEONE IN CIV IL SOCIETY EVERY ONE IS SOMEONE IN CIV IL SOCIETY EVERYONE IS SOMEONE IN CIV IL SOCIETY EVERYONE IS SOMEONE IN CIV IL SOCIETY

EVERY ON E IS S OMEON E IN C IV IL S OC IET Y EVERY ON E IS S OMEON E IN C IV IL S OC IET Y EVERY ON E IS S OMEON E IN C IV IL S OC IET Y EVERY ON E IS S OMEON E IN

CIV IL SOCIETY EVERYONE IS SOMEONE IN C IV IL SOCIETY EVERYONE IS SOMEONE IN C IV IL SOCIETY EVERYONE IS SOMEONE IN CIV IL SOCIETY EVERYONE IS

SOMEONE IN CIV IL SOCIETY EVERYONE IS SOMEONE IN CIV IL SOCIETY EVERYONE IS SOMEONE IN CIV IL SOCIETY EVERYONE IS SOMEONE IN CIV IL SOCIETY

E V E RY ON E IS S OM E ON E IN C IV IL S OC IE T Y E V E RY ON E IS S OM E ON E IN C IV IL S OC IE T Y E V E RY ON E IS S OM E ON E IN C IV IL S OC IE T Y E V E RY ON E IS S OM E ON E IN

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CIV IL SOCIETY EVERYONE IS SOMEONE IN C IV IL SOCIETY EVERYONE IS SOMEONE IN CIV IL SOCIETY EVERYONE IS SOMEONE IN C IV IL SOCIETY EVERYONE IS



CIV IL SOCIETY EVERYONE IS SOMEONE IN CIV IL SOCIETY EVERYONE IS SOMEONE IN C IV IL SOCIETY EVERYONE IS SOMEONE IN C IV IL SOCIETY EVERYONE IS





EVERYONE IS SOMEONE IN CIV IL SOCIETY EVERYONE IS SOMEONE IN CIVIL SOCIETY EVERYONE IS SOMEONE IN CIV IL SOCIETY EVERYONE IS SOMEONE IN CIV IL








SOMEONE IN CIV IL SOCIETY EVERYONE IS SOMEONE IN CIV IL SOCIETY EVERYONE IS SOMEONE IN CIV IL SOCIETY EVERYONE IS SOMEONE IN CIVIL SOCIETY EVERYONE

IS SOMEONE IN CIVIL SOCIETY E V E RY O N E I S S O M E O N E I N C I V I L S O C I E T Y E V E RY O N E I S S O M E O N E I N C I V I L S O C I E T Y E V E RY O N E I S S O M E O N E I N C I V I L S O C I E T Y






S O M E O N E I N C I V I L S O C I E T Y E V E RY O N E I S S O M E O N E I N C I V I L S O C I E T Y E V E R Y O N E I S S O M E O N E I N C I V I L S O C I E T Y E V E RY O N E I S S O M E O N E I N C I V I L



E V E RY O N E I S S O M E O N E I N C I V I L S O C I E T Y E V E RY O N E I S S O M E O N E I N C I V I L S O C I E T Y E V E RY O N E IS SOMEONE IN CIVIL SOCIETY EVERYONE I S S O M E O N E I N C I V I L









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EVERYONE IS SOMEONE IN C IV IL SOCIET Y EVERYONE IS SOMEONE IN C IV IL SOCIET Y EVERYONE IS SOMEONE IN C IV IL SOC IET Y EVERYON E IS SOMEON E IN

Some of Delhi’s top doctors find the time to servethe poor in a resettlement colony called Molarbandwhere they have revived a health centre. CivilSociety discovered them.

Read us. We read youRead us. We read you.Read us. We read you.

looking for staff? in need of volunteers? planning a seminar or workshop?

offering fellowships? looking for funders? Awards in the offing?

AT VERYSPECIALRATES Civil Society Classifieds are guaranteed to get you the audience you want at most reasonable rates ever.

Contact us at [email protected]. Snail mail: E2144, Palam Vihar, Gurgaon, Haryana-122017

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NGOs, Schools, Colleges, advertise in Civil Society

listinGsCIVIL SOCIETY July 2006 33

CanSupport IndiaKanak Durga Basti Vikas Kendra,Sector 12 R.K. Puram Near DPS School New Delhi-110022Tel: 26102851, 26102859,26102869E-mail:[email protected]

RahiRahi is a support centre forurban middle class womensuffering from the trauma ofincest. It provides information,individual support, groupsupport and referrals. Throughworkshops and peer educatorsthey help survivors and spreadawareness. Contact: H-49 A, Second floor, Kalkaji, New Delhi-3Phone: 26227647

Association for India’sDevelopment(AID) – Delhi ChapterAID works for the environment,children, women’s issues,education, and health. They also undertake fund raising. Contact: Anuj Grover B-121, MIG Flats, Phase-IV, Ashok Vihar Delhi-110052 Phone: 9818248459 E-mail: [email protected]

YouthreachA volunteer team at Youthreachhelps to match your skills andinterests with the needs of theirpartner organisations. Thisexchange is monitored andfacilitated from beginning to endby the volunteer team. The teamalso partners other non-profitorganisations that are workingwith children, women and theenvironment.Contact: Anubha or Ria 11Community Centre, Saket, New

Delhi - 110 017Phone/Fax: (011) 26533520/25/30Email : [email protected]

DeepalayaThey work with economically,socially deprived, physically andmentally challenged children.They believe in helping childrenbecome self reliant and lead ahealthy life. Deepalya works oneducation, health, skill trainingand income enhancement.Contact: Deepalaya46,Institutional Area, D Block Janakpuri New Delhi -110 058Phone: 25548263, 25590347Website: www.deepalaya.org

Mobile CrèchesMobile Crèches pioneeredintervention into the lives ofmigrant construction workers byintroducing the mobile crèchewhere working parents can leavetheir children. They work in thefollowing areas: health,education, community outreach,networking and advocacy,resource mobilisation andcommunication. You canvolunteer by filling out a simpleform online.Contact: DIZ Area, Raja Bazaar, Sector IV New Delhi -110 001 Phone: 91-11-23347635 /23363271Website:www.mobilecreches.org

The Arpana TrustArpana is a charitable, religiousand spiritual organisationheadquartered in Karnal,Haryana. They work with ruralcommunities in HimachalPradesh and with slum dwellersin Delhi. Arpana is well known forits work on health. They havehelped organise women into self-help groups. These SHGs makebeautiful and intricate items

which are marketed by Arpana. For more details:Arpana Community Centre, NS-5, Munirka Marg Street F/9, Nextto MTNL, Vasant Vihar, New Delhi-110057.Phone: (Office) 26151136 and(Resi) 26154964

HelpAge India HelpAge India needs volunteersfrom doctors to lay people in all our locations. Older peoplelove to talk to younger peopleand need emotional support. We require volunteers in Delhiand Chennai to survey olderpeople staying alone in homes,who could use our Helpline forsenior citizens. If you wish tovolunteer please email PawanSolanki, manager [email protected] orwrite to Vikas, volunteercoordinator, HelpAge India.

Hazards Centre Hazards Centre is a supportgroup involved in environmentand urban issues. We seek tochallenge all such processes(hazards) that undermine therights of marginalised groups inthe city. In alliance with thesegroups, we advocate foralternate planning frameworksthat can counter the forcesaiming to create sanitised andcommercialised cities, devoid ofthe poor who build and run them.

You can volunteer with us as peryour time, interest and skills onissues such as Housing,Livelihoods, Pollution, Waste,Transport, Right to Information,Development Communication etc.

Contact: Supriya Chotani92-H, Third Floor, Pratap MarketMunirka Village, Delhi - 67Ph: 26174244, 26184806,[email protected]

WHERE TO VOLUNTEERIndian Red Cross Society The society provides relief, hospital services,maternity and child welfare, family welfare,nursing and community services.Contact: Red Cross BhavanGolf LinksNew Delhi-110003Phone: 24618915, 24617531

Child Relief and You (CRY)CRY, a premier child rights organisation,believes that every child is entitled tosurvival, protection, development andparticipation. You can sponsor a child’seducation, healthcare, or a health worker anda teacher. Website: www.cry.org

Community Aid and SponsorshipProgram (CASP)CASP enhances the capacities of children,families and communities throughparticipation and advocacy leading tosustainable development andempowerment. You can help by sponsoringunderprivileged child/children from any workarea where CASP implements itsprogrammes. These include building old-agehomes, projects relating to AIDS etc.Website: www.caspindia.org

ActionAidActionAid is an international developmentorganisation which works with poor and marginalised women, men, girls and boys to eradicate poverty, injustice and inequity. You can become a partof their Karma Mitra loyalty program, which is based on the concept ‘When you do good things you should get good things in return.’ As a member of this program you can avail varioustangible benefits.Contact: ActionAid India C-88, South Extension - II New Delhi-110 049Website: www.actionaidindia.org

CanSupport IndiaKanak Durga Basti Vikas Kendra, Sector 12R.K. Puram Near DPS School

New Delhi-110022Tel: 26102851, 26102859, 26102869E-mail: [email protected]

HelpAge India HelpAge India is involved in the care of thepoor and disadvantaged elderly in 55locations across the country. They organiseprimary health care at village and slum levelthrough 53 mobile medical vans, care of thedestitute elderly through Adopt a Granprogramme with 222 voluntary agencies,Helplines and income generation for theelderly. Their recent programmes are in thetsunami affected regions and in Kashmir forthe rehabilitation of the elderly affected bythe earthquake disaster. HelpAge serve morethan a million elderly in India. If you wish todonate or adopt a granny, please donateonline on our sitewww.helpageindia.org or send an email [email protected] Address: HelpAge IndiaC-14 Qutub Institutional AreaNew Delhi- 110016 Chief Executive: Mathew Cherian [email protected]

Bharatiya Academy The Eco Development Foundation and theSoni Foundation Trust have set up theBharatiya Academy which runs a school forunderprivileged children and for children ofdefence employees serving on the borderwho are victims of violence and war. Theschool is located in Tashipur, Roorkee,Hardwar district and has 115 children on itsrolls. The school requires money forbuildings and sponsors for the children.Temporary buildings have been made by theBengal Sappers regiment. Teachers are alsorequired. Contact: Soni Foundation Trust, F-2655Palam Vihar, Gurgaon, Haryana-122017E-mail: [email protected] Phone: 0124-2360422

WHERE TO DONATE

� 5 JulyBharatnatyam RecitalBy Padmini Sirish fromChennai, disciple of Guru SmtNarmadaAccompanists: JayanthiEshwar Putthi (nattuvangam);Vidya Srinivasan (vocal);Vidwan Lalgudi Ganesh(mridangam); and Vidwan AnnaDurai (violin)Chief Guest: Dr KapilaVatsyayanAuditorium at 6:30 pm

� 7 JulySitar RecitalBy Abhik Mukherjee fromKolkata, disciple of BimalChatterjee & presently Pt.Kashinath MukherjeeAccompanied on the tabla byDebojyoti DasguptaAuditorium at 6:30 pm

� 9 July Sufi Tradition of Bengal -Kirtaner DharaPresented by Shima AcharyaChaudhury, acclaimed discipleof Geetasree ChabiBandopadhyay(Organised by Impresario India)Auditorium at 6:30 pm

� 10 JulyScience Since IndependenceSpeaker: Prof. Dhruv Raina,Zakir Hussain Centre forEducational Studies, JNUChair: Prof. Rajesh Kochhar(Collaboration: The New IndiaFoundation, Bangalore)Conference Room - I at 6:30 pm

� 11 July Dream KitschFolk Art, Indigenous Media and"11th September"

The Work of Pata in the Era ofElectronic TransmissionAn illustrated lecture by Dr.Bhaskar Mukhopadhyay,Adjunct Professor ofHumanities, Bengal Institute ofTechnology, Kolkata, andMember, Folk and TribalCultural Centre, Govt. of WestBengalChair: Prof. Rajeev Lochan,Director, National Gallery ofModern ArtDr. Mukhopadhyay's talk willfocus on contemporary Bengalipata (scroll painting) whichdepicts the Twin Tower disasterand has been recently acquiredby a number of US museumsConference Room - I at 6:30 pm

� 12 JulyKathak RecitalBy Pallabi De from Delhi,disciple of Pt. Birju MaharajAccompanists: Ambika PrasadMishra (tabla); Debasish Sarkar(vocal); ChandrachurBhattacharjee (sitar); and GularWaris (sarangi)Auditorium at 6:30 pm

� 12 JulyFour Educational RiddlesA talk on the NationalCurriculum FrameworkBy Prof. Krishna Kumar,Director, NCERTChair: Prof. Mrinal MiriConference Room - I at 6:30 pm

� 13 JulyDimensions of Science(Collaboration:NISTADS)Conference Room - I at 6:30pm

� 13 JulyIndian Diaspora andPerforming ArtsAn illustrated lecture by Dr

Sunil Kothari, Critic andcommentator on danceChief Guest: Shri Ram NiwasMirdha, Chairman, SangeetNatak AkademiChair: Malay Mishra,Secretary, Govt of IndiaLecture Room (annexe) at 6:30pm

� 14 JulyOrnament in TraditionalIndian ArchitectureAn illustrated lecture by DrParul Pandya Dhar, AssistantProfessor, Dept. of History ofArt, National Museum Institute(Collaboration: Crafts RevivalTrust)Conference Room - II at6:00pm

� 15 JulyDurgabai DeshmukhMemorial Lecture 2006Speaker: Aruna Roy(Collaboration: Council forSocial Development)Auditorium at 6:30 pm

� 17 July Indo-Us Nuclear DealSpeakers: Admiral Raja Menon;Shri Satish ChandraConference Room - I at 6:30 pm

� 19 July Jailbirds Scripted by Smita Bharti,directed by Sohaila KapurWith Smita Bharti, AanchalBharti, Padma DamodaranVoice by Oroon Das; Dance byTarique Khan; Readings bySohaila KapurConflicting realities of a motherand daughter and the violenceof their histories set the contextfor Jailbirds. Auditorium at 6:30 pm

� 20 July Seven Islands and a Metro(100 min; 2006; DVcam;English & with sub-titles)Directed by Madhusree Duttawho will introduce the filmA tale of the cities ofBombay/Mumbai, through atapestry of fiction, cinemavérité, art objects, foundfootage, sound installation andliterary textsScreening will be followed by adiscussionAuditorium at 6:30 pm

� 20 July Working with Specially GiftedChildren in East DelhiBy Alpana Nayak, Associationfor Learning Performing Artsand Normative ActionA trained Odissi dancer byprofession, Alpana Nayakteaches dance to speciallygifted children. (Collaboration: Foundation forUniversal Responsibility of HisHoliness The Dalai Lama)Lecture Room (annexe) at 6:30 pm

� 21 July Bharatnatyam RecitalBy Aishwarya Narayanaswamyfrom Chennai, disciple of SmtAnita GuhaAuditorium at 6:30 pm

� 21 July Freedom From Hunger(Collaboration: Centre forEnvironment and FoodSecurity)Conference Room - I at 6:30 pm

� 22 July FilmsThe Hunters & Hunted (60 min;English)

One of the driving forces ofevolution is the eternal duelbetween predators and theirprey. This film examines thetactics adopted by the huntersand the hunted in varioushabitats. It includes a graphicaccount of how lions in a groupco-operate while huntingA Brush with Death (16 min;English)The common mongoose is afairly widespread species andplaced rather low in thehierarchy of protected animalsin India. It has always beenconsidered a friend of thefarmer. (Collaboration: World WideFund for Nature-India)Auditorium at 6:30 pm

� 23 JulyTanka Amche Noman (WeSalute Them)A Konkani musical programmebased on the FreedomMovement and the Liberationof Goa, Diu and DamanPresented by Swarashri(Collaboration: GoenkaranchoEkvot)Auditorium at 6:30 pm

� 24 July ConcertBy Kevin Hanrahan (tenor) andPriya Palekar (soprano)Kevin Hanrahan and PriyaPalekar have performednationally and internationally inoperas, oratorio, and recitalperformances(Collaboration: Delhi MusicSociety)Auditorium at 6:30 pm

� 24 JulyThe End of OilSpeaker: Dr Sudha

Mahalingam, Centre for PolicyResearchChair: Talmiz Ahmed, Director-General, Indian Council forWorld AffairsConference Room - I at 18:30 pm

� 25 JulyComplementary Medicine:UnaniSpeaker: Dr Syed MohammedArif Zaidi, Senior Lecturer andUnani Physician, JamiaHamdard Conference Room - I at 6:30 pm

� 26 July - 1 AugustReligious Life and Traditionsin RussiaAn exhibition of photographs,paintings and lithographicprints on Russia’s multi-religious traditions. Opening onTuesday, 25th July at 6:30 pm(Collaboration: RIA Novosti)Art Gallery (Annexe) 11:00 - 7 pm

� 27 JulyFrom Dust - The Untold StoryAfter the Tsunami(68 min; 2005; DVcam; English)Directed by Dhruv DhawanFilmed in Sri Lanka, From Dustis a cinematic expose thattakes an incisive look at thegovernment's response to theAsian Tsunami. Screening will be followed by adiscussionAuditorium at 6:30 pm

INDIA INTERNATIONAL CENTRE

All events are subject to change.Website: www.iicdelhi.nic.inPh: India International Centre-24619431Letters and Listings can be sentto:[email protected]@gmail.com

34feedback


Vinyas has got itright i have been a regular reader ofyour magazine and enjoy thevariety that it offers. Thestories are unusual but verytopical and relevant. iparticularly liked thismonth's cover story onVinyas and how it hastransformed drab-lookingschools with its ingeniousideas. i wish schoolseverywhere were to adoptthese simple innovations andfollow this model to makeeducation an interesting andinteractive experience, whichis what it always should be.

it is refreshing to see astrong emphasis onphotographs as it contributesto a more completeexperience. The photo storyby ruhani Kaur in theJanuary issue had somepowerful images. it was adifficult theme handled verywell. i do feel, though, thatthe covers of the magazinecould be more visuallyinteresting and not always sopeople centric as they arenow.

The reading experiencethese days is so limited andconfined to popular tastes,but your magazine with itspositive outlook and focus onissues that matter to us all,comes as a welcome change.The stories from all over thecountry of the voices ofchange have found a placewhere they can be heard andtheir experiences learnt from.

Gautam Singh

Schools needideas, not money i'm a fan of civil society forits uniqueness and haveloved reading it since itsinception. But the last issuewas exemplary. The coverstory "schools by design" wasof course the showpiece thatit deserved to be. (Wherewere you Mr Kabir Vajpeyiwhen i was in school!). Butequally riveting was thebrilliance of conserve's AnitaAhuja. This kind ofcommitment to a social causemakes me feel completelyself-centred for beingpreoccupied with eking outan honest day's living.

That was not all. Hartoshsingh Bal's interview withAruna roy on the undeliveredpromise of sonia Gandhi'snational Advisory counciland his field report on howthe rTi Act is keeping therural employment scheme ontrack in rajasthan, were justas absorbing. As was theinterview with Dunu roy and

his disillusionment with thecourts of law in defending therights of the urban poor. icould go on but i suppose somuch saccharine is not goodeven for civil society!

The cover story shows thateducation in india suffers notfrom the lack of money butfrom fresh ideas. Wheneverybody is cryingthemselves hoarse overfunding education Vajpayeehas shown us how muchinnovation matters and howinexpensive it can be. This, ofcourse, is the way for civilsociety to go. individuals whocare are finally most valuableinnovators.

BV Rao

Bureaucracy is ahard nut Arvind Kejriwal's column 'rTicases pile up as cic dawdles'in the June issue of yourmagazine was very timely.What he has discovered inthe working of the rTi Actwas all along waiting tohappen. These bureaucratsare very hard nuts to crack.no reforms, social, economicor others, would produce anyresults unless there aredrastic reforms in thefunctioning of thebureaucracy. remember allthese commissionersincluding WajahatHabibullah, chiefinformation commissioner,were once bureaucrats andtherefore it would be naïve toexpect them to act against afellow bureaucrat.

Arvind Lal Kaur

No conscience ingovernment The edit on nAc by UmeshAnand made one sit up andtake note. some very thoughtprovoking observations havebeen made by him.everybody would completelyagree with him that it wouldbe foolish to ignore reality.Governments do not run on

conscience and they arefuelled by give and take. Butthe tragedy is that civilsociety has very littlecirculation. it does not getread by the masses, or by thepeople who govern the livesof the masses.

Anchal K. Gupta

Follow the TVSexample 'With TVs, everyone ridespillion' made interestingreading. How i wish therewere more companies likeTVs which realised theirsocial responsibilities and didtheir bit for the have nots ofsociety. i think the work doneby the TVs group needs to begiven wide publicity so thatother companies emulatetheir example and takesimilar initiatives in areasnear their factories.

Lavleen Singh

Cities for the poorThe story in your June issueentitled "Time to forget thecourts" was very balanced. itsought to remind us that acity belongs to the rich andthe poor. Demolishing slumson so called public landwhich constitutes, accordingto the writer 78 percent ofslums would be a big tragedy.Ways have to be found to seethat the poorest of the poorget as much, if not more help,from the government as welloff traders and shopkeeperswith huge unauthorisedconstruction got in Delhirecently. Sharad Kumar

Natural is besti immensely liked thearticle by Dr G GGangadharan, "A leafy curefor the common cold". i ama naturalist. What i havefound in my interactionwith people is that they donot have much patience.slight physical discomfort

sends them running todoctors and chemists.people just do not allowtheir natural immunesystem to get a chance tofight the infection. Modernmedicine is after all not soold. shun medicines andembrace nature and see asea change in not onlyyourself but in everythingaround you.

Neha Sharma

An appealThe nanhi Kali projectreaches out to over 5,500little girls in india. it hasprovided about rs 8.33crores as grants, scholarshipsand loans to over 10,000beneficiaries. The projectbelieves education cantransform the life of a girlchild.

started in 1996 by the KcMahindra education Trust, toprovide primary education tothe disadvantaged girl child,the nanhi Kali project nowwants to reach out to manymore little girls. With this inmind the Kc Mahindraeducation Trust has formed apartnership with the naandiFoundation chaired by DrAnji reddy, chairman of Drreddy's Laboratories.

The nanhi Kali projectproposes to:

l provide textbooks,uniforms, exam fees,learning material etc to thegirl child.

l improve schoolinfrastructure, capacitybuilding of teachers and theoverall learning environmentof the girl child.

l sensitise parents andthe community to genderequity

The sponsorship optionsare -

l rs 1,800 per year tosupport girls from class 1 toclass 7

l rs 2,500 per year to

support girls from class 8 toclass 10

Any number of girls can besponsored. This could bedone through -

l organisations couldsponsor the education of alarger group of at least 50girls.

l individuals couldsponsor one or more girls.

l or the organisation cansponsor a larger group ofgirls and requests theiremployees for individualsponsorships by pasting theinformation on theintranet.

profiles of the childrenalong with photographs willbe sent to the donor. We alsosend progress reports everysix months to keep donorsupdated on the progress oftheir sponsored children.

please do visit our websitewww.nanhikali.org andwww.naandifoundation.org

or contact: Vinita Johoreyat 98998 88992.

Mango festivalThe report on navdanya’smango festival in your Juneissue was very interesting.perhaps you should trackmore such events and writeabout them.

They will introduce peopleto excellent off beatdestinations and are also aneducation. Many people areinterested in organic farming.perhaps navdanya could doan organic farming weekendpackage and invite people toenjoy the Doon Valley andlearn to farm organically aswell.

Ravi Prasad

The Mall Battleshopping malls all across thecountry have become amenace. There has been nocontrol on builders. evenafter the collapse ofinfrastructure in our cities,governments do not seem torealise the need forsustainable growth.

Vinita Singh

‘The cover story shows thateducation in india suffersnot from lack of money

but from fresh ideas,Vajpayee has shown ushow much innovation

matters and howinexpensive it can be.’

in the June issue of civilsociety the stor, ‘pierrecardin raincoats fromDelhi plastic bags’erroneously gave theimpression that conserveemploys children. Thereference was really to thechildren of conserve’sworkers. The nGo doesnot employ any children.

A clarification

tata steel ad

Registered: Postal Registration No.: DL(S)-01/3255/2006-08 & Registered

with the Registrar of Newspapers of India: RNI No.:•DELENG/2003/11607

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