14 साल में खोद दिया तालाब

शैलेन्द्र सिन्हा

झारखंड के एक किसान श्यामल चैधरी ने अपनी लगन से पटवन की समस्या का हल खोजा,14 वर्षों तक लगातार मिट्टी खोदकर तालाब बनाया और इतिहास रच दिया। ऐसा ही कारणामा बिहार के गया जिले के दशरथ मांझी ने भी किया था,उसने पहाड को काटकर सडक का निर्माण किया था। पहाड को काटकर सडक बनाने की बात तब सोची जब उसकी पत्नी का ईलाज कराने में पहाड बाधक बना था। दशरथ मांझी की पत्नी की मौत इसी पहाड के कारण हुई थी,सडक के नहीं होने का मलाल उसे साल रहा था, गाँव में अब और कोई बीमार ईलाज के बिना नहीं मरे, इसलिए उसने ऐसा करने की सोची थी। दशरथ मांझी की कहानी आज किताबों में चल रही है जिसका शीर्षक है-पहाड से ऊँचा आदमी, दशरथ मांझी के मेहनत का सब लोहा मान गये, उनका नाम इतिहास में दर्ज हो गया है। आज दशरथ को भला कौन नहीं जानता, बिहार के मुख्यमंत्री नीतिश कुमार ने उन्हें सम्मानित किया और उन्हें अपनी कुर्सी पर बिठाया था। ठीक ऐसी ही कहानी है झारखंड के किसान श्यामल चैधरी का, चैधरी ने प्रखंड के अधिकारी से पटवन के लिए एक तालाब की मांग की थी, लेकिन नहीं मिला। तालाब नहीं दिये जाने पर उसने तालाब खोदने की सोची। श्यामल चैधरी ने 14 वर्ष के अथक परिश्रम से अपने गाँव में तालाब खोद कर इतिहास रच डाला, उनकी उम्र मात्र 65 वर्ष है। किसान श्यामल चैधरी को आज कोई नहीं जानता। अकेले दम पर तालाब खोदा, 14 साल तक मिट्टी काट-काट कर तालाब बनाकर ही दम लिया। सुखजोरा पंचायत के विशुनपुर, कुरूआ गाँव के श्यामल आज किसानों के आदर्श बन गये हैं, लेकिन उन्हें मलाल है कि आज तक उनके काम को किसी ने सराहा नहीं है। बताते हैं कि वह प्रतिदिन दो चैका मिट्टी काटकर इसे अंजाम तक पहुंचाया, उसने तालाब खोदने में किसी से मदद नहीं ली। स्वाभिमानी किसान अपनी धुन में लगा रहा, वह तालाब खोदने का काम वर्ष 1997 में शुरू किया था, वर्ष 2011 में तालाब का काम पूर्ण किया। यह तालाब सौ गुणा सौ की लंबाईवाला है, जिसकी गहराई 22 फीट है। इस तालाब से कुरूआ, पेटसार, मरगादी, बेलटिकरी, विशुनपुर और बैगनथरा सहित कई गांवों के किसान खेतों में पटवन कर रहें हैं। चैधरी के पास अपना 9 बीघा जमीन है, जिसमें आलू, प्याज, केला, आम के पेड लगे हैं। तालाब में वह मछली का उत्पादन कर रहा है, जिस्से उनकी आय बढ़ी है। चैधरी तालाब को खोदकर बेहद खुश हैं, उनका कहना है कि मेरा जीवन धन्य हो गया, किसानों को पटवन की समस्या का हल मिल गया, तालाब में वर्ष भर पानी रहता है। चैधरी कृषि विभाग से गार्ड वाल और सिंचाई के लिए पंपिग सेट व पाईप की मांग की, लेकिन उन्हें वह भी नहीं मिला। अधिकारी उनकी सुनते कहाँ हैं, वह अपनी पीड़ा से कृषि मंत्री सत्यानंद झा को अवगत कराना चाहा, वहां भी निराशा ही हाथ लगी। ऐसे सफल किसान को तो सरकार से प्रोत्साहन मिलना चाहिए, लेकिन ऐसा हो नही रहा है,ऐसे किसान ही समाज के रोल माडल बन सकते हैं। श्यामल चैधरी अब भी निराश नहीं हुए हैं। दशरथ मांझी की तरह वह अपने धुन का पक्का है, वह किसानों को जगाने और उन्हें अपनी क्षमता को अहसास कराने के लिए किसानों के साथ बैठकें कर बता रहें हैं। श्यामल खुश हैं कि उनका जीवन धन्य हो गया और आसपास के किसानों आज उनको अपनी प्रेरणा मान रहें हैं। श्यामल आज अपनी जमीन पर कई तरह के फसल लगाकर अच्छी आमदनी कमा रहें हैं। आठवीं पास श्यामल के निर्णय पर शुरू में लोग उन्हें ताना दे रहे थे, लेकिन बिना किसी बात की परवाह किये अपनी धुन में वह लगे रहे। जमीन का सीना चीरकर तालाब खोदने पर वह गर्वान्वित हैं। श्यामल को चार बेटी और एक बेटा है,जिसकी परवरिश खेती से वह कर रहें हैं। हम होंगे कामयाब के तर्ज पर श्यामल ने किसानों को आज एक राह दिखाई है।

संकल्प से सावरी जिंदगी

भारत डोगरा

बारां (राजस्थान)

वर्ष 1982 में जब तीन युवाओं ने अपने क्षेत्रा के सबसे निर्धन व अभावग्रस्त समुदाय की सेवा के लिए उनके ही गांव में बसने का निर्णय लिया तो उनके पास केवल आदर्श ही थे, संसाधन कुछ भी नहीं थे। उस समय उन्होंने यह सोचा भी नहीं होगा कि एक दिन यह छोटा सा प्रयास इस समुदाय के लिए उम्मीद की सबसे बड़ी किरण बन जाएगा। पर 29 वर्ष के निष्ठावान कार्य का परिणाम यह है कि आज वास्तव में ऐसा हो सका है।

तीन युवाओं मोतीलाल, महेश बिंदल, और नीलू द्वारा आरंभ की गई संस्था संकल्प आज बारां जिले के सहरिया समुदाय को जागरुक और सशक्त करने के कापफी सपफल प्रयासों के लिए चर्चित है। शाहबाद व किशनगंज तहसीलों में बसे सहरिया निरंतर शोषण का शिकार होते रहे पर आज वे बेहतर जिंदगी की नई राहें तलाशने लगे हैं।

अपनी नौकरी या पढ़ाई करते समय इन युवाओं में एक बेचैनी थी कि बस यहीं तक हमारी सोच नहीं सिमटनी चाहिए, हमें जीवन की इससे व्यापक सार्थकता तलाशनी चाहिए। कुछ समय तक वे अपनी नौकरी या पढ़ाई के साथ ही कोटा व जयपुर की दलित बस्तियों में शिक्षा कार्य करते रहे। यह सपफल रहा पर इससे कुछ और अधिक सार्थक करने की चाह बनी रही। अतः वर्ष 1982 में अपनी नौकरी या कालेज की पढ़ाई छोड़कर इन तीनों युवाओं ने सबसे निर्धन व अभावग्रस्त लोगों के लिए पूर्णकालीन कार्य करने का निर्णय ले लिया। अनुभव बहुत कम था, आर्थिक संसाधन थे ही नहीं, पर पिफर भी निश्चय में दृढ़ता थी।

उन्होंने सबसे पहला कार्य यह किया कि मोटरसाईकल पर राजस्थान के कुछ सबसे पिछड़े इलाकों की यात्रा के लिए निकल पड़े। इन स्थानों पर जाकर यहां निर्धन समुदायों के बीच कार्य कर रही संस्थाओं व संगठनों के कार्यकर्त्ताओं से बातचीत की। कापफी घूमने व सोचने-विचारने के बाद उन्होंने निर्णय लिया कि शाहबाद व किशनगंज तहसीलों में बसे सहरिया आदिवासियों के बीच ही उन्हें कार्य करना है, यहीं उनकी सेवाओं की सबसे अधिक जरूरत है।

कार्य आरंभ करने के लिए कुछ न्यूनतम धन तो चाहिए था। इन युवाओं ने इसके लिए एक सहज उपाय निकाला। उन्होंने ऐसे 50 मित्रों की सूची बनाई जिनसे उम्मीद की जा सकती थी कि इस प्रयास में सहयोग के लिए वे प्रति माह 20 रुपए का चंदा भेजेंगे। इस तरह उन्होंने प्रतिमाह लगभग 900 रुपए एकत्रा करने की व्यवस्था कर ली। उन्होंने दस रुपए प्रति महीने के किराए पर एक कमरा मामोनी गांव में ले लिया। यही आरंभिक कार्यालय बना व यही आवास बना। इस प्रयास की समर्थक जानी-मानी लेखिका लवलीन ने सुझाव दिया कि इस नए संगठन का नाम ‘संकल्प’ रखा जाए। इस सुझाव को तुरंत स्वीकार कर लिया गया।

मामोनी व आसपास के सहरिया बहुल क्षेत्रा में कुछ शिक्षा का कार्य आरंभ किया गया जिसमें नीलू का अधिक योगदान रहा। शीघ्र ही संकल्प का अधिक प्रयास लघु वन उपज से सहरिया समुदाय के लोगों की आय बढ़ाने पर अधिक केन्द्रित होने लगा। वे वन से गोंद, महुआ, चिरौंजी, शहद, औषधियां आदि एकत्रा करते थे व यह उनकी आजीविका का एक महत्त्वपूर्ण स्रोत था। सरकार ने उन्हें लघु वन उपज की उचित कीमत दिलवाने के लिए सहकारी समितियों पर आधारित व्यवस्था खड़ी तो कर दी थी पर हकीकत में कुछ धनी व्यापारी इस व्यवस्था का दुरुपयोग अपने लिए मोटा मुनापफा कमाने के लिए कर रहे थे।

व्यापारियों की गठजोड़ में दखल देकर संकल्प ने उनके सुरक्षित मोटे मुनापफे को चुनौती दी व वास्तविक वन उपज एकत्रा करने वालों को बेहतर कीमत मिलने का आधार तैयार करने का प्रयास किया। पहले तो इन व्यापारियों ने संकल्प को भी आर्थिक प्रलोभन देने का प्रयास किया पर जब इस पर संकल्प ने कोई ध्यान नहीं दिया तो उन्होंने संकल्प के सदस्यों के विरु( हिंसा की धमकी दी। पर संकल्प अपने लक्ष्य से नहीं हटा व वन उपज एकत्रा करने वालों के लिए बेहतर कीमत सुनिश्चित करवा कर ही दम लिया।

पर शीघ्र ही यह स्पष्ट होने लगा कि लघु वन उपज से आय बढ़ाने के प्रयासों के बीच इससे भी महत्त्वपूर्ण एक मुद्दा पीछे छूट रहा था। लघु वन उपज आधारित आजीविका बने रहने के लिए यह जरूरी है जिन पेड़ों से यह वन-उपज मिलती है वे ठीक हालत में रहें।

अतः वन उपज प्राप्ति के साथ वनों को नया जीवन देने की ओर संकल्प ने ध्यान दिया। इन दिनों पफारेस्ट इन्क्लोयर या वन घेरबाड़ के कार्य से सहरिया समुदाय में कापफी उम्मीद है। इस सोच को तैयार करने में संकल्प ने बहुत मेहनत की। संकल्प ने स्वयं इस परियोजना पर छः-सात जगह कार्य किया व अन्य स्थानों पर इस बारे में जागृति पफैलाई। इस परियोजना के अन्तर्गत लगभग 100 स्थानों पर ऐसे वनभूमि के प्लाट लिए गए हैं जहां वन कापफी उजड़ी स्थिति में हैं। वनों को नया जीवन देने, नए पेड़-पौधे लगाने, प्लाट की सीमा पर पत्थरों की दीवार बनाने, यहां जल व मिट्टðी संरक्षण कार्य करने की जिम्मेदारी सहरिया व अन्य शोषित समुदायों को दी जा रही हैं। इसके बदले में उन्हें मजदूरी मिलेगी। इसके अतिरिक्त वह निरंतर वन की रक्षा व निगरानी के लिए स्वैच्छिक सेवाएं भी उपलब्ध करवाएंगे। उन्हें इन पेड़-पौधों से लघु वन उपज प्राप्त करने का पूरा हक प्राप्त होगा। इस तरह अल्पकालीन रोजगार के साथ दीर्घकालीन स्तर पर लघु वन उपज से अधिक व्यापक व टिकाऊ आजीविका मिलने की संभावना है।

इस बीच दूर-दूर की सहरिया बस्तियों में शिक्षा के प्रसार के कुछ नए व बेहतर अवसर उपलब्ध हो रहे थे। सहरियों में, विशेषकर महिलाओं में साक्षरता दर बहुत कम थी व दूरदराज के कुछ गांवों में सहरिया महिलाओं की साक्षरता नगण्य ही थी। इन गांवों में सरकारी स्कूल नाममात्रा को ही थे क्योंकि प्रायः अध्यापक यहां पहंुचते ही नहीं थे।

इस स्थिति में इन गांवों में साक्षरता सुधारने में ‘शिक्षाकर्मी’ प्रोजेक्ट की सहायता से ‘संकल्प’ ने सराहनीय कार्य किया। इस परियोजना के अन्तर्गत इन गांवों में ऐसे स्थानीय युवा अध्यापक के रूप में चुने गए जिन्होंने चाहे कम कक्षाएं पास की थीं पर जो अपने गांव में शिक्षा को आगे बढ़ाने के लिए बहुत उत्साहित थे। मेहनत और निष्ठा की उनमें कमी नहीं थी। इन अध्यापकों को प्रशिक्षण दिया गया जिससे उन्होंने शिक्षा को एक सहज व प्रेरक अनुभव बनाने के बारे में नई सोच से बहुत कुछ सीखा। पिफर स्थानीय परिस्थितियों के अनुसार इस समझ का उन्होंने अपने गांवों में प्रयोग किया। प्रायः गांवों में शिक्षा स्थल में स्थान की कमी होती थी और कई स्तरों के विद्यार्थियों के लिए अध्यापक भी एक होता था। इन कठिनाईयों में विभिन्न शिक्षा स्तर के आधार पर विद्यार्थियों के ग्रुप बनाकर व वरिष्ठ विद्यार्थियों का भी शिक्षा प्रसार में रचनात्मक उपयोग कर प्रतिकूल परिस्थितियों में भी शिक्षा कार्य की प्रगति अच्छी रखी गई।

अनेक गांवों में देखा गया कि स्कूलों में बच्चों की उपस्थिति तेजी से बढ़ रही है व बालिकाएं भी अच्छी संख्या में आ रही हैं। जो बच्चे स्कूल के सामान्य समय के दौरान किसी कारण से पढ़ने नहीं आ सकते थे उनकी जरूरतों के अनुसार विशेष समय की कक्षाएं आरंभ की गई व कुछ रात्रि शालाएं भी आरंभ की गई। व्यस्क साक्षरता का कार्यक्रम भी साथ-साथ चला। नई व रोचक शिक्षा में कुछ बच्चों की रुचि इतनी बढ़ गई थी कि वे स्कूल से लौटने के बाद कोशिश करते थे कि उनके माता-पिता के लिए चल रहे साक्षरता प्रयास में भी उन्हें बैठने का मौका मिल जाए।

निष्ठा व लगन से चले इस अभियान का परिणाम शीघ्र ही सहरिया समुदाय की तेजी से बढ़ती साक्षरता में नजर आने लगा। कई सहरिया युवाओं को सरकारी अध्यापकों के रूप में स्थाई रोजगार भी मिलने लगा। किन्तु प्रोत्साहन मिलने के स्थान पर इस कार्य में कई अवरोध पैदा किए जाने लगे। शिक्षा क्षेत्रा में यह अधिकांश प्रगति चर्चित लोक जुम्बिश परियोजना के दौरान हुई थी पर अब इससे जुड़े संस्थानों, कार्यकर्त्ताओं के लिए कठिनाईयां पैदा की जाने लगी। संकल्प के भी आर्थिक संसाधन रोक लिए गए। इस कारण कुछ समय तक संकल्प को बहुत आर्थिक दिक्कतों के दौर से गुजरना पड़ा। इस कठिन वक्त में जाने-माने सामाजिक कार्यकर्ता बंकर राय ने स्थिति संभालने में बहुत सहायता की।

संकल्प के दो संस्थापक सदस्यों महेश व नीलू के लिए पहले जैसे पूरा समय देना कठिन हो रहा था पर साथ ही कई नए सदस्यों की मेहनत और निष्ठा से बेहद कठिन स्थितियों से संकल्प उभरने लगा था। विशेषकर महिलाओं के संगठन व उनके समूहों के संगठन में चारुमित्रा मेहारू की भूमिका बहुत महत्त्वपूर्ण रही।

धीरे-धीरे संकल्प में वैकल्पिक ऊर्जा ;विशेषकर सौर व बायो गैसद्ध, प्राकृतिक संसाधनों के बेहतर उपयोग, कई तरह की दस्तकारी व तकनीकी शिक्षा के प्रशिक्षण की शुरुआत हुई। इस नए परियोजना कार्यक्रम को आरंभ करने में सामाजिक कार्य व अनुसंधान केन्द्र, तिलोनिया से बहुत सहयोग मिला। इन विभिन्न कार्यों के लिए मामोनी में एक कैम्पस विकसित हुआ।

यहां की कई सहरिया महिलाओं ने तिलोनिया में ;जिला अजमेरद्ध सौर ऊर्जा का प्रशिक्षण किया व लौटकर कई गांवों में सौर प्रकाश की व्यवस्था की। बेयरपफुट सौर इंजीनियरों की सहरिया लड़कियों/महिलाओं की इस टीम को एक प्रेरणा-स्रोत की तरह देखा जाने लगा। इन दिनों अनेक नए सौर ऊर्जा सिस्टम लगाने की तैयारी चल रही है।

संकल्प के मामोनी स्थित परिसर में ऐसे सहरिया छात्रों के लिए एक आवसीय स्कूल भी आरंभ किया गया है जो पफेल घोषित होने के कारण सरकारी आवासीय स्कूलों में अपनी पढ़ाई जारी नहीं रख पाते हैं। यहां इन छात्रों की प्रगति संतोषजनक रही है। लगभग दस वर्षों से संकल्प किशोरों की शिक्षा के एक महत्त्वपूर्ण प्रोजेक्ट ‘दूसरा दशक’ से जुड़ा रहा है। इस प्रोजेक्ट के अन्तर्गत 10 से 20 वर्ष की आयु के किशोरों/यूवाओं के लिए तीन महीनों के आवासीय कैंप लगाए जाते हैं। शिक्षा-प्रशिक्षण के साथ एक बड़ी बात यह होती है कि नई पीढ़ी सामाजिक जिम्मेदारियों के प्रति जिम्मेदार बने। इस तरह युवाओं की टीम को सामाजिक कार्य से जोड़ने में सहायता मिली व युवा शक्ति संगठन की स्थापना की गई जो अब नई जिम्मेदारियां संभालने में सक्षम हैं।

स्थानीय स्तर पर बढ़ती जिम्मेदारियों के साथ संकल्प ने कई राष्ट्रीय स्तर के अभियानों में भी महत्त्वपूर्ण जिम्मेदारी निभाई। सूचना के जन-अधिकार, मनरेगा के रोजगार गारंटी कानून व खाद्य व पोषण कार्यक्रमों के बेहतर क्रियान्वन के अभियान में संकल्प की निष्ठावान भागेदारी नजर आई।

वर्ष 2002 के भीषण सूखे ने संकल्प के लिए नई चुनौतियां उपस्थित की। सहरिया समुदाय व अन्य निर्धन परिवारों में भूख व कुपोषण की समस्या इतनी विकट हो गई कि भूख से मौत के कई समाचार एक के बाद एक मिलने लगे। इन कठिन परिस्थितियों में संकल्प ने अपनी पूरी ताकत भूख के विरु( एक सशक्त अभियान चलाने में लगा दी। इस अभियान में राहत कार्य को अधिक व्यापक व बेहतर बनाने, सार्वजनिक वितरण प्रणाली को सुधारने, गरीब परिवारों को विभिन्न स्कीमों के अन्तर्गत सस्ता व निशुल्क अनाज देने व आंगनवाड़ी जैसे पोषण व स्वास्थ्य कार्यक्रमों को मजबूत करने पर जोर दिया गया। इस अभियान में मीडिया का भी अच्छा सहयोग प्राप्त हुआ। सरकार ने खाद्य व राहत व्यवस्था सुधारने के जो वायदे किए उनका गांव व बस्ती स्तर पर मूल्यांकन कर सही स्थिति सरकार व लोगों के सामने रखी गई।

कुल मिलाकर सरकार ने भी सार्थक भूमिका निभाई व कुछ ही महीनों में अनेक अभावग्रस्त बस्तियों में खाद्य स्थिति बेहतर होने के समाचार मिले। संकल्प ने स्वयं भी लगभग 40 स्थानों पर पोषण केन्द्र आरंभ किए। एक बेहद कठिन समय में कुछ सबसे जरूरतमंद परिवारों की पोषण संबंधी आवश्यकताएं पूरी करने में इनकी सार्थक भूमिका रही।

भीषण सूखे की स्थिति में अनेक परिवारों को भूख से बचाने के कार्य में संकल्प को बहुत संतोष तो मिला, पर साथ ही यह अहसास भी हुआ कि अल्पकालीन राहत से आगे जाकर सहरिया समुदाय व अन्य सबसे जरूरतमंद परिवारों की आजीविका का आधार और मजबूत करना है। इस अहसास के साथ ही संकल्प ने इन समुदायों व विशेषकर सहरिया समुदाय के वन व भूमि अधिकारों की ओर अधिक ध्यान केन्द्रित करना आरंभ किया।

कुछ दशक पहले तक इस क्षेत्रा में पर्याप्त खाली भूमि की जो स्थिति थी उसमें सहरिया मनचाही भूमि पर खेती कर सकते थे, और इस तरह घुमंतू जीवन बिता सकते थे। पर समय बदलने के साथ भूमि विभिन्न असरदार परिवारों के हाथ में पहंुचती रही जबकि शिक्षा व कानूनी जानकारी से वंचित सहरिया समुदाय के अधिकार सिमटते गए। एक समय ऐसा भी आया कि जिस भूमि को वे मनचाहे ढंग से जोतते-बोते थे उसी पर उनकी स्थिति बंधुवा मजदूरों जैसी होने लगी।

संकल्प ने सहरिया समुदाय के भूमि-अधिकारों के लिए निरंतर आवाज उठाई। वन-अधिकार कानून बनने से नए अवसर उत्पन्न हुए तो वन-नियमन समितियों में मौजूद संकल्प के सदस्यों ने भी कापफी सक्रिय भूमिका निभाई। कई कठिनाईयां थीं पर पिफर भी संकल्प के क्षेत्रा में लगभग 700 सहरिया परिवारों के भूमि अधिकार सुनिश्चित हो गए।

इन बढ़ती जिम्मेदारियों को संभालने में सहरिया महिलाओं की बढ़ती जागृति भी उपयोगी सि( हो रही है। पहले महिलाओं के जो समूह बनाए गए थे उन्हें अब जागृत महिला संगठन के माध्यम से और मजबूती मिली है। कई स्थानों पर अन्याय व उत्पीड़न का विरोध करने के लिए महिलाएं आगे आ रही हैं। एक बहुत अच्छी मिसाल कायम रखते हुए संकल्प ने जागृत महिला संगठन को एक स्वतंत्रा संगठन के रूप में स्थापित होने में सहायता दी व अपनी कई परिसंपत्तियां उसे सौंपी।

अब सहरिया समुदाय, अन्य उपेक्षित-शोषित समुदायों व विशेषकर महिलाओं में अन्याय से लड़ने के लिए नई जागृति उत्पन्न हो रही है। यह नई जागृति ही वन व भूमि अधिकारों के साथ टिकाऊ विकास का आधार तैयार करने में सबसे मददगार सि( होगी। 29 वर्ष पहले 10 रुपए मासिक किराए के कार्यालय से आरंभ हुई एक छोटी से पहल आज अपनी ईमानदारी और निष्ठा के बल पर यहां तक पंहुची है कि क्षेत्रा के सहरिया समुदाय व अन्य शोषित-उपेक्षित तबको के लिए नई उम्मीद की एक किरण बन गई।

They weave a sorry story

Shanti Priya/Chennai

Members of weaving community here are living in abject poverty. Many of them are embroiled in debt traps and it will take years to come out of it.

The paradox is very clear and stark. While what they make clothe millions, they don't have sufficient garments to cover their nakedness. Srivilliputhur in Virudhunagar district though is famous for its temples, the weavers here are a poor lot.

The weavers are forced to go to community meal centres to feed their families. Apathy of successive governments has rendered them without no means to support their families. Although they make textiles, the government has not taken care to pick them up.

Members of weaving community here are living in abject poverty. Many of them are embroiled in debt traps and it will take years for them to come out of it.

The handloom weavers face severe threat from powerloom. The changing tastes of the consumers are also creating problems for the industry.

According to a trade union leader, systematic marginalisation of handlooms by the Centre and successive State governments and the withdrawal of certain schemes are creating problems for the handloom industry. "The State government refuses to lift stocks and doesn't make payments on time. It results in mounting interest on loans," he added.

The workers' cooperatives used to be very effective tool in ensuring welfare of the community. But over the years, their influence has come down. The cooperative movement, started in the 1950s to help weavers tide over frequent crisis situations, and Cooptex, the apex marketing society, set up to promote handlooms, have been undermined systematically over the years. Politicisation of the cooperative set-up, with successive governments dissolving the elected boards and filling the societies with their own partymen, has weakened the movement. Cooptex, far from being a promotional agency, has been transformed into a mere marketing agency.

If the handloom industry has thus far survived competition from the powerlooms, the liberalised policy regime, market instability and government apathy, it is largely because of its own resilience. Now with demand disappearing for traditional handloom products owing to changing consumer preferences, poor marketing facilities, dearth of knowledge, skills and technical expertise to adapt to changing demand and lack of infrastructure to upgrade the looms, the handloom sector is a shambles. If the industry, the second largest employer in Tamil Nadu after agriculture, is to survive and the lakhs of weavers' families are to be saved from their desperate situation, it needs to be re-oriented with sound government support.

Present real-life women icons in media, says Mrinal Pande

Gautami Srivastava/ New Delhi

Eminent journalist delves into issues related to gender at a workshop for working mediapersons

Although many women have come through in flying colours in their respective fields and are heading many business and other financial enterprises, they may not inspire a woman in a village who has to fight with a thousand battles at different levels.

"Most of the icons presented by media belong to middle and upper middle class women. They may feel good at their achievements, but it is difficult for a village woman to relate with them. Therefore, it is very important that we should choose real-life women icons. They need not be women who conquered business bastions but could be women who achieved small but significant successes fighting many odds. Such Success stories will inspire other women also," said Mrinal Pande, while delivering keynote address at a workshop on Gender and Media.

The workshop was organized jointly by Population First and India Foundation for Rural Development Studies. Working journalists drawn from six north Indian states participated in the workshop.

The society has willfully restricted the mobility of the woman.

"Give her mobility and see the difference. It is not that she can't do many things. The man takes many comforts as a matter of right and he expects woman to provide them without failure. Many times women cannot even cash in on the opportunities as circumstances fail them," she added.

Discrimination against women is not a new thing; it is deeply rooted in the society and its evolution. "When a man wants to go anywhere, he steps out of the house leaving all the work to the women in the household. But if a woman has to go to attend a meeting or function, she has to take care of hundreds of things. Woman's problems were treated lightly even within homes," said the eminent journalist.

Pande related her experience as the first woman editor in a male-dominated newspaper. "There were not enough facilities for women."

While many innovations have come about in fields men deal with, there has been none in areas where women played major role. "The woman has been struggling with the same cooking hardware for generations. There has been no improvement," said Pande.

Another factor which sometimes acts as an inhibitor of a woman's growth is Maternity. It's a fact that most productive years of a woman are her reproductive years. This drains out a lot of inner energy from a woman while man excels in developing his capabilities with family support. We cannot ignore the importance of maternity as well. So the solution lies in creating a supportive environment for a woman in the society and at her work place so that she doesn't lag behind in the race. Women are need to be respected by the society as they are playing an important role in the nurturing a child by keeping her personal growth at stake.

Maternal mortality is another challenge being faced by the Indian society. It has become a very common phenomenon as pregnant women in rural areas get registered at a Primary Health Centre (PHC) near their house where they live with their husband. But as the time of delivery approaches, they usually go to their maternal place and the PHC doesn't get any information about this change of place. Adding to this, PHC near their maternal place doesn't agree to take the responsibility of the pregnant woman, leading to high rate of maternal mortality. It is very important to build a system where a complete record of pregnancy is kept and can be transferred to another PHC, in case of any migration. Consistent monitoring of the pregnant woman is essential throughout her pregnancy and even after the birth of child.

Monk's mission gets Dalai Lama push

Gautami Srivastava/Dharamshala

Dalai Lama opens a hostel for slum kids, hails Monk Jamyang's efforts

The unique mission launched by a Tibetan refugee Monk Jamyang to serve the slum children of Charan Khad, Dharamshala got a momentum when The Dalai Lama assured of all kinds of support for his endeavors. The monk started the project in 2003 by adopting five slum children and transforming their lives by providing them quality education. Now Tong-Len is giving a new lease of life to sixty children of the slums who once earned their bread by begging or collecting rags. These children have not only become a part of mainstream but also are toppers of their class.

In a very innovative way he has demonstrated an alternative model of holistic development in the shanties to break the vicious circle of poverty of the slum dwellers who migrated from Maharashtra & Rajasthan about three decades back. Jamyang's consistent efforts have resulted in a complete transformation of dreams and aspirations of these slum children who would have spent their generations in struggling for every single meal, had not met Monk Jamyang.

Dalai Lama appreciated the efforts of Jamyang while recently inaugurating the Tong-Len hostel, which will give a new shape to the children's future. "Jamyang is doing a great job and one should learn from his work. We all need to focus our actions for total empowerment of the needy and poor. This is the real practice of Budha's teachings and Dharma," said the Dalai while talking to this correspondent.

He asked the community to support the underprivileged and marginalized groups. He also said, "The mankind is one and there should not be any discrimination on the basis of colour, caste, creed, religion, nationality or ideology as preached by Mahatma Gandhi."

Earlier Tong-Len had taken two houses on rent to accommodate twenty boys and equal number of girls in Depot Bazar area of Dharamshala. The hostel has a special block dedicated for destitute infants and small kids. Jamyang says, "That accommodation was not good enough for the overall development of the children. Now the new spacious campus has ample space to accommodate hundred children with a state of the art computer lab, library and a playground."

The beautiful campus situated near the famous Goddess Kunal Pathri Temple and surrounded by lush green Tea Gardens is designed by Australian architects, has a brass life size statue of Mahatma Gandhi. Jamyang believes that the statue of Baapu is an inspiration for all of us. "His Holiness always says that Gandhi ji is a symbol of fight against discrimination, apartheid and exploitation world over," he added.

Number of slums in Himachal Pradesh is gradually increasing due to rapid construction activities but no sufficient steps are taken regarding this issue except the developmental project carried out very scientifically by Jamyang. He installed solar lights, toilet tents, bath rooms and water tankers in the slum area where earlier the poor residents were deprived of basic amenities. He also started Tent School in the area for the children who could not afford to go to formal schools. Along with this, Tong-Len also runs Mobile Health care units in six different areas including Palampur, Nagrota, Chintpurni, Jwalaji which provides with vaccination, counseling and medicines.

"I want to become an air hostess and serve my community and country," says Pinki, who lives in Tong-Len Hostel and scored 100 percentile in 5th Standard. "All the slum children of Tong-Len Hostel are showing exceptional performance in academic, sports and cultural activities. Once considered as unwanted students are now the pride our school," said Meenakshi Gautami, Vice-Principal of Dayanand Model School. All the Tonglen children who came from the shanties are now campaigning against domestic violence, pollution, disease and alcoholism prevailing in the slums. Jamyang believes that if quality education is provided to the children, slums with automatically vanish.

Down with ecotourism

The centre’s policy to promote eco-tourism is fraught with dangers

Sankar Ray/ Kolkata

In 2002, the International Year for Ecotourism, set out by the United Nations, overwhelming majority of environmentalists in this subcontinent were inexplicably silent, remaining somewhat unbothered about the very concept of ecotourism as if the traditional tourism is ecocidal.

Almost all the tourist spots you figure out, you will find the habitation of adivasis who have for ages been caressing the nature and the nature-human symbiosis. This scribe wrote a scathing critique of ecotorism, defining it as 'silent ecocide' in a Bangalore-based daily. The debate needs to be revived when political leaders and ministers from the erstwhile Union minister for culture and tourism Ambika Soni to the maverick West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee have been taking up cudgels for ecotourism.

Banerjee under the ill-advice by a Bengali newspaper group whose owners thrive on corruption and manipulations in loading and unloading business in ports and collieries, has been unabashedly jockeying for an ecotourism project alongside a 1000 megawatt thermal power project at Nayachar, a sand dune that was afloat in 1932 and is regularly inundated by tidal incursions in Purba Medinipur district.

Soni in a speech on 17 December, 2007 inaugurating the 6th Annual Convention of the Adventure Tour Operators Association of India stated that the existing national eco tourism policy needs to be revived in the light of the ongoing international debate on climate change.

She said she has often come across complaints that by-diversity is being eroded further on account of adventure, world life and eco-tourism but mildly warned that adventure tourists were not only polluting the place but have little regard for conserving the existing natural resources. But her emphasis was on adventure tourism, the main thrust of ecotourism.

"We all in the Ministry of Tourism consider adventure tourism extremely important in taking forward one of the important niche tourism segments of the country. India is richly endowed with the natural diversity consisting of mountains, wildlife, natural parks, rivers and beaches which provide ample opportunities for pursuing adventure sports such as white water river rafting, paragliding, hot air ballooning, skiing, mountain biking, scuba diving, hiking-trekking and rock climbing and rappelling. All these add to the multi-dimensionality of our tourism potential which is not very common in many parts of the world. I am glad that Adventure Tour Operators Association is fully realising the potential of adventure tourism. You all must be aware that Ministry of Tourism through its various publicity campaigns both through print and electronic media gives vast prominence to the potential of adventure tourism in the country. These campaigns help in enhancing the awareness of this fascinating sport. The North East is a paradise for adventure tourism and there is so much that we could do in that region. Apart from the fact that North East is very well connected, helicopter service is also coming up very fast in this region. I feel this connectivity facilitation would enable adventure tourism develop fast."

She took up cudgels for ecotourism arguing , "the existing National Eco Tourism Policy needs to be revived in the light of the ongoing international debate on climate change" but cautioned narrating his own experience, "I have often come across complaints that our bio-diversity is being eroded further on account of adventure, wildlife and eco tourism. There was a genuine concern that adventure tourists are not only polluting the place but have little regard for conserving the existing natural resources. Last year when I took up the matter of reviving licences of adventure tour operators with the Uttarakhand Government, these were the very issues that the Ministry of Environment of Uttarakhand was highlighting."

Unlike Ambika Soni, the WB CM - also her counterparts in other states such as Mayavati and Narendra Modi - seems conceitedly unaware of the menace of ecotourism. They appear to have ignored warnings in magazines like New Scientist in 2002. A team of research workers, led by Kathleen Alexander, a senior wildlife veterinary officer of the Government of Botswana, made very pointed observations on the destructive experience in ecotourism "The first clear-cut case of a primarily human pathogen being passed to wildlife. They have discovered two outbreaks of TB in banded mongooses at Chobe, and one that wiped out a group of meerkats in the Kalahari Desert". Chobe is the second largest national park, an attraction for international tourist community, especially from the western countries. The annual revenue from park fees alone used to cause an inflow of US $ 1.5 million a year. But the more the tourists, the more the possibility of development of TB among mongooses and meerkats in Botswana and researchers doubt that the Mycobacterium tuberculosis passed on from the human beings.

David Nicholson-Lord candidly defined in an article in the US journal, Resurgence (June 2002) ,Green tragedy: the blight of eco-tourism blasted the concept , "Eco-tourism, as defined by the World Tourism Organisation, represents only 2 to 4 per cent of international travel spending. Suppose it grew to the point where it dominated the tourist industry. Could such a large-scale industry be managed in a small-scale way? Can anyone who has flown half way around the world in a jet powered by subsidized fossil fuel and puffing out greenhouse gases qualify as an eco-tourist?"

Elaborating his point further, Nicholson-Lord wrote, although theoretically, eco-tourism is to be on a small scale, eco-friendly and attuned to Nature, the reality is that no one has properly defined eco-tourism, and in this vacuum the marketing men, greenwashers, corporate developers and government spin doctors flourish. I have heard a casino in Laos described as eco-tourism because it was sited in untouched countryside."

Eco-tourism came somewhat synergistically with the introduction of Structural Adjustment Programme during the tenure of P V Narasimha Rao as the PM. Tanzanian scholar whom this scribe, had met accidentally in Calcutta during an international seminar, organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry, stated bluntly. "Tourism can develop if and only if the natural habitat and natural surroundings are kept intact", he said. Theoretically, eco-tourism ensures the biological continuity of flora and fauna. But the fact remains that proliferation of concrete structures takes place even where pristine beauty draws tourists for a tranquil and blissful pastime".

Eco-tourism drastically minimises the contact between animals and people if it is to be genuinely environment-conducive. But in that case tourist attraction may wane.

A UNESCO report in the last decade observed that the World Heritage site of Macchu Picchu in Peru has become almost saturated. The people justly want a greater share of tourist revenues. They are forced to do so and are blocking roads to prevent tourists from going to the 'heights of Macchu Picchu'.

Sue Wheat in an essay, Sold Out in Guardian (London) on 22 May 2002, narrated how rapid growth in ecotourism affected indigenous peoples. "Earlier this year, 250 Filipinos were evicted from their homes.

Their lake-shore village of Ambulong, in Batangas province, was attacked by hundreds of police, who demolished 24 houses. Many people were reported wounded, four seriously and one with a bullet wound. Cesar Arellano, of Pamalakaya, a Filipino human rights organisation, said: 'The people are not leaving - they have set up camp. They are going to fight for their land."

The intention of the authorities was to clear people to make way for a major business venture - not oil, logging or mining, but ecotourism, which is growing massively around the world and is now backed by governments, world bodies and international banks.

This year has been declared by the UN the international year of ecotourism and this week, a world summit is being held in Quebec to consider the problems and potential for the fastest growing sector of the world's largest industry."

She went on, "Ecotourists are thought to spend considerably more than mass tourists and for debt-strapped developing countries, having people visit, look at things that require minimal investment and pay lots of money for the privilege, can seem manna from heaven. Nature is a money spinner. Ecuador earns over $100m a year from 60,000 visitors to the Galapagos, for instance, and Kenya as much income from its safari holidays. But the stakes are now getting higher and the dispossession of people from their land is increasingly associated with ecotourism.

The cases are widespread. In the Moulvibaza district of Bangladesh, over 1,000 families of the Khasi and Garoare indigenous groups face eviction from their ancestral lands for the development of a 1,500-acre eco-park. "We were born here and grew up here. We have been living here for hundreds of years . . . we will not leave this forest," said Khasi headman Anil Yang Yung in a public demonstration during a hunger strike in Dhaka last February. "We cannot survive if we are evicted from the forest."

It's time to work for awareness against ecotourism at a time when environmentalists and responsible economists are for sincere implementation of Forest Rights Act that acknowledges the traditional rights of forest-dwelling populations in India.

They have been unjustly treated by denying them rights to the lands and resources they use.

Several hundred million people in India are dependent on forests for various direct uses; a portion of them also live on forest lands, or are in settlements that are within or just adjacent to forests.

Crossing the language barrier

Sopan Correspondent / Kolhapur

Ekta Parishad leader PV Rajagopal’s Jan Sandesh Yatra enters the north of the Vindhyas. His team interacted with many grassroot activists during the yatra.

The Jansatyagraha team was happy to enter into Maharashtra as many of them were starving to speak Hindi all along. They had some luck in Hyderabad, Bangalore, and Belgaum but by and large they were finding it difficult to communicate with local people without translation. This is not to say that the Hindi speaking group will find it easy to interact with the Marathi speaking group but by and large, Marathi population will understand Hindi. Kolhapur was our first entry into Maharashtra.

There is an ongoing tension between Maharashtra and Karnataka on the border issue between Kolhapur and Belgaum. There was some protest even on the day we entered into the state because of a statement made by a Kannada poet. Our welcome was organized jointly by a group of social activists belonging to different ideological camps.

In Maharashtra people generally speak about Shivaji Maharaj, a king who ruled large parts of the state in the seventeenth century. They also speak highly of Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar who gave voice to the dalit community. The Sarvodaya Gandhian group will speak about Vinobha and his land reform movement. Of course there are many important social reformers in Maharashtra who fought for the liberation of the oppressed.

After the press conference we were led to a village where a very traditional welcome was waiting for us. People from many villages came together to discuss their land problems.

We understood that landlessness is a common issue among the dalits and marginalized communities but interestingly the dalit groups are more organized in Maharashtra compared to other states of India.

The next day we were in the district of Satara. This is where the Dalit movement began many years ago. The program of the day was held in the memorial hall of Ambedkar ji's mother. Her body was cremated at this place. This was a very inspiring meeting and the speakers gave an account of land problems that the adivasis and dalits are facing in this region.

While expressing their solidarity for Jansatyagraha many of them were apprehensive about the possibility of redistribution of resources in a globalizing world. The issue of funeral ground for dalit communities came up again for discussion.

From Satara we travelled all the way to Sangli. Satara and Sangli were part of one district but was divided recently. The interaction with students of a law college was an interesting event. The agenda of caste free, corruption free, hunger free India was the focus of discussion.

Young people are generally impressed when they hear about this agenda. But the question is, how can each one of us play an important role in creating an India that will be caste free, hunger free and corruption free. Representatives of different organization were invited for a discussion in the office of Mazdoor Kissan Sabha. The participants in this meeting expressed their solidarity with Jansatyagraha and also expressed their commitment to participate in the 2012 action.

The entire program for Sangli was put together and coordinated by Gauri Kulkarni. The day ended with a grand dinner in Gauri's house.

Day 3 in Maharashtra was a long drive to Ratnagiri where after a press conference we visited a village affected by Jattapur nuclear power plant. Village Nata welcomed us into their community hall. The majority of the people present in the meeting were from the muslim community.

The entire village makes a decent living through fishing. They also generate employment for 2000 people from outside-out of which 1000 are from Nepal and another 1000 from the Southern part of India. Village Nata is on the coastal line of the Arabian Sea. About a month back, people of this village protested against the nuclear plant and in the police firing one person got killed and six were wounded.

The atmosphere was very charged as speaker after speaker said that they will not give up their right over land and water. One interesting question that came up in this discussion was related to compensation for water rights. Land can be measured and compensated but people who are into fishing, the sea is their land. How can the government or companies calculate a compensation for the fishing communities.

Another question that came up for discussion was whether the government has made enough exploration into other forms of energies before deciding on nuclear energy. People were also questioning the non-participatory methods of the government in announcing projects . In our thank you statement we informed them about our visit to Koodamkulam agitation against the nuclear power plant and agreed to link those struggles not only in India but also with struggles outside the country.

The fourth and the fifth days of our yatra was in the districts of Raigarh and Thane and these are districts close to the city of Mumbai and has a substantial population of adivasis. It took no time for us to realize that the villages of this district will be totally eaten up by the city of Mumbai as the city is expanding very fast. There are many projects coming up in this area. A new airport, the Mumbai corridor, the Mumabi-Ahmedabad super highway, dams for the supply off water to Mumbai are some of the projects in this area. Many people in Mumbai are buying land for farm-houses. Anybody who knows the history of Mumbai will know that much of Mumbai is now standing on adivasi land and these are those adivasi villages that slowly became slums in front of skyscrapers.

While five-star hotels in Mumbai will consume too much water to flush their toilets or for the swimming pools, people are lining up with buckets for drinking water in many villages across Thane and Raigarh. While the local struggles are very strong, the leaders of the struggles understand that they are up against a formidable set of global forces that resists all efforts to conserve local resources for local consumption.

For the sake of those who are not introduced to Vinobha Bhave, let me devote a paragraph to describing him. Vinobha was the spiritual disciple of Mahatma Gandhi. He was also selected as the first satyagrahi by Mahatma Gandhi during the freedom struggle. Vinobha Bhave led the land-gift movement.

He received about 4.3 million hectares of land. He also fought against cow-slaughter because he believed the cow is the backbone of Indian agriculture. By destroying the cow we will introduce tractors and chemical fertilizer in our agricultre and will kill the soil forever.

He is an inspiration for many people in India and as a result preserving his birth place was important for people who believed in his philosophy. Because of the dam that was coming up in this area, this memorial was also acquired by the government.

It was only after a long struggle by the local people that they were able to save the land and the building of Vinobha Bhave while everything around this memorial was acquired for the dam. I am told that a cement factory set up very close to Gandhiji's ashram in Sevagram is also going to destroy the ashram in Sevagram. India has already given up much of what Gandhi wanted India to be. Now there are systematic efforts to get rid of their memorials so that we can forget them completely.

Rather than migrating to the slums of Mumbai, they are making a concereted effort to protect their livelihood resources. On the 5th we were in Mumbai, interacting with the students of different colleges, representatives of different media houses and also interacted with representatives of different organizations and struggle groups. Mumbai is growing as a gigantic disorganized mega-city.

It is almost like a battle field between the slums and sky rises. Though the population of poor people is as high as 60-70% of the total population of Mumbai, they are only holding on to 8% of the total land in Mumbai.

People are moving so fast that there is no time to discuss how the resources can be distributed equally in a free India.

Whether it is landless people's movement or the Narmada movement or an anti-corruption movement, there are many middle class and upper class people in Mumbai who are supporting those struggles. This is an indication that among the middle class and upper middle class there are many who feel uncomfortable with their own lifestyle.

When they look around and see so much poverty and deprivation, they are compelled to act. Ekta Parishad has been lucky to have supporters like Yatish Mehta, Kundanbhai, Paramjeet Singh, Tilak and many others who appreciate and support the non-violent struggle of Ekta Parishad.

They want us to succeed in our struggle for people's control over land and livelihood resources.

Neglected lot of God’s country

Dr. S Remadevi/ Kochi

Tribal community in Kerala has been facing manifold challenges. Although the awareness level has gone up among them, women still face exploitation.

Rani (name changed) became pregnant when she was studying in a school. She fell in love with a contractor Raju. Although she used to talk to him for long, she never felt that she should know more about Raju. When Raju came to know that Beena was pregnant, she was not seen in the area.

There were complications during the delivery. Fortunately, doctors were able to save both mother and child. But, for Beena, a tribal hailing from Attappady of Palakkad district, life after the episode was even more hellish. She was thrown out of her house and the community looked down upon her and many branded her as a prostitute and made advances towards her.

The community or her family never tried to find out the culprit because they thought the girl had "committed the crime".

Now, at 40 years of age, Beena earns her livelihood by selling her body. Her son, a heavy drinker, beats her up if she doesn't pay for his drinks. She is suffering from various ailments, including diabetes. "My son beats me up quite often. He thinks I made him a laughing stock. He may be correct also," said Beena, philosophically.

Rani's case is not an isolated one. There are hundreds of such unwed mothers in the tribal hamlets Palakkad, Wayanad and Kasargod districts. Most of the women, discarded by the community and disowned by the men who defiled them, face starvation and penury.

The Kerala State Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Department conducted a survey and found 563 unwed mothers in the state. But the Kerala Women's Commission (KWC) puts the actual number at more than 2,000.

A few years ago, another survey by Deputy Police Inspector-General S Sreejith had found that there were about 1,000 unwed mothers in the tribal areas of north Kerala.

Another finding is that most of the unwed mothers belong to the age-group of 14-20 years. "This is nothing but sexual exploitation. If it were in a non-tribal area, the entire state machinery would have swung into action. No one cares for tribals as they are not a vote bank," said Sivaraman, a tribal activist.

Another shocking finding of a survey is that there has been a steep rise in the numbers of unwed mothers in the last one decade. "The KWC is initiating a police inquiry into the cases of young unwed mothers and making arrangements to rehabilitate the affected women," said a member of KWC.

The member pointed out forest officials, teachers, contractors, labourers and local leaders as among those accused of impregnating young girls. They lure teenage girls by giving them money, liquor, clothes, bags, and perfumes. They flatter the girls and then invite them to their homes or to see a movie. Some men offer marriage proposals.

Dr. K. G. Vijayalakshmi, director of the Thiruvananthapuram-based Women Empowerment and Human Resource Development Centre of India, who has studied the problem, told IPS that the issues of unwed mothers are mainly linked to social backwardness.

"Hunger, poverty, illiteracy, ill-health, lack of communication and financial constraints are leading tribal women to seek the help of non-tribal people," she said. "These forest invaders, especially rich people, sexually exploit the women. Many unwed tribal girls are working free of cost in the residences of non- tribal people."

Chennai-based anthropologist G. P. Paul told IPS the issue of unmarried mothers is as serious as the problem of displacement from tribal territory. Kerala tribes have lost thousands of acres to non-tribal people, who venture into the forest to grab their land.

"No steps were taken to restore their land. Migration of non-tribal people continues. Raped and ravaged by non-tribal people, tribal women in Kerala are paying a heavy price," he added.

News reports cite a survey conducted in 174 hamlets in Attappady in 2000 by the volunteer organisation NAMU, which found 343 unmarried mothers, some of them with more than one child.

Earlier in 1997, a committee of the Kerala Legislative Assembly also examined the problem and submitted a report to the government, which failed to act on it.

Since then, officials and activists have demanded action and social programmes to address the issue of unwed mothers in tribal hamlets.

Pushkala Unnikrishnan, an activist in tribal issues and vice-president of the local self-government institution in Wayanad district, wants the government to implement special welfare schemes such as pensions for unwed mothers.

Kerala Aadivasi Forum (KAF), a tribal organisation, is seeking justice from the government and social agencies for the rehabilitation of unmarried mothers and their children.

Bolan, a state committee member and KAF Wayanad district president, wants government to start planning a long-term programme for the welfare of these mothers. "Living conditions of children born out of wedlock are worst. Most of them have inhibitions to face others, fearing being taunted as the children of harlots."

Experts point out that premature deaths of unwed tribal women were not uncommon, and several crude and inhuman methods have been employed to eliminate infants even after birth.

Kitty Lukose, a social researcher who has studied the condition of tribal unwed mothers in Wayanad, found out that many tribal girls resorted to abortion using traditional medicine. "They go to government hospitals for check-ups. Once they find that they are pregnant, they abort the fetus."

Dr. K. Ramachandran Nair, a physician who has served in tribal areas for more than 45 years, told IPS that hypertension and diabetes are very common among unmarried mothers.

"Some of the unwed mothers later turn into sex workers since there is absolutely no income for survival. The mothers are isolated both from their family as well as from the community. The culprits escape from the net through their economic and political power," Dr. Nair pointed out.

Dr. Beena Kannan, a health expert working in a government hospital in Kochi, a city north of the capital Thiruvananthapuram, suggested that regular medical checkups, both for the mothers and children, are essential for their survival.

"Besides imparting legal and emotional support, health organisations should give awareness on safe sex practices and condom usage," she added.

Recently, the Kerala government had decided to increase the welfare pension for unwed tribal mothers from Rs 300 to Rs 1,000 a month. Besides, one acre of land would be given to each of them. The police would be directed to take strong action against exploiters.

The Chief Minister said the problem of unwed mothers was a serious one. According to the Scheduled Tribes Department, there were 910 unwed mothers in Wayanad district. Police estimates put it around 1,500. Though the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Commission had submitted a series of recommendations to the government in this respect in 2009, only the recommendation for payment of pension had been implemented. The government proposed to take up a rehabilitation plan for them. Land would be provided to such tribal women under the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers Act, if eligible. The Wayanad Collector would be asked to buy land for others. Budget funds of the ST Department would be spent for building houses for them.

Strike at the root of problem

K. A. Badarinath

Whenever attempts are made to modernise and mechanise the sector,

objections are raised saying farming is not an enterprise rather it is ‘way of life’

Farming and its related activities form the core of Indian economy. This is not only because majority of Indians banks on this sector for their livelihood, but also its contribution to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is the highest in comparison to other sectors — manufacturing and services.

Despite the primacy of the sector, farming has never been a remunerative occupation, as it entirely depends on Minimum Support Price (MSP) for almost all produce, except for the cash crop. Farmers of cash crops, however, have a different story to tell.

Because of the ‘MSP culture’ in the country since Independence farming has so far remained an occupation for subsistence only. Therefore, whenever attempts are made to modernise and mechanise the sector, sharp chorus emerges claiming that farming is not an enterprise rather it is a "way of life" and thus policy makers have failed so far give positive direction to the sector.

Whenever talk of providing credit to farm sector is talked about, sound bytes come suggesting a kind of largess, which neither help the economy nor the farmers. Since the assumption for providing farm sector credit is based on wrong principle, several attempts to organize loans for farmers fell flat.

Interestingly, the subsistence farming in India does not require much of credit to enter into the vocation and so seldom we find any case of dept trap or hear any news of farmers suicides from regions where such agricultural practices are in operation. We have not yet heard farmers' suicides from Bihar, Odisha, West Bengal, Jharkhand and Eastern Uttar Pradesh. These are the areas in the country, where prosperity has not come in a big way.

The real culprit, however, appears to be cash crops and the regions in which such farming take place distressed farmers are found the most. Recently, it was reported that every one out of two farmers suffers from debt trap leading to incidences of suicides. Therefore, reports of farmers committing suicides are mostly emanating from Western Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat. These states, however, are considered to be developed with large contribution to India's GDP.

Since profit margins are high in case cash crops like sugar canes, cotton, spices and coir, farmners have the tendency to go for kill and take a lot of risk by borrowing money not only from banks, but also from moneylenders. One crop failure leaves them with nothing but to end their lives. The trend needs to be curbed by initiating multi-pronged policy intervention, as only waiving loans will not serve the long-term purpose.

Of late different political parties have started ruling at the centre and in states, so there has long been tendency between the two to indulge in blame game, which is also not serving purpose.

Recently, at a debate in the Rajya Sabha questions were raised about contradictory figures of farmers' suicides emerging from states and the union home ministry's national crime record bureau. Following this the government suggested forming a parliamentary panel to look into the issue and suggest the government the measures needed to curb and eliminate incidences farmers' suicides.

"Let us appoint a House Committee with members from both the Houses of parliament that can go to the states to look into the issue of farmers' suicides," agriculture minister Sharad Pawar said in his reply to the debate.

"The NCRB has reported 15,900 cases where as the state governments have reported only 800," the agriculture minister informed.

Interestingly, whenever prices any crash crop tumbles substantially, farmers involved in cultivation agitate demanding MSP system. But will this solve the problem is a question, which is being legitimately asked by experts. Recently cotton farmers of Maharashtra has asked for a MSP of Rs. 6,000 per quintal on the plea that their cost of production is Rs. 5,7,00 per quintal. Even if government agrees to it, the measure would remain just a temporary relief.

Farm sector in India needs a robust policy with long-term ramification. Hope this will be delivered soon!

‘There is no law that says only the government can draft a Bill’

In a candid conversation, former Lokayukta of Karnataka Nitte Santosh Hedge and key member of Team Anna shares his views on Lokpal Bill with Sopan Step.

The government has kept the CBI out of the control of Lokpal, while they have agreed to bring the Prime Minister under Lokpal with some safeguards. What are your reactions?

I am totally against the government's idea of keeping the CBI out of Lokpal. This would mean Lokpal cannot investigate but only enquire. In Karnataka, the idea of conceiving a Lokayukta was to investigate into matters when the investigating agency had failed. No point in making Lokpal an enquiry body. My personal view about the inclusion of Prime Minster under Lokpal with some safeguards is okay for the time being.

Is Lokpal panacea for every problem?

I would not call it a panacea and in fact it is not. People have asked me if this would wipe out corruption. My answer is no. My personal understanding is that corruption is not a recent menace. It has been into existence since the civilisations started. If one read the scriptures one will find references of it. It is the growth of the corruption which is causing all the problems. The corruption problem has compounded. Therefore, Lokpal is a tool which can check corruption from going bad to worse and to also bring in a system of vigilance in place.

How to make a strong Lokpal, Lokayukta acceptable to political parties, elected members of Lok Sabha and assemblies?

Today I hear that the government is considering including Group C and Prime Minister under Lokpal. I think they understand the importance of having a Lokpal. It is just a matter of considering the suggestions put forth to them. To make it a strong Lokpal, it is necessary to include everyone, right till the end of bureaucracy. We cannot exclude bureaucrats and have Lokpal only for Politicians. Why just Group C, why not include Group D? You neither need huge infrastructure nor human resources for implementing Lokpal but purely the power of delegation. Empower the Lokpal and things will fall in place. Lokpal is a body which deals with anti-corruption and administrative misconduct too. Once everyone is in the ambit of Lokpal, it will be an effective tool.

What should be the jurisdiction of the Lokpal? Should CBI and the Prime Minister come under Lokpal?

Our suggestion is that Lokpal should be a wide body. Wide body does not mean inclusion of large number of people but in terms of diversity of the people involved. We suggest the inclusion of the Prime Minister, leader of the opposition, two judges of the Supreme Court and two Chief Justices of the High Court. We want the CBI's wing and CVC also included. CVC is an organisation meant for correcting the misconduct of the officers. So in this context it is necessary to merge the CVC with Lokpal.

If the government decides not to consider citizen's charter, CBI and appointment of Lokayuktas under Lokpal, would you approve of it? If not then what would be team Anna's next step?

Every demand under Jan Lokpal is a fair demand but we need to prioritise. Some are non-negotiable and some can be negotiated. I think inclusion of CVC and CBI's wing is a must. On inclusion of the Prime Minsiter, I have a slightly different opinion. I am prepared to negotiate on some of the suggestions. Having said that, it does not mean I do not support Team Anna. We will see how the government takes it forward. As far as Citizen's Charter is concerned, the government says that it will be given to the respective states. Therefore, I am prepared to wait and see how this goes. Let us give it a try and see.

The argument is that how will Lokpal deal with so many people, when included?

I don't buy this argument. Everybody should have the right for redressal of their grievances. If the power of delegation is given to the Lokpal, we will be able to deal with it. For example, if a complaint comes from Kanyakumari, it can be addressed by the district in charge and then referred to the Lokpal. The Lokpal may then act upon it. Therefore the principal focus must be to have a grievance redressal system. From my personal experience of having served as Lokayukta in Karnataka, I feel that it was difficult to tackle the problems which are not in my jurisdiction. For example, the postman, one of the lowest Central government officers is the one who harasses the poor people the most.

Unless you bribe him the money orders do not reach the concerned. Presently we are not able to look into this because it is not under State Lokayukta jurisdiction. When this is sent to the CBI for enquiry, it thinks this to be very trivial to handle since they deal with several hundreds of big cases every day.

The recommendations for the composition of Lokpal are that it must comprise of judicial members, former judges and non-judicial members with 25 years in anticorruption policy. However in the recent times, several judicial members including Supreme Court judges and former CVC have been framed with corruption charges. In this wake, do you think Judiciary is free of corruption?

Choosing members for Lokapl is similar to the process undertaken for any other agency. There might be an element of suspicion in the selection. Well this is evident everywhere, including the process in choosing one's life partner.

The general mood among the citizens is that of complete loss of faith in politicians and to an extent in judiciary. Why can't the existing laws or system be strengthened instead of introducing another legal body, Lokpal, to combat corruption?

More laws create more delays. Lokayukta was suggested by high level body in 1966. Therefore it is an appropriate body to tackle corruption.

There is a lot of debate about the way this movement is heading to. People feel that the civil societies are dictating terms to the government. How democratic is it to have no elected leader but a handful of activists, taking decisions on behalf of the entire country?

As a democratic country, citizens can draft a Bill. There is no law that says only the government should draft a Bill. I cannot believe when they say that we are undermining or blackmailing the parliament. I want to ask them who are 'we' and who are 'they'? 'We' means the citizens visa via the parliament, the government. The opening line in our constitution says 'we the people, given to ourselves this constitution..". Therefore, 'we' includes everyone. Now who are 'they'? They are creatures created under the constitution. Parliament, the judiciary and the executive is created under constitution. Institutionally the parliament makes the law but practically the members are the ones who speak and vote. But we have chosen these members. They are there not as a matter of right but as our representatives. The article 19(a) says every citizen has the freedom of speech and expression.

Debating is one thing and influencing is another. Civil Societies are charged with influencing and interfering with the system.

Influencing or lobbying happens everywhere. It is a right of every citizen to speak. May be the tone with which Anna says is being read wrong. But the fact remains that lobbying, canvassing and putting forth one's view is not against the law or democracy. Many a times laws have been influenced by groups. Do not be under the impression that the parliament is functioning in a true parliamentary system. According to a survey done by a magazine 'Election Watch' on the performance of the members of the parliament between the years 2004-2009, out of the 540 plus Loksabha members, only 174 spoke just once during the Parliamentary sessions during those 5 years. If that is all we want then why send 540 members? One Member of Parliament from each state is enough. On 23rd December 2008, 17 bills have been passed in 12 minutes by the Loksabha. Can that be called as a discussion? Did the people know what bills were being passed? Out of the 17 bills, one bill was an amendment to the prevention of corruption act (1947). What were they trying to do? They were trying to take away three sections, which were necessary in prosecution of the accused. I respect the judiciary, parliament and the constitution. But I am not going to keep me eyes closed.

You have welcomed the suggestion by Rahul Gandhi on making Lokpal a constitutional body. Are we now ready to make Lokpal a constitutional body?

Rahul Gandhi made a statement that it would be a good idea to have a strong Lokpal. A strong Lokpal like an election commission should be constitutional and not an ordinary statutory. I agree but it cannot be done right away. It will take another year if they want it to be constitutional. There are two opinions on this, whether it requires 2/3rds majority or a simple majority to amend the constitution. I have no comments on these opinions. In any case the matter is to be discussed.

However if we start discussing on this, it will then be a new set of things to tackle. Therefore let us proceed with the way we have started with Lokpal bill. Let us create a statutory body and also simultaneously start the process of giving constitutional status to it. When the bill succeeds, its statutory status automatically gets converted into constitutional status.

What do you think of the role of media in the recent times? Has it helped or impeded the Anna's movement on Lokpal?

Media, by and large especially in the beginning has encouraged the movement by projecting it positively. There are some incidents where it has highlighted some unnecessary things too. Overall, I am satisfied with the role of media.

What do you think of the recent developments where the opposition has come out in support of Team Anna? While in Gujarat and Karnataka, where BJP is the ruling party, we see that there are problems related to appointing Lokayukta. Isn't this ironical?

Yes it is ironical. The political parties must look at their stance before going public with their views. In Gujarat, it is the issue between the governor and the chief minister. By and large, they all should realise that the common agenda is to fight corruption.

Despite Lokayukta framing charges against several big politicians, including former chief ministers, they are out on bail and even come back to power. Do you think Lokpal will also be meted with same fate?

Releasing the politicians on bail is a system which we have followed since the British days. There are two types of offences, bailable and non-bailable. Offences which are permissible with a maximum of two years imprisonment are automatically bailable. Non-bailable offences are the ones where the punishment is more than two years and or has death penalty. But the judiciary has laid down that even in non-bailable offences, bail can be granted. If the punishment is 5 or 7 years then bail is granted. But if it is a case of death or life penalty, bail cannot be granted unless there are exceptional circumstances. Technically there are two categories but in practice there are three. For crimes like forgery, minor assaults one can get bail, even if the sentence is more than two years. My question is why should an FIR stay as as an FIR only. Investigation can never be stayed. The Supreme Court has laid down that only if there is a malafide complaint then it can be stayed. Or if the FIR is registered and the agency investigation is not empowered then it can be stayed. Releasing on bail for a scam like 2G which involves Rs 1,76,000 crore, is unfortunate.

Would you think of joining politics in the near future?

What is sarcastically put forth to me often is that why don't you fight an election? I don't think either me, Anna nor can his team members fight an election as we neither have the financial capacity to spend large amount of money nor can anyone get elected in the present situation. Today even if Mahatma Gandhi contests from Porbandar he cannot win. You don't have to be in the parliament to fight. This is a wrong concept. This would only reflect that we are isolating the parliament from the people. In Prajaprbhutva, praja is the prabhu the others are public servants.

Harvest of despair

Poornima Kandi/Bangalore

National Crime Records Bureau data says more than 2,16,000 farmers have committed suicide since 1997

Karnataka had never witnessed farmers' suicides until the year 1998. The suicides were first reported from the northern parts of Karnataka, closer to the Andhra Pradesh border. What started as a few unfortunate incidents in the drought-prone, economically backward regions of Gulbarga and Bidar of North Karnataka is now rampant in the irrigated regions too. After the year 2000, this phenomenon was seen in agriculturally advanced regions like Shimoga, Hassan, Davangere, Koppal and Chikamagalur too.

Looking back, farmers of Karnataka have always demonstrated their angst only through protest, mostly by throwing produce on the streets. However, all this changed when the neighbouring state of Andhra Pradesh witnessed spate of farmers' suicides, mostly cotton growers. However, in Karnataka, farmers growing cereals, sugarcane, pulses, and vegetable cultivators also resorted to suicides. Another striking aspect is that the large number of farmers who committed suicides was mostly in the age group of 25-30 years. In some cases the debt amount of the farmer who committed suicide was as small as Rs.5000.

According to the State Agriculture department, the number of farmer suicides since 2008 is 900. But a study by Tehelka team puts the figure at 2500 deaths for the year 2010. Loss of crops from pests and diseases and lack of remunerative prices has added to the miseries of the farmers. Inability to repay the debts has compounded their conditions of desperation and leading them to suicides in order to avoid humiliation.

AR Vasavi, a Sociologist from Bangalore, says, "In Hassan district of Karnataka, I recorded the suicide of an enterprising middle-aged agriculturist, who in an effort to give up his caste occupation of toddy tapping had taken to agriculture. The declining water table and the drought in 2003 had laid his fields barren and the amounts he had borrowed to sink a well on his land had grown in compound rates. Unable to bear the periodic visits of his creditors to his village and home and their taunts and demands, he hanged himself on a tree in his land."

She adds, "The north-eastern Karnataka belts have the double burden of being drought-prone and of having lesser institutional and infrastructure support than in southern Karnataka." Her study indicates that the suicides are not merely a response to changes in the economic and social world of agriculturists. It is rather, the very entrenched structure of agriculture that is unfair, which has led to this tragedy.

The situation in Karnataka is different from other regions as it has a large area which comes under dry farming. Agriculture, Man and Ecology Foundation, a non-governmental organisation promoting sustainable agriculture, documents that production situation is vastly different in dry farming areas than in the irrigated farming areas. The yields in the fragile eco systems of dry farming are neither high nor assured. To add to the miseries is the uncertain monsoon. Dr Dwarakinath, Chairman of AME Foundation says, "Karnataka is the second largest dry-land state. At present, most dry farmers are also small farmers. They are generally resource poor. The creamy layer farmers have better socio economic status, while the farmers in dry farming are essentially conservative owing to low economic resilience".

It should be noted that farmers differ in their attitude and adoption behaviour too. Dr Dwarakinath remarks that the small farmers usually emulate the big farmers without understanding the dynamics of the demand and supply. Thus, leading to huge losses, this eventually brings the farmer to the brink of misery. What the small farmers lack today is positive orientation and capacity building. Although the Agriculture department has designated Extension officers to do the job, the rampant suicides clearly indicate that they have failed to do their job.

Also, over the years, the ecological conditions in rain-fed areas have enormously deteriorated. Climate change is further aggravating dry farming. Vasavi, who has done extensive studies on the agrarian crisis while working with National Institute of Advanced Studies, opines that the government should first stop the promotion of the Green Revolution model of agriculture.

Although green revolution took off well in irrigated regions, it has not found acceptance in dry farming. Vasavi and Dr Dwarakinath opine that focus on external inputs, high technology and high capital which is not affordable by the poor farmers is putting them to misery. Dr Dwarakinath adds that planning of production and capacity building of small farmers are the key areas the government need to focus on.

The need of the hour is a regional, eco-sensitive agriculture with strong market support. Focus must also be on rejuvenating land and promoting cooperative land use and labour pools. Although the agrarian crisis has made several governments sit up and take notice but no measures have brought any relief to the farmers.

2.5 lakh farmers ended lives in 13 years

A recent study reveals alarming facts about farmers's suicides in India. A record 2.5 lakh farmers have committed suicide in the country over the last 13 years. Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar's home state Maharashtra tops the list.

According to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data, more than 2,16,000 farmers have committed suicide since 1997. P Sainath says: Add figures for the years 1995 and 1996 and 2010, the total figure crosses 2,50,000!

UPA 2 says the problem is systemic. Agriculture minister Sharad Pawar whose state has the worst figures for the 10th consecutive year has stopped quoting NCRB figures since 2007.

More than 17,000 farmers committed suicide in 2009, the worst since 2004. That takes the total number of recorded farmer suicides since 1997 to 216,500.

But the figures could be starker. P Sainath, who broke the story, explains it could be beyond a quarter million people.

"The numbers are from the annual report of the Government of India's own National Crime Records Bureau. Their yearly total for farmer suicide from 1995 to 2009 bring us to a total of 2,40,000. So even if we assume that 2010 saw far fewer suicides than the average of the last decade, it still takes the figure past 2,50,000 or a quarter of a million farmer suicides," explained P Sainath.

For the 10th consecutive year, agriculture minister Sharad Pawar's home state has the worst record with 2,872 farmers committing suicide, despite the much hyped prime minister's relief package.

Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh follow closely, with two thirds of farmer suicides being reported from these states.

But the question is that are more number of suicides being reported simply because there are more people in agriculture?

"Even the latest NCRB annual report of 2009 points out that general suicides in the whole country increased 15 per cent between 1999 and 2009, but the population of the country increased 18.5 per cent in the same decade. This means that there is an actual annual decline in the general suicide rates. But in the same period, the farmers' population declined as more people left agriculture. But the suicide rate rose steeply till they are double of the non- farmers' in the main states," said P Sainath.

The despair has deepened over the past year with 18 of the 28 states reporting more suicides. The farmer suicide graph has been steadily rising.

"I believe the issue is more systemic. Because if you are talking about 15 years, you are talking about one and a half decades. There is a need to hold our horses, study the report and then comment," exclaimed Congress spokesperson Manish Tewary.

In 2007, the agriculture minister in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha had said that there were more than 1,49,000 farmer suicides between 1997 and 2005. Since then, however, he has not fallen back on the NCRB numbers to explain the distress. But perhaps the first step in solving a crisis is acknowledging that one exists.