Kashmir's village

leaders

little headway

on loKpal

new land laws

get tricKy

KoKum’s quiet

success

ladaKh’s rocK art

hunters

in wild company

` 50VOL. 8 NO. 8 JUNE 2011 www.civilsocietyonline.com

Pages 8-9

Pages 10-11

Pages 14-15

Pages 26-27

Pages 33-34

Page 35

instant moneyinstant moneyinstant moneyinstant moneyinstant money

interviewsBinayak Sen

‘ 37% of indianadults are under-nourished andlarge sections ofour people facefamine’

Pages 6-7

Medha Patkar

‘ the governmentalso legitimizescorruption. socorruption has tobe fought atground level’

Pages 12-13

more migrants transfer cash tovillages by mobilemore migrants transfer cash tovillages by mobilemore migrants transfer cash tovillages by mobilemore migrants transfer cash tovillages by mobilemore migrants transfer cash tovillages by mobile

conTenTS

remittances by migrant workers in cities to their familiesin villages have become a huge business opportunity formobile commerce companies.

instAnt MOneY

technology, when used well, is a leveller and speeds up inclusion. Itmakes it possible to leapfrog over seemingly unbridgeable gaps indevelopment. The spread of telecom is of course the biggest example.

now that owning a phone is no longer a privilege, it has become easier forpeople to get on with their lives. Migrant workers in cities may not havebank accounts because of the sloth and elitism that ails our banks. But byusing their mobile phones to transfer money to their families in their vil-lages, these migrants, many of them earning small sums, have already hadtheir first taste of safe and efficient financial transactions.

We chose the mobile money transfer business as our cover story thismonth because it is an example of how technology and entrepreneurshipmake a potent combination in providing access and driving growth. Whenit comes to dealing with large numbers and old backlogs, the solutions willhave to be found in new efficiencies. Affordable housing, renewable ener-gy, remote diagnostics are some of the other areas where much can bedone by treating them as underserved markets. only entrepreneurs arecapable of the speed and inventiveness needed for seeking out volumesand bringing down costs so that the maximum number of people benefitin the shortest possible time.

What then should the government’s role be? It should ensure honestand vigorous regulation. It should also draw the line for what should betreated as a market and what should be delivered to citizens as their rightthrough good governance. Universal health care, education and supply offoodgrain should be areas where the government stays responsibly incharge because privatisation has led to growing disparities. The solutionclearly is not in abdication or even public-private partnerships, but in amore creative use of the capacities in the country.

This issue of civil Society also tracks the rather complex dialogue on thelokpal Bill and the divisions it has created among activist groups. A lawseems some distance away right now with many of the basic issues yet tobe taken up let alone resolved. Another law which is proving to be trickyis the one on land acquisition and rehabilitation. The drafting of both lawsshow the need for better pre-legislative consultation, a point made in ourcover story on the lokpal last month. Many buy-ins are needed.

We caught up with Dr Binayak Sen in Delhi shortly after his release fromjail. Dr Sen’s contribution to public health is often overlooked in the midstof the controversy over the unsubstantiated treason charge levied againsthim. In his interview with us he speaks about health care in India and thechallenge of raising the nutrition levels of almost half the country’s popu-lation. his is a voice that needs to be heard.

22

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r e a d u s. W e r e a d y o u.

MKSS renews itself at Bhim mela . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

. .13Children assess schools and anganwadis

Night school is guru . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

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. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36-37Jassoosi Duniya in India

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5CIVIL SOCIETY, JUNE 2011

VoIceS

Lokpal Billyour story on the agitation over thelokpal Bill gave us an inside view ofthe differences between civil societygroups over this legislation. yourmagazine is the only one to havegiven us this information. Thanks.

Shashi Kumar

you covered the lokpal issue verywell. It gave us the views of bothsides – Arvind Kejriwal as well asthe ncPRI. The two groups have dif-

ferent styles of drafting legislation.you gave us both perspectives with-out ostensibly passing judgment.This is not an easy task to do.congatulations!

Anand Narayan

For the first time I came to knowngos have serious differencesbetween themselves. I alwaysthought they spoke together onsuch issues. For the sake of thecountry both Arvind Kejriwal andnikhil Dey should unite and draftthe lokpal Bill. Then we will get astrong bill and it will be passed byParliament. Divisions in the sectorwill only embolden the corrupt.

Anand Sahai

JournalismI enjoyed reading your interviewwith Sanjaya Baru. he expressed theviews of many Indians. TV newsneeds to improve. Many times chan-nels go on repeating shows theyhave telecast before. Sometimes anold interview is replayed. They treatthe consumer with utmost con-tempt. The Indian middle-class isnot that dumb.

Amita Jacob

I agree with Sanjaya Baru that com-

petition has not improved the qual-ity of programmes telecast. Theproblem is that rich people invest inthe media to either promote theirpolitical or commercial interests.They don’t start TV channels topractice good journalism. There isno idealism involved.

Mani P

Drought-proofing The story about the nagaral familysharing its knowledge aboutdrought-proofing with other farm-ers was very inspiring. Thanks forprofiling this selfless man.

Soumya

no doubt this is an inspiring story.We have many enlightened farmersin India but their work is not high-lighted. Today the image of thefarmer among the middle-class isone of an impoverished man. A lotof it has to do with policies.

Prabha Hegde

New university The Azim Premji University has setout to do a great job. our educationsystem needs a flow of information.Most institutes are diverting stu-dents from hindi or regional lan-

guages to english medium whereasthe approach mentioned by theAzim Premji University should bethe real one.

Harvendra Singh

The university should do well. Butthey should not restrict themselvesto admitting people from smalltowns and villages. everyoneshould be welcomed to join.

Paramjit

It is a new age idea and it will bene-fit India. Soon other countries willwant to copy it. There is a scarcity ofchange-leaders round the world.

Jillian

Organic café Brownie is an awesome concept. Itis a new way of making people taketo organic products. Vishal, all thebest in your endeavour!

Mayank Kumar

We should have many more organiccafes and restaurants in India. Itwill encourage our farmers to adoptbetter methods of agriculture, useless chemicals and earn moremoney for their produce.

Bharati Sinha

In The lIghT by SAMITA RAThoR

letters

CIVIL SOCIETY, JUNE 2011

InDIA

6

Civil Society news

New Delhi

Dr Binayak Sen has recently been in the news forcharges of sedition under an archaic law. But itis really his long-standing work as a physician

and a champion of linking health care to social andeconomic justice that should be the focus of nation-al attention.

Dr Sen and his wife, Ilina, have spent a lifetimeworking among the tribal people of chhattisgarh.From the Shaheed hospital, which is run by mineworkers, to the training of community health atten-dants, the Sens have shown that a public health sys-tem in a predominantly poor country must remainfocused on innovations at the bottom.

Better health for the majority depends on accessto medical facilities, food and natural resources likewater. The true test of India’s growth model is toprovide such access to rich and poor alike. At pres-ent, disparities are huge and delivery mechanismsserve very few.

Dr Sen has been asked to advise the Planningcommission on nutrition based on his experiencein tribal areas. The Ashas, village-level health work-ers, under the national Rural health Mission(nRhM) are in fact modelled on the Mitanin pro-gramme which Dr Sen implemented inchhattisgarh

Dr Sen became vice-president of the People’sUnion of civil liberties (PUcl) in 2002 and hiswork led him to investigate deaths in police cus-tody, Maoist violence and fake encounters and theatrocities of Salwa Judum, the militia raised by thestate government to fight naxalites, pitting peopleagainst people.

Dr Sen is resolutely in favour of only peacefulmeans of protest. he opposes the use of violenceby the Maoists. he is equally opposed to violenceby the State and has been critical of Salwa Judum.however, his activism resulted in thechhattisgarh government arresting him oncharges of sedition and accusing him of being asupporter of the Maoists.

It has taken a sustained campaign by civil rightsgroups to bring to light the hollowness of the casefiled against Dr Sen. on 15 April Dr Sen was grant-ed bail by the Supreme court after being sen-tenced to life imprisonment by a chhattisgarhtrial court. The Supreme court said that the evi-dence on record does not establish a case of sedi-

tion against Dr Sen.edited excerpts from an interview taken in Delhi

as Dr Sen, just out of jail, prepared to spend sometime with his wife and two daughters.

We have a national Rural health Mission (nRhM)in India, but it does not seem to have made muchof a difference.I haven’t studied the nRhM but I can tell you aboutnutrition. half the world’s malnourished childrenlive in India. More than 45 per cent of Indian chil-dren under five are malnourished by weight.

Among adults, the national nutrition

Monitoring Bureau tells us that 37 per cent of theadult Indian population has a body mass index(BMI) of below 18.5, which is representative ofchronic under-nutrition. This 37 per cent is notspread evenly across the country. So, if we disaggre-gate the data, we find that 50 per cent of Scheduledcastes (Scs) and 60 per cent of Scheduled Tribes(STs) have a BMI which is below 18.5.

Such indicators tell us that large sections of thepopulation are suffering from chronic under-nourishment. According to the World healthorganization (Who), any community in which 40per cent of its population has a BMI below 18.5 isexperiencing famine. going by this criterion, largesections of our population are walking withfamine on their side. This is the situation we face.

It’s getting worse because per capita grain con-sumption, according to Utsa Patnaik (the econo-mist) has declined since at the top end of the scalethe consumption of grain has been increasing bothdirectly and indirectly in the form of flesh. So theactual decline in the consumption of the poor is

greater than what has been revealed by figures. It is our experience that poor communities are

able to survive because of their access to commonproperty resources like land, water and forests. Butwe are now in a unique phase of India’s historywhere dispossession of the poor and handing overtheir resources to the rich is a legitimate way tosecure national economic growth.

These processes have occurred in the last 500years in other countries. We are now seeing themhappen in India. But because we cannot go coloniseother countries like the european nations did, theIndian propertied classes are targeting their ownpeople and the State is standing guarantor to thisprocess.

The title of our investigation into Salwa Judumin 2005 was: ‘When a State Makes War on its ownPeople’. operation greenhunt is just that – theState making war on its own people.

But the Union government does appear to be wor-ried. efforts are on to strengthen the Integratedchild Development Scheme (IcDS), add workersto the anganwadi, etc. Won’t all these initiativesmake a difference? The proof of the pudding, almost literally, is in theeating. If malnutrition figures are going to remainthe same or get worse, then we have to question thestrategy the State is adopting. The levels of malnu-trition that we see are actually compromising theability of these populations to combat a host of dis-eases including infectious diseases like malaria andtuberculosis. one of the most important things weneed to do to tackle malaria and TB and other infec-tious diseases is to actually increase the immuno-logical status of the population with nutrition.

What would you say is the solution in the next fiveyears?First of all there is no such solution you can imple-ment in the next five years. Secondly, we have toconfront the issues of inequity, injustice and war.We have to ensure that those situations arereversed. As human rights workers we are againstviolence and we are committed to peaceful solu-tions. Whatever measures we take will not leave thepropertied classes unaffected. The distribution ofresources in the country has to change. TheSupreme court has said we cannot have a nationwhere there are two categories of people. It is some-thing we need to pay serious attention to.

‘we are now in a uniquephase of india's history

where dispossession of thepoor and handing over their

resources to the rich is alegitimate way to secure

national economic growth.’

‘37 per cent indian adultsare under-nourished’

large sections of our population face famine, says dr binayak sen intervieW

7CIVIL SOCIETY, JUNE 2011

InDIA

If you want to know what to do immediately,well, the right to food campaign has been asking fora universal Public Distribution System (PDS). Thatwould be a good thing to do. certain useful changeshave been made in the PDS in some parts of thecountry. Also, you need to extend the PDS so thatthe actual nutritional status of people becomesmore secure. The amount of food being distributed,which is 35 kg of grain, does not meet the require-ments of a poor family of five. What is happening isthat the BPl population has to make up the deficitby buying grain at exorbitant rates from the market.

Amongst malnourished children the biggest prob-lem we face is low birth weight. From the time thebaby is born he/she is already suffering from a

deficit. Are you going to make up that deficit or pre-vent it? That means the nutrition of our mothershas to improve. It cannot happen with 100 irontablets during pregnancy. Mothers need enoughfood of quality to ensure macro-micro nutrientdeficits are targeted. It is only then that we willhave healthy mothers and healthy babies beingborn. The Scandinavian experience shows once youhave healthy babies of 2.5 kg the child is already onthe path to good health.

The nRhM has now created a large network ofAshas in villages. Won’t they make a difference?Actually this concept of Ashas came from theMitanin programme which means ‘woman’s

friend.’ We had been working on training anddeploying health workers. other ngos too hadbeen working on this concept. Both Ilina and I werepart of a group set up by the Ajit Jogi governmentafter the formation of the state of chhattisgarhalong with senior government officials who formu-lated the Mitanin programme. We implementedthis programme in two blocks under the BJP admin-istration as well.

We believe it is very important, especially inareas where the population is scattered, to haveearly access to trained health providers who will beable to respond to the health needs of the people invillages and urban communities.

But at the same time the Mitanin programmedoes not do away with the need to have qualifiedaccessible well-equipped rural healthcare facilitiesthat will be able to respond to the needs of the peo-ple as and when required. In particular we havebeen very concerned about births taking place ininstitutions. In chhattisgarh and elsewhere wehave seen that institutional facilities are even moreprimitive than what is available to the woman inher own home. At least the cycle of infection doesnot exist there. But in these institutional facilitiesthere is no equipment to ensure an aseptic environ-ment and infection can be easily transmitted.

Some of my bitterest experiences have been withsuch institutional facilities. In chhattisgarh we dida census under structural enhancement of healthcare facilities available to the people.

The state has about 25 million people and 16 dis-tricts. We were looking at finding public sectorhealthcare facilities which were equipped to handleemergencies in childbirth. We took the caesariansection as an index and tried to find out how manygovernment hospitals had the capability to do a cae-sarian section. There were just three!

There were private facilities. But chhattisgarh isa state where large sections of the population don’thave the wherewithal to go to a private hospital. Weare trying to implement systems by which theseproblems will be met. I am also heartened by thedeclaration that the government is going to try andspend three per cent of gDP instead of one per centon health. But what we find is that in many casesgovernments don’t have the wherewithal to absorbthe funds.

how much is it really a question of money? groupslike yours, the Rural Surgeons network, theShaheed hospital, have shown its not just aboutmoney. What are we missing here? The Jan Swasthya Sahyog in Bilaspur is anothergroup which has done good work. We need empow-ered communities to initiate processes and carryout effective social audits. These have been part ofthe nRhM. The Jan Swasthya Abhiyan had doneaudits in collaboration with the national humanRights commission (nhRc) in which our group hadparticipated. one important piece of work they didwas to institutionalise social audits in healthcarebut it is at a preliminary stage. We really need tohave empowered communities that can performsocial audits which can then feed back into the sys-tem and improve healthcare facilities.

large sections of our population face famine, says dr binayak sen

dr Binayak Sen

lakshman anand

Syed Basharat

Srinagar

the ongoing Panchayat elections in Jammu andKashmir have witnessed popular participationon a large scale and delivered some unusual

results so far. The candidates include a software engineer-

turned- actor, a law graduate, an IT expert, a right toinformation (RTI) activist, a graduate in forestry, aformer militant, a singer, retired government offi-cers and housewives.

Kashmir’s three-tier election in 16 phases hasnine phases remaining. The elections began on 13April and will conclude on 30 June. According to thechief electoral officer (ceo), B R Sharma, morethan five million voters in 143 blocks will choose4,130 Sarpanchs and 29,719 Panchs across Jammuand Kashmir.

The enthusiastic participation of people indicatesthat Kashmiris want to put an end to unabated cor-ruption, unemployment and underdevelopment.

WUSAn’S PRIDe: one election resultwhich made headlines was of AshaDevi’s. A Kashmiri Pandit, Asha Devi,was voted as Panch by the predomi-nantly Muslim residents of Wusan vil-lage which is en route to the famoushealth resort of gulmarg in Baramulladistrict. Asha Devi is popularly knownas ‘Mummy’ in her Muslim neighbour-hood.

Asha Devi works as a peon in aschool. She is the mother of two chil-dren and she originally hails fromDoda – the home town of Unionhealth Minister ghulam nabi Azad. In1984 she married Radha Krishan inWusan. She says she has never everfelt like an outsider.

“In fact, relations between our twocommunities are so strong that wenever felt the need to migrate from theValley,” she told civil Society. People from her vil-lage and adjoining areas flocked to her house togreet her on her victory. Wusan village, which had10 Kashmiri Pandit families before their massmigration, now has only five Pandit families.

“our Muslim brethren assured us that we wouldbe as secure as they are and they would tackle anyproblem coming our way,” she said.

Did the militants threaten her? “I am a firmbeliever in destiny,” replies the spirited Asha Devi.“life and death are in the hands of god and a per-son dies only once. If I die for truth and I am on theright path, I have no regrets,” she replies.

Asha Devi says she was neverinclined to politics but local lead-ers egged her on. “A lot of peopleasked me to contest. Initially, Iwas a little nervous but I decidedto contest after more supportpoured in,” she says.

out of 98 votes polled in herconstituency, Asha Devi got 54while her opponent, SarwahBegum, got 43. one vote wasrejected.

“We have lived like a family allthese years in this village and Ihave never felt different from theother families. The people havereposed trust in me. now it is myturn to serve them,” she added.

her neighbours are jubilant.“We supported her because wefelt she can serve the area better.

We will continue to support her efforts to serve thepeople,” says halima who campaigned for AshaDevi.

Abdul hamid Wani, numberdar (village head) ofWusan, believes that electing Asha Devi was a con-scious decision of the village as they wanted to senda message to the entire world that the people ofKashmir want the Pandits to return to their homesin the Valley. “We wanted to tell them that we missyou. Without you Kashmir ceases to be the centreof pluralism and age-old communal harmony,” saysWani.

Asha Devi’s neighbours helped her get her job

regularized in the education department. “I work asa peon in a government school. My monthly wagesare `70. And I have been working in this school forthe last 27 years,” she says.

ghulam Mohammad, a former political activistand Asha Devi’s neighbour, takes a more cynicalview. he says people are aware that Asha Devi willfind it difficult to make a difference because corrup-tion runs very deep in the system.

“She is a very poor lady,” says ghulamMohammed. “The government has so far not givenher son a job in the police though he is from a non-migrant Pandit family. So, what can she do for us?But we still love her and we don’t expect anythingfrom her.”

Asha Devi has an agenda all the same. “First, Iwant to provide some relief to a few families ofWusan who have disabled children. Then I want toimprove education facilities, provide safe drinkingwater and ensure round-the-clock power supply.We also need better roads.”

Was she worried about impediments? “If the gov-ernment does not empower us, then there is no funin being elected to this post. Rather, we will feelhumiliated. I think the government should supportus in our honest and sincere efforts for the develop-ment of this state.”

And Asha Devi’s message to her own Pandit com-munity is: “We want all Pandits to return toKashmir…not to the camps or colonies set up bythe government but to the places which they calledhome.”

MoDel TeAcheR: every day Ruby Bashir wakes up

CIVIL SOCIETY, JUNE 2011

InDIA

8

Water, peace,power, health,education arethe issues

asha devi, newly elected Panch of Wusan, with members of her village

ruby Bashir

Ghulam Mohammad Mir

Kashmir’s new village leaders

early and prepares for her class. The differencebetween Ruby and other teachers is that she workshard to educate the people of her village withouttaking any compensation.

A full-time volunteer, Ruby has done a Bachelor’sin Science from a college in Budgam, a centralKashmir district. She also did a one-year specialcourse in computers. She got married to a bankemployee, Bashir Ahmad Dar, in Badipora chadoorain Budgam immediately after she finished her com-puter course.

Ruby says she was motivated by her neighboursto fight the panchayat elections. She got 120 votesout of 150. She never thought she would join poli-tics, she says. She was nervous and hesitant whenshe was asked by her people including her in- lawsto contest.

“My immediate priorities would be better roadsand fencing for my village which is in a flood-pronearea. I have other work which I will try to completein due course,” says Ruby.

She says she will try never to be cowed down bypolitical elites who have always neglected the peo-ple who elect them. “I will try to fight all forces whotry to downplay our panchayat recommendations,”she says. Asked if more women should overcomesocial taboos and join politics, Ruby says that shewould like the women of the entire country tochange with the changing world. “I want women tobe really empowered. otherwise, we will continueto be dominated by the male world,” she believes.

lAchIPoRA’S heRo: on 21 April, villages along theline of control in north Kashmir were abuzz with

the news that Raja Parvez Ali Mir had been electedSarpanch of lachipora in Baramulla district, a two-hour drive from Pakistan occupied Kashmir.

Mir is a 27-year-old software engineer-turned-model who left Mumbai’s film industry to contestthe panchayat polls as an independent candidate.This political novice aspires to give a new look tohis village. Mir talks of building roads, providingsafe drinking water, education, health and hygiene.

Returning after 10 years in Mumbai to his villagesurrounded by steep hills, Mir says he wants toserve his community which comprises gujjar andPahari peasants and labourers who rear livestock.

“I want to bring some change to my entire com-munity,” he says. “My priority will be to end corrup-tion, provide basic amenities and improve employ-ment opportunities,” Mir said in an interview tocivil Society. Son of a police sub-inspector, Mir hasa degree in software engineering from a college in

Maharashtra. he completed his schooling at theModern Public School in Srinagar. In Mumbai, aftercompleting his degree, he turned to modelling.

he has appeared in commercials for sauna belts,suitings and shirts. In 2003, he got a break when hewas selected for the role of Amit in ekta Kapoor’s“Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi”. later, BalajiTelefilms production offered him a role as Prem’sfriend in “Kasauti Zindagi Ki” and a negative charac-ter, Sameer, in “K Street Pali hill.” In RajshriProductions’ “Woh Rehne Waali Mehlon Ki,” heplayed a character named Prem.

But at home he faced stiff opposition from hisfather who, says Mir, felt that public life was awaste of time. however, Mir had made up hismind. “The post of Sarpanch is the least corruptedposition where you must strike a chord with peopleyou represent,” he says.

Mir, who braved a boycott call by separatists andmilitants to contest the polls, believes that falsepromises won’t yield anything. “I believe in prag-matism. I never promise what I can’t fulfill. I havenever promised my people that I will turn theminto models. no. I want to provide my village betterroads, good schools, health institutions and someemployment,” he says.

elected by 542 out of 1,100 voters, Mir says dif-ferent political parties can act as barriers. “I hope Ican achieve almost everything on my agenda. To dothat I have decided to support whichever party is inpower because that is how I can deliver results tomy people.”

DohAMA’S TechIe: ghulam Mohammad Mir, 36,is an Information Technology (IT) graduate whostudied in Shimla. The people of Dohama, a villagein district Kupwara, have elected him as Sarpanch.

he got 287 out of 740 votes. “This is the onlyway I can work for my people at ground level. Myagenda is to make my village a model for education,health care and roads. I also want to do somethingfor the unemployed youth here,” says Mir.

Mir has worked in Meltron, a multinationalcompany. he believes that if he works hard noth-ing will stand in his way. “one can achieve every-thing provided one is serious and sincere,” hesays. “I could have earned `60,000 a month work-ing for any company in India. here, as Sarpanch,I will earn nothing but I will bring some changeto my village. My wife, who is a teacher and a bigsupport for me, will run our family and I will lookafter my people,” Mir says.

RePoRA’S AcTIVIST: Shahnawaz Sultan, 28, is afounder-member of the Jammu and Kashmir Rightto Information Movement. he has a small travelbusiness. he was elected as Sarpanch by his village,Repora namthal in chadoora district, Budgam,central Kashmir.

Sultan, an RTI activist, is a trustee of an educa-tional trust running a school for orphans inchadoora. “I have found that people at the grass-roots don’t have big dreams and ambitions,” hesays. “What they need is a simple ration cardwithout hassles, roads, safe drinking water, elec-tricity and fair distribution of rations. I have day-to- day development programmes in my agenda.From now onwards, I have pledged to my peoplethat I won’t allow anybody to do any developmentwork in a fishy manner. All such works will bedone in an open and transparent way.”

9CIVIL SOCIETY, JUNE 2011

InDIA

raja Parvez Mir, software engineer-turned-model, is Sarpanch of Lachipora

Kashmir’s new village leaders

‘if the government does notempower us, then there is nofun in being elected to this

post. i think it shouldsupport us in our honest and

sincere efforts for thedevelopment of this state.’

CIVIL SOCIETY, JUNE 2011

InDIA

10

Bharat dogra

Bhim

All people’s organisations need at least aday in the year when their membersand friends can get together to reflect,

plan, gossip, celebrate, sing and dance. Thisis especially true for the Mazdoor KisanShakti Sangathan (MKSS) since their mem-bers are scattered all over in remote villages.

For the MKSS this annual get-togethercoincides with Workers’ Day which is cele-brated on 1 May. Its friends all over thecountry know that this is the best time tocatch up with all leading MKSS activists inone place.

A special feature of this famous MazdoorKisan Mela is that serious work and ‘mela’activities proceed side by side. So even aspeople are enjoying their lemonade for `2or a plate of jalebis for `5, the Districtcollector is explaining how ward panchescould contribute to the better implementa-tion of the government’s rural employmentguarantee scheme.

This annual bash is held every year inBhim, a conveniently located kasba in theMKSS work area of central Rajasthan. here,peasants and workers join hands with stu-dents and interns to turn the dull, flat land-scape into a lively, vibrant mela site. Themain shamiana is surrounded by stallswhere low-cost books, T-shirts, kurtas,crafts and toys are sold along with a varietyof mouth watering snacks. occasionally acow or a bullock manages to sneak into theproceedings.

What is remarkable about the Mazdoor

Kisan Mela is that serious issues like thoseof the lokpal Bill, minimum wages andunions of MgnRegA workers are discussedin the setting of a mela. The assembled peo-ple feel free to go to a foodstall, or meetfriends, or concentrate on what is beingsaid from the podium.

yet the audience is attentive and disci-plined. This is apparent from their reaction.When an important issue is being dis-cussed, the audience responds immediately.

one important issue discussed at thisyear’s mela was about the mobilisationneeded to continue the struggle for obtain-ing the legal minimum wage of `135 fornRegA workers in Rajasthan as well as sort-

ing out other problems faced by these work-ers. The assembled people raised theirhands in large numbers to assert that theywill collect foodgrains in their villages tosupport this struggle and they will join ral-lies and dharnas to fight for these issues.

The need to obtain legal recognition forunions of MgnRegA workers was empha-sised. Several groups of workers marched tothe stage to introduce themselves as mem-bers of MgnRegA unions from variousareas. But their unions have not yet beenregistered by the government. So gettingthese unions registered will be an impor-tant step forward in the near future.

It was also interesting to see how thecomplex issue of the lokpal Bill was dis-cussed in a way that the debate could betaken up at a much wider level at the grass-roots. And in the midst of all this therewere songs, slogans, puppets and folk the-atre.

Civil Society news

New Delhi

DIScUSSIonS between the government andactivists on drafting a proposed lokpal Billare as yet in their early stages. Several con-

tentious issues are still to be taken up and itseems unlikely that the 30 June deadline set for afinal draft will be met.

A draft Jan lokpal Bill prepared by activists of theIndia Against corruption campaign, during whichAnna hazare went on a fast at Jantar Mantar, envis-ages a lokpal with a bench of 10 members at thecentre and lokayuktas in the states.

But what the powers of this anti-corruptionmachinery should be and how it should functionremain to be debated. As we go to press, severalquestions have not found answers. Should thelokpal cover the judiciary? Will it look into all kindsof grievances or limit itself to big-ticket corruption?can the cBI be merged with the lokpal to give itstrong and independent investigation capabilities?

In the meantime, the national campaign forPeople’s Right to Information (ncPRI) met on 19May and decided to continue with its own delib-erations on drafting a lokpal Bill.

original work on the Bill began in the ncPRI,which includes Aruna Roy, nikhil Dey, harshMander, Shekhar Singh and others. They didn’t

mkss renews itself atbhim mela

Big Lokpal issues remain, but talks on

Shankar Singh with MkSS activists at the mela

arvind kejriwal addressing the crowd at Jantar Mantar

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join the demonstrations at Jantar Mantar andthey are not part of the discussions between fiveactivists appointed by hazare and five ministersrepresenting the government.

The ncPRI has been of the view that the Billneeds wide consultations and careful drafting. Ithas now decided to write to Finance MinisterPranab Mukherjee, who is chairman of the draft-ing committee, to know what has been done toensure broader consultation.

Some progress: on the positive side, there hasbeen complete agreement between the govern-ment and hazare’s representatives on providingthe lokpal with full financial, functional andadministrative autonomy. This would include thepower to investigate.

It has also been agreed to do away with the “sin-gle directive principle” under which permissionfrom the government is needed before launchingan investigation against an officer. This has beena long-standing demand because such permissionis not easily received and as a result investiga-tions don’t proceed.

Doing away with the “single directive” is a sig-nificant step forward. It will allow the lokpal toact swiftly and without constraint. explaining theimportance of this, Arvind Kejriwal, one of themembers of the drafting committee and a primemover of the India Against corruption campaign,

says that seeking permission for prosecution fromthe department where corruption had beenunearthed is fraught with problems.

Kejriwal cites an example from the nationalhighways Authority of India (nhAI). “An officer ofthe nhAI was caught red-handed with unaccount-ed cash by the cBI, but an FIR could not be filedagainst him because permission wasn’t given toact against the officer,” he says.

It has also been accepted that the PrimeMinister will come under the lokpal. “The gov-ernment perhaps wants some exemptions in thelarger public interest and we are open to dis-cussing them,” Kejriwal said.

Judiciary and grievances: But dealing with thejudiciary and grievances is more complex. civilsociety members in the committee want all griev-ances – which could mean a held-up passport orration card – should come under the lokpal.Those who don’t agree say this could bring thefunctioning of the ombudsman to a standstill.

Kejriwal points out that the lokpal will be sup-ported by an administrative machinery which willinclude an elaborate investigation arm. There willalso be the lokayuktas in the states. “It won’t be asthough there will be one person in an office deal-ing with all these complaints,” Kejriwal explains.

But empowerment of the lokpal envisaged bythe activists involves big changes. The cBI is to be

merged with the lokpal and its strength of 1,000officers could handle more cases than they do atpresent.

Kejriwal also speaks of each government depart-ment having a citizens’ charter with essential func-tions and stipulated time limits spelt out. Therewill be a grievance officer to receive complaints. Ifno action is taken within a reasonable time, thehead of the department can be held accountableand a complaint filed with the lokpal or lokayukta.

Kejriwal argues that once the system gets going,it will find its own equilibrium. With initialaction, complaints will go down. Worried heads ofdepartment will ensure that people under themwill deliver and so on.

But it remains to be seen what the Union gov-ernment’s response will be to these proposals.equally important will be the buy-in of the stategovernments. A law, even if drafted by the com-mittee now discussing it, may never get passedbecause of the enormous complexities involved.

The committee hasn’t also looked closely at thequestion of bringing judges under the lokpal. Thematter was raised, with chidambaram pointingout that at least two former chief Justices withimpeccable credentials for honesty had opposed itfor several practical reasons.

getting the judiciary on board is likely to bechallenging, even though a good many judgesthemselves believe there is a need for greateraccountability and corruption in the courts has tobe stopped. They aren’t convinced that the lokpalis the answer.

Divisions in civil society: The lokpal agitationat Jantar Mantar in Delhi had the impact of divid-ing activists. Many felt that the agitation had beentaken over by communal elements. There was alsodiscomfort with the arbitrary choice of five peopleby Anna hazare to represent all of civil society.Statements that the draft of the lokpal Bill wasnot negotiable were regarded as unrealistic.

Initial discussions on a lokpal Bill had begun inthe ncPRI and the national Advisory council(nAc) and there were differences. The decision totake to the streets was seen as an attempt to“hijack” the drafting of the law and establish“ownership” over it.

Kejriwal denies this. he says that the processdid begin in the ncPRI, but it went too slow. ThencPRI and nAc only became active when Annahazare threatened his fast. But by then the IndiaAgainst corruption campaign over thecommonwealth games scams had gatheredmomentum.

Kejriwal insists that he and others with himwould like the ncPRI to be involved because ithas an important contribution to make. “I havethe highest respect for Aruna Roy. What I knowabout democracy I have learnt from her.”

he concedes that important points were raisedduring the discussions in the ncPRI and the nAcworking group and these deserve to be discussedin greater detail.

Big Lokpal issues remain, but talks onlakshman anand

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Civil Society news

New Delhi

the demand for a strong lokpal Bill made bythe India Against corruption campaign hasbeen supported by Medha Patkar and the

national Alliance of People’s Movements (nAPM)despite certain differences over the process ofconsultation, the presence of communal ele-ments in the campaign and Anna hazare’s praisefor narendra Modi.

In an interview to civil Society, Medha Patkarexplained that there was an urgent need to sinkdifferences at this point and focus on tackling cor-ruption. A strong bill was needed though passingit would take time and its implementation wouldnot be easy.

She also said that corruption had assumedmany forms and a much wider effort was requiredto cleanse governance. There was legalized cor-ruption in the transfer of assets such as land fromthe poor to the rich in the name of development.The lokpal was not an answer to such corruption,she said.

Is the nAPM fully backing the India Againstcorruption campaign?yes, because we have been dealing with corrup-

tion at different levels. We have seen corruption inthe public distribution system, disbursal of ruralemployment wages and even in getting a copy ofthe electoral rolls. There has also been corruptionin real estate, examples being the Adarsh case andlavasa.

In development planning there is corruption of adifferent kind. The loot of natural resourcesinvolves misuse and misappropriation of an impor-tant indispensable capital of the people and thenation. Invaluable resources are being pocketed ortransferred against the constitutional frameworkof equity and justice by the agencies of the stateand its allies, the large companies. So, obviouslythe campaign against corruption is our campaignalso and we are supporting it.

Are you saying that corruption impacts the poorthe most?yes. There is a new category of corruption which islegitimized corruption, when the law itself legit-imizes misappropriation. We have to fight suchcorruption at ground level and not only throughthe lokpal or lokayukta. Take the Specialeconomic Zones (SeZ) Act. That cannot be detect-ed as corruption or punished by any agency. This ispolitical corruption. It is a form of legalized corrup-tion which the lokpal may not be able to uncoversince by law it is permitted.

The campaign against corruption has been accusedof having the participation of communal elements.What is nAPM’s stand on this?We have made it very clear that communal ele-ments, either in the framework of issues or strate-gies or action, will be opposed by us. If anybodytakes up communal issues we will oppose it. Wefeel that the campaign should also make its posi-tion on other issues, apart from corruption, veryclear.

have you asked the campaign to make its positionclear?now that the campaign has become national wewill discuss what is the next step. But I don’t thinkanybody can call Anna hazare, Arvind Kejriwal orPrashant Bhushan communal. In the gujarat riotscase, Swami Agnivesh has intervened.

even people close to the campaign have raisedquestions but then every campaign does face this.The narmada movement also faced such ques-tions. People across party lines have supported themovement. even in villages people have differentpolitical affiliations. But they would say they leavetheir chappals outside and then come in.

now should we say a person who supports usbut is the member of a party which is not with uson any of our issues should not be in the move-ment? It is not so easy.

This is a dilemma which all movements face andit is challenging. But that also helps the movementto grow and widen its base. It can make peopleleave. But one should not be afraid of that if one’sagenda is a wider transformation.

Many people asked us, why is the narmadamovement going the nAPM way? I said if you aretalking about water, food, land etc, you have to talkabout disparities and discrimination and naturalresources, you cannot talk only of rehabilitation. Ifyou talk about social and environment issues, youcannot ignore justice and financial issues.

has the lokpal bill been discussed by nAPM andits partners? Actually clause by clause we have not discussedthe bill. Anna’s fast came up suddenly. A strong

Medha Patkar talks about corruption and Lokpal Bill

Medha Patkar

‘what matters is the cause’lakshman anand

‘in villages too people havedifferent political

affiliations. But they saythey leave their chappals

outside and then come in.’

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Sugandha Pathak

New Delhi

ABoUT a year ago, Wada na Todo Abhiyanhad launched the third phase of their ‘9-is-mine’ campaign to assess how money was

being spent on primary schools and angan-wadis run by the government in rural areas.Around 20,000 children had been mobilized togo out and prepare report cards on such infra-structure in 16 states. A year later in May, chil-dren presented their findings in new Delhi.

“Under the common Minimum Programme(cMP) six per cent of the gross DomesticProduct (gDP) was allo-cated to education andthree per cent to health.Right now about 1.5 percent is being spent oneducation. But where isthe money going?According to our evalua-tion, infrastructure isavailable in most placesbut it is of poor quality,”says Sai Kishore, a class10, student fromAndhra Pradesh.

Infrastructure createdunder the Sarva ShikshaAbhiyan (SSA) for 3677schools and facilities for3810 anganwadis covered under theIntegrated child Development Scheme (IcDS)were gauged.

only 18.16 per cent of schools surveyedqualified as good. Although 91 per cent ofschools have permanent buildings, only 28 percent were of good quality. Around 77 per centof schools had facilities for drinking water butin actual fact water was drinkable only in13.83 per cent. Although 62 per cent of schoolshad separate toilets for girls, only 13.33 percent were in a workable condition.Inclusiveness fared the poorest. Although 51per cent of schools had ramps for the differ-ently abled, just 8.33 per cent were in goodshape.

children also noticed class and caste dis-crimination in schools. Raja Subramanium, aclass 10 student from chandigarh felt that theimplementation of the Right to education Act(RTe) a year ago has not made much differencein far-flung schools.

Still, the data reveals Kerala, Tamil nadu,Andhra Pradesh and Assam do better in termsof school infrastructure than other states.

The state of anganwadis, it was found, wasworse than that of schools. only 10 per cent

were working according to norms laid downunder the IcDS. Although 71 per cent ofanganwadis had educational and playingmaterials, only 10.85 per cent was of goodquality. Manipur scored in this respect.Drinking water is a major concern. Just 12 percent of anganwadis had clean drinking water.Although 80 per cent of anganwadis hadweighing machines only 17 per cent were ingood condition. Just 13 per cent had adequatefood storage facilities.

Pinky, a student of class 12 fromUttarakhand who evaluated schools andanganwadis in Jharkhand says most angan-

wadis were in a deplorable state, many evenoperating without a building.

“A few teachers have opened anganwadis intheir homes. I noticed that most teachers werenot interested in the children and were finish-ing their household chores. even the foodwhich is allotted for the children was beingdistributed among their relatives. There werehardly any toys and educational material.Very few anganwadis had a separate storagearea,” she says.

Schools in Jharkhand either had no toiletsor the toilets were broken and filthy. She saidgirls were dropping out for this reason.

over 200 students showed their score cardsto Shantha Sinha, chairperson of the nationalcommission for Protection of child Rights(ncPcR). She assured them quick measureswould be taken.

The ‘9-is-mine’ campaign is part of thechildren’s Voices Against Poverty programmewhich lobbies for implementation of theMillenium Development goals. It has beeninitiated by Wada na Todo Abhiyan with theInstitute of human Rights education, WorldVision India, national coalition for educationand People’s Action for Rural Awakening.

bill with a minimum of the highlights was acceptable.It is time for everyone to give suggestions. everyonewould like to have the best law. Follow-up is alsoimportant for which unity, integrity and solidarity areimportant. There need not be consensus on the firstdraft. But they are using technology to get in as manyopinions as they can.

you are saying consultation is important. The experi-ence of mass movements is important. The law needsto reach the last man, it should go to the grassroots. Soshould the lokpal bill just be a middle-class domain?The bill has been widely circulated, in the media also.It needs to be in regional languages. The right to infor-mation bill went on for a long time. It was well done.Aruna and nikhil were very concerned it should fol-low democratic processes. Such processes need to befollowed as much as possible.

In the case of corruption there was also a tempowhich needed to be caught with these scams and scan-dals. I think that is what has happened. In case thereis no sufficient ground for consensus among the com-mittee members or the committee members and oth-ers outside the committee who are supportive, thedeadline can always be extended.

What if there is a consensus between the governmentand the committee but not between the committeeand other activists? What happens then?The campaign will have to take care of that and that iswhy all of us must be cautious in going through thebill. Many people have not read the bill. They did notknow that the lokpal consists of a committee of 10members or the importance of the WhistleblowersBill. every law requires wide public debate. So I wouldurge the government/ drafting committee to circulatethe bill in regional languages as much as possible.There is not enough national debate. Rethinking theprocesses of law-making is very important.

The lokpal bill was already being discussed in thenational Advisory council (nAc) and the nationalcampaign for People’s Right to Information (ncPRI).Should that process have been allowed to reach itslogical conclusion? Was there a need for such a cam-paign?I think everyone should sit together. We cannot afforddivisions. The country is facing a challenging situa-tion. Most important is the content of the legislationand that should not be sidetracked. If there is firingthe whole focus shifts to human rights violations andthe main cause of the movement gets neglected. Wehave to sometimes take hard decisions.

Should the lokpal bill be placed before the nAc?The drafting committee has its own role to play – lim-ited but crucial. But the nAc can go much beyond allthat and we expect that because we know the compo-sition of the nAc is very rich, richer than the earliernAc. I think nAc can bring in the civil society perspec-tive. It is not as though its members aren’t independ-ent. They all have their integrity and backgrounds. Wehave full faith in them. Aruna resigned over the issueof narmada from the nAc last time and we are grate-ful for that. Jean Dreze resigned over the right to foodbill.

Representative democracy must be more of directdemocracy – gram sabhas etc. But even in movementsdecisions have to be made by a core. The drafting com-mittee can have a forum which can hold larger consul-tations. Ultimately what matters is the cause.

children assessschools andanganwadis

lakshman anand

Civil Society news

New Delhi

iS transparency the key to responsible corporatebehaviour for sustainable and inclusive devel-opment? A summit with global participation

planned by the Birla Institute of Management andTechnology (BIMTech) on 8 and 9 July in Delhiwill seek to address this important question.

The summit will be the third held by BIMTech inits effort to inject greater social content into its ownmanagement course and to see how corporationsare facing up to the challenge of remaining relevantto the concerns of consumers and citizens.

According to Dr. h. chaturvedi, Director,BIMTech, “There is an alarming decline in the levelof society’s trust in civic institutions and corpora-tions. The world has acquired a new lens of seeingcorporate behaviour in the wake of Wikileaks, rightto information and public scrutiny in general.continually unfolding global scandals and the finan-cial and the economic crisis over the past few yearshave caused society to assign a completely new pri-ority to the issue of transparency, credibility in busi-ness activity and responsible business behaviour.”

Under Dr chaturvedi, BIMTech has vigorouslyreached out to civil society groups and govern-ment in an attempt to build bridges and under-stand better the concerns of stakeholders and theshape of future markets. As a management insti-tute, this approach helps BIMTech students gointo the corporate world with a different perspec-tive of what is relevant and contemporary.

But through the medium of the summit,BIMTech hopes to have a greater external impact.“We expect to generate ideas, stimulate discussionon how all of us can join hands, and put in place thenecessary measure, systems, self-regulatory codesof conduct to uphold the principles of trust, trans-parency, ethics and integrity,” says Dr chaturvedi.

The objectives of the summit are to discuss theimplications of the broadened concept of cSR andtransparency, bring forth exemplary and inspiringexamples of cSR and transparency practices, pres-ent stakeholders’ experience and perspectives oftheir engagement and evaluation of responsiblecorporate practices and generate enthusiasmtowards fair trade principles and practices.

The global Reporting Initiative (gRI) is partner-ing BIMTech for the summit. gRI has vast globalexperience in encouraging companies to be sus-tainable and, more importantly, build transparen-cy into reporting their performance.

Simon longstaff, Director, gRI Board andexecutive Director, St. James ethics centre,Australia, will deliver the keynote address. otherspeakers will include Arup Roy chowdhury,chairman and MD of nTPc, R.n. Mukhija, presi-dent operations l&T and Dr. Rajendra Sisodia, co-Founder of conscious capitalism Institute.

Civil Society news

New Delhi

eVen as political parties rushed to greaternoida to express solidarity with farmerswhose land was acquired by the Uttar

Pradesh government, legislation which wouldprevent such tragic outcomes continues to be inlimbo.

The UPA government wants to move a law toreplace the archaic land Acquistion Act of 1894.In the past it had drafted two separate bills – oneon land acquisition and the other on rehabilita-tion and resettlement.

But these two Bills have been found inade-quate in several quarters. The Trinamoolcongress has opposed it and so have activists.Industry too is unhappy.

Two other drafts are now in the making: oneby a working group in the national Advisorycouncil (nAc) and the other by the nationalAlliance of People’s Movements (nAPM).

The nAc has fast tracked its work on prepar-ing a Bill. It appears to favour one comprehen-sive Bill on land acquisition and rehabilitation.It also seems to be in favour of private industryacquiring the entire land needed for projects onits own.

The nAPM has also been asking for one com-prehensive Bill. It has emphasised that landacquisition cannot be delinked from rehabilita-tion and resettlement.

The nAPM argues that it is not only a ques-tion of taking over land and paying higher com-pensation to farmers. Acquisitions affect entirecommunities which include agricultural labour-ers, artisans, small traders, fisherfolk, forestpeople and so they too must be identified asproject-affected persons and resettled.

The nAPM also opposes the provision in thegovernment’s draft Bills that industry directlyacquire 70 per cent of the land and the govern-ment the remaining 30 per cent. The nAPM saysthat the government should remain the guaran-tor of farmers’ interests. The nAPM will submitits own draft of the law to the nAc.

Interestingly, industry too sees the govern-ment abdicating responsibility by asking farm-ers to deal directly with industry. Theconfederation of Indian Industry (cII) hasargued that establishing titles and identifyingland which can be used for projects is the gov-ernment’s domain. The cII has called for properzoning so that land meant for industry is clear-ly identified and agricultural land and the liveli-hoods which are associated with it are not dis-turbed. It also wants the government to step inwhere small pockets of resistance hold up entireacquisitions.

The UPA’s partner, the Trinamool congress,also has problems with the government’s twoBills and wants fresh discussion on them. landacquisition has been one of the major issues inthe West Bengal election in which theTrinamool recently came to power.

All these initiatives are under way and there isno consensus on what shape the proposed lawshould finally take. In such circumstances, itseems unlikely that the two Bills introduced bythe government will be passed in the monsoonsession of Parliament in their present state.

There is however consensus that the archaicland Acquisition Act of 1894 and the principleof ‘eminent domain’ under which the Stateacquires land for ‘public purpose’ requires to bechanged. Peoples’ movements have several sig-nificant differences with the government.

The definition of what is ‘public purpose’ con-tinues to be a sore point. “So far all landacquired is for national projects,” says Ashokchoudhary of the national Forum for ForestWorkers and Forest People (nFFWFP). “how doyou reconcile local development with nationaldevelopment?” Villages lack electricity, water,roads though they give up their land for suchfacilities for the nation. Development shouldfirst take care of local needs.

So the nAPM feels ‘public purpose’ should bedefined as infrastructure projects for local eco-nomic and social development. These wouldinclude facilities for education, health, trans-port, housing, livelihood for villages and disad-vantaged communities. All such projects shouldbe owned by the state and be in conformity with

trust is focusof csr meet

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14

new law tricky as land fights growAcquisition, rehabilitationremain contentious issues

Land is acquired for nationalprojects. But villages lackelectricity, water, roadsthough they give up theirland for such facilities.

Development should firsttake care of local needs.

15CIVIL SOCIETY, JUNE 2011

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current land use patterns. The 70:30 clause mooted in the government’s

draft is being bitterly opposed. The govern-ment’s draft says if a private company acquires70 per cent of the land but is having a problemacquiring the remainder 30 per cent the govern-ment can step in and acquire this land for them.The nAPM argument is that companies whichacquire land by merely paying compensation tofarmers will not rehabilitate the others in thevillage who get displaced like agricultural work-ers, landless labour, artisans and so on.

Also, nAPM wants to know if the governmentwill rehabilitate people on the 30 per cent of landit acquires for the companies if their number isbelow 400 families in the plains and 200 in the

hills as laid down in the government’s Bills? The nAPM draft points out that even where

forests or even wasteland is not inhabited, peo-ple could be dependent on it. Taking such landover for projects should keep in mind the inter-ests of people who may not be living on it butare its users. And ‘public purpose’ would needto be determined before such landuse changesare approved.

There is still a lot of discussion on whether aseparate Bill is required for urban resettlement.In every city, slum-dwellers are being evicted ona large scale without any rehab whatsoever. Buthere again defining ‘public purpose’ would bevery contentious. It would pit the middle-classagainst the poor.

Civil Society news

New Delhi

APPlIcATIonS are being invited for theApeejay India Volunteer Awards, (AIVA) 2011,by the Apeejay Surrendra group. The corpo-

rate is partnering iVolunteer, an ngo andInternational Business leaders Forum, (IBlF), torecognise volunteering talent at the individual,corporate and ngo level in India.

The awards were launched at an event held innew Delhi. There is a Volunteer of the year awardand a youth Volunteer of the year award for youngpeople below 25 years of age. Also included is anemployee Volunteering Programme of the yearaward for companies and an award for Volunteerinvolving ngo of the year.

“We realise that there are a lot of people who doa great deal of good work and they don’t do it justfor recognition. By recognising them we might justencourage thousands of Indians to volunteer,”says Renu Kakkar, vice-president, corporatecommunications and Technology, ApeejaySurrendra group.

At the event there was a panel discussion on thefuture of volunteering. Those who took partincluded Anshu gupta, founder-director of goonj,Indira Dasgupta, executive director, PeoplesInstitute for Development and Training, JoePhelan, country director, IBlF-India, and Rahulnainwal, director, iVolunteer.

The panel discussed what was driving volun-teerism in India, what motivated volunteers,opportunities for volunteering and the signifi-cance of the upcoming awards.

The increase in volunteering was attributed togreater exposure,, options such as ‘gap years’,technology, mobility and interest by major compa-nies who felt it built team spirit.

recognisingvoluntarism

samita’s World by SaMita rathOr

new law tricky as land fights grow

CIVIL SOCIETY, JUNE 2011

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16

Sugandha Pathak

New Delhi

sPoRTIng a maroon shirt which says ‘InA mar-ket coolie,’ 24-year-old Ramnath carries heftycrates of vegetables and fruits around this

busy bazaar in south Delhi. you can spot eight-year-old Sonu delivering cups of tea and then col-lecting the empty containers. The cruel sun does-n’t seem to bother them or the other 60 to 70 boysworking as labour or assistants in shops in theInA market. When the boys are tired they restunder an old peepal tree at the back of the mar-ket, waiting for another exhausting day to end sothat they can enter the exciting world of books.

Ritinjali, an ngo working in the field of educa-tion and community development for marginal-ized sections, started a night school here in 2005.The school caters to boys and young men. Theywork during the day in and around the InA mar-ket and then attend Ritinjali’s night classes atnavyug School, opposite the InA market, from 9pm to 10.30 pm every night.

“They are not like regular school-going kids.They don’t have any parental pressure, or any-body to look after them, question them, or tellthem what is right and wrong. So to keep motivat-ing them to attend class everyday is a task,” saysnandkishore, teacher and friend to his students.he says the boys get so tired working 12 hours aday without a single day off that after work theyonly want to eat something and sleep so that theycan wake up early next morning.

“It takes a whole lot of love, affection and moti-

vation to entice them to study after a hard day atwork,” he says. In a room of 30 to 40 students –the rest have gone to their villages for the sum-mer – many are shy to talk. But the moment theyare asked, ‘what do you want to be?” the reply isquick and unanimous – ‘I want to be a good andsuccessful man.’

According to nandkishore, the students areimproving every day. Many of the boys neverwent to school. Some ran away from school. Butthey are now attending classes because they seethe difference it is making to their lives.

“I was in a school before but then I left due tocertain reasons. Since the past seven years I havebeen working in a printing press. Initially I could-n’t read anything even though I did attend schoolearlier. now if my boss hands me an address todeliver something I can very well manage to read

it. It’s easier to deposit or withdrawcash from the bank too. And my bossnow gives me more responsibilities,”says 17-year-old Raju Singh with ashy smile.

Many of the boys and young menin this night school are from thegonda district of Uttar Pradesh.Some ran away from home and someleft for better prospects. like 20-year-old harish who ran away. An ener-gised and happy-go-lucky boy, heaspires to start his own business. Forthe time being he is a coolie andsimultaneously works as a parkingassistant in the market. “I know howto drive a car; I want to change myjob and become a driver and thenlater start my own business in myvillage. For all that, I need to study,”states harish with dreamy eyes.Ramnath, who never attendedschool before, can now write andread a bill, do simple math and use acalculator without any help.

“I have to do a lot of numbercrunching,” he explains. “how manyvegetable and fruit crates were sup-plied, sold etc. Initially I could not

figure out if the amount of money I was gettingwas right. now I can calculate it myself.”

According to nandkishore, most students whojoined when the night school started continue toattend class. A few who couldn’t juggle workwith studies dropped out. “even the ones whodon’t manage to come regularly want to studyevery day but their shift timings are usuallystretched. Whenever they get time they makesure they attend class. These boys come and tellme that they enjoy studying but the work is somuch that they do not get any time,” saysnandkishore.

The night school culture in Delhi is very limitedgiven the fact that a huge number of migrant work-ers flood the city every day. even the few ngosworking for children’s education come up with cap-sule educational programmes, organizing nightschools for a couple of months at the most. “Themajor problem is to get a teacher or a volunteer whocan at least give one and a half hours of his/her timeat night. Also, as an ngo we can’t pay any salaries.If this problem is tackled we would really like toopen night schools for older women and girls,”explains Divya Sharma, Projects head, Ritinjali.

In contrast, Mumbai another city with a hugenumber of migrant workers, boasts of over 50night schools. “The plus point with Mumbai isthat it has a night life, the roads are not desertedearly, people can be seen everywhere. So it is safefor women teachers and volunteers to travel atnight. But in Delhi we can’t appoint a lady teacherfor a night school. We have a curriculum. Space isalso allotted by the government. But there is ahuge paucity of teachers ready to take classes atnight,” explains Sharma.

Whatever the reasons for the acute shortage ofnight schools, the boys in InA market have theopportunity to get an education. The little timethey spend at this night school, they become kidsagain, joke around, laugh and learn, just like theway it should be.

nandkishore with his students

night school is guru

PhotograPhs by lakshman anand

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18

Bharat dogra & reena Mehta

New Delhi

On 24 April, 1993, the Union gov-ernment passed the 73rd and74th constitutional Amendment

under which one- third of the seats inpanchayats and municipalities werereserved for women. The Institute ofSocial Sciences (ISS) celebrates thisday as Women’s Politicalempowerment Day every year.

This time over 500 women pan-chayat representatives from 22states participated making it a trulynational event. The theme this yearwas, ‘Panchayats, Women and SafeDrinking Water’. “Women and chil-dren are the worst sufferers of the lack of safedrinking water,” said Dr. george Mathew,chairman, ISS.

Patrice coeur-Bizot, Un Resident coordinator andUnDP Resident Representative, said the Un systemis committed to strengthening women’s participa-tion in governance. As India has the largest numberof grassroots women representatives in the world,there is considerable room for cooperation especial-ly in providing safe drinking water in rural areas.

“We believe women like you make the worldmore just and equitable,” said Anne Stenhammer,Regional Programme Director, UnWoMen, to thewomen elected representatives. “The challengeswomen face everyday like fetching drinking watercan be best tackled by panchayats. The issue is notjust what women can do for panchayats but alsowhat panchayats can do for women.” Assuringthem of solidarity, she told the women representa-tives that they were not alone in their struggle.

Aslak Brun, Minister-counsellor, Royalnorwegian embassy, said in the last 100 yearsnorway has changed itself from being one of thepoorest countries in europe to being one of therichest. he attributed this turnaround to the par-

ticipation of women in norway’s political andsocial systems. he remarked that how womenrepresentatives implement developmentschemes will be critical for India’s future.

lourdes Baptista, chief executive, WaterAidIndia, said that in 2009 the Ministry of RuralDevelopment came out with guidelines whichtransferred the responsibility of providing safedrinking water to panchayats. Within panchayatswomen have an important role to play. “We needto build on this empowerment so that women cancontribute significantly to meeting this most crit-ical need of our villages,” he said.

every year the ISS also honours some outstand-ing women panchayat leaders to encourage them.This year one of these two awards went toRukmani Devi Salvi, Sarpanch of VijaypuraPanchayat, Rajsamand district, Rajasthan.Rukmani has done outstanding work in establish-ing transparent systems in her panchayat andimplementing important schemes like theMahatma gandhi national Rural employmentguarantee Scheme.

Junpo Jugli, chairperson, Zilla Parishad,changland, Arunachal Pradesh, was honoured for

initiating a range of developmentworks and mobilizing villagersagainst atrocities.

Agatha Sangma, Union Minister ofState for Rural Development, con-ferred the awards. “We mustencourage women to act as changeagents,” said Sangma. She highlight-ed the need to include socially andeconomically marginalized womenin villages in water and sanitationcommittees. She said that women inmany states have formed ‘pani sami-tis’ under the Swajaldhara scheme.

Manju Joshi of cecoedecon, saidthat recently the Rajasthan govern-ment has started a Water SecurityPlan under which water samitis areformed with 15 members from the

community. The samiti is responsible for resourcemapping. There is also a promising rainwater har-vesting scheme for drinking water and sanitation.

Joy elamon of Solution exchange, UnDP, saidthat in one project experts like him got excitedabout the prospect of producing micro-electricitybut women in the village clearly said that their pri-ority is drinking water and they won’t allow anydiversion of their water source. In another projectin narora, there was enough water but the poorestpeople couldn’t access it. Drawing on all theseexperiences he concluded that the challenges inwater were of availability, access, quality, sustain-ability, equity, ownership, misuse and capacity.

Sadhana gupta, a grassroots leader fromchitrakoot in Uttar Pradesh, talked about a villagein which five percent of agricultural land is keptaside for water conservation. She also spoke aboutthe work of ABSSS, a voluntary organization,which has tapped natural springs on hilly terrain tocreate low cost drinking water sources.

Sarita Balooni from Jagori highlighted howwater scarcity has worsened for slum dwellers inDelhi who were banished to Bhawana andBhalsawa on the fringes of the city.

agatha Sangma giving the award to rukmani devi, Sarpanch of Vijaypura

water empowers women

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Bharat dogra

Kanpur

Acampaign against female foeticide is under-way in and around Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh(UP). led by Shramik Bharti, a voluntary

group working with the weaker sections since 25years, the campaign has been named Sulakshmi.

“If we do not come forward to save the girlchild, the survival of the world will be threatened.The story of life will end. It is as simple as that,”explains Renu, a volunteer from hurdauli villagein Kanpur nagar district.

Renu is called a ‘saheli sanjivani’ the upliftingname given to dozens of women who have volun-teered. At first, Shramik Bharti named its cam-paign, community Action for Survival of girl child,and then renamed it Sulakshmi in the 30 villagesof Vidhnu block where it has been implemented,since this name was more familiar to local people.

The saheli sanjivanis of Ramaipur village are anenthusiastic group. nearly all of them are fromeconomically weaker families. But they carry outtheir responsibilities without expecting any cashbenefits. on the day of our interaction, they hadcheerfully waited to speak to me although thiswas the harvesting season and they wereextremely busy with their farming work.

These volunteers are drawn from self-helpgroups (Shgs) initiated by Shramik Bharti overthe years. Small, regular savings and the ability toborrow in times of need have given these women

a minimal support system and increased theirconfidence, encouraging them to take up biggerresponsibilities. Several of these women havebeen selected as AShAs (Accredited Social healthActivists) under the national Rural healthMission (nRhM) and have performed very well. .

The campaign against female foeticide has ben-efited a lot from the strength of the Shgs. Itbecame relatively easier to create village forumsand to select saheli sanjivanis as volunteers due tothe Shgs. The volunteers were thoroughly trainedso that they became aware of the various implica-tions of female foeticide. Men, women, adolescentgirls – all were mobilised for this campaign.

Special care was taken to involve panchayat rep-resentatives, AnMs, midwives other health per-sonnel and registered medical practitioners(RMPs). Basic information was collected aboutultrasound machines in the area and where peo-ple generally go for tests.

Information collected by the campaign revealedthat the practice of female foeticide had spread tothe peripheral villages of Kanpur. here regulationis minimal and it is possible to access medical andtest facilities available in Kanpur. Despite the banon sex-determination tests it was revealed that sev-eral families were undergoing them. There wasfamily pressure on women to go in for testing espe-cially if women already had one or more daughters.They sometimes used their contacts with mid-wives and RMPs to approach ultrasound units.

At these test centres, sometimes code words

were used to convey the sex of the unborn baby.For example ‘Devi ka Vardaan’ would mean a girlchild while ‘Shankar Ka Vardaan’ implied a malechild. Some volunteers alleged that sometimeseven when a male child was indicated by tests,these units misinformed and said it was a girl childso that they could immediately get the opportuni-ty to perform an abortion and earn about `3,000.

The sahelis urged midwives and RMPs to breaktheir connection with sex-determination clinics.Village-level meetings were called. More and morepeople were converted into realizing that femalefoeticide is a crime and is ethically very wrong. Ifthis practice continues it will lead to very serioussocial problems.

Street theatre and community radio helpedgreatly in taking this message to the people.Wider issues concerning maternal health, familyplanning and domestic violence were linked to it.

As Sadhna ghosh, Shramik Bharti’s project coordi-nator for Sulakshmi says: “The fact that we had beenworking on issues related to women’s health andwelfare for a long time certainly helped. Without thefoundation we had created with our previous workon women’s welfare and health, it would not havebeen possible to successfully take up the issue offemale foeticide in these rural communities.”

Within a short period many rural women whobecame sahelis took up this work with a deepsense of commitment and enthusiasm provingthat if a vigorous effort is made, the battle againstfemale foeticide can be won.

sahelis for the girl childsahelis for the girl childSaheli sanjivanis raise slogans for the girl child with villagers

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aarti Gupta

New Delhi

JAgAnnATh Jha does brisk business at his dhaba in one of the crowdedbylanes of lakshmi nagar in east Delhi. Innumerable chartered accountan-cy students living away from home in the neighborhood turn to him for

their meals. After paying a rent of `11,000 and the wages of his seven employ-ees, Jha needs to send money to his family in a village in the Muzaffarpur dis-trict of Bihar.

Transferring money used to be a headache. But now he does it in a jiffy. hemerely takes the cash he wants to send to the Tata Pco adjoining his dhabaand sends the money instantaneously to his family using the green MoneyTransfer Scheme of PayMate, a mobile commerce company.

The system works like this: The Pco triggers a call to Jha’s mobile and heenters his pin number. he then gets a transaction code which he conveys to hisfamily in Muzaffarpur.

PayMate launched the green Money Transfer a year ago in collaboration withcorporation Bank and Tata Teleservices.

Jha’s 68-year-old mother, wife and three children in the village no longer

have to wait for days for relatives and friends to turn up from Delhi or the localpostman to show up with a money order.

Instead, they go to the local Tata Pco, confirm their identity by furnishingthe transaction code sent to them by Jha from his cellphone and collect themoney.

Probir Roy, co-founder of PayMate, says his company addresses the “survivalneed” of migrant workers to send money home in a cost-effective and securemanner.

Domestic remittances are potentially a huge market. People like Jha accountfor a whopping `60,000 crore a year sent from city to village. There are otherestimates which are larger. According to the UnDP’s human DevelopmentReport of 2009, migrants contribute 10 per cent of India’s gDP or `130,000crore.

At present a mere fraction of this gets transferred through telecom. It isunclear what shape the market might take or what migration might be like inthe future. But the opportunity is massive. Service-providers, telecom compa-nies, banks and banking correspondents are all converging to make the best ofit through seamless and instantaneous transfers.

Transaction costs would fall yet further in the next stage if money were to

instantmoney

more migrants transfer cash tovillages by mobile

Money is transferred effortlessly via mobile through PCOs.

gautam singh

23CIVIL SOCIETY, JUNE 2011

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move from mobile to mobile instead of cash being handed over. Jha in that casewould transfer the money directly to the mobiles of his family members whowould then use their mobiles to make payments to others.

Indian companies like PayMate have been inspired by the success of M-Pesain Kenya. M is for ‘mobile’, and ‘Pesa’ for ‘money’ in Kiswahili – the two togeth-er have proved to be effective where conventional transactions through thebanking system have fallen short.

Vijay Kumar Kamat, 33, is all excited talking about how the SBI eKo mini sav-ings account operable through his cellphone has helped him remit money inreal time to his parents and extended family in his village in the Madhubanidistrict of Bihar. he works as a cook in a household in Bharat nagar in the vicin-ity of the escorts heart Institute in Delhi.

Kamat can now make small deposits in his mini savings account. With hiscellphone, he can know his balance and transfer money as easily as he makeschapattis. “I opened an account the very next day after the service waslaunched,” he says. now he can send as much as `10,000 for as little as `25 –the company charges a flat fee per transaction. The courier service that he usedearlier would have charged `500 (five per cent) for that transfer.

The mobile remittance business is also spawning new jobs and opportunities

in cities. Retailer Shiv narayan goel, who wasearlier selling only airtime for cellular compa-nies and mobile recharges at his shop in Bharatnagar, has now decided to switch almost com-pletely to eKo’s banking business on behalf ofSBI.

In the hour that we were at his shop, peoplekept coming in to transfer, deposit and with-draw money. Divya Devu, 23, was only one ofseveral nurses from the escort’s heart Institutewho came to the eKo outlet to send money toher family living in Kollam in Kerala.

BoTToM To ToP: The mobile remittanceopportunity spiral, being hailed as the present-day game-changer, goes all the way up to thetop.

When 4B capital, a colorado-based socialfund, was looking to invest in long-term sus-

tainable business ventures late last year, itchose to debut with the eKo Financial Services,which was set up by Abhishek Sinha witharound `2 crore donated by family and friends.The small Delhi-based company was buildinglow-cost financial services infrastructure withthe ‘un-banked’ as its prime target audience andhad been around for a mere two years.

The reason for 4B’s decision to go with eKowas its sharply accelerating business on theback of remittances and money transfers. Thestart-up has done `750 crore worth of transac-tions since launch; daily transactions averagearound `10 crore, of which `3 lakh worth oftransfers happen via the 130,000-odd customers

eKo sourced as a banking correspondent for SBI. It also acts as a banking cor-respondent for IcIcI bank.

Mumbai-based FIno (Financial Information network and operation ltd)reinforces the perception that transfer of money from urban to rural via mobilebanking is a business which can only grow bigger.

Within months of launching FIno-Tatkal in mid-2009, the company was pro-cessing up to 3,000 remittances a day. The number currently has gone up to5,000 transactions valued at `3 crore a day. When it was launched the servicespecifically targeted migrants living in the slums of Mumbai – Dharavi,ghatkopar and Shivajinagar.

Avadhraj Jaiswal, 30, from Pahsana village in Jaunpur district of UttarPradesh, is a typical customer. he has been making photo frames in Dharavi formore than 10 years now. It wasn’t until two years ago when he started usingthe FIno service that he realized the money he sends could reach his motherin a few hours as opposed to the several days that a money order used to takeearlier. now also helps his friends in Dharavi to send money to their families.

The green Money Transfer Scheme, launched a few months after Fino-Tatkal, has seen 10,000-odd customers sign up for the service to send moneyto their hometowns. half of these are dabbawalas, known for delivering

Domestic remittances are potentially a huge

market. Migrants accountfor a whopping `60,000crore a year sent from

city to village. there areother estimates which

are larger.

awadh raj Jaiswal and d. Verghese show their FinO cards outside their shops in dharavi, Mumbai

Jagannath Jha outside his dhaba in east delhi

gautam singh

lakshman anand

200,000 tiffins a day to office-goers in Mumbai, earning around `5,000 amonth, most of which needs to be sent to families in villages around Pune. Butmuch more is in the offing. “A number of tie-ups with corporate clients andrural retail chains are in the works,” says nadeem Siddiqui, PayMate head forretail and distribution in northern India, “so the incremental addition to busi-ness is going to be rapid in the coming months.”

MARKeT BooM: “That there is a launch by a new player every third day,” saysAshish Ahuja, product head at FIno, “goes to show that domestic remittancesare the flavor of the season.” his reference is to some of the biggies in the bank-ing and telecom space announcing plans or actually launching such servicesrecently – Axis Bank along with Idea, Airtel and SBI, UBI and nokia, Vodafoneand IcIcI.

Such tie-ups show that the mobile banking network is becoming the pre-ferred medium for transfer of money from urban to rural. Banks and post-offices cannot tackle the huge opportunity that domestic remittances provide.Anand Raman, eKo chief marketing officer, agrees. “It is a demand-driven mar-ket where there is virtually no supply. Remittances are the big driver.”

Anand Shrivastav, who is chairman of Beam, is unequivocal: “The opportu-nity is so humongous that no single institution is geared up for this kind ofbusiness. So it will have to be a collaborative model.”

Mobile commerce has been gaining ground at the grassroots and as a meansof financial inclusion ever since the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) issued detailedmobile banking guidelines in September 2008. Subsequently, the move to allowbanks to appoint grocery shops, Pcos and authorized functionaries of self-helpgroups and even telecom operators as banking correspondents has helpedexpand the banking eco-system further.

A look at some numbers helps provide perspective. There are 200 millionbank accounts but considering the much bigger number of cellphone users, thepotential for m-commerce companies is as large as 400 million (mobile userswithout a bank account). There are others who peg the potential much higherat 600 million, considering how even those with bank accounts in rural areasdon’t get to use them either due to distance, or the Kyc (Know your customer)norms, or the mere fact that they get intimidated by the ‘all-too-official’ ambi-ence.

RoAD To FInAncIAl InclUSIon: “Financial inclusion is a buzzword todaybut the fact of the matter is that it will have to be triggered by remittances,”says PayMate’s Roy. Remittance of money is the first need of the masses.

This is the natural course of evolution, he explains, citing how in Kenya theinitial burst of inclusion happened through money transfer and e-payment ofgoods and services when Safaricom launched M-Pesa as a marketing tool to getthe ‘un-banked’ to subscribe to their service. The first mobile money transfersystem of its kind proved successful beyond all expectations and M-Pesa todayhas 13 million users. now that M-Pesa has got ingrained, M-Kesho has come,bringing services like bank credit, deposit, savings and overdraft riding on thesuccess of the former.

India is at the first step of the ladder of benefits right now, both becausethere is limited wherewithal for remittance and there is a compelling case forurban-rural linkage with only around 20 per cent urbanization in the country,as in Kenya.

India Post transfers over `9,000 crore per annum through money orders. It isstill the only mode of money transfer for most places in India and takes any-

thing from a week to 10 days. But there is only one post-office for every fourvillages in the country. The result is that a staggering two-thirds of the targetpopulation remits money through informal channels.

So how large and untapped is the opportunity? With a migrant populationestimated as high as 10 per cent or over 100 million, of which 30 million arefloating workers, there are varying estimates. however, with remittances aver-aging `20,000 per person per year, `60,000 crore is taken to be the most wide-ly accepted figure. All mobile value added services (VAS) in the country on last

CIVIL SOCIETY, JUNE 2011

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24

the sender goes to a Greentata PCO with cash to betransferred.

the tata PCO triggers an iVrcall to the sender and thesender enters his mPin toauthorise the transaction.

the sender receives atransaction code on hismobile to be conveyed to therecipient.

the recipient goes to thenearest registered tata PCOand shares the transactioncode.

Once the verification is donethe cash is handed over torecipient.

hoW it Works

‘Financial inclusion is a buzzword, today but itwill have to be triggered by remittances, which

are the first need of the masses.’

ashish ahuja of FinO

Probir roy of PayMate

gautam singh

gautam singh

25CIVIL SOCIETY, JUNE 2011

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count toted up only around `12,000crore!

According to UnDP, migrants con-tribute 10 per cent of India’s gDP. Thisimplies a total market of `130,000 croreof domestic remittances. The centre forMicrofinance has put out a report whichsays that if all the money that is current-ly routed through informal courierswere to be done via bank transfers at theregular three per cent charge, migrantswould save nearly `1,000 crore.

Beam’s Shrivastav in fact goes so far asto mark the entire retail market to be thesize of the mobile remittance opportuni-ty – `400,000 crore. That’s perhaps exag-gerated. nonetheless there is merit in hisargument that “it is all about relevance tothe customer.” echoing PayMate’s Roy,he says it’s not a bank account that anindividual from the hinterland reallyneeds, but a mechanism to enable him topay for goods and services.

ReMITTAnce coRRIDoRS: The realpotential for money transfer has to be from urban to rural. This explains whycompanies are targeting a handful of ‘remittances corridors.’ These are keyurban cities where employment is luring workers to migrate from deep insiderural India. PayMate’s Roy identifies a handful of distinct corridors: Mumbai-Maharashtra, Mumbai-Karnataka, Mumbai-Kerala, Karnataka-Kerala, Delhi-eastUP-Jharkhand, Delhi-east UP-Bihar, Mumbai-UP-Bihar, orissa-gujarat,Rajasthan-gujarat. In addition, there are the emerging corridors from the north-east to Delhi and to south India. eKo, for instance, has zeroed in on the Delhi-ncR- Bihar- Jharkhand corridor.

Mobile money companies also hope to be a part of government schemessuch as the Mahatma gandhi national Rural employment guarantee Scheme(MgnRegA) and social security pension.

over 75 districts are covered under MnRegA and distribution of funds viabiometric cards approximates `1,500 crore as of now. Mobile money transferswould provide a substantial saving in cost and also plug leakages.

The Rashtriya Swasthya Bima yojana (RSBy), another government healthinsurance scheme launched in 2008 for low- income workers has tied up with

hospitals for treatment options. everybeneficiary family is issued a biomet-ric smart card and empanelled hospi-tals are IT-enabled and connected to aserver at district level. of the 23 mil-lion families covered thus far, roughlyhalf have been enrolled by FIno inabout 130 districts, says Ahuja. That’sthe kind of potential players can dipinto.

PUBlIc VeRSUS PRIVATe: According toa report, while the government incurs a

transaction cost of `12 to `13 for every `100 it shells out, mobile banking helpsit reduce the cost to a mere `2. compare this with the still higher transactioncosts through conventional channels – a physical bank withdrawal costs asmuch as `60 to `70 per transaction while that through an ATM is about `15.

All these small efforts are luring bigger players. In January this year, BhartiAirtel and the State Bank of India, the largest in their respective domains,announced a joint venture that will invest `100 crore to offer mobile paymentsand cash-in, cash-out remittances across India. Bharti chairman Sunil Mittalsaid at the time of the launch that 55 per cent of the operator’s prepaid base isun-banked and it is this segment that they would strive to serve.

There were two launches in March alone. Axis Bank and Idea cellular formal-ly launched Idea Mycash offering banking and money transfer on mobile.however, the service is a pilot between Dharavi in Mumbai and Allahabad inUP. nokia and Union Bank of India have launched ‘Union Bank Money’. nokiastores will act as banking correspondents to offer services such as cash with-drawal and money transfer. nokia handsets will come bundled with the appli-cation. existing users can download the application. The service will first beavailable in the national capital region and then be rolled out elsewhere..

nokia is also working with yes Bank on a pilot in Pune using california-basedobopay’s technology for money transfer through mobile. In January, IcIcIBank, India’s largest private sector bank, and Vodafone also announced a tie-upfor mobile banking services.

Vijay kumar kamat, a cook in delhi,sends money home to Madhubani

divya devu, a nurse, is from kerala

PhotograPhs by lakshman anand

Sohan kumar, a peon, sendsmoney to darbhanga in Bihar

Sanjay kumar, from Gonda district in UP, has been using SBi eko

Shree Padre

Kasargod

KoKUM, a round wild red berry, is spawning acluster of micro and home-based enterprisesalong the western coast of Maharashtra and

Karnataka. These little businesses producekokum juice, syrup, butter and dry rind. They arealso inventing a range of products.

“The crop is a ‘kalpavruksha’ since all its partsare useful,” says Ajit Shirodkar, chairman of theWestern ghats Kokum Foundation, a voluntaryorganization started a decade ago. “If we promotekokum’s pharmaceutical uses, it will become agood money earner just like the mango.”

Shirodkar has another important point tomake. “Kokum is not grown anywhere else in theworld. This species is indigenous to India. So,whatever development we do, we will be the solestake-holders.”

Kokum’s present status cannot be comparedwith mango, the king of fruit. It grows on a hum-ble, neglected tree which farmers merely toleratesince it does not fetch them any great money. Itis small, home-based businesses and micro-enter-prises which see a future in kokum.

Planting a kokum orchard is very rare.Sometimes a farmer might plant it as a bordercrop in arecanut gardens or in a scattered manneron hills. But after that no farmer cares to irrigateit or apply manure. like the undervalued jack-fruit, it is a zero-attention crop.

Since the crop is scattered, it is hard to comeacross figures of area and production.Maharashtra has 1,000 hectares under kokum cul-tivation which produce 4,500 tonnes of fruit,according to a baseline survey done in 2010.

“We have around 46,600 kokum trees,” says thechief conservator of Forests. “In the SouthKonkan region alone, 1,674 tonnes of fruits areused for making dried rind. Syrup is producedfrom 757 tonnes. Another 40 tonnes goes intoproducing kokum butter.”

“If we market kokum products outside theirgrowing areas they will be an instant hit,” says asenior agriculture department officer of goa.

But the rest of India hardly knows what kokumis.

Anonymous and useful: Botanically known asgarcinia indica, kokum has many names – birin-

da, murugalu and punarpuli. It is the marooncoloured cousin of garcinia gummigutta, orkudumpuli, an essential ingredient in traditionalKerala fish curry. Kokum is regarded as a treespice. It resembles mangosteen but since it is sourit can’t be eaten fresh.

Where kokum scores is that it has far more usesthan kudampuli and mangosteen. Sherbet madefrom its fresh or dried rind is very popular.hundreds of small-scale units in the Konkanregion comprising Sindhudurg and Ratnagiri dis-tricts produce concentrated syrup for local sale.

As a beverage, kokum has a good market. Manysmall towns like Puttur, Kumta, Sirsi, Ankola, sellready-to-serve juice locally in poly packs. A smalltime kokum juice producer says, “Its sweet andsour taste has very high consumer acceptance.”

Dry rind is another product which has localdemand. one major advantage is that the fruitcan be processed at home. About five to six kg offresh rind is required to make one kg of dried

rind. Drying in the sun preserves the rinds formore than a year.

concentrated syrup is also made from freshrinds. At home, two methods are followed. In thefirst, sugar is mixed into the fresh rind and kept inthe sun. once the sap oozes out, it is concentratedusing the heat of the sun for a few days. In the sec-ond method, the rinds are boiled after mixingwith sugar. The first method, followed in manyUttara Kannada families, makes the syrup tastier.

The attractive red juice made from the syrupreduces pitta dosha. According to Ayurveda,kokum is also a raktavardhaka (blood increaser).

Ashoka honey and Food Products in Kumta,Karnataka, has been producing kokum syrup, solkadi concentrate and kokum extract for twodecades.“Since the sherbet has a cooling effect onthe body, it is used by many,” says AshokaSharma, its proprietor. In summer, this companysells on an average 8,000 to 10,000 kg of syrupper month.

Businessenterprise

inclusion

csr

ict

go green

CIVIL SOCIETY, JUNE 201126

Kokum’s quiet success

Sanjay Orpe, joint managing director of hardikars with kokum products

BUSIneSS

Apart from kokum syrup, kokum agal (a saltyjuice for making sol kadi), kokum amsul (dehy-drated salted rind) are also produced by thou-sands of households and micro- enterprises.Amsul is used as a souring agent for vegetarianand non-vegetarian dishes in the Konkan regionand goa. like kudampuli, it is used mainly in fishcurries.

Sol kadi, a Konkan speciality, is generally servedlast with rice as it aids digestion. It is also servedas a beverage. “Many Ayurvedic doctors prescribethis for people with constipation,” claims AshokaSharma. his company sells around 4,000 to 5,000kg of sol kadi concentrate every month. “Unlikesyrup, sol kadi has a market through the year,” hesays.

hydroxy citric acid (hcA) is another food sup-plement that is industrially extracted fromkokum rinds. It is being exported mainly to theUS.

hcA is said to have anti-obesity and anti-choles-terol properties. Kokum rinds have 13 to 14 per-cent hcA as compared to 18 to 20 percent avail-able in garcinia gummigutta. India exports about600 to 700 tonnes of hcA every year.

Prakruti Products Pvt ltd in Ankola, Karnataka,is one of the leading players which exports about350 tonnes annually. Depending on the percent-age of hcA, this product is priced between `400to `1,000 a kg.

Kokum butter is another product extractedfrom the seeds of the fruit. It is used in oint-ments, suppositories, confectionery and as basematerial for body creams. It is also used for diar-rhoea, burns and cracked heels. Shrikant P. Vaidyaof Deepashree Products, Ratnagiri, is producingcocoa chocolates using kokum butter instead ofcocoa butter. his chocolates taste as good.

Another interesting discovery is that foodcolour can be extracted from kokum. The centralFood Technological Research Institute (cFTRI),Mysore, has developed a spray-dry technologywhich separates the red anthocyanin pigmentsand can be used as a natural food colour.

Kokum colour can be a good alternative for arti-ficial colours used in beverages, ice-creams, choco-lates, cream biscuits and wine.

“ If promoted this colour will have good exportpotential,” says chetan n. nayak, who as a PhDScholar carried out the colour extraction studies.“We can also see if the colour can be extractedafter hcA is separated, thus making the best use

of the fruit.”of late, some more innovative kokum products

have been introduced in the market. hardikar’sFood Technologies Pvt ltd in Pune has launchedkokum sherbet concentrate in packs and a kokumcarbonated drink.

Ready to use sol kadi in liquid and powderform are being produced with an eye on office-goers. “our instant sherbet powder and syrup isfinding acceptance among Indian consumers. Weare able to sell in hyderabad, Delhi and even insome African countries,” says Sanjay orpe, jointmanaging director of hardikar’s.

In February, kokum juice in tetra packs wasintroduced for the first time by Aparant AgroFoods of Pune. named Konkan Kokum, it is alsoavailable in nagpur, Mumbai, Aurangabad and

nasik. “Kokum is a health drink,” says Mukund M

Bhave, managing director of Aparant. “It is anti-acidic and has antioxidants which help increaseimmunity. Devoid of any preservatives, it hasanti-obesity properties. our challenge lies in get-ting capable distributors.”

on a small scale the product is being sold inDelhi, parts of Rajasthan, US, Singapore andDubai. But since only interested groups haveintroduced the product in these areas, it can betermed merely as ‘test marketing.’

The Western ghats Kokum Foundation hasbeen successful in creating awareness and catalyz-ing research on kokum. It has organized threenational seminars on kokum, the latest in goa inearly May. “ensuring better prices for the farmeris out primary objective,” says Ajit Shirodkar.

Backend missing: Farmers however are not veryinterested in cultivating kokum. one problem isthat kokum’s fruiting season coincides with theonset of the monsoon and the fruit then begins torot. The berry attracts worms and becomes use-

less. “About 40 to 70 per cent of fruits get ruineddue to rain. In Konkan, this loss is huge,” says DrParag haldankar, head of the Department ofhorticulture, Balasaheb Sawant Konkan KrishiVidyapeeth (BSKKV), Dapoli.

BSKKV, which has done considerable studies onkokum, has a big experimental orchard on itsDapoli campus. The university has experimentedwith pruning the tree to restrict its height. Ashorter tree helps the farmer to harvest easilywithout losing yield.

The university has released two improvedselections of kokum, Amruth Kokum and Kokumhatis. “But grafting has its own problems,” saysDr Parag haldankar. “When orthotropic shoots(which face the sky) are used for grafting, thegrafts attain the same mother-like tree shape andyield well. on the other hand if plagiotropic (fac-ing the sides) shoot is grafted, the plant remainsshort and bushy. The productivity of the latter isvery less.”

Despite being touted as ‘a fruit of tomorrow’the Indian council of Agricultural Research has nomandate for research on kokum.

The second problem is the high cost of labourand the low returns on the fruit. Rauf Saab, a dis-tinguished farmer from Karnataka, cut around1,000 kokum trees which he had planted as anintercrop in his Banavasi coconut garden. “At `20per kg of dry rind, I don’t get back even the costof labour for harvesting,” he says in disgust.

goan farmer Ashok Joshi from Valpoi had 25trees that produced around three tonnes of fruitsannually. But since dried rinds get him only `30 to`35 per kg, he harvests just the quantity theyneed for household use.

“It may be highly medicinal and very good forhealth. But when my other crops like cashew,coconut and vegetables fetch a very good price,why should I incur losses by harvesting kokum,”he asks bluntly. Dry rinds should fetch around `70 to `100 per kg to make it viable for the farmer.

Shrihari naik Kurade, 75, is one of those rarefarmers who have planted 2,400 kokum trees in aphased manner. he provides manure and irrigateshis orchard. half his 400 plants have started yield-ing in fourth year. yield in selected plants is veryhigh. This raises the question why farmers haveto opt for graft plants when selected seedlings cangive very good yields.

For farmers, selling fresh fruits is a good option.But since kokum is highly perishable, marketing itquickly is difficult. Ajit Shirodkar says middlementake advantage of the perishable nature of kokumjust as in mango and jackfruit. Providing superiorvarieties or good farming practices won’t remedythe situation.

he recommends that farmers be provided withsimple, village- level technologies which will helpthem produce semi-finished products. “This strat-egy has started working for mango inMaharashtra now. Instead of selling fresh man-goes, farmers are earning two to three times moreby producing and selling mango pulp.”

The Spices Board, under the Union Ministry ofcommerce, is the flagship organization for thedevelopment and worldwide promotion of Indianspices. As a tree spice, Kokum comes under itspurview. The board has not done anything to helpfarmers. It is high time it wakes up from its deepsleep.

27CIVIL SOCIETY, JUNE 2011

‘Kokum is a health drink. itis anti-acidic and has

antioxidants which helpincrease immunity. it hasanti-obesity properties.’

CIVIL SOCIETY, JUNE 2011

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28

Sugandha Pathak

New Delhi

the Fair Trade India brand was launched on 14May to mark World Fair Trade Day. The IndhaShop at Sushant Towers in Sector 56 gurgaon,

together with five other shops in Kolkata,Bangalore and ooty will be the first in an expand-ing chain to stock products with the new logo.

Fair Trade stands for sustainable and environ-mentally sound practices. It seeks to give dignityto small producers, helping them connect withmarkets and get higher prices for their products.

The Fair Trade India brand will bestow on shopsthe identity of being socially clean. goods withthe brand are produced by artisans and farmerswho have been adequately compensated and notmilked by middlemen. consumers will now knowthat the money they pay is going back to people atthe grassroots.

Ithya Mallikarjuna, executive director of FairTrade Forum-India spoke to civil Society on thenew branding initiative and plans for expandingthe market for Fair Trade products in India.

how extensive is the national network for fairtrade?Fair Trade Forum India (FTF-I) is a pan India net-work which is spread across 16 states with 86ngos and civil society groups. There are 100,000grassroots producers, artisans and farmersinvolved in this movement. It is a global effort toprovide a fair price and respectable income freefrom exploitation. Fair Trade India acts as a coun-try office of World Fair Trade organization in Asia.

how have you been creating awareness about thisforum and the concept of fair trade?The awareness about this forum is growingthrough the help of our ngo members. There arestates, like in the northeast, which are rich inhandicrafts and the awareness is increasing slow-ly there now. other than that we have college out-reach programmes in business schools, designschools and colleges where we organize work-shops and live interactions between producersand students. There are capacity-building pro-grammes where we directly interact with the pro-ducers.

What does it aim to do for small traders and pro-ducers?

The main aim is to find ways to linksmall groups with the market. Thesegroups lack the resources to promotetheir products and directly reach cus-tomers. The fair trade movementgives them a better opportunity tocompete and get more remunerativeprices for their products.

What is the symbolism of the logo which wasrecently launched?The logo signifies creating a brand, so in using thesame brand on all the products the promotion ofthe products is uniformed. For example there areover 40 retail chains in the country handled byour member ngos. The logo will be India’s firstumbrella fair trade brand. The branding has twophases. The first phase will involve bringing allthe products under one umbrella brand and inthe second phase we will go in for franchising.Another part of the branding effort will involveonline retailing. We have plans of starting a fairtrade helpline. So, apart from the exporting ofthese products we are now trying to expand thedomestic market slowly.

Apart from creating awareness, how do you plan

to popularize this concept so thatpeople opt for products under thefair trade logo?First, by using the social mediaextensively and talking about ourbrand story, success stories, casestudies and involving students andthe youth, who constitute a hugegroup. Another plan is to promote

corporate gifting. It is a huge opportunity. Whycan’t the corporate houses be linked with theseproducts? We regularly organize fair tourism ini-tiatives where we provide the opportunity tointeract directly with the producers and witnessthe making of handicrafts. In fact every year quitea few international students visit us for this pur-pose.

What are the hurdles to scaling up? It is tough to suddenly meet a bulk order becausethe products are handmade and take time to pro-duce. There are inherent challenges in the pro-duction of our kind of products. Secondly, there isisn’t as yet here a policy environment for fairtrade. If we want to broaden our scope we need tobe supported through policy initiatives at variouslevels.

‘the logo signifies creating a brand, so in usingthe same brand on all the products thepromotion of the products is uniform. Forexample there are over 40 retail chains in thecountry handled by our member nGOs. the logowill be india’s first umbrella fair trade brand.’

ithya Mallikarjuna

Fair tradebecomesa brand

Fair trade signifies goods which are socially and environmentally clean

29CIVIL SOCIETY, JUNE 2011

GURgAon gets to first base through its ‘virgincorporation’ status with the municipal elec-tion this May. The rest of us ‘elevated’ souls

across most Indian cities are in a ‘bloody corpora-tion’ mode – a kind of been there, done that per-son, who feels considerably underwhelmed bythe experience. Understandably there is a lot offirst time excitement and accompanying jittersabout what the election means for the future.one does not wish to spoil the movie like sus-pense at least till the end of this piece!

From a distance and with some helpful Internetsurfing one gathers a few emerging themes aroundthe elections. The active Resident WelfareAssociations (RWAs) plan to join the fray and arenot surprisingly unable to work under a commonbanner for a common goal. This is the time middle-class voters feel they count and some professionalswill stand as Independents. There is the discon-nect between the ‘villages’ within the city and thegated enclaves. There is also worry that ‘one ofthem’ will end up ruling the place (as Mayor) giventhe voting blocs, the voter proportions, the voterspread and of course the mainstream political par-ties for whom this is another day at ‘work.’

All this sound and fury actually counts for verylittle given the way our city governance is struc-tured. We are all players within a deeply layered‘Inception’ (yes, the movie) like matrix where thepowers that be have managed to get us all excitedabout the inconsequential elements around acorporation election while we have amnesiaabout the larger, relevant question, immortalizedby the kid who asked, “but papa, the emperor isnot wearing any clothes.’

Make no mistake, the power over a city lieswith the State – be it funds, legislation or decid-ing on largesse, it is the State that calls the shots.our cities are littered with mayors who do notmatter. going further, the scope for the averagecorporator too is limited. In Mumbai, about threeyears ago there was a lot of excitement aboutAdolph D’Souza who became the Juhu corporator,as the citizen’s candidate backed by Bollywoodactivists. not so surprisingly, one has not heardmuch about his exploits post that election.

It is good to see RWAs active through their par-ticipation in the elections. But this needs to beseen in the context of the ward geographies. Thereality of most of our city wards, any corporator’sterritory, is a mix of rich, moderate and poor

neighbourhoods (make it villages in the case ofgurgaon) more so in the inner city. Pure electoralcompulsions require a more inclusive outlookamong RWAs and middle-class candidates if theyhope to win. Inclusiveness is also necessary if ourcities are ever to improve – it is only by ensuringthe poor have a better quality of life (water, elec-tricity, public transport, pedestrian walkways)allowing better livelihoods, that the middle- classand the rich stand to gain. But this needs a differ-ent mindset and will take time. A ward yatra bythe more progressive candidates would be a goodplace to start. Many of us have no clue of how thepoor cope and a walk around the ward will bringhome some harsh realities.

one prefers to talk solutions. My contours of adream outcome would be along the following

gggginsigh sopinion

analysis

research

ideas

angst

Continued on page 30

Corporators have no power V. RAVIchAnDAR

‘Make no mistake, the powerover a city lies with the state– be it funds, legislation ordeciding on largesse, it is

the state that calls theshots.’

elections were held recently to the newly created Gurgaon Municipal Corporation

rita anand

CIVIL SOCIETY, JUNE 2011

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30

the miraculous saving ofabout 1100 passengers inwhat was headlined in

newspapers as the ‘BurningTrain’ incident is not happynews. While we can thankgod for saving 150 humanlives in the B7 coach of theMumbai -Delhi -R a jdhanitrain, as Indian citizens weshould be alarmed that theIndian Railways depends onmiracles and not disasterpreparedness to save thelives of its passengers. Thisis not to undermine the ded-icated efforts of the railwaystaff on duty like Pawan Jain,the quick-thinking pantry in-charge, and others whoarrived to provide tirelesshelp. We can wholehearted-ly join the passengers intheir praise for the rescue efforts. But sadly, safe-ty remains an individual initiative and rescueremains a heroic act.

By and large the attitude seems to be – buy yourticket, close your eyes and enjoy the thrill, be itfire, floods, cyclones or landslides! There is hard-ly any information in the public domain about thedisaster preparedness of trains in India. Whilethe measures taken to address the recommenda-tions of the high level committee on DisasterManagement by the then railway minister nitishKumar remain accessible on paper, that informa-tion has not reached the passengers.

Information on what to do in the event of a dis-aster is neither posted in trains nor at our railwaystations. checklists of safety procedures, maps ofescape routes or emergency contact numbers forthe railways are not in the public domain. As aresult, the large numbers of passengers as well asthe crowds that throng the railway stationsremain highly vulnerable. At this rate, India canclaim to run the world’s largest and oldest net-work of unsafe trains between unsafe stations!

The national Disaster Management Authority(nDMA) of the government of India has made aseries of hazard-specific guidelines for around 21types of hazards – from droughts to urban floods.yet, so far, no sector has been taken up for adetailed, third-party, performance scrutiny.Perhaps the reason is that our ministries anddepartments have not given due importance tothe work of the nDMA. A Disaster ManagementPlan for the Indian Railways was worked out indetail in 2009 and it has been reviewed, at leastonce. But the review remains an internal processwithout the involvement of civil Society as athird party. As a result, the technical and hard-ware issues get addressed but the software andthe citizen perspectives remains neglected.

next time you take a train, step into the stationmaster’s room to pay your respects and find out ifhe or she has a copy of the station’s contingencyplan. Ask if the plan was updated in the last sixmonths, and if it was indeed used for any crisis,what parts of the plan worked and what did notwork. After you have received this information,

you can decide if your plat-form ticket includes a con-cern for your safety.

once you sit in a train askyour fellow passengers ifthey have seen a train safetychart that perhaps you your-self may have overlooked.And if not, perhaps yourTicket collector has one inhis possession that he maykindly share with you. Myfear is you are likely to bedisappointed by the answersof both your fellow passen-gers and the Ticket collector.The reason for this lack ofinformation is not becausethe railways have no money;rather, it is because no onehas found time to breakdown the said 2009 disastermanagement plan into train

level guidelines and passenger awareness postersso far.

The first respondents in any railway disasterare the on-duty staff and the passengers. Today,the railway staff has started receiving systematictraining in how to handle emergency situationsand conduct rescue efforts, but the passengersremain profoundly ignorant on safety andresponse procedures.

Institutions fail us in India. It is left to individ-uals to save us. When we build institutions athigh cost in India, we can expect them to not onlysurvey, research and plan, but it is also incumbentupon them to make sure that their plans areaccessible, comprehensible and implementable byevery citizen in our country. Decidedly, we needdedicated efforts to make our trains safer. Thisjob must be done by our railways; and as passen-gers we must expect and demand safety informa-tion in local languages on trains and at railwaystations.

Mihir R Bhatt is currently working on disaster preparedness after cyclone Aila in the Sunderbans delta.

indian trains are riskyMIhIR R. BhATT

lines. For starters, the third tier of city govern-ment needs to be truly empowered. easily saidthan done given that the second tier of StateMlAs have to pass on the power – this will nothappen unless we have an ‘Anna hazare’ like vari-ant demanding for more powers for the city. oncethe city corporation has the powers to determinethe destiny of the city, a directly elected mayorseated at the head of the corporators wouldattract the best and brightest of our political class.We have romantic notions about a Kenlivingstone like london mayor or a Rudyguilliani like new york mayor but we forget that

these are posts that carry true heft. A directlyelected mayor is certainly better than an MlAwith less than five per cent vote share in the citycalling the shots in respect of the city.

At the ward level, if we are to see scope for cit-izen participation post elections, you need tohave citizens simultaneously vote for an area rep-resentative (arranged around each election booth)and a corporator (for the ward) with a mandatefor corporators to be guided by the area reps ondefined basis. And budgeting activities in a cityneeds to built-up area by area, ward by ward tothe city wide level. This has been elegantlydetailed by Ramesh and Swati Ramanathan of

Janaagraha but getting civil society to agree anddemand a common set of reforms is energy drain-ing and exhausting, a script that suits the powersthat be as a continuation of their ‘Inception’ likehold on us.

To close, corporation elections are certainly bet-ter than not having them. But unless the scaffold-ing issues of city governance are addressed and theappropriate plumbing done, there will be no mean-ingful flow of citizen oriented benefits on theground. Sorry to disappoint you gurgaon voters but‘kaafi picture baaki hai’ and this is just the trailer.

V. Ravichandar, Chairman, Feedback Consulting, is figuring out how tobreak out of our ‘Inception’ like nightmare status in our cities.

Continued from page 29

31CIVIL SOCIETY, JUNE 2011

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CITIeS produce a lot of waste. All those tetrapacks, tins, plastics, metal or electronic junkthat is indiscriminately chucked into dust-

bins does go somewhere once it’s out of yoursight! one such common destination is the land-fill site located in and around cities. landfills area mechanism to dispose of waste by burial. It isone of the oldest forms of waste treatment. Butthat does not mean landfills are benign even ifthe waste which is dumped is non- hazardous. Tobegin with, a landfill requires land which in itsprior avtaar was used very differently.

My story is about the creation of one such land-fill site in the Bhatti Mines area of the nationalcapital Territory (ncT) of Delhi. It is not really acommentary on what ecological changes the set-ting up of such a site might bring about, althoughthat is of crucial significance. My story is about thecomplete oversight of the Municipal corporationof Delhi (McD) in following the rule of law.

In 2002, the McD approached the Supremecourt to push its proposal of using part of theBhatti Mines area as a sanitary landfill site. Sincethis area is located within the city’s Ridge forest –an extension of the ecologically sensitive Aravallihill range – the McD claimed it had followed dueprocedure by seeking mandatory approval fromthe Ridge Management Board (RMB) set up by theSupreme court under the Delhi government in1996.

The McD therefore petitioned that theDevelopment commissioner of Delhi and otherauthorities allot 477 acres in Bhatti mines Pit nos2, 6, 10 and12 as a facility for processing garbage.The Supreme court in 2010 transferred the caseto the Delhi high court stating that since this wasa matter pertaining to Delhi city, the high courtwas the appropriate forum for it.

But a few other statutory requirements whichthe McD conveniently overlooked were broughtto the notice of the Supreme court through anintervention filed by Ravi Agarwal, acting onbehalf of the ngo Forum for the ncR. This inter-vention application, also transferred to the highcourt, had objected to the conversion of theBhatti mines area into a landfill site. In an addi-tional submission to the high court, the ngoForum raised several legal requirements that theMcD had not fulfilled, including clearance by theRMB. In fact, contrary to McD’s submission, theRMB had rejected its proposal.

Does the McD need to seek an environmentclearance from the Ministry of environment andForests (MoeF) for setting up such a landfill site?This procedure would require the McD to com-mission an environment Impact Assessment(eIA) and carry out a full fledged public consulta-tion. At first glance it would appear that an eIAnotification might not be a requirement as “com-mon municipal solid waste management facility”is listed as a category B project in the FirstSchedule following the notification, thereby

requiring the approval of Delhi’s Stateenvironment Impact Assessment Authority(SeIAA) and not the MoeF.

But, read with the general condition asteriskedwith it, the approval lands into the MoeF’s domain.The general condition converts all category B proj-ects into category A projects if they are locatedwithin 10 km of a Protected Area notified under theWildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, or in critically pollut-ed areas, notified eco-sensitive areas, inter-stateboundaries and international boundaries.

McD’s landfill site satisfies two of these criteria– the area it is asking for is located within theBhatti Wildlife Sanctuary and situated on theinter-state boundary of Delhi and haryana.

Interestingly, the McD did get an eIA donethrough the consulting engineering Services IndiaPvt. ltd as the Ridge Management Board had askedfor it. But the additional submission by the ngoForum in the high court argued that the eIA wasnot carried out in a detailed manner as per proce-dures laid out in the eIA notification, 2006, andthat it did not go through the required public scruti-ny and expert appraisal. This is primarily becausethe McD did not seek an environment clearance.

What is crucial to note here is that a part of this

landfill site is also located within the BhattiWildlife sanctuary thereby attracting the legalitiesof the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. Section 29 ofthis law prohibits the destruction of wildlife andforest produce in a sanctuary. For permission touse land within the sanctuary, the McD shouldhave approached the chief Wildlife Warden. Ifthe assessment revealed that the activity was notconsidered destructive to wildlife, permission tothe McD would have been granted. But, itappears that the McD continued to insist that thearea in question is outside the Delhi Ridge andthe Bhatti Wildlife Sanctuary.

In September 2010, the high court directed thegovernment of ncT through an order to ask thechief Secretary to file an affidavit disclosing thekhasra numbers/boundaries of the Bhatti WildlifeSanctuary. In January 2011, the government of ncTofficials undertook a site inspection and submittedtheir report before the high court. In an interestingturn of events, the Delhi government’s jointinspection report (which included the McD) ofFebruary this year asked the McD to revisit andrevise the proposal due to its falling within theSanctuary. In the high court, the Delhigovernment objected to the McD’s decision toidentify pits in the mines as proposed landfill sites.

At the April hearing, the Delhi high courtsought a reply from the MoeF on whether pits atthe Bhatti mines sanctuary can be used as a sani-tary landfill site. no final decision has been takentill the hearing on 2 May. The contentions of theMoeF and the high court’s views on the variouslegalities involved will be crucial to determinewhether the Bhatti mines area will become adumping ground or be given a chance to resurrectitself from the dustbin of history.

The author is a member of Kalpavriksh Environmental Action Group and is based in Delhi

Landfill is minefield for MCDKAnchI KohlI

it appears that the MCDcontinued to insist that thearea it was asking for as itslandfill site was outside theDelhi ridge and the Bhatti

wildlife sanctuary.

lakshman anand

CIVIL SOCIETY, JUNE 2011

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32

My first epiphany as a rural developmentworker took place on a humid July afternoonin Udaipur, Rajasthan, in 2005. Sitting on the

village chabutra, I was having an intense conversa-tion with a village elder.

In this village I had implemented a project onpromoting low cost smokeless chulhas so that theadverse health impacts on women from the use ofopen chulhas could be reduced. however, many ofthose smokeless chulhas fell into disuse. I wasconsiderably vexed. After all, we had corrected alltechnical errors, done participatory training, takenuser feedback.

I was expressing my grief to Udhaba, the villageelder, when he said “chulha sirf chulha nahin,parampara hai.” This simple sentence, deliveredwith the utmost nonchalance, sud-denly explained a lot. For Udhabaand for many others in the village,the ‘obsolete’ open chulha definedtheir family. It was inherited andsymbolized familial unity. An heir-loom, its abandonment disconnect-ed a family from its history.

These epiphanies, mostly in ret-rospect, are often considered a luxu-ry in development. But in manycases, projects fail because theybecome antithetical to local culturesand belief systems. hence, rural andin some cases urban India, is dottedwith unused toilets, dysfunctionaldrinking water stand posts andderelict watershed structures.

explanations revolve largelyaround institutional failures, lack of ownership,technical glitches. The discussion on how local cul-ture refused and rejected a well-intentioned inter-vention is relegated to the background.

cultural mismatch does feature prominently ininformal discussions, though. I remember a con-versation with an international ngo worker inwhich I casually referred to the chulha story. Sheimmediately shared a similar experience. She saida breastfeeding project funded by her organisationin the Sunderbans in West Bengal had faced seri-ous setbacks. efforts at persuading mothers to givecolostrum (first milk) to their infants had failedmiserably. only after the project got over did theyrealise that local religious custom dictated that thefirst milk should always be offered to the localgoddess.

Understanding the cultural aspect of landscapesrequires listening to the intimate conversationsthat take place between people and their environ-ment. only a few have managed to capture this indetail. Foremost examples are the written worksof Anupam Mishra and Dhrubajyoti ghosh. Timeand again, their writings have revealed that sus-tainability is culturally embedded.

culture is a community’s black box of science,religion, knowledge, ethics and politics. It hides as

much as it reveals. It accepts, rejects and manipu-lates technologies. one key example is the uneth-ical use of the ultrasound test in the economicallyprogressive states of gujarat, haryana and Punjabfor sex selective abortion. economic growth andtechnology have only helped to intensify deeprooted patriarchal values.

There is a need to bring culture to the forefrontof development analysis. Development actorsoften tend to either romanticize or demonize cul-ture, unable to see it with nuance. In Uttarakhand,piped water supply, deemed unsustainable andunaesthetic by a section in civil society, had alsobrought to an end the discrimination againstDalits who were allowed to collect water from vil-lage springs (dharas) only after the upper castes

had their fill. The science of traditional water har-vesting has to be seen separately from sociallyunjust traditions of water use. calls for rejuvenat-ing the former often get interpreted as implyingthe latter.

Minimal time and resources are devoted tounderstanding the impact of culture on develop-ment projects and vice versa. hence missing thewoods for the trees is common. I came across onesuch scenario in Ratlam district in early 2010.ngos and government institutions spared noeffort to improve the incomes of tribal farmerswith small and marginal land holdings throughsupply of rural credit and improved livelihoods.

however, they forgot that the maximumamount of loan taken was mostly to meet mar-riage costs and “bride price”. one marriage in afamily easily requires a minimum of `20,000 anda maximum of `100,000 and has little hopes ofbeing provided by any MFI or rural bank. hencethe ‘sahukar’ (moneylender) with his exorbitantrates of interest would be the last resort. Thisintergenerational cycle of debt has crossed overfrom pre- colonial to colonial to independentIndia and refuses to disappear. It’s an example ofhow deep- rooted the effects of cultural practicesare and how shallow our proposed solutions seem

in such contexts. Anchoring interventions based on proper

understanding of local culture works wonders.This stands vindicated through the work of Farhadcontractor and his colleagues at the SambhaavTrust. Farhad believes in strengthening the rela-tionship with communities over time rather thanrushing into completing projects. Sambhaav Trustin collaboration with local communities hasrevived an astounding 630 wells (locally known asberis ) over the last seven years in the areas ofBakhasar in Barmer and Ramgadh in Jaisalmer inWestern Rajasthan. The sustainability of thesewells are enhanced by their equitable sharing, aremarkable achievement.

While Sambhaav looks into revitalizing sustain-able practices rooted in traditions,Water for People-India, a Kolkatabased organisation has been engagedwith the other end of the culturalspectrum in rural West Bengal.Working on issues of menstrualhealth and hygiene management hasrevealed how cultural taboos operateto stigmatize adolescent girls. herethere are instances of mothers givingcoins to their menstruating daugh-ters to drop into the river whilecrossing it on a boat, so that the godsdo not take offence. given the diffi-culty of the work at hand, Water forPeople has engaged in rigorousresearch to understand how thesecultural taboos work in communitiesbefore moving into an intervention

mode. The shades of grey in culture require adequate

attention. Development actors, be it governmentagencies or ngos need to tease out multiple worldviews and knowledge systems constitutive of localculture. And this requires delving deeper into peo-ple’s religious perceptions as well. Unfortunately,culture is often used as a convenient explanationfor failure, as many sanitation projects in Indiahave proved. Agencies easily brush off failure oftheir ill conceived sanitation projects by puttingthe blame squarely on ‘backward’ local habits andcustoms.

culture is that compass with which one navi-gates life’s complex journey. Standardized devel-opment interventions often tend to see culture asan irritant, which delays deliverables and out-comes. Projects often walk the tightrope of time-lines and expectations, which makes revisiting thedevelopment agenda based on cultural resistancedifficult. Plus, there is a perverse fetish for ‘solu-tions’ which overrides proper understanding ofthe ‘problem’. Indeed, the ‘solution’ itself emergesas a ‘problem’ in such contexts. Unless analysis ofcultural issues surrounding developmental inter-ventions is brought to the forefront, the only wayto learn and evolve would be the hard way.

why culture matters AMITAngShU AchARyA

Livingggggbooks

eco-tourism

film

theatre

ayurveda

33CIVIL SOCIETY, JUNE 2011

Ladakh’s rock art huntersA rare personal effort discovers many wonders

Civil Society news

New Delhi

sInce 2001, Viraf Mehta has been to ladakh 22times to admire the stark beauty of its land-scape. A climber, he loves altitudes and enjoys

trekking in the himalayas. on his 12th trip to ladakh, Viraf stumbled sud-

denly upon a petroglyph on a boulder. “My hairstood on end,” he recalls. “I knew something inmy life had changed forever.”

Petroglyphs are prehistoric images engraved onrocks with metal or stone. Referred to as rock art,the ones in ladakh date back to the Bronze Age,some 3000 years ago, much before Buddhismcame to this region. The ancients did not know

how to read or write. So they expressed them-selves by inscribing facets of their lives on rocks.

Despite 12 trips Viraf says he hadn’t noticed thepetroglyphs. he’d been blind to this artistry.Suddenly he found himself face-to-face with thelanguage of ancient art, the voice of a prehistoricpeople trying to communicate with the few who

Continued on page 34

Viraf Mehta (top) with tashi Ldawa tshangspa (below)

CIVIL SOCIETY, JUNE 2011

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cared to listen. “The rocks revealed themselvesto me,” he says, philosophically.

Viraf, 54, has spent many years in the corporatesector and then worked for an ngo, but his train-ing is as an anthropologist. his passion for a ram-bling exploration of ladakh’s valleys and moun-tains had as much to do with the joys of climbingas his abiding interest in prehistoric man.

engraved on these rocks are ancient people,animals, birds, motifs, flora and fauna. We cansee the activities of our prehistoric ancestors likehunting or dancing. Rock art has much mystique.It is a language which hasn’t ever been fullyunravelled. Around the world scant attention hasbeen paid to it. And surprisingly, rock art was first

discovered in India, sometime in 1869-1870. Indians were aware of its antiquity,reveals Viraf.

“you could say these are the earliesthuman artifacts,” he says.

The problem is petroglyphs are notregarded as protected monuments in India.This form of art has been unearthed in thesouth and west of India. But the himalayanregion has been ignored. The ArchaelogicalSurvey of India (ASI) airily states rock artcouldn’t possibly exist at such high alti-tudes. In ladakh building roads and infra-structure has wreaked havoc on petro-glyphs. Boulders with priceless engravingshave been smashed into smithereens.Actually nobody knew. There was noawareness about their historical value.

Viraf embarked on a mission to unearth as manypetroglyphs as he could and save ladakh’s art her-itage. he found a soul mate in Tashi ldawaTshangspa, 43, a lecturer in zoology in eJMcollege,leh, who was equally passionate about rockart. At first ldawa was suspicious, recounts Viraf.he had helped many foreigners research rock art.The foreigners went home, published books intheir own language and conveniently forgot theirassurances about creating local awareness and con-servation. ldawa was on the verge of giving up. ButViraf’s enthusiasm and agenda matched his own sohe was keen to team up.

getting permits to travel around ladakh wasnot easy. A lot of it is restricted area manned bythe army. It took Viraf much time and trouble toexplain to mystified army officers why he wantedto inspect rocks all over ladakh’s countryside. Butonce the army understood, they cooperated.

Permission granted, the two rock hunters, Viraf

and ldawa, began scouting around for petro-glyphs. each had their own style of investigating.While ldawa would climb to the highest pointand then start looking down like an eagle, Virafpreferred to walk around browsing for petro-glyphs amongst the rocks. you need a keen eye tospot petroglyphs, is Viraf’s observation.

They trekked through Kargil, leh, along thegleaming blue Indus and the sparkling Zanskarbraving icy weather and chilly wind. They discov-ered that ladakh was literally strewn with prehis-toric rock art. It was there, knocked into boulders,rocks and cliffs from altitudes of 3,000 to 4,500meters. There was artwork, 20 feet long. Therewere rocks with multiple images. And they dated

to the pre- Buddhist period so this was really, real-ly ancient stuff they were gazing at. “The Indusriver is the backbone of rock art,” observes Viraf.

They discovered India’s northern most rock-with-art at the edge of the Siachen glacier in a vil-lage called Washi. These petroglyphs were beingwitnessed by human eyes in the 21st century forthe first time, an event of considerable historicalsignificance for Viraf and ldawa. Altogether theywent to some 150 sites.

“We want to tell everyone that people livedeven in the icy heights of ladakh 3000 years ago,that there is a commonality with the people ofSiberia, Tibet, Iran and Pakistan. It is a continuingtradition,” says Viraf.

They then set off to create awareness aboutrock art amongst local people, printing postersand going to schools, taking children on a visualfeast. They told ordinary people about rock artaround their homes. The response was, oh we did

not know but now we’ll protect it. “It is a commu-nity asset,” points out Viraf.

The army too has promised to pitch in. Theywere amazed to know that they had been stomp-ing all over ladakhi art history. Viraf recalls whenhe took an army officer around his own camp tosee rock art the officer was astounded. “But I walkhere every day, I never noted this,” he said. hereand there the army is protecting petroglyphs bybuilding little pebbled fences around such boul-ders. The guys who mow down mountains tobuild roads are being told to kindly spare the livesof rock art.

Viraf has spent the last three years travelling,researching and taking pictures of petroglyphs

with his own money. he now has some2000 images of rock art which he plans topublish into a book with maps, large visualsand short, explanatory text in english andladakhi. he would like academics to use thebook as a resource to research petroglyphs.

Viraf also wants to start a ‘rock art trust’to protect and document ladakh’s rock artand a ‘rock park’ in ladakh with a guide toexplain it all. In fact there are long stretch-es where nearly every boulder has artinscribed on it. These could become touristtrails of rock art, says Viraf.

It is well-known that Indians have alwaysbeen hopeless at documenting history. From1947 to 1974 entry to ladakh was anywaysclosed. Some foreigners have chronicledladakh’s rock art like a Moravian mission-

ary who did some preliminary work publishing afew black and white pictures. Martin Vernier, aFrench writer, did a fairly comprehensive book onladakhi rock art in French. But such foreign worksare not in any way linked to conservation efforts.nor do they connect ladakhis to their local history.

In this respect china and Pakistan have donebetter than India. They have documented rock artalong their side of the Indus. A book done by thechinese was spotted by Viraf in Kathmandu.nicely laid out, it did not cost much.

however, Viraf and ldawa’s strenuous effortsto save ladakh’s rock art are probably more sig-nificant than what china and Pakistan have everdone. In years to come, if Viraf’s plans succeed,Indians can look forward to an envious display ofrock art. And ladakhis would have discovered arich slice of their history. All of which wouldmake India a frontrunner in prehistoric rock art –a valuable contribution to the nation.

Glimpses of rock art

the army is protecting rock art with little fences of pebbles

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35CIVIL SOCIETY, JUNE 2011

Susheela nair

Karapur (Karnataka)

iT was noon when we zoomed into the SeraiKabini, a high-end wildlife resort in Karapur vil-lage on the banks of the River Kabini. Winding

pathways led us to the 19 river-facing cottagessprinkled across the sprawling rustic property. eachcottage is enormous, comprising of a patio, bed-room and en suite bathroom. each room featuresplush interiors, a king-sized bed, rich silk brocadedcushions, large windows and doors that open on toa verandah. There’s also a hammock where you canrecline with your favourite book in hand, and disen-gage yourself from the maddening world. each cot-tage is distinctive with a different colour scheme.

The wood-and-stone structure of the cottageexudes an earthy look while the mango wood furni-ture gives a snug and cheery feel. The vibrantearthy tones and the natural materials used for theconstruction blend perfectly with the surroundinglandscape. Adorning the shelves of the resort areartifacts representing different parts of the country.The food served at the Flames restaurant is agourmet’s delight.

getting around the verdant property is itself anexercise. We discovered that there was no formallandscaping and everything was in harmony withnature in this resort. The landscape is beautifullylaid out with indigenous plants and trees. It is diffi-cult to find exotic flora in the resort. Some of the

trees and plants are named and this makes for anenjoyable and informative walk. Adding to the ver-dant ambience is a natural bamboo grove andclumps of Kabini grass on one side of the property.The early morning and evening walks through thewinding pathways are a refreshing experience

Briefing us on the resort’s eco- friendly practices,M. Venkatesh, Director, coffee Day hotels & ResortsPvt. ltd, explained, “In keeping with its eco-friend-ly status, all efforts are made to retain the gifts ofnature. So there are eco- friendly toiletries, a state-of-the-art waste water treatment plant, eco-friendlygenerators, bio-degradable bin-liners, use of mini-mal water consumption fixtures, and a vermi-cul-ture pit where the solid waste of the resort is con-verted into manure. The use of plastic is notencouraged.” The resort’s other eco-tourism initia-tives include sourcing local produce, employmentof local talent, assisting in the sale of village handi-crafts, distribution of leftover food to the local peo-ple and use of recycled paper in all branding com-munication and guest handouts.

With a plethora of activities on offer, there isnever a dull moment in the resort. Besides the jun-gle safaris, you can take a plunge in the pool. And ifyou need to drain away the stress from your tiredmuscles, chill out with a refreshing massage at thecloud 9 Spa. There are a multitude of nature-based

activities for the guests. These include boatrides, wildlife safaris, nature trails, kayak-ing, cycling, etc. you can drift down theKabini River in a kayak. If you are lucky,you’ll spot pachyderms quenching theirthirst at the edge of the reservoir.

After a sumptuous meal and a siesta, weembarked on a boat ride at 4 pm. Sukanto,the resort’s ebullient naturalist, helped usidentify darters, kingfishers, snake birds,cormorants, egret, kingfisher, ibis and acolourful array of winged species whichcharmed us with their rare beauty. Some ofthese rested on stumps of deadwoodentrenched in the lake. We were fortunateto sight an amazing variety of wildlife at thebackwaters as all the watering holes haddried up in the scorching summer heat.herds of elephants congregated on thebanks of the river to quench their thirst.Some of them were uprooting succulentclumps of grass while the young onesplayed. An elephant herd was frolicking inthe waters bathed in the golden light of thesetting sun. The matriarch of the herd tow-ered over her brood while a gigantic tuskermoved away from the herd. We spent overan hour watching their antics while some ofus went on a clicking spree. Besides thepachyderms, we spotted herds of gaur, spot-ted deer and wild boar in the distance by thewaterside.

We returned after a fruitful water safariand sat around a crackling fire under thestarry sky exchanging animal stories andspinning yarns of our encounters in thewild. The next morning after drifting downthe reservoir in a kayak, we set off on a15-minute boat ride to Bhimana Kolli Temple.The temple is believed to be 800 years old.legend has it that during their exile, thePandavas visited this part of the village andBhima crossed this point of the river, consid-

ered to be the deepest, in just one leap. Kolli inKannada means river. Thus, a temple was built onthe same site and named after him.

The same evening saw us heading for the much-awaited jungle safari. The jeep purred smoothlyout of the lodge. The forest was looking dry butteeming with chattering wildlife – langurs, Malabarsquirrels and drongos called and herds of wildpachyderms ambled past majestically. Birds we sawaplenty. Peacocks and peahens were struttingabout while a Blue Jay or Indian Roller posed for aphotograph. We were treated to the unusual sightof an elephant quenching its thirst along with aherd of Indian gaur from a waterhole. Several spot-ted deer, barking deer and sambars sprinted acrossour path.

After awhile, the silence of the forest was shat-tered occasionally by a burst of urgent chatter as alangur sent out warning signals. The alarmed cry ofthe deer signaled that a predator was on the prowl.A sudden flash of orange and we were left wonder-ing if it was the tiger we had seen or just a flash oflate afternoon sun glancing off a prancing deer. Wewaited with bated breath and had a fleeting glimpseof a leopard leaping across the road and fleeing intothe bushes, annoyed at our intrusion into its ruggedterrain.

For bookings contact: The Kabini Serai, Coffee Day Hotels & Resorts Pvt.

in wildcompany

susheela nair

susheela nair

river-facing cottages

elephants frolicking in the water

MUMBAI’S underworld has always been perceivedas a man’s world. Dawood Ibrahim, Karim lalaand Varadarajan Mudaliar are household names,

thanks to the police, writers and filmmakers. notmany women intrude into this murky world of themafia and not much is known about them.

In this book, S hussain Zaidi and Jane Borges lift thelid on women in Mumbai’s underworld who rose tolead their own gangs and run illegal businesses. Thestories are riveting, like an absorbing film. It is hard totake your eyes off the book so make sure you haveenough time and popcorn.

Zaidi is well known for his book, Black Friday, whichwas turned into a film by Anurag Kashyap. he is acrime journalist who investigates and tells his storieswith depth and sensitivity. Zaidi and Borges seem tohave penetrated into Mumbai’s mafia with an astonish-ing degree of acceptability. Perhaps the reason is Zaidiand Borges are willing to see things from the other sideof the fence.

The book’s foreword is nicely written by filmmakerVishal Bhardwaj. In eight chapters, Zaidi and Borgestake you through Mumbai’s dark alleys to meet charac-ters who could have sunk into misery but choseinstead to live life on their own terms. But, unfortu-nately, as criminals.

Jenabai is The Wily old Woman of Dongri whoseadvice was sought by mafia dons like haji Mastan.Practical and hard-headed, Jenabai could be relied onto find a path out of a jungle of problems. her daugh-ter describes her as a typical godmother, fearless, pow-erful and abusive.

The Matriarch of Kamathipura is the five feet tallgangubhai. The man whom she fell in love with soldher to a brothel. yet gangubhai rose to become aleader of sex workers. She became an icon of sortswith effigies of hers being placed in brothels. She wasrevered by sex workers.

The other profiles are equally fascinating. Sapna, whotook to crime to avenge her husband’s death, making ither life’s ambition to destroy Dawood Ibrahim. There isJyoti, the narco queen of Sonapur galli, and Monica Bedi,girlfriend of Abdul Salem. Also featured are the ratherfierce wives of hindu dons, the molls of mafia leadersand the beautiful girls who minted money from racketslike cricket betting and extortion.

Women who take to crime have certain traits –courage, determination and intelligence. They outwitthe men in being unscrupulous and manipulative.They would have probably succeeded in lawful jobs,but mostly their circumstances lead them into thebusiness of crime. Perhaps the structure of the Indiancity with its contrasts of wealth, poverty, greed, grimeand great opportunity spawns crime. Mumbai, inmany ways, amplifies this heady fusion.

kavita Charanji

New Delhi

FoRMeR Bangladeshi prime ministerSheikh Mujibur Rahman’s mother,Shahara Khatun, used to have late

Pakistani writer Ibne Safi’s detective storiesread out to her long after Urdu became dis-credited in her country. The second presi-

dent of Pakistan, Ayub Khan, was an avidreader of Safi’s gripping crime thrillers. Sowere many intellectuals and ordinary peo-ple in Pakistan and India.

Ibne Safi’s fan following is likely toincrease hugely now that english transla-tions of his books have hit the Indian mar-ket. At a recent book launch in Delhi, fourtitles of Safi’s famous Jasoosi Duniya (The

CIVIL SOCIETY, JUNE 2011

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36

MaFia QUeenS OF MUMBai

StOrieS OF WOMen FrOM

the GanGLandS

S Hussain Zaidi with Jane

Borges

Tranquebar

` 250

Queen bee

in these times, defined as they are by megacorporate scams and political scandals, anovel by someone with a deep knowledge

of real estate industry promises to be grip-ping.

The Whistleblowers by Sitaraman is contem-porary, it offers an inside view and, as thename suggests, it pits good against evil. It isnot brilliant in its delivery, but for a first novelthe prose is functional and the story unfoldswith an ease which allows you to read on.

All fiction is autobiographical in some way.It is more so in the case of novels where the

corporate sector is the setting. Sitaraman hasbeen a participant at the top – as a savvy man-agement consultant and a trusted financialadvisor. he knows how the system works –you could say that he knows too much.

“This book is about individuals and thechoices these individuals make in differentsituations. It is about the nuances of realestate and housing finance and how the linesget blurred casually in the greed for more,”says Sitaraman.

The story is about a builder who plans totake a finance company for a ride. It takes youthrough courtrooms and boardrooms. Thereare personal ambitions which unfold as abusiness manager tries to become a ceo andrisk managers put their careers on line. noplot of this kind would be complete without ajournalist and we have one who has both gutsand looks.

So, if you have wondered how those landdeals are swung, how projects come up andwhat happens to slush money paid out topoliticians, The Whistleblowers is the bookyou need to read on your next flight.

the

WhiStLeBLOWerS

Sitaraman

Cinnamon Teal

` 475

The real estate insider

jasoosi duniya now in india

ahmed Safi, third from left, at the book launch

37CIVIL SOCIETY, JUNE 2011

lIVIng

Sugandha Pathak

New Delhi

the Paitkar paintings of Jharkhand belong to anancient tradition. yet this form of tribal art isdying. In a bid to revive Paitkar painting and

other tribal cultural traditions on the verge ofextinction, a group of professionals inJamshedpur have come together to make a filmand organize exhibitions for artists.

Most Paitkar paintings are scroll paintings. Andjust like the Patachitra painters of Mednipur inWest Bengal, Paitkar painters too sing the song oftheir painting.

The film called Sa- The Search, is the brainchildof artist and linguist Shubhasish chakraborty whoworks with the Tata utility firm, JUSco. “Thisfilm delves into the search for the essence of lifewhich is Sa (the music note).The singing andpainting tradition which the people of Amadubiin Jharkhand have been doing since centuries isslowly reaching extinction, so this is an effort to

revive this dying art form,” states chakraborty.The film has a lyrical and poetic way of depict-

ing the plight of the people of Amadubi, a smallvillage in Jharkhand. According to chakraborty,the village consists of around 150 people out ofwhom only four or five have continued the age-old tradition of Paitkar painting and narrating thepaintings through folk songs.

“Since they were not getting any monetarygains many artists took up other means of liveli-hood,” says chakraborty. The film shows villagers

busy with their alternative jobs. Theyhave become sellers of paper fan, pot-ters, washermen or taken to cattle-rear-ing.

“They use natural colours to paint.Most paintings are stories which arepassed through generations. But somewere on current issues, like global warm-ing and water conservation. The objec-tive was to connect them with the com-munity in cities,” says chakraborty. Soan exhibition was organized for threepainters in Jamshedpur. Around 170 to200 paintings were put up and most ofthem sold.

“They earned `27,000 by selling theirpaintings. All the proceeding of the exhi-bitions went directly to the artist. now

these artists are getting orders, and have beeninvited to teach painting to the city kids,” he fur-ther explains.

According to him, the response to the exhibi-tion was a moral boost for these villagers as theygained more confidence after this exposure.“After struggling to survive as painters, they hadstopped teaching the next generation this tradi-tion. now there is a change in outlook as theirwork is finally getting appreciated and acknowl-edged,” he says.

World of espionage) series – Poisoned Arrow,Smokewater, The laughing corpse and DoctorDread – were formally released by his son,Ahmad Safi. The books have been published byBlAFT Publications in collaboration withWestland ltd’s literary imprint, Tranquebar Press.

“This is the first time that Jasoosi Duniya hasbeen published in english. It is a grand occasionbecause this work was considered more difficultto translate,” says Ahmad Safi, a mechanicalengineer, who had flown down from Karachi forthe launch.

Shamsur Rahman Faruqi who translated thebooks is from Allahabad. he nods in agreement.“It was certainly difficult to translate Safibecause he is so culturally saturated in the Urdumilieu. his language is filled with Urdu idioms,speech and mannerisms,” says Faruqi.

There were other pit-falls. “The works aresomewhat dated as theygo back to the 1960s and1970s. In the meanwhilepolice detection procedureshave radically changed. But Ithink I was able to maintainthe flavour and rhythm of theprose,” says Faruqi.

likewise Safi’s humour,some of it “camp humour,” wasalso incorporated.

What made it easier was that

Faruqi was an avid reader of Safi’s novels sincehis youth. Readers continue to be fascinated bythe protagonist in Safi’s books, colonel Faridi,with his pedigreed dogs, fancy cars, privatemuseum, a well-equipped laboratory, a superbcommand over several languages and, of course,his deep knowledge of crime and the criminalmindset.

Ibne Safi was the pen name of Asrar Ahmad.Born in 1928 in the town of nara in Allahabad dis-trict, he migrated to Pakistan in 1952 and estab-lished base in Karachi. Safi’s early works in the1940s included short stories, humour, satire andpoetry. of course his most popular works were theJasoosi Duniya novels and the Imran series.

The absence of sexually explicit language andgore made Safi’s novels widely acceptable at atime when mystery and detective stories couldonly be read in seclusion because of their objec-tionable content. In fact, Safi took to writingcrime thrillers as a challenge when his peers at aliterary conference told him that books in that

genre could never be a success unless they hadheavy doses of sex and violence.

Says Ahmad Safi, ”Turning popular opinion onits head my father came up with the idea ofJasoosi Duniya with his friends.” The bookswere an instant success from day one. “I remem-ber my father coming to me and saying that morecopies needed to be printed,” says the youngerSafi. It’s easy to understand why. PoisonedArrow (Zehreelay Teer ) one of Ibne Safi’s booksin the Jasoosi Duniya series that was launchedrecently grips the reader from the start when aman in killed by a poisoned arrow. Detectivescolonel Faridi and his assistant captain hameedquickly swing into action even as more charactersare bumped off along the way. The duo’s investi-gation leads them to a shady world of pimps,drug dealers and foreign spies. The conundrumremains: Who is the culprit? It could be any ofthe characters that Faridi and hameed haveencountered along the way.

Ibne Safi wrote some 245 major crime thrillersin the Jasoosi Duniya and the

Imran series.Readers loved hisbooks. But the high-est compliment thatcame his way wasfrom the redoubtablemurder mystery writerAgatha christie whoonce said, “I don’t knowUrdu but I have knowl-edge of detective novelsof the subcontinent.There is only one originalwriter – Ibne Safi.”.

Paintingsaviour

jasoosi duniya now in india

Shubhasish Chakraborty

CIVIL SOCIETY, JUNE 2011

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38

sUFFeRIng is something we can all do with-out. We have the inner ability to constructive-ly use our intelligence to eliminate suffering

and examine reality.Many problems which we experience are self-

inflicted and man made. Many humans areharmed at the hands of each other. This destruc-tive and malicious intent is due to lack of compas-sion. Where there is no compassion, there canonly be suffering.Important points to note about suffering are:l Suffering is self-inflicted.l It gives us an idea of where we stand with our-selves.l It helps us understand the state of our mind.l If the mind is strong and wise, there is very lit-tle scope for suffering.l happiness and sadness are two sides of thesame coin. By getting an insight into this concept,suffering dissolves.l every moment of suffering has a lesson toteach us.

The provocation of war, violence, rape andother forms of suffering is due to lack of moralethics. We should use morality and ethics for ourown selves and not to make an impression onothers. We do beneficial acts only for those whoare our friends or those who may be of some useto us. This is a very narrow minded way of look-ing at things. It is the basis of all suffering.

The IRon cAge: According to an ancient andbeautiful Buddhist example, human beings aretrapped in an iron cage of self-grasping. Theiractions in their entire lives are based upon: “I,Me, Mine, My friends, My beloved ones.” Manytimes we put up a false front and help someoneonly because we know that it is going to personal-ly benefit us. In the process we may develop moreselfishness than selflessness. This route is sure tolead to suffering.

We find ourselves totally disconnected fromothers living in the outside world. We have lostthe ability to connect with other people who maynot be part of our daily lives. We think we canconnect with the ones we touch. This again maynot be the best way of looking at life. It is there-fore our responsibility to destroy this iron cage ofself-grasping and thereby realize there is lifebeyond the narrow-minded thought procedurethat most of us may be victims of.

So the first thing we need to learn to do is to rec-ognize what this iron cage of self- grasping is andhow are we trapped within it. once we under-stand this concept we can try to be free from it.This will give us an opportunity to look beyondour day-to-day existence. existing is mundane andliving is vibrant. We should be living our lives tothe fullest not just existing. We remain in our

inner prison and do not make an effort to achievefreedom. It is our own responsibility to liberateourselves from that prison. We can do that by: l Attaining wisdom by developing an under-standing of dependant origination. We need tounderstand how all beings on this earth dependon each other. l We can achieve this insight by developing love,kindness and compassion.

It is important to understand that we dependon each other. We all breathe the same air. In thatsense, we are connected. each one of us has thedesire to be happy.

This thought brings in a sense of empathy anda desire to benefit others. The way to do this is togive other people happiness. happiness providesa strong base to build a loving and compassionatebent of mind. Think of all the people who haveselflessly provided us with birth, food, water andlove. By developing this thought we can slowlydevelop love, compassion and kindness.

living by example and not theory is a very sig-nificant aspect of developing true insight andknowledge. By just practicing love and compas-sion in our day-to-day lives, beginning with ourown selves, will give us the wisdom to see reality.

If all of us have the desire to be happy surelythat proves that we are all connected with thesame thought process. With this thought, suffer-ing can be eradicated. samitarathor@gmail.com

Suffering is curableSAMITA RAThoR

soul value

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P r o d u c t s

Pretty frocks, soft towels, embroidered bed

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they are comfortable, durable and

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